My Journey to Israel.

Of the roughly 100 trips I have made to Israel over the last 20 years, this one was the most challenging, physically, mentally and spiritually. The day I landed, a ceasefire had come into effect and on the following day I visited the shiva home of Eitan Dishon z’l a brave combat soldier. His mother and father could not stop thanking me enough for expanding the neighborhood of Nof Tzion where they live. Eitan had come home the weekend before, his Dad proudly showed off pictures standing proud with his son. He visited his grandparents and friends before returning to base. On the fateful day, driving the troop carrier, he popped his head through the hatch to observe broader surroundings only to be hit at the back of the head by a sniper in a nearby building. After that the IDF flattened more buildings to protect troops in vehicles like Etian’s. 

The ceasefire produced days of quiet and reflection. We had held BBQ’s in the north where it is often difficult to secure meat supplies, but Sydney resident Louis Goldstein’s son Yossi and his platoon got to eat a meal fit for a king. I filled most days with meetings, property, technology, visiting half empty offices, Jerusalem, TelAviv dealing with a busy schedule. One of my meetings was with my close friend Didi, one of my lawyers, for the past 20 years, a member of Jerusalem’s city council. His brother, an absolute lion of a man, Yossi Hershkowitz z’l had been killed in the days before I arrived. We spent time talking about his great achievements and how sorely he would be missed. 

Through the week I began to sense how traumatized people were, even the toughest people closest to me, lawyers, accountants, counsellors, politicians, business associates. Everyone was affected, but no-one knew how far reaching this would be.  

I spent some time with the legendary Dovi Meyer, he was running from pillar to post handing out tzedakah checks to families whose kids had fallen in battle, or running concerts, BBQ’s and other events. Still he and I found a few times to catch up, with the usual crew at the cigar shop in Mamilla. 

On my first Friday, just before Shabbat I made my regular trip to the City of David’s, Gihon Spring, a mikvah tucked in a crevice of a cave at the base of Mount Moriah adjacent to Silwan. The mikvah has been there since the dawn of time. Midrashim states that Adam sat in that mikvah, continuously for 130 years, after ‘the sin’ in Gan Eden. There I met my friend Moshe Weiz, a giant in Torah, Rosh Yeshiva and General in the IDF, responsible for troop movements in Yehuda and Shomron. He said something that stuck: These are great days we are living through. Immediately I understood what he was saying. How can we know anything of the reasons for a demonic massacre of our people, or of our hostages caged in tunnels, or spreading voices of denial and abounding antisemitism? Are we so blind not to see the awakening consciousness behind the common morality of the Jewish people. 

Afterall it was Bilam, the world’s greatest demon who was once compelled to pronounce: “How precious are your tents O’Jacob, your dwelling places O’Israel”.

My moments under the cold waters of that mikvah were special, they always are. 

Before I could blink it was Shabbat. At Beis Menachem, we made kiddush and sat through a very reflective fabreing. At 6AM the next morning we jumped into my CEO’s car heading south. Along the way we stopped in Netivot to catch the 7:30 AM Shacharit Minyan. Driving through the town, you could spot the missile hits that had previously damaged the odd building. Along the way we stopped at the graveyard of 2300 cars that had been destroyed by the more than 3000 terrorists, blood thirsty Gazan’s and the journalists who accompanied them. Each car tagged, many had burned to a rusty shell. Zaka volunteers had searched and carefully logged every car for clues of body parts that would identify victims. 

We stopped at Kibbutz Alumim where 60 terrorists had been eliminated by brave residents, a skeleton crew of IDF and citizen responders among whom two heroic brothers, who had rushed to the rescue only to be killed al pi’ kiddush Hashem. 17 Thai and Nepalese farm workers were slaughtered, the rest kidnapped. Of the 17, 8 were knifed to death in a safe room. The others shot and burned in their bunks. Farm equipment was torched, milking facilities destroyed, clearly an objective was to destroy the symbolisms of Israel infrastructure. For the next few hours we sat watching security system videos that were time-sync edits of the camera captures from the first terrorists entering the kibbutz and the brave battles to contain them.

As we drove past the forest of the Nova festival site a road-sign over the bridge informed us we were in “Eretz Gerar ”, the very place Philistine King Avimelech and his General Phichol had once come to demand a peace pact with Isaac after they had attacked Isaac and stopped up his wells. Why did they come to demand peace? Because Isaac had been blessed, they were defeated by his continuous success in everything he did and their moral ineptitude scared them. Perhaps, here is a lesson to be learned through Israel’s abundant modern day successes, perhaps we should terrorize them with our most successful people, in all areas of life, until they fear that God is with us. 

At Tzehilim infantry base we arranged a BBQ for a few hundred soldiers. There I was shocked to discover the degree of our resolve. Religious or secular, men and women soldiers who had been living in tents, on the ground or on foam mattresses for the past 54 days, I asked them whether they wanted to go home. Their answers reflected a consistent almost monotonous tone; “yes, but we’re not ready until we finish the job. 

The next day, a special group convened to give birth to Project “Israel Slingshot”. Fundraisers, web developers, intelligence, media buying experts and marketers all came together with one common goal; defeat online antisemitism! A few days later Amichai Chikli, Diaspora and Hasbara Minister met with us to endorse the initiative and provide initial matching support. We’re raising donations to buy media impressions, via open-web exchanges, presently reaching audiences with ads for Stand With US and other pro-Israeli messaging on sites like Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, CNN Arabic, Sky News, etc. Imagine getting an Israel activist message that celebrates successful Jews, 3 times a day or more, everyday, wherever you are on the open web, for years to come! Every $1 raised buys 1000 impressions, with matching 2000. With the right pro-Jewish messages, over time, that will reduce ignorance, make a dent and break the cycle of social media echo chambers. 

Besides this action packed agenda, it was very special to host Malcolm and Dani Daitz on a tour of the excavation I have been very close to for the past 14 years. The place I believe everyone will one day recognize as being the stone that Jacob erected the night after his famous stairway to heaven dream. In context, that stone sits among four bedrock rooms of a stone temple, carved into the eastern slope of Mount Moriah, immediately above the Gihon Spring. 

Then the inevitable, the ceasefire was lifted and before I knew it, Shabbos was upon us, back to the Gihon spring. A very special Shabbos, Yud Tes Kislev, The holiday of redemption. Yahrzeit of the Maggid, the day the Alter Rebbe was released from prison. The Kiddush and fabreing continued until Ma’ariv, if only we could have taken some pictures of Chassidim slouching on tables filled with empty plates, bottles and l'chaim. 

The news after Shabbos wasn’t good, several soldiers fell. Sadly, along with thousands, I attended the Levya of 22 year old Sergeant First Class, Ben Zussuman from Jerusalem. The words of Ben’s mother Sarit echoed through Israel and world media - in Hebrew she said: 

“We are a people who want to live, not like our enemies, who are lowly and miserable, cowards, Nazis, who together with their accomplices sanctify death. We will live, and thrive, and build…We have to be successful. It's either us or them. Either the Nazis and their accomplices, or us.

Do you hear, people of Israel?  World, do you hear? Or do you hear, our cowardly and evil and death thirsty enemies?

The Nation of Israel lives, Am Yisroel Chai, for all of eternity, for ever and ever, standing tall, head held high, now more than ever. Be strong, believe, pursue goodness -- demand goodness, and we will win.”

Happy Hanukkah! 

I'm Sure We Have Found “The Altar” of Akeida!

The verse in Vaeyra, Genesis 22:9 states "אֶת־הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ", (et-ha-mizbei-ach) "the altar", using the absolute noun.

וַיָּבֹ֗אוּ אֶֽל־הַמָּקוֹם֮ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָֽמַר־ל֣וֹ הָאֱלֹהִים֒ וַיִּ֨בֶן שָׁ֤ם אַבְרָהָם֙ אֶת־הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ וַֽיַּעֲרֹ֖ךְ אֶת־הָעֵצִ֑ים וַֽיַּעֲקֹד֙ אֶת־יִצְחָ֣ק בְּנ֔וֹ וַיָּ֤שֶׂם אֹתוֹ֙ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ מִמַּ֖עַל לָעֵצִֽים׃ 

They arrived at the place of which God had told him. Abraham built the altar there; he laid out the wood; he bound his son Isaac; he laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 

The 13th century commentator Chizkuni states:  'את המזבח', 'the altar'. The Torah did not write: 'altar' without the prefix letter ה which meant that it was the altar that had previously served such a purpose. According to our tradition, Adam, Abel, Noah and his son, had all offered offerings to G-d on that same altar. 

Why would Abraham have to build an altar if this verse refers to the altar by absolute noun? Every altar is designated by its bedrock foundation, a bedrock plinth, which later became a requirement under Jewish law. The plinth connected every boulder and stone assembled on it, by the builder, to the bedrock foundation together constituting "the altar" on which a sacrifice would be offered. So, where is this altar?

Ronny Reich opened his recent work "Excavations in the City of David" with a chapter, "A moment in which to be born", by explaining that the spring, east of the City, was never called Gihon, instead the Bible called it En Shemesh (Sun Spring). I completely agree, but the spring was also known as a gihon. The spring is a perennial, intermittent gusher, resembling a pump, sometimes gushing, other times flowing, appropriately and descriptively a gihon (meaning; bursting forth or gushing in Hebrew).

Ronny related En Shemesh to sun worshippers of Jeremiah 8:2 and "horses...of the sun abolished by Josiah" (2 Kings 23:11) and that "perhaps at that time the name En Shemesh (Sun Spring) was abolished" along with idolatory.  Well Ronny, that is entirely possible, but equally unnecessary because the morning sun still shines on that spring, to this very day and the name En Shemesh does not necessarily denote its association with idolatry.  

Having said all this, Ronny used En Shemesh to reconcile a difficult Biblical passage describing the intersect, critical to the altar, on the northern boundary of tribe Judah with the southern boundary of Benjamin. Why is this important? Because the first and second temples did not comply with this map, but a recently discovered rock-cut-temple and its altar plinth, on the eastern slope of Mount Moriah, at the compliant location does. Could this be Akeida?

Map from Excavations in the City of David by Ronnie Reich and Eli Shukron

The Gemara (Zevachim 53b) asks: What is the reason that there was no base on the southeast corner of the altar? Rabbi Elazar says: Because it was not in the portion of land of the one who tears, i.e., the tribe of Benjamin, as he is described in the following manner: “Benjamin is a wolf that tears apart; in the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he divides the spoil” (Genesis 49:27). As Rav Shmuel, son of Rav Yitzḥak, says: The altar would consume, i.e., occupy, one cubit of the portion of Judah. The part of the altar in Judah’s portion was the southeast corner of the base, and therefore there was no base on that corner. 

SE corner of the altar base or plinth.
Dotted line marks the boundary of Judah and Benjamin

In addition, there are numerous important Kabalistic or mystical concepts and references to the southeast. But, here Ronny Reich conclusively resolved that the only portion of Judah's land that can possibly intersect the southeast corner of the altar plinth was recently found at the rock-cut-temple, in the City of David and that was last used at the time of Jacob. Further, the only water system at this site, an essential requirement for frequent temple sacrifices, was last used around 3500 years ago. 

The 12th Century commentator Rashi, rendered the the altar base:

North is on the right of this image and the image above

Shockingly, the southeast and all corners of the altar of the first and second temple, that were built further north, on the summit of Mount Moriah, The Temple Mount, fell entirely within Benjamins territory. No portion of those altars fell in Judah's territory as depicted by the outline of todays, so called, 'Old City' in Ronny Reich's map above and as stated in the Gemara. 

The fundamental and indigenous, tribal right to a permanent temple, on their land, belonged to Benjamin. Why? Because, Benjamin did not participate in the sale of Joseph. But, it was not clear to tribe Benjamin which end of its land the temple would be built and that opened grounds for the fiercest tribal competition. Ephraim (Joseph's son) demanded it be on its southern border with northernmost Benjamin, Judah demanded it be on its northern border adjacent to Benjamin's southernmost border. 

Following  the 300 years of settlement, and a plague that ravaged the nation, King David opposed the ancestral claims of Ephraim and on Prophet Gad's advice he built 'an altar', on the summit of Mount Moriah at a location inside Benjamins land, close to the border with Judah. The language difference for 'altar' used in Tanach is startling - מִזְבֵּ֔חַ (miz-bei-ach) without the ה (ha) prefix; not 'the altar', but he built 'an altar':

2 Samuel 24:18

וַיָּבֹא־גָ֥ד אֶל־דָּוִ֖ד בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֑וּא וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֗וֹ עֲלֵה֙ הָקֵ֤ם לַֽיהֹוָה֙ מִזְבֵּ֔חַ בְּגֹ֖רֶן (ארניה) [אֲרַ֥וְנָה] הַיְבֻסִֽי׃ 

Gad came to David the same day and said to him, “Go and set up an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 

David's altar was not described using the absolute noun because it was built where no altar had previously existed yet, after the national pandemonium, all the other tribes agreed with David and contributed to acquisition of the land. David's son Solomon built the First Temple on the summit of Mount Moriah, Jerusalem. In the late second temple period Herod ordered that the summit be walled in by the Temple Mount.

Searching for the place of the original Akeida altar was forgotten, lost for more than 3500 years. Now that we have found it, we are compelled to build the altar, for the Third Temple, at the location of this bedrock plinth on the boundary between Judah and Benjamin that intersects its South East corner.

 

Jerusalem's Temple Zero Opposes The Sun!

A brief about key Biblical events and their consistent interpretations, in Judaism, will help you to better consider the remarkable archaeological discoveries on the eastern slope of Mount Moriah, Ancient Jerusalem in the City of David. If the developing story continues it will be impossible to contain the importance of the location to the realm of special interests and tourism. 

Jerusalem's perennial water source, the Gihon Spring played a central role in ancient Jewish teachings about that unique location. After the events that diminished Adam and Eve's heightened spiritual state, it is taught Adam purified himself in the waters of the Gihon Spring for 130 years before they reunited and populated the pre-flood world. The olive branch of Noah's dove is said to come from the same mountainous area where Noah planted a vineyard. The Bible informs us that Abraham arrived to the "ancient hill" where he pitched his tent east of Beit El, west of Ai and built an altar, to which he returned. He tithed his wealth to MalchiTzedek, the high priest of Salem. It's taught that Abraham contributed "yira", meaning awe of that place, to constitute the name Yira-Salem, Jerusalem.

Unanimously teachers identify ancient Jerusalem's Mount Moriah as the place Abraham offered his son Isaac, as a sacrifice. That's where where Abraham turned to the West, that is, the site of the Sanctuary, and turned his back toward the sun contrary to common practice. The Bible writes that Isaac's son Jacob "stumbled upon that place", he had realized it's inherent sanctity. There he erected a 'standing stone' on which he made a covenant to build 'Beit El" The House of God, the name he gave to that place. According to Biblical scholars, Jacob made his covenant in 1576 BCE.

Around 3250 years ago, 1250 BCE, Joshua restored the fledgling Jewish nation to its inherited land. 

300 years later, the Bible relates that King David reigned in Hebron for 7 years. Then, his army took control over the strategic water passage, underground in Mount Moriah. Water carriers used it daily as their route from the Gihon Spring into the upper city where the main population lived. With control over water David became King of this mountain. He established his palace and united his tribal Kingdom before his son King Solomon realized King David's dream to build Israel's first permanent temple.

Paleolithic through the Early Iron Age 

Development of Mount Moriah and greater Jerusalem

Paleolithic and chalcolithic discoveries at Mount Moriah are few and concentrated around the Gihon Spring at the areas it emptied into the eastern valley. Toward the end of the Middle Bronze Age the scant populations in the eastern valley moved up the hill and the city began periods of expanded development. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob coincided with abundant Middle Bronze archaeology and Joshua with Late Bronze Age archaeology. King David coincided with the onset of the Iron Age (image of city top right).   

Iron Age terraces on
the steep easter slope

Cut through the mountain at the Gihon Spring
 and Iron Age, Israelite City Walls

In 2010 a major discovery was found under 20,000 cubic meters of rubble, half-way up the eastern slope. Buried under the Israelite City Wall lead archaeologist Eli Shukron discovered the remnants of a rock-cut temple, it surprised everyone. After several years of excavation insufficient evidence failed to establish the last used date of the temple. But, in 2018 a study by Weizmann Institute and Cambridge University conclusively resolved the 'last use' issue, by dating organic matter found under and on top of the man-made plaster layer lining a water channel that fed into one or more of the rooms.

 

North end

South end

The Temple Zero excavation (map below) illustrates the significant undertaking that produced the necessary elements for dating. The thick red wall on the northern end, W20005 is the remnant of the Israelite City Wall first built around the time of King Uzziah and Hezekiah, 2600-2700 years ago, 600-700 BCE. Originally the wall continued south, over the bedrock of the Temple Zero complex and joined remnant W20001 on the southern end.

The seeds and organic material from the water channel were located immediately adjacent to wall W17081, and Structure 17044. They were carbon dated to 1500-1600 BCE, 3500-3600 years ago indicating that the channel was last used at that time because the sample above the plaster was undisturbed until sometime in the Iron Age boulders (the red structures) secured it until its recent discovery. The carbon dated material clearly established 1500-1600 BCE as the water channels last date of use, which coincides with Biblical Jacob, the finding was contextual to other dated material, a  stunning result! 

Of thousands of artifacts discovered in the City of David only the standing stone or matzevah of Temple Zero remained complete and in situ, despite the massive Iron Age defensive wall that was built right over it the constructors preserved it in soft soil. It is the significant artifact in the temple that includes an oil press, grain press, altar for sacrifices, holding pen, animal processing, storage, water channel and all the features required of the Jewish temples that were built by and after King Solomon. 

Matzevah on Western Wall

Whether this is the standing stone Jacob, used to enter his covenant, is difficult to assess but, similar to the first and second temples, Temple Zero is oriented to oppose sun worship, which was the common practice of Bronze Age nations.

Altar platform on Western Wall

Priests performing morning services on the altar would have to have turned their backs to the sun, which would be an insult to sun-worshipers. Therefore, its unlikely the installation of this unique matzevah would have been inconsistent with the orientation of the altar and other features. 

Low tethers for young animals, below knee height.

Rituals adopted into Jewish culture emanated 1000 years before the formal establishment of the Torah Nation at Mount Sinai around 3300 years ago. The following 300+ years, before King David, the nation became more familiar with their Biblically prescribed laws, one of which prohibits the erection of a standing stone or matzevah, because of its post-Biblical association with idolatry. For Temple Zero to be Biblically compliant with Jewish law, its erection would have to precede Biblical law, when use of a matzevah was still permitted.

Another law requires that animals, offered as a sacrifice, must be older than 8 days old and unblemished. Typically this meant animals in their first year because they still retained perfect physical features. Tethers secured small animals, tied low on the bedrock walls (images above) and aided their inspection by priests prior to them being sacrificed and offered on the altar. 

The principal features of Temple Zero parallels Biblical law and Jewish ritual emphasized by dating the last use of the water channel to Jacob. The case for Temple Zero's existence and use prior to Jacob and the final form of its features, as recently discovered, invite complex questions related to Biblical events at this ancient location and whether the Jewish people and the modern nation of Israel are obligated by its emergence.  

 

Angel of Death Trickery?

Jerusalem's City of David and Temple Mount

Renowned commentators have stated that the Foundation Stone (Jacob's stone) was located in the Holy of Holies (of the first and second Temple) and that the 12 stones, from which it was formed were at the precise site that was, is and will be the site of the permanent holy altar. How do we understand this apparent contradiction? 

The altar of Jerusalem's Holy Temple once facilitated individual and national sacrifices and will do so again in future. During its inauguration alone, some 120,000 sheep were slaughtered for it and the feasting that followed! In its location, on the Temple Mount, it served the nation for almost 1000 years, with only a short disruption, but it did not survive the ancient Roman destruction and onslaught at the beginning of the Common Era (CE). 

Moses Maimonides (known as Rambam), the pre-eminent Rabbi and commentator in his Mishneh Torah on Jewish Law of The Chosen Temple tells us that the precise place Abraham once bound (Akeida) and offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice is the same place of the future altar. Further, that the place modern Jews consider the location of the Temples' Holy of Holies is established by tradition. The ambiguity about these locations are reflected accurately by the Rambam.

The commentators expounded that 12 stones of the Akeida altar (or its ramp) were used by Jacob, when he slept adjacent to Akeida the night he dreamed of a stairway to heaven. God fused those 12 stones into a single rock, which He infused with the foundation of the earth. That became known as The Foundation Stone or 'Even Ha-Shtiah', which, by tradition was located in the Holy of Holies. In context the various accounts do not reconcile, primarily because the Holy of Holies of the first and second temple was some distance from and not adjacent to the altar. Therefore, The Foundation Stone (comprising Jacob's stone) could not have been located at or adjacent to the site of Akeida.

For his book, "In Ishmael's House", Martin Gilbert researched passages about the Jews written exclusively in Islamic works. In 638 CE Calif Omar raided Jerusalem, among his men was a Jewish convert to Islam, Ka'b al-Ahbar (Hebrew name was Akiva). Almost 600 years after the Romans had destroyed the Holy of Holies, the sanctuary and its holy altar, Calif Omar requested Ka'b point out the place where the Holy of Holies once stood. After some misgivings, Ka'b identified the spot where the shrine to Calif Omar was erected. Today that shrine is known as the Dome of The Rock, the golden dome that occupies a prominent location on the Temple Mount. That particular location has no special designation in fact or Jewish law, only that it is universally accepted and by Jewish tradition associated with the western most wall of the temple mount.

Detailed legal arguments do not contradict that King Solomon built the first temple altar, Chronicles (II 3:1) on the same site King David had previously built his altar when he made restitution for his wrongful census of the nation. One opinion suggests David's prophecy aligned his altar with Akeida. However, the Bible states the site was located at the feet of the 'angel of death' that was standing between heaven and earth with its sword suspended over Ancient Jerusalem and that prophet Gad caused David to buy the site from the Jebusite king and bring an offering. The detailed arguments are important because the Bible relates the altar was built for David's personal sin and benefit, not for that of the nation. At that time the mobile, national altar was still in service in Givon and David made it crystal clear this was his personal account; 2 Samuel 24:17: “I alone am guilty, I alone have done wrong; but these poor sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house!” 

Careful archaeological excavation west of the Gihon Spring, on Mount Moriah's east facing slope, has revealed evidence that the precise site of Akeida may have been hidden under fallen ground cover of the mountain for more than 1000 years. Then, 2600 years ago it was uncovered and immediately buried by constructors of city walls indicating the site has been concealed for 3500-3600 years.   

Stone of Israel, Jacob's Stone or Foundation Stone?

Whether David and Solomon were tricked by the 'angel of death' into selecting a site different to Akeida or this new evidence points to the real Akeida, we must objectively consider all the arguments and commentaries we have learned and prepare ourselves for new possibilities on Holy Mount Moriah.

A Donkey Speaks!

BS"D

The identical phrase "with drawn sword in his hand" “וְחַרְבּ֤וֹ שְׁלוּפָה֙ בְּיָד֔וֹ” is used on three occasions in the 24 books of Torah. How this relates each occurrence is unknown, but several hints in the adjacent texts color each instance. The common theme relates an angel that was dispatched to draw its sword in response to each event. 

In Numbers 22:21 the verb used (וַתֵּ֤ט), veered Bilam's donkey off its path. In Joshua 5:13 the verb used ( וַיֵּ֨לֶךְ), inspired Joshua to approach the angel. In 1 Chronicles 21:16 the verb used (נְטוּיָ֖ה - source in Bilam's verb) directed the angel against Jerusalem, a potentially devastating outcome for residents of the ancient city. 

In context; Bilam was commanded not to curse the Jewish people, but to speak only words placed in his mouth. The angel first spoke through the donkey to its owner Bilam before it addressed him directly. Joshua's angelic encounter carried instruction to destroy the walled city of Jericho. But, David fell into a state of repentance, never interacted directly with the angel and received its instruction to build an altar through the prophet Gad.

Bilam, the greatest shaman was hired to curse, but was redirected to bless Israel and hoped his fate would be like theirs; Joshua, the first to lead the Jewish people into their land was inspired to destroy Jericho, which would only be rebuilt after the final messianic revelation; David, Israel's king was directed, through the prophet to build an altar that tradition suggests became the site of their future temple. 

The verb directing Bilam's and David's encounter, compared to Joshua suggests something is to be learned from the differential grammar in context of each use. This brings us to the mission of each angel; Bilam's angel appeared to the donkey, Joshua's exhibited holy affinity, David's elicited fear. 

Its troubling that Bilam and David's encounters are associated, let alone that both result in building and offering personal sacrifice on altars. Despite Bilam's commitment not to curse Israel, he built seven altars to misdirect and justify his mercenary pursuit. David was instructed to build and sacrifice on one altar to effect his atonement. But, he misdirected his altar to engage the fractured tribes, who were fearful of plague to regain their endorsement. Neither Bilam or David's instance rose to the qualitative distinction of the verb or context used for Joshua.

Commentators accept David's quick action because it temporarily unified the nation and his son constructed the first permanent temple. But one generation later, mercenary pursuit by his treasurer, son and grandson shattered the nations fragile unity. As a result the tribes of Israel, that Bilam was tempted to curse would not be fully reunified until Jericho will be rebuilt. 

 

    

 

 

Shalem, Luz, BeitEl, Jerusalem - City of David!

Once a small, quiet, undisturbed hill among many, the rock that constitutes Mount Moriah lies in a north-south direction. In a recent presentation I tried to compress more than 10 years of experiences in archaeological excavations and spiritual pursuit to capture a better understanding. Why this rock, and what compelled King David, in the seventh year of his reign to leave his base in Hevron to establish a kingdom from this Mountain?

The presentation, which is available in the video link below, lacks one additional point that I wanted to emphasize: In his book, In Ismael's House Martin Gilbert told of the men who entered Jerusalem with Calif Omar in 638 CE, one of whom was a Jewish convert to Islam, Ka'b al-Ahbar [whose Hebrew name was Akiva]. Some 600 years after the Herodian Temple destruction, at Omar's request, Ka'b pointed out the rock where the Jewish Temple had been built by Solomon and after some misgivings, identified the holiest spot where the shrine to Calif Omar was built. That shrine today known as the Dome of The Rock, the Golden Dome occupies a prominent location on the Temple Mount selected by a Jewish convert. That particular location on the Temple Mount has no special designation in Jewish law, only in Jewish tradition.

The presentation lasts around 40 minutes.

Jacob And His Trees

Covenant of Jacob - Standing Stone or Matzevah at Beit El, Bethel, Ancient Jerusalem

For 39 years the progenitor Israel lived with a gnawing frustration because the covenant he, as Jacob made at Beit El to build the House of God had not been fulfilled. Confounding events had distracted him from meeting his obligation.  After a successful 20 year exile he returned to his homeland to fulfill his covenant, but was delayed by the burden of his cattle, the idols his entourage carried, the rape of his daughter and massacre in revenge, the death of his mother, the death of his favored wife, the sale of his favored son Joseph into slavery, by his brothers and their living lie to Jacob.

Ultimately his family’s exile to Egypt, where they were finally reunified with Joseph must have been a bittersweet 17 year end to Jacob’s life. On his deathbed, he struggled to express the vision of his yet unfulfilled covenant, perhaps still hoping to motivate his children to fulfill it. Instead Jacob died hearing their acknowledgement that they too would unify their Creator and with that he bestowed his final blessings to them.

When you make a covenant with your one and only God, there is no escaping it. There is no other god who can cancel or adjust it, that constitution is expressed in the continuity of Jewish law. Jacob memorialized his covenant by setting and anointing a standing stone in Luz, which he renamed Beit El, that marked the place of his obligation. By his default, to build the House of God his unfulfilled covenant became the cornerstone of his nations indigenous memory.

The essential backstory to Jacobs yet unfulfilled covenant is less well known. Before his final exile to Egypt he gathered Acacia seeds, some say the Acacia trees that had originally been planted by Abraham and Jacob south of Jacob’s standing stone at Beit El. Nurturing these trees was Jacob’s contemplation, to provide the wood to construct and fulfill his covenant at the place Malchi-tzedek - High Priest of Salem had practiced, Abraham had offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice and Jacob had set his standing stone on Jerusalem’s Mount Moriah. When Jacob left the land of his inheritance, he took the Acacia seeds with him and, not to give up on his indigenous dream he planted them when they settled in Egypt.

210 years after Jacob’s exile his disenfranchised nation were thrust out of Egypt. Before departing some realized the contemplation of their forefather Jacob was about to come true. Tantalizingly, they anticipated returning to Mount Moriah, they felled the trees prepared the wood and took it from Egypt to be used to complete Jacob’s covenant and vision. But, Israel’s circuitous route back to their land took 40 more years. Along the journey Jacob’s trees were used to construct a temporary sanctuary to house the Ark of the Holy Covenant and offer sacrifices. The sanctuary was deconstructed and reconstructed at 42 locations before the nation was ready to arrive.

The seeds Jacob took with him did not merely provide wood, they also implanted a will, in the national psyche that had taken root with his family to fulfill his covenant. When they carried the wood out of Egypt into the desert to worship The God that had saved them from tyrant Pharaohs they were sentimentally expressing Jacobs Beit El contemplation. But, when Joshua finally led each of the tribes into battle to conquer their allotted land, there were two places he was unable to dislodge the occupant enemy. One was the territory of modern Gaza, which is the territory of Dan and the other Mount Moriah, which straddles territory on the southern boundary of Benjamin and northern boundary of Judah. Emorites and Jebusites had constructed massive fortifications on the eastern slope of Mount Moriah that concealed the bedrock, which in light of recent archaeology is Jacob’s Beit El to hide features of the earliest temple Israel’s ancestors had once developed and used.

It took another 300 years before King David mustered a small force that penetrated the fortification by scaling the water channel flowing out of the Gihon Spring and a bedrock fissure. The young Kings forces successfully occupied the lower section of Mount Moriah, but did not dislodge previous occupants of the mountain including the Jebusite King. King David recovered the Ark of the Holy Covenant that had been stolen by the Philistines of Gaza, but abandoned by them because of their superstitions. He temporarily housed it on the mountain until a permanent temple could be built. Progressively King David established Mount Moriah as his base for unifying the administration of justice over all Israel’s tribes.

During his tenure, the King struggled to find the Mount Moriah site that was destined for the altar of the permanent temple. The exact location was not obvious, but the prerequisite, by Jewish law had to be akeida - the site of the binding of Isaac. Despite all of his efforts, he was unable to locate it. Toward the end of his life, under political pressure for his moral ineptitude he dispatched his loyal general on an ill fated census of the nation. A plague ravaged the nations north killing 70,000, as it approached Jerusalem the King witnessed the angel of death standing on Mount Moriah with its sword drawn over the lower slope, which was Jerusalem at that time. The nations prophet declared the site suitable for an altar. King David who publicly sought forgiveness and the tribal leaders whose tribes were being ravaged, purchased the site from the Jebusite King. King David brought his sacrifices and the plague stopped. The event that unified the tribes was soon forgotten, but the location of the Kings altar was not. Finally King David’s blueprint, for the construction of Jerusalem’s first permanent temple were completed and made ready for his son King Solomon to construct.

Notwithstanding the joyful pomp and ceremony at the inauguration of Jerusalem’s first permanent temple, Jacob’s Beit El location had been lost. It was inadvertently re-discovered by King Hezekiah’s builders during his Gihon Spring tunnel reconstruction, but it was quickly and perfectly re-buried and preserved. It was rediscovered by Eli Shukron, in the City of David on the eastern slope of Mount Moriah 3533 after Jacob’s exile in 2010.

The Place Jacob Stumbled and Became Israel

Of 79,847 words in old testament Hebrew Bible, "va-yi[Ph][G]ah" is used once to describe the manner in which Jacob came upon a certain "place" [Ba MaKom] Genesis 28:11. It is also used once in the Book of Samuel and three times in the first book of Kings. In the latter books it expounds the murder of priests and retribution against a traitor. So, how does the murder of priests by Do'eg, who was a conniving, ruthless teacher of King David and retribution by Ben'ayahu ben Yehoiada, for the King relate to Jacob's experience at the place?

The verb "[Ph]-[G]ah" means to encounter, meet or reach, perhaps encounter (as in strike can relate to killing or murder. However, because a softer verb was not used commentators interpret this long memory, encoded into the Bible's Hebrew words as if to his surprise Jacob, fell upon, collided with, or stumbled onto the place.

Regular readers of this blog know that the standing stone or matzevah in ancient Jerusalem's temple zero complex (see image below) may be the one Jacob erected the morning after his "va-yi[Ph][G]ah" experience which was followed, that night by his famous 'stairway-to-heaven' dream.

Four room temple complex on Upper Ridge above the Gihon Spring

Of the four rooms discovered in the temple complex, on the eastern face of Mount Moriah the bedrock at the western end of room 2 drops to a low point around 1 meter above the ground. This apparently natural feature outlined in red and immediately further west in green (in the images below) illustrates the fall of bedrock toward the ground level bedrock. The standing stone (also in the images below) is not depicted in room 2 (above) to illustrate that it was erected on top of the ground level bedrock well after this temple complex had already been constructed.

Looking west into Room 2 

Only the raised bedrock platform at the rear (west) end of room 3 was purposely left in place when the original constructors shaped the bedrock into these four rooms. The image (below) of room 3 bedrock floor contrasts the liquids channel (left of image) carved into the bedrock floor from retained (top rear) raised altar platform. This serves to emphasize the purpose of the construction as a temple complex from the outset.

Room 3 altar platform left in place when rooms bedrock was removed to shape rooms

The man-made-wall in the background, west of the green outlined bedrock (below) was dated to the time of King Hezekiah by various archaeologists. Around 1000 years earlier, toward the end of the middle Bronze Age the man-made-wall did not exist, but the bedrock features of rooms 1,2,3 and 4 did. We know that because pottery artifacts discovered in passages immediately east and north of these rooms are dated to the middle bronze age and chisel markings are indicative of that time. 

Matzevah or standing stone at the rear, west end of room 2

Further west of the man-made-wall bedrock continues under the wall, as seen in the image below. In the middle Bronze Age, before the man-made-wall was built bedrock access to and from the west of the temple complex would have been a more gentle access route. The grade of the east facing slope seen in the following image supports the idea of gradual access.

The man-made-wall  (City Wall in image below) approximately demonstrates the relative position of the four room temple complex on the Upper ridge in context to the City Wall at the site of the excavations. It also illustrates the proximity of the Upper Ridge temple complex to the water of the Gihon Spring in the Kidron Valley below.

For those who are familiar with the Bible story of Jacob: On the run from his brother, Jacob made his way to (Genesis 28:11) the holy place of his ancestors (Mount Moriah) where his father was once offered as a sacrifice by his grandfather whose homeland Jacob was about to leave behind. When the sun set he stumbled upon the bedrock and fell into room 2 of the temple complex. That night he packed stones around his head, which he took from (the ramp of the altar in) room 3 and exhausted he fell asleep. In the morning when he awoke, he erected the stone and anointed it (Genesis 28:18) and after twenty years in exile he returned back to it (Genesis 35:14). I maintain that this is the place Jacob was seeking and this is the place Israel is still seeking, perhaps one day we will all find it!

Dueling Altars in Time and Place.

One of the most confusing sections in the entire 24 books of Torah (1 Kings 13:1) describes the account of the man of God from Yehuda who arrived as the altar was dedicated by King Yerovam (Jeroboam) in BeitEl - Shomron. King Yerovam had capitalized on King Solomon's opulence, its burden on taxpayers, which he used to revitalize a lingering grievance between the tribes of Yehuda and Yosef about the location of Solomon’s Jerusalem Temple. After Solomon, Yerovam completed his successful coup and split the entire nation. Then, he reintroduced a form of nationalized, idolatry using golden calves. His success confused many that grappled God’s intent.

The man of God from Yehuda arrived at the dedication, interrupted proceedings and directed his prophecy to the altar proclaiming it would be destroyed in the future by a man born to the House of David (of the tribe Yehuda) named Yoshiahu. Then, he paralyzed the right hand of a crazed King Yerovam and released it before he returned along a different path. On his way he was intercepted by an old prophet who had not joined Yerovams entourage that day. The old prophet challenged and convinced the man of God to break the oath he took when accepting God's mission to deliver the prophecy. On his return, the man of God was mauled by a lion who sat by the side of the road with a donkey. The old prophet sent his sons to recover the body and instructed it be buried in his grave, which he proclaimed he would share with the man of God.

Some three hundred years later (2 Kings 22:1) King Yoshiahu rid Israel of idolatrous objects and realized the man of God’s prophecy by destroying the altar in BeitEl. Seems simple at first, but the detailed time and place descriptions that span Kings one and two are separated by 300 years and the places these verses speak of span the tribal territory of Yehuda and Yosef (Ephraim) separated by the territory of Binyamin.

Consider this pre-requisite information about the altar of akeida, the place Abraham bound and offered his son Isaac. Rambam, the famous Maimonides states: “The altar is [to be constructed] in a very precise location, which may never be changed, as it is said (I Chronicles 22:1 [by David]): "This is the altar for the burnt-offerings of Israel." David’s conclusion or Rambam’s insistence that “universally” accepted tradition does not suffice for the Jewish law stringency akeida imposes on the precise location required for the third temple’s altar.

The prefix ‘Ha’ of the word ‘Ha’Makom (הַמָּק֔וֹם) is unique as to “The Place”, generally ‘The’ place of God’s resting presence. The word is never used to describe Yerovams altar in BeitEl in Shomron. However, it is extensively used to describe locations associated with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob especially at Mount Moriah. It is therefore a universally accepted tradition that HaMakom, used in Torah verses to do with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob more often associate with Mount Moriah including Shalem of Malchitzedek, akeida, BeitEl and Luz.

In the text of 2 Kings 23:4 Yoshiahu ordered the High Priest to remove objects of idolatry from the temple, in Jerusalem, which the High Priest, burned in the Kidron valley (in Jerusalem) before depositing the ashes at BeitEl in Jerusalem. Then, the eradication of idolatrous objects continued in and around Jerusalem and Yehuda until 23:14. At 23:15 - “And also the altar that was at BethEl…” in Shomron, of Yerovam, “also that altar” he destroyed. At Yerovams BethEl the prophecy of the man of God came true. But, here it was King Yoshiyahu who did the destruction not the High Priest, because  human bones were used to defile the altar and that precluded the High Priest.

Three hundred years before the man of God incident, before the book of Kings toward the end of Joshua’s reign Judges 1:8-15 briefly states Judah conquered Jerusalem, 1:20-21 states Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem and 1:22-26 declares the house of Joseph smote Beit El, which was Luz. Therefore, Judges declares a northern (Benjamin) and southern (Judah) Jerusalem (since the city ran in a north south direction) - this is not controversial. However that Joseph smote BeitEl, which was Luz contradicts Judah conquering the southern section of Mount Moriah synonymous with Jerusalem at the time. This may be the first hint of competition between Joseph and Judah over the location of the temple Solomon would eventually build.

2 Kings 23:4 is the only specific reference to BeitEl being in Jerusalem. It leaves little ambiguity about its proximity to Jerusalem and the Kidron valley and is directly supported by archaeology discovered in the area. The BeitEl of Jacob and the Bethel of Yerovam are different places that are deeply convoluted by competition and grievance that have long distorted facts. Perhaps that time is coming to an end.