{"id":79263,"date":"2020-08-26T16:08:59","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T13:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=79263"},"modified":"2020-08-26T16:08:59","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T13:08:59","slug":"of-flying-scrolls-elephants-and-camels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/of-flying-scrolls-elephants-and-camels\/","title":{"rendered":"Of Flying Scrolls, Elephants and Camels"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/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":[],"acf":{"old_id":"79263","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"555","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Was it a Torah or not?\r\n\r\n","content":"

In <\/span>our comments on chapter 1<\/span><\/a>, we shared the observations of the principal medieval exegetes, Rashi and Ibn Ezra, regarding the opacity of Zechariah\u2019s visions, which, as we have noted in the last chapter, often exceeded even that prophet\u2019s capacity for comprehension. In this chapter, Zechariah reported on his vision of a flying scroll (<\/span>megillah `afah<\/span><\/em>,<\/em> 1) whose dimensions were \u201ctwenty cubits long and ten cubits wide\u201d (2), which, as already noted by Ibn Ezra, matched those of the hall of Solomon\u2019s Temple (see 1 Kings 6:3). The scroll\u2019s contents\u2014here, called \u201da curse\u201d (\u2018<\/em><\/span>alah<\/span><\/em>)\u2014 enumerated the sins of Judah, specifically robbery and false testimony, and its taking flight was the indication that those sins were about to be punished.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Midrash assumed that the scroll was one of the Torah, saying, \u201cThree saw the entire Torah: Moses (citing Exodus 24:12), Ezekiel (2:10), and Zechariah (citing our chapter)\u201d (Bereshit Rabbati 3:14). Another Midrash, however, expressed this perplexity: \u201cR. Abbahu said: Neither the hide of an elephant nor that of a camel matches these dimensions, so how can you say that [it was a Torah scroll]?\u201d\u00a0 (Vayikra Rabbah 6).<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the same Midrash also asked, rhetorically: \u201cWhence did [the scroll] come? From the entrance to the palace (<\/span>heikhal<\/span><\/em>), [whose dimensions] a Mishnah places as 40 cubits high and twenty cubits wide\u201d (Middot 3:3), namely, twice the size of our scroll. The answer to this conundrum appears in the commentary of Rashi. Although he cited the Aramaic Targum of Yonatan, who rendered `<\/em><\/span>afah<\/span><\/em> as flying (Aramaic <\/span>parcha<\/span><\/em>), which is the standard definition, he also noted that \u201cOur Sages interpreted it as folded (<\/span>kefulah<\/span><\/em>).\u201d Unfold a 20X10 scroll and it will fill a space 40X20.<\/span><\/p>\n

In what may have been a deliberate play on the word `<\/em><\/span>afah<\/span><\/em>, a second vision reported in this chapter concerns a receptacle holding a measure, or tub (\u2018<\/em><\/span>eiphah<\/span><\/em>), which is described as: \u201cThis tub that is approaching\u2014this, said [the Angel], is their eye in all the land\u201d (6), a term highly reminiscent of the seven eyes of the Menorah in the previous chapter.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":79264,"id":79264,"title":"zech5-the-flying-scroll","filename":"zech5-the-flying-scroll.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech5-the-flying-scroll.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/of-flying-scrolls-elephants-and-camels\/zech5-the-flying-scroll\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"zech5-the-flying-scroll","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":79263,"date":"2020-08-26 13:08:00","modified":"2020-08-26 13:08:11","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":584,"height":224,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech5-the-flying-scroll-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech5-the-flying-scroll-300x115.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":115,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech5-the-flying-scroll.jpg","medium_large-width":584,"medium_large-height":224,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech5-the-flying-scroll.jpg","large-width":584,"large-height":224,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech5-the-flying-scroll.jpg","1536x1536-width":584,"1536x1536-height":224,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech5-the-flying-scroll.jpg","2048x2048-width":584,"2048x2048-height":224,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech5-the-flying-scroll.jpg","post_full_size-width":584,"post_full_size-height":224,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech5-the-flying-scroll.jpg","home_baner-width":584,"home_baner-height":224}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Of 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