{"id":61964,"date":"2019-08-28T13:35:14","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T10:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=61964"},"modified":"2023-03-22T21:24:21","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T19:24:21","slug":"the-month-of-ethanim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-month-of-ethanim\/","title":{"rendered":"The Month of \u201cEthanim\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[632,838,778],"acf":{"old_id":"61964","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"295","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A festive time of year for dedicating the Temple","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Solomon invited all the tribal and patriarchal leaders of Israel (1) to participate in the ceremony that marked the transfer of the Ark and other holy paraphernalia from the City of David to the newly constructed Temple. Perhaps bearing in mind the tragedy that had accompanied the Ark\u2019s earlier transfer from Kiryat Yearim to the home of Obed Edom the Gittite (as reported in 2 Samuel 6) wherein Uza\u2019s life was lost because he reached out to steady the Ark on its wagon, this time it appears that everything was transported personally by the appropriate priests and Levites. And whereas there is no explicit reference to fanfare, in its literal sense of blaring trumpets, the move was certainly accompanied by figurative fanfare, as they sacrificed \u201csheep and oxen in such abundance that they could not be numbered or counted\u201d (5).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A linguistic curiosity, however, surrounds the date on which this auspicious move was made. It is recorded in our chapter as having taken place \u201cat the Feast, in the month of Ethanim\u2014that is the seventh month\u201d (2), in other words, during Sukkot, which, as we know, occurs during the month of Tishrei. So why not just say so?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First of all, the names by which we know the present Jewish calendar (Tishrei, Heshvan, Kislev, etc.) are late, having \u201cmade Aliyah\u201d from Babylonia along with the Jews who returned from captivity there. That\u2019s not my description; it belongs to the Jerusalem Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 1:2. The Tanakh utilizes ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.), which can be problematic if you do not know when the series begins. Indeed, it would appear that prior to the Exodus the first month was Tishrei and only thereafter did it become Nisan (see Exodus 12:2), with Tishrei falling back\u2014as it were\u2014into seventh place, which is when our ceremony took place.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why was this month called \u201cEthanim,\u201d which literally means firm or steadfast? Yosef Kara said it is because once the hot, dry summer months are over, trees and grass begin to harden. Radak stated that it is because the fruits and grains that are harvested during that month are the mainstay of our diets. Ralbag (Gersonides) thought that it is because the principal festivals fall in it, and Ibn Kaspi\u2014inspired, perhaps, by his Provencal roots\u2014said that it reflects the hard work that farmers put into the harvest. Last\u2014actually first\u2014but not least, the rabbinic interpretation identifies the Patriarchs as the \u201csteadfast\u201d ones and observes that they were all born in Tishrei (Rosh Hashanah 11a).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: Otto Elliger, \u201cThe Dedication of the Temple,\u201d c. 1700.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":61970,"id":61970,"title":"1kings8-dedication etching","filename":"1kings8-dedication-etching.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings8-dedication-etching.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-month-of-ethanim\/1kings8-dedication-etching\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"1kings8-dedication-etching","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":61964,"date":"2019-08-28 10:35:03","modified":"2019-08-28 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