[MS: How can we celebrate the Festival of Flatbread (Matzah) in 2024 in the "Vale of Death's Shadow" (Psalm 23); 194 Days of the war against Hamas; Seder after the Iran's missile strike on Israel, defeated by the IDF and allies.
Psalm 23 in Alter's new extraordinary translation might give comfort as Israel and the Jewish People prepare for a Seder and fight on in the Vale of Death's Shadow.]
Amalek - "They arise to destroy us in each generation" See Posts on Amalek in Robert Alter MS Sefaria Sheets Collection.]
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The Sadness in Israel and for many Jews this Passover
"Yes, our hearts, too, are broken. Our hearts shattered by the thought of what the Seder will be for the families of 133 people who haven’t been heard from or seen in half a year. What is it going to like around that table? Could anyone possibly sing anything at all?
"Our hearts are shattered by the images of what might be happening to the Israeli women in that hell.
"Our hearts are shattered by what it could mean for the future of the Jewish people if the next Iranian attack doesn’t get repelled as effectively.
"Our hearts are shattered every time we drive south and know that with one quick exit, we could be at the now sacred ground where hundreds of purely innocent young people were savagely murdered by barbarians in support of whom American college students (some of them Jews) now protest.
Yes, our hearts, too, are broken. Our hearts shattered by the thought of what the Seder will be for the families of 133 people who haven’t been heard from or seen in half a year. What is it going to like around that table? Could anyone possibly sing anything at all?
Our hearts are shattered by the images of what might be happening to the Israeli women in that hell.
Our hearts are shattered by what it could mean for the future of the Jewish people if the next Iranian attack doesn’t get repelled as effectively.
Our hearts are shattered every time we drive south and know that with one quick exit, we could be at the now sacred ground where hundreds of purely innocent young people were savagely murdered by barbarians in support of whom American college students (some of them Jews) now protest.
Our hearts are shattered by lots of things.
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Alter's New Translation of Psalm 23:
PSALM 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
In grass meadows He makes me lie down,
by quiet waters guides me.
My life He brings back.
He leads me on pathways of justice for His name's sake.
Though I walk in the vale of death's shadow,
I fear no harm,
for You are with me.
Your rod and Your staff— it is they that console me.
You set out a table before me in the face of my foes.
You moisten my head with oil, my cup overflows.
Let but goodness and kindness pursue me all the days of my life.
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
for many long days.
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- Alter, Robert - The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, Kindle Edition. "
[MS: The entire Alter Bible on Kindle, with introductions and notes, is available for about $75, a remarkable price for such a complete, unique and masterful work of a lifetime. In quoted sections, formatting, editing and inserts are supplied.
Alter's Introductions (28essays) for books like Exodus and chapters provide broad themes and explain the Bible's unique literary style that lead to his Notes and Translations. See the Robert Alter MS Sheets Collection.]
Alter's Introduction to Exodus - Themes - National Triumph - Challenges to Survival - Amaleck in each generation:
- "This narrative is one of national triumph after the most painful abjection, although the triumph is complicated by the fact that it concludes with the imposition of a set of imperatives that for the Israelites will prove to be a great challenge to obey." ....
- "(Exodus) is a grand narrative sweep that culminates in what is, ... the great climax and point of reference of all biblical literature—the revelation through Moses to Israel of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.
- "Exodus, like Genesis, is made up of two large panels, though they are notably different in nature from the two panels that constitute Genesis. The first unit, running from chapter 1 through chapter 20, is a grand narrative sweep that culminates in what is, at least in national-historical and theological terms, the great climax and point of reference of all biblical literature—the revelation through Moses to Israel of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. There are, one should note, legal passages along the way in chapters 12 and 13 regarding the spring rituals of the paschal offering and the Festival of Flatbread as well as the dedication of the firstborn, but these are to a large degree integrated into the general narrative, coming as they do when the first Passover rite is observed in Egypt and when the Israelite firstborn have been spared while Egypt’s are stricken. This narrative is one of national triumph after the most painful abjection, although the triumph is complicated by the fact that it concludes with the imposition of a set of imperatives that for the Israelites will prove to be a great challenge to obey." ....
When at the end of all the building we are told, “And Moses completed the task” (40:33), we hear a significant echo of “And God completed on the seventh day the task He had done” (Genesis 2:2). Human labor, scrupulously following a divine plan, creates an ordered space that mirrors the harmony of God’s creation. But the concluding image of the book is the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night that leads the Israelites on their march through the wilderness. On that long way, more trouble awaits them, as readers will discover when the narrative resumes in Numbers."
Alter's Notes in Exodus Chapter 12:1- 51
In Notes, Alter comments on many terms in the Haggadah and in Passover rituals. For example 12:8 and 12:17 "Flatbread"instead of Matzah; "blood" as a motif in the literary structure of the Exodus story; and 12:12 "cross through" not pass over the Land.
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