Interfaith Toldot

Sorry. Something came up unexpectedly and I've been away. We can pick up next week since the week is half way through. I don't believe Maccabees are ever mentioned in any way in the Tanach. Their books are indeed apocryphal.

Dauer
 
welcome back .... we missed you dauer .... I did read that the chronicles of the Maccabees are not included in the Hebrew Bible because the Men of the Great Assembly had decided many years earlier what the Hebrew Bible should consist of and these events occurred much later in time. The Books of the Maccabees, which were probably written by a Hasmonean chronicler, can be found in a collection called Sefer HaChitzonim which also contains other writings left out of the Hebrew Bible and which are not mentioned or quoted in the Talmud. I find this so interesting because the Maccabbes play such an important role in Judaism and the name Maccabee is reportedly an acronym for mi komocho ba'alim Hashem, "who is like you among the powers O God"* and of course the direct connection to Chanukah.


*another version of this is that the name Maccabee is the initials of the verse "Mi Chamocha B'elim Hasem" -- "Who is compared to You among the mighty, Oh Lord" (Exodus 15:11)

I'm still looking forward to some other thoughts on that "stone pillow" .... aloha nui, poh
 
I think the stone pillow is a rock, a symbol of the wilderness.
 
and it may be just as you suggest dauer .... have you ever heard of the emerald tablet, molded out of a single piece of ermerald or green crystal and which is the basis for alchemy - it is suppose to contain the sum of all knowledge and is connected with Hermes Trismegistus, he who is threefold in wisdom .... a young boy named Balinas, born in the year 16 C.E. in Tyana, Cappadocia (part of which is now Turkey) was one who was able to grasp the inner meaning of the tablet ....part of this story is that his head is propped against a stone where he dreams of an old man standing next to the opening of a cave and he is told to enter this cave to gain knowledge of the secrets of creation. The emerald tablet describes seven steps of transformation .... this is very similar to Jacob's vision of the ladder which he has a vision of afer falling asleep in a field with his head on a rock and jacob's ladder is usually associated with seven steps ....


the stone pillow continues to play an important role in the scripture .... Jacob takes the stone that he had put at his head and "he set it as a pillar and poured oil over its top .... and he called the name of that place Bethel" .... and then again "this stone that I set as a pillar will be a house of God, and everything that You give me I will surely tithe it to You."

aloha nui, poh
 
Jacob's whole body is the temple of G _D . His head the Holy of holies . His legs the two pillars. The "stone " pillow is a symbol of experience. Pillars -wisdom.
 
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