Donald Traxler's Poetry

Sunday, March 1, 2020

What Is a Yeshuan?

I recently wrote a poem (based on a dream), in which I identified myself as a Yeshuan, in other words, a follower of the teachings of Rabbi Yeshua (Jesus). Does this mean that I am a Christian? I don't think so, at least as I define it. I am also a Bergsonian, a Jungian, and an admirer of Hillel, but I don't deify any of them.

I see a lot of differences between the Jewish Jesus of the Gospels, especially that of Matthew (and more so when read in its original Hebrew) on the one hand, and the "Christ" of the Epistles. The former is a flesh-and-blood person who was born, who taught, who suffered, and who died; the latter is a symbol and a mental construct.

It was Rabbi Yeshua who said, "To the lands of the Gentiles do not go and into the cities of the Samaritans do not enter. Go to the sheep who have strayed from the house of Israel.." (Mt. 10:5-6)

It was the ambitious Shaul / Paul of Tarsus who said, "I live now, not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Ga 2:20), which sounds to me like the height of chutzpah.

The one wanted to reform his own world; the other wanted to take over the goyish world.

Can I not have the one without the other?

Some Thoughts on Monotheism and Divine Names

שְׁמַע יִשׂראאֵ יהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יהוה אֶחָד׃

The verse above is Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6:4, The "Shema" that is fundamental to Judaism as we know it. When one says it, one says "Sh'ma yisrael adonai eloheynu adonai echad." The meaning is "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." It is a reaction to surrounding polytheism, either that of Egypt or that of the neighboring tribes. But one does not pronounce the name YHVH, the Tetragrammaton; instead, one says "adonai," which conventionally means "Lord."

I say "conventionally" because the word must originally have had a different meaning. In fact, I think it is Egyptian, by the look of it. In Egyptian it would mean "my Aton." "Aton" in ancient Egyptian meant the disk of the sun, worshiped by Pharaoh Ahkenaton during Egypt's short monotheistic period. It is easy to imagine that "Atonai/Adonai" was the customary title that one used when addressing this pharaoh, and that among his followers it came to simply mean "my lord." The pharaoh was God's representative on earth.

By the way, the alternate spelling "Aten" came from E. A. Wallis Budge, "Late Keeper of the Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities in the British Museum." The ancient Egyptians did not write vowels, so when the exact character of a vowel was not known, Budge inserted a neutral "e" vowel, to make the language more pronounceable. It turned out to be a pernicious habit that created a lot of misunderstanding. It had a big influence, though, because he translated more Egyptian texts than anyone else.

Anyway, as many scholars have pointed out, Moses, if he existed, probably lived in the century after Akhenaton's death. when the Egyptian monotheists were being persecuted. As many have pointed out, the name "Moses" is Egyptian, and means "is born" or "son." For example, "Tutmoses" means "Thoth is born," or "Son of Thoth." If we take the Biblical stories literally, Moses was raised by a princess of the Egyptian royal family. He would have spoken Egyptian fluently, but could not communicate well in Hebrew, so he had his brother Aaron speak for him.

Moses' monotheism was probably the monotheism of the Aton, the disk of the sun. But Moses never got to enter the Promised Land so his influenced waned. The Aton, a benefic god who was the giver of all life, came to be replaced by YHVH (exact pronunciation long forgotten, and I wouldn't say it even if I knew it, so strong is that stricture). The god represented by the Tetragrammaton was probably a fierce god of the Midianites, who was to be feared.

We find many other Deity-names in the Bible. Most of them, such as El, are Canaanite. It appears that the Hebrews were strongly influenced, at least for a time, by Canaanite religion. Evidence for this can be found, for example, in Psalm 106, which speaks of them having sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.

The exact meaning and etymology of the "Shaddai" in "El Shaddai" is not known, but it does not look like Hebrew to me.

The thing to remember, it seems to me, is that what we think of as "Judaism" is really Rabbinic Judaism, and it comes from a much later and more evolved period. There are plenty of clues, in the Bible and elsewhere, to less evolved beliefs and practices, but they do not represent the religion that resonates with me.

Friday, February 28, 2020

Journal of a Naked Poet XXI - He Awaits the Future

He awaits the future,
having seen the past
and somehow thrived.

Il attend l'avenir,
ayant vu le passé
et en quelque sorte prospéré.

El espera el futuro,
habiendo visto el pasado
y de alguna manera prosperado.

Commentary on the Teachings of Rabbi Yeshua XII - "What's in a Name?" (Mt. 1:21)

21 וְתֹלֶד בֵן וְתִקְרָא שְׁמוֹ יֵשוּ“עַ כִי הוּא יוֹשִׁיעַ אֶת עַמִי מֵעֲוֹנוֹתֵם׃

The above text is Mt. 1:21, as it appears in Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew, with pointing added by me (there could be errors in the pointing).

The name given to Jesus is יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshua). The symbol that looks like a quotation mark in the verse above is used in the manuscript to indicate that the word is a name.

Professor Howard's excellent translation of the verse is:

She will bear a son and you will call his name Jesus because he will save my people from their sins.

The canonical, Greek version is the same, except that it says "his people" instead of "my people."

This name, Yeshua, was not new; it appears in the Tanakh ("Old Testament") twenty-nine times in this spelling, and one more time in a variant spelling, for a total of thirty times. The meaning is "God is salvation," or more properly "G-d is salvation."

I think this is the only time that the full name appears in Hebrew Matthew. Most of the time a shorter form, יש“ו (Yeshu) is used, which does not imply any change in meaning.

I thought it best to make a point of this, because there has been some controversy as to what Jesus' name actually was.

It will be noticed that I give to Yeshua the title of Rabbi. This is because I prefer to think of him as a man, a teacher, perhaps one of the greatest who ever lived. I do not divinize him, as is done in Christianity and in "Messianic Judaism." The latter movement, while it includes some wonderful, spirited people and marvelous music, is in my opinion a form of Protestantism.

I do not consider myself a Christian, or a Jew either, exactly (though Reform Judaism might be a good and comfortable fit). But I see those who divinize Yeshua as involved in an idolatrous practice. Will I change my mind? You never know, but I doubt it.

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Commentary on the Teachings of Rabbi Yeshua XI - The Avinu (Mt. 6:9-13)

The Avinu (Our Father) is somewhat different in its Hebrew and Aramaic versions. The latter typically does not have the word "our," but begins "abba d'bashamaya" (Father in heaven). The oldest Hebrew version that we have is that in Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew:

אָבִינוּ יִתְקַדַש שְׁמֶךָ׃ 9

וְיִתְבַרֵך מַלְכוּתֶךָ רְצוֹנְךָ יִהְיֶה עָשוּי בַשָׁמַיִם וּבָאָרֶץ׃ 10

וְתִתֶן לֶחְמַנוּ תְמִידִית׃ 11

וּמָחוֹל לָנוּ חֵטְאתֵינוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר אֲנַחְנוּ מוֹחְלִים לְחוֹטְאִים לָנוּ׃ 12

וְאַל תְּבִיאֵנוּ לִידֵי נִסָּיוֹן וְשָׁמְרֵינוּ מִכָל רָע אָמֵן׃ 13

[The pointing is mine, so there may be errors.]

Here is canonical Matthew:

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

And forgive us our debts,

As we also have forgiven our debtors;

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

And here is canonical Luke:

Father,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread;

and forgive us our sins,

for we ourselves forgive everyone who is

indebted to us;

and lead us not into temptation.

The observant reader will notice that instead of "thy kingdom come," the Hebrew has "may thy kingdom be blessed." The Hebrew also does not say "in heaven" with regard to the Father, Also, our bread is "continual," rather than "daily."

If we compare the version in Hebrew Matthew to that in canonical Luke, we see that Luke is sparse, and appears incomplete. Luke's "Father," rather than "Our Father," reminds us of the Aramaic version, so it is possible that the version in Luke was translated from an early, incomplete Aramaic version.

But we also see that Luke has "sins" rather than "debts," as does Hebrew Matthew.

Luke does not speak of our Father's will at all. Luke does not ask that we be kept from all evil, as both Hebrew Matthew and canonical Matthew do,

It appears that the version in Luke is a primitive one, probably taken from a source other than Matthew, possibly an Aramaic source.

The version of the Avinu in Matthew (whether Hebrew or Greek Matthew) is a magnificent little prayer, and it seems to have its roots, at least loosely and symbolically, in the first, third, sixth, and ninth blessings of the Amidah (or Sh'moneh Esrei), the central prayer in the Jewish liturgy. This indicates, at least to me, that Rabbi Yeshua did not intend to break away from Judaism, but only to reform it. The intention of Saul / Paul of Tarsus may, though, have been different.

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Commentary on the Teachings of Rabbi Yeshua X - Mt. 5:13-15

בְעֵת הָהִיא אָמַר יֶשׁ“וּ לְתַלְמִידָיו מֶלַח אַתֶם בְעוֹלָמ אִם הַמֶלַח יִבְטֹלַח טַעַמוֹ בַּמֶה יוֹמְלָח ואֵינוֹ שְׁוָה כְלוּם אֶלָּא שְיוֹשְׁלִךְ בַחוּץ לְהָיוֹת מִרְמָס רַגְלַיִם׃ 13

מָאוֹר אַתֶּם בְעוֹלָם עִיר בָנוֹיה עַל הָהָר לֹא תוּכַל לְהִסָתֵר׃ 14

לֹא יִדְלִיקוּ נֵר לְהָשִׂים אוֹתוֹ בְמָקוֹם נִסְתַר שְלֹא תָאֵיר רַק מְשִימִים אוֹתוֹ עַל הַמְנוֹרָה לְהָאֵיר לְכָל בְנֵי הַבָיִת׃

15

The verses above are Mt. 5:13-15 in Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew. The pointing is mine, so there could be errors in it (if you spot any, please point them out to me).

Here is Professor Howard's excellent translation:

13 At that time Jesus said to his disciples: You are salt in the world. If the salt is neutralized in regard to its taste with what will it be salted? It is fit for nothing but to be cast outside to be trampled under foot.

14 You are light in the world. A city built upon a hill cannot be hidden.

15 They do not light a lamp to place it in a hidden place where it cannot shine; but they place it upon a lamp stand so that it might shine for all in the house.

Before I give the canonical version, I would like to point out some interesting and very important things about these verses as they appear in Hebrew:

1) Verses 13 and 14 are connected by the catchword "world," as are verses 14 and 15 by the catchword "hidden."

2) In verse 14, there is an assonance between "city" ("ir") and "light" ("or"). This assonance only works in a Semitic language, in this case Hebrew. This is further evidence for the Semitic substratum in Matthew.

As I've mentioned before, catchwords are a mnemonic device associated with the oral transmission stage. This suggests an early, probably first-century date for Hebrew Matthew.

Now, here is the canonical version, from the RSV:

13 You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.

14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.

15 Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

The reader will notice that in the canonical, Greek version, the catchword "world" has been lost, because the Greek translation has "earth / world." The catchword "hidden has also been lost, because the Greek has "hid / bushel." Clearly, it is not the Greek version that goes back to the stage of oral transmission.

It is also of great significance that the Hebrew verses have commonalities with Logia 32/33 in the Gospel of Thomas (GTh): In both Hebrew and GTh, the city is "built," rather than set. GTh has BOTH "bushel" and "hidden place," thus maintaining the catchword "hidden." It is interesting that the order of these sayings was maintained in canonical Matthew, even though catchword connections had been lost. GTh was not known in medieval times, only having been rediscovered in 1945. One of the preeminent researchers on GTh, April D. DeConick, considers Logia 32/33 to be part of the "Kernel Gospel," which she dates to 30-50 CE, as opposed to later accretions.. Both Hebrew Matthew and the Gospelof Thomas are, in their core versions, older than our canonical Gospel texts. The evidence is simply overwhelming.

It Is the Forest that Teaches Me / +fr, es, pt, eo, heb

It is the forest that teaches me,
and all the creatures in it.
The universe is my guru
and my rabbi.
All nature
is my congregation.

C'est la forêt qui m'apprend,
et toutes les créatures qui s'y trouvent.
L'univers est mon gourou
et mon rabbin.
Toute la nature
est ma congrégation.

Es el bosque que me enseña
y todas las criaturas que contiene.
El universo es mi gurú.
y mi rabino
Toda la naturaleza
es mi congregacion

É a floresta que me ensina,
e todas as criaturas nela.
O universo é meu guru
e meu rabino.
Toda a natureza
é a minha congregação.

Estas la arbaro, kiu instruas min,
kaj ĉiuj kreitaĵoj en ĝi.
La universo estas mia guruo
kaj mia rabeno.
La tuta naturo
estas mia kongregacio.

היער הוא שמלמד אותי,
וכל היצורים שבתוכו.
היקום הוא הגורו שלי
והרב שלי.
כל הטבע
זו הקהילה שלי.