As the Sun Spreads its Wings
Itzhak Shapira claims that I falsely slander him in my review of his book. Let me step back and allow you to judge if I indeed slandered him. All of the information is on the table for everyone to see. You can read my reviews of his work here https://yourphariseefriend.wordpress.com/2013/10/15/the-school-of-matthew/
https://yourphariseefriend.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/spiritual-responsibility/
and you can view his defense here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP5NiPhK90I
You can read the comments of Shapira together with those of his “expert” witness, Yehezquel Italqi, in the comments section of the articles related to this discussion –
https://yourphariseefriend.wordpress.com/2013/12/16/open-response-to-itzhak-shapira/
https://yourphariseefriend.wordpress.com/2013/12/16/response-to-yehezkel-italqi/
https://yourphariseefriend.wordpress.com/2013/12/17/second-response-to-yehezqel-italqi/
https://yourphariseefriend.wordpress.com/2013/12/17/second-response-to-itzhak-shapira/
The only piece of information you might be missing is the original comment of the Metzudat David. If you cannot read Hebrew then you cannot read the words of that commentator.
I hereby present you with a word for word translation of the Metzudat David in question. The Metzudat David is commenting on the words: “and healing in her wings” from Malachi 3:20 (4:2).
1 Biz’richata – with her shining
2 Yihe’ye – there will be
3 Lachem – unto you
4 Refua – healing
5 V’taanug – and pleasure
6 V’dima – and he (the prophet) compared
7 P’risat – the spreading
8 Ha’or – of the light
9 Uz’richata – and its shine
10 Li’prisat – to the spreading
11 K’nafayim – of wings
12 Ki – because
13 Hashmesh – the sun
14 Yifros – spreads
15 Oro – its light
16 Al – over
17 Ha’aretz –the earth
18 Ki’knafayim – like wings
19 Ha’prusot – that are outspread
20 V’chen – and so it is
21 Ne’enmar – written (in Joel 2:2)
22 K’shachar – as the dawn
23 Parus – spread
24 Al – over
25 He’harim – the mountains
Shapira translated word #22 (k’shachar) with the English words: “as blackness.”
Now you have all the information. You can make your own judgment.
Incidentally, it is worth noticing that in his video defense Shapira insists on translating the word “shachar” in Isaiah 8:20 with the English word blackness.
Here again I present a word for word translation of the closing phrase in Isaiah 8:20.
1 Asher – that
2 Ain – there is not
3 Lo – to it
4 Shachar – light
Shapira translates word #4 (shachar) with the English word “blackness.”
You be the judge.
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Thank You
Yisroel C. Blumenthal
1000 Verses - a project of Judaism Resources 
Without charge, my diagnosis of your heart remains the same – it is hard dear Rabbi Yisroel!
June,
I seem to recall reading somewhere that man judges the outside, but God judges the heart.
Jim
It is not a “hard heart” that tries to spread light (Or) where others see blackness.
A small error is no big deal and a disagreement on a few words does not make a good argument one way or another. I see much bigger errors in Shapira’s videos and writings. So much of a theology that is based on Iesous, aka Yeshua or Jesus (not truly about God), as relying on mistranslations, or a few words or verses here and there, and on hints, “types”, “proofs”, unverifiable “evidence” by a few, unknown “witnesses” to miraculous events or signs that seemed to be noticed by (or only impressed) a handful of Jews and even far fewer Romans and non-Jews who “were there”. If the events or the person failed to be noticed by those living in “those days”, why would words written by unknown authors over 100 years after “the fact” (and later editors) impress us 1900 years later? As one raised a Christian and one who examined several of the common beliefs and various teachings of Christians, I see several large problems at the very core of the Christian faith. If there is little support for “coming to belief in Jesus” in the NT, which logically is the only source that should be needed, it seems foolish to try to “find Jesus” in Tanach, Torah, or various writings by Jews who did not even believe in a Jesus. Why look for “divinity of a messiah” in sources where there is only One divine Being, a unique Being who is really the only Being, when Christians using the NT argue much about the nature and the divinity of Jesus and whether he was a man or not, whether he is God in 3 aspects (father but also the father’s son but also a separate “holy spirit”) or not, or whether there is only 1 god who has a son (polytheistic Christology) or not. I feel at times that some believers go out to other sources, because they see the internal textual difficulties and the contradictions in the NT (such as the differences between the “teachings of the gospel Jesus” and Paul’s teachings about a spiritual Jesus or between the Paul in Acts and the couple of different Paul’s in the Pauline letters). Justification is a key word in the NT, not only for Jesus as some type of messiah, but to justify Paul’s teachings, to justify god pictured as a man in a way that does not appear to be idolistic, and especially now in these days, to justify to Jews why they should leave their faith in God in order to “come to faith” in God (but faith through putting faith in an image of a man).
https://yourphariseefriend.wordpress.com/2011/05/08/judge-not/
Every bible I looked at is just about the same
Isaiah 8:20
New King James Version (NKJV)
20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Is this what Itzhak is saying?
Isaiah 8:20
20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no darkness in them.
Larry
Just listen to his video – from the 11 minute mark – let him tell it to you in his own words.
This is the scholarly author that wrote the most learned book that the President of a prominent Christian University ever read.
Thanks for the link Larry,
I did listen from the 11 minute mark, Rabbi B.
I was torn between astonishment and convulsive laughter. Kind of reminded me of some great old skits on Saturday Night Live. (Es Cha-ta-ai Ani Mazkir Hayom)
Great stuff.
Yehuda
I imagine that this is included in what Chazal taught about ridiculing idolatry.
I see what you mean, Yehuda. I finally watched it this morning and yes, it was both astonishing and hilarious.
Which prominent Christians take this guy seriously? Seriously!
Can you give the link ?
found it.
sorry
did he really offer you an open public debate?
seems like that man did, but he just didnt respond the way he didn’t respond to your question.
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