Devorah, The Wife of Lapid (ot)

I just wanted to repost what I had discovered over Shabbat about the Haftarah from The Book of Judges (Sefer Shoftim).  It was the portion that we read from the Books of the Prophets after the Torah portion was read this past Shabbat.  But I think what I wrote about it needs emphasis.  It is in the comment section of my previous post.  So here it is:

Oh boy, Oh boy. Blame this on the fact that I often don't get to learn the Haftarah until Shabbat, usually late Friday night. It is about 9 or 9:30 on Friday night, and my daughter is singing Shabbat zemirot with me and then she continues to sing by herself. And I open up the Haftarah, and bang. It is all right there. Devorah was the Eishet Lapidot. Now this is interpreted in three ways by Chazal

1) she twisted wicks for the Menorah in the Mishkan at Shilo. Since wicks of that Menorah give off the light of Torah, then she is propagating Torah throughout Israel.

2)She was the wife of Barak aka Lapidot who goes off and fights the war against Sisera and Yavin with Devorah at his side. Barak is of course from Sheivet NAFTALI. (We will get back to that a bit later.) So the question comes up. Why is Devorah sitting underneath a Tomer tree (Date tree) on top of Har Ephraim judging the nation. This brings us to option number three.

3) Her first husband, Lapid or Lapidot, was from the Tribe of EPHRAIM. He passes away, but she is a widow who likely (or maybe not) had children from her first husband. Again, either his name was Lapid or it was Lapidot. So if option three is more likely than option 2, her first husband was Lapid from Sheivet Ephraim ben Yosef. I will have to look at the Gemorrah in Chulin where this is discussed. This option then allows for option number 2 to take place where Barak becomes a 2nd husband. This would of course infer, that Ya'ir Lapid who also gives off light is spiritually from the Tribe of Ephraim like the wicks on the Menorah.

Option number 3 would therefore explain why, as a widow, Devorah would be sitting under a date tree on the property of her first husband on Mt. Ephraim. 

I am writing this from Kochav Ya'akov, but write now I am in an office which was a former shul on this yishuv. The name of the shul was Tomer Devorah. 

Now read and watch the video in the previous post.    So what is really going on so far as we sit in the shadow of the War in Syria becoming a much wider conflict.  Ya'ir Lapid has been put in charge of the Stick of Ephraim, and Naftali (ben Ya'akov) Bennett has been put in charge of the stick of Bait Yehudah.  In short we are in the process of putting together the pieces of Malkhut Ephraim.  We are not at Malkhut David yet.  Again reread Ezekiel 37: 16- 17.  The two sticks of wood have not yet been brought together.  The upcoming Syrian/ Lebanon War in the North will most likely accomplish that.

So why is Naftali in charge of the Bait Yehudah faction of this process?  The reason is from a medrash that appears in the Talmud in Sotah 13a.  You can read it here.  And there they lamented with a very great and sore lamentation.⁷  It has been taught: Even the horses and asses [joined in the lamentation]. When [the cortege] arrived at the Cave of Machpelah, Esau came and wished to prevent [the interment there], saying to them, Mamre, Kiriath-arba, the same is Hebron⁸  — now R. Isaac has said: Kiriath-arba [is so called] because four couples [were buried there], viz. Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah — [Jacob] had buried Leah in his portion and what remains belongs to me'. They replied to him, 'Thou didst sell it'. He said to them, 'Granted that I sold my birth-right, but did I sell my plain heir's right!' They replied: 'Yes, for it is written: In my grave which I [Jacob] have digged for me',⁹  and R. Johanan has said in the name of R. Simeon b. Jehozadak: The word kirah [dig] means nothing else than 'sale' [mekirah], and thus in the coast-towns they use kirah as a term for 'sale'. — He said to them, 'Produce a document [of sale] for me'. They replied to him, 'The document is in the land of Egypt. Who will go for it? Let Naphtali go, because he is swift as a hind'; for it is written: Naphtali is a hind let loose, he giveth goodly words¹⁰  — R. Abbahu said: Read not 'goodly words' [imre shefer] but imre sefer [words of a document]. Among those present was Hushim, a son of Dan, who was hard of hearing; so he asked them, 'What is happening?' They said to him, '[Esau] is preventing [the burial] until Naphtali returns from the land of Egypt'. He retorted: 'Is my grandfather to lie there in contempt until Naphtali returns from the land of Egypt!' He took a club and struck [Esau] on the head so that his eyes fell out and rolled to the feet of Jacob. Jacob opened his eyes and laughed; and that is what is written: The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.¹¹  At that time was the prophecy of Rebekah fulfilled, as it is written: Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?¹²  Although the death of the two of them did not occur on the one day, still their burial took place on the same day.

Another version:  I believe this is from Rabbi Lipman Podolsky:  Please help me if I am wrong on the exact source:

When Jacob's funeral procession reached the land of Canaan, Esau heard of this and came with many armed men to Hebron, and would not allow Joseph to bury his father in the Cave of Machpeila, saying: "There are eight burial places in the Cave; already buried there are Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca. Jacob has buried Leah in his portion, and the one remaining plot belongs to me."

Said Jacob's sons to him: "You sold your portion to our father."

Said Esau: "Granted that I sold my birthright, but did I sell my ordinary heir's right?"

Said they: "Yes, you did sell it."

Said he to them "Produce a document of sale for me."

Said the sons of Jacob: "The document is in the land of Egypt. Who will go for it? Let Naphtali go, because he is swift as a deer."

Among those present was Chushim the son of Dan, who was deaf; so he asked them, "What is happening?" They said to him, "Esau is preventing the burial until Naphtali returns from the land of Egypt."

Said Chushim: "Is my grandfather to lie there in contempt until Naphtali returns from the land of Egypt!" He took a sword and severed Esau's head, which rolled into the Cave of Machpeilah and came to rest in Isaac's lap, where it remains to this day. Thus it came to pass that "Esau's head lies in the bosom of Isaac."

(Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of Rebecca, who said: "Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?" (Genesis 27:45). Although the death of the two of them did not occur on the same day, their burial took place on the same day.)

(Targum Yonatan; Talmud, Sotah 36b)

So here is the general theme in order to enter fully into the Era of Mashiach ben Ephraim.  Esav is standing at the entrance to the cave to prevent the burial of Ya'akov from continuing into the Cave of the Patriarchs.  Ownership of the cave represents two things.

1. Only one people can exist in the land between the Mediterranean and the Yarden

2. Only Israel can lead the world into the Messianic Era.  Esav has no leadership role in that process.

So Naftali is sent back to Mitzraim, the narrow straits of exile, to get the contract that was signed between Ya'akov and Esav over the birthright for who inherits the double portion of Yitzchak's inheritance which includes the deed to who will lead Mankind into Yemot HaMashiach since like the Cave itself, the Messianic Era is the vestibule to Olam HaBa.  But it is more than that.  Yitzchak's inheritance was an extremely unusual inheritance.  He was one of the few people who ever lived who lived in both this world and the World to Come at the same time.  Originally, Esav's inheritance included his portion in this world (Eretz Yisrael) and a portion in the world to come while Ya'akov had a portion only in the World to Come, and it did not include his portion even in the Messianic Era.  When Esav sold the birthright, his double portion, he thought that he was selling his portion in this world because he figured that he could take care of himself in this world, but that he was keeping his portion in the world to come.  Ya'akov in the meantime legally and fully above board had purchased his portion in this world which included the above two stipulations along with guaranteeing his portion in the World to Come.  So Ya'akov received the double portion that Esav sold to him for a bowl of red lentil stew.  Approximately 46 years later when the two of them were 63 years old, Esav learned the Truth.  What he had sold was his portion in the World to Come and not his portion in this world, even if his entire portion in this world would be outside of Eretz Yisrael.  He let out a blood curdling scream when he heard this from his father when he went to get his blessing.

So who is Naftali Bennett?  He is Naftali coming back with the original contract between Ya'akov and Esav over the above two principles.  Notice that the contract does not speak about our relationship with Yishmael or the Arabs.  The final dispensation of those problems will not be decided until the time of Mashiach ben David.   The contract does speak about there being only one nation here in the Land of Israel though even with all of the present Arab inhabitants here.  It is a kal veChomer that if Esav has no portion of sovereignty in Eretz Yisrael, then neither does Yishmael, but the final dispensation with the Arabs will simply have to wait until the Era of Mashiach ben David.  For the above reason he is leading the House of Yehudah (Bayit Yehudi or Bait Yehudah) faction right now in this process because even though there are still 1.5 million Arabs in Yehudah and Shomron, they cannot have sovereignty here because of that contract.  Now as discussed above, at this time Ya'ir Lapid is leading the Ephraim branch or stick in this process, and it remains to be seen if it is up to Sha'ul (Binyamin Netanyahu) to bring the two sticks together in his hand.  Logically by forming a coalition with Lapid's Yeish Atid and Bayit Yehudi for 62 seats, he could fulfill this in a natural way.  But this has not happened yet.  So we will wait and see what happens next.  Also it should be pointed out that Naftali Bennett is the most proficient at using the high speed Internet.  So he gets his message out more quickly than the other leaders in this process.  He is truly Naftali ben Ya'akov.

Yet there is more to come

1. In the coming Syrian War there is a prophesy that has never been fulfilled from the time that Moshe Rabbeinu said it until this very day:  Dan is a lion's cub who leaps forth from Bashan (the Golan Heights)  This of course will be the gilgul of Chushim ben Dan.  Chushim ben Dan is the one who lops off Esav's head while waiting for Naftali to get back from Mitzraim with the contract because he is totally deaf to all the negotiations that are taking place between his Uncle Yosef and Esav.  So he impatiently lops off his head at about the same moment that Naftali shows up with the contract to help to bring Ya'akov into the Cave.  In the End of Days medrashim, his name is Serayah ben Dan.  Serayah is spelled Sin Reish Yud Hey.  And his name could be Aryeh or Ariel.  Hmm.  Years ago before I started this blog, I wrote an essay on how Ariel Sharon might turn out to be this Serayah figure.  He was always deaf to anything that the world was telling him to do.  When he got something into his head, he just did it irregardless of the noise going on around him.  I also noticed that his last name Sharon had the first two letters of Serayah's name because Shins and Sins are interchanageable.  I threw away that essay and lost it on the hard drive of a previous computer that we owned when he disengaged from Gaza.  And now he is awakening from his coma??  You can look at the comment section to the previous post which dealt with a discussion about Sharon waking up from his coma.  I can't take this seriously until he actually awakens.  Now I must admit, that irregardless of whether his mother's conversion is valid, that would be an amazing miracle indeed.  So as of now, the Serayah figure that will play a part in the world war in Syrian remains a mystery.  But Serayah will leap forth from Bashan for sure in this upcoming war.  

2. Then the eyes of Esav will then fall out of Esav's lopped off head onto Ya'akov's upper legs next to his groin.  The eyes of Esav are Amalek, and the groin of Ya'akov is the Yesod of Ya'akov and is Mashiach ben Ephraim whose kingdom will be a kingdom of common decency for its own sake.  Decency in a legal context is best described by Noachide Laws along with those modes of behavior that we have in common with the rest of decent humanity.  The only major legal difference between a society of righteous gentiles and the Jewish Kingdom will be laws against lashon hara which would include gossip or talebearing even if it is true.  If the subject matter is already public information, that is not talebearing though.  So laws against lashon hara will be properly defined.  But private information that is bad but true will be punished in the era of Mashiach ben Ephraim here in Eretz Yisrael.  There will be no ulterior motive for this kingdom except to be an example of G-dliness to the world.  It will be prosperous, but prosperity will not be its reason for existence (as was the case of the United States of America since its founding).  So in conflicts between decency and prosperity, Mashiach ben Ephraim will always choose decency unlike what the United States did for most of its history when such conflicts arose.  That will be the essential difference between what America was at one time and the Malkhut of Mashiach ben Ephraim.  And it is on that Yesod of decency that the Torah will grow rampantly amongst the people of Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael.  It will not grow on the moral quicksand of the Erev Ze'ir that sometimes forgets this essential foundation.  Yes, the Erev Ze'ir will be around to oppose this and will side with our remaining enemies in the world on the side of Yishmael.  So watch out for that one.  We already have Neturai Karta having regular meeting with Achmadinejad, and we have Satmar publicly endorsing Obama, who is the half-Muslim (clay) and half-Xtian (iron) 11th hon dude, for re-election.  So much of this is already in place.

The foundation to foster growth of the Torah will be properly set in its place.  As said before, I believe that Lapid is leading the Ephraim faction in this process.  This is abundantly clear.  Is he Mashiach ben Ephraim, or is it someone else that will appear either during the Syrian War or at the end of the Syrian War?  Time will tell.  But at the conclusion of the upcoming war in the north when two kings will have perished, the Era of Mashiach ben Ephraim will have begun.  And then all the nations of the world will gather in the Great City of Rome, Maryland?? to destroy us.  And that conference will be hit with fire, hail, and a Heavenly shower of meteorites....  And we are likely only three months away.  We are now at the beginning of month number 7 of the nine months.  The properly timed Swiss watch is ticking toward Redemption.