Samaritan Torah, פַּרְשַׁת עֵקֶב

Deuteronomy 9:9	דברים ט ט
When I had ascended the mountain to receive the tablets of stone—the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you—then I lived atop the mountain forty days and nights, neither eating food nor drinking water.	בַּעֲלֹתִי הָהָרָה לָקַחַת לוּחֹת הָאֲבָנִים לוּחֹת הַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר־כָּרַת ה׳ עִמָּכֶם וָאֵשֵׁב בָּהָר אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְאַרְבָּעִים לַיְלָה לֶחֶם לֹא אָכַלְתִּי וּמַיִם לֹא שָׁתִיתִי׃

The Samaritan text unusually eliminates the Tetragrammaton from this verse:

Deuteronomy 9:9	דברים ט ט
When I had ascended the mountain to receive the tablets of stone—the tablets of the covenant which He is proclaiming with you—then I lived atop the mountain forty days and nights, neither eating food nor drinking water.	בַּעֲלֹתִי הָהָרָה לָקַחַת לוּחֹת הָאֲבָנִים לוּחֹת הַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר־כָּרַת יחוה עִמָּכֶם וָאֵשֵׁב בָּהָר אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְאַרְבָּעִים לַיְלָה לֶחֶם לֹא אָכַלְתִּי וּמַיִם לֹא שָׁתִיתִי׃

Deut. 10:6–7 reads:

And the Israelites travelled from the Wells of the Ya`akanaites to Mosera. There Aaron died, and there was buried, Eleazar his son ministering in the priest's office in his stead. From there they journeyed to Gudgod; and from Gudgod to Yotvatha, a land of yoghurt streams of water.

וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל נָסְעוּ מִבְּאֵרֹת בְּנֵי־יַעֲקָן מוֹסֵרָה שָׁם מֵת אַהֲרֹן וַיִּקָּבֵר שָׁם וַיְכַהֵן אֶלְעָזָר בְּנוֹ תַּחְתָּיו׃ מִשָּׁם נָסְעוּ הַגֻּדְגֹּדָה וּמִן־הַגֻּדְגֹּדָה יָטְבָתָה אֶרֶץ נַחֲלֵי מָיִם׃

However, this does not at all agree with Num. 33:31–38:

They travelled from Moseroth, and camp in Benei Ya`akan; travelled from Benei Ya`akan, and camped at Ḥor Haggidgad; travelled from Ḥor Haggidgad, and camped in Yotbathah; travelled from Yotbathah, and camped at `Evronah; travelled from `Evronah, and camped at `Ẹsion Gāver; travelled from `Ẹsion Gāver, and camped in the wilderness of ̣Sin, which is Qadesh. They travelled from Qadesh, and pitched at mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom. Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the commandment of the Lord, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month.

וַיִּסְעוּ מִמֹּסֵרוֹת וַיַּחֲנוּ בִּבְנֵי יַעֲקָן׃ וַיִּסְעוּ מִבְּנֵי יַעֲקָן וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּחֹר הַגִּדְגָּד׃ וַיִּסְעוּ מֵחֹר הַגִּדְגָּד וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּיָטְבָתָה׃ וַיִּסְעוּ מִיָּטְבָתָה וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּעַבְרֹנָה׃ וַיִּסְעוּ מֵעַבְרֹנָה וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּעֶצְיֹן גָּבֶר׃ וַיִּסְעוּ מֵעֶצְיֹן גָּבֶר וַיַּחֲנוּ בְמִדְבַּר־צִן הִוא קָדֵשׁ׃ וַיִּסְעוּ מִקָּדֵשׁ וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּהֹר הָהָר בִּקְצֵה אֶרֶץ אֱדוֹם׃ וַיַּעַל אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן אֶל־הֹר הָהָר עַל־פִּי ה׳ וַיָּמָת שָׁם בִּשְׁנַת הָאַרְבָּעִים לְצֵאת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַחֲמִישִׁי בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ׃

The Samaritan text resolves the contradiction in favour of Numbers, in terms of the order of camps, number of camps, and place of death of Aaron.

Deut. 11:13–14, familiar from the second paragraph of the Shema, reads:

It shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give the rain of your land in its due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayst gather in thy corn, thy wine, and thine oil.

וְהָיָה אִם־שָׁמֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶל־מִצְוֹתַי אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹם לְאַהֲבָה אֶת־ה׳ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וּלְעָבְדוֹ בְּכָל־לְבַבְכֶם וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁכֶם׃ וְנָתַתִּי מְטַר־אַרְצְכֶם בְּעִתּוֹ יוֹרֶה וּמַלְקוֹשׁ וְאָסַפְתָּ דְגָנֶךָ וְתִירֹשְׁךָ וְיִצְהָרֶךָ׃

The Samaritan text resolves the shift of person of the speaker from Moses to God, and moves the shift of the addressee from plural to singular one reference later in the sentence:

It shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That He will give the rain of thy land in its due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayst gather in thy corn, thy wine, and thine oil.

וְהָיָה אִם־שָׁמֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶל־מִצְוֹתַי אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹם לְאַהֲבָה אֶת־ה׳ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וּלְעָבְדוֹ בְּכָל־לְבַבְכֶם וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁכֶם׃ וְנָתַן מְטַר־אַרְצְךָ בְּעִתּוֹ יוֹרֶא וּמַלְקוֹשׁ וְאָסַפְתָּ דְגינֶךָ תִירֹשְׁךָ וְיִצְהָרֶךָ׃

Samaritan Torah notes         Jewish learning notes index

Coast to coast cycle ride

On Sunday last week, Sam Borin and I cycled coast to coast to raise money for charity. Despite scrutinising maps beforehand, we ended up partially working out a route on the fly:

( Read report and view piccies )

It had taken me eleven hours since we left Boustead Hill on the Solway Firth, and I had cycled 92½ miles (making it the longest ride I've ever done by 17½ miles), including about twelve miles just to get to the starting line. My total mileage in the Monday to Sunday week (not the way I normally measure it, which uses Shabbos as the divider) was 145 miles.

In total it took thirteen hours from when Sam and I left the house to catch the train to Carlisle, and as you can see from the photos below I was beginning to run out of daylight by the end. And more importantly, perhaps, I had raised £1067 (or £1275 including Gift Aid) for three worthy charities. (Indeed, I still have a couple of promised donations to come in, so the final total will be a bit higher.)

I'd described this as being the longest and hardest cycle I'd ever done; surprisingly, it was the first of these but not the latter. In the run-up to my ride I'd been drinking protein shakes immediately after cycling home from work (to take advantage of the "protein window" that closes about three quarters of an hour after exercise). At the time I hadn't felt these were doing me any good, but, maybe due to these, maybe due to the energy bars I took with me on the ride, I didn't "hit the wall" as I had done on my Berwick to Newcastle ride. Although going uphill became difficult after I'd reached Prudhoe, there was no point at which I had to stop and collapse and hope my energy came back after.

Moreover, probably as a result of the protein shake (my last) I had immediately after completing the ride, it didn't take me as long to recover from the ride as it had after my Berwick ride. Monday I needed to recover (but in any case, wouldn't have been cycling as I was returning to London); Tuesday I didn't cycle to work, because I was fasting (it was Tisha BeAv), but I was able to do the three mile round trip to shul, including climbing three hills, that evening; and on Wednesday I was back cycling to work (though the ascent of Hampstead hill did seem harder than normal).

One last thing that needs saying is the need to pay credit to Sam, who, after my waterbottles fell out of my saddle bag ten miles in (my saddlebag doesn't close properly, and needed to be mounted at a funny angle to fit on my father's bike without hitting the wheel or the brakes), gallantly offered to take my stuff in his pannier, so I didn't have to do the whole ride sweating into a bag on my back, which would have been horrible. When I said that this would increase the weight he would have to carry, he pointed out that he was thirteen years younger than me, and fitter, and if it slowed him down, then it was fair as we'd end up going at roughly the same pace (though in actuality, he still ended up leading me most of the way). Sam, you're a star, and thank you very much for doing this.

Which only leaves now the question of how I can top this? Edinburgh to Newcastle perhaps? Well, not until next summer, at any rate, and I'm not going to even think about it in the meantime!

[FWIW, there are higher resolution versions of all the photos viewable on Facebook.]