Hebrew4Christians Blog

by John Parsons
www.hebrew4christians.com

While writing the other day I remembered something I had once read regarding mankind’s grandeur and lowliness.  In a discussion regarding capital punishment, the Talmud states: “If a man strikes many coins from one mold, they all resemble one another, but the King of Kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He, made each man in the image of Adam, and yet not one of them resembles his fellow. Therefore every single person is obligated to say, bishvili nivra ha’olam, “The world was created for my sake” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5).  This is why murdering another human being created b’tzelem Elohim (in the image of God) is considered so horrendous.  The sages reasoned that whoever destroys a single soul is accounted as if he had destroyed the whole world; and whoever saves one soul is accounted as if he had saved the entire world.

On the other hand, each of us must remember (as did father Abraham) that we are anokhi afar ve’efer - “but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27). While it is true that we are esteemed by God as His image bearers, our flesh (basar) comes from the dust of the ground. Even our beloved Lord Yeshua clothed Himself in such dust, demonstrating the ultimate form of humility and compassion for us (Phil. 2:7).

A chassidic tale says that every person should walk through life with two notes, one in each pocket. On one note should be the words, anokhi afar ve’efer — “I am but dust and ashes.” On the other note should be the words, bishvili nivra ha’olam — “For my sake was this world created.”

Our true worth comes from being loved by the LORD God of Israel. May we all understand how precious we are in the true humility that marks our beloved Lord Yeshua.

by John Parsons
www.hebrew4christians.com

Thursday May 22 at sundown this year marks Lag B’Omer, a semi-holiday that commemorates the death of thousands of Rabbi Akiva’s students during the last of the Jewish-Roman wars (called the Bar Kochba Revolt (מרד בר כוכבא‎), c.132-135 AD).  Since Jewish tradition understood the Messiah to be a military leader who would deliver the Jewish people (from the Romans) and usher in world peace, Rabbi Akiva (incorrectly) surmised that Shimon bar Kochba, the leader of the Jewish resistance, was in fact the Jewish Messiah — based on an esoteric reading of Numbers 24:17: כּוֹכָב מִיַּעֲקֹב - “A star shall come out of Jacob” (”Bar Kokhba” means “son of a star” in Aramaic). His tragic endorsement led to widespread destruction of countless Jews and further alienated the Messianic Jewish community from Israel. The eventual defeat of the Jews by Emperor Hadrian perhaps marked the beginning of the Jewish Diaspora from the Promised Land. The province of Judaea was then renamed Palestine and Jerusalem was called Aelia Capitolina.

According to Kabbalistic legend, all of Akiva’s students died during the time of the Omer Count, but Akiva “started over” with a new batch of students. Of these, his foremost student was Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the purported author of the Zohar (one of the key texts of Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism). Lag B’Omer is remembered as the Yahrtzeit (anniversary of the death) of Shimon Bar Yochai, who told his followers to rejoice - not mourn - after his death. Today special celebrations are held in the village of Meron (near Safed, Israel), where he is said to have been buried. Every year, thousands of Jews celebrate late-night revelry at Mt. Meron in Israel.

It should be clear that Lag B’Omer is not a Christian/Messianic Jewish holiday, but on the contrary marks a tragic time that ultimately separated the Messianic Jewish community from Israel and contributed to the loss of the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. During this time of “countdown,” chaverim, let us pray that the eyes of many will soon be opened that Yeshua is indeed the Mashiach (anointed King) of Israel.

by John Parsons
www.hebrew4christians.com

The Hebrew word devakut (דְּבָקוּת) means “cleaving” and refers to communion with God (in some Jewish thinking, devakut approximates the “beatific vision” in Christian mystical tradition). This word is derived from the Hebrew word davak (דבק), meaning devoted to God (the word for glue is devek which likewise comes from the same root). Davak is used to describe how a man cleaves to his wife so that they become basar echad – “one flesh” (see Gen. 2:24), and is also related to the word for bodily joint (debek), suggesting that we are to stick as closely to the LORD as our bones stick to our skin (Job 19:20). The devakim were those who “held fast” or “cleaved” to the LORD throughout the wilderness wanderings (Deut. 4:4) and all of us are likewise commanded to revere the LORD and cleave to Him (Deut. 10:20).

In the Kabbalah, devakut is considered as the highest mystical step on the spiritual ladder back to God, though (in contradistinction to this) Jesus emphasized that he is the true sullam, or Ladder, to God. Just as Jacob saw the ladder reaching to heaven with the angels of God ascending and descending upon it, so Yeshua told Nathanael that He is the sha’ar hashamayim - the Way into heaven (John 14:6).

Chaverim, יֵשׁ אֹהֵב דָּבֵק מֵאָח — yesh ohev davek me’ach — “there is a friend who sticks (davek) closer than a brother” (Prov. 18:24). His Name is Yeshua, the true Lover of our souls…

Blessed be His Name.

by John J. Parsons
www.hebrew4christians.com

A Jewish tradition is to read a different chapter of Pirkei Avot (פרקי אבות, “Sayings of the Fathers”) for each Sabbath during the Omer Count.  Here is a sample from chapter one:

שמעון הצדיק היה משיירי אנשי כנסת הגדולה.  הוא היה אומר, על שלושה דברים העולם עומד–על התורה, ועל העבודה, ועל גמילות החסדים

Shimon the Righteous was among the last surviving members of the Great assembly. He would say: On three things does the world stand: on the Torah, on the service to G-d, and on deeds of kindness. (Avot 1:2)

Gemilut Chasadim are acts of chesed (love, kindness) that include giving tzedakah (charity), bikkur cholim (visiting the sick), tikkun olam (repairing the world), and many other ways of helping others.

You can read the Pirkei Avot online here.

A great many people think they are thinking
when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.

- William James

 

Here is something I recently read from the excellent book, Nonsense, by Robert J. Gula (Axios Press, 2007; ISBN: 978-09753662-6-4).

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Are men and women by nature hopelessly muddled creatures? Muddled, yes. Hopelessly, no. Men and women may be rational animals, but they are not by nature reasoning animals. Careful and clear thinking requires a certain rigor; it is a skill, and like all skills, it requires training, practice, and vigilance….

First… some characterizations of the ways people tend to respond think and think. For example:

1. People tend to believe what they want to believe.




2. People tend to project their own biases or experiences upon situations.




3. People tend to generalize from a specific event.




4. People tend to get personally involved in the analysis of an issue and tend to let their feelings overcome a sense of objectivity.




5. People are not good listeners. They tend to hear selectively. They often hear only what they want to hear.




6. People are eager to rationalize.




7. People are often unable to distinguish what is relevant from what is irrelevant.




8. People are easily diverted from the specific issue at hand.




9. People are usually unwilling to explore thoroughly the ramifications of a topic; they tend to oversimplify.




10. People often judge from appearances. They observe something, misinterpret what they observe, and make terrible errors in judgment.




11. People often simply do not know what they are talking about, especially in matters of general discussion. They rarely think carefully before they speak, but they allow their feelings, prejudices, biases, likes, dislikes, hopes, and frustrations to supersede careful thinking.




12. People rarely act according to a set of consistent standards. Rarely do they examine the evidence and then form a conclusion. Rather, they tend to do whatever they want to do and to believe whatever they want to believe and then find whatever evidence will support their actions or their beliefs. They often think selectively: in evaluating a situation they are eager to find reasons to support what they want to support and they are just as eager to ignore or disregard reasons that don’t support what they want.




13. People often do not say what they mean and often do not mean what they say.

To these principles, let’s add four observations cited by J.A.C.Brown in his Techniques of Persuasion:

Most people want to feel that issues are simple rather than complex, want to have their prejudices confirmed, want to feel that they “belong” with the implication that others do not, and need to pinpoint an enemy to blame for their frustrations.

The above comments may seem jaundiced. They are not meant to be. They are not even meant to be critical or judgmental. They merely suggest that it is a natural human tendency to be subjective rather than objective and that the untrained mind will usually take the path of least resistance. The path of least resistance is rarely through reason.

by John J. Parsons
www.hebrew4christians.com

It’s not enough to recall, in some abstract sense, the deliverance of the Jewish people in ancient Egypt, but each Jew is responsible to personally view Passover as a time to commemorate their own personal deliverance as well. Therefore the sages teach: B’khol-dor vador:

B’khol-dor vador chayav adam lirot et-atzmo k’ilu hu yatza mi-mitzrayim

In each and every generation an individual should look upon him or herself as if he or she (personally) had left Egypt.

The kavannah (inner intention of the heart) for the observance of Passover is summed up well by this simple phrase: B’Khol-dor vador. As we partake of the Seder, we must embrace it as our own — as if we were personally there (in Egypt, or at the foot of the Cross) and understand that this mighty redemption was accomplished for my sake, as well as for yours…

We recall the words, bishvili nivra ha’olam – “For my sake was this world created,” while we also recall the words, anokhi afar ve’efer – “I am but dust and ashes.”

For Messianic believers, kavvanah refers to our apprehension of the ultimate deliverance from the bondage of sin and death through the grace and love of the Mashiach Yeshua — our True Passover Offering.

Were you there, at the Cross, where Jesus died for your sins?

by John J. Parsons
www.hebrew4christians.com

כּוֹס־יְשׁוּעוֹת אֶשָּׂא וּבְשֵׁם יְהוָה אֶקְרָא

Kos-Yeshuot essa uv’shem Adonai ekra

I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.
Psalm 116:13

This verse is often recited during Havdalah (at the end of Shabbat), but notice something a bit odd here. The phrase kos-yeshu’ot literally means “the cup of salvations (or deliverances),” and this has led to some speculation among the Jewish sages regarding (of all things) the number of cups of wine to sip during the Passover Seder…

This verse is a part of The Hallel (Hebrew: הלל‎ “Praise [God]“), a verbatim recitation of Psalms 113-118 used to offer praise and thanksgiving on Jewish holidays (Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot, Chanukkah, and Rosh Chodesh). Hallel is not said on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, for obvious reasons, nor is it recited on Purim, since the miracles recorded there did not occur in the land of Israel.

There are different types of Hallel:

1. Full Hallel (הלל שלם, Hallel Shalem) consists of all six Psalms in their entirety (Psalms 113-118 were considered as a single composition). Hallel is recited on all seven days of Sukkot, on Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, on Shavuot, on the first two days of Pesach (only the first day in Israel), and on the eight days of Hanukkah. The Full Hallel is sometimes called “The Egyptian Hallel” (Hallel Mitzrayim) because it was chanted in the temple while the Passover lambs were being slain. This was probably “the hymn” which Yeshua and his disciples sand at the conclusion of the Passover Seder on the night of His betrayal (Matt. 26:30; Mark 14:26).

 

2. Chatzi Hallel (חצי הלל, Half or Partial Hallel) does not include parts of the “Full Hallel”: namely, the first two halves of Psalm 115 and Psalm 116. It is recited on the intermediate days of Pesach and on Rosh Chodesh.

 

3. The “Great Hallel” (Hallel ha-Gadol) is Psalm 136 (some sages include Psalm 135 as well). It is recited at the morning service on Sabbaths and over the fouth cup of wine during the Passover Seder.It begins:

   הוֹדוּ לַיהוָה כִּי־טוֹב כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ

   Hodu la’Adonai ki-tov, ki le’olam chasdo

   Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

   These words, originally coming from the song King David composed celebrating the bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem (see 1 Chronicles 16:34) are also found at the beginning of Psalms 106 and 107 and at the beginning and end of Psalm 118.

   R’ Yochanan said in the name of Rebi Shimon ben Yehotzedek: There are eighteen days that one recites a full Hallel : Eight days of the Festival of Sukkos, eight days of Chanukah, the first day of Pesach, Yom Tov of Atzeret (Shavuous), and in the Diaspora, twenty days: nine days of the Festival Of Sukkos, two yom tov days of Pesach and two days of Shavuous. – Talmud Arachin

Note: Some of the information used here was derived from Wikipedia, the Jewish Encyclopedia, and the Talmud (Tractate Pesachim 118a, Arachin, etc.). 

by John J. Parsons
www.hebrew4christians.com

Yesterday was Nisan 10 on the Jewish Calendar, the date when Yeshua rode into Jerusalem upon a lowly donkey just a few days before His crucifixion (Matt. 21:1-16). The Holy City would have been a busy place, bustling with excitement and (due to Roman oppression) filled with Messianic expectation. Countless Jews would have streamed in from around the world to observe the Passover with their extended families. The Law required (Ex. 12:1-6) that each family select a lamb (called korban Pesach) four days before the sacrifice was to be offered at the Temple. During this time the lamb would be examined to ensure that it was defect-free and therefore acceptable for sacrifice at the Temple.

Note that when Yeshua first entered the city, He was greeted by the cries of Jewish Passover pilgrims: “Hosanna!” This word is actually the phrase “hoshiah na” (הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא), meaning “please save” or “save now.” The Jewish pilgrims were actually singing from Psalm 118:25-26 and applying it to the greater Son of David, Yeshua, who was now in their midst:

Matthew notes that hoshiah na was addressed to Yeshua Himself, “to the son of David” (לְבֶן־דָּוִד), thereby indicating that the Messianic Hope was presented to Israel (Matt. 21:9). For a flickering moment proper praise was given to Yeshua as Israel’s King (i.e., Mashiach), though of course He had purposed to come to them as Mashiach ben Yosef, their Suffering Servant, the One of whom the prophet Isaiah clearly foretold.

Upon entering Jerusalem, Yeshua immediately went to the Temple and drove out all who sold there, overturning the tables of the “moneychangers” and the seats of those who sold pigeons (Matt. 21:12). There were actually TWO separate cleansings of the Temple recorded in the New Testament. The earlier cleansing is described in John 2:13-22 and the later one is described in (both) Mark 11:15-19 and Matthew 21:1-16. In Mark’s account of the second cleansing, Yeshua actually stopped the “carrying of the ritual vessels” — meaning He LITERALLY stopped the sacrifices of Israel. Mark 11:16 states: “And he would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the Temple.” Despite performing miraculous works of healing in the Temple that day — including opening the eyes of the blind and causing the disabled to walk — the kohanim (chief priests) and soferim (scribes) were “indignant” at His actions and therefore sought to put Him to death (Mark 11:18).

In the evening Yeshua left the Temple for Bethany (בֵּית עַנְיָה‎), the home town of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, where He stayed the night. The following morning He walked back to Jerusalem, and being hungry, saw a fig tree along the way. When He saw that the fig tree was without any fruit, Yeshua pronounced these words: “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once (Matt. 21:18-19).

Over the next two days, Yeshua was accosted by various priests, scribes, Pharisees, etc. — the whole religious establishment — which culminated in His denunciation of them beginning in Matthew 23. He then laments over Jerusalem and retreats from the Temple with these words:

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” And Jesus went out, and departed from the Temple (Matt. 23:37-24:1).

In Matthew 24 Yeshua’s disciples made a last-ditch appeal for Jewish tradition and ceremony by pointing out the glory of the Second Temple. “Look at these beautiful buildings of the Temple, Lord…” It was then that Yeshua pronounced judgment on the Temple and the Levitical system, predicted the Roman destruction of the Temple, and so on. This was apparently unfathomable to the disciples, who apparently still considered Yeshua to be a “reformer” of Temple Judaism, perhaps the one who would restore it so that the Kingdom of God would be finally manifest upon the earth…. Yeshua went on to explain the signs of the End of the Age (אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים) that would precede the promised Days of Messiah (יְמֵי הַמָּשִׁיחַ), otherwise known as the Messianic Kingdom. He foretold that one day praise would rightly be given to Him as Israel’s True King, but only after the travail of the coming Great Tribulation upon the earth. Only after the Jewish people cry out to Him as their LORD (Matt. 23:39) would the Kingdom of God be established in Zion.

Over the course of these days Yeshua was thoroughly “inspected” by the kohanim but was found to be tam (תָּם) - without spot or blemish. During His early Passover Seder with His disciples, Yeshua foresaw His imminent sacrifice and associated the matzah with His body and the Cup of Redemption with His shed blood (Matt. 26:26-29). The New Covenant was going to be “cut” in the Person and Sacrifice of Yeshua… Later that same night, Judas betrayed Him and Yeshua was arrested at Gethsamane (גַּת־שְׁמֵנָה). An illegal convention of the Sanhedrin was called. Yeshua was falsely accused, abused, and the following morning sentenced to die. He was bound and taken to Pontius Pilate who, though he found no fault in Him, spinelessly complied with agitated the crowd that called for His crucifixion (Matt. 27:11-31).

Yeshua was crucified (before sundown) on Nisan 14, prophetically corresponding with the time when the Passover lambs were sacrificed at the Temple. He was on the cross for six (Jewish) hours (see note below). He was nailed to the cross at 9:00 a.m in the morning and was dead by 3:00 p.m. Darkness was over the land for the last three hours Yeshua was on the Cross (Matt. 27:45). His body was removed before sunset, just before Passover began, in accordance with Jewish law.

A Note about the Jewish Hour (sha’ah)
In rabbinical thinking, the hour is calculated by taking the total time of daylight (from sunrise until sunset) of a particular day and dividing it into 12 equal parts. This is called sha’ah zemanit, or a “proportional hour.”

Since the duration of daylight varies according to seasons of the year, a proportionate hour will therefore vary by season. The “sixth hour of the day” does not mean 6:00 a.m. or even six 60 minute hours after sunrise, but is the 6th proportionate hour of the 12 that are counted for the day in question.

For example, if the sun rises at 4:30 a.m. and sets at 7:30 p.m., the total time of daylight is 15 hours. 15 hours * 60 minutes is 900, which divided by 12 yields a proportional hour of 75 minutes. The “sixth hour of the day” therefore begins 450 minutes after sunrise, or about 11:30 in the morning.

The calculation of these zemanim (”times”) are important for the observance of Jewish holidays and Sabbath candle lighting hours. The results will vary depending on the length of the daylight hours in the particular location.

The Cross of Yeshua is the true Holy of Holies where God Himself offered His Son as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world… It is there that He made agonizing intercession for us — the Just for the unjust — so that we are spared from God’s wrath and eternally reconciled to Him.  Just as the original Passover foreshadowed God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt and slavery, so the Passover of Yeshua represents God’s deliverance of us all from the power and slavery to sin.

It is through His substitionary death combined with our faith in His love for us that we are imputed righteousness before God Himself (2 Cor. 5:21). For this Passover season, let us all say, “Blessed is He (Yeshua) who comes in the Name of the LORD!” Amen.

by John J. Parsons
www.hebrew4christians.com

בראשׁית ברא אלהים את השׁמים ואת הארץ

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1

The first word of revelation given in the Torah is the Hebrew word bereshit (בְּרֵאשִׁית), a word that ultimately comes from rosh (ראשׁ), meaning “head.” Since the word bereshit lacks the definite article (”the”), it can be construed to mean “at the beginning.” Rashi argues that bereshit does not signify the order of creation, since barishonah or “at first” would have been used.

Interestingly, the Hebrew prefix Bet (ב) can mean “with,” which has led some of the Jewish sages to speculate that rosh is synonymous for wisdom, and therefore the word can mean “with wisdom” God created the heavens and the earth. Other sages have noted that the Bet, a plosive, is the first “sound” of creation. The three-sided shape of the Ketav Ashuri letter is “closed” to the right, indicating inscrutability. Aleph, the first letter, is “silent” and depicts the mystery of God’s Life over and above His creation.

Some have noticed that the definite object marker (את) is a hint that Aleph and Tav were present at Creation. Jewish midrash notes that God literally created the universe using the divine letters, though it is important to note that Yeshua Himself is called Aleph v’Tav in Scripture (Rev. 1:8, 21:6).
…

חָכְמוֹת בָּנְתָה בֵיתָהּ

Wisdom has built her house
Prov. 9:1

A corollary is from John 1:1:

בְּרֵאשִׁית הָיָה הַדָּבָר

In the beginning was the Word
John 1:1

Here Yeshua the Mashiach is described as the Word (davar) of God who was at the beginning with God in the process of creation. This accords nicely with the plural form used for God (אלהים) in this verse. It also accords with Paul’s teaching that Yeshua is the “Power of God and the Wisdom of God”:

מָשִׁיחַ גְּבוּרַת אֱלֹהִים וְחָכְמַת אֱלֹהִים

Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God
1 Cor. 1:24

“In the beginning” — i.e., in a dimension that is not our own — God created (ברא) the heavens and earth. In Jewish mysticism, tzimtzum (צמצום), “contraction,” was theorized to permit freedom of the will to moral creatures. It is thought that if God did not restrict Himself, nothing else could possibly exist (i.e., immanence would “swallow up” everything else). However, God is Ha-Makom (המקום), “the Place,” by which it is meant that He is omnipresent in His glory and attributes. How can God be both immanent and transcendent? Only if He chooses to “empty Himself” or limit the exercise of His attributes to allow creation to co-exist with His Presence… God “conceals” Himself in creation and yet is everywhere present. This is not unlike the disguised King in the Song of Solomon who woos the Shulamite woman (which metaphorically represents God’s love for His people).

God’s greatest disguise is in the lowly advent of Jesus of Nazareth…