ACHAREI MOT TORAH : LEVITICUS 16:1-18:30| PROPHETS : EZEKIEL 22:1-19| GOSPEL : MATTHEW 15:10-20; MARK 12:28-34


Acharei Mot: A Hot Mess? - YouTube

OzTorah » Blog Archive » All on your own – Acharei MotCategory: Parasha Acharei Mot - 29-5776

Leviticus 16:1–34 (ESV) - Leviticus 16:1–34 ESV - The LORD spoke to… | Biblia

Becoming Pure - Parashat Acharei Mot - Matan

There is a saying in the rooms of recovery…

Aim for progress, not perfection – Happy Act

There are many of us who have come out of a traumatic childhood and are struggling with the aftermath of using drugs and alcohol and other forms of addictions that helped us numb the painful shame. Some of us are still struggling with those addictions.

As we strive to walk in obedience to the Fathers instructions found in Torah,  some of us may forget that we are to walk with Yeshua, the Sacrificial Lamb. According to 1 John 1:9 when we are faithful to confess our sins to Him, He is faithful to forgive AND to cleanse us for ALL unrighteousness.

Strong’s Definitions [?](Strong’s Definitions Legend)
ἀδικία adikía, ad-ee-kee’-ah; from G94; (legal) injustice (properly, the quality, by implication, the act); morally, wrongfulness (of character, life or act):—iniquity, unjust, unrighteousness, wrong.

But, if you are anything like me, that just is not good enough…that thing I did ruminates over and over in my mind, driving me to go to Him yet again,  begging Him to forgive me.

Is that necessary? Somehow I doubt it. I am thinking that is more the tactic of the trickster, harassing me, lying to me whispering to me “I am  different,  the exception, my sin is so much worse than others , I am unforgivable.” That is a lie straight from the pit of hell…you see, He IS faithful to forgive. His blood is THAT powerful. To wash even you clean from all unrighteousness. That is THE Good News!!!

 

Create in Me a Clean Heart (Matthew 15:1-20) - YouTube

Oh Abba, how we yearn for You to reach deep down inside of all the brokenness and wash us clean, heal us, deliver us from ourselves and the destructive ways within our own hearts that we not sin against you or do harm to another human being!

Pin by Tara Gordon on יהודה | Learn hebrew, Hebrew words, Hebrew lessons

The greatest joy I have had in my life is serving others, coming alongside of someone and letting them know they are not alone, they are heard and there is hope…in Him.

THE POWER OF HOPE | Dare To Believe - Inspirational & Motivational Video - YouTube

Yeshua gave us hope, giving everything He had, His very life, enabling us to cry out to Him for teshuva!

 

A word from Big Brother Judah on this weeks Torah Portion.

“And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself and for his home”—Leviticus 16:6.

This week’s portion describes the special service performed by the High Priest in the Holy Temple on the Day of Atonement.

One of the special confessional prayers that the High Priest pronounced on that day was in order “to make an atonement for himself and for his home.” The accepted interpretation is that “his home” refers here to his wife. We learn from this verse that to be eligible to perform the service on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest had to be married. The question is, if the intent of the verse is to tell us that the High Priest must be married, then why is this not stated explicitly rather than referring idiomatically to his wife as his “home”?

From this elevated perspective, the woman he married was not merely his wife but his homeThe answer is that this holiest of days demanded a special degree of sanctity. As such, the High Priest had to be on a level where he did not desire personal fulfillment but rather sought to be purely of service to G‑d. Thus, in his private life as well, he needed to see his marriage not as personal relationship but as a much greater objective in being useful to G‑d. From this elevated perspective, the woman he married was not merely his wife but his home.

Many of us have entered recovery because of a relationship with a spouse or a significant other. Perhaps we thought we could save a marriage that was on the brink of collapse. In some cases, we were already divorced and took that as our wake-up call. Some of us were trying to revive a dying relationship by making good on old promises to get our drinking under control. Others were just practicing appeasement. Whatever the case, a crisis in our most intimate of personal relationships was often a primary motivation for coming into recovery.

What a letdown it was for many of us to learn that being clean and sober was not the elixir of love that we sought. Recovery didn’t suddenly make us so irresistibly charming and desirable that we could continue our old shenanigans with impunity. To the contrary, recovery demanded that we be the ones to change. We had to be meticulously self-scrutinizing. We had to be accepting. We had to let go of resentments no matter what the other person had done. We had to be humble, admit our wrongs and make amends whether or not the other person was along for the ride of recovery. Recovery demanded from us an exceedingly lofty level of self-transcendence in our home life—a kind of selflessness that most husbands and wives never even consider attainable. But that’s what was demanded of us. We could no longer be self-serving in any way, especially not when it came to the subject of marriage. We had to let go of the illusion that love was supposed to deliver personal gratification to our doorstep and instead embrace the fact that our closest relationships are truly for the purpose of building an edifice that is of use to G‑d.

SHEMOT TORAH : EXODUS 1:1-6:1| PROPHETS : ISAIAH 27:6-28:13, 29:22-23| GOSPEL : MATTHEW 2:1-12


Shemot biblestudyresourcecenter.com. Shemot Exodus 1:1 – 6:1 Haftarah: Isaiah 27:6-28:13; 29:22-23 Gospel: Luke 5:12-39 Shemot = “Names” The 13 th Torah. - ppt download

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exodus 1:1-6:1, shemot “names”

exodus 2 and 3

 

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Big Brother Judah’s word on recovery drawn from this weeks Torah portion:

A New Perspective – Shemot

“…The bush was burning in the fire, but the bush was not consumed. And Moses said: Let me move away from here and see this great sight…”—Exodus 3:2-3.

The first portion of the Book of Exodus describes Moses’ ascendance as the leader and redeemer of his people. His first experience of being openly called upon by G‑d takes place at the burning bush. When Moses beholds this miracle, he declares, “Let me move away from here and see this great sight…”

In simple terms, Moses physically moved from the place where he was standing in order to gain a better view of the burning bush. On a deeper level, the verse describes a shift in spiritual perspective as well. If one wishes to behold the divine, he must be ready to move from his current stance and assume a new way of looking at things. One must never be so complacent as to refuse to budge from his present view. Thus, upon encountering the divine, even a righteous and highly refined individual such as Moses saw fit to move to a new vantage point. As the ancient legal maxim goes, “Man is always partial to himself.” Therefore, we must always “move away from here”—from the inherent subjectivity of where we stand and try to see things from an angle outside of our present stance.

Even a highly refined individual such as Moses saw fit to move to a new vantage pointFor the alcoholic and addict, the need to look at things from a new perspective is essential to recovery. The first admission of powerlessness requires an abandonment of our old view of ourselves.

Later, our personal stock-taking and amends to others force us to look upon our relationships in a completely new light, swallowing some truths we may never before have even considered. As we progress, we come to see how our perspective is almost always skewed by self-justification. We learn to humble ourselves and seek the objective opinion of a sponsor. In other words, we learn not to rely solely on our own view.

In this light, G‑d‘s decision to reveal Himself to Moses in a thorn bush is also significant. G‑d could have chosen a more majestic tree, the towering cedar perhaps. But G‑d desired to show Himself to Moses in the midst of a small and scraggly shrub. A lofty ego cannot serve as a resting place for the divine. G‑d reveals Himself in that which is humble. Reacting in kind, Moses showed humility in abruptly surrendering his stance and moving to a new point of view. Pride tells us we can dictate terms on which G‑d is to come to us; that He should meet us where we stand. But with such inflexibility we only deprive ourselves of communion with G‑d. At last, we find that our view of G‑d is much better when we are willing to “move away from here,” to step away from our own egos and see things with new eyes.

 

The Maccabbee’s Bright Lights in A Pitch Black World


 

1 The Maccabean Revolt: Between Tradition and History By Steven H. Werlin  In modern Judaism, the holiday of Chanukah celebratesJudas Maccabeus - WikipediaDecember | 2017 | The Deadliest Blogger: Military History Page

275: Be the Maccabee!!!! The Maccabean Revolt for Catholics Today - Taylor  Marshall

…Lights of the World, that is who we are, filled with His ruach hakodesh…

Hanukkah: The Courage of the Maccabees

Chanukkah-Hanukkah-menorah-hanukkiah

A Jewish boy lights multiple Hanukkah menorahs on the second night ofHanukkah, as a neon menorah glows in the background.

Today is the first day of Hanukkah.  Last night, the first light of the hanukkiah was kindled in homes and public venues as this special holiday began.

As the sun sets here in Jerusalem, the second night of Hanukkah begins.

Perhaps the best-known custom of Hanukkah is the lighting of the hanukkiah, and tonight, all around the world, two candles will be lit on the hanukkiah (special Hanukkah menorah)!

Chanukah-hanukkah-menorah-hanukkiah-gelt-dreidel-dontus-sufganiyot

Symbols of Hanukkah: the hanukkiah, sufganiyot (jam-filled donuts), gel (chocolate coins), and dreidels (tops).

This special menorah is used only at Hanukkah, and although it is reminiscent of the seven-branched light stand that stood in the Temple, it is different.

Instead of having seven branches like the Temple Menorah, the hanukkiah has eight candles, as well as a special candle called a shamash.  Since the shamash is used to light all the other candles, it is considered to be the servant candle.

This ninth candle is most often elevated over the eight other candles in the hanukkiah and sometimes placed in the middle.

Since the second day of Hanukkah begins tonight, a second light will be added to the hanukkiah.  With the shamash, there will be three lights glowing on the Hanukkah menorah.

On each night of Hanukkah, one additional candle is added to the hanukkiah. On the last night, the shamash lights all eight candles so that all of the lights shine together.

Fully lit oil hanukkiah with the shamash raised at the end.

Fully lit oil hanukkiah with the shamash raised at the end.

In addition to lighting the hanukkiah, it is also customary to read stories, spin the dreidel, sing Hanukkah songs, and eat foods fried in oil.

Sufganiyot (donuts), which are a favorite here in Israel, and latkes (potato pancakes) served with sour cream and applesauce, are two traditional Hanukkah foods.

As fattening as these deep fried foods are, they are prepared in order to memorialize the miracle God did in restoring the Temple in Jerusalemand saving the Jewish People from the Greek/Syrian army.  (It’s all about the story of the olive oil!)

Sufganiyot-donut-chanukkah-hanukkah

A Jewish girl eats a sufganiyah on Hanukkah. This fried food of Hanukkah memorializes the miracle of a one-day supply of holy oil burning for eight days while the Temple was rededicated.

Hanukkah: A Great Miracle Happened Here

The word Hanukkah comes from the Hebrew word hanukh, which means dedication or education.

Hanukkah is celebrated as the Feast of Dedication to remember the re-dedication of the Temple after God faithfully delivered Israel from her oppressors.

In fact, the reason for lighting eight candles is to present to Israel and the world a visual reminder of God’s faithfulness and the miraculous story of Hanukkah.

Between the years 175 to 163 BC, after the death of Alexander the Great, who had conquered and divided the entire ancient world of the Eastern Mediterranean, the area of Judea came under control of the Greek King Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

Antiochus tried to force the Jews to accept Greek culture. He even defiled the Beit HaMikdash (Temple in Jerusalem) by sacrificing a pig on the altar and desecrating this holy place with the blood of this unclean animal.

As described in the book of the Maccabees in the Apocrypha, this wicked ruler forbade the Jewish people from keeping God’s laws.  In fact, the penalty for keeping the Torah was death.  Many Jewish people chose martyrdom over defying God’s commandments.

Dreidels

Since the Greeks outlawed the study of the Torah, when someone approached, the Torah was hidden and dreidels were taken out and played like a game of chance.  Their oppressors thought the Jewish people were playing a children’s game when they were actually pursuing the things of God.  The letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin stand for nes gadol haya sham, meaning a great miracle happened there.  In Israel, however, the letters are nun, gimmel, hey, pey meaning a great miracle happened here (poh).

Antiochus also erected a statue of the Greek false god, Zeus, in the Holy of Holies!

As horrible as this was, it fulfilled the Hebrew Prophet Daniel’s prophecy concerning the “abomination of desolation.”

The Prophet Daniel wrote: “His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice.  Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.  With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.”  (Daniel 11:31–32)

A Jewish revolt against this assault on Judaism rose up led by the courageous freedom fighters called the Maccabees.

This name is an acronym standing for the Hebrew phrase Mi kamocha ba’elim Adonai, which means Who is like you, Lord, among the gods?

latkes-sour cream-applesauce-Hanukkah delight

Delicious potato latkes served with generous dollops of sour cream and applesauce—a real Hanukkah delight!

Although greatly outnumbered and overpowered, Yehudah (Judah) the Maccabee led his brothers and some other Jewish men in a valiant battle to drive out tens of thousands of Greeks and reclaim the Temple.

God helped this small but courageous group of men to win the victory in 163 BC, taking back Jerusalem and rededicating the Temple to God.

Jewish law requires the Temple Menorah to stay lit 24 hours a day using consecrated oil, but tradition has it that they only found a one-day supply of sealed, consecrated oil; however, the oil miraculously burned for a whole eight days—the time it took to prepare the sanctified oil for lighting the Menorah every day after.

Hanukkiah-hanukkah-chanukkah

The most common tradition at Hanukkah is lighting the hanukkiah.  It is lit in remembrance of the eight days that the Golden Menorah in the Holy Temple kept burning on a one-day supply of oil.

Yeshua: the Shamash Who Kindled the Light in Our Hearts and Lives

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”  (Mark 10:45)

Since Hanukkah is not a holiday ordained by God in the Torah, some wonder if Yeshua (Jesus) actually celebrated it.

The answer is a resounding yes!

“It was winter, and the Festival of the Dedication was being held in Jerusalem.  Yeshua was walking in the Temple precincts, in Solomon’s Portico.  The Jews gathered round Him and asked: ‘How long must you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah say so plainly.’”  (John 10:22–24)

Yeshua went to Jerusalem for the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), and while in the Temple area He proclaimed, “I and the Father are one.”  (John 10:30)

Chanukkah-hanukkah-hanukkiah

Shamash: Yeshua the Messiah, like the shamash candle, kindles the light in our hearts and brings us out of darkness into the light of life.

Just as the shamash on the hanukkiah is the servant candle that lights the other eight candles, Yeshua the Messiah came as a servant to be the light that shines in and through us to others.

John confirms that Yeshua is the light that darkness cannot overcome.

“In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”  (John 1:4–5)

Darkness has no power over the light.  When the lights are turned on, the darkness disappears immediately!  It’s never a struggle or a contest.  Light wins every time!

“When Yeshua spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”  (John 8:12)

This gold replica of the ancient Temple Menorah sits opposite the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, ready for service in the Third Temple

Israeli children gather around the recreated Temple Menorah, which is on display in Jerusalem.  The Temple Institute created this Menorah for use in the Third Temple, which will inevitably by built.

The Significance of the Menorah

When the Holy Temple was restored during the time of the Maccabees, the act of re-lighting the Menorah in the Temple represented restoring God’s presence there.

The Temple was set up so that the Jewish people would have a place to come and meet with God.  And while the Menorah was placed inside the Holy Place, the Jewish sages teach that the windows in the Sanctuary walls were no ordinary windows:

“For what is normally considered the function of windows?  To let the light in.  But these windows were in order to let the light the out—to disseminate the spiritual light emanating from the Temple Menorah out into the world.  The Sanctuary’s windows allowed the special ethereal light coming forth from the Menorah to burst out to the world from within the hallowed hall.”  (Temple Institute)

While the Bible makes it clear that the Temple will once again be rebuilt, today, those who know Yeshua do have spiritual light and are the dwelling place for the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh).

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”  (1 Corinthians 3:16)

Without the presence and Light of God shining on us, we are all lost.  Moreover, without the presence and Light of God shining in us and out from us, we cannot minister His Good News of saving grace to others.

What Hanukkah and the Maccabean Revolt Have to Do with JesusMaccabees Archives · Mini Manna Moments

 

THIS WEEK SHOFTIM TORAH : DEUTERONOMY 16:18-21:9| PROPHETS : ISAIAH 51:12-52:12| GOSPEL : JOHN 14:9-20


 

Torah portion reading this week Shoftim Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9

 

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I stumbled upon this incredible article and I wanted to share it with you! How amazing our Yah is!

 

YHWH and Marginalization: Israel’s Widows and Abuelita Theology

by Katrina Armas | January 30, 2021

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. The idea of human rights—fundamental rights for each human irrespective of his or her gender, social status, or origin1—is a characteristic of our modern world and a fruit of the Enlightenment. However, many scholars believe that the tradition-historical root of human rights is the Hebrew Bible, as its ideas of social justice remained subversively effective, impacting modern views of social justice.2 The theology of the book of Deuteronomy and the anthropology of the creation traditions of the Hebrew Bible had a deep impact on the formation of the modern world, particularly as it pertains to justice for the marginalized in society.

When it comes to human rights, ancient Israel was commanded by YHWH to protect and honor the dignity of one of society’s most vulnerable groups: widows. Today, Christian theology still expects care for the “least of these” (recall Matt 25:40), particularly those who may not seem to have anything to contribute to society. This not only has physical implications, but Christians are left to wonder about honoring the vulnerable theologically. What role do the vulnerable play in shaping theological understandings? Modern theologies, including womanist and mujerista theologies, have attempted to answer these questions.

In our modern contexts, poor, marginalized women or the abuelitas (grandmothers) in our midst are often overlooked for many of the same reasons widows were overlooked in the ancient world. These factors include age, physical vulnerability, social status, and gender. However, these abuelitas have historically served as unofficial theologians and backbones of the faith. This article will introduce and expand on a lesser-known theological concept, namely, abuelita theology. It will argue that YHWH’s instructions concerning widows in the Hebrew Bible are foundational to understanding abuelita theology as a theology that upholds the dignity of marginalized women.

The Basis for Human Rights and Dignity

When considering the dignity of humans, it is important to begin at the beginning, as the creation narrative sets a basis for how all persons—even those who do not seem to have anything to contribute to society—are to be understood. Much like the widow in ancient Israel, abuelitas often fall into a similar, marginalized category, as they are physically vulnerable and unable to provide for themselves. However, how does the imago Dei speak into the dignity of persons?

Yair Lorberbaum explains that the concept of human dignity and the sanctity of human life is historically bound up with the biblical idea of humankind created in the divine image.3 Similarly, Lorberbaum argues that the theological message underlying the first chapters of Genesis is that humanity is created or born in the image of the divine king (read with the backdrop of royal theology prevalent in the ancient Near East). Different interpretations offer a range of meaning for what it means to be made in God’s image. For example, one understanding is that God created for himself an image to serve as an extension of himself on earth. Other interpretations assume there is “a divine spark” in human beings that establishes humanity and grants humans unique status among God’s creation. This view assumes that the divine image is the basis for the equality in principle among human beings, for all are in the image of the Creator.4

Going further, some have likened human dignity to the imago Trinitatis, drawing out the relational dynamics of equality, mutuality, and reciprocity. Catherine La Cugna argues that this characterizes the intra-relationality of the persons of the Trinity.5 Dignity of human persons is to be understood in relationality. As James Hanvey argues, dignity has a social dimension: “in some way our dignity, qua our person and identity not just our status, is held in and by the ‘we’ of our relationships. In terms of theology, we encounter here the reality of solidarity which has both natural and supernatural dimensions.”6 The natural dimension that Hanvey refers to is the moral obligation we owe every person by virtue of our common humanity.

In On Human Dignity, Jürgen Moltmann encapsulates this idea of human dignity and common humanity, particularly the struggle between having dignity and actualizing it—the foundation for abuelita theology. Moltmann argues that,

Human dignity lies in the fact that each particular human being and all human beings are, in common, human . . . this presupposes the difference between the existence and the essence of the human being: The human being is a human being, and ought to be a human being. The being-a-human contains his or her humanity initially only as possibility, but not yet as constant reality.7

He then explains what happens when the hominitas (being human purely in the sense of belonging to the zoological species) and the humanitas (human nature, civilization, and kindness) are at odds, putting the humanitas at risk:

It can be actualized, but it can also be blocked. So the dignity of human beings consists in this, that they are human and should be human. Their existence is gift and task simultaneously. It presents them with the task of actualizing themselves, their essence, and thus coming into their truth.8

In our human likeness, it is essential to understand that where the imago Dei is degraded or humiliated in one of us, so it is for all of us.9 This is important to consider as it pertains to the most marginalized or vulnerable in society—including abuelitas, many of whom find themselves, like the widow in ancient Israel, without physical or financial support. The following sections will highlight the biblical case for widows and how it serves as a basis for understanding modern abuelita theology, a theology that presents marginalized women with the task of actualizing their dignity and essence, thus “coming into their truth.”

Family Structure in Ancient Israel

In order to better understand the plight of the widow in the Hebrew Scriptures, it is important to first understand how familial society in ancient Israel worked. While modern, Western culture echoes a similar importance of family, the “family unit” in ancient Israelite society played a unique role in how society functioned, comprising a central aspect of Israelite culture. Family profiles differed among three differently sized groups. According to Bunie Veeder, there is general agreement that the ancestral house was the central unit in a relationship diagram, comprising three generations or more.10 The next group was the clan, a kinship group composed of many households residing in close proximity. Lastly, the tribe, which was comprised of many clans.11 An individual’s identity came from this three-ring structure, with the household being the strongest connection, moving outward to the clan and the tribe.12 According to Num 36:6–9, women were required to marry within a clan of their father’s tribe in order to keep the holdings within the tribal boundaries. When married, women moved to their husband’s household.

Another factor to take into consideration is generational identity in the Israelite family. One can find laws requiring respect for both one’s mother and father (e.g., Exod 21:15–17; Deut 21:15–17, 18–21, 22:13–21, 23:1). Similarly, mothers were expected to be active participants in the legal procedures outlined in the Deuteronomic Law, as seen in both the requirements for the parents of the accused bride in Deut 22:13–21 and the parents of the rebellious son in Deut 21:18–21. Nonetheless, the mother and father did not typically have equal authority in these household matters. Danna Fewell and David Gunn suggest that, although the mother had some authority within the family hierarchy, systemic power resided with the father.13

Class differences proved to be an important factor in Israelite society. Women were usually protected by the male household head and transitioned through secure categories from daughter, to wife, to mother. However, some wives or mothers lost the economic support of a privileged Israelite male (this included husband and even sons). Thus, it was not uncommon that a widow was associated with a family entity. “From patriarchal to monarchic times her presence among Abraham’s descendants has been cited in the Hebrew Scriptures.”14 Losing protection of a male further marginalized a woman in society, making her part of the needy class.15 This is specifically apparent through the laws found addressing the widow, orphan, and stranger, three groups of people devoid of the economic support provided by the privileged Israelite male.16 The laws in Deut 14:22–29, 26:12–15, and 24:17–22 were put in place to eliminate the economic hardships of these groups of people who would otherwise have found themselves destitute in society. Similarly, as it pertains to the widow, the law presumed that she would be supported by her sons in the case of her husband’s death. If there were no sons available to provide for her, then the law of levirate marriage would apply.17 However, as Eryle Davies explains, “the pleas of the prophets on behalf of the widow are due to the fact that one of the most basic provisions legislating for her support [was] often, in practice, neglected.”18

Widowhood in Ancient Society and Hebrew Scripture

The protection of the widow, the orphan, and the poor was the common policy of the ancient Near East, although both in ancient Near Eastern literature in general and in ancient Jewish literature in particular, widows were not a prominent or even a well-defined group. Similarly, the plight of widows was not exactly the same everywhere.19 Nonetheless, protection for the widow, orphan, and poor was a policy of virtue of gods, kings, and judges that proved the piety of a ruler. Great Mesopotamian kings like Urukagina, Ur-Nammu, and Hammurabi boasted in their legal inscriptions that they had accomplished the principle of taking care of such needy persons.20 Keith Wessel points out that their boasting appears to have had primarily an economic focus, “set as it is in the immediate context of various initiatives to insure fairness and safety in commercial ventures.”21

Charles Fensham argues that the attitude taken against the widow, the orphan, and the poor is to be considered from a legal background. Because they had no rights or legal personalities, they were “almost outlaws,” as anyone could oppress them without the risk that legal connections might endanger their position. Fensham demonstrates that, in order to restore the balance of society, widows (and other needy people) had to be protected, making it necessary to sanction their protection by direct command of a god and to make it a virtue of the kings.22 He also states that the Israelites in later history inherited the concept from their forebears, some of whom had come from Mesopotamia, Egypt, or Canaan. “In the Israelite community this policy was extended through the encouragement of the high ethical religion of YHWH to become a definite part of their religion.”23

There is great concern for the just treatment of the widow in the Hebrew Scriptures. In biblical Israel the government of sacred law required the public to become generally responsible for the welfare of the marginalized. This is seen in the abundance of laws that placed a duty on every Israelite to care for the fatherless, the widow, the stranger, and the disadvantaged members of society in their midst.24 It begins with YHWH’s instructions in the wilderness (Exod 22:20–23), where widows are mentioned for special consideration as vulnerable members of society, often living at the mercy of others. In this passage, YHWH defends the widow against any ill treatment and warns perpetrators of possible dire consequences for those who might harm her. “Because newly freed Israelites travelling in the wilderness presumably lacked courts, hearing her cry (and theirs) God Himself would become the judge to pass sentence.”25 God champions the cause of the downtrodden when there is an absence of a human protector or a human judicial system to carry out justice.

Next, the plight of the widow is repeated in Moses’s final instructions (Deut 10:17–18, 27:19). Wessel argues that the book of Deuteronomy seems particularly concerned with the vulnerability of widows because there may have already been a large number of them in the camp of Israel at the time of the giving of the “second law” for a new generation of Israelites, shortly before their entrance into the promised land.26

Moses’s final instruction in Deut 10:16–18 is the focus of this article. This passage states,

So circumcise your hearts and stop being so stubborn, because the Lord your God is the God of all gods and Lord of all lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who doesn’t play favorites and doesn’t take bribes. He enacts justice for orphans and widows, and he loves immigrants, giving them food and clothing. (CEB)

Walter Brueggemann argues that, in this text, the ritual practice of circumcision is transformed into a metaphor for intense loyalty to YHWH. Like the cutting away of the foreskin serves to make the organ more sensitive and responsive,27 so it is for the heart, making it more sensitive and responsive not only to YHWH, but to the vulnerable in society. Israel should be intentionally responsive to YHWH because of who YHWH is, one who reigns over all “gods,” lords, and powers of various kinds. The text describes this awesome, great, and mighty God as one who is “concretely and effectively involved in the affairs of the earth as advocate and protector of the vulnerable; one who cares about the specificities of justice and the victims of injustice.”28 This is a God who cannot be bribed by the wealthy and powerful but who attends to the necessities and desires of those in need, including widows. He is one who cares about the tangible execution of justice that has to do with fundamental necessities including food and clothing. Moses’s call for sensitive and intentional obedience is grounded in the assertion that the Most High God of heaven is completely engaged in the lowly and earthly work of justice. “Israel is permitted no escapist religion but is drawn into the exigencies of earthly justice, where YHWH’s own sovereignty has been most fully engaged.”29

Widow as Almanah

In order to fully grasp YHWH’s intent for this “earthly justice” for widows, it is important to understand the nuances encircling the term “widow” in the Hebrew Scriptures. The word translated “widow” is the Hebrew word almanah. References to widows in the Hebrew Scriptures can be seen in two different forms. Sometimes the widow is referred to alone, and other times she is cited as part of a group. An understanding of the biblical almanah can be gained more fully by examining the terminology surrounding her and the characteristics that describe her.

First, an almanah is most literally a woman who has lost her husband. However, there is nuance for how this word is understood against a biblical backdrop. For example, Chayim Cohen explains that almanah is a “once married woman who has no means of financial support and is therefore in need of special legal protection.”30 Harry Hoffner states that “the word almanah has a completely negative nuance. It means a woman who has been divested of her male protector (husband, sons, often also brothers).”31 As one without agency because of her loss of living relatives and money, and as one without influence, the widow is frequently associated with the stranger and the orphan. Seeking to capture a full import of the Hebrew word, another scholar has related almanah to “being silent,” because once her marital identification is broken she becomes a silent person without voice in the community’s legal or economic affairs.32

Because marriage in ancient Israel was framed as a union of two families, a widow remained attached to her deceased husband’s family even as both groups maintained their rights and obligations.33 However, if there was no existing male from that union to sustain her interests, then the woman became responsible for herself and free of male authority. Similarly, Paula Hiebert contends that a woman who lacked possibility of remarriage (typically a levirate marriage found in Deut 25:5–10) and who lacked a son to provide for her, was bereft of support. Naomi Steinberg addresses the economic implications that would ensue given the aforementioned circumstance. She explains that, “understanding widowhood in biblical Israel revolves around the existence or absence of ancestral land in the estate of the deceased husband.”34

Wessel argues that the tone in the Israelite legislation concerning widows in the OT (particularly in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy) is markedly different from the other ancient Near Eastern texts. “Different from the other Near East law codes, in the Old Testament there is an attitude—a motivation—that the Lord wishes to see in his chosen people as they fulfill the requirements of his law.”35 He claims that there is an attitude of hope in which widows are valued members of society. This can be seen in narratives like 1 Kings, where it is recorded that God extended his providence to Gentile widows, or those outside of Israel. In turn, ancient Israel was to form how they deal with the less fortunate with attitudes and actions indicative of how YHWH dealt with them. “In short, since unfortunate persons were considered valuable to God, they were likewise to be considered valuable members of the Israelite community as well.”36

Justice for All People

Thus, these Israelite principles intended to nurture an attitude among the population that the widows in their midst were valued members of the community. In most general terms, the major concern that can be found in the law code is that the marginalized not be deprived of justice. Thus, Deut 24:17 commands that the foreigner or the orphan not be deprived of justice, or not to “take the cloak of a widow as a pledge.” This was intended to command the Israelite men in patriarchal positions of leadership to not give in to the temptations to abuse their authority and, “in shameless self-interest, take advantage of those dependent upon the mercy of others.”37 This responsibility of the leadership is vividly emphasized at the closing of the Pentateuch, where YHWH threatens a curse for those who disobey. Abusing authority and wielding power over the vulnerable in society is akin to forgetting Israel’s plight and bondage in Egypt and consequently, forgetting YHWH’s mercy in rescuing Israel. Instead, the Israelites were commanded to constantly remind themselves “they were descendants of a patriarch whose family went from humble beginnings to being a great nation, but only by the Lord’s mercy.”38

Israel was not to bask in their favored position, but to be a light for the rest of the world. With this humble understanding of their standing before God, the Israelites were to show special concern for those in need of mercy and kindness: the widow, the orphan, the poor, the foreigner.39 One way that this kindness was to be shown was through the triennial tithe in Deut 14:28–29. In this passage, Israel is instructed to offer the third year’s produce, given specifically so that “the immigrants, orphans, and widows who live in your cities, will come and feast until they are full. Do this so that the Lord your God might bless you in everything you do” (Deut 14:29 CEB). Later, in ch. 24 of Deuteronomy, they are directed to leave some grain in the field so that the immigrant, the orphan, and the widow could have some means of support by gleaning from the remains left behind by the harvesters.

Not only were the marginalized in society said to be dear to YHWH’s heart, but he regarded them as equals to all other peoples of Israel. Deuteronomy emphasizes this not only in the aforementioned commands, but in the instructions given for national worship during the three major festivals of the religious calendar: Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles.40 During these times, all of Israel gathered together not only to recognize YHWH’s goodness, but also to acknowledge his sovereignty over them. Deuteronomy 16:11 states that every single Israelite was to rejoice before God at the place of God’s choosing, “you, your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites who live in your cities, the immigrants, the orphans, and the widows who are among you” (CEB). Thus, the Jewish festivals were established as specific times to reiterate a truth that the entire Torah frequently emphasized, namely, that all persons were of equal worth and status before God.41

“While legislation affecting her is imbued with YHWH’s oversight, the rules about her care, quite interestingly, involve the entire population in something of an early social legislation for vulnerable people.”42 Treating the widow justly, for YHWH, was a communal task which alludes to Hanvey’s articulation that where the imago Dei is degraded or humiliated in one person, so it is for all persons.43

Old Testament Widows and Abuelita Theology

The way that YHWH cares—and consequently calls his people to care—about the downtrodden, and particularly the widow, is foundational to how modern-day Christians are to understand and live out abuelita theology, a theology centered on the grandmothers in our midst. The following section will explain what abuelita theology is and how it finds its roots in mujerista theology.

Mujerista Theology

First, mujerista theology is a reflective action that has its goal in liberation.44 It was coined by Cuban native, Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, after serving as a missionary to Peru for three years. During her time there, Isasi-Diaz realized that not only is liberation necessary for justice and peace, but that one cannot be liberated at the expense of another or isolated from others.45 Thus, mujerista theology should not be understood as a theology exclusively for Latinas, but a theology from the perspective of Latinas.46It is a process of empowerment for marginalized women that begins with the development of a strong sense of moral agency. It then works on clarifying the importance and value of who these women are, what they think, and what they do. This process enables them to understand oppressive structures that determine their daily lives, and to understand that the goal of their struggle should not be to participate in and to benefit from these structures, but to work toward changing them radically.47

The goals of mujerista theology are to provide a platform for the voices of Latina grassroots women, to develop a theological method that takes seriously the religious understandings and practices of Latinas as a source for theology, and to challenge theological understandings, church teachings, and religious practices that oppress Latina (and all) women.48 It does not insist that liberation is something one person can give another, but instead it is a process in which the oppressed become protagonists—or protagonistas—of their own stories. As Moltmann argues, the dignity of humans consists in humans being human. This involves their existence, humanity, and essence being actualized and thus, “coming into their truth.”49

Abuelitas as Theologians

Similar to that of the widow in ancient Israel, abuelitas in our society often find themselves in a marginalized state, as they are physically vulnerable and unable to provide for themselves. One characteristic that is shared among abuelitas is the fact that many of them are immigrants—a vulnerable group similar to that of the ancient world. This puts abuelitas in multiple marginalized positions which includes their age (physical vulnerabilities), social status (poor, immigrant), and gender. Because of this, they are often overlooked, their stories remain untold, and they are not valued as genuine theologians.

Like mujerista theology, the aim of abuelita theology is to give these abuelitas a voice in which they become protagonistas of their own stories and participants in creating a different reality unlike their present oppressive one. It is a process in which the dignity of abuelitas is realized and actualized. For one, the basis of their dignity is to be found in the imago Dei and in the Christian understanding of the imago Trinitatis, which draws out the relational dynamics of equality, mutuality, and reciprocity. As Israel—collectively—was called to view the vulnerable as valuable members of society engaged in communal worship and theological engagement, so we are to view and engage the abuelitas in our midst—despite their powerless status—and consider them as a genuine source of theology. Thus, abuelita theology seeks to answer: what if the greatest theologians the world has ever known are those whom the world would not consider theologians at all?

Abuelita theology is birthed from the reality that in Latinx religious culture, matriarchal figures, such as abuelitas, within the home are the mainstays of preserving and passing on religious traditions, beliefs, practices, and spirituality within the family. The women of the household, specifically the abuelitas, function as “live-in ministers”50particularly because the privilege to receive formal religious instruction is often lacking within the Latinx community. Thus, abuelitas serve as the functional priestesses and theologians in Latinx familias51through the informal conversation that occurs within the space where many women are usually relegated, the home. Abuelita theology can be seen as a reclaiming of this space as a place where popular religious expression emerges and is preserved. The informal transition of religious understandings to the next generation of family members has led some to propose that Latinx popular religiosity has a matriarchal core.52 Thus, abuelita theology affirms abuelitas as gatekeepers of most of Latinx popular religiosity, with their lived experience taken into serious theological consideration. Old Testament examples include Ruth and Naomi, two widows whose story is celebrated and revered.

The praxis of abuelita theology is built around everyday life, or what Isasi-Diaz refers to as lo cotidiano. According to Isasi-Diaz, lo cotidiano constitutes the immediate space of one’s life, “the first horizon in which one has experiences that, in turn, are constitutive elements of their reality.53Lo cotidiano refers to how reality is understood and evaluated—both historically and culturally. It is necessarily entangled in material life and is a key element of the structuring of social relations and its limits, situating people in their experiences. It has to do with the practices and beliefs that have been inherited, and it is what makes the world of each and every person specific. Lastly, “it is in lo cotidiano and starting with lo cotidiano that we live the multiple relations that constitute our humanity. It is the sphere in which our struggle for life is most immediate, most vigorous, most vibrant.”54 Practically, abuelita theology is both a form of resisting oppression and a noninstitutional, nonacademic way of humans knowing about God.55Abuelitas transmit what Jeanette Rodriquez calls “cultural memory,” a way that lower-class, peasant women construct and make use of their world.56 This includes instructing through oral traditions (much like ancient Israelite culture) in popular religious beliefs.

Additionally, abuelita theology centers on overlooked and unnamed women throughout history, those whom—while unrecognized—have changed the course of history and provided us with the most profound examples of faith. It is a theology of survival, strength, persistence, and resistance. Its goals are to take seriously the religious understandings of abuelitas in our midst, assure that they are protagonists of their own stories who actualize themselves, their essence, and come into their truth, as Moltmann suggests. While the teachings of abuelitas are the starting points for many, there must be a continuous, ongoing, and communal effort to critically discern aspects of inherited traditions that have been colonized.57

The theologies inherited from these overlooked and often-unnamed abuelitas in our communities have given us a firm foundation of what it means to live out our faith and demonstrate love in the world. “These wise women taught us about the power of prophetic words and the responsibility we have to seek and hear them,” wrote Loida I. Martell-Otero, “they did not simply pass on el evangelio (the gospel) as a set of accepted dogmatic statements. They nurtured us with a keen sense of the Spirit’s ability to create anew.”58

Conclusion

This article has demonstrated the ways that the Hebrew Bible’s ideas of social justice established the foundation for how the ideas of human rights are to be engaged today. The theology of the book of Deuteronomy has impacted the modern world’s view of justice for the marginalized and vulnerable in society. This is seen in how ancient Israel was commanded by YHWH not only to protect and honor the dignity of widows, but to ensure that they were seen as equal to everyone else in society, partaking in theological engagement and participation.

In our modern contexts, we are to treat poor, marginalized women—or abuelitas—in our midst similarly to those of the ancient world, not overlooking them because of their age, physical vulnerability, social status, or gender, but honoring them as “unofficial theologians,” functional priestesses, and backbones of the faith. As a theological discipline, abuelita theology seeks to recognize the imago Dei in abuelitas, understanding that when the image of God is degraded in one, it is degraded in all. Abuelita theology also aims to empower abuelitas to resist oppression, serve as protagonists of their own stories, actualize their dignity, and come into their truths.

Notes

1. Eckart Otto, “Human Rights: The Influence of the Hebrew Bible,” JNSL 25/1 (1999) 1.

2. Otto, “Human Rights: The Influence of the Hebrew Bible,” 15.

3. Yair Lorberbaum, “Blood and the Image of God: On the Sanctity of Life in Biblical and Early Rabbinic Law, Myth, and Ritual,” in The Concept of Human Dignity in Human Rights Discourse, ed. David Kretzmer and Eckart Klein (Kluwer Law International, 2002) 56.

4. Lorberbaum, “Blood and the Image of God,” 56.

5. James Hanvey, “Dignity, Person, and Imago Trinitatis,” in Understanding Human Dignity (Oxford University Press, 2013) 224.

6. Hanvey, “Dignity, Person, and Imago Trinitatis,” 224.

7. Jürgen Moltmann, On Human Dignity: Political Theology and Ethics (Fortress, 1984) 9.

8. Moltmann, On Human Dignity, 10.

9. Hanvey, “Dignity, Person, and Imago Trinitatis,” 225.

10. Christopher J. H. Wright, God’s People in God’s Land (Eerdmans, 1990) 762.

11. Bunie Veeder, “The Hebrew Bible Widow: Somewhere between Life—Hers, and Death—Her Husband’s” (D.H.L., The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 2011) 10.

12. Stager, “Archaeology of the Family,” 20.

13. Danna Fewell, and David M Gunn. Gender, Power, and Promise: The Subject of the Bible’s First Story (Abingdon, 1993) 100.

14. Veeder, “The Hebrew Bible Widow,” 30.

15. Moshe Weinfeld, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School (Eisenbrauns, 1992) 55.

16. Cheryl B. Anderson, Women, Ideology, and Violence: Critical Theory and the Construction of Gender in the Book of the Covenant and the Deuteronomic Law, JSOTSup 394 (T&T Clark, 2004) 54.

17. Levirate marriage is the modern term (levir is Latin for “brother-in-law”) for a marriage between the widow and a brother of a deceased husband/brother. Such a marriage served to provide economically for the widow and to prevent ending the family line of the deceased. The law is described in Deut 25 and lived out, for example, in the marriages of Tamar (Gen 38) and Ruth (where the custom extends to a more distant relative).

18. Anderson, Women, Ideology, and Violence, 55.

19. Wessel, “Charity toward Widows in Early Christian Communities,” 68.

20. Charles Fensham, “Widow, Orphan, and the Poor in Ancient near Eastern Legal and Wisdom Literature” JNES 21/2 (1962) 129.

21. Wessel, “Charity toward Widows in Early Christian Communities,” 74.

22. Wessel, “Charity toward Widows in Early Christian Communities,” 139.

23. Wessel, “Charity toward Widows in Early Christian Communities,” 139.

24. Veeder, “The Hebrew Bible Widow,” 55.

25. Nahum M. Sarna, Exodus, JPS Torah Commentary (Jewish Publication Society, 1991) 138.

26. Wessel, “Charity toward Widows in Early Christian Communities,” 86.

27. Walter Brueggemann, Deuteronomy, AOTC (Abingdon, 2001) 73.

28. Brueggemann, Deuteronomy, 73.

29. Brueggemann, Deuteronomy, 73.

30. Veeder, “The Hebrew Bible Widow,” 56.

31. Veeder, “The Hebrew Bible Widow,” 57.

32. John H. Otwell, And Sarah Laughed: The Status of Women in the Old Testament (Westminster, 1977) 125.

33. Veeder, “The Hebrew Bible Widow,” 59.

34. Steinberg, “Romancing the Widow,” 327.

35.  Wessel, “Charity toward Widows in Early Christian Communities,” 96.

36.  Wessel, “Charity toward Widows in Early Christian Communities,” 96.

37.  Wessel, “Charity toward Widows in Early Christian Communities,” 97.

38.  Wessel, “Charity toward Widows in Early Christian Communities,” 98.

39. Bruce V. Malchow, “Social Justice in the Israelite Law Codes” WW 4/3 (Summer 1984) 306.

40.  Wessel, “Charity toward Widows in Early Christian Communities,” 99.

41.  Wessel, “Charity toward Widows in Early Christian Communities,” 99.

42. Veeder, “The Hebrew Bible Widow,” 56.

43. Hanvey, “Dignity, Person, and Imago Trinitatis,” 225.

44. Ada María Isasi-Díaz, Mujerista Theology: A Theology for the Twenty-First Century (Orbis, 1996) 1.

45. Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, En La Lucha: In the Struggle: Elaborating a Mujerista Theology (Fortress, 2004) 10.

46. Isasi-Diaz, Mujerista Theology, 1.

47. Isasi-Diaz, Mujerista Theology, 3.

48. Isasi-Diaz, Mujerista Theology, 2.

49. Moltmann, On Human Dignity, 10.

50. Mario T. Garcia, The Gospel of César Chávez: My Faith in Action (Sheed & Ward, 2007) 25.

51. Robert Chao Romero, “Abuelita Theology,” Perspectivas 14 (Spring 2017) 17.

52. Miguel De La Torre, Hispanic American Religious Cultures (ABC-CLIO, 2009) 34.

53. Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, “Lo Cotidiano: A Key Element of Mujerista Theology,” Journal of Hispanic/Latino Theology 10/1 (Aug 2002) 8.

54. Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, “Lo Cotidiano,” 9.

55. Mario Garcia, Católicos: Resistance and Affirmation in Chicano Catholic History (University of Texas Press, 2008) 25.

56. Garcia, Católicos, 25.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.alephbeta.org/playlist/law-enforcement-in-the-bible

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take It As It Comes – Shoftim

“Be wholehearted with your G‑d“—Deuteronomy 18:13.

In this week’s portion we are told, “There shall not be found among you… a soothsayer, a diviner of times, one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or a charmer…” We are then told – immediately in the next verse – to be “wholehearted” with G‑d.

What is the connection between the prohibitions against various occult practices and the commandment to be wholehearted with G‑d? And what does it mean to be wholehearted with G‑d?

First let’s understand the various prohibitions enumerated in this reading. As modern, so-called “enlightened” individuals, we may discount these warnings as something out-dated, something that was told to our ancestors—but does not pertain to us. After all, we think, who runs after soothsayers and sorcerers to tell them their fortune nowadays? But let’s examine the underlying psychology that drove the ancients to seek a stolen glimpse into the future. Are we really immune from the very same weakness—a preoccupation with what is yet to come?

Oh, the price we would pay just to have certainty about the future, but to no avail.We worry and fret about outcomes. We expend energy trying to secure that which cannot be guaranteed. Oh, the price we would pay just to have certainty about the future, but to no avail.

Thus, we are told to be “wholehearted” with G‑d—to leave the future up to Him and to accept life as it comes. After all, isn’t it enough just to know that He is in perfect control? Why should we prefer to have foreknowledge of His plans? Why don’t we realize that whatever He chooses will be best?

If we cannot give up our worries about the future, then it seems that our trust in Him is tenuous, conditional and half-hearted. What we are really telling G‑d is that our relationship with Him is conditional.

Think of a marriage. If your spouse were to suddenly whisk you away on an impetuous romantic getaway, would you first demand to know what the plans were? To do so would mean being more interested in how the time will be spent than with whom it will be shared. True love means that time shared with one’s beloved is always time well spent—whatever happens, whatever we are doing and wherever we go.

If G‑d were to speak to you and invite you to live in His presence, to follow Him at every turn, would you ask Him first where He plans on taking you? Before agreeing, would you first ask for an itinerary?

For those of us who recover from the spiritual illness known as alcoholism or addiction, we rely on our relationship with G‑d for our very survival. We cannot afford to let that relationship be half-hearted. We need to stay in the present and let the One who is above time worry about what is to come. Our wholehearted commitment to Him means that we are ready to joyfully and fearlessly accept whatever He may bring us, for we trust that ultimately, whatever happens, He is with us and He is running the show.

That is all we need to know.

 

TORAH : DEUTERONOMY 1:1-3:22| PROPHETS : ISAIAH 1:1-27| GOSPEL : Matthew 24:1-24

 

Enjoy the interview with Christene Jackman! Next week on Hebrew Nations Radio I will be bringing to you an amazing author, Onlilove Chika Alston!

 

Trust and Obey for there is no other way…to be happy in Yeshua…

Blessing vs curses….hmmmm….tough decision! Or is it? Well, this sixty-one-year-old woman sure has had a lifetime of curses and would much rather obey her Abba rather than the flesh…

RABBIT TRAIL AHEAD

Animal Tracks in Snow. Closeup Animal Tracks in Snow royalty free stock photos

I love how Paul shares his lament with us…Romans 7 starting with verse 7

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.
The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.
For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.
So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh, I serve the law of sin.
Paul had one hell of a war going on within himself…can you relate??? I sure can! The wonderful thing about this passage is that Paul TRUSTED his God…he KNEW Yeshua! Remember, Paul was a Jewish Rabbi and knew Torah frontward and backward…but he was a man…in a fleshly body, that was at war with his spirit…
But he KNEW his Redeemer!
End of rabbit trail…
let’s get started with this week’s Torah Portion

 

Deuteronomy 1:31 – The Bible Wallpapers

ISAIAH 1

1These are the visions that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. He saw these visions during the years when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.
A Message for Rebellious Judah
2Listen, O heavens! Pay attention, earth!
This is what the Lord says:
“The children I raised and cared for
have rebelled against me.
3Even an ox knows its owner,
and a donkey recognizes its master’s care—
but Israel doesn’t know its master.
My people don’t recognize my care for them.”
4Oh, what a sinful nation they are—
loaded down with a burden of guilt.
They are evil people,
corrupt children who have rejected the Lord.
They have despised the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him.
5hy do you continue to invite punishment?
Must you rebel forever?
Your head is injured,
and your heart is sick.W
6You are battered from head to foot—
covered with bruises, welts, and infected wounds—
without any soothing ointments or bandages.W
7Your country lies in ruins,
and your towns are burned.
Foreigners plunder your fields before your eyes
and destroy everything they see.
8Beautiful Jerusalem stands abandoned
like a watchman’s shelter in a vineyard,
like a lean-to in a cucumber field after the harvest,
like a helpless city under siege.
9If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
had not spared a few of us,
we would have been wiped out like Sodom,
destroyed like Gomorrah.
10Listen to the Lord, you leaders of “Sodom.”
Listen to the law of our God, people of “Gomorrah.”
11“What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?”
says the Lord.
“I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fattened cattle.
I get no pleasure from the blood
of bulls and lambs and goats.
12When you come to worship me,
who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?
13Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts;
the incense of your offerings disgusts me!
As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath
and your special days for fasting—
they are all sinful and false.
I want no more of your pious meetings.
14I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals.
They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them!
15When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look.
Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen,
for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.
16Wash yourselves and be clean!
Get your sins out of my sight.
Give up your evil ways.
17Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
Defend the cause of orphans.
Fight for the rights of widows.
18“Come now, let’s settle this,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson,
I will make them as white as wool.
19If you will only obey me,
you will have plenty to eat.
20But if you turn away and refuse to listen,
you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Unfaithful Jerusalem
21See how Jerusalem, once so faithful,
has become a prostitute.
Once the home of justice and righteousness,
she is now filled with murderers.
22Once like pure silver,
you have become like worthless slag.
Once so pure,
you are now like watered-down wine.
23Your leaders are rebels,
the companions of thieves.
All of them love bribes
and demand payoffs,
but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans
or fight for the rights of widows.
24Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
the Mighty One of Israel, says,
“I will take revenge on my enemies
and pay back my foes!
25I will raise my fist against you.
I will melt you down and skim off your slag.
I will remove all your impurities.
26Then I will give you good judges again
and wise counselors like you used to have.
Then Jerusalem will again be called the Home of Justice
and the Faithful City.”
27Zion will be restored by justice;
those who repent will be revived by righteousness.
28But rebels and sinners will be completely destroyed,
and those who desert the Lord will be consumed.
2

A trusting relationship…most of us have experienced them…only to be betrayed…or, maybe we were the one that did the betraying…either way…it leaves deep wounds…they say that time heals all wounds. I disagree…unless HE has removed the sting of the memory…
It matters not if we were the one betraying or the betrayed…it leaves deep regrets, deep longings of if only…a hole in one’s soul…a lingering sting…and a reluctance to trust again…the one betrayed and the one who betrays…both are broken, both need healing…both need a Savior…
Trusting again…after such deep pain, the mind plays games…
Most of us have been burned by others…we beat ourselves up, going over and over conversations, gestures, under a microscope we place all interactions looking for a clue that we miss and question ourselves how could I have been so stupid, so naive??
Then…we encounter a Man…a Man who claims He is not just a man…no, this time it will be different, this time He will never play games, betray, walk out, lie, cheat, steal, rage, be mean…nope, not Me, I am different… believe Me, trust Me…
And we want to…oh how we long to believe that there really is a Love like that…a Love that is real, genuine, a Love we can rest in, not have to be on guard, not hypervigilant…a Love that doesn’t manipulate and coerce…a Love that our very soul can trust completely.

We all have gone astray, we have all been rebellious, we all have need of forgiveness and healing…He askes us:

5Why do you continue to invite punishment?
Must you rebel forever?
Your head is injured,
and your heart is sick.W
6You are battered from head to foot—
covered with bruises, welts, and infected wounds—
without any soothing ointments or bandages.
You see, He wants us to return…to repent…to come back to His fold, He is the Good Shephard that will bandage up our wounds…He is the one that will hold our hearts til the wounds are healed…
He wants us to come out of denial and allow Him to apply the Balm of Gilead.
7 Bible verses about Balms
Oh, brothers and sisters, He longs to heal your heart…to restore you to who He created you to be! What a wonderful creation you are! Trust Him, believe Him! He wants to bless you!
Remember Peter? Remember how he betrayed His Master Yeshua? Remember, Yeshua restored him, offering Peter forgiveness and reconciliation. In 1 Peter

From: Kefa, an emissary of Yeshua the Messiah

To: God’s chosen people, living as aliens in the Diaspora — in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bythinia — chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and set apart by the Spirit for obeying Yeshua the Messiah and for sprinkling with his blood:

Grace and shalom be yours in full measure.

Praised be God, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who, in keeping with his great mercy, has caused us, through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah from the dead, to be born again to a living hope, to an inheritance that cannot decay, spoil or fade, kept safe for you in heaven. Meanwhile, through trusting, you are being protected by God’s power for a deliverance ready to be revealed at the Last Time. Rejoice in this, even though for a little while you may have to experience grief in various trials. Even gold is tested for genuineness by fire. The purpose of these trials is so that your trust’s genuineness, which is far more valuable than perishable gold, will be judged worthy of praise, glory and honor at the revealing of Yeshua the Messiah.

Without having seen him, you love him. Without seeing him now, but trusting in him, you continue to be full of joy that is glorious beyond words. And you are receiving what your trust is aiming at, namely, your deliverance.

10 The prophets, who prophesied about this gift of deliverance that was meant for you, pondered and inquired diligently about it. 11 They were trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of the Messiah in them was referring in predicting the Messiah’s sufferings and the glorious things to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that their service when they spoke about these things was not for their own benefit, but for yours. And these same things have now been proclaimed to you by those who communicated the Good News to you through the Ruach HaKodesh sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things!

13 Therefore, get your minds ready for work, keep yourselves under control, and fix your hopes fully on the gift you will receive when Yeshua the Messiah is revealed. 14 As people who obey God, do not let yourselves be shaped by the evil desires you used to have when you were still ignorant. 15 On the contrary, following the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in your entire way of life; 16 since the Tanakh says,

“You are to be holy because I am holy.”[a]

17 Also, if you are addressing as Father the one who judges impartially according to each person’s actions, you should live out your temporary stay on earth in fear. 18 You should be aware that the ransom paid to free you from the worthless way of life which your fathers passed on to you did not consist of anything perishable like silver or gold; 19 on the contrary, it was the costly bloody sacrificial death of the Messiah, as of a lamb without defect or spot. 20 God knew him before the founding of the universe, but revealed him in the acharit-hayamim for your sakes. 21 Through him you trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory; so that your trust and hope are in God.

22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth, so that you have a sincere love for your brothers, love each other deeply, with all your heart. 23 You have been born again not from some seed that will decay, but from one that cannot decay, through the living Word of God that lasts forever24 For

all humanity is like grass,
all its glory is like a wildflower —
the grass withers, and the flower falls off;
25 but the Word of Adonai lasts forever.[b]

Moreover, this Word is the Good News which has been proclaimed to you.

AMEN!

I would like to share this resource with you…It is from a Jewish source, I do not believe in throwing the baby out with the bathwater, I believe we can learn from our Big Brother Judah…

Hearing G-d’s Word – Devarim

“These are the words that Moses spoke to the entire people of Israel…”—Deuteronomy 1:1.

The book of Deuteronomy relates the monologue spoken by Moses just before the people entered the Promised Land. As it is stated, “These are the words that Moses spoke to the entire people of Israel.” Unlike the other four books, which are “the word of G‑d,” Deuteronomy is the “word of Moses”—that is, it is his final address to the people.

That does not mean that this book is of mortal invention, but rather that Moses delivered these words through divine inspiration. In the first four books of the Torah, Moses merely took dictation from G‑d, precisely relaying each word without regard to his own understanding. The words of Deuteronomy, however, were first integrated into Moses’ own consciousness; and only then were they spoken by him. This does not mean that the content of this book is somehow diluted or compromised by having passed through mortal understanding. Rather, what it means is that Moses attained a level at which G‑d’s word could be faithfully transmitted—not just through his mouth, but also through his brain. In his final days, Moses did not just transmit G‑d’s message; he first conceived it in his own mind.

Moses did not just transmit G‑d’s message; he first conceived it in his own mind there is a reason why this fusion of mortal and G‑dly intelligence occurred when it did, in the days just prior to entering the Holy Land.

After forty years of wandering in the desert, protected by miracles, the people were poised to meet their destiny and to face the “real world.” They would need to be able to take the rarefied spiritual concepts that they had learned during their forty years in the desert and apply them to ordinary life. They needed to put theory into practice and in order to do so they needed to hear G‑d’s word integrated and conveyed through the intellect of another human being.

“G‑d speaks through people,” is a common saying in recovery. Lofty spiritual concepts are worth little to us in dealing with everyday life if we never hear them spoken in simple, human terms, filtered through the mortal, finite mind of another alcoholic or addict.

Some of us may wonder how it can be that the very same thought that we had come across in our religious studies couldn’t help us overcome our alcoholism, but when heard spoken – in slightly different words – by another alcoholic, had a profound and transformative effect. If G‑d’s own word hadn’t worked on us, how could the word of a mere mortal?

The answer is, of course, that that is G‑d’s word—as understood and communicated by another human being who shares our disease.



 

KORACH TORAH : NUMBERS 16:1-18:32| PROPHETS : 1 SAMUEL 11:14-12:22| GOSPEL : MATTHEW 26:13-24


WARNING! This week’s Torah Portion led me down some twisting, winding roads, meandering thoughts, not-so-pleasant memories, and insights into spiritual warfare being waged against us! So, let’s go! Try to stay up with me…

Twenty Minute Rabbit Trail – Running In My Head

 

  • Korah’s Half-Truth: All the People ARE Holy! – Korah wasn’t content with the great honor that God had already given him, and rebelled against Moses. He wasn’t entirely wrong, though, when he justified his mutiny by saying that all the people are holy.

website resource:

http://www.americantorah.com/category/korach/

So, Korah rebelled because he was not content with the anointing and appointing he already had…hmmmm, sound familiar?

There Was War In Heaven

1 Samuel 15:23

So the satan rebelled against The Most High, dissatisfied with his incredible giftings and talents, beauty and intelligence. It was not enough for him, he wanted more, more more…sounds like an active addict to me!

So the satan rebelled against The Most High, dissatisfied with his incredible giftings and talents,
beauty and intDeepertruth: Be Strong Be A Man Series: Rebellion is the sin of Witchcraft 04/21 by Deeper Truth | Christianityelligence. It was not enough for him, he wanted to take over…
It seems like we human beings always want something else or someone else other than The God of Abraham Isacc and Jacob to lead and guide us.
Idolatry…
It can be a number of things that people turn to when turning their backs on The Great I am that I am…
Drugs, alcohol, process addictions such as pornography, exercise, work, money and gambling, food addiction…
Or how about a country? Or! Family? Marriage? Spouses? Husbands?
The human heart is a factory of idols. Every one of us is, from his mother's womb, expert in inventing idol… | Reformed theology quotes, Human heart, Good thoughts
Ah! Let’s talk about that one! Husbands as an idol…ouch…yikes, I am stepping on toes now and maybe you feel your dander going up…
Is My Spouse My Idol - YouTube
Let me explain…
Codependency…it is a form of idolatry…
How?

Codependency | Definition of Codependency by Merriam-Webster

Medical Definition of codependency: a psychological condition or a relationship in which a person manifesting low self-esteem and a strong desire for approval has an unhealthy attachment to another person and places the needs of that person before his or her own
Did you catch that?
By putting that person (husband) as God…and denying your own needs, your own self, often sacrificing every thing just to appease that other person.
And many of us women have done that just that…set our marriages and husbands up as idols…
Of Idols in Marriage and How to Break Free
Let’s do a little bit of a lesson the Hebrew, shall we?
Breshite Archives · Mini Manna Moments
Now…I gotta warn you, this is a really deep topic and I cannot cover all of it, so I encourage you to do your own praying, seeking, asking, and knocking on this huge issue…I will share some suggested directions to walk out your own journey of understanding.
So, let’s look at it from this angle…stay with me now…
Let me try to explain somewhat…
You see, our Creator made Adam and Chavah…He designed women to function as ezer kenagdo..,
This One At Last! Naked Spirituality Genesis 2. Two Creation Accounts God creates. God Fashions / Builds / Breathes. Speech. Hands & Breath. Elohim. Yahweh. - ppt downloadHow One Woman Became a Warrior Wife - To Love, Honor and VacuumChristian Sexuality Exploring Pastoral Dimensions of Intimacy and
Have we listened to His instructions or are we functioning in a dysfunctional role that man created via the satans influence to mistranslate scripture?  Are we rebelling against His design of women? Do men, when they hear this truth, rebel, refusing to relinquish that control over their wives? To give honor to his wife by encouraging her to function as his ezer kenegdo? Do women, upon hearing this truth of how Yah has designed her to function balk?
HELPMATE the REAL Meaning of the Word | Genesis 2:18 | Mikella Van DykeVocê é uma Ezer-Kenegdo? - Universal.org - Portal Oficial da Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus - Universal.org – Portal Oficial da Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus
A paradigm shift is in order!
Paradigm shift
He gave us instructions and He expected His people to accept Him as their King…their Ruler…their Husband…and, because down through the generations, we, as a people, have rejected Him and His ways…
And, every Husband has a Bride…
Chava, Eve, Helpmeet ~ What's in a name? - In Ancient Footsteps
She doesn’t look like a co-dependent oppressed woman to me! She looks like she could likely be operating in her Yahweh design of ezer kenagdo, and bringing honor to her King!
Back on the topic of rebellion and idolatry…
Exodus 20:2-3 Illustrated: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you..." — Heartlight® Gallery
But, like Korach and his cronies, we have rebelled! Since the fall in the garden, we have all rebelled…we have chosen our own god, we have created idols to worship and adore…
What is idolatry? | 412teens.org
Now, I gotta tell you, I am a rebel…I was born a rebel…were you too? I was a non-conformist even when a child. I was born into a family with some crazy dynamics…like a mother who placed her husband on a pedestal and made him her god, sacrificing the well-being of her children…kinda like Israel did with their children…offering their own children to Molech…
Molech, The Guardian [Fallen] Angel of Pro-Abortionists ...
That led to some very serious consequences for my brothers and me. Like rebellion. Like bitterness. Like addictions of all sorts. Although a Sabbath-keeping believer, the god she served was not the god I wanted anything to do with. So. in my teen years I acted out that anger and rebellion and joined my soul to a plethora of idols…men, food, sex, control, drugs, booze, a party lifestyle. I was an empty vessel of darkness. (And my own parenting style was just as dysfunctional)
Praise Him He did hear her prayers for this Prodigal Daughter!
The Prodigal Daughter | Moses R. Eromose
Some of this week’s Torah portion is also about God’s anointed and appointed.  Rebelling against those that He set apart for certain offices of leadership can lead to some serious consequences.
  • Korah’s Half-Truth: All the People ARE Holy! – Korah wasn’t content with the great honor that God had already given him and rebelled against Moses. He wasn’t entirely wrong, though, when he justified his mutiny by saying that all the people are holy.

Now, remember the Torah portion…it is about proper respect for authority and authority comes from The King…in these last days of chaos and crisis, we need Yah appointed and anointed leaders and we need to do everything we can to uphold them in prayer, including their families. We are at a shortage of true leaders and people operating in their God-given gifts and talents, and authentic roles.

Why is that?

Could rebellion include refusing to pick up the assignment, the “office” gifts, and talents He has assigned for one? Is there maybe an element of fear involved? I do not know, I am asking. All I can share is my own experience strength and hope. For me, much fear was involved. Fear of failure. Fear of success…lack of confidence was huge for me. A lack of encouragement also played into it. And a few other barriers I have had to overcome.  What are some of your struggles with using your gifts and talents?
5 Reasons You Are Not Using the Gifts and Talents God Gave You – Pt. 2 — Cure 4 the Soul Ministries
One of the things I wrestle with is the refusal of the body to become educated about domestic abuse, co-dependency, male domination, family dynamics, alcoholic family systems to name a few. It seems like there is a whole lot of know-it-alls that are actually ignorant about a whole lot of important issues affecting the body of Messiah. Like above mentioned destructive issues.
Oh!  psychobabble! Chill, please. Balance is everything! We can glean from some of the so-called psychobabble in order to figure out some dynamics at play. Like co-dependency. Like narcissism. Like domestic abuse. But these undercurrents could be what is actually crippling the body of Messiah.
So, rebellion…as is the sin of witchcraft…manipulation…power and control…domination…all enemy tactics…
I may sound like a broken record, if you are anything like me, you need some redundancy in order to really absorb the topic…so here we go again… let’s revisit this topic…
You see, not knowing how men and women are supposed to interact and have each other’s backs, not understanding women’s design and function sets up some pretty seriously dysfunctional patterns of behaviors…on top of that, many teachings coming from Christian denominations are the icing on the cake…teaching men and women unbiblical truth about how women are to “roll”. You see, I truly believe that if we ALL grasped this and began to work on a paradigm shift…all that generational sins and curses would begin to break off, the satan would have far less to work with against us. We would have functional families, sprit filled, operating in our roles, gifts, and talents, no longer walking in rebellion or idolatry!
Ezer T-Shirts | Redbubbleezer kenegdo | The Beautiful Kingdom Warriors
So, many generations are reaping the whirlwind…consequences of the sins of the fathers and the mothers handed down…
But, for people like me, and hopefully like you, who are directed by The Creator, we are stepping out of the “family boat”, stepping out of the family system of dysfunction, chaos, and denial. we are the rebels…
Genogram (Created on iPad) – Social Work Tech
What got handed down from your family tree that is still operating? Ask Him to direct you so that you can get free of whatever is hindering you from taking up your role in His Kingdom…
okay, back to the topic of rebellion…
But! This rebellion is NOT against our Creator, our King! NO! It is against the systems of oppression and slavery the enemy set up since the beginning…those demons of leviathan and jezebel along with Ahab are operating in many families and many congregations…
Those spirits come up against  Yah’s children as they dare to begin operating in their gifts and talents.
Those attacks can manifest in many different forms. One of the ways that it has manifested in my life is doubting my calling, doubting my ability to write, to speak, to do radio.  For many of us, fear and insecurity were sown in infancy…for those like me that battle the echos of shame and abuse, those mature in the faith would do well to pray and encourage until there is a breakthrough. There is a strong wind blowing…fresh anointing is flowing…His people are glowing…with the Light of the World…
just for another perspective…now don’t get wigged out because I gleaned from a source you may not agree with!

Quality of Sobriety – Korach

“The entire community is holy and G‑d is amongst them; so why do you raise yourselves above the congregation of G‑d?”–Numbers 16:3

This week we read of Korach, a cousin of Moses, who led a rebellion against Moses and his brother, Aaron, the High Priest, charging them with unduly taking high offices for themselves. Although both Moses and Aaron were divinely appointed to their posts, Korach suspected that they were merely grabbing power for themselves and trying to assert their superiority over the rest of the nation. “The entire community is holy and G‑d is amongst them,” said Korach, “So why do you raise yourselves above the congregation of G‑d?”

Moses and Aaron had held their positions long before Korach’s rebellion in the second year in the wilderness. What prompted Korach to challenge them at that time?

In last week’s reading, we read of the scouts sent by Moses and how they feared entering the Land. The scouts enjoyed the nomadic life in the wilderness where they were free to study, pray and meditate all day. They were thus reluctant to establish a homeland for fear of being distracted from their spiritual pursuits. Their grave error lied in failing to appreciate the importance of serving G‑d not just in speech and thought but in action.

Korach took this episode to heart and drew his own conclusion. Since action is of paramount importance and since everyone performs the same commandments, there is apparently no difference between one person and the next. The fact that people like Moses and Aaron have a heightened sense of understanding and appreciation for the commandments should be irrelevant. Action is action and we all follow the same code, reasoned Korach.

As such, Korach resented the very notion that Moses and Aaron should be recognized on the basis of their greater spiritual sensitivity.

But Korach was wrong. Granted, right action is more crucial than right thinking or feeling. But that does not mean that thoughts and feelings are insignificant. The same deed may be done with various degrees of awareness and feeling. Those who perform the commandments with greater intellectual and emotional depth are rightly placed in their positions as mentors, teachers and guides.

There is a direct application of this lesson to our experience in recovery. We all work the same Steps. We all take the same basic actions: admitting our powerlessness, turning our life over to a Higher Power, taking moral inventory, making amends, etc. In this regard, everyone who works the program is the same as everybody else. But we must not make the same mistake as Korach by thinking that technical execution of the deed is all there is and that everybody is on the same level. There is such a thing as “quality of sobriety,” and we should humbly recognize that in this regard there are those who surpass us.

We all know what it means when we hear that “so-and-so works a good program.” It’s not just about action. It’s about internal growth — intangibles such as serenity, courage and wisdom. It can be a hard pill for such an insecure lot as us to swallow, but if we know people who have real quality sobriety, we should admit it and aspire to be like them. In order to “stick with the winners” we have to give the winners their due.

Well, hallelujah!
Extra reading for your own research!
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/763918/jewish/Escaping-Captivity.htm

The Hebrew name of Eve

The Hebrew name of Eve by Yakov Rosenberg Professor of Biblical Hebrew and “Discovering the Hebrew Bible” Courses, IsraelBiblicalStudies.com

The sound of “i” in “Eve” obscures the true meaning of Eve’s Hebrew given name. The Hebrew name חַוָּה (chava) has a root connection to the verb לחיות (lichyot) “to live” and to words such as חַי (chai) and חַיִּים (chayim) communicating the idea of “life”. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to call Adam’s woman חַוָּה (chava), because one day she will become the mother of “all the living” כָּל־חָי (kol chai).

Eve’s second name, אִשָּׁה (isha) (Gen. 2:23), means “woman” in Hebrew. Generally, it is considered to be the feminine form of the Hebrew word for “man”, אִיש (ish). However, the real root which אִשָּׁה (isha) derives from is different from its male counterpart. The root comes from A.N.SH. (א.נ.ש) and means fragileness and delicacy. Interestingly, the word “fire”, אֵשׁ (esh) also resonates in this beautifully complex name for “woman” in the Bible.

Role of Women | GRACE in TORAH

 

PARTNERS | women-of-valor
The Spirit of Leviathan, Jezebel, and Athaliah - Kindle edition by Manning,  Tekoa. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
This one! I am reading it now…oh! It’s a good one!
And THIS!!! I could NOT put it down!  Well, folks! Til next week shalom~
Polishing Jade by Tekoa Manning | Audiobook | Audible.com

SHELACH TORAH : NUMBERS 13:1-15:41| PROPHETS : JOSHUA 2:1-24| GOSPEL : MATTHEW 10:1-14

 

E-KIDS 1st Grade Lessons: June 26, 2016 - The Twelve Spies

 

Numbers 14:23 My servant Caleb, because a different spirit is with him and he is wholeheartedly behind Me, I will bring him into the land where he went-his offspring will inherit it.

Hmmm, a different spirit...this week’s Torah portion, as usual, has a lot of meat, much to chew, and much to digest. Some of it is actually hard to chew and even harder to digest.

When folks ask me how I am,  I no longer say I am fine…in the rooms of 12 step recovery, we define fine as frustrated insecure neurotic and emotional. When I use to attend mainstream churches, that was my response and for a long time, I was just being honest without lying. The process of healing is a long one, with many bumps along the way. Healing for trauma and addictions is not for cowards! It takes fortitude of a soldier, determination of one called to be an overcome, perseverance of one who has done battle and knows that things can change in a heartbeat…

Part of my battle plan included AA. Alcoholics Anonymous.   I sat in the rooms of recovery for many years. I learned a lot. I grew up there, matured from a person suffering from arrested development to one that found some tools to fight the good fight of faith.

John Templeton Quote: "An attitude of gratitude creates blessings. Help yourself by helping ...

Attitude Adjustment. When your a$$ falls off pick it up and go to a meeting. Meeting makers make it. If you spot it you got it. First Things First. Keep it Simple Stupid. Think before you drink. AA. Attitude Adjustment. If you got gratitude you won’t have an attitude…

Gratitude. faith. community. safe community. that takes work, each one doing their own spot check as we call it…better check yourself before you wreck yourself…

Seems like there is at least one in every crowd…you know—one of THOSE KINDS…

Negative…critical spirited…wants to argue…always sees the problem but never the solution…

That is what was going on with the 10 spies sent out by Adonia to check the land…now, listen, He did NOT need those 10 men to go check out the land, He knew what was up. He knew all about those Nephilim…and because He is all-knowing, all-seeing, and all-powerful, I just gotta think that His motive was to root out those that would sabotage His plans for Israel to take the land…

Chapter 13 | Nephilim giants, Giants in the bible, Nephilim

Crowd mentality…What Is Mob Mentality? – WebMD

Mob mentality, herd mentality, pack mentality, groupthink, or crowd psychology — the concept has many names. These all boil down to the same idea: Individuals are influenced by a larger group…
One bad apple spoils the bunch…if one can spoil the bunch, what can 10 do?
I worked as a credentialed substance abuse counselor in several types of facilities.  Grace House was a residential home for those needing a safe clean and sober living environment.  For me, it was a calling,  not a paycheck. As a fellow traveler on the road to recovery,  I was able to share who my Higher Power was when asked.  How cool is that! I got to talk about what Jesus (Yeshua) did for me!
On occasion, the atmosphere in Grace House would change…we could feel it, we saw it in the behaviors of the residents. Many times it was a new resident bringing in a bad attitude/spirit.  One person added to the sober community could shift the atmosphere in the air. Both the residents and the staff felt the tension. That negative spirit was contagious,  feeding off each other. Chaos ensued.
Our weekly staff minutes would send the message to the support staff which resident was being disciplined for what infraction. Clear communication was imperative. We worked as a team to keep it a safe sober supportive environment.
We always gave chances for repentance. An opportunity to shuv…turn away from destructive attitudes. Some did, some did not. Those that did not were put “outside the camp.” Discharged. Left to face the consequences of their rebellion against the house rules. Usually, the infraction was succumbing to the cravings to ingest that very thing that got them there in the first place…alcohol or drugs. Sometimes it was fraternizing with the opposite sex. On rare occasions, it was due to violence or disrespecting authority figures.
 I was a genealogist, historian, cheerleader, coach, educator, and antagonist…a role model, teaching life skills, cooking skills and so much more. My role as a counselor was to confront those behaviors that could lead to relapse. I put my heart into each resident on my caseload, especially those that really wanted to enter into a new life, into their promised land of new beginnings. That was the goal of Grace House, to assist the suffering addict/alcoholic in developing a “can do” attitude.
We protected our vulnerable residents.
Moses was put in charge to protect Isreal.
We discharged the resident refusing to comply with house rules, which provide order in the house.
Moses was ordered by Yah to make an example out of those rabblers…and bring order back into the camp.
Rahab…rehab…
Rahab | New Life Fellowship
I have had many “Rahab’s” on my caseload through the years. Prostitutes, strippers, and those that gave themselves away for the next line of Cocaine or Meth.  I treated them with dignity and respect, showing them the love of their Creator. I read their charts…I read their painful psychosocial evaluations. I did my own evaluations with them to write an individualized treatment plan for each of them. I had the honor of hearing their stories and then pouring into them the truth that they do not have to live that way ever again. I had the pleasure of helping them connect the dots of childhood trauma to present-day self-destructive patterns.
What an honor to help them conquer their giants of shame, rejection, abandonment, and self-hatred. The beauty of a changed life is priceless…
Seeing a shift in their attitude toward themselves was rewarding!
Attitude…what is yours?
Are you like those that only see the giants in the land and not the harvest of the huge grapes? What spirit has you? The spirit of Elohim or the spirit of fear?
The latest from Healing for the Nations with A Modern Day Samaritan Woman
https://hebrewnationonline.com/lauras-story-of-becoming/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Ki Tissa When You Take Exodus 30:11-34:35/1 Kings18/Luke 11/Acts 7/1 Cor 10/2 Cor 3

 

 

I hope you enjoy the interview I did with Nitza Mose of Remnant Remedy for Hebrew Nations Radio! I learned so much from our sister! Wow! Is she filled with Yah’s wisdom! I look forward to doing more shows with her! We are indeed, fearfully and wonderfully made!

Here is a link to Nitze Moshe’s website! She has a variety of wonderful products for one to regain their health and to protect one’s health also.

Home

 

If you feel led to support this ministry you can do so here with my Paypal account. A portion of all donations goes to widows and orphans. Thank you so much to those of you that have so generously have given to this ministry!

 

Please feel free to comment on this show, I would love to hear from you!

 

Parashah 18: Mishpatim (Rulings) Exodus 21:1-24:18/Jeremiah 34:8-22:33:25-26/Matt 5:38-42, 15:1-20/Mark 7:1-23/Acts23:1-11/Hebrews9:15-22;10:28-39

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Greetings, in the name of our King Yahshua. This week’s Torah Portion has a wealth of instructions for the Holy One! May you be blessed as the Ruach of Yah breathes His anointing upon all of you! Shalom!

I can be reached at lauralee@sheddingsnakeskins.com. I would love to hear from you! This is a lonely journey and encouragement is always welcomed!

Enjoy the music brought to us by: Tony Robinson and his lovely wife!

 

I wanted to share this resource with you, it has been a wonderful resource for the past few years of my journey to the heart of the Father!

https://hebrew4christians.com/Scripture/Parashah/Summaries/Mishpatim/Inner_Torah/inner_torah.html

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Parasha 15 Bo (Go) Exodus 10:1-13:16/Jeremiah 46:13-28/Luke 2:22-24; John 19:31-37;Acts 13:16-17;Revelation 8:6-9;16:1-21

Welcome to Shedding Shake Skins. As we meditate on this week’s Torah Portion, “Bo” may we each ask Yah what needs to be shed this week in our character. Is it stubbornness like Pharoah? Unbelief, doubt, fear, disobedience? Remember, we on on this journey together, we all have areas of weaknesses and we all have areas of strength. We all have things that we need to surrender in order for Him to shed those ugly layers of encombering snake skins off us so that we can walk in freedom!

 

Steel

 

 

Parasha Bo (Come!): The Angel of Death Passed Over ...

Troubled days lie behind us and troubled days are here and very troubled days lie ahead of us.

We are entering into a new season, with a new leader. Nations are angry. Americans are divided as in the Civil War. Our country is over, the country as we have known it is over. It will never again return to its former glory. Judgment lies ahead.

We look forward to another Exodus. The God that rescued the Hebrews has not changed. He will rescue His people again…

I hope you enjoy this week’s Torah Portion commentary taken from The Life Recovery Bible. Shalom