|
| |||||
|
|
|
| ||
Shabbat Messages
|
SHALOM SHABBAT..JANUARY 15, 2005/5765.. Rabbi Monica Lowenstein
Shalomyshua@aol.com
Jan 15, 2005
In Chicago last night it was a cold clear night, typical of January~~~On Michigan avenue, the wind was blowing and the chill was 10 below zero~~I happened to look up at the sky and I saw the bright new moon shining~~~As I continued to walk to the garage to get my car, a Psalm come to my mind....." Teach us to count our days, so that we will become wise..." {Psalm 90:12}.
G-d is concerned about time! The can be seen in the old ancient observance known as Rosh Chodesh { the new moon}. Every month, at the appearance of the crescent of the new moon, the L-rd commanded Israel to hold a festival with sacrifices and offerings {Numbers 28:11-15}. The entire Biblical Jewish calendar was to be lunar based {as opposed to solar} to give an accurate estimation of the monthly cycle~~Whereas the solar calendar focuses on the annual path of the sun, the lunar calendar gives heed to the monthly status of the moon and its various shapes and stages~~Rosh Chodesh ~~~the starting point of the lunar circle~~~is symbolic of light being born into darkness...Similarly, the Jewish day starts at sundown, seemingly to express G-d's intention for the world to move from darkness into light and not vice-versa...That is why Genesis says: " So there was evening, and there was morning, one day." { Genesis 1:5}. We Jews are just doing what G-d planned by starting our days at sundown!!
Leave it to mankind to change things, we even changed G-d's orders and His calendar to just the opposite! Still, no matter how we calculate time, the festival of Rosh Chodesh has an important lesson for us~~Time marches on, month by month~~We should see Rosh Chodesh as an opportunity to reflect on G-d's blessings toward us...and to evaluate how we walk with Him. By numbering our days, we will walk in wisdom in this present age~ And then you know what? The day that is coming soon when we all meet Messiah, we will face Him with confidence knowing that we fully sought to do the Master's will~~~
We love you all, Rabbi Monica Lowenstein, MJCC
SHABBAT MESSAGE FOR JANUARY 8, 5765/2005 Pastor Dick Kenney
Shalomyshua@aol.com
Jan 8, 2005
In a family, where there are multiple siblings, same Mother, same Father, but, oh so different they are! The Torah is jammed packed with examples of this...Esau and Jacob and many others...But today I want to focus on two others~~~Moses and his brother Aaron. They were as different as "apples and oranges..."
Torah Portion: Vayera
Exodus 6:2-9:35
" And G-d said to Moses; ' Go tell Pharaoh to let the Jews go'....and Moses said: ' If the Jews won't listen to me, how then will Pharaoh?" G-d commanded Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh and to take the Jews out of Egypt..." {Exodus 6:6-13}.
The Talmud often uses a logic of comparison called Kal v'chomer, or " light to heavy..", or vice versa. This logic tool compares one situation to another, and draws conclusions based on the logic " if in the first case such and such is so, which is more lenient {or easier}, how much more so then in the second case, which is more stringent {or difficult}."
There are several examples of this logic in the Torah itself~~In Genesis, when Joseph's brothers are accused of stealing his golden goblet, they respond to him with a Kal y'chomer {Genesis 44:8}: " here, look. The money that we found in the mouth of our sacks {which you did know we had} we brought back to you from the Land of Can; how, then could we have stolen from your master's house any other silver and gold?"
Or when Moses, toward the end of his life, is chastising the Israelites for their misbehavior, he uses a Kal y'chomer {Deuteronomy 31:27}: " Behold, when I am still alive with you here today, you have rebelled against G-d, how much more so {will you rebel} after my death {when I am not around to reprimand you]?"
In our current Torah portion for this Shabbat day, Moses uses a Kal Y'chomer with G-d when, in the verse quoted above, he pleads that if his own people, slaves with little free will, will not listen to him, then how much more so will Pharaoh, a King, not listen to him~~G-d clearly decides that Moses' argument is not worthy of consideration, as He re-instructs Moses to proceed to Pharaoh to demand freedom for the Israelites~~
Why does G-d disregard Moses logic? In the Talmud one of the ways to refute a Kal Y'chomer is to show that the two things being compared are not similar enough to warrant comparison. On the surface, it would appear that Moses comparison is valid, so what is it that G-d saw in the comparison that invalidates the logic and leads to G-d commanding Moses to proceed?
Here it is: In verse 6:13, when Moses and Aaron are instructed by G-d, Moses' name comes first~~as one would expect. In verse 6:27, however, Aaron's name is mentioned first~~There are places in the Torah where Aaron's name precedes that of Moses, and places where Moses' name precedes that of Aaron, which indicates that both are of equal importance.....
But the Torah clearly states, " never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, who the L-rd knew, face to face...He was unequaled." Therefore while Aaron, the High Priest, was great, Moses was greater! May I tell you this holy morning that equal is not identical? The way in which Moses and Aaron were equal was that each had a distinct and different audience to speak to in the saga of the Exodus from Egypt~~Moses, who grew up a prince, " who walked with a king, who had never been cowed by the overseers' lash..." was called on by G-d when it was time to speak to Pharaoh~~
The royal court of Pharaoh was not a setting for Aaron, who having grownup a slave, would have been intimidated by it. But when it was time to speak to the Israelites, Aaron, who " was along side them in the brickpits", was called upon, because Moses did not really seem to be "one of them..", having never tasting the bitter taste of slavery~~Oh, how we need the Moses' and Aaron's and yes, the Miriam's, of each generation to help each of us to find our way to the Promised Land of individual and communal fulfillment as Jews~~~All of us, of course, that have accepted Y'shua ha' Mashiach, as our L-rd and Savior are Jews!
Now we are ready to return to our Kal Y'chomer and see just why G-d rejected Moses argument...The comparison was, indeed, a poor one! It is true that the Israelites would not listen to Moses' voice, because Aaron was more suited to talk to them~~ But to Pharaoh whom Moses had grown up around, Moses was the perfect choice...G-d is always right! Thus G-d commanded Moses to proceed...
Rabbi Wayne Dosick, in his book, "The Business Bible", tells of a woman who brought her son to Mahatma Ghandi in the hopes of using the great leader to persuade her son to stop eating sugar... Ghandi stared at the boy for a while, without saying a word, and then requested that the mother return with the child in two weeks. Upon their return, Ghandi sternly told the young man to stop eating sugar! Puzzled, the mother asked Ghandi why he couldn't have saved the two week waiting period~~~Ghandi responded, " Two weeks ago I was eating sugar...."
Keepers of His text,
Pastor Dick and Jo-ann
"Shimu Shimu"
Israel Gimel Music Midi Free Library
 |
| Site Tools |
|
|
|
|
|
Verse of the Day |
|
|
