Definition of Torah and Its Studies

There is a fundamental issue in the Jewish world today which shackles the mind and prevents one from pursuing an integral Torah study, and that is the way people define the concept of Torah. Once we understand how to correctly define this term, it would free both the mind and the spirit to reach beyond the limitations set before, and open new portholes to such approaches as secular studies, natural sciences, politics and more.

We hear the word being used over and over in different contexts, but what does it mean? If we would conduct a random survey and ask people in Bnei Brak, Borough Park, or even in Jerusalem what is "Torah" we would get all kinds of answers, most likely all of them erroneous. Some would say Torah is a way of life. Others would say it is a system of proper behavior, or a system of rules and regulations. These are incorrect because they are definitions of Derekh Ereṣ and Miṣwoth - not Torah. Then there are those who would say, it's a book of stories, but that is a definition of the Written Torah - not Torah. There is another mistaken opinion, mostly found among academics, and that is that the Torah is the Wisdom of God. I will address this opinion in due course.

If all of the above opinions are erroneous, what is then the correct definition of Torah?

In order to answer this question, let us first deal with the errors and in so doing peel off the husks and arrive at the seed. Those who say that Torah means ethical conduct are unaware of the troublesome nature of their proposition. The question that should arise is: Is it impossible for a person to be ethical without the Torah? Let us ask another question: According to the Torah, do the Gentiles have to be ethical? Answer: Yes. Q: According to the Torah, did the Gentiles receive the Torah? A: No. If so, how can we demand of them to be ethical if the content which necessitates ethics is absent amidst them?

Moreover, were it not our Sages who said Derekh Ereṣ (lit. 'the way of the land') preceded the Torah? Logically, if one says that A precedes B, that must mean that A≠B. Therefore Torah is not 'the way of the land' (ethics).

Those who say the Torah is laws and regulations seem to overlook some Biblical verses, such as the verse in Proverbs, "For the commandment (Miṣwah) is a lamp, and the teaching (Torah) is light" (6:23), which indicates that Torah is not Miṣwah. These people tend diminish Torah to the level of impersonal Halakhah. And what about Aggadah? As Rashi comments on the earlier verse: "Just as light always illuminates, so does the merit of the Torah stand for a person forever, but the merit of the commandment is only for a limited time, like the light of a lamp". Or as the Maharal explains in Tiferet Yisrael that "the Torah is not perceptions divided [into] each commandment and commandment in itself, but all the commandments in it connect to one simple idea" (chp. 11). Maharal here says the that Torah is not the totality of commandments, but that the commandments stem from the Torah, a relationship which resembles a root and branches. The root is not the sum of all branches, but rather the branches relate to the root.

In the academia we find the opinion that Torah is the Wisdom of God ('the Mind of God' is another term used), and this is fallacious because wisdom is unassociated with the person who studies it. Just as a mathematical theorem remains true regardless of the fact there are some who did not understand it. The correctness of it is due to the fact it is part of reality. Such Torah is an object. Its God is something, not a someone.

We should therefore resort to the classical view, that the Torah is the expression of the will of God in the world, as illustrated by the midrash: (Tanḥuma, Ki Tissa 17)

ויתן אל משה ככלתו, זש"ה עלית למרום שבית שבי בנוהג שבעולם אדם שובה מחברו כסף וזהב ובגדים שמא יכול לשבות מה שבלבו ואתה שבית את התורה שבתוך לבי הוי שבית שבי

"'He gave to Moses when He finished [speaking to him]' (Exodus 31:18); that is which was stated: 'You went up to the heights, you took spoil [i.e., Torah]' (Psalm 68:19), as is customary in the world that a human seizes silver and gold and cloths from his fellow man, thinking he can seize what is in his heart, so you [Moses] have seized the Torah that was in My heart

The word "heart" in ancient times meant what today we call "mind". What is on one's mind is one's will before it is manifested through speech.


The following torah (teaching) I learned from a rav meqqubal (although from a distance). The study of Torah is divided into three, all of which is included and rooted in THE TORAH (הַתורה), which no one studies. The Sages say that God consulted THE TORAH and created the world. The Torah they refer to is a supernal archetypal Torah. The blueprint of the universe. We study a derivative of that TORAH: Torah (תורה). As the mishnah in Avoth says: "Moses received Torah from Sinai". It is not stated that 'Moses received the Torah', because the Torah he cannot receive. Maharal, commenting on משה קבל תורה, writes: (Derekh Hayyim, ch. 1 pg. 19)

אמר אצל משה לשון קבלה, כי המקבל הוא מקבל לפי כחו, ולא קבל משה כל התורה כדאיתא במסכת שבועות (ה', ע"א) דאמר שם אלא מעתה גבי תורה דכתיב ונעלמה מעיני כל חי מי איכא מאן דידע לה והא כתיב לא ידע אנוש ערכה וגו', א"כ אי אפשר לומר שקבל משה כל התורה כולה עד שידע כל התורה כולה, אלא מקבל התורה מה שאפשר לקבל.

In the case of Moses [the mishnah uses] the term 'reception' (qabalah), for the receiver receives according to his ability, and Moses did not receive the entire Torah... but he received the Torah as was possible for him to receive

In the same manner, R. Menaḥem Azaryah of Fano wrote in 'Asarah Ma'amarot: (Ḥaqor Dīn Part IV, chapter 6)

הא למדת כי חמדה לחוד וכלי חמדה לחוד ועליהן תנן משה קבל תורה מסיני לא אמר את התורה שלא על עצם התורה ונסתרה הדברים אמורים דלא שייך בה לשון קבלה או מסירה אלא השגה שכלית אמנם בסיני היה עוסק בחמדה עצמה ולא הורשה למסור אותה לאחרים כדאיתא בספרי ואותי צוה ה' בעת ההיא דברים צוה אותי לאמרם ביני לבין עצמי והוא טעם וידבר ה' אל משה מה שיאות לו לבדו עמיקתא ומסתרתא לאמר מה שישנו בלך אמור

This metaphysical Torah is the structure of the Universe (סדר העולם) and contains within it everything. But we as students of Moshe Rabbeinu A"H do not study the Torah in its original. Therefore, when Haredim-Dati'im say 'everything is written in the Torah', it depends on which Torah they are talking about. The Torah we study does not contain everything. Every man receives the Torah according to his capacity and understands it according to his sensory nerves.

It should be remarked that this distinction exists in the language of the Sages and is not found in Scripture (‘The Torah uses its own language and the Sages their own’ - B. Ḥulin 137b). As Scripture does not contain abstract expressions, it uses the term word of God instead of the will of God (for more info see Language of Sages vs. Language of Torah).

In the Scriptures, THE TORAH is called the Torah of the Lord (Torath ha-Shem) and Torah is called 'our Torah', as illustrated by the first Psalm:

But his desire is in the Torah of the Lord, and in his Torah he meditates day and night

Rashi there comments: 'At first, it is called the Torah of the Lord, and after he has toiled to master it, it is called his own Torah'. One would desire to engage in the Torah of the Lord, but de facto (in actuality) he is involved in his own Torah. There is a fall and a difference between the desire and reality.


In light of the aforementioned explanations, it is clear why secular studies such as the natural sciences are learned outside of the Beith Midrash. The sciences are part of The Torah, but not our Torah. Our rabbis taught that there is a scale of ranks where the study of Torah is at the top. According to R. Yehudah ha-Lewi, one should begin his studies with the study of particles (physics), then the elements (chemistry), and the other natural sciences (botany and biology), and psychology (perhaps even neurology), and only then engage in the divine science (metaphysics) and arrive at the true belief (Kuzari V:2).

Rabbeinu Baḥya bar Asher clarified this in his commentary to Avoth: (chp. 3)

וכל הדברים האלה בין התקופה בין גיאמטריאות הכל פרפראות לחכמה כלומר לחכמת האלהית ולשון פרפרת הוא לפתן שאדס אוכל בו את הפת וכן אמרו (ברכות מ"ב) פטר את הפרפרת של אחר המזון וכשם שהפרפרת טפלה אצל הפת והפת עיקר כך תקופות וגימטריאות טפלין לחכמת האלהית וחכמת האלהית היא העיקר, וכשם שהפרפרת סבה להעיר את הכח הניזון ולהרבות לאכול את הפת כך תקופות וגימטריאות מעוררין את הכח השכלי ומביאין אותו להרבות בידיעת האלהית ודבר ידוע כי שבע חכמות כולם הן הן סולם לעלות לחכמת האלהות שהיא השביעית שכולם מתאימות כאחד נכללות בַּתורה,ואין עיקר כל המצות שבתורה והתכלית שלהן אלא להגיע אל החכמה הזאת השביעית האחרונה כי שאר החכמות אין החכם השלם משתמש בהם כי אם לרקחות ולטבחות ולאופים ואלו הן חכמת ההגיון וחכמת המספר וחכמת המדות וחכמת הטבע וחכמת התכונה וחכמת הניגון וחכמת האלהות

Rabbeinu Baḥya compares the way of study to a meal, where dessert is extrinsic and the bread is intrinsic to one's nourishment, so the wisdoms of the world are likened to sweets that are subordinate to the divine wisdom - Torah. He writes that 'it is a known fact that the seven wisdoms are a ladder by which one can ascend to the metaphysics'. He explains that the sage uses them as handmaidens, and explains that these wisdoms consist of the study of logic and rhetoric, mathematics and geometry, chemistry and astronomy.

Those who claim that everything that science knows is also Torah unconsciously claim that it is only suitable for Jews to study in the university, since everything is Torah. This is absurd. There has to be a defined boundary which separates the divine Torah that is studied in the Beith Midrash and the six wisdoms that are needed for the Torah to operate which is develpped in the universities, but should definitely be studied by Talmidei Ḥakhamim as well. Even if Moses did receive such wisdoms and passed them onto the Elders, these sciences have been forgotten, and we must regain them from the nations, just as we are obliged to bless upon seeing the sages of other nations, saying, 'Blessed be He who hath imparted of His wisdom to His creatures' (B. Berakhoth 58a). So says the Maharal in Netivot 'Olam: (Netiv ha-Torah 14)

ואם כן מזה נראה כי יש ללמוד חכמת האומות כי למה לא ילמד החכמה שהיא מן השם יתברך שהרי חכמת האומות גם כן מן השם יתברך שהרי נתן להם מחכמתו יתברך...אבל החכמות לעמוד על המציאות וסדר העולם בודאי מותר ללמוד... כי החכמה הזאת היא כמו סולם לעלות בה אל חכמת התורה.

And if so [that there is wisdom to be found among the nations] then it is evident that one must study the wisdom of the nations for it is from God, may He be praised, for He gave from his wisdom to them... but the wisdoms which grasp reality and the order of the world is surely permitted to be learned... for this wisdom is like a ladder by which one can ascend to the the wisdom of Torah

But Maharal warns that one should read their works with a critical eye and beware of their worldviews which are foreign to our Holy Torah. He also says that our spiritual and divine wisdom is separate from the material wisdom "and you therefore would not find the Torah among those whose entire wisdom is in the skies where divine wisdom is not to be found" (ibid). The problematic character of secular studies is when it is taught by a foreigner is seclusion from our Holy Torah, and then one is stuck in the natural realm (i.e., materialism). In this respect, one can surely understand the retionale behind the ban on Greek philosophy in the Middle-Ages and the reluctance on the part of some Chareidi rabbanim to send their students after the natural sciences, which are dominated by secular instructors.

Then there are those who will point to one statement by the GR"A found in his commentary to Sifra deTsniuta which seemingly proves that everything is written in the Torah: (chapter 5)

והכלל כי כל מה שהיה והוה ויהיה עד עולם הכל כלול בתורה מבראשית עד לעיני כל ישראל. ולא הכללים בלבד, אלא אפילו פרטיו של כל מין ומין, ושל כל אדם בפרט, וכל מה שאירע לו מיום הולדו עד סופו, וכל גלגוליו. וכל פרטיו ופרטי פרטיו. וכן של כל מין בהמה וחיה, וכל בעל חי שבעולם, וכל עשב וצומח ודומם וכל פרטיהם, ופרטי פרטיהם בכל מין ומין ואישי המינים עד לעולם, ומה שיארע להם ושרשם

.

Those people do not realize that the Gaon is referring to allusions and codes that are "included" in the Written Torah, and only select few can find what they seek in such a manner. In fact the GRA himself studied the sciences, as his children and students testify. Reb Barukh of Shklov wrote in his introduction to the translation of Euclid's Elements:

שמעתי מפי קדוש כי כפי מה שיחסר לאדם ידיעות משארי החכמות, לעומת זה יחסר לו מאה ידות בחכמת התורה, כי התורה והחכמה נצמדים יחד ואמר משל לאדם הנעצר יתבלבל שכלו עד כל אוכל תתאב... וצוה לי להעתיק מה שאפשר ללשוננו הקדוש מחכמות, כדי להוציא בולעם מפיהם וישוטטו רבים ותרבה הדעת בין עמנו ישראל

“... I have heard from the holy one that if one is lacking in the knowledge of the other [secular] sciences, he will lack a hundredfold more in the wisdom of the Torah, for the two are inseparably connected... and he commanded me to translate whatever possible [of the secular subjects] into our holy tongue in order to recover what they (the Gentiles) have devoured... so that knowledge should proliferate among our people Israel"

R. Hillel of Shklov also wrote of the Gaon: (Kol haTor 5:2)

נודע למשגב, שרבנו… עסק הרבה גם בחקירת סגולות הטבע מחקרי ארץ, לשם השגת חכמת התורה ולשם קידוש השם בעיני העמים ולשם קירוב הגאולה. עוד מצעירותו הראה נפלאות בכל שבע החכמות והירבה לבקש. גם ציווה לתלמידיו ללמוד כמה שאפשר בשבע החכמות של מחקרי ארץ גם כדי להרים את חכמת ישראל על-פי חכמת התורה בעיני העמים...ובכדי להבין ולהשיג את חכמת התורה הכלולה באור החכמה העליון, נחוץ ללמוד גם את שבע החכמות הצפונות בעולם התחתון, עולם הטבע

"It is made known as a stronghold that our master... also dealt much in the research of the qualities of nature in order to attain the wisdom of the Torah and to sanctify the name of God in the sight of the peoples and for the purpose of drawing near the redemption... he has also commanded his students to teach as much as they can the seven wisdoms of the natural sciences to exalt the wisdom of Israel according to the wisdom of the Torah...and in order to understand and attain the wisdom of the Torah which is inclosed in the supreme light of wisdom, it is necessary to learn the seven wisdoms which are concealed in the lower world, the world of nature."

Reb Yisroel mi-Shklov wrote similar things in his introduction to Pe'at ha-Shulchan. Read it there.


In this view, we are free to strive for a lucid study of all sciences and wisdoms, Torah study in particular, with the proper differentiation, free of biases. It also clears misconceptions regarding Torah & Science, and the place of secular studies where it is needed. It should be clarified, however, that one does not learn the wisdoms of the lower world to speculate and philosophize. These studies have the purpose of aiding the Torah, which is superior to all other wisdoms. The Vilna Gaon, for example, urged his students to study geometry and engineering so that Jews can ultimately build the Temple in Jerusalem in due time (before the Messiah arrives. See Prof. Arie Morgenstern's research for the latest findings).

Such a view of Torah sets loose all sorts of ideas that were before confined or restrained. If The Torah is the order of the world, it includes within itself all disciplines of life, encompassing a wide range of fields of study such as politics and economics, something that was neglected by the Torah world while we have been in exile. Now that we are back on our land, thank God, we can finally retrieve the lost wisdoms and elevate them to the level of holiness. Observing the commandments is nice, but we should always keep in mind that they are the means and not the goal. The ultimate purpose is Da'ath HaShem. This subject would be expanded,God willing, when the occasion arises.

miTeiman Yavo: Three Yemenite Jewish Families make 'Aliyah

Barukh haShem, a couple of hours ago sixteen Yemenite Jews, including three families, arrived on 'aliyah at Ben-Gurion International Airport (IsraelNN).

The Sifre on Deuteronomy describes the exit from exile thus: (par. 314)

ישאהו על אברתו, כענין שנאמר (שמות יט, ד) ואשא אתכם על כנפי נשרים. דבר אחר, כנשר יעיר קנו, זה לעתיד לבוא שנאמר (שיר השירים ב, ח) קול דוד הנה זה בא. יפרוש כנפיו, שנאמר (ישעיה מג, ו) אומר לצפון תני ולתימן אל תכלאי. ישאהו על אברתו כענין שנאמר (ישעיהו מט, כב) והביאו בניך בחצן

He shall bear them on His pinions, as the matter was stated, and I bore you on eagles' wings [and brought you unto Myself] (Ex. 19:4). Another interpretation, As an eagle that stirreth up his nest, this is in days to come, for it is stated, Hark, my beloved, behold, he cometh (SoS. 2:8). Spreadeth abroad his wings, as it is stated, I will say to the north: 'Give up,' and to the south [Teiman]: 'Keep not back [bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the end of the earth] (Is. 43:6).

The Mekhilta deRebbi Yishmael on parashath Bo says:

וכן אתה מוצא כל זמן שישראל משועבדין כביכול שכינה משועבדת עמהם...וכשנגאלו מה הוא אומר וכעצם השמים לטוהר...וכשעתידין לחזור כביכול שכינה חוזרת עמהן שנ' ושב י"י אלהיך את שבותך (דברים ל, ג) אינו אומר והשיב אלא ושב

As long as Israel is enslaved (which means, in exile under the yoke of the nations) it is though the Shekhinah (Divine Presence) is enslaved with them, and when they are redeemed (return to the Land of Israel) the Scripture testifies that it is "the like of the very heaven for clearness" (Ex. 24:10). Every Jew who ascends to the Land of Israel returns the Shekhinah. This is a great responsibility.

The influence of the Satmers in the Yemenite community is not to be scoffed but to be mourned, or better yet, dealt with (by bringing all Jews from Yemen to Israel).

Formula for Israelite Identity According to the Ben Ish Hai

Different thinkers have difficulty defining the identity called "Israel". There are those who see it as a religion solely, and those who see it solely a nation. Each thinker emphasized a different dimension. R. Yoseph Ḥayyim from Baghdad (1835-1909), known as "the Ben Ish Ḥai" after the title of his most popular work, gives the rationale behind the prepotency of the name Yisrael in the following manner: (opening to Hilkhoth Shanah Rishonah to parashath WaYishlaḥ)

והוא כי ישראל הוא מספר יעקב, משה דוד דשלשה צדיקים אלו צריכין להיות בחיבור אחד

...for Israel is the number Jacob, Moses, David, the three righteous [men] who have to be in unity (lit., in one linkage)

In continuation, the Ben Ish Ḥai explains the matter according to the lore of Qabbalah, but let us deal with this seemingly simple, but very pivotal, introductory statement.

A later scholar, Rav Yehouda Leon Ashkenazi (1922-1996, son of Chief Rabbi of Algiers. called by his students "Manitou", which means 'The Great Spirit') explained that the gematria, the numerical value of the word "Israel", which is 541, equals the sum of values of "Jacob" (יעקב=182), Moses (משה=345), and David (דוד=14). R. Yehuda further explained that there are three dimensions in Israel: The nation, the Torah, and the land. Jacob our Patriarch symbolizes the nation, Moses our Prophet symbolizes the Torah, and David our King symbolizes the land.

The Ben Ish Ḥai teaches us that these three dimensions must not be separated. During the course of exile, the dimension of David -- soverignty -- was absent, giving way for identity problems. Now during the era of redemption we attain a final fusion of these three elements, and return to the simple formula: The nation with its Torah on its land.

Israel and Torah - which takes precedence?

Rashi, following Midrash Rabbah, interprets the verse "In the beginning of God's creation of" (Heb. בְּרֵאשִית בָּרָא) as passing a lesson to teach us that the world was created for the sake of the Torah, which is called “the beginning of His way” (Prov. 8:22), and for the sake of Israel, who are called “the first of His grain” (Jer. 2:3). But which comes first - Yisrael or Torah? What relationship of mutuality exists between the two? This was asked by Rebbi Shim'on ben Yohai: (Qoheleth Rabbah 1)

ארשב"י כתיב כי כימי העץ ימי עמי ואין עץ אלא תורה, שנאמר עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה, וכי מי נברא בשביל מי התורה בשביל ישראל או ישראל בשביל תורה, לא תורה בשביל ישראל, אלא תורה שנבראת בשביל ישראל הרי היא קיימת לעולמי עולמים, ישראל שנבראו בזכות' עאכ"ו

R. Shimeon b. Yohai said: It is written, For as the days of a tree shall be the days of My people (Isa. 65:22), and 'tree' means nothing else than Torah, as it is stated, She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her (Prov. 3:18). Now who was created for the sake of whom? Was Torah created for the sake of Israel or vice versa? Surely Torah was created for the sake of Israel.

This question has practical implications, since if the Torah is more important than the existence of Israel, what should happen to the nation if it sins?

Both Rashi's source, Midrash Rabbah, and another midrash also ask that question. The former answers it thus: (Beresheeth Rabbah 1:4)

ר' הונא ור' ירמיה בשם רבי שמואל בר ר' יצחק אמרו מחשבתן של ישראל קדמה לכל דבר

R. Huna and R. Yirmiyah said in the name of R. Yiṣḥaq: the thought of Israel preceded every thing

Tanna deVei Eliyahu expands the answer with more detail:

אמר לי רבי שני דברים יש לי בלבבי, ואני אוהבן אהבה גדולה, תורה וישראל, אבל איני יודע אי זה מהן קודם? אמרתי לו: דרכן של בני אדם שאומרים, תורה קדומה לכל, שנאמר ה' קנני ראשית דרכו, אבל הייתי אומר: ישראל קדושים קודמין, שנאמר קודש ישראל לה' ראשית תבואתו

[A man who had learning in Scripture but not in Mishnah] said to me: Master, two things are in my heart and I love them [both with] great affection -- Torah and Israel -- but I do not know which one of them comes first. I said to him: it customary for human beings to say 'Torah precedes everything' in keeping with the verse: The LORD made me as the beginning of His way (Pro. 8:22), but I would say: Israel are holy [and] antedate (=come first), as it is stated: Israel is the LORD'S hallowed portion, His first-fruits of the increase (Jer. 2:3)

This comes to teach us a brilliant lesson. At times, there is a need to temporarily postpone the Torah, just as Mordechai made the first day of Passover pass as a fast day (B. Meg. 15a), and as Moshe Rabbeinu A"H did during the sin of the Golden Calf, when God proclaimed, "Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them" (Ex. 32:10), and by his own initiative broke the tablets rather than let the people be judged according to their words (see Avoth deRabbi Nathan, 2nd add. to form. 1:2) . The Holy One is said to be satisfied with this deed Moshe performed, making the skin of his face send off beams in this world (Eliyahu Rabbah 4:1), and praised him saying, 'all strength to thee that thou brakest it' (יישר כחך ששיברת, lit., 'thy strength be firm', which is an expression of approval. See B. Sha. 87a; Yev. 62a).

The reason this is a brilliant lesson, especially for our times, is because we learn from it the essential definition of Israel and Torah, that the two are inseparable, but moreover that the well being of the nation precedes a strict adherence to the Law. 'The way of human beings' (a literal translation of the original) who think that Torah always takes precedence, and in so doing they turn Judaism into solely a religion and diminish its nationalistic element, is found by the midrash to be an erroneous view of Scripture.

Regrettably, we still have such "human beings" living among us today, that bring Torah before Israel, thus overlooking important events in the annals of the Jewish people and fail giving it proper attention. But interestingly enough, rather than 'having learning in Scripture,' like the man in the midrash, today's "human beings" have learning in Mishnah and yet bring the Torah first. Could it possibly be a mark of the current teachers of Mishnah?

כפשוטו - Restoring Passed Glory

Ever since the Jewish people went into exile, the study of Hebrew Scriptures was either abandoned or, painful as it is, distorted. The Galut-mode reality could not facilitate a clear understanding of the Miqra, and step-by-step the center of attention switched from the Written Torah to the Oral Torah, to the absurd point where The Book we ourselves bestowed unto the world was studied more by non-Jews than by us.

Even now that many of us have returned to the land of our forefathers, the issue is largely neglected. There is nothing more distressful than to enter a Yeshiva and simply request a Tanakh.

This all might change with Jews of different backgrounds and points of view engaging in interpreting the Miqra through KiPshuto (כפשוטו, lit., as the simple meaning), a new non-denominational website which uses an interface similar to Wikipedia and a rating system which allows users to rate each interpretation, respond and discuss the quality of the explanation.

I checked the comments people left on the article on Ynet and found mainly negative attitudes. Among the reasons was a sentiment of fear of a secular or even Christian or Karaite influence into the realm of Holiness. But I am optimistic with regards to this project for one reason, and that is that to use this extraordinary tool people would have to think on a deeper level and be able to share their insights rather than keep it to themselves and probably forget about it. Moreover, the ability to discuss each person's reasoning and perception of the texts is splendid.

This platform, no matter who its founder is, might revive yet more the urge to return to our roots. Now I only wish that wise and erudite persons will engage in the enterprise.

Note on the Pronunciation of the Letter Qoph

While researching the saying of R. Yiṣḥāq Nappaḥa, I stumbled upon an interesting distinction in the way different Jews would pronounce the letter Qoph. The Babylonian Talmudh transliterates the Greek word πραγματεία in the following manner: פרקמטיא (see Ber. 34b; Shab. 127b; Mg.6a), while the original Greek word should be transliterated as pragmateia, the fourth letter being Gamma (lowercase γ).

I could make the statement that this is exclusively the transliteration of the Bavli, but sources from the Land of Israel also have the same transliteration (see Tosephta Ketuvoth: "שלשה שהטילו לכיס"; Yer. Suk. 54c; Yer. Sot. 17a; Yer. San. 29d). Interestingly, while the Talmudh Yerushalmi does contain the transliteration פרקמטיא, it does so very rarely (Beresheeth Rabbah has it only once). The more common transliteration of the Greek word from Palestinian sources is פרגמטיא (see Yer. MQ 81b; Yer. Sot. 24b; Sifre Dev. 354; Ber. Rabbah 19).

I tried to identify the authors of the different sayings and see if I can locate particular places to infer whether these are different dialects. It should be mentioned that certain Babylonian communities such as my own (Caucasian) and other Persian communities still retain a unique pronunciation of the letter Qoph (ק) which has voiceless uvular plosive sound but is unlike that of the Baghdadi Jews that resembles the Arabic Qaf (ق). You can hear some piyyutim (this is one example by a Daghestani rabbi. Notice how he pronounces קְטַנָּה and קִלְלוֹתֶיהָ) and a sensitive ear can pick up the difference right away.

Another evidence we might have for this type of vocalization is from a later period. R. Sa'adyah Gaon, writing in the first quarter of the 10th century, describes the Khazar ruler thus:

ואנה כמא כל מלך ללערב יסמי כליפה וכל מלך ללכזר יסמי כאקאן

Notice how our rabbi transliterates the Turkic name for king, kaɣan, which is commonly vocalized as kaghan/Kağan into כאקאן, again using Qoph and not Gimmel.

In light of these findings, it is quite clear why some Jewish communities in Yemen pronounce the ק as Gof, rather than the original which sounded more like Ghof.

Jewish Oligarch Telman Ismailov is Wanted by the Russian Gov

I have just finished watching a two-hour-long propaganda piece put together by the Russian government..urrr...the Russian media, masqueraded as a "counterfeit reportage" against the Mountain Jewish businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist Telman Ismailov (Rus. Тельман Исмаилов).

Telman, who is the chairman of AST Group, and former owner of Moscow’s renowned Cherkizovsky Market, is being investigated on charges of "dangerous contraband and counterfeit" in a market he does not even own anymore.

"There is nothing more naive," says the reporter from Telekanal Rossiya (Russian TV Channel), "than to ask the local merchants for a certificate of the merchandise". Through a surveillance camera, the reporter shows us how easy it is to buy any certificate one wishes for, right there in the flea market. Just 17,000 Tadjiks are dealing and sleeping in the market, which sees a million people passing there daily, and brings a profit of a billion dollars yearly, according to the report.

Above: Cherkizovsky Market

Telman, who just opened his luxury hotel – Mardan Palace - in Antalya, the largest hotel on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, costing him €1.4 billion, is said to have started selling off his Russian assets for more than a year now, and requests a Turkish citizenship. It seems he has crossed the path of Putin or one of his thugs, and now all of the sudden they notice the criminal activities occurring in the Moscow market, which just happens to be the largest such market in Russia.

According to the mainstream reports, it all started with the finding of smuggled goods worth $2 billion, placed in 6 thousand containers. Shoes and children's clothings were among the objects, which were found "unsuitable for use, threatening the health of children and will soon be destroyed," said the Prosecutor General.

From Putin's rhetoric it is evident that he wants Telman behind bars. Without commenting on the activities of Telman Ismailov, I can say from experience that he is venerated as a Godfather in the Jewish community both in Russia and beyond. He really helped many, many people.

Above: Mardan Palace Hotel

The newly-build 7-star hotel, which according to another Russian magazine, "Arab sheikhs never saw such a palace in their dreams," also contains a house for Mr. Ismailov. I suspect he planned this project in anticipation of a Russian reaction to whatever 'misunderstanding' there was between him and the other oligarchs.

I haven't yet found a report in English so here is the report in Russian: