(ג) אִם־בְּחֻקֹּתַ֖י תֵּלֵ֑כוּ וְאֶת־מִצְוֺתַ֣י תִּשְׁמְר֔וּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָֽם׃ (ד) וְנָתַתִּ֥י גִשְׁמֵיכֶ֖ם בְּעִתָּ֑ם וְנָתְנָ֤ה הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ יְבוּלָ֔הּ וְעֵ֥ץ הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה יִתֵּ֥ן פִּרְיֽוֹ׃ (ה) וְהִשִּׂ֨יג לָכֶ֥ם דַּ֙יִשׁ֙ אֶת־בָּצִ֔יר וּבָצִ֖יר יַשִּׂ֣יג אֶת־זָ֑רַע וַאֲכַלְתֶּ֤ם לַחְמְכֶם֙ לָשֹׂ֔בַע וִֽישַׁבְתֶּ֥ם לָבֶ֖טַח בְּאַרְצְכֶֽם׃ (ו) וְנָתַתִּ֤י שָׁלוֹם֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ וּשְׁכַבְתֶּ֖ם וְאֵ֣ין מַחֲרִ֑יד וְהִשְׁבַּתִּ֞י חַיָּ֤ה רָעָה֙ מִן־הָאָ֔רֶץ וְחֶ֖רֶב לֹא־תַעֲבֹ֥ר בְּאַרְצְכֶֽם׃
ויקרא כ׳׳ו:ט׳
(ט) וּפָנִ֣יתִי אֲלֵיכֶ֔ם וְהִפְרֵיתִ֣י אֶתְכֶ֔ם וְהִרְבֵּיתִ֖י אֶתְכֶ֑ם וַהֲקִימֹתִ֥י אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֖י אִתְּכֶֽם׃
(3) If you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments, (4) I will grant your rains in their season, so that the earth shall yield its produce and the trees of the field their fruit. (5) Your threshing season shall last until your grape harvest, and your grape harvest shall last until the time you plant; you shall eat your fill of bread and dwell securely/securely in your land. (6) I will grant peace in the land, and you shall lie down untroubled by anyone; I will give the land respite from vicious beasts, and no sword shall cross your land.
Leviticus 26:9
(9) I will look turn my attention to you, I will make you fruitful and increase you; and I will establish my covenant with you.
The Prophet Jeremiah (650 - c. 570 BCE) lived during a time of destruction -- in the aftermath of the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and foretold of the pending destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians, as well as chronicled the history of the tragedy in the Book of Lamentations. He looked for a cause and result answer as to why this tragedy was befalling the people and predicted the people would be enslaved to the Babylonians for 70 years. For this, the priests and prophets rose up against him, he went into hiding after death threats were made, and eventually was arrested and imprisoned. Despite all of this, Jeremiah's words are beautifully poetic, even when tragic.
(ה) כֹּ֣ה ׀ אָמַ֣ר יי אָר֤וּר הַגֶּ֙בֶר֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִבְטַ֣ח בָּאָדָ֔ם וְשָׂ֥ם בָּשָׂ֖ר זְרֹע֑וֹ וּמִן־יי יָס֥וּר לִבּֽוֹ׃ (ו) וְהָיָה֙ כְּעַרְעָ֣ר בָּעֲרָבָ֔ה וְלֹ֥א יִרְאֶ֖ה כִּֽי־יָ֣בוֹא ט֑וֹב וְשָׁכַ֤ן חֲרֵרִים֙ בַּמִּדְבָּ֔ר אֶ֥רֶץ מְלֵחָ֖ה וְלֹ֥א תֵשֵֽׁב׃ {ס} (ז) בָּר֣וּךְ הַגֶּ֔בֶר אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִבְטַ֖ח בַּיי וְהָיָ֥ה יי מִבְטַחֽוֹ׃ (ח) וְהָיָ֞ה כְּעֵ֣ץ ׀ שָׁת֣וּל עַל־מַ֗יִם וְעַל־יוּבַל֙ יְשַׁלַּ֣ח שׇׁרָשָׁ֔יו וְלֹ֤א (ירא) [יִרְאֶה֙] כִּי־יָ֣בֹא חֹ֔ם וְהָיָ֥ה עָלֵ֖הוּ רַעֲנָ֑ן וּבִשְׁנַ֤ת בַּצֹּ֙רֶת֙ לֹ֣א יִדְאָ֔ג וְלֹ֥א יָמִ֖ישׁ מֵעֲשׂ֥וֹת פֶּֽרִי׃
(5) Thus said HaShem: Cursed is the one who trusts in mortals, who makes mere flesh their strength, and turns their thoughts from HaShem. (6) They shall be like a bush in the desert, which does not sense the coming of good: It is set in the scorched places of the wilderness, in a barren land without inhabitant. (7) Blessed is the one who trusts in HaShem, then HaShem will be his/her security. (8) They shall be like a tree planted by waters, which will spread its roots alongside brooks and will not perceive when heat comes, whose foliage will be ever fresh, it will not worry in years of drought, and never stops producing fruit.
(א) אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי־הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר ׀ לֹ֥א הָלַךְ֮ בַּעֲצַ֪ת רְשָׁ֫עִ֥ים וּבְדֶ֣רֶךְ חַ֭טָּאִים לֹ֥א עָמָ֑ד וּבְמוֹשַׁ֥ב לֵ֝צִ֗ים לֹ֣א יָשָֽׁב׃ (ב) כִּ֤י אִ֥ם בְּתוֹרַ֥ת יי חֶ֫פְצ֥וֹ וּֽבְתוֹרָת֥וֹ יֶהְגֶּ֗ה יוֹמָ֥ם וָלָֽיְלָה׃ (ג) וְֽהָיָ֗ה כְּעֵץ֮ שָׁת֪וּל עַֽל־פַּלְגֵ֫י מָ֥יִם אֲשֶׁ֤ר פִּרְי֨וֹ ׀ יִתֵּ֬ן בְּעִתּ֗וֹ וְעָלֵ֥הוּ לֹֽא־יִבּ֑וֹל וְכֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁר־יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה יַצְלִֽיחַ׃
(1) Happy is the one who has not followed the counsel of the wicked, or taken the path of sinners, or joined the company of the insolent; (2) rather, the teaching (Torah) of HaShem is his/her delight, and s/he studies that teaching day and night. (3) S/he is like a tree planted beside streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, whose foliage never fades, and whatever it produces thrives.
(יז) רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה אוֹמֵר, אִם אֵין תּוֹרָה, אֵין דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ. אִם אֵין דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ, אֵין תּוֹרָה. אִם אֵין חָכְמָה, אֵין יִרְאָה. אִם אֵין יִרְאָה, אֵין חָכְמָה. אִם אֵין בִּינָה, אֵין דַּעַת. אִם אֵין דַּעַת, אֵין בִּינָה. אִם אֵין קֶמַח, אֵין תּוֹרָה. אִם אֵין תּוֹרָה, אֵין קֶמַח. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, כָּל שֶׁחָכְמָתוֹ מְרֻבָּה מִמַּעֲשָׂיו, לְמַה הוּא דוֹמֶה, לְאִילָן שֶׁעֲנָפָיו מְרֻבִּין וְשָׁרָשָׁיו מֻעָטִין, וְהָרוּחַ בָּאָה וְעוֹקַרְתּוֹ וְהוֹפַכְתּוֹ עַל פָּנָיו, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ירמיה יז) וְהָיָה כְּעַרְעָר בָּעֲרָבָה וְלֹא יִרְאֶה כִּי יָבוֹא טוֹב וְשָׁכַן חֲרֵרִים בַּמִּדְבָּר אֶרֶץ מְלֵחָה וְלֹא תֵשֵׁב. אֲבָל כָּל שֶׁמַּעֲשָׂיו מְרֻבִּין מֵחָכְמָתוֹ, לְמַה הוּא דוֹמֶה, לְאִילָן שֶׁעֲנָפָיו מֻעָטִין וְשָׁרָשָׁיו מְרֻבִּין, שֶׁאֲפִלּוּ כָל הָרוּחוֹת שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם בָּאוֹת וְנוֹשְׁבוֹת בּוֹ אֵין מְזִיזִין אוֹתוֹ מִמְּקוֹמוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שם) וְהָיָה כְּעֵץ שָׁתוּל עַל מַיִם וְעַל יוּבַל יְשַׁלַּח שָׁרָשָׁיו וְלֹא יִרְאֶה כִּי יָבֹא חֹם, וְהָיָה עָלֵהוּ רַעֲנָן, וּבִשְׁנַת בַּצֹּרֶת לֹא יִדְאָג, וְלֹא יָמִישׁ מֵעֲשׂוֹת פֶּרִי:
(17) Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah said: Where there is no Torah, there is no right conduct; where there is no right conduct, there is no Torah. Where there is no wisdom, there is no fear of God; where there is no fear of God, there is no wisdom. Where there is no understanding, there is no knowledge; where there is no knowledge, there is no understanding. Where there is no bread, there is no Torah; where there is no Torah, there is no bread. He used to say: one whose wisdom exceeds his deeds, to what may he be compared? To a tree whose branches are numerous but whose roots are few, so that when the wind comes, it uproots it and overturns it, as it is said, “He shall be like a bush in the desert, which does not sense the coming of good. It is set in the scorched places of the wilderness, in a barren land without inhabitant” (Jeremiah 17:6) But one whose deeds exceed his wisdom, what is that person like? Like a tree whose branches are few but whose roots are many; since even if all the winds of the world come and blow upon it, they do not move it from its place, as it is said; "S/he shall be like a tree planted by waters that sends out its roots by the river; it does not perceive when heat comes, its foliage shall be luxuriant; it shall not be anxious in the year of drought, and it shall not cease from bearing fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:8).
(ח) והיה על מים. שלא יצמא לעולם:
It shall be...by water. That it will never be thirsty.
(ח) ועל יובל. ועל פלגי מים ישלח שרשיו שאפילו שרשיו שיתפשטו במקום רחוק יהיו על פלגי מים:
By a stream (v'Al Yuval). And by streams of water it shall send forth its roots, that even if its roots spread out in a distant place, they will [still] be by streams of water.
(ח) וְסָפַרְתָּ֣ לְךָ֗ שֶׁ֚בַע שַׁבְּתֹ֣ת שָׁנִ֔ים שֶׁ֥בַע שָׁנִ֖ים שֶׁ֣בַע פְּעָמִ֑ים וְהָי֣וּ לְךָ֗ יְמֵי֙ שֶׁ֚בַע שַׁבְּתֹ֣ת הַשָּׁנִ֔ים תֵּ֥שַׁע וְאַרְבָּעִ֖ים שָׁנָֽה׃ (ט) וְהַֽעֲבַרְתָּ֞ שׁוֹפַ֤ר תְּרוּעָה֙ בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִעִ֔י בֶּעָשׂ֖וֹר לַחֹ֑דֶשׁ בְּיוֹם֙ הַכִּפֻּרִ֔ים תַּעֲבִ֥ירוּ שׁוֹפָ֖ר בְּכׇל־אַרְצְכֶֽם׃ (י) וְקִדַּשְׁתֶּ֗ם אֵ֣ת שְׁנַ֤ת הַחֲמִשִּׁים֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וּקְרָאתֶ֥ם דְּר֛וֹר בָּאָ֖רֶץ לְכׇל־יֹשְׁבֶ֑יהָ יוֹבֵ֥ל הִוא֙ תִּהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם וְשַׁבְתֶּ֗ם אִ֚ישׁ אֶל־אֲחֻזָּת֔וֹ וְאִ֥ישׁ אֶל־מִשְׁפַּחְתּ֖וֹ תָּשֻֽׁבוּ׃
(8) You shall count off seven weeks of years—seven times seven years—so that the period of seven weeks of years gives you a total of forty-nine years. (9) Then you shall sound the horn (shofar) loud; in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month—the Day of Atonement—you shall have the horn (shofar) sounded throughout your land (10) And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year, proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants, it shall be a Jubilee for you; each of you shall return to your ancestral lands and each of you shall return to your family.
Chasidut by Zev Reichman
Yovel Restores Branches to Their Roots
17:15 In the land of Israel, after every forty-nine years, during the fiftieth year, a special Heavenly spirit descends into the world. This shefa, abundant flow of blessing, has a unique characteristic; it returns all to their root.
17:18 What is the meaning of the name Yovel? Nachmanides says Yovel means “to bring.” ... Yovel means that every being will return [be brought back] to the source [yoveil] where his roots lie.”
17:19 Nachmanides quotes Jeremiah, “And its roots will be sent forth” (Jer. 17:8). Yovel is when spiritual roots spread out to return their offshoots home. Yovel’s nature is further reflected in its defining laws.
["Freedom" and "return to the land" and "return of the land"]
17:22...As a result, during Yovel a slave returns home to his family and spiritual level.
17:26 Land has a root-quality...Since Yovel returns branches to the root, it returns the individual to his or her land.
תניא רבי מאיר אומר יובל שמו שנאמר (ירמיה יז, ח) והיה כעץ שתול על מים ועל יובל ישלח שרשיו ולמה נקרא שמו פרת שמימיו פרים ורבים
It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Meir says: Yuval is the name of the Euphrates River where it emerges from Eden, as it is stated: “For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out its roots by the river [yuval]...(Jeremiah 17:8). And why is it named Euphrates [perat]? Because its waters are fruitful [parim] and multiply without the need for rainfall.
(י) וְנָהָר֙ יֹצֵ֣א מֵעֵ֔דֶן לְהַשְׁק֖וֹת אֶת־הַגָּ֑ן וּמִשָּׁם֙ יִפָּרֵ֔ד וְהָיָ֖ה לְאַרְבָּעָ֥ה רָאשִֽׁים׃
Gn. 2:14 ...הָֽרְבִיעִ֖י ה֥וּא פְרָֽת׃
(10) A river issues forth from Eden to water the garden, and from there it is divided and becomes four branches/headwaters.
Gn. 2:14...and the fourth river is the Euphrates.
וע"ד הקבלה יובל היא מלשון (ירמיהו י״ז:ח׳) ועל יובל ישלח שרשיו, וירמוז כי כל הדורות יובלו אל הסבה הראשונה, ולכך נקרא היובל בשם דרור כי הוא היובל אשר שם שרשי הדורות והנבראים כולן, כי משם נאצלו בברית עולם שנאמר
A kabbalistic approach to the words יובל היא: The word יובל is derived from the expression ועל יובל ישלח שרשיו, “sending forth its roots by a stream” (Jeremiah 17:8), a hint that all the succeeding generations are traced back to their original roots, to the prime cause which determined their development. This is the reason why the Yovel is called דרור, “freedom.” All of mankind originated with the pool of souls at G’d’s disposal and eventually this is where the souls will return to.
(יב) כִּסֵּ֣א כָב֔וֹד מָר֖וֹם מֵרִאשׁ֑וֹן מְק֖וֹם מִקְדָּשֵֽׁנוּ׃ (יג) מִקְוֵ֤ה יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ יי כׇּל־עֹזְבֶ֖יךָ יֵבֹ֑שׁוּ (יסורי) [וְסוּרַי֙] בָּאָ֣רֶץ יִכָּתֵ֔בוּ כִּ֥י עָזְב֛וּ מְק֥וֹר מַֽיִם־חַיִּ֖ים אֶת־יי׃ {פ} (יד) רְפָאֵ֤נִי יי וְאֵ֣רָפֵ֔א הוֹשִׁיעֵ֖נִי וְאִוָּשֵׁ֑עָה כִּ֥י תְהִלָּתִ֖י אָֽתָּה׃
(12) Like the Throne of Glory, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our Sanctuary. (13) O Hope of Israel! O HaShem! All who forsake You shall be put to shame, those in the land who turn from You shall be doomed (You Lit. “Me” doomed Lit. “inscribed”; meaning of line uncertain), for they have forsaken HaShem, The Source of Living Waters/Mekor Mayim Chayim. (14) Heal me, HaShem, and I will be healed; Save me, and I will be saved; For You are my praise.
רְפָאֵֽנוּ יי וְנֵרָפֵא הוֹשִׁיעֵֽנוּ וְנִוָּשֵֽׁעָה כִּי תְהִלָּתֵֽנוּ אָֽתָּה וְהַעֲלֵה רְפוּאָה שְׁלֵמָה לְכָל מַכּוֹתֵֽינוּ
Heal us, HaShem, and we will be healed, save us and we will be saved; for You are our praise. Grant a complete healing to all our affliction ....
See Shefa Gold's website for the R'fa'ayni Yah chant (audio files and player)
R’fa’ayni Yah v’ayrafay;
Hoshiyani v’ivashay’ah ki t’hilati atah.
Heal me, God, and I will be healed;
Save me and I will be saved… for my praise is You. (Jeremiah 17:14)
I cry out from the depths of my suffering, and in the moment when my cry reverberates, I know that I am healed, made whole, embraced in the arms of Love. I call out from the apprehension of being lost, and in my calling, I hear the truth of how connected I have always been and always will be. My prayer of longing becomes praise. My asking becomes receiving. In my prayer I know God as the Transforming Force that moves through me. My praise is that Force.
(י) כִּֽי־עִ֭מְּךָ מְק֣וֹר חַיִּ֑ים בְּ֝אוֹרְךָ֗ נִרְאֶה־אֽוֹר׃
(10) For with You is the Source of life; In Your light we see light.
Joseph G. Rosenstein. Highland Park, NJ: Shiviti Publications, 2003.
Petitionary Prayer. Does petitionary prayer work? Many people have a "cosmic candy machine" view of religion: if you insert the correct prayer in the slot, your request will be fulfilled; if you prayer wholeheartedly for victory, your team will win the football game. Our perspective is rather that God's blessings, guidance, and assistance are always flowing to us, that no special effort on God's part is required to direct that flow to us. However, we must position ourselves to receive that flow, we must make a special effort to receive it -- and that is to acknowledge our need for that blessing, to say "God, please help me!" When we ask for God's help, God's help is present! Do we always get what we want? Clearly not, for each one of us is mortal... But through prayer, through speaking to God, we can find the spiritual resources to deal with life's problems. -- p.66
David Grossman, "Individual Language and Mass Language,"
Writing in the Dark: Essays on Literature and Politics (2008)
In the Jewish tradition there is a legend...that every person has a small bone in his body called the luz, located at the tip of the spine, which enfolds the essence of a person's soul. This bone cannot be destroyed... It stores a person's spark of uniqueness, the core of his selfhood... Those of you who would like to find your own response to the question may, when you go home, choose to gather your thoughts and consider: What is the thing within me that is the true root of my soul? What is the quality, the essence, the final spark that will remain in me even when all other things are extinguished? What is the thing that has such great and concerted power that I will be re-created out of it, in an extremely private sort of "big bang"?
Once in a while I ask people close to me what they believe their luz is, and I have heard many varied answers. Several writers, and artists in general, have told me that their luz is creativity, the passion to create and the urge to produce. Religious people, believers, have often said that their luz is the divine spark they feel inside. One friend answered, after much thought: Parenthood... And another friend immediately replied that her luz was her longing for the things and people she missed. A woman who was roughly ninety at the time talked about the love of her life, a man who committed suicide over sixty years ago: he was her luz.
28:19) He (Jacob) named that site Bethel; but previously the name of the city had been Luz. (יט) וַיִּקְרָ֛א אֶת־שֵֽׁם־הַמָּק֥וֹם הַה֖וּא בֵּֽית־אֵ֑ל וְאוּלָ֛ם ל֥וּז שֵׁם־הָעִ֖יר לָרִאשֹׁנָֽה׃
The rabbis of the Talmudic period turned this once Canaanite city into a legendary City of Immortality [compare Shangri-La]: “…the Angel of Death has no permission to pass through it.
Sotah 46:b “And the man went to the land of the Hittites, and he built a city, and he called its name Luz; that is its name to this day” (Judges 1:26). It is taught in a baraita: This is the city Luz where sky blue wool is dyed. It is the same city Luz where, although Sennacherib came and exiled many nations from place to place, he did not disarrange and exile its inhabitants; Nebuchadnezzar, who conquered many lands, did not destroy it; and even the angel of death has no permission to pass through it. Rather, its Elders, when they have decided that they have reached the end of life, go outside the city wall and die.
This tradition seems to be related to the etymology of the word Luz, which was used to refer to the nut-shaped bone at the base of the spine that was thought to be the indestructible “bone of resurrection”, the one human bone from which physical resurrection will begin (Leviticus Rabbah 18:1 and parallels). The Biblical city of Luz is also referred to as Qushta (the Aramaic word for “truth”) because its inhabitants who never lied, never died before their time (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 97a).
לוּז II m. (b. h.) nut, almond, hazel-nut; also nut-tree.
Gen. R. s. 69 (ref. to לוּז, v. preced.) מה ל׳ אין לו פה וכ׳ (some ed. לה, fem.) as the nut has no opening, so nobody could find the entrance to the town. Ib. ל׳ היה עומד וכ׳ a nut-tree stood before the entrance. Ib.; ib. s. 81 end, v. רָטַב; a. fr.—Pl. לוּזִים, לוּזִין. Y. Kil. I, 27ᵃ bot., v. בּוּטְמָא.—Trnsf. ל׳ של שדרה the nut of the spinal column, a hard vertebra, (Juden-knöchlein, v. Löw Pfl., p. 375 a. quot. ib. from Hyrtl, Das Arabische und Hebr. in der Anat., p. 165). Lev. R. s. 18; Koh. R. to XII, 5; a. e.
The word luz in Hebrew (Hebrew: 'לוז') means nut or almond.[1] Because of this it became associated with the small bone at the top of the spinal column (the first cervical vertebra, C1 or the Atlas), underneath the brain, on the top of the spine, (the bone where the knot of the tefillin rests). It is about the size of a kernel of barley. The Zohar states that the luz is the bone in the spine that appears like the head of a snake[2], implying that is the sacrum, because the sacrum is the only bone in the spine that looks like the head of a snake. The sacrum has similar significance to the luz as a source of resurrection in Egyptian and Greek cultures contemporary to the Zohar and Talmud.[3][4] The sacrum has a pattern of dimples and shape that appear similar to those of the almond shell.
Jewish traditions teach that this is the bone from which the body will be rebuilt at the time of resurrection, and share the idea that this bone does not decay.[5] There is an aggadah (legend) in the midrash that the Roman Emperor Hadrian asked how man would be revived in the world to come, and Rabbi Joshua Ben Hananiah replied that it would be "From Luz, in the back-bone." "Prove this to me," said Hadrian. Then the Rabbi took Luz, a small bone of the spine, and immersed it in water, but it was not softened; he put it into the fire, but it was not consumed; he put it into a mill, but it could not be pounded; he placed it upon an anvil and struck it with a hammer, but the anvil split and the hammer was broken. (Ecclesiastes Rabbah xii / Genesis Rabbah xviii).