This week’s Torah reading, called Shemini (“eighth”), continues the account of the seven-day ordination ceremony for the priests that was described earlier in parashat Tzav. During each of these “seven days of consecration,” Moses served as the first High Priest of Israel by offering sacrifices and training the priests regarding their duties. On the eighth day however, (i.e., Nisan 1), and just before the anniversary of the Passover, Aaron and his sons began their official responsibilities as Israel’s priests. It is no coincidence that the inauguration of the sanctuary is directly connected to the Passover, since the daily sacrifice of the Lamb served as an ongoing memorial of the Exodus from Egypt — and indeed the laws of sacrifice form the central teaching of the Torah itself. In this connection, we again note that the central sacrifice of the Tabernacle was that of a defect-free lamb offered every evening and morning upon the altar in the outer court, along with matzah (unleavened bread) and a wine offering, signifying the coming of the true Passover Lamb of God and his great sacrifice for us.

Note that this audio broadcast also includes discussion about Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day as well as the Hebrew month of Iyyar and its significance in the countdown to the climactic holiday of Shavuot (“weeks” or “Pentecost”).

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:

The Book of Exodus (סֵפֶר שְׁמוֹת) begins directly where the book of Genesis left off, by listing the “names” (shemot) of the descendants of Jacob who came down to Egypt to dwell in the land of Goshen. Over time Jacob’s family flourished and multiplied so greatly that the new king of Egypt – who did not “remember” Joseph – regarded the Israelites as a political threat and decided to enslave them. When the king’s oppression did not curb their growth, however, he commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill all newborn Jewish boys. When the midwives refused to obey, however, the Pharaoh decreed that all newborn boys were to be forcibly drowned in the Nile river.

In this audio summary, I discuss the first portion of the Book of Exodus, parashat Shemot, as well as the significance of the secular New Year and our approach to understanding the holidays in general.

Parashat Shemot Podcast:

• Parashat Shemot Table Talk
• Parashat Shemot Summary

Our Torah reading for this week, parashat Vayechi (ויחי), recounts how the great patriarch Jacob adopted Joseph’s two sons (Ephraim and Manasseh) as his own children. When Jacob blessed the boys, however, he intentionally reversed the birth order by putting the younger before the older, signifying that the old struggle he had faced as a child was over, and he now understood things differently. And note Ephraim and Manasseh’s reaction: the older did not envy the younger, nor did the younger boast over the older. The family had apparently learned that blessing from God is for the good of all, and that there is no real blessing apart from genuine humility that esteems the welfare of others.

Following this, Jacob was ready to summon his family to hear his final words. Among other things, he foretold how the Messiah would come from the line of Judah and then instructed his sons to bury him only in the promised land, and not in Egypt (Gen. 49:10-12; 49:29-32).

After his death, Joseph and his brothers, with various dignitaries of Egypt, formed a funeral procession and returned to Canaan to bury Jacob in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron. After the funeral, they returned to Egypt, but Joseph’s brothers feared that he would now repay them for their former betrayal and threw themselves on his mercy. Joseph reassured them that they had no reason to fear him and reminded them that God had overruled their earlier intent by intending him to be a blessing to the whole world (Gen. 50:20).

The portion ends with the account of the death of Joseph, who made the sons of Israel promise to take his bones with them when the LORD would bring them back to the land of Canaan (alluding to the great Exodus to come). Joseph’s faith in the Jewish people’s return to the Promised Land is summarized by his statement: “God will surely remember you” (Gen. 50:24). He died at age 110, was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt, full of faith that he would be raised from the dead in the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Vayechi Audio Podcast:

In our Torah portion for Chanukah week, parashat Miketz (i.e., Gen. 41:1-44:17) we will read how imprisoned Joseph successfully interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and suddenly rose to power in Egypt. Because of a famine in the land of Canaan, however, his brothers (who had earlier betrayed him) came to Egypt in search of food. A disguised Joseph then tested his brothers to see whether they were the same people who had callously sold him into slavery, or whether they had undergone teshuvah (repentance).

The eventual revelation of Joseph and his reconciliation with his brothers is a prophetic picture of acharit ha-yamim (the “End of Days”) when Israel, in Great Tribulation, will come to accept Yeshua as Israel’s true deliverer. Presently, the veil is still over the eyes of the Jewish people and they collectively regard Yeshua as an “Egyptian” of sorts. In this connection, I list some of the ways that Joseph is a “type” or foreshadowing of the coming Yeshua as the Suffering Servant (see “Mashiach ben Yosef”).
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Miketz 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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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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