[Avodah] ohr lagoyim

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

On Wed, Jun 01, 2016 at 01:25:31PM +0300, Lisa Liel wrote:
: There's a big difference between ohr l'goyim and l'ohr goyim. The
: former implies some sort of responsibility to reach out to the
: nations of the world.  The latter says that we are a nation among
: nations, but what kind?  A light.  They come to us....

This is clearly peshat in Yeshaiah 60:3, "beholkhu goyim le'oreikh..." But
"le'or goyim", in 42:6 and 49:6...

I would have said something close to the reverse; to me le'or goyim
sounds more like an imperative.

An or lagoyim is a descriptive construction. Yeshaiah would be saying
that we are light for the nations. L'or goyim is more prescriptive,
we are "to provide light for nations". Not as a light, but in to be
one. And it's up to us to actually illuminate.

BTW, according to Rashi (42:6) those goyim are the shevatim, not other
nations.

And according the Metzudas David, it's a messianic prophecy, not an
imperative before-hand.

The thing is, we're obligated to serve as a nation of kohanim in the
here-and-now regardless of Yeshaiah. So I see this as a discussion of
peshat in the pesuqim, with no pragmatic difference to hashkafah.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 39th day, which is
micha at aishdas.org        5 weeks and 4 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Netzach sheb'Yesod: What is imposing about a
Fax: (270) 514-1507                          reliable person?