Focus on Our House
by YeriYah Wolf

 

 

          This study will again center on verses from the weekly Parashah.  At this point in time we are reading from the book of Vayikra which directly translates, ‘and He called’. Most English versions refer to this manuscript as Leviticus. That title is of Greek origination and would most easily translate to ‘Priestly’. Let’s look carefully at Chapter 14 verses 33, 34 & 35. Turning to the JPS we read:

          And HaShem spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:

          When ye are come into the land of Canaan , which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession;

          then he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying: 'There seemeth to me to be as it were a plague in the house.'

          Again we will first undertake to provide a more complete, or should we say ‘less fraudulent’ translation. In the 33rd verse the second word is a lie. Our Mighty’s Holy Name is not ‘HaShem. These Hebrew words in a word for word substitution directly articulate ‘The Name’ not His Name, not ‘E’ Ah’ U’ A’ (which is a Hebrew pronunciation of the Anglicization of YHWH) or Yod Hey Wa Hey as Hebrew letters. This is after all is said and done a form of the verb ‘To Be’.

          Canaan is grossly un-translated. I ask you, If we didn’t have the tool of uppercase letters as a means of punctuation, would you refer to the words ‘three rivers or grand rapids as never more than a reference to two towns in Michigan? Doesn’t one name indicate the convergence of three rivers? With ‘grand rapids’ do you picture a pleasant tranquil pond or do you picture turbulent and treacherous white water roiling, crashing and rushing over and around jagged boulders? Canaan or Kena’an is the Hebrew word for low lands. ‘Erets Canaan’ is a territory of low lands. What advantage is there in mystifying it with strange or important sounding words?

          Well if you believe this ‘soap box’ seems somehow to be losing its alleged objectiveness, you may take comfort in this, my now confessed arrogant narrow-mindedness.  Yes, I hereby publicly and openly refuse to have two minds concerning certain moral realties, most chief among these, IMO, is double mindedness.

          We are here to explore and discover the ‘Face’ of our Mighty so that it might result in faithfulness to His plan for mankind. Fuzzy words can not engender clarity of understanding. Being profoundly nebulous may well be shrewd but it will never reflect wisdom. So Let us put clear words to this passage.     

          And YHWH commands by Moshe and Aharon saying,

          When you enter into the territory of the low lands that I devote to you as a possession and have given over the spot or mark of a wasting disease in a house of  this territory in your possession,

          The owner to whom the house belongs must boldly inform the one officiating of (his having) seen the spot or mark within this house.

          Now, after igniting all these fireworks, as witnessed above, I will offer a magnificent and wondrous finale. Is this statement in verse 35 a command? Could this be an unmitigated petition? Must we take individual responsibility for pointing out the ‘spot or mark’, the possible malignant wasting disease, within our own house? Only further reading can confirm this premise. If we find it so, my dear brother Hebrews, I will here by announce to the one officiating: “I am now seeing many ugly marks or spots within our precious house called Israel ”.

          In that case, I pray the proper official has been informed and will now proceed to inspect. Until that house of mine is fully purified, I must remain apart from it because I do not wish to be contaminated by contact. We are clearly informed in this chapter what would result from my violation. We see that an exact procedure is established. I trust, we may then return to our house, the house of our bountiful inheritance.

 

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