In honor of Israel’s 75th birthday, Israel365 is excited to launch a new series of essays that will unlock the secrets of the Hebrew Bible!
Excerpted from Rabbi Akiva Gersh’s forthcoming book, 75 Hebrew Words You Need to Understand the Bible, these essays illuminate the connection between related Hebrew words, revealing Biblical secrets only accessible through Hebrew.
Enjoy the series – and happy 75th birthday to the State of Israel!
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MENUCHA
MEH-NOO-CHA
REST
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Menucha, Hebrew for ārest,ā is often used in the Bible to describe how God rested after the six days of creation. This established the seventh day, Shabbat, as a day of rest for all time, both to honor God as the Creator of all things and to provide humanity with a day to reflect upon the purpose of our existence in this world.
The Bible also uses menucha to refer to the Land of Israel, where the people of Israel would settle and ārestā and finally become a nation in their own land. As the verse states, āBecause you have not yet come to the allotted rest and inheritance that your God is giving youā (Deuteronomy 12:9).
Rashi, the great Bible commentator, writes that menucha specifically refers to Shiloh, the longtime home of the Tabernacle in Israel and the spiritual center of the 12 tribes of Israel before King Solomon built the first Temple in Jerusalem. Menucha is a fitting word for the site of the Tabernacle, for the primary purpose of the Tabernacle was to create a physical space for Godās presence to ārestā in the midst of the people of Israel and all of humanity.
In one of his most well-known psalms, King David uses menucha to describe the rest and tranquility that only God can provide to humanity. āHe makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me to water in places of reposeā (Psalm 23:2). God is our constant source of support; only through our relationship with Him can we experience rest and tranquility, and realize that we lack nothing.
