Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent (December 20, 2017)
Gospel (Luk 1:26-38)
Responsorial Psalm (Psa 24:1-2)
1 Of David. A psalm.
The earth [the land of Israel] is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof,
the [rest of the] world, and those who live in it;
Exo 9:29
Moses said to him, “When I have gone out of the city [which was full of idolatry], I will spread out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s.
Rashi’s Commentary
When I have gone out of the city—This is the same as מִן-הָעִיר, When I go out from the city. But he did not pray within the city because it was full of idols (Exodus Rabbah 12:5).
Exo 19:5
And now [if you take it upon yourselves now, it will be “pleasant” for you in the future, all beginnings being difficult], if you obey my voice and keep my covenant [that I shall make with you for the keeping of the law], then you will be my own possession, above all the nations; for all the earth [including the other nations] is mine [so that in choosing you it is clear that I am choosing you above them],
Rashi’s Commentary
And now—If you will now take upon yourselves the observance of my commandments, it will be pleasant (easy) to you from now and henceforth, for every beginning is difficult (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 19:5:1).
And keep my covenant which I shall make with you regarding the observance of the Torah (cf. Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 19:5:1).
Possession means a cherished possession, the same as (Ecc 2:8) “and the treasure (וּסְגְלִֵּת) of kings”—costly vessels and precious stones which kings store up. In the same manner shall you be to me a cherished possession more than other nations (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 19:5:2). Now do not say that you alone belong to me and that I have no other nations together with (besides) you, and what else, therefore, have I by which the special love I bear you can be made evident; this is not so,
For the whole earth is mine, but in my eyes and before me they are as nought.
Deu 10:14
Behold, to the Lord your God belong the heavens and the highest heavens, also the earth and all that is in it [in spite of which, of all the creations].
Rashi’s Commentary
Behold, to the Lord your God belong the whole universe, and yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors.
2 for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the waters.
Gen 1:9-10
9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens [which were spread over the entire earth] be gathered into one place [the ocean], and let the dry ground appear.” And it was so.
Rashi’s Commentary
Let the waters . . . be gathered—For they were then spread over the surface of the whole earth, and he now gathered them together into what now constitutes the ocean, which is the largest of all seas (Genesis Rabbah 5:2).
10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathering of the waters he called “seas” [plural, fish from different regions of the sea having distinctive tastes]. And God saw that it was good [the “work of the waters” being completed on that day].
Rashi’s Commentary
He called “seas”—But does it not form one great sea? But it speaks of seas because the taste of fish which comes up from the sea in Acre is not the same as the taste of fish which comes up from the sea in Spain (Genesis Rabbah 5:8).
22 So long as the earth endures,
seedtime [half of Tishri, Marcheshvan, and half of Kislev] and harvest [half of Nissan, Iyar, and half of Sivan],
cold [half of Kislev, Teveth, and half of Shevat] and heat [half of Av, Elul, and half of Tishri],
summer [half of Sivan, Tamuz, and half of Av] and winter [half of Shevat, Adar, and half of Nissan],
day and night
[will not cease (from this we may infer that they ceased during the period of the flood)].
2Sa 16:2
The king said to Ziba, “Why do you have these?”
And Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine, for whoever is faint in the wilderness to drink.”
Ecc 2:8
I amassed for myself also silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers [types of instruments], the delights of men—wagons and coaches [ornate coaches].
This work, "Wednesday 3rd Week Advent," is a derivative of "The Rashi Chumash" and "The Rashi Ketuvim" by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein used under CC BY 3.0
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Rashi’s Commentary
So long as the earth endures . . . will not cease—Of these six seasons each consists of two months, as we have learned (Bava Metzia 106b): Half of Tishri, Marcheshvan, and half of Kislev is seedtime; half of Kislev, Teveth, and half of Shevat is the cold-season.
Harvest—Half of Nissan, Iyar, and half of Sivan.
Cold is more severe than winter.
Heat—This is the end of the hot season, half of Av, Elul and half of Tishri, when the world is excessively hot, as we have learned in Treatise Yoma 29a: “The end of the summer is worse than the summer itself.”
Summer—Half of Sivan, Tamuz and half of Av. This is the time of fig-gathering, the time when they lay them out to dry in the fields. and its name is קַיִץ “summer-fruittime,” as (2Sa 16:2) “the bread and dried fruits (וְהַקַּיִץ) for the young men to eat.”
Winter is the time of sowing barley and pulse which are quick (חֲרִיפִין) to ripen. It is half of Shevat, Adar and half of Nissan.
Day and night will not cease—From this we may infer that they (day and night) ceased during the period of the flood, for the planetary system did not function, so that there was no distinction between day and night (Genesis Rabbah 34:11).
Will not cease—None of these will cease to take their natural course.
Deu 10:15
Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors to love them, and he chose their descendants after them, even you [as you see yourselves desired of all nations]—as it is this day.
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photo credit: Wouter de Bruijn <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/26646199@N05/36802471900">Roadside flowers</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">(license)</a>