בס"ד
אור ליום רביעי לחג אורים, תשפ"א
In connection with the Powered by Sefaria competition of Summer 2020, we have added a new feature: a 3D Tanach Family Tree. A few weeks ago we received the announcement that our project received an honorable mention that can be viewed here (fourth listing from the end):
Below, we shall try to develop a דבר תורה influenced by Base HaSefer in connection with אדם הראשון and זרובבל and חנוכה, but we begin here with a demo of the new feature.
How can one display something like this using Base HaSefer?
1) load the site into your browser
2) click the main-menu icon in the upper right corner of the screen
3) choose the option Tanach Family Tree as described here:
After a popup window opens, one can use one of the icons in the upper corner in order to maximize the screen before using the mouse to navigate the tree in 3D space.
Additional help for using the feature is available in the scrollable box on the right side of the screen
The very interactive 3D diagram of color-coded characters mentioned in Tanach progresses along the timeline from top to bottom from Adam and Chava and connects people together where there are family relations.
Finding the shortest path from אדם הראשון to זרובבל
1) Select the source person (Adam) by clicking his node on the diagram or by choosing his name from the dropdown list (at the top of the window)
2) Click on this “find relation” icon (also at the top of the window)
Now a popup window will appear like this:
3) Select that target person (Zerubavel) by clicking his node on the diagram or by choosing his name from the dropdown list in the new window.
Now the path between Adam and Zerubavel will be highlighted in the diagram.
Animating the path
Click the “Play” button at the bottom of the window to launch a very nice animation of the path selected above, that’s all!
This can be done with any two selected people as long as they have a defined relation path in the diagram.
From אדם הראשון to זרובבל…and Chanuka
Is there a reason why this specific relationship was chosen for display? Definitely!
Zerubavel is one of the latest personalities mentioned in Tanach. He is especially interesting since one can derive his unbroken genealogy not only until דוד המלך but even for the entire length until אדם הראשון – all from sources in Tanach, which turns this path into one of the longest ones if not exactly the longest. The path that’s displayed here doesn’t fully follow the father to son path and enables use of by-marriage relationships. Perhaps a future setting will enable the ability to define acceptable relationships.
But at this time of year, Zerubavel is especially interesting due to the connection between him and Chanuka.
Zerubavel was the leader of the Jews when the time came to return to Israel to build the second בית המקדש. Each year we sing the words "קץ בבל זרבבל" in the piut of מעוז צור upon lighting the Chanuka candles. Each year on Shabbos Chanuka we read the haftara from Zecharia. In it Zerubavel fills a meaningful role and is mentioned at its climax and conclusion in connection with an essential Chanuka theme of "לא בחיל ולא בכח כי אם ברוחי אמר ה' צבאות" – telling us that the true source of our victory wasn’t based on might but by means of adhering to the word and spirit of G-d. Closely following the section we read for the haftara, זכריה הנביא describes Zerubavel as one who laid the cornerstone of the second בית המקדש with his own hands. When exactly did this occur? We reveal the date from ספר חגי which mentions the 24th day of the ninth month (Kislev) – in a certain sense, this paves the way for the future celebration of the Chanuka victory which would happen on the 25th.
Is there any specific connection between אדם הראשון and זרובבל?
In אבות דרבי נתן (ב:ה) and in ילקוט שמעוני, both are included in the list of those who were born circumcised.
In a lesser know midrash, פירקא דרבינו הקדוש ו:כח, (in parallel to a similar but different list in the gemara in סוטה י.) it’s mentioned that there were six men with physical traits similar to אדם הראשון, and then it adds "ויש אומרים, אף זרובבל בקולו", that is seemingly referring to the voice that emerged from their throats. On second thought, if one examines the pesukim where the term קול is found in connection to Adam and to Zerubavel, one arrives at the following uncanny similarity between them:
(Here we introduce another new feature. The ability to specify how exact or fuzzy one's search terms should be interpreted. See the new slider that appears to the upper-right here. If you drag that to one position before the extreme left, it will tell the search engine to include any word containing these letters in order as if one typed wildcard asterisks before and after each letter. In our example, instead of typing *ש*מ*ע*, one can simply type שמע. Within the Parts of Speech tab in the Advanced Search, one can override the exact/fuzzy setting per word)
1) A wording of שמיעה at the very beginning of each pasuk
2) Followed by a phrase with the wording קול ה' אלקים
3) Followed with a wording of יראה or at least a word that implies fear – “ויתחבא” – the proof that the latter implies fear is found in the words of Adam that follow closely afterward "ויאמר את קלך שמעתי בגן ואירא כי עירם אנכי ואחבא"
4) Followed by the exact phrase " 'מפני ה'"
A similarity like this (even without #3) is found only these two times in the entire Tanach.
It’s reasonable to say that the common denominator between the two "קולות" is mussar against a type of appropriation (מעילה) or encroachment against heavenly property.
With the עץ הדעת:
(ספר חנוכת התורה (פ' בראשית סימן ה, a collection of the writings of Rabbi Heschel of Cracow mentions "ונוכל לפרש דהנה איתא במפרשים דאחרי אשר לא הורשה לו לאכול מהעץ הדעת הוה ליה כאילן של הקדש". Implying that the עץ הדעת had a certain sanctity that Adam and Chava were prohibited from using. We also find this idea in the של"ה (Parshas Naso) and in (ספר באר מים חיים (בראשית, ב:טז by Rabbi Chaim Tchernovitzer.
With the prophesy of Chagai in connection with Zerubavel:
At the beginning of the נבואה of Chagai that is brought above, we have:
"חגי א:ד) "העת לכם אתם לשבת בבתיכם ספונים והבית הזה חרב)
The תרגום יונתן and meforshim explain that “ספונים” means coated with wood, and we also have a similar wording and meaning in Sefer Melachim during the building of the first בית המקדש. So the complaint against כלל ישראל was that הקב"ה blessed us with wood and it was used first for personal needs and not for heavenly purposes – for the rebuilding of the mikdash.
Due to this, it was decreed upon them: "א:ו) "זרעתם הרבה והבא מעט אכול ואין לשבעה) which reminds us of the curse said to Adam: "בראשית ג:יח) "...וקוץ ודרדר תצמיח לך)
The remedy for this was (חגי א:ח) "והבאתם עץ ובנו הבית" that happened through Zerubavel.
So with both “קולות” we find a listening to the קול of G-d which causes a fear “מפני ה'” due to the use of עץ in an improper way since the עץ was destined for heavenly purposes.
It’s interesting that according to the ר"ן on the רי"ף (beginning of פרק במה מדליקין), the prohibition to use נרות חנוכה for one’s personal needs flows from the prohibition to use the menora of the mikdash since the obligation to light Chanuka candles came from the miracle that happened with the menora in the mikdash. So according to this it’s understood that the meaning of "הנרות הללו קדש הם, ואין לנו רשות להשתמש בהם אלא לראותם בלבד" hinges on the idea of the sanctity of the menora in the mikdash. Encroaching upon this sanctity, if not exactly מעילה מן ההקדש (see פסחים כו. "קול ומראה וריח אין בהם משום מעילה. מעילה הוא דליכא הא איסורא איכא") it still appears that it stems from the same prohibition to benefit from הקדש that’s connected to the prohibition of מעילה.
When one gets down to the foundation of each instance of mussar coming from the קול ה' אלקים, one can extract a stern warning against an outlook of "גשמיות לשם גשמיות". Hashem blesses us with physical objects and goods. Sometimes we are warned explicitly that a portion of them are automatically sanctified for heavenly purposes and sometimes it isn’t explicit but this is what G-d seeks and expects from us. In either case, the primary use of our possessions must be לצורכי שמים.
Now due to this, let’s return to the Chanuka theme.
It’s interesting that the famous saying representing the Greek culture of the period, “eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die", is based on a pasuk in Yeshaya where the navi specifically opposes this idea: "ישעיה כב:יג) "....אכול ושתו כי מחר נמות). This is גשמיות לשם גשמיות . In the next pasuk, the navi warns that the punishment for this will be"...אם יכפר העון הזה לכם עד תמתון..." . Where does the wording “תמותון” appear elsewhere in Tanach? Only in connection with the sin of eating from the עץ הדעת: (re: the pasuk in Tehillim specifically referring to אדם הראשון see שמות רבה ל״ב:א and במדבר רבה ט״ז:כ״ד)
If we consider which outlook brings a person to a culture and behavior of גשמיות לשם גשמיות, it wouldn’t be far off to suggest that it comes from thoughts of (דברים ח:יב) פן תאכל ושבעת ובתים טבים תבנה וישבת.....ואמרת בלבבך כחי ועוצם ידי עשה לי את החיל הזה". The remedy for this is to concentrate on the idea mentioned near the very end of our haftara: "לא בחיל ולא בכח כי אם ברוחי אמר ה' צבאות" which is symbolized by the miracle of Chanuka that occurred with the menora of the mikdash and by the נרות הללו שאנו מדליקים.
