Who Was the Reish Galuta?

In this week’s parasha, Ki Tetze, we learn about the mitzvah of bal tashchit, the prohibition on wasting good products. This is derived from the Torah’s command not to chop down fruit trees in the midst of war (Deuteronomy 20:19-20). The Talmud (Bava Kamma 58b) presents a related case, where a man chopped down a date palm belonging to his neighbour, and had to pay damages for it. The two went for litigation to the reish galuta, or “exilarch”, also known as rosh hagolah, “head of the exile”, who was something like the “chief rabbi” of Babylon. Now, the date palm in question was actually three palms coming out of one root, with a total value of 100 dinars. Since the man only chopped down one of three palms, the reish galuta ruled he was liable to pay 33.3 dinars.

The perpetrator did not like this ruling, exclaiming: “Why should I follow the reish galuta, who rules according to Persian law?” So he went to Rav Nahman instead who ruled a smaller fine, based on the average value of sixty date palms. The Talmud goes on to discuss the nuances of this issue. It concludes on the following page by saying that the halakhah does indeed follow the reish galuta, but only with regards to Persian date palms, since they are more expensive than regular ones. A couple of interesting questions emerge here: First, why did the perpetrator accuse the reish galuta of following Persian law, instead of Jewish law? And second, who was the reish galuta anyway, and what was the origin, history, and function of that office? Continue reading →

Secrets of the Ark & Temple

Was the Ark of the Covenant actually an electrical machine? What really happened to it, and where might it be hidden today? What are some of the deeper mysteries behind God’s “Tent of Meeting” and Tabernacle (Mishkan)? Plus: the secret history of the Holy Temple that you’ve never heard, the alternate Jewish Temple that operated for centuries in Egypt, the significance of the Dome of the Rock, the true origins of Rastafari, and scientific mysteries of the number 26.

Vav or Waw?

This article is a follow-up to the previous one about the correct pronunciation of God’s name (יהוה), YHWH. Recall that our Sages teach that the nekudot vowels on God’s name are shva, cholam, and kamatz, meaning that the right way to pronounce the name would be “Yehowah”. A number of people reached out arguing that the letter vav is pronounced with a “v” sound, and therefore the name is “Yehovah”. Some referred to the work of Dr. Nehemiah Gordon, who makes the case for the vav being “v” partly based on words in Ezekiel (more on that below), and partly based on a poem by Elazar haKalir (c. 6th century CE) where he rhymes levi (לוי) with navi (נביא). The implication is that Jews as far back as the 6th century were pronouncing the vav as a “v” sound. Gordon himself notes that great rabbis like the Ibn Ezra were puzzled by this rhyme, because it was common knowledge then that the vav is really a “w” sound. Indeed, we find that the vav was a waw for most of Israelite and Jewish history. Below are ten big reasons for why the vav is a waw. Continue reading →