HEBRON, “LAND OF THE HEBREWS”
by Prof. Eugene Narrett - copyright 2006
4 Tevet 5766
From the days before the birth of Jacob, the days when Israel, — the patriarch, the people, and the nation were only a promise, Hebron has been foundational to the faith, honor, glory, and memory of the Jewish people. It remains so today, as we are reminded by the struggle of the Jews of Hebron against their expulsion from this most ancient city (as they were in 1929, 1936, and 1948, by the British-led, equipped and trained “Arab Legionâ€?); reminded too, by the thrilling discussion of the city in the Torah commentaries of the Ramban (Rav {teacher or master} Moshe ben Nachman, also called Nachmanides, c. 1193 – 1268 CE).
Hebron’s magnificence, the power and faith which emanate from it are fittingly considered through the Ramban’s work for the latter is a symposium that spans millennia, a banquet of praise and explication that convenes Moshe with the Talmudists, Onkelos (a Roman convert to Judaism, 1st century CE, who wrote what still is considered a definitive interpretive translation of the Five Books of Moses from Hebrew into Aramaic), R’ Avraham Ibn Ezra [9th century], Rashi [Rav Shlomo Yitzchaki, scholar and vintner at Soissons, 1040 -1105] and the Rambam (Maimonides, 1135 – 1204), to whom Ramban refers reverently as “haRav,” the teacher. The scope of the assembled erudition is such that Rav Ya’akov ben Ha Rosh (Rav Jacob the Baal Ha Turim, CE 1269 - 1343) began his brilliant commentary by quoting Psalms to suggest the magnitude of Ramban’s work: “And behold, I have seen the sea, great and of broad measure, — the Torah expositions of Ramban, of blessed memory…” adding that all he can aspire to is to “restore my soul” by “strolling the banks” by this sea, plucking fruits of wisdom “from the abundant trees” of the discussion Ramban assembled.
Those who love ethical, theological, historical, and philosophical discussion and exegesis should study these works for supreme examples of symposia that continue to energize western civilization and which, among other benefits, elaborated the essential rules of textual analysis.
The convening of such an assembly is an act that recognizes, honors and realizes history and an act of faith, and a distinctive consciousness that distinguishes Judaism to this day: the educational, instructive value of its holy texts and how discussing them enables action based on these qualities. These qualities are nowhere more true than in Hebron which, it seems must be made Judenrein to prepare the way for the New World Order, its god, the state, and its practice, forgetting and coercive consumerism.
Commenting on the verses in Torah portion Vayeishev (Genesis 37 - 42) when, after interpreting his dream, Joseph requests that the Chamberlain of Cupbearers “mention me to Pharaoh,” adding, “for I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews…” (Genesis 40:15), Ramban identifies the geographical reference and then adduces sources showing that the land of the Hebrews, Hebron, derived from the patriarchs’ distinctive cultural and moral qualities acknowledged and respected by peoples all around.
“The explanation of ‘from the land of the Hebrews,’” Ramban writes, “is from the land of Hebron where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived. For Abraham, who was the start of the family lineage was called, ‘Abram the Hebrew’ [Genesis 14:3] because he came ‘from the other side’ [m‘eiver] of the [Euphrates] River.” Not only was Abraham renowned for his teaching of the One Creator and Judge of all there is, the teacher, that is, of life’s purpose, justice, and dignity, but for his loyalty to kin, courage, and trust in G-d (as in the war of the five kings [Gen. 14], the covenant of the parts [Gen. 15], the covenant of circumcision [Gen. 17], etc). Thus, Ramban continues, “he was renowned among the nations for [G-d’s promise] ‘I will make your name great’ [Gen 12:2] was fulfilled for him. This is why all his descendants were called Hebrews. And they perpetuated this name for themselves to distinguish themselves and not mingle with the Canaanites.” Though few, the Hebrews were held in great esteem and the area in and around Hebron was called by their name.
Ramban cites Rambam for another reason and evidence of this status: Hebron was called ‘the land of the Hebrews’ “because they were the great men and nobles of the land.” This had been acknowledged by Ephron the Hittite when Abraham purchased the Machpela [“doubleâ€?] caves and surrounding fields as a perpetual tomb complex for his family. The Hittite leader said to Avraham, “you are a prince of G-d in our midst” (23:15). In this context, Ramban also quotes psalm 105:15, “do not dare to touch my anointed ones” with reference to G-d’s warnings to Pharaoh, Avimelech the Philistine, and later, to Laban, on behalf of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in whose merit and by whose efforts the Jewish people (Ha Ivrim) received the entire Promised Land as described by G-d to Abraham in “the covenant of the parts” (Genesis 15:13-18) and its sequelae.
Earlier, Ramban had considered Talmudic sources** that further identify Hebron with “the land of the Hebrews,” with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his descendants. Discussing the verse in which Jacob sends Joseph to his brothers, “mei’emek Chevron,” from the “depth” or “valley of Hebron” which actually a series of great hills with high plateaus between them. Ramban notes, “our sages have a homiletical interpretation for this, i.e. to fulfill the deep counsel [amukah, from emek] to the ‘pleasant friend’ who is buried in Hebron.” The “deep counsel” was the message to Abraham from G-d that his offspring would “be aliens in a land not their own” before they are freed from exile and return with great wealth and majesty, primed to inherit the fullness of the land (ibid). Ramban further cites the midrash (textual annotation on the verse) that Chevron is derived from chaver, “friend,â€? in reference and honor to Abraham whom G-d termed, His friend.
The immediacy of these verses and Ramban’s symposia - commentary stems further from the fact that Jacob imparted this amukah to his beloved Joseph in the land of the Hebrews, drawing on the merits and example of faith and courage of Abraham as he sent him to his brothers near Shechem (today it’s called “Nablus,â€? an Arabic corruption of the Greek “Neapolisâ€? built on the site of the ancient Jewish city. Jacob sent Joseph on this mission though he knew of the fraternal friction occasioned by Joseph’s provocative dreams. But Jacob also sensed (for he “kept the matter in mind” regarding the import of the dreams, Gen. 37) that all the conflicts were to initiate the lifleitah gedolah, “the mighty deliverance” as Joseph assured his brothers after they were re-united in love and harmony. “It is as clear as day…”
Joseph’s tomb adjacent to Shechem was ravaged by Arabs at the start of the “Oslo War: in October 2000. The small Jewish settlement and study house (yeshiva) there also were destroyed. The world powers are planning a similar fate for the much larger and august complex at Hebron. It will become, no doubt, a sort of Disneyland. Perhaps Clinton-Rodham intend to put out the official word that they too will be resting there…
In any case, the merits that suffuse “Hebron, the land of the Hebrews” are a vital example of the enduring vitality and commitment to history and memory of all the Jewish people. For just as Abraham’s trust and faith were counted as “righteousness” by G-d, and just as the covenant G-d made with him was extended to Isaac (Genesis 21) and Jacob (ibid. 26, 27, 28, 35) who eagerly grasped Abraham’s legacy despite the hardships it required, so too do these qualities of wisdom show the path to and connection between memory, honor and glory in our days when the powers would commit us to forgetting and the mystique of the big lies of Newspeak.
At this season of Hanukka just passing, its light still present, Hebron is the touchstone for the light that shines in the darkness of captivity, of physical, spiritual and ideological bondage. It is the light of faith and the actions it enables that bring the ability to resist foreign influences wherever they arrive to pluck out the heart of the nation. Tyrants always will strike at Hebron and Jerusalem for these places are the most foundational Tziyun (memorial and monument, cf. Zion) of the stature, dignity, honor and roots of the Jewish people.
Eugene E. Narrett, Phd
* Source for Ramban is the Mesorah addition of “Ramban - Nacmhanides Commentary on the Torah, Bereishis, parts I & II (Brooklyn, 2005). Also see The Baal Ha Turim Chumash, Volume I, Genesis, Mesorah (Brooklyn, 1999).
** The Talmud refers to a large collection of commentaries on passages in the Hebrew Scriptures that began to be assembled in the 3rd century BCE and were elaborated with super commentaries and written out by the 2nd century CE. They were definitively redacted in two versions, The Jerusalem Talmud (c350 CE, after which such work became impossible in the land of Israel due to Roman – Byzantine persecution; and, in more polished and detailed form in the large, semi-autonomous Jewish community in Mesopotamia (the “Babylonian� Talmud) by 500 CE.
The history of the ancient (beginning from time of Solomon till about CE 1200) and large, semi-autonomous Jewish community in Mesopotamia may be studied in works like those of Dr. Erich Isaac.
*** An interesting historical note on Joseph is that there is to this day a massive (aboutr 120 miles long) irrigation canal, more like a river called “Bahr Yousef� that parallels and irrigates Egypt west of the Nile. It was directed into a large depression creating a fresh water ‘sea’ oasis called Lake Qarun in the El Fayoum area about 60 miles southwest of Cairo.
For many other historical records of the Hebrews in Egypt see James D. Long, “The Riddle of the Exodus� (Light Catcher Press, 2002).