Tag Archives: Yalkut Shimoni

Eye-Opening Facts About Conversion

At the end of this week’s parasha, Vayishlach, the Torah mysteriously mentions that one of the Edomite chiefs, Lotan, had a sister named Timnah. The Sages famously ask why this detail is important to mention? Why does it matter that an Edomite chief had a sister named Timnah? The name “Timnah” appears two more times in the chapter (Genesis 36), once as the name of a clan descended from Esau, and once by telling us that Timnah was a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, and gave birth to Amalek. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 99b) puts it all together for us and explains:

Timnah was a righteous woman who really wanted to convert and join the Abrahamic faith. She first approached Abraham about conversion, but he rejected her. She then approached Isaac and he, too, rejected her. Finally, she went to Jacob and got rejected a third time. At this point, she went to the “next best thing”, Eliphaz, and reasoned that this is the closest she can get to the family of Abraham. Tragically, the result was her son Amalek, eternal tormentor of Israel. The Sages conclude that our Patriarchs should not have rejected Timnah! Because they were too harsh with a potential convert, the evil Amalek came into the world, and has been torturing the people of Israel ever since. The message of our Sages is clear: converts should be welcomed, and we should not make it too difficult for a person to become a member of Israel. In fact, our Sages state that “Israel was exiled only to draw converts”! (Pesachim 87b)

Amazingly, the Talmud Yerushalmi (Kiddushin 4:1 or 65b) records Rav stating that all potential converts should be accepted, even those who converted with ulterior motives. Although their initial intentions were not pure, if we welcome them properly and inspire them, they will become genuine converts. After all, “The Torah of Hashem is pure, restoring the soul; the decrees of Hashem are enduring and make the simple wise; the precepts of Hashem are just, gladdening the heart; the mitzvah of Hashem is clear, illuminating the eyes.” (Psalms 19:8-9) If the prospective convert is taught properly, they will undoubtedly come to a true love of Hashem and His Torah. That was the approach of the great Hillel, who famously converted three people who initially had false intentions.

The Talmud (Shabbat 31a) records that the first Gentile came before Shammai and asked to be converted on condition that he only accept the Written Torah, and not the Oral Torah. Shammai rejected him, but Hillel accepted him, and soon educated him on why the Oral Torah is essential. The second Gentile came before Shammai and asked to be converted “on one foot”, quickly and without any Torah learning. Shammai rejected him, but Hillel accepted him and converted him on one foot! He simply told the convert: “That which is hateful to you, don’t do to others—this is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary. Go learn!” Finally, the third Gentile came before Shammai asking to be converted on condition that he become a kohen gadol, so Shammai naturally rejected him. Hillel converted him anyway, and then taught him why he cannot be a kohen. The passage ends by telling us that the three converts eventually met each other and declared: “Shammai’s strictness sought to drive us from the world; Hillel’s meekness brought us under the wings of the Divine Presence!”

Today, we no longer see such rapid conversions in the Orthodox world. On the contrary, the process has become long (typically around two years), and often expensive. A prospective convert is expected to study Jewish law in depth and pass a written test before conversion. The reality is that this is actually a fairly recent development, and was not the case for the vast majority of Jewish history. It is worth going through the halakhic sources to find out the facts about conversion. Continue reading →

Secrets of the Jewish Calendar

Today we welcome the new month of Kislev. It is well-known that the months of the Hebrew year parallel the Tribes of Israel and the zodiacal constellations. According to Sefer Yetzirah, each month also embodies one of twelve fundamental aspects of humanity and life: sight, sound, smell, speech, taste, touch, action, motion, temper, joy, thought, and sleep (ראיה, שמיעה, ריחה, שיחה, לעיטה, תשמיש, מעשה, הלוך, רוגז, שחוק, הרהור, שינה). Each of these further corresponds to twelve main parts and organs of the human body, and actually emerges at their core from the twelve “elemental” letters of the Hebrew alphabet, as well as the twelve permutations of God’s Ineffable Name. Recall that Sefer Yetzirah divides up the alphabet into three categories: “mother” letters, “doubled” letters, and “elemental” or “simple” letters (for more on these, see here). Continue reading →

Eliezer & the Immortals

‘Eliezer and Rebekah’ by Gustav Doré

In this week’s parasha, Lech Lecha, we are introduced to Abraham’s loyal servant, Eliezer (Genesis 15:2). Eliezer was a righteous man and wanted nothing more than to be a full-fledged part of Israel. He hoped to marry into Abraham’s family, too, but because he was a Canaanite, and the Canaanites were deemed cursed, it was not possible. Nonetheless, the Arizal (Sha’ar haPesukim on Chayei Sarah) explains that in his future life, Eliezer reincarnated in none other than Caleb, the righteous spy and leader from the Tribe of Judah. In fact, the Arizal explains that this is why Caleb went to visit the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron at the start of his spy mission (Sotah 34b). He specifically wanted to pray at the grave of his former master, Abraham, and hoped that just as Abraham had helped him in his past life, he would assist him again in the difficult journey he was on.

Interestingly, the minor Talmudic tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta actually states that Eliezer was one of nine immortal people who never died. These special people merited to enter the Garden of Eden alive and well. As a quick aside, Derekh Eretz Zuta is a fascinating tractate that reads like Pirkei Avot, with maxims from the Sages on ethics, morals, and life advice. It begins with the following statement:

The ways of a scholar are that he is meek, humble, alert, fulfilled, modest, and beloved by all. He is humble to the members of his household, sin-fearing, and judges people according to their deeds. He says “I have no desire for all the things of this world because this world is not for me.” He sits and studies, dusting his cloak at the feet of the scholars. In him no one sees any evil. He questions according to the subject-matter and answers to the point.

The last three verses in the first chapter tell us about some of the greatest figures in Jewish history. First the tractate points out (with citations to prove it) that God forged a covenant with seven people in Tanakh: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Pinchas, and David. One might notice that these are nearly the same as the Seven Shepherds made popular by the Sukkot ushpizin, with the exception being Pinchas in place of Joseph. The truth is that Pinchas and Joseph are spiritually linked, with Pinchas containing a spark of Joseph. Kol HaTor (Ch. 2) even states that Pinchas was the potential “Mashiach ben Yosef” of his generation. There is mathematical proof to this, too, with “Pinchas” (פינחס) being 208, exactly like “Ben Yosef” (בן יוסף).

We are then told that seven people were so righteous and holy that their bodies never decomposed: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Miriam, and Amram. Some also add David to this list. Finally, the chapter ends with nine people who merited to enter the heavenly Garden of Eden alive: Enoch, Eliyahu, Mashiach, Eliezer, King Hiram, Eved-Melekh the Cushite, Yaavetz “the son of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi”, Batya the daughter of Pharaoh, and Serach bat Asher. Some add a tenth person to the list: Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. What was so great about these individuals?  Continue reading →