Our Torah portion for this week (parashat Emor) lists the eight main holidays revealed in the Jewish Scriptures. In the Torah, these “holidays” are called “appointed times” (i.e., mo’edim: מוֹעֲדִים), a word which comes from the Hebrew root meaning “witness” (עֵד). Other words from this root include edah (עֵדָה), a “congregation,” edut (עֵדוּת), a “testimony,” and so on. The related verb ya’ad (יָעַד) means “to meet,” “to assemble,” or even “to betroth.” The significance of the holy days, then, is for the covenant people of the LORD to bear witness to God’s love and faithfulness.

Emor Podcast:

Our Torah reading for this week, parashat Kedoshim, begins with the call for us to be “holy” or “set apart” on account of our relationship with LORD God: “Be ye holy, for I the LORD your God am holy” (Lev. 19:2). Holiness is perhaps best understood as a sense of the awe and sacredness inherent in the apprehension of Reality and Grace. The portion then goes on to define the expression of holiness in our relationship God and with others.

For example, though it is inevitable (and psychologically necessary) that we make judgments about other people, the Torah states, be’tzedek tishpot amitekha, “in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor” (see also John 7:24), which implies that we must use the “good eye” (ayin tovah) when we think of other people. Indeed, the focal point and the very heart of what practical holiness represents is stated as ve’ahavta le’re’akha kamokha – “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Note that the direct object of the verb (ahav – to love) is your neighbor.

But who, exactly, is my neighbor? Some have claimed that the word rea (neighbor) refers only to one’s fellow Jew – not to others at large in the world. However this is obviously false, since the “stranger” (ger) is explicitly identified to be an object of our love (Lev 19:34). And note that Yeshua the Messiah answered this question by turning it around. Instead of attempting to find someone worthy of neighborly love, I am asked to be a worthy and loving neighbor myself (Luke 10:29-37).

Kedoshim Podcast:

Hebrew Lesson:

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In my audio podcast for Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) I discuss some of the philosophical influences that led to the atrocities of the attempted genocide of the Jewish people, including the rise of the Idealism of G.W. Hegel and the pragmatic concept of the “dialectic” that was used to negate the value of the individual in preference to the collective…. Hegel directly influenced Karl Marx and his godless materialism and social revolutionary theories, and in general it may be said that German idealism led both to the nihilism of Friedrich Nietzsche and to barbarity of Adolf Hitler’s national socialism.

Listen to the podcast:

The first Torah portion for the new Biblical New year is parashat Vayikra (“and he called”), the very first section from the Book of Leviticus (ספר ויקרא). In Jewish tradition, Leviticus is sometimes called the “Book of Sacrifices” (i.e., sefer ha’zevachim: ספר הזבחים) since it deals largely with the various sacrificial offerings brought to the altar at the Mishkan (i.e., Tabernacle). Indeed, over 40 percent of all the Torah’s commandments are found in this central book of the Scriptures, highlighting that blood atonement is essential to the Torah. Moreover, since the revelation of the Tabernacle was the climax of the revelation given at Sinai, the Book of Leviticus reveals its ritual significance, as it is written: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement (kapparah) by the life” (Lev. 17:11).

In this audio broadcast I discuss the Torah’s calendar surrounding the holiday of Passover — Shabbat HaChodesh, Rosh Chodashim, and preparing for the Passover Seder. I also discuss the nature of the Torah’s sacrificial system, the “korban principle” and the healing and restoration we are given in Yeshua the great Lamb of God and Savior of the world.

Audio Podcast:

In this shorter audio podcast I provide an introductory overview of Sefer Vayikra (the Book of Leviticus) as well as a brief introduction to parashat Vayikra. For more information about the details of the Torah portion, see the audio podcast for parashat Vayikra….

Audio Podcast: