Jacob Ben Avraham

PARASHAH: “Lech Lecha” (go forth yourself) GENESIS 12:1-17:27 “Now YHVH said unto Abram: Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee” these are the opening words that YHVH speaks unto Abram. A Midrash interprets this to mean; “Go forth to find your authentic self to learn who you are meant to be” This might be a command to every person on earth. We are to “go forth” and find “Adonai” and discover who He intends us to be! Our destiny should be entirely in HIS hands. Now we might ask, “why did YHVH choose Abram to begin his chosen people?” No one really knows the “why?” only that he DID choose him. Perhaps he had a curious and searching mind, searching for the real and true God. We must remember that there was no such person as a “Jew” back then. Abram was a Mesopotamian, from the Chaldean city of “Ur” similar to the Hebrew “Ir” which means “city”. He was raised as an idol worshipper, and his family’s business, according to the rabbis, was making and selling idols. Hebrew tradition teaches that when Abram was young, he attended the “School of Shem”. Shem, the son of Noah taught youths about the true God, Adonai-Elohim, the great El Shaddai, so, Abram might have known something about Elohim from Shem, that is if the story is true. But like I said, it is a story based on tradition. We only know that YHVH chose Abram, and he accepted and obeyed the voice of YHVH. Here is a commandment and the blessings of obeying the commandment. “Leave your father’s house and go to a land which I will show you.” We see that G-d wanted Abram to distance himself from idol worshipping and everything connected with the such. Once he obeyed the voice of HaShem, THEN… the blessings would come; “I will make of thee a great nation” , “I will bless thee and make thy name great (shem gadol) and be thou a blessing” , “I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee” , “In thee shall all the families of the world be blessed” we later see that under “being a great nation” we could add the promise; “Your seed will be like the dust of the earth” and also “like the stars of heaven” What do these promises involve? First of all, let’s look at the words; “Dust of the earth” and “stars of heaven”. Am Israel becoming as the “dust” of the earth, in that they were “trampled upon” by many nations that wanted to extinguish the Jewish people, yet they were also as the “stars of heaven” they shone with the light of Adonai, they brought the worship of the ONE true GOD, Adonai-Elohim-Yeshuah. And from Am Israel, came “Yeshua” who is the “Light of the World” Once Abram obeyed the voice of YHVH, and he arrived in the land of Canaan, then came the testings. We see that Adonai wanted to test his faith like he tests us all in many different ways. Yes, we all want blessings, but at times, blessings come with a price. “Am Gadol” a great nation or a great people. It started with Yitzchak, the first and only son of Abram and Sarah. From him we know the story; Yitzchak > Ya’akov > 12 tribes > multitudes! As a sign, YHVH changed the name of Abram to Abraham. If we look at the paleo Hebrew symbolism in the name “Abram” we see “Alef” “Beit” “Resh” and “Mem”. 4 letters, “4” symbolized the 4 corners of the earth. The descendants of Abraham are in all 4 corners of the earth. But we can see these letters meaning or symbolizing “the father who is the head of a multitude”. Also, we can read this as; God blesses the first house with a multitude”. Later, YHVH changes his name by adding the letter “hey” (h). Now it is “abraHam”. What is the significance of the “H”? Well, one way we can look at it is that the “hey” (h) is the only letter in the Hebrew Alef-bet that is pronounced with one “breathing out air”. When you pronounce “h” we send out a puff of air from our mouth. We can also say “wind” in Hebrew; “Ruach” it also means “spirit”. SO…we can say that “YHVH sent out the “spirit of life” into the womb of Sarah through the seed of Abraham. Also, the ancient meaning of the letter “hey” is “Behold!” so, we can say “Behold, a multitude is coming from Abraham and Sarah!” starting with Yitzchak. Yet we cannot forget about Ishmael, who was the son of Abraham and Hagar, the Egyptian. The promise extended to him too, although this was not part of God’s “perfect” will. He “permitted” the union between Abraham and Hagar, yet with consequences; the Arab nations who are the enemies of Israel. “Ishmael” means “God listens (to man)” “Ish+shema+El. (reading right to left) HOWEVER if we read from left to right we get “Man listens to God” and every man that listens to God, in obedience, whether Arab or any other ethnic identity, that man will be blessed also. Adonai stated also that “in thee, all of the families of the world would be blessed”. The greatest blessing is in Yeshua HaMashiach. From the seed of Abraham, came the nation of Israel, and we know that Mary and Joseph, the guardians of Yeshua were of the seed of Abraham, and more closely, the seed of David. We need to look not so much at physical blessings, nor biological/genealogical blessings. We might be of Jewish ancestry, but that does not secure for us salvation, we need to look at Yeshua our Messiah, who is our “Yeshuateinu” (our salvation) This chapter also states that “Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the wealth that they had amassed and the persons that they had acquired in Haran and they set out for the land of Canaan” Some translations say “souls” instead of “persons”. We can assume that by these words “acquired persons or souls” that Abram and Sarai were “soul winners” that they converted many “souls” in Haran to the belief in the one TRUE GOD, that they abandoned the false deities and were thus “grafted in” sort of saying, into the “Mishpocha Abram” (the family of Abram) They also probably bought servants and slaves, and I am sure that they witnessed to them too. The Word also states that Abraham acquired much “wealth” and took it with him of course. This wealth was in the form of gold, silver, and livestock. We all have internal “wealth” which is the knowledge and wisdom which comes from studying God’s word, and that is what we take with us where ever we go. We are to “share” this wealth with others through teaching and preaching the WORD, and be witnesses of the “Living WORD” Once they arrived in Canaan, they would be “Gerim” from the word “Ger” which means a “sojourner” that is a person who is not a native of that land, but who will live there. We could consider ourselves as “sojourners” on this planet called “earth” this earth is not our permanent home, even though we were born “earthlings” our true home is in Heaven, the New Jerusalem. Now we look at Lot, Abraham’s nephew, Lot started arguing over land for cattle. So, Abraham says for him to select one area and he would go in the other direction. So, Lot chose “Sodom!” the land around it looked very fertile. That is the way the land of sin appears to people. It looks attractive. So, Lot pitched his tent TOWARDS Sodom…then…he actually enters and LIVES in Sodom. And so, it is with sin. We might get attracted to it, get closer to it, and finally, indulge in it! So, be careful! Another fact we read is that Abram stopped in two places, “Shechem” and “Betel” where he built altars and worshiped Adonai there. We do the same, but we do not build stone altars. We worship Adonai in spirit and in truth. An interesting fact about the place “Beth-El, it means “House of God”. Yet the Canaanites worshiped a false deity which was also called “El” the difference between the god “El” of the Canaanites and “El Elyon” or “El Elohim” is that we worship the true EL, the “One who is Strong and who Leads and Instructs” as symbolized in the two Paleo-Hebrew letters; “Aleph and Lamed” There were three promises made to Abraham. His seed would be like the dust of the earth. His seed would be like the stars of heaven, his seed would be like the sands of the sea. Can you count the stars? Can you count the grains of sand on the beach? Can you count dust? Here is something to think about. We walk on dust, we trample it underfoot. Israel has been trampled underfoot and has been looked down upon by many nations, yet, the dust still lasts, it will always be. Leave a car out in the desert for 50 years, and the dust will wear it away into rusted metal, yet the “dust” will always be, and so will Israel. Circumcision! This is an important area, but some make it TOO important. YHVH instructed Abraham to be circumcised and that every male should also be circumcised. This was and is a mark of the covenant. But what about today? Is it still important? Yes, it is, but in the physical aspect of the same. For male health and cleanliness, it is good for every baby boy to be circumcised. YHVH is more concerned about our heart condition. Moshe stated that the “foreskin of our hearts should be circumcised”. Spiritually speaking, the “foreskin” of our hearts is the carnal ways that we all have, being that we are a fallen race and have the inbred original sin. “So, circumcise your heart and stiffen your neck no longer” (Deut 10:16) Have a blessed week Ben Avraham

ISAIAH 54:1-55:5 Am Yisrael is compared to the “sands of the sea” and the “dust of the earth” and the “Stars of heaven” The prophet Yeshayahu in these verses is comforting Israel that they will be blessed, with descendants, even though at the time they might be going through some rough times, always, when people go away from the LORD and follow other gods, then judgment will follow, and suffering will follow, however, YHVH will never reject his people…and…He will increase their numbers. In spite of HaSatan trying to wipe the Jewish people from existence through the Holocaust, pogroms, etc. The people will continue to exist. Why is Israel compared to the “sands of the sea?” because who can count each and every grain of sand? Why is Israel compared to the “dust of the earth?” One walks on the dust, and Israel has been trampled on, like dust, but dust is enduring. Leave a car outside in the desert, in the dust, for perhaps one hundred years. In the end, the car will no longer exist, it will have been wasted away, yet the dust will continue to exist, forever. Why “the stars of heaven?” because Israel will “shine” like the stars, because, the Mashiach came from Israel, and He shines, as everlasting light. Israel will be a light to the nations and will teach the nations of ONE GOD “Echad” 54:3 says "For you will spread out to the right and the left, your descendants will possess the nations." We can say that the "right and the left" mean the "East and the West" When we look to the West of Israel, we see the nations of Europe, Spain, the USA, and when we look to the East of Israel, we see the Middle East, India, China, etc. and of course there is the North and the South, which is Russia, and Africa. Israel has left her influence in Spain, Germany, Russia, and of course in the Middle East. Many nations that believed in many gods, now believe in One God, Adonai-Elohim. Through being dispersed and cast out of "Eretz Zion" the whole world was affected, in a positive way. What was in the beginning, a curse, being cast out of the land, became a blessing to the nations. 54:5 "For your husband is your Maker, Adonai-Tzeva'ot is HIS NAME. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of all the earth". He is the Maker of ALL mankind, yet He is the husband of only those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Those of Israel who have trusted in Him, including those who have been grafted in from the nations, will celebrate the Wedding Feast of the Lamb of God, who loves His bride and is getting all prepared. The table is being set, and the bridegroom will be calling for His bride any time soon. The Holy One of Israel is Yeshua. the "Kadosh Yisrael" "Adonai-Tzava'ot" Adonai who is the Righteous God who connects His House to the Covenant" (The symbolism of the Hebrew letters that spell out "Tzeva'ot") 5 Hebrew letters, 5 is the number of grace. MATTHEW 3:1-4:25; 1 PETER 3:18-22 Yochanan the Baptizer is in the Jordan, baptizing the people, getting them ready to meet their Mashiach, his cousin, his LORD. We need to get our hearts and minds right, a need to change is necessary, to leave the lost world behind and embrace the things of the LORD. Yeshua is baptized, goes into the wilderness, fasts for 40 days, gets ready for his ministry and teaching, healing, and finally, dying for our sins. 40 is the number for testing and judgment. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but from every word that proceeds from the mouth of Adonai”. Yes, physical food is necessary, and it feeds the physical body, yet the WORD of God feeds our spirit man/woman. There needs to be a balance between the two. Good, healthy, kosher food which Adonai gave us, and HIS WORD, which is the living manna. Yeshua settled in Capernaum. The synagogue that Yeshua visited is still there, although it was torn down a rebuilt a few times, the floor is the same. It was an honor to physically “walk” where Yeshua walked and taught Torah. The remains of Peter’s house are also there. Let’s walk the way Yeshua walked, let’s keep on preparing our hearts, and minds, and our lives. The Kingdom of Heaven IS here, it IS at hand. The “Kingdom of God” is HIS activity here on earth. 1 PETER 3:18-22; Kefa writes about Messiah, giving up his life for us all, to bring us to Elohim. But since Messiah Yeshua is part of Elohim, did “Elohim die for Elohim?” In a way, we can say yes. He left His glory on high to come to earth and live as a man, to die as a man, to suffer as a man, a man who is still G-d. Yeshua called upon his “Father” who is Elohim, and Yeshua is known as “The Son” “Yeshua Ben Elohim” who was also known as “Yeshua Ben Yosef” as he was raised and known legally as “The Son of Yosef” yet He was and IS, still very God. Kefa the Talmid continues to state that Yeshua descended into the heart of the earth, and he preached to the “spirits” in Sheol. But who are these “spirits?” We could include all that perished during the time of the flood, who were disobedient, and thus perished, their bodies being consumed by the floodwaters and probably by sharks. I imagine there were many Megalodons (giant sharks) in the waters of the flood just awaiting “MANwiches!” It was too late for these souls to be saved, yet Yeshua also preached to the spirits in “Paradise” the region of Sheol where the righteous awaited Mashiach, from righteous Abel to the thief on the cross (and all in between) He came to set “captives free” even though paradise was a pleasant waiting place (I imagine) it could not compare to the New Jerusalem, where they all are now. “8 were saved through water” those were Noah, his wife (Na ’amah, daughter of Enoch) his three sons, and their wives. They all had a “new beginning” (8) and we also are saved through the “Living Water” who is Yeshua. When we are saved, we go through water baptism, which identifies us with Yeshua, “death and rebirth” yet as Kefa says, it does not get rid of the filth of the flesh, but of the newness of spirit. Our flesh will always be sinful, and will, at times, be attracted to sin. That is why “flesh” can not inherit heaven. Our bodies of flesh will wear out and cease to function after “x” number of years, yet we will receive new bodies, and our souls and spirit will be with the LORD! Our flesh is and always will be sinful flesh, yet we will have a “good conscience toward Elohim” Let us be content with a good conscience, and try to bring the flesh under control. Bat Zion!

PARASHAH; “Noach” GENESIS 6:9-11:32 The Torah says; “Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generation, and Noah walked with Elohim” Noah was a “Tzadik” a righteous man. This is a powerful statement since, in his days, the whole populated earth was corrupt, yet he and his family decided against “going with the flow” and decided to follow YHVH in His ways. The name “Noach” in Hebrew only has 2 letters. The “Nun” and the “Chet” if the name is reversed, putting the “Chet” first and then the “Nun” we get the word “Chen” which means “grace” the name “Noach” sums “58” in gematria, so does the phrase “Yah Gadol” (Great is God) So we have the “God who is Great” who shows “grace” to Noah, who is righteous in the face of a corrupt, fallen world of evil men, women, and giants. We know the story, it is one of the most popular stories from the Bible. Elohim decides to destroy the world with a flood of waters, saving only Noah and his family, and representatives of the animal kinds. He is commanded to build an ark, a “floating barge” a rectangular box-car type of vessel. In feet, it measured 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It had rooms or animal stalls, three floors, a door in the side, and ventilation all around. Using biblical measurements, it was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. A cubit is about 18 inches, it would be from a man’s elbow to the tip of his middle finger (more or less). The total was 380 cubits, length + width + height = 380. In Hebrew letters, this sum would equal “Sheen + Pey” with the symbolism of “The all-consuming fire speaks” Elohim is about to judge and tear up the world with a watery judgment, and he speaks to Noah, who is the only one faithful to HIM. Now, we can see something else in these numbers. The “area” of the ark, using the original Biblical measurement of the cubit would be 300 x 50 x30 = 450,000 square cubits in area. We see the numbers 4, 5, and 0. If we look at the symbolism of these numbers, we see 4 (earth) 5 (grace) and 0 (eternity). Is it possible that Adonai is saying, through these measurements, that in spite of earth’s judgment (through the flood) grace will be given (to Noach) because he is a “Tzadik” a righteous man. Grace is indeed “eternal” He also says to seal it within and without with “pitch” or “tar” which would make it water-proof. It is interesting that the Hebrew word is “K’fer” very similar to “Kafar” which is “covering” this word is used during “Yom Kippur”. During Yom Kippur, the blood of the animals “covered” the sins of the people for one year. This “covering” on the ark would also “seal” Noah and his family inside the ark for the same amount of time, for a year. The ark was a safe haven for Noach and his family, as YESHUA is our “ark of safety” and we are “sealed” with his Ruach HaKodesh. Outside, the world is judged, yet we are safe inside the love and shalom of Yeshua. The world would perish under the water judgment, yet YHVH would make a “brit” (covenant) with Noach and his family. They would be safe and sound, and of course, dry inside the ark for a year. The word for “ark” in Hebrew is “Teivah” it has three Hebrew letters; “Tav” “Beit” and “Hey”. The ancient Hebrew meaning of these letters together would be “behold the house of the covenant” The ark would be their house for one year a temporary house that was under God’s “covenant”. There is a second "Ark of the covenant." which was built by Bezaleel, one thousand and some years later under the instructions of Adonai. This second ark would harbor the tablets of the Torah, which was the "covenant" that sealed the promise of YHVH to Israel that Israel would be HIS chosen people. The people would be preserved as "a nation" forever. As was Noah, within the ark, preserved with his family, to produce seed which would bring forth in the future "Am Israel" The only other place in the Torah where the word “Teivah” appears is in Exodus 2:3 when Miriam, the sister of Moshe, makes an “ark” (Teivah) and places Moshe inside the ark and places it in the Nile River. There is a parallelism between Moshe and Noach! Both were placed inside “Teviot” (arks) which were simply rectangular boxes made to float on water. Both were guided by HaShem and brought to a specific place. Moshe was brought to the palace steps to be received by the pharaoh’s daughter. Noach was brought to the mountains of Ararat (in Turkey). Moshe was a righteous man as well as Noach. Moshe was the redeemer of the Jewish people in Egypt and led them out of slavery. Noach redeemed ALL of mankind through his own DNA, thus preserving the human race. Inside the ark, the DNA of all humankind would be safe. Had not YHVH chosen to save Noah and his family, and instead, destroy all of humankind, today, we would probably be plants, trees, or flowers. Also remember that in the days before the flood, it never rained from the sky, but from under the ground. When the rains finally came, the people outside the ark probably freaked out big time! Another thing we can note about the ark is that was divided into three parts. The bottom deck (where probably all the heavier animals were kept) the middle deck and the top deck (where Noach and his family probably lived). The Tabernacle was also divided into three parts, the outer court, the inner court, and the Holy of Holies, where the “Ark of the Covenant was kept” We can also see three parts of the “Ark of the Covenant” (the outside, the inside, and the cover) “Elohim” is “Three” the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Av, Ben, Ruach HaKodesh. The Spirit of Elohim lived within the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, and of course, was with Noach and his family, inside the ark. There were two Tzadikim (righteous men) mentioned in the first few chapters of Genesis. They BOTH have the same letters that make up their names! Chanokh (Enoch) and Noach (Noah) both have the “Nun” “Vav” and “Chet” in common. If we look at the symbolism in ancient Hebrew, we could read “Noach” as “life is attached to the fence” So, what could that mean? Here’s a possibility; That the life that Adonai wants us to enjoy, as righteous ones, must be within the parameters of the Torah, which is the fence. Anything outside the fence would be the pleasures of the lost world and all of its corruption. That is why the world was destroyed and Noach and his family were saved. They went through judgment by water (inside the protection of the ark) yet were not affected by the flood. We read that animal representatives of each animal kind entered the ark. Two of each “unclean” kind came into the ark, and fourteen of the “clean” animals, such as sheep, goats, cows, bulls, buffalo, deer, moose, elk, etc., or seven pairs of each. Later on, we find out why? They would be used for eating purposes and for sacrifices, so, there would have to be a lot of them on the earth. Dinosaurs? Yes, they came on board, probably the young ones that were still babies. The word “dinosaur” is a modern word, back then the word “dragon” was used for dinos. We read that when Noah finished building the ark, which took 120 years, he took enough food to last a year, and when the animals got on board they settled down. Some might have gone into hibernation status. Then, after a period of seven days of waiting, 7:16 says “and YHVH shut him in” This means that “God himself shut the outside door”. The period of grace was over, death and judgment would begin. It is interesting to see that the name of God up to this point is “Elohim” but now, the letters YHVH are used to indicate that the loving nature of Adonai, in his perfect and holy name, secures Noah and his family inside HIS ark of safety. Every human being on this earth is under a period of grace when we can come into the presence of Adonai and enter into the “ark of salvation” which is Yeshua. After our physical death, our fate is sealed, and judgment will fall. Eternal condemnation in the lake of fire for the lost, and for believers, our “works” will be judged where we will either receive or lose rewards, yet we ourselves will inherit eternal life with the King of Kings, and LORD of Lords. The WORD says that it rained for 40 days and nights. “40” is the number of “judgment and testing,” it says that the waters rose above the highest mountains 22 feet. This proves that it was a “universal flood” not a local flood. During this time, there was a lot of seismic activity, shifting of the earth's continents, creating new mountain chains and ridges. We have no idea what the pre-diluvial earth looked like, but after the flood, Noach and his family stepped out into a strange and different world. The floodwaters were upon the earth for a year, and the Word says that in the seventh month and on the seventeenth day of that month (Tishrei) the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat. Isn’t it surprising that the ark came to rest on dry land during the third day of Sukkot! Noah’s “Sukkah” received “shalom” and on the first day of the first month “Nissan” “New Year’s Day” the waters had completely dried up on the earth. This is very significant because the whole earth is starting anew, a new year for a renewed earth. So, Noah and his family leave the ark and start life anew. About 4000 years later, a Turkish countryman and his son, and later the Tzar’s army soldiers found the ark halfway sticking out of an ice glacier on Mt. Ararat. They took measurements and explored it, so, Yes, it was found. Noah and his family left the ark, and the first thing Noah did was to build an altar and sacrifice clean animals. Here again is the burnt offering to remind us of our sin nature. After the flood was when God gave permission to eat the flesh of clean animals, before, mankind was vegetarian. Yes, Noah was a Tzadik, a righteous man yet he still had his sin nature. He planted a vineyard and got drunk from the wine he made. Ham, one of the sons of Noah saw his father naked inside his tent. We do not know what happened if he just saw him naked, or…perhaps…committed some kind of perverse sexual thing on Noah, we only know that the Torah says that when Noah awakened from his drunkenness he discovered what his son had “done unto him”(9:24) implying that something was “done” Ham did not just “see” his father naked. The result is that Noah was angry and cursed “Canaan” Ham’s son. Now, we don’t understand why the grandson had to suffer for what his father had done. Doesn’t seem fair, well, life ISN’T fair. It never has been. We’re living in a lost and dying world, a world that is going down the tubes. One thing is that Noah had already blessed his sons, and being blessed, you cannot take the blessing from them. Are there any Canaanites alive today? I would say not. They ended up being a perverse, vial people. Now the world becomes populated again. People start moving around from the three sons of Noah; Shem, Ham, and Japheth. From these three sons, we get the three main people groups of the world. “Shem” the Semites, “Ham” the Hamites who went down toward Africa, and “Japheth” who brought about the European peoples. One of the popular names from Japheth is “Ashkenaz” who was the father, one could say, of the Ashkenazim East European Jews later on. “Tubal” = Tobolsk (in Russia) “Meshek” = Moscow (Russia) Another name is “Nimrod” who came from “Ham” and also “Mitzraim” (Egypt) and “Cush” (Ethiopia, Sudan) Nimrod founded Babylon. From here we get the division of the world languages. At that time, the descendants of Noah spoke only one language, probably Hebrew, The people under Nimrod contracted a bad disease, namely “US-itess” “Let US build US a city let US make US a name least WE be scattered abroad the earth” (11:4) the direct opposite of what YHVH ordered them to do, to “multiply and fill the earth again with people! The flood taught them nothing! They continued to rebel. The Torah says that YHVH gave them new languages. According to scholars, from one language came 70 languages then, and 70 people groups. So, they left Babel and went off into different directions to repopulate the earth, so that is how languages started. They were complete with grammar, syntax, many even with written words. Today, there are lot more than 70 languages, but no matter what language a person speaks, YHVH knows his name in ALL languages, and ALL who call upon the NAME of the LORD will be saved! When a person prays to receive Yeshua as LORD and Savior, no matter what the language is, HE will HEAR and come into that person’s life! Remember, HE is the author of ALL languages of the world. Kitty takes a nap by the bike

ISAIAH 42:5-43:10 The prophet speaks through the Spirit of YHVH saying: “I, YHVH, have called you in righteousness, and I take hold of your hand and guard you, and give you for a Brit (covenant) to a people, for a Light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house” 42:6,7 Some say that this is referring to the prophet himself? Really? Was Yeshayahu called to be a “covenant?” to open blind eyes? To set the prisoners free? Yet re-arrange the letters in the name “Yeshayahu” and we get Y-E-S-H-U-A-H! it was HE who the prophet was talking about. His name means “Salvation” and He came as a ‘blood-covenant” that would not simply cover for a year, but to get rid of, wipe out, the sin we inherited. He came not only to his own Jewish people but also for the peoples of the nations outside of Israel. He not only opened the eyes of the physically blind but also for those who were spiritually blind. Once we did not understand the Bible, or we could have cared less for the Bible, but since we have accepted Yeshua as Messiah and LORD, now we have the Holy Spirit to help us understand the Torah. Once we lived in spiritual darkness, in the prison of HaSatan, called the “lost world” but we have been freed to follow HIM who set us free. “And I shall lead the blind by a way they have not known, in paths they have not known. I lead them. I make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight” (42:16) The new paths are the Torah paths, David wrote; “thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” By allowing God’s Word to take root in our lives, our paths are made straight, we know now how to tell the difference between the Holy and unholy, between the clean and the unclean. The WORD which is taught to us through the Ruach HaKodesh, using God’s chosen teachers is His gift to us, as born-again believers, it is our duty to stay on the right path. There are “blind people” who have eyes, yet do not see, they may see physically, but they do not see spiritually, God’s Word can change all that (43:8) MATT 1:1-2:23; JOHN 1:1 We read the ancestry of Messiah Yeshua, his birth during one of the evenings of Sukkot, and his escape with his parents to Egypt when Herod sought to kill him. Later, YHVH “brought up HIS SON out of Egypt” Adonai saw his children go into Egypt through Jacob, and they also came out of Egypt through Moshe, Adonai led HIS SON down to Egypt with Miriam and Yosef, and Yosef and Miriam led him BACK to Israel. Now, Yeshua, HIS Son leads us ALL out of the Egypt of this world through a relationship with HIM, In John 1:1 it says; “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with YHVH, and YHVH was the WORD” In this we see that Yeshua took part in the creation of this world, as “The WORD” this is the essence of the name “Elohim” the plural G-d who is “Three” yet “One” like; 1 x 1 x 1 = 1. Another aspect to point out are the words; “Bethlehem and Judea” Yeshua was born in “Beit Lechem Y’hudah” (Bethlehem in Judea) In the Hebrew we can understand; “Yeshua, who is “Salvation” who is the Bread of Life, was born in the House of Bread of YHVH! It was sensible for G-d to come to earth in human form in the House of Bread if He is going to have the title “Bread of Life” We can look at this prophecy; “And you Beit Lechem, In the land of Y’hudah, are by no means the least among the rulers of Y’hudah, for from you will come a Ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” No wonder King Herod was terrified. He misinterpreted this prophecy, thinking that his kingship would be replaced by Yeshua. Yeshua DID become a “Shepherd” who “guided human sheep” at least those “sheep” that chose to follow HIM! As for being a king. This “kingship” would be in the “World to Come” as explained to Pontius Pilate. Yeshua came to this world to shepherd the lost human sheep to the “Living Waters” of “Yeshuah” (salvation), to heal the sick, to teach the Torah, and to die for our sins. The king’s crown…well…that would have to wait…until the next coming, which might be just around the corner. Fellowship at a countryside messianic congregation (El Salvador) me next to the rabbi

PARASHAH: “B’reisheet” (In the Beginning) GENESIS 1:1-6:8 This thread is a bit long, probably the longest one I have written, but it is important to know these things, there is so much information here. Just take it a little at a time. If your eyes get tired, read a little bit and come back later and read the rest. During Simchat Torah, we begin in Genesis…But…Some have the tradition of reading the last few verses of Deuteronomy, (34:10-12) “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moshe……..and in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moshe shewed in the sight of all Israel.” Interesting that the very last word in Deuteronomy is “Israel”. We read verses 10 through 12 and in the same breath, continue with Genesis 1:1. Meaning that the Torah is a continuous book, like a circle. The very first line in Genesis, the very first line in the Torah has so much meaning; “B’reisheet bara Elohim ET HaShamayim v’et haAretz”(the first 7 words) (In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth). One thing to point out, in many English Bibles, the word “heaven” is singular and should be “heavens” (plural), because in Hebrew, “HaShamayim” is “heavens”. Also, in the words; “B’reisheet Bara Elohim” (In the beginning, Elohim created) we find the mixed letters that spell out “Israel” also. So, the Torah begins with “Israel” and ends with “Israel”. If we look at the Hebrew letters that spell out “B’reisheet Bara Elohim” we find “Israel” how? Well let’s see;… Beit, Resh, Aleph, Shin, Yod, Tav……Beit, Resh, Aleph…..Aleph, Lamed, Hey, Yod, Mem sofit. Then we pick out the letters that form “Israel” Yod, Shin, Resh, Aleph, Lamed. What can this tell us? That from the “Beginning” Elohim had Israel in mind! This is just one way one could look at this. Another aspect we can look at is the letter “Alef” which in Hebrew, has no sound by itself, yet takes the sound of whatever vowel that is placed below it. Within the first 7 words, there are 6 Alefs, When one spells out “Alef” in Hebrew, we get “Alef, Lamed, and Peh” (A L P) these three letters together also mean “One Thousand” (pronounced “elef”). Many rabbis believe that the symbolism of these 6 Alefs in the first 7 words, is “6 thousand years for mankind living on the earth” followed by another “thousand” (7 thousand years) which would be the Millennial reign of Messiah, then the number “8” (the eighth day of Sukkot) which could be the beginning of the “New Heavens and the New Earth ” (of course, this is just a possibility). Another thing is that Within the first 7 words, we find the word “Emet” (Truth) “Alef, Mem, and Tav” and this is one of the titles of Yeshua, who is the “Way” the “TRUTH” and the “Life”. He is also the “Living Word” (See John 1:1) so we see Yeshua even in Genesis 1:1 “7” is the perfect number of YHVH. If we take the seven words, take the middle word “ET” and take this word “ET” and draw a vertical line from it, we can make a “Menorah” three lines from the middle line connected to “ET” to the other words in this first verse. The word “ET” has not a literal translation, yet it points to a specific object which is very important. “ET” in the ancient Hebrew letters are the “Alef and the Tav” or in Greek, the “Alpha and Omega” Or…. the “God of the Covenant”. So, every time we see “ET” in the original Hebrew, we are reminded of “YHVH, the God of the Covenant” Why does the Bible start with the letter “Beit” or “B”? why not with “Alef” or “A”. Isn’t the “Alef” the symbol for “God”? There is a story about the letters “Alef” and “Beit” who are having an argument as to who would be first. They both came to Elohim and presented their case. Elohim-YHVH said, “Alef”, you are very important as you represent who I AM. You will be the third letter in the Bible because “3” symbolizes “Elohim” because we are united as Father, Son, and Spirit, three entities in one “Echad” being. “As for you, letter “Beit” you will be first because you symbolize the “house” which I will make for mankind, for the plants, trees, and flowers, and for all the beasts which I will create. This house will be called “earth”. This perfect planet will be a “B’rakhah” a “Blessing” to my creation, therefore, the Torah must start with “B” Also, the letter “Beit” is closed on three sides, yet open on one, the left side. This means that before the “beginning” there was nothing, only Elohim, and revelation starts with “B” going towards the “left” as the Hebrew is written.” So, therefore, the Alef and the Beit left, both satisfied with the verdict from Elohim-YHVH. We also see in the first line, the creation of the three basic elements of the universe; “space” (the heavens) “time” (in the beginning) and “matter” (the earth). We have an infinite God that comes out of infinity past and speaks and creates a finite earth. Creates matter. The first law of Thermodynamics states that; “All matter has been created and that there is no more matter being created” what we do see is that “matter changes states” (from liquid to solid, = water to ice) or from liquid to gas = water vapor. We can also see today the effects of the “2nd law of thermodynamics, that shows that everything in the material world is on a downward spiral, from order to disorder, from composition to decomposition, from perfection to imperfection, why? Because of sin! The wages of sin is death, and therefore, not only in the world of the living but also, in the material world, everything is “dying” Elohim looked upon the earth he was forming, which was then, a lot of water and earth elements, and then spoke in verse 3 saying; “Haya haOr” (let there be light) “V’yahi or” (and there was light). And Elohim saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness” (vs 4) There are 4 levels of Torah understanding which are “Peshat” (literal), “Derash” (moral and spiritual), “Remez” (Symbolic), and “Sod” (hidden), (this is when we use gematria, or numbers with math to come to different revelations, mind you this is NOT numerology!) There was the physical light, the light we can see, and also, the WORD of God which is looked upon as “light” YESHUA also is referred to the “Light of the World” light is also “sinless perfection” and the “darkness” is also the physical darkness, which is needed, for us to rest at night, so that the flowers can close up and sleep. I can also refer to the “spiritual darkness” which is “evil” or “sin”. SO… there is a separation between what is holy and what is not holy, between sin and perfection, between evil and good. Between our “daylight” and our “nighttime” (taking it literally). Now, if I were going to study every verse, this first parashah would be perhaps ten pages long, so, we are going to jump a bit. Elohim created all that this earth contains in 6 literal days, of 24-hour periods. Now, there are some SSs (silly scientists) that say, “the six days are considered a period of four-billion years!” really? Really? Well, if we look at verse 12 it says that Elohim created the plants, trees, grass, etc, then in verse 14, it says that Elohim created the lights in the heavens, which include the sun, moon, and the stars. Well, if each “day” consisted of, let’s say 600,000,000 years, then, how would the plants and trees, and life itself survive without sunlight for this amount of time? Many times, we just have to take God’s word literally. “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness…and Elohim created the man and the woman in His own image” (vs 26-27). What does this mean, in HIS own image? What is the IMAGE of ELOHIM? One could say that the image of Elohim is complete holiness and perfection! Sinlessness! That was how the first couple were made. The earth was “created” without any previous existing matter, yet man and woman were “created” using “already existing matter” namely,” the dust of the earth (adamah). The name “Elohim” shows the “plural unity (Echad)” of God, and just as Elohim consists of the Father, the Son, and the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) so man and woman were also joined “Echad” with Elohim in mind, soul, and spirit. What is man? What is woman? But a soul and spirit inhabiting a flesh and bone body. Bodies that will one day (because of sin) deteriorate and cease to function and return to the earth. Elohim loved his creation of man and woman. He placed them in a perfect paradise home, a garden full of trees that produced fruit, nuts, flowers, clean water, animals that were friendly. The only prohibition was the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil. But…as we know the story, HaSatan, tricked them into eating the forbidden fruit. As soon as Adam and Eve ate the fruit (and nowhere does it say that it was an apple) the Word says that they “realized that they were naked” (3:7) but weren’t they already naked? I mean, they weren’t created wearing Levis! however...remember that the word “light” the words “light” and “skin” are written almost the same way in Hebrew, the only difference is the first letter, “skin” is “OR” written with the letter “ayin” which symbolizes “eye” and OR (light) is written with an “Aleph” It is possible, and probable that Adam and Eve were created with a covering of “light” When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai after being with God for 40 days, he was “glowing” with light, the Shekinah light, and Moses was a sinner, imagine Adam and Eve who were sinless, their light covering would have been permanent had they not sinned (and would still be alive today). When they disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit, the light covering must have vanished, THEN…they saw that they were NAKED, without the light, which served, one could say as, “a skin of light over the skin of flesh” The sin of eating the forbidden fruit shows the following; the LUST OF THE FLESH, THE LUST OF THE EYES, AND THE PRIDE OF LIFE. Eve was hungry, she “saw” that it looked really delicious, and, she, “thought” it would make her “wise” as the serpent lied to her saying the same. Sin today is the same, it is a mix of all three things, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life “And YHVH Elohim made coats of skins for the man and for the woman and dressed them” (3:21) This is the very first blood sacrifice in the Bible. YHVH had to sacrifice one or two innocent animals, perhaps two lambs or goats, to “cover” Adam and Eve. This is a reminder of Yom Kippur, where the blood of animals covered the sins of Israel for one year. This would be a reminder to Adam and Eve of their sin. Their sin caused an innocent, blameless animal to lose its life. The Word of God does not say, but we can imagine that YHVH told Adam and Eve that they would have to sacrifice a lamb, or a goat, or another kosher animal every day, to remind them of their sin. We look towards the cross of Calvary and we see YESHUA the LAMB of God who offered himself up as a blood sacrifice for our sins, once and forever, not just to cover, but to erase. In chapter 4 we see the birth of Kayin and Hevel (Cain and Abel) They were born with the sin nature, and we see in both boys, the direction of the world that would follow; some would choose holiness and all that is good and others would choose the unholy and all that is evil. There came a time when they both had to offer sacrifices (that is why I said that Adam and Eve must have taught them to do the same). Hebel chose to obey and Kayin chose to disobey. Kayin offered a sacrifice, but it was not a blood sacrifice, rather it was a “grain offering” nothing wrong with a grain offering, but a blood sacrifice was needed. Therefore, it was rejected. Hebel however, offered the correct sacrifice, a blood sacrifice, and it was accepted. This caused anger and jealousy in Kayin and we know the story, Kayin rose up and murdered his brother Hebel. Yet YHVH Elohim still offers him an opportunity to repent and confess his sin, but Kayin does not. Then YHVH Elohim says; “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground” (4:10) the Hebrew word is “damei” or “bloods” it is written in the plural. But why is this? This is eluded to the idea (which is written in the Talmud) that “he who saves the life of one person is as if he has saved a whole nation, and he who takes a life of another, is as if he has murdered a whole nation.” It is as if the souls of all the “would have been” descendants of Hebel were crying out for vengeance because they would not be permitted to be born. “the voice of thy brother’s bloods cries out…” the many “bloods” cry out in “one voice” so it seems. Hebel is slain, his blood is sacrificed, and Kayin goes away, runs away to the land of wandering (Nod) and becomes a vagabond, just wandering, living off the fruit of trees and whatever grows of its self, since now, his farming days are over, YHVH curses the land he farmed as punishment. We can see here again a shadow of Yom Kippur. In Yom Kippur, two goats were selected, one was sacrificed and the other was “sent away” Here, Innocent and righteous Hebel is sacrificed, and Kayin “goes away” yet this “going away” is in the negative light, he “goes away” from the presence of Adonai, while Hebel goes “into the presence of Adonai” There is a saying that goes like this; “you can mix good apples with bad apples, and the good apples will never correct the bad, rather the bad-rotten apples will corrupt the good ones. Well, that is the way the “world turned” way back then, as the years pass, the descendants of Kayin mixed with the descendants of Seth, (who was born after the death of Hebel. “and it came to be that when men began to increase on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of Elohim saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And YHVH said ‘My Ruach will not strive with mankind forever in his going astray. He is flesh, and his days shall be 120. The Nephilim (in some translations, the giants) were on the earth in those days and when the sons of Elohim came into the daughters of men, they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men of old, men of name (fame). 6:1-4 There are two schools of thought when the issue of “B’nei Elohim” comes up. Some believe that it refers to the godly line of Seth mixing with the ungodly line of Kayin. The other school of thought which is more probable is that the “sons of God” refer to the fallen angels that were kicked out of heaven together with HaSatan. These “b’nei Elohim” somehow and someway transformed themselves into flesh and blood, and the offspring of those “demon-human” relationships were born “giants”. The word “Nephilim” means “fallen ones”. It does not mean “giants” …however…those “mighty men of old” many were “giants” we have examples; Goliath of Gath, Og, king of Bashan. There is archeological and paleontological evidence of a race of giants in the pre-diluvian world. Many fossil skeletons have been found some 20 and 30 feet tall. The Indians of the South-West claim that there was a race of red-haired giants who were cannibals, they could run after a herd of buffalo, catch one and bite off a leg and eat it on the run. These giants were destroyed during the flood, however, their DNA still survived. “His days shall be 120” What is it saying here? YHVH has decided to destroy and cleanse the earth by a universal flood, and Noah and his family were found to be the only righteous people around. Noah will receive instructions to build an ark, and it will take him 120 years, so, the people will have 120 years to repent, which they did not. This was a very short time being that thousands of years ago, people lived 800 or 900 years. 120 years would be like a week in our times. Noah was a “Tzadik” a “righteous person”. He went “against the flow”. Imagine a school of fish going in one direction, and you are going in the opposite direction. How about you? If the world is going down the tubes, headed for destruction, will you follow the world? Or will you remain with Yeshua and go HIS way? The choice is yours. The only way we can be a true “Tzadik Ben Elohim” (a righteous child of God) is through faith in Yeshua HaMashiach/ Jesus the Christ, through faith in HIM trusting in HIS one-time atonement for sin. Torah study time

What does the word "Torah" mean? Let’s just talk about the word “Torah” for a moment. It has been mistranslated in Bibles as the word “law” which comes from the Latin “Legis” Something legalistic. Yet the word in the original Hebrew “Torah” means “instruction”, so, every place in the Bible where the word “law” is found should really be translated as “instruction” (from our LORD and God YHVH). Once we get this word from the right perspective, then, a lot of misunderstandings can be corrected. If the word for "Torah" had been correctly translated into Latin, it would have translated as "instructio" or "educatio" not "legis." So, how many “Torahs” are there? One? Two? Three? If we investigate way back going about six-thousand years. We come to the creation of this world. Up to the time of Moshe (Moses), YHVH spoke verbally to the patriarchs, starting from Adam and Chavah (Eve). They passed on the words of Elohim to their children and their children to their children and so forth. One could say that this was the first “Oral Torah”. Finally, we come to Moshe and YHVH speaks to him in person. Moshe writes down everything the Adonai tells him and thus, we have the first five books of the Bible. The prophets followed, writing down the words of God, continued by a few kings, namely David and Solomon. Then we come to the New Covenant letters, and books comprised of Yeshua’s talmidim (disciples) and followers. They were all inspired by the Ruach HaKodesh (The Holy Spirit) as to what to write. They wrote down Adonai’s words in Hebrew and in Greek, since the world was dominated by the Greeks. The best way to reach the nations was to write in Greek. From Greek, the Bible was translated into Latin and then into all the languages of the world. The Hebraic way of understanding God's Word is through the following ways; "Peshat" (the basic and natural, literal meaning of a verse or verses) "Derash" (a "drash" is a moral or spiritual understanding of the verse or verses) "Remez and Sod" are symbolic meanings, using of course, symbolisms, and also "gematria" which is a number system which assigns each Hebrew letter with a number. When two words have the same number value, there is usually a relationship between the two. Mind you this is NOT numerology. Gematria has been used by rabbis for hundreds of years. An example of Hebraic symbolism in the letters that spell "T-O-R-A-H" is that there are only 4 letters, the vowels are not written. But going from right to left, in the ancient symbolism of the letters, we get "The First Covenant of the Nail revealed" which is what the Torah points to, to Yeshua who bore the nails in his hands. There have been many "covenants" but only ONE was a "covenant of the nails" which illustrates our God in human form dying for humanity, receiving the nails in his hands on a rugged cross. The WORD of God is correct in every detail, there are NO contradictions in it. If there were, that would mean that YHVH is a God of error, and this is not so. Those who say that there are contradictions, do not understand the original words and their meanings, therefore, it is a good thing to have a basic knowledge of Hebrew and Greek. Why did YHVH give us HIS complete and Holy WORD? The WORD of God is read in a continuous cycle. It is all related, one part with another. There are a few ways in which we can look at it. For example. When we finish reading Deuteronomy, we begin again with Genesis. The last word in Deuteronomy is “Israel” and the first word in Genesis is “B’reisheet” (In the beginning). So how do we inter-relate this? One could say that “In the beginning” even before the foundations of the world, God had “Israel” in his heart and mind. We could take a step further. The last letter of the word “Israel” is the “l” (lamed) and the first letter in Genesis is “B” (Beit). Lamed and Beit (L + V) spell “Lev” which means “heart” We could say that God had Israel always in his “heart” even at the beginning of everything. The gematria for “Lev” is 30 + 2 = 32. 3 + 2 = 5, “5” is the number of “grace”. God had grace in his heart for Israel, even when Israel walked away and went after idols. “Lev” is also “instruction for the house”. The Torah is instruction for the “House of God”. We could go a step further. The Torah doesn’t stop at the end of Deuteronomy but continues to Malachi. The last word in Malachi is “curse” (in English) but in Hebrew, the word is “Cherem” The prophet is admonishing his people to repent or Adonai will strike the earth with a curse. Genesis starts with a “Blessing” the perfect creation of the earth for mankind, yet at the end, we see a “curse” that man brought upon himself when he sinned, so in that way, “blessings and curses” are related. We can have one or the other, obedience or disobedience, our choice. We can also see that the last letter in Malachi is a “mem” (m) which symbolizes “water” and in Genesis, the earth was formed out of “water”. When we read the Book of Revelation, we see that the very last word is; "Amen" the letter "n" in Hebrew is "Nun" So when we take the first letter of the Bible/Torah "B" and add the last letter of the Bible/Torah "N" we get the word "Ben" (son) so the whole Bible/Torah directs a person to the "Son" (of God) who is Yeshua. The Torah is about a perfect and Holy God, whose most holy name is Yod Hey Vav Hey (YHVH). Written with ancient paleo-Hebrew letters, the letters symbolize “Behold the hand, behold the nail”. A perfect revelation of Messiah Yeshua on Calvary’s cross, receiving in his hands, the nails that held him fast to the crucifixion stake. There he paid for all of our sins, past, present, and future. Second, the Bible was written to humanity because, in the fallen state caused by sin, man had to be re-directed back to YHVH, through Yeshua. In this way, mankind could have a renewed covenant relationship with his creator. Yeshua described it as the “New Birth” in John 3:3. Once man has a renewed relationship with YHVH, he is directed towards a holy, sanctified living through following the commandments which were written down by Moshe. Yeshua also fulfilled the commandments by giving a correct interpretation of them and how they applied to our lives. Even though there are 613 commandments (mitzvoth) in all. Not all apply to us today, since we are not under the Levitical priesthood, nor are we under the animal sacrificial system. Still, many DO apply to us, and that is the reason for Bible/Torah study. Today, we have “commentaries” on God’s word, or, “Midrashim”. About 400 years after Yeshua, the rabbis and sages compiled the “Talmud” which are commentaries on the Torah, written by the rabbis of old. These are books, articles, and writings, that rabbis have written, giving THEIR interpretation of what the Torah means, but, it is only “commentary”. Is it good to read and study the Talmud? I would say it is good to read ALL things related to God’s Word, BUT, we should always compare commentary to the written WORD of God. If it lines up with what the Bible teaches, it is a good thing, if not, as I said, it is just, “commentary” the opinion of someone who is not God. As one rabbi said, “Reading commentary is like eating a bony fish. Throw away the bones and digest the meat!” “Torah Parashot” or “Portions from the Torah” are read and studied every week for one year. A “Torah portion” consists of readings from the five books that Moshe wrote. Many refer to the first 5 books of Moses as the "Law of Moses." This also is a misnomer. Moses was not the author of the Torah (which many call "law") The author was God, and He gave the instructions to Moses to write down and pass along to others. Then we have the readings from the Prophets, and readings from the Brit HaDashah, “The New Covenant”. The readings start on the Day of Simchat Torah. On this day, we start from the “beginning” which is a perfect place to start any reading. Today, is the day we start reading Genesis 1:1. I'll send the Genesis study a little while later. Ben Avraham

What does the word "Torah" mean? Let’s just talk about the word “Torah” for a moment. It has been mistranslated in Bibles as the word “law” which comes from the Latin “Legis” Something legalistic. Yet the word in the original Hebrew “Torah” means “instruction”, so, every place in the Bible where the word “law” is found should really be translated as “instruction” (from our LORD and God YHVH). Once we get this word from the right perspective, then, a lot of misunderstandings can be corrected. If the word for "Torah" had been correctly translated into Latin, it would have translated as "instructio" or "educatio" not "legis." So, how many “Torahs” are there? One? Two? Three? If we investigate way back going about six-thousand years. We come to the creation of this world. Up to the time of Moshe (Moses), YHVH spoke verbally to the patriarchs, starting from Adam and Chavah (Eve). They passed on the words of Elohim to their children and their children to their children and so forth. One could say that this was the first “Oral Torah”. Finally, we come to Moshe and YHVH speaks to him in person. Moshe writes down everything the Adonai tells him and thus, we have the first five books of the Bible. The prophets followed, writing down the words of God, continued by a few kings, namely David and Solomon. Then we come to the New Covenant letters, and books comprised of Yeshua’s talmidim (disciples) and followers. They were all inspired by the Ruach HaKodesh (The Holy Spirit) as to what to write. They wrote down Adonai’s words in Hebrew and in Greek, since the world was dominated by the Greeks. The best way to reach the nations was to write in Greek. From Greek, the Bible was translated into Latin and then into all the languages of the world. The Hebraic way of understanding God's Word is through the following ways; "Peshat" (the basic and natural, literal meaning of a verse or verses) "Derash" (a "drash" is a moral or spiritual understanding of the verse or verses) "Remez and Sod" are symbolic meanings, using of course, symbolisms, and also "gematria" which is a number system which assigns each Hebrew letter with a number. When two words have the same number value, there is usually a relationship between the two. Mind you this is NOT numerology. Gematria has been used by rabbis for hundreds of years. An example of Hebraic symbolism in the letters that spell "T-O-R-A-H" is that there are only 4 letters, the vowels are not written. But going from right to left, in the ancient symbolism of the letters, we get "The First Covenant of the Nail revealed" which is what the Torah points to, to Yeshua who bore the nails in his hands. There have been many "covenants" but only ONE was a "covenant of the nails" which illustrates our God in human form dying for humanity, receiving the nails in his hands on a rugged cross. The WORD of God is correct in every detail, there are NO contradictions in it. If there were, that would mean that YHVH is a God of error, and this is not so. Those who say that there are contradictions, do not understand the original words and their meanings, therefore, it is a good thing to have a basic knowledge of Hebrew and Greek. Why did YHVH give us HIS complete and Holy WORD? The WORD of God is read in a continuous cycle. It is all related, one part with another. There are a few ways in which we can look at it. For example. When we finish reading Deuteronomy, we begin again with Genesis. The last word in Deuteronomy is “Israel” and the first word in Genesis is “B’reisheet” (In the beginning). So how do we inter-relate this? One could say that “In the beginning” even before the foundations of the world, God had “Israel” in his heart and mind. We could take a step further. The last letter of the word “Israel” is the “l” (lamed) and the first letter in Genesis is “B” (Beit). Lamed and Beit (L + V) spell “Lev” which means “heart” We could say that God had Israel always in his “heart” even at the beginning of everything. The gematria for “Lev” is 30 + 2 = 32. 3 + 2 = 5, “5” is the number of “grace”. God had grace in his heart for Israel, even when Israel walked away and went after idols. “Lev” is also “instruction for the house”. The Torah is instruction for the “House of God”. We could go a step further. The Torah doesn’t stop at the end of Deuteronomy but continues to Malachi. The last word in Malachi is “curse” (in English) but in Hebrew, the word is “Cherem” The prophet is admonishing his people to repent or Adonai will strike the earth with a curse. Genesis starts with a “Blessing” the perfect creation of the earth for mankind, yet at the end, we see a “curse” that man brought upon himself when he sinned, so in that way, “blessings and curses” are related. We can have one or the other, obedience or disobedience, our choice. We can also see that the last letter in Malachi is a “mem” (m) which symbolizes “water” and in Genesis, the earth was formed out of “water”. When we read the Book of Revelation, we see that the very last word is; "Amen" the letter "n" in Hebrew is "Nun" So when we take the first letter of the Bible/Torah "B" and add the last letter of the Bible/Torah "N" we get the word "Ben" (son) so the whole Bible/Torah directs a person to the "Son" (of God) who is Yeshua. The Torah is about a perfect and Holy God, whose most holy name is Yod Hey Vav Hey (YHVH). Written with ancient paleo-Hebrew letters, the letters symbolize “Behold the hand, behold the nail”. A perfect revelation of Messiah Yeshua on Calvary’s cross, receiving in his hands, the nails that held him fast to the crucifixion stake. There he paid for all of our sins, past, present, and future. Second, the Bible was written to humanity because, in the fallen state caused by sin, man had to be re-directed back to YHVH, through Yeshua. In this way, mankind could have a renewed covenant relationship with his creator. Yeshua described it as the “New Birth” in John 3:3. Once man has a renewed relationship with YHVH, he is directed towards a holy, sanctified living through following the commandments which were written down by Moshe. Yeshua also fulfilled the commandments by giving a correct interpretation of them and how they applied to our lives. Even though there are 613 commandments (mitzvoth) in all. Not all apply to us today, since we are not under the Levitical priesthood, nor are we under the animal sacrificial system. Still, many DO apply to us, and that is the reason for Bible/Torah study. Today, we have “commentaries” on God’s word, or, “Midrashim”. About 400 years after Yeshua, the rabbis and sages compiled the “Talmud” which are commentaries on the Torah, written by the rabbis of old. These are books, articles, and writings, that rabbis have written, giving THEIR interpretation of what the Torah means, but, it is only “commentary”. Is it good to read and study the Talmud? I would say it is good to read ALL things related to God’s Word, BUT, we should always compare commentary to the written WORD of God. If it lines up with what the Bible teaches, it is a good thing, if not, as I said, it is just, “commentary” the opinion of someone who is not God. As one rabbi said, “Reading commentary is like eating a bony fish. Throw away the bones and digest the meat!” “Torah Parashot” or “Portions from the Torah” are read and studied every week for one year. A “Torah portion” consists of readings from the five books that Moshe wrote. Many refer to the first 5 books of Moses as the "Law of Moses." This also is a misnomer. Moses was not the author of the Torah (which many call "law") The author was God, and He gave the instructions to Moses to write down and pass along to others. Then we have the readings from the Prophets, and readings from the Brit HaDashah, “The New Covenant”. The readings start on the Day of Simchat Torah. On this day, we start from the “beginning” which is a perfect place to start any reading. Today, is the day we start reading Genesis 1:1. I'll send the Genesis study a little while later. Ben Avraham

INTERESTING QUOTES FROM A WALL OF A PSYCH. WARD There are many psychiatric hospitals worldwide. Many who have problems, emotional, drug-related, or suicidal come here to be treated. Some come on their own accord, some are sent by other hospitals, and some the police bring in. One of my jobs is going there to help the doctors and nurses and techs with the patients who do not speak English. In one mental/psych hospital, there are enclosed outside areas where the patients will take smoke breaks or just relax. There is one area that has wooden walls and the patients have left their sayings, and quotes written in crayons, colored markers, pencils, and pens. I wrote down these sayings and quotes and would like to share them, and comment on them with spiritual insight. Well, here they are; "TILL MY HEART STOPS BEATING AND MY LUNGS STOP BREATHING, I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK TILL THE DAY I DIE" There is someone who will always love you even though his heart stopped beating and his lungs stopped breathing, and he is the creator of the moon and all that exists. Yet now, his lungs are breathing and his heart is beating, and his love for you is forever. His name is Jesus Christ our LORD. "YOU ARE NOT LOST, YOU ARE FOUND" There was a time when we were lost, without hope, yet we can find hope in Christ our LORD, When we look for Him, we will find Him, He is as close as a prayer. 'GOD LOVE YOU" Yes, he DOES love you, so much that He gave His only son to die for your sins and give you salvation. "NOW I KNOW SICKNESS" We all suffer from a fatal sickness, called sin. It kills, so we all die, yet Christ healed us from this sickness, he took upon himself our sickness and healed us with his blood. The sin-sickness kills the body but not the soul. "LOCKDOWN IN CHRIST, NOT IN LIFE" A "lockdown" is when all the doors of the rooms are closed and no one can come out. The cares of life can lock us down into worries, and things that do not edify us, yet when we "lockdown" in Christ, we will only look at Him, and surround ourselves with the things of Holiness. "I WILL ALWAYS BE NICE" Yes, it is good to be nice, even when people are not nice towards us. It isn't easy, but through Christ, it is possible. "THE GREATEST THING I LOST WAS MY MIND" Many will lose their minds through drugs, abuse, and emotional stress, yet they can find their minds again when they give all their burdens to the LORD. He will "renew our minds" "DADDY STILL DOESN'T LOVE YOU" Well. there are daddies who have stopped loving their kids because of whatever reason, maybe disappointments, but there is ONE daddy who will NEVER stop loving you, that is "Abba Father" our Heavenly Father. He showed his love on the Cross of Calvary. "RUN HE SAID, AS FAST AS YOU CAN." Yes, run as fast as you can toward Jesus, We know not when our feet will stop. "GOD SEES EVERYTHING, SO HOPE, PRAY" This quote speaks for itself, no need to explain. "NEVER LOSE FAITH AND ALWAYS KEEP HOPE" This quote also speaks for itself. IT'S OK TO BE A LITTLE CRAZY" Yes, as long as we are "crazy for Christ" as the singer Keith Green once said "Go Bananas for Jesus!" "WHO DOCTORS THE DOCTORS, WHO HEALS THE HEALERS?" I think we all need to be doctored and healed, the healing comes from above! 'COME AS YOU ARE" We can come to Christ just as we are, no need to change, the change will come by the Holy Spirit, little by little. "JUST TRUST GOD, LIVE, LOVE, LEARN" Good quote, we will all learn to love, and trust, through our faith walk with God. "YOU CAN PUT YOUR MIND TO DO WHATEVER YOU WANNA DO, JUST TELL YOURSELF THAT YOU'RE CAPABLE." reminds me of Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Let the LORD strengthen your mind and capabilities. "LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED" God's love is enough for ALL the world. "BE STRONGER THAN YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE" When you think you can't walk another step, take one step more. When you want to drop the towel, die it to your waist. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Never say "can't". Make an effort. "CLEAR YOUR PATH, WE LOOK FORWARD, NEVER BACK." Do not start to plow and look back, don't long for the things of this world. Don't look back towards Sodom, or you will be kind of salty! The past is the past, it can't be changed, pay attention to now and look towards the future. I would tend to think that quite a few of these patients are/were born-again believers who lost their way somehow. Satan hates sons and daughters of God, and will do anything to bring them down!

SIMCHAT TORAH (The Joy of the Bible) What does this mean to us as believers? On the 17th day of October, (this year) and on the Hebraic Calendar (Tishrei 22) is the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, or "Sukkot" This was the "Great Day" when Jesus/Yeshua lifted up his voice and cried out; "If anyone thirsts, let him come unto me and drink, Whoever puts his trust in me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his innermost being" (John 7:37,38) (CJB) (Complete Jewish Bible) The custom during this time is to begin reading the Bible from the beginning again, thus starting the cycle of scripture reading from Genesis 1:1. So, this time is called "Simchat Torah" or the "Joy of the Torah" (the word "Torah" meaning "Instruction") or we can say "The Joy of the Bible" since ALL of the Bible is TORAH (instruction from God to man). B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth). So, before we give up the ghost, we have 66 books full of instruction from our Heavenly Father to read, meditate on, and follow, which gives us knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. So, why should we rejoice in God's WORD? 1. It tells us the history of mankind, past, present, and future. 2. It tells us of God's perfect plan for mankind and where mankind went wrong. 3. It tells us of man's folly through rebellion and the result of rebellion. 4. It tells us of man's reward for getting right with God again. 5. It teaches us what to do and what not to do (through his commandments). 6. It illustrates and points to Yeshua/Jesus in the Old Covenant. 7. It reveals the complete work of "YESHUAH" (salvation) in the New Covenant. 8. It shows us how to get right (Righteous) with God through accepting Yeshua/Jesus as LORD and Savior. 9. It brings us to ATONEMENT (At One Mind) with God through the SON. 10. It gives us hope and a shining and everlasting future with our Heavenly Father. Well, I am sure we could add to this list, but these are the basics. So, Genesis 1:1 is the start and just to start us out right, let's look at what just the first verse brings us in the way of understanding; GEN 1:1 "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth". In the original Hebrew, it reads: "B'reisheet Bara Elohim Et HaShamayim v'Et haAretz" There are 10 words in English, yet there are 7 words in Hebrew. "7" is the number of perfection; the "7" could also symbolize 7 thousand years of earth's existence, we are in the 6th millennium. If we take a pencil and draw a line down from the middle word "Et" and then draw 3 lines to the right and 3 lines to the left to connect the other words to the center line, we get a 7-branch Menorah, which is the symbol of Israel. "Et" can symbolize the "Aleph and Tav" or in Greek the "Alpha and Omega" the Beginning and the end. God is there in the beginning and will be in the end, but what "end?" if all is eternal? It can also mean the "God of the Covenant" who is connected to all creation and all things visible and invisible. The first letter is large and it is "B" (Beit) in Hebrew, it is closed on the top, to the right, and on the bottom, and is open on the left, which tells us that we know nothing of what was before the "beginning" only what comes after, since Hebrew is read from right to left. It also is the first letter in the word "B'rakhah (Blessing) and also "Beit" (House) so the earth was created as a "House of Blessing" to mankind, plant, and animal kind. "Bara" is the second word which means "To create with a purpose" the spelling shows us something interesting "Beit, Resh, Aleph" B R _ (the Aleph is silent but in this case takes the sound of "a". There is the Aramaic word "Bar" which means "Son" and the Aleph can symbolize "God" so, it shows that Yeshua, who is the "Bar-Elohim" had a part in creation, as pointed out in John 1:1 giving us "Bara Elohim" (God/Yeshua created all things with a purpose in the beginning) "HaShamayim" (The heavens) some believe there are many "heavens" but let's start with 3. The atmosphere which we breathe, then outer space, and then the New Jerusalem which is somewhere out there in space. But I mean, there could be more. "HaAretz" (The earth and all that is in it and part of it). So, we have "Time" (In the beginning) "Space" (The heavens) and "Matter" (the earth) we have action (created) and we have the author of creation (Elohim). Who stepped out of eternity past and created "time" as we know it. Well, this is just the tip of the iceberg, but hey, it's a good starting point to exploring God's Perfect WORD. HAG SAMEACH SIMCHAT TORAH Happy Bible Day Ben Avraham Torah and guitar (music and the WORD) and a Messianic congregation in El Salvador.

ZECHARAIAH 14:16-19 Zekaryah Ha Navi (Zechariah the Prophet) is seeing into the future, during the millennial reign of Yeshua HaMelech (Yeshua the King) who is now on earth and reigns over all nations. A reign of peace has now begun and all will rejoice in this period of “shalom”. All the nations of the earth will go up to Yerushalayim to worship King Yeshua and to celebrate the Festival of Sukkot. It says that if “anyone of the clans (or families) of the earth does not come up to Yerushalayim to bow down and worship the King, then on them there will be no rain” But what exactly does this mean, we might ask? Does this mean that every person in every nation of the world will have to leave home and go up to Yerushalayim to celebrate Sukkot and worship Yeshua? If this were the case, how would so many people fit inside Yerushalayim? You can only get so many people inside a city. What would be the population of the world after the tribulation, perhaps with half of the world’s population dead through the plagues and wrath of Adonai, there would probably still be perhaps quite a few billion inhabitants of the earth, so, how would they all fit? Now this is just my idea, my idea only. Perhaps, just perhaps the families of the nations’ leaders would be required to go up to celebrate Sukkot and worship Yeshua. These families would represent all the families of said nations, and any nation that does not send representatives, well, that nation would not receive rain in due season. This would make more sense than every family on earth going up to Jerusalem. The other thought would be that Jerusalem would be a lot larger than it is now, being a renewed earth during the millennial reign of Yeshua, but still, fitting in ALL of earths families would still be far-fetched. One can only suppose what will happen. Well, my thoughts only. JOHN 7:37-38 These verses are fitting for this time of Sukkot, which tell about Yeshua being at the Temple during this time. These were his words: “And on the last day of the great festival (meaning “Shemini Atzeret, the 8th day) Yeshua stood and cried out saying; “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and let him who believes in Me drink. As the scripture says: out of His innermost shall flow rivers of living water.” Yeshua was referring to Isaiah 12:3 “With joy ye shall draw water out of the wells of SALVATION (Yeshuah) He said those words at the time that the priests were pouring out water which they carried from the Pool of Siloam, at the base of the altar. Today, in Sukkot ceremonies, we pour out both water and wine, symbolizing the pouring out of Yeshua’s blood which was mixed with water, when the Roman soldier pierced his side with a spear. Yeshua, therefore, has the title “Mayim Chayim” (Living Water) Water gives and maintains life, and it symbolically points to the pouring out of the Ruach HaKodesh (The Holy Spirit) at the time of Shavuot or “Pentecost.” Drinking water will sustain us with physical life, yet the Holy Spirit will sustain us with spiritual life and fellowship. The Hebrew letter “M” (Mem) symbolizes water. The number value of “Mem” is 40. “4” is the physical earth, and we know that water is found in all 4 corners of the earth, and the Holy Spirit is also present in believers in all 4 corners of the earth as well. Verse 39 explains exactly that. That He was referring to the Holy Spirit which believers would receive soon. (50 days after his death). After this, John says that many believed on Him, yet others did not, and some were confused. The same is today. Many believe on Yeshua, and many do not. Many will still follow the ways of the world and follow HaSatan. Bad choice! So, choose life, choose to drink the “Living Water” and live forever. Here you can buy hooks, line, sinkers, and bait for all kinds of fish of the sea. Yet for fishers of men, all that is needed is the WORD of God, and good working knowledge of the same, and opportunities to share the gospel and teach the WORD to all fish who would bite and swallow the bait of salvation.

DEUTERONOMY 33: 1-34:11 We are at the end of the five books of the Torah, yet as we all know, the whole Torah is ALL the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, yet this was the beginning of Adonai’s speaking his words to be written down by his chosen Prophets, in this case, Moshe (Moses). The word "Torah" means "instruction.' So the whole Bible is "instruction" from God. In Chapter 33, Moshe blesses all the 12 tribes of Israel. Very interesting are the words in verse 7: “And this of Y’hudah, and he said, “Hear YHVH, the voice of Y’hudah and bring him to his people, His hands shall fight for him, and you be a help against his enemies.” The sacred name of Adonai is used here, as in all places where the name LORD is used, yet it is also in the name “Y’hudah”. Y + H + V (u) d + H. Here the letter “u” is also the “vav”. So we see God’s name in the largest tribe. As promised, Adonai will put his name in his people. Let’s go to the Derashic level. Does this point to something? We can take this to the “Sukkot” level. “Shema YHVH, ha kol YHVH!” God listens to God! YHVH came to earth in flesh and blood as YESHUA during this time of Sukkot. The Father brought the SON to HIS people. The hands of Yeshua fought for Israel and for ALL of mankind. He was a help against ALL enemies. The Feast/Festival of Sukkot, or the Festival of Tabernacles is the last of the appointed times to celebrate. In the autumn, there are three; Yom Teruah (Rosh Hashanah) and ten days later "Yom Kippur" and then, 5 days later "Sukkot" or the "Feast of Tabernacles". It is a 7-day long period of rejoicing. Today, Sunday, 10/16/22 is the 7th day! yet there is an 8th day, which is Monday. It is "Simchat Torah" (Rejoicing in the Torah) rejoicing that we have God's Word in our midst. We begin again the cycle of Bible study starting over with Genesis 1:1. Now, back to Yeshua fighting against all enemies. The fight was on the spiritual level, against HaSatan and against the curse of sin. Adonai lifted up and spread out his hands on Calvary’s cross to receive the nails, (symbolized by the letter “vav”) The very name YHVH symbolizes in the ancient Hebrew; “behold or revealed the hand, behold or revealed the nail” His very name points to Yeshua. His death paid the price of sin for ALL of mankind, but to make it effective, one must trust in Yeshua’s sacrifice on the personal level, to receive HIM as LORD and Savior. (33:11) O YHVH, bless his strength and the work of his hands, strike through the loins of those who rise against him, and of those who hate him, that they rise no more” We can look at this in two ways. Adonai has indeed blessed Israel, even though it is a small country, about the size of El Salvador, (El Salvador was one of the first countries to accept and support Israel as a nation), a country that has a powerful army, the IDF and Air Force, and was able to defend herself through God’s power, against many Arab nations who wanted to see the destruction of the Jewish state. “accept the work of his hands” Yeshua, who is our “Cohen Gadol” our High Priest, put out his hands to receive the nails, and thus was his work, his offering, his sacrifice for us all, “accepted” by the Father. Since sin entered the world by a man, (Adam) so a second man had to pay the price of sin that entered the world by the first Adam. It couldn’t be any ordinary man, it had to be “God and Man” both, that is why Yeshua is called the “Second Adam” Chap 34: We see that Moshe is ready to die and be buried by YHVH himself, yet he allows him to see the land which Israel will inherit. It is amazing that Moshe saw ALL the land as far as the Mediterranean Sea. Mt Nebo or “Pisgah” (meaning “summit) is actually only 3000 feet high in elevation. We went there in 1999. The Mediterranean Sea is about 65 miles away towards the West. Mt. Nebo is at the North end of the Dead Sea to the East. Perhaps Adonai gave Moshe a “Close-up look” a miracle that happened only that time, to see so far away. Also, we need to understand that the physical earth, atmosphere, and sky were much clear thousands of years ago. The very last word in Deuteronomy is "Israel." The first word in Genesis is "In" (the beginning). In Hebrew, the last letter in Deuteronomy is "l" (Israel) and the first letter in Genesis is "B" (B-Reisheet) When we put these letters together we get "Lev" (the "b" also serves as a "v") this is the word "heart" Perhaps this implies that "Israel was in God's heart ever since the beginning." As we are ALL in God's heart, because we are all part of His chosen people, He has chosen us to be "B'nei Elohim" (Sons and daughters of God) through accepting Yeshua/Jesus as LORD and Savior. Happy Sukkot. Rabbi Ben Avraham Blow the trumpet in Zion

The theme of the series of messages for a few weeks was "What's Under the Hood?" and "Who's driving? The chassis being the body of the believer and the motor, the soul and spirit. What goes inside is what counts, Outside might be nice looking, but what's the motor like? and "who is behind the wheel, you or the LORD? If you want. you can watch the series. The link below was when I was there with my kids on Sept 25th

2 SAM 22:1-51     YHVH is my ROCK (Tzuri) and my fortress, and my deliverer; “Elohei Tzuri” (My God) in who I will take refuge.  My shield and horn of YESHUATI.  (2 Sam) The Spirit of God is speaking, again, using the name ROCK and ELOHEI TZURI, (the God who leads who is my righteousness) We see the name YESHUA…my “Hightower” (hey, that’s the name of my high school!) and my refuge.  We take refuge in HIM because he has provided us with salvation, and eternal life, a “Hightower” is a lookout tower in a fortress where the guards can see the enemy coming. Through Yeshua, the enemy has been beaten. He has been beaten by the “blood”.      Vs 32; “Who is God save YHVH and who is a ROCK save our God?” again, the names TZUR-ELOHEINU. Also, in Hosea 14, the prophet tells Israel “Return to YHVH your Elohim, for you have stumbled by your wickedness… for the ways of YHVH are straight and the righteous walk in them! (vs 9).  The Prophet Micah also says; “He shall turn back, and have compassion on us, He shall trample upon our wickedness.  And you shall throw all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19) It is not surprising that this verse is read just a week before Yom Kippur.  A Yom Kippur tradition is taking breadcrumbs and going to a flowing body of water, and throwing the breadcrumbs into it.  This tradition is known as “tashlich” the breadcrumbs symbolize our sins and the body of flowing water, the sea! The prophet Joel says; “and you shall know that I AM in the midst of Israel and that I AM YHVH your ELOHIM, and there is no one else.” No wonder he speaks through his prophets, over and over again telling his people to “love HIM” and to “Follow HIM” doing and keeping his commandments. Unfortunately, his people forgot all of that and later on, follow pagan gods, thus reaping the whirlwind! But just as a father will punish, but not abandon his son, neither will Adonai abandon HIS people and forget them. A loving father chastises yet continues to love. JOHN 20:26-21:25 A very interesting reading, as Yeshua appears to his talmidim after his resurrection, and meets them by the Sea of Galilee, or Tiberias, as it is sometimes called.  Since he knew that they were fishermen, he decided to help them out again, since they caught no fish during the night. “Throw your net over the right side of the boat,” Yeshua told them, and they caught 153 fish. It was then that they realized; “It is Mashiach Yeshua!” It is also interesting that the number “153” is symbolic as well. The words, “Ani Elohim” (I am God) sum up in Hebrew gematria to “153” (Ani = 61) (Elohim = 92) 61+92=153.      Yeshua also has a talk with Kefa, “Do you love me?” then…feed my lambs, shepherd my sheep, feed my sheep” three times he asked, “do you love me?”  the answer came back, feed and shepherd the lambs and the sheep.  What is the difference between a lamb and a sheep? A lamb is a very young sheep, up to a year old.  So, what is Yeshua telling us here? If we love the LORD, then, as believers and followers, we are to teach and guide both young and old believers, believers who are at different stages in their spiritual walk. If you want to be used by the LORD, just ask HIM for opportunities to share the Word and teach the Word, there are believers who are willing to learn and be guided. There are also the “lost” yet have an open mind to listen to the Words of God, the Words of the “Lamb” of God who took the sins of the world upon himself to set us free! Shalom………. Ben Avraham Praise and worship time at "Go Elevate Church" in Miami Lakes, FL (9/25/22)

I know how to make "Naan" but I make it Turkish style, with yogurt, water, flour, and baking powder.

PARASHA: “HaAzinu” (give ear) DEUT 32:1-52 Before going into this study, I would like to go back to chapter 30:15; “See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil in that I command you this day to love YHVH thy God to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments…” It is very interesting to see how Moshe words this. We are used to hearing and reading the words “life and death” associated together, and “good and evil” associated together. We see these word comparisons because they are opposites, yet here we see the words “life and good” associated together, as well as “death and evil” associated together. Is there perhaps a connection? Perhaps the answer is in that “doing good deeds, “mitzvoth” will produce a prosperous life, a life which is blessed by Adonai be it a short life or a long life. We can also see that living a life doing evil deeds, will produce death, perhaps death very soon. It can also bring spiritual death as well as physical if the person does not repent and turn to Yeshua. That is why Moshe commands us to “Love” Adonai and walk in his ways and keep his commandments. In this way, we are certain to live a life of meaning and reap the rewards when we appear before the judgment seat of Messiah. Again, keeping the commandments does not bring salvation, salvation is a separate issue based on our faith in our risen Messiah.     “Give ear!” I am sure that we don’t hear that expression very often today, but in the times of Yeshua, it was like saying today; “Yo, listen up dudes!” “Will ya listen t’me already?” or “Hey, listen, I have something important to say!”      This is Moshe’s last speech, and he wants all of Israel to pay attention, He is looking into the future, and sadly, he sees the nation of Israel in apostasy, going against the commandments of YHVH, going after strange gods, and heading to corruption.  He calls all of Heaven and earth as witnesses.  We can be assured that the angels of heaven heard this speech, and “His” people who were on earth also heard, they were right there.      “I will proclaim the name YHVH, and the greatness of Eloheinu” Here Moshe mentions two of the many names of God, the holiest, “Yod Hey Vav Hey” When we look at these letters from the ancient Hebraic aspect we get “behold the hand, behold the nail” this takes us directly to Calvary and imagine Mashiach hanging there by the nails in his hands (wrists).  The name “Eloheinu” is the “behold the God who leads (us) and connects (us) to life through his hands” when we go to the ancient Hebraic symbolism of the letters.   “The ROCK, His work is perfect!  Here is another name of God, “The ROCK” (HaTzur) from the letter “Tz” which symbolizes “Tzadik” (one who is righteous), and the word “Perfect” (Tamim) from “Tamei” which is “clean and pure” we have heard of God being called the “Rock of Ages” the “Solid Rock”      Moshe is saying all of this through the Holy Spirit so that the people can understand that THEY are the problem, not God.  In all this song (Shir) he lets Israel know that they will be “doing wrong” and “have been wrong” Moshe is like a father speaking to his children to change their ways, or curses will follow. It is very interesting the way verse 5 is written. In the original Hebrew, the word “No” is written twice! It is spelled differently both times. In modern and also ancient Hebrew, the word “No” (Lo) is written with two Hebrew letters, the “Lamed” (L) and “aleph” (silent letter) yet there is a vowel point called a “dagesh” that is written above the “aleph” indicating the vowel “o”. The “dagesh” is just a “dot” or “period”. Yet the word “No” is written a second time, this time with the consonant “Vav” which can also be pronounced as an “o”. We can ask “why is the word “no” written twice? All we can do is guess. Perhaps as an emphasis as to what Adonai is saying. So, what is He saying in verse 5, of chapter 32? I have read three versions, from three Hebrew-English Bibles. One says; “Children unworthy of Him. That crooked, perverse generation…” Another version states; “They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children; they are a perverse and crooked generation” Yet the third, to me, is better; “Is corruption His? NO! His children’s is the blemish, a generation crooked and perverse” It this version (from the Soncino Press) the word “No” is recognized. But only once, while it is written twice. Perhaps we could see it as; “Is corruption His? NO, NO, (it is NOT) it is that of His children, a corrupt and perverse generation.” At times, we all say “no” twice, like answering our child when he or she wants some cookies before dinner; “No, No, dear, not before dinner, you’ll spoil your appetite.” But perhaps, we should look beyond the printed words and look deeper into another possible meaning. Now this is just midrash, a commentary, is there perhaps a message behind the two different spellings of “no”? Well, one way we could look at it is; If we combine the two spellings, we will get the word “no” spelled with three letters instead of two; the “Lamed, Vav, and Aleph” Using ancient Hebrew symbolism, we might understand those three letters together as; “The instruction is that God (aleph) received the nail (vav). His children were corrupt. Israel became corrupt when following false gods later on, as Moshe predicted and foresaw. We are also corrupt with our sin nature, which at times gets out of hand, yet Yeshua, who is God in the flesh took our “corruption” when he received the “nails” on Calvary’s cross. So, perhaps a better understanding (my opinion only) when we read this verse is; “Is corruption His? No, No, it is that of His children, a corrupt and perverse generation, yet Yeshua will take his children’s corruption on himself by bearing their sins in his own body, suffering the agony of the nails on a rugged cross. He is the ROCK which was stained by blood, His own blood, bearing our iniquities from all generations past, present, and future.” (like I said, commentary only) Adonai loved Israel so much as His children, YHVH is a loving Father and as a loving father, He provided for their needs. How? He gave them water from the ROCK. According to the ancient rabbis, the “Rock” that provided water for the Israelites and their cattle for 40 years “followed them” wherever they encamped. Of course, this is also just a commentary as scripture does not say that it actually did. Yet we read in 1 Corinthians 10:4 “And all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed, and the ROCK was Messiah” We see that the identity of the ROCK is Yeshua, yet there was a real “rock” there in the wilderness which provided real and physical water for 40 years. Did it really get lifted up by Adonai and deposited to each campsite to provide the Israelites with the necessary water? Only our Heavenly Father knows that answer, and we can ask Him when we get to Heaven. Physical water is necessary to live our physical life, yet the Word of God is our “Spiritual Water” that is needed to live and grow in our spiritual life. Now when Israel goes into the promised land, they will “wax fat” they will receive blessings from their cattle and crops, YHVH refers to Israel as “Yeshurun” which is the ancient name for “Yerushalayim” it was the ROCK (YHVH) who begot thee! This, of course, refers to ELOHIM as their “father” so why go against him? It also says that he will “rouse them to jealousy with a no-people and a vile nation” because they provoked YHVH with a “no-god” the “no-people” and “vile nation” could be the pagan nations outside of Israel.  At that time, all the nations outside of Israel were pagan, idolatrous nations, worshiping false gods.  Adonai has “called” those nations to worship and recognize HIM as God, in a way, He is saying; “OK, you want to go after false gods, OK, I will look for worshipers in other places, I will accept other “peoples” to become part of my “called out ones”.  Not that HE rejected Israel as his people, NEVER! He just “added” more people, (the Gentile nations) to become part of his “called out family”.  We must remember that Abraham was from Mesopotamia! which was a pagan nation, yet her responded to the “call” to “Leave his people and follow HIM” and the result would be a “New People” a people of the “Book” of the “Torah” who would be a “light to the pagan world”, a people who would bring forth the Messiah.      “For YHVH will judge his people” (vs 36) and Yes, he DID, and still does.  The word “judge” has two meanings, one is “taking counsel to take certain kind of action either for or against” and the other meaning is “condemn, or sentence” Israel sowed corruption and chased after false gods, and reaped the whirlwind! Yet YHVH is a God of forgiveness and love. (43) “Sing aloud all ye nations of His People (Goyim Amo!)     This verse sees the nations as part of HIS PEOPLE, being grafted into the olive tree, peoples outside of Israel, who have accepted the atonement of Yeshua for their sins, become part of “Am Yisrael” and YHVH will avenge the “blood of his servants” We are all part of HIS PEOPLE, He loves us and has blessings in store for us, whether we were born in Israel or not, it doesn’t matter.  His people started with 12 tribes and have extended To the whole world. Shalom The wonder of creation; A tropical spider in its web (Florida Keys) Ben Avraham

ISAIAH 55:6-56:8 “Seek YHVH while he may be found, call upon him while he is near” But we ask ourselves, is there a time when he can NOT be found? Or when he is NOT near? One answer would be “at the time of death” if a person has not reconciled himself or herself with God through Yeshua, if a person dies lost and in the state of sin, then, YHVH will NOT be able to be found, and HE will be forever FAR AWAY. A second answer would be this. When we are living in a state of sin, or out of fellowship because of sin in our lives, it will seem that God is far from us. In reality, HE is as near as prayer and repentance. He can be “found” again. It isn’t that HE is away from us, rather WE are away from HIM. At times, when we encounter trouble in our lives, divorce, lost friendships, destruction of property, loss of jobs, etc...we might think; "Where is God in all this? He isn't around." Yet He IS around. He is always there watching, and weeping. We live in a lost and dying world, a world that groans under the wages of sin, the result of the rebellion in the Garden of Eden carries over to the "now" times. Put up with the "now" times, because the "Afterward" in the World to Come, there will be perfection and bliss. “Let him return unto YHVH” (vs 7) The word for “return” is “Shoov” or “Teshuvah” which is what the High Holy days are all about. The sinner should forsake his evil ways and “return” to Adonai. Just like the prodigal son returned to his father, we should return to OUR heavenly father. Remember that the prodigal son WAS A MEMBER OF HIS FATHER’S FAMILY! He was not an outsider. That should tell us something. 56:1 “Thus saith YHVH, keep judgment and do justice, for my YESHUAH is near to come and my righteousness to be revealed. Interesting verse, the Hebrew “Mishpat (judgment) is keeping his commandments and understanding discernment in what we do. The word “justice” in Hebrew in this verse is translated as “Tzedakah” which is also giving charity. “Righteousness” is translated as “Kadosh” which is also “Holiness” so, the prophet foresees the coming of Yeshua as YHVH’s “righteousness” to be revealed to all mankind. He has already come and will come again. Are you ready for his second coming? JOHN 18:1-19:42 “After Yeshua had said all this…” but what is “all this?” He had just prayed for his disciples, his followers, if you read all of chapter 17, it shows how Yeshua prayed for all those who came to trust in him, he prayed for their protection against HaSatan, he also states; “those who WILL trust in me because of THEIR word that they may all be ONE (Echad) He is talking about you and me, we are all ONE in the body of Messiah. I think that “Y’hudah Ish Kariot” (Judas Iscariot) missed the greatest opportunity to be one of Yeshua’s disciples. Yes, he was “With” Yeshua but was not “part” of Yeshua. He was just along for the ride and didn’t learn very much (it seems). When the soldiers and temple guards said, “we are looking for Yeshua” and Yeshua answered, the word of God says that they “all fell backward”. Some believe that Yeshua answered with the infallible name of YHVH. Yet in the Hebrew New Testament, the words that Yeshua said were; “Yeshua Ani” (I am Yeshua), it does not mention the infallible name, yet even the name “Yeshua” has power in itself. Even though they came and took him roughly, and Kefa took matters into his own hands by cutting off Malchus’ ear, even then, Yeshua rebuked his own disciple and healed Malchus! Even at that time, he showed love and mercy. The world accuses the Jews of “killing Jesus!” when the truth of the matter is that no one took his life, he offered it up willingly as part of the Father’s perfect plan of redemption. It was just a handful of religious zealots who captured him, and the Romans hammered in the nails, yet it was really our sins that caused his death, his death for our life, life eternal. Ben Avraham I really enjoyed my time in South Florida, spending time with family, meeting new friends, fellowship with other believers, going to the Keys, fishing and diving, and enjoying the sun and surf, (and big iguanas). Thank you congregation Beth Hesed, Thank you "Go Elevate", Rabbi Hugo, Pastor Luis, the praise team, the "speakeasy/open mic" guys, and the "Real Estate" Torah study group. It is always good when the family gets together (At Bahama Breeze restaurant in Miami) Me in the middle. There are still missing family members.

Well, David and I caught some mangrove snappers and almost got a grouper, but it got under a rock. We dived down to try and get it but the line snapped. I am more a diver and swimmer than a fisherman. Found a Queen Conch, left it there since it is illegal to take them. There are always lots of iguanas under the bridges in the Keys.

PARASHAH: “VaYelech” (and he went) DEUT 31:1-30 (Just got back from South Florida on Thursday, No, the hurricane didn't get us in Miami, just a lot of rain and a bit of wind) Just a few important points over this short Parashah. A few more points to add to the previous study where we combined “Nitsavim and VaYelech”. “I am 120 years old today” starts Moshe, “I can no more go out and come in…” It is interesting that he mentions his age, 120 years old. Guess the day he spoke to his people was his last birthday. He would complete 120 years on earth and give up the ghost. We can divide 120 years into 3 parts, the first 40 years, the second 40 years, and the third 40 years. “40” is the number of testing and trials. He lived the first 40 years as a prince of Egypt and a general in the Egyptian army, through circumstances (which never happen by accident) Adonai sends Moshe running to the land of Midian where he meets his wife and family and becomes a shepherd. So, we go from royalty to shepherd, a profession loathed by the Egyptians. Then the last 40 years are the “ministry years”. Adonai changed his profession so that he could fit into God’s perfect plan, that of freeing his people from the bondage of slavery through HIS chosen vessel. Moshe was 80 years old when he received the commission to free his people. The prior years were all “training years” or “Years of getting ready”. We ask ourselves what we will be doing when and if we reach 80 years of life. Will we be ready to continue in ministry? Or will we be looking forward to a rocking chair and sipping ice tea through a straw? We must take the example of Moshe, active until the day he dies. One can retire from a secular job, but not from ministry. Ministry is a life-long calling. Whether it be a pastor or rabbi, Torah teacher or Sunday School teacher, music leader, youth worker, o just giving out bread to the hungry along with a gospel tract of the “Bread of Life” we must not think of retirement, not from that. “I can no more go out and come in” Moshe has already been told that he is about to leave the land of the living, so, he is to anoint the future leader. So, who will lead the people to the promised land? The answer is in verse 3; “YHVH your Elohim Himself is passing over before you. He shall destroy these nations from before you and you possess them. Yehoshua himself is passing over before you, as YHVH has spoken.” There is a play on words here. Adonai Himself is leading the people, He is passing over before the people. This is what a king in battle does. The king leads his army. Yet the verse also states that “Yehoshua” will pass over before the people. So, who is leading? BOTH are leading. The spirit of YHVH is within Yehoshua (Joshua) whom Moshe has anointed as his successor. “Yehoshua” will take the lead and lead the people to the promised land. “Yehoshua” (Joshua) is the longer name of “Yeshua” the name “Yehoshua” contains the name “Yeshuah” which is “salvation” or we could say, the name “Yeshua” with the added “h” which means “Behold, Salvation comes from “YAH” The name “Yehoshua” has the first three letters of YHVH (the “Yod” “Hey” and the “V”) Symbolically, it is God himself who will take the people through the final steps of the journey to reach the promised land, through his servant Joshua. We will not live forever in our mortal bodies, sooner or later, we must name a successor, someone who will take our place. Kind of like Luke Skywalker taking “Yoda’s place as the next “Jedi” yet he had to get prepared first! We need to be preparing someone who will be the next “you” in ministry. After Moshe had finished writing the scrolls of the Torah, he gave them to the priests to put beside the Ark of the Covenant. So, I imagine that the Ark of the Covenant had some sort of “side pocket” or a place to put the scrolls. Now, the “Aron HaKodesh” was complete, with a gold chest with the tablets of the Commandments, the pot of Manna, Aron’s rod, and now the Torah scrolls. All to remind us that the “Torah is our guide and leader to give us the “Bread of Life” who is Yeshua, who leads us through his Holy Spirit and his WORD. Moshe also commanded that the Torah would be read during the time of Sukkot at the end of seven years (vss 10,11) It may have been just the book of “D’varim (Deuteronomy) or the whole Torah (from Genesis to Deuteronomy) I would like to think that it was the whole Torah (the five books at that time). That way, the people would listen to the history of the world, the entrance of sin, and the plan of redemption. Why is the WORD of God important to us? What is its purpose in our lives? Why should it be so important to read and study it? It shows us the perfection and sinless being of God and who He is. It points out our weakness and sinful nature, and it points us to reconciliation with God through Yeshua. Then it teaches us how to live a holy and righteous lifestyle through the mitzvoth (commandments) (In that order!) Good works do not come before salvation, but rather the other way around. Righteous works will count towards rewards in heaven, not towards a salvation experience, THAT only comes by faith in the completed work of Yeshua at Calvary. Ben Avraham P.S. I really enjoyed my time in South Florida, spending time with family, meeting new friends, fellowship with other believers, going to the Keys, fishing and diving, and enjoying the sun and surf, (and big iguanas). Thank you congregation Beth Hesed, Thank you "Go Elevate", Rabbi Hugo, Pastor Luis, the praise team, the "speakeasy/open mic" guys, and the "Real Estate" Torah study group. (from Sept 15-29th) Follow Yeshua and He will make you fishers of men, (My son David on the bridge, Key Largo, FL)

ISAIAH 54:1-10      “Shout O Barren one, you who bore no child, shout aloud for joy…” We ask when does a barren woman shout for joy because she cannot have children?  I would guess that it depends on the circumstances.  This reminds us of Sarah, who was barren, yet she did not give up hope, in spite of her error, in giving to Abraham her servant Hagar, YHVH still blessed her, and her child “Yitzchak” was the blessing she hoped for, her “offspring will dispossess nations” from Yitzchak to Ya’akov, from Ya’akov to the 12 sons, and from the 12 sons, we are all here today, many of us mixed in the with the nations, yet we are all still here. The LORD has called us back! There was a time when we didn’t give spiritual things a second thought, the Bible was just another book on the bookshelf.  I for sure didn’t have any interest in it growing up as a teenager. Yet the LORD called me through another teen, and from there, Bible study groups in the Army, and from there, Yeshiva school. We are chastised, yet we are forgiven, the LORD chastens all whom he receives. I think that the worst type of chastening is having an indifferent spirit, neither hot nor cold. The LORD has taken us back in love. His love is seen in Yeshua HaMashiach, who gave his all for us all! JOHN 12:1-50      Nearing the time of Pesach, when Yeshua entered Yerushalayim, people welcomed him.  We know the story, with palm branches.  It reminds us of the first Passover when a lamb was to be taken on the tenth day of Nissan and then, sacrificed on the 14th.  The Lamb of YHVH entered on the tenth day and gave up his life on the 14th of the same month.      Yet before Calvary, he made a statement; “Unless a grain of wheat that falls to the ground dies, it stays just a grain, but if it dies, it produces a big harvest” What is he saying here?  HE is the grain of wheat that died, yet arose again with life.  WE are the big harvest of believers that have come from his death and resurrection, and when we “sow the seed” (God’s Word) we are helping to create big harvests. Yet we need to understand that some seed will land on stony ground, and not all seed that ends up on the ground will sprout. There is a difference between “on” the ground and “in” the ground. If we are “in” the ground, and we respond to the “Living Water” and the “SON light” then, we will “sprout and come up” Shalom Ben Avraham I will be in Miami, FL for two weeks, when I return, I will send Midrashim on the 29th of this month At the Western Wall in Jerusalem

Parashah: Ki Tetse” (when you go out) DEUT 21:10-25:19 In this Parashah we see a lot of common-sense mitzvoth that are for today, and we can also see some mitzvoth that we need to take a good look at to see how we can apply them, perhaps not so much literally, but spiritually and morally. In some cases, both. According to some rabbis, there are about 74 commandments (27 positives, 47 negative) within these 5 chapters, many are still for today. (we need to look at the “big picture”) But before we proceed, I know a lot of people hold fast to the "we're not under the law but under grace" concept. True, yet we need to clarify "law" The way it is presented, it is known as "legalism". Many believe that the commandments that are in the Old Testament don't have to be followed because Messiah brought "grace" into being. Yet the truth is that there has ALWAYS been "grace" and there has always been "Torah" (instruction). The two go side by side. Our sins and the curse of death were nailed to the cross, not the Torah!. One can choose to either obey or ignore the commandments in these chapters. It doesn't affect our salvation experience in any way. We are saved by grace and grace only, and NOT following God's commandments, yet He has his commandments listed to lead His children (you and me) in a righteous life-style, because we are all part of His family through Messiah Yeshua (Jesus Christ). But I would like to take a look at the first verse that says; “When you go out to war against your enemies…” the word “enemies” in the original Hebrew is “o’y’Veykha” in the English, we see two “y” s y the Hebrew, those are two “yods” In the ancient Hebrew, the “yod” was a “hand”. A hand holds a weapon to fight in a war, such as a knife, sword, spear, bow and arrow, sling, etc. The rabbis of old comment that the reason for two “yods” is that we fight against two kinds of enemies, the enemy from without, meaning another person who wishes to do us harm, or harm our families, or fight against our country, and the enemy from within, meaning the “Yetzer Hara” the sin nature, perhaps even bodily diseases. Since we all have that sin nature, it is a constant fight against the enemy inside, and only through the Holy Spirit can we put it under foot. Like the meaning of the word; “Tzadik” (one who hunts or controls his monkey) the “monkey” symbolizes the sin nature. Verse 10 talks about taking a captive woman from the enemy and making her your wife. Well, I wouldn’t recommend that very much, you might end up with your throat cut when you are sleeping. In Biblical times an Israelite soldier has the right to take a woman who was from an enemy city, once captive, and makes her his wife if he chose to do so. We might ask ourselves why? Well, the soldier just might like the way she looks, but what is the “bigger picture?” The Israelite soldier shows the captive woman “compassion”. She has lost her family, her city is in ruins, and her “gods” have abandoned her. All she has now is this “soldier” who is from the nation of Israel who has brought her to his camp, his tent, and to his “One God”. Soon she will see the difference between the false gods she left behind and the one and only God; Adonai-Elohim. Perhaps she was ill-treated in her city and perhaps even by her husband if she was married. But here she is shown compassion. She is allowed to mourn her loss, and in time, she will learn about Adonai and perhaps even to love her Israelite husband. At first, it seems to be a bad thing, but in time, it turns into a good thing. Many US soldiers have returned home with foreign wives, perhaps some who worshipped idols. Once with the soldier and in the USA, she would give up her idol worship and embrace Yeshua. We would certainly like to hope so. Looking at this from another standpoint, we were at once a time in the enemy’s camp. We were in the camp of HaSatan, and our “bridegroom” (Yeshua) paid the price of ransom and bought our freedom with his own blood. Now he takes us “his bride” to his encampment. All believers are part of the “bride of Messiah” Baruch HaShem! And we will be HIS OWN for all eternity. Vs 18 talks about the “wayward son” in that, if he is rebellious and defiant, refusing correction, his parents have the right to take him to the “shoftim” (judges) and they would order him to be stoned. Rebellion had a death sentence connected to it. We never read in scripture that this actually happened, but it was still written down as a commandment “in case” family rebellion occurred. Try to stone a rebellious child today and you will definitely be standing before the man! (and off to prison you will go). If, as parents, we train up a child in God’s Word, read him or her Bible stories instead of fairy tales about ghosts and Boogiemen, then, when the child grows into a youth, he or she will have a solid foundation before him/her. It is not about being stoned with rocks, it is all about following the ROCK of ages! Vs 22: Those that have received the death penalty could not be left “hanging around” from neither a rope, a cross, nor a stake. They had to be taken down and buried. In ancient times, a person who received the death penalty many times was displayed to the public, hanging from a rope for all to see. The dead person was taken and left hanging but had to be taken down and buried before the end of the day. Yeshua was taken down from the cross and buried in a tomb. We see many crucifixes today with Yeshua still on them, the fact is that he did NOT remain on the cross, but was buried and arose the third day. We worship a risen Savior, and not one who is still on the cross. Chap 22; 1-4. To help someone find a lost item is a big mitzvah, being the item a lost animal such as a dog or a cat, or a wallet, important papers, etc. Unfortunately, we live in an age of worldly materialism. The ideology is “Finders keepers losers’ weepers.” That is the philosophy of the lost world, not born-again believers. If one finds a wallet with money inside, and there is an ID, we must return it to the person, money intact! Not minus the cash. Taking the cash and returning the wallet empty just makes one an ‘honest thief’ (if a thief can be called that). Vs 5; “A woman must not put on a man’s apparel, not a man, woman’s clothing” In Biblical times, clothing was generally the same; long, flowing tunics tied with a cloth or leather belt or sash and on the feet, sandals. There was, however, a difference between men’s and women’s tunics, perhaps in the material, the color, and design being used. Today we see “unisex” clothing such as blue jeans, but even in blue jeans, there are “women’s” jeans. A man had better not put on a skirt unless he’s a Scotsman with a kilt and bagpipes. Let us abide by this commandment. Anyway, a woman looks better in a dress than in pants. (my opinion only). Vs 8; Common sense tells us that when we build a roof, and it is the type of roof where one can go up and sit down and enjoy the coolness of the evenings, one must build a fence or a wall that surrounds the roof, to keep one from falling off in case one gets too close to the edge. The Torah can be like a roof and the commandments the fence that surrounds the roof, they keep us from “falling off into sin” Vs 9; Prohibition of mixing seed, wool, and linen, mixing work animals. These all can be considered “unequally yoked” as an ox is stronger than an ass. It tends to pull stronger and the ass will just slow it down causing undue strain on both animals. Such is an unequally yoked marriage, it strains on both parties and causes undue stress and tension. Mixed seeds will take out more chemicals from the soil leaving the soil useless. Wool will shrink in the hot wash and linen will not. Wool comes from an animal (sheep) and linen comes from a plant (cotton). A garment made with both wool and linen will be ruined and will pull apart. An unequally yoked marriage or even business partners will “pull apart” when put in “hot water” if you get my drift. Mixing a believer with a non-believer will bring on different goals, ideas, philosophies, mannerisms, etc. One will serve God the other will serve the world. The Torah makes a difference between “Kadosh” and “Non-Kadosh” the holy and the unholy. Vs 12: “You shall make Tzitziot (tassels) on the four corners of your garments” This is still for today and speaks about our relationship with Messiah Yeshua, our relationship with the Torah and the commandments. It also connects us with our Jewish culture. The number of windings and the blue thread is 7,8,11, and 13 which are significant. (7+8=15) (Yod + Hey) and 11 (Vav=6, and Hey = 5) YHVH and “Echad” (ONE in unity) (13). It is still customary to wear Tzitziot on garments and even on one’s belt hoops when one goes outside.      Chap 24 addresses divorce, if a woman is found in “uncleanness” as some texts state, the man can divorce her.  This word is connected to “nudity” and could even go as far as saying, the husband finds the wife nude with another man, (adultery) the word in Hebrew is “Ervat” (uncleanness) yet Yeshua teaches that forgiveness is more important than “putting away the wife” but…the exception remains “adultery” yet even this can be forgiven, marriage is important, and Satan will do everything in his power to destroy marriages.      24:14   “You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer, whether a fellow countryman or a STRANGER (foreigner) in one of the communities of your land” Very important to know, that ALL workers, including immigrants, with or without work visas, should be respected, helped, and not HARRASSED! Hello!!  The USA was founded by immigrants, let’s do our best to pray for them and respect them, and help them, vs 17 says “You shall NOT subvert the RIGHTS of the stranger…” Every immigrant has the right to the “pursuit of happiness and well-being in this country called the US of A.  If the immigrant is an unrepentant criminal, that is a different story. The chapter also talks about the farmer and his crops. He should let the needy take what they need and not consider it stealing. We should not look at everything with $ in mind, we should share the blessings that the LORD has given us and share them with others. 25:4; “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is threshing.” In other words, every employee has the right to his or her lunch break. The ox can work and eat at the same time since its work is demanding.     25:5-10 talks about the “Levirate marriage” when a man dies and leaves no sons, the man’s brother (if single) must marry the man’s widow so as to raise up children.  Well, would this be a good thing today? There are some who would say yes, and others would say no.  I’ll let you decide, If I were single and, in that situation, if I wasn’t going with anyone, well…. maybe I’d go for it, why not? (especially if she was pretty).  I guess it would Be good because the marriage is kept within the family. What would be an exception? if the wife of my deceased brother was an unbeliever, because then it would be of "unequally yoked" marriage, not a good thing! 25:13 talks about “diverse weights” very important to conduct “honest business transactions” not crooked and unfair. Unfortunately, we live in a world of greed and there are people out there, scammers, that want to get over on you. Be careful, especially on the Net. Shalom Ben Avraham Migdol David (Tower of David) Jerusalem

Interesting commentary, thank you for sharing

ISAIAH 51:12-52:12       The prophet speaks through the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) “Therefore, my people shall know MY NAME…..” one thing is to know about God, the other is to KNOW HIM, and “HIS NAME” but we know that God has many names and titles, But his Most Holy Name is  Y_H V H  (Yod Hey Vav Hey) The one who WAS, IS, and WILL BE,  whose letters, in the ancient Hebrew, symbolize  “Behold the nail, behold the hand” whose name is also YESHUAH which means SALVATION.       ” How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger of good tidings, who announces “shalom” who announces YESHUAH (salvation), and who announces “God Rules!”  This is the message that every born-again believer should be concerned with.  When we talk to people about God, the message is that “YHVH is alive and well, and that He Rules in the hearts of all who come to him through YESHUA and that through YESHUA we get YESHUAH and SHALOM in our lives.       ” YHVH hath made bare His HOLY ARM, in the eyes of ALL NATIONS, and all the ends of the earth shalt see the YESHUAH of our God”        2000 years ago, Adonai made bare his HOLY ARM in the person of Yeshua HaMashiach, who walked on this earth, who taught the truths of the Torah, who healed the sick, and raised the dead, and who took upon himself all of our sins,  the name YAH which is a short form of YAHWEH, is spelled with only two Hebrew letters, the YOD, and the HEY, which symbolize  “Behold the Arm (or hand) so…YeshuAH has the Y and the H, Salvation is for ALL THE NATIONS, for those who will put their trust in the Messiah Yeshua.  One day, ALL the Nations will SEE YESHUA, in the flesh, and HE WILL REIGN!  Baruch HaShem! JOHN 11:1-57       This is the story about “Elazar” (Lazarus) who died and was resurrected.  We see that Miryam sends word to Yeshua that Elazar, her brother is sick and dying, yet Yeshua tarries, does not rush to heal Elazar, he waits until he is finally dead, and then, 4 days later, he shows up.  He could have arrived in time to heal him, yet he waits! But why? To understand, we need to understand one of the Jewish mindsets of that time.       It was believed back then that when a person died, his or her soul left the body, yet stayed near the body for three days, on the fourth day, it left and descended to Sheol, It was believed that after 4 days, only the MESSIAH could resurrect a person, even from the pit of Sheol.      When He called out “Elazar, come forth” he did come out of the tomb.  As believers, we all look forward to the resurrection of our bodies, when we die, our bodies will be buried, yet WE will be in the presence of the LORD.  Our bodies will be transformed into incorruptible bodies, which will join our souls in Heaven.  Rav Shaul said, “To be absent from the body is to be in the presence of the LORD” which means, either we are in our bodies, or we are in heaven with the LORD, how else could one interpret that verse?      So, take heart, we have “x” number of years to live here on earth, yet, the earth is not our permanent home, our home is in the New Jerusalem, where we will live…well…time is not a factor…FOREVER….is!   MATT 7:1-3 “Judge Not lest ye be judged,” I thought I might add this verse since many people misinterpret this verse by saying; “Well, there are judges, and their job is to render decisions and even dictate prison sentences, why does it say that we should not judge?” The type of “judgment” that is being mentioned is “final condemnation” or “pre-judging” a person without knowing all the facts.  We might talk to a person, or invite the person to church or synagogue.  That person might come twice and then, not return, maybe two shabbats or Sundays, that person might be absent.  It would be wrong to say; “So-and-so really didn’t accept Yeshua, where is he (or she)? That person isn’t here, so, that person was not really serious, watch out “so-and-so” you’re on your way to hell!”      That person might be sick or had to work, we don’t know the situation.  We should not “judge” that person in that way, with a condemning attitude, rather call or visit the person and find out if he or she needs help or what the case could be. Is the car working? Does the person need a ride? Careful that we do not condemn, because we will be “judged” by Adonai in the same way we might “condemn” another person.      Let us reach out to the person and offer to advise from the Torah in a loving way if the person is erring, we should “correct” the person according to scripture, privately and in love, and never in a “condemning” fashion.  Remember that we will ALL face our righteous “shofet” one day. 1 CHRONICLES 16:10 "Glory ye in His HOLY NAME (HaShem Kadosh); let the heart of them rejoice that seek YHVH" When we see the Holy Name of God in the original letters, we understand why we should rejoice in that NAME, for YHVH symbolizes in the original and ancient Hebrew, "The Hand revealed and the Nail revealed," we could also use the plural being "The Hands revealed and the nails revealed" because Yeshua, who is "God in the Flesh" came and stretched forth his hands and arms to receive the nails that held him fast to the cross of Calvary, to pay the high cost of sin with His own life. He gave us His righteousness and He took our sinfulness and redeemed us from the curse of sin. No wonder we should all see the glory in His Name and rejoice when we seek Him. He is as close as a prayer and revealed in His WORD. Ben Avraham Shalom and Shavua Tov (Peace and have a blessed week) Beyond these gates you'll find security and protection, Beyond the gates of Heaven, you'll find security and eternal shalom

PARASHAH: “Shoftim” (judges)   DEUT:  16:18: -21:9      This parashah starts off with; “Judges (shoftim) and officers shalt thou make thee at thy gates, which YHVH thy Elohim giveth thee…. they shall judge the people with “righteous judgment…”  Many people when they think of the word “judge” they think of the elderly man or woman with the black robe in the courtroom who points a finger and dishes out a prison sentence, a sentence that condemns a criminal who is standing before said, judge.  While it is true that the word “judge” can mean to issue or decide a sentence that could condemn, in the Hebrew, it also means one who “knows, teaches, and decides issues related to the Torah”.  A “shofet” was someone like a Torah teacher, but the job not only included making plain the teachings of Adonai through His Torah, but the “shofet” also rendered decisions based on God’s Holy Writ.      Today, there are “shoftim” in every Bible-based church, synagogue, congregation, Torah study group, etc., perhaps we do not call them “shoftim” or “judges” we just call them “rabbis, pastors, Torah teachers, Sunday school teachers.  They (should) expound and make plain the scriptures to those who are listening, and if needed, take necessary decisions based on God’s Word, concerning matters such as finances, church/synagogue discipline, or any decision based on our Judeo-Christian faith and ethics.  Some call them “gatekeepers” the “gatekeepers” keep in sound doctrine, and “do not let in” false teaching, or, have to “expose” false teaching that perhaps has been circulating.  “making righteous judgment” is making “correct or decisions which are “right” according to God’s Word.  The Word of God and the Torah is for ALL PEOPLE, and for this reason, the Torah says; “thou shalt not respect persons…” meaning that “one should not single out a person because that person is either rich, poor, famous, in politics, etc.… in order to say, “well, because it is YOU, my friend, I will make an exception to the Torah rule” Elohim says NO!, we are ALL EQUAL, we are ALL SINNERS are deserve righteous judgment, and what applies to the rich man, applies to the poor man as well.       (16:20) “Tzedek, Tzedek tirdof” (Righteousness, Righteousness pursue!)  Why does the Torah say “righteousness twice? There are two points of view from the rabbis.  One is that one must pursue (run after) righteousness as long as the end result is also righteous.  An example is, from the Talmud, a story about an olive grower.  The Owner owns many acres of olive trees and he makes a lot of olive oil and fills many urns with the oil and sells each urn for 100 shekels.  A servant of the owner is carrying an urn to the storehouse and he slips and falls, dropping and breaking the urn.  As a result, the oil is lost.  The owner’s son drags the servant to the judge at the city gate, and the judge judges according to the “eye for an eye” judgment.      He renders a “right” judgment, that, the servant will have to pay 100 shekels for the lost oil.  The son is also in agreement.  He will dock the servant's pay for that month, which is also 100 shekels.  The servant cries out to the owner and explains the situation.  The owner who is kind and merciful calls his son “My son, you had the right to bring the servant to judgment, and the judgment is just and right according to the Torah…HOWEVER… the end result will be very unfair and unrighteous, the servant’s family will suffer loss and will not be able to buy food for the month….so…we, on the other hand, can afford the loss, while the servant cannot.  I will render this judgment, that the servant’s mishap is forgiven, and no wage kept back!”  Thus, “righteousness, righteousness we will pursue!”       The other understanding of this verse is that there are two kinds of “righteousness” “Righteous faith” and “Righteous works” both we must pursue!  We pursue “righteous faith” through prayer and our personal relationship with Yeshua HaMashiach, reading/studying the Torah, and occupy ourselves as well with “righteous mitzvoth” through our obedience and following the commandments.  The scripture says that “we are saved (righteous faith) unto good works (righteous works).  But we must always remember that “righteous works never lead to righteous salvation, rather it is the other way, “righteous salvation leads us to do works of righteousness” Also, the three Hebrew letters “Tzadik, Dalet, and Qof” could also mean “The Righteous ONE” and there is only “One righteous one” whom we must follow, that is Yeshua HaMashiach, not only in this present world but in the world to come as well.      Chapter 17 deals with offering sacrificial animals with blemishes.  Since today, we don’t sacrifice animals, how can we relate to this verse? The animals were “offered up” to Adonai, we “offer up” to YHVH our praises, prayers, and our service in form of our spiritual gifts, may our prayers be “without blemish” (without distraction, wholehearted, and sincere) not just repeating words that are printed in a prayer book, but “understanding” the words in the prayer book, or better yet, your own words from the heart.  May we offer up our spiritual gift with a whole heart to the best of our ability.       (17:14) talks about “setting a king over thee” It was not Adonai’s perfect will that Israel would have kings, as He already knew what the outcome would be.  You could probably count on one hand the righteous kings of Israel; David, Josiah, and Hezekiah, the rest were perverted and evil (perhaps there were a few more).  Manasseh corrected his ways towards the end of his life.  God instructs every king to make a copy of the Torah and to study the Torah (17:18).  If every president of every nation did that, every nation would be at peace, one with the other, and we would not have anti-immigrant laws, racism, etc.  We must pray that our president, men, and women in authority govern according to the commandments of the Torah, in accordance to what the Bible teaches.      Chapter 18.  The priests and Levites are supported by the people, they get food, (meat, and produce from the field) and skins from the animals that are sacrificed.  This was God’s provision for his ministers.  Should it be any different today? I would say not! Those who live to teach God’s Word should be maintained by God’s people.  Unfortunately, in many countries, some pastors, rabbis, etc. live lives in poverty because the people of their congregation don’t give, yet, some probably do live well, IF they teach their people to give, then, they will, because they love God’s teaching servants and want the best for them and their families.  Some ministers have to work secular jobs in order to survive, this affects their ministry because their time is limited.       (18:9) “When you come unto the land which YHVH gives you…you will NOT…   and the Torah mentions the abominations that the pagan peoples do.  When we move to go to a new town, city, or even to a different job, we will notice the habits, and customs of the people of those new towns, cities, or job sites.  Perhaps some of their ways will not be in accordance to what the WORD of God teaches; Cheating on spouses, cheating at work, gossip, (Leshon Hara) dirty jokes, lying to the boss, ill-treatment of others, the list could go on, will we separate ourselves from them? Or…in order to be accepted and not ridiculed, will we “compromise” our standards? Yet the Torah says; “thou shall not learn to do after the abominations of those nations!” (or job sites, neighborhoods, cities, towns, etc.)      (19:14) “Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor’s landmark which they of old time have set” I remember when I lived in New York, seeing 4-foot-high stone walls that were in the wooded area behind my house.  I was told that way back in colonial days, the owners of that property built those walls to separate their property from the property of others.  The stone walls indicated, “behind this wall is my area, beyond the wall is your area”.  God has established “landmarks” His WORD is a “boundary” a “landmark” when we venture out of God’s Holy Writ, we leave the protection of “His property” and enter into the property of HaSatan.  In this world, there are only two standards of living, God’s standards, and Satan’s standards.  YHVH has guidelines, it is called “The Torah” the landmarks are the 66 books of his Torah, outside of that, is the “anything goes” philosophy, “do whatever feels good” way of living.      If we attempt to change a biblical landmark, we are “taking away” from the Word of God, we are headed for trouble.  Dad told Jimmy, “Ten feet away from the wasp nest is the landmark, don’t go beyond it!” but Jimmy went beyond it, he got closer, but the wasps didn’t like that, and a wasp flew over and stung little Jimmy on the leg” had Jimmy obeyed the voice of his father, and had respected the landmark, he wouldn’t have gotten stung. (yes, that is a portion from “my life”)       (20:19) teaches us to respect trees.  Yes, YHVH is concerned about trees.  There are some trees that are used for building, like Oak, pine, willow, etc.… yet there are trees that are for fruit and nuts.  Many times, when people build homes, they must first clear the field. At times, these fruit trees are cut down. These trees are for food, I have seen in some places, that homes are built “around” a certain fruit tree, and the tree grows in the corner of the kitchen, and a place is made in the roof so that the tree can keep growing without hitting obstacles.  The family then can enjoy the fruit and is honoring God’s Word concerning fruit trees.      If we remember back in Genesis, the whole food menu consisted only of fruit and nuts from the trees, and from grains and vegetables, and people lived for 900 years.  It kind of makes sense to protect “food trees”.    All in all, to end this study, we must remember this; We are righteously saved, which is a one-time event when we accept Jesus/Yeshua as LORD and Savior. We do nothing (except repent) our Messiah did it ALL, which leads us to do "righteous works" which is a lifetime event, or series of events that will result in rewards in the World to Come. So, look at the "Big Picture" which is eternity. It will be well worth it. Shalom Ben Avraham The SOLID ROCK is called "Righteous"

ISAIAH 54:11-55:5 “Navi Yeshayahu” (Prophet Isaiah) speaks as directed by the Holy Spirit, as a father who comforts his children, promising them blessings, but begins with “Unhappy, storm-tossed one”, meaning that Israel has been through a lot, deportation to Babylon, destruction of the temple, scattered throughout the nations of the world…YET…blessings, protection, etc. will follow for THE SERVANTS OF THE LORD. Yes, for THOSE who SERVE the LORD. Yes, we have to be on HIS side, part of HIS FAMILY and walk in OBEDIENCE. ” Come, all who are thirsty, come for water….” (Chap 55) Yeshua mentions LIVING WATER (himself) on Hoshanah Raba (the eighth day of Sukkot) and also, to the woman of Samaria, this water is available to US ALL, if we just choose to drink of his WORD. 55:3 "Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David" What is the prophet saying here? If we listen to what the WORD is saying, the living WORD, Yeshua, the Torah, yet not only listen but to do as well as listen. Many people just "hear" and the sound goes in one ear and out the other. Just like some "words" go in one ear and out the other. But to "listen" is to pay attention and heed what is being said. When we pay attention to what God's Word is saying, then, our souls will live. When we "incline" our ears, it is bringing our ears close to the sound, or in this case, the words of the Torah. The everlasting covenant is the complete work on Calvary's cross, when we come unto Yeshua/Jesus and accept Him as LORD and personal savior, then, our soul/spirit will "live forever" in the kingdom of Heaven. Yet it is conditional. IF we hear and obey, and receive Yeshua as our Messiah, LORD, Savior, THEN our souls will live forever, BECAUSE OF the everlasting covenant made by God in the flesh. JOHN 9:1-10:42 This is the story of the healing of the blind man. Yeshua spat in the dust and make him “new eyes!” What a miracle, and why not? Are we not made from the dust of the earth (Adamah)? So Yeshua takes the same dust, adds his own spittle (a form of water), and now, the blind man washes in the “Pool of Siloach” (which means “sent”) So, we see this; a man who has a defect (blindness) meets Yeshua (The Living God) who made man from the dust of the earth, puts dust on the blind man’s eyes, add a bit of water, then “sends” the man to wash in the pool that means “Sent” and then, he sees! There are many who are blind spiritually, they cannot or don’t want, or will not “see” the truth. They see it, yet they don’t. The Bible is TRUTH yet many just see a book with stories in it, yet when the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of the spiritually blind, then, they can now SEE! The difference between the “clean” and the “unclean” the “worldly” and “Holy”, “obedience” and “disobedience” before they were blind and now they can see. We were all blind, yet now, we can see! Baruch HaShem! (Praise the LORD) Shavua Tov / Have a good week. Ben Avraham walking along the wall of Jerusalem

Parashah: “Re’eh” (see) DEUT: 11:26-16:17 With this Parasha, we start the month of Elul, which is the month of soul searching and meditation on our relationship with Adonai. It starts the 40 days of Awe which culminate with Yom Kippur. We should ask these questions to ourselves; “where am I in my relationship with G-d?” where have I fallen short? And how do I make things right again? In this month of Elul, we must keep in mind the four "R"s Repent, Return, Renew, Restore Re’eh means “see” yet it is not so much “physical sight” but “insight” To be aware of following HaShem, his commandments, and our faith walk. It is also about “understanding” (Binah). So, this month of Elul is about “understanding” Adonai’s will for us, understanding more Torah, more of Yeshua. There is a relationship between the two words; “Elul” and “Binah” they both total “67” in Hebrew gematria. “6” is the number of man and “7” is God’s perfect number. Through Yeshua, Adonai looks upon us as “7”s, even though we are “6”s. Also, if we look at the ancient Hebrew symbolism, “Elul” could mean; “God instructs us about the nail” who is the “nail?” Yeshua received the nails for our sins. The Torah points to HIM, and all about our reconciliation to God.. Also, “Elul” (Aleph, Lamed, Vav, Lamed) are the acronyms for the verse “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” in the Song of Solomon 6:3 “Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li . Our heavenly Father loves us because we belong to Him.” Since we belong to Him, our desire should be to honor Him through obedience to His commandments. See” (Re’eh) this day I set before you a blessing and a curse” we wonder why YHVH did not say in the plural, “blessings and curses?” one could say perhaps “blessing” goes with “obedience” and “curse” with “disobedience” both words are also singular. One could also say that “all blessings” fall under “ONE BLESSING” (B’rakhah Echad) and all curses fall under ONE CURSE, “K’lalah Echad” the word “Echad” is ONE in UNITY, Elohim (who is unity) blesses all humanity (also Echad) that is in obedience to the WORD, and to the LIVING WORD. and also, the curse is also upon “All humanity” that does not obey and that walks in rebellion against Adonai. Well, that’s one way to look at it. Another way is that God was speaking to the Israelites as ONE people, as a SINGLE, SET APART nation, therefore the "Blessing" is in the singular, the same way for "curse" directed toward the ONE nation, if they abandon Adonai and go after strange gods, then ALL would suffer as ONE people. This is a repetition of last week’s parashah, Moshe mentions to keep HaShem's commandments, and cannot stress it enough to his people. Even the pronoun “I” in “I set before you. is stressed in Hebrew “Anochi!” meaning “I MYSELF!!!!” (People, I am really serious!) Moshe states to his people; “you have not yet come into your rest” (12:9) Once they get into the promised land, and IF they obey the commands of Adonai, follow HIS precepts, and drive out all the pagan peoples, THEN, they will have their rest. Yet Israel did not obey all the commandments since they were still fighting against enemies and did not drive them all out. They never really came unto their “perfect rest” (Menuchah Tamim) The L-RD wanted a permanent rest for His people, yet because of disobedience, that was never accomplished. Adonai wants a “rest” for us all. The Hebrew word “Menuchah” if looked at from an ancient Hebraic point of view, could symbolize (by the paleo-Hebrew letters) “behold the living water who gives life through the nail) the letter “Chet” symbolizes a fence, a fence serves as an area of protection. We are protected and surrounded by HIS love, through the sacrifice of blood by our Messiah, who is the Living Water, who gives us life, through the nails that he received in his wrists. This gives us spiritual peace and rest, from a lifestyle of sin. It is interesting to also note that one of the towns where Yeshua ministered was “Capernaum” which, in Hebrew, is “Kaphar-Nachum” (Village of rest) 12:2 “you must destroy all the sites….” The pagan nations gathered together at different places to erect false gods and worship them, these must be destroyed! Today, we must walk away from false gods, put them behind us, and even, destroy them if necessary. If a TV has become a god to you, and you find yourself addicted to it, sell it or give it away. If money has become like a “god” to you, give some of it away to the poor and needy. Anything that comes before your love and worship of Adonai is considered a “false god” get rid of it! 12:13 speaks of burnt offerings, it is good to dedicate our meals to Adonai, we are blessed to be able to go to a store and buy chicken and beef already prepared. We must remember to thank YHVH for this food, ALL FOOD which means ALL that is mentioned in Leviticus 11, is for us to enjoy, now, verse 15 says, “The unclean and the clean alike may partake of it, as of the gazelle and the deer…” this is NOT talking about unclean and clean FOODS, it is talking about PEOPLE who are clean and unclean. Anyway, gazelles and deer are both clean animals, but I have never seen gazelle steaks in the supermarket, maybe in Africa they have them. It is saying that people who have diseases that render them “unclean” like lepers, may partake of this food, just like people who are disease free may, verse 22 mentions this again, “the unclean may it to together with the clean” (people). Another point to mention is that even though the gazelle and deer are clean animals to eat, they were not permitted as sacrificial animals. As we know, the animals permitted for sacrifices were bulls, sheep, goats, rams, and certain birds. Chap 13 deals with false prophets. These deceivers were NOT TOLERATED back then! Turning people away from the true worship of Adonai warranted a death sentence. Back then, God was dead serious about true worship and teaching the truth, and…HE STILL IS! We must all worship him in SPIRIT and in TRUTH, when studying the scriptures (Truth) we must do so in the ‘spirit” of joy and ask for wisdom. Chap 14 deals with the chosen kosher foods which YHVH has selected for all humanity, it is a repetition of Leviticus 11. However, man thinks he is smarter than God and has added stuff to His perfect menu, and the result is obesity, high blood pressure, and heart disease. We all know what foods have been added to the menu, but I won’t go over them as that will produce a bunch of negative comments from readers. When people’s “food comfort zone” is threatened, it is very uncomfortable to “give up” those unclean meats, no matter how tasty they may be. Well, we all can either obey or disobey, the choice is ours. ” You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk” This verse has caused questions, and traditions, even unto separating meat and milk items, getting separate refrigerators, etc. All it is saying is this; (literally) if you have a female goat, and the mother goat is raising its kid, do not kill the kid, then milk the mother goat, and boil the kid in its mother’s milk. I mean, who would go out of the way to do that anyway? However, this might also have a deeper spiritual meaning. So, there is more than meets the eye and the basic understanding, if we take this derashically, we can look at it this way; ” meat” can symbolize the “flesh” and “milk” symbolize “life” it is the mother’s milk which maintains life to her young, yet “meat” once off the bone is dead! dead flesh! So, the connection is “our carnal flesh is sinful” yet the “milk of the WORD” (as said by Rav Shaul/Paul the Apostle) is what gives us LIFE. The Hebrew word for meat is “Basar” yet milk, in Hebrew is “Chalav”. written with the same Hebrew letters, but with different vowels is “Chelev” which means “pleasure” the three Hebrew letters “Chet, Lamed, and Beit, (CH L V) “LeiV” is also the word for “heart” so “milk” can be connected to “pleasure for the heart” and indeed, the sincere “MILK of the WORD of God is indeed, pleasure for the heart, while the things of the “flesh” (meat) are of the world. So, there is a separation of “meat and milk” symbolizing “things that give life, from things that produce death” This of course, is not a literal separation, but spiritual and moral. (if literal, we shouldn’t eat Lasagna! Or cheeseburgers) Chapter 16 deals with “Yamim Kadoshim” the HOLY DAYS, the days that YHVH has separated for our observance and worship; PASSOVER, we remember the “Passover Lamb” who was Yeshua HaMashiach who gave his life for us all. The week of UNLEAVENED BREAD, when we put leavened bread away, since leaven reminds us of SIN in our lives. SHAVUOT (Pentecost) when the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) came to earth to stay, and when the Torah was given to Israel on Har Sinai. SUKKOT the feast of booths, which is a time of Thanksgiving, similar to the Thanksgiving of the pilgrims of Plymouth. When we thank God for an abundant harvest, and for the coming of God to earth (as Yeshua) to walk among humankind, to teach Torah, heal, raise the dead, and die for our sins. Have you accepted HIM as your LORD and Savior? If you are following HIM, you have chosen the "blessing" and for those who reject him, who gave it ALL for a dying world, they will receive the "curse". Ben Avraham Shavua Tov (Have a good week) Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem