In our Torah reading for this week, called parashat Toldot (תוֹלדת), we learn that Isaac and Rebekah had been married for twenty years but were still without an heir to carry on the family line… Finally their prayers were answered and Rebekah conceived, though not without complications. When Rebekah inquired of the LORD about her travail, God told her that she was carrying twins that would be heads of two rival nations, but the younger child would in fact become the promised heir of the chosen people.
Category: Podcasts
Shavuah Tov podcasts on the weekly Torah reading
Chayei Sarah Shavuah Tov Podcast…
Our Torah reading for last week (i.e., Vayera) told how God was faithful to Abraham and Sarah by miraculously giving them a son (Isaac) in their old age. Nonetheless, Abraham faced his greatest test of all by being asked to offer up his promised child as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah, the place of the future Temple. On account of his willingness to obey, God promised He would multiply Abraham’s offspring as the stars of heaven and that in his seed (singular) all the nations of the earth would be blessed.
This week’s Torah portion is called Chayei Sarah (חיי שרה), the “life of Sarah,” though it begins (paradoxically) with the account of her death, and tells how the first great matriarch of the Jewish people was buried in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron, a burial site which Abraham had purchased from Ephron the Hittite (Gen. 23:1-20). Since the account of Sarah’s death is given just after the account of the near-sacrifice of Isaac (i.e., the Akedah), some of the sages link the events together, suggesting that the shock of the loss of her beloved son at the hand of her husband was just too much for her to bear…
Parashat Vayera podcast…
Shalom chaverim. In this week’s Shavuah Tov audio podcast I provide a brief overview of parashat Vayera (פרשת וירא) with special focus on the “Akedah of Isaac” (the binding of Isaac) as a picture of the gospel of Yeshua the Messiah. I hope you find it helpful.
..Vayera Podcast:
Parashat Noach Podcast….
Last week’s Torah portion (Bereshit) showed how the mutiny of Adam and Eve caused humanity to plunge into idolatrous chaos. The subsequent generations lost sight of the LORD and became progressively steeped in moral anarchy and bloodlust, so that “every intention of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). After just nine generations, the LORD had grown so weary of humanity that he “regretted” (i.e., yinchem: יִּנָּחֶם) creating man and “his heart was grieved” (Gen. 6:6). However, God recognized Noach (from the godly line of Seth) as a tzaddik (צַדִּיק), a righteous man of faith, and graciously made provision to save him from the wrath to come….
- Genesis 6:9b Hebrew page (pdf)
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Parashat Noach Podcast:
Originally recorded Oct. 2018….
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The Dust of God… (podcast)
“Then the LORD God formed the man from dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7). We tend to think of dust in self-effacing terms; for example, repenting in “dust and ashes” expresses unworthiness and sinfulness. Yet the dust God used to form Adam was not worthless, but instead represented very fine particles of creation, a substance suspended midway between heaven and earth, almost a “spiritual matter.” This is suggested by the fact that God first intended man to be his image bearer and only then used dust as the material for that higher end. The sages note that regarding the creation of animals, God said, “Let the earth (eretz) bring forth according to their kinds” (Gen. 1:24), but regarding man he said, “Let us make him be’tzelmeinu – in our image (as a photograph), after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). Therefore God brought forth the lower animals in groups, but he created Adam as the only one of its kind, the son of God and prince of God’s creation. God breathed into Adam nishmat chayim (נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים), “a living soul” (the word neshamah [נשָׁמָה] is used to describe life breathed into humans, not to animals). The LORD breathed “out of himself” to share his own spirit with mankind… Therefore your soul does not come from nature, but from God; your inner essence originates directly from the LORD. Yeshua breathes out and says to you, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22).
The very first occurrence of the Name YHVH (יהוה) concerns the creation of Adam. When Adam first opened his eyes and human consciousness was born, he immediately understood that the LORD created all things, including himself. According to midrash, Adam’s first words were, יהוה מֶלֶךְ עוֹלָם וָעֶד / Adonai malakh olam va’ed: “The LORD is King for ever and ever” (Exod. 15:18). God then said, “Now the whole world will know that I am King,” and He was very pleased. This was the “tov me’od” (טוֹב מְאד) moment of creation, when God saw all that He had made “and found it very good” (Gen. 1:31).
See the graphic below as you listen to an audio podcast lesson on the Hebrew text of Genesis 1:26 and you consider what is meant by the “image and likeness” of God:
Parashat Bereshit Podcast…
THE VERY FIRST PROPHECY OF THE TORAH concerns the promise of the coming “seed of the woman” who would vanquish the serpent (nachash) that had originally tempted and deceived Eve (Gen. 3:15). This prophecy is sometimes called the proto-euangelion (“first gospel”), since it is the starting point of all subsequent prophecy and redemptive history revealed in the Scriptures. Indeed, since the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God is foreshadowed here, this prophecy is linked to the original woman, Eve. Just as Eve became a carrier of the corruption of human nature by heeding the voice of the tempter, so she would be the carrier of God Himself for the deliverance of mankind through the advent of the Redeemer. In the tragic aftermath of the transgression of the first man and woman, then, God first announced His unfailing redemptive love for the human race that would culminate in the birth, sacrifice, and resurrection of Yeshua our Savior and Deliverer – “born of a woman, born under the law” (Gal. 4:4).
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V’zot HaBerakhah Podcast…
V’zot HaBerakhah (“this is the blessing”) is the final portion of the Torah, which records Moses’ last words to the people just before his death. It is always read just after the festival of Sukkot on the holiday called “Simchat Torah.” After reading this portion, we will “rewind the scroll” back to Parashat Bereshit to begin reading the Torah all over again. We do this every year because Talmud Torah – the study of Torah – never ends! A true student of Scripture cannot claim to have completed the study of the Torah, for the implications of such study extend forever. And so the cycle continues, over and over in a continuous chain of study, ever widening, and all encompassing.
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Parashat Ha’azinu Podcast – Yom Kippur
In this special “High Holiday” audio presentation, I discuss the holiday of Yom Kippur and its themes, particularly in reference to the atonement given in the Messiah Yeshua, as well as parashat Ha’azinu, the Torah portion we always read between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The Ha’azinu is an amazing prophetic song (“shirah”) written by Moses just before he died. Written nearly 1,500 years before the advent of Yeshua, Moses foresaw the climatic events of Israel’s history — its past, present, and most notably its future, including the future time of redemption and atonement at the End of the Age.
I hope you find this podcast helpful, chaverim. Shanah Tovah b’Yeshua!
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Parashat Vayeilech Podcast…
In this “Shavuah Tov” audio broadcast I discuss both the Jewish High Holidays — and how they relate to us as followers of Yeshua the Messiah — as well as the weekly Torah portion we will read for Shabbat Shuvah, namely parashat Vayeilech. I hope you will find it helpful. L’Shanah Tovah u’Metukah b’Yeshua Meshicheinu, chaverim! – “to a good and sweet year in our Messiah Yeshua, friends.”
Parashat Nitzavim Podcast…
Our Torah rea
ding for this week, parashat Nitzavim (פרשת ניצבים), is always read on the Shabbat immediately before the solemn holiday of Rosh Hashanah, and therefore it is the last Torah portion read before the new Jewish year (see Exod. 23:16). In many synagogues, the opening and concluding paragraphs of parashat Nitzavim are also read during the Yom Kippur morning service.
Nitzavim begins: “You are standing here today, all of you, before the LORD your God (אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלהֵיכֶם) … so that you may enter into the sworn covenant of the LORD your God, which the LORD your God is making with you today, that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he promised you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob” (Deut. 29:10-13). After this Moses went on to review Israel’s history and prophetic future — i.e., the great prophecy of the Diaspora and Return of the people — and then he solemnly appealed for all those who believed to turn to the LORD for life: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deut. 30:19).
In addition to an overview of the Torah reading, I discuss the fall holidays of the Torah’s calendar, particularly the significance of Rosh Hashanah for followers of Yeshua the Messiah.
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