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הפטרת בראשית

בישעיה סימן מ"ב

כמנהג קהלות הספרדים והאשכנזים כָּה--אָמַר הָאֵל יְהוָה בּוֹרֵא הַשָּׁמַיִם וְנִוֹטֵיהֶם רַקָע

הָאָרֶץ וְצֶאֱצָאֵיהָ נֹתֵן נְשָׁמָה לָעָם עָלֶיהָ וְרוּחַ להלְכִים בָּהּ: אֲנִי יְהוָה קְרָאתִיךָ בְצֶדֶק וְאַחְזָק בְּיָדֶךָ וְאֶצְרְךְ וְאֶתֶּנְךָ לִבְרִית עָם לְאוֹר פּוֹיִם: לִפְקְחַ עֵינַיִם עַוְרָוֹת לְהוֹצִיא מִמַסְבֵּר אַסִיר מִבֵּית פֶּלֶא יְשְׁבֵי חָשֶׁךְ : אֲנִי יְהוָה הוּא שְׁמִי וּכְבוֹדִי לְאַחֵר לֹא־אֶתֵּן וּתְהִלָּתִי לַפְסִילִים: הָרִאשׁוֹת הִנֵּה בָאוּ וַחֲדָשׁוֹת אֲנִי מַגִּיד בְּטֶרֶם תִּצְמַחְנָה אַשְׁמִיעַ אֶתְכֶס : שִׁירוּ לַיהוָה שִׁיר חָדָשׁ תְּהִלָּתוֹ מִקְצֵה הָאָרֶץ יִוֹרְדֵי הַיָּם וּמְלאו אִיים וְיִשְׁבֵיהֶם: יִשְׂאוּ מִדְבָּר וְעָרֵי חֲצרִים תֵּשֶׁב קֵדָר יָרנו יִשְׁבֵי סֶלַע מֵרֹאשׁ הָרִים יִצְוָחוּ : יְשִׂימוּ לַיהוָה כָּבוֹד וּתְהִלָּתוֹ בָּאִים יַגִּידוּ: יְהוָה כַּגִּבּוֹר יצא כְּאִישׁ מִלְחָמוֹת יָעִיר קִנְאָה יָרִיע אַף־יַצְרִיחַ עַל־אֹיְבָיו יִתְבַּבָּר: הֶחְשִׁיתִי מֵעוֹלָם אַחֲרֵישׁ אֶתְאַתָּק כַּיּוֹלֶדֶה אֶפְעֶה אֶשָׂם וְאֶשְׁאַף יָחַד: אַחֲרִיב הָרִים וּגְבָעוֹת וְכָל־עֶשְׂבָּם אוֹבִישׁ וְשַׂמְתִּי נְהָרוֹת לָאִים וַאֲנַמִּים אוֹבִישׁ: וְהוֹלַכְתִּי עִוְרִים בְּדֶרֶךְ לֹא יָדָעוּ בִּנְתִיבוֹת לֹא־יָדֶער אַדְרִיכֶם אָשִׁים מַחְשֶׁךְ לִפְנֵיהֶם לָאוֹר וּמַעֲקֵשִׁים לְמִישׁוֹר אֵלֶה הַדְּבָרִים עֲשִׂיתָם וְלֹא עֲזַבְתִּים: נָלָנוּ אָחוֹר יִבשוּ בֹשֶׁת הַבְּטְחִים בַּפָּסֶל הָאֹמְרִים לְמַסֶכֶה אַתֶּם אֱלֹהֵינוּ: הַחֵרְשִׁים שְׁמָעוּ וְהָעַרְרִים הַבִּיטוּ לִרְאוֹת: מִי עִוּר כִּי אִם־עַבְדִּי וְחֵרש

בְּמַלְאָכִי אֶשְׁלַח מִי עָנֵר כִּמְשְׁלָם וְעוּר כְּעֶבֶד יְהוָה: ראות רָאִישׁ רַבּוֹת וְלֹא תִשְׁמַר פָּקְחַ אָזְנַיִם וְלֹא יִשְׁמָע : יְהוָה

חָפֵץ לְמַעַן צִדְקוֹ יַגְדִּיל תּוֹרָה וְיַמְדִיר :' כאן מסיימין הספרדים

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קרי

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BLESSINGS SAID BEFORE AND AFTER

THE

HAPHTARAHS.*

He that says the Haphtarah, before he begins says as follows.

Baruch Allah.

Blessed art thou, O Lord! our God, King of the universe, that hath chosen good Prophets, and with pleasure declared to them the truth! blessed art thou, O Lord! who gavest the law to Moses thy servant, to Israel thy people, and to the true and righteous Prophets.

Then he says the Haphtarah, and afterwards as follows.

Baruch Attah.

Blessed art thou, O Lord! our God, King and Creator of the universe, whose righteousness is to all generations; the God that is faithful, saith and doeth, speaketh and performeth, whose words are truth and just. Faithful art thou, O Lord! our God, thy faithful words thou recallest not; for the Almighty, faithful, and merciful thou art. Blessed art thou, O Lord! who art faithful with all thy words.

Rachem Of Zion.

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Have compassion on Zion, for that is our residence, and to the meek mayest thou

perform thy salvation speedily in our days. Blessed art thou, O Lord! who will rejoice Zion with her posterity.

Somchinu Adonie
Elohinu.

Rejoice us, O Lord! our God, with Elias the Prophet thy servant, and with the kingdom of the house of David, that thine anointed speedily shall come on his throne, to rejoice our hearts. Let no other enjoy that glory to sit thereon, as thou hast declared that the light of David shall not be quenched. Blessed art thou, O Lord! the shield of David.

Ol Hatora.

For the sake of thy law, thy sacrifices, and thy prophets, and for the sake of this day of rest, which thou hast given unto us, O Lord! our God, to sanctify and to rest, to honour and to glorify. Therefore, O Lord! our God, with reverence we acknowledge thee, and bless thee and thy name, in the mouth of all living continually, and to eternity. Blessed art thou, O Lord! who sanctifieth the Sabbath.

The word Haphtarah, signifies Section.

קודם קריאת ההפטרה יכרך בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר בָּחַר בִּנְבִיאִים

טוֹבִים וְרָצָה בְּדִבְרֵיהֶם הַנֵּאֶמָרִים בֶּאֱמֶת: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְ הַבּוֹחֵר בַּתּוֹרָה בְּמֹשֶׁה עַבְדּוֹ וּבְיִשְׂרָאֵל עַמוֹ

וּבִנְבִיאֵי הָאֱמֶת וְהַצְדֶק :

T:

ואחר קריאתה יברך בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם צוּר כָּל הָעוֹלָמִים

צַדִּיק בְּכָל הַדּוֹרוֹת הָאֵל הַנֶאֶמָן הָאוֹמֵר וְעוֹשֶׂה מְדַבֵּר וּמְקַבֵּים • כִּי כָל דְבָרָיוֹ אֱמֶת וָצדֶק' נֶאֶמָן אַתָּר הוּא יָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ וְנֶאֶמָנִים דְּבָרִיךְ וְדָבָר אֶחָד מִדְּבָרֶיךָ אָחוֹר לא חשוב רֵיקָם כִּי אֵל מֶלֶךְ נֶאֱמָן אָתָּה: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ

הָאֵל הַנֶּאֱמָן בְּכָל דְּבָרָיו : רַחֵם עַל צִיוֹן כִּי הִיא בֵית חַיֵינוּ וְלַעֲלוּבַת נֶפֶש תּוֹשִׁיעַ

?? בִּמְהֵרָה בְיָמֵינוּ בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה מְשָׂמֵחַ צִיוֹן בְּבָנֶיהָ :3 שַׁמְחֵנוּ יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ בְּאֵלִיָּהוּ הַנָּבִיא עַבְדֵךְ וּבְמַלְכוּת בֵּית

דוד מְשִׁיחֶךְ בִּמְהֵרָה יָבֹא וְיָגֶל לִבֵּנוּ עַל כִּסְאוֹ לֹא יִשֶׁב זָר וְלֹא יִנְחֲלוּ עוֹד אֲחֵרִים אֶת כְּבוֹדוֹ : כִּי בְשֵׁם קָדְשְׁךְ נִשְׁבַּעְתָּ לוֹ שֶׁלֹא יִכְבֶּה נֵרוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד: בָּרוּךְ

אַתָּה יְ מָגֵן דָּוִד:

" או עַל הַתּוֹרָה וְעַל הָעֲבוֹדָה וְעַל הַנְּבִיאִים וְעַל יוֹם הַשַׁבָּת

הַזֶּה שֶׁנָּתַתָּ לָנוּ יֵי אֱלֹהֵינוּ לִקְדוּשָׁה וְלִמְנוּחָה לְכָבוֹד וּלְתִפְאֶרֶת עַל הַכּל יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ אָנוּ מוֹדִים לָךְ וּמְבָרְכִים אוֹתָךְ יִתְבָּרַךְ שִׁמְךְ בְּפִי כָל חַי תָּמִיד לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד: בָּרוּךְ

אַתָּה יְ מְקַדַּשׁ הַשַׁבָּת :

THE ARGUMENT.

THE event which gave rise to the Reading of the л, i. e. Sections, of the Prophets, commenced from the Reign of Antiochus, surnamed Epiphanes, or Famous; called also Epimanes, or mad; (he was the eighth King of Syria :) who after he had smitten Egypt, went against the Israelites in Jerusalem, where he made a great massacre, -plundered and polluted the Holy Temple, and gave orders to destroy their books, and prohibited them of Reading the Weekly Divisions * of the Pentateuch during which time they substituted to read the Haphtarahs, i. e. Weekly Sections of the Prophets, to correspond as nearly as possible, with the Weekly Divisions of the Pentateuch; which they continued Reading till the time of the Maccabees, when Mattathias and his son Judas Maccabeus rose up, and went tó war with Antiochus Epiphanes, and conquered him: at which time, the Weekly Divisions of the Pentateuch were re-established to be read among them.-In commemoration of their being deprived of the Pentateuch, they continued saying the Haphtarahs after Reading the Weekly Division of the Pentateuch, which custom is retained and observed among them unto this day.

* The Pentateuch is divided in fifty-two parts, for the fifty-two weeks in the year, one of which is read every week till the Pentateuch is finished.

ON THE

BOOK OF GENESIS.

As well to secure the uniformity of our work, as to give copious and perspicuous illustrations, we have been induced to arrange the following Observations under distinct heads.

Verse 1. beginning.

OBSERVATIONS ON CHAP. I.

The first, or, the beginning; NW the in, In the first, or, in the

As a great variety of opinions has been advanced on the subject בראשית ברא אלהים

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i

of the Creation, every writer on the subject giving that interpretation which would best suit his peculiar hypothesis, whilst infidel writers have absolutely denied that any substance whatever was created by the act of the Supreme Being, I cannot refrain from noticing, that the Scriptural account of the Creation is both begun and ended in truth for the last letters of the first three words in Hebrew, with which the Bible begins,, and the last letters of the last three words, at the end of the account of the Creation, on each form the word i. e. truth. That this might have been the effect of accident, is possible; yet, it is most probable, that these words are placed here by Divine direction, obliquely saying, "behold truth in all my words." The words are perfectly agreeable to the Hebrew idiom, and no way strained or twisted for the purpose. Indeed the beautiful simplicity of the diction, that appears throughout the whole narrative of the Creation; the concise manner in which it is related, with truth pointed out in the beginning and the end, should convince man, that, in opposition to all that can be advanced to the contrary, and “in erring reason's spite, one truth is clear," namely, that the universe is the work of something more than mortal. The expression in the cxixth Psalm, ver. 160, "Thy words are truth from the beginning," pallude, I have no doubt, to the preceding interpretation.

Produced. The Hebrew verb here used, doth not always mean create, but is sometimes made use of to signify a producing, or rather an appearance of something which, in reality, has no being, merely denoting the absence, or privation, of its opposite; such as darkness, which has no entity, and is only a negative appearance occasioned by the privation of light. In like manner, evil is only a privation of good; and yet the prophet Isaiah, chap. xlv. ver. 7, expresses both negative, by this verb, (I form light and produce darkness, I make peace and produce evil.) And as the heavens and the earth were not created till the second day, (as will hereafter appear,) this can only mean that rude substance, or first production, called (though still in that state) by the names of what was afterwards to be formed out of it; therefore the heavens and the earth, here mentioned, mean the matter whence the spiritual and corporeal beings were created. It being very frequent in Scripture to give the name of the thing produced to the matter whence it is made, as in Isaiah, chap. xlvii. ver. 2, Take the mill-stones, and grind meal, which certainly means, grind corn, to turn it into meal; also, in Job, chap. xxii. ver. 6, thou hast stripped the naked of their clothing, who are so termed, because they were to become naked after being stripped. I must also observe, that this verb likewise means to cut, or circumscribe a limit or horder; so that it may mean, that the Supreme Being separated from the eternal space, and circumscribed a large limited one, capable of containing all created beings, which may also be called making a beginning of the succession of time; the result of such contraction of infinity within itself, (if we may be permitted to call it so,) was, that a tract was left behind which contained the first matter, out of which every thing was created, so that this was rather an infallible result, or emanation, than a Creation.

With a Segol, has always a hyphen, and no accent.

A with a Segol, or with a Tziri, according to the Jewish commentators is always an implication, here it is a tacit inference of all the hosts of heaven and earth, and in every other place it implies something more than is expressed, as in Genesis, chap. iv. ver. 2, N is supposed his wife, or sister, &c.

Heavens, M. Dual Number, i. e. the two hemispheres, which are also differently expressed

זבול • שחקים • רקיע - וילון by the following words

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מעון
ערבות מכון

Ver. 2. Now the Earth, &c. The Vau in the Hebrew, answers to every different kind of conjunction which we express in the English by different particles; and the earth, the deep, and the waters, mentioned in this verse, also signify the matter whence they were created.

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