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PAR'SHAT D'VARIM: Correction Appropriately Spoken. Prov 25:11.

7/30/2019

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​... אלה הדברים אשׁר דבר משׁה אל־כל־ישׂראל
 אחרי הכתו את סיחן מלך האמרי אשׁר יושׁב בחשׁבון ואת עוג מלך הבשׁן  אשׁר־יושׁב בעשׁתרת באדרעי׃ 

These are the words Moshe spoke to all Isra'el ... after he had defeated Sichon, king of the Emori, who lived in Heshbon, and `Og, king of Bashan, who lived in `Ashtarot, at Edre`i. 
(Deu 1:1-4 CJB)


​The Appropriately Spoken Correction (Prov 25:11)


THE BOOK OF D’VARIM AND KING JOSIAH
The Book of D'varim was to be placed by the side of the Holy Ark. It was to serve as a rebuke and reminder of Israel's covenant with HaShem to later generations. A good example of its effect is told us in 2nd Kings 22 when seven hundred years later, due to the words in this book, King Josiah and all Israel were moved to repentance. 


D’VARIM: A PEP-TALK, AND A WISELY-TIMED CORRECTION BEFORE CONQUEST
The words in Book of D'varim were spoken to the second generation of the Children of Israel in the desert, a generation that had not known Egypt. It's goal was to ready the Children of Israel before they entered the Promised Land, as well as to serve as a rebuke for them not to do as their fathers did in fearing entering the Land. 

Let us see some of what the sages say about this rebuke,

(Sifre, cited by Rashi)
   The Torah emphasizes that Moshe rebuked the Jewish people after he had smitten Sichon and Og. Here is how Moshe reasoned, "If I rebuke them before they enter at least part of the Land, they will say, 'What does this man have against us?' What good did he do for us? He has come only to vex us and to find pretext since he doesn't have the power to bring us into the Land.'" Therefore Moshe waited until he had conquered Sichon and Og, and then he rebuked the people.
     On this principle, Rabbi Zelig Pliskin explains, "Had the people felt the Moshe's rebuke was insincere and that he had ulterior motives, his words would have been ineffective. A PERSON WILL ONLY ACCEPT REBUKE IF HE FEELS THAT THE REBUKER HAS HIS BEST INTEREST IN MIND."

   We see from here that timing is a major factor in rebuke and correction. In Many instances by waiting for an opportune time to deliver an admonition a person will be more successful than he would have been had he admonished earlier.
     As a good leader, Moshe understood the importance of correction at the right time,in the right place, with the right tone of voice, encased in the right format, etc ... 



WISELY DELIVERED CORRECTION
Parents, teachers, coaches, trainers, religious and civic leaders are all faced with times when they need to present a correction to those in their care. This can even happen between friends, and spouses. Let us go over some generic tips about good, less good, and bad timing for corrections. 


When is it a bad time to approach someone for a correction
  • In the heat of the moment
  • When either the corrector or the corrected are emotionally upset.
  • When it makes us happy or we draw pleasure in doing it. 
  • Before having fully investigated and understood the issue.
  • When we have a personal advantage in the person doing the right thing, which makes our rebuke insincere and motivated, and it probably is.  
Here are some examples:
  • Do we teach our children to be clean and tidy because you want them to develop good healthy habits that will help them in their lives as adults, or is it just because we get irritated about it and don't want to have to clean up after them? 
  • Do we chide our spouses or colleagues about an expense because we want to teach financial responsibility, or just because we don't agree with it and would have spent the money for something that WE want instead? 
We often correct others out of frustration simply because the actions of the other person affects us in an undesirable way, but is being annoyed a good reason to correct others?
When then is it a good time to approach someone for a correction?
  • After emotions calm down and we see, investigate and understand things more clearly.
  • When it hurts us to do it.
  • When we don't draw any personal advantage in doing it.
There is also a point in letting it go; to let HaShem take care of it. Sometimes we are the only person who benefits from the tongue lashes that we hypocritically proclaim to be for the benefit of others.
 
CORRECTION I CAN UNDERSTAND!

Here is another important point about delivering correction
 There, beyond the Yarden, in the land of Mo'av, Moshe took it upon himself to expound (ba'ar/באר: to explain, elucidate, interpret) this Torah … (Deu 1:5)
The Mishna explains that the 10 Commandments were given through flames of fire in the 70 languages of the world
The Midrash also claims that Moshe interpreted the Torah in the Book of D’varim in the 70 languages of the world.
In the  Book of the Acts of the Disciples, The Brit HaChadasha concurs the idea when it tells us that as soon as the Torah was written in the disciple’s hearts, It expressed itself through the disciples, in many languages.  Acts 2:1-11
This all came as a reversal to the curse that fell on mankind at the time of the Tower of Babel.


This teaches us an important principle: if we speak Torah in order to teach people, we should speak it in a language that helps the recipient to receive the message.
  • In their own language: If our audience is not familiar with Hebrew terminology, we should not try to impress or patronize them by using Hebrew words which are unfamiliar to them. 
  • In the right manner: Our Master was good at that. He themed His examples according to His audience. To fishermen, He spoke about fish and fishing. To farmers, He spoke about fields and seeds. To land owners He made analogies using the theme of inheritances, as well as issues pertaining to servants and master relationships. 
  • Yeshua  spoke a lot to the poor, and in so doing used parabolic imagery to help his less educated hearers understand. All too often our inferiority complex gets the better of us and we try to impress others and/or patronize them, to give ourselves some importance by flaunting some sort of knowledge. But he who really knows, never feels the need to boast or brag, because the more he know, the more he should know that he doesn’t know.
PAUL’S ADMONITION TO SPIRITUAL LEADERS CONCERNING CORRECTING THE FLOCK
Gently: Paul admonishes: 
"... and a slave of the Lord shouldn't fight. On the contrary, he should be kind to everyone, a good teacher, and not resentful when mistreated. Also he should be gentle as he corrects his opponents. For God may perhaps grant them the opportunity to turn from their sins, acquire full knowledge of the truth, come to their senses and escape the trap of the Adversary, after having been captured alive by him to do his will." (2Ti 2:24-26 CJB)  "... but we urge you, brothers, to confront those who are lazy, your aim being to help them change, to encourage the timid, to assist the weak, and to be patient with everyone. See that no one repays evil for evil; on the contrary, always try to do good to each other, indeed, to everyone."(1Th 5:14-15 CJB) 

As Moshe was patient with Israel,
As our Master is patient with us, 
May we be patient with one another.
.May we also remember His precious words,
"... the measure with which you measure out will be used to measure to you. 

Why do you see the splinter in your brother's eye but not notice the log in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the splinter out of your eye,' when you have the log in your own eye? 

You hypocrite! 

First, take the log out of your own eye; then you will see clearly, so that you can remove the splinter from your brother's eye!"  (Mat 7:2-5 CJB)

ר,גל
R' Gavriel Lumbroso

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PAR'SHAT PINCHAS:  "Good-Zeal-a!"

7/22/2019

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 פינחס בן־אלעזר בן־אהרן הכהן השׁיב את־חמתי מעל בני־ישׂראל בקנאו את־קנאתי בתוכם ולא־כליתי את־בני־ישׂראל בקנאתי׃ 
 לכן אמר הנני נתן לו את־בריתי שׁלום׃ 
 והיתה לו ולזרעו אחריו ברית כהנת עולם תחת אשׁר קנא לאלהיו ויכפר על־בני ישׂראל׃ 

"Pinchas the son of El`azar, the son of Aharon the cohen, has deflected my anger from the people of Isra'el by being as zealous as I am, so that I didn't destroy them in my own zeal. Therefore say, 'I am giving him my covenant of shalom, making a covenant with him and his descendants after him that the office of cohen will be theirs forever.' This is because he was zealous on behalf of his God and made atonement for the people of Isra'el." 
(Num 25:11-13 CJB)

GOOD-ZEAL-A

PINCHAS THE ZEALOUS ONE
I always find the episode concerning the  zeal of Pinchas very dangerous. I feel it is dangerous because it can erroneously be understood by people with a propensity to violence as a justification to vent their natural prejudices. Along with that, this parasha can also be used as a vindication for people to take what they deem to be the law, as well as their rights and cultural prejudices into their own hands without due process. It can even justify murder while sincerely believing that God ordered and blessed it. 
     It is important when we read the Torah to understand the difference between what is prescriptive and what is descriptive. A lot of what is descriptive is not necessarily prescriptive and a wise Torah teacher should know the difference. In a previous article which I called THE ZEAL OF PINCHAS, I made sure to establish that, whereas the Torah instructs us about the things we should do and the way we should live, the modus operandi can change at different times and different places according to HaShem's directives of the moment.

NO INCONSISTENCY IN THE COMMANDMENTS
    Just as the legislations on polygamy do not negate the laws against adultery, the actions of Pinchas do not negate the following commandment agaisnt murder,

"Do not murder.  (Exo 20:13 CJB)

As I said before, when reading the Bible, we have to discern between what is prescriptive and what is descriptive. And even when we make that difference, we have to discern between what is for the moment, or for all times; for a particular person or for everyone; in a certain place or everywhere.  We also  have to understand the mission of the moment.
        When Abraham arrived in the Promised Land and found it inhabited, he decided to turn around. He later came back to make a sort of treaty with its inhabitants. 

Avram took his wife Sarai, his brother's son Lot, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, as well as the people they had acquired in Haran; then they set out for the land of Kena`an and entered the land of Kena`an. Avram passed through the land to the place called Sh'khem, to the oak of Moreh. The Kena`ani were then in the land. Adonai appeared to Avram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So he built an altar there to Adonai, who had appeared to him. He left that place, went to the hill east of Beit-El and pitched his tent. With Beit-El to the west and `Ai to the east, he built an altar there and called on the name of Adonai. Then Avram traveled on, continuing toward the Negev. But there was a famine in the land, so Avram went down into Egypt to stay there, because the famine in the land was severe. (Gen 12:5-10 CJB)

Avram went up from Egypt -- he, his wife and everything he had, and Lot with him -- into the Negev. Avram became wealthy, with much cattle, silver and gold. As he went on his travels from the Negev, he came to Beit-El, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beit-El and `Ai, where he had first built the altar; and there Avram called on the name of Adonai. (Gen 13:1-4 CJB)

At that time Avimelekh and Pikhol the commander of his army spoke to Avraham. They said, "God is with you in everything you do. Therefore, swear to me here by God that you will never deal falsely with me or with my son or grandson; but according to the kindness with which I have treated you, you will treat me and the land in which you have lived as a foreigner. Avraham said, "I swear it." … Avraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Avimelekh, and the two of them made a covenant. ... When they made the covenant at Be'er-Sheva, Avimelekh departed with Pikhol the commander of his army and returned to the land of the P'lishtim. Avraham planted a tamarisk tree in Be'er-Sheva, and there he called on the name of Adonai, the everlasting God. Avraham lived for a long time as a foreigner in the land of the P'lishtim. (Gen 21:22-34 CJB)

On the other hand, when the children of Israel arrived from Egypt, they were supposed to go to conquer the Land. Both ideas were right, in their own place , time, and actors. 

After the death of Moshe the servant of Adonai, Adonai said to Y'hoshua the son of Nun, Moshe's assistant, "Moshe my servant is dead. So now, get up and cross over this Yarden, you and all the people, to the land I am giving to them, the people of Isra'el. I am giving you every place you will step on with the sole of your foot, as I said to Moshe. All the land from the desert and the L'vanon to the great river, the Euphrates River -- all the land of the Hitti -- and on to the Great Sea in the west will be your territory. No one will be able to withstand you as long as you live. Just as I was with Moshe, so I will be with you. I will neither fail you nor abandon you. (Jos 1:1-5 CJB)

Similarly, when Israel was faced with an invading enemy, prophets did not rely on past instructions in order to lead Israel. They went to HaShem to ask Him what to do. Sometimes HaShem said to fight, sometimes he said not to fight. Sometimes he said to send their musicians in front of the army, and sometimes he said to be ready and wait. One time HaShem even said to surrender to the enemy and not fight at all. 

THE ZIGZAG PRINCIPLE
I heard a WW1 story. A young soldier was asked to go behind enemy trenches in order to deliver an important message. "How do you expect me to go there without getting shot by one of the enemy snipers?" the young private asked. "It's easy; you zigzag like a chicken." His officer replied. The young soldier failed in his mission and came back fatally wounded. "What happened?" asked the officer, to which the private replied, "I guess I must have zigged when I should have zagged, and zagged when I should have zigged!" It is also important when we read the Torah to discern when we should zig and when we should zag. Our lives depend on it!

KAVANAH (MOTIVATION) MAKES THE DIFFERENCE.
The Apostle Paul teaches us about zeal in, 

True, these teachers are zealous for you, but their motives are not good …  To be zealous is good, provided always that the cause is good. (Gal 4:17-18 CJB)

Along with our patriarchs, King David, and the prophets, Pinchas is a testament to zeal for a good cause. But in pondering on the episode with Pinchas, we need to understand what's meant to be our take away. Again in that story, we must discern between what is prescriptive and with what is descriptive. 
      This rabbi believes that while the action of murdering two2 people is merely descriptive, what is prescriptive in this story is the heart and the motivations of Pinchas, What the Torah intends to teach us through this matter is not to go kill disobedient and rebellious leaders along with their idol worshipping friends, but to have the heart of Pinchas as told in Numbers 25:11, 

"Pinchas the son of El`azar, the son of Aharon the cohen, has deflected my anger from the people of Isra'el by being as zealous as I am, so that I didn't destroy them in my own zeal. (Num 25:11 CJB)

The Hebrew text itself says it a little differently. It says that he was   “zealous in My zeal  בקנאו את־קנאתי”

Rabbi Yehuda Leib Chasman comments about this mention "in" saying that this means that Pinchas had entirely pure intentions. It is easy to give way to our violent, selfish , and vindictive natures while claiming that we are simply led by God’s will.  For this rabbi, this sort of thing is equivalent to taking the name of the Lord in vain. 
     I would dare say that our religious and political world's are full of people who hide their wolfish evil motivations under a sheepish cloak of self-appointed divine appointments, all while proclaiming to advocate for the good and right of the people.  But like I heard someone say, "You can fool some of the people all the time and you can fool all the people sometimes, but you can never fool all the people all the time." HaShem knows each of our hearts.  Rabbi Zelig Pliskin says, “Zealousness with negative motivations is a crime." Let's now look at some examples of misguided zeal.  

EXAMPLES OF MISGUIDED ZEAL

FAME/PRIDE/RECOGNITION: Someone may feel ignored in life and really want to be valued, validated, and recognised. As such they get involved in some sort of zealous philanthropic, religious, or political activity proclaiming the great virtue of the project. While the project may certainly be worthwhile, the motivation is for selfish gains, or personal recognition and validation. Both the Talmud and Yeshua teach us that these attitudes are wrong.

"Be careful not to parade your acts of tzedakah in front of people in order to be seen by them! If you do, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. (Mat 6:1 CJB)

ADDICTION TO ADRENALINE: One may easily feel bored and constantly in search of action. While the action may benefit other people, the motivation is that of fulfilling a personal need for constant activity. Whereas the action may be good, it resembles using the misery of others to soothe our own boredom. People who have a constant need for action need rather to self-discipline themselves in personal reflection and contemplation in the Torah which says.  

"Desist, and learn that I am God, supreme over the nations, supreme over the earth." (Psa 46:10 CJB)

There he went into a cave and spent the night. Then the word of Adonai came to him; he said to him, "What are you doing here, Eliyahu?" He answered, "I have been very zealous for Adonai the God of armies, because the people of Isra'el have abandoned your covenant, broken down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. Now I'm the only one left, and they're coming after me to kill me too." He said, "Go outside, and stand on the mountain before Adonai"; and right then and there, Adonai went past. A mighty blast of wind tore the mountains apart and broke the rocks in pieces before Adonai, but Adonai was not in the wind. After the wind came an earthquake, but Adonai was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, fire broke out; but Adonai was not in the fire. And after the fire came a quiet, subdued voice. When Eliyahu heard it, he covered his face with his cloak, stepped out and stood at the entrance to the cave. Then a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Eliyahu?" (1Ki 19:9-13 CJB)

GRUDGE/DESIRE FOR REVENGE:  It is easy to make a claim for justice when actually all we are doing is giving way to our own vengeful heart in very disobedience to the Torah command that forbids holding grudges and commands us to leave vengeance into God's hands.

Don't take vengeance on or bear a grudge against any of your people;  rather, love your neighbor as yourself; I am Adonai. (Lev 19:18 CJB)

Vengeance and payback are mine ...' (Deu 32:35 CJB)

ENVY:  We can also hide a covetous heart under a cloak of righteousness. It is easy to find wrong and criticise people for some unrelated fault when actually our whole motivation for dissing them is envy of their position or wealth. This was the sin of Korach. He was hiding jealousy and envy towards Moses' position,while proclaiming to stand for the rights of the people, claiming that they too should be considered as holy prophets. The Talmud also teaches that his criticism of Moses was because he had been passed-by for a leadership position. Jealousy and envy are often the motivation for publicly correcting people thus embarrassing them. Somehow, it is hard to get away from the feeling that our candle shines brighter when we put others down.

FINANCIAL GAIN. Advertisements always start by saying they’re  fulfilling our needs, but in fact the motivation is to line their own pockets. Acts of charity also can often be a cloak for personal financial benefits. 

Finally, The Talmud teaches that whatever the personal evil motivations are, acts of zealousness for personal gain are a sin. They are often equated with what is called “Chilul HaShem”, or the desecration of the Name of the Almighty.

MAY WE LEARN FROM PINCHAS TO EXERT HASHEM’S ZEAL, 

NOT OUR OWN MISGUIDED AND MOTIVATED ONE.



R’ Gavriel Lumbroso



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PAR'SHAT BALAK: Balaam and His Donkey: Who's the Blind? Who's the Seer?

7/17/2019

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ו
יאמר אלהים אל־בלעם לא תלך עמהם לא תאר את־העם כי ברוך הוא


God answered Bil`am, 
"You are not to go with them; you are not to curse the people, because they are blessed." (
Num 22:12 CJB)




Balaam and His Donkey.  
Who’s the Blind; Who’s the seer?



BLIND BALAAM
Haven't you ever wondered why some people never seem to figure out HaShem's will for their lives when it seems to be right in front of their eyes? The thing is that there are some people who wonder the same about us, so why is it so hard sometimes to see the obvious? Balaam tells us a good story about that. Here is this man who in the eyes of King Balak, one of the greatest rulers of the area, was a seer, a person who could see and discern the spiritual realities that other people could not see and discern.
   In talmudic midrash, seeing means knowing and understanding, while blindness refers to a lack of knowledge and understanding. It is one of the meanings behind the prophecy concerning the Messiah giving sight to the blind.

"The Spirit of Adonai is upon me; therefore he has anointed me to announce Good News to the poor; he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the imprisoned and renewed sight for the blind, to release those who have been crushed, (Luk 4:18 CJB)

   In our account this week, Balaam's donkey, an animal devoid of knowledge and understanding therefore intellectually blind, challenges his "seer" master for not seeing the angel that was about to slay him. We therefore have in our story a seer who is blind and a blind who sees.
This was probably HaShem’s ironic way of hitting at Balaam's proud and arrogant spirit, but really what is it that made him blind? Could we also be blind like balaam was?

   Those of us who have acknowledged and accepted the Torah roots of our Master’s teachings wonder sometimes why others don't see the obvious as we do. Why don’t they get Shabbat and festivals as we do?’ we wonder. At the same time, those people who seem to blind to us wonder why we are bound by the old testament while it is so obvious to them that it is down away with. The same thing happens in the political discussion these days where each one wonders why the other cannot see the truth that is so obvious from their point of view.

   The key is right there, “from their point of view”. It is not the strength of an argument by which we are convinced. In our opinion forming, our “point of view”, our personal cultural, political, or religious environment biases play a much bigger role than the truth of any argument itself. What is obvious to us is the truth via the lenses of our own personal point of view, or bias. But looking at anything through the lens of our own bias  is like looking only on one side of a 3D picture; we are blinded by the otherwise obvious truth that is in plain sight of the other guy on the other side.
   So while it seemed so obvious that HaShem said to Balaam not to follow Balak's men, his own bias against the children of Israel kept him from understanding it. It is like a video I used recently at congregation. You can find it on YouTube. It is the experience of someone trying to ride a backward bike. The conclusion he drew is that knowing something doesn't mean that we necessarily understand it and act according to it.
Here is a link to that video. https://youtu.be/MFzDaBzBlL0

WILLFUL BALAAM
What are other reasons why Balaam could not see the obvious truth in front of him? The Talmud says, "In the way that a man wishes to go, he is led." 
     Again we have a case where knowing the will of HaShem is not enough. That is why we learn that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart (our will); with all our soul (our spirits and bodies); and with all our substance (all that we own). To know is loving HaShem with only our cognition. 
From Cain, Nimrod, Esau, to Pharaoh, we learn that if someone is bent to do the wrong thing, he will do it with even the willingness to pay the price for it.  We learn again from this that it is not enough to know the will of HaShem, but that we must make a conscious effort to bend our will to His. We must make a conscious effort to resit that evil inclination in order to lean towards the Torah. Paul calls the evil inclination the “old man,” the “flesh,” or the “old nature,” 
For the old nature wants what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is contrary to the old nature. These oppose each other, so that you find yourselves unable to carry out your good intentions. (Gal 5:17 CJB)

Peter chimes in with the same idea,

Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and temporary residents not to give in to the desires of your old nature, which keep warring against you; (1Pe 2:11 CJB)

 STUBBORN BALAAM.
Balaam probably wondered why his donkey was so stubborn, but HaShem was using this poor ‘blind’ donkey as a tool to give a message to Balaam the ‘seer.’ As the donkey was behaving towards Balaam his master, so was Balaam behaving towards HaShem his own Master.
    There is a very important lesson here. If we wonder why people behave against our own wishes, we should always take a look back to ourselves and ask if we are behaving according to the wishes of our own Lord and Master.

BALAAM’S PLACE IN JUDAISM.
I heard it said one time, “Even the wicked are useful, they provide us with an example of what not to do.” Even so Balaam, a prime example of one who would curse Israel but whom HaShem used to bless His people instead, has found his place in the daily liturgy of HaShem’s people.

Peter uses to Balaam's bad example in order to teach some unrestrained false teachers of his day saying,

especially those who follow their old natures in lust for filth and who despise authority. Presumptuous and self-willed, these false teachers do not tremble at insulting angelic beings; whereas angels, though stronger and more powerful, do not bring before the Lord an insulting charge against them. But these people, acting without thinking, like animals without reason, born to be captured and destroyed, insult things about which they have no knowledge. When they are destroyed, their destruction will be total --they will be paid back harm as wages for the harm they are doing. Their idea of pleasure is carousing in broad daylight; they are spots and defects reveling in their deceptions as they share meals with you --for they have eyes always on the lookout for a woman who will commit adultery, eyes that never stop sinning; and they have a heart that has exercised itself in greed; so that they seduce unstable people. What a cursed brood! These people have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Bil`am Ben-B`or, who loved the wages of doing harm but was rebuked for his sin -- a dumb beast of burden spoke out with a human voice and restrained the prophet's insanity!  (2Pe 2:10-16 CJB)

Jude also as he says,

Woe to them, in that they have walked the road of Kayin, they have given themselves over for money to the error of Bil`am, they have been destroyed in the rebellion of Korach. These men are filthy spots at your festive gatherings meant to foster love; they share your meals without a qualm, while caring only for themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; trees without fruit even in autumn, and doubly dead because they have been uprooted; savage sea-waves heaving forth their shameful deeds like foam; wandering stars for whom the blackest darkness has been reserved forever. (Jud 1:11-13 CJB)

The daily morning Shacharit service starts with the beautiful words of Balaam’s description of the beauty of the Israelite encampment  "How lovely are your tents, oh Jacob/ your dwellings, oh Israel." (Num 24:5)

    HaShem then literally took over Balaam’s tongue to tell of Israel prevailing over the Amalekite king, Agag (I Sam. 15). In the fourth oration (Num. 24:15–19), similarly entitled, Balaam alludes to David's conquests of Moab and Edom.(II Sam. 8:2, 12–14), characterizing that king dramatically as a shooting star, as a meteor. In the three brief orations that follow (Num. 24:20–23) Balaam assumes the role of a "prophet to the nations" and predicts the ultimate downfall of the Amalekites and Kenites, and possibly of Assyrians, west of the Euphrates.


Anyone of us could be like Balaam. Anyone can fall prey to our own lack of judgment due to our personal bias. Anyone of us can curse one of God’s children due to our ill will. May we learn from Balaam!

MAY WE SHUN DARKNESS AND ITS WORKS FROM US

MAY WE WALK WORTHY OF THE CALL WHEREWITH WE HAVE BEEN CALLED

MAY WE REPRESENT OUR MASTER WELL

MAY WE WALK IN THE LIGHT AS HE IS IN THE LIGHT.

MAY WE FULFILL OUR MISSION TO BE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.

ר'גל
R' Gavriel Lumbroso



 







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PAR'SHAT CHUKAT: The Dichotomies of Purity, Suffering, and Sacriificial Love.

7/8/2019

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 הנגע במת לכל־נפשׁ אדם וטמא שׁבעת ימים׃

"Anyone who touches a corpse, no matter whose dead body it is, will be unclean for seven days. (Num 19:11 CJB)





THE DICHOTOMIES OF PURITY, SUFFERING, AND SACRIFICIAL LOVE
Do you remember these non-digital scales with a hand to show weight? Sometimes the hand goes back and forth until it finds the right middle, the right balance. I have found that people often do that through their lives. There are certain issues with which they have difficulty finding the right balance, so they go back and forth between the two extremes. It can happen with certain traits, but also in political tendencies and religious observance. Hopefully, as we grow older and wiser, we eventually find the right balance. 
    This is what being well “balanced” means, having found the right place exactly between two extremes. Extreme people are “off-balance”, off-center or “eccentric.” Some might consider it a virtue, but when it comes to Torah-lifestyle, it is considered an abomination. This is what King Solomon referred to when he said, 

False scales are an abomination to Adonai, but accurate weights please him. (Pro 11:1 CJB)

    The whole Book of Ecclesiastes, written by King Solomon, is the story of a man who spent his life trying to find the right balance between two extreme lifestyles: serving Adoani or serving idols. He finally came down with the very important conclusion, 

In my pointless life, I've seen everything -- from the righteous person perishing in his uprightness to the wicked one who lives a long life and keeps on doing wrong. So don't be overly righteous or overly wise; why should you disappoint yourself? But don't be overly wicked, and don't be foolish; why should you die before your time? Don't grasp just one of these rules; take hold of the other as well; for he who is in fear of God will live by both of them. (Ecc 7:15-18 CJB)

It is only by being well balanced, smack-dab in the middle ourselves, that we can assert proper judgment. He who is extreme to the right, believes that he who is in the center is an extremist, and vice-versa. In essence, when we are not well balanced ourselves we pervert judgment, which is something forbidden in the Torah.

" 'Do not be unjust in judging -- show neither partiality to the poor nor deference to the mighty, but with justice judge your neighbor. (Lev 19:15 CJB)


THE DICHOTOMY OF CORRECTING ONE’S WAYS
The Parasha this week speaks to us a lot about righteousness being found in the balance of two extremes. Look at the laws of purification through the Red Heifer for example. 


When we read about the whole process, we realise that physical contact with biological death makes a person ceremonially unclean. To be purified,  a person must be sprinkled by the ashes of the Red Heifer solution through a priest who in turn becomes impure as he performs the ritual. This represents a very clear Messianic picture of Messiah who voluntarily takes upon Himself our impurities in order to cleanse us from ours. He then is the Unclean who cleanses us. 
This cleansing ceremony involves the use of cedar, one of the tallest trees of the area, a tree whose wood was used to build the temple, a tree whose rot-resistant wood properties represents eternity. The ritual also uses the lowly hyssop shrub. Greatness and lowliness; eternity and temporality. 
    There is a lesson we can learn from all this. In order for someone to correct his ways, he must go to the other extreme. Whereas for a person without the negative traits it would be a mistake to go to the extreme, but for the person in search of correction it is the right thing to do. It is a bit like correcting the direction of a car. We have to steer to the other extreme until we find the right trajectory, then adjust to the right middle.
    For example, a person who is stingy should make extra efforts to be generous, to give and to share. A person who wastes time should strongly monitor their activities. A person who eats too much needs to go on a diet and monitor what they eat. A person who drinks too much alcohol needs to completely forego alcoholic drinks. All these things which may not be needed or even expedient if a person is already balanced in any of these areas, but vital for he who has difficulty finding temperance in all things. Temperance is a fruit of living by the Spirit of God and is practiced by athletes. We are athletes in the great race of this age, so we should practice temperance in all things.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Gal 5:22-23 KJV)

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. (1Co 9:24-25 KJV)

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. (2Pe 1:4-7 KJV)

THE DICHOTOMY OF SUFFERING
There is another dichotomy in the parsha this week. We read about punishing snakes causing pain and suffering to the Children of Israel, but we also hear that looking at the same snake on a pole cures them from the curse. The snake bit the people, and the image of the snake cured them. This can sound confusing, but not when we look at motivation.
    There is a difference between someone punching us in the face causing the loss of a tooth or a  dentist removing a tooth. One is done out of hatred and anger, the other done out of love and care. 
    We also need to understand the dichotomy of suffering. We do not like suffering. We naturally try to avoid it. That’s why we don’t go to the dentist even though we know that we need it and that it is good for us. But what the Tanach teaches us is that suffering and trials equal good. Paul, whose mission Yeshua summed in this message delivered to Paul by brother Gamaliel,  

"Go, because this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name to the Goyim, even to their kings, and to the sons of Isra'el as well. For I myself will show him how much he will have to suffer on account of my name." (Act 9:15-16 CJB)

Reminds us of it in, 

But not only that, let us also boast in our troubles; because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope; and this hope does not let us down, because God's love for us has already been poured out in our hearts through the Ruach HaKodesh who has been given to us. (Rom 5:3-5 CJB)

Ya’akov also, the brother of the Master reminds us of it in, 

Regard it all as joy, my brothers, when you face various kinds of temptations; for you know that the testing of your trust produces perseverance. But let perseverance do its complete work; so that you may be complete and whole, lacking in nothing. (Jas 1:2-4 CJB)

So, brothers, be patient until the Lord returns. See how the farmer waits for the precious "fruit of the earth" -- he is patient over it until it receives the fall and spring rains. You too, be patient; keep up your courage; for the Lord's return is near. Don't grumble against one another, brothers, so that you won't come under condemnation -- look! the Judge is standing at the door! As an example of suffering mistreatment and being patient, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of Adonai. Look, we regard those who persevered as blessed. You have heard of the perseverance of Iyov, and you know what the purpose of Adonai was, that Adonai is very compassionate and merciful. (Jas 5:7-11 CJB)

THE DICHOTOMY OF SACRIFICIAL LOVE
Because of the idea that in order to purify, another one had to make themselves unclean.  Sages of Judaism have often understood that the whole notion of the parasha on the Red Heifer was summed up in,

Love your neighbor.  (Lev 19:18 CJB)

    This is the essence of sacrificial love, of giving above and beyond till it hurts, till it costs. As I heard it said one time, “HaShem doesn’t look at what we give but at what we’ve got left after we’re done giving! Giving doesn’t count till it costs, until it hurts!”
     Rabbi and psychologist Zelig Pliskin comments on this saying,, “The test of your level of love for your fellow-man is the amount of sacrifices you are willing to make.”  


MAY WE SHUN DARKNESS, AND ITS INTEMPERATE WORKS, FROM US

MAY WE WALK WORTHY OF THE CALL WHEREWITH WE HAVE BEEN CALLED

MAY WE REPRESENT OUR MASTER WELL

MAY WE WALK IN THE LIGHT AS HE IS IN THE LIGHT AND FULFILL OUR MISSION TO BE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.



R' Gavriel Lumbroso

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PAR'SHAT KORACH: Korach, Yesterday and Today!

7/3/2019

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​ ויקח קרח בן־יצהר בן־קהת בן־לוי ודתן ואבירם בני אליאב ואון בן־פלת בני ראובן׃ 
 ויקמו לפני משׁה ואנשׁים מבני־ישׂראל חמשׁים ומאתים נשׂיאי עדה קראי מועד אנשׁי־שׁם׃ 
 ויקהלו על־משׁה ועל־אהרן ויאמרו אלהם רב־לכם כי כל־העדה כלם קדשׁים ובתוכם יהוה ומדוע תתנשׂאו על־קהל יהוה׃

Now Korach the son of Yitz'har, the son of K'hat, the son of Levi, along with Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli'av, and On, the son of Pelet, descendants of Re'uven, took men and rebelled against Moshe. Siding with them were 250 men of Isra'el, leaders of the community, key members of the council, men of reputation. They assembled themselves against Moshe and Aharon and said to them, "You take too much on yourselves! After all, the entire community is holy, every one of them, and Adonai is among them. So why do you lift yourselves up above Adonai's assembly?" 
(Num 16:1-3 CJB)


KORACH YESTERDAY AND TODAY.
A while ago we learned how Aharon and Miriam’s challenge to Moshe’s authority did not end well. After that, we learned what happened to Israel because the leaders and spies challenged HaShem’s command through Moshe’s leadership to go and conquer the Land. After all that, it is amazing that Korach had the guts to go and challenge Moshe’s leadership. He must not have been listening. The fact that he met with such a fatal death, shows that he should have gotten the message through these other episodes of people challenging HaShem’s leadership though Moshe. Korach was fully responsible for his actions. Not only he did not listen, not only was he not sensitive to what HaShem was teaching Israel through all these previous events, but he influenced many other people to follow his bad example.
Somehow Korach makes me think of people today who read the Bible but though they read all the miracles HaShem does through Moshe; though they read how HaShem spoke to Moshe face-to-face; though they read that the people who challenged the authority that HaShem put in Moshe met with either leprosy or death, they still today challenge his authority and teachings.
Even Yeshua led people to Moshe’s teachings when He was asked about eternal life,
As he was starting on his way, a man ran up, kneeled down in front of him and asked, "Good rabbi, what should I do to obtain eternal life?" Yeshua said to him, …  You know the mitzvot -- 'Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't give false testimony, don't defraud, honor your father and mother, . . .' "  (Mar 10:17-19 CJB)


THE TENTH COMMANDMENT.
What was Korach’s sin? Hadn’t he heard the last two commandments?

"Do not give false evidence against your neighbor. ... "Do not covet your neighbor's house; do not covet your neighbor's wife, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor."  (Exo 20:16-17 CJB)

If he did,  why did he come to Moshe with the jealous accusation, 


"You take too much on yourselves! After all, the entire community is holy, every one of them, and Adonai is among them. So why do you lift yourselves up above Adonai's assembly?" (Num 16:3 CJB)

Think of it. Korach accused HaShem’s chosen leader of the people. He accused he of whom HaShem said, ... Now this man Moshe was very humble, more so than anyone on earth. (Num 12:3 CJB)  … of pride.

Not only that, but Korah’s accusation represented a false testimony to the 250 people he influenced against Moshe.

Korach challenged the notion that HaShem had communicated though Moshe that the priesthood only belonged to the sons of Aharon. Since Moshe was only a mouthpiece for HaShem, it is not Moshe that Korach challenged but HaShem Himself. Could the people today who challenge the teachings of HaShem through Moshe meet the same fate as Korach? This story should serve as an example to all the people today who say that the words Moshe spoke are obsolete. Paul uses these stories as exhortations for us today.

Now these things took place as prefigurative historical events, warning us not to set our hearts on evil things as they did. Don't be idolaters, as some of them were -- as the Tanakh puts it, "The people sat down to eat and drink, then got up to indulge in revelry." And let us not engage in sexual immorality, as some of them did, with the consequence that 23,000 died in a single day. And let us not put the Messiah to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes. And don't grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the Destroying Angel. These things happened to them as prefigurative historical events, and they were written down as a warning to us who are living in the acharit-hayamim.  (1Co 10:6-11 CJB)



 THE SIN OF KORACH: ENVY.
Korach was guilty of jealousy, envy, and covetousness. Here is a quote from the book of ethics, Pirkei Avot
הַקִּנְאָה וְהַתַּאֲוָה וְהַכָּבוֹד, מוֹצִיאִין אֶת הָאָדָם מִן הָעוֹלָם:  Envy,  lust [for food, drink, fornication, and the like] and honor [i.e., the desire to be honored by others] drive a man from the world.
In essence, envy is one of the things that destroy a person.
Envy keeps people so focused on what others have that they are oblivious to their own blessings. So not only envy doesn’t provide you with what you want, but like Korach who lost everything, envy takes away even that which you do have. It is absolutely counter-productive.
THE ANTIDOTE AGAINST ENVY.
There is only one way to get rid of envy, and that is to exercise thankfulness.  As the apostle says,
In everything give thanks, for this is what God wants from you who are united with the Messiah Yeshua. (1Th 5:18 CJB)
The root of envy is a person’s quest for personal reward and satisfaction. Such a person can never be happy. Our sole goal should be to please HaShem and we please Him by being what He wants us to be. We may not all be roses, most of us may just be daisies, but let’s be the best little daisies we can be!
KORACH’S ACCUSATIONS.
I heard it said one time that people often accuse others of things they are themselves guilty of. They do that because what they see in others is their own evil inclinations and weaknesses. They therefore accuse others of things that they know they would do themselves.
    It is very important to realise that. When we hear criticism of others, some people think that there must at least be some truth to it. Though it is a very important dynamic used in negative propaganda in political campaigns, it is a false premise, an erroneous conclusion. Some people do have the audacity to find fault in others within the things that these others actually excel. No example is more clear of that fact than Korach accusing he whom HaShem calls the humblest man on earth, of pride. 
    The person who was proud and envious of position was not Moshe but Korach who projected his own sinful vanitous embitions on Moshe. The sages of Israel often mention that when a person finds fault with others, he frequently is just mentioning his own fault, which he sees in others. We should therefore be careful about accepting accusations against others, especially against leaders. It is bad enough that this is how our political electoral campaigns are led, but it should not be the rule in the congregations of the Kingdom of God. 
Rashi actually explains that the reason for Korach complaint of Moshe was not really against Moshe, but that it was a retaliation for being by-passed for a leadership position. When people criticise others, especially leaders, we should always look for their motivation.

THE REJECTED LEADERS.
The dynamics of HaShem’s chosen leader being rejected by the people he is to lead are an integral part of leadership in the Kingdom.
    Joseph was rejected by his brothers. Moses was at first rejected by Israel and  his leadership was sometimes challenged even by the members of his own family. Yeshua's leadership of israel also has also been challenged from the beginning, even by his own family. Even today,  while people do not openly dare challenge His leadership, they still do so by twisting His words. They then create a form of religious observance that has nothing to do with what He originally intended.
    Today, the Hebrew term “Like Korach and his followers” has become a term synonymous with rebellion.
    Here is what Jude, one of the brothers of the Master had to say about complainers and those who challenge HaShem’s commandments like Korach did,

For certain individuals, the ones written about long ago as being meant for this condemnation, have wormed their way in -- ungodly people who pervert God's grace into a license for debauchery and disown our only Master and Lord, Yeshua the Messiah. Since you already know all this, my purpose is only to remind you that Adonai, who once delivered the people from Egypt, later destroyed those who did not trust. ... these people, with their visions, defile their own flesh, despise godly authority and insult angelic beings. ... these people insult anything they don't understand; and what they do understand naturally, without thinking, like animals -- by these things they are destroyed! Woe to them, in that they have walked the road of Kayin, they have given themselves over for money to the error of Bil`am, they have been destroyed in the rebellion of Korach. These men are filthy spots at your festive gatherings meant to foster love; they share your meals without a qualm, while caring only for themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; trees without fruit even in autumn, and doubly dead because they have been uprooted; savage sea-waves heaving forth their shameful deeds like foam; wandering stars for whom the blackest darkness has been reserved forever. Moreover, Hanokh, in the seventh generation starting with Adam, also prophesied about these men, saying, "Look! Adonai came with his myriads of holy ones to execute judgment against everyone, that is, to convict all the godless for their godless deeds which they have done in such a godless way, and for all the harsh words these godless sinners have spoken against him." These people are grumblers and complainers, they follow their evil passions, their mouths speak grandiosities, and they flatter others to gain advantage. (Jud 1:4-16 CJB)

MAY WE LEARN FROM KORACH’ S EPISODE IN THE DESERT.

ר'גל
​Rabbi Gaviel Lumbroso




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PAR'SHAT SHLACH: The Spies and Us.

6/26/2019

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  ויספרו־לו ויאמרו באנו אל־הארץ אשׁר שׁלחתנו וגם זבת חלב ודבשׁ הוא וזה־פריה׃ 
... אפס כי־עז העם הישׁב בארץ והערים בצרות גדלת מאד וגם־ילדי הענק ראינו שׁם׃ 
׃ והאנשׁים אשׁר־עלו עמו אמרו לא נוכל לעלות אל־העם כי־חזק הוא ממנו

What they told him was this: "We entered the land where you sent us, and indeed it does flow with milk and honey -- here is its fruit! However the people living in the land are fierce, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the `Anakim there. ….  "We can't attack those people, because they are stronger than we are"; 
(Num 13:27-28, 31 CJB)


THE SPIES AND US.
As usual, from the standpoint of our very mature understanding of the Torah and from the perspective of our very pious lifestyle (sarcasm intended), it is very easy to judge, and even condemn the people in the Tanach who didn't seem to come up to the plate in following HaShem's command. But would we have been part of the Promised Land scouting team, would we have come back like Joshua and Caleb, or been like the 10 other spies? 
          A talmudic rabbi (I forgot his name) wrote that we shouldn't criticise others if we cannot see the same sin we criticise them for in ourselves. The reason for that is that it is the only way that our judgment can be mixed with empathy and mercy. After all, our own Master Yeshua is the very example of this principle. HaShem did establish Him as our great judge,

The Father does not judge anyone but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, (Joh 5:22 CJB)

But not until He took upon Himself the guilt of all humanity.
           So to really understand what happened with the spies, to really draw a proper conclusion, we need to see to be to internalise the fault of the spies. But what was that fault? I am sure everybody has their own ideas but here is what I would like to propose. 
SELF-DEPRECATION.
The apostle teaches us that we should be humble. He tells us to  

Do nothing out of rivalry or vanity; but, in humility, regard each other as better than yourselves -- (Php 2:3 CJB)

          Whereas it is a healthy behavior to own, we should never apply at the cost of deprecating our own value. The spies commented,

We saw the N'filim, the descendants of `Anak, who was from the N'filim; to ourselves we looked like grasshoppers by comparison, and we looked that way to them too!"  (Num 13:33 CJB)

The spies saw themselves not only as smaller but unworthy of HaShem's big prize. 
 
THE ANTIDOTE FOR AN INFERIORITY COMPLEX.
A backlash of the proliferation of social media is that many people spend their lives anxious of the approval of others. Such a person's self-esteem becomes relative to the whims of those who surround him. This is a form of idolatry because it is giving the control of your person to others instead of to HaShem. There is no rest for the person who does that.
          We need to also remember the words of the Master,

"You people make yourselves look righteous to others, but God knows your hearts; what people regard highly is an abomination before God!  (Luk 16:15 CJB)

          Here is the antidote for a misplaced inferiority complex. Ask yourself the question, "How much should a stranger's life be worth for you to be ready to sacrifice your only child, the one you love, for them?" After you have answered this question, remember that this is what HaShem has done for each of us as individuals. 

OOOOOOOH, THAT EVIL INCLINATION!
The reasoning behind refusing to go and conquer the Land was this,

But the men who had gone with him said, "We can't attack those people, because they are stronger than we are"; (Num 13:31 CJB)

Among the many reasons why they may have this way, the Chofetz Chayim points that, "The evil inclination tries in every possible way to prevent a person from doing good deeds." Such ways are:
Arrogance: 
  1. There are times when people feel they have done enough. They have reached the pinnacle of their accomplishment and shouldn't be asked anymore. They've done enough. They should be allowed to retire from serving HaShem.
  2. There are also times when someone is so guilt-ridden that he feels that he is not worthy of the great task HaShem wants to accomplish through them. They have repented, changed, but their self-inflicted guilt keeps them from launching out on to great mission HaShem has for them.

Drawing Wrong Conclusions:
It is said of our Master that, 

He will be inspired by fearing Adonai. He will not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear, but he will judge the impoverished justly; he will decide fairly for the humble of the land. He will strike the land with a rod from his mouth and slay the wicked with a breath from his lips. (Isa 11:3-4 CJB)

          In essence this means that He will not draw wrong conclusions from His observations. The spies’ observations concerning the size of the Giants were right, but their conclusion were wrong.
          It is very common for us to quickly judge people and situations according to the seeing of our eyes and the hearing of the ear, and we can be sorely wrong by doing that. Nothing illustrates this so much as all the wrong convictions that plague our justice system. Though every conviction needs to be corroborated by unshakable evidence, we quite often get it wrong.
          Also, whether they be teachers, leaders, or politicians, how many people do we erroneously lift up just because they tell a good story or their demeanor is appealing to us? On the other hand, how many others do we put down just because of our erroneous conclusions concerning their looks and attitude? The same was the fate of the Master!

For before him he grew up like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He was not well-formed or especially handsome; we saw him, but his appearance did not attract us. People despised and avoided him, a man of pains, well acquainted with illness. Like someone from whom people turn their faces, he was despised; we did not value him. In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pains from which he suffered; yet we regarded him as punished, stricken and afflicted by God. But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, and by his bruises [Or: and in fellowship with him] we are healed. (Isa 53:2-5 CJB)

A Lack of Humility:
All this caused the spies to despise the Promised Land. It is nothing new. Many people criticize and despise it till this day. Life in Israel is not always easy especially if you come from a country like  America. It can make one criticise the place HaShem has chosen to write His Name in.
          Rabbi Moshe of Lelov one day met someone who was very critical of Israel. Unable to contain himself, the old rabbi corrected the person with, "The Torah says that the Land is very good. When does someone find that the Land? When he fulfills the Mishnah (Pirkey Avot 4:4) of, 'Be very, very humble!' When someone has the trait of arrogance, he will not be satisfied and will complain about the Land." (Cited in Otzer Chayim)
          What are the typical traits of the arrogant person?
  • He wants things to be exactly as he wants them.
  • He lacks patience
  • He gets frustrated which causes him
  • Much discontentment and inappreciation of the Land.

On the other hand, a humble person:
  • Doesn't mind going with the flow when things don't go right
  • Focuses on the positive in every situation
  • Finds the good in each and every circumstance
  • Appreciates the spiritual reality of the Land and so is able to enjoy it. 

In essence, a person of humility, a person who enjoys the Land, is much like the person Ya,'akov describes,

But the wisdom from above is, first of all, 
pure, 
then peaceful, 
kind, 
open to reason, 
full of mercy  and good fruits, 
without partiality and without hypocrisy. 
And peacemakers who sow seed in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. 
(Jas 3:17-18 CJB)

May we all be that person!
          
R’ Gavriel

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PAR'SHAT B'A'ALOTCHA: Complaining: A Form of Atheism!

6/18/2019

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INויהי העם כמתאננים רע באזני יהוה וישׁמע יהוה ויחר אפו ותבער־בם אשׁ יהוה ותאכל בקצה המחנה׃
ויצעק העם אל־משׁה ויתפלל משׁה אל־יהוה ותשׁקע האשׁ׃

But the people began complaining about their hardships to Adonai. When Adonai heard it, his anger flared up, so that fire from Adonai broke out against them and consumed the outskirts of the camp. Then the people cried to Moshe, Moshe prayed to Adonai, and the fire abated. (Num 11:1-2 CJB)

A PROBLEM WITH HONESTY.
We are taught to always be honest with our feelings; that it is part of honesty to openly express what we feel. It may be a good thing, but it also can backfire.  It is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease!” they say; and while it may be true, it is also the one that gets replaced. It is then that we realise that maybe we didn’t have it so bad after all. Whether in life, in career, or with HaShem, we do not want to get replaced.

A fool gives vent to all his feelings, but the wise, thinking of afterwards, stills them. (Pro 29:11 CJB)

Even a fool, if he stays silent, is thought wise; he who keeps his mouth shut can pass for smart. (Pro 17:28 CJB)

I noticed that the Siddur, the Jewish book of prayers, is in the first person of the plural. It is mostly expressed in “Please help us”, “Our Father , our King…” and, or almost never, in the first person (“I”)! This shows that Jewish people saw themselves as a community, not just as individuals. Many of HaShem’s communications with Israel, such as the Aaronic Blessing which we saw last week, address Israel in the second person of the singular, which shows that HaShem looked at the whole of Israel as a single unit. Even the Master taught us to pray using that model.

'Our Father in heaven! ... Give us the food we need today. Forgive us what we have done wrong, as we too have forgiven those who have wronged us. And do not lead us into hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One. (Mat 6:9-13 CJB)

THE LEGISLATOR’S DILEMMA
Why do I bring the subject of community up? As the legislator of a group, Moshe probably knew that it is possible to please all the people, sometimes; that it is also possible to please some of the people all the time; and that it is impossible to please all the people all the time. I heard it said by a politician one time that “no legislation is ever perfect.” We are social creatures, and as social creatures we have a need to live with others and when we live with others, we do not always get what we want,  how and when we want it.  There is no way around it; consensus requires give and take and. And still people complain.

I am a believer in the positive traits of human nature, so I think that when faced with the reality of the need for give and take for consensus, people agree to it. Why do we complain then? Is it  just because we don’t get what we want? Do we have an agenda?  

THE HIDDEN FACE OF COMPLAINING
The parasha this week takes us through the first of a litany of complaints in the Book of Numbers, each complaint stemming from a hidden agenda.
         First the people of Israel complain of their hardship that is  until they get a good wallop from HaShem. Then the “mixed multitude” of Gentiles that had come with them from Egypt starts pining for the nice food of Egypt; they complain about the bread freely given to them daily from the very vaults of Heaven.
    Next, that same  mixed multitude that was with them grew greedy for an easier life;  the people of Isra'el for their part, renewed their weeping and said, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt -- it cost us nothing! -- and the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, garlic! But now we're withering away, we have nothing to look at but this manna." (Num 11:4-6 CJB)

As commentator Rashi said, they really had no real cause to complain. I remember one of my sons who always complained about my wife’s excellent cooking. After he had been away from home for a couple of years, he admitted that what he missed the most about home was the three meals served everyday without fail. Like the Children of Israel in the desert, he freely received all that he needed and really had nothing to complain about.

It is said in Numbers 11:4 that it is the “Mixed Multitude” who complained about the food of Egypt. By the term “Mixed Multitude”,  the text referred to the many Gentiles who left with Israel on the night of the Exodus.

A mixed crowd also went up with them, as well as livestock in large numbers, both flocks and herds. (Exo 12:38 CJB)

Israel had been told to not be influenced by that crowd,

Do not follow the crowd when it does what is wrong; and don't allow the popular view to sway you into offering testimony for any cause, if the effect will be to pervert justice. (Exo 23:2 CJB)

The Exodus dynamics of Israel and that of the mixed multitude differed much. In a certain sense, Israel had to leave; it didn’t have a choice if it wanted self-determination. The Gentiles on the other hand didn’t have to. They had a choice; they left of their own volition. Also, there was no turning back for Israel; but like Orpah, Neomi’s daughter-in-law, the Gentiles could return (Ruth 1:14). That reminds me of some people that I met. They “cross-over” from traditional chritianity to Messianic Judaism. They are all excited about it, but after a few years or when things do not go the way they thought, they go back to their original form of religion. It is up to them to do so, but what I am getting at is that, whereas these people have an option, the Jewish believer doesn’t; he will always be a Jewish believer, a Messianic Jew. To join a church, he has to stop being a Jew and living a Jewish life and why should he do that?

What this teaches us is that the complainer may not be fully committed. He already has thought of options.



WHAT’S WITH THE COMPLAINER?
Complaining has really nothing to do with one’s external environment and condition, but it has everything to do with one’s internal attitude. Complaining is a frame of mind; a bad habit. The question is, what do we try to get out of it?

TO SEPARATE FROM THE ALMIGHTY
The underlying theme behind a complainer is not necessarily that he wants the situation to improve. What he wants is what one gets from complaining. What he wants is the reward of complaining which is a justification to free himself from the acknowledgment of, and therefore of the obligation to be thankful and grateful towards those who actually care for him.

Whether concerning the Mixed Multitude in the desert attitude with HaShem, or one’s personal relationship with people such as a family member, spouse, congregation brother/sister, it is the same thing. When we decide that, for a selfish reason or another we want to keep away from someone, we first start concocting complaints against them. These complaints then become the excuse we need to free ourselves from the relationship, or at least from the gratitude we owe to that person. It is a dangerous behavior. The sages of the Talmud have expressed that when a person is not appreciative of the good others do for him, he eventually denies the good that HaShem does for him also.

IT’S CONTAGIOUS, AND NOT EXPEDIENT!
Lastly, complaining is contagious.  We need to stay away from its contaminators, and especially not be a contaminator ourselves. We must also be careful that because complaining is mostly an attitude of the heart, it could be asymptomatic while spreading its contamination. I like what the Rabbi of the New-York Yeshiva said when faced by the media about his school being responsible for the measles outbreak a couple of years ago. He said that he did not agree with his people not immunizing against the measles. He said that the Torah tells us to be concerned about not putting others in danger, and that was more important in HaShem’s eyes than upholding uncertain personal individual rights. Again, in the eyes of this Rabbi, the group is more important than the individual. We may have the right to complain, but it is dangerous.

"Everything is permitted," you say? Maybe, but not everything is helpful. "Everything is permitted?" Maybe, but not everything is edifying. (1Co 10:23 CJB)

COMPLAINING: A FORM OF ATHEISM!
HaShem is the one in charge of our lives. When we complain or try to manipulate our own destiny away from HaShem’s control, we become worse than atheists. Why? Because we deny the Presence of God with us. We act as if He couldn't see us.
         Rabbi Shmuelevitz says, “When a mother travels with an infant from Jerusalem to Tel-Aviv, one cannot say that the infant has really gone from one place to another. The place of the infant is with its mother. As long as it is with its mother there is no difference in what city it is in. Similarly with the Israleites in the wilderness.” What the rabbi is saying is that if they do everything according to the Word of the Almighty, they are always with Him; they are always in His presence. We lonely ose the Presence of HaShem as we disobey and try to do our own will; and how does that happen? It starts with complaining!

THE VACCINE AGAINST COMPLAINING  Focus on the good instead of complaining about what is wrong. (Rabbi Zelig Pliskin)

In everything give thanks, for this is what God wants from you who are united with the Messiah Yeshua. (1Th 5:18 CJB)

Now true religion does bring great riches, but only to those who are content with what they have. For we have brought nothing into the world; and we can take nothing out of it; so if we have food and clothing, we will be satisfied with these. (1Ti 6:6-8 CJB)


MAY WE LEARN TO BE SATISFIED WITH THE HEAVENLY BOUNTIES OF HASHEM.

MAY WE LEARN TO WORSHIP HIM AND HIM ONLY AS WE ALSO LEARN TO KEEP AWAY FROM COMPLAINING.

ר, גבריאל
​R' Gavriel

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PAR'SHAT NASSO: The Higher Standard.

6/11/2019

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בר אל־בני ישׂראל אישׁ או־אשׁה כי יעשׂו מכל־חטאת האדם למעל מעל ביהוה ואשׁמה הנפשׁ ההוא׃
והתודו את־חטאתם אשׁר עשׂו והשׁיב את־אשׁמו בראשׁו וחמישׁתו יסף עליו ונתן לאשׁר אשׁם לו׃

"Tell the people of Isra'el, 'When a man or woman commits any kind of sin against another person and thus breaks faith with Adonai, he incurs guilt. He must confess the sin which he has committed; and he must make full restitution for his guilt, add twenty percent and give it to the victim of his sin. 
(Numbers 5:6-7)

TRESPASSING AGAINST HASHEM.
What does it mean to trespass against HaShem? Can we really offend or hurt Him? Can we do Him physical harm? The answer might be found in the ideas of sin and guilt offerings. Sin offerings are required when an individual commits a sin against God unintentionally. Guilt offerings are set for specific transgressions like violating the sanctity of God’s altar, breach of trust, or when a person is unsure whether he has sinned or which sin he has committed. As such, we learn that we offend or hurt HaShem by violating the covenant he has set with us by breaking His commandments. Another way that we commit a trespass against the Almighty is when we hurt or wrong one of His children made in His image.

Rabbi Sforno has a particular twist on this verse. He says that this verse refers to one who steals from a convert to Judaism. Rabbi Sforno's rationale is quite simple. A natural Jew is born into Judaism. He has in a sense very little choice about his destiny. Being born into a Jewish family, from birth he inherits the covenant made with his fathers. A convert on the other hand makes a personal decision, a conscious choice to put himself under the yoke of the Torah. He did so because he heard of the beautiful Torah concepts and ideas, then he hungered and thirst for them as one who hungers and thirsts for righteousness. Our Master Himself conveys a special blessing to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

"How blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness! for they will be filled." (Mat 5:6 CJB)

When we wrong such a person, we cause them to feel disillusioned; we set ourselves as a stumbling block in the way of the blind, which the Torah defines as a sin. 


" 'Do not speak a curse against a deaf person or place an obstacle in the way of a blind person; rather, fear your God; I am Adonai. (Lev 19:14 CJB)

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF DISCIPLESHIP
When we proclaim ourselves as believers, as followers of the Messiah, we take upon ourselves the duty and responsibility of representing Him in his great advocacy mission of redemptive hope. He came as the Light to the world, so we should be His Light to the world (Mat 5:14). He did not come to judge, so He has not sent us to judge! 

I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who trusts in me might not remain in the dark. If anyone hears what I am saying and does not observe it, I don't judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. (Joh 12:46-47 CJB)



 IMITATION = DISCIPLESHIP
It has been said that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. As Jews, we should be honored in this day and age that so many of the gentiles are hungry for the Torah that HaShem has given us. It means that  we might actually have done something right.

From the first century CE to the fourth, so many gentiles turned to the God of Israel and our Scriptures that we actually got taken over. Even today, many non-Jews are hungry to follow the God of Israel. It is therefore our responsibility to accept these and teach them just like the early disciples did in the first century CE.



CEREMONIAL VS INTERPERSONAL COMMANDMENTS
As our Master and Rabbi Yeshua taught us, it is important to practice the ceremonial commandments, such as eating kosher and remembering the Shabbat, but the best testimony that we can be in the spirit of HaShem is always through the sample of our lives. It is brought through the type of relationship that we conduct with others. It is also brought through honest business practices, charity, compassion, altruism, and showing mercy, patience and understanding.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, self control. Nothing in the Torah stands against such things. (Gal 5:22-23 CJB)

A HIGHER STANDARD.
High-Priests were held to a higher standard than priests, and priests were held to a higher standard as the regular Israeli. Even today, as we are called a royal priesthood, we are held to the highest standard. We need to always think, “Others may, but I can’t!”

But you are a chosen people, the King's cohanim, a holy nation, a people for God to possess! Why? In order for you to declare the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1Pe 2:9 CJB)

It’s like a relationship between people, the closer they are together, the more they have the potential to hurt each other. As we come close to HaShem through holiness, we must take care not to break His commands.

A DOUBLE STANDARD FOR ISRAEL?
I was talking with someone one day. This person was complaining that it seemed that the world had a double-standard when it came to Israel. “Yes, it is true!” I answered. “And we should take it as a compliment. It is leaders and teachers who are held to a higher standard.”

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, since you know that we will be judged more severely. (Jas 3:1 CJB)

I continued and said, “That they hold us to a different and higher standard should be seen as a compliment. Being who we are, we are held to that higher standard of the Torah, the higher standard of the Almighty God.

THE HIGHER STANDARD OF YESHUA.
As Yeshua taught His disciples, He was creating a group of believers whom He held to a standard higher  than even that of the priests and the teachers of Israel. He said,

For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P'rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven! (Mat 5:20 CJB)

In Matthew 5, 6, and 7, He enumerated all sorts of examples of commandments for which He instituted a higher form of obedience. 
​

NOTES FROM A MEDICAL INTERPRETER.
One of my days jobs is being a medical interpreter. Medical interpreters are taught to not only accurately interpret words in another language, but to also exactly emulate the spirit, the intonations, the mood, and even the facial expressions of the speaker they interpret for. We are required to do so whether we agree with what is being said or not. It is our job; it is our responsibility; our duty, and our mandate. 
Thus is discipleship to the Master. While sitting at the Right Hand of the Father, He counts on us to accurately interpret His Words, and also to exactly emulate the spirit, the intonations, the mood, and even the facial expressions in which they were originally given. As disciples,  we are required to do so whether we agree with what is being said or not. It is our job; it is our responsibility; our duty, and our mandate.

MAY WE ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT WE REPRESENT THE BETTER, HIGHER, AND GREATER STANDARDS OF THE KINGDOM OF THE KING OF KING AND THE LORD OF LORDS. 

MAY WE BE ITS FAITHFUL AMBASSADORS, PRESENTING ITS BEAUTY THROUGH LIVES IMBEDDED AND IMBIBED IN THE PRECEPTS OF ITS TORAH.


R' GAVRIEL



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PAR'SHAT BAMIDBAR: קול בנדבר The Voice of the Desert!

6/6/2019

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 וידבר יהוה אל־משׁה במדבר סיני באהל מועד באחד לחדשׁ השׁני בשׁנה השׁנית לצאתם מארץ מצרים לאמר׃

Adonai spoke to Moshe in the Sinai Desert, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month of the second year after they had left the land of Egypt. He said, 
(Num 1:1 CJB)

​​
HIS VOICE IS HEARD IN QUIET STILLNESS
I heard someone say one time that God does not usually shout at us to make Himself heard. When He does, it usually means that we are in trouble. In general, He gently knocks at the “door,” the “door” that can only open from the inside.

"Behold I stand at the door … (Rev 3:20 CJB)

He stands. He waits. He will not forcefully knock the door down;. He will knock, ever so softly ready to answer to even the most minimal sign of acquiescence. Like the gentle dove that he is, He will not land where He is not wanted, so He will leave if not received, and try again at a later time (Mat 3:16). King Solomon beautifully describes it in this poem,

[He] My sister, my bride, I have entered my garden; I am gathering my myrrh and my spices; I am eating my honeycomb along with my honey; I am drinking my wine as well as my milk. …

[She] I am asleep, but my heart is awake. Listen! I hear my darling knocking!

[He] Open for me, my sister, my love, my dove, my flawless one! For my head is wet with dew, my hair with the moisture of the night.

[She] I've removed my coat; must I put it back on? I've washed my feet; must I dirty them again?

The man I love put his hand through the hole by the door-latch, and my heart began pounding at the thought of him. I got up to open for the man I love. My hands were dripping with myrrh -- pure myrrh ran off my fingers onto the handle of the bolt. I opened for my darling, but my darling had turned and gone. My heart had failed me when he spoke -- I sought him, but I couldn't find him; I called him, but he didn't answer. The watchmen roaming the city found me; they beat me, they wounded me; they took away my cloak, those guardians of the walls! I charge you, daughters of Yerushalayim, that if you find the man I love, what are you to tell him? That I am sick with love.

(Son 5:1-8 CJB)

We have to make the personal conscious effort of concentration and still quietness if we want to hear It. We must get up, and open the door. The door of our heart only opens from the inside. It has to come from us!

Elijah also experimented with the sweet and tender voice of HaShem while in the desert. As he was fleeing from Queen Jezebel, he went out to a cave on Mount Horeb where many cataclysmic events happened,

There he went into a cave and spent the night. Then the word of Adonai came to him; he said to him, "What are you doing here, Eliyahu?" He answered, "I have been very zealous for Adonai the God of armies, because the people of Isra'el have abandoned your covenant, broken down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. Now I'm the only one left, and they're coming after me to kill me too." He said, "Go outside, and stand on the mountain before Adonai"; and right then and there, Adonai went past. A mighty blast of wind tore the mountains apart and broke the rocks in pieces before Adonai, but Adonai was not in the wind. After the wind came an earthquake, but Adonai was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, fire broke out; but Adonai was not in the fire. And after the fire came a quiet, subdued voice. When Eliyahu heard it, he covered his face with his cloak, stepped out and stood at the entrance to the cave. Then a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Eliyahu?" (1Ki 19:9-13 CJB)


HaShem taught King David to,

"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"
(Psa 46:10 ESV)

IN THE QUIET OF THE DESERT
That is why HaShem took Israel away in the quietness of the wilderness. He took His people away from all the distractions of daily life. There He provided them with food and water. He preserved their clothes from going threadbare. It was like a sort of return to the Garden of Eden where HaShem provided for the first humans without the need to sow; an early Jubilee of abundance and freedom. Like in the Garden of Eden and during the Jubilee year, in the desert, they ate of what grew of it's own, HaShem's food; the bread of Heaven.

The whole reason for it was that Israel would cease from feaverish mundane activity, sit with HaShem at the foot of Mount Horeb and learn. HaShem provided Israel with every need for the simple goal of getting them away from all distractions, getting their attention so that they would simply sit and learn from Him. That’s also why we have Shabbat. Shabbat is a time when we stop the daily grind and confusion of everyday activities in order to sit with HaShem and learn, learn through prayer, learn through service, and learn through fellowship with others.

SOMETHING ELSE ABOUT THE DESERT
In Hebrew, the word "wilderness/desert" is the word "מדבר/Midbar". It is a word that draws its roots from the word "דבר" which is a word that refers to the Word as spoken by HaShem. It is the word that we find in John 1:1,

בראשית היה הדבר והדבר היה את האלהים ואלהים היה הדבר

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
  (John 1:1 CJB)

This word is also related to the verb לדבר"/ to speak". From this the sages deduce that it is in the undistracted still dependency on HaShem of the desert that HaShem’s voice is heard best.

“DESERT” TIMES IN OUR LIVES
We all have difficult times in our lives that we qualify as "desert-times."These are usually times of trials, tribulations, and difficulty, not unlike difficult times of survival in a desert land. In these places, instead of indulging in despondent feelings of abandonment, we should realise that this is HaShem’s intolerable compliment. We should know that these are times when He actively takes us away from all distraction so He can have more personal time with us. We should also be aware that, like with the Children of Israel in the desert, He is the one supplying all of our needs.

HUMILITY IN THE DESERT
The Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah) states about Numbers 1:1:

“Whoever does not make himself open and free like a wilderness will not be able to acquire wisdom and Torah.”

On this, the commentary Matnos Kehuna comments that,

Humility enables you to learn from everyone and teach everyone. As noted above, the desert symbolizes humility. Indeed, the Torah can only be learned in a spirit of humility. King David knew it,

Adonai is near those with broken hearts; he saves those whose spirit is crushed. (Psa 34:18 CJB)

But the meek will inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. (Psa 37:11 CJB)

Our Master concurred in,

"How blessed are the poor in spirit! for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. "How blessed are those who mourn! for they will be comforted. "How blessed are the meek! for they will inherit the Land! "How blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness! for they will be filled. (Mat 5:3-6 CJB)

SHAVUOT
Parasha Bamidbar is always read before Shavuot. This Jewish holidays affords us to relive the time when Israel humbly sat at the foot of Mt Sinai to receive the Torah from HaShem. To relive the Sinai experience, we must first pass through the “desert” and its lessons — at least in a spiritual sense.

Shavuot also takes us back to the day when the disciples humbly obeyed the Master’s command to stay in Jerusalem in spite of the persecution that befell them, and were then blessed with the Shechinah coming to live within them (Acts 2). We must also show obedient humility in order to be blessed with the Spirit of HaShem to live within us.

CHAG SAMEACH!!!

R' Gavriel Lumbroso​


PS: I would like to again address a currently pertinent notion having to do with this midrash.

This time of isolation, fear, uncertainty and economic distress is very similar to the time of the Children of israel in the desert. I pray therefore that in this "desert" of our lives, we would all be able to hear HaShem's voice through The Prophet as clearly as our ancestors did in the desert! 

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PAR'SHAT B'CHUKOTAI: The Benefits of Knowing!

5/30/2019

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ואם־לא תשׁמעו לי ולא תעשׂו את כל־המצות האלה׃ 
 ואם־בחקתי תמאסו ואם את־משׁפטי תגעל נפשׁכם לבלתי עשׂות את־כל־מצותי להפרכם את־בריתי׃ 
אף־אני אעשׂה־זאת לכם

" 'But if you will not listen to me and obey all these mitzvot, if you loathe my regulations and reject my rulings, in order not to obey all my mitzvot but cancel my covenant; then I, for my part, will do this to you: 
(Lev 26:14-16 CJB)



OUR PART IN THE DEAL OF HOLY  SET-APARTNESS.
During a discussion concerning a certain politician's controversial proclamation someone said to me, "Well, he is born again and he says that he received the Spirit so what he proclaims must be inspired!"
The premise behind that statement is that because the politician in question claimed to have “received” the “Spirit of God”, his thoughts are automatically inspired by God and should be understood as such. I would take objection to that because whereas one may have received the Spirit of God, it still is up to him to, moment by moment, make the conscious choice to offer himself as a sacrifice living and set apart for God (Rom 12:1-2) and to take every thought captive and make it obey the Messiah (2 Cor 20:5).

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF KNOWING!
A commentary from the Chofetz Chayim I read this morning made me think about all that. In his commentary on Par’shat B’chukotai he mentions how some people do not like to read the portion of this week's parasha about the dangers of rejecting Torah (Lev 46: 14-43). The fear of the retribution is such that they would rather not know. Some people either say it very softly, while others even walk out during that part of the parsha reading. Their reasonning is that they would rather be focusing on the positive elements of the Torah. It’s more “edifying!”
There is a certain element of faith in that attitude as it represents a healthy respect and fear of HaShem and  in His power to retribute evil. Yeshua Himself spoke on the “bliss” of ignorance compared to the responsibility of “seeing” in, exhorted some Pharisees that challenged Him with,

Yeshua answered them, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But since you still say, 'We see,' your guilt remains.
(Joh 9:41 CJB)

But as Yeshua did, the Chofetz Chayim feels that stopping our ears from hearing these words of warning is a grave mistake. He compares it to a man traveling on a dangerous path. The path involves many narrow sections of road where the careless traveler could trip and fall off the edge in a ravine. The path may go through thick forests where animals are lurking. In order to not feel the pressure and fear of his incoming journey, the man then decides to blindfold himself. After all, he cannot fear that which he cannot see!
As foolish as this may sound, this is a situation similar to that of the person who feels that he cannot do or say wrong just because he has the '"spirit" as really, to believe that because we have been immersed by the Spirit our thought are automatically inspired but God is literally wearing a blindfold while walking the dangerous path of this life. This person has put on the blindfold of voluntary ignorant denial of reality,  but ignoring or denying reality just doesn't make it so.
While we should certainly be more focused on the positive aspects of the Torah, the knowledge of the harmful consequences of disobedience is essential in order to motivate us against doing wrong.

THE FATE OF THE VOLUNTARILY IGNORANT:
Solomon compares that sort of person to a simple person foolishly following the lust of his heart without any checks and balances. Here is how he says it in Prov 7.

"My son, keep my words, store up my commands with you.
   (The positive and the negative commandments)

Obey my commands, and live; guard my teaching like the pupil of your eye.
   (Life comes from keeping them, the positive and negative commandments.)

Bind them on your fingers;
   (May they control the creation of your hands)

Write them on the tablet of your heart.
   (May they control the thoughts and inclinations of your heart)

Say to wisdom, "You are my sister"; call understanding your kinswoman;
   (The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom)

So that they can keep you from unknown women, from loose women with their seductive talk.
   (The loose seductive woman is the antithesis of the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31. She is the spirit of worldliness, also called the Mother of Harlots of Revelation 17-18)

For I was at the window of my house, glancing out through the lattice, when I saw among the young men there, among those who don't think for themselves, a young fellow devoid of all sense.
    (Blindfolded, religiously oblivious to his own sinful impulses)

He crosses the street near her corner and continues on toward her house.
   (He is blind and oblivious of where he is going)

Dusk turns into evening, and finally night, dark and black.
   (The darkness of ignorance has gradually totally set up upon him)

Then a woman approaches him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart. She's the coarse, impulsive type, whose feet don't stay at home; rather, she stalks the streets and squares, lurking at every streetcorner. She grabs him, gives him a kiss, and, brazen-faced, she says to him, "I had to offer peace sacrifices, and I fulfilled my vows today. This is why I came out to meet you, to look for you; now I've found you. I've spread quilts on my couch made of colored Egyptian linen. I've perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come on, let's make love till morning; we'll enjoy making love. My husband isn't at home, he's gone on a long trip; he took a bag of money with him and won't be back till the moon is full." With all her sweet talk she convinces him, enticing him with her seductive words.
   (Is she really to blame? Had he had his eyes opened, he would have known better than
  1. Going in the direction of her house
  2. Listening to that coarse impulsive woman whose feet don't stay at home.
  3. Letting her kiss him
  4. Letting himself be enticed by her words especially when she says that she's already married.


At once he follows her like an ox on its way to be slaughtered; like a fool to be punished in the stocks; or like a bird rushing into a trap, not knowing its life is at stake till an arrow pierces its liver.
    (His deliberate ignorance of the warnings cause him to be caught in the deathly trap of disobedience!)

So now, children, listen to me; pay attention to what I am saying.
Now to the conclusion:

Don't let your heart turn to her ways; don't stray onto her paths. For many are those she has struck down dead, numerous those she has killed. Her house is the way to Sh'ol; it leads down to the halls of death.  
    (The words of the Torah are our warning!)


Being ignorant, voluntary or otherwise, of the words of warning in the Torah is what causes us today to fall into the trap of sin, and will fell into the arms of the Whore of Babylon at the end of days.

The enemy even tried with Yeshua, but He fought back with the words of the Torah (Mat 4:1-11)

May we always study the words of warning given to us in the Torah that we may be aware of the enemy’ deathly traps.

R' Gavriel


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PAR'SHAT B'HAR: Financial Ethics of the Kingdom of Heaven.

5/23/2019

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ולא תונו אישׁ את־עמיתו ויראת מאלהיך כי אני יהוה אלהיכם׃
ועשׂיתם את־חקתי ואת־משׁפטי תשׁמרו ועשׂיתם אתם וישׁבתם על־הארץ לבטח׃

Thus you are not to take advantage of each other, but you are to fear your God; for I am Adonai your God. " 'Rather, you are to keep my regulations and rulings and act accordingly. If you do, you will live securely in the land. (Lev 25:17-18 CJB)


THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.


A COUNTDOWN TO GODLINESS.
Counting the omer is a countdown to godliness. Some people divide the seven weeks into seven main virtues, which are again divided into seven facets of that virtue. Here is how it works:
1. Chesed : Overflowing Loving kindness
2. G’vurah: Judgment, Justice, Rigor
3. Tiferet: Compassion, Beauty, Balance
4. Netzakh: Victory, Efficiency, Prevailing
5. Hod: Glory, Splendor
6. Y’sod: Foundation, Intimacy, Generativity
7. Malkhut: Majesty, God’s Earthly Realm

FROM FIRST FRUIT (16TH of Nissan/Resurrevtion Day) TO SHAVUOT  

It makes sense. The message Yeshua gave us was, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."     
     This message reflects Yochanan the Immerser's words, as well as those in Isaiah’s prophecy, "Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight!" (Mat 4:17; Mat 3:2; Mat 3:3; Isa 40:3)
With this message along with that of waiting for the Comforter (Acts 1:4), the time between the Resurrection on the 16th of Nissan and Shavuot 49 days later, represents a time of learning to live in “sincerity and truth” (1 Cor 5:8). This transformation into righteousness does not happen by Yeshua waving a magic wand that makes us all good again, but it happens by us learning and applying the lifestyle of the Torah, and in our case, learning and applying the teachings of Yeshua concerning the Torah in our lives.

HASHEM’S ECONOMIC SYSTEM 

The parasha readings during the time of the counting of the omer gives us a lot of material for reflection and cleansing.

  • In Acharei Mot we learn about the seriousness, the awesomeness of God and about Yom HaKippurim. 
  • In Kedoshim we learn about what sets us apart from the world. In Emor we learn about Shabbat and festivals that set us apart, and 
  • in Behar, we learn about HaShem's economic system, the way finances are handled in the Kingdom of Heaven as opposed to the way they are handled is the world. This economic system is not just the way finances ought to run in His kingdom of the future, but also the way they ought to run here on earth today.

THE LITMUS TEST OF RELIGIOUS SPIRITUALITY 
After we have been taught in the former parashiot about ritual and ceremonial holiness/set-apartness, we are now taught about financial holiness/set-apartness. HaShem is concerned with how we eat, live, and work, but He is also concerned about how we handle money. Money really hits where it hurts and I would dare say, the handling of money reveals much more about one’s spirituality than any other religious observance.
      Leviticus 25 teaches us about sabbatical years and jubilee. These things were all about business, income, and compassion for the less-fortunate. Sabbatical years and jubilees were good news for the poor, and if I were to say this in Hebrew, I would not use הודעה תובה/oda’a Tova for the expression “good news”, but בשורה/ Besora, which has to do with the Good News of the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth.

BUT IT TAKES FAITH TO OBEY.  

Sad to say, HaShem's economic system as outlined in Leviticus 25 was never totally adopted by Israel. It even caused Judea to go in exile for 70 years. For seventy Sabbatical years the Children of Israel had not obeyed the commandment to let the Land fallow every seven years, so HaShem sent the people away so the land could enjoy her Shabbats. (2. Chron 36:21; Jer 25:11)
    Until this day, I do not know any politician who would be voted in were he to impose, not only that people take off all the 70 shabbats of the year, but that every seven years, farmers would not sow their fields (Lev 25:4-7), and that all banks would forgive debts while not even allowing them to refuse a loan on the fifth year, knowing that the debt would probably be cancelled before full payment. I don't know that businesses would agree to forgive debts; I don’t think that they would like to pay their employees nightly.  Also, what real estate company would return the land that he bought from someone who sold it to them due to financial duress? (Lev 25). It is all basically bad for business, but it shows us what importance HaShem gives to business. I heard a rabbi teach that if you were to properly follow the laws of tithing, sabbatical years, and jubilee, you could never get too rich.
     Just as it takes faith to stop working on Saturday (especially if you work in retail), it takes faith for the farmer to not sow his field for one year. It means that on the sixth year, he must save for the seventh year, he must have seedcorn left to sow at the end of the sabbatical year, and something to eat on the eighth. It also meant that every fifty years, he needed to save all that plus for one more year as the jubilee year followed the sabbatical year.

THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM OF THE KINGDOM  

Leviticus 25 starts with the commandments concerning the sabbatical years, and then continues on with the care of the poor. At the end of the chapter, the poor can be rescued regardless of the year, through the means of the kinsman Redeemer.
In the millennia that man has governed the earth applying different economic systems and models, none of these systems and models have ever succeeded in providing even basic necessities to everybody. There has always been disparity between rich and poor, as well as people who live in poverty, poverty not caused by natural causes, but by the selfish political and economical systems of man. My question is,Why don't we try it HaShem's way, using HaShem’s system?
What I see in the economic system of Leviticus 25 is a system where every once in a while the whole economic system reboots thus providing a way for the poor to catch up. In this system, the rich never get too rich so he forgets God, and the poor never gets too poor so He curses his creator.

[God,] I have asked two things of you; don't deny them to me as long as I live --keep falsehood and futility far from me, and give me neither poverty nor wealth. Yes, provide just the food I need today; for if I have too much, I might deny you and say, "Who is Adonai?" And if I am poor, I might steal and thus profane the name of my God. (Pro 30:7-9 CJB)

IT’S NOT AN INDIVIDUAL RACE; IT’S A TEAM ACCOMPLISHMENT!  

The economy of the Kingdom of Heaven is not like a race where some people just make it to prosperity while leaving others behind, but a race where those ahead take the time to let the others catch up, and even help them. Here is a scene from the movie “An Officer and A Gentleman” that illustrates it.

https://youtu.be/nXsm7vKuoVo

Someone showed me a picture one day of a wolf pack on the move. The structure of their pack was that the old and the weak were in front, the middle group was the most populous, while the strong ones brought up the rear. That created a protected pack where no one was left behind. If the wolf understands it, why don't we?                    
​


THE LAW OF THE LAND IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD
When Yeshua comes, He will impose that we live by the ways of the sabbatical years and the jubilee. It will be the law of the Land. We will finally learn that a man’s life does not consist in what he owns."  (Luk 12:15 CJB)

And like Jim Elliot said,
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot

We will then follow Yeshua’s exhortation,

Don't work for the food which passes away, but for the food that stays on into eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. (John 6:27 CJB)

If we lived by the economic principles of leviticus 25 today, we would experience a foretaste of the Kingdom of God right here and now!

MAY WE BRING THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN TODAY BY LIVING ACCORDING TO ITS RULES.


R' Gavriel Lumbroso

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PAR'SHAT EMOR: Sukkot on Earth as it is in Heaven!

5/16/2019

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Rשננן Gשהרןקךאאך בחמשׁה עשׂר יום לחדשׁ השׁביעי באספכם את־תבואת הארץ תחגו את־חג־יהוה שׁבעת ימים ביום הראשׁון שׁבתון וביום השׁמיני שׁבתון׃
ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשׁון פרי עץ הדר כפת תמרים וענף עץ־עבת וערבי־נחל ושׂמחתם לפני יהוה אלהיכם שׁבעת ימים׃
וחגתם אתו חג ליהוה שׁבעת ימים בשׁנה חקת עולם לדרתיכם בחדשׁ השׁביעי תחגו אתו׃
בסכת תשׁבו שׁבעת ימים כל־האזרח בישׂראל ישׁבו בסכת׃
למען ידעו דרתיכם כי בסכות הושׁבתי את־בני ישׂראל בהוציאי אותם מארץ מצרים אני יהוה אלהיכם׃

'But on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered the produce of the land, you are to observe the festival of Adonai seven days; the first day is to be a complete rest and the eighth day is to be a complete rest. On the first day you are to take choice fruit, palm fronds, thick branches and river-willows, and celebrate in the presence of Adonai your God for seven days. You are to observe it as a feast to Adonai seven days in the year; it is a permanent regulation, generation after generation; keep it in the seventh month. You are to live in sukkot for seven days; every citizen of Isra'el is to live in a sukkah, so that generation after generation of you will know that I made the people of Isra'el live in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am Adonai your God.' " (Lev 23:39-43 CJB)

​

As we finish Pesach, go through the Omer countdown to Shavuot, we are offered a glimpse into the world to come through the instruction concerning Chat Sukkot, or Tabernacles.

Pesach represented the redemption of Israel as it led to Shavuot where the promise of the prophet Joel of redemption for the nations is fulfilled.
        Two days after Pesach, on the 16th of Nissan starts the barley harvest. At Shavuot starts the wheat harvest just preceding the hot summer months. Fruits and olives will also harvested to finally end with the grape harvest at the time of Sukkot. On a theological level, this chronology of the levitical Holy Convocations teaches us that the message of the Kingdom comes first to a Jewish firstfruit, who bring it to a Gentile firstfruit, and is then transferred to everybody else during a long harvesting summer. By the Fall, all of redeemed enters HaShem’s sukka (Rev 21-22). At that time, everything has to be in the barn before the rains arrive, rains which could devastate the harvested crops but which will be life-giving to the newly sowed fields.
          Sukkot has often been called the feast of the nations. It speaks of universal redemption. As the Seventh-day Shabbat is the crowning and fulfillment of it's week, the seventh Holy Convocation of the year is the crowning festival of HaShem's full universal redemption program. It foretells the times described in Revelations 21 and 22 when the Tabernacle of God dwells with man.

Thus, many ideas intertwined the celebration of Sukkot.

HOSPITALITY. Sukkot reminds us that we have been mistreated strangers in a strange land. As such, we owe to remember what it's like and be kind and generous with the foreigner in our midst.
  • HaShem heard our cries and saw our tears, we should therefore see and hear their cries and tears. (Exo 3:7-8)
  • HaShem took us out of oppression to rescue us. We should pay it forward.
  • HaShem invited us to be part of His household.
  • We should also extend this invitation to others.

         It is what Yeshua was talking about when He spoke of: the unrighteous servant,

Then the master summoned his servant and said, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt just because you begged me to do it. Shouldn't you have had pity on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?' And in anger his master turned him over to the jailers for punishment until he paid back everything he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat you, unless you each forgive your brother from your hearts."
(Mat 18:32-35 CJB)

Abraham was the chief host. He was known to send his servant Eliezer by the highways and byways of the desert to compel people to come in and refresh themselves in his tent. He did not do this as a form of ritual religious observance, but as an act of gratitude towards Him who lets him in into His everlasting dwellings.

THE WORLD TO COME. This world is not our final home. By emulating our ancestors in the desert, Sukkot reminds us of our temporary status in this world. We are strangers in a strange land. One day we will be home. At that time we will recline and eat in the company of the patriarchs.
There is a Sukkot tradition to receiving guests. To have guests in your sukka is one of the highest mitzvah. HaShem receives us in the way we receive others. We will be received in the same manner we receive others.
In the industrial West, the idea of hospitality has lost some of its shine. We often do not want to be bothered with cleaning the house, preparing special food, or breaking out the china. We leave the house as it is, buy something from the store, and use paper plates. Maybe it is because I was raised in Europe, but to me when someone comes to visit, we try to present a clean and comfortable house, prepare special food served in china dishes. It should be all the more so when we receive people from the household of Messiah: the Saints. What shouldn't we do for those that HaShem loves so much that he sent His Son to redeem with a great and mighty arm!
If we bring out our best for our guests, He’ll bring out His best for us. Paraphrasing Yeshua’s words, the measure with which we practice hospitality will be used towards us also. (Mat 7:2)

SPECIAL GUESTS: At Sukkot, we will recline in the company of the patriarchs. It is sometimes traditional then to practice that time by dedicating certain days of Sukkot to the patriarchs. Each day belongs to a different one.
  1. Abraham
  2. Isaac
  3. Jacob
  4. Joseph
  5. Moses
  6. Aaron
  7. David
  8. Messiah

My book, Under the Vine, gives an idea of discussion for each patriarch on their assigned day. In my home we usually do Bible quizzes and children’s activities on each of the patriarchs and even sing songs about the birth of Yeshua as part of Simchat Torah on the 8th day.

3 LEVELS OF HOSPITALITY: Of course, it is easy to invite these visitors from times past. They don’t eat much and they do not take much space. In the model of the Jewish idea concerning Tzedaka (the giving of charity) http://www.jewfaq.org/tzedakah.htm I would like to put levels to hospitality.

  1. Not inviting anyone; waiting for people to come in to the Sukka.
  2. Only inviting Biblical patriarchs
  3. Only inviting relatives
  4. Only inviting friends
  5. Inviting the homeless as an act of charity
  6. Leaving the door open for anyone to come in and be received as a special guest. This last one is reminiscent of the Pesach Seder. At the Pesach Seder we set a place for Elijah, but we also leave the door semi-open. Anyone who comes in will be eating at the place of Elijah thus fulfilling the commandment in the letter to the first century Messianic Jews,

Let brotherly friendship continue; but don't forget to be friendly to outsiders; for in so doing, some people, without knowing it, have entertained angels.
(Heb 13:1-2 CJB)


JOY: Joy is one of the main elements of Sukkot. We are actually commanded to rejoice at that time.

"You are to keep the festival of Sukkot for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing-floor and winepress. Rejoice at your festival - you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, the L'vi'im, and the foreigners, orphans and widows living among you.
(Deu 16:13-14 CJB)

The reason for that is that Sukkot is a rehearsal, a foretaste of the time when,

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will no longer be any death; and there will no longer be any mourning, crying or pain; because the old order has passed away."
(Rev 21:4 CJB)

Joy and rejoicing should actually be our default mood at all times. Here is a commentary from Rabbi Hirsh.
    “Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsh noted that Rosh Hashanah is only one day, and Yom Kippur is only one day, while sukkot is seven days. Rosh Hashanah is a day of shaking us out of ways of life displeasing to the Almighty. Yom Kippur is a day of fasting and awareness of our faults and mistakes. Sukkot, however, sets us up afresh in living to achieve the highest earthly possession: joy and happiness before the Almighty. There is only one day for the mood of Rosh Hashanah, and only one day for the fasting of atonement, but seven days, a whole cycle of days for the joyful building of our huts, and for enjoying our possessions before the Almighty. This is what is most characteristic of Torah laws, it teaches that the normal mood of one’s life should be not the bowed down broken feeling but the joy of life which runs equally throughout the year of a life faith fully devoted to duty.” (Rabbi Hirsch’s Commentary)

TO LIVE A JOYOUS LIFE: We are commanded to rejoice at Sukkot. We are also required to enjoy what we have.
It is fine and easy for the one one who seems blessed with peaceful conditions and enough subsistence, but what about he who is in the midst of trouble and is poor. The commandment then doesn’t change. Happiness should not be the fruit of our our environment but rather an inner spiritual condition; a state of mind.
  • We may feel forsaken in this world but we should rejoice just because we are His children.
  • We may not have worldly wealth but we should rejoice because we have enough.
  • Though we may not have the best according to the world, we should rejoice because we have His best.
    On this subject, Paul used to teach,

Now true religion does bring great riches, but only to those who are content with what they have.
(1Ti 6:6 CJB)

When my children grumbled about something, my wife used to ask them, “How long are you going be unhappy about this? How long are you going to be on a bummer? Another minute? Five minute? Until tonight?”

To rejoice and be happy is not the result of an external condition, but a choice and a decision that we make.

AVOID QUARRELING: The lulav that we use at Sukkot symbolises the whole nation united together in peace, harmony, and unity. Again peace, harmony, and unity don’t come just by themselves. They are conscious choices that we make. Psychologist and Rabbi Zelig Pliskin says that, “Many quarrels can easily be avoided by just thinking sensibly about how irrational and counterproductive it is to waste time and energy in a quarrel that really makes not practical difference.”

Here is another story: “Rabbi Eliyahu Klatzkin, Rabbi of Dublin and later jerusalem, once told his son that some people had taken his seal without permission and affixed it to proclamation without consulting him. His son asked him why he had not refuted them in the press,and he answered, “I am afraid that if I protest agaisnt the forgery, I shall arouse the anger of these troublemakers and I shall be forced to make controversial statements. In any case they will surely be bold anough to bismirch the motive behind my denials, and I shall be forced to issue a protest. As a result, my time will be wasted in controversy, and I shall be unable to spend it studying Torah.””(Jewish Leaders, p.327)

MAY WE MAKE THE CHOICE TO BE HOSPITABLE.
MAY WE MAKE THE CHOICE TO LIVE JOYFULLY.
MAY WE MAKE THE CHOICE TO FORGIVE.
MAY WE MAKE THE CHOICE TO LOVE.

Rabbi Gavriel

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P'RSHAT K'DOSHIM: "Love ...."

5/8/2019

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ואהבת לרעך כמוך אני יהוה
Don't take vengeance on or bear a grudge against any of your people; rather, love your neighbor as yourself; I am Adonai.  (Lev 19:18 CJB)



In the days of the Babylonian Captivity of Judah, HaShem challenged Ezekiel the prophet with the following words,


"Human being, I have appointed you to be a watchman for the house of Isra'el. When you hear a word from my mouth, you are to warn them for me. If I say to a wicked person, 'You will certainly die'; and you fail to warn him, to speak and warn the wicked person to leave his wicked way and save his life; then that wicked person will die guilty; and I will hold you responsible for his death. On the other hand, if you warn the wicked person, and he doesn't turn from his wickedness or his wicked way, then he will still die guilty; but you will have saved your own life.  (Eze 3:17-19 CJB)

WHO WAS EZEKIEL?
Ezekiel was the son of  Buzzi, the priest. As such, Ezekiel was raised in the priesthood. He was raised in the high anticipation that one day he would be priest. The Babylonian Captivity changed all that. Instead of becoming a venerated priest, Ezekiel was taken captive to Babylon to prophecy the demise of Israel as a kingdom. He saw the deposing and death of its king, and the burning of the Temple.

Israel was taken captive because of its sins of disobedience to the Torah. Their disobedience found its epitome when Israel disobeyed the prophet that was sent to her to rescue her. Jeremiah indeed came with the message that could have saved Israel but Israel did not listen. Hear what HaShem said to Jeremiah,

"Adonai says this to me: 'Make yourself a yoke of straps and crossbars, and put it on your neck. Send [similar yokes] to the kings of Edom, of Mo'av, of the people of `Amon, of Tzor, and of Tzidon by means of the envoys they send to Yerushalayim, and to Tzidkiyahu king of Y'hudah. Give them this message for their masters by telling their envoys that Adonai-Tzva'ot, the God of Isra'el, says for them to tell their masters: " ' "I made the earth, humankind, and the animals on the earth by my great power and my outstretched arm; and I give it to whom it seems right to me. For now, I have given over all these lands to my servant N'vukhadnetzar the king of Bavel; I have also given him the wild animals to serve him. All the nations will serve him, his son and his grandson, until his own country gets its turn -- at which time many nations and great kings will make him their slave. The nation and kingdom that refuses to serve this N'vukhadnetzar king of Bavel, that will not put their necks under the yoke of the king of Bavel, I will punish," says Adonai "with sword, famine and plague, until I have put an end to them through him. " ' "You, therefore, don't listen to your prophets, diviners, dreamers, magicians or sorcerers, when they tell you that you won't be subject to the king of Bavel; for they are prophesying lies to you that will result in your being removed far from your land, with my driving you out, so that you perish. But the nation that puts its neck under the yoke of the king of Bavel and serves him, that nation I will allow to remain on their own soil," says Adonai. "They will farm it and live there." ' "
(Jer 27:2-11 CJB)


Jeremiah had the job to tell the king to not send his army to fight the king of Babylon.
Jeremiah had the job to tell people that they will lose the war.
Jeremiah had the job of telling people that this was all because of their sins. Jeremiah had the job to tell people that the king of babylon acted under HaShem very command.


A very unpopular message indeed. Can you imagine a prophet today who would go to the President of the United State or address congress with this sort of message?
    Later Jeremiah was asked by the remnant of Judah for his opinion on going to find refuge in Egypt and after asking him what he thought, they captured him because they did not like his answer (Jer 42-43).
    I wonder how Ezekiel feel about the calling to take over for Jeremiah in the Land of the Chaldeans. He must have thought, “These people are here because they disobeyed, imprisoned and tortured the prophet who was trying to tell them the truth. Pleaaaaaase HaShem, find someone else for the job !!!!”

That might explain the style of prophesying of Ezekiel. Since the people of Israel had acted as if they were deaf to the Word of G-d, Ezekiel did most of his prophesying through skits and shadow-pictures.
         The presence of Jeremiah in Israel, of Daniel in the Babylonien capital, and of Ezekiel in the region of Shushan was a sign of HaShem’s mercy on Israel. Through the faithful work of these 3 prophets, Israel had more contact with the Torah than they had had before in Israel. It is where the system of synagogues, Yeshivas, and Torah study started.
Though Israel tortured and mistreated the prophet that could have saved them from the captivity; through Israel disobeyed and suffered the consequences of its arrogant pride, Ezekiel accepted the job. He accepted the job because HaShem did not give up, and if HaShem does not give up on us, who are we to give up on anyone?

Part of our text this week is one of the most famous biblical statements in the whole world; one that the great majority of religious and non-religious people in the world agree with,

Love your neighbor as yourself. (Lev 19:18 CJB)

When Jewish teachers or prophets use a part of Scripture, they do not mean to just quote that statement as if it were all by itself. They give the part of the statement that will remind people of it’s full context. For example, one would say, “I will dwell in the House of Adonai forever…” on the premise that the person listening would understand that statement within the whole context of Psalm 23. So when Yeshua used that statement from Leviticus, He also said it in the understanding that people would see that verse within its biblical context. And what is the biblical context of "Love you neighbor as yourself?" Here it is from the text.

" 'When you harvest the ripe crops produced in your land, don't harvest all the way to corners of your field, and don't gather the ears of grain left by the harvesters. Likewise, don't gather the grapes left on the vine or fallen on the ground after harvest; leave them for the poor and the foreigner; I am Adonai your God. " 'Do not steal from, defraud or lie to each other. Do not swear by my name falsely, which would be profaning the name of your God; I am Adonai. Do not oppress or rob your neighbor; specifically, you are not to keep back the wages of a hired worker all night until morning. " 'Do not speak a curse against a deaf person or place an obstacle in the way of a blind person; rather, fear your God; I am Adonai. " 'Do not be unjust in judging -- show neither partiality to the poor nor deference to the mighty, but with justice judge your neighbor. " 'Do not go around spreading slander among your people, but also don't stand idly by when your neighbor's life is at stake; I am Adonai. " 'Do not hate your brother in your heart, but rebuke your neighbor frankly, so that you won't carry sin because of him. Don't take vengeance on or bear a grudge against any of your people; rather, love your neighbor as yourself; I am Adonai. (Lev 19:9-18 CJB)

The context helps us understand the meaning of the statement. In this case, to love your neighbor as yourself means that,
  • (Lev 19:9 CJB) " 'When you harvest the ripe crops produced in your land, don't harvest all the way to corners of your field, and don't gather the ears of grain left by the harvesters.
And that you, 
  • (Lev 19:10 CJB) Don't gather the grapes left on the vine or fallen on the ground after harvest; leave them for the poor and the foreigner; I am Adonai your God.

(or “show your gratitude to God for a good harvest by giving to the less fortunate

  • (Lev 19:11 CJB) " 'Do not steal from, defraud or lie to each other.

Part of love is honesty in business; not to always try to get the fatter end of the stick at the detriment of others.

  • (Lev 19:12 CJB) Do not swear by my name falsely, which would be profaning the name of your God; I am Adonai.

Which can be understood as saying in HaShem’s Name things He did not actually say but are from our own mind.

  • (Lev 19:13 CJB) Do not oppress or rob your neighbor; specifically, you are not to keep back the wages of a hired worker all night until morning.

Or pay fair wages that allow your worker a decent humane lifestyle.

  • (Lev 19:14 CJB) " 'Do not speak a curse against a deaf person or place an obstacle in the way of a blind person; rather, fear your God; I am Adonai.

He who is deaf is like one who does not understand words. Do not therefore curse he who does not understand but like Adonai with Israel (and with each of us) be patient and repeat the lesson as many times as is needed.

He who is blind is like one who is ignorant. Do not put a stumbling block on his path in the way of erroneous teachings.

  • (Lev 19:15 CJB) " 'Do not be unjust in judging -- show neither partiality to the poor nor deference to the mighty, but with justice judge your neighbor.

Justice should be provided in the same manner for rich and poor, famous and unknown. It should have nothing to do with financial payments or incentives (should we call those “bribes?”)

  • (Lev 19:16 CJB) " 'Do not go around spreading slander among your people, but also don't stand idly by when your neighbor's life is at stake; I am Adonai.

Do not spread negativity about others (even if it is true. It could be that that it is true only in your eyes!)

Rescue you brothers from verbal attacks.

  • (Lev 19:17 CJB) " 'Do not hate your brother in your heart, but rebuke your neighbor frankly, so that you won't carry sin because of him.

To not hate (with no “ifs” and“buts”) is a Torah commandment. If someone wronged us we are to go to them personally and explain to them just as Yeshua said, not keep resentment and hate them.

  • (Lev 19:18 CJB) Don't take vengeance on or bear a grudge against any of your people; rather, love your neighbor as yourself; I am Adonai.

Vengeance belongs to Adonai. Our job is to love and forgive ohers as He loves and forgives us. A way to do that is to use the same grace and mercy we use on ourselves and our mistakes on others.



HERE I A SMALL ARTICLE FROM RABBI ZEL;IG PLISKIN ABOUT THIS TEXT:
 
You shall be holy" (Lev.19:2).
 
"This week's Parsha, Kedoshim, seems to make an unreasonable demand of every Jew by commanding us "to be holy." How many of us can spend our days meditating and learning the Torah, only involved with "holy" concerns?
However, the Torah then continues and tells us to be in awe of our parents, to be completely honest in business, and to always keep your word -- with no excuses. We are told to be sensitive to the weak and downtrodden and to be generous and gracious to the poor. These laws are juxtaposed to the Sabbath and other ritual laws.
One of the ideas behind this is that holiness is found not only in the synagogue and rituals, but in our business dealings, in our social relationships, and in those relationships which we tend to take for granted, such as our parents, our spouses. We need to take the lessons of the Torah and apply them to every aspect of our daily lives. That is how we attain genuine holiness."

What is called the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) teaches us much needed applications of the very same principles we read in Par’shat K’doshim. The parasha signs off this teaching on the applications of holy behavior with,

Therefore consecrate yourselves -- you people must be holy, because I am Adonai your God. (Lev 20:7 CJB)

Rather, you people are to be holy for me; because I, Adonai, am holy; and I have set you apart from the other peoples, so that you can belong to me.
(Lev 20:26 CJB)


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PAR'SHAT ACHAREI MOT: Atonement, Covering, and Forgiveness.

4/30/2019

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Picture
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כי־ביום הזה יכפר עליכם לטהר אתכם מכל חטאתיכם לפני יהוה תטהרו




For on this day, atonement will be made for you to purify you; you will be clean before Adonai from all your sins.
 (Lev 16:30 CJB)

In Hebrew, the verb “to atone” is synonymous with the verb “to cover.” As such, the “atonement” of a transgression refers to the “covering” of a transgression. This presents a very important point in our theological understanding of divine atonement. If transgressions are “covered”, it does not mean that they are deleted; they are merely covered. Messiah is often called “מגן ישענו/ Maguen Yisheinu”/the Shield of our Salvation”. We see this in the following statements from the mouth of King David.

You give me your shield, which is salvation; your answers make me great.
 (2Sa 22:36 CJB) 
"You give me your shield, which is salvation, your right hand holds me up, your humility makes me great. 
(Psa 18:35 (18:36 CJB))

The idea is that, whereas we are disobedient sinners, the obedient righteous Messiah covers us like a shield from HaShem's wrath. As a result, all HaShem sees in us is the Messiah who covers us. The Light of Messiah in fact blinds HaShem to our transgressions. And in His mercy and compassion, all that HaShem chooses to see in us is the favor He has given Messiah.
Our sins are not deleted, they can never be (Psalm 51:3). What is done is done and can never be undone. Our words also are like the proverbial toothpaste that cannot be put back in the tube: they can never be unsaid. As such, in the days of the Tabernacle and the Temple, the levitical service served as a “covering” of our transgressions.

It is easy for one to take the forgiveness that we are allotted for granted, but I’d like to share a story I heard one time from a man who was sharing something about his early childhood. Here is what he said,

During early childhood I had a fiery temper which often caused me to say or do unkind things.
   One day, after an argument had sent one of my playmates home in tears, my father told me that for each thoughtless, mean thing I did he would drive a nail into our gatepost. Each time I did a kindness or a good deed, one nail would be withdrawn.
   Months passed. Each time I entered our gate, I was reminded of the reasons for those ever-increasing nails, until finally, getting them out became a challenge.
   At last the wished-for day arrived--only one more nail! As my father withdrew it I danced around proudly exclaiming, "See, Daddy, the nails are all gone."
   Father gazed intently at the post as he thoughtfully replied, "Yes, the nails are gone--but the scars remain."

Thus it is, with the offenses that we do against others, as well as those that we do against HaShem.

There are offenses that we only do against HaShem, but all offenses against man made in the image of HaShem are also offenses against HaShem. About this the sages say (Yoma 85b) that whereas Yom Kippur provides atonement/covering between HaShem and man, atonement/covering between man and man can only happen when man forgives us. That is reminiscent of what Yeshua teaches us when He says,

For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will not forgive yours. 
(Mat 6:14-15 CJB)

This causes a serious problem. We all know of people who are hyper-sensitive and who very easily get offended (maybe we are one of those?). There are also some who may say they forgive you, but keep resentment deep inside. As such, have they really forgiven us? If they don’t we are in a serious fix with HaShem!
The best way in order to avoid this situation is to make sure that we do not offend people. We must take it upon ourselves to be sensitive enough to others so that we don’t need their forgiveness, especially from those who have a hard time . I know it’s a tall order, but we are called to a higher calling, a calling which requires a higher righteousness. Our dear Master and Rabbi Yeshua teaches us that. He says to us,

Unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P'rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

He then gave some examples,

"You have heard that our fathers were told, 'Do not murder,' and that anyone who commits murder will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who nurses anger against his brother will be subject to judgment; that whoever calls his brother, 'You good-for-nothing!' will be brought before the Sanhedrin; that whoever says, 'Fool!' incurs the penalty of burning in the fire of Gei-Hinnom!

A tall order indeed. Yeshua sets the bar even higher by saying,

So if you are offering your gift at the Temple altar and you remember there that your brother has something against you, leave your gift where it is by the altar, and go, make peace with your brother. Then come back and offer your gift.

Sometimes we cannot help someone from being upset with us. We may have never meant the offense, and maybe we feel that they are hyper-sensitive. Nevertheless Yeshua says that if someone is mad at us for something, our service to Him is invalid. We must seek true forgiveness from that person. As such Yeshua gives us some pointers on how to accomplish that. He says,

If someone sues you, come to terms with him quickly, while you and he are on the way to court; or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer of the court, and you may be thrown in jail! Yes indeed! I tell you, you will certainly not get out until you have paid the last penny. 
(Mat 5:20-26 CJB)

We are in fact the ones who pay the penalty for someone being mad at us. That is exactly what the sages refer to when they say in Yoma 85b that, whereas Yom Kippur provides atonement/covering between HaShem and man, atonement/covering between man and man can only happen when man forgives us.

It is therefore a good conclusion that the best way to avoid this situation is to live in a way that we try our “bestest” to not offend people. If we are to get HaShem’s forgiveness, it is imperative that we take it upon ourselves to be sensitive to others, so that we don’t need the forgiveness from those who have a hard time.

AS WE ENTER OUR POST-PASSOVER NEW ‘CULTURE”, MAY WE REMEMBER THAT OUR PESACH LAMB HAS BEEN SACRIFICED.
MAY WE THEREFORE LIVE A LIFE AWAY FROM THE LEAVEN OF WICKEDNESS AND EVIL, BUT WITH A LIFE OF PURITY AND TRUTH. (Paraphrase on 1 Cor 5:7-8)

Through immersion into his death we were buried with him; so that just as, through the glory of the Father, the Messiah was raised from the dead, likewise we too might live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will also be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was put to death on the execution-stake with him, so that the entire body of our sinful propensities might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.
(Rom 6:4-6 CJB)

כי־ביום הזה יכפר עליכם לטהר אתכם מכל חטאתיכם לפני יהוה תטהרו




For on this day, atonement will be made for you to purify you; you will be clean before Adonai from all your sins.
 (Lev 16:30 CJB)

In Hebrew, the verb “to atone” is synonymous with the verb “to cover.” As such, the “atonement” of a transgression refers to the “covering” of a transgression. This presents a very important point in our theological understanding of divine atonement. If transgressions are “covered”, it does not mean that they are deleted; they are merely covered. Messiah is often called “מגן ישענו/ Maguen Yisheinu”/the Shield of our Salvation”. We see this in the following statements from the mouth of King David.

You give me your shield, which is salvation; your answers make me great.
 (2Sa 22:36 CJB) 
"You give me your shield, which is salvation, your right hand holds me up, your humility makes me great. 
(Psa 18:35 (18:36 CJB))

The idea is that, whereas we are disobedient sinners, the obedient righteous Messiah covers us like a shield from HaShem's wrath. As a result, all HaShem sees in us is the Messiah who covers us. The Light of Messiah in fact blinds HaShem to our transgressions. And in His mercy and compassion, all that HaShem chooses to see in us is the favor He has given Messiah.
Our sins are not deleted, they can never be (Psalm 51:3). What is done is done and can never be undone. Our words also are like the proverbial toothpaste that cannot be put back in the tube: they can never be unsaid. As such, in the days of the Tabernacle and the Temple, the levitical service served as a “covering” of our transgressions.

It is easy for one to take the forgiveness that we are allotted for granted, but I’d like to share a story I heard one time from a man who was sharing something about his early childhood. Here is what he said,

During early childhood I had a fiery temper which often caused me to say or do unkind things.
   One day, after an argument had sent one of my playmates home in tears, my father told me that for each thoughtless, mean thing I did he would drive a nail into our gatepost. Each time I did a kindness or a good deed, one nail would be withdrawn.
   Months passed. Each time I entered our gate, I was reminded of the reasons for those ever-increasing nails, until finally, getting them out became a challenge.
   At last the wished-for day arrived--only one more nail! As my father withdrew it I danced around proudly exclaiming, "See, Daddy, the nails are all gone."
   Father gazed intently at the post as he thoughtfully replied, "Yes, the nails are gone--but the scars remain."

Thus it is, with the offenses that we do against others, as well as those that we do against HaShem.

There are offenses that we only do against HaShem, but all offenses against man made in the image of HaShem are also offenses against HaShem. About this the sages say (Yoma 85b) that whereas Yom Kippur provides atonement/covering between HaShem and man, atonement/covering between man and man can only happen when man forgives us. That is reminiscent of what Yeshua teaches us when He says,

For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will not forgive yours. 
(Mat 6:14-15 CJB)

This causes a serious problem. We all know of people who are hyper-sensitive and who very easily get offended (maybe we are one of those?). There are also some who may say they forgive you, but keep resentment deep inside. As such, have they really forgiven us? If they don’t we are in a serious fix with HaShem!
The best way in order to avoid this situation is to make sure that we do not offend people. We must take it upon ourselves to be sensitive enough to others so that we don’t need their forgiveness, especially from those who have a hard time . I know it’s a tall order, but we are called to a higher calling, a calling which requires a higher righteousness. Our dear Master and Rabbi Yeshua teaches us that. He says to us,

Unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P'rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

He then gave some examples,

"You have heard that our fathers were told, 'Do not murder,' and that anyone who commits murder will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who nurses anger against his brother will be subject to judgment; that whoever calls his brother, 'You good-for-nothing!' will be brought before the Sanhedrin; that whoever says, 'Fool!' incurs the penalty of burning in the fire of Gei-Hinnom!

A tall order indeed. Yeshua sets the bar even higher by saying,

So if you are offering your gift at the Temple altar and you remember there that your brother has something against you, leave your gift where it is by the altar, and go, make peace with your brother. Then come back and offer your gift.

Sometimes we cannot help someone from being upset with us. We may have never meant the offense, and maybe we feel that they are hyper-sensitive. Nevertheless Yeshua says that if someone is mad at us for something, our service to Him is invalid. We must seek true forgiveness from that person. As such Yeshua gives us some pointers on how to accomplish that. He says,

If someone sues you, come to terms with him quickly, while you and he are on the way to court; or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer of the court, and you may be thrown in jail! Yes indeed! I tell you, you will certainly not get out until you have paid the last penny. 
(Mat 5:20-26 CJB)

We are in fact the ones who pay the penalty for someone being mad at us. That is exactly what the sages refer to when they say in Yoma 85b that, whereas Yom Kippur provides atonement/covering between HaShem and man, atonement/covering between man and man can only happen when man forgives us.

It is therefore a good conclusion that the best way to avoid this situation is to live in a way that we try our “bestest” to not offend people. If we are to get HaShem’s forgiveness, it is imperative that we take it upon ourselves to be sensitive to others, so that we don’t need the forgiveness from those who have a hard time.

AS WE ENTER OUR POST-PASSOVER NEW ‘CULTURE”, MAY WE REMEMBER THAT OUR PESACH LAMB HAS BEEN SACRIFICED.
MAY WE THEREFORE LIVE A LIFE AWAY FROM THE LEAVEN OF WICKEDNESS AND EVIL, BUT WITH A LIFE OF PURITY AND TRUTH. (Paraphrase on 1 Cor 5:7-8)

Through immersion into his death we were buried with him; so that just as, through the glory of the Father, the Messiah was raised from the dead, likewise we too might live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will also be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was put to death on the execution-stake with him, so that the entire body of our sinful propensities might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.
(Rom 6:4-6 CJB)

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PAR'SHAT METZORA: Murder, Atheism, etc ..

4/9/2019

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PictureThis picture comes form the Breslev website. The Breslevites are a group of Chassidic Jews. A good illustration of James 3 about the tongue being on fire from hell!
Par'shat Metzorah tells us of the priestly ritual of purification from biblical leprosy. We continue our association with the deadly sin of slander and gossip .

וידבר יהוה אל־משׁה לאמר׃
... זאת תהיה תורת המצרע ביום טהרתו והובא אל־הכהן׃

Adonai said to Moshe, "This is to be the law concerning the person afflicted with tzara`at on the day of his purification. He is to be brought to the cohen, ...
(Lev 14:1-2 CJB)


In the Bible, the “tongue” is compared to a knife, a fire, and a poison. Here are James’ words on the “tongue,”

So too the tongue is a tiny part of the body, yet it boasts great things. See how a little fire sets a whole forest ablaze! Yes, the tongue is a fire, a world of wickedness. The tongue is so placed in our body that it defiles every part of it, setting ablaze the whole of our life; and it is set on fire by Gei-Hinnom itself. For people have tamed and continue to tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures; but the tongue no one can tame -- it is an unstable and evil thing, full of death-dealing poison! With it we bless Adonai, the Father; and with it we curse people, who were made in the image of God. Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing! Brothers, it isn't right for things to be this way. (Jas 3:5-10 CJB)

Control over the “tongue’ is equal to perfection,

For we all stumble in many ways; if someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a mature man who can bridle his whole body.
(Jas 3:2 CJB)



LIKE SEEING THE DOCTOR.
Zissel Ziv of Kelm Rabbi Simcha wrote that studying the portion of metzora is analogous to visiting a doctor prior to an operation. If the patient sees that the doctor requires a large amount of surgical instruments for the operation, It will frighten him. ... The Torah continues for an entire section with a description of the instruments and operations that are necessary to cure the metzora spiritually. From here we can learn the gravity of slander and gossip (Chochmah Umussar).

TANTAMOUNT TO ATHEISM.
Sforno explains why the metzora was required to bring a guilt offering. When someone gossips and slanders, they usually do it secretly. The Yeraim also expresses this concept in his explanation of the Talmudic statement that slander and gossip is tantamount to atheism (Ershin 15b). Although the slanderer/gossiper usually makes sure that the subject is not listening, he forgets that God hears every word.
          This implies a type of atheism because it comes down to a lack of awareness of God's omnipresence. Just as a person must bring a guilt offering for the sin of misusing sacred property (me'elah), so to the metzora must bring a guilt offering for his trespass against God.
    

ARROGANCE AND PRIDE.
The commentator Chofetz Chayim has much to say about the sins of the tongue. He proclaims that the root of lashon hara is arrogance and pride; that those who speak negatively about others view themselves as above and better than others. This rabbi would dat say that this is totally opposite to the way we are supposed to be as believers. Paul also would agree with Chofetz Chayim. He himself says,

Do nothing out of rivalry or vanity; but, in humility, regard each other as better than yourselves --(Php 2:3 CJB)

IN THE NEWS...
Slander and gossip often revolves around two main subjects: politics and religion.  At this time of early primaries, we must remember that we are first and primarily citizens of the Kingdom of God, and that we need to conduct ourselves as such; live by the laws of our kingdom which forbid hatred and slander against a brother. HaShem gives us strong commands about that in,

" 'Do not go around spreading slander among your people, but also don't stand idly by when your neighbor's life is at stake; I am Adonai. " 'Do not hate your brother in your heart, but rebuke your neighbor frankly, so that you won't carry sin because of him. Don't take vengeance on or bear a grudge against any of your people; rather, love your neighbor as yourself; I am Adonai. (Lev 19:16-18 CJB)

We must remember that it is that type of zealotus political activity which has caused the destruction of the second Temple, and of Jerusalem. May it not destroy our Jerusalem! We must also remember that all humans are made in the image of God and that if "He makes his sun shine on good and bad people alike, and he sends rain to the righteous and the unrighteous alike. " (Mat 5:45 CJB) who are we to do otherwise?

“YOU-TWEET-FACE!”
Social media today has become the platform for vindictive and often ignorant accusative talk. We are all aware of how foreign powers have used our taste for polemical talk in order to poison the political conversation in our social media platforms. It is true that our own elections should be no-one else’s business but ours but aren’t we are the ones to blame for this situation? These people have only used our own weaknesses against us. They gave us the material, and our own appetite for slander, polemic, and conspiracy theories have created the poison that negatively influenced our social media conversation.

Here is the article:
https://youtu.be/sZmrIkRDMsU

It is much like James said,

Rather, each person is being tempted whenever he is being dragged off and enticed by the bait of his own desire. (Jas 1:14 CJB)

A PROVERB
There is a Jewish teaching that says that the sound waves of our words may diminish, but that they actually never die. I do not know if that is true, but one thing I do know is that:

"The way you judge others is how you will be judged -- The measure with which you measure out will be used to measure to you."  Mat 7:2

and

"By your own words you will be acquitted, By your own words you will be condemned."
(Mat 12:37)


Here is a little article I wrote on my Fire Chaplain blog on the subject:
A LESSON FROM TOOTHPASTE



R' Gavriel Lumbroso

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PAR'SHAT TAZRIA: Aaron, the Peacemaker!

4/4/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
R' Gavirel LumbrosoPAR’SHAT TAZRIA.

אדם כי־יהיה בעור־בשׂרו שׂאת או־ספחת או בהרת והיה בעור־בשׂרו לנגע צרעת והובא אל־אהרן הכהן או אל־אחד מבניו הכהנים׃
וראה הכהן את־הנגע בעור־הבשׂר ושׂער בנגע הפך לבן ומראה הנגע עמק מעור בשׂרו נגע צרעת הוא וראהו הכהן וטמא אתו׃

"When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests, and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. And if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean.
(Lev 13:2-3)

The condition referred to in our Bibles as leprosy is much different than the skin disease we usually refer to by that name. Due to Miriam verbally disrespecting Moses resulting in the  tazria condition, that condition has evolved into an association with לשון הרע / lashon harah, literally meaning, “The Wicked Tongue” Tazria has therefore become known to be a condition of ritual uncleanliness caused by the sin of unhealthy speech, the sin of the tongue. We will go into the details of the story of Miriam as we go into the Book of Bamidbar, Numbers, But for now, may we remember that the plague of Taziah comes as a result of the wrong use of our gift of speech.

A BLASPHEMOUS TONGUE.
For this parasha, I would like to talk about a certain type of lashon hara, one very common in religious circles. We all know that lashon hara is bad. We all agree with the idea that verbally dissing people and gossiping is wrong. The Torah warns us about the evils of an uncontrolled tongue more than about anything else (Lev 19:16; James 3: 1-12). Why is it then such a problem?
    We see congregations, families, associations, and well-meaning groups broken by the evil of unruly gossiping tongues. Even the political conversation today is paralysed by the politics of slander and mud-throwing. The proverbial “fly in the ointment!” Why do we do it then?
    

We allow ourselves this evil practice, as well as practically every sin in the Book when we rationalise it. How do we then rationalise destructive, evil gossipy speech? There are many ways but here are a couple of them.

“I AM KNOWN FOR TELLING THE TRUTH!” One of the most deceitful forms of lashon hara is when we deceive ourselves in thinking we are “Truth-bearers.” This amounts to nothing else but covering our evil inclination with a cloak of so-called “righteousness”.

“I HAVE THE GIFT OF DISCERNMENT!” Next is when we claim that it is the Spirit of God that is moving us into saying what we are saying. As we do that, we may even push the hypocrisy in playing the victim, “Oh, I wish I didn’t have to but the Spirit makes me say it. I have to obey and say it, right?” Very often, this “gift of discernment” so-called, is actually a “critical spirit.” As such, the person is letting their own spirit vent while saying that the Spirit of God is moving them. That might be the utmost in blasphemy. Another one is,
“I MUST STAND UP FOR THE TRUTH!”  which is often nothing more than giving way to our desire to elevate ourselves against others, to show that because we stand higher than others we can see the truth and the whole picture, while hiding under a cloak of self-righteousness.

IN THE DAYS OF NOAH
We are used to tell the post-flood story of Noah getting drunk and discovered by his son Ham referring to probable sexual improprieties. It is not told that way in Jewish teachings.
    The Talmud teaches this story as a form of lashon hara. The text tells us that when Ham discovered his father in a compromising situation, he Went out and told his two brothers. (Gen 9:22)
Shem and Japhet acted very differently. They, 

Took a cloak, put it over both their shoulders, and, walking backward, went in and covered their naked father. Their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father lying there shamefully exposed. (Gen 9:23)

    Instead of publicising their father’s fault, they hid it from themselves and others. As a result, they were blessed and Ham’s descendants through Canaan were cursed. They fulfilled the very important Torah principle proposed by King Solomon, "He who conceals an offense promotes love, but he who harps on it can separate even close friends." (Pro 17:9)

    Even when we feel that we are right about another’s transgression, to reveal it is divisive, and therefore an abomination to HaShem (Prov 6:19). The Talmud is full of stories of rabbis who brought peace to their congregants by deciding to “cover” a transgression. It is actually exactly what Yeshua does for us. He “covers” our transgressions from HaShem. Not that they were never there, but He hides them under His favor, so that all the Father sees is the light and glory of His Son in us. Moshe did the same thing for the Children of Israel concerning the issue of the Golden Calf. The Hebrew word for atonement is “כפר / capar” which means, “to cover!” That is also why Yeshua strongly advised for people to resolve their issues with each other in private, not through “YouTwitFace” (YouTube/Twitter/FaceBook) which have today become obscene international platforms for lashon hara.

PRIESTS: THE PEACEMAKERS!
These ideas appear in Leviticus because the role of priests was that of “peacemakers.” How? They were to be the buffer zone between us and HaShem. Their service provided the “כפר/covering/atonement” that we may be able to approach HaShem. Aaron himself was known as a man who, when he found two people who didn’t like each other, he would go to one and say,

“Hey Avi, do you know Ari?”
“Yes, but I think he is a …….”
“Come on!”
Aaron would say. You must admit that Ari is an excellent carpenter.”
“Well, I may have my problems with Ari, but he is the best carpenter I ever met in my life.

Aaron would then take that precious information to Ari saying,
“Hey Ari, do you know what Avi said about you?”
“Well ..., I can imagine!”
“He said that you were the best carpenter he ever met in his life!”
“Really! I would have never thought that! I thought all tent-makers were  but he is certainly the best tent-maker I ever met. He doesn’t know it, but my tent comes from his shop, and it’s the best I’ve ever had.”

Then Aaron would go take that precious information to Avi. The next time Avi and Ari met, they knew that each other had said good things about each other, which helped repair their relationship.
       Aaron was known in this manner, to try to do anything he could in order to try to make peace between people. Aaron was even known to sometimes put his thumb on the scale and exaggerate the truth a bit in order to help. This is the true role of a priest: the Peacemaker. That is why psalm 133 was written about Aaron.

 Oh, how good, how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in harmony. It is like fragrant oil on the head that runs down over the beard, over the beard of Aharon, and flows down on the collar of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon that settles on the mountains of Tziyon. For it was there that Adonai ordained the blessing of everlasting life. (Psalm 133:1-3)

A REVERSED PHILOSOPHY
Sad to say, in our world today, while some may be so concerned to publicize others issues and might even put their thumb on the scale of negative judgement, they often totally omit acknowledging the good, or even lift their thumb off the scale when it comes to positive judgment.
The whole thing is very sad. It is all done when we give in to a sense of personal inadequacy. This negativity about ourselves pushes us to want to dim the light of others by either publicizing their sins, or somewhat negating their virtues, all because we think that our light shines brighter when we put down others.
    
“WHEN YOU POINT THE FINGER AT SOMEONE ELSE …”   Leviticus 13:45: says,
"Everyone who has tzara`at sores is to wear torn clothes and unbound hair, cover his upper lip and cry, 'Unclean! Unclean!' (Lev 13:45)
      The Shaloh (Shnai Luchot HaBrit) says that it can be read as, “Unclean,” what an unclean person says about others. That is, a person who finds fault with others is really projecting his own faults and imperfections on others. The sages in Kidushin 70a have said, “Those who try to invalidate others do so with their own blemishes.”

Rabbi and psychologist Zelig Pliskin adds to this, “One means of finding out your own faults and blemishes is to see what faults and blemishes you notice in others. If you focus on certain negative aspects of others, it is possible that you have these same tendencies yourself.” (Growth Through Torah, Zelig Pliskin on Tazria.)
    So as the old adage goes, “When you point the finger at others, remember that you have 3 pointing at you, and one pointing at HaShem, the Creator of every human being!”

A NATION OF PRIESTS:
HaShem blessed the Jewish people by telling them,
And you will be a kingdom of cohanim for me, a nation set apart. These are the words you are to speak to the people of Isra'el." (Exo 19:6 CJB)

At Passover, Yeshua gave the disciples a form of priestly initiation, 
So he rose from the table, removed his outer garments and wrapped a towel around his waist. Then he poured some water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the talmidim and wipe them off with the towel wrapped around him. He came to Shim`on Kefa, who said to him, "Lord! You are washing my feet?" Yeshua answered him, "You don't understand yet what I am doing, but in time you will understand." "No!" said Kefa, "You will never wash my feet!" Yeshua answered him, "If I don't wash you, you have no share with me." "Lord," Shim`on Kefa replied, "not only my feet, but my hands and head too!" Yeshua said to him, "A man who has had a bath doesn't need to wash, except his feet -- his body is already clean. And you people are clean, but not all of you." (Joh 13:4-10 CJB)

Peter exhorted the Roman congregation of Jewish and Gentile disciples saying,
But you are a chosen people, the King's cohanim, a holy nation, a people for God to possess! Why? In order for you to declare the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1Pe 2:9 CJB)

MAY WE REMEMBER THE WORDS OF KING DAVID AS HE LOOKED AT HIS OWN SELF WITH THE EYES OF THE TORAH.

The fear of Adonai is clean, enduring forever.
The rulings of Adonai are true, they are righteous altogether, more desirable than gold, than much fine gold, also sweeter than honey or drippings from the honeycomb. Through them your servant is warned; in obeying them, there is great reward.
Who can discern unintentional sins?
Cleanse me from hidden faults.
Also keep your servant from presumptuous sins, so that they won't control me.
Then I will be blameless and free of great offense.
May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be acceptable in your presence, Adonai, my Rock and Redeemer..  (Psa 19:9-14)


R' Gavriel Lumbroso

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PAR'SHAT SH'MINI.  "And Aaron Was Silent."

3/28/2019

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וידבר יהוה אל־אהרן לאמר׃ 
 יין ושׁכר אל־תשׁת אתה ובניך אתך בבאכם אל־אהל מועד ולא תמתו חקת עולם לדרתיכם׃ 
 ולהבדיל בין הקדשׁ ובין החל ובין הטמא ובין הטהור׃ 

Adonai said to Aharon, "Don't drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, neither you nor your sons with you, when you enter the tent of meeting, so that you will not die. This is to be a permanent regulation through all your generations, so that you will distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean; 
(Lev 10:8-10)


"AND AHARON WAS SILENT!"
​
A JOYFUL SERVICE.

Our text this week relates to the death of Aaron’s two sons. It also brings to mind levitical laws concerning priests and defilement from the dead. According to Leviticus 21:1, a regular priest is not allowed to perform service in the temple if he has come near a dead body. As such, even if a close relative dies, he cannot tend to them if he has to perform Temple service that day. Though there hasn’t been a Temple for 2,000 years and Orthodox Judaism still try to live by these laws of purity concerning Kohanim, modern Judaism has decreed a law making exceptions in case of a relative.
          On the other hand, there is no problem for a High-Priest to tend to the service of the Temple even when he has tended to the death of a close relative. Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda commented on this issue. He reminded us that the service of HaShem must be done in a spirit of joy so he says, “When a regular person [a regular priest] loses a relative, he is in a state of grief and therefore lacks the necessary joy. But the High-Priest had to be a person who reached the level that his service in the Temple would transcend any personal loss. When he performed the Almighty’s service, he was able to be in a joyous state regardless of what events had just occurred.”
          Then Rabbi Naphtali makes a point about alcohol consumption. He says, “Because joy is necessary, one might mistakenly think that a priest could or even should take wine in order to put himself in a high mood. Therefore the Torah tells us that this joy must come from an awareness of the Almighty. It should not be artificially induced by means of a chemical substance that one ingests.”
        In bringing in the subject of alcohol when talking of the death of relatives, Rabbi Naphtali follows the pattern of our parasha this week which starts with the death of Aaron’s two sons, and continues with the injunction concerning the consumption of alcohol,


"Don't drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, neither you nor your sons with you, when you enter the tent of meeting, so that you will not die. This is to be a permanent regulation through all your generations, so that you will distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean;" (Lev 10:9-10)


WHY WAS AHARON SILENT?
Aaron performed his service though he had learned that his two sons died. It must have been difficult for him. Was he impervious to the death of his sons? Was he a detached parent? One could have expected him to at least say something, to make a statement such as Nachum Ish Gamzo who whenever something bad happened said,” גם זאת לטובה  Gam zo letovah (This is also a good thing)”, or like with Rabbi Akiva, “All that the Almighty does is for good” but Aaron said nothing. He remained silent.

Aharon kept silent. (Lev 10:3)

It was not that he was untouched by the tragedy. The text does specify that in light of the situation, he took mourning steps (Lev 10:19). After the service was over, Aaron probably went and properly mourned the death of his two sons.

But here probably why Aharon remained silent after he learned of the death of his 2 son's. Rabbi Moshe Hacohen Rice teaches that when a person naturally walks in the path of joyful acceptance to God’s will no matter what, he does not have to keep convincing himself that everything HaShem does is for the good. That was the greatness of Aaron, he says, “He remained silent because he knew clearly that everything the Almighty does is purposeful.” He was indeed a high priest who reached the level that his service in the temple transcended any personal loss.


TRUE JOY FROM HASHEM'S SPIRIT.
It is told to priests that they cannot drink any kind of intoxicating drink during service in the tent of meeting which later became the Temple. It is not because drinking a little wine is sinful, (emphasis on “little” (Ecc 9:7; 1 Tim 5:23) as revelry and drunkenness are sinful as part of the works of the flesh (Prov 31:4-5; Gal 5:19-23.) Here again is what the text tells us,

"Don't drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, neither you nor your sons with you, when you enter the tent of meeting, so that you will not die. This is to be a permanent regulation through all your generations, so that you will distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean; (Lev 10:9-10)

Intoxicating drinks have a tendency to dull our senses. This can therefore cause us to forget what has been decreed and not be able to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, and therefore not teach the people properly which to be a sin into death: “so that you will not die.”


I’d like now to use all this talk about wine as a segway to a midrash that is found in the collection of midrashes on leviticus called Vayikra Rabbah. I will relate it as told by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin in his book, Growth Through Torah.

It is the story of a man who spent most of his money on his drinking. The children started to dread their future economic situation so they planned an intervention. One night that he was drunk, they tied their father up, brought him to a cemetery and left him there on the ground.  They were hoping that when he would wake up from his drunkenness, their father would be so scared that he would never drink again. Little did they expect that that very night a wine carriage passed though the cemetery. The wine merchant was attacked and as he hurried the horses forward, a wine barrel fell off, rolled toward the drunk tied up man, and landed beside him with the faucet right next to his mouth. The man thanked Providence and kept drinking right there in the cemetery.

In a letter to his father, Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dresser commented on this story. He said, "We see from this  that the Almighty leads a person in the way  he wants to go. "

We may think that we are victims of our environment, of the influences that have surrounded us all our lives, but in a certain way, as the Rabbi says the Almighty leads a person in the way  he wants to go.

This means that we are not where we are just because He brought us there. Sure He may have helped us to get there, but He helped us to go in the direction that we decided to go. Just like it was with Pharaoh. He was himself against the Children of Israel leaving, but after three plagues, we are told that it is HaShem who strengthened his resolve. Another way I heard it said was, WE are the sum total of OUR own decisions. This should make us think about our personal situations. We really have made these choices and good or bad, we have to live with them.

Rabbi Eliyahu didn't stay there in his letter to his father. He also concluded that, “If it is so with a person when he wants to do something that is improper, all the more so it is true when a person has a strong will to do what is good.” (Michtav mMeEliyahu, vol 3 pp 319-20)
          Rabbi Paul concurs with the rabbi when he says,

To be zealous is good, provided always that the cause is good (Gal 4:18)



“MAY OUR JOY BE THE JOY OF HIS SPIRIT IN US.”

“MAY WE PRAY WITH JEREMIAH ‘TURN US AROUND’  …”
 and then I will paraphrase from the famous Irish blessing, “AND MAY THE WIND BE AT OUR BACKS, PUSHING US  ALL THE WAY TO YOU.”
(in Hebrew, wind and spirit are the same word)


RABBI GAVRIEL

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PAR'SHAT TSAV: A Midrash about Ashes, Life, Death, and Resurrection!

3/20/2019

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ופשׁט את־בגדיו ולבשׁ בגדים אחרים והוציא את־הדשׁן אל־מחוץ למחנה אל־מקום טהור׃(


Then he is to remove those garments and put on others, before carrying the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. (Lev 6:11 CJB)


UNTIL EVENING
The parasha this week tells us that each morning, a priest is to take out from the altar the ashes of the offerings of the previous day. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsh comments on this passage in this way,

“The taking out of the ashes that remained on the altar from the previous day expresses the thought that with each day the Torah mission must be accomplished afresh, as if nothing had yet been accomplished.”

A Hebrew idiom for sleep is “The Small Death”.  Every night we die a little. Every night we ‘die’ a little in order to ‘resurrect’ the next day to accomplish  what needs to be accomplished that day with all our hearts, regardless of the effort put in the day before. In essence, we wake everyday with a sense that life is only starting; that we have this day to live for HaShem and that we should do the best of it. Rabbi Samson continues with,

The thought of what has already been accomplished, can be death to that which still needs to be accomplished.

We cannot rest on the accomplishments of the past, and we must live each day as if it were the microcosm of a whole life. It may seem a little discouraging to start over everyday, but there is a positive side to the idea.

Unless he immerses in a ritual pool, one who is ceremonially unclean is unclean until the next morning.

" 'The following will make you unclean; whoever touches the carcass of them will be unclean until evening, and whoever picks up any part of their carcass is to wash his clothes and be unclean until evening: (Lev 11:24-25 CJB)

The passage of night, the sleeping of ‘The Small Death’ also brings with it the ‘Small Resurrection’ which acts as a renewing purifier. That is why Jeremiah, the man who has seen the destruction of his beloved city of Jerusalem, the prophet who has seen the Holy City looking more like these ashes on the morning altar than the glory it previously prided of cried,

"I have been so deprived of peace, I have so forgotten what happiness is, that I think, "My strength is gone, and so is my hope in Adonai." Remember my utter misery, the wormwood and the gall. They are always on my mind; this is why I am so depressed." (Lam 3:17-20)

But then remembered,

"But in my mind I keep returning to something, something that gives me hope --that the grace of Adonai is not exhausted, that his compassion has not ended. [On the contrary,] they are new every morning! How great your faithfulness!" (Lam 3:21-23)

HaShem’s cleansing compassion is new every morning; so should our mitzvot be.

ASHES, REDEMPTION, AND MOONS
Every day the ashes of the old are removed to make place for the new. Every time the sun rises, an opportunity is born to start again. Each dawn of the morning presents us with a new chance at redemption.

Every year we tell the story. The feasts of our levitical calendar represent the times of redemption, first for Israel in the Spring then for the world in the Fall. This calendar is based on a moon that regularly dies and resurrects. These cycles give us the months which are called in Hebrew chodashim, the renewed cycles.  As each month, each renewing of the moons cycle brings us closer to the remembrance of redemption.

RESURRECTION: A SECOND CHANCE
It is from that principle of death and resurrection that we learn of HaShem’s plan.

That is why the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews encourages his audience with the following words,

"For if sprinkling ceremonially unclean persons with the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer restores their outward purity, then how much more the blood of the Messiah, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself to God as a sacrifice without blemish, will purify our conscience from works that lead to death, so that we can serve the living God!

It is because of this death that he is mediator of a new covenant [or will]. Because a death has occurred which sets people free from the transgressions committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promised eternal inheritance. For where there is a will, there must necessarily be produced evidence of its maker's death, since a will goes into effect only upon death; it never has force while its maker is still alive." 
(Heb 9:13-17)

Paul teaches the Roman congregation in the same vein when he says,

"Thus, my brothers, you have been made dead with regard to the Torah through the Messiah's body, so that you may belong to someone else, namely, the one who has been raised from the dead, in order for us to bear fruit for God." (Rom 7:4)


AS EACH MORNING, THE PRIESTS CLEANS THE ASHES OF THE ALTAR,

AS EACH DAY PRESENTS US A NEW CHANCE,

AS EACH MOON CYCLE BRINGS US CLOSER TO UNIVERSAL REDEMPTION,  

AS YESHUA’S DEATH AND RESURRECTION CLEANS US FROM OUR INIQUITIES AND VESTS US IN RESURRECTION,

MAY WE ALSO EACH MORNING, FORGIVE AND PRESENT OUR FELLOW MAN WITH A NEW CHANCE AT LOVE, FRIENDSHIP, AND RENEWED RELATIONSHIP.

STAY SAFE; STAY HEALTHY; STAY HOME!

R' GAVRIEL

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PAR'SHAT VAYIKRA: Our Happiness Depends on our Closeness to HaShem.

3/14/2019

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 דבר אל־בני ישׂראל ואמרת אלהם אדם כי־יקריב מכם קרבן ליהוה מן־הבהמה מן־הבקר ומן־הצאן תקריבו את־קרבנכם׃ 

"Speak to the people of Isra'el; say to them, 'When any of you brings an offering to Adonai, you may bring your animal offering either from the herd or from the flock. 
(Lev 1:2 CJB)

​


TRUE HAPPINESS DEPENDS ON OUR CL  
FROM THE HEBREW.

In English, the word “sacrifice” refers to something that is very hard to give. “Offering” also refers to something we offer, or give. The problem is that the Hebrew word used in this text has nothing to do with the idea of giving something precious to HaShem. This actually resembles more the pagan ideas of ”bribing” God in order to have an audience with Him.

The words used in this text use the Hebrew root, “ק-ר-ב,” a root expressing the idea of nearness, closeness, or approachment. From it we get the verb, “lekarev לקרב:-to approach; the word karov קרוב:, which mean to be close; and the reflexive verb, lehakriv להקריב:to approach which is used in Leviticus 1:2. Notice the recurring verbal roo ק-ר-ב which I put in bold characters.

As such, if I  were to translate our verse literally, it would read like this, “When a man desire to bring himself to approach HaShem, let him bring a token of approachment.”

Lev 1:2  דבר אל־בני ישׂראל ואמרת אלהם אדם כי־יקריב מכם קרבן ליהוה מן־הבהמה מן־הבקר ומן־הצאן תקריבו את־קרבנכם׃

A CONTINUING STORY.
Throughout the Book of Exodus, Moshe had access to the cloud of glory on the mountain. HaShem tells him that the Children were to build him a Tabernacle on earth, he would come live with them,. They build Tabernacle; then we are told that,

The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Adonai filled the tabernacle. Moshe was unable to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud remained on it, and the glory of Adonai filled the tabernacle. (Exo 40:34-35 CJB)


It sounds like something went wrong. But this is not the end of the story. Leviticus continues with the protocol teaching us how to approach haShem while on earth. After all, we don’t go see a king, a president, or a magistrate without there be a certain protocol involved. The same goes with HaShem who is Spirit. Our sinful earthly nature forbids us from being in close proximity with HaShem. After all, He is a consuming fire!As Yeshua said, No man can see HaShem and live.” So HaShem who really really wants to be close to us anyways created a protocol, a system that allows us to communicate with Him and be close to Him. This is called the levitical system.

Our text today says,

Adonai called to Moshe and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, "Speak to the people of Isra'el; say to them, 'When any of you brings an offering to Adonai, you may bring your animal offering either from the herd or from the flock. (Lev 1:1-2 CJB)

Literal translation: “When a man desire to bring himself to approach HaShem, let him bring a token of approachment.”

The whole levitical system is there to allow us to approach HaShem.

APPROACHMENT BY PROXY
What causes us not to be able to approach HaShem is our sinful nature. You might say, “But I am forgiven; Yeshua’s death and resurrection wiped away my sins!” Actually this is not what we are told. What we are told is that Yeshua’s death and resurrection “כפר/covers” our transgression. When someone “covers” for us, he takes our payments or responsibilities. The payments and responsibilities are not erased, they are only transferred on someone else.

This brings a solution to our problem of not being able to approach HaShem. Since life is in the blood, (Lev 17:11), the blood of a kosher innocent animal is brought forward to represent us to HaShem.  We essentially only approach HaShem by proxy. We still do that today as we only approach HaShem through the “Blood of the Lamb/the Pesach lamb brought to Jerusalem every year for the Passover memorial.. Yochanan the Immerser who identified Yeshua as the Messiah did it by associating Him with this Pesach lamb.

That is the whole idea behind the levitical system and priesthood. To create a buffer zone between us and HaShem, like a “demilitarized” or a “sanctuary” zone in order to bring the “negotiating elements”: (i,e the blood of the required animal) to the table so to speak.

TRUE HAPPINESS DEPENDS ON OUR CLOSENESS TO THE ALMIGHTY.
Using these principles, in his commentary on Leviticus 1:2 in Growth Through Torah, Rabbi Zelig Pliskin brings up Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch who used Ps 73: 28 to define that “Closeness to the Almighty is the highest and only conception of what is “good.” True happiness in life life is dependant on our closeness to the Almighty.”

Here is Psalm 78:28,

But for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made Adonai Elohim my refuge, so that I can tell of all your works. (Psa 73:28 CJB)

It should give you the shivers to understuod the depth of this statement by King David within the ideas of the wording of the Levitical system that we are starting to study. Here is the verse in Hebrew with the root of the verb to approach in bold.

ואני קרבת אלהים לי־טוב שׁתי באדני יהוה מחסי לספר כל־מלאכותיך

HE TOOK THE FIRST STEPS.
The reason HaShem created us is that He loves us. As such, He wants to be near us and have interaction with us just like we love to be near and have interaction with the people we love.

In knowledge of the “logistical problems” which would involve our closeness together with Him, He took the first steps towards us.

The whole levitical system is inter-meshed with the ideas of repentance and Messiah. The Talmud teaches that even before creation HaShem created repentance and the Name of Messiah. In essence, He knew we were going to “blow it” and prepared “Plan B.” The Texts of the Tanach and the Brit often compare Messiah with each of the Levitical offerings. Plan B is therefore Messiah illustrated in the levitical system. What does it mean for us?

PSALM 73:28. THE TEMPLE SACRIFICES, AND YESHUA.
The psalm alludes therefore that our happiness depends on pour closeness to haShem. Our closeness to haShem is understood through the lenses of the levitical offerings.

Today we do not have a temple and a priesthood to do these offerings.

In an ancient midrash collection of midrashes on the Book of Exodus called Midrash Rabbah: Shenot we read a speculative story in these words,

Moses said to God:
Will not the time come when Israel shall have neither Tabernacle nor Temple? What will happen with them then? ‘
The divine reply was:
‘ I will then take one of their righteous men and retain him as a pledge on their behalf, in order that I may pardon all their sins.


According to the sages of Israel, The sacrifices and death of the righteous was mor efficacious to atone for sins than the Temple sacrifices. (Daniel Lancaster; Messiah Journal 107, page 17)

​
MAY WE LEARN TO FIND THE GOODNESS OF LIFE BY COMING CLOSE TO HIM, OFFERING THE SACRIFICES OF OUR LIPS THROUGH OUR PRAYERS

MAY WE LEARN TO FIND THE ALMIGHTY THROUGH OUR DEVOTION AND SERVICE TO YESHUA THE KING OF KING AND LORD OF LORD.

R' Gavriel Lumbroso



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PAR'SHAT PEKUDEI. The Priorities of Betsalel.

3/7/2019

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Exo 38:22  ובצלאל בן־אורי בן־חור למטה יהודה עשׂה את כל־אשׁר־צוה יהוה את־משׁה׃


B'tzal'el the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Y'hudah, made everything that Adonai ordered Moshe to make.     
(Exo 38:22 CJB)


THE PRIORITIES OF BETSALEL.

In this parasha Moshe relays HaShem's instructions for the building of the tabernacle to Elyohav and Betsalel. He relays these instructions in a certain order, but according to our text, the two anointed craftsmen follow the instructions in the reverse order. This may be considered unimportant or even an oversight in the Text but it is dangerous to start attributing oversights to the Sacred Text of the Torah, so let's say that these are accurate renderings of what happened. The issue did not escape medieval commentator, Rashi.  Let's look at what he had to say about it.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: Bezalel was called by that name on account of his wisdom. When the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses: Go say to Bezalel, “Make a tabernacle, an ark, and vessels” (see Exodus 31:7–11), Moses went and reversed the order and told Bezalel: “Make an ark, and vessels, and a tabernacle” (see Exodus 25–26). He said to Moses: Moses, our teacher, the standard practice throughout the world is that a person builds a house and only afterward places the vessels in the house, and you say to me: Make an ark, and vessels, and a tabernacle. If I do so in the order you have commanded, the vessels that I make, where shall I put them? Perhaps God told you the following: “Make a tabernacle, ark, and vessels” (see Exodus 36). Moses said to Bezalel: Perhaps you were in God’s shadow [betzel El], and you knew precisely what He said. You intuited God’s commands just as He stated them, as if you were there.           
Rashi in Berachot 55a.

Rabbi Yeruchem Levovitz has a very interesting take on the issue. He comments on Rashi’s idea by adding that by this, we are to learn the importance of having things done in their proper order; we learn about the importance of prioritizing.                            (Daas Torah: Shmos pp.350-1)

According to Rashi’s midrash, Betsalel was blessed with a spirit of wisdom. His wisdom was his sense of prioritizing, of what is important, of what comes first.

In his book, Growth Through Torah, Rabbi Zelig Pliskin says, “We will never have enough time to do everything we would like to. But by being aware of the order of importance of what you have to do, you will ensure that you will effectively accomplish the most possible within the limitations of the time allotted to you.”

The Scriptures have much to say about prioritizing and deciding what is most important in life. Jumping to modern times, here is the testimony of a car salesman about it.

Many people have really made a mess of their lives by having the wrong priorities in life. I had a job as a car salesman for about 12 years and every day I was amazed at the choices that many people were trying to make. There were very few people that really needed a new car but just were trading in their ‘old’ car to get the newest style or maybe a new feature. I do not have a problem with people buying a new car but where it really amazed me was when people were trying to trade a car that they owed more than it was worth in order to incur more debt that they often times could not afford. These choices often led to disastrous consequences in other areas of life.


But I cannot point my finger too far as we all (if we are honest) struggle in this area of priorities. Maybe you don’t struggle in buying a new car but what about your time? Do you put God first in your life with the time you spend with Him? Or how are we doing in the area of service and loving our neighbor? We often get this priority out of balance and desire to be served instead of following the model and example that Yeshua showed.



Time and money are related. HaShem gives us time which allows us to earn money. How we spend our money therefore defines how we spend the time HaShem gives us; it defines what is important to us. For example, my wife doesn’t care about very fancy expensive brand clothing but she will spend money on her grandkids.  She doesn’t care about spending her hard earned money on fancy clothes, but she’ll work herself ragged in order to be able to spend money on the grand-kids. That is because they are important to her. They are worth her time, and money.

The question is then for each of us, “What is important to us?” “What are our priorities?”

The Tanach has much to say about this.

Let’s see the most important of all first (You see, I am prioritizing :-))

"You are to have no other gods before me.  (Exo 20:3 CJB)

HaShem teaches us that He is to be the most important priority in our lives. I could really stop this midrash here as all the rest of the Torah teaches us is how to accomplish that.

Let’s go to the first instruction about it,

And you are to love Adonai your God with all your heart, all your being and all your resources.
(Deu 6:5 CJB)

Here we are told that HaShem needs to utterly dominate the usage of our will (heart), our body (soul), and our money (resources). We accomplish that by agreeing to do it. We have the choice not to.

Yeshua put the same principle in different words. He said,

No one can be slave to two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can't be a slave to both God and money.  (Mat 6:24 CJB)

This statement comes at the heel of a teaching about prioritizing our money. Here is how it goes.

(Mat 6:19 CJB) "Do not store up for yourselves wealth here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and burglars break in and steal.

Don’t invest your life’s efforts in things belonging to this earthly realm. What’s the logic in that since things seen are temporary  (2 Cor 4:18)

(Mat 6:20 CJB) Instead, store up for yourselves wealth in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and burglars do not break in or steal.

That makes more sense since things not seen are eternal. (2 Cor 4:18)

(Mat 6:21 CJB) For where your wealth is, there your heart will be also.

Our heart is in what we prioritize as important, in what we value.

Then Yeshua uses a Hebrew idiom which compares a stingy person to someone with an evil eye, and a generous person with having a good eye. It is an idiom. Idioms are not interpreted literally.


(Mat 6:22 CJB) 'The eye is the lamp of the body.' So if you have a 'good eye' [that is, if you are generous] your whole body will be full of light;
(Mat 6:23 CJB) but if you have an 'evil eye' [if you are stingy] your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

The conclusion is that one who stingy serves money, but one who is generous serves HaShem, and you can’t serve both. We must establish priorities in our lives.

(Mat 6:24 CJB) No one can be slave to two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can't be a slave to both God and money.

On the subject of worldly wealth versus spiritual wealth our Master did not say that worldly wealth was wrong, He only chided us for making it a priority in our lives. That is why he teaches us a sense of priority when he says,

Seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Mat 6:33 CJB)

Fame is also a big priority for people. It has become a god of this world, the god of self. Here is what Yeshua has to say about it.

He said to them, "... What people regard highly is an abomination before God! (Luk 16:15 CJB)

And,  

"Woe to you when people speak well of you, for that is just how their fathers treated the false prophets! (Luk 6:26 CJB)

MORE TEACHINGS ON PRIORITIES.
King Solomon had much to say about prioritizing.

For everything there is a season, a right time for every intention under heaven --a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to discard, a time to tear and a time to sew, a time to keep silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. (Ecc 3:1-8 CJB)

Prepare your outside work, and get things ready for yourself on the land; after that, build your house.
(Pro 24:27 CJB)

He who pursues righteousness and kindness finds life, prosperity and honor. (Pro 21:21 CJB)

He learned it from his father who also knew how to prioritize,

The first and foremost point of wisdom is the fear of Adonai; all those living by it gain good common sense. His praise stands forever. (Psa 111:10 CJB)


Here is what may happen when we don’t. This is the word of HaShem to Israel through the prophet Haggai when Israel failed to prioritize on the work of the Temple in favor of doing their own thing.

'You looked for much, but it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away.

Why?' asks Adonai-Tzva'ot. '

Because my house lies in ruins, while every one of you runs to take care of his own house.
(Hag 1:9 CJB)



MAY WE KNOW HOW TO ESTABLISH OUR LIFE’S PRIORITIES.
MAY WE BE BLESSED WITH THE WISDOM OF BETSALEL.

R' Gavriel Lumbroso



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