Parashat Shemot

As Moshe was attending his father-in-law’s sheep in the wilderness, near the base of Mt. Sinai, the Torah tells us that an angel appeared to him in the form of burning bush (3:2). As Moshe approached the bush to discover why it was burning, and yet not being consumed, HaShem called out to Moshe from the bush (3:4).

This encounter between Moshe and G-d is one of the most exciting stories in the entire Torah, and is rich with so much meaning and imagery. HaShem instructs Moshe to return to Egypt to deliver a message and liberate the Jewish people from slavery. During their encounter, Moshe asks G-d what he is to tell the people when they ask who sent him, and what G-d's name is. And HaShem responds with one of the most amazing, mysterious, and mystical answers ever recorded – “Ehiye Asher Ehiye.”

This phrase, “Ehiye Asher Ehiye,” is one of the easiest, and yet most difficult passages of the Torah to translate. The reason is because it carries nuance, mystery, and an ever present reality. Many translations render the passage in the present tense, either as “I AM,” or “I AM Who I AM.” Many Jewish translations translate it in the future tense, “I Will Be Who I Will Be.” The Complete Jewish Bible renders it as both “I am/will be what I am/will be.”

The most fascinating thing is that they are all correct. In Hebrew, the way this phrase is constructed renders it timeless and eternal. In Jewish mystical understanding, the phrase “Ehiye Asher Ehiye” can actually be translated in every tense, and in every combination of tenses. It could be “I am who I am,” “I will be who I will be,” “I was who I was,” “I am who I will be,” “I will be who I was,” etc.

My point in offering some various possible renditions of this phrase is not to place one particular rendering over another as a “more correct” translation, but rather to emphasize the point that all English translations struggle to convey the depth of the phrase.

The Midrash acknowledges this and also denotes that the word ehiye describes G-d as timeless and eternal. The Aramaic Targum Onkelos alludes that this phrase is itself one of the divine names, for he does not even translate the three words into an Aramaic meaning, but leaves the phrase in Hebrew.

The response G-d gives to Moshe is itself one of the divine oracles meant to be a sign to the people. But this is often missed by non-Hebrew speakers. By G-d’s response, He is telling Moshe that He is in control of everything. That all is consumed in, by, through, and from Him. An answer that is just as deep and mysterious as G-d is. Yet, it is close and simple at the same time.

When we get into positions like Moshe, and feel overwhelmed, and that we can not possibly do all that G-d asks of us, we must remember that our G-d is not only a consuming fire, but is the source of everything that exists. And that nothing has being apart from Him. We must always be reminded of the assurance that through HaShem, we can do all things.

We have much to thank Chabad for - particularly for their work spreading Yiddishkeit around the world, and for bringing fellow Jews back to Torah. I too have much to thank Chabad for personally, for their role in my own spiritual journey. However, most of all, I think we owe Chabad a bit of gratitude for bringing the issues of Mashiach front and center in the Jewish community.

This is particularly true in regard to Chabad Messianism. Many people outside of Chabad circles have assumed that much of the messianic fervor within Chabad has all but fizzled out. However, in a recent blog post, I pointed out that Chabad Messianism is alive and well.

Chabad continues to raise awareness to messianic ideas within Judaism that have mostly been brushed aside and "hidden under the rug," if you will. Ideas like a resurrected Messiah, incarnation, and miracles. Messianic thought that appears in Jewish history and texts, but have been weeded out due to their sounding too much like "that other guy" (i.e. Yeshua).

Yesterday I came across a particularly interesting blog post at Failed Messiah about a radio talk show that featured well-known modern Orthodox rabbi and thinker, Yitz Greenberg, and Rabbi Sholom Ber Kalmanson, a leading Chabad messianist.

I really encourage you to listen to the radio show. Aside from an annoying Christian guy who called in and probably did more harm than good, the show gives an interesting perspective into Chabad messianic understanding. And, interestingly, the weak responses against some of the ideas Chabad messianists put forth.

Aside from the comments made by the Chabad rabbi, one of the most controversial points in the radio show is when a couple Chabad messianist women called in and repeated over and over again that the Rebbe did not pass away, that he is at this very moment the messiah, and those who do not believe in him will be damned.

Shmarya Rosenberg, at Failed Messiah points out; during one of these calls, the radio host, Zev Brenner, asked one of these women, "Did the Rebbe die?"

She responded, "G-d forbid. The Rebbe is atzmus me'elokus [the very essence of G-d] in a guf [body]. He cannot die."

"Where is the Rebbe right now?," Zev Brenner asked.

She said, "All over." After being pressed by Zev Brenner, she repeated "All over," and then said, "[He's in] 770, [he's] everywhere."

Shmarya Rosenberg, who is a former Chabadnik, emphasizes that what Zev Brenner heard represents normative Chabad messianist theology. The idea that the Rebbe, no longer confined to his body, is everywhere. That he is omnipresent and almost, but not quite, omnipotent, as well. He answers your prayers and intercedes for you on high, and watches over you.

I would like to again point out, that one of these callers claimed that the Rebbe is "the very essence of G-d in a body"! A claim that over and over again the wider Jewish community has declared "NOT JEWISH." And yet, it truly is. Those of us who understand these ideas recognize points of legitimacy to these claims. We would only disagree on the "who."

Anyway, and interesting discussion indeed. What do you think?

In May of 1893, while clearing collapsed debris from a room overlooking the ancient ruins of Nippur, a group of Kaffej workmen made a startling discovery. Buried beneath the rubble they discovered a number of clay tablets.[1] The excavators quickly worked to clear the debris and within a few hours recovered a total of seven hundred and thirty tablets buried beneath layers of rubble.

The location had once been used as a business archive by the wealthy and influential Murashu family of Nippur who lived in the 5^th Century B.C.E. – during the reigns of the Persian kings Artexerxes I and Darius II (coinciding with the Biblical account of Ezra and Nehemiah).

Although not commonly known about, the Murashu archive provides invaluable information for multiple areas of study, including the History of Ancient Finance and Commerce, Biblical Studies, Linguistics, Paleography, Onomastics, Archaeology, and more.

An Interesting Twist

The bulk of the inscriptions, aside from a usual cylinder seal impression here and there, are in Cuneiform - similar to other Near Eastern Archives. Yet many of the tablets bear a second inscription or endorsement - a paleo-form of Aramaic - a Semitic and alphabetic language that would eventually replace Cuneiform as the Lingua Franca of the ancient world.

The Paleography of the texts reveals the development of the Cuneiform script – becoming more simplified and abbreviated over time (degeneration).[2] With the simplification of the Cuneiform, we simultaneously witness the development of Aramaic.

Additionally, we see a large number of foreign names and titles introduced into the Babylonian sources. The bulk of “borrowed” words are Semitic in origin due to a growing number of West-Semitic peoples introduced to the Nippur Region.

Jewish Exiles and Biblically Influenced Names

According to Michael David Coogan:

Names [containing] –yaw do not occur in Neo-Babylonian sources before the [Israelite] Exile, and their increasing frequency in the late sixth and fifth centuries can reasonably be associated with the gradual emancipation and increased prosperity of Judean exiles in Mesopotamia.[3]

A large number of these Jewish exiles were carried away by Nebuchadnezzar and settled in the region of Nippur. In fact, an unusually large number of Jewish names known from the Hebrew Bible (especially from the books of Ezra and Nehemiah), eventually find their way into Cuneiform texts and inscriptions, including the Murashu archive.

The prophet Ezekiel also mentions in multiple places “the community of the exiles by the Chebar Canal (for example, see Ezek. 1:1)”

These references suggest that the growing number of Jewish exiles began to hold positions of prestige, and conducted business like everyone else. Some references seem to support that a few Jews may even have amassed great wealth which would support the Biblical claim to large contributions of silver, gold and precious goods towards the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem (see Ezra 1:5-6 and 2: 68-69).

Despite the distance of time and space, these clay tablets still speak of a story long forgotten. For within the Murashu archive is a wealth of knowledge. Despite their having been recovered now for over 100 years, much work is still to be done. Further study needs to be carried out on the texts, those that produced them, and their influence for us today. Indeed, William Goetzmann of Yale University was on to something when he connected the Murashu archive to that “of a modern mystery full of intrigue.”[4]