Timbuktu - a very faraway place

As kids, we were introduced by my maternal grandfather, who we called Sabba Sugar, to very faraway places that we will never visit. In our young mind, we thought he was making up places like Honolulu and Timbuktu! We actually named the Synagogue (little Shteebel, really; that he took us to, on those few visits to Jerusalem, before moving to Be'er Sheba) of the Sokhatchov Hassidim: "Timbuktu", as we couldn't follow or understand the prayers because of their funny accent and speed! I am not sure what the official language of Mali is, but we really weren't aware of its actual existence! And, Rabbi Google wasn't around 40+ years ago!

There are quite a few times that the Bible mentions a faraway place; however, as we are in the days leading up to Tish'ah B'Av – the day our Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed – I chose two verses from Deuteronomy & Joshua.
In Chapter 29 of Deuteronomy, Moses describes what will happen if the Jewish People break the Covenant with G-d: "the foreigner from a distant land" (Deuteronomy 29:22).
Also in Joshua, the distant land is mentioned in connection with a covenant – the Gibonites pretending to be from a very far land. I find it fascinating that: 1. this similarity exists, as I never noticed it before; and 2. that when Joshua questions them – they do not give the name of their supposed "very far land" (Joshua 9:9), but they do add the word very – as if that is supposed to satisfy Joshua?!





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