MY BOOKS

  

TV Show

 I was interviewed by Rabbi Richard Address of the Jewish Sacred Aging, and I discussed my Sefardic background,  how we moved to the Willows in Westborough, MA and my personal theology.

https://vimeo.com/581051990

Please check it out.

WHO ARE SEFARDIC JEWS?

 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, PhD

Presently, there are two major Jewish groups in the world: Ashkenazic, who trace their background to Germany and other Eastern European countries, and Sefardic Jews, who lived in and came out of Spain.  Both groups are influenced by the cultural life of their respective original communities.

The term “Sefarad” appears only once in the Bible: In the prophet Obadiah (v.20), written most likely well after the destruction of the first temple of Jerusalem in 586/7 BCE. (Others place it as late as the 5^th cent. BCE). “Sefarad” probably refers to Sardis, a city in Asia Minor. However, in the Aramaic translation of the Bible, the Targum Jonathan (7^th cent. CE), the name was associated with Spain, and that identification remained for many centuries. So, by definition, Sefardic Jews are those who trace their origin to Spain.

How did the Jews get to Spain? In the year 711, the Arab commander, Tarik ibn Ziyyad, crossed the straights of Gibraltar, and began to conquer Spain. Many Jews from North Africa followed him. They set up communities in various parts of Spain, giving rise to a celebrated Jewish culture. Among the great luminaries that emerged in the country, one can mention  Ibn Gabirol, the poet (d.1069), ibn Ezra, the renowned biblical commentator (d. 1167) and the philosopher Maimonides (d. 1204). However, the Christian forces in the north initiated the Reconquista as early as the 11^th cent. and started to push the Moslems south and away from Spain. Things worsened for the Jewish communities, too. In 1391 a major riot occurred in Seville and many Jews were killed. The Inquisition was set up in 1480 and went after the Conversos, new converts to Christianity. Finally, in 1492, claiming that the Jews were  a bad influence on the new Christians, King Ferdinand of Aragon and his wife Queen Isabela issued a decree of expulsion of all Jews from Spain. Thousands left, many arriving in the Ottoman Empire. (Jews have returned to Spain recently, and there are synagogues in many parts of the country).

There are considerable differences between Ashkenazic Jews and Sefardic Jews. Here are some examples:

a.     Liturgy: there are many differences between Ashkenazic and Sefardic prayers.

b.     Religious practices: Sefardic Jews follow the teachings of the Shulhan Aruk by Joseph Caro 16^th cent), whereas Ashkenazic Jews follow the writings of Moses Isserless (16^th cent.).

c.     Language: Ashkenazic Jews spoke/still speak Yiddish (a Jewish/German dialect); whereas Sefardic Jews spoke/still speak Ladino, based on Spanish.

d.     Most Sefardic Jews name their children after living parents. Ashkenazic Jews after dead parents.

e.     Sefardic Jews use flat stones at the cemetery but Ashkenazic Jews prefer upright stones.

f.      The cuisine of Ashkenazic Jews is considerably different from Sefardic cuisine.

g.     The Synagogue music for Sefardic Jews is very different from the music used by Ashkenazic Jews.

Se   Also, Sefardic Jews pronounce Biblical and rabbinic Hebrew differently from Ashkenazic Hebrew. 

There are some Jews around the world that do not really belong to either group, often referred to as Mizrahi Jews, such as the Jews of Yemen or Iran, because they did not become part of the peregrinations of either Sefardic or Ashkenazic Jews. In practical terms, however,  these communities follow the Sefardic rituals and religious practices.

What is the present situation? In Israel, the Jewish community is divided between these two groups. Outside of Israel, in the US and Europe, there are more Ashkenazic Jews that Sefardic Jews. On the other hand, the rate of inter-cultural marriages between these two groups continue to grow. (For the record: I am a Sefardic Jew from Turkey, whereas my wife is Ashkenazic from Argentina).

For the foreseeable future, the division between these two groups will continue, even if the lines of demarcation are not so clear in many communities.

 

WHAT DOES "REVELATION" MEAN TODAY?

 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

The term “revelation” can be defined as “the divine disclosure to humans of something regarding the human existence or the world.”

In the ancient Near East, it was commonly believed that gods verbally communicated with their subjects: Thus, for example, “This is the word of Ninlil [the goddess] for the king, “Fear not, O Ashurbanipal! Now, as I have spoken, it will come to pass” (ANET, p.451). Gods also communicated through dreams: “In my dream, (the goddess) Belet-biri stood by me. She spoke to me as follows…..” (1)

In biblical times, too, where God appears to the Israelites as a Father, King, or Creator, “revelations” appear to have taken place in a variety of ways. They included,

a.     Direct Speech, such as: “The Lord said to Abram: Go forth from your native land…”(Gen.12: 1, all biblical quotes from JPS), or, “The word of the Lord came to me” (Jer.1:4), even, at times, to animals, “The Lord opened the ass’s mouth and she said to Balaam” (Num.22:28).

b.     Through an angel: “An angel of the Lord appeared to him (Moses) in a blazing fire out of a bush” (Ex.3: 2), or “The angel of the Lord said to her: ‘Go back to your mistress, and submit to her harsh treatment” (Gen. 16:9).

c.     Dreams and visions: “When a prophet of the Lord arises among you, I make Myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream” (Num.12:6); or “The hand of the Lord came upon me. He took me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the valley” (Dan 37: 1).

d.     Writing on the wall: “He therefore made the hand appear, and caused the writing to be inscribed.” (Dan. 5:24).

e.     Urim and Thummim: “Inside the breast piece of decision you shall place the Urim and Thummim so that they are over Aaron’s heart when he comes before the Lord” (Ex. 28: 30). [We do not know what these objects were. Many suggest that they were a type of sacred lots used for divination]

Biblical books, containing statements attributed to God, were written by unknown human authors: The Book of Psalms, attributed to King David, is a collection of poems/prayers to God. The books of Joshua, Judges , Samuel, Kings and Chronicles are quasi-historical books but not God’s work. Proverbs and Ecclesiastes deal with human wisdom. Song of Songs is a book about human love. Each prophet assumedly wrote his own book. The Book of Esther does not even include the name of God.

What about the Pentateuch? Even though, just before the reading of the Torah,  the Jewish liturgy proclaims: “This is the Torah which Moses set before the Children of Israel, according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses” (Hertz), we really don’t know who finally put it all together. Nowhere in the Five Books of Moses is it stated that Moses was the author of the entire Pentateuch. In the expression “Moses wrote down this Torah”  (Deut.31:9), the word “Torah” simply means “teaching,” namely,  general instruction and not the entire Pentateuch(2). Even the Rabbis had to admit that Moses could not have been the author of the statement in Deuteronomy, “So Moses, God’s servant, died there” (34:5). Their answer: Joshua wrote it.

During rabbinic times, the Rabbis were aware of the issue of authorship of various texts in the Hebrew Bible; hence they presented a list of authors for each biblical text : e.g., Moses wrote the Pentateuch and the book of Job  (BB 14b). In the medieval period, divine revelation was generally accepted by many. Yet Maimonides (12^th cent) stated that “when we call the Torah ‘God’s word’ we speak metaphorically.” But, then, making an exception with regard to Moses, he surprisingly added “We do not know exactly how it [the Pentateuch] reached us, but only that it came to us through Moses who acted like a secretary taking dictation” (Helek: San. Ch.10, No.8).

Today, can we take the concept of revelation literally? If, so how can we explain the so many internal discrepancies within the biblical material? For instance, of the two sets of the Decalogue, Ex.20 and Deut. 5, which is God’s real words? Did God change “his” mind?  

In trying to ascertain how the Bible took shape, many Biblical scholars tell us that the Hebrew Bible is made up of four different literary strands, JEDP, which were composed by various human authors over a long period of time. We don’t know exactly when the Hebrew Canon was completed. Some have argued that the Council of Jamnia finalized the Hebrew Bible in the first cent. CE., but this theory has been challenged by many critics. Scholars now suggest dates that vary from the 1^st cent. BCE to the 2^nd cent. CE.   

From the perspective of Jewish religious naturalism, my position, we can say that all biblical texts and rabbinic instructions were written by extraordinary human beings who were inspired by the circumstances that surrounded them. They were eventually collected as sacred texts for the larger community to read and study. Instead of “revelation,” most religious naturalists use the idea of “discovery.”  So, if we want to find out God’s will, they would say, all we need to do is investigate and study the evidence that is provided to us by nature. Even though, that is not perfect and always subject to change based on the discovery of new data, it is, at least, verifiable.

1.     Prophets and Prophecy in the ANE, SBL, M. Nissinen, SBL, 2003, p.69.

2.     Jeffrey H. Tigay, Deuteronomy, JPS, 1996, 291

WHERE ARE THE PROPHETS TODAY?

 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

You think prophets are gone? Not so in some Christian groups. I recently learned that Ellen G. White (d.1915), the co-founder of the Seven Day Adventists, was regarded as a “prophetess.” Bishop D.T. Tonne of the Elijah Prophet of Fire Ministries International is identified online as a “prophet.” Similarly, Russell M. Nelson Sr. is the 17^th and current president as well as the prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Who is a prophet? A prophet by definition is a mouthpiece of God, a human medium capable of receiving and transmitting a verbal message from the divine. Prophecy is an ancient phenomenon in the Near East, where we find a number of references to people who claimed that they received the word of God and shared this message with other people. They went by different names, including: muhhu in Babylonia, apilu in Mari (of Syria) and navi in ancient Israel. Some of them were simple diviners, others acted as social critics. Some were attached to sanctuaries, others roamed alone. They were men and women. Their language is at times banal but often impressive. They spoke up at temples but also in the market places.

Examples are plentiful: an unknown prophet of Akkad looked forward to the day when “the country will live safely….the people will have abundance” (ANET, 606). The Jewish prophet Amos (8^th cent. BCE), preached in the northern kingdom of Israel: “Seek good and not evil that you may live…Hate evil and love good and establish justice in the gate” (5:14-15, JPS). Micah (8^th cent. BCE) expressed his hope in Jerusalem that people “will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war” (4: 3, JPS). First Isaiah (8^th cent. BCE) looked forward to the day when God “will hold up a signal to the nations and assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (11: 12, JPS).

Ancient prophets usually shared their messages verbally and, later on, scribes turned them into written texts, often ex post facto.

In the New Testament, both John the Baptist (Mat 11:9-11) and Jesus (Acts 3:22) are called prophets.  In the Quran, Mohammad is viewed as one. Even though Mohammad accepted Jesus and the biblical prophets as legitimate, Christians do not view Muhammad as a prophet and Jews do not consider Mohammad or Jesus as prophets.

How does one know if a prophet is legitimate or not? In Jewish history, not everyone was accepted as a legitimate prophet. Many were in fact declared false. The book of Deuteronomy, for example, tells us that “if a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord and the oracle does not come true, that oracle was not spoken by the Lord” (Deut.18:22). That prophet is false. During the reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah (870-846 BCE), “a lying spirit (fell) in the mouth of the prophets” (I K 22: 23). The prophet Ezekiel attacked “the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit.” (13:3-4). In the NT, Jesus warns of false prophets “who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matt. 7: 15).

During the medieval times, the concept of prophecy came under heavy criticism among major Jewish philosophers, because divine revelation was becoming more and more problematic and philosophically untenable. Thus, for instance, even though Saadia Gaon (d. 942) of Egypt defended the old concept of prophecy as verbal revelation from God, others, like Abraham Ibn Ezra (d.1167) of Tudela, Spain  and Moses Maimonides (d.1204) of Cordoba, Spain argued that when the prophets spoke up, they used their own reason and imaginative powers.  

We do not know when prophecy ended in ancient Israel. According to the Talmud, “After the last prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi died (about 5^th cent. BCE), the Divine Spirit of prophetic revelation departed from the Jewish people, and they were still utilizing a Divine Voice, which they heard as an echo of prophecy” (Yoma 9b). On the other hand, Seder Olam Rabba ,30, a rabbinic text that deals with chronology, places it at the time of Alexander the Great (d.323 BCE). The Jewish historian Josephus (1^st cent CE) still speaks of “false prophets” during the Roman period (Wars 6/5/2). It must have been a slow process.

Today, for all practical purposes, we live in a post-prophetic era. Except for very few examples in the Christian world today (see above), no human being is given the title of “prophet” anymore. Today, it is almost impossible to ascertain who has received “the word of God,” and how. Now, at best, we talk about wise people or charismatic individuals who can speak with a commanding voice on major social, political  and religious issues, not because they received verbal messages from the divinity but because of the forceful arguments they can muster when they speak up. We pay attention to them and often follow their teachings. They are our modern teachers and guides.  

LIFE EXPECTANCY-THEN AND NOW.

 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

I (82) live at the Willows, a residential complex for older active adults, in Westborough, MA, outside of Boston. Most of the people here are in their mid-eighties and nineties. We have a few who are even 95+! And still active. So, I am among the younger ones! I was wondering who was considered “old” in ancient times? I did some research and this is what I found.

In the Hebrew Bible, we find three basic terms for an old person: zaken (from zakan, meaning “beard”), seva, and yashish (only in the Book of Job. Some scholars suggest that this term may have been a contraction of yesh shishim, namely “there is sixty”). We also have the Aramaic term kashish in many rabbinic texts. An old person is described in the Bible as someone who has reached “full of days,” or was “sated with days” or is “advanced in years.”

In the past, old age is often identified with wisdom, deserving respect: Says Job: “Wisdom is with the aged.” According to Prov. 16:31, “gray hair is a crown of glory.” Lev.19:32 urges people “to stand up before the gray head.” We are told that king Rehoboam “took counsel from the old men.” (I K 12:6).

I presume that, in ancient times, because of limited medical knowledge, life expectancy was much lower. In the Hebrew Bible, we need to discount the extravagant and mythical numbers attributed to some early heroes: There is no way  Methuselah actually lived 969 years (Gen. 5:27), or that Adam lived to be 930  (Gen.5:5) or that Seth made it to 912 years (Gen.5:8). I don’t even believe that Abraham lived 175 years (Gen.25:7) or that Moses died at the age of 120 (Deut. 31:2). These are all exaggerations. Ancient Egyptians considered 110 as the ideal age limit (ANET, p.414). In Judaism, it is 120 (Gen.6:3), like Moses.

We are dealing with more realistic numbers when we read in the Bible that Barzillai, the Gileadite, was considered “old” at the age of 80 (2 Sam. 19:34-36).   King David died at the age of 70, “in good old age” (be seva tovah) (2 Sam.5:4; I Chr. 29:28). King Jehoshaphat died at the age of 60 (I K 22: 41-42), King Hezekiah at 54 (2 k 18:2), King Jehoash at 47 (2 K 12: 1-2) and King Ahaz at 36 (2 K 16:1).

According to the Book of Psalms, the span of life for a human being is 70 years (90:10). The Book of Numbers tells us that Aaron, the priest, had to retire at the age of 50 because he was not fit for heavy work at the Temple (8:25). In the early rabbinic literature, in the Tractate Avot, we find a list for the human life span: At the age of 60, it says, one reaches the stage of ziknah (old age), and at the age of 70, one reaches the level of seva (old age) (5:25). According to the Talmud, “one who dies at the age of 70, has died as an old person” (MK 28:10).  So, pretty much, 70 marked the end for many people. Not so, today! Many people are now living much longer.

What was the average life span in biblical times? According to the Anchor Bible Dictionary, it was 44! (5:11). I checked online and learned that in modern times life expectancy in the USA is now about 77 ; and 72 in the world.

Medical advances have obviously extended the years we spend on this earth. The question is whether we are making the best of what is allotted to us? Shouldn’t we then give gratitude for the blessings that are ours at the present time?

 

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, PhD: THE BOOKS I WROTE