Someone who wishes to remain anonymous shared this commentary on Jude with me and gave me permission to publish it. I'd like your opinion.
https://soilfromstone.blogspot.....com/2024/10/an-expe
Shalom Chaverym;
This week's parasha is: Lek-L'ka – לך לך – “Get thee out”
Torah reading: B'reishyth 12:1-17:27
Haftarah reading: Yeshayahu 40:27-41:16
Ketuvym Hatalmidym reading: Ma'asei 7:1-8
Shalom aleykhem, achym, b’shem YHWH Avinu, u’v’shem Yehoshua b’no ~ Peace to you, my brothers, in the name of YHWH our Father, and in the name of Yehoshua, His Son.
V’he’enin b’YHWH vayach’sheveha lu tzedekah ~ “And he had faith in YHWH, and He counted it to him as righteousness.”
This verse sums up the entirety of the Scriptures, and the desire of YHWH for His people — that they have faith in Him.
The Hebrew word for faith is emunah. It is described in the Scriptures as “the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.” It is probably best defined as trusting-belief. Avraham is our father and the primary example of that faith which YHWH desires from us. YHWH called Avraham his friend, and there is no greater honor than that. Friendship and sonship with YHWH should be the goals toward which we all aspire.
The righteousness that YHWH ascribed to Avraham for his faith is tzedekah — right-standing before YHWH on account of performance of a duty or command. When YHWH said, “Go,” Avraham went. When YHWH said, “Do,” Avraham did. He did not question YHWH or second-guess Him. He simply obeyed YHWH in complete trusting-belief. In faith. And he persisted in acting in faith throughout his lifetime, even though he never realized the reward for it — only seeing it “afar off,” as the hazy vision of a distant future. Such absolute faith YHWH considers to be righteousness.
Most people think righteousness comes only from the perfect keeping of the law and is therefore unattainable by sinful man. Others think righteousness comes from just raising the hands and proclaiming, “I believe!” without any works at all. Neither of these is correct. The keeping of the law is only the physical evidence of righteousness and can mostly be done without any real conviction of the heart. Saying, “I believe,” is only mental assent and cheap words, if not accompanied by actions. True righteousness is something that exists deep within a person. It is the product of complete and utter faith in YHWH. It manifests itself in acts of charity and works of the law, and in anything else YHWH desires of us — things that we do willingly and without question because we truly believe in Him; because we love Him as He has loved us, even to the point of giving His only begotten son in our place because of our unfaithfulness and our unrighteousness.
May He increase your faith, and may you, too, be found righteous in His eyes.
B’shalom, Ovadyah
Sabbath Keepers Fellowship Weekly Torah Study
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Our small, friendly group welcomes beginners and those who are learned in the scriptures, and we always take time for questions and answers.
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For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so Adonai YHWH will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.
Isaiah 61:11
Rosh Chodesh
The new crescent moon was sighted from Israel on the evening of 10/4/2024, making the first day of the 8th scriptural month 10/5/2024.
The Rosh Chodesh was sighted from the Zevulun Valley at 6:42pm by Yoel Halevi and his wife, and by two other people also in northern Israel.
For those of you who are celebrating this new moon as the 7th scriptural month according to the mainstream Rabbinical calendar, which has “Rosh Hashanah” on 10/2/2024 as the first day of the month, you may want to hold your horses and maybe celebrate a couple more days. The Torah says in no uncertain terms that this festival must be on the first day of the month – the new moon. There was no way, anywhere on earth, that a new moon was sighted on 10/2/2024. In fact, no new moon could have even been sighted in Israel on 10/3/2024. It is not possible.
Three criteria which absolutely establish whether the moon can be seen are:
1. Fraction of illumination – the disc of the moon must be illuminated by at least 1%
2. Lag Time – the distance between sunset and moonset must be at least 27 minutes
3. Geocentric Elongation – the subtended angle between sun, moon, and earth must be at least 10%
It takes roughly 29.5 days for a complete lunation, meaning no new moon can be seen prior to day 29. On 10/2/2024 it was only the 28thday since the last new moon. On the evening of 10/3/2024, the following criteria were established:
1. Fraction of illumination – 0.7%
2. Lag Time – 17 minutes
3. Geocentric Elongation – 9.3%
A failure to meet any one of the above absolute established minimums will result in a new moon not being seen. As you can see, even on 10/3/2024, not one of those were met. Those who celebrated their festival on either of those days, celebrated them in the wrong month. No new moon was sighted until 10/4/2024.
Keep the faith when you suffer. God's purpose isn't to destroy you, but to refine you.
https://www.americantorah.com/....2017/07/13/god-is-fa
Why is it important to teach our children to read instructions? Why do we spend the first ten years (or so) of a child's life emphasizing basic literacy skills, such as phonics, spelling, handwriting, and fluency in reading? Why should we expect that a child raised in a Torah-observant household would have a higher ability in reading than a child raised in a pagan home?
The fact that YHVH God has revealed Himself as the Word of God reveals how important words are. Not only is YHVH equal to the Word, but He used words to create the world -- which means that as humans, we are able to understand the creation around us by use of the written word. Most importantly, YHVH chose to reveal His instructions to us as words.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:1-3).
"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Messiah" (Romans 10:17).
Think about this for a moment. YHVH is the Word.
YHVH is not a video. YHVH is not a podcast. YHVH is not oral tradition handed down from one generation to the next. No, He is the written Word.
It is true that YHVH's "invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made" (Romans 1:20).
We can learn much about YHVH from videos, television, DVD's, sermons, podcasts, and oral stories.
However, His instructions to us are written words. Let me show you:
"When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book to the very end..." (Deuteronomy 31:24).
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8).
In our curriculum, we want to emphasize literacy, or the ability to understand written words, to apply them to life, and to use language with proficiency in order to interact with the culture around us.
In several recent conversations, the words "it's been fulfilled" have popped up. These conversations are referring to the Law of Moses and saying that Jesus/Yeshua fulfilled it, giving indication that because it has been fulfilled, it is no longer needed to be done.
However, we see Yeshua stating (Matt. 5:17) He did not come to abolish (cause it to no longer need be done), but to fulfill. If we hold to the definition held by most it seems, Yeshua is contradicting himself. If abolishing the Law would cause us to not need to do it, and fulfilling the Law would cause is not to need to do it, then the statement contradicts itself. When we look at the context of the whole chapter, we see He isn't abolishing it, or fulfilling it in the sense most say He is.
Instead, if we look at the word for fulfill from a different light, such as one of a marriage, He IS fulfilling it, just as WE should as well. As I show in the comic, just because you loved your spouse on your wedding day, that doesn't fulfill your marriage vows to never be done again. You can't go on and find someone new and forget all about your vows. You fulfill your vows everyday for the rest of your life.
We are called the Bride of Christ, because that is the relationship we have. I spoke a little about the Hebraic Marriage parallels in Scripture and this concept of our relationship being a marriage in CvB #63 (https://thestraightandnarrow.cfw.me/comics/471).
Another witness to the fact that He wasn't saying fulfill in the sense of we won't have to do it is found just 2 verses later.
Matt. 5:19 - Therefore, whoever shall break one of these least commandments and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
https://thestraightandnarrow.cfw.me/comics/846
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On this date in history, 10/07/1849: Edgar Allen Poe dies under mysterious circumstances after 4 days in hospital. #otd #tdih #literaryhistory
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