I have just read Mark Bregman's piece: "The Aqedah at Qumran: Fire on the
Mountain"
a Comparison of 4Q225 Pseudo-Jubileesa and Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer, Chapter
31
Abstract of lecture presented at the Orion Center, May 21, 1998.

There is one note to add here:Bregman cites a passage from Pirke de Rabbi
Eliezer ch 31.

"He said to Ishmael and Eliezer: "Do you see anything on one of these
mountains?" They replied to him: "No." He said to them: "Stay ye here with
the ass" (Gen. 22:5). He said to them: "Just as the ass does not see
anything [significant], so you do not see anything [significant]"; as it
says: "And Abraham said to his servant boys, stay ye here with the ass [`im
he- hamor, which can also be vocalized, `am he-hamor, i.e. "ass- people"].

There are some 10 places in Midrashic literature where this tradition is
cited with slight variants. Bregman cites some of them. Anti-semites have
made much of the phrase "am hahamor (not 'hehamor')" but this is NOT what
the text says at all-- people have just confused matters. Rabbi Baruch
HaLevy Epstein in his midrashic lexicon and in his Torah Temimah Genesis
22:3 note 11 goes to great lengths to show that the Rabbis interpret the
word "im" with some frequency to have the meaning "just like." Eg Genesis
Rabba at the beginning of Parshat Vayishlach-- 400 men with him (Esau)-- the
midrash takes "im" to mean like him-- just as he was strong etc etc. When 8
midrashim say "im hahamor: im= hadomeh le-- hamor." it means they are
similar to the donkey in one respect at that one time-- they did not the see
supernatural sign. Bregman might have looked at Theodor-Albeck Gen R to Gen
22:5 and seen the text-- because you are similar (domim) to the donkey-- and
the other vaiants he has . At any rate, even their notes imply Bregman's
equation  "im hadomeh=am hadomeh (a people like a donkey)." The Davka CD RoM
to PRE reads "hadomim" not "hadomeh"-- "Am" is singular and you cannot say
"am hadomim"-- "hadomim" is the better reading and occurs in Leviticus Rabba
20:2-- a reference also cited by Bregman. There is no reason to confuse "im
hadomim" as if it said "am hadomim" which would be a very unlikely
construction. Hence "im" is to be read "im," not "am" and it is correct that
the rabbis interpreted it as "similar to." Ishmael and Eliezer are told "you
are to stay here-- since you are similar to the donkey." Even the texts that
read "im Hadomeh" are not to be taken as "am hadomeh" although gramatically
it could fit-- as Epstein demonstrates. It is time we drop the pseudo-drash
as it is not the meaning of any rabbinic midrash and in the end gives both
Jews and non -Jews unwarranted understandings of Jewish attitudes towards
non-Jews.  Marc Bregman likely will be the amongst the first to get rid of
the common but mistaken understanding of these words.


Herb Basser





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