Weekly Torah Reading...
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The Torah denotes the first five books of the bible. They are in order Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Or in Hebrew, they are Beresheet, Sh'mot, Vayikra, B'midbar and D'varim.Originally posted by seotiblizzard:BTW may i ask wads torah?? -
Tol'dot (History)
Torah : Genesis 25:19-28:9
Haftarah : Mal'akhi (Malachi) 1:1-27
Gospel : Romans 9:6-16, Hebrews 11:20; 12:14-17 -
> Parasha: Vayeshev
>
> The Temptation of Joseph
>
> Vayeshev : "And he dwelt"
> Torah : Genesis 37:1-40:23
> Haftarah : Amos 2:6-3:8
> Gospel : Matthew 19-20
>
>
>
>
> ======================================================================
> Thought for the Week
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> If a person falls prey to sexual temptation, he should immediately
> confess his sin, renounce it and start over. He should say to himself,
> I will begin again. In Messiah, I am a new creature. I will start over
> right now, cleansed of sin, a new creature in Yeshua, who removes my
> sin. Even if he needs to do this several times a day, a person should
> never give up the fight. Though you may stumble, never give up the
> fight.
>
> ======================================================================
> Commentary
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Sexual temptation is persistent. Especially for men, it seems to be
> the most common obstacle to living a life of godliness. Perhaps the
> average man does not need to worry about being harried by sexually
> deviant Egyptian women like Joseph was, but men are daily assaulted by
> all manner of temptation. Yeshua warns that even looking on a woman
> with lust is an adultery of the heart.
>
> The worst thing about sexual temptation is its pernicious nature.
> Though a person may conquer it one day, it returns the next day for
> another round. So, too, Potiphar's wife attempted to seduce Joseph day
> after day.
>
> Sometimes a person tells himself, It's hopeless; I cannot stand
> against this temptation. When a person has tried, failed, tried again
> and failed again, he may feel that he is incapable of walking in
> purity. The Apostle Paul encourages such a person by saying, "No
> temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is
> faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are
> able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so
> that you will be able to endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). If we
> despair in the battle with our flesh, we will surely fail. The trick
> is to never give up on oneself.
>
> Joseph faced unrelenting temptation day after day. One of the
> strategies he employed was distance. Not only did he refuse to lie
> with Potiphar's wife, he refused to even be with her. Sometimes when a
> person has prevailed over temptation, he tells himself, I can
> withstand it. I don't need to worry about it anymore. The Apostle Paul
> warns us, "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he
> does not fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12). A person who struggles with
> sexual temptation should take whatever precautions are necessary to
> ensure that he will not fall victim.
>
> The goal of every person should be to persevere against sexual
> temptation:
>
> Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been
> approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has
> promised to those who love Him. (James 1:12)
>
>
> ======================================================================
> Middot U'Mitzvot (Character and Deeds)
> Apologies
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Flee from Temptation
>
> And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.
> (Genesis 39:12)
>
> When Joseph found himself alone in the house with Potiphar's wife, he
> tried to leap out of the house, but she caught his garment and it
> slipped from his body. He did not even bother attempting to retrieve
> it. Instead, he fled from her presence. It was not a passive
> resistance to sexual temptation or a rigid determination that brought
> him through the test. Rather, he fled from the possibility of sin.
>
> Joseph's leap from the adulteress lies behind the Apostle Paul's
> admonitions to "flee immorality" (1 Corinthians 6:18 ) and to "flee
> from youthful lusts" (2 Timothy 2:22). In regard to other temptations,
> Paul tells us to stand firm. In 1 Corinthians 16:13 he says, "Be on
> the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong." In
> regard to sexual temptation, though, he tells us to run for our lives.
> Like leaping Joseph, our goal should be to get out of any situation
> where we face sexual temptation as quickly as possible. -
Miketz - î÷õ : "At the end"
Torah : Genesis 41:1?44:17
Haftarah : I Kings 3:15?4:1
Gospel : Matthew 21?22
This Too Is For the Good
Thought for the Week
Accept the things that happen to you as good, knowing that apart from God nothing comes to pass. (Didache 3:10) We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28 )
Commentary
The life of Joseph demonstrates God's sovereign hand in human lives. Though the world seems to follow a completely random course around us, God is actually working out His purposes in the midst of it. From Joseph's point of view, there was no reason to suspect that God had his best interests in mind. Joseph had been kidnapped and betrayed by his own brothers, sold into Egypt as a slave, falsely accused of attempted adultery and imprisoned in a dungeon. His life seemed to be following Murphy's Law of "if anything can go wrong, it will." So far, everything had gone wrong.
Joseph stubbornly clung to an unshakable confidence in the God of his fathers. Even though everything had tumbled down around him, He kept looking to God and believing that God was working through the chaos. He never fell into depression or despondency because he always believed that he was right where God had placed him.
This can be compared to the story of a rabbi from the days of the Apostles named Nacham. Everyone called him "Nacham This-Too" because, no matter what happened, he would always say, "This too is for the good." Amazingly, God honored his faith by continually providing miracles for Nacham. Once it happened that Nacham This-Too was serving as an ambassador to Rome. He was presenting the Roman Emperor with a gift from the people of Judea in an attempt to bribe him into reversing some anti-Jewish legislation. While in route to Rome the chest he stopped at an inn. While he slept, the inn-keeper stole the precious treasures meant for the emperor from Nacham's chest and replaced them with sand! Nacham went to Rome, unaware that he was carrying a box of sand. When the emperor opened the chest and saw the sand, he ordered Nacham to be put to death. Nacham simply replied, "This too is for the good." Just then Elijah the prophet appeared in the guise of a Roman officer and suggested that perhaps the sand was "magic sand." The emperor agreed to test the theory, and indeed, when his troops hurled the sand at their enemies, they prevailed in battle. The emperor immediately released Nacham, reversed his decree against the Jews and rewarded Nacham with great wealth.
The story of Nacham This-Too is a good illustration of Joseph's story. Like Nacham This-Too, Joseph refused to pushed around by life's circumstances. Instead he looked to God for strength and encouragement, and he kept on believing.
In this week's Torah reading, we will see how Joseph's this-too-is-for-the-good type of faith was rewarded and how his fortunes changed.
Middot U'Mitzvot (Character and Deeds)
Giving in Secret
It might seem that Joseph was actually nursing a grudge against his brothers when he accused them of spying and sent them back to Canaan to get their brother Benjamin. If that were the case, he would not have had their money placed back in their sacks. He shows his love for his brothers by bestowing secret charity on them. Prior to their departure, he instructed his servants to secretly return the money that each of the brothers had paid for the grain. The brothers left Egypt unaware that they were carrying their silver back home with them.
The Master says that when we give charity, it should be done Joseph-style:
But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:3-4)
Joseph wanted to give his brothers a charitable gift. He knew that the famine conditions in Canaan must be creating financial hardship. Rather than announce the charitable deed with a fanfare of trumpets, though, he secretly had the money slipped into their bags.
Maimonides (Rambam) explains that there are different levels of giving charity. One of the lower levels of giving charity is when the deed is known to both the giver and the receiver. A far higher level of charity is secret charity. The person who gives charity secretly does so only for the sake of love. He knows that no one will be able to thank him. He will not earn any reward in the eyes of men. -
Chanukah
Our Noble Mission
By Rabbi Label Lam
The “wise men” of Greece demanded of the Jews, “Write on the horn of a cow that you have no portion with the G-d of Israel! (Breishis Rabba 2, 5)
What did they wish to accomplish with this? Why a horn of a cow? What type of decree is this? It seems rather innocuous. No one gets hurt or so it seems.
I remember having read some place that the North Koreans were unusually successful in getting American soldiers to bleed out military secrets. How did they do it? No, they did not employ drip torture or racks or isolation or bamboo shoots. None of that was able to crack the wall of resistance. They used a much more sophisticated form of psychological persuasion. They would take an officer, interview him, and transcribe the conversation. They would ask questions about the nature of the conflict, for example, “This is a war between communism and capitalism, right?” He would agree. Then the follow-up questions, “Is their no deficiency in capitalism or is it perfectly just?” The officer would be forced to admit that there are weak spots in the capitalist system. “Sometimes people fall through the cracks. There is large gap between the wealthy and the poor etc.” Then they would ask him if there is any possible merit to the communist system. He would easily admit that wealth is more evenly distributed and it is less likely that someone may fall between the cracks etc.
The soldier would then sign these statements and they made him read them aloud t other soldiers. The Chofetz Chaim said, “Before a person talks, he owns the words. Once a person speaks, however, the words own him.” So too their wall of resolve was weakened by being owned by their own declarations. Their resistance and unyielding idealism was gradually weathered through these processes to the point that later they would be more easily induced to share otherwise confidential and classified information.
It seems that the wise men of Greece understood these psych-ops. The Maharal asks why they needed to write on the horn of a cow and not on paper. He said that their intention was to remind the Jews of the Golden Calf. They aimed to convince the Jews that that had been their defining moment and they are therefore forever flawed and rejected.
What did they hope to gain by having them write this out themselves? Signing off on such a statement serves to seriously undermine the esteem of the Jewish Nation. The great goal of the Greek intrusion on Jewish life was not to kill but chill. Then they can easily loosen the Jew’s tenacious grip on Torah. They sought to erode our sense of noble purpose. They hoped to parve the Nation of HASHEM, to cool the Kedusha, reducing all to a foolish chorus of “tradition…tradition…” Unfortunately, to a large degree, they succeeded.
The style of that constant combatant is through hideous distortions, cartoons, and editorials to convince the world and us that we are ugly and unworthy of our mission, and that we are somehow misguided. Their biggest victory is achieved when we begin to believe and breathe their lies.
Hitler, may his name be erased, who wrote in Mein Kamf, “The receptivity of the masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence of this, all effective propaganda must be limited to a very few points and must harp on these slogans until the last member of the public understands what you want him to understand by your slogan…they more easily fall victim to a big lie, than to a little one, since they themselves lie in little things, but would be ashamed of lies that were too big…” The “wise men” of Greece were astute in the art of propaganda. On Chanukah, though, we strike back at those “big lies” with a quiet flame that reaffirms for us night after night our noble mission. -
Parashat Hashavuah
Shemot - ùîåú : “Names”
Torah : Exodus 1:1?6:1
Haftarah : Isaiah 27:6?28:13; 29:22?23
Gospel : Mark 1,2
Ordinary Life
Thought for the Week
When Moses saw the burning bush, he turned aside to investigate. Only then did the Holy One reveal Himself to Moses. Our problem is that we do not take the time to turn aside and investigate. We all intend to grow spiritually. We all imagine that one day, we will take time to study, take time to grown in Torah, to do a mitzvah (commandment), to pray regularly. But you can’t take good intentions to the grave. A famous rabbi once said, “Do not say to yourself, ‘When I have more time, I will study Torah. Perhaps you will not have more time.’” 1 Do not say, when I have more time, I will turn aside, you might not have more time.
Commentary
Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. (Exodus 3:1)
When Moses got up that morning and counted the sheep, he did not say to himself, “I think I’ll take the sheep out on the west side of the wilderness over by the Mountain of God.” Mount Horeb was simply Mount Horeb, an indistinct rock in the wilderness like so many other hills and mountains, completely ordinary looking. There was nothing special about it. Mount Horeb became Mount Sinai, the mountain of God, simply because God chose it, not because it was taller, mightier or holier than any of the surrounding hills and mountains. In the same way, Moses became Moses, the Man of God because God called him, encountered him and commissioned him, not because he was more pious, mightier, smarter or more eloquent than other men. God is in the ordinary, and encounters with God happen in ordinary places. But when God is encountered, the ordinary is immediately transformed into the extraordinary. The very ordinary Mount Horeb was transformed into the extraordinary, Mount Sinai because of God’s presence was there. The very ordinary Moses, a simple Hebrew exile from Egypt, a shepherd in the wilderness, was transformed into Moses the Man of God, the greatest prophet of all time because he encountered God. God transformed the ordinary man into something extraordinary.
Most of us, do not regard ourselves as extraordinary people. You probably think of yourself as a fairly ordinary person with a fairly mundane life. From GodÂ’s perspective, that is perfect. You are the perfect person with whom He can do extraordinary things. He is not looking for prophets; He is looking for normal people who are carrying on under normal circumstances.
Middot U'Mitzvot (Character and Deeds)
The Golden Handcuffs
When Jacob first went down to Egypt, he went only to sojourn there until the famine had passed. It was supposed to be temporary. But the temporary stay turned into what looked like permanent residence. They settled, and they prospered. They might have remained in Egypt, happy and well fed. Life in Egypt was good. Too good.
Happy, well-fed and prosperous, the children of Israel could have easily forgotten about their great spiritual heritage. Content with the comforts and luxuries of Egypt, they might have abandoned their aspirations of inheriting Canaan. Who would want Canaan when he already had Egypt?
The children of Israel found their situation in Egypt suddenly reversed when the Egyptian government forced the Hebrews into servitude. Success and prosperity can quickly turn into bondage. A person becomes accustomed to privileges and luxuries and begins to think of those things as necessities. Things that, at one time, he could not afford, and therefore did not worry about, become indispensable needs as he prospers. His own wealth and success become “golden handcuffs” from which he cannot escape. While we are in the service of materialism, our spiritual health inevitably suffers. Yeshua warned us saying, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matthew 6:24).
Whether it is the trappings of wealth or the pressures of socialization, we must beware of allowing ourselves to be spiritually enslaved. The children of Israel may have fallen victim to both. Real, physical enslavement followed quickly.
Endnotes
1. Rabbi Gamliel in m.Pirke Avot 2:4. -
Parashat Hashavuah
Bo - áåà : “Come”
Torah : Exodus 10:1?13:16
Haftarah : Jeremiah 46:13?28
Gospel : Mark 4?5
No Uncircumcised Person
Adapted from Torah Club Volume One
Unrolling the Scroll
Thought for the Week
The rituals of the Passover seder and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are designed to inspire curiosity. The children at the table, observing the unusual rites and foods, are supposed to be inspired to ask, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” The purpose of Passover is to transmit faith to the next generation.
Commentary
But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. (Exodus 12:4
The Torah clearly states that no uncircumcised person may eat of the Passover. What is more, it says that if a stranger (i.e., a Gentile) wants to celebrate the Passover, he has to be circumcised first. So how can a Gentile keep a Passover seder?
When we speak of Passover, we generally mean the entire Feast of Unleavened Bread. In the Torah, the term Passover (pesach, ôÃç) applies only to the sacrifice of the Passover lamb and its consumption. Exodus 12:48 prohibits an uncircumcised person from making a Passover sacrifice and eating a Passover lamb. The New American Standard version makes it sound like an uncircumcised person is prohibited from celebrating Passover in general, but the Hebrew makes it clear that such a person is only prohibited from sacrificing the lamb. This law applies to both Jews and Gentiles:
The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you. (Exodus 12:49)
An uncircumcised Jew and an uncircumcised Gentile are both forbidden from sacrificing or eating a Passover lamb. The Torah does not forbid them from keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread, though. The law leave them free to participate in the seder meal and keep the seven days of Unleavened Bread.
In the days of the apostles, the Gentile believers were free to remain uncircumcised, but if they wanted to make a Passover sacrifice, they would have been required to first undergo circumcision and conversion. For most Gentile believers, this was a non-issue. They lived far from Jerusalem. Neither they nor the Jewish community around them had access to the Temple or sacrifices. Therefore, they kept the Passover, the seder and the seven days of Unleavened Bread like the rest of Diaspora Judaism?without a lamb. The only thing prohibited for them was the sacrificial lamb itself. 1
This opinion may be derived from rabbinic sources as well. According to the Talmud in b.Pesachim 96a, an uncircumcised non-Jew is allowed to keep the seder and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Only regarding the actual lamb sacrifice is he banned.
In todayÂ’s world, the entire question is moot. Without a Temple, there can be no such thing as a real Passover lamb sacrifice. (That is why lamb is no longer supposed to be served at the Passover seder meal.)
This means that uncircumcised believers, whether they are Jewish or Gentile, are welcome at the seder table. They should partake of the matzah, the bitter herbs, the four cups and the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread with a glad heart. We can all share in and rejoice in our common Passover Lamb, Yeshua.
Middot U'Mitzvot (Character and Deeds)
Leaving the Old Culture Behind
The Apostle Paul says, “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:7?. The old starter-dough leaven represents our old way of life. It is sin, godlessness, bad company, bad habits and all the things that taint our lives. Like an old culture of leavened starter dough, those things continue to leaven our lives from day to day, conforming us to our past. Paul urges us to make a clean break with the old culture and to start over as a new batch, like unleavened bread.
When the children of Israel left Egypt, they were leaving behind their old culture. While in Egypt they had absorbed much of the wickedness and idolatry of Egyptian society. The unleavened bread symbolized a new beginning. They were starting over.
In a spiritual sense, we leave Egypt when Messiah saves us. ThatÂ’s what it means to be born again. It is a matter of starting over. When we become believers, we are supposed to die to our old way of life and begin life again as new creatures. We have to leave our old ways behind us.
Addiction counselors warn recovering addicts about falling back into old patterns. The recovering addict is at greatest risk when he spends time with old friends or revisits familiar hang-outs. To successfully overcome his addiction, it is important to break with the past, carve out new patterns of behavior and develop new, healthy habits. It is the same for all of us.
The leaven in our lives comes in a variety of disguises. It may be certain entertainments, amusements, vices, habits or social circles. Paul suggests that it may lie in the wicked and malicious attitudes of our hearts. Passover is an opportune time to break with our past and start over as new creatures in Messiah. Passover is an annual reminder that we must leave the old culture behind. Every Passover is a chance to start over. At Passover we remember that we have left our spiritual Egypt. We are free from the past, and we need to set aside those things in our lives that continue to enslave us. After all, starting over is what it means to be born again.
Endnotes
1. As is explained in Torah Club Volume Five, this opinion may be derived from rabbinic sources as well. According to the Talmud in b.Pesachim 96a, an uncircumcised non-Jew is allowed to keep the seder and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Only regarding the actual lamb sacrifice is he banned. -
Yitro - éúøå : “Jethro”
Torah : Exodus 18:1?20:23 (26)
Haftarah : Isaiah 6:1?7:6; 9:5?6
> Gospel : Mark 7?8
Remember the Sabbath
Adapted from Torah Club Volume One
Unrolling the Scroll
Thought for the Week
If the covenant ceremony at Mount Sinai can be compared to a wedding, then the Sabbath can be compared to a wonderful wedding gift. Wrapped up in blessing and holiness, it is a gift that continues to radiate the love of God every week.
Commentary
Remember the sabbath day. (Exodus 20:
The LORD commands Israel to remember the Sabbath. What does it mean to “remember” the Sabbath? Was there ever a danger of forgetting to keep the Sabbath? In Semitic culture, the word “remember” has clear covenant connotations. To remember means to act in faithfulness to the covenant. Similarly, God remembered Noah in the Ark, and He remembered Sarah when He was ready to open her womb. Therefore, God is telling Israel to show faithfulness to His covenant by keeping the Sabbath.
Rashi says that we should remember the Sabbath all week long by preparing for it. For example, he says that if a person comes across a nice article of food or drink during the week, he should set it aside for the Sabbath. This reminds me of a story from the days of the Master.
When the Master was not but a baby, there lived a sage by the name of Shammai. Whenever Shammai was in the market place, he always kept a lookout for exceptionally fine items that he might be able to purchase for the Sabbath. If he found a really good goat or chicken or vintage of wine, he would purchase it and say, “This is for the Shabbat.” If later on in the week he found one even nicer, he would purchase that one for the Sabbath and use the previous thing he had bought on a week day instead.
Sometimes I meet Christians who want to keep the Sabbath, but they are distressed because in their current circumstances they cannot. They wonder what they should do. For example, it is not uncommon for a married woman to want to keep the Sabbath when her husband does not. In such situations, I always remind people that God commands us to both remember the Sabbath and to observe the Sabbath. (Deuteronomy 5:12 says “observe” while Exodus 20:8 says “remember.”) If it is impossible to do both, it is better to do at least one of them.
If you find that you are unable to observe the Sabbath, you can at least remember it. At a minimum, this requires being conscious of the SabbathÂ’s presence. Remember it on Friday night when the sun goes down and the Sabbath begins. Remember it on Saturday morning when the sun rises on the day of rest and the Torah is being read in the synagogue. Remember it on Saturday night as the holy day comes to an end. By doing at least that much, a person can take at least a small share in the Sabbath. The path of Torah is never all or nothing, and something is always better than nothing.
Middot U'Mitzvot (Character and Deeds)
A Kingdom of Priests
The LORD promised to make the children of Israel into a “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6). The job of a priest is to serve as an intermediary between the gods and human beings. As the priests of the ancient world approached the gods in worship, they represented the people by bringing sacrifices and oblations on their behalf. As they interacted with the people, they represented the gods in whose service they were priests. God wants His people to act as intermediaries in a similar way. When we serve God, keeping His commandments and worshipping Him as is befitting, we represent humanity. When we interact with the rest of humanity, we represent God. People who do not know the LORD can look at believers and their behavior and learn about what God is like.
In this sense, all believers are part of the “kingdom of priests.” The Apostle Peter wrote to the Gentile believers and encouraged them to live godly lives because they were now part of the “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession” (1 Peter 2:9). He warned them against bodily lusts, and exhorted them to “Keep [their] behavior excellent among the Gentiles,” (1 Peter 2:12) so that they would observe their good deeds and glorify God.
Israel has the privilege of being God’s special people, but they also have the responsibility to “show-and-tell” to the rest of the world who God really is. They are to be a perpetual witness and testimony of the one true God. -
Yitro
"Jethro"
Exodus 18:1-20:23
Isaiah 6:1-7:6; 9:5-6
Mark 7-8
Shema
Much has been said about the Ten Commandments through the years. Many books and many sermons have been devoted to these words. Signs containing these words have been placed in yards, and they have been etched on government buildings. Politicians, pastors, businessmen . . . the list goes on and on have taken bits and pieces from Exodus 20 to use in sermons, speeches and even business slogans. Few people in America and Europe have not at some time in their lives heard the words given to the Hebrews on Mount Sinai.
If so many have heard the words, why is the world going down a greased slide? Because most have heard the words, but have not listened to them.
A Hebrew word that most of us are familiar with is the word shema. Most of our English translations render it as "hear," but hear is only a small part of the full meaning of this word. In the Hebrew language the word shema means to hear, to hear intelligently, and then to act on what you are hearing. In Hebrew thought, as opposed to Greek thought, you do not hear something unless you act on what you have heard. In Greek thought, you can hear something, then write a book on the subject, preach a rip-roaring sermon, take a test on it, and continue on your way unchanged and without acting. Conventional understanding is that you have heard and know the subject. This is totally opposed to the Hebrew way of thinking that we desire to walk in.
Hearing God speak without obeying is a human trait that goes back as far as Adam Himself. Adam and Eve heard what was right with their ears, but not with their hearts. The Hebrews in the wilderness were no different. In fact, people throughout the ages, and to this very moment, have for the most part continued in the example of Adam.
With such a multitude of people not hearing, those who have gone before us and those who live around us today, we should ask ourselves if we are really any different than they are. Are we hearing with our ears, and making statements with our mouths, but not doing? If so, scripture calls us hypocrites. If we truly examine our day-to-day lives in light of just the Ten Commandments, are we hearing or do we truly shema?
To answer the question let us allow Scripture to speak into our lives. Let us look first at the fourth commandment, the one about Shabbat. HaShem says through Moses that we are not to work on Shabbat. Do you? Now I realize that in our modern, western, Babylonian culture many are forced to work on Shabbat. If you are, have you prayed that God would release you into a job that would allow you to honor Shabbat? Or do you just figure that He understands? Do you cause someone else to work on Shabbat by going to the grocery or getting gas when you could have done so a different day? Maybe it is not convenient for you to shop on a different day, but since when was convenience the way we are called to live our lives?
How about the last commandment? In America this is a tough one. We are constantly bombarded with the American dream of more, more, and more. A friend or family member buys a new car, a new house, a new dress, a new tool, and immediately we have to run out to "keep up with the Joneses." This is nothing more than coveting to the point of we must have everything they have, so we get it.
We should each go very slowly commandment by commandment and ask very seriously for the Sprit of HaShem to search our hearts. Ask Him to reveal to us if we are simply hearing these words or if the word shema is truly the desire of our hearts.
The Hebrews for the most part did not shema. The people in the days of Isaiah did not shema. Most of the people who looked right into the eyes of Yeshua Himself did not shema. Scripture states though that in the Last Days there will be a remnant of people who are not satisfied to simply hear, but their desire would be to shema. Simply put, their hearing would be backed up with action. They would have faith that would be demonstrated by the actions of Torah obedience. Are we part of that remnant?
Consider that HaShem Himself did not just talk about the redemption of mankind, but He backed up His words with actions. So with all He has done for us, is He not deserving of our actions and not just our words? -
Mishpatim - משפטי×� : “Judgments”
Torah : Exodus 21:1?24:18
Haftarah : Jeremiah 34:8?22; 33:25?26
> Gospels : Mark 9Grace vs. Law
Adapted from Torah Club Volume One
Unrolling the ScrollThought for the Week
Things get backward if we start to believe that we must keep God’s Law in order to be saved. Instead, we should keep God’s Law because we are saved.
Commentary
This week’s Torah portion contains a lot of laws. Exodus 21?23 reads like an ancient legal code. Of the 613 commandments that the sages traditionally derive from the Torah, more than fifty of them are found in this week’s portion.
For some reason, many Christian teachers seem to view the laws of the Torah as if they are a bad thing. It is commonly taught that the law is the opposite of grace. You might hear someone say, “We are no longer under the law. We are under grace.” The implication is that since we have received the Messiah, we need not concern ourselves with the laws in the Old Testament. We can call this idea “Grace vs. Law.”
Let’s think about the Grace vs. Law idea. What do we mean when we say that we are not under the law? Does that mean we do not have to keep God’s rules? For example, does it mean that we can commit adultery and theft? Of course not. No one would say that. So what does it mean?
The Grace vs. Law concept is derived from the writings of Paul. In his epistles, it seems that Paul pits the two in opposition to each other. He often says things like “Before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law” (Galatians 3:23) and “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law” (Galatians 5:18). One might misunderstand these statements to mean that Christians do not need to keep God’s rules. Of course, that would be absurd. Paul realized that some people might misunderstand his teaching, so he cautioned us not to suppose that grace gives us free license to sin against God:
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (Romans 6:1?2)
Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law. (Romans 3:31)If Paul was not teaching believers that they did not have to keep God’s rules, what was he talking about? In Paul’s day, many of the Jewish believers taught that before Gentiles could be part of the kingdom of heaven, they needed to become Jewish. The idea that a Gentile must become Jewish before being saved is what Paul calls being “under the law.” Paul believed that Gentiles became sons of Abraham and part of the people of God through faith in Messiah. They did not need to earn that status by becoming legally Jewish. They did not need to first come “under the law” in order to enter the kingdom.
The Bible does not actually teach the idea of Grace vs. Law. Grace is God’s free gift of salvation for those who believe in His Son. Law is His loving instruction for how His people should live. Grace vs. Law is a false dichotomy. They are not opposed to each other. They are meant to work hand in hand.
Middot U'Mitzvot (Character and Deeds)
Honoring Father and Mother
The Torah deems striking or cursing one’s parents as such a grave sin that it is worthy of death (Exodus 21:15). This may seem shocking to us. There is no indication that the parent was killed or even badly hurt in the altercation with the child. The mere act of hitting one’s father or mother is enough impudence that God deems it as bad as murder. This shows us how God’s values are sometimes different from ours. Of course, we would never advocate striking one’s father or mother, but neither would we feel comfortable putting someone to death for doing so. Family counseling, yes. Anger management classes, sure. Death by stoning? Probably not.
God sees it differently. When He says, “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12), He means it.
Similarly, Exodus 21:17 says, “He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.” In God’s book, it is just as much of a sin to curse one’s parents or to strike them as it is to murder someone.
The extreme punishment for striking or cursing one’s parents teaches the importance that biblical religion places on the integrity and decency of the family. Rebellion, violence and insolence against one’s parents, whether physical or verbal, is as much a threat to the fabric of society as murder and kidnapping.
In today’s world, society teaches children, particularly teenagers, to disrespect their parents. It is normal to hear teenagers speak to their parents with impertinent and insolent words. It is embarrassing to be around a family where the children are out of order. Children who disrespectfully speak back to their parents are a public disgrace to their family. As a society, we have lost the biblical value of honoring father and mother. The apostle Paul warned that in the last days, a spirit of rebelliousness would be unleashed upon the world. He said that men will be “arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable” (2 Timothy 3:2?3). He advised us to “avoid such men as these” (2 Timothy 3:5).
Paul’s recommendation is good child-rearing advice. If you don’t want your child to grow up to be disrespectful and mouthy toward you, don’t have him socialize with other children who are disrespectful to their parents. It’s a serious matter. If you knew that your son’s peers were murderers and kidnappers, you would not allow him to be under their influence for even a moment. According to the Bible, children who scorn their parents are just as bad.
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Terumah : תרומה : - "Heave offering"
Torah : Exodus 25:1?27:19
Haftarah : 1 Kings 5:26?6:13
Gospel : Mark 10?11Inside the Ark
Adapted from Torah Club Volume One
Unrolling the ScrollThought for the Week
The ark of the covenant was at the heart of the Tabernacle. As such, it corresponds to the heart of man. Just as the ark was God's throne in the Tabernacle, we need to make our hearts a suitable throne for Him in our lives.
Commentary
You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you. (Exodus 25:16)
It is easy to look good on the outside, but how do we make our hearts pure and keep them pure? Is it even possible?
In Hebrew thought, the heart is the not regarded as the seat of the emotions. Instead it represents a person's thoughts, intellect and will. The Hebrew Bible uses the word heart the way we use the word mind in English.
The Torah says, "Every intent of the thoughts of [man's] heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5) and "The intent of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Genesis 8:21). The prophet Jeremiah says, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). If this is the state of the human mind, how can we ever hope to change? How can we have pure hearts? "Who can say, ‘I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin ‘?" (Proverbs 20:9) the Proverbs asks.
God promises that He will change our hearts from within. This is the promise of His new covenant. In Jeremiah 31:33, He said He would make a new covenant with His people Israel, and as a part of the new covenant, He would change their hearts by writing His Torah on them.
"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My Torah within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." (Jeremiah 31:33)
The concept of placing the Torah in our hearts is illustrated by the ark of the covenant. The ark was made to house the two tablets of the covenant. So too the Torah is to be placed in our hearts. The prophet Ezekiel promises that in the Messianic redemption God will give us new hearts:
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)
When we commit ourselves to be followers of Yeshua and recipients of His cleansing, the Spirit of God begins the process of recreating our hearts. We should pray toward this end with the words of King David, who said, "Create in me a clean heart, O God" (Psalm 51:10). Then we may declare along with him, "I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Torah is within my heart" (Psalm 40:8).
The Torah can be likened to a marriage contract (ketubah). In Jewish tradition, the ketubah is placed somewhere within the family home as a continual reminder of the marriage obligations. In the days of Moses, the Tabernacle stood in the center of the encampment of the tribes of Israel. The focal point of the Tabernacle was an inner chamber called the Holy of Holies, in which stood the ark of the covenant. The two tablets of the Ten Commandments were inside the ark. In that regard, the Torah, God's ketubah with Israel, was at the center of the home.
Middot U'Mitzvot (Character and Deeds)
Heart of the Disciple
You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it. (Exodus 25:11)
The ark was a wooden chest constructed of resinous acacia wood. The wood was overlaid with pure gold inside and outside. We can understand why the chest was coated with gold on the outside where it could be seen, but why waste precious gold by overlaying the inside of the chest? No one could see the inside of the ark.
The gold on the inside teaches us an important lesson about integrity. To be a suitable vessel for God's service, it is not sufficient for a person to merely look godly on the outside. Though the exterior appearance is important, the interior is equally important. The word hypocrite comes from the Greek word for "actor." A hypocrite is someone who acts like a righteous person but is not. Yeshua criticized many of the pharisees of His day and their disciples for hypocrisy.
One who looks righteous on the outside but is privately godless is a hypocrite. A person who dresses piously and pretends to behave holy while harboring wicked and impure things in his heart is a hypocrite.
The ark of the covenant was overlaid with pure gold on the outside and the inside to teach us that it is not sufficient to be righteous only in the eyes of men. "God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).
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Parashat Hashavuah
Ki Tisa ? ×›×™ תש×� : “When you take”
Torah : Exodus 30:11?34:35
Haftarah : 1 Kings 18:1?39
Gospel : Mark 13?14A Sign Between Us
Adapted from Torah Club Volume One
Unrolling the ScrollThought for the Week
The Tabernacle was to be a holy place, a sanctuary in space where Israel could meet God. In the same way the Sabbath is a sanctuary in time in which we can meet with God.
Commentary
So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. (Exodus 31:16)
Why are the laws of Sabbath repeated here in the Torah? The Sabbath laws have already been stated in Exodus 16 and Exodus 20. By repeating them here (and again in Exodus 35) in conjunction with the instructions about building the Tabernacle, the LORD shows us that there is a connection between the Sabbath and Tabernacle.
The Israelites might have assumed that, though regular melachah was forbidden on the Sabbath, it was all right to work on the Sabbath to build the Tabernacle. Since the work was holy work, it should be permissible on the Sabbath. The repetition of the Sabbath laws next to the instructions for the Tabernacle makes it clear that the Sabbath was not to broken even for that holy work.
The Sabbath was given as a sign of God’s covenant with Israel. It is a perpetual sign of the covenant relationship between the children of Israel and the LORD. The Tabernacle functioned in a similar manner. It too was a sign of Israel’s relationship with God.
The Jewish people are commanded to observe the Sabbath. “You shall surely observe My Sabbaths. ? The sons of Israel shall observe the Sabbath” (Exodus 31:13, 16). The Hebrew word translated as “observe” is shamar (שמר). The word shamar means “to guard, protect and keep.” God wants His people to guard and protect the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
This can be compared to a man who wanted to marry a girl. He gave her an expensive diamond engagement ring as a sign of his commitment to her. He told her, “This ring is a sign between you and me. It represents the covenant of our betrothal. Guard it well and keep it safe.”
The LORD told Israel, “This is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you” (Exodus 31:13). Just as the diamond engagement ring represented that the girl was set apart for her fiancé, the Sabbath represents that Israel is sanctified by God. As the nineteenth-century secular Zionist Asher Ginzberg once said, “More than the Jewish people have kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jewish people.” The Sabbath has been an anchor of Jewish identity throughout the generations.
Middot U'Mitzvot (Character and Deeds)
Spiritual Landslide
He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 32:4)
In the walk of faith there are lots of ups and downs. People sometimes refer to “mountaintop experiences” in their spiritual lives. A mountaintop experience is one in which you emotionally feel your connection with God. It might come as the result of a powerful teaching, an anointed worship service, a time of prayer and fasting, a new insight in Torah, a special weekend conference. The danger with mountaintops is that it is easy to slide down them.
The people of Israel had a mountaintop experience when they heard God speak to them from Mount Sinai. They were still spiritually energized by it when they made their covenant with Him in Exodus 24. But forty days later, they were feeling restless and disobedient. They had slid down the mountain.
Spiritual mood swings are dangerous. We find it all too easy to go from being spiritually high to plummeting into sin and disobedience when the buzz wears off?and it always wears off. Part of the solution is to quit looking for spiritual buzzes. The life of faith does have mountaintop experiences, but those experiences should not be our goal. A traveler who is always charging up mountaintops and then sliding down into valleys will not get very far. If he wants to achieve real progress, he needs to stay on the level ridge routes, avoiding the peaks and the dips. We need to work on the simple, day-to-day disciplines of faith.
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hmm? this thing make me sleepy
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Parashat Hashavuah
Vayakhel ? ויקהל : “And He assembled”
Torah : Exodus 35:1?38:20
Haftarah : 1 Kings 7:40?50
Gospel : Mark 15Torah with an Occupation
Adapted from Torah Club Volume One
Unrolling the ScrollThought for the Week
When the people of God join together with a common goal, we can do great things. The joint effort of the people of God working together to fulfill His commandments created a spiritual house worthy of God’s Dwelling Presence.
Commentary
And all the skillful men who were performing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work which he was performing. (Exodus 36:4)
The building of the Tabernacle required each person to contribute to the work from his own skill set. The tanners did the tanning, weavers did the weaving, carpenters did the carpentry, metal smiths did the smithing and so on. Each person had something to offer from his own unique vocational skills.
The Torah life is not just a life of religious rituals and scripture study. God encourages all of us to develop our own unique vocational skills so that we can each be self-sufficient and contribute to the common good of the community. Paul instructs each believer to lead a quiet life, attending to his vocation, working with his hands so that he may win the respect of those outside the community and not be dependent upon anyone.1 He teaches us to find some productive field of work so that we will have adequate resources to share with others who might be in need.2 These guidelines teach us that making a living is part of living out Torah. The early rabbis agreed with these sentiments. Consider the following rabbinic quotation from the Mishnah about the value of combining Torah study with an occupation:
The study of Torah is excellent when it is combined with a worldly occupation because the effort required by both keeps sin out of a person’s mind. But where there is no worldly occupation the study of Torah amounts to nothing and leads to sin. Let everyone who works in the community work for the sake of the Name of Heaven. (m.Avot 2:2)
According to this view, a person should always combine his pursuit of spirituality with the pursuit of an income. To concentrate solely on religious matters is out of balance and will eventually lead to ruin. Instead a person should regard his job a religious duty performed for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Paul illustrated this principle in his own life by supporting himself with his work in tent making.
The building of the Tabernacle illustrates the “tent making” concept well. The combined efforts of the people of God as they labored in all their respective fields resulted in the building of God’s house.
Middot U'Mitzvot (Character and Deeds)
The Good Heart
When Moses announced the plan to build the Tabernacle, he did not hire any fund-raising consultants. He did not need a high-pressure pledge drive. Moses asked only those with willing hearts to give to the work of the Tabernacle. The building of God’s holy house was not to be sullied with contributions that had been pried loose from people who were reluctant to donate to the work. “Everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him” (Exodus 35:21) contributed freely.
There were probably many among the children of Israel who did not contribute to the work. Some had a willing heart and others did not. Those who were unwilling to give excluded themselves from the privilege of having a share in building God’s house.
This story teaches us that there are two types of people, those with willing hearts and those with unwilling hearts.
Once a rabbi named Yochanon ben Zakkai (John the son of Zaccheus) asked his disciples, “What is the best kind of character that a person should try to be like?” The first of his disciples answered, “A man with a good eye.” By this he meant a generous person. The second disciple answered, “A man who is a good friend.” The third disciple said, “A man who is a good neighbor.” The fourth disciple said, “A man who looks ahead to consider the consequences of his actions.” The fifth disciple said, “A man who has a good heart.” Rabbi Yochanon replied, “I like the last answer the best because it includes all the other answers.” 3
Endnotes
1. 1 Thessalonians 4:11?12. 2. Ephesians 4:28. 3. m.Pirkei Avot 2:9.