Displaying items by tag: Torah

There are three common cycles for reading the Torah:

• The annual
• The triennial
• The linear triennial

In the annual cycle, the entire Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy) is read weekly over the course of one year.  This is most widely used Torah reading cycle and is used in synagogues throughout the world.

In the triennial cycle, the entire Torah is read weekly over the course of three years.  The readings are aligned to the annual cycle (both the annual and triennial readings are on the same Parashah each week) but smaller portions are read in the triennial cycle.  Thanks go to the Jewish Theological Seminary for the chart!

In the linear triennial cycle, the entire Torah is read weekly over the course of three years but in a sequential order that does not align to the annual synagogue readings (the annual and linear triennial readings are only the same one week every three years).

As in years past, we've put together a list of moedim and remembrance dates so you can have them all in one place.  You can also look these up on our Hebrew Calendar.

There are three common cycles for reading the Torah:

• The annual
• The triennial
• The linear triennial

In the annual cycle, the entire Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy) is read weekly over the course of one year.  This is most widely used Torah reading cycle and is used in synagogues throughout the world.

In the triennial cycle, the entire Torah is read weekly over the course of three years.  The readings are aligned to the annual cycle (both the annual and triennial readings are on the same Parashah each week) but smaller portions are read in the triennial cycle.  Thanks go to the Jewish Theological Seminary for the chart!

In the linear triennial cycle, the entire Torah is read weekly over the course of three years but in a sequential order that does not align to the annual readings (the annual and linear triennial readings are only the same one week every three years).

My only daughter (and youngest child) recently went off to college. Before she left, her mother and I gave her a mountain of advice and a metric ton of encouragement before she took that giant next step in her life.  Being the kind soul that she is, she also gave me a bit of advice in return: "Dad, you should get a Fitbit. It can help you monitor your health."

So… I bought a Fitbit Flex. It’s a little band you strap on your wrist that, paired with an app on your phone, provides a simple reminder that I needed to watch what I eat, get outside and do some walking, and get enough rest.

As in years past, we've put together a list of moedim and remembrance dates so you can have them all in one place.  You can also look these up on our Hebrew Calendar.

The Hebrew word for "atonement" (kippur) literally means "a covering" but in the context of the Levitical priesthood and sacrifices it has to do with ritual cleansing.  The root word, kopher, means "a ransom".  The "kippur"/atonement offerings are literally the ransom or price of ritual cleansing... and that ransom involves blood.

In Leviticus 14:52 the blood of a bird is used to cleanse a house with "leprosy":

As in years past, we've put together a list of moedim dates for 2013 so you can have them all in one place.

Otherwise entitled, "Why Do We Seem to Exchange One Idol for Another?"

Update:The weekend of Jan 10-13, Tim Hegg visited our group in San Antonio. While he was here, he addressed some of the concerns we initially aired in this article. We revised the article and reposted after some clarifications were made.

In the Fall 2012 issue of Messiah Journal from First Fruits of Zion (FFOZ), Boaz Michael makes an impassioned plea to his readers that they reconsider and reject One-Law and Two-House teachings as particularly insidious forms of anti-Semitic replacement theology.

He is right.

Some "One-Law" groups disregard the fact that the Torah itself makes distinctions between different groups.  This is a form of idolatry in which Torah observance becomes the object of desire regardless of what the Torah and the apostles actually say.

"Two-House" theology ignores the fact that that the apostles rejoice at Gentiles (rather than "lost tribe members") coming to salvation.  This is a form of idolatry in which biological heritage in Israel becomes the object of desire regardless of what the Apostolic Writings actually say.

BUT... 

There are three common cycles for reading the Torah:

• The annual
• The triennial
• The linear triennial

In the annual cycle, the entire Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy) is read weekly over the course of one year.  This is most widely used Torah reading cycle and is used in synagogues throughout the world.

In the triennial cycle, the entire Torah is read weekly over the course of three years.  The readings are aligned to the annual cycle (both the annual and triennial readings are on the same Parashah each week) but smaller portions are read in the triennial cycle.  Thanks go to the Jewish Theological Seminary for the chart!

In the linear triennial cycle, the entire Torah is read weekly over the course of three years but in a sequential order that does not align to the annual readings (the annual and linear triennial readings are only the same one week every three years).

The linear triennial readings for 2012-2015 are provided below:

When I first read the headline I chuckled and thought, "what new way did guys find to get in trouble now?"  Then I read more of the CNN article entitled Why Men Are in Trouble and pondered the serious questions it raised.  Here is the problem outlined in various quotes from the article...

The Problem

For the first time in history, women are better educated, more ambitious and arguably more successful than men.

Now, society has rightly celebrated the ascension of one sex. We said, "You go girl," and they went. We celebrate the ascension of women but what will we do about what appears to be the very real decline of the other sex?

Continuing in the "wayyy back" theme from the last Word for Thought, I reached into the Merriam-Webster email archives from September 25, 2009.  Yes, yes, I know.  I need to stay a bit more up to date. :)

The M-W Word of the day was utile and it was defined as

useful

They also provided details regarding the origin of the word:

The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day for July 14th was lenient.

1: exerting a soothing or easing influence : relieving pain or stress

2: of mild and tolerant disposition; especially : indulgent

Over the past two millenia various groups of believers have taken a verse here and a verse there out of context and developed an entire branch of theology from it. Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists, Messianics... we are all guilty of this to one degree or another. It is often times the consequence of our finite understanding, a short-sighted focus, or the limited amount of time we have to study the whole counsel of Scripture.

Some of these teachings are born from a need to correct a specific error or heresy being taught. For example, there are some doctrines from the first and second centuries that were born out of the need to correct certain Gnostic heresies. These doctrines resulted in a narrow focus on the humanity of Messiah almost to the exclusion of acknowledging His deity.

In other circumstances teachings are born out of good intentions but, ignoring the broader messages of Scripture and focusing on minute details, they ultimately end up in error. Sacred Name theology is one extreme example of this.

What is sin?  Sin occurs when a person violates G-d's Law (1 John 3:4).  When we violate G-d's commandments, either those given broadly in Scripture (e.g. do not commit murder) or those given directly to us as individuals by the Holy Spirit (e.g. "go minister to that guy sitting by himself in the cafeteria"), we are sinning.

Sin comes in many shapes, forms, and sizes.  There have been books and books written about sin including "respectable sins"... those sins that we tend to trivialize because they aren't in the Ten Commandments or aren't terribly offensive to us as individuals.  We should be aware that, in the sense of salvation, a sin is a sin is a sin.  Any one of them ("big" or "small") merit G-d's judgment and separate us from Him.  Praise be to G-d that He has provided forgiveness for our sins as a consequence of faith in His Messiah.

Recently there has been news that a pill to help you live past 100 may be available in two years. Fox News was one of the news sources that carried the story.  Here is a quote from the article:

The New York professor's [Nir Barzilai] own team at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine has pinpointed genetic variants that let people live to a "ripe old age."

That story got me to thinking... What does G-d's Word say about how we can live to a ripe old age?  I was definitely surprised as I searched the Torah.

Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the LORD your God gives you. (Deuteronomy 5:16)

A recent turn of events lead to a bit of "online archaeology" of sorts:

I was reading a recent CNN article online entitled "In Sudan, a war is waged to eradicate the 'fiery serpent'" and came across this:

Believed to be "the fiery serpent" described in the Bible, the Guinea worm has plagued mankind since ancient Egyptian times. Now it's close to becoming the second disease in the world to be eradicated, after smallpox, health officials say.

This piqued my interest since I was familiar with the story and had always thought actual snakes were biting the people.

The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day for August 29th was defile.  The surprise definition:

to march off in a line

Here is what M-W provided on this word:

The "defile" that means "to contaminate," a homograph of today's Word of the Day, dates back to the 14th century and is derived from the Old French verb "defouler," meaning "to trample on" or "mistreat." Today's word, on the other hand, arrived in English in the early 18th century. It is also from French, but is derived from the verb "défiler," formed by combining "de-" with "filer" ("to move in a column"). "Défiler" is also the source of the English noun "defile," which means "narrow passage or gorge."

Wow.  I had not ever seen this before and was utterly flabbergasted by this quote from Rabbi Batzri, head of the Shalom Yeshiva in Jerusalem:

“No one can study Torah unless he or she is converting to Judaism."

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/133184

"Honor your father and mother" is only for Jews?

"Love your neighbor as yourself" is only for Jews?

I am utterly without words on this.  What are your thoughts?

The Psalm 119:18.org team was recently asked about Colossians 2:16-17 after the following comment was shared with one of the authors:

Regarding Col 2:16, some hold that Paul was merely teaching that believers have a choice as to which day of the week they observe the Sabbath, while others believe Paul meant that our liberty extends to the choice of whether to observe a Sabbath at all.  Under either interpretation, however, the Christian is not be bound to a Saturday observance.

Here is our response:

I found this excellent analysis of Matthew 5 that included this observation:

“Fulfill” in Matthew

The verb “fulfill” is used 16 times in Matthew. Of the 13 times where the word is used in the passive voice, 12 are used in expressing the ‘fulfillment’ of prophecy, and one relates to a boat being filled with fish (13:48). Prophecy is viewed as being fulfilled (passive) by the active hand of God in the events of history.

The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day for July 13th was usufruct (YOO zuh frukt).

Here is the definition they provided:

1 : the legal right of using and enjoying the fruits or profits of something belonging to another 2 : the right to use or enjoy something

My wonderful bride, Amy, was reading Proverbs and came across this little nugget:

He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, But he who is careless of conduct will die.  (Proverbs 19:16)

When she related that passage I immediately asked the question: Does "keep" mean "retain possession of" or does it mean "guard"?  I examined the Hebrew and found this:

Shamar mitzvah shamar nepheshu botzah derekiv yevamot (transliterated from the Hebrew).

Young's Literal translates it this way:

The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day for May 26th was Philadelphia lawyer.

The word means "a lawyer knowledgeable in the most minute aspects of the law".  M-W provided the following background:

During some recent reading I came across this passage in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians:

However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.

Recently I replaced my son's bar mitzvah tefillin with a better quality set.  The head tefillin was tied for a small head size and needed to be expanded to fit my son (he's quite a large young man now!).  As I was gently trying to adjust the dalet knot this morning without losing the knot completely... SPROING!  It all came apart.  Imagine my concern about having to tie the knot back together.  This is not a simple knot.

I found this wonderful video on You Tube showing how to tie the dalet knot on the head tefillin and though I would share: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLBm6k8QHqU . I pray it will be as much a blessing to you as it was to me! :)

During a recent study a question came up around the Hebrew word et. In Hebrew, et can serve as what is called an "object marker" (OM). It appears before an object that receives an action in a sentence (what we might call the direct object in English). Et points to the direct object. Here is an example from Genesis 1:1-

This post begins a short series of blog entries entitled "In Support of Torah Observance".

In these articles I would like to address reasons why believers in Yeshua [Jesus] should be obedient to Torah and refute a number of misinterpretations of Scripture used against those who seek to obey Torah.

1) Yeshua did it.

The Sabbath day began at the end of the first week of creation (Genesis 2:2).  The Word of G-d tells us that He blessed the seventh day and separated it as a holy day (Genesis 2:3).  If the Sabbath was given before Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's time and was created for them for them to observe was it also not created for us?  If we are to be doers and hearers of the Word, shouldn’t we observe the Sabbath just as our Lord and Savior did?

That is the question.  But what is the answer?

Yes, that was a riff on Shakespeare's famous "to be or not to be... " line from Hamlet. Let me be fair and clarify the question:

The question I am trying to answer is whether or not the Talmud should serve as a guide regarding Torah observance.  One group in my congregation says "yes!"... another group in my congregation says "no!".  I wanted to jot down my thoughts about both sides of the issue.  I don't know if I will come to an answer any time soon (likely not!) but it's cathartic nonetheless.

Here are some passages from Scripture to consider in regards to Torah. I will update this blog entry from time to time with other passages as I find them:

"I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My Torot [plural of Torah]." - Genesis 26:4-5

Bind up the testimony, seal the Torah among my disciples. - Isaiah 8:16

"The same Torah shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you." - Exodus 12:49

Fox News.com reported Monday that a scientific study presented evidence that "a sensory cell can process an alternative sensation".  They differentiated this process from the already previously known condition named synesthesia where some people are able to feel, hear, and taste colors.   In essence the study has found that our auditory nervous system can send auditory signals to the image processing centers of the brain for faster tracking of sounds.

"Where is this found in Scripture" you might ask?

OK... I just wrote about thinking about what you are saying.  Now for a different take on thinking and your mouth.

I was having a discussion with one of my coworkers when a guy on our team (who is an avid marathon and triathalon runner) walked by with a soft drink in his hand.  My coworker teased him: "all the sugar in those soft drinks are going to make you fat".  The soda-drinker replied "it's diet".  My coworker's expression changed from a good-natured smile to outright horror as she replied "aspartame can kill you".

I have posted a number of articles under the category of "Words For Thought".  Part of the purpose in writing those articles is to share interesting insights into words that are often unusual. Today I would like to focus on words from a different perspective: words that are common in our society but that we often use without fully considering the meaning of what we are saying. I will hopefully add to this article as time goes on as I come across additional words to consider.

First up: romance

I put together this brief list of ten reasons I keep Torah:

10. My prayer would not be heard and would be a sin (Proverbs 28:9, Jeremiah 7:8-16).  

9. When Messiah returns those who follow him will be obeying Torah and keeping the festivals (Ezekiel 45:16, Zechariah 14:16, Jeremiah 33:14-18).  

8. There are over 1,089 commands from the Torah in the "New Testament".  

7. If you obey one part of the Torah (such as "love your neighbor as yourself" or "Love the Lord your G-d with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind") you are required to keep the entire Torah (Galatians 5:3).

A dear brother shared this with me and I thought it definitely worth sharing! :)

The Computer Engineer's Haggadah -------------------------- >> Release ISRAEL ISRAEL running in slave mode, cannot release

>>Set ISRAEL;mode=master Pharaoh already running in master mode, cannot change ISRAEL

>>Set Pharaoh;mode=slave Command ignored

>>Load Moshe Done

>>Deactivate Pharaoh Pharaoh account hard locked;cannot be deactivated

>>For i=1 to 10 do plagues Are you sure? Y Done

"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our  iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we  are healed."- Isaiah 53:5

I was thinking of this passage this morning as I was wrapping tefillin.  For  those of you who aren't familiar with tefillin they look like this:

During a men's study today an interesting analogy I have been using was further fleshed out by a friend of mine, Jon Coll.  The analogy is one involving football and faith.

By coming to faith in Yeshua we have "joined His team" so to speak.  We are each called to "play in the game" we are assigned.  We are also called to play by the rules: to act honorably (Hebrew 13:18) and to stop sinning (1 Corinthians 15:34) .  The basic rules that apply to every player are the "rules" found in Torah: the traditionally counted 613 commandments.  Everyone has the same "out of bounds", the same rules regarding fouls, etc.  Even though every person plays by the same rules the "Coach" gives each person individual assignments and tasks to carry out.