Jacob Ben Avraham

Light in the window, the lamp will guide your path, the Word of God is the lamp unto your feet which will guide you through life's paths

Parashah: “VaYishlach” (and he sent) GENESIS: 32:3-36:43....................OBADIYAH 1:1-21..............MATT 13:1-58 We see in this week's parashah, that Ya'akov is on his way home to Beth-El, He comes to his “encounter” with his brother Esav. It is a time of tension for him, as we know, he “stole” from him the blessing. Or was it really theft? Remember that Esav “sold” or “traded” his birthright for a “bowl of red lentils” so, was it really theft? Perhaps we can say that Jacob took advantage of his brother's worldliness and carnal nature, some say it was “deceit” but was it really? Jacob and Esau departed enemies, time has passed, Jacob has had much to think about. He feels perhaps guilt and remorse for having taken advantage of his brother. YHVH has blessed him with wives and children, the future “Am Yisrael” He now feels a need for “compensation” for wrong doing. Therefore, to “ease” the angry spirit of Esau, (so Jacob thinks) he sends him gifts of cattle, hoping to “cool him off” But let's think about that, is compensation necessary for wrong doing? The Torah says YES, it is. If I borrow your camera, and I drop it, break it, I will owe you another camera, if you and I have a wrestling match, and I accidentally break your hand, I would have to pay the doctor's bill, etc. This is the true meaning of “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” Just for precautionary measures, he separates his family, “just in case” Esau is still on the warpath. Can we blame Jacob? Esau is coming to meet his brother with 400 armed men! Oi Vey, why with 400 men? Armed too! Could this be an attack? Or friendship rekindled? Jacob is “Schvitzen” (sweating). But now he is about to encounter “GOD” in the flesh He says “Adonai, help!” hey God, remember your promise? To keep me safe? You aren't going back on your promise, are you? YHVH responds with a personal visit that night. The Torah says that during the night “a man wrestled with him until the break of day” Ya'akov didn't know it then, but he was wrestling with “HaMalach Elohim (The Angel of the LORD). How do we wrestle with God today? Ever think of that? Good question! Trying to find HIS perfect will for our lives is one way, dealing with “flesh vs spirit” issues is another way. Trying to get HIM to follow “us”, instead of “us” following HIM is another way. Just seeing where we fit in with his plan for our lives is a wrestling match, yet “Jacob prevails” he says, “Bless me before you go!” YHVH says to him “Your name will no longer be Ya'akov, but Yisrael” Jacob prevailed, he passed the test, and now, he has a new name. If we look at the letters; Y I S R A E L we see YaSheR – EL “Straight with God”. And the name YISRAEL has the names of the patriarchs (Ya'akov, Sarah, Riv'kah, Avraham, Leah). Israel is now surrendered to the will of YVHV. He meets Esau, the meeting is touching, no hard feelings. And Israel renders homage before his brother, a very penitent attitude. They fall upon each other’s necks and kiss and weep! The “Midrash” has a funny explanation for that. The “Midrash” (a rabbinical commentary) says that the reason Esau wept was because he tried to bite Israel's neck, yet Israel's neck has turned to iron, and Esau broke his teeth, trying to bite him! Kinda funny, but when we look at the symbolism, we see the idea of Israel being a “stiff-necked people” (I would say iron is stiff, just try to bend it) yet many will try to “bite” or destroy Israel, and Israel will prevail! But not before suffering because of having a “stiff neck”. Israel and his children go to Shechem, where we see that “Dinah is raped” and the brothers take drastic action and retaliate, destroying the city. I would say very “rash” and “violent “action. But why would they want to associate with people who are idol worshipers? Case being, they had no business there in the first place. If you are in the wrong place and at the wrong time, you're bound to get “bit”. However, Jacob (Israel) builds an altar there and called it “El-Elohei-Israel” (God, the God of Israel) He stands firm in his convictions, yet his sons have a lot to learn. There are probably many times when we act rashly, and do not so kosher things, embarrassing our relationship with YHVH. Yes, Israel was very angry with his sons, plus they used “circumcision” as a trick to weaken the men of Shechem, something sacred was used for vengeance. There are quite a few things we can learn NOT to do, by observing the “sons of Jacob”. What we learn from this Torah portion is; from wrong doing, we offer restitution, and from restitution, we get restored fellowship. But at times, we cannot offer material restitution for wrong doing, only a sincere “I am very sorry for what I did, please forgive me” and we must leave it at that, now the ball is in the other person's hand, they can either throw it back to us with forgiveness, or “throw it away” with forgiveness. We just have to leave it in God's hands. OBADIYAH 1:1-21 This prophet talks about Esau as “Edom” similar to the name “Adam” yet spelled with a “vav” Edom is condemned, for his attack on Jacob, later on, the Edomites attack the Israelites, (brothers against brothers) Edom will be “brought down from the lofty cliffs” I have been to “Edom” which is in Jordon, the city of “Petra” has many caves in the cliffs, and as tourists go through Petra, the guides tell the visitors that the cliff caves were homes to Edomites, later on they became burial places, and today, they serve as “toilets” for the tourists that have to take care of business, ( I should know, I used one of those during my visit to Petra in 1999) imagine that, how lowly Edom has fallen, from cave homes to “out-houses” We see that the promise of YHVH to Israel prevails, try to destroy, harm, attack Israel, you will be brought down. The prophet goes on to say, “do not gloat over the misfortune of Judah” Even though we know that Israel will go by the wayside, and forsake YHVH, and will receive punishment, Edom has no business being happy for that reason. It is like a brother laughs when his other brother is being punished by dad, that brother has no business to be happy, because HIS turn will come sooner or later. Today, do you know of any Edomites? There are none, yet do you know of any Israelites? Yes, there is a nation in the middle east full of Israelites, it is called “Eretz Israel” I have been there, twice! It is an honor to serve Israel as military support personnel. MATT 13:1-58 Yeshua speaks to the people in parables, He tells of the “sower of the seed” he goes on to tell his Talmidim that the people “hear but do not understand” it is because their hearts are dull, and that they are not looking for the truth. So there are today, many people who will “hear” the gospel but do not “listen” and if they do not “listen” they will not “understand” just like the sower who sowed the seed on the different soils, some did not take root, some grew but were choked out, some grew into maturity, so is the WORD of God, to some people it has no effect, on others, it is only a “pass time” or a “fad” for a while, but for others, it is the “real thing” and “life changing” has it changed your life?

Parashah: “VaYetze” (and he went out) GENESIS 28:10-32:2............... HOSEAS 12:13-14:9...........JOHN 1:51 In this parashah study, we see that Jacob is on his way to Haran to find himself a wife (or two). He is tired after a long day's journey, He stops to rest outside of a city called “Luz” (In Spanish “Light”) and scripture says that he settles down for the night and takes “of the stones” (m'avenei) and puts “one” under his head for a pillow. I am sure that he chose a large, flat one, wrapped his tunic around it, and put his head down. Perhaps the stone was still warm from the heat of the day, and he went to sleep and dreamed............................. But before we get to the dream, I'd like to note that in all English translations, the number “one” appears which states that he took “one” stone, yet the Hebrew does not give a certain number, the word “m'avenei” is used meaning “of the stones” It could be that he took one “of the stones” or a few “of the stones”. All we know is that he went to sleep and dreamed a strange dream. We all know the story of “Jacob's Ladder” we have read it in Bible story books, and from the Torah itself. Yet I think that the title is misleading, it wasn't “Jacob's Ladder” at all, it was “God's ladder” Jacob was just a witness to seeing it, and the activity that surrounded it. The Word says that the ladder was grounded on the earth and the top reached Heaven, and angels went up and down the ladder. The it says that YHVH stood beside Jacob and spoke saying; “Ani YHVH. Elohei Avraham, Elohei Yitzchak” (I am the LORD, God of Abraham, God of Isaac). The same promise that was given to Abraham and Isaac is now being repeated to Ya'akov. The land where he is at right now, will be a possession for him and his seed. The title and deed of the Land of Israel pertains to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. YHVH said it, case closed! The rest of the people who live there are “residents” not owners! YHVH likens the descendants of Jacob to the “dust of the earth” why dust? Dust cannot be counted, ever try to count a “speck of dust?” dust will “last forever” also, lay something out in the desert for 1000 years, a car for example, in 1000 years, the car will be no more, probably not even a trace of it will be left, because the “dust” will have, in a way of speaking, “eaten it”. The dust is also “trodden upon.” “Am Yisrael” (The people of Israel) will be forever, as our faith in our “Mashiach m'Yisrael” (Messiah from Israel) is an everlasting faith, which will endure forever. Israel has also been “trodden on” stepped on, mistreated, taken as worthless by maniac leaders, yet when all is gone and vanished, Israel will be forever. Scripture also says that Israel will be spread abroad to the North, South, East, and West. In other words, “All over the world” and we have seen just that today. We have Jewish people in all nations of the world, integrated among all the nations, taking the Torah with them, and the belief in ONE GOD (Echad). We have three major Jewish peoples, “Sephardim” from Spain, North Africa and Middle East. “Ashkenazim” from Germany and East Europe, and “Falashim” from Ethiopia and other African countries. The Torah says, “In thy seed will all the families of the earth be blessed Who is the Seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Yeshua! He was of the seed of these patriarchs! And we are all blessed by HIM, whose one-time sacrifice for sin saved us all, from eternal separation from YHVH. His name “YESHUAH” is “Salvation” from YAH. When Jacob awoke from his dream, he stood the “stone” that he placed as a pillow, “upright” and anointed it with oil, calling that place “Beit-El” (House of God). The rabbis of old give meaning to this, some say that the “stones that were together become ONE” some say that Jacob gathered 12 stones, and these 12 stones became ONE, symbolizing the 12 sons of Israel, that became 12 tribes, were “united” as “AM ECHAD (One People) at Sinai under Moshe after they had left Egypt. The word “stone” in Hebrew is “AVEN” which is a combination of two-word, AV (father) and BEN (Son) Father and Son as ONE (Echad). The anointing of the “Stone” reminds us of the anointing of YESHUA as Messiah, teacher of Torah, healer, and redeemer. He is the SOLID ROCK. The ladder itself is symbolic. The sages and rabbis of old liken the ladder to “Moshe climbing up to the top of Sinai to receive the Commandments carved in STONE, and later, went up again for 40 days and nights to receive the whole Torah which he later wrote down. He went UP and YHVH came DOWN, we liken this unto “Yeshua the Living WORD, the living TORAH”. Other rabbis imagine the ladder as having 22 steps, each step being a letter of the Alef-Bet, the Hebrew Alpha-bet. Since all letters form words, we look again at Yeshua who is the “living WORD, the living TRUTH. The ladder is the “WAY up, and the WAY down. Yeshua said, “I AM the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE, no one comes the father but by ME” The word “ladder” in Hebrew is “SULAM” in gematria, it equals the sum of 136. the words “Tzom” (fasting) “kol” (voice) and “Mammon” (money) also sum “136”. So how do these words speak of Yeshua? Yeshua “Fasted” for 40 days and 40 nights in the desert, he “voiced” his prayers to His Father in Heaven, and he taught about money, and “Tzedakah” (deeds of kindness) “it is more blessed to give than receive” he taught that we must put money in its proper perspective, since the “LOVE” of money is the root of all evil, he taught that one should be “content” with the wages received, (when speaking to the roman soldier). How do these words speak of our relationship with Yeshua? We first come to “Salvation” (Yeshuah) through “Prayer” (voice) of repentance (tefilah/ teshuva) and there are times when we must “fast” to get prayers answered, and we fast on Yom Kippur. We “give money” through tithes and offerings to our local church/synagogue to keep it going. But who or what is the ladder really? Is there a correct answer? It is in the Brit HaDashah. HOSEA 12:13-14:9 The prophet condemns Israel for “forsaking the LORD” Israel was led out of Egypt by a prophet (Moshe) and tended to, provided for by YHVH, yet Israel forsake the LORD chasing after false gods, going into idolatry. Now the LORD will punish, and his wrath will fall upon his people. Yet YHVH still loves his people, yet will exact punishment, judgment, like a father will punish and judge a disobedient son or daughter. Can we expect anything less from Adonai? If we abandon our LORD, and live like a lost person, loving the desires of the lost world and the flesh, can we expect anything less than judgment from HIM who set us free from sin? JOHN 1:51 Then He said; “I assure you; You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the 'Son of Man' Mystery solved, YESHUA is the Ladder!

PARASHA: TOLDOT (generations) GEN 25:19-28:9.............MAL 1:1-2:7..................MATT 10:1-11:30 This study starts out with the generations of Abraham and Sarah. After years of waiting and praying they finally had Yitzchak. The legacy continues, the promise of YHVH is revealed once more, but not without testing of faith. Yitzchak and Riv'kah also have to wait, about 20 years, yet they prayed and entreated the LORD to have a child. “The prayer of the righteous prevails” the following is from the Talmud (B.Yevamot 64:a) “Why were our ancestors barren? Because the Holy One (blessed be He) longs to bless the prayers of the righteous” Since Yitzchak and Riv'ka were righteous, and part of the covenant promise, YHVH (in HIS timing) answered their prayer. Does that mean that ALL prayer is answered? Yes, it is, but not always the way we want Adonai to answer it. The answer comes in three forms; Yes, No, and “later on” The sick are prayed over, and many are healed, others are prayed for, and YHVH takes them home. It doesn't mean to stop praying, or pray once, God likes “continuous prayer” I prayed for 40 years for the LORD to reveal to me my biological family, and finally, about 4 years ago, HE DID! But in HIS timing. The birth of “B'nei Yitzchak v'Riv'ka” came as a surprise, “twins inside” and the battle ensued. Yet the LORD speaks to Riv'kah saying: “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people will be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger” When we look at this today, we see prophecy revealed plain as day. From “Ya'akov”, we get “Am Yisrael” the (Nation of Israel) and from “Esav” we get the name “Edom” which is almost the same as “Adam” with the exception of the “o” or in Hebrew the letter “vav” (v) If we look at the paleo-Hebrew, one could get the symbolism of “Esau” who was made of “Blood and spirit” was connected (vav) to “chaos” Esav was a “man of the earth, disinterested in spiritual things, he was materialistic, he related more to the “red” earth than the things of God. From “Esav/Edom” we get Haman (the Agagite) and from Haman, the nation of “Rome” was formed. Rome was stronger, and conquered a good part of the world, and Israel was under the yoke of Rome, YET today, we look at Israel, it has the strongest, and one of the most advanced and modern Military in the world. And it was indeed an honor to serve under the IDF two years ago, and I am looking forward to support the IDF again in the future. Jacob and Esau, twin brothers but two separate nations, two brothers, yet worlds apart, One spiritual, interested in the things of God, then other, interested in the things of the world. Esau and Jacob represent the world of today. We have the “lost” “unrepented man” and we have the “born again believers” which include ALL who have accepted Yeshua the Messiah as LORD and Savior, doesn't matter if we are a sabbath observing messianic believer, or a Sunday, church going believer, we are ALL part of God's family. Yet we see that Jacob exhibited “carnal behavior” he wanted things “his way” yet when God sent Jacob to uncle Laban's “school of hard Knocks” he came out different... (but that is in the next parasha). Jacob symbolizes “all believers” both carnal and spirit filled. We ALL have growing and maturing to go through on this side of heaven. Esau despised his birthright for lentil stew, we can see the same today, many people will prefer a life of sin, money, fast cars, drugs, fame, you name it, and reject the gift of God, “Salvation” (YESHUAH) and then “perish” for all eternity. That's kind of like “exchanging” Eternal life with God for a “temporary life” of comfort and ease, riches, etc. Just doesn't make sense does it? The time of blessing comes, Isaac is old and blind, and there has been family “division” Esau “Loved” Esau (because of his wild game) yet rebecca “loved” Jacob. Does that mean that Isaac didn't love Jacob and Rebecca didn't love Esau? No, only means that there were “family favorites” which is a big NO NO, if we are to live in peace with our children today, even between “students and teachers” no favorites please! We see in Chap 27, that Jacob passes for Esau, and Esau gets the shorter end of the stick. Taking advantage of poor Isaac's blindness, yet there is a saying “The chickens come home to roost” and “What goes around, comes around” We will see LATER, what happens, Jacob is the younger, and pretends to be the older. When Jacob gets married, he thinks he's getting the younger daughter, but gets the older daughter. Jacob deceives Isaac in his “darkness” (blindness) and Jacob gets deceived being in the “darkness” (night time, dark tent) and maybe he had too much to drink to know who got in bed with him. Esau doesn't change, he marries a “hitite” woman and then gets another wife from his uncle Ishamel, all to “get back” (maybe) at Isaac for giving away his birthright, but didn't he already sell it? Hello? MAL 1:1-2:7 The prophet speaks and writes through the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) “Jacob have I loved, but Esau I have hated”. He you ask, “isn't God love?” isn't God all about love? Why does he “hate poor Esau?” The word “hate” has the same meaning as “reject”. YHVH who is “all knowing” knew even before Esau was born that he would reject HIM, so, YHVH rejected Esau! Polluted offerings, corrupt priests. No wonder God is fed up with Israel, they have gone “the way of Esau” offering God the “left-overs” and not offering with “pure hearts”. It is like today, if we serve the LORD with less than our best, or only with “half a heart” or just because we feel we “have to” then, we are offering “polluted offerings” We should serve GOD with all we have, with the best we have, or not at all! MATT 10:1-11:30 Yeshua sends out the twelve talmidim, to teach Torah and to share the word that Yeshua is Mashiach, and has fulfilled all the prophecies of the Torah. First to the “lost sheep of Israel” remember that Israel has been scattered to many different countries, many being absorbed by the nations, yet still remember their identity, but even in Israel, there are those who need to know the truth about Yeshua as Messiah, prophesied by Moshe and the prophets The work and ministry of sharing/teaching the WORD of God is not a lone undertaking, it is to be shared by many, and ALL who have that calling. Even Yeshua, God in human form, could not be in all places at the same time, so he sent out his followers, to fulfill the “Great Commission” . Today, we are equipped with the “gifts of the Spirit” to fulfill this great task, and today we have the internet to help spread the “Good News” whereas hundreds of years ago, only papers and books were available to those who took up that task. We are living in exciting times, let's take advantage of modern technology. Shabbat Shalom...............Rabbi Ben Avraham

PARASHAH: “Chayei Sarah” (Sarah lives) GENESIS 23:1-25:18..................1 KINGS 1:1-31...................MATT 8:1-9:38 The title of the Parashah is “Sarah lives” or “Sarah lived”. Yet Sarah is dead, so, how does she live? She lives on in the memory of Abraham, her legacy lives on, her influence lives on, and this is what the patriarch wants for Isaac. I remember some of the words of Marine Gunnery sergeant Hartman to his trainees in the movie “Full Metal Jacket” “Most of you will go to Viet Nam, some of you will not return alive, but even dead, you will still live, you will live on in the spirit of the corps.” So even dead, Sarah continued to live on as a godly wife and mother, no doubt that Abraham wanted to bless Isaac with a similar wife. Torah says that Sarah lived 127 years. It is not often that the Torah records the age of women, but Sarah is the exception. We can see some symbolism in that number. I guess there are several ways we can look at it, one way is to see the Hebrew letters associated with numbers, 100 is Qoph (Q) 20 is Kaph (K) and 7 is Zayin (Z) Seven is the number of YHVH, the perfect number. According to some rabbis, “120” years are a “full life”. So, Sarah lived a “full life” plus 7 more. Another way we can look at this is, from the Hebrew text; “One-hundred years, and seven years, and twenty years. Why is this worded this way? The rabbis say that when Sarah was one-hundred years old, she was as beautiful as when she was twenty, and when she was twenty, she was as innocent and holy as when she was seven. Moshe lived a “full life” and maybe would have lived longer had he not “struck the rock” Sarah lived a “Kadosh” life (Holy life, separated to serve God, her husband Abraham and raise her son Isaac. One could say she was “anointed to serve” (Kaph) is a letter the symbolizes “anointing”. Zayin (z) is the letter that symbolizes “weapon” anointing and holiness is a “weapon” one can use against “HaSatan” our spiritual enemy can be defeated by the fruit of the Spirit, through the Ruach Ha Kodesh. 127 can also symbolize “echad” (unit of oneness) (1), “covenant blessing” (2) “godliness” (7) Sarah received the blessing of being a godly woman, who joined in the “covenant blessing” of Abraham with YHVH, and together became “Echad Am” (One people) the Hebrew people who later became the Nation of Israel. When we add 1+2+7 we get 10, which is the number of “Torah” (some say “law” personally, I don't like using that word, it is misunderstood) but “Torah” means “instruction” Sarah honored Abraham, and YHVH by submitting to their instruction, she was submissive, in the right way. Yet Sarah had her times of happiness and sorrow, like All marriages go through. Abraham and Sarah loved each other, and in death, Abraham showed his love towards Sarah by purchasing an overpriced piece of real estate. 400 silver shekels was a lot for a cave on a piece of property in Hebron, but He didn't mind paying for it, (guess it is like buying a hamburger for $25) It had to be “written down, and documented” legally, not just “words”, we see that today, words are nothing, but if it is signed, sealed, written down, you can take it to court! The true meaning of the word “love” is NOT feelings. What is “Love at first sight?” (Hey, I like your moves, I like your legs, your hair, your eyes, your build, etc.). yet feelings, emotions can lead two people to enter into a covenant of “love”, “love” is the action of “giving” the Hebrew word is “Ahavah” it has the verb “hav” which is “to give” and the word “av” is in there, being “Our Heavenly father gives” He proved his love toward us that He GAVE His Only Son, Yeshua, as a sacrifice for our sin. When a couple chose to marry, share life together, provide one for another, in health and in sickness, and not “cop out” on each other, THAT is TRUE LOVE. The words, “I feel I don't love you anymore” are silly, worthless words. Imagine if Sarah had told that to Abram. Or if Abram would have said that to Sarah, “I don't love you anymore, because you can't give me children” and the two separated, where would the Nation of Israel be today? It would be nonexistent. Yet they kept by each other’s side in good times and in the bad times, the times of drought, the “Egypt” times, the “Ishmael” times, and the long waited “Isaac” times. Abraham sent his servant Elazar to look for a wife for Isaac. (I wish that custom was still here with us, parents getting their children husbands and wives, those were the 'good ol days') (my opinion). He carried 10 camels with gifts, the “bride price” for the “bride to be”. He had to go to Mesopotamia, to Abraham's family, He did NOT want a Canaanite woman for the bride of Isaac, a pagan Canaanite woman would have been an “unequal yoke” that is wisdom for us today, a “born again believer” should only marry another “born again believer” where the two worship and serve the “same God YHVH/Yeshua” Elazar observed “Rebecca's actions” Rivka watered the thirsty camels, sought not her own comfort, but had a servant's heart. This is what Elazar was looking for, Abraham would be happy, and so would Isaac. The “engagement jewelry” was a nose ring and gold bracelets” today in our society we give an engagement ring. Yet “Rivka” had to be “willing to go with Elazar to be Isaac's wife”. We can see this is our relationship with Yeshua. Yeshua/Jesus is the “bridegroom” and we, the “Kehilah” (Congregation of “called out ones”) are the bride. We have to be a “willing bride” to go with our “heavenly bridegroom”. Just as Elazar brought gifts to the bride-to-be, Yeshua has given “gifts” to us as HIS Bride; Salvation (Yeshuah) an eternal home/mansion in Heaven, spiritual gifts to do service and minister with. Healthy bodies (for the most part) in which to inhabit, spouses and children, jobs to earn a living, if we think about the list could go on, as to the “Blessings” we have through Yeshua. 1 KINGS 1:1-31 This tells the sad story of a father who failed to discipline his sons, and old king David reaped the whirlwind, Adonijah (which means YHVH is my master) if it were so, He would have been in subjection to his father David, had the nerve to proclaim himself king, even before David dies. Yet David corrects the situation and names Solomon as future king. This part of the Parashah teaches us to be under authority, willingly, the bridegroom has his bride under His authority and subjection, BUT NOT in a tyrannical way, not like a “dictatorship” but under a “love “relationship. A wife can be under subjection to the husband, and feel used, like an object, or feel loved and protected, all depends on the husband, if He is under the subjection to the LORD, he will treat his wife with love and respect. MATT 8:1-9:18 We see here that Yeshua shows love through action, in healing the leper, it is an act of “giving” He gave back health to an unclean man, yet Yeshua also respected and honored the Torah, in telling the man to go to the priest and offer the proper sacrifice for his healing, Yeshua, who is our Messiah, Savior and LORD had ALL RESPECT for the Torah and its commandments. Another thing we must note is that there are two types of “Tza-arat” (Leprosy) physical and spiritual. One thing is being healed physically, on the outside, another is being healed on the inside. We can be healthy outside, but corrupt on the inside, or, unhealthy physically, yet Holiness resides inwardly. We need that balance, of being “tahor” (clean) both inwardly and outwardly

PARASHAH: “VaYERA” (and he appeared) GENESIS 18:1-22:24………………2 KINGS 4:1-37……………. MATT 8:1-9:38 YHVH appears to Abraham at his tent, yet it also says that “three” men appeared to him. He addresses them as LORD (YHVH), how is that? One can only wonder. Could one of them be YHVH incarnate and the other two ministering angels? Could all three be a representation of ELOHIM? “Av” (father) “Ben” (son) and “Ruach HaKodesh” (Holy Spirit)? This could open up into a lengthy discussion. All we know is that Abraham receives them with great hospitality. They eat and then they bless. This is pretty much how it works even today. We receive blessings from HaShem, but many times, we bless others, help others, and blessings follow. Can we bless “Adonai?” We know that He blesses us in many ways and forms, but how do we “Bless” YHVH? “Baruch” (bless) comes from the word “berek” which means “knee”. When we “bow” the knee in praise and worship, we are, in fact, “blessing” Adonai. We come to pray asking for “this and that” but do we just come and thank HIM for just who He is? He announces the birth of “Yitzchak” yet Sarah laughs in disbelief “within herself” not even out loud, or, just barely audible, yet YHVH hears her and asks “why did Sarah laugh? Yeah, but thou didst laugh” Can anything be hidden from the LORD? Even inside us, HE KNOWS what is going on inside us, within the heart, within our minds, HE KNOWS ALL THINGS, even the “not so kosher” things. Something to think about the next time we think we are alone. We really are NOT alone. Abraham intercedes for Sodom and Gomorra, yet there were not even ten righteous residents of Sodom. Had Abraham asked; “Will you not spare Sodom for only ONE righteous person?” what do you think that the LORD would have answered? Maybe YES? If that had been so, then, perhaps Lot and his family might have never left the city! Lot was still considered a “Tzadik” a righteous person, yet he was living in a sinful and totally corrupt city. That is a dangerous position to be in, to be comfortable in a place where you have no business to be in! or participate in activities that the lost world does. “by the skin of their teeth” one might say, the angel drags Lot, his wife, and two daughters out of there before the judgment of destruction begins. One thing we remember from Parashah “Noach” The Torah says that “Noah was righteous in HIS generation” Does that mean that if he were living in the time of Abraham, be might not have been considered so righteous? If yes, why? Did Noah plead for the lost world before the flood? Did he ask YHVH to save the world IF there could be found a handful of righteous people? We don’t know why transpired during the 120 years that it took Noach to build the ark. Did he preach to the people? Did he warn them of the coming judgment? In the book of Enoch, we know that Enoch warned the giants of impending judgment. In Noah’s case, the Torah is silent. We do see that Abraham pleads for the innocent people in Sodom. We know that there were probably infants, and very young kids that were innocent. Sad to say that they too were destroyed, however, they are in heaven today because they died as innocent creations. The command of the angel to Lot and his family was “don’t look back” yet Lot’s wife DID look back and was turned into a pillar of salt. Does it really matter what YHVH turned her into? Might as well have been a loaf of bread, a donut, a fudge brownie, a…that fact of the matter is that she DID turn and looked back. This is meaningful, indicating that she “longed” for that life of Sodom. She might have thought, “I’ll take one last look and…ZAP…instant saltine cracker. Perhaps she gazed on the very “essence” of YHVH in destruction mode. If one goes to the ruins of Sodom today, one can still find little Sulphur balls embedded in the ruins. When lighted, they emit a bluish flame. Imagine that after all these years, remnants of God’s judgment are still there. We also read about the birth of “Yitzchak” and later the separation of “Ishmael” and “Yitzchak”. We see a separation between the “chosen” and the “world”, but also, we see today the “wheat” and the “tares” growing together, not to say that all the Arabs are evil, there are many born-again Arabs who are the descendants of Ishmael, those who love the LORD. But for the most part, the Arab world and Israel are enemies. We come to the last part, the final test, “Take your son, your ONLY son who you love, and offer him as a sacrifice” Now God didn’t say “Sacrifice him” only “offer him as a sacrifice” Today, we offer ourselves as “living sacrifices” before YHVH to do his perfect will, and to serve him. Abraham was willing to bring the knife down on his only son Isaac, yet the LORD did not allow him to do so, as it was a test to see his obedience, and to see if he was willing to follow through with “sacrificing and spilling Isaac’s blood”. Yeshua, however, was willing to go to the cross, because it was his father’s will. We can see the symbolism here. The altar that Abraham made was of stone, and he placed wood upon it, and upon that he laid his son. Yeshua was led up a stony hill, and was placed and nailed to a wooden cross. Isaac symbolizes ALL of us. Yet when Abraham was ordered to take him off the altar, so we were “replaced” by Yeshua. Isaac was replaced by the ram which was caught in the thicket. The “ram” is “Yeshua” the ram’s horns were caught in the thicket, and around the head of our Mashiach was a crown of thorns. God was not willing that anyone should perish, but for ALL to have eternal life. He was not willing that Abraham should give up his only son, but God was willing to give HIS unique SON, Yeshua for the payment of our sin, one time and forever. Yeshua was willing and did undergo the “fires” of our sins, up there on that cross for a few hours, and thus made the “new covenant” that through his death and sacrifice, we might be saved. One might say symbolically a “covenant of fire” (brit esh) When we read the word “B’reisheet” (in the beginning) we can see those words, “brit esh” in the middle, just rearrange the letters around. Since “the beginning” YHVH had this in mind, to pay for our sin debt, with HIS blood. 2 KINGS 4:1-37 Here, Elisha Ha Navi (the Prophet) ministers to a Shunamite woman, as some prophets had a public ministry, Elisha had more of a private ministry, ministering to individuals more than to the general public as a whole. Yeshua did both, he ministered to the sick, the hurting, the poor, and also preached to the public in synagogues. In this case, the Shunamite woman needed a miracle, yet she “blessed Elisha first” by preparing him a meal, the same way that Abraham blessed the three angels that came. He blessed them with a meal, and afterwards, they announced the blessing of the coming of Isaac. Elisha responds with “multiplying the oil”. The woman asked pots from her neighbors, then, received the oil, in abundance. Many times, when we look for miracles, we extend a blessing to another, and then, we receive from God, it just works that way at times. MATT 6:1-7:29 Here we have the LORD’s prayer. It is not meant to be something we just memorize and repeat like we do many times with prayers. This prayer is something to meditate on, and let the meaning penetrate our souls. “Aveinu BaShamayim” “Our father who is in the heavens” Who has the right to call God, “Our Father” but only those who are members of his family. All of humanity is God’s “creation” and he is humanity’s “creator” but only to born-again believers, he is “Father” “Kadosh Shmo” (sanctified be his name) HIS name is YHVH (Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey) which comes from HAVAYA (to exist) he is “Haya” (past) “Hoveh” (present) and “Yiyah” (future). And his name is indeed “Kadosh” (Holy). Contrary to popular belief, the Torah does not prohibit one from using it, on the contrary, the Word of God says “Call upon the NAME of the LORD!” “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” The “kingdom of Heaven” is HIS activity on earth, so, it is already here. It has been here since Genesis 1:1. It is here and manifests itself in the midst of his believers, churches, synagogues, congregations, bible study groups, etc. There is a “coming” political kingdom and a literal “New Jerusalem” which will appear on earth some day in the future, and what a time that will be. “Give our bread continually”. Our “daily bread” does not consist only of literal food, but ALL of our basic needs. YHVH is a loving God and many times, gives us even our “wants”. He will do this “continually”, I have seen this many time in my life, when I just “think” of things I need, all of a sudden, I get them, many times for free. “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us” Many times, we commit sins against God, and yes, we want Him to forgive us, but what about people who have committed offenses against us? Are we holding grudges against them? If so, how then can we expect forgiveness for our sins? Our sins against our Holy God are greater. We must learn to forgive those around us. At times, it is hard, but it is a “command!” when it can’t come from the flesh, it must come from the spirit. “Do not lead us into the power of temptation, but keep us from all evil…amen” What is the “power” of temptation? It is succumbing to the power of HaSatan. Remember that just because we are “b’nei Melech” (children of the King) does not mean that we are free from being tempted. Everyone on this earth has been tempted, even our LORD and Messiah. This is part of testing, we can be tempted, but that does not mean that we will give in to the temptation and commit sin. It is OUR choice, the very last word is “Amen” which comes from “amun” which is “to say something that is true” so, when we say “amen” it is “so be it, as it is truth from God” (this was taken from a Primitive Hebrew text, as the first “LORD’s prayer was written in Hebrew) there is also an Aramaic rendition of the LORD’s prayer, look it up on “YouTube” Jacob Ben Avraham

PARASHAH: “Lech Lecha” (go forth yourself) GENESIS 12:1-17:27……………………...ISAIAH 40:27-41:16……………MATTHEW 5:1-48 “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. 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. 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 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? Once that Abram obey the voice of YHVH, and he arrived in the land of C’anaan, 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” “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) Now we look at Lot, Abraham’s nephew, if only Abraham had left him behind! But he didn’t. Didn’t YHVH state specifically, “Leave your father’s house and your KINDRED!” isn’t Lot kin folk? 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! 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 under foot. 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 be circumcised. YHVH is more concerned in 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) ISAIAH 40:27-41:16 The prophet is encouraging Israel saying that YHVH will support them, will protect them. Israel has been through a lot, they are weary of being persecuted, well, they went away from the LORD, and went after false gods, yet, when the repent, YHVH will be there. They are weary, weak, tired. Yes, when we do it in our own strength, yet when we go in the strength of YHVH, HE is our strength. We are not talking about physical strength, but spiritual strength. The physical is and always be physical. We can be strong physically by eat right, exercise, etc.…but we can be spiritually strong through prayer, reading God’s word, and just trusting in HIM for our needs. “Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away, fear not, for I am with thee, be not dismayed for I am thy God, I strengthen thee, help thee, uphold thee… (41:10) What better promise from God do we have? He has chosen us as HIS people, through Yeshua, we become an active part of the commonwealth of Israel, and, as our LORD, and Master, He will provide. MATT 5:1-48 There is a lot of meat in this chapter, besides the Beatitudes, which are “blessed are the…” poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek (or humble) etc.… these we can understand, Yeshua is explaining this quite clearly. But there is another part which needs explanation. 5:17-18 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say unto thee, till heaven and earth pass, not one yod or tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled” This has been a misunderstood verse in many if not all Bible churches today. What is “Law?” in the Latin we have the word “legis” which when translated into English, we get “law”. The problem is when we go into the original Hebrew the word in “Torah” which means “instruction, teaching". When translated correctly into Latin, it would have been; “disciplinam” , “educatio” “instructio” “mandatum” Any of these words would have been better than “legis” In the ancient Hebrew, when worded “destroy” and “fulfill” meant that “destroying” is “erroneous interpretation” and “fulfilling” meant “correctly interpreting”. Yeshua did indeed “fulfill” the Torah, the biggest and most important fulfillment was dying for our sins. He fulfilled the Old Testament sacrificial system of animal blood, using his own blood. The Torah consists of commandments, 613 to be exact. If we say, “we no longer have to live by those old-fashioned laws, the “law” is over, finished, ended, then…why don’t we go out to rob a house, to take your neighbor’s wife, to murder someone you don’t like? Those commandments are part of the “law”, aren’t they? So, if it is over with, well, why not? Because Yeshua himself said so! That he didn’t come to “end “or “get rid of, or “abrogate” as some translations have. Of course, many of the 613 commandments are not for today, since there is no more animal sacrifice nor Levitical priesthood, but many are STILL for today. That is the reason for Bible study, which ones are or not. As our rabbi (now in heaven) once said; “Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater” Now, someone is going to write a comment saying; “But doesn’t the Word say if we break one commandment it is like breaking them all?” we are guilty then of breaking the entire “law” The answer is that if one is trusting in obedience to the commandments as our method of gaining eternal life and acceptance by God, then, YES, we are guilty, since YHVH demands PERFECT holiness, Yet, our salvation does NOT depend on our obedience to the commandments, but in accepting Yeshua’s sacrifice, and trusting HIM as LORD and Savior. Our obedience to the commandments comes AS A RESULT OF our renewed relationship with YHVH through Yeshua Are the heavens passed away yet? NO! is the earth still here? YES, is the WORD of God still here in our midst? YES, is the LIVING WORD in our hearts? YES! Have a blessed Sabbath.

PARASHAT; “Noach” GENESIS 6:9-11:32………………….ISAIAH 54:1-55:5………………..MATT 3:1-4:25 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. 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, by 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, in 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. 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 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”. Inside the ark, the DNA for 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! 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. 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, 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 earths continents, creating new mountain chains and ridges. We have no idea how the pre-diluvian earth looked like, but after the flood, Noach and his family stepped out into a strange and different world. The flood waters 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. 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, 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 which 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 “Mizraim” (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. 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 are 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. At 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” MATTHEW 3:1-4:25 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, getting 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 of the two. Good, healthy, kosher food which Adonai gave us, and HIS WORD, which is the living manna. Yeshua settles in Capernaum, or in Hebrew “K’far Naum” the “Covering of Naum”. I have been there, to Capernaum, and 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 is 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. Shabbat Shalom…………. Rabbi Ben Avraham

SIMCHAT TORAH V’B’REISHEET “The Joy of the Torah and Genesis” (starting from the beginning) The Feast of Tabernacles is the last of the “High Holy Days” which ends on the 8th day, on the 22nd of Tishrei. It is a special day which is called “Simchat Torah” or “Joy of the Torah”. We rejoice because we have the WORD of God in our midst. It is His complete word, complete revelation comprised of 66 books, divided up in three parts; The Torah, “Genesis through Deuteronomy” the Prophets and Hebrew poetry, and the Brit HaDashah, “New Testament” or “Covenant” Some would like to challenge the word “New” or “Renewed”, since we are not governed by the Old Covenant. True, we are not under the Old Covenant, based on animal sacrifices, yet the covenant basically is the same; it is a “Blood Covenant”. The way that it is “new” is that it is based on the blood of “Yeshua” our Messiah and LORD, and NOT on the blood of animals. Scripture tells us that the blood of animals had no power to atone for sins by getting rid of them, or abolishing them, or erasing them. The blood of animals only “covered” sins for one year during the time of Yom Kippur, yet through the sacrificial death of Yeshua, our sins were “atoned for” once and for ever, for all time. 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, everyplace 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 in right perspective, then, a lot of misunderstandings can be corrected. 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 follow 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 by 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 to all the languages of the world. The WORD of God is correct is 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? First, He is a perfect and Holy God, whose most holy name is Yod Hey Vav Hey (YHVH). Written with the 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 over the Torah, written by the rabbis of old. These are books, articles, 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!” The following are “Torah Parashot” or “Portions from the Torah” which are read and studied every week for one year. A “Torah portion” is a “Parashah” and it consists of readings from the five books that Moshe penned down, 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……SO…...let’s start from…. PARASHAH: “B’reisheet” (In the Beginning) GENESIS 1:1-6:8…………………ISAIAH 42:5-43:10……………MATTHEW 1:1-2:23 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” (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”. If we count the Hebrew words, we have “7” words in the first verse. “7” is the perfect number of YHVH. If we take the seven words, and 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 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 “night time” (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 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 of 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 jealously 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 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 in to 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-diluvial world. Many fossil skeletons have been found some 20 some 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. 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 3:1-4:25; 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 Hag Sameach Simchat Torah! Rabbi Ben Avraham

A MESSAGE FOR SUKKOT Scripture portions to read and meditate on: TORAH: Lev 22:6 – 23:44; Num 29:12-16; Exodus 33:12 – 34:26; 1 Chronicles 24:10 PROPHETS: Zech 14:1-21; Ecclesiastes; Ezekiel 38:18-39:16; 1 Kings 8:2; Jeremiah 10:2-4 BRIT HaDASHAH: Rev 22:104; 1 Thes. 5:1-11; Luke 1:1-80 This is the most joyous of all the High Holy Days. While Yom Terah and Yom Kippur remind us of repentance, and judgment, Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles reminds us of YHVH’s provision for His people in the desert for 40 years. All their needs were provided for, their clothing did not wear out, they had food every day, even though many complained of this “same Manna day after day”, well, it is better than starving. Adonai provided water from the ROCK, not only for the people but for their cattle, sheep, and goats as well. It also reminds us of YHVH coming to dwell among his people in a tent, (Ohel) also called the “Mishkan” or “Tabernacle”. A “sukkah” is a temporary dwelling. Adonai described in detail the plans for the tabernacle to Moshe while he was on Sinai. The whole Tabernacle reminds us and points us to Yeshua. When it was finished, the “Shekinah” came down to dwell there in the HOLY of Holies. In the day, the presence of Adonai took form as a cloud, and at night, as a column of fire. Today, the presence of the Holy Spirit is within each and every born-again believer. Our own bodies are the “sukkot” of the Spirit of God. The presence of Elohim is also in every congregation of believers that get together on the sabbath and on Sundays to celebrate and study his WORD, and worship, praise, and glorify the LIVING WORD. In Biblical times, many animals were sacrificed during the seven days of celebration. The sacrifices offered during this time amounted to 189 animals. Even here, we see the symbolism of “Yeshua HaEmet” (Yeshua the Truth). The word EMET, (truth) in Hebrew gematria totals 1+40+400 = 441, then, 4+4+1 = 9, When we add the numbers 189, we get 1+8+9 = 18, then, 1+8 = 9. One part of the sacrifice was to offer, during these days, a total of 70 bulls. The 70 bulls symbolize the 70 original nations that came forth from the three sons of Noah. Yeshua gave his life not only for His Jewish people, but also for the other nations of the world. He told his own talmidim (disciples) “I have other sheep that are not of this fold” (John 10:16) meaning that his plan was to send his followers to minister to those nations, as we remember, Rav Shaul was a missionary to those “sheep of another fold” and also, the “displaced sheep” that left Israel and went to other nations to live. During the seven days of Sukkot, there is one extra day, “Hoshanah Raba” and we celebrate it as “Simchat Torah” (The Joy of the Torah). During this day, there was a great ceremony of waving the “Lulav” consisting of 4 species of plants. Each one has a spiritual meaning; The ETROG which is similar to a lemon, and it symbolizes the heart of man, and our “faith” (Emunah) “repentance” (T’shuvah) “Healing” (r’fuah) and “redemption” (g’ulah) The LULAV (Palm fronds) the word is similar to “Lo Lev” (to him, heart) to HIM we give our HEART. The lulav symbolizes our “backbone” or “spiritual strength” The HADAS (myrtle branches) these are similar to “eyes” which symbolize “spiritual insight” The ARAVAH (willow branches) which grow near water. These symbolize the humbleness of the believer and victory over our enemies. These 4 species are beaten on the ground in the Sukkot ceremony and also waved towards the North, South, East, and West, up and down. Some synagogues do this ceremony during the week of Sukkot, and some on the last day, the 8th day. YHVH, so far, as come and has revealed himself three times! He has “dwelt” among men these “three times”. When were these three times you might ask? The first time He came down to dwell with His people was when the Mishkan was finished as we know. The second time was when He came down in the person of Yeshua. God-Man, and lived among his people for 30 some years, teaching the Torah, healing the sick, raising the dead, and to die for our sins. The third time He came down was on the day of Shavuot, or “Pentecost”. God came down as the Ruach HaKodesh on that day, and the Holy Spirit is HIS presence today in ALL believers. Yes, God has revealed himself many more times to different individuals, but I am speaking as a “whole people at once” Yeshua will come a fourth time in the future, when he returns to “tabernacle” among us on this planet called earth. He will touch down on the Mt. of Olives, and reign for one thousand years, in peace and Holy Rulership, Baruch HaShem! We will be part of that rule. In the prayer book, there is a prayer that says; “In the end, He will reign alone!” Oh, how wrong that statement is. Can you imagine reigning alone? Imagine yourself assigned to rule an island in the ocean, and when you get there, there is no one there. You are there by yourself. Yeshua will reign, and we will reign with him, and his holy angels will also be present. But now, I’d like to touch on the first physical appearance of Yeshua, and this is where a few might get offended because I am attacking Christmas. Sometimes, the truth hurts and interferes with tradition and custom. It is believed and it can be proven by mathematics that Yeshua was born around the time of Sukkot, not in December on Christmas day. In Christendom, we hear it said; “But no one knows when Jesus was born, that’s why, by tradition, we take the day, the 25th of December to celebrate his birth. It is the event and not the date that matters.”Well, I can understand that…yet…Adonai HAS revealed the time of his birth, in a round-about way. It’s like this, If someone wanted to celebrate my birthday and didn’t know that I was born on February the 9th, and decided to celebrate it on, let’s say, May 1st, to remember the “event of my birth” would I be offended? I would say No, I wouldn’t be, I’d understand, however, if I sent a message revealing when I was born, and people continued to celebrate my birthday on May 1st, well, then perhaps I’d be a bit sad. They know the truth yet they still want to keep “tradition”. Let’s take December 25th. It is the date of the Winter Solstes that the Romans celebrated. They celebrated the birth of all of their pagan gods on that date. They celebrated getting drunk and had sexual orgies. They hung “mistletoe” on the ceiling as decoration for their “sex” capades. Constantine, in his effort to “Christianize” Rome, decided to put “Yeshua’s” birthday with the other “gods”. He thought it would be easier for Rome to accept Christianity if he would mix it with a little bit of paganism. So, if not the 25th of December, then when? We have to go back and look at John the Baptist. John was Yeshua’s cousin, and he was six months older than Yeshua, so if we know when John was born, we can figure out when Yeshua was born. We need to understand that the Jewish calendar was divided into 12 lunar months. King David had divided the priesthood into 24 service periods. We can figure that each priest, according to his period of service, served a two-week period in the temple, either offering incense or sacrifices. Now Zachariah was John’s father. He was a priest, and his turn of service came under the order of “Abias” “Abias” family would serve a two-week period in the 8th order. (1 Chronicles 24:10) Remember that the Jewish year begins in the month of Nissan, which is equivalent to our March-April calendar month. The 8th turn came between the months of June/July After performing the service of priest for his two-week period, Zachariah went home, between July and August, Elizabeth became pregnant with John. In the 6th month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, which would have been between December and January, The Angel Gabriel announces to Miriam (Mary) that she would become pregnant by the Spirit of Elohim at that time, which would have been probably in January, so from January to February, one can count the first month of pregnancy, February to March: second month, March to April: third month, from April to May; fourth month, from May to June; fifth month; from June to July; sixth month, from July to August; seventh month, from August to September; eighth month; from September to October; ninth month! Yeshua then would have been born sometime in October, what a better time to be born than during this last High Holy Day, the time of “Sukkot” meaning; “God comes to live among men” and walk with men and women in human form, fulfilling all the prophecies, being born in “Beit-Lechem” (The House of Bread) It is only fitting that the “Bread of Life” would be born in the “House of Bread”. So, we can say with fair certainty that we know the time of the birth of Yeshua, during the month of October, although we don’t know the exact day nor time, but we can assume that because the Feast of Sukkot symbolizes, “God coming to dwell among men” what better time would be possible for Mashiach to be born? There are also customs and traditions related to Christmas, that for centuries, have existed. Not to get into every one of them, because that would take many pages, I’d like to consider one aspect, the “Christmas Tree!” Is it really good to put one up? We can say, “Doesn’t it look beautiful, with all the decorations? With the ornaments and the gold and silver tinsel hanging? It looks so “Christmassy!” now all we need to do is to put the gifts under the tree and tell the kids that Santa C came down the chimney and… (need I say more?) well…it’s all “Mashugganah! (a Yiddish expression for “nonsense”) but we need to go to God’s Word for the answer. Where did this custom come from? Let’s look at Jeremiah 10:2 -4; “Learn not the way of the goyim (the pagan nations) and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed by them (talking about astrology and the zodiac signs), For the customs of the people are vain; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it moves not…” Even though the Christmas trees look nice, even the fake ones, with all the décor and lights, etc.…it comes from paganism, and as born-again believers, we should NOT practice these customs. So, you might say, what do we say to the kids? Do we cancel Christmas? NO, tell the kids the truth, get rid of the “santa claus” garbage and explain the meaning of Sukkot, one can move the celebration back two months. Get the kids gifts and give them the gifts during the 8 days of Sukkot. We need to remember finally that these High Holy Days are not “Jewish High Holy days” they are “GODish High Holy Days! Given to ALL believers to celebrate. It just so happened that the People of Israel received them first, and as the “Commonwealth of Israel” grew, and many more peoples or “sheep of other flocks” were grafted in, the blessing of the Torah was passed on to them. Including the High Holy days. So, now the decision is yours, what to do with the tree, the ornaments, the whole “Christmas in December” deal. That has to be your decision. What does your heart tell you? What does scripture say? What does Jeremiah the Prophet say being directed through the Holy Spirit? “Learn not the way of the pagans!” enough said. I am sending off this Parashah a little early, since this year, the first day of Sukkot is on Thursday, I will try and send this Wednesday evening during “Erev Sukkot” that way, you have a whole week to plan and celebrate the true “Christmas” time. Hag Sameach Sukkot Rabbi Ben Avraham

A MESSAGE FOR YOM KIPPUR: Scripture portions to read and meditate on; TORAH: Lev 16:1-34 ; Lev 18:1-30 ; Num 29:7-11 PROPHETS: Isa 57:14-58:14 ; Jonah ; Micah 7:18-20 ; Joel 2:12-14 BRIT HaDASHAH: Rom 3:21-26 ; Heb 10:1-14 “Stop, Think, and Turn” are three good words to use for this year’s “Yom Kippur”. It is a day for “afflicting one’s soul”. A time to “stop” and search one’s self and ask the question; “Where Am I in my relation to God” Adam was asked the same question when he and Eve were in the garden of Eden, hiding after they had sinned. God asked him; “Adam, where are you?” Was it that He didn’t know where he was? Of course, He did, He knows ALL THINGS, so, perhaps the question is a little deeper than meets the eye. We could add to the question asking; “Where are you in your relationship with me?” We all enter this world as sinners, born with the sin nature. Now here are some interesting ways to remember the three classes of “disobedience” “SIN” = missing the mark, disconnected, doing your own “thing” and not God’s “thing”. “INIQUITY” = perversion, twisting something the wrong way, cutting off the flow, taking God’s Word and making it what you want it to mean, and not what God means it to mean. “TRANSGRESSION” = open opposition, rebellion, “I don’t care what the Torah says, I’m doing it anyway, just because I want to!” There comes a time when each and every person will be accountable for his or her sin nature. In the Old Testament times, the animal sacrificial system was instituted to “cover” sin. The word “cover” is “Kafar” from this we get, “Kippur” so the words, “Yom Kippur” mean, “Day of Covering”. We also have “Yom HaKipurim” of “day of Coverings” This was because during this time when the Cohen HaGadol went into the “Holy of Holies”, he had to sprinkle the blood of a bull, a ram, 7 lambs, and a goat on the “Kaporet” (the covering of the Ark of the Covenant). Yet these “coverings” did not really “atone” sin forever, it was something temporary, only for a year until the next “Yom Kippur”. Would there be anything better? YES, our heavenly father looked into the future since the time of creation, and planned something special. HE, HIMSELF would come to earth in human form and HE would be the atoning sacrifice that would “forgive” and “atone for sin completely, forever” When we read Hebrews 10:4-12, we learn that the “blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin” but that through the body of Mashiach Yeshua, we are made “Kadosh” (Holy) once, and for all time! (vs 10) That is why YHVH “took away the first to establish the second” (vs 9) The old covenant sacrificial system was done away with, in order to establish the New Covenant blood sacrifice of Yeshua HaMashiach, ONCE and only ONCE, good for ALL TIME. No wonder the “New” is better than the “Old” All the animal sacrifices in the Old Covenant pointed to Yeshua’s sacrifice (that would come, if we are looking from the past towards the future). People were still saved by faith even before Yeshua’s time. They illustrated their faith by presenting the animal sacrifices which pointed to HIM! We must remember that the animals did not nor did ever save them, it was always their FAITH which saved them. During the Yom Kippur ceremony in ancient times, two goats were used. One was selected for the sacrifice, the other, titled AZAZEL, was led off into the wilderness and, according to tradition, pushed off a cliff. “Azazel” is made up of two words; “az” = goat, and “azel” = go away, so, we can say that the word is the “goat which goes away”. The high priest used to tie a crimson cloth on one of the horns of the goat, and a similar cloth was tied on the door of the Holy Temple in Yerushalayim, the day after Yom Kippur, the cloth changed color to “white” this symbolized that YHVH had accepted the sacrifice, and that the sins of Israel were covered for another year When Yeshua paid the price for our sins, all changed. The cloth no longer turned white, it remained crimson color, indicating that YHVH no longer accepted the sacrifice of the goat. Why not? Because YESHUA had made the ultimate sacrifice, and that NOW, all of our sins are completely atoned for. While one goat was sacrificed and the other was sent away, we have two examples in scripture that illustrate the concept of “sacrifice and sent away”. Yosef Ben Ya’akov, (Joseph, the son of Jacob) was sold by his brothers for 20 pieces of silver. Yosef was “sent away” to Egypt, and in his place, a goat was killed by his brothers and the blood sprinkled upon Yosef’s garments. The blood symbolized the blood of Yosef to deceive his father Jacob. Another example is during the trial of Yeshua by Pontius Pilatus. Yeshua was sacrificed on the Cross of Calvary, while Bar-Abbas was sent away free! This time, Yeshua’s blood atoned not only for the sins of Bar-Abbas, but for ALL sins! We ask, where does the word “Atonement” come from. We know from the Hebrew text, the word is “Kaphar” which means “to cover, to purge, to make reconciliation, to cover with pitch” It is interesting that the word “pitch” is the word “Kaphar”. We remember that Noah covered the ark with pitch, to make it waterproof. Noah’s ark was seen as protection against the waters of judgment which destroyed the world. The “pitch” made the ark waterproof and kept everyone inside the ark safe and dry while going through the judgment. The ark is seen as salvation “Yeshuah” from judgment. The blood atonement of Yeshua brought to us “salvation” from the judgment of sin. The word “Atonement” at one time, meant: “At-One-Ment” which was first used in the English Bible in the 1500s. The word means to be “at-one” with God, through the substitutionary death of Mashiach Yeshua on our behalf. So, in conclusion, we need to “Stop and think” where are we in our relationship with God? We are all guilty of sin, sins that we commit in ignorance and knowingly. We need to “return” to HIM through confession and repentance, with a change of mind. We can do this 24-7, 365 days in the year, but this time of year is when we should be more conscience of our sin, let’s get back to Adonai. If we cry out, and turn from our sins, then, HE who is on high will listen, and forgive our iniquities. “Even now, declares YHVH, turn to me with all your heart And with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning, And tear your heart and not your garments, and turn back To YHVH your Elohim, for He shows favor and is full of Compassion, patient, and of great kindness, and he shall Relent concerning evil. Who knows, he might turn and Relent, and leave a blessing behind Him…” Joel 2:12-14 Rabbi Ben Avraham

I was just listing 10 major events in the life of every believer on earth, the first event being "birth" so that is why I posted "birth" as "1" and if you see, when you add together the final sum of each addition, it always equals "9" like "90' 9+0=9 do you see it now?

PARASHAH: “HaAzinu” (Give ear) Torah: DEUT 32:1-52… Prophets: 2 SAM 22:1-51… HOSEA 14:2-10… MICAH 7:18-20… JOEL 2:15-27… New Covenant: JOHN 20:26-21:25… “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 most holy, “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 direct 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. All this time, YHVH has provided for their needs, giving them water from the ROCK, and 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! Says Moshe, referring 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! A pagan nation, and he responded to the “call”. “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. (vs 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 instore for us, whether we were born in Israel or not, it doesn’t matter. His people started with 12 tribes, and has extended to the whole world. 2 SAM 22:1-51; HOSEA 14:2-10; MICAH 7:18-20; JOEL 2:15-27 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, the name of my high school!) and my refuge. We take refuge in HIM because he has provided us with salvation, eternal life, a “hightower” is a look-out tower in a fortress where the guards can see the enemy coming. Through Yeshua, the enemy has been beaten. 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 bread crumbs and going to a flowing body of water, throwing the bread crumbs into it. This tradition is known as “tashlich” the bread crumbs symbolize our sins, and the body of flowing water, the sea! 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” (Joel 2:27) 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 you net over the right side of the boat” and they caught 153 fish. Yes, then 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) sums 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 one-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. Just ask the LORD of opportunities, there are a lot out there, believers who are willing to learn and be guided. Shabbat Shalom…..rabbi Ben Avraham PIC: "OK, just don't take my pic, give me some food!"

PARASHIOT: “Nitsavim” (you are standing) and “VaYelech” (And he went) DEUT 29:10 – 31:30………………ISAIAH 61:10-63:9……………………. JOHN 16:1-17:26 We are coming up to the end of Moshe’s earthly ministry. He is stating his final words, He has walked with God’s people for 40 years, and has gone through a lot with them. He received the commandments from Elohim, and taught the people the Word of Adonai. As we remember, YHVH gave the people the Ten Commandments directly, and the rest of the 603 commandments were given to the people through Moshe, yet ALL the Torah comes from Adonai. Moshe has intervened quite a few times to rescue Israel from destruction, as we remember, YHVH wanted on a few occasions destroy the whole people because of their disobedience and unbelief, yet Moshe intervened on their behalf. The same thing happens today, we have an advocate in Heaven who pleads our case before our Heavenly Father. Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Christ is our “mediator” and his blood pleads our case, and atones for our sins. As long as we have the sin nature in our bodies, we need a redeemer, a Messiah who will stand before a Holy God, and HE sees us as “righteous”, because we have accepted HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, by faith. Moshe starts out saying…” You stand, all of you, before YHVH your God, your chiefs, tribes, elders, officers, men, women, children, etc.…” he goes on to say “that you may enter into the covenant with YHVH your God is making with you today, in order that HE may establish you as HIS PEOPLE! What is this covenant which Moshe talks about? It is the first covenant established by blood, the blood of rams, bulls, goats, and sheep, the establishment of the sacrificial system which lasted many, many years. Yet about 1400 years later, Rav Shaul (Paul) writes that this covenant was changed to a “better covenant”, the “better covenant was NOT based on the blood of rams, bulls, sheep, and goats, rather based on the blood of YESHUA! The difference was that the sacrificial system continued for years, every day, day after day, and the blood of the animals only “Covered” sin for one year, and the covenant was renewed every “Yom Kippur”. The covenant of YESHUA, however, was a “one- time deal”. His death on the cross was enough for ALL TIME. His covenant wiped away the stain of sin, it “atoned” “got rid of” the curse of sin. So, one might ask, what was the reason for the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament? They were to “point” to Yeshua’s future sacrifice for sin. The animal sacrifices “symbolized” what Yeshua would do in the future. People were still saved by faith, the only difference was that before Calvary, people looked “forward” to the cross, and after Calvary, we look “back” towards the cross. One thing both covenants have in common; “The Blood!” Moshe announces that “everyone” is involved and included, from the tribal chiefs to the simple water fetchers, everyone was included, and NO ONE was excluded. He goes on to say; “I am making this covenant and this oath with those who are here today and with those who are NOT here today….” Who are the ones that were NOT here! Why you and me of course! We weren’t around back then. Who knows, perhaps we were just souls in heaven awaiting future bodies to inhabit. Moshe had US in mind, YHVH knew that one day, we would be here and this covenant was for us too, the “covenant renewed” is our covenant, a covenant of faith which unites us with YHVH through Yeshua, which brings us YESHUAH (salvation) Now, does this do away with the Torah (instruction) of Adonai? Never! In Yeshua’s own words; “I come not to abolish the Torah, but to Fulfill the Torah” (or render a perfect interpretation of it) He fulfilled it with his own blood. The commandments are for our edification and our blessings, the blood of Yeshua is for our “Salvation!” Moshe goes on to say that no one should ever think that one can live anyway one pleases, sinning here and there, living like the devil himself and still say, “I have peace, everything is OK!” That is NEVER the case, that person will be reaping curses and destruction. 29:30 says; “The secret things belong to YHVH Eloheinu (Our God) but the things revealed belong to us and our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this Torah!” So, what are the “secret things?” perhaps things in scripture that we haven’t figured out yet, things like, what were the “Urim and Thumim” really? One can suggest, but no one really knows for sure. There are many more things that, to us, are “secret” (known only to God) like things in the universe, far away galaxies, life out there in those galaxies that might have planets with life, where every single diamond, emerald, and ruby is located, where all the “buried treasure” is located, perhaps even the secret of “time travel” which, in theory exists, but not possible by modern technology. God only knows the disaster that would follow “time-travelers” if they could go back and “change history” so these things “remain secret” or at least, for the time being. Yet things that were considered “secret” hundreds of years ago, are now “known” But let us concern ourselves with the things that YHVH has revealed to us through HIS Word, and let us occupy ourselves in following HIS Word and living a “kadosh” life style. Moshe also establishes “Yehoshuah” as his successor, He knows his death is near, and he knows that Israel will fall away from God, it has been revealed to him by God himself, there is no other explanation. HOWEVER, he also says that “when they repent, YHVH will bring them back to the land” this is happening already, Israel was re-established as a nation in 1948, and His people are coming back! “Yehoshuah” is another way of spelling “Yeshua” It is fitting that “Yehoshuah” leads the people to the “promised land” just as our LORD and Savior “Yeshua HaMashiach” has lead us to the “salvation” experience, and is awaiting us in “His Promised Land” (The New Jerusalem) our Heavenly home! ISAIAH 61:10-63:9 The prophet Yeshayahu sees the future glory of Israel, “He has clothed me in garments of YESHUAH (salvation) and has wrapped me with a robe of “righteousness” (Tzedek). It is fitting that the two go together, when we accept Yeshua as our LORD and Savior, we receive “righteousness” through our faith in HIM. We come under a “right-relationship” with him now, where before we were “unrighteous” living in sin, now, we are in right-standing with Him, and therefore, we are “Tzadikim” (righteous ones). Even though we still have our sin nature, God still looks on us as “righteous”. “Say to the daughter of Zion, “Lo, your YESHUAH comes” (62:11) Yeshua came to Zion, but many in Zion did not receive him, yet He will return in the future, and then, ALL Zion will receive him. The future is bright for Israel, and we will be a part of that future, keep praying for the peace of Yerushalayim, but real, permanent peace will only come when Yeshua returns. He will return to his people to conquer his enemies, rescue his bride, and reign for one-thousand years, and then more. Seems like a very good future. JOHN 16:1-17:26 Yeshua promised his “Ruach HaKodesh” (his holy Spirit) He was the “sent one” by the Father, yet he also promised another “sent one”. The difference between Yeshua and the Ruach HaKodesh is that when Yeshua was on earth, he could only be in one place at one time, while the Ruach HaKodesh, is EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME. This is the “comforter” that was promised. Yes, his followers would be persecuted, cast out of churches and synagogues, and this continues today. To be a believer, is to be “persona non-grata” in some places. Can we endure this? Another title for the Holy Spirit is “Ruach HaEmet” (The Spirit of Truth) since it was also one of the titles of Yeshua, the WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE, (HaDerech, HaEmet, HaChai) Are we following the Spirit of Truth as he leads us through the Written Truth? He is here to guide us through . Rabbi Ben Avraham** PIC: "Here's looking at ya!"

Parasha "Ki Tavo" (when you enter in) DEUT 26:1-29:9…………………………ISAIAH 60:1-22…………………….JOHN 13:1-15:27 We are coming to the end of Moshe’s earthly ministry, and he reiterates again, the importance of following and obeying the Torah of Elohim. Am Israel is still in the desert wilderness, but it isn’t like the desert that we find today in the middle east. Remember that the people had much cattle to tend and care for, there had to be grass and water to eat and drink, otherwise, the cattle would have died out. Moshe starts off with; “when you enter the land that YHVH gives you as an inheritance…” they will be planting and harvesting crops like wheat, barley, corn, etc. In the third year of harvest, the people must give tithes and offerings of whatever they harvest. Tithes to the priests, where? “to the place where YHVH your God chooses to have his name dwell! They must also care for the widows, orphans, foreigners, etc, giving them also from the tithe and offerings of the crops. This is so that everyone is taken care of. Back in the Bible days, there was no such thing as the welfare office and food stamps. God’s people were responsible for caring for each other. The same thing should exist today, if there are brothers and sisters in the faith that are suffering, God’s people should take care of them until they can get back on their feet. Today we can not only give monetary tithes and offerings to our congregations, since this is where YHVH has chosen to place his name, we can also give of our time, and talent. Whatever spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit has given us, we can give back and minister to others. Moshe continues to say to his people; “Today you have affirmed that YHVH is your God and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments, and ordinances, and obey him. And today, YHVH has affirmed that you are His special people as He promised you……….You will be a AM KADOSH (Holy People) to YHVH your God as He promised. Every born-again believer today is part of His “AM KADOSH” even though we were born and raised in Israel, and perhaps our parents weren’t either. The Commonwealth of Israel has extended from that specific group of Israelites that were ready to cross the Jordan River, to ALL people who embrace the God of All creation and accept the blood atonement of Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Christ), and so become part of HIS family, we have been all called out and separated from the rest of the world, a world that rejects God and all that is holy. We are the “odd-balls” of the world. But it is good being that kind of an odd-ball. There is, however, belief in Christendom that the “law” has been done away with, abolished, and in its place, “grace”. All the commandments that God gave are no more. It may be that many are not for today, because there is no more Levitical priesthood, no more animal sacrifices. Yet we know that Yeshua FULFILLED all the Torah in its entirety. “Fulfilling” is not “abolishing” Yeshua said so himself “I have not come to abolish the Torah and the Prophets, but to fulfill” in other words, to give a precise interpretation of the same. The Torah (God’s instructions to his people) has always existed, it just was not written down until the time of Moshe, and “Grace” has always existed as well. Adam was saved by grace, so was Eve, so was Noach, so was Abraham. But let us also remember that “Salvation” is a separate issue, “salvation” is a done deal when we accept Yeshua as Messiah and LORD in our lives. Through our salvation experience, we should be led by the Holy Spirit to love and obey the teaching that is within God’s Holy Writ, and not that we can choose only what is convenient to us, like, “guess it is OK now to have a ham sandwich, or order shrimp scampi at a restaurant, “wrong” Elohim already made up man’s menu, it is up to us to follow it, or reap a physical curse of high cholesterol and high blood pressure. \ Speaking about curses, there are “covenant curses” that we should all be aware of, starting in chapter 27:15 “Cursed is the person who: makes carved idol images, who dishonors parents, who moves boundary markers, Who leads a blind person astray, who denies justice to foreigners, who does illicit sexual practices, who commits murder, who accepts bribes to kill an innocent person, and all those who does not put the Torah into practice. Let’s look at some of these, “no images” yet most religions today have them, many of them, have they not read about this curse? It is always best never to condemn religious denominations that have images, because God’s Word already does it, our job is to lead a person to study God’s word and see it for themselves. “removing boundary markers!” the Word of God makes boundaries for us NOT to cross over. God’s Word is like a fence, it keeps us in and keeps evil out, cross the boundary marker, or “take away” boundary markers, then, we are “taking away” from God’s WORD, we are headed for trouble. “Leading a blind person astray” who would intentionally do that one may ask? But when one brings erroneous or bad teaching of God’s Word to people, we are “leading astray” those who do not know God’s Word, many being “blind” to the truth, one might be leading them “away” from the truth. “Those who deny justice to foreigners” are under a curse, is the USA government under a curse? For deporting so many innocent immigrants who just want to come to America for a better life? Did “Harvey” just happen? Did Irma just happen? Or are these weather conditions part of divine judgment? Something to think about! “Illicit sexual practices” goes without saying, yet many call these practices, “alternate life-styles” Why not just call it what it is; SIN and REBELLION to God’s WORD! and be honest? Murder and bribes to murder, this goes without saying, we all can understand that. The last is a hard statement, “cursed is anyone who does not put the words of this Torah into practice!” Yet Yeshua, took the curse of sin from us, and nailed all of our disobedience to the cross of Calvary, so even when we do sin, and fail to put the “words of the Torah” into practice, there is forgiveness when there is sincere repentance, As Yeshua told the woman who was caught in the act of adultery, “I condemn thee not, go and sin no more” If the one who could have condemned her, did not, but forgave her, we also can receive forgiveness when we fail to keep the Words of the Torah. Remember, first comes a personal salvation experience with Yeshua, which leads us to follow the Word of God, in that order, never the other way around. (we are saved unto good works, not to do good works to be saved) But on a better note, there are blessings for obedience! IF…. we obey, blessings and curses are always and have always been conditional. It is up to us, to follow in the master’s footsteps, following the master’s words. There are earthly blessings, and eternal blessings, the best of both worlds. ISAIAH 60:1-22 Israel can rejoice, for the OR ISRAEL has come, the LIGHT of ISRAEL, will attract all the nations. Isaiah gets a glimpse of the future of Israel, perhaps the millennium Israel, when YESHUA is on the throne, what a time that will be. Jerusalem will be the capital of the world, and best of all, we will be serving the LORD during that time too. Did the prophet Isaiah see airplanes; “Who are these who fly like a cloud, like doves in their windows?” sounds like an airplane to me. JOHN 13:1-15:27 In this chapter, we see Yeshua washing his disciples’ feet, this was after the last supper. Many might wonder what was this all about. We must understand the custom of that time. Today, when visitors come to our house, we might show them to some easy chairs, get them a drink of water or juice. In winter, we might take their coat and hang it in a clothing closet which might be near the front door. In my aunt and uncle’s house, it was by the front door. In ancient times, the host would have the guest sit down and the host, or the host’s servant or slave would take the guest’s sandals off and wash the guest’s feet. There were no paved roads back then, the roads were dry and dusty, and when it rained, the roads became muddy. A guest might come with either dusty or muddy sandals and feet. When Yeshua washed the disciples’ feet, he was giving the example of “servanthood” the “master” becomes the “servant” to “lead” one must first learn to “serve” washing of the feet also symbolizes “fellowship among believers” An important part of ministry, is serving others, when we serve others, we are doing it unto God. Rabbi Ben Avraham

Parashah: Ki Tetse (when you go out) DEUT: 21:10-25:19……………….ISAIAH 54:1-10………………….JOHN 12:1-50 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. 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. But back in the old days, an Israeli soldier had the right to take a woman who was from an enemy city, once captive, and make her his wife. We might ask ourselves, why? Well, if a person falls in love with someone, well, as the saying goes, “love is blind” many times, the man (or woman) can’t see reason, just the flesh. But in the case of a captive woman from an enemy city, what is the “bigger picture?” An Israeli soldier shows her compassion, she has lost her family, her city in ruins, her “gods” have abandoned her. All she has now is this “soldier” who has brought her to his camp, 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 here, she is showed compassion, she is allowed to mourn her loss, and in time, she will learn about Adonai, and perhaps, even to love her new husband. At first, it seems a bad thing, but in time, it turns into a good thing. Many US soldiers have returned home with foreign wives, perhaps, some pagan who worshipped idols, perhaps some even gave up their pagan worship to embrace the worship of Adonai. We would like to hope so. Looking at this from another standpoint. We were at one 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 has taken us (his bride) to his encampment, and we, all believers, will be HIS future bride. Baruch HaShem! (Praise God) Vs 18 talks about the “wayward son” in that if he is rebellious and defiant and refuses correction, that the parents would have to take him to the “shoftim” (judges) and they would stone him with stones. Rebellion had a death sentence connected to it. Now, we never read of that actually happening in God’s Word, yet it was a commandment back then. Try that today and you will definitely be “standing tall before the man!” (off to prison you will go) HOWEVER…if we train up a youth in God’s Word, and teach him to worship, and he sees (or she sees) the parents as models, then…it is likely that rebellion will not be part of his or her life. Today, we know that “rocks” are not the answer, only the “ROCK of ages is!” Vs 22: those that have received the death penalty, could not be left “hanging” either from a rope, or from a cross or stake. They had to be taken down and buried. That is why our Messiah was taken down and buried in the tomb. Today, we see many crucifixes 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, not one who is still on the cross. Chap 22; 1-4. To help someone find a lost item is a big mitzvah, be the item an animal, such as a lost pet, 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 of born-again believers. If one finds a wallet with money inside (that has happened to me a few times, finding peoples’ wallets) and there is an ID, we must return it to that person, money intact! Not minus the cash, that will only make you a thief. If a person’s mule (or car) is on the side of the road, go render assistance if you can (sometimes, a bit dangerous today) or at least, call the police for assistance if the emergency looks bad. Vs 5; “A woman must not put on a man’s apparel, nor a man wear a woman’s clothing” Back thousands of years ago, the clothing was generally the same, long, flowing tunics tied with a cloth or leather belt or sash and sandals. The difference between men and women’s tunics was the type of material used and the design. Today we live in a unisex clothing world. Many women wear blue-jeans or pants to work, just like men, yet a man better not put on a dress (unless you are a Scotsman with a kilt and bagpipes). But even today, there are pants and jeans that are “made for women” let us all abide by this commandment. Personally, a woman looks better in a dress than in pants. Vs 8: Common sense to build a fence on your roof, or around a swimming pool, property, etc, so that there will not be accidents, (nor alligators coming in to swim in your pool) Vs 9: prohibition of mixing seed, wool and linen, mixing work animals. These can be considered being “unequally yoked” an ox is stronger than an ass, and the ass will suffer in the long-run. Mixed seeds will take out more chemicals from the soil. Wool will shrink, and linen will not, this goes for a marriage relationship as well, mixing a non-believer with a believer. You will have an unequally yoked household, different goals, ideas, philosophies, mannerisms, etc. One will serve God the other, HaSatan! That is why there is a separation of things that are Holy and things that are unholy, the things of God and the things of the lost world. 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 our Messiah Yeshua, it also connects us with our Jewish culture, it reminds us of the Torah, and the number of windings of the blue thread 7,8,11,13 are significant. (7+8=15, Yod + Hey) and (11 = Vav (6) + Hey (5)) Y H V H and ECHAD (one in unity) = 13 (Alef + Chet + dalet) YHVH is ONE 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, a 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, it is not considered stealing. We should not look at everything with $ in mind, we should share with the needy. 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! 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. 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 your goods, be careful! Especially on the internet. 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 of 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 with the nations, yet we are 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 book shelf. 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 worse 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 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, not all seed that ends up in the ground, sprouts, if it responds to the water and sunlight, it will come up. We came up! Because we responded to the “Living Water” and the SON light! Shabbat Shalom......Rabbi Ben Avraham

PARASHA: “Shoftim” (judges) DEUT: 16:18:-21:9…………………..ISAIAH 51:12-52:12……………….JOHN 1:1-57 …..This parasha 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 court room 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 persue!) Why does the Torah say “righteousness twice? There are two points of view from the rabbis. One is that one must persue (run after) righteousness as long as the end result is also righteous. 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. 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 servants 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 and says the following; “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 can not. I will render this judgement, that the servant’s mishap be 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” ….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, whole hearted, 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, 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, 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 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 guide lines, 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, 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 to 900 years. Kind of makes sense to protect “food trees”. 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 mind-sets 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, earth is not our permanent home, our home is in the New Jerusalem, where we will live…well…time is not a factor…FOR EVER….is! Shabbat shalom (pray for our protection against the approaching hurricane here in south-east TX) Rabbi Ben Avraham

Parasha: “Re’eh” (see) DEUT: 11:26-16:17………………ISAIAH 54:11-55:5……………….JOHN 9:1-10:42 . ..This Parasha study has various themes, and we can take a look at a few of them and discover what the Torah has to teach from YHVH through his servant Moshe. …..”See” (Re’eh) this day I set before you a blessing and a curse” we wonder why YHVH did not say in 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’rachah 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. …..This is a repetition of last week’s parasha, Moshe mentions this many times, 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!!!!” (I am really serious dudes!) …..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, even, destroy them if necessary. If a TV has become a god to you, and you find yourself addicted to it, sell it, give it away, or destroy it. 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 on 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 FOODwhich 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) …..Chap 13 deals with false prophets. These deceivers were NOT TOLERATED back then! Turning people away from 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 study 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, 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 cheese burgers) …..Chapter 16 deals with “Yamim K’doshim” 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 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? 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 HoShannah 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. 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 of 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! Shabbat Shalom….Rabbi Ben Avraham pic: A lonely bench, by a peaceful lake (Kendall, FLA)

Parasha: Ekev (as a result) DEUT: 7:12-11:25…………………ISA 49:14-51:3…………JOHN 7:1-8:59 …..Moshe starts out reminding and giving “Am Israel” assurance that “because ye harken unto these ordinances and keep them, and do them…YHVH shall keep with thee the covenant…..He starts out on a positive note, however, we know that history reveals that Israel did NOT keep the covenant, but broke the covenant, and went after strange gods, idolatry, etc. Perhaps this was an incentive to obey, and they would reap the blessings of obedience…IF…they would obey. …..This can remind us of a father who promises his son that if the son would obey the rules of the house, do his homework on time, help take out the garbage, clean the bathroom, help mom with the dishes…THEN…the father would take the son camping during the summer. It is all about “rewards” for “obedience” …..Is this any different for us? I would say not. Rewards for obedience has nothing to do with our salvation experience. Our salvation is based on FAITH and FAITH ONLY, and not on our obedience to mitzvoth, yet obedience to the Torah comes as a result of our relationship with Yeshua HaMashiach. Even he said; “If you love me, obey my commandments. Yes, he gave some new ones unlike those written down by Moshe, who received them from G-d on Mt. Sinai. Yet even back then, Yeshua was with the Father during the giving of the Ten Commandments, and later, the rest of the 603 that were given during the 40 day period of being with God on Har Sinai. So, did Yeshua give us ALL the mitzvoth? I would have to say YES. …..An interesting verse is 8:1 “All the COMMANDMENT which I command thee this day shall yet observe to do, the ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land…..” in the Hebrew it is “Kol ha Mitzvah” it is written in the singular and not in the plural! But shouldn’t it be “mitzvoth” (commandments)? One would think so, but it IS in the SINGULAR, but why? The sages comment that all the commandments can be summed up into ONE commandment; “Love YHVH thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might, and strength” and when we do love Adonai in this way, we will follow all the rest of the commandments, including loving our neighbor as ourselves. …..Chap 9:4….Moshe reminds the people that it isn’t because they are a “righteous” nation that God is allowing Am Israel to move into the land Canaan, conquer the pagan inhabitants and take possession, rather it is because of those nations’ “unrighteousness” and “wickedness” that is the reason. Just like the time of the flood, the wicked world was destroyed and Noach and his family were saved, yet Noach had his problems too, his righteousness had flaws too, just like ALL of us. Our holiness is full of “holes”, and our salvation is because our God is a merciful God and he just chose to love us, just because HE is a LOVING and MERCIFUL GOD, and not that we deserve salvation. We can also state that the land of Canaan was being given to the Israelites because of the promise that YHVH made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob too. YHVH never breaks his promises. …..Chap 11, Moshe gives an order; “Therefore, thou shall love YHVH thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his ordinances and his commandments ALWAYS! Moshe cannot say this enough, like a father tells his children, “obey the rules, obey the rules, obey the rules” it is for their own good. Unfortunately, the admonition of obedience for many people goes in one ear and out the other. …..Let us go forth with a renewed heart, and show our love to God, by learning and obeying his Torah, of course we cannot be Torah observant 100% , but through the power of the Ruach HaKodesh, we can be obedient sons and daughters of Adonai El Elyon, and live a lifestyle that honors HIM. ISAIAH 49:14-51:3 ….Israel cries out “The LORD hath forsaken me and forgotten me” but the prophet through the Holy Spirit assures the people, NO, the LORD has NOT forsaken you. There is a big difference between, “abandonment, forgetfulness, and chastisement”. The fact that YHVH has punished his people does not mean that He has abandoned Israel. When a father chastises his son or daughter, does that mean he no longer loves him or her? Does he cast them out of the house? Or say, “you are no longer my son, or daughter?” No, of course not, Scripture tells us that a father who loves his children, will discipline them. We can say the same with YHVH and “Am Israel” He loves his people, and so, HE will discipline them. Yes, he cast them out of the land, but in goyim lands, they continued to live and spread the teaching of the ONE GOD (Echad) who is Adonai-Elohim-Yeshuah. We are loved by our heavenly father, even when it hurts JOHN 7:1-8:59 …..Some are a bit confused when Yeshua says to his brothers, “You guys go up to Yerushalayim to Sukkot, I will not YET go up. He did NOT LIE, (as some critics try to say). He was planning to go up, but not at that time. Remember that the celebration of Sukkot (Tabernacles) is a 7 day celebration, culminating on the 8th day, “Hoshannah Raba” it is possible that his brothers and his talmidim went during the beginning of the festivities, and Yeshua waited until the end, the 8th day. …..It was on the 8th day that the priests brought up water from the pool of Siloam, and Yeshua took this opportunity to say to the people; “If anyone is thirsty, let him keep coming to me and drink, whoever puts his trust in me, as the scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his inmost being” …..We can remember the time when “B’nei Israel” (the children of Israel) were in the desert, and they got water from a ROCK. The ROCK symbolizes Yeshua, who is the ROCK of ages and the LIVING water. Water flowed from the rock so that the Israelites and the cattle could drink as much as they wanted. …..The water that Yeshua talks about is our inner life through a renewed spirit, Remember that He also told the woman of Samaria the same thing. It was to her that he revealed himself as Mashiach openly. So, when we read the WORD of God, listen to music that praises HIM, we are receiving “living water” Shabbat Shalom……..Rabbi Ben Avraham

TISHA ‘B’AV , WHY? HOW?* …Tisha’B’Av, or the “9th of Av” , falls on August 1st, 2017 this year. It is a time of sadness, sorrow,* The question begins with “Eiha? (how) and “Lamah” (why?).* The book of Lamentations begins with “Eiha” (how) “How alone she sits, the city (Jerusalem) once great with people….” It is customary to read the five chapters of Lamentations during this time. …..The voice of Yirimyahu (Jeremiah) after the destruction of the 1st Beit HaMikdash (Temple) and the city of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E the destruction culminated on the 9th of Av, (Tish’B”Av) This date marks the tragedies of many destructions in the history of Am Israel. Here’s a list, the destruction of the 1st temple is the first. …..70 A.D. the Roman emperor Titus, destroys the second temple and murders millions of Israel’s inhabitants and 100,000 taken captive to Rome, those taken captive to Rome are used as sport in the arena, and others served as slaves.* Many others from Jerusalem fled the country, going to Europe, Africa, and other parts of the world. …..1095 A.D.* Crusades, started by the church in Europe, main goal to kick the moors out of Jerusalem, many crusaders were anti-Semitic, during this time, 40% of Europe’s Jew’s were destroyed, one important event happened in Mainz, Germany.* There were 700 Jews living in that city at that time.* They sought refuge in a large church to be protected from the crusading murderers.* The Bishop at that time was kind and accepted to hide the Jews in the church.* The Jews had given the Bishop all their valuables in exchange.* To no avail.* The crusaders entered Mainz, discovered their hiding place, murdered all of them including the Bishop.* Some say that the Jews there committed suicide rather than falling into the hands of the crusaders. …..1478* The start of the Spanish inquisition by Pope Nicolas, many Jews had to renounce their faith and accept Christianity, if not, they would be tortured and killed.* This of course is not “real Christianity” rather “Pseudo or false Christianity.* Those who were genuine/real believers and followers of Jesus, would never do such atrocities against God’s anointed people. …..1492* The expulsion of the Jews from Spain on the 9th of Av.* Many went to England and to other countries in Europe, later on, many came to the Americas and settled in Mexico, Central and South America.* By that time, many families had lost their Jewish identity, but now, many are finding it again. …..1635* “Pogroms” or persecutions against the Jewish people starts in Poland …..1939* *The “holocaust” or “Shoah” begins in Nazi Germany.* Result? We all know, 6,000,000 Jewish people were killed by forced labor, starvation, and just “shot or gassed” in the concentration camps, just for being Jews. …..1978* 11 Palestinians land in a small Kibutz in Israel by sea. They hijacked a bus, killed the driver and drove towards Tel Aviv. On the way to Tel Aviv, they used weapons fire and* threw hand grenades out the windows at people on the street, and the result was 38 Israelis killed. …..2012* A rabbi in Rutherford, N.J. was at home during the night with his wife and 5 children.* An arab boy outside threw a molotov bomb through the living room window to kill the family and burn down the synagogue that was part of the house. (Molotov bomb: a glass bottle filled with gasoline and a rag, the rag is lighted and the bottle is thrown).* * *During the time of Tisha b’Av many will sing this* song; * *“Look from the heavens and see, we have become an object of scorn and contempt among the nations.* We are regarded as sheep to the slaughter, to be killed, beaten and destroyed.* But despite this, we have not forgotten your name, we beg you not to forget us!” …..We regard this time as a time of sadness and grief, but we must also remember this time as a time of survival, and a time to get out of “spiritual exile” It is a time to “return home to Abba” a time of “teshuvah”.* Our ancestors in ancient Israel committed spiritual adultery, going after pagan gods, went away from the ways of Torah, despite of the warnings of God, God looked down and warned our people, finally, the punishment ensued yet Elohim has not and will NEVER reject his people, the remnant that survived is now in the millions, in every nation of the world.* It is time to return, return to G-d, return to the ways of his Torah, return to the “Living Torah” *Ben Avraham

Parashat : “D’varim” (Words) Let's continue our journey, we have a long way to go... DEUTERONOMY 1:1-3:22…………………..ISAIAH 1:1-27………………..JOHN 4:1-5:47 …..We start the final book of the original 5 books of the Torah, in which Moshe wrote down all the statutes, commandments, precepts, details, etc that Adonai dictated to him to write. We must remember that Am Israel received the first 10 commandments directly from the mouth of Adonai, written down in stone, and given to the people, as a form of “Ketuba” or “marriage contract. Later, Adonai called Moshe back up to the mountain and there, dictated the rest of Torah, the rest of the 603 commandments which he wrote down on the scrolls. …..603 were written down by Moshe, yet dictated by Adonai, and 10 dictated and written by YHVH himself. All in all, we must conclude that ALL the TORAH comes from YHVH, whether directly or indirectly written. This book of Deuteronomy is the last. Moshe began writing it, and it was probably finished by Yehoshuah (Joshua) or another leader. …..The book relates the travels and experiences that “Am Yisrael” took and went through in 40 years time. Moshe retells the experience somewhat as a father would relate to his son. Let’s say that father and son travel across the USA for 6 months, then, perhaps 10 years later, the father would remind the son of their trip by remembering their “experiences” “Remember son, the time when we were traveling through Texas and, well, you insisted in exploring that abandoned house, even when I said it would NOT be a good idea…….” …..The father tells both the good experiences and the bad experiences, the times when the son obeyed and the times when the son disobeyed. Moshe is doing the same thing. This is similar to last week’s parasha “Masei” (journeys) in which Moshe relates the journeys of Israel. …..An interesting midrash is the difference and similarity between two words; “D’varim” (words) and “D’vorim” (bees) One could say that the words that Moshe spoke to the Israelites were like the “stings of bees” and after giving this message, a little later on, Moshe went up Mt. Pisgah a died, just like when a bee stings, it leaves the stinger in the victim and dies. …..Moshe tells the people the words of Adonai: “You have dwelt long enough in this mountain…turn you and take your journey….(1:6) they were right at the border of Moab and Canaan, the Jordan River separated the two nations. It was time to leave their “comfort zone” and “cross over” and conquer the pagan peoples, and lay claim to the land! They had fought giants before, you know, the bigger they are, the harder they fall, especially if Adonai “falls” them. …..Remember that it all starts in Egypt (Mitzraim) the land of “restriction” , Moshe leads them out, symbolizing a sort of Messiah, leading them to Mt Sinai, they receive the Torah, for 40 years they undergo instruction, go through both “good times” and “bad times” sometimes, “very bad times” when YHVH chastised and killed many of them for disobedience and rebellion. Yet now, it is time for the promise to be fulfilled, the “Promised Land” …..We go through the same thing in our lives. We start out being liberated from our “Egypt” we are liberated from the “lost world and the ways of the lost” by accepting Yeshua as our Messiah and LORD. We grow in faith, in spiritual maturity, or…perhaps fail in our relationship with YHVH, going through valleys and dark places, yet always emerging into the light of Torah again. Sometimes we get comfortable in one place, or doing one thing, yet, God is saying…”turn now and take your journey” or “continue your journey and continue to grow in faith, expose yourself to different “stuff” “situations” yet always trusting in HaShem ISAIAH 1:1-27 …..The prophet has a difficult calling, he tells Israel of their unfaithfulness, sinfulness, how they wander away from God, and Adonai has to put up with the sacrifices, celebration of “new Moons” the High Holy Days. Etc. not that there is anything bad in celebrating them, BUT….when these are done in the “flesh” and not with the heart, and because these are “things that you just have to do” then, God wants NONE OF THESE! Many people that adhere to “religion” go through “rites and traditions” just because they are used to “doing them” this in no way pleases Adonai, HOWEVER…when we do things with a pure heart, and with a spirit of “worship and praise” then…Adonai welcomes it. The LORD says through the prophet; …..Come now, let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool… IF…ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land” It is all CONDITIONAL! …..We have the same choice, IF we choose to love and follow the LORD, by accepting HIM as LORD and Savior, then follow and do his commandments, following in his footsteps, THEN… we will reap the rewards, first is eternal life in Heaven, second will be spiritual blessings and perhaps even physical blessings while we are on earth, and even more, in Heaven. …..Again, the choice is ours to take. JOHN 4:1-5:47 …..This tells the story of the woman of Samaria, who comes to the well to draw water, and she receives even a better blessing. She gets her water and even more, the “Living Water” She meets her “Messiah”. It is very interesting that she is the first person who Yeshua reveals himself as Messiah to, without riddles, just in plain words; …..The woman said; “I know that the Messiah is coming, and when he comes, he will teach us all things” (John 4:25. Yeshua responds saying; “I AM the one who speaks to you” in Aramaic it’s “Enah-na damalel na amehee” as this was the common language of the street then. Or one could rephrase and say, “It is I, (the Messiah) who speaks to you” …..No doubt she had a life changing experience, she went to tell the others about Yeshua. Isn’t that what we are supposed to do? Receive Yeshua as LORD and Savior, then, go tell the world, go and teach others to respond to the calling of Adonai in their lives. Is HE part of YOUR LIFE? Shabbat Shalom…… J. Ben Avraham PIC: there is a time for everything, a time to be serious, a time to study, a time to rest, a time to rejoice, and even a time to be funny! (my son David)

Thank's for sharing, I posted what I also learned about "emet" in the way of "gematria" (mathematics)

As long as we are on the topic of "Emet" there is some interesting gematria surrounding "Emet" when we look at the word "Emet' (truth) in Hebrew, we see the letters "Aleph" "mem" and "Tav" like you learned in the previous post. Each letter has a numberic equivalent. In the case of "emet" we see "Alef"=1, "mem"=40, and "tav"=400, result? 1+40+400=441, but we can also continue to add to get to one number, so, 4+4+1=9 HaEmet is one of the titles of Yeshua, so if Yeshua is HaEmet, "The Truth" then symbolically, HE is connected to the number 9, so let's see how this shows his presence in all of our life's experiences. beginning end Is He present when we are born? birth 1 x 9 = 9 9 childhood 2 x 9 = 18 1 + 8 = 9 adolescence 3 x 9 = 27 2 + 7 = 9 teenage years 4 x 9 = 36 3 + 6 = 9 adulthood 5 x 9 = 45 4 + 5 = 9 our education 6 x 9 = 54 5 + 4 = 9 our jobs 7 x 9 = 63 6 + 3 = 9 marriage 8 x 9 = 72 7 + 2 = 9 old age 9 x 9 = 81 8 + 1 = 9 death 10 x 9 = 90 9 + 0 = 9 The math shows that if Yeshua is represented by "9" then the math proves that HE is present in ALL STAGES of our life, from the beginning to end.

PARASHA: “Masei” (journeys) A Torah Midrash over NUMBERS 33:1-36:13 "We ALL experience journeys on this trip called "Life" " …..”Masei” or “journeys” or “stages” in some translations, describes the encampments of the Israelites starting in “Mitzraim” (Egypt) which comes from the root word “Mtzr” or “m’tzar” meaning “restricted” and ending at last in the promised land, dividing “Eretz C’naan” between the different “matot Israel” (the tribes of Israel). …..We can’t just look at this from a superficial view, saying, “well, so what, they traveled here and there and they finally made it home, they would have made it a lot sooner if they hadn’t complained so much! I mean, they listened to the spies, etc”. We need to look into the moral, spiritual, and symbolism. It is much more than just, “going from place to place physically” …..They started out “restricted” to a place called “Egypt” and that is what “Mitzraim” means from the root word, m-tz-r, (mem, tzadik, resh) using the Hebrew letters, “Mitzraim” sounds more plural, so it could also mean “restrictions”. What was restricted? Their FREEDOM! They were surrounded by pagan idolatry, they couldn’t leave! Because they were slaves to Pharaoh. It took the power of Adonai-Elohim the great I AM-YHVH, to get them out using his chosen servant Moshe. …..They left on the 15th of Nisan, the morning after Passover. The Word says they left with a “high hand” in some translations, “Boldness” with all “confidence” “fearless” with “valor”. It is interesting that the word “masei” in the hebrew is spelled, “mem, samech, ayin, yod” if we could see this word in the ancient hebrew spelling, the symbols would look like, “water, leaning on a short staff, an eye, and a hand connected to the arm” So what could this word symbolize? What does “journeys” mean? Well, here is one idea; the “multitudes march forward, leaning on the staff in sight of the hand!” huh? OK, sooo what does THAT mean? Look at it this way, Moshe lead the way, he walked with a staff, as the custom of all leaders back then, the people kept Moshe in sight, and as he leaned on his staff, they followed, the “hand” leans on the “staff” but who gave Moshe the staff? It was YHVH! …..As they journeyed, the kept YHVH in sight! The staff also symbolizes leadership, we lean on HIS leadership, and we have the “hand” in our sight, the “hands” that were pierced with the nails on Calvary. “Journeys” are not only physical, but also spiritual! …..The Israelites left Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, now, they left “restrictions” behind, The sacrificed lambs of Passover symbolized Yeshua, the sacrificial lamb, who conquered the curse of sin and death, of haSatan. Now they are on their way to a new life, just as we begin a new journey starting from the cross of Calvary. The Israelites experienced “bitter waters” at Marah, yet they experienced an oasis at Elim. We experience both bitter times, and times of “refreshing cool waters”. Good times and bad times are part of our wanderings, or “life’s journeys” …..They encamped at Mt Sinai, to receive the Torah, to become officially united as a nation. “Am Echad b’Elohim” (One united People of God) We receive Yeshua as our Messiah and LORD, and we receive his WORD, his Torah to guide us through the “wilderness of life”. …..Then comes a list of all the places where they stopped, camped, and continued when the Glory Cloud lifted. All these stopping places took place during a period of 40 years. The number “40” symbolizes “testing” The LORD was “trying, testing” his people. Each place they stopped at, they learned new things, they experienced the sacrificial offerings once the Mishkan (tabernacle) was fully errected. Yes, they complained, and Adonai chastised, yet forgave his children. He was with them all through the 40 years of journeys, and He brought them into the promised land through their new leader “Yehoshua” who took Moshe’s place. …..Our journeys through life will take us to many “stops” and “settlements” one might consider a “new job” a kind of “Stopping to settle down for a while” just like moving from “house to house” or “apartment to apartment” or “mobile home to mobile home”. Another “journey” in life is the “marriage journey” then there are the “childhood, adolescence, teenage, young adult, middle age, and Senior” journeys. In each journey we learn and experience different things, “bitter waters” as well as “refreshing new waters” all the time being led by “the LIVING WATER! …..There will be enemies to fight, the worse kind being “spiritual enemies from the Kingdom of Darkness” who will put traps in our way, stumbling blocks, bad attitudes, issues, carnality, etc. But all these are part of the journeys in life. Aaron’s journey lasted 123 years. Methuselah’s journey lasted 969 years, while Abel’s journey was very short, maybe his journey ended when he was a teen. Enoch’s journey lasted 300 years. …..We know not how long our journey will last, it is in God’s hands. What is important is that we learn from our experiences during our “stops” along the way, especially the “education stops” Education is a life-long stop, it should continue all of our days. We have our secular education and our Torah education. Sometimes there are conflicts between them, and we must adjust our ways, to the TORAH ways, not the other way around. …..The last stop is the “Canaan” stop, “death” is our trip across the Jordan River that will bring us to the River of Life in the World to Come, In the New Jerusalem, we will receive our share of our inheritance, issued out to us by Our LORD and Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach, (Jesus the Christ) Then, in the New Jerusalem, begins our “new journey” which will never end. …..How can we imagine a journey without end? We really can’t, not with finite minds. “Time” as we know it will be meaningless. Perhaps 100 years on earth will be like 10 seconds in heaven. As Elohim says, “One day is likened unto a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day” …..It is said that the “Jew is always wandering/traveling” Is this really true? The Jewish nation was sent out of the land to foreign lands, yes, they were cast out, expelled, but for what eternal and divine purpose? To take the belief in One God, in Adonai-Elohim, Adonai-Echad, YESHUA! To the pagan peoples. Many look at the expulsion as a punishment, yet the big picture is “evangelism”. Rav Shaul (Apostle Paul) was a traveling Jew, He founded many “Kehilot Meshiachit” (Messianic congregations) in many different areas of the middle east and southern Europe. …..”Ashkenaz” was a descendant of Japheth, son of Noah, who “journeyed” to what is now Germany, and his descendents to East Europe and Russia (probably after the fall of “Babel”), and “B’nei Israel” (the Children of Israel) in their “journeys” met with the “descendants” of Ashkenaz, intermarried, and thus spreading the belief of ONE GOD to Germany and East Europe, thus we have the “Y’hudim-Ashkenazim” (The Ashkenazim Jewish peoples). …..Some say that the desire to “travel” and “journey” is inbred into all Y’hudim, perhaps not all, many Jewish families have stayed in one place for centuries, others, are on the move. I personally like to travel, go to different places. I have traveled to many states in the USA and to about 12 countries in my “life’s journeys” I hope that the LORD will allow me to live to walk across Spain on the “St James Way” (Camino de Santiago) when I reach 66 years old. And of course, to return one last time to Eretz Israel to spend some time with the IDF again. ….As we physically journey from place to place, remember that we are also “journeying” spiritually, being guided (hopefully) by God’s WORD, through his Holy Spirit. May you prosper in your journeys through life, “Buen Camino Peregrino!” (Have a good walk pilgrim!) Shavua Tov …….Rabbi Ben Avraham "HERE ARE THE FISHES, BUT WHERE ARE THE LOAVES?"

Preview PARASHA “Matot” (tribes) and Masei (Journeys of) Numbers 30:1-32:42, 33:1-36:13………….Jeremiah 1:1-2:3…………John 1:1-51 …..I am not feeling very well now, intestinal cramps, so I will have to make this parasha a little short, so if anyone out there has a natural remedy for intestinal cramps, (without chemicals) leave me a comment. …..Making vows, promises, etc. We need to be careful upon making “vows” Adonai takes serious “promises” that we make, especially using “His” Holy Name (YHVH). We might have said in times before words like; “I sware to God that I’ll____________, or “I promise that I’ll______” or “Next week by this time, I’ll________! But how do you know that you will still be in the land of the living by next week to fulfill your promise? We take “making promises too lightly”. …..If we remember the Israelie “Yeptah” who, upon winning a war against Israel’s enemies, “vowed” a vow and said, “Whatever comes out first from my house to meet me, I will offer it up as a burnt offering”. I am sure that he was probably thinking of some animal, be it a lamb or a goat, yet when he got home, his only “daughter” came out to meet him. The WORD of God says he “kept” his vow, yet how can we imagine that God would accept a human sacrifice? The WORD does not say, but there is a possibility that he DID offer up his daughter, yet not as a burnt offering, but perhaps a servant to the Levites in the tabernacle, …..What did Yeshua say about vows? “Let our YES be YES, and NO, be NO” without more words. We might have good intentions, yet only the LORD manages our time on earth. If we say that we will do something, and we use God’s name, and we end up NOT doing it, we will have taken HIS HOLY NAME in vain. So, what words can we say when we want to do something, without “vowing”. …..”If God permits, I will try to____________” or “I am not sure if I can, but, I will try to________” these words seem better, because it leaves the option “if God permits” . We can make plans for the future, but the future is always in the hands of Adonai JEREMIAH 1:1-2:3 …..The calling of Navi YirimYahu (the prophet Jeremiah) As we see in the beginning, God says, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you!” A great statement, a great truth that flies in the face of abortionists, those that say, “a fetus in not yet human”. If God is saying that EVEN BEFORE” being formed in the womb, He had Jeremiah in mind. …..Where are we before being formed in the womb of our mothers. No one seems to know; the WORD does not say. Some believe that we are in Spirit form and that we await bodies to go into, and that when a man and woman unite together in love making, when the sperm meets the egg, there is a guardian angel that is sent to be with that person, and either God or the angel takes the spirit and puts it inside the tiny microscopic body. Well, who knows if this is true, but it might just be that way. …..Everyone has a calling in life, we just have to find out what it is. Our first calling is to “get right with God” and accept Yeshua as our Messiah, LORD and Savior, that act of faith will secure our eternity in Heaven. Then we must search out hearts and ask the LORD what our calling will be. It may be full time ministry, it may be a secular job joined with ministry. The gifts of the Holy Spirit will enable us to do many things. Jeremiah was called to a difficult task, to “wake up” the nation of Israel that was seeded deep in sin, his calling as “Prophet” (or spokesman) was for him, he accepted it, and we have his book to prove it. …..Prophets declared the words of Adonai to the nations, today we have the complete written word of God. Everything we need to know is written in the Bible. His entire WORD is in 66 books. Can God speak through individuals today with “special words?” Sure, but those words will NOT contradict what is already written in the Torah. …..If you are called to teach and expound God’s WORD, (which was the mission of the prophets of old in a general way) STUDY to show thyself WORTHY, a WORKMAN that needeth not be ashamed, but rightfully dividing the WORD of TRUTH! JOHN 1:1-51 …..”In the beginning, was the WORD, and the WORD was with God and GOD was the WORD” This opening statement clarifies that YESHUA was part of the creation in the beginning, Yeshua has many names; Son of David, The Second Adam, Son of Man, the WAY, the TRUTH, the LIFE, the LIVING WORD, and many more. …..WORDS are alive, and with words, Elohim created the heavens and the earth, bringing into being all that is in existence today. There are the things that were “created” (Bara) and those things (such as man) that were “Made” (Asah) “Asah” is used when things are “made” from pre-existing material, such as Adam (man) from earth, dust, water, and the spirit was put inside the body. …..In time, GOD was manifested in human form as YESHUA, who is the “Living WORD” to pay the price of sin, to crush the head of HaSatan, to teach the Torah, heal the sick, We as followers of Yeshua are called to share and teach his WORD to all who will listen. Are you fulfilling YOUR CALLING? Shabbat Shalom………Ben Avraham