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.
303 Episodes
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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.
The first word of our parasha, re’eh, is conjugated in an imperative form,
meaning that it is a command to do, to pay attention to, and “to see to”
all the instructions God is setting forth. Moshe does not just present
Israel with a choice between blessings and curses. Moshe actually opens
with a prophetic blessing to the Jewish people.
We who desire his righteousness to live through us will always be willing
to lend a helping hand to any and all in need. Out of our surrender renewal
is birthed; out of our renewal transformation occurs. It is out of this
transformation that our heart-felt worship wafts through the heavens to the
throne room and our service is blessed.
A modern reader may have difficulty accepting the prodigious acts that
accompanied the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt. But perhaps more
challenging, given our culture’s commitment to the equality of all people,
is the idea that God would choose one people in particular.
Tisha B’Av begins this coming Saturday night, and marks one of the most
tragic days on the Jewish calendar. Numerous atrocities have befallen the
Jewish people on this date (or just around it) throughout the last 3,000
years, the pinnacles being the destruction of both the first and second
Temples.
There are always two unseen guests at every bris — neither of whom ever
gets an invitation, and both of whom probably wouldn’t RSVP even if we sent
one. But their presence is felt nonetheless. One is Elijah — the beloved
and expected one.
Midrash Rabbah 21.12 attributes to the daughters of Zelophehad the role of
judges of the law, even in Moses’ presence, for as the Lord says, they
“speak what is right” (Num 27:6). That is quite startling!
The voice from the flames declared: “I am the God of your forefathers, the
God of Avraham, the God of Yitzhak, and the God of Ya’akov.” And then, this
voice—the voice of Hashem—said something astonishing: “I have seen the
plight of my people, and I am sending you.”
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