The Scriptures reveal that ultimate reality is a divine love story with a “happy ending,” despite the struggles we face in this world. We see this in connection with the great deliverance of the Passover, when we read the story of our redemption in the Torah, summarized in a special book called a “haggadah.” Note that the Hebrew word haggadah (הַגָּדָה) means “retelling,” which of course refers to the story of our journey from slavery to freedom by the hand of God’s love. With regard to the sanctity of this story, the Torah commands us: “You shall tell (i.e., ve’higadta: וְהִגַּדְתָּ, from which “haggadah” comes) your child on that day, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Torah of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt” (Exod. 13:8-8). The sages note that the numeric value of the word “haggadah” (הַגָּדָה) is the same as the word for “good” (i.e., tov: טוֹב), which again indicates that the story of our redemption in the Messiah is truly good – indeed, the greatest story ever told…
Hebrew Lesson:
“This is the thing that the LORD commanded you to do, so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you: Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself” (Lev. 9:6-7). Have you considered why you were born into this world? What is your purpose, destiny, and end? The Torah states that you were personally created by Almighty God, who breathed out the breath of life (נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים) into you, and then redeemed your life so you could know the glory of God and spiritual reality. As it is written: “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your desire they existed and were created” (Rev. 4:11). God creates all things for his glory and purposes, which indeed is the first blessing recited over the bride and groom in a traditional Jewish wedding: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלם שֶׁהַכּל בָּרָא לִכְבוֹדו / “Blessed are you Lord our God king of the universe, who has created all things for his glory.” The purpose of life is to know and love God, to walk in His light and truth, and to glorify his compassion and grace forever…
The Hebrew word for “
We love God because He is our Creator, our Breath of Life, the Source of all true good, our Savior, our Healer, and the substance of all that is real and significant… We are able to love because he discloses his love to us (1 John 4:19). We respond to God with a heart of gratitude and love, not out of fear of punishment; with a whole heart (כָּל־לֵבָב), not a heart divided by fear. The Torah says you are to love God be’khol levavkha (בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ), “with all your heart” – like Abraham, who loved God wholeheartedly; and you are to love God be’khol nafshekha (בְּכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ), “with all your soul” – like Isaac, who gave his soul over to God, willing to be sacrificed for our atonement; and you are to love God be’khol me’odekha (בְּכָל־מְאדֶךָ), “with all your muchness” – like Jacob who gave from his substance to support his children, the sons of Levi. And these words, namely, the words that return us to God’s love, shall today be on your heart (הַיּוֹם עַל־לְבָבֶךָ), which means we are to love God at all times, for this is the day that the LORD has made…
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. The one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:8). Here we see the importance of feeding the divine nature given to us in Messiah – to “sow” or “plant” truth within our hearts so that we will yield the “fruit of righteousness.” However, feeding the lower nature, gratifying the desires of the flesh, disregarding the truth of eternity for the sake of temporal pleasure, and so on, leads to corruption and to death. Spirituality (רוּחניוּת), then, is of utmost importance to us, as we learn to “renew our minds” and yield ourselves to the truth of God (Gal. 5:16). We are engaged in the battle daily – an internal struggle to direct our hearts and to make the decision to be awake to the Lord’s Presence or to surrender to our fallenness, fear, and despair. The Lord has promised us his very strength for the battle, but we must choose to believe in order to receive the blessing. Since God will surely help us as we seek to do His will (see 1 John 5:14), let us therefore draw near to the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16). God makes the way of escape (1 Cor. 10:13). The LORD God Almighty says to your heart: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God: I will strengthen you, yea, I will help you, yea, I will uphold you the right hand of my righteousness (Isa. 41:10).
“Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one” (Deut. 6:4). These famous words, usually referred to as “the Shema” (from the Hebrew word “hear”), distill the central affirmation of faith for the Jewish people, and indeed the Shema is often the very first word of Torah that a Jewish child learns. During its recitation in the synagogue, Orthodox Jews pronounce each word very carefully and cover their eyes with their right hand. Many Jews recite the Shema at least twice daily: once in the morning and once in the evening. The text of the Shema is meticulously written on a small scroll which is then rolled up and put inside a mezuzah. In a sefer Torah, or a handwritten Torah scroll, the two Hebrew letters Ayin (ע) and Dalet (ד) are enlarged in the opening sentence of the Shema. Together, these letters form the word ’ed (עֵד), which means “witness,” suggesting that the Shema is a testimony of the sovereignty of God and our primary duty to love Him with our whole being.
The reason for what happens in our lives is often (always?) beyond our understanding, yet the righteousness of God’s plan – even if undisclosed to us – must be accepted by faith. When Job was tested with trouble and suffering he said, “The LORD gives; the LORD takes away; blessed is the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21), and he later reaffirmed his conviction that God was to be trusted, despite the darkness and pain he was experiencing: “Should we receive what is good from God, but not receive what is evil?”he asked (Job. 2:10). The Torah of Job teaches us that all things – both the good and the evil – are under the sovereign control of the LORD, and since “all things work together for good” (Rom. 8:28), we trust God and bless Him for perceived evil as well as for perceived good. Despite appearances that sometimes seem to the contrary, we believe in an all-powerful, supreme LORD who has not abandoned the world, but who actively sustains and upholds it with benevolent intent. “We walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). When bad things happen to the righteous, we trust in God’s personal care for their ultimate good, despite their present troubles (Jer. 29:11). As Job further said: “Though he slay me, I will trust in Him” (Job 13:15). This is the heart behind the Kaddish, the mourner’s prayer, that expresses acceptance of God’s world, despite the pain, sorrow, loss, and so on..
In our Torah portion this week (i.e., 
The story of the exodus is as an allegory of faith. We were slaves, but the LORD redeemed us and set us free from our bondage. Immediately afterward, we faced great distress as the powers of darkness sought to enslave us again, but God intervened and delivered us from their wicked devices. Through the Shekhinah Cloud we crossed over into newness of life, leaving the corpses of this world behind. We offered our thanks and praises to God, but soon we experienced severe thirst. We searched for worldly water but found it “marah,” or bitter. It was only after the “tree” was added to the bitterness that the water became sweet, a picture of the cross of Messiah who suffered and thirsted for us. Then we came to the oasis of Elim, a place of rest that pictured heaven to come, though the Spirit led us into the desert of emptiness and hunger to discover how we must trust God for “manna,” our daily bread from heaven. We experienced thirst again, and God provided an ongoing source of living water from the Rock that was smitten, another picture of the grace and sustenance of Messiah (1 Cor. 10:4). We fought against brazen powers of unbelief (Amalek), but we overcame them by the power of God. We received the Torah, only to discover we could not abide its demands. We committed idolatry but the LORD forgave and revealed the Altar of Mercy (the Tabernacle) that gave us access to His Presence by means of the sacrificial blood, recalling the Lamb of God that was slain.
The very first occurrence of the word “Torah” (תּוֹרָה) in the Scriptures refers to the faith of Abraham (Gen. 26:5), and the second occurs in our reading for this week (i.e.,