The Queen of Heaven: Part 3

(13) Leah declared, “Happy am I/Ashray!” meaning, “Daughters will deem me fortunate/Ishruni.” So she named [her adoptive son] Asher.

(21) You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah of any kind of tree next to the altar of your God, Yah, asher/which you shall make for yourselves.

(13) Moses said to God, “When I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is [God’s] name?’ what shall I say to them?”(14) And God said to Moses, “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh,” I am that which I am I Will Be What I Will Be”....

It says in Deuteronomy, ‘”You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah or any kind of tree next to the altar of your God, YHVH,which/asher you shall make for yourselves.”

Are we to suppose that anywhere else it is permitted [to plant an Asherah]?

[Of course not!] The truth is that the "H’" [in God's name "YHVH'"] is called Asherah, after the name of its spouse, Asher.

The meaning of the verse is therefore: “You shall not plant another Asherah next to the altar of your God, YHVH, this[Asherah].”

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Observe that throughout the Scriptures the worshippers of the sun are called servants of Baal and the worshippers of the moon servants of Asherah; hence the [frequently used] combination “to Baal and Asherah.” If this is so (that Asherah is the name of the feminine aspect of God), why do we not commonly use is as a sacred name?

The reason is that this name brings to mind the words of [mother] Leah, “Happy am I, for the daughters will call me happy (ishruni), (Gen 30:13)” but [our people] are not “called happy” by other nations, and another nation is set up in its place. It is written, “all that honored her despise her” (Lam. 1:8). [So it is not sensitive or appropriate to call Goddess Asherah when our people are in exile and not happy.]

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But the real altar is one that is made of earth, as it is written, “An altar of earth you shall make for me.” That is why it says in Genesis, (humans are made from) “dust from the earth.”(Gen 2:7)..

HRK Jill Hammer's translation

(18) "than one who pranks himself" is as we said, that he puts on airs, curls his hair, and acts haughtily, "but lacks bread." This means a lack of faith, as it is written, "to offer the bread of his Elohim" (Vayikra 21:17), and "the bread of their Elohim they do offer" (Ibid. 6). Bread is the Shechinah in both verses. Faith is the Shechinah, so lacking bread means lacking faith.

(18) The children gather sticks, the fathers build the fire, and the mothers knead dough, to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven, they pour libations to other gods, to vex Me.

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...Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi tells a story: At the dawn of time, Sun and Moon were equally bright, two great lights in the sky. Moon was not so sure about the practicality of this co-regency. Moon came before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, and spoke:

Moon:

Is it possible for two kings to serve with a single crown?

God:

If sharing power is such a problem for you, go and diminish yourself.

Narrator:

Immediately, it was so. Moon shrank to her current size.

But Moon, no pushover, challenged God.

Moon:

Master of the Universe, because I said an accurate observation in front of You, I have to diminish myself?!

Narrator:

God felt bad for what God had done.

God:

I'll make it up to you. I'll allow you to appear in the daytime sky. Go and rule both during the day along with the sun and during the night, alone.

Moon:

What's so great about shining alongside the sun?! What use is a candle in the middle of the day?

God:

Okay. I'll make it up to you this way: Go, let the Jewish people calculate the days and years with you, and this will be your greatness.

Moon:

But the Jewish people will calculate with the sun as well, as it is impossible that they will not calculate seasons with it, as it is written: “And let them (the sun, moon, and stars) be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years” (Genesis 1:14).

God:

How about this: Go, let righteous men be named after you. Just as you are called hakatan or the lesser light, there will be Ya’akov HaKatan, i.e., Jacob our forefather (see Amos 7:2), Shmuel HaKatan the tanna, and King David HaKatan (see I Samuel 17:14).

Narrator:

God saw that the moon was not comforted. The Holy One, Blessed be He, spoke.

God:

The people will bring atonement for me, since I diminished the moon.

Narrator:

And this is what Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says: What is different about the goat offering of the New Moon, that it is stated about it, is is “For the Lord” (Numbers 28:15)? The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: This goat shall be an atonement for Me for having diminished the size of the moon.

(1)This prayer is customarily recited in the open air, in clear sight of the moon, seven days after the birth of the new moon.

(2) Praise God. Praise Adonoy from the sky, praise Him in the heavens! Praise Him all His angels, praise Him all His hosts! Praise Him sun and moon; praise Him all the stars of light. Praise Him skies of skies and the waters that are above the skies. They will praise the Name of Adonoy, for He commanded and they were created. He established them for all time, as long as the world exists. He decreed [it] unalterable.(Psalms 146:1-6)

(3)There are those who now set the following intention:Behold I am ready and prepared to fulfill the commandment to sanctify the new moon. For the sake of the unification of the Holy One, blessed be he, and his Presence, through the One that is hidden and concealed, in the name of all Israel!One should face east (or Jerusalem) with their feet together as during the Amidah prayer. They should look once at the face of the moon before beginning the blessing, and not look at it again.

(4) Blessed are You, Adonoy, our God, King of the Universe, Who with His utterance created the heavens, and with the breath of His mouth, all their host. Law and season did He give them, that they not deviate from their set function. They are glad and rejoice to do the will of their Possessor —the Worker of truth Whose work is true. The moon He directed to renew itself— a crown of glory to those who are borne by him from the womb,[Isaiah 46:3,] who are also destined to be renewed, and to glorify their Creator for the Name of His glorious kingdom. Blessed are You, Adonoy, Renewer of the months.

(5)Recite three times: Blessed is your Former, blessed is your Maker, blessed is your Possessor, blessed is your Creator.

(6)Recite three times: Just as I leap toward you but cannot touch you, so may all my enemies be unable to touch me with evil intent.

(7)Recite three times: Let fall upon them terror and dread at the greatness of Your arm let them be still as stone.

(8)Recite three times: As a stone, let them be still by [virtue of] Your arm’s greatness; and may dread and terror upon them fall.

(9)Recite three times: David, King of Israel, lives and endures [forever.]

(10)The following greeting is exchanged with three different people: Peace unto you,

(11)The other responds: Unto you be peace.4This greeting is offered in order to indicate that the curse mentioned earlier [May dread and terror etc.] was not intended for those around us.—Etz Yosef

(12)Recite three times: A good sign and good fortune let there be for us and for all Israel. Amein.

(13) The voice of my beloved! Behold—He is coming, leaping over the mountains bounding over the hills. My Beloved is like a hart or a young deer. Behold!—He stands behind our wall, observing through the windows, looking through the lattice. [Song of Songs 2:8,9]

(14) A song of ascents. I lift my eyes to the mountains— from where will my help come? My help [comes] from Adonoy, Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip, He will not slumber—your Guardian. Behold—He does not slumber nor does He sleep—the Guardian of Israel. Adonoy is your guardian, Adonoy is your shelter at your right hand. By day the sun will not smite you, nor the moon at night. Adonoy will guard you from all evil, He will preserve your soul, Adonoy will guard your going and coming from now and forever.6Psalms 121.

(15) Praise God. Praise the Almighty in His Sanctuary. Praise God in the firmament of His might. Praise Him for His mighty deeds; praise Him according to the abundance of His greatness. Praise Him with the blowing of the shofar; Praise Him with lyre and harp. Praise Him with drum and dance. Praise Him with stringed instuments and flute. Praise Him with resounding cymbals. Praise Him with clanging cymbals. Let every soul praise God. Praise God. Let every soul praise God. Praise God.

(16)It was taught in the school of Rabbi Yishmael: Even if Israel was privileged only to greet their Father in heaven, once a month, it would be sufficient for them. Whoever welcomes the new moon by reciting the blessing to God, welcomes the Shechinah, the Divine Presence of God. Abbaye said: “Therefore it must be recited standing.”8Maseches Sanhedrin 42a. Who is this coming up from the wilderness clinging to her beloved? (Song of Songs 8:5.) May it be Your will, Adonoy, our God, and God of our fathers, to fill the deficiency of the moon, so that it will no longer be diminished; and may the light of the moon be like the light of the sun, —and like the light of the seven days of creation— as it was before it was diminished, as it is said: “The two great luminaries.”10Genesis 1:16. And may there be fulfilled for us the Scriptural verse which says: “They will seek Adonoy, their God, and David, their king.11Hosea 3:5. Amein.

(17) To the Chief Musician: a Psalm with instrumental music, a song. [May] God favor us and bless us, [may He] cause His countenance to shine among us selah; [so] that Your way become known on earth, [and] Your deliverance among all nations. Peoples will thank You, God, all the peoples will thank You. Nations will rejoice and sing when You judge the peoples justly, and lead the nations upon the earth selah. Peoples will thank You, God, all the peoples will thank You. The earth will have yielded its produce; God, our God, will have blessed us. God will bless us, and they will fear Him— all [men even from] the ends of the earth.

(18)עלינו is said, see p. 000.

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It is also mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud that women have a custom not to perform work at the beginning of the month. In the chapter 44 from the teachings of Rabbi Eliezer, it is noted that women did not want to give their earrings to their husbands for the sin of the Golden Calf. Therefore, God rewarded them by allowing them to observe Rosh Chodesh more than men.

I heard from my brother, Rabbi Yitzhak, a reason for this practice: the festivals were established in connection to the patriarchs. Pesach corresponds to Abraham, as it is written (Genesis 18), "Prepare and make cakes." Shavuot corresponds to Isaac because the sounding of the shofar at the giving of the Torah was with the ram's horn of Isaac. Sukkot corresponds to Jacob, as it is written (Genesis 34), "And for his livestock, he made booths." The twelve heads of the months of the year are also called festivals, corresponding to the twelve tribes. When they sinned with the calf, these festivals were taken from them and given to their wives as a reminder that they were not part of that sin...