Despite what Apple’s marketers might want you to believe, you can’t pray with your iPods‘ earbuds in your ears, no matter how hard you pray. Praying is to be a time of talking to, but more importantly listening to, God.

If you’re also busy listening to Ted Pearce, Sue Samuel, or even Paul Wilbur, you can’t exactly hear the L-RD above the din. While music can be used by God to speak to you, it’s important to remember to let Him use his own inner voice, the still small one, at least once in a while, and not limit him to only speaking to you through song lyrics… no matter how wholesome the praise chorus may be.

Here’s my commentary on Korach. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashah for today is Korach or “Korah” and covers Numbers chapters 16 through 18. This week’s reading covers the events surrounding an outright rebellion against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. The seeds for this rebellion were planted in last week’s portion, at the end of chapter 14, when we read the following:

Numbers 14:40-45
Early the next morning they went up toward the high hill country. “We have sinned,” they said. “We will go up to the place the L-RD promised.” But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the L-RD’s command? This will not succeed! Do not go up, because the L-RD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the L-RD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.” Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the L-RD’s covenant moved from the camp. Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.

Now, this passage is something I think many of us can relate to in our own lives. If one has lived the life of a believer for any amount of time, we have all had experiences where we have become a bit too full of ourselves and our relationship to God, ignored wise counsel, and have done things we were told not to do.

Whether it was as a child, ignoring the advice of a parent to not take part in a risky activity, or as a single pursuing a relationship that was all wrong for us, or as an adult taking a job because of the financial compensation because we believed money was a sign of God’s favor, rather than prayerful confirmation from God being a sign of God’s favor – I think in one way or another we can all think of examples when we thought we were doing the right thing, thought we were listening to God, ignored advice to the contrary and found out, oops, we should have listened to that wise council telling us we were about to mess up.

On a basic level, we can understand that episode, but there is a deeper undercurrent at play here. These people of the generation of the Exodus are displaying an outright disregard for the advice of the L-RD through Moses, and are doing so in the self-delusion that what they are doing is correct and spiritual and blessed by the L-RD.

Now, this whole drift of the people against Moses and Aaron has come to a head as the people select a leader to oppose Moses and Aaron. His name is Korach, as we read in:

Numbers 16:1-3
Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites–Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth–became insolent and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the L-RD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the L-RD’s assembly?”

As we can tell from this passage, this was no small uprising of nobodies; these were leaders in the community who, caught up in their responsibilities in caring for the tent of meeting, began to view themselves as being equal with Moses in terms of their intimacy with the L-RD. While the L-RD certainly had the capacity to accept any of these leaders at that level of intimacy, by their actions we can see that Korach and the others were not communicating with the same God.

We must remember that the L-RD is not an author of confusion; He does not tell one person in a group, “Go left,” while telling another person in the same group, “Go right.” Yet that is what is evidenced here by the actions of Korach and his fellow rebels. They claim to possess the same level of holiness and to be the same sort of friends to the L-RD.

But is their claim valid? Remember, many of these are the same folks who charged into the Promised Land without the blessing of the L-RD, even though they were warned against it. Did that experience bring them back in touch with the proper humility before the L-RD? Sadly, no. They persist and persist in the idea that they know the mind of the L-RD as well as Moses, even in the face of absolutely no evidence supporting their presumptuous attitude. So they instead accuse Moses of doing exactly what they are doing; going too far and being too presumptuous.

We read this in:

Numbers 16:4-7
When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the L-RD will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers and tomorrow put fire and incense in them before the L-RD. The man the L-RD chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”

So what is going on here is that Moses basically tells Korach and his followers, “You think you’re holy? You think the L-RD is with you? Terrific! Let’s put it to the test. Let’s prove it. Let’s allow the L-RD to show who He is with and who He is not with.”

Moses challenges Korach’s dissatisfaction. You see, Korach was of the Levites and Moses points out all the blessings the L-RD has poured out on Korach and his followers. He’s set them apart from the rest of the tribes, exempted them from military service and allowed them to draw near to the L-RD by their service in the Temple. And yet, despite all of that, it’s not enough. They want and lay claim to more.

So Moses challenges them to a contest of selection, yet Korach, along with Dathan and Abiram, refuse initially. We read this in:

Numbers 16:12b-14
But they said, “We will not come! Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert? And now you also want to lord it over us? Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!”

Now, notice how out of touch with the truth these men are at this point. All Moses has suggested is that they put fire and incense in their censers and allow the L-RD to choose a leader, yet they accuse him wanting to, what? Fix the result? No. They are so irrational, they claim Moses wants to gouge out their eyes!

So Moses repeats the challenge and this time it is accepted. When they come before the Tent of Meeting, the L-RD says He wants to destroy the entire assembly, but amazingly Moses once again prays for the L-RD to show mercy, even to those who are the enemies of Moses! We read this in:

Numbers 16:20-22
The L-RD said to Moses and Aaron, “Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.” But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, “O God, God of the spirits of all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?”

So at this, the L-RD tells Moses to order the people who do not want to share in the fate of Korach, Dathan and Abiram to stand away from their tents… well clear, as a matter of fact. And then Moses tells the people about the judgment the L-RD is about to pass upon them.

We read this in:

Numbers 16:28-33
Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the L-RD has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the L-RD has not sent me. But if the L-RD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the L-RD with contempt.” As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah’s men and all their possessions. They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.

This is how Korach was brought to an end by the L-RD, but his rebellion was not over. Those who followed Korach approached Moses shortly after this and confronted him, trying to blame him personally as a murderer of Korach. Then the L-RD sends a plague out and 14,700 people die as a result – all of them among those who were eager to follow Korach back to slavery in Egypt, rather than to follow the L-RD and their chosen intermediary, Moses.

After this massive loss of life, the L-RD follows it up by offering further instructions for the Levites, so that such presumptions by the people might be less likely to arise in the future. Of course, what we can also understand here is that these 14,700 who died in the Korach rebellion were all doomed to never see the Promised Land anyway; the L-RD declared that already in last week’s portion.

So what can we draw from this episode? Perhaps this: that no matter how righteous and genuine someone may seem, no matter how well and persuasively they speak, no matter how much they speak of having the L-RD on their side, none of that is of any value. It does not indicate their true standing with the L-RD. What does? There are some questions one can ask to help discern this.

Do they pray, or just talk about praying?

When they pray, do they seek the L-RD’s will, or use it as an opportunity to promote their own ideas?

Do they seek the L-RD and His will, or their own way?

Do they listen to the L-RD, or do they harden their heart to Him in order to cling to what they want?

In all these ways, Korach fell short. He talked about the whole people of Israel being holy, but never spoke once to the L-RD. He promoted his own agenda in all he said, never humbling himself to ask the L-RD what He wanted. He sought to have things go in his favor, refused to listen to warnings about his destructive path and hardened his heart so much, he didn’t even attempt to flee his own destruction.

Most importantly, he never saw himself as in the wrong. He thought of himself as a good guy, a champion of the people. Right and wrong, for him, was all turned around. That is the path of Korath and it should serve as a warning to anyone who seeks to use religion and the L-RD to further their own agenda, rather than to serve the L-RD according to His will and agenda.

Erring in this area is not something the L-RD takes lightly, which the consequences of this week’s portion make clear. Only a few chapters ago, the Torah declared that Moses was the most humble man who had ever lived; in Korach, we see someone who is anything but humble, even while projecting an image to the contrary.

Korach led thousands to destruction, and he is only one of many shadows of the false Messiah. Far superior is the path of Moses, who is a shadow of the true Messiah, our Messiah Yeshua.

Shabbat Shalom.

I know we ought not obsess on the physical to the detriment of the spiritual, but at fifty pounds overweight, it’s time for me to start putting enough energy into improving my physical self that I can have better health and life expectancy. I was hoping to try something light and easy, like a Kettlebell system, but so far it’s just thoughts, which doesn’t exactly help one lose weight. Anyway, here’s my Sh’lach L’cha commentary. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashah for today is Sh’lach L’cha or “Send for yourself” and covers Numbers chapters 13 through 15. This week’s reading covers the entire episode when Moses and Aaron send spies into the promised land, the report of the spies, and the L-RD’s reaction to their report. Next to the episode of the Golden Calf, this ranks as one of the most disappointing episodes in all of Israel’s history, and quite often the true cause of this episode is either overlooked completely, or minimized.

For the past couple weeks, Rabbi Stan has taught on the dangers of lashon horah – evil speech – and the destruction it can bring upon any individual or community of people. Also, in last week’s Torah commentary, we looked at how evil speech affected the community of Israel when they grumbled about the manna the L-RD provided, as well as how the grumbling of Miriam – the sister of Moses – was also dealt with harshly by the L-RD.

We’ve learned that committing evil speech does not require the telling of a lie. Often, those who commit lashon horah are telling the truth about another person. But it doesn’t matter. The problem is not the truthfulness of the speech, but the intent of the speaker. So, even if one speaks the truth, if the intent of one’s heart in sharing something about another person is to damage their reputation in the eyes of others, the result is considered evil speech.

This week’s portion reveals yet another aspect to how evil speech can be manifested. Moses and Aaron send a group of twelve spies into the land promised to them by the L-RD. What was the purpose of their mission?

We find this in:

Numbers 13:17-20
When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)

So, this is the mission of the spies. To simply gather intelligence on the conditions in the Land, and bring back some fruit of the land if they are able. That’s it. That’s all. Just gather information and fruit, and report back to Moses and Aaron.

Is that what happened? We find this in:

Numbers 13:27-29
They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”
Now, to this point, those reporting back to Moses and Aaron have lived up to their responsibilities. They have stuck to the parameters given to them by Moses. They have gathered information and reported it, but they have not gone beyond that specific mission. Yet things are about to take a turn for the worse. After this, Caleb speaks up and offers a faithful conclusion to the report, saying, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

Caleb’s summary comes through the eyes of faith. Faith in the ability of the L-RD to deliver on His promises. Yet not everyone who went with him to spy out the Land agree. Instead of trusting the L-RD to make good on His promises, they instead respond out of fear, in the flesh. We read this in:

Numbers 13:31-33
But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

This is where the behavior of the spies sent into the Land veers off-course from their mission. After delivering an accurate initial report, they allow fear to rule over them, rather than faith in the L-RD who brought them up out of Egypt and rescued them from slavery in Egypt. Instead of trusting in the L-RD as Caleb had suggested, they choose to fear the odds against them and the forces that will oppose them, and they go a step further by spreading that fear to others throughout the camp.

This is important to understand; it is their words and the intent behind their words that get them into trouble here. Are some of their claims honest? It would appear so. After all, we know that in time, in the generation of David, David will battle a giant from Gath named Goliath – or Golyat, if you prefer the Hebrew version of his name. So is it true that there are giants in the Land? Certainly. But again, when it comes to lashon hora, the truth of what is said is not at issue; what is at issue is the intent of the speech, which here, very clearly, is to cause fear and sew division among the people.

This is important to notice: Caleb and Joshua did not go on a separate mission from the other ten spies! They traveled together. They witnesses the same things. They had the same facts at their disposal. So what is the difference?

The difference is how they reacted to what they saw and what they knew. Ten of them give into fear; fear is a lack of trust, which is the same thing as a lack of faith. Only two – Caleb and Joshua – look at the same information, the odds stacked against them, and say, “The L-RD is able. He can give us the victory.”

Yet their voices were hard to hear over the din of complaints and fear. We read this in:

Numbers 14:1-4
That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the L-RD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

Notice how lashon hora has taken deep root in the community of the Israelites at this time. It grows and grows as time goes on, the complaints growing louder and spiraling out of control. In the last parashah, we saw how thousands died because of evil speech over the manna the L-RD provided the people to eat; we read about Miriam’s punishment for speaking against the leadership of her brother, Moses. While corrective actions were taken on each occasion, the habit of evil speech is now so deeply ingrained in the people that the problem continues even though those who were guilty of it before had been severely punished by The L-RD. Now, they are at the point of outright mutiny, making plans to return to Egypt as soon as they can find a willing leader to challenge and replace Moses.

So, what is the solution to this explosive situation? We read this in:

Numbers 14:5-10a
Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the L-RD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the L-RD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the L-RD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” But the whole assembly talked about stoning them.

Moses and Aaron respond with prayer; Caleb and Joshua respond by speaking a better truth – a truth based in trusting The L-RD – to the people, urging them not to rebel. Yet it doesn’t work, does it? By this time, the people have become fatally infected by the sin of lashon hora, to the point that none of them can pull back from their urge to rebel against the L-RD. From Mount Sinai, when they changed the terms of the agreement, telling Moses to be their mediator and not have the L-RD speak to them anymore lest they die, to complaints about food, until now where an evil report about the land causes them to want to strike down Moses and Aaron and return to slavery in Egypt, this is a group of people who have been saying, “No,” to the L-RD for so long, they simply can’t stop saying, “No,” to Him.

Finally, the L-RD has had enough. Once again, the L-RD declares His desire to strike them all down and build a new nation out of Moses himself. Once again, Moses intercedes for Israel, begging the L-RD to show mercy. Once again, the L-RD agrees to forgive them for Moses’ sake. He won’t wipe them out all at once and thus given the Egyptians a reason to speak of the L-RD with contempt. But this time the L-RD does not back down so completely. Let’s listen in to this passage in:

Numbers 14:20-24
The L-RD replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the L-RD fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times–not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.

And the L-RD is not light in his punishment of this rebellion, either. As He revealed of Himself to Moses, the L-RD does not leave the guilty unpunished, but he punished the children for the sins of their fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Him. He is about to illustrate this literally and directly, as we read in:

Numbers 14:28-35
So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the L-RD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall–every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. But you–your bodies will fall in this desert. Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. For forty years–one year for each of the forty days you explored the land–you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ I, the L-RD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die.”

Why is the L-RD so harsh with the Israelites here? I would suggest that what we see here is a rejection of even the amended covenant the L-RD had made with Israel at Sinai. Remember, the original terms were that the people would hear the voice of the L-RD. That was all they had to do. Instead, they asked for a mediator – Moses. And God gave them what they asked for! He amended the covenant and as a result they were no longer called “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Now, they want to reject the mediator of their own choosing, Moses, going so far as to plot his overthrow. And yes, that means they were planning to kill him.

So the L-RD decides what their punishment must be; none of them who rejected him so thoroughly and continuously will live to see the promised land themselves. That will be left to their children, who will be put to hard labor in the wilderness for their survival there as a punishment for the sins of their parents. Their parents had not had to struggle to survive in the desert; they will be made to. So, except for Joshua and Caleb, the entire generation of the exodus from Egypt will perish in the desert and never see the land promised to them.

And why? Because of a lack of trust, a root of bitterness, and most importantly, because of careless talk, evil speech, lashon hora. Unkind words and evil speech led to the destruction of an entire generation, over 600,000 men of military age, and perhaps as many as 1.5 million people overall. Only two survive. So, the next time someone tells you that words are not important, can’t hurt you or that God doesn’t care about it… point them to these last two Torah portions. The truth is exactly the opposite of the wisdom of this world.

Shabbat Shalom.

I’ve been thinking a lot about RVs lately. Growing up, they were considered the way to travel the country in style. It was a big deal when my uncle and aunt took my Grandma Hensel to the Grand Canyon and back in a huge one. Actually, it was more of a motor home when you get right down to it. Of course, back then gas was well under a buck a gallon. I’d hate to see the gas bill these days, though I’m sure modern RVs get much better fuel efficiency … to a point. Anyway, here’s my commentary on B’ha’alotcha. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashah for today is B’ha’alotcha or “In your setting up” and covers Numbers chapters 8 through 12. Chapter eight concerns itself with the setting up of lampstands and the preparations of the Levites. Chapter nine focuses on regulations surrounding the celebration of the Passover, allowing even those who are ceremonially unclean due to coming in contact with a dead body to take part in the feast, as well as how the Israelites moved their encampment only when the cloud over the Tent of Meeting moved, and how they stopped when it stopped.

Chapter ten concentrates on further instructions for moving the encampment, both at a time of battle and at a time of peace. Chapter eleven relates the events that happened when the people of Israel grew tired of manna and begged the L-RD to send them a wider variety of food. And finally, chapter twelve focuses on the consequences of some family troubles among Moses and his siblings, Aaron and Miriam.

So this is a rich Torah portion, ripe with topics for discussion, but the part that I kept being drawn back to was chapter twelve, because I believe what it teaches us about the L-RD is so important and, too often, overlooked by many believers today.

We read this in:

Numbers 12:1-2
Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. “Has the L-RD spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the L-RD heard this.

So, what do we have here? Well, we have the sister and brother of Moses complaining against him. The first fault they find here is that Moses has married a Cushite wife. The King James translates the word Cushite as “Ethiopian.” So what do we know about the wife of Moses?

Actually, we know very little about her. The first thing we know is her name, which is Zipporah. She is the daughter of Jethro, the priest of Midian, and therefore would most properly be considered a Midianite.

Zipporah’s name specifically appears in the Torah only four times. Her name appears twice in Exodus chapter two, where she is named as the daughter of Reuel (another name for Jethro) who is given by Jethro to Moses as his wife, and that she gave birth to his first-born son, Gershom.

Zipporah’s name next appears in Exodus chapter four, when she circumcises Moses’ son because he had failed to, and the L-RD was about to strike Moses down for failing to do so. The final appearance of her name in the Torah is in Exodus chapter eighteen, when we are told that Moses had sent his wife and two sons ahead of Israel to stay with Jethro during Israel’s ordeal fleeing from slavery in Egypt.

Directly from the Torah, that’s all we know about Zipporah, the wife of Moses. Of course, rabbinic tradition has attempted to fill in the blanks, but there is no basis in the Torah itself for much of what is taught about her.

What we do know is that Miriam and Aaron were complaining about Moses having a Cushite wife. Is it Zipporah’s origins in the land of Cush… or Midian, or Ethiopia… whatever you wish to call it… that matter here? No. The core of this issue is not where Zipporah IS from, but where she is NOT from; she is not an Israelite.

Now, this information was, of course, nothing new to Miriam and Aaron. Moses has been married to Zipporah for a few years at least, had two sons by her – Gershom and Eliezer – and yet it is this fact that spurs Miriam’s complaint against her brother. When she complains, “Has the L-RD spoken only to Moses? Hasn’t He also spoken through us?” she is not speaking anything untrue. In fact, the Sage Rashi suggests that Miriam never even intended harm to Moses by what she said! We read this from:

Rashi
“…and although Aharon and Miriam did not mean to hurt Moshe they were still punished; how much more so, then, will a person who wishes to hurt another be punished?”

And it is this quote from Rashi that draws up closer to the real issue at hand here, and that is a Hebrew word you may have heard used by some people at times here at Beth Yeshua, but which you may not understand. That word is lashon hora, and it means, “evil speech.” Stan taught about it last week.

Evil speech and its consequences is a theme that is repeated generally in the Torah, and especially in this week’s Torah portion. What is evil speech?

Well, it goes deeper than just malicious gossip and lies. As a matter of fact, one can be speaking things that are absolutely true about another person, and yet still be guilty of evil speech.

Think about it. Was it true that Moses had married a Cushite as opposed to a Hebrew woman? Certainly. Was it true that the L-RD had spoken to Aaron and Miriam as well as Moses? Sure it was. So, why were they punished for speaking the truth?

Because nothing that was said, although true, was meant to build up Moses. The intent was to diminish Moses, even if not exactly to harm him. The words being spoken were coming from negativity and a root of bitterness. Bitterness is often taken for granted these days; we hear of a person’s misfortune and the injustices they have suffered and, of course, we understand why a person might be bitter today. But are bitterness and envy – understandable though they may be – fruits of the Spirit or qualities that offer life and healing?

We read this in:

Acts 8:18-23
When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

We also know what is said in:

Proverbs 14:30
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

These are just a couple examples; there are many. And what both of these passages point out is that bitterness and envy are not compatible with ministry or a life led by communication with God – the Holy Spirit. Because Peter recognized the bitterness and envy in Simon’s heart, he did not just refuse to lay hands on him, but actually told him, “You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.”

And what is the fruit of bitterness and envy? It is lashon hora, evil speech! Let’s take a look at another part of this week’s portion, and see the consequences of yet another instance of evil speech. We read this in:

Numbers 11:4-6
The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost–also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”

Now, like the source of most bitterness, we can understand the complaint these people have. Manna was a wonderful, perfect food to be sure, but as most chefs will tell you, too much of anything, even a really good thing, can get monotonous. So some of the people eventually complain that it’s manna for breakfast, manna for lunch and manna for supper, and it’s easy to understand that they decide they would like some meat.

However, you see, it doesn’t end there. They let a minor dissatisfaction with the lack of variety of food grow and grow until their complaint becomes a lot more than just wishing they had a steak now and then. They let this complaint grow and fuel their dissatisfaction until they’re not just asking for a wider variety of food, but are claiming that they were better off under the yoke of slavery in Egypt. All over what? Food!

So the L-RD hears their complaint, but his response is not to their surface complaint of a lack of meat, but to the root of bitterness in their heart.

We read this in:

Numbers 11:18-20
“Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The L-RD heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the
L-RD will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month–until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it–because you have rejected the L-RD, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”

You see, the true problem here is not meat. The Israelites did indeed have herds of cattle and flocks of sheep; if they had wanted meat, their was meat to be had. This is instead a problem of attitude and a condition of their hearts being rooted in complaints and envy and bitterness, rather than rejoicing and praise and the Spirit of the L-RD. This is not a matter of what they were given; this is a matter of desiring whatever they were not given, as we read in:

Numbers 11:31-34
Now a wind went out from the L-RD and drove quail in from the sea. It brought them down all around the camp to about three feet above the ground, as far as a day’s walk in any direction. All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers. Then they spread them out all around the camp. But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the L-RD burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved other food.

And that’s the key phrase. They craved “other food,” as in any food other than that provided by the L-RD. The manna was not the problem here. The L-RD could have provided them anything, be it steak, turkey, cheese pizza, popcorn, whatever! And no matter what He provided, their desire would have been for whatever was not on the menu. It was not merely about wanting something new to eat, it was about wanting something not provided by the L-RD.

You know, the traditions of the rabbis are sometimes filled with tales that add on to the Biblical text. Sometimes what they add provides insight, sometimes not. One of the traditions surrounding this episode with the quail and the manna states that those who ate the manna were compelled to follow the Torah and obey all that the L-RD commanded them in order to receive the full benefits of the manna. Whether that’s true or not, the tradition offers the insight that what the people complaining here really wanted was food that came with no strings attached, with no requirement to follow the Torah and obey all that the L-RD commanded them. So ultimately what they wanted wasn’t a twenty-ounce porterhouse on their plates, but they wanted the L-RD out of their lives.

And as a result of a minor complaint about food, thousands died there in the desert. Remember, these were a generation of people who had already said no to hearing the voice of God directly, a voice that would have allowed them to become what God desired them to be: a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. As we know, they instead chose to hear from a human mediator, rather than the L-RD. They chose to worship a golden calf, rather than wait for the return of that mediator. The L-RD had promised that not one of their generation would live to see the Promised Land, save for Caleb and Joshua, and this is one of the episodes on the way to Him fulfilling that promise.

So how does this tie in to the evil speech uttered by Miriam? Let’s take a look at the L-RD’s response in:

Number 12:4-8
At once the L-RD said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them came out. Then the L-RD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward, he said, “Listen to my words: “When a prophet of the L-RD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the L-RD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

When the Spirit of the L-RD departs, Miriam, who has spoken evil against her brother Moses first, was struck with leprosy. It was a death sentence and yet, because Moses interceded on her behalf, the L-RD spared her life, though she had to sit outside the camp for seven days before she was healed and declared clean once more.

What this ought to make clear is that, as far as the L-RD is concerned, the old saying, “Words can never hurt me,” is not relevant. The excuse repeated by so many, “Well, all I was saying is…” does not stand up to scrutiny. Whether it is careless talk, gossip, evil speech, or even lashon hora, what comes out of people’s mouths, their words and the intent of their hearts, matter quite a bit to the L-RD. Being careful with what one says can bring unity to a community; being careless about what one says can destroy it, as we’ll see next week. Is there a cure for lashon hora? That’s what Stan will speak about in a little bit.

Shabbat Shalom.

Good news! I have audio blogging versions of my commentaries, dating all the way back to the very first one, available now on this blog! Just look for the linked text that says, “Or listen to it!” Click on that and the .mp3 file will download into your preferred player.

All audio is taken from a live taping of me delivering these messages at Beth Yeshua, though some of the early ones were taped at Kehilat Sar Shalom. One or two I recorded after the event because the live taping didn’t turn out.

I’ll continue to add audio as we go, now, though it’ll go up a few days after the text is posted, due to production reasons. Enjoy!

Not much to say today about other kinds of content. I just want to get to the portion. Here’s my commentary on Nasso. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashah for today is Nasso or “Elevate” and covers Numbers chapter 4:21 through chapter 7. This week’s reading is rich and wide-ranging, with several topics one could explore in a Torah commentary. There is a census of all the Levites who serve in the Tent of Meeting. Chapter five concerns community rules for various types of impurity, restitution, and jealousy between husband and wife. Chapter six primarily explains the Nazirite vow. And chapter seven explains all the offerings presented at the dedication of the Tent of Meeting, by each of the twelve tribes. However, what I kept being drawn back to is an element of this week’s Torah portion that we hear every week, but which, I suspect, many of us take for granted: the Aaronic benediction.

The relevant passage comes to us in:

Numbers 6:22-27
The L-RD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: ‘The L-RD bless you and keep you; the L-RD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the L-RD turn his face toward you and give you peace.’ So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.’”

Now, many people take this little homily for granted. They consider it part of a liturgy or simply a nice thought or prayer at the end of a service. Yet there is a surprising amount we can learn from this blessing. Here at Beth Yeshua, we often hear this blessing sung in its original Hebrew language before reciting it in English. Those of you who are somewhat new here and have not heard much Hebrew before might not know what it means; if it’s your first time here, you might not even have heard it in Hebrew before, so let me share this with you now:

Yeva re-khe-kha Adonai, veyish merekha
Ya’er Adonai pa-nav elay-kha vi-chun-neka
Yi-sa Adonai Pa-nev eley-kha
Ve-yasem lekha Shalom

And, of course, this means: May the L-RD bless thee and keep thee; may the L-RD make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee; may the L-RD turn his countenance toward thee, and grant thee peace.

Now that you hear it in English, it probably sounds more familiar to you, doesn’t it? A lot of churches use a variation on this prayer in their service, with the differences depending primarily on from which translation of the Bible they are taking their reading.

While the words of this four-line blessing seem simple, there is a richness of meaning hidden beneath their surface, so what I’d like to do today is break this blessing down, phrase by phrase, and explore the deeper meaning of this blessing.

First, let’s discuss the importance of blessings. As Stan mentioned recently, there are studies that have been done which seem to indicate a higher degree of intelligence and achievement among Jewish people. Certainly, as Charles Murray has observed, there is an “over-representation, relative to their numbers, in the top ranks of the arts, sciences, law, medicine, finance, entrepreneurship and the media.”

While scholars wrestle to find genetic markers or some other scientific explanation for this sort of over-achievement, I believe the real answer is far simpler: the Jewish people pray blessings over their children regularly. It’s part of their culture to pray blessings over their children.

Of course, the motive for blessings should never be to gain earthly blessings or advantages; they are recited first, foremost, and ideally only because the L-RD has commanded us to do so.

So, what sort of blessing are Aaron and his sons commanded by the L-RD to pray over the people? Let’s start with the first phrase:

THE L-RD BLESS THEE AND KEEP THEE.

Now, some translations vary the wording on the second part of this phrase, and use “guard thee,” rather than “keep thee.” The word used for bless here is “barak” in the Hebrew. According to Strongs entry:

H1288 barak
* AV – bless 302, salute 5, curse 4, blaspheme 2, praised 2, kneel down 2, congratulate 1

The Strong’s entry for “keep” here is “shamar,” which means, according to entry:

H8104 shamar
* AV – keep 283, observe 46, heed 35, keeper 28, preserve 21, watch 7, regard 5, save 2

So, another way of phrasing this, to capture some of these additional levels of meaning, would be, “May the L-RD salute, praise and congratulate you, causing you to kneel before Him, and may He observe, keep watch over, guard, protect and save you from all the attacks of the enemy.

How have the Sages interpreted this verse? We get the following from:

Midrash Rabbah, Numbers vol. 1, p. 433
May He BLESS THEE with wealth AND GUARD THEE that you may perform good deeds with it.

This tradition follows logically with what we know of God and His good intentions toward us. Everything that we possess comes from God, and his purpose for whatever He gives us, whether it is a little or a lot, is to use those resources to pass blessings on to others, that His name may be glorified. Yet is this all? Yet another Sage takes issue with this simple interpretation and adds some insight of his own:

R. Isaac taught,
If they are blessed, are they not automatically guarded, and if guarded are they not blessed? What then is the purport of the expression: AND GUARD THEE? From the Evil Inclination, that he drive thee not out of the world.

The evil inclination mentioned here by R. Isaac is evil personified, an expression that indicates the Evil One, the Adversary of the L-RD, who does indeed desire our destruction, which is one way to “drive us out of the world,” as R. Isaac phrased it.

Let’s turn now to the next phrase in the priestly blessing:

THE L-RD MAKE HIS FACE SHINE ON THEE AND BE GRACIOUS UNTO THEE

What does this mean? How could the L-RD’s face “shine upon us?” We find that the Hebrew word from the Strongs is entry:

H215 ‘owr
* AV – light 19, shine 14, enlighten 5, break of day 1, fire 1, give 1, glorious 1, kindle 1; 43
1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be illuminated
1c4) lighten (of the eyes, his law, etc)

While this is of some value, I actually prefer the midrashic interpretation of this phrase, as follows:

Midrash Rabbah, Numbers vol. 1, p. 434
THE L-RD MAKE HIS FACE TO SHINE UPON THEE with the light of the Torah; it implies, May He enlighten your eyes and heart in the Torah.

Certainly the Torah is the written revelation the L-RD has given us about who He is, so it would be a natural conclusion that the Torah is the light of the L-RD, because only through the Torah can we see the L-RD for who He is, rather than who we might prefer Him to be.

So what about the second half of this phrase, “And be gracious unto thee?” Well, for this, I think it’s important to keep in mind our understanding of the Torah as God’s minimum standard, a document that reveals at what point we fall short of the least we can do to keep from offending The L-RD by our actions. The purpose of the Torah is to reveal our inadequacies so that we can recognize a need for a Messiah. So this phrase in the priestly blessing balances the potential condemnation that comes from the face of the L-RD – the Torah – shining its light of the truth of our sinfulness upon us, by asking the L-RD for His gracious mercy at the same time, thus, “And be gracious unto Thee.” A similar sentiment is expressed in this passage from the:

Midrash Rabbah, Numbers vol. 1, p. 435
Another exposition of the expression AND BE GRACIOUS UNTO THEE is: May He grant you knowledge so that you may be gracious to one another and compassionate to one another.

This fits with Messiah Yeshua’s teaching, in the L-RD’s prayer, that we ought to be forgiven by the same measure that we forgive others.

In fact, it is through this graciousness phrase that the blessing alludes to the promised Messiah, as we see in this passage from the:

Midrash Rabbah, Numbers vol. 1, p. 436
Another exposition is that He will BE GRACIOUS UNTO YOU by redeeming you. This accords with the text, “O L-RD be gracious unto us; we have waited for Thee; be Thou … our salvation also in the time of trouble. (Isaiah 33:2)

Let’s take a closer look at that passage from Isaiah, because that is where we’ll trace the thread from this blessing that leads to the Messiah. Here’s the full verse from:

Isaiah 33:2
O L-RD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.

Now, the Hebrew word used in this verse is Y’shua, which of course means “salvation.” So an alternate reading of this verse could easily go like this:

Isaiah 33:2
O L-RD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our Yeshua in time of distress.

Now let’s turn our attention to the final phrase of the blessing, which reads:

MAY THE L-RD LIFT UP HIS COUNTENANCE UPON YOU AND GRANT YOU PEACE.

The big word here to struggle with is, of course, “countenance.” But this is actually Strong’s H6440, panayim, which merely means “presence” or “face.” The midrashic tradition offers this insight:

Midrash Rabbah, Numbers vol. 1, p. 437
Our text states in effect, That countenance of indignation which should deservedly have been turned upon you He will turn away from you.

In light of this, it seems that this is simply a re-expression or re-affirmation of the sentiment of the previous line in the blessing. An alternative reading of this passage is “The L-RD turn his face toward you,” which is favorable, as one Sage has pointed out, to the L-RD disregarding you to the point where He would not turn His face to look at you at all, so it can be read as an expression of God’s kindness and favor, as well.

Finally, we turn our attention to the closing phrase, “And grant thee peace.” Here’s what the Sages have said in:

Midrash Rabbah, Numbers vol. 1, p. 437
Likewise in the priestly benediction, at the end of the blessings, He concludes with peace, AND GIVE THEE PEACE. This is to tell you that blessings in themselves are of no avail unless peace goes with them.
To further expound on the importance of peace, R. Eleazar Hakkappar says, “Great is peace, for the seal of the whole of the Prayer is peace and the seal of the priestly benediction is peace. Great is peace, for it was given to the meek; as it says, ‘But the humble shall inherit the land, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace. (Psalm 37:11) … Thus peace is a grand thing and quarrelsomeness is hateful.”

Certainly, anyone who is part of a community of any size, be it as small as a family, or a church, or a village, a state, or a nation, can recognize that peace is always preferable to conflict, that arguments and disagreements and evil speech tear apart while peace leads to unity in the L-RD. The value of peace is even expressed by Yeshua in the Beatitudes. We read this in:

Matthew 5:5, 9
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth … Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

That is what we all desire as followers of Yeshua, isn’t it? To be called sons of the L-RD? If so, this blessing is an encouragement to go forth each week seeking to be at peace with everyone, rather than to be the source of conflict; to be guided by the light of God’s Torah and hold on to the promise of his Messiah. That’s the meaning of the Aaronic benediction.

Shabbat Shalom.

While many good sites concentrate on health issues like appetite suppressant, here at MessianicMusings, we concentrate on searching the L-RD’s word for truth. Here’s my commentary on B’midbar. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashah for today is B’midbar or “In the wilderness” and covers Numbers chapter 1 through verse 20 of chapter 4. This week’s reading largely concerns the taking of a census of the children of Israel. We read about this in:

Numbers 1:1-3
The L-RD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said: “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. You and Aaron are to number by their divisions all the men in Israel twenty years old or more who are able to serve in the army.

At its most basic level, this census seems to be a military census, since the count only includes men of military age. The results show that at this time, Israel consists of over 600,000 men of military age … 603,550, to be exact, according to verse 46. Now, one might wonder about the significance of a book that concerns the counting of the people in various ways. Why is it important?

Well, for one thing, although the numbers seem in most places to be rounded up to the nearest fifty, they generally are not the nice, round numbers that one might expect if critics of the Bible were correct and the story of the Exodus were a parable and everything in it was symbolic. Instead, the numbers found here are irregular and seem to be random, as one might expect if a large number of people were actually counted. So the very existence of this book and the record of those counted testify to the historical nature of the book. It is a book that confounds skeptics.

But certainly confounding skeptics was not foremost in the mind of the L-RD when he inspired Moses to write the book of Numbers. There must be a deeper meaning, a purpose beyond a mere historical record. And we get a hint of what that is from this tradition from the sage:

Rashi
Because God felt a deep love for Israel, He constantly counted them. When they left Egypt He counted them (Exodus 12:37); after many were punished because of the sin of the Golden Calf He counted them once again (Exodus 33:11ff); and now that He had caused His presence to dwell among them, He counted them once more.

This is an idea I can relate to. You see, when I was young, I became an enthusiastic collector of comic books. Whether it was Spider-Man, Batman, Fantastic Four, Teen Titans or the X Men, I simply enjoyed the exciting mixture of dynamic visual art and compelling storytelling. And since I was not a person who cast aside any type of book or reading material, I soon needed storage boxes and, ultimately, an inventory system.

I can still remember buying packs of hundreds of index cards, rolling them one at a time into my Smith-Corona electric typewriter, and spending hours typing out an index card for each comic I bought, being careful to note not only the series and issue number, but the story title, writer, artists, cover price and so on. I spent almost as much time inventorying and counting my collection of comic books as I did actually reading it. I continued my collection through most of my teenage years before finally selling it around the time I entered college, making just enough in the sale to help pay for a Commodore-64 computer I needed to help me write papers at college.

What explains such behavior? Well, as with any collector, whether it is stamps, rare coins, model vehicles, or, as in my case, comic books … this is an example of what one does when they develop an affection for a treasured possession. I would count and sort and preserve and store so that I could easily find and re-read any issue I wanted to find, at any time; the system helped me also make sure I hadn’t lost anything, as well as track what I had and what I needed.

The key, there, is the concept of a treasured possession. That is a phrase that pops up between the L-RD and his chosen people, as we remember from:

Exodus 19:5-6a
Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

It is easy to overlook that simple turn of phrase, “treasured possession,” and take it for granted, but it has a significant meaning. The word used here is actually:

Strong’s H5459 ceg-ul-lah
* AV – peculiar treasure 3, special 1, jewel 1
* 1a) valued property, peculiar treasure

So we can see this is a word that implies a very special relationship between the L-RD and his chosen people. They are not just a common possession – as He says, the whole earth belongs to Him – but because of his relationship to the people of Israel because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, when they hear His voice and obey his instructions, they are a people he values above all else in creation.

Is this value God places here based purely on heritage and birth? It would appear not, because this declaration is made in connection to what? To hearing the voice of the L-RD and obeying all that He commands. As Rabbi Stan has pointed out in his recent sermons, the phrase “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” does not reappear in the Bible until I Peter, when it resurfaces in light of the followers of Yeshua receiving the Holy Spirit and once again being able to hear the voice of the L-RD. If you can’t hear His voice, you can’t be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Yet even though the Hebrew people passed up the opportunity to hear God’s voice, to speak to Him directly, they remained His treasured possession. Can we who are not by heritage Jewish share in this status? We read this in:

I Peter 2:9-10
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Other translations render verse nine as “a peculiar people,” while the NIV renders it as “a people belonging to God.” The Greek word used there comes to us from the Strong’s entry:

G4047 peripoiesis
* AV – purchased possession, obtaining, saving, peculiar
* 2) possession, one’s own property

This is nearly the same meaning, the same expression, as the Hebrew word cegulah. Although not identical, it expresses a very similar sentiment, that of a possession, even a special possession. Peter’s statement is directed to believers in Messiah Yeshua, so as long as we listen to His voice and obey all of His commands, I think it’s reasonable to draw the conclusion that we are grafted in to that statement of being a treasured possession of the L-RD, on the same basis … meaning, so long as we hear His voice and obey all that He commands.

So what kinds of love are expressed by the L-RD when He counts those He loves and who love Him? We get this clue from a tradition recorded in:

The Weekly Midrash, page 690
When they left Egypt He counted them and said Israel is my first-born son, for he loved them with the love that a father bears a son. The second form of love was that of a person to his righteous friend. Israel repented after they were punished because of the sin of the Golden Calf. Moshe and the tribe of Levi killed those who had worshipped it, and although the people numbered 600,000, no one had raised a hand against them. It is therefore obvious that they had repented. For this reason, God loved them and counted them. The third kind of love was expressed when He wished to rest His presence among them, and take Israel as His people, and so He counted them.

The counting also gives us a ballpark figure of how many the children of Israel numbered at this time. If there were 603,550 males of military age, as a starting point, you can at least double that number to account for the number of women of the same age, bringing the total to over 1.2 million at least. Then, if you add in at least another twenty-five percent for those who were younger than that – from newborns through teenagers – a reasonable estimate of the group gathered there at Sinai is about 1.5 million; it would be hard to imagine, under even the worst circumstances, that the group was less than one million, just based on the number of men age 20 and up. And that’s not even including the Levites, who were not counted since they are dedicated to God and not required to serve in the military.

Now, the Bible at times takes a dim view of census-taking. For example, in the book of II Samuel, David repents for taking a census of the people against the will of the L-RD and the judgment against him was so harsh it led to the deaths of 70,000 Israelites by plague.

In the gospel of Luke, a census of the people by a Roman governor, Caesar Augustus, is linked to the birth of Yeshua, but the census is cast in a negative light. Even Exodus contains instructions on how to avoid suffering a plague as a result of census-taking.

Yet there are differences. David’s census was inspired because, in his old age, he began trusting in his military might, rather than in the L-RD. The Roman census was linked to taxation, which included hefty taxes even on the poor.

That’s not the kind of census the L-RD is engaging in here; He is asking for a count of his people because He loves them and they are a treasured possession. Just as a collector of stamps, coins, sports cards or comic books will periodically devote time simply to sort through and count their collection, so too does the L-RD here desire to sort through and count those hearts who are devoted to Him by hearing and by obedience.

As we journey through this book of Numbers, let us keep in mind that every time the L-RD is counting His people, be it men of military age, or the number of first-borns, or whatever … it is, at its most basic, a way in which the L-RD is expressing His love for those who love, listen to, and obey Him.

Shabbat Shalom.

I know I’ve been promising it over almost a month now, but even if you threaten to surf over to a nice travel insurance site, I promise that audio blog versions of my Torah commentaries are indeed coming to this site soon!

Most of the files (except the most recent week) are done and in MP3 format. All I need to do is upload them via FTP and add in the links, so I’m about a third of the way home on this little project. Stick with me and it’ll get a lot easier soon. Once all the old ones are up, keeping the current commentaries up-to-date will be a lot easier.

I appreciate solid Kohler bathroom sinks as much as the next one, but a solid Torah commentary might be of more value in the world to come. So here’s my commentary on B’har and B’chukotai. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

We have a double Torah portion again this week, so our parashahs for this week are “B’har,” which means, “On the Mount,” and “B’chukotai,” which means, “In my statutes.” Together, they cover Leviticus chapters 25 through 27, and close out our time this year in the book of Leviticus.

One of the most important themes that jumped out to me in this week’s portions was the teaching The L-RD gives to Moses on the seven-year cycle for the land, as well as the pattern for the Year of Jubilee. This teaching is especially important in light of the parallel that can be drawn between the Year of Jubilee, and the Counting of the Omer.

The Torah operates on a series of patterns, and these patterns repeat over and over again. One of these patterns is the significance in time of the number seven. For example, there are six days in which the L-RD created the heavens and the earth, and then He established the Shabbat on the seventh day.

This pattern repeats in God’s 7,000-year plan for creation, with there being 2,000 years of desolation, 2,000 years of Torah, 2,000 years of Messiah, and then a 1,000-year Shabbat in which all of creation will rest in the glory of God and the earthly reign of Messiah.

We can detect the presence of this pattern once again in the L-RD’s instructions to Moses for the people as they enter the land of the promise. We read this in:

Leviticus 25:3-7
For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a Sabbath of rest, a Sabbath to the L-RD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. Whatever the land yields during the Sabbath year will be food for you–for yourself, your manservant and maidservant, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.

So, in this passage we see that the L-RD desires that even the land itself should enjoy rest of its labor, and so he institutes an agricultural Shabbat in which there are six years of production, followed by a year of rest for the land, in which it can produce whatever it produces naturally, but there will be no sowing of seed, tilling of soil or other working of the land.

This was perhaps a difficult teaching for some to accept. Remember that the Israelites were a highly agriculture-oriented society at this time; to take an entire year off from the main source of food and income would be quite a challenge to the faith of some. Yet the L-RD does offer some reassurances in this respect.

We read this in:

Leviticus 25:18-22
“‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.

So, we can see here that the L-RD promised a blessing beyond reasonable expectations and natural results if they act in obedience to His commands regarding offering the Land its part in the Shabbats of the L-RD. Their harvests in the sixth year will triple to consistently provide for them until the land’s Shabbat is over, and harvests are once again gathered.

So, there should be no reason for them to worry, right? The L-RD will provide for them richly, even in the Land’s year of rest. All they need to do is trust God and obey His instructions.

In addition to the Shabbats every seven years, however, the L-RD institutes an additional Shabbat that is to follow the seventh land Shabbat – a time known as the Year of Jubilee. Here is what we read of this time in:

Leviticus 25:8-13
Count off seven Sabbaths of years–seven times seven years–so that the seven Sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan. The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields. In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to his own property.

This year of Jubilee goes beyond blessing the land, as we can see, to blessing the people as well. In the year of Jubilee, all debts are wiped out. The price of land is based on the number of years to the next Jubilee, and once a Jubilee arrives, all debts are canceled. Abuse of the Jubilee system is built into the command with a prohibition against taking unfair advantage of each other in light of it, a command that falls equally on both the seller and the buyer, the debtor and the debt-holder.

Yet whether this system of land Shabbats and Years of Jubilee was a sound financial system, whether they were ever actually observed as commanded or not, is less important to our study today than the parallel between the Year of Jubilee and the Counting of the Omer.

As Stan taught last week, the Feast of First Fruits is held on the first day of the week, the day after the first regular Shabbat following the Passover. We then see that to reach Shavuot, we count off seven regular Shabbats after the Feast of First Fruits, which is forty-nine days long, and then immediately following the seventh Shabbat comes the Feast of Shavuot.

The same pattern is followed with the Year of Jubilee; seven times seven years are counted off, forty-nine years in all, immediately followed by a Year of Jubilee in the fiftieth year. The only difference is that with the counting of the Omer, we’re dealing with days; and with the year of Jubilee, we’re dealing with years.

So, what is the connection between the Counting of the Omer and the Year of Jubilee? The unifying themes, I believe, are completion and forgiveness. The Counting of the Omer is symbolic of completion, in that it connects the first-fruits of the barley harvest to the first-fruits of the wheat harvest. In the New Covenant gospels, First-Fruits begins with the resurrection of the Messiah Yeshua, and is completed in the giving of the Holy Spirit in the second chapter of Acts. Resurrection completes the promise and sets us free from sin; the giving of the Holy Spirit empowers us to move out into our new life, led by the voice of God, rather than “following after our own eyes, after which we used to go astray.”

This pattern of sevens is reflected in Yeshua’s teachings.

Matthew 18:21-22
Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Yeshua said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

With this command of forgiveness up to seventy times seven, we can apply our insight and understanding to this passage, knowing that this would include not only 490 years – 490 Yom Kippurs – but 10 Years of Jubilee, a time when all debts are cancelled. What that means is to forgive someone so completely that you’ll never live to see that forgiveness expire. Our forgiveness of others should last forever, just as we want the L-RD to forgive us.

Immediately following this exchange with Peter, Yeshua goes on to tell the story of the servant who owed the king more than he could ever repay, and who was forgiven his debt by the king; but when he was owed a small amount by his fellow servant, he did not forgive that debt but had the man jailed. When the king found this out, he rescinded his forgiveness of the first man’s debt. The parable concludes in:

Matthew 18:33-35
So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

Understanding the meaning and significance of the Year of Jubilee is key to unlocking the full meaning of this parable; when practiced as commanded, the Year of Jubilee is indeed a command to ensure that no one suffers poverty without a hope for release from their debt; that no one goes through life without the hope of forgiveness from what they owe, and a fresh start.

In the same way that we count the Omer, or the Shabbats of the land leading to a Year of Jubilee, so too are we to practice forgiveness and rejoice in what we have been forgiven. Yeshua is not alone in showing the importance to God this has, because stern warnings are given to the children of Israel if they fail to keep these land Shabbats and Years of Jubilee. We read this in:

Leviticus 26:33-34, 40-42
I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins. Then the land will enjoy its Sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths … But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their fathers–their treachery against me and their hostility toward me, which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies–then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

Forgiveness is the very nature of the L-RD, something He even revealed to Moses when He showed him His glory, as we studied several weeks ago. The reason the L-RD and even Messiah Yeshua speak so harshly about those who won’t obey his commands and forgive others is that without living out the forgiveness we have received, we are painting a false picture of the nature of God.

So it is this theme of forgiveness that reveals the meaning behind the Year of Jubilee and helps us to understand the nature of God better, so we can be a better reflection of Him to others in our daily lives.

Shabbat Shalom.

There are many places on the Web to find tips on the best golf training aids, but how many give you so much solid Torah commentary? Here’s my commentary on Emor. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashah for today is Emor or “Say!” and covers Leviticus 21:1 through 24:23. In this week’s portion, the L-RD outlines many of his appointed times – the times He has set aside as special, times in which He can meet with those who love Him and obey all of His instructions.

The first of these appointed times is a weekly festival we’re celebrating right now, today: Shabbat. We read this in:

NIV Leviticus 23:1
The L-RD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the L-RD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. ‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the L-RD.’”

So the Shabbat comes first, which emphasizes once again its importance to the L-RD. The Shabbat is that special time, once a week, where a whole day is set aside not to do any ordinary work, but to spend time with the L-RD. Thinking of the Shabbat in this way may seem a bit new to some folks, but let’s remember that our relationship with the L-RD is compared over and over again in the Torah to a marriage.

You know, in my own marriage, my wife and I have established a similar “appointed time.” Like many married couples, we set aside a few hours every week – for us, it’s usually Saturday nights – as a “date night.” Those few hours may not seem like a lot, but on the weeks we honor them, things do tend to go better for us, and on the weeks where we let that commitment slip, things aren’t as smooth.

In the same way, I think it’s not too odd to consider the Shabbat our weekly “date” with the L-RD. It’s that time where we purposely make time to spend with God; not just quality time, but quantity time as well. In fact, it has long been a custom among the Jewish people to seek to extend the Shabbat into the rest of the week by lighting the Shabbat candles before sunset, rather than at sunset; and by waiting a while after sunset before beginning the havdallah prayers and resuming the work of the rest of the week. Listen to the passage by:

Rabbi Hirsch, Horeb, Ch. 25
“It is above all your duty not to limit the influence of the Sabbath to the short period of its duration but to let its holiness overflow into the week. This means that you must in fact somewhat extend the celebration of the Sabbath beyond its prescribed period, adding to it, both before and after, a little of the working days. In this way you declare that the Sabbath does not stand isolated, as if your time was, so to speak, divided into one part in which you live for God and another in which you live for yourself alone. On the contrary, your working days, past and future, must be suffused with the spirit of the Sabbath. Thus will your workaday week itself in time become transformed, as it were, into a Sabbath, because you will be doing your work only in the Sabbath spirit; thus, its holiness must consequently sanctify you. This additional boon of the Sabbath is known as Tosafah.”

So the Shabbat is quite important, but what other festivals are outlined in this week’s portion? Well, there is the Passover, also known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Following the Shabbat, Passover was one of the first festivals established by the L-RD as a remembrance of the exodus from Egypt and how He delivered them from slavery there. Since we celebrated it so recently, this should be fresh in all of our minds.

That festival is followed by the feast of First Fruits, which we celebrated about a month ago. First Fruits is an agricultural celebration marking the first fruits of the wheat harvest. Symbolically, it is linked to the resurrection.

There is a small controversy over how to count out the days from First Fruits to Shavuot – a time we’re now in, known as the Counting of the Omer. Some, including many Jews, begin the counting on the day after Passover, since Passover is considered a Shabbat, but one must study the passage carefully to understand this interpretation is not correct. However, since that will be the focus of Stan’s sermon later today, I will leave that subject to him.

Yet there are more feasts commanded here. There is the feast of Rosh haShana, which is the Jewish New Year and is also known as the Feast of Trumpets. Rosh haShana falls on the first of Tishrei each year in the Hebrew calendar, and it marks the first day of time. The rabbis teach that God created the universe – the first day of creation – on the first of Tishrei, and that time will end 7,000 years after that day, on the 30th of Elul.

Not everyone realizes this, but there are only seven thousand years of time spoken of in the Bible. Here is what the Talmud teaches about this 7,000-year plan of God, as we read in:

Sanhedrin 97a-97b
The school of Eliyahu teaches: “The world exists for six thousand years – two thousand of them tohu (void); two thousand, Torah; and two thousand the era of Messiah. But because of our numerous iniquities, many of these years have been lost.”

After those six thousand years of creation, what follows is 1,000 years of Shabbat rest for creation; the earthly reign of Messiah, in which God alone shall be glorified. After that, all things return to the Father.

So what we are celebrating with Rosh haShana is not only the first day of creation, but the time in which Yeshua will return again. We read of that day in:

I Thessalonians 4:15-18
According to the L-RD’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the L-RD, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the L-RD himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Messiah will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the L-RD in the air. And so we will be with the L-RD forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Notice the reference to the trumpet call of God. That’s not just any trumpet call; it is the sounding of the shofar during the feast of trumpets – known as Rosh haShana. This identification is backed up by the teaching of Yeshua. We read this in:

Matthew 24:36
No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Yeshua is speaking here of His return, and He says “no one knows the day or the hour,” and many who are unfamiliar with the Jewish roots of the faith teach that this means we can’t have a clue as to the time of His return. But on the contrary, it helps identify the time of His return as falling on Rosh haShana, because that is a festival known as “one long day.” This is because the festival coincides with a new moon, and no one can be sure when that new moon will appear during that two-day stretch, so the holiday is celebrated for a two-day period, but is referred to as “one long day.”

So, we can trust that Yeshua’s return will be on some future Rosh haShana, at sunset, just as the 30th of Elul is ending and the first of Tishrei is ushered in.

In this week’s portion, we are also given instructions for the Day of Atonement – also known as Yom Kippur, which we discussed last week. After that, we are given the instructions for the Feast of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths.

I like to joke that this is the day when the L-RD commands us to go camping.

We read this in:

Leviticus 23:41-43
Celebrate this as a festival to the L-RD for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in booths for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in booths so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the L-RD your God.’”

Who do we also know who dwelled in a booth in the wilderness? That’s right, the L-RD Himself! The Tent of Meeting is also known as the Sukkot of Meeting.

So that’s what we have from the portion. At this point, the children of Israel have commands to observe the weekly Shabbat, Passover, First Fruits, Shavuot, Rosh haShana, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Those are the seven major feasts of the L-RD.

Of course, there are others.

There is Simchat Torah, which means rejoicing over the Torah, which comes at the end of Sukkot. There is Hanukkah, also known as the Feast of Dedication, which wasn’t established until the time of the Maccabees, but which we know from the Gospels Yeshua celebrated. And there is also Purim, which comes to us from the Book of Esther and was established around the time of the Babylonian captivity. And there is the monthly New Moon celebration, as well as some other, minor observances.

It is important to learn all you can about these appointed times of the L-RD, because they are basically our “date nights” with the L-RD Himself. And who could be better company on a date than the L-RD, right?

These are the times the L-RD has set aside so that we might establish intimacy with Him and get to know Him better. And of course, if you’re interested in learning more, Rabbi Stan does have a 16-CD study covering all the festivals of the L-RD, so that you can learn how to observe each of these special times with God correctly. Amen?

Shabbat Shalom.

It has nothing to do with computer memory, but everything to do with timing… as promised, audio versions of my commentaries will soon be up on my site, but they’re not quite ready yet, including this one. Check back later this week and it ought to be up… I’ll start with the most recent commentaries and work backward. In the meantime, here’s the text version of my commentary for Acherai Mot-K’doshim. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashahs for today are Acharei Mot or “After the death” and K’doshim or “Holy ones,” covers Leviticus chapters 16 through 20. As our reading begins, the L-RD declares a new appointed time for Moses and the children of Israel to celebrate: The Day of Atonement, otherwise known as Yom Kippur.

Interestingly, this appointed time is declared, we are told, in the wake of the death of Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu, who perished when they offered unauthorized fire before the L-RD, contrary to His commands. We read this in:

Leviticus 16:1-2
The L-RD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the L-RD. The L-RD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.

This passage may give us a further clue as to why Nadab and Abihu perished as they did. Here, the L-RD tells Moses that Aaron is not to enter the Holy of Holies – or, as the NIV translates it, the Most Holy Place – any time the mood strikes him, or he will die. It can reasonably be inferred that this is part of why Nadab and Abihu perished; they did not simply offer unauthorized fire, but apparently in offering it, did so in the Holy of Holies without making the proper preparations for entering there. And why could no one – even Aaron – enter the Holy of Holies whenever they wanted to, even as close as they were to the L-RD? Because, we are told, the presence of God dwells there and, as we learned last week, not only can the L-RD not allow any sin in His presence, but neither can he allow anything unclean in His presence.

So in establishing this appointed time for dealing with cleansing the people of Israel of their sin, the L-RD is showing His concern for the loss of Nadab and Abihu by establishing some rules to ensure that such a loss of life might not be repeated.

Now, the Day of Atonement is a very important part of the Fall Festival season. It comes seven days after the Jewish New Year, Rosh haShanah, which is two days long but is called “one long day” because no one knows exactly when the New Moon will appear over that two-day stretch. The importance of the Day of Atonement is spelled out in the L-RD’s command to observe it in this week’s reading, beginning in:

Leviticus 16:29-31
“This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work–whether native-born or an alien living among you–because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the L-RD, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a Sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance.

Now, to “deny yourselves” here means that the Day of Atonement is to be a day of fasting. No food shall be prepared or eaten during this time, and with that time now freed up, prayer, repentance and drawing closer to the L-RD becomes the order of the day.

We can learn more about the significance of the Day of Atonement from the sages.

R. Kruspedai said in the name of R. Johanan:
Three books are opened [in heaven] on New Year, one for the thoroughly wicked, one for the thoroughly righteous, and one for the intermediate. The thoroughly righteous are forthwith inscribed definitively in the book of life; the thoroughly wicked are forthwith inscribed definitively in the book of death; the doom of the intermediate is suspended from New Year till the Day of Atonement; if they deserve well, they are inscribed in the book of life; if they do not deserve well, they are inscribed in the book of death.

So, there are seven days between Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur. And we know the fall festivals are a teaching of the second appearance of Messiah, so how does this all fit together?

Well, Rosh haShanah is also known as the feast of trumpets, and it signifies the catching away of the righteous, the day when we shall go to meet the Messiah Yeshua in the air. We also know that Yom Kippur points to the time of the Great Throne of Judgment, when all who lived will come before the L-RD and be judged according to their deeds. Yet these two appointed times are separated by seven days. Is there significance to these seven days? Of course there is.

You see, these seven days symbolize the time of Jacob’s Trouble – that time which Christians call the Tribulation. And we know that the Tribulation period lasts seven years, after which the judgment begins, kicking off Messiah’s 1,000-year reign on Earth.

So what we have here is indeed a perfect picture of Messiah Yeshua’s return, and in this Day of Atonement, we receive part of the picture of what that day will be like. It is a time, as the Jewish tradition I just shared reflected, when those who are in the book of the Intermediate will either be included with the righteous in the book of life, or included with the wicked in the book of death. They get those seven years, that “week,” and then their time runs out.

There are no more fence-sitters in the reign of Messiah, and the Day of Atonement is when the fate of all – including the intermediate – is decided.

Now, there are some specifics surrounding the offerings for the Day of Atonement which set it apart from all other holidays, most notably the two goats and how they are handled. We read about this in:

Leviticus 16:8-10
He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the L-RD and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the L-RD and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the L-RD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat.

Now, when most people teach about this sacrifice, they compare this scapegoat to Messiah Yeshua, but that is simply not the case. You really have to dig into the Hebrew language and culture to understand what’s going on here. The Hebrew word used here, translated as scapegoat, is AzAzel.

5799 `aza’zel
• AV – scapegoat 4; 4
1) entire removal, scapegoat
1a) refers to the goat used for sacrifice for the sins of the people

Who is AzAzel? Well, in the limits of a commentary, I can’t go into as much detail as I might like, but Stan has an extensive teaching on this as part of his Feasts of the L-RD series. Briefly, however, we learn the following from:

Encyclopedia Judaica
The great majority of moderns regard Azazel as the personal name of a demon thought to live in the wilderness. The name of a supernatural being mentioned in connection with the ritual of the Day of Atonement. After Satan, for whom he was in some degree a preparation, Azazel enjoys the distinction of being the most mysterious extra human character in sacred Literature.

So, if AzAzel is indeed a name of the Adversary of the L-RD, why would there be any provision made for him in the ceremony of the Day of Atonement? After all, we are to worship the L-RD and have no other gods before him, so what’s with this goat for AzAzel?

Well, first we must pay attention to what is done with this goat. Like all sin sacrifices, these goats are to be a year old and without defect. That being the case, it might even be hard to tell the two goats apart; they could look nearly alike. One is cast for the L-RD and sacrificed as a sin offering; the other is not slain, but is used to make atonement by sending it into the desert.

Now, which of these two goats appears to resemble Messiah more? The goat declared to be for the L-RD and offered as a sin offering? Or the goat declared to be for AzAzel and sent out to perish in the desert? I don’t know about you, but I think the first goat sounds a lot more like Yeshua to me.

So what is the significance of this goat for AzAzel? Well, both goats are the same age, probably about the same size, they look the same and both are without defect; yet one is for the L-RD and the other for this demon, AzAzel. Well, who is it in sacred literature that would appear to be almost the same as the Messiah, but who is destined for destruction, rather than for the remission of sins?

How about the false Messiah?

So, how strong is this connection between the goat for AzAzel and the false Messiah? We read this in:

II Thessalonians 2:3
Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

Like the Man of Lawlessness spoken of here, the goat for AzAzel is doomed to destruction. His presence in the ceremony is the same as any other element; it is a shadow of what is to come, a shadow of the false Messiah and his fate, which is destruction.

So, it won’t be Yom Kippur for another five months or so. Yet what can we take away from this teaching on the Day of Atonement at this time? Well, we know that the time of Yeshua’s return is drawing closer all the time. Some of those we know are inscribed in the book of life, some in the book of death, and some are in the book of the intermediate.

Perhaps the most important lesson to draw from this is to know that, when that final Day of Atonement arrives, there will be no one left who is in the book of the intermediate. This is spoken of in:

Revelation 3:15-16
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

While the Day of Atonement and all of the fall festivals teach of Yeshua’s return, it is the fate of the intermediate, the lukewarm, that is perhaps most critical. The lukewarm are those who know enough about the L-RD, his Messiah, the Torah and all the L-RD’s commands to know what is right, but who do not obey all that the L-RD has commanded them.

As the fate of Nadab and Abihu should teach us, it is a dangerous thing to dwell among the intermediate. I mean, you can’t be in Messiah if he’s just spit you out, can you? And if you’re not in Messiah, then your fate is the same as Nadab and Abihu. They shared in the fate of AzAzel, suffering sudden destruction. Yet the L-RD has provided a Day of Atonement, a Messiah, a way for others to avoid that destruction. Amen?

Shabbat Shalom.