Claim OwnershipWeekly Torah Commentaries
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Description
Reflections on the weekly Torah portions from a diverse group of Messianic Jewish rabbis, scholars, and lay people. Our contributors bring fresh insights to familiar texts, drawing connections to events across the whole of Scripture (including the Gospels and Epistles), and suggesting practical applications of these insights to our postmodern lives.
310 Episodes
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In Parashat Bo, a portion filled with plagues, Pharaoh, and Passover
instructions, we are reminded that woven into the fabric of our history,
God has provided tangible, sensory traditions that remind us of who he is
and who he called us to be.
Just as Israel experienced an initial redemption in Egypt even while still
enslaved, so we, too, are invited to live within the redemption God has
already enacted in Messiah. Our life is shaped not only by anticipation,
but by participation: learning to recognize what God has done, what he is
doing now, and how we are to live as his redeemed people today. Our
ransomed life is now.
It is only after Moses turns aside that God speaks. Moses first hears God
through the miracle of the bush that burns without being consumed. Only
then does he truly listen—by pausing, turning, and giving his full
attention to what is unfolding before him.
The idea of a long process toward a distant goal feels daunting unless
we’re rewarded along the way. What happened to perseverance—to enduring
hardship so that, when we look back, we can see how much stronger we’ve
become because of it?
Parashat Miketz — meaning “at the end” — opens with the words “At the end
of two full years…” referring to the final stretch of Joseph’s imprisonment
following the false accusations from Potiphar’s wife. But behind those two
years lies a far longer story of waiting, injustice, disappointment, and
perseverance.
Chanukah is usually told as the story of a jar of oil. Yet the oil miracle,
beautiful as it is, appears only in the Talmud—recorded centuries after the
Maccabean revolt. If we look more closely at the earliest sources,
something surprising emerges. Chanukah was once focused not on the menorah,
but on the altar.
Each of us will struggle with God, but hang on in your wrestling—don’t let
go until you realize the blessing! Be reconciled. If you wronged someone,
seek forgiveness; if you were wronged, give forgiveness freely without
prompting.
Rosebud was the name of Citizen Kane’s childhood sled, an emblem of simpler
days, a symbol of a time when he knew joy, safety, and belonging. What
makes that symbol powerful is not its sentimental value. It is what it
represents: the longing for a spiritual home.
The relationship between Jacob and Esau is a foundational relationship in
the Scriptures: Israel and the Nations in shalom, under one Shepherd,
sharing in each other's destinies through humility and turning toward the
other.
Sarah is a woman well worth remembering, one who continues to be an example
to each generation. Sarah’s story is a picture of what it takes to journey
through life as an imperfect human. All the while, we seek God; He knows
us, He knows our value to His plan.
If Abraham and Sarah could see our world today, I think they might weep.
We’ve traded tents for walls and neighbors for networks. We are more
“connected” than any generation before, yet loneliness has become the
epidemic of our age.
In the one place where life is lived daily under threat, where rockets,
wars, and uncertainty are part of the national daily experience, Israel
stands unique among western nations in maintaining a sustainable, even
vibrant, birth rate.
Quietly tucked into one of the last verses of Parashat Noach is the
template for God’s plan of calling and leadership. It is also a reflection
of the enduring concept in Judaism known as l’dor v’dor – from generation
to generation.
Another way to translate the opening words of Genesis could be: “With
beginnings, God created,” emphasizing that everything in life has a
beginning. Although there are times when everything seems to just fall into
place, the reality is that most beginnings are not easy.
Every year we have a divinely orchestrated time in which we not only
recognize His Presence as our ultimate covering, but we also have the
opportunity to sew that beautiful reality into the tapestry of our future
generations.
Kol Nidre, the opening prayer of Yom Kippur services, can be seen as the
prayer that frees us—not only from words spoken aloud, but also from hidden
vows of bitterness, fear, and despair. It becomes our collective cry to
Hashem: release us from these bonds.
As we move through this sacred time of reflection and renewal from Rosh
Hashana to Yom Kippur, many of us carry questions that linger beneath the
surface. As we bring our heartfelt petitions before the throne, perhaps the
most tender of questions is this: Where is God in the midst of our
suffering?
Messiah Yeshua bears the awesome glory of the heavenly throne room into the
ordinary spaces of our lives, if we have ears to hear and eyes to see.
We are in the month of Elul, the season of return. We draw near to God and
seek forgiveness. This week, we are stirred to arise; we are moving from a
time of sorrow to a time of glory and great joy. Arise and shine; it’s time
to wake up.
We are called to care for our fellow Israelite, even as we would care for
his lost animal! We are to participate in God’s program of consolation and
protection for the people of Israel until “the Lord, our Redeemer” returns
to have compassion on her.
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