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Greetings Friends,
WELL VERSED Bible Torah Lesson #47 ~ Re'eh – See, Behold — רְאֵה
TORAH: Deut. 11:26-16:17 ~ Prophets: ISAIAH 54:11-55:5 and GOSPEL: John 6:35-51
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2024: https://youtu.be/sGyjXnywqgQ?si=zQH6kCgGA8AkxOx6
2023: https://youtu.be/KOTYnir4nWI
NOTES: https://esm.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/08.31.24-.2024-Congregation-TM-Notes.pdf
Dr. Chad Foster
2025: "The Wilderness" Haftarah Portion #47 Re'eh
The haftarah is a section of Holy Scripture taken from the Prophets or Writings of the Hebrew Bible that is read after the weekly alongside the Torah. The specified section always has some connection to the theme of the Torah portion of the week and the time and season of year. Class PDFs and Audio at: immlutheran.org/wilderness
2024: "The Son and the Scriptures"
https://youtu.be/GAHPenT36jw?si=fuWH42m34YAjMOGe
What does "Living in the Times" mean? How are we supposed to Re'eh = See how we are living our life?
How do we "See with the Messiah's Eyes"? What does our ego have to do with this week’s Torah Portion?
What is Yeshua talking about when He speaks of tzedakah = charity?
VIDEO ~
2024: "The Son and the Scriptures" https://youtu.be/GAHPenT36jw?si=zrKqujMG-mTiKvNb
2022: Torah 1.0 https://soundcloud.com/immlutheran/parashat-reeh?in=immlutheran/sets/torah-1-0&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
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Lesson 47 - Re'eh: Behold
Portions Summary - You shall not hesitate to give, nor murmur when you do give; because you shall know who is the good re-payer of the hire. You shall not turn away from him that is in want, but you shall share all things with your brother, and shall not say that they are your own; for if you are partakers in that which is immortal, how much more in things which are mortal? (Didache 4:7-8)
Portion Outline
· TORAH
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Deuteronomy 12:1 Pagan Shrines to Be Destroyed
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Deuteronomy 12:13 A Prescribed Place of Worship
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Deuteronomy 12:29 Warning against Idolatry
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Deuteronomy 14:1 Pagan Practices Forbidden
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Deuteronomy 14:3 Clean and Unclean Foods
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Deuteronomy 14:22 Regulations concerning Tithes
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Deuteronomy 15:1 Laws concerning the Sabbatical Year
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Deuteronomy 15:19 The Firstborn of Livestock
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Deuteronomy 16:1 The Passover Reviewed
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Deuteronomy 16:9 The Festival of Weeks Reviewed
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Deuteronomy 16:13 The Festival of Booths Reviewed
PROPHETS
· Isaiah 54:1 The Eternal Covenant of Peace
· Isaiah 55:1 An Invitation to Abundant Life
Torah Reading #47 (from One New Man Bible translated by William Morford)
Blessing and Curse
11:26. “Behold! I AM setting before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27. a blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD* your God, which I command you this day 28. and a curse, if you will not obey the commandments of the LORD* your God, but turn aside out of the Way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known. 29. And it will be, when the LORD* your God has brought you in to the land where you are going to possess it, that you will put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal. 30. Behold, they are on the other side of the Jordan, by the way where the sun goes down, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the plain over against Gilgal, beside the oak of Moreh. 31. For you will cross the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD* your God gives you and you will possess it and live there. 32. And you will observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.”
Statutes and Judgments
12.1. “These are the statutes and judgments, which you will observe to do in the land, which the LORD* God of your fathers gives you to possess it, all the days that you live upon the earth. 2. You will utterly destroy all the places in which the nations that you will possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, upon the hills, and under every green tree. 3. And you will demolish their altars, break their pillars, burn their groves with fire. You will chop down the graven images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. 4. You will not do so to the LORD* your God. 5. But to the place which the LORD* your God will choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, you will seek His dwelling place, and there you will come, 6. and there you will bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, heave offerings of your hand, your vows, your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks. 7. And there you will eat before the LORD* your God and you will rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which the LORD* your God has blessed you. 8. You will not do after all the things that we are doing here this day, each man doing whatever is right in his own eyes. 9. For you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD* your God is giving you. 10. But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land which the LORD* your God gives you to inherit, and when He gives you rest from your enemies all around, so that you dwell in safety, 11. then it will be that the place which the LORD* your God will choose to cause His name to dwell there, there you will bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to the LORD*.12. And you will rejoice before the LORD* your God, you, your sons, your daughters, your menservants, your maid servants, and the Levite that is within your gates, forasmuch as he has no part or inheritance with you. 13. Guard yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see, 14. but in the place which the LORD* will choose in one of your tribes, there you will offer your burnt offerings, and there you will do all that I command you.
12:15. “Nevertheless you may kill and eat meat in all your gates, after all the lust of your soul, according to the blessing of the LORD* your God which He has given you. The unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the roebuck and as of the deer, 16. only you will not eat the blood, you will pour it upon the earth as water.
12:17. “You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, of your wine, of your oil, the firstlings of your herd or of your flock, any of your vows which you vow, your freewill offerings, or heave offering of your hand, 18. but you must eat them before the LORD* your God in the place which the LORD* your God will choose: you, your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, and the Levite who is within your gates. And you will rejoice before the LORD* your God in all that you put your hands to. 19. Watch out for yourself so you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live on your land.
12:20. “When the LORD* your God enlarges your border, as He has promised you, and you say ‘I shall eat meat.’ because your soul longs to eat meat, you may eat meat after all the lust of your body. 21. If the place which the LORD* your God has chosen to put His name is too far from you, then you will kill of your herd and of your flock, which the LORD* has given you, as I have commanded you and you will eat in your gates after all the lust of your body. 22. Even as the roebuck and the deer are eaten, so you will eat them, the unclean and the clean alike will eat them. 23. Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life and you may not eat the life with the flesh. 24. You will not eat it. You will pour it upon the earth as water. 25. You will not eat it, so it may go well with you and with your children after you, when you will do what is right in the sight of the LORD*.
12:26. “Only your holy things which you have and your vows, you will take and go to the place which the LORD* will choose 27. and you will offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD* your God. And the blood of your sacrifices will be poured out upon the altar of the LORD* your God and you will eat the meat. 28. Be careful to listen to all these words which I command you, so it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD* your God.
12:29. “When the LORD* your God will cut off the nations from before you, where you go to possess them and you succeed them and live in their land, 30. watch out for yourself so you are not trapped by following them, after they are destroyed from before you and that you do not inquire after their gods saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? Even so I shall do like them.’ 31. You will not do so to the LORD* your God, for every abomination to the LORD*, which He hates, have they done to their gods: for they have even burned their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.”
13.1. “Whatever I command you, be careful to do it: you will not add to it or take from it.” (Rev. 22:19)
Warning of Testing
13:2. “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams rises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 3. and the sign or the wonder comes to pass of which he spoke to you saying, ‘Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them.’ 4. You will not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD* your God does test you, to know whether you love the LORD* your God with all your heart and with all your being. (Rev. 13:14) 5. You will walk after the LORD* your God and revere Him, keep His commandments, obey His voice, and you will serve Him and cleave to Him. 6. And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams will be put to death, because he has spoken to turn you away from the LORD* your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust you out of the Way which the LORD* your God commanded you to walk in. So you will put the bad away from your midst.
13:7. “If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife of your bosom or your friend that is as your own being entices you secretly saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you or your fathers have not known, 8. of the gods of the peoples that are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth, 9. you will not agree with him or listen to him: neither will your eye pity him, nor will you spare, nor will you conceal him, 10. but you will surely kill him. Your hand will be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 11. And you will stone him with stones, so he dies, because he has sought to thrust you away from the LORD* your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.12. And all Israel will hear and be in awe, and will no longer do any such wickedness as this is in your midst.
13:13. “If you will hear in one of your cities, which the LORD* your God has given you to live there saying, 14. ‘Men, wicked fellows, have gone out from your midst and have taken the inhabitants of their city saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known.’ 15. Then you will inquire and search and ask diligently and, behold, if it is true and is certain that such an abomination is done in your midst, 16. you will surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly and all that is in it and its animals with the edge of the sword. 17. And you will gather all its spoils into the middle of its street and will burn entirely the city and all its spoils with fire for the LORD* your God, and it will be a heap forever. It will not be built again. 18. And none of the cursed thing will cling to your hand, so the LORD* will turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you compassion and have compassion upon you and multiply you, as He has sworn to your fathers, 19. when you listen to the voice of the LORD* your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you this day, to do what is right in the eyes of the LORD* your God.”
Do not Copy Heathen Practices.
14.1. “You are the children of the LORD* your God: you will not cut yourselves, or make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. 2. For you are a holy people to the LORD* your God and the LORD* has chosen you to be a peculiar people to Himself, above all the peoples that are on the earth.
14:3. “You will not eat any abominable thing. 4. These are the animals which you will eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5. the deer, the roebuck, the fallow deer, the wild goat, the antelope, the wild ox, and the chamois. 6. And every animal that parts the hoof, splits the hoof into two halves, and chews the cud among the animals – that you will eat. 7. Nevertheless these you will not eat of those that chew the cud or of those that divide the cloven hoof; the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, for they chew the cud, but do not divide the hoof; they are unclean to you. 8. And the swine, because it divides the hoof, yet does not chew the cud, it is unclean to you; you will not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcass.
14:9. “These you will eat of all that are in the waters: you will eat all that have fins and scales, 10. and whatever does not have fins and scales you may not eat. It is unclean for you.
14:11. “You will eat all clean birds. 12. But these are they of which you will not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the ospray, 13. the vulture, the kite, the falcon after its kind, 14. every raven after its kind, 15. the owl, the night hawk, the tern, the hawk after its kind, 16. the little owl, the great owl, the swan, 17. the pelican, the Egyptian vulture, the cormorant, 18. the stork, the heron after its kind, the lapwing, and the bat. 19. And every creeping thing that flies is unclean to you: they will not be eaten. 20. You may eat all clean fowls.
14:21. “You will not eat anything that dies of itself: you will give it to the stranger that is in your gates, so he may eat it or you may sell it to an alien, for you are a holy people to the LORD* your God.
“You will not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.”
Tithe
14:22. “You will truly tithe all the increase of your seed that the field brings forth year by year. 23. And you will eat before the LORD* your God, in the place which He will choose to place His name, there, the tithe of your grain, of your wine, of your oil, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks, so you can learn to revere the LORD* your God always. 24. And if the distance is too far for you, so that you are not able to carry it, or if the place which the LORD* your God will choose to set His name there is too far from you, when the LORD* your God has blessed you, 25. then you will turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and will go to the place which the LORD* your God will choose, 26. and you will give that money for whatever your body wants, for oxen, for sheep, for wine, for strong drink, or for whatever your inner being asks of you, and you will eat there before the LORD* your God and you will rejoice, you, your household, 27. and the Levite that is within your gates. You will not forsake him, for he has no part or inheritance with you.
14:28. “At the end of three years you will bring forth all the tithe of your increase the same year and will lay it up within your gates, 29. and the Levite (because he has no part or inheritance with you), the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates will come, and. will eat and be satisfied, so the LORD* your God will bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.”
Release, Every Seventh Year
15.1. “At the end of seven years you will make a release. 2. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor who lends to his neighbor will release it. He will not ask for it of his neighbor, or of his brother because a release has been proclaimed to the LORD*. 3. You may demand it from a foreigner but your hand will release that which is yours with your brother, 4. but there will be no poor among you, for the LORD* will greatly bless you in the land which the LORD* your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it: 5. only if you carefully listen to the voice of the LORD* your God, to guard to do all these commandments which I command you this day. 6. For the LORD* your God blesses you, as He promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow, and you will reign over many nations, but they will not reign over you.
15:7. “If there is a poor man with you of one of your brothers within any of your gates in your land which the LORD* your God gives you, you will not harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother, 8. but you will open your hand wide to him and will surely lend him sufficient for his need, for that which he lacks. (1 John 3:17) 9. Beware that there is not a wicked thought in your heart saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand” and your eye is evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing and he cries to the LORD* against you then it is a sin for you. 10. You will surely give to him and your heart will not be grieved when you give to him. Because of this, the LORD* your God will bless you in all your works and in all that you put your hand to. 11. For the poor will never cease out of the land. (Matt. 26:11, John 12:8) Therefore I command you saying, “You will open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor, and to your needy in your land.”
Bond Servant Release
15:12. “And if your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he will serve you six years and in the seventh year you will let him go free from you. 13.And when you send him out free from you, you will not let him go away empty. 14. You will furnish him liberally from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your wine press. You will give to him from that with which the LORD* your God has blessed you. 15. And you will remember that you were a bondman in the land of Egypt and the LORD* your God redeemed you. Therefore I command you this today. 16. And it will be, if he says to you, I shall not go away from you, because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you, 17. then you will take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door and he will be your servant forever. And you will also do likewise for your maidservant. 18. It will not seem hard to you when you send him away free from you, for to the double of the hire of a hireling has he served you six years, and the LORD* your God will bless you in all that you do.”
Firstborn of Herd and Flock
15:19. “All the firstling males that come from your herd and your flock you will sanctify to the LORD* your God. You will do no work with the firstling of your ox or shear the firstling of your sheep. 20. You will eat it before the LORD* your God year by year in the place which the LORD* will choose, you and your household. 21.And if there is any blemish in it, as if it is lame, blind, or has any ill blemish, you will not sacrifice it to the LORD* your God. 22. You will eat it within your gates, the unclean and the clean will eat it alike, like the roebuck and the deer. 23. Only you will not eat its blood. You will pour it on the ground like water.”
Passover
16.1. “Observe the month of Aviv and keep the Passover to the LORD* your God, for in the month of Aviv the LORD* your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2.Therefore you will sacrifice the Passover to the LORD* your God, from the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD* will choose to place His name there. 3.You will eat no leavened bread with it.”
Feast of Unleavened Bread
“You will eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, for seven days, for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste, so you will remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. 4. And there will be no leavened bread seen with you in your entire border seven days. Neither will anything of the meat, which you sacrificed the first day at evening, remain all night until the morning. 5. You may not sacrifice the Passover offering within any of your gates, which the LORD* your God gives you, 6. but at the place which the LORD* your God will choose to place His name. There you will sacrifice the Passover offering at evening, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came out of Egypt. 7. And you will roast and eat it in the place which the LORD* your God will choose, and you will turn in the morning and go to your tents. 8. Six days you will eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day will be a solemn assembly to the LORD* your God, you will do no work on it.”
Feast of Weeks
16:9. “You will number seven weeks for yourselves: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as you begin to put the sickle to the grain. 10. And you will keep the Feast of Weeks, Shavuot, to the LORD* your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you will give to the LORD* your God, according as the LORD* your God has blessed you. 11. And you will rejoice before the LORD* your God, you, your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, the Levite that is within your gates, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow that are in your midst, in the place which the LORD* your God has chosen to place His name there.
12. And you will remember that you were a bondman in Egypt, and you will observe and do these statutes.”
Feast of Booths
16:13. “You will observe the Feast of Booths, Sukkot, seven days, after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your wine press. 14. And you will rejoice in your feast, you, your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates. 15. You will keep a solemn feast to the LORD* your God for seven days in the place which the LORD* will choose, because the LORD* your God will bless you in all your increase and in all the works of your hands, therefore you will surely rejoice.”
Three Feasts Mandatory Each Year
16:16. “Three times in a year all your males will appear before the LORD* your God in the place which He will choose during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Sukkot. And they will not appear before the LORD* empty: 17. each man will give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD* your God which He has given you.”
Next week’s Torah readings: Shoftim
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Download the Lesson 47 NOTES; click HERE
Torah Lesson #47 Re’eh Torah 1.0 by Dr. Chad Foster
רְאֵה = (reh-AY) = Behold!; see Deuteronomy 11:26
Devarim’s Ancient Hebrew name: Mishneh HaTorah = repetition of the Torah = מְשַׁנֶּה הַתּוֹרָה
Torah: Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:11 – 55:5 “No Weapon Formed Against You; Trees and Fields will Clap Their Hands”
Gospel: John 6:35 – 51 “I am the bread of life.”
VIDEO
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i1ytgzzjtfpdqhj/Torah 1_0%3B See %22the I%22 that I give _%3B Deuteronomy 11 26%3B Parashat Re eh%28480p%29.mp4?dl=0
AUDIO
https://soundcloud.com/immlutheran/parashat-reeh?in=immlutheran/sets/torah-1-0
https://immlutheran.org/torah-1-0/
The theme throughout Torah Portions: Where is Messiah?
This Torah Portion gives us the ability to apply the methodology learned over the year to interpret and understand the text from a 1-century Galilean mindset, using…
· Hebraic toolbox
· PaRDeS
Fundamental Axiom: Living with the Times
· TP’s Re’eh, Shoftim, Ki Tetze contain the bulk of the mitzvot given to us by God
· Re’eh has 55 mitzvot…
o Most are only applicable to a Jewish person living in Israel while the Tabernacle/Temple system is in place, with an active priesthood
o Not us!
So, if it doesn’t apply to us, what do we do when we come across a such a large, unapplicable (to us) portion of Scripture?
Has it all been replaced?
Is it obsolete?
Is it unnecessary, so it’s justifiable to just skip over it?
· The right methodology will always help us get meaning out of this text
· First step: Always Know the Times
o God’s schedule and time:
What’s the current Hebrew month?
What month is coming up?
What festivals have just happened, are happening, and about to happen?
o Re’eh normally falls near Rosh Chodesh (new moon) = first of the month of Elul - Elul is one month before Rosh HaShanah…
· Forms a grounding, sets the times for us…
o Where our mind, spirit, focus need to be when we read Re’eh
o Elul is one of God’s Appointed Times = Moedim (moe-ah-DEEM) = מוֹעֵדִים
Intense month of spiritual preparation for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur
· Biblical form of Lent
· 40 days – all of Elul and 10 days of Tishrei 8:10
o Scripture readings would include explicit and implicit allusions to what’s going on around us…
Re’eh - allusions to the Days of Awe (= Yamim Noraim = יָמִים נוֹרָאִים = the 10 days starting with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur, also known as Days of Repentance)
· First verse in the Torah Portion Re’eh makes this clear:
Deuteronomy 11:26-28 26 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.
· “Re’eh” = “See” – keep your eyes wide open –
o examine the choices life is presenting you with, and…
accept the consequences for the choices that you make
o See how you are living your life in relationship to those around you and in relationship with God
Next week’s TP is Shoftim = Judges: Deuteronomy 16:18 You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your gates, which the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
· Pashat Level: implies to society at-large, we take the times and relate to the private and personal realm as well…
o Time of year when personal introspection is called for… 11:30
Torah is telling us to appoint an internal judge to judge our own thoughts, speech, actions, and…
· enforce discipline, take pragmatic changes when necessary
o the judges are the sole forces within us recognize the truth and provide us with a plan to change ourselves for the better
o we must be ready to go to war to bring about the changes we need
internal, spiritual war
· Shoftim is telling us to judge ourselves and hold ourselves accountable.
TP Ki Tetze = when you go forth: Deuteronomy 21:10 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and Adonai your God hands them over to you, and you take them captive,
· Again transferring the commandment form the sociopolitical realm to the private and personal one
· Emphasizing that the enemy is the evil inclination, and…
· those character traits within us that need rectification
· when we realize that the enemy is us, God comes to our aid
· when something is done to us, that’s the opportunity for us to work on ourselves…
o How will I choose to respond?
o What will I choose to do?
o There will be a war within us…
There are things we want to do, want to say, want to act…
But we know that there are ways that are better
· There is always the possibility of connection to God
· We must be prepared to deal with the issues when they come up…
o When we do this Ki Tetze promises that Divine assistance is forthcoming
· Do not lose sight of the fundamental sense of joy that should pervade our Divine service, or…
o lose sight of where we are heading
The Day of the LORD, the Great Day, on That Day, etc. it always means Rosh HaShanah
· Beyond Pashat level -- All the TP’s leading up to Rosh HaShanah explain how to maximize the days and perform the spiritual work that must be undertaken so we can reap the greatest benefit
When we listen to Torah and internalize its message we will fulfill the dictum of living in our time to the highest form
· Entering the season of Elul…
o when you can affect big changes in your life
o Elul is the month of mercy
o When we get ready for a new beginning, a new year
· If I could only start over, or if I can only have a 2nd chance, or I wish it was just the beginning, or I want to change…
o All the TP’s beginning with Ekev thru Re’eh, Shoftim, Ki Tetze give you the spiritual blueprint to make all of that happen
Seeing with the Messiah’s Eyes
· A walk thru the Garden = another name for PaRDeS: Pashat, Remez, Derash, Sod
o garden/orchard = pardes = פַּרְדֵּס
· Using the Derash level to look at:
Deuteronomy 11:26 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:
Why does Torah tell us to See? Why not use the words know, be aware, or realize?
Are blessings and curses actually visible?
· Yes, but sometimes what we thought was a blessing turned out to be a curse, and visa versa
· Torah is referring to Seeing that transcends the physical…
o See at a deeper level oh, now I get it!
o It’s not about physical sight at all
· “Seeing with the Eye’s of Messiah” – Rabbi Shlomo Karabakh (Carlebach?)
o Seeing the whole forest and not the individual trees
· Talmud, Tamid 32a paragraph 7: the wise person is “one who sees that which is born”
https://www.sefaria.org/Tamid.32a.7?lang=en
o Meaning: a wise person discerns all the potential consequences of his actions
What will his actions give birth to? 20:00
· Activate this type of sight during Elul
This is the deeper meaning behind Yeshua and Yeshua healing blind people…
· It was never about Yeshua healing physical blindness
· Yeshua said that He never taught without teaching in parables… Matthew 13:13
o Literally everything He did had a parable aspect to it, including His miracles
· That was the sign. John’s gospel only says that Yeshua did “signs”, doesn’t use the word miracle
Why?
o STOP sign analogy - points to something bigger than itself
o Sign points to something beyond itself
· Which is easier to say as a gospel writer:
o “Hey, blind man, open your eyes and see!”, or…
o “Unenlightened one, open your mind, your heart and your soul and see God.”
But so that you may know that the Son of Man can open your heart to God, I say to this blind person, see, eyes be opened Mark 8:25; Ephesians 1:17-18; 1 John 5:20
· Anybody can say that they can forgive your sins and connection you to God…
o There’s no way to test or measure whether or not their sins are forgiven
· Yeshua was promising all these amazing spiritual things:
o chiefly connection to His Father, Oneness with the Father, removal of chaos, immortality…
o since anyone can say that, Yeshua said blind person see, lame person walk, deaf person hear…those things can be measured
o if He says get up and walk, and the lame person gets up and walks then…
His Word is good, and…
What He says about the deeper things
· the thing that that was just a sign pointing to
o then that also must be true
So, this is why Yeshua was about healing the blind, the deaf, the maimed it was pointing to something much deeper than just the miracle. Yeshua was about giving people “Messiah eyes”,…
o Being able to see the reality in this world the way He did… 25:00
o opening our hearts, freeing our minds, releasing guilt, removing the fog of misinformation and doubt…
o raising our God consciousness to a level of seeing…
seeing our actions and their consequences and seeing the connections and seeing God
Let’s keep walking through the garden…looking at the Remez (hint) level:
hint = remez (REH-mehz) = רֶמֶז
This Is Also for the Good
· Torah reveals the Shema in Deuteronomy 6, after God denies Moses permission to enter the Promised Land…this hints at something…
o It suggests that our knowledge and faith in God is strengthened precisely thru a hardship or crisis
· The Remez hint is found in TP Re’eh:
o blessing = brakhah (BRAH-khah) = בְּרָכָה , and
o curse = kelalah (keh-lah-lah) = קְלָלָה
beyt בְּ and kuf קְ have a numerical value = 102 = 2+1
significant because…
o faith = emunah (eh-MOO-nah) = אֱמוּנָה = 102 = 5+50+6+40+1
· This tells us that true faith derives from realizing that God is the source of all things…
o even things that appear to be curses
o which is why the Talmud instructs to bless both the good and what initially appears to be bad
o Job 1:21b hints at this: “Adonai gave and Adonai has taken away; blessed be the Name of Adonai.” 28:00
o Whether it appears to be good or bad, you bless the LORD
· This is also an Apostlic teaching:
Romans 8:28 Now we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.
31 What then shall we say in view of these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [f] 32 He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things?
35 What shall separate us from the love of Messiah? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? NO!
37 But in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.
So, we’re given this hint that true faith comes about and is strengthened when not only in blessings, but in curses, we still find a joyous connection to our Creator.
Ego Clarification and the Power of Punctuation
· Using a Derash level to get there, but we’ll delve into the Sod level:
Deuteronomy 11:26 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:
· Most Bibles have this as the English translation of the Hebrew using the words…
o Look, See, some way of drawing attention to the fact that I’m placing before you a blessing and a curse
· It can be read in a different manner from the Derash level…
o Hebrew has no punctuation
o Punctuation can dictate meaning
· Dr Chad’s translation:
“See, the ‘I’ – the ego – placed within you today; this itself can be either a blessing or a curse.”
· Both translations are true! It’s like an onion…
o Giving you different information;
o giving you a different face of the diamond – shining light on a different angle
· the unique character that you are can be a blessing or a curse
o Baal Shem Tov commenting on
Deuteronomy 5:5a: while I was standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; NASB1995
o He translated the words Moses spoke to the people this way:
“I was standing between God and you at the time to relate the Word of the LORD to you”
o Most people understand this verse to mean that Moses was between God and the people –
Moses was in the middle
God spoke to Moses then Moses spoke to the people
o Which is a true translation and understanding; it fits with the story – Moses was always the intermediary between God and the people
o But, without punctuation, it can be read:
“The I, my ego, myself, was standing between you and God.”
The I, the ego, is what stands between you and God…
· Moses implying that the aspect of I, the ego stands between a person and God
· 2 words for the pronoun “I” in Hebrew:
o I = ani (ah-NEE)= אֲנִי most commonly used
o I = anochiy (ahno-CHEE) = אָנוֹכִי
When used it is hinting at something…
ego = anochiyut (ahno-CHEE-yoot) = אָנוֹכִיּוּת
o anochi is related to the ego
· a great paradox at work here…
o the pure soul is at one with God and has no real independent status, yet…
o God has imbued us with a soul and fashioned us in such a way that we feel quite independent…
He’s given us anochi
o Inherently, the ego is neither a blessing nor a curse…
It depends on how much you clarify your sense of self
· Anochi has an additional letter kof כִ
o When the letters of the word ani are permuted, they spell -- nothing = ain (eye-EEN) = אַיִן
אֲנִי - אַיִן
ani - ain
o hinting at a profound truth: the ego truly does stand between us and God…
Deuteronomy 5:5
even between us and other people, and our own self 38:00
o when it does this it can be labeled a curse…
only when we allow the ego to go unchecked –
· giving our animal impulses full reign over our thought, speech and action
· But, if we can make the ani ain, the I, ego nothing…
o then we can channel the ego in the right direction
How?
· By attaching to our Messiah, the righteous teachers in our generation, and…
· becoming an instrument for doing good and aiding other in fulfilling life goals…
o in this sense the ani, I, ego is a blessing
The story of being stuck in a long line of cars waiting for a freight train to pass: what’s better -- road rage or road zen?
Is my ani / I / ego going to be a blessing or a curse?
You have choices: see, look, look within yourself
Moses is teaching us to manage and to clarify the ego to such a degree that God can work in and with us and thru us.
Yeshua speaks of this in John 17:22 The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;
· we become one when we empty ourselves of our own ego and fill it with the things of God
o when our vessel become empty of self, our ani become ain, when the self become nothing, then God can fill the space
Charity
· Pashat level:
Deuteronomy 15:7-8 7 “If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your [b]towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; 8 but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks.
Tzedakah; righteousness/charity/alms = tzedakah (tzehd-AH-kah) = צְדָקָה
· Hebrew word for charity = tzedakah (tzehd-AH-kah) = צְדָקָה
o Really means righteousness related to justice
o Different from the Greek worldview of charity = charis = χάρις Strong’s G5485 - About giving something to someone in need
When Yeshua speaks of tzedakah = charity is about making things right
· Charity from a Biblical perspective, is not a handout it’s about correcting something that is wrong
· Central pillar of followers of Abraham
· Reflects God’s own nature – an act of pure grace
· The gospels and epistles constantly encourage us to give to those in need
· Yeshua quotes Deuteronomy 15:11 in John 12:8; Matthew 26:11; Mark 14:7
For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”
o He expects us to be aware of that
Matthew 6:2 So whenever you do tzedakah, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Amen, I tell you, they have their reward in full!
o WHEN you give to the poor, not IF you give 48:00
o He points out that even the hypocrites give
· The commandment to give and the prohibition not to deny charity apply to everyone and every time and every place
· Our Father in heaven asks us in Deuteronomy 15:11 “…to freely open our hand to our brother.”
· Talmud: everybody is obliged to give, even one who himself depends upon being given to, should give to those less fortunate than himself
· An important principle: giving to someone in such a way that it will benefit them, and truly make the connection that they understand they are to give to someone less fortunate then them.
o There’s always somebody less fortunate…
o You can always help someone else
· We only receive the true connection to God when we receive if we receive in such a way that our desire and our ultimate goal is to share it as well…
o Dead Sea or Sea of Galilee analogies
· Talmud, Tractate Nedarim 50a, paragraph 3, speaks of always finding someone to help: “Rabbi Akiva and his wife were so poor that they only had straw to sleep on. One night, heaven tested them and sent Elijah disguised as a stranger to knock at the door and he begged, “Please help me! My wife is in confinement and does not even have straw in which to lie” Akiva got up and gave the man the straw. And then he said to his wife, “You see, there is a man who doesn’t even have straw!”
https://www.sefaria.org/Nedarim.50a?lang=bi
· In Mattew 6, Yeshua listed tzedakah, charity as one of the 3 principal acts of righteousness
o In Hebrew charity and righteousness are synonymous
o In the texts where it says “your righteousness”, and when Yeshua speaks of righteousness, He’s speaking of tzedakah
· Paul plays on this double meaning of tzedakah for charity, alms, righteousness, quoting Psalm 112:9:
2 Corinthians 9:8-11 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; 9 as it is written,
“He scattered abroad, he gave to the poor, His righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; 11 you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.
· When we give, we should do without fanfare or accolades
· Yeshua tells us not to announce it with trumpets, it should be done in secret as much as possible Matthew 6:1-4
The Eight Ascending Levels of Tzedakah (Maimonides = Rambam)
1. One who gives sadly and reluctantly
2. One who gives less than is fitting, but with a good disposition
3. One who gives only after being asked to give
4. One who gives before being asked
5. One who gives in such a way that he does not know who is receiving it
6. One who gives in such a manner that the recipient does not know who the donor is
7. One who gives in total anonymity so that he does not know who will receive it and the receiver does not know who gave it
8. One who helps the poor to rehabilitate themselves by “lending” them money, taking them into partnerships, employing them, or giving them work, for in this way the end of assistance is achieved without any loss of self-respect at all
· Tzedakah, giving is a powerful spiritual technology – it helps to shave the ego
· Everything you have isn’t yours – you are a steward…
o God can take it away in a second
· What you have is a gift, and you have responsibilities because of that…
o Has a way of keeping you humble
· Giving has a way of molding you spiritually in a positive light
· The biggest part of giving is doing it in such a way that doesn’t bring shame to a person…
o Poor man doing more for the wealthy #8
· Charity from a Western point of view sees it as the wealthy are helping the poor
· The poor man gives the giver the opportunity to perform a mitzvah, a connection, a commandment
· This also means that you have to be willing to let people help you when you need it…
o When you do, you are allowing the helper to make a connection to God
o If I really need help, and you really want to help me, but I refuse your help, then I have denied you the ability to connect to God…
I’m the one who transgressed
· Western culture makes this difficult because it values “I can do it myself”, “I don’t need help”, “I won’t ask for help”
Be a good receiver!
Don’t close doors for people!
Don’t deny someone their mitzvah, their connection to God!
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