OrthJBC - Acts - 28

28:1  And having been brought safely through, we then found out that the island is called Malta.

28:2  And the natives were showing not the ordinary kindness to us for, because of the geshem that had set in and because of the cold, they lit a hadlakah (bonfire).

28:3  And when Rav Sha'ul gathered some brushwood and placed the sticks on the hadlakah (bonfire), a nachash from the heat came out and fastened onto Rav Sha'ul's hand.

28:4  And when the natives saw it hanging from his hand, they were saying to one another, "Surely this man is a rotzeach (murderer); for though he was brought safely from the sea, Yashrus (Justice) did not allow him to live."

28:5  Then, having shaken off the nachash into the aish (fire), Rav Sha'ul suffered no ill effects.

28:6  But the natives were expecting him to be about to swell up or suddenly to fall down. But they watched him expectantly for a long time, and when they observed nothing unusual happening to him, they changed their minds and were saying that he was a g-d.

28:7  Now in the area around that place were lands belonging to the gontser macher of the island, Publius by name, who welcomed us and gave us hachnosas orchim.

28:8  And it came about that the abba of Publius was bedfast, suffering fevers and dysentery; Rav Sha'ul approached him, and having davened, laid his hands on him and administered refuah shleimah to him.

28:9  And when this happened, also the the rest on the island, the cholim were approaching Rav Sha'ul and were receiving refuah shleimah.

28:10  The natives bestowed mattanot rabbot on us and, while being put out to sea, they gave us the provisions for our needs. [Tehillim 15:4] RAV SHA'UL ARRIVES AT ROME

28:11  And after shloshah chodashim, we set sail in a oniyah, having spent the winter on the island. It was an Alexandrian oniyah marked by the insignia of the twin Achim.

28:12  And having put in at Syracuse, we stayed shloshah yamim.

28:13  Then we weighed anchor and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day, southwest wind sprang up and on the second day we came to Puteoli.

28:14  There we found Achim b'Moshiach and we were invited by them to stay shivah yamim. And so we came to Rome.

28:15  And from there, the Achim b'Moshiach when they heard of us, came out to meet us, even as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns. On seeing them, ometz lev came to Rav Sha'ul and he said a berakhah, davening hodah to Hashem.

28:16  Now when we entered into Rome, Rav Sha'ul was permitted to live by himself in his own quarters with a chaiyal guarding him. RAV SHA'UL PREACHES REBBE, MELECH HAMOSHIACH TO YEHUDIM IN ROME AND LUKAS, HAVING SHOWN BY MANY LEGAL PRECEDENTS AND PROOFS THE CONCLUSION OF THE CASE OF HIS HISTORICAL APOLOGETIC, BRINGS US TO HIS THESIS: THAT THE HARD CENTER OF THE FAITH OF THE DERECH [HASHEM], EVEN AS IT REACHES OUT TO THE WHOLE WORLD, IS RUACH HAKODESH-FILLED ORTHODOX JUDAISM IN JERUSALEM AND SO ITS ADHERENTS SHOULD QUALIFY FOR THE PROTECTION OF JULIUS CAESAR'S DECREE OF JUDAISM AS A RELIGIO LICITA

28:17  And it came about after shloshah yamim, that Rav Sha'ul called together the chashuve Yehudim. And when they had assembled, Rav Sha'ul was saying to them, "Anashim, Achim, though I had done nothing keneged (against, in opposition to) our Jewish people or to the minhagei Avoteinu of Orthodox Judaism, I was arrested in Yerushalayim and delivered over into the hands of the Romans,

28:18  "who, having examined me, were desiring to release me, because I had done nothing worthy of the death penalty.

28:19  "But when the Yehudim spoke keneged (in opposition to, against) this, I was forced to appeal to Caesar, but only to defend myself, not to bring accusation against Am Yisroel my people.

28:20  "On account of this reason, therefore, I summoned you, to see you and to speak with you since it is for the sake of the tikvah Yisroel that I am wearing this kaval.

28:21  And they said to Rav Sha'ul, "We neither received iggrot about you from Yehudah nor have any of the Achim arrived and reported or spke any lashon hora about you.

28:22  "But we desire to hear from you what you think, for lichora (apparently) with regard to this kat of Judaism, we have da'as that it is spoken keneged (against) everywhere."

28:23  And they set a day for him, and they came to him in his lodgings and there were many of them. And Rav Sha'ul was making a midrash, bearing solemn edut about the Malchut Hashem, and persuading them about Yehoshua from both the Torah of Moshe Rabbenu and from the Nevi'im, from haboker to haerev.

28:24  And some Yehudim were being persuaded by the things being said, but others had no emunah.

28:25  And so they disagreed with one another. And as they were leaving, Rav Sha'ul said a final dvar. "Rightly the Ruach Hakodesh spoke through Yeshayah HaNavi to your Avot,

28:26  "saying, `Go to this people and say in hearing SHIMU SHAMO'A V'AL TAVINU UR'U RA'O V'AL TEDA'U ("You will hear and yet by no means understand and seeing you will see and yet by no means perceive.")

28:27  HASHMEN LEV HAAM HAZEH V'AZNAV HAKHBED V'EDAV HASHA PEN YIREH V'EINAV UVAZNAV YISHMA ULEVAVO YAVIN VASHAV N'RAFA LO ("For the heart of this people has become dull and with their ears they scarcely hear and they have closed their eyes lest they should see with their eyes and with their ears may hear and with their heart they may have binah and they may turn and I will heal them. [Tehillim 119:70; Yeshayah 6:9,10]

28:28  "Therefore, let it be known to you that to the GOYIM (Tehillim 67:2) this Yeshu'at Eloheinu of Hashem was sent, and they will listen."

28:30  And he remained an entire shetayim shanim (two years) in his own rented bais, and was welcoming all the ones coming to him,

28:31  preaching the Malchut Hashem and saying shiurim concerning the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua with all openness and without hindrance.