Urim v'Tumim Addendum: Follow-Up Questions and Masoretic Cover-Up

I was asked several follow-up questions on last week's parashah article, so I decided to write a follow-up - one which includes a spicy hot take from Alter and Cassuto on the Masoretic text of Shmuel.

This week's Torah content has been sponsored by Jonah Mishaan with appreciation for Rabbi Schneeweiss, who gathers wisdom from various disciplines.

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Link to the PDF is right below the paywall. Sorry - not audio version this time!

Artwork: DALL-E 3 (OpenAI)’s attempt to depict a pile of Hebrew Scrabble tiles with the letters כ, ש, ר, ה. I knew it would fail, but at least the material looks nice.

Urim v'Tumim Addendum: Follow-Up Questions and Masoretic Cover-Up

Last week I wrote an article called Tetzaveh: Urim v’Tumim - The Emergency (Outdated?) Divine Telegraph System (which I will assume readers of this addendum have read). I was asked four questions by three people:

Question #1: from Michael (author of The Sinai Spectator)

According to Cassuto, why is the urim vTumim not an ideal means of deciding on a course of action?

I see how it was designed to replace an idolatrous instinct, but I don’t see how it is bad for the people to want Hashem’s guidance for decisions that impact the community. In contrast, Rambam’s view of Korbanos makes sense since you can see how that could result in bad ideas about God.

(I also find it interesting that Cassuto’s proof from its lack of usage in Neviem mirrors Rambam’s proof for this theory that the Neviem don’t seem particularly fond of Korbanos.)

Questions #2-3: from Jessie (author of Jessie’s Torah Thoughts and Jessie’s Newsletter)

What do you think about the midrash about Eli being confused about Chana being כשרה vs שכרה (and in general lit up letters is not a binary yes or no answer)

What do you think about urim v'tumim not working for Shaul, who then did consult necromancy.

Question #4: from Rabbi Yaakov Trachtman (author of Tsofeh - A Lookout)

I'm curious about Cassuto's approach, if it is an accommodation which is no longer relevant after David, how would Cassuto understand Ezra 2:63 and Nehemiah 7:65 which seems like the urim vetumim is something they looked forward to its return?

I’ve decided to keep my answers behind the paywall, since (a) thanks to a flat tire this morning, I’m not going to have the time to research this article as heavily as I’d like, but I want to respond before the week gets underway, (b) people keep telling me that I need to post more “paid subscriber only” content if I want people to support my substack, so I’m gonna try doing that for follow-ups like this, and (c) the answer to question #3 strays into territory which some might consider to be kefirah. Better to keep it secret. Keep it safe.