The Mishnah, written much, much later by Rabbi Yehudah HaNassi, was completed in roughly the year 189 C.E. – 3949 from Creation.  Between 1261 BCE to 189 CE, is 1,450 years – one and a half millennia. 

 

Even when the Mishkan (Tabernacle) stood at Shilo, it was not as active a center of national worship as it should have been.  According to Oral tradition on the story at the opening of sefer Shemuel (Book of Samuel), the pilgrimage of Israelites three times a year had all but ceased before Elqanah – the righteous father of the prophet Samuel – inspired his brethren to resume the ascent to Shilo for the festivals.   Considering how inactive it was at times even when the Mishkan stood, and how it was then re-established elsewhere, there can be little doubt:  When Shilo was destroyed, it was abandoned.  

 

Looking closely at what is understood to be one of the holes for the original stakes by which the roof of Mishkan Shilo was tethered down. *

2,899 years after the destruction of the Mishkan, the holes still remain in tact in broken lines along the rectangular stone perimeter, which once surrounded the sanctuary. *

During the next 1,500 years until the Mishnah was written down, the nation would suffer the collapse of three Israelite kingdoms, and two exiles of nearly all its population.  By that time, Shilo was a long-distant memory.  Moreover, so was the way qodashim qalim –offerings of light sanctity— were eaten at Shilo, since the rules changed after the Tabernacle re-established at Nov.  Yet, incredibly, the Sages maintained a fresh memory of minute details of the way the Hebrew pilgrims once ate of the holy offerings at Shilo – even though they had had already been defunct for so long.  All that time, the details how the offerings were eaten at Shilo were taught orally from teacher to student so that over 1,450 years later, the Sages remembered them as if Shilo were still standing just the day before. 

In Seder Qodashim, tractate Zevahhim, 14,6, we learn how, in Shilo – as opposed to later on – the “qodashim qalim” (offerings of light sanctity) were eaten “bakhol ha-ro’eh” – within view of the Tabernacle.  After the sacred offerings were consumed, the Israelite pilgrim was not permitted to take the use the clay containers for the offerings beyond that point; they needed to be smashed.  Later in Nov, private altars were permitted, and such offerings were not even limited to the Mishkan, but could be eaten “ba-khol `are-Yisrael” – in all the cities of Israel.  Finally, when the Divine Service reached its ultimate form with the building of the First Temple, those offerings could be eaten “lifnim min ha-hhomah” – anywhere within the walls of the city of Jerusalem – not necessarily within view of the Temple.

Indeed, the site of Tel Shilo today remains a natural amphitheater: The remaining base of the Tabernacle – overgrown with brush — still stands aligned on a perfect East-West axis on its small, central plateau, surrounded by high hills.  The holy structure with walls of stone and a roof of animal skins was clearly visible from every direction.  And from the site of the sanctuary and outwards up to the perimeter of the surrounding peaks, are countless ancient shards of smashed pottery.  There can be no doubt: they hail back to the time when the Israelite pilgrims would smash their pottery after eating their offerings within view of the holy Mishkan.

Examining countless potsherds from the time of the Judges at Tel Shilo *

Seeing how trustworthy the Sages were in preserving such minute details about rituals which had been totally irrelevant and impractical for many centuries by their time, consider how much more can they be trusted to have preserved the teachings that were relevant to them, and would remain relevant to Jews throughout the ages – namely the details of the Oral Law of Moses:  What really constitutes idolatry?  Who is a Jew, who is not, and how can one convert?  What are the actual laws of Noah?  What is the true interpretation of God’s Commandments in the Torah regarding everything from the kashruth dietary laws to proper observance of Shabboth – the Sabbath day?  And so on and so forth.

Mori Michael Shelomo Bar-Ron

*  Courtesy of James D. Long 2009, posted with permission

ח וַיָּקָם מֶלֶךְ-חָדָשׁ, עַל-מִצְרָיִם, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יָדַע, אֶת-יוֹסֵף.

8 There arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Yoseph.

ט וַיֹּאמֶר, אֶל-עַמּוֹ: הִנֵּה, עַם בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל–רַב וְעָצוּם, מִמֶּנּוּ.

9 And he said to his people: ‘Behold, the people of the children of Israel are too many and too mighty for us;

י הָבָה נִתְחַכְּמָה, לוֹ: פֶּן-יִרְבֶּה, וְהָיָה כִּי-תִקְרֶאנָה מִלְחָמָה וְנוֹסַף גַּם-הוּא עַל-שֹׂנְאֵינוּ, וְנִלְחַם-בָּנוּ, וְעָלָה מִן-הָאָרֶץ.

10 Let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass that, in the event of a war, they also join themselves to our enemies and fight against us, and leave the land.’

יא וַיָּשִׂימוּ עָלָיו שָׂרֵי מִסִּים, לְמַעַן עַנֹּתוֹ בְּסִבְלֹתָם; וַיִּבֶן עָרֵי מִסְכְּנוֹת, לְפַרְעֹה–אֶת-פִּתֹם, וְאֶת-רַעַמְסֵס.

11 Therefore they set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh store-cities, Pithom and Ra’meses.*

Egypt’s hatred for the b’nei Yisrael (Israelites) is a theme running through the first Torah portions of Shemoth. Below are stunning images of ancient Hebrews in ancient Egypt.¹ With the possible exception of the image directly below, which could be pre-Sinaitic, I assume them to be from the New Kingdom era (First Temple times in Israel). However, it is possible that some of the relics found in the tomb of Tutankhamen were inherited from earlier pharaohs. Regardless of their exact date of origin, they give us a clear glimpse at how we were seen in the eyes of Egyptians throughout biblical times. They give us a real-life sense of the historical context of the accounts of the Tanakh.

(citation below²)
Note that the only slave/captive with tattoos all over has a Hebrew hairstyle (see the Pharoah’s footstool below). If this is post-Sinai, tattooing being forbidden by Torah law; could this have been forcibly done to the Hebrew captive as a vile, anti-Semitic act? This would still be possible if the image were pre-Sinaitic, from the time of our bondage—assuming tattoos were taboo even before the Giving of the Torah. Or it could simply be a glimpse into a time of the sojourn in Egypt, when tattooing was permitted.

How precious few Jews in the Western world know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we were slaves in Egypt, and that HaShem took us out of Egypt with an outstretched arm? How many would seriously consider returning to a life of Torah and miSwoth if only their inner faith were substantiated by clear proof? It was mainly for such honest truth-seekers that this article was written.

As I’ve written before, I believe “The Riddle of the Exodus” by James D. Long (Lightcatcher Books 2006) to be mandatory reading for all mankind. With his explicit permission, I will quote and borrow heavily from his book here, mainly in my own words, including my own insights.

Despite the naysayers as to the origins of Sefer haYashar and the fact that layers were definitely added over the millennia, the text in our possession is a primary source for Rash”i and Me’am Lo’ez—who quoted from it generously. Its original translation into English in 1840 “contains endorsements from Hebrew linguists and biblical scholars attesting to the authenticity of the work.” However, nothing more legitimizing can be said, neither for Sefer haYashar or the authenticity of the traditions it contains, until one finds precise correlations between details in the midrash and those discovered by historians and archaeologists…

According to Sefer haYashar, the second to the last pharoah of Egypt (whose army would drown in the sea), the one referred to by biblical historians as “the pharaoh of the oppression” lived a remarkable 94 years. It is his death that HaShem referred to, telling Moshe, “all who seek your life have died”. The name of this sadistic tyrant was “Melol“, although we who suffered from his cruelty called him “Maror”. His firstborn son should have inherited his throne, but was found to be mentally incompetent. His brother Adikam, at the age of 20, became the next pharaoh, reigning four years—which explains how he escaped the destruction of the firstborn.

Consider the “Kings List, a record of seventy-five kings from the First to the 19th Dynasty” carved on the wall of the ancient temple at Abydos in Southern Egypt. Lo and behold, among the very last pharaohs of Old Kingdom—before it utterly crashed due to “natural disasters” according to the Egyptologists—was Pepi II, also called “Merire“. (There was no hieroglyph for the “l” sound, so “l” was pronounced as “r”, like in Japanese. M-r-r = M-l-l). He enjoyed the longest reign in Egyptian history: a stunning 94 years… His reign is also recorded in the Turin Royal Canon (the official name for an ancient papyrus housed in Turin, Italy, with information about the pharaohs of the past) as being succeeded by a son who reigned only a year, preceding the last, reign of the dynasty. Although this may seem to contradict Sefer haYashar, it doesn’t: the events of the death of pharaoh “Maror”, Moshe’s return to Egypt, and the beginning of the ‘Ten Strikes’ (Ten Plagues) to Egypt all took the span of a year. Now according to tradition, pharoah “Maror” suffered from an incurable skin disease for years. By the time he died, his body was already in an advanced state of decay. During his father’s last years and even the short-lived rule of his handicapped brother, Adikam may have fulfilled the functions of leadership, thus being remembered in Sefer haYashar as direct successor to Malul.

Who replaces “Neferkare the Younger” (Adikam) when he disappears from history? No surprise here: there was no mail heir to the thrown… a woman becomes pharoah… Something must have happened to his firstborn son.

What is incredible is that this amazing correlation, besides proving the authenticity of our Oral history, proves that the last pharaohs of Egypt (before HaShem brought it to its knees) were the last pharaohs of the 6th dynasty, which we know to be the fall of the Old Kingdom. Housed in the Museum of Leiden (Netherlands) is a damaged, ancient Egyptian papyrus, known to us as the Admonitions of Ipuwer. It is a list of dreadful events that shook the Egyptian nation to its very foundations at the time… It is dated to the end of the Old Kingdom: the same final days of Pepi II and Neferkare the Younger (Malul and Adikam)… and it reads like a newscast straight from the scene of the Ten Strikes (Ten Plagues). I quote from Riddle of the Exodus (In all quotes, the use of boldface and italics are my own additions):

Blood…

Papyrus 2:6 Plague is throughout the land. Blood is everywhere.

Papyrus 2:10 Forsooth, the river is blood.

Papyrus 7:4 Behold Egypt is poured out like water. He who poured water on the ground, he has captured the strong man in misery. [According to Exodus 4:9 and 4:30, one sign Moses performed publicly was pouring water out on the ground, becoming blood. "The strong man" here might be a euphemism, even a degrading reference to pharoah]

Fiery hail…

Papyrus 2:10 Forsooth, gates, columns and walls are consumed by fire; while the [....] of the king’s palace stands firm and endures.

Papyrus 4:14 Trees are destroyed…

Plague…

Papyrus 4:1 Forsooth, hair has fallen out for everyone.

Papyrus 5:4 Forsooth, all animals, their hearts weep. Cattle moan because of the state of the land.

Darkness…

Papyrus 9:8-10 Destruction… the land is in darkness.

Ex-slaves Spoil Egypt…

Papyrus 2:4 Forsooth, poor men have become the owners of good things. He who could not make his own sandals is now the possessor of riches.

Papyrus 3:3 Gold, blue stone, silver, carnelian, bronze and Yebet sone and ….are fastened to the necks of female slaves.

The `erev rav… (mixed multitude of Egyptians who left with the Banei Yisrael)

Papyrus 3:14 Those who were Egyptians have become foreigners.

The Pillar of Fire…

Papyrus 7:1 Behold the fire mounted up on high. Its burning goes forth before the enemies of the land.

Hatred for the B’nei Yisrael…

…Would that he [pharoah] perceived their nature in the first generation (of men); then he would have repressed their evils, he would have stretched forth (his) arm against it, he would have destroyed their seed and their inheritance…”

Not enough people have any awareness that the Egyptians apparently enshrined the memory of the Exodus in the hieroglyphs covering an ancient, black granite naos on display at Ismailia, in Egypt. It was a mystery until 1890, when it was translated, but it shouldn’t be today. It reads:

“Evil fell on the earth…the earth was in great affliction…great disturbance in the residence.”

“…neither man nor the gods could see the faces of those next to them…”

It describes how the king and his men fight “the evil ones at the Place of the Whirlpool,” whose location is described as Pi-Kharoti” (= Pi ha-Hiruth, see Exodus 14:2,9, Leviticus 33:7). It relates how the pharoah commands his men to follow him, and then disappears from their midst: “There at Pi-Kharoti the Pharoah is thrown by a whirlwind high into the air and seen no more.” (Consider the wind that blew the whole night, drying the seabed.) He is referred to as Par’o “T’hom”, which sounds very much related to “T:hom” in Hebrew, meaning “the depths”… i.e. “Pharoah of the Depths”! Note that although the midrashic account takes on a mythical character at that point, Pharoah’s disappearance from the scene is mentioned specifically in Sefer haYashar (parashath beshallaH).

James Long, the esteemed author, makes an fascinating linguistic connection: We already learned that the pharoah lost in the sea is Neferkare the Younger (see above), who was also referred to as “Nem-t’m-saf II” Could the consonants “t” and “m” be a shortened form of “T’houm”? An even more direct correlation can be made between the name of the pharoah T’houm and one of the treasure cities we built in Egypt: Pit’om. Long writes, “The prefix ‘Pi’ can be roughly translated ‘city of’ or ‘dwelling of. The above verse from the book of Exodus could very well be referring in retrospect to the “City of T’houm”, city of the drowned pharaoh.

There are more amazing parallels and correlations, but they are beyond the scope of this article. In the end, one must buy the book: http://lightcatcherprod.com/products_books_riddle.shtml

I can find no more appropriate concluding words than those in the article “The Truth About Yoseph and What to Do About It” © (see Beith Midrash, “Torath Emeth–A Torah of Truth”):

The first miSwah (commandment) described in Mishneh Torah, is to know that there is a G-d. (Laws of Foundations of Torah 1:1) Not to believe, not to have faith, but to know. While many people believe that seeing is believing, they are mistaken: Seeing is knowing. Once an idea has been observed to be true, time and time again, it is a known fact and not merely believed. The connections between Yoseph and Imhotep are only one subject treated in Riddle of the Exodus. However, even all of Jim Long’s honest Egyptology is but the tip of the iceberg of all the proofs of Torah through the principles and discoveries of modern science, archaeology and recorded history.

Why are we commanded to know, and not merely to believe? To me it is clear that any religion that considers belief or faith in its theology–not action–as the adherent’s greatest goal, admits its own weakness: It is as if they realize deep down that believing in their fallible belief system is quite a feat: it’s not easy, even for the uneducated! Therefore, the one who succeeds in ‘believing’ earns his/her way to Heaven…

Being that the Torah and HaShem are ultimately provable to the honest, sincere researcher—and through deductive reasoning alone—we are expected to know it to be true and then move on to fulfill 612 other miSwoth. After all, when you know something to be true, there is only one thing left to do about it: act on that knowledge. As our faith solidifies into true knowledge, may we be moved to action: to love HaShem and keep His miSwoth with all our heart, soul, and resources.

Written by Michael Shelomo Bar-Ron, Beith Midrash Ohal Moshe

Additional Images

Below are more images from ancient Egypt that bring life to our history.¹

“Above [the image below is a close-up]: Racial imagery from Tutankhamen’s tomb: the ecclesiastical throne, shown assembled, and a full view of the footrest. Bound Semitic and Black prisoners appear on the footstool: the Egyptian king would rest his feet on his foes. There is reason to believe the dates to the First Temple period.”³

“Above: Racial imagery from Tutankhamen’s tomb: bound Semitic and Black prisoners decorating the curved end of Tutankhamen’s walking stick: when the Egyptian king went for a walk, he would hold the enemies of Egypt in his palm.”

“Below: Racial imagery from Tutankhamen’s tomb: the Egyptian king’s sandals have bound Black and Semitic prisoners inlaid into the soles: when the king walked in these shoes, he would crush the enemies of Egypt underfoot.”³

Based on the article O”M 12 of the original Ohel Moshe series, written for parashoth Wa’era and Bo 5767.

Footnotes

*  Quote from Bible was copied from the authentic Yemenite manuscript edition found at the ‘Mechon Mamre’ website, www.mechon-mamre.org.  The English translation is original, but close to the electronic text (c) by Larry Nelson.

1. Thanks to the painstaking web-research of the Aluf Abir Yehoshua Sofer.
2. An image called “ram3captives” (Rameses III?) apparently from a Lutheran site called “The Old Testament and the Ancient Near East”, http://fontes.lstc.edu/~rklein/.
3. These pictures and their captions are from an unlikely source: a racist website with photos from the tomb of King Tutankhamon, called “Egypt: The Nordic Desert Empire” http://www.vivamalta.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2299. There is no reason to doubt the authenticity of the images: I have personally seen the throne below at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Conveniently, these wicked racists ignore a famous painting showing Tutankhamon to have been darker, negro-like complexion.)

However, stories from your family elders alone are not something likely to shut the mouth of the heretic.  Heretics are convinced that we have inherited myths and exaggerations.  What makes sense is the critical importance of knowing the secular history that proves the Torah to be true.  Never was this more true than today, when billions of children worldwide are actually being “educated” about history on a basic level by a global Western culture that has been given free reign to wipe the Jewish People out, off the pages of ancient history…  What they haven’t succeeded in doing to us physically, they are having much more success in the realm of rewriting history–the political war strategy of governments through academia. 

In the epic battle for truth, a warrior has arisen, one of the most important, righteous non-Jewish teachers of our generation, to my knowledge: Jim Long.  It is an honor for Beith Midrash Ohel Moshe to have the esteemed author of Riddle of the Exodus * (© Lightcatcher Productions, 2006), a speaker in high demand by yeshivoth and synagogues around the world, as our supporter and member.  His book should be required reading for every Jew and perhaps every human being (presently, it is only available in the English language (see http://lightcatcherprod.com/products_books_riddle.shtml).

A seasoned, amateur Egyptologist (therefore one who can actually be honest and objective) and painstaking researcher, Jim Long actually did his research en situ (on site) in Egypt.  Among the greatest events that Riddle of the Exodus sheds light, are those from this week’s parashah (‘weekly Torah portion’ –this was parashath MiqeS): the life of Yoseph (Joseph).  The Torah’s account can actually be proven from the ancient Egyptian records.

 In a chapter called “Remembering Yoseph” (pp.149-159), Long writes [hi-lighting and comments by me):

"In the Third Dynasty, during the reign of Pharoah Djoser, there was a Prime Minister known as Imhotep.  This noble figure exhibited remarkable wisdom as a consummate administrator.  He is best known as the designer of the Step Pyramid at Saqqara...

"The resemblance between the Biblical Joseph and Imhotep is hard to deny.  Consider an inscription found among the rocks at Sehel, on the first cataract of the Nile.  The text on the stele is from the Ptolemaic period and said to be a copy from an older inscription.  It relates that during the reign of King Djoser the monarch was deeply distressed because of a seven-year famine.  He sought the counsel of the wise Imhotep... 

"Likewise, the burial site for Imhotep has yet to be found... The Torah tells us that Joseph was interred on a temporary basis, and his bones were brought out from Egypt by Moses.  If Imhotep were Joseph, it might explain the absence of his remains. 

"There is also evidence to suggest that Joseph served as vizier during the days of the Fifth Dynasty king known as Unas.  Some may suggest that the span between the Third and Fifth Dynasties is a bit of a stretch, but there is a strong possibility that some of these kings were actually co-regents  [I add: Yoseph began his service to the Pharaohs at the age of 30, and lived to be 110.  That time span could have encompassed the reign of a number of kings.]…

“That Joseph was vizier while Unas of Elephantine [island] was alive is further underscored by a remarkable artifact found at his [Imhotep's] pyramid at Saqqara.  The causeway in front of this edifice features a limestone block carved in low relief which depicts starving foreigners. … This commemorative relief in the causeway of Unas could very well be recalling a time when emaciated foreigners came to Egypt seeking grain stored during Joseph’s rule as Prime Minister.  But there is more:

“Located beneath the crumbling exterior of the Unas pyramid are well-preserved vaults…covered with the famous Pyramid Texts. … Once inside, we viewed a startling inscription on the east wall of the antechamber.  Typically, the virtues of the dead pharaoh are inscribed along with the words of praise for him as he carries out various tasks alongside…the other gods of Egypt.  The most curious line on this east wall reads as follows:

“‘Unas will judge with Him-whose-name-is-hidden on the day of the slaying of the eldest.‘  …Is it possible that the vizier Joseph, during one of his audiences with Unas, revealed that the Egyptians would one day forget how he saved the nation from starvation? …

“The death of the firstborn, the eldest, would come at the hands of a G-d whose name would never be uttered in the presence of Pharaoh.  To the Egyptian monarch, a worshipper of many gods, the G-d of Joseph would most certainly be ‘Him-whose-name-is hidden.’”

Truth to tell, it is clear from the biblical context (see Sh’moth [Exodus] 5:1-3]) that the future Pharaoh of the Exodus did not know the Name of the G-d of the Hebrews. 

Supporting this find, Jim Long continues how the future exodus seems to have been revealed to Yoseph, a prophet, in light of B’reshith [Genesis] 50:25 (Here I also quote the preceding verse):

Another connection between Imhotep and Yoseph is linguistic.  Quoting Egyptologist A.S. Yahuda, the vizier of Egypt was called “Itf”, meaning “father”.  “Itf “, of course is clearly linked to the root of Imhotep (or Imhotef). Jim writes: “In Genesis 45:8, Joseph describes his new status as vizier or prime minister, ‘G-d has made me a father to Pharoah.’“

One final point that Jim makes in the video documentary version of Riddle of the Exodus is that Yoseph and Imhotep share a remarkable similarity:  they both lived to the ripe old age of 110.  There was a proverb passed down through the centuries among the Egyptians.  It was said that to achieve perfect wisdom, one should live to the age of 110!

The first miSwoh described in Mishneh Torah, is to know that there is a  G-d.  (Laws of Foundations of Torah 1:1)   Not to believe, not to have faith, but to know.  While many people believe that seeing is believing, they are mistaken:  Seeing is knowing.  Once an idea has been observed to be true, time and time again, it is a known fact and not merely believed.  The connections between Yoseph and Imhotep are only one subject treated in Riddle of the Exodus.  However, even all of Jim Long’s honest egyptology is but the tip of the iceberg of all the proofs of Torah through the principles and discoveries of modern science, archaeology and recorded history.   

Why are we commanded to know, and not merely to believe?  To me it is clear that any religion that considers belief or faith in its theology–not action–as the adherent’s greatest goal, admits its own weakness:  It’s as if they realize deep down that believing in their fallible belief system is quite a feat:  it’s not easy, even for the uneducated!  Therefore, the one who succeeds in ‘believing’ earns his/her way to Heaven… 

Being that the Torah and HaShem are ultimately provable to the honest, sincere researcher, and not only through deductive reasoning, we are expected to know it to be true and then move on to fulfill 612 other miSwoth.  After all, when you know something to be true, there is only one thing left to do about it:  act accordingly.  As our faith solidifies into true knowledge, may we be moved to action: to love HaShem and keep His miSwoth with all our heart, soul, and resources.

Written by Michael Shelomo Bar-Ron, Beith Midrash Ohel Moshe

Based on his article O”M 10 of the original Ohel Moshe series, parashath MiqeS 5767

_______________________________________________________________

Quotes from Bible are according to the authentic Yemenite manuscript edition posted on www.mechon-mamre.org.  The English translations in my articles are original, with influence and occasional borrowings from the JPS Bible based on the electronic text (c) by Larry Nelson, and the The Living Torah: The Five Books of Moses by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, Maznaim Publishing Corporation, New York, 647 pp.