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 For private reply, e-mail to "Herb Basser" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from Orion, e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: "unsubscribe Orion." Archives are on the Orion Web site, http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il. (PLEASE REMOVE THIS TRAILOR BEFORE REPLYING TO THE MESSAGE)