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Prayer Request (for site updates, see below)
I was laid off from my full-time job several years ago when -- after a lot of prayer, soul searching and discussion with my wife -- we decided to operate the Hebrew for Christians ministry entirely by faith in God's provision through the love and kindness of His people. I am not paid for doing this work, and therefore I ask you to consider supporting us. If you can help, please offer a donation or purchase some of the Hebrew study materials offered here. Encouraging other web sites to link here also helps us become more visible on the web. Above all, agree with us for the Lord's will to be done in our lives. Todah, chaverim.
    
Note: My wife and I have have three young children (Josiah, Judah, and Emanuel David ). The LORD has graciously provided for us as Adonai Yireh (יְהוָה יִרְאֶה), "the One who sees [our need]." We are living one day at a time by the grace and mercy of God, and I want to publicly praise Yeshua and acknowledge His faithful love in caring for my family -- despite the trials during this time. The LORD God of Israel is faithful and true! And to those of you who have sent us a word of encouragement or donation during this difficult time, please accept our heartfelt appreciation! Your chesed truly helps sustain us.
יהי שׁם יהוה מברך - "May the Name of the Lord be blessed."
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I want to offer a word of thanks for all your kindness and encouragement over the years, chaverim... I honestly could not be in ministry apart from the grace and love you have shown to me and my family. Thank you so much and may the great and unsurpassable blessings of the LORD God of Israel be upon you always. - John
Jewish Holiday Calendar
Note: For site updates, please scroll past this entry....
In the summer there occurs a three week period of mourning that begins with the Fast of Tammuz and ends with Tishah B'Av. The last nine days of this three week period (i.e., from Av 1 until Av 9th) are days of increased mourning. However, after this somber time, the romantic holiday of Tu B'Av, the 15th of Av occurs. Summer ends with the 30 days of the month of Elul, a yearly season of teshuvah (repentance) that anticipates Rosh Hashanah and the fall holidays. The 30 days of Elul are combined with the first 10 days of the month of Tishri to create the "Forty Days of Teshuvah" that culminate with Yom Kippur.
Because they occur between the spring and fall holidays, the summer holidays help us prepare for the second coming of the Messiah:
The Summer Holidays:
Note that in accordance with tradition, holiday dates begin at sundown. Moreover, some holidays may be postponed one day if they happen to fall on the weekly Sabbath:
- Month of Tammuz (Fri. July 5th [eve] - Mon. Aug. 5th [day])
- Month of Av (Mon. Aug. 5th [eve] - Mon. Sept. 2nd [day])
- Month of Elul (Mon. Sept. 2nd [eve] - Wed. Oct. 2nd [day])
- Month of Tishri (Wed. Oct. 2nd [eve] - Thur. Oct. 31st [day])
Note: For more about the dates of these holidays see the Calendar pages....
September 2024 Site Updates
Note: If any page content appears to be missing, please refresh the page...
Teshuvah and Healing...
[ Left to our own devices, we can't deal with the evil influences of this fallen world nor handle the raging impulses and fears of our own sinful nature. Confess your need for God to fight for you, to shine his light in your darkness. Yeshua has conquered sin and death on the cross and now intercedes for you; therefore call upon his name for life - even if you want to scream out and cry! The LORD has promised to never leave nor forsake those who honestly seek him... ]
09.17.24 (Elul 14, 5784) "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:31-32). Every one of us has a "dark side" or a "shadow self" that has destructive and selfish urges. We try to conceal this truth from others (and even ourselves) but such denial doesn't change the reality within our hearts (Matt. 5:19; Jer. 17:9; Eccl. 9:3). Indeed, when we pretend to be something we are not we are more likely to be overwhelmed by dark forces hidden within us. Paradoxically we most vulnerable when we think we are well, that is, when we deny our sickness our heart and minimize our need for deliverance.
The way of healing is to "own" or confess the truth of our inner condition and to acknowledge the dark passions that sometimes overmaster our best intentions. We must give ourselves permission to allow the hurt, angry, and fearful voices to be heard and sanctioned within us - and then to bring these dark and hidden aspects of our selves before God for healing. The failure to do so will split the soul and cause the hidden aspects of the self to seek "revenge" upon the "parent self" that censors their message. The struggle within our hearts is real and we should attend to it seriously. Denying evil by pretending that we are okay, or by blaming others, blinds us to the truth of our ongoing need for deliverance. May God help each of us to be honest with ourselves and to confess our great need before our Heavenly Father.
Why do we have such difficulty being genuinely honest with ourselves? Despite the fact that we may profess that we are "sinners saved by grace," we often make excuses for our failures, rationalizing that we are not "that bad," and therefore we postpone genuine teshuvah (repentance) and trifle with our spiritual lives. We do this because we feel an almost irresistible desire or "need" to justify ourselves, to "save face" by pretending that we are not "incurably sick," or by attempting to find something about us that makes feel valuable and worthy. As H.L. Mencken once wittingly noted, "the 'truth' that survives is simply the lie that is pleasantest to believe."
The LORD wants us to be truthful in the "inward being" (Psalm 51:6), though that truth will cost us something, namely whatever worldly gains we might find through self-deception... Opening our hearts to divine examination eventually means colliding with the world of men and their conspiracies, since the godly man no longer abides their presence (Psalm 1:1-2). The Apostle Paul said there was an exclusive disjunction between seeking the approval of men and of the approval of God: "Do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of the Messiah (Gal. 1:10). Likewise we are told not to deceive ourselves (lit., "reason around" the truth, from παραλογίζομαι, from παρά, "around, beside" and λογίζομαι, "to reason") by merely hearing the truth of Scripture and not living it (James 1:22). God is not interested in "lip service" any more than he desires heartless sacrifice (Isa. 29:13; Hos. 6:6; Matt. 15:9). "Let your love be genuine (ἀνυπόκριτος, without a "mask" put on), abhor what is evil; cling to what is good (Rom. 12:9). God abhors those who pretend to know Him but who are really spiritual impostors (Matt. 7:21-23; 25:11-12; Luke 6:46).
Tragically (and paradoxically) many people can talk themselves into believing something without really believing it, and that is perhaps the most dangerous thing of all (Matt. 7:22-23). On the other hand, some people can talk themselves into believing (or accepting) something that they know is untrue (or morally wrong), and that self-deception leads to inner fragmentation, chaos, and dissolution of character. A "double-minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8). As I have said before, the word translated "double-minded" is dipsuchos (δίψυχος), a word formed from δίς, "twice" and ψυχή, "soul." The word describes the spiritual condition of having "two souls" that both want different things at once -- a state of inner contradiction and ambivalence.
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 51:6 reading (click):
Thank the LORD our God that there is real healing for our inner dividedness, ambivalence, and double-mindedness, but that healing demands rigorous honesty. As Kierkegaard rightly observed: "No person is saved except by grace; but there is one sin that makes grace impossible, and that is dishonesty; and there is one thing God must forever and unconditionally require, and that is honesty." Therefore we are instructed to confess our faults one to another, and pray for one another, that we may be healed (James 5:16). May the LORD our God help each of us to be wholehearted in our devotion to Him.
Finally, friend, a closing thought. Let us not despair by thinking that we will never change. We must simply "enter into" the presence of God in Yeshua. That is what "self-denial" really means: Turn to God and know his heart. When we do, we receive a heart to know him in return... Let us "believe to see" the goodness of the LORD in your midst. Amen.
The High Cost for Apathy...
[ One of the great sins of our age is "acedia" (ἀκηδία) sometimes translated as "sloth," but is better regarded as a lack of care... It is a state of being numb, unfeeling, and emotionally disconnected from life. It's a type of heartlessness. Unawareness. Willful ignorance. Kierkegaard would describe it as a form of despair that refuses to surrender to God, an attitude that refuses to accept responsibility. ]
09.17.24 (Elul 14, 5784) From our Torah for this week (i.e., Ki Tavo) we read: "Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this Torah to do them" (Deut. 27:26). This is because 1) God is God; 2) ultimate reality is non-negotiable, and 3) we are eternally accountable for all that we do (Matt. 12:36; Heb. 4:13). "Each person's deeds will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of deeds each one has done" (1 Cor. 3:13). There is a Scroll that attests the reality of all truth, and the life of every soul created by God is recorded therein (Rev. 20:12).
We are forbidden to add or subtract from Torah, since that is to refashion God's message into one of our own understanding (Deut. 4:2). Reading the tochachah or "rebuke" in our portion (i.e., Deut. 28:15-68) is difficult and painful, though it serves as a bitter medicine to wake us up from our lethal coma. In that sense the tochechah is a great blessing, since it shocks us into experiencing the "gravity of God's grace." This is why Yeshua proclaimed grave warnings about the dangers of forfeiting life and thereby "receiving" hell... Sin is a lethal problem, and we must turn to God for healing or we will die.
The Lord does not allow us to trifle with the truth, neither will he offer us a good that excludes Divine Reality since there simply is no such thing. God does not give us the option of affecting existential indifference toward Him, since apathy is as much a spiritual decision as is outright rebellion and apostasy. "If anyone thinks he has faith yet is indifferent toward this possession, is neither hot nor cold, he can be certain that he does not have faith. If anyone thinks he is a Christian and yet is indifferent toward being that, then he is not really one at all. Indeed what would we think of a person who gave assurances that he was in love and also that it was a matter of indifference to him?" (Kierkegaard). As King David inscribed upon his heart: "Guard me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you" (Psalm 16:1-2).
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 16:2 reading (click):
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The Time of Visitation...
[ The holiday of Rosh Hashanah (Yom Teruah) begins in a couple weeks... ]
09.16.24 (Elul 13, 5784) We must ready our hearts for the time of the Lord's coming, for the hour draws nearer... Yeshua lamented over Israel: "You did not recognize the time of your visitation..." (Luke 19:44). But how was it possible for otherwise devoutly religious people to miss the advent of the Messiah were it not because they disregarded the signals meant to awaken them? "So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates" (Matt. 24:33). That's part of the meaning of teshuvah as well: Repent and believe the message of life (see Heb. 3:7-4:11). Esau "repented" with tears, but his wasn't true repentance since he did not turn his heart to embrace the truth of God's love...
True repentance always leads to healing and life. When the woman from Magdala wept and washed Yeshua's feet with her tears, he said to those present, "I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven -- for she loved much" (Luke 7:44-48). In other words, she was lavish in her love because she deeply regretted that she had missed what was most important, what she desperately needed all along... She realized her sin as blindness to God's love. After all, why would she weep over her sins unless she loved him? And how could she love him unless he first revealed his love to her? (1 John 4:19).
Friends, the Kingdom of God is at hand: wake up and be ready for the advent of the King! The sound of the shofar reminds us that the great Day of the LORD is drawing near and soon we will see our King Yeshua. Amen, Come Lord Yeshua!
Hebrew Lesson
Proverbs 1:23 Hebrew Reading:
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Finding Life in God...
[ "God abides for ever in an eternal present, His knowledge, also transcending all movement of time, dwells in the simplicity of its own changeless present." - Boethius ]
09.16.24 (Elul 13, 5784) The name of the Lord is YHVH (יהוה), which comes from a root word meaning existence (i.e., hayah: היה, to be). It is this name that gives existence to creation, as it says, "in him all things hold together" (τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν; Col. 1:17) and by his power "all things are carried" (φέρων τε τὰ πάντα; Heb. 1:3).
In God we "live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28) and "from him and through him and to him are all things" (Rom. 11:36). Some people think of "eternal life" as unending life or immortality of the soul, but eternal life (i.e., chayei olam: חַיֵּי עוֹלָם) transcends the idea of time and is centered in relation to the Living God, right now, wherever we are... Therefore Yeshua says to his followers, "Live in me and I will live in you" (John 15:4). We need not fear death, then, because we partake in the overcoming life of God given in Yeshua: there is no ultimate separation from his love. We have the "now" covenant with our Lord forever!
When we live in Messiah our true life is "concealed" and we pass over from the temporal world of shadows to the world of reality, from fear to comfort, from darkness to light. We "lose our life in order to find it" (Luke 17:33). The walk of faith surrenders all that this life may promise for the sake of finding true life in God.
Hebrew Lesson:
Psalm 139:5 Hebrew reading (click):
Holy Introspection....
[ Doing teshuvah requires courage and honesty, but a fearful life is not worth living.... ]
09.16.24 (Elul 13, 5784) We are all on a spiritual journey, writing the "Book of our Life." To help us in the "writing" process, the Jewish sages decided that the entire month of Elul should be set aside as a season for cheshbon hanefesh (חֶשְׁבּוֹן הַנֶּפֶשׁ) - "making an account of the soul." This means that we attempt to engage in honest self-examination about our behavior and ask where we have been and where we are going. After all, what is the essence of teshuvah (i.e., "repentance") if it is not honesty with yourself? "For everyone who does wicked things (lit., ὁ φαῦλα, that which is "easy," "worthless," or "vain") hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed" (John 3:20). Therefore we make some time to reflect about our lives from the previous year. We ask searching questions like, "How did I get to this place in my life?" "Where am I now?" "Am I where I should be?"
We engage in this process of self-examination with an aim to grow -- to let go of the pain and mistakes of the past in order to move forward. Confession (i.e., homologia: ὁμολογία) means bringing yourself naked before the Divine Light to agree with the truth about who you are. Indeed, the related verb word "homologeo" (ὁμολογέω) literally means "saying the same thing" - from ὁμός (same) and λόγος (word). We need to confess the truth if we are to be healed from the pain of the past (James 5:16). When King David wrote, יְהוָה אוֹרִי וְיִשְׁעִי מִמִּי אִירָ֑א - "The LORD is my Light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? (Psalm 27:1), he implied that he should even be free of fear of himself and of his past.
Of course we need God's help to do any of this, since it is easy enough to deceive ourselves, to deny the truth, in an attempt to protect our ego from shame. However being honest with ourselves is absolutely essential for any sort of authentic spiritual life... "No person is saved except by grace; but there is one sin that makes grace impossible, and that is dishonesty; and there is one thing God must forever and unconditionally require, and that is honesty" (Kierkegaard). Confession means "saying the same thing" about ourselves that God says - and that means not only acknowledging our various sins, transgressions, and iniquities, but also affirming our new identity as the beloved children of God. Saying that God doesn't love you is a lie as damning as denying His very existence...
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 139:23-24 reading (click):
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This Week's Torah:
Parashat Ki Tavo - כי־תבוא
09.15.24 (Elul 12, 5784) Shalom friends! Our Torah for this week (i.e., Ki Tavo) includes instructions for the people to ratify the Sinai covenant in the promised land by means of a special ceremony performed in the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerazim (later fulfilled by Israel, see Josh. 8:30-35). During this ceremony the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience would be declared, and Moses warned the people by providing a seemingly endless description of terrible consequences that would befall the Jewish people if they disobeyed the terms of the Sinai covenant (Deut. 28:15-68). In Jewish tradition this litany of woe is called the "tochachah" (תּוֹכָחָה), a word that means "rebuke" or "reprimand."
Reading the tochachah is difficult and painful, though it serves as a bitter medicine to wake us up and prevent us from falling into a lethal coma. In that sense the tochechah may be regarded as a great blessing, since it shocks us into experiencing the gravity of God's grace. This is similar to Yeshua's grave warnings about the dangers of hell. If we refuse to listen or rush past his words, we are missing the substance of God's lament given through the Hebrew prophets. Sin is a lethal problem, and we must turn to God for healing or we will die. As Blaise Pascal once wrote, "Between heaven and hell is only this life, which is the most fragile thing in the world." Therefore shuvah! -- turn to God and receive the blessing of life!
Hebrew Lesson
Deuteronomy 26:1 reading (click):
This Week's podcast:
Parashat Ki Tavo..
09.15.24 (Elul 12, 5784) Shavuah tov, chaverim. In this week's "Shavuah Tov" audio podcast (see the links below) I discuss the the 40 day "Season of Teshuvah" leading up to the Jewish High Holidays as well as some of the central themes from Torah portion Ki Tavo, which includes instructions for the people to ratify the Sinai covenant in the promised land by means of a special ceremony performed in the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerazim. During this ceremony blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience would be declared, and Moses warned the people by providing a seemingly endless description of terrible consequences that would befall the Jewish people if they disobeyed the terms of the Sinai covenant (Deut. 28:15-68). I hope you will find it encouraging.
The Man Hanged on a Tree...
[ Ki Teitzei is always read during the Season of Teshuvah. It is my hope that this article will encourage you to "return to the LORD and listen to His Voice" (Deut. 30:2). ]
09.13.24 (Elul 10, 5784) Our Torah portion for this week (i.e., Ki Teitzei) includes the statement that a man who was to be executed and "hanged on a tree" (עַל־עֵץ) was under the curse of God, that is, was utterly condemned under the verdict of the law (Deut. 21:22-23). According to the Talmud (Nezakim: Sanhedrin 6:4:3), the Great Sanhedrin decided that "a man must be hanged with his face towards the spectators" upon a wooden stake, with his arms slung over a horizontal beam. It should be noted that while this is technically not the same thing as the gruesome practice of Roman crucifixion, the reasoning based on this verse was apparently used to justify the execution of Yeshua (Mark 15:9-15; John 19:5-7; 15). The exposed body was required to be buried before sundown to keep the land from being defiled. Besides the shame of this manner of death, the one so executed would be unable to fall to their knees as a final act of repentance before God, thereby implying that they were under the irrevocable curse of God (קִלְלַת אֱלהִים).
In this connection, we should note that Yeshua was falsely charged with blasphemy before the corrupt Sanhedrin of His day (Matt. 26:65; Mark 14:64; John 10:33) - an offence that was punishable by stoning (Lev. 24:11-16). However, since the Imperial Roman government then exercised legal hegemony over the region of Palestine, all capital cases were required to be submitted to the Roman proconsul for adjudication, and therefore we understand why the Jewish court remanded Yeshua and brought him to be interrogated by Pontius Pilate. Because Roman law was indifferent to cases concerning Jewish religious practices (i.e., charges of blasphemy), however, the priests further slandered Yeshua by illegitimately switching the original charge of blasphemy to that of sedition against Rome. The Sanhedrin undoubtedly rationalized their duplicity because the Torah allowed for an offender to impaled or "hung on a tree" (Num. 25:4), and since they were unable to do carry out this judgment because of Roman rule in the area, they needed Pilate to condemn him to death by crucifixion (Matt. 27:31; Mark 15:13-4; Luke 23:21; John 19:6,15). Note that crucifixion is mentioned elsewhere in the Talmud (Nashim: Yevamot 120b) regarding whether a widow can remarry if her husband had been crucified, as well as by the Jewish historian Josephus. The Talmud furthermore alludes to the death of Yeshua where Yeshua is said to have been crucified on "eve of Passover" (Nezekin: Sanhedrin 43a).
Some say that the word "cross" in the New Testament should be translated as "stake" or "tree" instead, claiming that the shape of the instrument that Yeshua was crucified upon was not cross-shaped or "cruciform." Now while the Greek word translated "cross" (i.e., σταυρός) is not fully described in the New Testament, according to ancient historians there were different "shapes" of the means used for crucifixion, including the crux simplex (|), the crux immissa (+), the crux commissa (T), and even stakes shaped as an X or Y. The "T" shape (commissa) was described by the historian Josephus, and is likely the form used to crucify Yeshua, since the early Christians all referred to it that way. There are also ancient Greek (pre-Christian era) descriptions of crucifixion. For example Herodotus (450 BCE) wrote: "they crucified him hands and feet stretched out and nailed to cross-pieces," which suggests that the cross immissa or commisa shape was used in ancient times... Incidentally the gruesome practice of crucifixion goes back to the ancient Persians and Phoenicians.
So it is likely that Yeshua was crucified on a stake made of a cedar tree that was formed by attaching a crossbeam to a pole that was inserted into the ground. It is also likely that he carried only the crossbeam, or gibbet, as he walked to Golgotha to be hung up to die, since the stake would likely have weighed 300 pounds or so, and after brutal flogging under Roman whips it is unlikely that even the strongest of men could carry one... Moreover, the description of a Roman soldier putting a sponge on a hyssop stalk to give Yeshua a drink suggests that he was crucified on "short cross," since the stalk was usually less than two feet long. Regardless of the exact shape of the cross, however, death by crucifixion was horrifyingly shameful and unutterably painful.... but Yeshua went there for you.
וְהוּא מְחלָל מִפְּשָׁעֵנוּ מְדֻכָּא מֵעֲוֹנתֵינוּ
מוּסַר שְׁלוֹמֵנוּ עָלָיו וּבַחֲבֻרָתוֹ נִרְפָּא־לָנוּ
ve·hoo mei·choh·lal mee-pe'·shah·ei'·noo mei·doo·ka me·a·voh·noh·tey'·noo
moo·sahr she·loh·mei'·noo ah·lav oo·va·cha·voo·ra·toh neer·pah- lah'·noo
"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities,
the correction of our peace was upon him, and by his wound we are healed"
(Isa. 53:5)
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The Torah clearly teaches there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood (Lev. 17:11, Heb. 9:22). The sacrificial death of Yeshua as the great "Lamb of God" was intended not only to cleanse us from sin (and to absolve us from the verdict of guilt as required by the law), but was also intended to fully satisfy both God's justice and and compassion (see Rom. 3:22-25; Psalm 85:10). In other words the cross is the place (ha'makom) where Yeshua "became sin for us" - the One who knew no sin - that we might be made the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). As the apostle Paul wrote: "The Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us -- for it is written, 'A Man hanged on a tree is cursed...' (Gal. 6:13, quoting Deut. 21:22-23). The Son of Man was "lifted up" to save from death as the brazen serpent (נְחַשׁ נְחֹשֶׁת) in the desert prefigured (Num. 21:9; John 3:14-15). And just before Yeshua died upon the cross, he said something of tremendous significance. Eyewitnesses to his crucifixion wrote, "When he had received the drink (of vinegar) Yeshua said, 'It is finished.' With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit" (John 19:30; Matt. 27:50). In Koine Greek, this final statement is recorded as a single word: tetelestai (Τετέλεσται), a cheer of victory and triumph. In Hebrew, Yeshua might have uttered, "nishlam" (נִשְׁלָם) or perhaps more likely "gemar tov" (גְמָר טוּב), testifying to his fully accomplished atonement (כַּפָּרָה) made on our behalf....
In Greek, the word tetelestai (Τετέλεσται) is an "indicative perfect passive" form of the verb teleo (τελέω) which implies that something has been completed with an enduring effect or state. The verb comes from telos (τέλος), a noun meaning a goal or purpose. Telos is the word Paul used when he wrote: "For Messiah is the end of the law (τέλος νόμου) for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Rom 10:4).
Tetelestai was the cry of victory to the Father. "I have finished the work you gave me to do." What was that work? To establish the new covenant (brit chadashah) between God and man by offering up His life as the atoning sacrifice for humanity's sins (Heb. 1:3, 10:12). The priesthood of Yeshua is said to be after the "order of Malki-Tzedek," based on a direct oath from God, that predates the operation of the Levitical priesthood (for more information about the role of Yeshua as our High Priest, see the article "Yom Kippur and the Gospel"). Yeshua was the only Tzaddik who ever completely walked out the truth of Torah. He expressed its inner meaning perfectly and embodied its truth in full. The Akedah of Yeshua (i.e., His crucifixion at Moriah) was the altar where the justice and chesed (love) of the Father fully met. If God were not just, Yeshua did not need to die; and if God were not loving, He would not have given up His Son as a ransom for our sin. Justice and mercy kiss.
The Torah (i.e., law) is holy, just and good (Rom. 7:12), but those seeking righteousness based on it's demands will discover the tragic fact that it is powerless to impart righteousness and life (2 Cor. 3:7-18). It is sin within the human heart that condemns people - not the law! The crucifixion of Yeshua condemned sin in the flesh (again, not the law) and now the righteousness of God is imparted to those who embrace Yeshua by faith (Rom. 8:3-4). Enabled by the Holy Spirit, with the law now written upon our hearts (Jer. 31:31-3; Heb. 8:10-11), we are empowered to fulfill the requirements of the law based on a new covenant relationship with God (Gal. 2:16, 3:2). We no longer seek righteousness by means of maintaining ritualistic or other ordinances (Rom. 4:5, Gal. 2:16) but by receiving the free gift of Messiah's righteousness imputed to us through our trust (Eph. 2:8-9). Because of Yeshua's victory, we do not strive for acceptance before the Father, we abide within it, chaverim (John 15:4).
Imagine for a moment what it might have been like to hear Yeshua cry out, "It is finished!" His final breath, His kiddush Hashem, His spirit given up and now released before the Father - the resonance of this word filling all heaven and all earth - "It is finished! Father! It is finished! I have completed the work that you have given me to do!" Imagine the joy, the celebration, the glory, the honor given to the Son as He appeared before the Father after securing us so great a salvation.
Because Yeshua became our "serpent" upon the cross, all those who have been bitten by snake and poisoned by the venom of sin may be delivered. Just as the image made in the likeness of the destroying snake was lifted up for Israel's healing, so the One made in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom. 8:3) was to be lifted up as the Healer of the world. Likewise with the other pictures of our Savior as the "leper Messiah," as the "red heifer" who purifies from death, as the "scapegoat" sacrifice who sends our sins into exile, and so on. Yeshua is Adonai Tzidkenu - the LORD our Righteousness. Blessed be His Name forever and ever...
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Shavuah Tov Podcast:
The Offense of the Cross...
09.13.24 (Elul 10, 5784) Yeshua repeatedly took the role of a "stumbling block" to test people's response to his ministry. Most people were offended at Him, of course, and in the end Yeshua was crucified for the sake of their offenses. After His death, the cross itself became the scandal of faith. The Apostle Paul referred to the "offense of the cross" which he did not want removed. But what is the "offense of the cross" and why is the proclamation of the crucified Messiah a scandal (σκάνδαλον) to Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles?
The Friend of Sinners...
[ "God be praised that it is not because of my worthiness that God loves me. Otherwise, I might at any moment die of fear lest the next moment I cease to be worthy." - Kierkegaard ]
09.13.24 (Elul 10, 5784) "The Son of Man came ... and they say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'" (Matt. 11:19). People -- and especially the religious people -- were scandalized by Yeshua because he was a "friend of tax collectors and sinners!" Yet what sickness of heart is this, to despise those who are sick? It is a sorrow of heart to realize that religion often creates an "in-group" mentality that attains its status at the expense of the "outsider," the "stranger," the "sinner," and so on... The prayer of the self-righteous is always: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers – or even like this tax collector" (Luke 18:11).
The religious leaders of Yeshua's day were offended because he "welcomed sinners" and enjoyed eating meals with them (Luke 15:2). We can almost hear their disapproving whispers and their dismissive accusations: "How could a good Jew behave like this? Does he not understand the call to personal holiness? Does he not know the Torah of "clean" and "unclean"? If a man is known by the company he keeps, we know enough about Yeshua to know that he's not truly pious..." And to this very day the self-righteous find offensive the idea that God welcomes the sinful, the needy, the broken, the despised, and the "outsider" into His presence... As Yeshua said, "those who are well have no need of a physician," and indeed offering them God's cure will always be regarded as a kind of poison...
We greatly rejoice that God indeed is the friend of sinners; He is the Good Shepherd who seeks and saves the lost. Thank the Lord that he comes not for the "righteous" but for those who are brokenhearted, for those mortally wounded by their own sin... Any so-called theology or religion that repudiates or minimizes God's love for the sinful, the needy, the broken, is little more than a shrine to human pride and vanity... On the contrary: the heart of the Compassionate One always welcomes a sinner who sincerely turns to Him.
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 23:3 reading (click):
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Anxious for Nothing...
09.13.24 (Elul 10, 5784) If you are anxious over the latest rumor (or outrage) of the day, remind yourself that there is far more to life than what's going on in this world... "Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name" (Isa. 40:26). The invisible things of Him are "clearly seen" by the eye of faith (Rom. 1:20; Psalm 19:1). Therefore let us refuse to agree with this world's way of seeing and its darkened visions; let us abandon the godless news of this age; and let us take every thought captive to the truth of Messiah. As it says in our Scriptures: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom. 12:2).
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 146:8 Hebrew reading (click):
Fighting the Evil Eye...
[ "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me." - Micah 7:8 ]
09.12.24 (Elul 9, 5784) Our Torah portion this week (Ki Teitzei) commands us to remember what the Amalekites did to the Jewish people after they left Egypt during the time of the Exodus (Deut. 25:17). Recall that the Israelites had reached Rephidim after crossing the sea when the nation of Amalek sneaked up and attacked them. Spiritually speaking, Amalek picked up where the Pharaoh had left off, since their evil intent was to enslave the people and to prevent them from reaching the promised land. In the account given in the book of Exodus, after Israel successfully fended off the assault, God paradoxically commanded them to "blot out the remembrance" of Amalek yet also foretold the need to fight Amalek "from generation to generation" (Exod. 17:14-16). But how are we to understand the commandment to "blot out the remembrance" of something from generation to generation? If we obey the commandment not to remember, why are we to remember?
Perhaps the solution to this riddle may be found in the name "Amalek" (עֲמָלֵק), which begins with the letter Ayin (symbolizing the eye) and equals 240 in gematria -- the same value for safek (סָפֵק), the Hebrew word for doubt. Amalek therefore would symbolize "the eye of doubt," or even "the severed eye" (the Hebrew verb מָלָק means "to chop" or "sever" in reference to the "eye" of Ayin). The "power" of Amalek therefore represents skepticism and spiritual blindness as it acts itself out in the world.
On a "deeper" level, some of the sages have said that Amalek represents doubt within our own hearts. When we read "Remember what Amalek did to you on the way out of Egypt," we can read "Remember what doubt did you," or how doubt fell upon you and attacked your faith. After all, did not some of the Israelites lapse in their faith in the desert? Did they not question God at Massah murmurring "is the LORD with us or not?" (Exod. 17:7).
In Jewish tradition, Amalek represents pure evil, or those who have "given themselves over" to Sitra Achra, the dark side of impurity, and therefore the LORD vowed perpetual warfare against Amalek: "The Hand is on God's throne. God shall be at war with Amalek for all generations" (Exod. 17:16). Concerning this verse the great commentator Rashi noted that the term "God's throne" is written incompletely in Hebrew as kes Yah (כֵּס יָהּ), rather than as kisei Adonai (כִּסֵּא יְהוָה), which suggests that God's rule will be incomplete until the powers of darkness are totally wiped off the face of the earth (by the hand of Yeshua our LORD; see Rev. 19-20). Amalek embodies the principle of lo yareh HaShem, the lack of the fear of God, and therefore represents the power of darkness and evil in the world. The Torah states that we must "go out and fight" Amalek, which is a call to ongoing spiritual warfare in our lives (Deut. 25:17-19). We can't sit by and passively accept evil; nor can we ignore it or pretend that it doesn't exist. We must call evil by its name and exercise spiritual authority over it (Eph. 5:11; Luke 10:19). The weapons of our warfare have divine power to destroy enemy strongholds (2 Cor. 10:4). We are protected by the armor of God and "weapons of light" (Rom. 13:12; Eph. 6:11-18).
The battle with Amalek came after the incident at Marah, where the bitter waters were turned sweet by means of the "healing tree" that was felled (Exod. 15:25), a picture of the cross of the Messiah who gives us living water (mayim chayim) and who saves us from the power of evil and death. When we are cleansed and sanctified by the sacrificial blood, we will overcome evil by the power of God's grace and goodness, though this requires earnest faith on our part. When Moses raised his hands in battle against the Amalekites, the Israelites prevailed, but if he lowered them, they suffered defeat (Exod. 17:11). Eventually Moses grew weary and he needed Aaron and Hur to help him hold his arms steady to ensure victory (Exod. 17:12). Note that the Hebrew word translated "steady" is emunah (אֱמוּנָה), the word for faith... It was Moses' steady faith in God's power that gave Israel the victory over the powers of darkness, just as we lift up our faith in God's power demonstrated at the cross gives us the victory over Satan and his schemes.
Hebrew Lesson
Deut. 25:17 Hebrew reading (click):
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Restoring what is lost...
09.12.24 (Elul 9, 5784) In our Torah portion this week (Ki Teitzei) we read: "Do not ignore the loss of your brother... you shall restore it to him" (Deut. 22:1-3). This indicates that we have a moral duty to return lost items to others, and on a spiritual level that includes restoring honor and dignity to those who have lost sight of their value in the eyes of God... For even greater reason we must make restitution to those whom we have harmed.
Making amends is part of the teshuvah process. We hurt ourselves when we hurt others, and we hurt others when we hurt ourselves. The way out of that circle is through making amends. As Yeshua taught: "If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Matt. 5:22-23). "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person works great power" (James 5:16). Ultimately, confession of the truth is not optional for anyone.
Indeed, regarding the duty to restore what is lost to our brother mentioned above, the Torah adds, "and you are not to ignore it," which literally reads, "you are unable to hide it" (לא תוּכַל לְהִתְעַלֵּם). Abraham Twerski noted that the Torah is not giving us a command as much as stating a fact: You are unable to hide from a wrongful act. In other words, the problem with "getting away with it" is that you get away with it, that is, you take it with you. Such self-deception sears your conscience, makes you numb inside, and deadens the heart. Making amends to others is life-giving, helping you let go of what you've done wrong to restore inner peace. We must be vigilant not to let our hearts die because of either shame or rationalization. May the LORD help us walk in the Spirit of Truth.
Hebrew Lesson
Lev. 19:18a Hebrew reading (click):
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Blessed Inner Poverty...
09.12.24 (Elul 9, 5784) The word ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) in Hebrew can mean "the happy ones," from the adjective osher (אוֹשֶׁר), "happy," and the root word ashar (אָשַׁר) meaning to "go straight" or to walk uprightly (i.e., yashar: יָשָׁר). Ashrei can also mean "enriched," or favored. Enriched is the man (אַשְׁרֵי־הָאִישׁ) who ... delights in the Torah..." (Psalm 1:1-2). The sages note that ashar is formed from aleph (א), representing the One true God, and sar (שַׂר), meaning ruler, which suggests that when the LORD is the Ruler of your life, you will be enriched and find genuine happiness. Indeed, the word ashrei is embedded in both the first and last words of the Torah scroll itself (i.e., bereshit (בְּרֵאשִׁית) and Yisrael (יִשְׂרָאֵל)), which hints that we are made happy when we submit to God's will (i.e., his Torah) for our lives...
The Torah of the LORD is most clearly manifested in Yeshua, the Living Torah and Messiah of God, the Wisdom of God: "And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven'" (Matt. 5:2-3). Paradoxically we are profoundly enriched by understanding our great inner poverty and our ongoing need for divine intervention... Only when we come to the end of ourselves, when we realize our powerlessness and radical insufficiency, can we come to know Yeshua as moshia (מוֹשִׁיעַ), as our Savior. And this is an ongoing state of dependency: we walk "with a limp" as did Israel. Therefore Paul said, ὅταν γὰρ ἀσθενῶ, τότε δυνατός εἰμι: "for when I am weak, then I am strong." You are made rich indeed when you encounter your spiritual bankruptcy, brokenness, and must entirely depend on God for your daily miracle...
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Spirituality often enough involves a sense of irremediable brokenness, a feeling that you are not whole, that you are a mess, and that your need for God's healing is constant and relentless... Contrary to the ideals of proud humanism, spirituality is a state of "blessed neediness," of being "poor in spirit," that aches with inner desperation for God's power of healing. Those who humbly cry out to the LORD understand their great need for deliverance, "Woe is me, for I am ruined..." (Isa. 6:5). As Yeshua said, "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:14).
Our Lord Yeshua testified: "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10), and therefore He is found in the midst of the leper colonies of the hurting, the forgotten, and the rejected. As the "Man of Sorrows" (i.e., ish makhovot: אִישׁ מַכְאבוֹת) he understands the language of our pain (Isa. 53:3).
Parashat Ki Teitsei:
Why then the Law?
09.11.24 (Elul 8, 5784) Our Torah reading this week, parashat Ki Teitzei, is notable because it contains more commandments than any of the other 52 weekly Torah readings, which according to the total enumerated by Maimonides, is 74 (that is over 12% of the 613 commandments). These various commandments cover a wide assortment of rules related to ethical warfare, family life, burial of the deceased, property laws, fair labor practices, proper economic transactions, agricultural tithes, concerns about giving tzedakah, and so on. Even rules about a mother bird and her young are included (Deut. 22:6-7). Your Heavenly Father knows when the sparrow falls (Matt. 10:29).
In every aspect of human life - religious, moral, social, civil, environmental, agricultural, dietary, sexual, and so on - the Torah has its voice. For example, Rabbi Pinchas ben Hama said, "Wherever you go and whatever you do, pious deeds will accompany you. When you build a new house, 'make a parapet for your roof' (Deut. 22:8). When you make a door, 'write the commandments upon your doorposts' (Deut. 6:9). When you put on new garments, 'do not wear cloth that combines wool and linen' (i.e., shaatnez; Deut. 22:11). When you cut your hair, 'do not round the corners of your head' (Lev. 19:27). When you plow your field, 'do not plow with an ox and an ass together' (Deut. 22:10). When you reap your harvest, and have forgotten a sheaf, do not pick it up. Leave it for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow (Deut. 24:19). And even if you are not engaged in any particular kind of work but are merely journeying on the road, the precepts accompany you. If a bird's nest is before you on the road, 'do not take the mother with her young' (Deut. 22:6-7)." We might add, whenever you eat or drink something we are to recall how God's Presence sustains us (1 Cor. 10:31).
The pervasive scope of God's commandments indicates that there is no "dividing line" between the sacred and the profane in the life of the tzaddik (saint). The world is not compartmentalized into the realms of the spiritual and the material. No, "the whole earth is filled with the glory of God," and it is only because of spiritual blindness that we do not discern this truth. Simply put, all the various commandments found in the Scriptures were given because the spiritual realm is intended to permeate every aspect of our lives (1 Cor. 10:31). Just as reciting 100 blessings a day helps us be mindful of the source of our blessings, so studying the Torah's commandments helps us to "wake up" to divine Presence regarding every practical decision we make.
So the Scriptures are filled with commandments intended to awaken us to the reality of God's immanent Presence. Da lifnei mi attah omed (דַּע לִפְנֵי מִי אַתָּה עוֹמֵד) - "Know before Whom you stand." There are 613 commandments given in the Torah of Moses, hundreds more found in the Writings and the Prophets, and over a thousand revealed in the New Testament. All of these imperatives are intended to give voice to the concern and love of God by pointing to the blessing of knowing the Divine Presence in the midst of our daily lives. That is the general idea, though the specifics are where we are apt to get confused....
Because our Torah reading contains so many commandments, the question naturally arises as to whether followers of Yeshua and partakers of the New Covenant are obligated to follow the lawcode of Moses or not... In the following Shavuah Tov broadcast (see the links below), I explore how we may be able to understand the role of the law in light of the salvation given in Yeshua the Messiah. I hope you will find it both provocative and helpful.
The Truth Matters...
[ "Truth is not something you can appropriate easily and quickly. You certainly cannot sleep or dream yourself to the truth. No, you must be tried, do battle, and suffer if you are to acquire the truth for yourself. It is a sheer illusion to think that in relation to the truth there is an abridgment, a short cut that dispenses with the necessity for struggling for it." - Kierkegaard ]
09.11.24 (Elul 8, 5784) Truth matters. I don't mean "opinion" here, but real, objective, hard-core truth. Truth reveals reality. Aristotle defined it this way: "To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, is true" (Metaphysics). Genuine knowledge (γνῶσις), as opposed to illusion, depends on truth, since knowledge constitutes true belief, whereas illusion (and opinion) does not. The Greek word for truth is aletheia (ἀλήθεια, from α[not] + λήθω [to hide]) which implies being awakened to the revelation of being. The Hebrew word for truth is emet (אֱמֶת), which is related to the idea of fidelity or correspondence with reality (אָמַן).
How you think about life has implications. You are responsible to think clearly. God's hidden attributes are clearly apprehended by the mind so that people who deny spiritual reality are without excuse (Rom. 1:19-20). If you think a map will faithfully guide you to the right place, you will use it; if you think it leads to an opposite end, you will not. Thinking one way leads you to success, whereas the other way leads to failure. The Scriptures warn: "there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" (Prov. 14:12).
Hebrew Lesson
Proverbs 14:12 Hebrew reading (click):
Truth (אֱמֶת) apart from God who is Alef (א) leads to death (מֵת). Sincerity of conviction is no test of truth since you can be sincere and sincerely wrong. How many have perished in this world because they believed they were on the right course when in fact they were not? Yeshua made bold the claim that there was no way to know the heart of God apart from him... there is salvation is no other. Either he spoke the truth or he did not; either he can be trusted for the direction (תּוֹרָה) of your life or he cannot; either he expresses the Salvation of God or he does not. The issue of truth demands that we must choose whom we will serve.
Torah of the Neighbor...
[ It's called the second great commandment because, as Kierkegaard said, "God is the middle term. Only by loving God above all else can one love the neighbor... 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,' but when the commandment is rightly understood it also says the converse, 'Thou shalt love thyself in the right way.' If anyone, therefore, will not learn to love himself in the right way, then neither can he love his neighbor. To love one's self in the right way and to love one's neighbor are absolutely analogous concepts, are at bottom one and the same." ]
09.11.24 (Elul 8, 5784) Shalom friends. In our Torah portion this week (i.e., Ki Teitzei), Moses gave various laws or rules about how we are to regard and treat our neighbor. For example, he said that if we see a sheep or ox wander away from a neighbor's property, we should bring it back to him or her. If the animal is "stray," however, and the owner is unknown, we should care for it until he or she is identified and then restore it to them. Moses went on to say that this principle applies to anything of value that was lost and belongs to another. We are forbidden to say "finders keepers!" or to pretend it does not matter if we disregard any loss to our neighbor. Moses insisted that we have a duty to care for our neighbor and to protect his or her interest as if it were our own. Indeed Moses connected the principle of restoring a lost object to helping a neighbor in his need. For instance, he said that if we see our neighbor trying to get his ox up that had fallen down, we should help him get the animal on its feet again (Deut. 22:1-4).
The language used in the Torah regarding this discussion is somewhat unique. When we see our neighbor's lost animal, we are not to "unsee" or ignore it. The Torah literally reads "you shall not see" (לֹא־תִרְאֶה) your brother's animal go astray and then "hide yourself" (וְהִתְעַלַּמְתָּ) by acting as if it is none of your concern. This language is repeated a bit later in the passage: "you must not hide yourself" (לֹא תוּכַל לְהִתְעַלֵּם) which may be read as "you cannot hide yourself," or "you are not able to hide yourself," because God sees through your pretense, your willful closing of your eyes, and your indifference to the needs of others (Prov. 15:3; Heb. 4:13).
The fact that God sees what is hidden is the reason why we should not "hide ourselves" from our neighbor's trouble, and that justification is expressed by the recurring statement appended to many of the Torah's commandments, namely, "I am the LORD" or "I am the LORD your God." For instance, it is written: "You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD (אנִי יְהוָה)." "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD (אנִי יְהוָה)." "Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God (אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם), and so on. "I am the LORD" means "I am watching," which implies the Lord will help you keep his commandments if you are willing to do so but He will also keep account of your indifference if you choose to harden your heart...
Recall that the Ten Commandments begin with the word "I AM" (i.e., אָנֹכִי) and ends with the word "[for] your neighbor" (i.e., לְרֵעֶךָ). Joining these two words together says "I am for you" or "I am your neighbor," indicating that the LORD Himself is found in your neighbor. When we love our neighbor as ourselves (וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ), we are in effect showing love for the LORD. There is a connection, therefore, between honoring God and caring for others, and conversely, between being indifferent - hiding yourself from your neighbor - and dishonoring God.
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All this indicates that the heart of the commandments is to care for one another, as it is written, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD" (Lev. 19:18), which Yeshua identified as the great commandment (along with loving God, of course), and which the apostle Paul said was the fulfillment of the Torah itself (Gal. 5:14; Rom. 13:10).
The heart of the commandments could be stated negatively, of course, as "You shall not be indifferent to your neighbor. You shall not close your eyes to the needs and troubles of others. You shall not hide the truth from yourself. You shall not excuse yourself from responsibility. In other words, as Lo tuchal l'hitaleim: "You must not be indifferent."
It is said "derekh eretz" (דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ) or "the way of life," precedes the Torah (קָדְמָה לַתּוֹרָה), by which is meant that we must first care for the blessing of life before we can hear God's truth. The sages said: "If there is no derekh eretz there is no Torah, and if there is no Torah there is no derekh eretz" (Avot 3:17), which means that moral truth must precede the Torah, but after the Torah has been given, a deeper sense of moral reality is revealed. In other words, the context of Torah is the basic intuition for the value and sanctity of life, and without that foundation, the various commandments of the Torah will not be rightly understood (see Rom. 2:13-15). Respecting life is the essence of the matter! Lo tuchal l'hitaleim: "You must not be indifferent!" Amen, and may the God write the truth of his love upon our hearts.
Hebrew Lesson
Zechariah 7:9 reading (click for audio):
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תורת האמונה
The Torah of Faith...
[ The following entry concerns this week's Torah reading, parashat Ki Teitzei, which contains more commandments than any other Torah portion... ]
09.10.24 (Elul 7, 5784) When asked how many commandments are in the Torah, most Jewish scholars will answer 613, based on Jewish tradition (the number 613 is sometimes called "taryag" (תריג), an abbreviation for the letters Tav (400) + Resh (200) + Yod (10) + Gimmel (3) = 613). Despite several attempts made over the centuries, however, there has never been a definitive list of these commandments, and of those who tried to compile such, no two agree... Some say the number 613 comes from a fanciful midrash that teaches that since there are 365 days in a year (corresponding to the 365 negative commandments) and 248 "parts" of the body (corresponding to the positive commandments), each day we should use our body to serve God.
Regardless of the exact count, however, the Talmud (Makkot 23b-24a) says, "Moses gave Israel 613 commandments, David reduced them to eleven (Psalm 15), Isaiah to six (Isaiah 33:15-16), Micah to three (Micah 6:8), Isaiah reduced them again to two (Isaiah 56:1); but it was Habakkuk who gave the one essential commandment: v'tzaddik be'emunato yich'yeh, literally, "the righteous, by his faithfulness - shall live." In the New Testament, the apostle Paul had (earlier) distilled the various commandments of the Torah to this same principle of faith (see Rom. 1:17, Gal. 3:11, and Heb. 10:38).
This small phrase, consisting of just three words (וְצַדִּיק בֶּאֱמוּנָתוֹ יִחְיֶה), is perhaps the pivotal axis upon which our salvation turns, since it distills the requirement that we are justified by our faith in God, and not by "works of righteousness which we have done" (Titus 3:5). In other words, salvation is "of the LORD," it is his righteousness given to us through his love...
All the Torah's commandments may be derived from the Ten Commandments given at Sinai, the most basic of which is the very First Commandment, namely, "I AM the LORD your God (אָנכִי יְהוָה אֱלהֶיךָ) who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Exod. 20:2). This is the starting point for the law, namely to believe that God exists and has personally redeemed you from the slavery of your past. This is the very first step of Torah, since until you personally believe that the Lord is your God who redeems you, none of the other commandments will have any traction within your heart... Amen, Yeshua taught us the law of faith in God's love (תורת האמונה), which preempts, overrules, and informs all the others...
Hebrew Lesson
Habbakuk 2:4 reading (click for audio):
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Victory over Evil...
[ "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it." - John 1:5 ]
09.10.24 (Elul 7, 5784) This week's Torah portion (Ki Teitzei) begins: "When you go out to war over your enemies" (i.e., כִּי־תֵצֵא לַמִּלְחָמָה עַל־איְבֶיךָ), which would seem to make more grammatical sense were it to say, "When you go out to war against your enemies..." The sages comment that the Torah is here saying that when we go out to war, we start out "over" our enemies, that is, in a state of victory by God's grace (Exod. 14:14).
This has practical ramifications for our walk with God today. Spiritual warfare centers on trusting God to fulfill his promises, and therefore we can understand our enemies to be the three enemies of the soul, namely, our own lower nature (yetzer ha'ra), the devices of Satan, and the godless philosophy of this present world of darkness (Eph. 2:2-3; 1 John 2:15-17; Eph. 6:10-11). Nevertheless we are assured victory over these by faith, understanding that "no good thing does the LORD withhold to those who are trusting in Him" (Psalm 84:11).
In the midst of the battle, then, offer up praise (Psalm 18:3). God works all things together for your good (Rom. 8:28). "You are the God of my salvation (אֱלהֵי יִשְׁעִי), and in You do I hope all the day (Psalm 25:5). Barukh attah Adonai, shomei'a tefillah: (בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה שׁוֹמֵעַ תְּפִלָּה) – "Blessed are You, O LORD, who listens to prayer." Because of the victory of Yeshua at the cross, we do not work toward a place of victory against our enemies, but rather from the place of His victory (1 Cor. 15:57).
Blessed is our LORD Yeshua, the Killer of death; the Slayer of the Serpent; the final Victory of God's awesome love for us! We are made more than conquerors (ὑπερνικῶμεν, lit. "hyper-conquerors," "overcomers") through Him that loved us (Rom. 8:38). Therefore "thanks be to God, who in our Messiah leads us in a perpetual victory parade" (2 Cor. 2:14).
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 84:11b reading (click for audio):
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Return of the Heart...
[ "Only the person who has had to face despair is really convinced that he needs mercy. Those who do not want mercy never seek it. It is better to find God on the threshold of despair than to risk our lives in a complacency that has never felt the need of forgiveness. A life that is without problems may literally be more hopeless than one that verges on despair." - Thomas Merton ]
09.09.24 (Elul 6, 5784) Part of the meaning of teshuvah (i.e., "repentance"), at least for some of us, is learning to trust and believe in love.... This is a very deep turning of the heart. If you were abandoned as a child, for instance (or even as an adult) you were deprived of the security, nurture, and basic human connection you needed to partake in love. Instead of gaining a sense of belonging and acceptance your soul desperately needed, you inherited a sense of shame that taught that you were inherently unlovable and unworthy. Consequently, as you grew up, you may have found it difficult to trust or ask others for help; you might have turned inward, relying only on yourself, protecting yourself from further pain. You may have became lonely, filled with sadness, anger, and fear. Ironically and tragically, as you protected yourself from abandonment you made your heart hard and numb, and that led to the abandonment of yourself....
We have to be careful here, friends, as Soren Kierkegaard astutely wrote, "To despair over one's sins indicates that sin has become, or wants to be, internally consistent. It wants nothing to do with the good, does not want to be so weak as to listen occasionally to other talk. No, it insists on listening only to itself, on having dealings only with itself; it closes itself up within itself, indeed, locks itself inside one more enclosure, and protects itself against every attack or pursuit from the good by despairing over sin." As C.S. Lewis later affirmed: "the doors of hell are locked on the inside." Frederick Buechner also likewise warned: "Despair has been called the unforgivable sin - not presumably because God refuses to forgive it, but because it despairs of the possibility of being forgiven."
There are providential miracles... Healing can come when we turn again to ourselves - unconditionally accepting ourselves despite the pain of our past - and open our hearts to be loved. It was when he "came to himself" that the prodigal made the decision to go back to his father (Luke 15:17). Therefore the Spirit of God calls out to the bereft: "Return to your heart and know" (Deut. 4:29). This is possible only if we are willing to turn to God for the grace we need to be made whole. It is by turning to God (i.e., teshuvah) that we find ourselves to be beloved and made whole. Believing in God's love for us enables us to truly love ourselves, and from that connection, we can move out to love others as well.
O friend of broken hope, savor the phrase, "Know therefore today and return to your heart..." It the heart that is the place of connection with God... As Yeshua said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20). Today may you find courage to "return to your heart" and receive again God's love for your soul... Amen.
Hebrew Lesson
Deut. 4:29 reading (click for audio):
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His Precious Forgiveness...
[ The following entry concerns the blessed theme of teshuvah during the month of Elul and the days leading up to Yom Kippur, or the "Day of Atonement"... ]
09.09.24 (Elul 6, 5784) There is a temptation to minimize the wickedness of our sin and thereby to hide our need for deliverance from ourselves. We tend to be proud and foolish, thinking that somehow we're "going to make it," though to what end we are often unaware. Make it to what? What is the "end game" of your life? Though it offend our carnal pride, it is a great blessing from heaven to have our knees taken out from under us, to encounter difficulties and troubles that we can't manage, to feel overwhelmed, powerless, and needy, because this opens our hearts to what is real. אל־יְהוָה בַּצָּרָתָה לִּי קָרָאתִי וַיַּעֲנֵנִי- "In my trouble I cried out to the Lord, and he answered me" (Psalm 120:1).
Minimizing sin means denying its offence by regarding God's forgiveness to be a sort of "general truth," or an abstract theological concept, similar to the idea that "God loves the world" at large. In the realm of the spirit, however, there is no such thing as a "general truth," since God who knows all things does not generalize about anything whatsoever. The incarnation of Yeshua is infinitely personal; God doesn't save a nameless group of people, he saves individuals. He came to personally save you - you, as if you there were no others, for indeed, there are no others when it comes to your relationship with the Lord. How else can we fathom the atonement at the cross? How was Yeshua made sin for you if your sins were not borne by him? Our particular sins were atoned for, not in a "general" substitutionary exchange given on behalf of an abstract humanity, but especially for you and for the guilt of your own sin.
As Yeshua taught us, not a sparrow falls without your heavenly Father Knowing; not a lily of the field takes bloom apart from God's ministering hand. The very hairs of your head are all numbered. King David understood the immanence of the Lord and confessed: "You compass my path and my lying down; and You are acquainted with all my ways" (Psalm 139:3).
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The cross upon which Yeshua died was likely no more than nine feet in length, to make it easy for the Romans to take the body down after death. This implies that, after inserting and securing it into place, the stake may have been just six or seven feet from the ground. Some might recall how a bystander filled a sponge with vinegar and then used a reed (κάλαμος) to give to Yeshua as he was upon the cross, but it is likely the reed was no more than 18 inches or so in length (Matt. 27:48). If these measurements are approximately correct, then Yeshua would be nearly eye-level to us as he was dying....
Imagine, then, walking up before the cross and seeing Yeshua look upon you as he was suffering. Imagine further him saying to you, "I know you; I know your secret sins, the pain of your shame, your heartache, your guilt, your loss... But I offer myself up for you; I take your place in judgment, so that by means of my death, you shall live..."
Hebrew Lesson
Isa. 53:5 reading (click for audio):
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Weekly Torah portion:
Parashat Ki Teitzei...
[ Our Torah reading this week (i.e., Ki Teitzei) is always read during the month of Elul... ]
09.08.24 (Elul 5, 5784) Shavuah tov v'chodesh Elul tov, chaverim. Recall that in last week's Torah reading (i.e., Shoftim), Moses defined an extensive system of justice for the Israelites and pointed to the coming Messiah who would be the rightful King of Israel: "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers -- it is to him you shall listen" (Deut. 18:15). In this week's portion (i.e., Ki Teitzei: כי־תצא), Moses returns to the immediate concern of life in the promised land by providing additional laws to be enforced regarding civil life in Israel. In fact, Jewish tradition (following Maimonides) identifies no less than 74 of the Torah's 613 commandments in this portion (more than any other), covering a wide assortment of rules related to ethical warfare, family life, burial of the deceased, property laws, the humane treatment of animals, fair labor practices, and honest economic transactions.
Of particular interest to us is the statement that a man who was executed and "hanged on a tree" (עַל־עֵץ) is cursed of God (Deut. 21:22-23). According to the Talmud (i.e., Nezakim: Sanhedrin 6:4:3), the Great Sanhedrin (סַנְהֶדְרִין גְדוֹלָה) decided that "a man must be hanged with his face towards the spectators" upon a wooden stake, with his arms slung over a horizontal beam. It should be noted that while this is technically not the same thing as the gruesome practice of Roman crucifixion, the reasoning based on this verse was apparently used to justify the execution of Yeshua (Mark 15:9-15; John 19:5-7; 15). The exposed body was required to be buried before sundown to keep the land from being defiled. Besides the shame and degradation of this manner of death, the one so executed would be unable to fall to their knees as a final act of repentance before God, thereby implying that they were under the irrevocable curse of God (קִלְלַת אֱלהִים).
In this connection, we should note that Yeshua was falsely charged with blasphemy before the corrupt Sanhedrin of His day (Matt. 26:65; Mark 14:64; John 10:33) - an offence that was punishable by stoning (Lev. 24:11-16). However, since the Imperial Roman government then exercised legal hegemony over the region of Palestine, all capital cases were required to be submitted to the Roman proconsul for adjudication, and therefore we understand why the Jewish court remanded Yeshua and brought him to be interrogated by Pontius Pilate. Because Roman law was indifferent to cases concerning Jewish religious practices (i.e., charges of blasphemy), however, the priests further slandered Yeshua by illegitimately switching the original charge of blasphemy to that of sedition against Rome. The Sanhedrin undoubtedly rationalized their duplicity because the Torah allowed for an offender to impaled or "hung on a tree" (Num. 25:4), and since they were unable to do carry out this judgment because of Roman rule in the area, they needed Pilate to condemn him to death by crucifixion (Matt. 27:31; Mark 15:13-4; Luke 23:21; John 19:6,15). Note that crucifixion is mentioned elsewhere in the Talmud (Nashim: Yevamot 120b) regarding whether a widow can remarry if her husband had been crucified, as well as by the Jewish historian Josephus. The Talmud furthermore alludes to the death of Yeshua where Yeshua is said to have been crucified on "eve of Passover" (Nezekin: Sanhedrin 43a).
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Shavuah Tov Podcast:
Parashat Ki Teitzei...
09.08.24 (Elul 5, 5784) Our Torah reading for this week (i.e., parashat Ki Teitzei) identifies 74 of the Torah's 613 commandments (more than any other), covering a wide assortment of laws related to warfare, family life, property laws, the humane treatment of animals, fair labor practices, and honest economic transactions, and more. The portion is always read during the month of Elul, and therefore it provides an opportunity for us to review the importance of the law in relation to the theme of teshuvah (i.e., repentance).
Returning to the Lord...
09.06.24 (Elul 3, 5784) The only way we will draw near to God is by believing that He draws near to us, personally, intimately... "Behold I stand at the door and knock" (Rev. 3:20). Faith "hears the knock" as God's desire to draw near... faith hears his voice and opens the door to his presence; faith believes to partake in his communion.... "Draw near to God and he draws near to you" (James 4:8). The Hebrew word karov (קרוב) is translated using engidzo (ἐγγίζω) in New Testament Greek, a word that means to come close and touch... When we draw close to God, we reach out and find God holding us. Our "I" melts away as we cling to God as our dear life; we become one with his heart; and by means of this blessing we lose ourselves to find ourselves...
Hebrew Lesson
Zechariah 1:3b reading (click for audio):
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"Turn to me, and I will turn to you..." (Zech. 1:3). Someone might wonder why we must take the initiative, but that is because God has never turned away from us; he has always been the one who loves us most of all and awaits our return to his love.... "Turn to me and you will discover that I have never left you nor forsaken you."
Yeshua illustrated the idea of teshuvah (i.e., תְּשׁוּבָה, "returning to God") by telling the famous story of the "prodigal son" (Luke 15:11-32). After selfishly squandering his father's inheritance, a wayward son decided to return home, full of shame and self-reproach. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." The father then ordered a celebratory meal in honor of his lost son's homecoming. When his older brother objected, the father said, "We had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."
This parable reveals that teshuvah ultimately means returning (shuv) to the outstretched arms of your Heavenly Father... God sees you while you are still "a long way off" (Rom. 5:8). He runs to you with affection when you first begin to turn your heart toward Him. Indeed, God's compassion is so great that He willingly embraces the shame of your sins and then adorns you with "a fine robe, a ring, and sandals." Your Heavenly Father even slaughters the "fattened calf" (Yeshua) so that a meal that celebrates your life may be served....
Note: I 've been sick the last few days but הַכֹּל אֲנִי יָכוֹל בְּעֶזְרַת הַמָּשִׁיחַ הַנּוֹתֵן בִּי כֹּחַ - "I can do all things through Messiah who gives me strength" (Phil 4:13).
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Teshuvah and the Gospel...
[ "Return us, our Father, to Your Torah; draw us near our King to serve You. Restore us to Your presence in complete repentance. Blessed are You, O Lord, Who desires repentance." - Amidah ]
09.06.24 (Elul 3, 5784) Yeshua began his public ministry with these words: "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand" (שׁוּבוּ כִּי מַלְכוּת הַשָׁמַיִם קָרְבָה), which indicates that the beginning of the "gospel" message is that of teshuvah (תְּשׁוּבָה), that is, responding to the invitation of God to believe in eternal life and healing (Psalm 90:3). The message is "good news" (i.e., εὐαγγέλιον) because it proclaims that the prophesied way of redemption is fulfilled in Him, the promised "Seed of Abraham," and the "Son of Man," who had come to release us from our captivity to demonic evil by becoming our atoning sacrifice upon the cross... Yeshua's vicarious sacrifice for us removes our guilt and delivers us from the law's verdict that the guilty sinner must die. As the prophets foretold, the new way to return to God - the "new covenant" - is found in Yeshua.
According to Jewish tradition the month of Elul represents the time that Moses spent on Sinai preparing the second set of tablets after the idolatrous incident of the Golden Calf. Moses ascended on Rosh Chodesh Elul ("Head of the Month of Elul") and then descended 40 days later on the 10th of Tishri, the end of Yom Kippur, when the repentance of the people was complete. The month of Elul therefore represents the time of national sin and forgiveness obtained by means of teshuvah before the LORD.
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The month of Elul is therefore set apart for us to respond to the message of teshuvah, to take account of the soul (i.e., cheshbon ha'nefesh: חשבון הנפש), and to prepare for the fall holidays. The Alter Rebbe likened the month of Elul as a time of favor to approach our King. He used a parable to depict the season: "Before a king enters his city, its inhabitants go out to greet him and receive him in the field. At that time, anyone who so desires is granted permission to approach the king and to greet him. He receives them all pleasantly, and shows a smiling countenance to all."
"The King is in the field." He draws near to us and the hour approaches for him to be revealed. As we look for our blessed hope to be fulfilled, the sound of the great "teruah" shout ascends with the cry of the heart to be with the Lord our King. May that day come soon, and in our generation. Amen.
Teshuvah and God's Love...
[ "The Holy One, blessed be God, said to Israel: 'My children, present to me a single opening of repentance, small like the eye of a needle, and I will open for you entrances through which wagons and carriages can pass.'" –Shir Hashirim Rabbah 5:3. ]
09.05.24 (Elul 2, 5784) If you ever feel frustrated because of recurring personal struggles and failures, do not add to your troubles by despising yourself, but instead allow your character defects to lead you to humility and surrender before God. Bear in mind that you are unable to please God apart from his intervention and help (John 6:63), so avoid self-reproach, since teshuvah (i.e., repentance) is not about learning to deal with your pains, after all, but trusting the Lord to do the miracle of healing within you.
You "have been crucified with the Messiah" (Gal. 2:20) - the verb used in this phrase is a "perfect passive" form in the original language (i.e., συνεσταύρωμα), meaning that it indicates completed action done on your behalf. Your job is not to devise your own sanctification but to receive the blessing by faith, trusting in God's righteousness given on your behalf. The focus is not on you, and when you get out of the way and surrender, the grace and love of God will do the impossible within you (Matt. 19:26).
In a way, teshuvah is a kind of death, that is, identifying with the judgment of Messiah given on your behalf, just as teshuvah is life as you take hold of your new identity in him. Practically speaking you turn away (i.e., "die to") your anger, disappointments, bitterness, and sorrows by turning to the Lord for his acceptance and grace. God will bring freedom and newness of life from what binds your heart. As C.S. Lewis once advised: "Remember that He is the artist and you are only the picture. You can't see it. So quietly submit to being painted, that is, keep fulfilling all the obvious duties of your station... asking forgiveness for each failure and then leaving it alone. You are in the right way. Walk -- don't keep on looking at it" (Collected Letters). How you do teshuvah depends a great deal on where you are standing: if you are before the cross of Messiah, then you stand on the side of divine grace; otherwise you will remain in a place of exile, questioning God's love for you. Choose to believe and you will see his heart for you...
Hebrew Lesson
Jeremiah 32:27 reading (click for audio):
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The "severity" of the gospel (i.e., הבשורה, from the word "basar") demands that you regard yourself as beloved, worth saving, and that you are God's friend... "There is no greater love than this: that someone lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). God quite literally demands that you regard yourself as benefitted by the sacrifice of his beloved son Yeshua in your place; he demands that you understand how dear you are to his heart. God sees something of such great value in you that he was willing to suffer and die to redeem it from loss... Just as the kingdom of God is a "pearl of great price," so you are a pearl of great price to God. What grieves and angers God is the refusal to believe that you are someone of infinite importance to him... Only God can rightfully make such a demand because He knows that loving other things more than Him leads to "disordered love," darkness, and eventual madness. We were created and given the breath of life for God's love, but substituting finite things for our infinite need will never suffice to bring lasting healing to our souls... He gives us choice, but it is a severe mercy.
Those who are "in the flesh" cannot please God (Rom. 8:8). We must turn away from regarding ourselves as mere "flesh" and understand that we are essentially spiritual beings created and redeemed by God (2 Cor. 5:16). We must give up the distinctions in the "world of basar" - the carnal world that is known through sensuous apprehension - and accept ourselves as "new creations" in the Messiah. It is "not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring" (Rom. 9:6-8).
The mere conviction of sin is not the same thing as repentance. We have to step beyond a troubled conscience and have our sin crucified by God's love and grace. Grace is therefore essential to genuine repentance, since moral reformation is never enough. "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." We must be humbled so that we can receive. God gives us bitter experience of our inadequacy to call us to return to him. Only God can kill the power of sin within our hearts. Conviction of sin is not the end, but rather newness of life.
There is a place for godly sorrow, of course, and for genuine regret over our sins. As we understand God's desire and love for us, we begin to realize that the essence of sin is the refusal of God's heart for us. The underlying issue with sin concerns the question of God's love. Simply abstaining from certain actions does not address the deepest need of the heart. It is not turning away from sin that matters as much as turning toward God. The death of sin is meant to lead us to the life of love...
God is both infinitely loving and infinitely just, and both of these "attributes" are inseparably a part of who he is. God is One. Nonetheless, the cross of Yeshua proves that "love is stronger than death, passion fiercer than the grave; its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame, the very flame of the Lord" (Song. 8:6). It is at the cross that "love and truth have met, righteousness and peace have kissed" (Psalm 85:10). This implies that we must drop our defenses – even those supposed objections and pretenses voiced by our shame – and "accept that we are accepted." It is God's great love for you that leads you to repent and to turn to him. Allow yourself to be embraced by his "everlasting arms."
Genuine repentance will entirely change you. It is an act of profound respect over what God has done on your behalf. You say, but I am a miserable wretch! Indeed that is so, but the consciousness of your wretched state is the heart's cry for love... God goes "outside the camp" to meet with you. He enters the leper colony to join you there, in your wretchedness, and even takes upon your fatal disease. He sees you in your desperate estate and joins you there. God enters into the dust of your death and says, "Live!"
Repentance means changing your thinking, turning around to face the truth, and returning to embrace God's love. It does not identify the whole person with sin, but rather regards all people as redeemable, worthy, and valuable to God. Conviction of sin is not the end, but rather the means to newness of life. God saved us so that we could be in a love relationship with Him. We must "choose life," and that means choosing to welcome God's love into your heart. The only sin that can keep you from God's everlasting love is the denial that his love is personally for you. You must forsake seeing yourself "in the flesh" and take hold of God's spirit, his passion, and his grace for your soul. You are worthy to be loved because God is worthy to make you so.
Repent and believe the good news. God is love, and that love is for you. Amen, and may the Holy Spirit seal these words upon our heart.
Finding God at the Center...
09.05.24 (Elul 2, 5784) The Scriptures warn us that a "double-minded person is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8). The word translated "double-minded" is dipsuchos (δίψυχος), a word formed from δίς, "twice" and ψυχή, "soul." The word describes the spiritual condition of having "two souls" that both want different things at once. It is therefore a state of inner contradiction, of having two separate minds holding contradictory thoughts. "How long will you go limping between two opinions?" Notice that the word translated "limping" is posechim (פּסְחִים), from the same root as Passover (i.e., pasach: פָּסַח): How long will you pass from one thing to another? How long will you play "hot potato" with your commitments?
Having a double-mind makes us "unstable in all our ways." Such a cross-eyed approach leads to disorientation and confusion. The Greek word used to describe being "unstable" (ἀκατάστατος) is the same word used to translate being "storm-tossed and not comforted" in last week's Haftarah portion (LXX: Isa. 54:11). The image of a ship being tossed in the sea pictures a state of distress and peril. Interestingly, the description of being "not comforted" is lo nuchamah (לא נֻחָמָה), which comes from the very word translated as "repent" or "regret" (nacham). When we are double-minded, we are "storm tossed" and unable to experience the comfort that comes from genuine repentance. We are like "a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind" (James 1:6).
On the other hand, singleness of vision concentrates the will and produces wholeheartedness, conviction, stability, inner peace (shalom) and genuine character. As Kierkegaard said, "purity of the heart is to will one thing." "I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken" (Psalm 16:8).
Someone might ask, how do we stop being "double-minded"? This is the essence of the problem, isn't it? How do we stop being of "two minds," experiencing that ambivalence of both wanting and not wanting something? In other words, how do we repent - both in the sense of "changing our minds" (metanoia) and in the sense of practically turning to God (teshuvah)? How do we find that purity of heart that wills one thing?
The antidote for having a "double-mind" is explicitly given in the Scriptures: "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (ἐγγίσατε τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἐγγιεῖ ὑμῖν), cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded" (James 4:8). Note that the verb used in this verse ("draw near!") means to come close enough to touch someone or something. Understood in this light, we are encouraged to come so close to God that we are able to "touch" Him -- and to be touched by Him as well. Drawing near to God is God's way of drawing near to you... In other words, as you draw near to God, He will draw near and touch you.
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 16:8 reading (click for audio):
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Regarding matters of sanctification and faith, always remember that "salvation is from the Lord," and brokenness of our spirit is God's gift to us... If you are struggling, ask God to help you surrender your "heart sickness" to Him.... It's HIS work, not your own, that saves... God alone truly changes the heart; only the Lord can make you whole. Repentance is a miracle from heaven given to you, personally...
For more on this topic see the H4C article, "Make up your Mind."
Teshuvah of Happiness...
[ "The unhappy person is one who has his ideal, the content of his life, the fullness of his consciousness, the essence of his being, in some manner outside of himself. The unhappy man is always absent from himself, never present to himself." - Soren Kierkegaard: Either/Or ]
09.05.24 (Elul 2, 5784) It is common for people to associate personal happiness with matters of circumstance. They tend to be happy whenever things are going their way, but they are unhappy if they do not. This conditional way of thinking is superstitious, however, because it regards happiness to be an "accidental" aspect of life, depending on factors or circumstances quite outside of ourselves. Many think that happiness is more a matter of dumb luck (or fate - take your pick) than of character... The heart of faith, however, affirms that all things - both the good and the bad - work for our good.
Of course, each of us is "thrown" into the world (a Heideggerian term meaning that we are radically rooted to an inscrutable chain of events beyond our control), and because of this we find ourselves born at a particular time and place, related to particular genealogical ancestors, embedded within a particular culture, and so on. Unlike Rene Descartes who questioned all his presuppositions in order to find a indubitable starting point or foundation upon which to build an edifice of objective knowledge, we acknowledge that we are overrun with presuppositions that we have unconsciously inherited from culture and that are embedded within our native language. Descartes thought he had found his starting point in the existence of his own psyche ("I think therefore I am"), but his dualism between subject and object, and between mind and matter, engendered both an impossibly high standard for attaining certainty about what we can know as well as skepticism regarding what is real.
As we reflect upon the fact that have been "thrown" into a pervasive culture (or "world") wherein we unconsciously assimilated its moral values (ethos), and its prevalent language and semantic structures, we can begin to question our presuppositions and ingrained assumptions. We begin to see how we have been systematically deceived by the fallen world, and we can then begin to think for ourselves...
If we uncritically retain our culture's biases, however, we reinforce thinking that has already been defined for us as the "status quo." It is "truth" interpreted by convention. Mindlessly conforming to the crowd's thinking is to lose your own soul. For example, consider how our culture of technology is suffused with the internet and therefore the "public interpretation" of what is real. This has led to what has been called "hyperreality," that is, the inability to distinguish between what is real and what is a simulation. Fake news; fake influencers; deepfake technology; repeated soundbites and images: the lines between the real world and the digital world have been blended and blurred... Disinformation, propaganda, and outright deception are disseminated to the "public" (by powerful controlling groups) that provide prewritten scripts designed to normalize atrocities (such as unjust wars) or to indoctrinate irrational mandates (such as deceptive vaccination or monetary policies). This creates a sense of "derealization" of the world, a sense of detachment and uncertainty about what is real. Those who dare to ask questions or to think clearly are often demonized or "canceled" by the controlling culture. An unspoken "social credit" system is surreptitiously engineered and self-censorship is a coerced virtue. Tragically, those who refuse to think deeply and clearly become unfeeling and desensitized. They "gain the world and lose their souls." They become a "programmed self" that is lost, zombified, and easily manipulated. Waking up, however, is never easy to do, and indeed makes you an enemy of the state, a thought criminal, a defector of political correctness ideology, and so on. Nevertheless, deliverance comes from confessing our lost condition, acknowledging our sin, and being willing to accept responsibility for our lives. It is a rebirth into the world of spirit and truth given by Yeshua.
The sages say that the Hebrew word for "happiness," i.e., "simchah" (שִׂמחָה), contains the word machah (מָחָה), which means to "erase" or "blot out" (see Psalm 51:1), and that this suggests that we find joy and gladness when turn away from the world and its falsehoods (העולם השׁקר). The Hebrew idea of "being happy," i.e., be'simchah (בְּשִׂמחָה) also shares the letters for the word "thought," i.e., machshavah (מָחְשׁבה), suggesting that there is a connection between how we think (that is, our "thought life") and our appropriation of happiness and joy. This "turning away" from the fallen world to God is called "teshuvah" or repentance. The Greek word for repentance is "metanoia" (μετάνοια), which means to "go beyond" (μετά) our worldly understanding (νοῦς), biases, prejudices, and habits of mind to encounter "aleithea" (ἀλήθεια), a word that means going deeper to remember the truth.
How we think, how we "frame" our thoughts, is driven by emotional connotation and nuances of the heart, and these factors contextualize our words and determine their meaning. Furthermore both the words we speak and how we speak them confess our faith - whether it be the faith of despair and anger or the faith of peace and joy. If we feel bound to circumstances and interpret the meaning of our lives as dictated by the fallen world system, we will despair and attempt to lose ourselves in endless distractions. On the other hand, if we turn to God, focusing on his presence and love, we will find joy and happiness, regardless of our present circumstances. By God's grace, we will learn to accept that whatever happens - our own "thrownness" - is really a means to our ultimate healing and blessing. We must descend in order to ascend (John 12:24).
It is written in our Scriptures: "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven" (2 Cor. 4:17-5:2).
Amen. Keep your eyes on the goal, chaverim!
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 51:8 reading (click for audio):
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Being Made Whole with God...
[ "Ani l'dodi, v'dodi li; I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." - Song of Songs 2:16 ]
09.05.24 (Elul 2, 5784) In our Torah portion for this week (i.e., Shoftim) we read: "You shall be blameless with the LORD your God" (Deut. 18:13), which seems to suggest that we should be perfectionistic in our faith, and indeed some older Bible versions translated the Hebrew word tamim (תָּמִים) as "perfect" which once meant "to be thoroughly made," though in modern times means flawless, faultless, or ideal. Because of these connotations, it is better to translate the Hebrew word as "complete," "whole," or "sincere."
When God said to Abraham, "I am El Shaddai; walk before me and be tamim (Gen. 17:1), he was not saying "be perfect" or "don't ever make a mistake," but rather be fully engaged, that is, to walk before God passionately, sincerely, wholeheartedly (מכל הלב), and by doing so to "walk out" the relationship with full assurance that he is accepted and beloved by God. Likewise when Yeshua said "Be therefore perfect as your Father who is in heaven is perfect" (Matt. 5:48), he meant that we should be complete, finished, and "made whole" by knowing and receiving the overflowing love and light of God.
"You shall be wholehearted with the LORD your God" is therefore a mandate to know who you are, to know what is truly good as distinguished from what is evil, and to be united with God's passion to be healed from your inner conflicts and ambivalence (δίψυχος). We are made "whole" or "perfect" (i.e., complete) when we resolutely turn to God for healing of what divides our hearts, as it says: "The Torah of the LORD is perfect (תָּמִים), returning the soul" (Psalm 19:8). Understand the Torah's commandment, then: "You shall be tamim (i.e., whole and wholehearted) with the LORD your God," to be a prophecy of transformation for your life, friend... Amen. And may you passionately know "the love of Messiah that surpasses knowledge and be filled with all the fullness of God" (Eph. 3:19).
Hebrew Lesson
Deut. 18:13 Hebrew reading (click):
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Note: In the Sefer Torah (i.e., the handwritten Torah scroll), the first letter of the word tamim ("wholehearted") is written extra LARGE in order to emphasize the importance of the word. Notice also the little word "with" (עִם) that follows in this verse. This hearkens to Micah 6:8: "What does the LORD require of you except to do justice (mishpat), and to love mercy (chesed), and to walk humbly (hatznea lechet) with your God?" Having a humble heart walks with the LORD. Humility begins with the awareness that 1) there is a God and 2) you are not Him.... It is the practice of da lifnei mi attah omed: "knowing before whom you stand" and living your life in light of this fundamental truth.
The Torah of Mercies...
09.04.24 (Elul 1, 5784) It has been said that grace is getting what you don't deserve, whereas mercy is not getting what you do... Yeshua said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy" (Matt. 5:7). This is not a reciprocal law like karma, i.e., you get in return what you first give, since we cannot obtain God's mercy as reward for our own supposed merit (Rom. 4:4). No, we are able to extend mercy to others only when we are made merciful ("full of mercy"), that is, when we first receive mercy as the gift of God (Eph. 2:8; Rom. 5:15). After all, you can't give away what you don't have, and if we have no mercy for others, it is likely that we have not received it ourselves, as the parable of the Good Samaritan reveals (Luke 10:25-8). Your forgiveness is your forgiveness, that is, as you forgive, so you reveal your heart. What you do comes from what you are, not the other way around. We are first transformed by God's grace and then come works of love. We are able to judge others mercifully, with the "good eye," because we come to believe that we are beloved by God.
When Yeshua rebuked the "holier-than-thou" attitude of some people, he said: "Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matt. 9:13). The pattern therefore abides: First you realize you are broken, impoverished of heart, and you mourn over your sinful condition (Matt. 5:3-4); then you hunger and thirst for God's righteousness, that is, for his healing and deliverance, and finally you learn to trust the mercy of God, that is, you come to accept that you are accepted despite your unacceptability (Matt. 5:5-6). As you begin "suffer yourself" and forgive your own evil, you are enabled to extend this mercy to others (Matt. 5:7). In this way you begin to see God in your relationships and obey the heart of truth (Matt. 5:8; 1 Sam. 15:22).
Though we love and honor truth, we must be careful never to use it as a weapon to judge or wound others. The failure to extend mercy, to demand your "rights" or hold on to grudges, implies that you are relating to God as Judge rather than as Savior (James 2:13). If we condemn what we see in others, we have yet to truly see what is within our own hearts; we have yet to see our desperate need for God's mercy for our lives. If you don't own your own sin, your sin will own you. Being merciful is a response to God's love and therefore is essential to genuine teshuvah (repentance). Walking in love is the deepest expression of truth, since love heals untruth and embraces hope for what is presently broken (1 Cor. 13:7). In light of this, take a moment to ask the LORD to help you relinquish the pain of your past by being full of mercy toward yourself and others. Honor God's love for you by forgiving yourself and showing compassion and mercy to others in your life...
Hebrew Lesson
Hosea 6:6 Hebrew reading (click):
Deliver us from Ourselves...
[ "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." - Yeshua ]
09.04.24 (Elul 1, 5784) We all struggle with sin in our lives, and each of us needs deliverance from various attachments and fears that keep us from the deeper life... The problem is within ourselves, that is, the contradiction of heart we experience in our double-mindedness, our ambivalence, and even our unbelief (Jer. 17:9). We may recite the Shema every day and say that we love God with all our being, but in the ordinary moments of daily life we are drawn to other concerns, alien affections, other "gods." Indeed, whatever matters most to us, whatever consumes our attention, time, resources, and our interest, is something we "worship," that is, something we esteem as worthy and valuable...
People necessarily value things, of course, and therefore every person is a "worshiper" (i.e., a person who finds "worth" in something). This is equally true for a "devout" atheist, or a "woke" crusader, as is it for a "religious" person... The question that matters, however, is what is your ultimate concern? What do you really want? Only when we begin to understand what draws and attracts us can we begin to discern what we really need. Therefore we must first acknowledge our false worship, our radical selfishness, and our sundry attachments in order to be set free. We must confess the truth that we are slaves.
Pride blinds us to the truth of our sickness, persuading us to deny our problems, to cover them up, and to try harder and harder to "control" ourselves. This is a spiritual dead-end, a vicious circle, the "law of sin and death." We are set free, however, when we die to ourselves, that is, when we surrender to the love of God and receive the miracle of promised deliverance. Since we are powerless to change ourselves, to reform our lower nature, and to be healed by our own best efforts, we must abandon our "religion" and rely entirely upon the God for the power to heal. This is an ongoing venture: We die daily; we take up the cross daily, we walk with a limp from our inner struggle, and we cling to God alone show us the way and to guide our steps. Beloved, we have been crucified with Messiah and the old nature has lost its power over us; we are alive by the miracle of God's power. May God deliver us from ourselves. "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Gal. 5:25).
Hebrew Lesson
Zechariah 4:6 reading (click for audio):
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Spelling out "Teshuvah"...
[ Today marks Rosh Chodesh Elul and the start of the 40 days of Teshuvah... Chodesh tov! ]
09.03.24 (Av 30, 5784) Taken as a whole, the central message and ultimate point of the Scriptures is to turn to God for life... Rabbi Sussya once said: "There are five verses in the bible that constitute the essence of the Torah. These verses begin in Hebrew with one of these letters: Tav (תּ), Shin (שׁ), Vav (ו), Bet (בּ), and Hey (ה), which form the word for repentance, namely,"teshuvah" (תְּשׁובָה). The five verses are: 1) Tamim tiheyeh (תָּמִים תִּהְיֶה): "Be wholehearted before God" (Deut. 18:13); 2) Shiviti Adonai (שִׁוִּיתִי יְהוָה): "I have set the LORD always before me" (Psalm 16:8); 3) Va'ahavta lere'akha (וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ): "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev. 19:18); 4) Be'khol derakekha (בְּכָל־דְּרָכֶיךָ): "In all your ways know Him" (Prov. 3:6); and 5) Higgid lekha (הִגִּיד לְךָ): "Walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8). In other words, "teshuvah" (repentance) is an acronym that stands for being whole, seeing God, loving others, knowing God in all your journey, and walking in humility...
Hebrew Lesson
Micah 6:8 Hebrew reading (click):
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Courage for the End of Days...
09.03.24 (Av 30, 5784) The godless world system is an orchestrated mess. We see it in the political realm with the rise of a global "power elite" with its avowed intent to "reset" the world order and enslave humanity. We see the hidden hand at work in various ways in the world. For instance, we see the destruction of national identity (borders) and sovereignty brought about through engineered immigration (i.e., invasion) of the western nations. This creates social unrest that will destabilize populations and thereby make them easier to control. We also detect their influence in the various "wars and rumors of wars" among the nations, with ongoing propaganda campaigns and misinformation designed to confuse and mitigate any resistance. Free speech is actively suppressed and those who ask any serious questions about what is happening are persecuted and "canceled." In the economic realm, the global elite has crafted financial chaos, deconstructed the dollar, and induced unfathomable debt and fiscal irresponsibility intended to bring about a collapse of the global economy and the imposition of financial fascism. Digital currency will lead to globalist surveillance and controls that will effectively create a one-world governmental system.
We also see deliberately engineered decadence in the social realm where the systemic destruction of moral values has been indoctrinated in our public schools and universities, creating a postmodern "crusade" against traditional values and moral restraint. Propaganda and politically correct ideologies are required to be taught to employees of countless government bureaucracies and are legally enforced as "human resources" protocols for private businesses. Mass media reinforces the cultural biases in movies, music, sitcoms, and other forms of pop culture "entertainment" as well as by controlling "news" programming that promulgates and indoctrinates the disguised globalist agenda.
Perversion and godlessness are openly celebrated, "identity" politics are vaunted, opposing viewpoints are demonized and "canceled," and outright violence is justified as the means to destroy supposed "grand narratives" of historical oppression. The cultural decay is seen on our burned city streets and closed businesses. Drugs and addiction are pandemic; homelessness is widespread; mental health has become politicized to be about victim trauma intervention, and the medical establishment has been radicalized to serve big pharmaceutical financial interests. The "bad science" promoted during the time of the c§vid release was assuredly more about social control and power politics than with public health. Other things may be said about the engineered chaos of our age, but it is clear that we are living in the gloom of postmodern madness. There may be "rules for radicals" but everywhere there is a sense of anomie, anxiety, mistrust, and despair.
The Scriptures teach us, however, that it is forbidden to be afraid of the future because we are to live in the presence of God today and trust him to take care of us. "There is no fear in love," and therefore over and over the Spirit of God says, al tira' - "don't be afraid..." When we are afraid, we are believing the lie there is something beyond God's control or reach, and therefore God is "not enough"...
In times of testing you must remind yourself of what is real. God formed you in your mother's womb, breathed into you nishmat chayim, the breath of life, and numbers all your days... Every breath you take, every heartbeat in your chest is ordained from heaven, and indeed, there is not a moment of your life apart from God's sovereign and sustaining grace. So what, then, are you afraid of? Dying? Judgment in the world to come? Being left unloved, bereft of home, abandoned, consigned to outer darkness? King David said, "If I make my bed in Hell, behold, you are there" (Psalm 139:8). Look, the LORD God is not only present in your "happy moments," when you feel "put together" and respectable, but he is present in your desperate moments, in your hunger, your thirst, and in your secrets. May we never lose sight of God's love, especially in times of distress and trouble, since we trust that he is always working all things together for our ultimate good (Rom. 8:28).
The Name of the LORD (יהוה) means "Presence" and "Love" (Exod. 3:14; 34:6-7). Yeshua said, "I go to prepare a place for you," which means that his presence and love are waiting for you in whatever lies ahead (Rom. 8:35-39). To worry is "practicing the absence" of God instead of practicing His Presence... Trust the word of the Holy Spirit: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for healing peace and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jer. 29:11). The Word always speaks hope.
Take comfort that your Heavenly Father sees when the sparrow falls; he arrays the flower in its hidden valley; and he calls each star by name. More importantly, the Lord sees you and knows your struggle with fear. Come to him with your needy heart and trust him to deliver you from the burdens of your soul (Matt. 11:28). Shalom means being free from fear.
This is a word for the exiles of every age: Be not afraid - al-tira' – not of man, nor of war, nor of tribulation, nor even of death itself (Rom. 8:35-39). If God be for us, who can be against us? Indeed, Yeshua came to die to destroy the power of death "and to release all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery" (Heb. 2:14-15). The resurrection of the Messiah is the focal point of history - not the "dust of death." Death does not have the final word. Indeed, because Yeshua is alive, we also shall live (John 14:19). May your chesed, O LORD, be upon us, as we wait for You (Psalm 33:22).
Nachman of Breslov once is reported to have said that "The whole earth is a very narrow bridge (כָּל־הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ גֶּשֶׁר צַר מְאד), and the point of life is never to be afraid." Likewise we understand Yeshua to be the Bridge to the Father, the narrow way of passage that leads to life. He calls out to us in the storm of this world, "Take heart. It is I; be not afraid" (Matt. 14:27). When Peter answered the call and attempted to walk across the stormy waters, he lost courage and began to sink, but Yeshua immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt (lit., think twice)?"
We must be careful not to let the light in us become darkness (Luke 11:35). The love and acceptance of God is the answer to our fear, not the thought of being judged by Him or attempting to merit his favor through religion. God's love is our hope, and this hope gives us courage to persevere the storms of the day... As it is written: "Be not afraid of sudden terror, nor of the destruction of the wicked when it comes. For the LORD shall be your confidence, and he shall keep your foot from being caught" (Prov. 3:25-26). Amen, may your chesed, O LORD, be upon us, as we wait for You....
Hebrew Lesson
Proverbs 3:25-26 reading (click):
Teshuvah and Truth...
[ People perish because "they refuse to love the truth and so be saved" (2 Thess. 2:10-12). Therefore the issue of truth - physical, moral, aesthetic, spiritual, etc. - is central to salvation. ]
09.03.23 (Av 30, 5785) In the New Testament, the Greek word "metanoia" is the most commonly used word to express the idea of "repentance." The word is formed from the prefix 'μετα' ("after, beyond") combined 'νοεω' ("to think") and it generally means "changing your mind" (in the noun form) or "thinking differently" (in the verb form). Since it can also represent an "afterthought" expressed emotionally as disappointment over a loss of some kind, metanoia is similar to the idea of nacham (נָחַם) in the Hebrew Scriptures, which literally means to "sigh" heavily as a way of expressing regret or consolation. The Greek word strepho (στρέφω), like the Hebrew word shuv (שׁוּב), means to "return" to God in a practical sense, that is, by performing acts of contrition. In either case, however, Hebrew or Greek, a change of direction is implied, and that begins with changing how we think and what we regard as the truth. Repentance, then, involves a new vision, a new way of seeing reality...
Yeshua's earthly ministry began with the message, "The time has come and the kingdom of God draws near: repent (μετανοεῖτε) and believe (πιστεύετε) the good news" (Mark 1:15). These two verbs (repent and believe) are in the imperative mood. We are commanded to repent, to "change our thinking," and therefore to turn away from hopelessness - and the sin that hopelessness begets - by accepting God's intervention and deliverance. But you cannot believe if you do not first turn, and therefore you must change your focus; you must clear away the world's distractions and ready your heart to hear the message. It is then that we hear a voice crying out: "Prepare the way of the LORD and make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God!" (Isa. 40:3).
Hebrew Lesson
Isaiah 40:3 reading (click for audio):
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Note that the Hebrew word translated "prepare" in this verse (i.e., panu) comes from a root word (פָּנָה) that means to turn to face someone... The Hebrew word panim (פָּנִים), "face," comes from the same root, as does the word penimi (פְּנִימִי), "inner," and the word penimiyut (פְּנִימִיוּת), meaning "inwardness" or "immanency." This suggests that we must go within our own hearts, and there, in our "desert places," prepare for the Presence of the LORD. It is in the solitude of the desert - away from the mindless noise and empty distractions of this vain world, where we can listen and focus our heart, confess our sin, and express our great need for God... Being honest with ourselves makes us yashar (יָשַׁר), "upright," and crooked ways are made straight for God to be received... The Hebrew word mesilah (מְסִלָּה) alludes to the ladder (i.e., sullam: סֻלָּם) that Jacob saw in the desert when he received the blessing of God (Gen. 28:12). Yeshua is the Bridge, or Ladder (הַסֻּלָּם), that unites and mediates heaven and earth (John 1:51).
Since God holds us responsible to repent and believe the truth of the gospel (Acts 17:30-31), He must have made it possible for us to do so ("ought" implies "can"). And indeed, God has created us in His image so that we are able to discern spiritual truth. He created us with a logical sense (rationality) as well as a moral sense (conscience) so that we can apprehend order and find meaning in the universe He created. All our knowledge presupposes this. Whenever we experience anything through our senses, for example, we use logic to categorize and generalize from the particular to the general, and whenever we make deductions in our thinking (comparing terms, making inferences, and so on), we rely on logic. We have an innate intellectual and moral "compass" that points us to God.
Since we all necessarily must think in order to live, we should value clear thinking. This should be obvious enough, though people often make various errors and misjudgments because they devalue the effort required to carefully think through a question. As William James once said, "A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices." When it comes to questions about the gospel, however, God regards such carelessness to be blameworthy. Again, the LORD holds us accountable for what we think and believe, especially when it comes to the reality and mission of His Son.
The truth about God is always available to human beings, if they are earnestly willing to look for it. The Divine Light that was created before the sun and the stars represents God's immanent presence that "lights up" all of creation - including our minds (Gen. 1:3). As Paul stated, "the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen so that people are without excuse" (Rom. 1:19-20). The heavens are constantly attesting to the reality of God's handiwork (Psalm 19:1). All of creation "shouts out" that there is a God. Even small children understand this.
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 19:7 reading (click for audio):
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Note: For more on this subject, see "Teshuvah of the Mind."
Teshuvah of the Heart...
[ Rosh Chodesh Elul and the 40 days begins this evening... ]
09.02.24 (Av 29, 5784) Regarding the call to do teshuvah the LORD appeals: "Come back to me with all your heart (בְּכָל־לְבַבְכֶם) - with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning - and rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God (וְשׁוּבוּ אֶל־יְהוָה אֱלהֵיכֶם), for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in love..." (Joel 2:13). Genuine teshuvah (repentance) is not about the "outer layers" of life, but engages the deepest depths of heart; it is not expressed in religious practices or rituals but in personal brokenness and utter desperation... As King David said, "the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit (רוּחַ נִשְׁבָּרָה); a broken and contrite heart (לֵב־נִשְׁבָּר וְנִדְכֶּה), O God, you will not despise" (Psalm 51:17). As is written in our Haftarah portion for Shabbat Shuvah: "Return O Israel (שׁוּבָה יִשְׂרָאֵל), to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity; take with you words and return to the LORD (וְשׁוּבוּ אֶל־יְהוָה) and say to him, 'Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips'" (Hos. 14:1-2).
Note that the appeal to the LORD as "gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love" (חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם הוּא אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב־חֶסֶד) recalls the meaning of YHVH (יהוה) revealed to Moses in his state of brokenness over the sin of the Golden Calf (Exod. 34:6-7). It's a word for our hour of need as well.
Hebrew Lesson
Joel 2:13b Hebrew reading (click):
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Daily Dvar Podcast:
Guarding your Heart...
09.02.24 (Av 29, 5784) Shalom chaverim. It is written in our Scriptures: "Above all else guard your heart, for from it flow the springs of life" (Prov. 4:23). The Hebrew text for this verse is emphatic. We are to guard our hearts vigilantly, just as a prison guard or warden might keep watch over a prisoner. The phrase translated "above all else" (mikkol mishmar), literally means "more than anything that might be guarded" a construction used to intensify the command to exercise vigilance. Plainly put, this verse commands us to watch over our heart more than anything else.
In the following daily d'var broadcast (see links below), I briefly discuss the importance of guarding our hearts especially in light of the call to do teshuvah during the Forty Days leading up to Yom Kippur. I hope you find it helpful.
Linked Podcasts:
Guarding your Heart...
09.02.24 (Av 29, 5784) Our Torah portion for this week, parashat Shoftim, begins: "Judges and officers you shall give to yourself (תִּתֶּן־לְךָ) in all your gates" (Deut. 16:18). In this connection some of the sages interpreted the word "gates" (שׁערים) to refer to our sense organs, for example, the "eye gate," the "ear gate," and so on. Likewise the Lord instructs us to write the words of Torah "upon the doors of our house and on our gates" (Deut. 6:9). Because we are naturally inclined to "spy after our hearts and eyes" (Num. 15:39), we are instructed to appoint "gatekeepers" to protect the sanctity of our heart and soul, as it says: "Above all else guard your heart, for from it flow the springs of life" (Prov. 4:23).
The Hebrew text for this verse is emphatic. We are to guard our hearts vigilantly, just as a prison guard or warden might keep watch over a prisoner. The phrase translated "above all else" literally means "more than anything that might be guarded" (mikkol mishmar), a construction used to intensify the command to exercise vigilance. Plainly put, this verse commands us to watch over our heart more than anything else.
And yet "the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint" (Isa. 1:5). We understand how apt we are to go astray in our affections, and therefore the heart is easily divided, obstructed, and liable to failure... Despite its frailty, however, the heart determines totze'ot chayim, or the "springs" or "contours" of life. In the Tanakh, the word totza'ot is often used to refer to the borders of territories or the boundaries of a city. This verse is saying that from the heart of a person (lev) a "map" or "chart" to life is drawn. As the heart is either pure or corrupt, so will be the course of one's life... Purity of heart represents healing, which means being single-minded in our affections and attention before the LORD.
How you choose to guard your heart from inner corruption and hardness will determine the "road" of your life. Concerning this verse the Metzudos commentary says, "Above all – more than anything else – a person must be careful to guard his heart from improper thoughts, for one cannot contemplate using the heart – the very vortex of life – to harbor thoughts that are inimical to life." Because the flesh is weak, we must be vigilant lest we become cynical, weary, and unfeelingly selfish. An unguarded heart soon becomes troubled, lonely, suspicious, and unstable. If, however, we keep ourselves from the obstruction of sin, we will experience the free flow of compassion, encouragement, and joy. The faithful heart is open - it believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things (1 Cor. 13:7).
"Judges and officers you shall give to yourself (תִּתֶּן־לְךָ) in all your gates." Note that that Torah states that you shall appoint these to yourself, stated in the singular, not in the plural, to suggest that it is your personal responsibility to guard your heart from negative influences. God considers it your duty to yield yourself as a vessel or "steward" of the kingdom of God (Rom. 6:13). We must regularly ask God to enlighten "the eyes of our heart" (τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῆς καρδίας ὑμῶν) according to His wisdom and power (i.e., truth revealed in Scripture), and to impart the power of the Holy Spirit to transform our desires and affections so that they conform to the character of the Messiah (Eph. 1:18).
Hebrew Lesson
Proverbs 4:23 Hebrew reading (click):
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Parashat Shoftim - שופטים
[ Surely our nihilistic and moribund culture of anarchy, relativistic chaos, and "radical" politics needs to hear the Torah regarding boundaries and matters of social justice (Jer. 18:15-16)... ]
09.01.24 (Av 28, 5784) Shalom and Shavuah tov, chaverim! Our Torah reading for this week (Shoftim) begins with the commandment that the people of Israel should appoint judges (i.e., shoftim: שׁפְטִים) and officers (i.e., shoterim: שׁוֹטְרִים) so that justice would be respected throughout the promised land (Deut. 16:18). The duty to establish justice is famously stated as, "tzedek, tzedek tirdof" (צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדּף): "Justice, Justice you shall pursue" (Deut. 16:20). The word tzedek means "righteousness" and involves the obligation to adhere to moral truth.
Throughout the portion the theme of social justice predominates, as the ethical characteristics for judges are defined, as well as for elders, kings, prophets, and priests, all of whom are responsible for maintaining a just and healthful society. As the prophet wrote: "The work of righteousness shall be peace" (וְהָיָה מַעֲשֵׂה הַצְּדָקָה שָׁלוֹם), and "the service of righteousness (וַעֲבדַת הַצְּדָקָה) shall be quietness and security forever" (Isa. 32:17).
Hebrew Lesson
Opening words of the Torah portion (click):
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Note that the call for justice, "tzedek, tzedek tirdof" (צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדּף) is stated twice to teach that justice must be pursued in an entirely just manner, that is, the methods used to obtain justice must themselves be just... Corrupt law enforcement and judicial systems, political persecution, etc., are all condemned. The Scriptures therefore do not advocate pragmatism or utilitarian thinking. There are no "noble lies" in the Kingdom of Heaven. Violence (verbal or physical) or deception done in the name of God is always forbidden and will be judged by the LORD. We must execute great restraint and caution when we seek to confront oppression in the world. If you want to change the world around you, begin with yourself....
Hebrew Lesson
Deut. 16:20 Hebrew reading (click):
August 2024 Site Updates
Daily Dvar Podcast:
Seeing and Decision...
08.30.24 (Av 26, 5784) Shabbat Shalom chaverim. In this "Daily Dvar" broadcast, I discuss our responsibility to discern the spiritual significance hidden within our everyday choices and therefore to come alive and choose life! Links are below.
Linked Podcasts:
Pilgrimage in a Circle...
[ "Every Jew should think of himself as having come out of Egypt." - Traditional Haggadah ]
08.30.24 (Av 26, 5784) Our Torah reading Re'eh this week concludes with the commandment to make three "pilgrimage festivals" (i.e., shelosh regalim) each year: Passover, Shavuot (Pentecost), and Sukkot (Tabernacles). In the Torah, these "holidays" are called "appointed times" (i.e., mo'edim: מוֹעֲדִים), a word which comes from a root meaning witness (עֵד). Other words formed from this root include edah (עֵדָה), a congregation, edut (עֵדוּת), a testimony, and so on. The related verb ya'ad (יָעַד) means to meet, assemble, or even to betroth. The significance of the holy days, then, is for the covenant people of the LORD to bear witness to God's love and faithfulness by revisiting our history and by looking forward to their ultimate fulfillment, that is, the heavenly reality the holidays adumbrate. Meanwhile we trust in God's prophetic plan as revealed in the holy calendar, and observe the seasons as he has commanded. As it says, "All the paths of the LORD are compassion and truth to those keeping His covenant and His testimonies."
כָּל־אָרְחוֹת יְהוָה חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת
לְנצְרֵי בְרִיתוֹ וְעֵדתָיו
kohl-ohr·choht · Adonai · che'·sed · ve·e·met
le·noh·tze·rei · ve·ree·toh · ve·e·doh·tahv
"All the paths of the LORD are compassion and truth
to those keeping His covenant and His testimonies."
(Psalm 25:10)
Hebrew Study Card
Metaphorically the "paths of the Lord" (i.e., orchot Adonai: אָרְחוֹת יְהוָה) are likened to ruts or grooves created by the wheels of a caravan (i.e., orchah: אוֹרחָה) passing repeatedly over the same ground. These paths signify the Divine Presence journeying with God's children in this world. In temporal terms, we are able to discern the path by means of the divine calendar. God's love and faithfulness attend to His covenant (i.e., brit: בְּרִית, "pledge" or promise) and to the commemorations of the yearly "appointed times" (i.e., mo'edim: מוֹעֲדִם) which testify to God's love and faithfulness. Keeping God's testimonies, then, means that we will be careful to observe the biblical holidays in order to witness to God's truth...
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 25:10 Hebrew reading (click):
Shababt Shalom, friends. May this coming Season of Teshuvah be one wherein we all draw closer to the LORD our God... Choose life and blessing! Amen.
Teach us to Pray...
[ "Prayer is not what is done by us, but rather what is done by the Holy Spirit in us." ]
08.30.24 (Av 26, 5784) There is only once place in the New Testament where the disciples asked Yeshua to teach them something, and that was when they said, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). Yeshua then responded by giving them a pattern of prayer that's been called "the Lord's Prayer," though it's better to think of it as a model for prayer instead of a formulaic petition to recite. After all, the disciples asked "Teach us to pray," not "teach us a prayer," as if a special prayer could serve as a sort of incantation or way to propitiate God.
Yeshua points us to the Father. He did not suggest using Pharisaical expressions such as "Barukh attah Adonai," "Ribbono shel Olam," or "Elohei Avoteinu," nor did he endorse praying three times a day as decreed by the elders of the Great Assembly. No, Yeshua taught us to come to God using the simple word "Father." This is the language of familiar intimacy that expresses the trust a young child has for his earthly father.
So Yeshua teaches us to pray in heartfelt confidence that God is our caring heavenly Father, and this implies that we understand and regard ourselves as his beloved children. We have access to God's heart in a direct and meaningful way.
As God's beloved children, we are to honor and our heavenly Father and to esteem his will and vision for our destiny. "Holy is Thy name"; "Thy will be done"; "Thy kingdom come" - all these matters come before requests for our "daily bread" -- and even before matters of our need for forgiveness of sin. Our course God cares for our daily needs, our forgiveness, our deliverance from evil, and so on, but Yeshua concentrates our focus on the Father and our identity as his children first of all. Da lifnei mi attah omed: "Know before whom you stand."
Regarding our personal petitions, it is wise to understand that your Heavenly Father gives what you need, not what you may want at the time. "Ask and it shall be given you" means "keep on asking" (Luke 11:9). If a recurring request seems to go unanswered, remember that initial barriers are not necessarily final refusals but are meant to yield what is best for you (Rom. 8:28). We can be confident, however, that God hears us when we pray andthat he gives "good gifts" to those who ask Him (Matt. 7:11) -- in particular, gifts of the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13). God gives wisdom to those who ask for it (James 1:5) and imparts the "spirit of wisdom and revelation to know him better" (Eph. 1:17). If we ask in accordance with his will, we have confidence that he hears us and will act on our behalf (1 John 5:14-15). These are "spiritual blessings in heavenly places" representing the deepest need of our hearts.
We are instructed to "present ourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead" (Rom. 6:13), indicating that we are to come confident of his acceptance because of what Yeshua has done on our behalf. We are "crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20) and share in his resurrection life. In the Torah the "daily sacrifice," or korban tamid (קָרְבַּן תָּמִיד), was offered to the LORD every morning and evening upon the altar, which corresponds to being a "living sacrifice" (i.e., korban chai: קָרְבָּן חַי) to the LORD (Rom. 12:1-2). We must take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23). We come "boldly" before the throne of grace. We are made "alive from the dead" to access God's presence and heart for us at all times. We have been made new creations, members of God's household, esteemed, eternally beloved....
"Take my soul and body's powers;
take my memory, mind and will;
All my goods, all my hours;
All I know, and all I feel;
All I think, or speak, or do;
take my heart - and make it new."
- Charles Wesley
Hebrew Lesson
Matthew 6:9b reading (click):
Today is the Day...
[ "The reward for doing one mitzvah is the opportunity to do another mitzvah." - Avot 4:2 ]
08.29.24 (Av 25, 5784) It is written in our Torah portion this week (Re'eh), "Behold I am setting before you this day a blessing and a curse" (Deut. 11:26). The Hebrew for "I am setting" is an active participle (נֹתֵן), however in context we might have expected for it to be written in the past tense: "I have set (נָתַתִּי) before you this day..." The Vilna Gaon said this shows us that Torah is written for the present time and God constantly gives us choices, day by day, hour by hour, wherein we may choose the good and reject the evil, or conversely that we may choose the evil and reject the good.
The admonition to "choose life" therefore is ongoing and inevitable. As Jean-Paul Sartre said, "man is condemned to be free," since people cannot deny their responsibility to choose apart from "bad faith," by which he meant passively playing the victim by blaming their circumstances or letting other people chose for them... Our present choice is ours to make for this hour, and it is not based on the past nor in the future. The blessing (or curse) is presented "this day," that is, the day of your present reality, and it is therefore your opportunity to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" and to "take no thought of tomorrow," as Yeshua taught (Matt. 6:33-34).
Note that the blessing (i.e., ha'berakhah: אֶת־הַבְּרָכָה) is realized if you "hearken" (i.e., shema: שׁמע) to God's commandments and do them (the direct object marker (את) signifying Yeshua, the First and the Last, precedes the blessing), which indicates that the keeping of God's commandments is the blessing itself, substantiating that you are loyal to God's will.
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov commented that God sends blessings every day, undifferentiated and given for all people, just as Yeshua said, "Your heavenly Father makes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust alike" (Matt. 5:45). God's blessing descends upon all, but it is up to the individual to receive it, just as the manna fell silently in the darkness but later was to be collected before it would melt away... Amen. Blessed are the pure in heart, Yeshua said, for they shall see God (Matt. 5:8).
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 118:24 reading (click):
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Daily Dvar Podcast:
Torah of the Good Eye...
08.29.24 (Av 25, 5784) Shalom chaverim. The way we choose to see is ultimately a spiritual decision. In this "Daily Dvar broadcast, I discuss the "Torah of the Good Eye" and the spiritual need to seek goodness in everyday reality. I hope you will find it helpful. Links are below.
Linked Podcasts:
The 40 Days of Teshuvah...
[ The Forty Day "Season of Repentance" begins Mon., Sept. 2nd at sundown this year... ]
08.29.24 (Av 25, 5784) The last month of the Jewish calendar (counting from Tishri) is called Elul (אֱלוּל), which begins at sundown on Monday, September 2nd this year. Traditionally, Rosh Chodesh Elul marks the beginning of a forty day "Season of Teshuvah" that culminates on the solemn holiday of Yom Kippur. The month of Elul is therefore a time set aside each year to prepare for the Yamim Nora'im, the "Days of Awe," by getting our spiritual house in order.
During this time we make additional effort to repent, or "turn [shuv] toward God." In Jewish tradition, these 40 days are sometimes called Yemei Ratzon (יְמֵי רָצוֹן) - "Days of Favor," since it was during this time that the LORD forgave the Jewish nation after the sin of the Golden Calf (Pirke d'Reb Eliezar). Some of the sages liken these 40 days to the number of days it takes for the human fetus to be formed within the womb.
The advent of the "Season of Teshuvah" reminds us that we all fail, that we all are broken people, and that errors and mistakes are part of our daily spiritual life... We journey toward humility and compassion rather than struggle for perfection; we confess our need for forgiveness and seek reconciliation with all those we might have harmed... During this season it is common enough to hear messages about our need to turn and draw near to God for life, but it is equally important to remember that God turns and draws near to the brokenhearted for consolation. As it is said, the Lord is near to the nishbar lev (נִשְׁבָּר לֵב), the one with a broken and crushed heart (Psalm 34:18).
Brokenness is the means through which God performs some of His deepest work within our hearts. A.W. Tozer once said, "It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply." Likewise Alan Redpath once wrote, "When God wants to do an impossible task, he takes an impossible individual – and crushes him." William James called this deep work of the spiritual life Zerrissenheit, a term that roughly can be translated as "torn-to-pieces-hood," or a state of being utterly broken and in disarray... The brokenhearted live in day-to-day dependence upon God for the miracle...
"Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God." - Jonathan Edwards
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 34:18 Hebrew reading (click):
Note that the word "Elul" (אֱלוּל) may be read as an acronym for the phrase,
ani le'dodi ve'dodi li (אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְדוֹדִי לִי), "I am my beloved's, and my beloved in mine"
(Song 6:3), to encourage to become full of desire for the Beloved of our soul...
Walking after the LORD...
[ The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, parashat Re'eh.... ]
08.28.24 (Av 24, 5784) In our Torah portion for this week (parashat Re'eh) we read: "You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and heed his voice; you shall serve him and cleave to him" (Deut. 13:4). Here the sages note that the word "after" (i.e., acharei: אַחֲרֵי) implies a sense of distance – and that when we feel distant from God, we should begin taking steps so that we can learn to cleave to him...
Experiencing "distance" is a blessing from heaven, then, since without sensing our great need, why would we turn and seek God for healing and life? Indeed, someone who regards himself as close to God may actually be far away from him, while the one who realizes how distant he is may in truth be drawing close (see Luke 18:9-14).
We cleave to God (דְּבָקוּת) only if we first see ourselves as "acharei," or removed, as it is written: "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted (קָרוֹב יְהוָה לְנִשְׁבְּרֵי־לֵב) and saves the crushed in spirit" (Psalm 34:18). As we learn to walk with God, we are in tension between reverence and love; we feel distant yet we are invited to draw close to God's heart to heal our alienation (James 4:8).
Brokenness distills the intentions of the heart by helping us to be more honest with ourselves. We begin to realize that we are more vulnerable than at first we thought; that our faith is not as strong as we imagined, and that our motives are often mixed and unconscious. Illusions are striped away; idols crumble; deeper levels of selfishness are uncovered; the gap between our words and our deeds is exposed...
It is one thing, after all, to intellectually think about faith or to idealize spirituality, but it is quite another to walk out faith in darkness. Yet it is only there, in the rawness of heart, that we discover what we really believe and how our faith makes traction with reality...
Hebrew Lesson
Deut. 13:4a reading (click):
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Gratitude and Seeing...
[ "Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what's left and live it properly.
- Marcus Aurelius (see Col. 3:2-3). ]
08.27.24 (Av 23, 5784) We are instructed to look for small miracles, everyday "signs and wonders..." In the Torah we read: "And you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you." (Deut. 8:10), which the sages say implies that whenever we derive benefit or enjoyment from something we are to bless (i.e., thank) God for his goodness. Indeed, Jewish tradition says that if one eats or drinks without saying a blessing, it is as if he has stolen from God. From the verse, "What does the LORD ask of you..." (Deut. 10:12), the sages infer that a person should say at least 100 blessings a day, since the word מה, "what," alludes to the word מאה, a "hundred." The Hebrew term for gratitude is hakarat tovah (הַכָּרַת טוֹבָה), a phrase that means "recognizing the good." The heart looks through the eye, and therefore how we see is ultimately a spiritual decision: "If your eye is "single" (i.e., ἁπλοῦς, sincere, focused)," Yeshua said, "your whole body will be filled with light" (Matt. 6:22). When we see rightly, we are awakened to God's Presence in the little things of life, those small miracles and glories that constantly surround us. The good eye of faith sees hundreds of reasons to bless God for the precious gift of life (1 Cor. 10:31). Open your eyes... The LORD is "enthroned among the blessings of His people" (Psalm 22:3).
Addictions, cravings, lusts, etc., arise from a refusal to be satisfied, by hungering for more than the blessing of the present moment. "My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water" (Jer. 2:13). The living waters are present for us, but we will only find them if we open our hearts to the wonder of God in this moment. We can "break the spell" of continual dissatisfaction, of the power of greed, ambition, and so on, when we discover that our constant hunger is really a cry for God and His blessing. This is the blessed "hunger and thirst" given by the Spirit (Matt. 5:6). Our sense of inner emptiness is an invitation to come to the waters and drink life. So come to God's table and ask the Lord Yeshua to give you the water that will satisfy your heart's true thirst for life...
It is written: "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack" (Psalm 34:8-9). We can only "taste and see" when we are earnest however, when we seek God with passion... When you pray, lift up your heart and soul to God, asking for the miracle to surrender to Him in the truth. Where it says, "with all your heart" (בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ), present before him all your passion and desires; your hopes and your needs, your fears and your anger; and where it says, "with all your soul" (וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ), offer before him your very soul, as if to be sacrificed in his service; and where it says, "with all your muchness" (וּבְכָל־מְאדֶךָ) offer to him all your strength, all your means, and all your dreams. Ask to be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh to be enabled to apprehend the glory of God in the face of the Messiah (בִּפְנֵי הַמָּשִׁיחַ), through whom we are being transformed for the glory of God.
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 34:8 reading (click for audio):
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HaMakom - the Place of God
[ "Only the heart knows how to find what is precious." - Fyodor Dostoevsky ]
08.27.24 (Av 23, 5784) From our Torah portion this week (i.e., Re'eh) we read: "But you shall seek the place (הַמָּקוֹם) that the LORD your God will choose... there you shall go" (Deut. 12:5). This indicates the primacy of seeking: you must first seek "the place" and then you can go up (Matt. 6:33). The sages note that the gematria for this verse is the same as "You shall therefore lay up these words of Mine in your heart and in your soul..." (Deut. 11:18), which again reveals that the Divine Presence, "HaMakom" (הַמָּקוֹם), is manifest within the place of our hearts...
If we seek God with all our hearts we will "come there," and we will find Him there. Our yearning for God leads us to the place of His Presence, as it says: "Open to me the gates of righteousness (שַׁעֲרֵי־צֶדֶק), that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD" (Psalm 118:19). It is our heartache, our hunger, thirst, and our yearning for love that opens the gate to come before God. Praise the LORD - His heart is the place we truly need.
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 132:13 reading (click):
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Of the "Place of God" (הַמָּקוֹם) the Torah says "that I may dwell in their midst" (Exod. 25:8), which can be translated as "that I may dwell within them," indicating that the point of the Tabernacle was to bring God within the hearts of His people... We must create a place within our hearts, in other words, for God to dwell within us. Yeshua likewise told us that we would experience peace and joy when we "abide in Him." Note that the numeric value of the word mishkan (מִשְׁכָּן) is the same as the word shema (שְׁמַע), "hear" or "listen" (Deut. 6:4). When we really stop to listen to the LORD, we will find His glorious and loving Presence...
Remember who you are...
[ "Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the Beloved..." - Henri Nouwen ]
08.27.24 (Av 23, 5784) One of the greatest mistakes is to forget who you really are and your beloved status before the LORD... "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine" (Isa. 43:1). Forgetting who you are leads to forgetting who the LORD is, just as forgetting who the LORD is leads to forgetting who you are...
In our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Re'eh) we read: "You are children of the LORD your God (בָּנִים אַתֶּם לַיהוָה אֱלהֵיכֶם). You shall not cut yourselves for the dead" (Deut. 14:1). Here Moses reminds the people that they are children of the Eternal (יהוה) and therefore they were not to mourn for the dead like those without hope of life beyond the grave... Our God, the Father of Israel, is the Source of Life, and even if our earthly fathers die, we will never be orphans, because the LORD, the Everlasting God who is the "God of the spirits of all flesh" (אֱלהֵי הָרוּחת לְכָל־בָּשָׂר), always watches over us: "He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber" (Psalm 121:3). But if we forget who we are, if we lose sight of our place in the Heavenly Father's heart, then we are likely to fall into a state of excessive and self-destructive mourning over the losses we experience in this world. In the most tragic cases, this can lead to the darkness of unremedied despair, "living among the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones" (Mark 5:5). On the other hand, if remember our place at the Father's table as his children, if we take hold that we are beloved of God - his very own "treasured people" - then we will regard the difficulties we encounter in this world as a test of faith intended for our good (Deut. 8:3,16, Jer. 29:11).
God regards us as his beloved children, and therefore we trust him as a child trusts his father. We may not always understand all that our father does, but we have complete faith in his good will toward us, even in the face of death itself. We do not engage in self-destructive mourning, then, because we are treasured by God and we trust in God's promises for eternal life (John 11:25). Because of this, Jewish halachah (legal custom) puts limits to grieving practices. Excessive mourning, interminable gloom, self-destructive anger, or the refusal to let go of our fear may indicate a lack of faith in God's care as our Father. Remember where it says "God works all things together for good," for that includes even physical death... Let us therefore "hope to the LORD (קַוֵּה אֶל־יְהוָה); be strong and strengthen our heart; and (again) let us hope to the LORD" (Psalm 27:14).
Hebrew Lesson
Isaiah 43:1b reading (click):
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Believing and Seeing...
[ "In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't." - Blaise Pascal ]
08.26.24 (Av 22, 5784) This week's Torah portion is about seeing. It begins with the imperative to understand the implications of our choices: "See (רְאֵה), I set before you today a blessing and a curse..." (Deut. 11:26). Moses challenges us to think clearly about the choices that lie before us and to choose the way of life and blessing.
Some concerns in life present mutually exclusive options, and everything is affected by what you will choose. Kierkegaard, however, warns that many people opt out of making serious decisions by procrastination. He writes: "Cowardice settles deep in our souls like the idle mists on stagnant waters. From it arise unhealthy vapors and deceiving phantoms. The thing that cowards fears most is decision; for decision always scatters the mists, at least for a moment. Cowardice thus hides behind the thought it likes best of all: the crutch of time. Cowardice and time always find a reason for not hurrying, for saying, "Not today, but tomorrow," whereas God in heaven and the eternal say: "Do it today. Now is the day of salvation." Amen. Choosing not to choose is itself a choice, and the moment calls for an immediate response. As Joshua said in the valley of decision: "Chose this day whom you will serve!"
Making a non-trivial choice is a matter of consequence that echoes throughout your life. In this connection note that the Hebrew word for seeing (i.e., ראה) and the word for fearing (i.e., ירא) share the same root, suggesting that we cannot truly see apart from the reverence of God.
Some people say "I'll believe it when I see it," but the heart of faith believes in order to see... You will see it as you believe. "There are only two ways to live your life," Albert Einstein said, "one is as if nothing is a miracle; the other is as if everything is a miracle." The gift of seeing the truth of God is a miracle on the order of being born again. Regarding his conversion C.S. Lewis said, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." If you believe in the love of God there are no questions; but if you refuse to believe, there are no answers.
"You teach," said Emperor Trajan to Rabbi Joshua, "that your God is everywhere, yet I cannot see him." Joshua said that unlike human kings, the LORD was too powerful for people to see; as it is written in the Torah: "No person shall see Me and live." The emperor was skeptical, however, and insisted that unless he could see God, he would be unable to believe. Joshua then pointed to the sun high in the sky: "Look into the sun and you will see God." The emperor tried to look into the sun, but was forced to cover his eyes to keep them from burning: "I cannot look into the sun," he said. Joshua then replied: "Listen to yourself: If you cannot look into the sun which is but one of God's creations, how can you expect to look at God?" (Sefer HaAggadah)
It's been said that the optimist believes this is the best of all possible worlds; whereas the pessimist is afraid that the optimist is right... Faith is the foundation for everything, and indeed, there can be no knowledge of anything whatsoever apart from faith. It is therefore supremely important for us to think clearly about our faith, since what we believe about God has eternal implications...
Hebrew Lesson
Deut. 30:19b reading (click):
Gathering Real Treasures...
[ "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot ]
08.26.24 (Av 22, 5784) In the parable of the "rich fool" (Luke 12:15-21), Yeshua tells the story of a certain rich man who acquired such worldly prosperity that he decided to store it all up so that he could retire in luxury and comfort. However, after he made his preparations God said to him: "You fool! This very night your soul will be collected from you. The things you have prepared, whose will they be?' Yeshua then warned: "This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God."
We have to be on guard not to insulate ourselves with foolish faith that says we can provide for ourselves or create a hedge against future trouble. This is why Yeshua told his disciples to let go of their possessions, to give away their wealth, for then they would be rich toward God. "For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also" (Luke 12:34).
To live otherwise is to be a fool, that is, someone who misses the point of life. In this passage, the Greek word for "fool" is ἄφρων, which refers to an unthinking or thoughtless person -- someone who does not reflect on the purpose and end of life. In Hebrew the word for such a fool is "kesil" (כְּסִיל), from a root that means to be dull and indifferent to matters of spirituality (Prov. 1:22; 17:16). The fool despises words of wisdom (Prov. 23:9) and has no real objective in life other than that which is found in the immediacy of the moment (Prov. 17:24; 21:20, etc.).
Note that a fool is not a person of low or deficient intelligence but rather someone who is decidedly indifferent to spiritual reality. The fool says in his heart that God doesn't matter and that the goal of life is to gain carnal pleasures (Psalm 14:1). He is egocentric, hedonistic, and blind to the real significance of life. He focuses on this passing world and its vanities and not on the world to come. עֵינֵי כְסִיל בִּקְצֵה־אָרֶץ - "The eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth" (Prov. 17:24). He is someone who "stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God."
On the other hand, as the late Jim Elliot said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." That's gathering treasure toward God (Luke 12:21). And we gain this godly treasure by means of doing tzedakah (צְדָקָה), that is, giving to others (Prov. 19:17; Matt. 10:42). The Hebrew word for love, "ahavah" (אַהֲבָה), means to give (הב) in sacrificial kindness or compassion. And indeed this is the heart of God revealed in the sacrificial life of Yeshua. When we reciprocate by giving of ourselves to God, we are made rich in the blessing of his love.
Clinging to worldly "riches" is dangerous because it creates a false sense of security that insulates us from our need for the Lord. Being rich toward this world makes you a fool before God. As Yeshua taught us, "Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matt. 16:25-26). "What is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15). "Until you have given up yourself to Him, you will not have a real self" (C. S. Lewis). Indeed worldly power and prosperity are often antithetical to spiritual success...
Unlike the rich fool who sought his security by storing his treasures into "larger barns," Yeshua told us not to be anxious and to trust in God alone for our security. He pointed to the birds of the air that "neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns." God provides and personally cares for them; won't he also therefore take care of you? (Luke 12:24). And he continued by asking "which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?" The Greek word for "anxious" in this verse is μεριμνάω, from μερίζω, meaning to be inwardly divided or "double-minded." We are not to be "cross-eyed" in the way we look at things. Keep your mind set on the Lord and his care (Psalm 16:8). As Yeshua said to Peter after he sank in the waters, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (i.e., διστάζω, lit., "think twice").
When we worry about things beyond our control we are acting like the rich fool who falsely assumed that he was in control of his life and that his security was to be found in his own resources... We build our lives upon the sand rather than the rock of God's truth; we focus on this world more than in the presence and promises of God.
Being "rich toward God" means partaking in the heavenly treasures of eternal life now, and investing the worldly treasures of temporal life for our everlasting blessing and the glory of God. It is a reversal of the "wisdom of the rich fool" because it values what God values over ourselves.... "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" (Matt. 6:3). True life is not to be found in the comforts and vanities of this world, but in earnest relationship with the Living God who is the Source and End of all enduring meaning, life, and happiness. Our treasure, our "riches toward God," is Yeshua, and that is where we will find our hearts.
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 31:19 reading (click for audio):
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The Great Commandment
Our heart's greatest need...
08.26.24 (Av 22, 5784) Both Moses and Yeshua taught that the "great commandment" of Torah (הַמִּצְוָה הַגְּדוֹלָה בַּתּוֹרָה), that is, the imperative which is of utmost spiritual importance, is to love God with all of our being. Nothing is more important, and nothing better expresses the essential duty of our lives. And as I hope you will see, this great commandment is fundamentally an appeal to awaken to beauty, mystery, holiness, and peace. It's an invitation to be radically made whole, set free from fear and despair. It's the call to receive healing of your alienation and to know a real sense of belonging. This is the great commandment: to open your heart to receive God's love and to learn to love...
Just as God is the Source of all love, so loving God is the goal or end of our existence; it is our raison d'etre, our very reason for being. It is the answer to the haunting existential question of why we exist. No matter who you are or what you have done, the greatest thing about you is that you are loved by God, and that your central need is to receive God's love and to live it out in your life.
Love is inherently relational. It is not self-reflexive but giving and expansive. It seeks the beloved; it hungers and thirsts for connection. As the foundation of reality, our relationship with God teaches us who we really are, namely, sacred beings made in the divine image but who, despite being created to enjoy intimate fellowship with God, have turned away and fallen into spiritual blindness and insanity. The ideal has been lost to the real. Human life has become a tragedy, a nightmare, a prison of suffering and vanity.
This is the problem of the "human condition." We need deliverance from the darkness of sin, from the nightmare of our alienation from God. We must find the way out of our spiritually lost condition lest we succumb to utter despair and perish in shame. We need a new sort of life to overcome the "spiritual death" that enslaves us. To be healed we must be "reborn" by God's spirit and made into a "new creation." This is the only way to be saved from ourselves and our own insanity. We need a miracle, and this miracle is found in Yeshua, the only true Savior and Healer of the world...
As we come to believe the promise of who we really are, and as we answer and turn to God's love, our spiritual eyes will be opened and we will begin to understand God's will. We will regard both ourselves and other people as significant, valuable, and worthy of our respect. Indeed we will cherish and honor all of creation since it is God's expression and personal handiwork. As image bearers of God, we will become emissaries of his blessing, and we will discover that all of his commandments of Torah are "for life" (Lev. 18:5), which means they were given to promote love, healing, and shalom.
In Jewish tradition the great commandment is called the "Shema," meaning to listen, from the first word of Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear (שְׁמַע), O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD alone." The opening passage continues to the next verse, called "Ve'ahvata," which reads: "and you shall love (וְאָהַבְתָּ) the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength," which expresses the fundamental duty to love God above everything else in our lives. Yeshua affirmed the great commandment when he said: "The first of all the commandments is, 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' Αὕτη πρώτη ἐντολή- This is the first commandment" (Mark 12:29-30).
Loving God is therefore the central issue of life, and the conduit of love is the heart. As Khalil Gibran put it, "He came to make the human heart a Temple, the soul an Altar, and the mind a priest." It is amazingly wonderful that the love of God is the core meaning of our existence, and yet love is not static but seeks the beloved, and therefore we are called to love God in return, and this is best expressed when we love our "neighbor" as ourselves. That is the second great commandment, namely, to love others as we love ourselves (Lev. 19:18, Mark 12:31, Gal. 5:14). Note here that loving others as we love ourselves logically implies that we love ourselves, which means that we confess God's love for us is real. We love others "as" we love ourselves, and we love ourselves "as" we accept God's love for us, so again love is relational, reciprocal, and a matter of profound communion.
But what does it mean to love God "be'khol levavkha," with all your being? For that matter, what does the word "love" really mean? In English the word "love" comes from the Hebrew word lev (לֵב), meaning heart, but the Hebrew word for love is "ahavah" (אהבה), which can be broken down to the letter Alef (א), a preformative meaning "I will," plus the root "hav" (הב) meaning "to give," which when put together indicates that love is a matter of a willingness to give. Love is therefore a spirit of generosity, of grace, and of compassion, the greatest example of which is the giving of God in the sacrificial life of his son Yeshua. "God is love" is expressed in the crucifixion of himself to save us from ourselves by giving to us forgiveness, healing, and the blessing of eternal life.
Notice that the commandment to love God, the Shema, is set in the context of Moses' appeal to Israel to keep "the commandments" of God, and therefore it serves as a "meta-commandment" to keep God's other commandments. Love is therefore the ground or foundation for the commandments, as the apostle John affirmed: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome," and as Yeshua repeatedly taught his disciples: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (1 John 5:3, John 14:15). Doing God's will by keeping his commandments, then, expresses your love for God. If you do not care to keep God's commandments, then you reveal that your love for God is not genuine or sincere... Loving God is the response to God's blessing, while indifference leads to exile. The Shema, then, can be understood as an appeal to care, to keep faith, and to encounter God's love.
The Ve'ahavta ("you shall love") does not appeal to merely outward forms of obedience, of course, but to the inmost depths: with all your heart (בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ), and with all your soul (וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ) and with all your strength (וּבְכָל־מְאֹדֶךָ). The traditional sages interpret your "heart" (לב) to refer to wisdom, and therefore to your mind, the "soul" (נפש) to refer your life energy - even if you should give up your life for his sake - and your "strength" or your "might" (מאד) to refer to your material possessions and money.
Regarding the heart, or the duty to attain wisdom, the Shema says that we should diligently repeat these matters to our children (וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ), talking to them as we sit in our homes (בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ), as we walk along the way (וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ), and whenever we lie down to sleep (וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ) and whenever we rise up (וּבְקוּמֶךָ). In other words, the love of God should move us to regard him in every circumstance of our lives. Our father Abraham "got many souls" by persuading others of the truth and their duty to know God (Gen. 12:5).
So loving God is the point of life, the very reason for our existence, and the essence of what makes life worth living. But what does it mean to love God, and how is it possible to even do so? These seem to be vital questions as we consider further the duties of the heart...
Loving God is connected to worship, that is, ascribing worth to God by valuing him as the highest good and our ultimate blessing. In Hebrew worship is expressed using the root word shachah (שָׁחָה), meaning to bow down in homage, usually in hitapa'el (reflexive) form suggesting an inner state of humility and reverence. The impulse behind worship is gratitude for the blessing of life combined with a sense of awe - an awareness of the overwhleming beauty of the LORD and the glory of his holiness...
To love God certainly implies that we are grateful for the gift of our lives and that we care enough to listen to him and respond to his heart (i.e., his will). As the psalmist prayed: "With all my heart I seek you. O let me not wander from your commandments" (Psalm 119:10). It is absurd to think someone can love God and be indifferent to what God wants. People may "draw near to God with their lips" but their hearts may be removed from him (Isa. 29:13). Yeshua asks, "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not the things I say?" (Luke 6:46). If you truly love the Lord, wouldn't you want to do what he asks of you?
There is an emotional aspect of love that is essential. When you earnestly love someone they will mean everything to you. You will irresistably be drawn to them, and they will always be on your mind. You will miss them and want to spend time alone with them. Your heart will be stirred at the very thought of them, and you will be overjoyed when you finally are able to be together. In the time of your communion with the beloved there is a deep sense of appreciation, connection, acceptance, and understanding.
Kierkegaard wonders what sort of a lover would he be who had no great desire to be with his beloved and take care of her. He considers it a mockery of love to give to her sustenance yet to have no affection in his heart. Psalm 91:14 reads, "Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he has known my name." The heart that passionately desires God knows God's Name.
A nagging question may be raised about whether such love can be commanded. After all, can feelings be commanded? In response it may be asked whether love is a feeling or something more? As we have seen the "command" to love is an invitation to "taste and see" that the LORD is good, and moreover that the invitation to believe is not about good feelings as much as it is about reality. It is the invitation to come alive to mystery, beauty, and truth. It's to be radically made whole, set free from fear and despair. But fundamentally love is a decision, an act of the will driven by conviction of the truth, and such a decision will lead to feelings of gratitude, loyalty, delight, wonder, desire, and so on. The same may be said regarding the commandment to fear God (Deut. 6:13). This sort of fear is not about the fear of punishment but rather appreciating the "awful goodness" and majesty of God. The fear of the LORD (יִרְאַת יהוה) is love's "fear and trembling" as it encounters the glorious beauty, the incomprehensible greatness, and overwhelming wonder of God.
Love and fear, then, are two sides of the same thing, as it says in Deuteronomy 10:12-13, "And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you, but to fear (לִירָא) the LORD your God, to live (לָלֶכֶת) in all His ways, and to love Him (לְאהב אֹתוֹ), and to worship (לעבודה) the LORD your God with all your heart (בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ) and with all your soul (בְּכָל־נַפְשֶׁךָ) -- to keep (לִשְׁמֹר) the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good (לְטוֹב לָךְ)?"
In this connection Maimonides (following Aristotle) said that you can command actions that will eventually create such feelings, and therefore habits can be transformed into virtues of the heart. As you do the commandments you will authenticate their validity and thereby realize affections that are associated with them... This is especially true of the foundational commandment of all the Scriptures, namely to believe in the Lord (Exod. 20:2), and to do his will. The rabbis of Yeshua's day once tested him by asking, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" and Yeshua answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one whom God has sent" (John 6:28-29). The commandment to repent and believe in God's redemptive love given in Yeshua the Messiah, then, is the starting point of knowing the love of God, and the Holy Spirit (רוח הקודש) authenticates the truth through an "inner witness" that reveals the divine presence within our hearts (Rom. 5:5). This is sometimes called argumentum spiritus sancti, or the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Teshuvah (repentance) comes first so that we know God's tender mercies and forgiveness in relation to his sacrificial love (John 3:16).
The fear of God is about his glory, transcendence, and utter sanctity, whereas the love of God is about God's compassion, immanence, and healing for our lives, and both are fully revealed in the passion of Yeshua as the Lamb of God. The fear of God, however, is basic, since without first understanding God's greatness as our Creator and the Lawgiver who insists that we regard ourselves and others as sacred, we will not appreciate the nature of his forgiveness and compassion given in Messiah.
It is written in our Scriptures: "My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge" (Hos. 4:6). Maimonides comments "One only loves God with the knowledge with which one knows him. As the knowledge, so will be the love" (Mishneh Torah). To know God truly is to love him. This is the "mode" of knowing God. As it is written: "For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light" (Psalm 36:9). The knowledge of truth of God sets us free, as Yeshua taught, because the truth is the message of the gospel itself (John 8:32; 2 Cor. 4:6). It is the love of the truth that leads to salvation (2 Thess. 2:10).
Knowledge and love derive from the same source, as when it was said that Adam "knew" Eve his wife (וְהָאָדָם יָדַע אֶת־חַוָּה) and she conceived (Gen. 4:1). You cannot know anything without first caring about truth. Indeed every science presupposes that it is better to know than not to know, and therefore epistemic value is assumed... The ancient pagan philosophers understood this. For instance Plato said that knowledge could not take root in an alien nature, and to understand something a person must live with it and develop an affinity with it (Republic). He later spoke of transformation that comes through intimate knowledge. By studying eternal verities such as mathematics, a person will gradually lose interest in ephemeral things and focus on the eternal "forms" of what is ultimately real. Kierkegaard famously said that "truth is subjectivity," by which he did not mean to suggest that "truth is subjective" and therefore relative, but rather that how something is known can disclose what it is. This is particularly the case regarding knowing God or falling in love, which are inaccessible without personal passion. It also applies to self-knowledge. As Dostoevsky wrote, "Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love." As Chesterton said: "You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it."
I have mentioned before that the Ve'ahavta ("thou shalt love") can be understood not only as a prescription but as a prophecy: "You shall love the LORD" is your ultimate destiny, even if at present you are battling through ambivalence and uncertainty. Love is the end (τέλος) of your existence, your place within God's heart, and heaven itself. Others have said, however, that the Ve'ahavta is a revelation of God, a disclosure of his heart. In that sense God makes himself vulnerable by asking us to respond to him... "Behold I stand at the door and knock..." (Rev. 3:20). This is because God is not some philosophical abstraction like Aristotle's Unmoved Mover, or an object of theological contemplation, but is first and foremost a Person who desires and seeks our love. That God speaks to us and "empties himself" so that we can understand him is the revelation of his love. He is the Word of God who invites us to love him because it is the invitation that opens the very possibility and awakens the soul to love at all. As it says: "We love him because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19). God's imperative (or plea) to love him is heard when we receive the inestimable blessing that we are his beloved. We only can know ourselves as loved by means of his love, and through this "first love" we are able to love others (Lev. 16:18; Matt. 22:39).
The declaration that "God is love" (ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν) is the underlying and overarching reason for all the commandments and imperatives of Scripture. The commandments are opportunities for our connection with God. As we fulfill them we become "partners with God" in healing the world. Instead of thinking we "ought" to keep the commandments lest we be punished, it is better to think that by doing the commandments we come to know God's heart in all that we do. The imperative language is used to remind us of the profound significance of our actions...
God's love overcomes the powers of sin, hell, and death. It is the gate of our healing opened at the cross of Messiah. The regenerated soul, redeemed and known to be loved by God, triumphs over the dust of death. This is experienced as a form of resurrection, a shocking adventure like Moses' encounter at the burning bush or Paul's blinding vision of the risen Messiah on the road to Damascus. "You must be born again" said Yeshua. You must experience an entirely new realm of existence as a child with whom God is well-pleased.
It is by grace your heart hears the Shema, that is, God's invitation to know his love. By studying the Scriptures you encounter various characterizations of God, for example, as your Creator, as the Healer of your fears, as the Deliverer who rescues you from the darkness of the curse; as the Good Shepherd who seeks for your soul; as the Lamb of God who exchanges his life for your own; as the Faithful Redeemer who delivers you from slavery and exile; as the Atonement of God who restores you and cleanses you from sin, but most especially in the revelation of his heart in Yeshua, who substantiates and embodies God's Presence and knows the language of your pain, and who promises eternal life to all who put their hope in him. The Holy Spirit comforts you with the inner witness of God's truth; you have received the "Spirit of adoption" by whom you cry out, "Abba, Father," sacred names of intimacy and closeness...
The revelation of God's love is also built upon the testimony and experiences of God's people over the millennia, though it is not always obvious what the love of God will look like in the lives of those who trust in him. For example Job proved his love for God in the ash heap of painful despair yet later found consolation and blessing, while King David extolled the goodness of God for overcoming his enemies. The same may be said of Moses' intercession to die in place of his people (Exod. 32:30-32), which foreshadowed Yeshua's death on the cross for the sake of God's redeeming love.
So the commandment to love God reveals the means for the heart to know his love. It is a circle that begins and ends in God's grace and compassion for us all. The answer may be expressed in different ways for different people, but it is not likely expressed in religious dogmatism that regards God's truth in "geometric" or axiomatic terms, nor is it a recipe or set of rituals that defines an authentic spiritual life. It is not found in an esoteric sacramental system but in a heart response that is alive to God's passion and that shares in that passion. It is more like a love poem than a catechism; it is an affair of the heart more than a system of theology. It is known and experienced in an "I-Thou" relationship with the Living God, the Ascended One (אֵל עֶלְיוֹן) who overcame every obstacle to bring us back to life and into the open arms of our God.
We must be careful, however, not to regard God in our own image and likeness. While God's love is his essence and he offers us deliverance from ourselves and newness of life, it is on his terms, not our own. We cannot say, "love us, forgive us, take away our suffering, give us happiness and joy, deliver us from all our fears," and so on, apart from knowing and honoring God as God. This is where the transcendence of God comes in and acts as a "boundary" in our relationship with God. Regarding the Lord as your "buddy" risks over familiarization and even thinking that he is your servant rather than the other way around! How can we stand in awe of God if we regard him as a "genie" invoked to do our bidding or our own "personal Jesus"? God cannot become a conceit of the soul that makes itself the center of the universe!
And yet God does indeed "empty himself" to partake of our frailty and to save us in the depths of our being; the Lord does reach into our lives and "serve" us. He made himself a man of sorrows (אִישׁ מַכְאֹבוֹת) acquainted with our grief. Yeshua is our Suffering Servant (הַמְּשָׁרֵת הַסּוֹבֵל) who gave up his life in exchange for our need: "God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him (2 Cor. 5:21). He heals us in the intimacy of our suffering; he comforts us and encourages us to walk with him, he asks us to trust in him, and to "open the door" so that he may enter. It is paradoxical, to be sure, the Fire of God that envelops us in his passion...
There is a paradoxical balance between love and fear. God is a person - the lover of your soul - yet you are a "klume," or a speck of dust in the vastness of the universe. The sages say each of us holds two notes in our hand. One reads "For me the world was created," and the other reads "I am but dust and ashes." Two notes, equally important.
At times God may feel very close to us, "a friend who sticks closer than a brother" (Prov. 18:24), while at other times God may feel "high and lifted up," and we shrink back before his great glory, and yet both these times are present and one. The Lord is both the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Word made flesh who dwelt among us, the baby who upheld the universe while feeding upon his mother's breast, and the Infinite One who alone dwells in immortality and blinding light, whom no one has seen — yet he has indeed been seen! (1 Tim. 6:16; 1 John 1:1-4). The Lord is glorious beyond all description - the "glory of his train" fills heaven and earth - yet he considers the lilies of the field, he tends to the birds, and he counts the number of hairs on each of our heads. His greatness extends to the highest heights yet equally to the lowest lows. "For this is what the high and lifted up One says, the One who abides forever, whose name is Holy: 'I dwell in a high and holy place, but also with the broken and lowly of spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the crushed'" (Isa. 57:15).
Of course much more could be said on the topic of God's love, and what I've shared here barely scratches the surface, but I hope that at least some of what I have said might provoke you to consider these matters for yourself. One thing, however, impresses me as all-important, and that is the realization that the one thing absolutely necessary for us, namely God's unconditional love, is the one thing God says is what is necessary, after all. Our heart's deepest need is met in God's deepest passion. Amen.
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Parashat Re'eh:
The Blessing or the Curse...
08.25.24 (Av 21, 5784) Our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Re'eh) begins, "See (רְאֵה), I give before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing (הַבְּרָכָה), if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and the curse (הַקְּלָלָה), if you turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known" (Deut. 11:26-28).
We obtain God's blessing (i.e., berakhah: בְּרָכָה) when we obey the LORD, and our decision to obey manifests the blessed state of walking before the Divine Presence (the direct object marker et (את) before the word "the blessing" alludes to the blessings of "Aleph to Tav," that is from Yeshua, as described in Lev. 26:3-13). As King David said, "I have set (שִׁוִּיתִי) the LORD always before me..." (Psalm 16:8). David made a choice to "set" the LORD before his eyes, for he understood that opening his eyes to Reality was the only path of real blessing.
On the other hand, we obtain God's curse (i.e., kelalah: קְלָלָה) when we close our eyes and "forget" that the LORD is always present.... Suppressing God's truth invariably leads to idolatry, that is, to self exaltation. Note that the root word for the word "curse" (kalal) means to be treated as of little account, and therefore "ratifies" the rebellious heart's attitude toward God. This is middah keneged middah - we are ignored by the LORD as we ignore Him, just as we seen by Him when we truly seek His face (Isa. 55:6-7).
So we see that the blessing or the curse really comes from our own inward decision, and God establishes the path we have chosen. As King David said, "God supports my lot" (Psalm 16:5), and Solomon wrote: לב אדם יחשׁב דרכו ויהוה יכין צעדו - "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps" (Prov. 16:9).
Click to listen and learn the Hebrew text:
Note: Some of the sages say this admonition constitutes a severe reprimand of the immaturity of the people. Forty years after receving the Torah at Sinai and the people still need to be cajoled like children with promises of rewards and threats of punishments? Those who are mature in their faith recognize good and evil for what they are: they seek the good because it is the way of truth and life. It is a sign of carnality to seek God because of the manna he provides rather than to seek him as the giver of life itself....
Haftarah Reading for Re'eh...
08.25.24 (Av 21, 5784) The weekly haftarah portion (i.e., reading from the Prophets) is usually thematically connected with the weekly Torah portion; however, beginning with the Fast of the Fourth month until the end of the Jewish year, the connection changes. First we always read three prophetic portions of rebuke leading up to the fast day of Tishah B'Av. Then, following Tishah B'Av, and for the next seven weeks leading up to Rosh Hashanah (i.e., the new year), we read selections of comfort that foretell of the future redemption of the Jewish people and the coming Messianic Era.
The third of the "Seven Weeks of Comfort" that lead up to Rosh Hashanah is called Aniyah so'arah (i.e., עֲנִיָּה סעֲרָה, "O afflicted and storm-tossed one," Isa. 54:11-55:5), which reminds the Jewish people of God's eternal and unconditional covenant of peace. Indeed of the Jewish people it is said, "no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment." Therefore the LORD invites the people to drink from the waters of life: "Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant (בְּרִית עוֹלָם), my steadfast, sure love for David (Isa. 55:3; Luke 1:68-75; Acts 13:34). Note. however, that when this Sabbath occurs on the New Moon of Elul, Isa. 66:1-24 is read instead.
Hebrew Lesson
Isaiah 54:5 Hebrew reading (click):
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Deliverance from Evil...
[ "God is present in the moment of choice, not in order to watch but in order to be chosen. Therefore, each person must choose. Terrible is the battle, in a person's innermost being, between God and the world. The crowning risk involved lies in the possession of choice." - Soren Kierkegaard ]
08.23.24 (Av 19, 5784) There is the great danger of squandering and dissipating our lives... Be grateful, then, for afflictions that bring us pause and move us inward. Examine yourself; consider what really moves you. Be careful not to deceive yourself by "reasoning around the truth" (i.e., παρα + λογίζομαι), as James the Righteous puts it (James 1:22). Many people fool themselves by assuming they know or understand what is good, but they confine this ideal to a matter of opinion rather than experiencing it as a matter of the will (or they confuse their opinion of the ideal with what is real).
There is something worse than death that should concern all people, however, and that is discovering that, upon your death, you had missed what is most important, that you sold your soul for vanities, and that you never learned the true reason for your existence...
Some of the ancient Greek philosophers assumed that moral evil was the result of ignorance, and that simply knowing the good would lead to doing the good. For example Socrates states (in the Protagoras) that no one knowingly does the wrong thing, and therefore all evil is the result of ignorance. He argued this way because he assumed that doing wrong harms the soul, and since no one willingly acts against his own interests, wrongdoing must be result of ignorance. This optimistic view implies that the answer to the problem of moral evil is "education," or leading people out of the dark cave of their lower nature to experience the light of reason. If we just really understood why doing this or that sinful thing hurts us, we would change our ways and repent, or so the theory goes... Alas, human experience proves that such "head knowledge" often does not change the way we choose, and we all know people who have habits they realize are harmful but continue to indulge in them anyway.
There may be some truth to the idea that evil is a matter of ignorance however, since ignoring what is good, being indifferent, apathetic, and cynical is a defect of character (ἀκρασία), and learning to be honest, upright, courageous, unselfish, and so on, requires personal struggle to make the "ought" of moral reality an expression of the "is" of inner life. What is often most shocking about moral evil is that it expresses apathy or indifference toward the objections of conscience. Moral evil is essentially heartless and devoid of empathy, a state of cold-heartedness and callousness for the feelings and dignity of others. According to the Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt, the lack of moral thought and reflection creates what she called the "banality of evil," that is, the unthinking acceptance of evil so that it is no longer regarded as outrageous or strange. People deaden their conscience by refusing to honestly engage questions such as: "What is goodness?" "Is evil real?" "Do we have an obligation to observe moral truth?" "What is the good life?" "How should we live?" "Do our actions really matter?" "Will God judge my life?" and so on. On the other hand, our culture has been so shocked by the ongoing practice of lawlessness wickedness that people have lost their sense of shame. We are no longer shocked and outraged when we hear of the latest crimes or abuses of power in our postmodern world.... We must be careful, however, not to become evil by despising what is evil. For instance, we may feel so outraged and threatened by the evil actions of others that we deny their humanity, thereby becoming the very thing we hate.
"The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9). "Oh there is nothing as deceitful and as cunning as a human heart, resourceful in seeking escapes and finding excuses; and there surely is nothing as difficult and as rare as genuine honesty before God." (Kierkegaard: Discourses). Therefore we pray: "Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved. Be not a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of evil" (Jer. 17:14, 17).
Hebrew Lesson
Jeremiah 17:14 reading (click):
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Wounds of Loneliness...
[ "Any time you are with anyone or think of anyone you must say to yourself: I am dying and this person too is dying, attempting to experience the truth of the words you are saying." - de Mello ]
08.22.24 (Av 18, 5784) The late Henri Nouwen once said that there are two great fears (or wounds) that we all face. The first is the fear that we were not wanted at the time of our birth into this world, and the second is that we will not be wanted at the time of our death. "Not being welcome is your greatest fear. It connects with your birth fear, your fear of not being welcome in this life, and your death fear, your fear of not being welcome in the life after this. It is the deep-seated fear that it would have been better if you had not lived" (Inner Voice of Love). If you carry a wound of abandonment within your heart - if you live in dread over your worth as a human being, seriously wondering whether it would have been better had you never been born, then you know the taste of hell itself - the emotional prison of feeling lost, defective, rejected, shameful - unable to love or to be loved...
Is not the lament of the lonely heart to find a sense of welcome, or acceptance, or peace within? Is it not the heart's cry for connection? Yet even the very gospel message cannot make traction within a heart lost to its own shame... Therefore the miracle of salvation is profoundly connected with faith that you are loved and lovable - despite yourself - and that this love derives from the core of all that truly exists. Is this not "home" in the spiritual sense? Is this not "Zion, the perfection of holiness?" That God prepares a table for you in the presence of your enemies, yea, those enemies of self-rejection, abandonment, fear, and shame? And that there - in the midst of your lost and forlorn condition you are found, treasured, and celebrated? Is not that "place" God's very heart - Jesus dying upon the cross, gasping for each breath - knowing everything about you and loving you anyway?
In our Torah reading this week (Eikev), Moses asks us to "soften our hearts" by remembering that we are beloved of God (Deut. 10:12-16). He reminds us that the though Lord is "the God of gods" (אֱלהֵי הָאֱלהִים) - the power that transcends the gods of our idolatry (i.e., our fears, our disordered attachments, our shame), and the "Lord of lords" (אֲדנֵי הָאֲדנִים) - the Center and Authority of what is most real, he nevertheless cares for the lowly orphan and the grieving widow - he reaches out to the needy and the abandoned - and he desires to console the "stranger," the one shattered of heart, who has no sense of belonging, no pride of tribe, nor place to lay his head (see Deut. 10:17-18). God cares about those who are lost, hurting, and alone: He came to save all such from their despair.
But how does God reach the bound soul that walks alone among the tombs, cutting himself in his torment (Matt. 8:28-34)? How can he heal the deep trauma, the disassociated and broken of heart? How else but by the miracle of his intervention, quickening an otherwise numb and dead heart to come alive, to breathe in hope, and to begin to believe that - despite everything that has happened - he was wanted all along, from the very beginning, and that the wound of his sorrow was given so that he could find out who he really is and where he really belongs... The wound you were given is part of your story, and healing comes from accepting God's love for you -- and understanding how the Lord goes through the wound with you and for you...
Life in this fallen world is likened to a vapor or a passing shadow (Psalm 144:4). Nothing abides; good things here never last; and we labor under the unmentionable anxiety that death will separate us from everyone and everything we love. However, death is not the end for the us, for "love is stronger than death, passion fiercer than the grave; its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD" (Song 8:6). We will live for He lives...
"What will death be like?" they asked the Master. "It will be as if a veil is ripped apart and you will say in wonder, "So it was you all along!" (De Mello). Death is a most poignant homecoming, a place of joyful welcome, wherein all shall be well for ever. The righteous have an everlasting foundation in the faithful heart of God. Faith in the LORD believes that a single supreme, all-knowing, all-powerful and benevolent spiritual Power directs all things, and that Messiah is the beginning, middle, and end of all conscious meaning, truth, and substance, as it is written: כִּי הַכּל מִיָּדוֹ הַכּל בּוֹ וְהַכּל לוֹ הוּא, "For from him and through him and to him are all things" (Rom. 11:36). A life of faith in the one true God imparts the blessing of shalom (inner peace) and assures the heart that all shall be made well by the love of God. So then, "if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we belong to the Lord" (Rom. 14:8). For the believer in Messiah, death does not define us, and indeed, we trust that God will attend to us in the moment of our utmost extremity (John 5:24; 11:25-26). If we desire eternal life with all our hearts and remember our end before the Lord, we will be free of the fear of death. Amen ve'amen.
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 147:3 reading (click):
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Rage and Idolatry...
[ The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, parashat Eikev.... ]
08.22.24 (Av 18, 5784) We are warned not to destroy ourselves by allowing bitterness, anger, or fear to consume our hearts (Eph. 4:31). In our Torah this week (Eikev) we read: "And you shall not bring an abominable thing (תּוֹעֵבָה) into your house and become devoted to destruction like it" (Deut. 7:26). The sages of the Mishnah said that yielding to rage is equivalent to idol worship and should never be brought into the home. Indeed, rage is linked with avodah zarah - idolatry - because it exalts the ego and claims that the Lord can't (or won't) help you in your moment of testing or need.
Contrary to the imperious inner voice of rage, the Scriptures declare that "there is no test given to you that you cannot escape with God's help" (1 Cor. 10:13), and we are therefore invited to come boldly before the Divine Presence to find just such help in the time of our need (Heb. 4:16). Believing that you can't overcome your fear or anger problem is therefore a form of idolatry since it assumes you are enslaved to a destructive power greater than yourself to whom you give allegiance by obeying its impulses.
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It is written in our Scriptures: Lo yiheyeh vekha el zar (לא־יִהְיֶה בְךָ אֵל זָר) -- "there shall be no foreign god within you" (Psalm 81:9), which means that we must expressly deny the ego's demand to have its will be done. Being full of a sense of self-importance (or powerlessness) is to be ensnared by vanity and to have a foreign god "within you." And as Nietzsche once quipped, "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster," well-meaning zealots who get frustrated over the hardness of other people's hearts may themselves become irate inquisitors and executioners. The "good fight of faith" is good, meaning that it is noble, full of expectation, and submitted to God's direction. We are called to follow peace with all men and Holies without which no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). The "good fight" is honest inner wrestling, "putting off" the old nature and mortifying the flesh; it is the decision to pursue God's will and to resist temptations that pull the heart away from God.
Abraham Heschel once said: "In a controversy, the instant we feel anger, we have already ceased striving for truth and have begun striving for ourselves." God and human arrogance cannot coexist, since the inner world of the arrogant person denies God's rightful place as the true King over our lives. As it is written in our Scriptures: "The wrath of man (קֶצֶף אָדָם) does not work the righteousness of God" (James 1:20).
The Lord will indeed help us if we ask according to his will, and being free of rage is according to his will (Eph. 4:31; 1 John 5:14-15). Therefore let us pray: "Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way (i.e., עֹצֶב בִּי, "idolatrous way") in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24). Amen.
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 89:9 reading (click)
Connection with God...
[ "Where do we begin? Begin with the heart." - Julian of Norwich ]
08.22.24 (Av 18, 5784) Shalom chaverim. From our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Eikev) we read: "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?" (Deut. 10:12-13).
Ultimately we must make the choice whether we will respect life or not, since that is the question set before us... In this present world, God "hides" so that people may seek him (Isa. 45:15; Matt. 13:10-15). The voice of conscience may be suppressed and the revelation of nature ignored; moreover, some things are perceived only if they are looked for in the right way, for instance, the Divine Presence is not apprehended apart from humility and reverence. We must "make room" for wonder; we must open the "eye of the heart" to see what is greater than our everyday vision. "It is good to look at the sky often, as this helps develop the awe of God." Indeed the word for fear, yirah (יִרְאָה), is connected with the word for seeing, ra'ah (רָאָה). When we really see life as it is, we will be filled with wonder over the glory of it all. Every bush will be aflame with the Presence of God and the ground we walk upon shall suddenly be perceived as holy (Exod. 3:2-5). Nothing will seem small, trivial, or insignificant. In this sense, "fear and trembling" (φόβοv καὶ τρόμοv) before the LORD is a description of the inner awareness of the sanctity and eternal significance of life itself (Psalm 2:11, Phil. 2:12).
Connecting with God is paradoxical. We find verses that teach both the fear of the Lord (i.e., his majesty and transcendence), and others that teach the love of the Lord (i.e., his kindness and immanence). We are drawn to God in adoration, appreciation, wonder, and love, and yet we are compelled to shrink back because of His overwhelming power, glory, holiness, and radiance. Therefore we see "the disciple whom Jesus loved" both leaning on his chest but also falling on his face in "dreadful adoration" (John 13:23; Rev. 1:17). Only when these heart attitudes are combined is the heart balanced. But the fear of the Lord is primary (see Psalm 111:10; Prov. 1:7, 9:10), and when we walk in it, we are released from the common fears of men by apprehending a far surpassing power that overrules all things. Again, it is a paradox: if we fear lesser things we lose sight of the awe of God; but if we first revere God, we will lose sight of lesser fears.
In Jewish tradition, seeing the Presence of God in all things is called yirat ha-rommemnut (יִרְאַת הָרוֹמְמוּת), or the "Awe of the Exalted." We might get a sense of this reverential awe when we behold the canopy of stars in the night sky, or when we look down from atop a mountain peak, or when we catch site of a spectacular sunset. Or we might experience it during the birth of a baby or the death of a loved one... This sense of awe or "transcendent mystery" is also called yirat Adonai (יִרְאַת יְהוָה), the "fear of the Name." It presents a holy hush, a feeling that you are standing before something utterly wonderful, sacred, set apart, mysterious, and profoundly significant; it both attracts yet causes you to tremble...
Hebrew Lesson
Deuteronomy 8:6 reading (click):
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The Good Fight of Faith...
[ "You would never have believed your own weakness had you not needed to pass through trials. And you would never have known God's strength had His strength not been needed to carry you through." - Charles Spurgeon ]
08.21.24 (Av 17, 5784) Rashi states that the original "wooden ark" (אֲרוֹן עֵץ) mentioned in this week's Torah portion (see Deut. 10:1) was made by Moses and ater was used in Israel's wars. At the outset of a battle, the kohanim (priests) would accompany this "war ark" ahead of the army while the Levites would blast shofars and sing praises to the LORD.
The midrash states that the wooden war ark was used to hold the tablets that were shattered after the sin of the Golden Calf, whereas the second ark, that which was made by Betzalel, was used to hold the unbroken tablets in the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle (Exod. 37:1). Perhaps the purpose of bringing the broken tablets to the battle was to remind us that even as we battle against evil, we must do so in humility, conscious of our own inner brokenness, and relying solely upon God's power for the victory (2 Cor. 12:9-10).
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Blessing of the Broken...
[ "We can't heal if we can't grieve; we can't forgive if we can't grieve. We run from grief because loss scares us, yet our hearts reach toward grief because the broken parts want to mend." - C.S. Lewis ]
08.21.24 (Av 17, 5784) Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshischa once asked, "Is it not a virtue to be humble and brokenhearted, as it is written, 'God is close to the brokenhearted (קָרוֹב יְהוָה לְנִשְׁבְּרֵי־לֵב) and saves the crushed in spirit' (Psalm 34:18)? Why then should he heal the broken heart and thereby remove this blessing?"
There is a distinction between begin brokenhearted (שְׁבוּר לֵב) and being sad (עָצוּב). There is sorrow according to God's will (צַעַר לְפִי רְצוֹן יהוה) that leads to the healing of repentance, but the sadness of the world (עַצְּבַת הָעוֹלָם) leads to death (2 Cor. 7:10). In our brokenness we understand our great need for God's salvation: "Though the troubles of the righteous be many, the LORD will save them from them all" (Psalm 34:19).
Brokenness is an awareness that our lives are being purified (מְטוּהָר) - there is much that needs to be sanctified - and from this humility we draw close to God (Isa. 57:15). This is different than the worldly sadness and grief because these feelings lead to despair and hopelessness, something antithetical to the truth of salvation (Psalm 13:5). The merciful Lord heals the broken heart by transforming its sadness into the intimacy of hope only found by relying on him. Amen.
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 13:5 reading (click for audio):
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Healing your Heart...
[ "Love believes all things," for to believe all things means precisely, even though love is not apparent, even though the opposite is seen, to presuppose that love is nevertheless present fundamentally, even in the misguided, even in the corrupt, even in the hateful." - Kierkegaard ]
08.21.24 (Av 17, 5784) Our Torah reading for this week (i.e., Eikev) appeals for us to let go of our hurt and anger: "Circumcise (i.e., cut away) the barriers to your heart, and be no longer unresponsive to love" (Deut. 10:16). The metaphor of a "circumcised heart" (ברית מילה של הלב) symbolizes cutting away the outer covering of the heart so that it is "opened up" and softened to feel once again. God wants us to let go of "hard feelings" so we can experience compassion (i.e., com+passion: "feeling-with") and sympathy for other people... Heart circumcision represents a radical turning away from the insular realm of the self toward the emotional realm of others and God. When our hearts are open, we are able to receive the flow of the Spirit of God and obey the "law of the Messiah" (תּוֹרַת הַמָּשִׁיחַ) to bear one another's burdens (Gal. 6:2).
וּמַלְתֶּם אֵת עָרְלַת לְבַבְכֶם
וְעָרְפְּכֶם לא תַקְשׁוּ עוֹד
oo·mal·tem · et · ohr·lat · le·vav·khem
ve·ohr·pe·khem · loh · tak·shoo · ohd
"Cut away the barriers to your heart,
and be no longer unresponsive to love."
(Deut. 10:16)
Physical circumcision represents a sign or mark of inclusion; it is a token that you are one of God's family, a Jew, though it is only a sign or token. Spiritual circumcision is an inner operation of the heart that marks you a true child of heaven. It is about your identity and purpose. Therefore we see the paradox that some physical Jews are not spiritual Jews, and some spiritual Jews are not physical Jews (though some are both), as the Apostle Paul said: For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit (ἐν πνεύματι), not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God (Rom. 2:28-29).
Metaphorically speaking, a heart that is insensitive, indifferent, unfeeling, and callous toward the needs of others is "hard" or "uncircumcised." Often such hardness comes as a result of living in a fallen world. Many wounded people live with "scar tissue" that surrounds their heart, making them feel numb and unwilling to open up and trust others. Their affections have become disordered and they rationalize blaming others or seeking various forms of entitlement. "Turning off your heart" can mean suppressing any positive regard for others (empathy) while nurturing anger and self-righteousness, or it may mean withdrawing from others as a lifeless shell (both approaches vainly attempt to defend the heart from hurt). Although Yeshua always showed great compassion, especially to the wounded and broken in spirit (Isa. 42:3), He regularly condemned the "hardness of heart" (called "sclero-cardia," σκληροκαρδία) of those who resisted his message of healing and love.
A hard heart is closed off and impermeable to love from others, and especially from God. It is a "difficult" (קָשֶׁה) heart, inflexible and sometimes even cruel. Scripture uses various images to picture this condition, including a "heart of stone" (Ezek. 36:26, Zech. 7:12), an "uncircumcised heart" (Jer. 9:26), a "stiff neck" (Deut. 31:27), and so on. Stubbornness is really a form of idolatry, an exaltation of self-will that refuses to surrender to God. If you are wounded and afraid to open your heart in trust to others, ask God for healing...
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Seek First God's Kingdom...
[ "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you... " - Yeshua (Matt. 6:33). ]
08.21.24 (Av 17, 5784) When we worry, are we not afraid that God will leave us unprotected and vulnerable? Are we not questioning his heart for us? Are we not asking, as the people of Israel once did as they thirsted in desert places: הֲיֵשׁ יְהוָה בְּקִרְבֵּנוּ אִם־אָיִן - "Is the LORD with us or not?" (Exod. 17:7). Indeed, does not the recurring presence of worry within our hearts amount to a confession of our unbelief?
The Scriptures warn us not to "spy after our heart and after our eyes" (Num. 15:39). The Torah mentions the heart first and then the eyes to indicate that the eyes follow the heart. We see as we believe with our heart: "According to your faith be it done unto you." When the spies said, "We are not able to go up (לא נוּכַל לַעֲלוֹת)... for they are stronger than us" (Num. 13:31), they revealed their unwillingness to believe in God's promise, or, to put it another way, they revealed their faith in God's inability to deliver on his word.... Indeed, the Hebrew word for "than us" (מִמֶּנּוּ) can also mean "than Him," suggesting that the spies believed that even God would be unable to uproot the Canaanites. According to their faith, so it was done; by believing that it was impossible, they lost the possibility of God's promise...
Are we truly seeking God "first" or are there other things that have a higher priority in our hearts? Do we wonder if God is to be trusted in the "desert experiences" of our lives? Do we think that God has been unfair to us? Have we sometimes lamented that our way is too hard for us, and more than we can bear? "Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed" (Matt. 25:24).
It is possible to misjudge God and misinterpret our relationship with him. "We walk by faith, not by sight." This is true for all people, since every soul lives by faith of some kind or another. Our ability to know him is based on the blessing of the Spirit, not on our own merits. How can we, broken vessels, seek first the kingdom of God, apart from faith in him? Is that not presupposed in all our seeking of the heart? It is faith in God's promises, and faith that God will keep his promises to us, that is the key to seeking first God's kingdom. Those who do not seek do not believe that God is the ultimate concern of their lives.
Faith sees what is possible and refuses to yield to the artificiality of mere appearance. Indeed, appearances are often a test of our courage. We may never know how often a test was given and - just before victory was manifest - the heart grew faint and was lost to fear. "According to your faith be it done to you" is a spiritual principle that applies to everyone. In that sense, it is not that we have faith that matters (since we all do), but whether our faith is grounded in the promises and power of the LORD God of Israel, or something else....
When God told Abram to "get out of your land," he called him to focus on heavenly places – to find his identity there. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" (Matt. 6:33). The "righteousness of God" is his love, mercy, glory, and goodness. Therefore King David says, אַחַת שָׁאַלְתִּי מֵאֵת־יְהוָה - "One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire before his presence" (Psalm 27:4). Likewise, followers of Yeshua no longer find their identity in this world but rather through their spiritual union with the resurrected LORD (Gal. 2:20; 6:14; Eph. 1:3; 2:6)... Therefore we are told to "seek the things that are above (τὰ ἄνω ζητεῖτε) where the Messiah is seated at the right hand of God; focus your thoughts on the things above - not on things here on earth - for you have died, and your life has been hidden (κέκρυπται) with Messiah in God. Then when the Messiah, who is your life, appears, you too will appear with him in glory" (Col. 3:1-4).
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 16:8 reading (click for audio):
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The Fear of the LORD...
[ "Our life is a short opportunity to say 'yes' to God's love. Our death is a full coming home to that love." - Henri Nouwen ]
08.21.24 (Av 17, 5784) Some people are afraid that God will punish them for their sins, but the true fear of God, yirat shamayim (יִרְאָת שָׁמַיִם), is the tragedy of losing our closeness to Him... This is the fear of the Lord. The sages say that where it is written, "What does the LORD ask of you except to fear the LORD" (Deut. 10:12), we should read instead, "fear with the LORD" (לְיִרְאָה אֶת־יְהוָה), that is, we share his concern that we could forfeit the sanctity of a heart-relationship with Him due to carelessness and sin... We should fear our sin because it blinds us from awareness of God's care and love. The fear of God can therefore be understood as God's fear that we will miss the blessing of intimately knowing him.
The LORD has promised to never leave nor forsake us, though we can choose to turn away from his love and care for our lives... We are not permitted to fear other than that we have no fear of God, for that indeed is a fearful state of soul. May it please God to help each us never to leave nor forsake ourselves by getting lost, by forgetting what is real, and by abandoning hope in the miracle for our lives... May the LORD help us not be grieved, not to hurt ourselves, and never to abandon our hearts to the despair of shame...
Note that the fear of the LORD, or "yirat Adonai" (יִרְאַת יְהוָה), is not the fear of punishment but rather the awe of God's love and intimate concern for your life... It is "techillat chokhah" (תְּחִלַּת חָכְמָה), "the start of wisdom," imparting awareness of the sacred gift of your life, your destiny, and your true end before heaven... If there is a negative aspect to the "fear of the LORD," it may be regarded as the fear of damage to your heart and soul – that is, the fear that sin will blind you to God's passion for you...
Hebrew Lesson
Proverbs 9:10 reading (click):
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Now some may object that all people (including unbelievers) should fear God (i.e., because God might send them to hell), but that appeal only makes sense if we assume the person has some sort of faith - no matter how indistinct or rudimentary... But a guilty conscience does not mean spiritual rebirth, though it will be a step on the way. The doctrine of the wrath of God is an important thing to consider, to be sure, and it is profoundly connected with his holiness and righteous judgment regarding sin, but it is essentially eschatological, a reciprocal response of heaven that ratifies the individual's willing rejection of God's salvation given in Yeshua, the one who mediates God's truth and his mercy (see Psalm 85:10).
For the believer in the One who loves us so much he became the "Son of Man" to die as our substitutionary sacrifice, however, the fear of God is better expressed as reverent awe over his compassion: "That Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith -- that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Messiah that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Eph. 3:17-19). Amen. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, lor it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:11-12).
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Daily Dvar Podcast:
Fear of the LORD...
08.21.24 (Av 17, 5784) "The fear of the LORD is the first principle of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and correction" (Prov. 1:7). In this "Daily Dvar" broadcast (see link below) I discuss how reverence or respect is axiomatic for a genuinely good life. Fearing God expresses the confidence that life is a sacred trust and that each soul is answerable to the Creator. Such godly reverence infers that nothing is trivial or inconsequential, and that all things will be accounted before the bar of divine truth. I hope you will find it helpful, friends.
Grappling with Grace...
[ "Every now and again, our Lord lets us see what we would be like if it were not for Himself; it is a justification of what He said - "Without Me you can do nothing." That is why the bedrock of Christianity is personal, passionate devotion to the Lord." - Oswald Chambers ]
08.20.24 (Av 16, 5784) Some people think that "religious observance" is the way of salvation. Whether it's through the practice of a set of prescribed rituals, confessing to a particular creed, or becoming a member of a particular religious "in-group," such people have trouble accepting the idea that God's mercy may be given to those who -- unlike themselves -- haven't "worked for it" and therefore don't really deserve it... They apparently have yet to discover the shocking and tragic truth of their own radical need for healing and therefore they may be scandalized by the idea of God's unconditional love and acceptance. Perhaps they subconsciously believe that love must be earned and therefore they are careful to disguise the truth about who they really are (especially from themselves). They may hide behind ideologies, theologies, ritual acts, church affiliation or attendance, labels, pretenses, excuses, etc. -- all with the aim of being hidden within the crowd -- but they dare not view themselves as individuals who stand entirely dependent upon God alone for help... No, that is too terrifying, because the various self-made props given to shore up one's identity are rendered ineffectual and void before the Holy One.... All our attempts at self-justification invariably create ongoing anxiety within the soul.
I sometimes wonder about people who are obsessed over technical questions regarding "Torah observance" (i.e., dietary law, Sabbath Observance, ritual practices, etc.) Often they seem to be sincere, upright, and zealous for God, but when they're questioned about the ground of their acceptance in light of the Cross of Yeshua, it's often surprising how their lip service regarding the grace of God quickly reverts to talk about God's conditional love and acceptance. They imply, therefore, that the work of the Messiah somehow isn't enough (God forbid) and therefore "salvation" needs to be "completed" or "perfected" through human agency of some kind. Inwardly they think, "Salvation is a gift, yes, but sanctification is our job..." If hard pressed on the question, the self-justifying soul will either resound thunder from Sinai or else will reframe the question in terms of our personal responsibility as the determiner of salvation.
Whenever the question of moral obedience comes up (as it invariably does in these discussions), it is helpful to recall the first and most basic commandment of all, i.e., the commandment to love the LORD with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. THAT is the starting point. Indeed, the very first of the Ten Commandments is אָנכִי יְהוָה אֱלהֶיךָ - Anochi Adonai Eloheykha: "I AM the Lord your God." Without this personal acceptance of the LORD as our God (i.e., our willingness to trust and to love Him), we simply cannot fulfill any of the commandments with the right inward intent. It is because of the LORD's kindness that we are saved (Lam. 3:22). God loves us - despite our sinful state - yet that gloriously liberating truth often offends those who labor under the illusion that they can find favor before the LORD God of Israel through self-effort. Surrendering to God's love is a humbling venture...
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The Hebrew word eikev (עֵקֶב), the name of our Torah portion this week, comes from the root akav (עָקַב, to "take by the heel"), as does the name Ya'akov (יַעֲקב, Jacob), who had "grabbed the heel" of his twin brother Esau while still in the womb of Rebekah. Ya'akov was later renamed Israel in commemoration of his grappling with Malakh Adonai (the Angel of YHVH) at Peniel. The Lord then declared to him, "Your name shall no longer be Ya'akov ("grappler") but Yisrael (יִשְׂרָאֵל), for as a prince (שַׂר, sar) you have striven (שָׂרִיתָ, sarita) with God and with men and have prevailed" (Gen. 32:28). The first occurrence of the root word appears in Genesis 3:15, where the LORD prophesied that although the Redeemer's heel (עָקֵב, akev) would be bruised, the very head (ראשׁ, rosh) of the serpent (satan) would be crushed.
Indeed, directly after the Akedah (the sacrifice of Isaac), the LORD said to Abraham, "in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because (עֵקֶב) you have obeyed my voice" (Gen. 22:18). God blessed Abraham and his descendants because he grappled with the Voice of the LORD (YHVH). The great test of the Akedah centered on whether Abraham would accept the unconditional compassion of the LORD or if he would be tempted into seeking self-justification before God as Elohim (i.e, Judge). Ironically enough, Abraham's test was whether he would be "religious" or whether he would heed the compassionate intervention of the LORD... When the White Ram was caught in the thicket and sacrificed in Isaac's place, there was nothing left for Abraham to do other than accept God's gracious gift of love. Surrendering to God's love is the only genuine obedience, after all. "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one God has sent" (John 6:29).
Followers of Messiah are called to do works of healing and righteousness, as it is written: "For we are his workmanship, created in Yeshua the Messiah for good works that God purposed beforehand that we should do" (Eph. 2:10). The sages teach that we shouldn't put off performing acts of righteousness (e.g., tzedakah, visiting the sick, studying Torah, etc.) by thinking we can always do them at a later time; on the contrary, we should always regard the first opportunity presented to us as the only opportunity we might ever get. This is what is meant by the phrase "that I command you this day" (אֲשֶׁר אָנכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹם). We should never trade a present opportunity for God's perfect will in our lives for a lesser good.... "Repent one day before you die..."
The call to love God with all our heart and soul might seem overwhelming, though we can heed the sages' advice, "It is not incumbent upon you to finish the task; yet you are not free to cease from it" (Avot 2:16). Though the Scriptures list a lot of commandments, all of these can be distilled to the all-encompassing principle of walking in love / לָלֶכֶת בְּאַהֲבָה (Eph. 5:2). "For in the Messiah Yeshua neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love" (Gal. 5:6). We can concentrate on heeding the immediate need of the hour. Walking in light of God's love - while not neglecting the "weightier matters" of the Torah: justice and mercy and faithfulness - ought to be the rule of faith in which we live (Matt. 23:23). This agrees with the New Testament's repeated focus that "love is the fulfillment of the Torah" / הָאַהֲבָה הִיא קִיּוּם הַתּוֹרָה (Rom. 13:10).
If you are sensing a tension while reading this, you are perhaps grappling with the idea of God's grace... May God give us a renewed revelation of His love for us.
Believing in Love...
[ "The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself in spite of being unacceptable." - Tillich ]
08.19.24 (Av 15, 5784) In our Torah portion for this week (i.e., parashat Eikev) we read: "But now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask from you ... but to love him with all your heart and with all your soul?" (Deut. 10:12). But how are we able to love God be'khol levavka (בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ) – "with all our heart" – and be'khol nafshekha (וּבְכָל־נַפְשֶׁךָ) - "with all our soul," apart from healing of the brokenness that makes our hearts divided and sick? That is what the redemption from Egypt was about: we were personally chosen by God, redeemed by his grace, led out from from cruel bondage, only to be led into the desert, away from the world, where we slowly began to understand that we were valued, cared for, and beloved of God. We believed in the possibility of promise, of covenant... Only then could we hear the request from heaven: "Now love Me..." In other words, we can only truly love God by knowing we are beloved by God, and the invitation to love him is a response of his great passion for you (1 John 4:19). Accept that you are accepted in the heart of the Beloved (Eph. 1:4-6).
What the LORD asks from us is humanly impossible, since the human heart is unable to truly love and serve the LORD apart from intervening grace (Eph. 2:1-10). The real miracle of faith is found in a transformed heart. It is never a question of "will power" or the "zeal" of man; no - it is never a question of what I can do but rather what God can do (John 1:13).
We love because He loves us (and we receive and accept that love). It is the strength of his love that keeps you, not the strength of your own... Nevertheless it seems to be the pattern of God's grace to bring affliction and trouble into our lives so that we will begin to seek the Presence of God (i.e., the "troubles of love"). We all are delivered from Egypt by the blood (i.e., the love) of God in the tribulation of hard exile. After all, how many of us came to know the LORD apart from the pain that comes from apprehending our own slavery to inner brokenness? Indeed it is a "severe mercy." Therefore our Savior says: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24). The hard "outer shell" of the seed must be broken so that the life of the Spirit can come through... The commandment to love the LORD, then, only finds its voice after we come to faith, after we experience the Holy Spirit's power, indeed, after we are made alive from the dead.
Hebrew Lesson
Deuteronomy 10:12 reading (click for audio):
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