The Robe of the Ephod by my son Daniel (10 yrs old)

My son Daniel told me that his Rebbi asked him a question in Parsha Tetzaveh. It says in Chapter 28 Passage 34 regarding the Robe that the Kohen Gadol wore in the Tabernacle that it must have
פַּעֲמֹן זָהָב וְרִמּוֹן, פַּעֲמֹן זָהָב וְרִמּוֹן, עַל-שׁוּלֵי הַמְּעִיל, סָבִיב

a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the skirts of the robe round about.

There is a tradition that there were seventy two pairs of bells and pomegranates on the skirt of the robe.His rebbi wanted to know how we can learn this tradition from the passage above. So my son answered with an original (as far as I know)brilliant answer . He said that there are a total of twenty four hebrew letters in the words describing the golden bell and a pomegranate which are mentioned twice in this passage(twelve times two). When you multiply twenty four by three( the three words describing the golden bell and pomegranate) you arrive at the number seventy two.

Ephraim and Judah forever linked

Is it not fascinating that during the forty years of wilderness the person that was next in line for leadership and eventually took on that very role was Joshua from the tribe of Ephraim. He also was the one that acted as the first general in the war against the arch enemy of Israel,Amalek. Joshua was the one responsible for bringing the Jewish people into Israel and conquering their enemies.

Who was it that went up the mountain with Moshe and awaited his teachers return. It was not Moshe's brother Aaron nor was it Caleb from the tribe of Judah (the tribe of royalty).It was instead Joshua from the tribe of Ephraim (representing Joseph). You may want to say that Aaron represented the priesthood and was therefore not allowed to rule(like we find by the Hasmoneans).It is however ironic that Moshe ruled even though he was a Levite.We also find Samuel was a leader (even though he was a Levite)until he appointed the official kings of Israel. What is especially fascinating about Samuel is the opening passage in Samuel I which introduces us to the family of Samuel..

א וַיְהִי- אִישׁ אֶחָד מִן-הָרָמָתַיִם צוֹפִים מֵהַר אֶפְרָיִם וּשְׁמוֹ אֶלְקָנָה בֶּן-יְרֹחָם בֶּן-אֱלִיהוּא בֶּן-תֹּחוּ בֶן-צוּף אֶפְרָתִי:

1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

Is it not wild that the founder of both camps of royalty is linked to the tribe of Ephraim(even though in IChronicles 6:18-23 it is made clear that Elkanah was actually a levite).

The very first leader of the Jewish people in Israel was actually Joseph. From that time on it has been a constant struggle between Joseph and Judah over who would lead. This may explain why the Midrash says that Caleb was the one that ran into the sea of reeds first. This may also be a way of trying to show how Judah must be the leader and the one that jumps in the water first,leading and showing the way to the jewish people. Is it not Ephraim's need to rule that causes the split of the Jewish people in Israel from the kingdom of Judah. This eventually leads to their exile. Did we not read in this past weeks Haftorah from Isaiah which states in 7:1-2 And it was told the house of David, saying: 'Aram is confederate with Ephraim.' And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest are moved with the wind.

In last weeks haftorah from Judges 4:4-5

4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time. 5 And she sat under the palm-tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

Here again another leader is linked to Ephraim and yet she herself(in 5:14) compares Ephraim to the arch enemy Amalek

Out of Ephraim came they whose root is in Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal's staff.

The irony is even greater here because of the fact that Ephraim(Joshua)was the first to wage war against Amalek. If one looks throughout the Bible he will constantly see this theme repeat itself.On the otherhand the kingdom from Judah is non-existant untill King David. Other than in the blessings ogf Jacob and the blessings of Moses there is no mention or desire for the monarchy from Judah. It is amazing the complete silence yet the promise of eternity that is given to the monarchy of Judah. On one side you have the constant need and fight to lead from Ephraim which in reality only shows momentary glimpses and hiccups of success and on the other side is the silence yet the eternity and eternal promise of success of the kingdom of Judah.

The Jewish people even have a tradition that there will be two messiah's,one from Joseph to begin the redemption.Then the final messiah will rule from the kingdom of David.It is also interesting to note that according to this tradition the messiah from Joseph will die and only then will the messiah from David be able to rule(competition again?).This follows the original entry into the land of Israel which began With Joseph and ended with David.

Even now the fight seems to continue. At a Pidyan Haben there is a custom that the cohen places his hand on the child's head and says the famous passage from Genesis 48:20 And he blessed them that day, saying: 'By thee shall Israel bless, saying: God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh.' And he set Ephraim before Manasseh. This same blessing is said when a father blesses a son.We are called Jews which comes from the word Judah and yet the Bible sometimes refers to the Jewish people as the children of Joseph

Full Circle

I was studying with my son Rafi (9 yrs old) Chumash Bereishas when the following thought came to me.

If one wants to look at the one event that began the exile of the Jews into Egypt we can look at the dipping of Josephs coat into the "goat blood" so that the brothers would be able to convince their father that he was killed by an "evil wild animal". This event sealed Joseph's fate which eventually led to the saving of his family from famine and forcing them to relocate to egypt.

Some two hundred and seventy years later when the Jewish people were leaving Egypt they once again slaughtered a goat but this time they dipped grass into the blood and then applied the blood to their doorposts so that G-D would pass over their house when killing the first born of Egypt.

When G-d brought the plagues on the Egyptians it almost seems like there was a message within a message and that he was also educating both the Jews and the Egyptians on the natural order of the world. The first plague began with water turning to blood.The second plague began with frogs which live on water and on land.The third plague began with lice(bugs)which live solely on land.Then the wild beasts which are more sophisticated (on the evolutionary scale).The plagues keep on progressing till it hits the top of the evolutionary chain which is "man". It is at this point that the first born are killed. There is still one creature that the Egyptians believed was above man and that is the "king"(they believed Pharaoh was a G-D). He would be considered the very top and last link of the evolutionary chain. It is at the splitting of the sea that the final plague which is the destruction or death of the king that the process is complete. Ironically it is with water which started the chain that the king at the very top of the chain is destroyed. Man and redemption have both come full circle