Posts with the category “rabbis-reflections”

Shalom,Psalm 43:4 Then I will come to the altar of God, to the God of my exceeding joy, and praise You upon the harp—O God, my God.Follow the progression here… in the previous verse, we are guided by ...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 43:3 Send forth Your light and Your truth—let them guide me. Let them bring me to Your holy mountain and to Your dwelling places.It is easy to be guided by light.  “Send forth Your light ...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 43:2 For You are my God, my stronghold. Why have You spurned me? Why do I go about gloomy because of the oppression of the enemy?After a great opening, “For You are my God of my strength,...  Read More

Shavuah Tov,Psalm 43:1 Vindicate me, O God, and champion my cause against an ungodly nation. From a deceitful and unjust man, deliver me!In (transliterated) Hebrew, let’s focus  the first word and the...  Read More

Shabbat Shalom,From David Harwood: For a musician, it is a gratifying thing to have others listen to their work. I’d love it if you would listen to mine. Here are the links to two songs we’ve recently...  Read More

(Early) Shabbat Shalom,Psalm 42:12 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why are you murmuring within me? Hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, the salvation of my countenance and my God.King David seems...  Read More

Shalom, Rabbi Trail:  I’m writing this on New Year’s Eve, a holiday that does not exist in Judaism.  In fact, the orthodox rabbis resist it like Christian pastors resist Halloween.  In Israel (like in...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 41:7(6) My God, my soul is downcast within me! Therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and from the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mitzar. 8(7) Deep calls to deep in the roar of You...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 41:5(4) These things I remember as I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go along with the throng, walking with them to the House of God, with a voice of joy and praise, a multitude...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 41:4 My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all day: “Where is your God?”In the Hebrew, my tears have been my “bread” (Lechem - here translated as food) daily (adv...  Read More

Shavuah Tov,IMPORTANT: If you are a woman who has had an abortion or a man who has impregnated a woman resulting in an abortion, you need not harbor guilt. The Bible is clear: God’s grace and Yeshua’s...  Read More

Shabbat Shalom,Let’s look into the favor (charis/grace) that Miriam, Yeshua’s mother, received.Then in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by Adonai into a town in the Galilee named Natzeret a...  Read More

(Early) Shabbat Shalom,Psalm 41:3 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When will I come and appear before God?We pick up today where we left off yesterday.  This same verse anticipates “Judgme...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 41:3 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When will I come and appear before God?Is that a real question?  To “appear before God” is both something to be anticipated as a joyous e...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 41:1 For the music director, a contemplative song of the sons of Korah. 2 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, O God.Psalm 42, like some others, is labeled, “...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 41:14 Blessed be Adonai, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and amen!This last verse of Psalm 41 begins in Hebrew (transliterated), “Baruch Adonai(YHVH), Elohay Yisr...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 41:12 By this I know that You delight in me: that my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.Rabbi Trail: Were you wondering?  I’ve been writing the RR since the end of June 2017, (that’s...  Read More

(Early) Shabbat ShalomPsalm 41:13 You uphold me in my integrity and set me before Your face forever.Today, we begin the conclusion of our study of Psalm 41 with the next to last verse (Part 7).   Thes...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 41:9 “Something evil was poured into him—he will not get up again from the place where he lies.” 10 Even my own close friend, whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel agai...  Read More

Shavuah Tov,Hebrews 11:32-34a “And what more shall I say? For time would fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets. By faith they conquered kingdo...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 41:6(5) My enemies speak evil about me: “When will he die and his name perish?” 7(6) And if someone of them comes to see me, he speaks falsely. He stores up evil in his heart, then he goe...  Read More

Shalom,This verse sets up the rest of Psalm 41.  It does so in three parts.  The first is a simple declaration, “Adonai, have mercy (Cha’nay’ni - with the accent on the second syllable).”  Chen has be...  Read More

Shalom {{firstName}},Reminder: Sunday night is/was the first light of Chanukah.  All Jewish days/holidays BEGIN at sundown.  So the first day of Chanukah is Monday which begins with sundown on Sunday ...  Read More

Shabbat Shalom {{firstName}},Let’s continue to identify and remove roadblocks to believing and experiencing God’s favor. Let’s look at self-promotion. I can’t prove it, but I think everybody has a ten...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 41:1 For the music director: a psalm of David. 2 Blessed is the one who considers the wretched—Adonai will deliver him in the evil day.Let’s begin our series on Psalm 41.  In verse 2, the...  Read More

(Early) Shabbat Shalom,Psalm 41:3 Adonai will protect him and keep him alive. He will be made blessed in the land. You will not give him over to the desire of his foes. 4 Adonai will strengthen him on...  Read More

Shalom,The coming Sunday night is the first light of Chanukah.  There is still time to prepare, but time is short.  Chanukah is the feast of dedication, also known as the festival of lights.  Jan and ...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 40:15 Let those who seek my life to sweep it away be put to shame and humiliated. Let those who wish me evil be turned back in disgrace. Verse 15 is a prayer unto the Lord.  In it is one ...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 40:13 For evils beyond number surround me, my sins have overtaken me—I cannot see—they are more than the hairs of my head—and my heart fails me. 14 Adonai, please deliver me! Adonai, come...  Read More

Shavuah Tov,I continue a series prompted by Veterans Day, which was observed on November 11, 2025. On this date, I hope you remembered our heroes, living and dead, who have served or are serving and p...  Read More

Shabbat Shalom,In our prior meditation we focused on gratitude and humility as keys to experiencing God’s favor. Let’s look at the other side of this reality: pride hinders knowing Father’s favor. It ...  Read More

(Early) Shabbat Shalom,Psalm 40:12 Adonai, do not withhold Your compassions from me. Let Your mercy and Your truth always protect me..  The Hebrew starts with “Atah YHVH” meaning “You are the Lord.”  ...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 40:11 I did not hide Your righteousness within my heart. Rather I declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation. I did not conceal Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assemb...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 40:10 I proclaim good news of righteousness in the great assembly. Behold, I am not shutting my lips—Adonai, You know!  The Hebrew Scriptures have a word for “the Gospel,” and here it is....  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 40:9 “I delight to do Your will, O my God. Yes, Your Torah is within my being.”  David is writing, but the Lord, Yeshua, is speaking.  Surely every verse of Scripture is a “life verse” fo...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 40:8 Then I said: “Here I am, I have come—in the scroll of a book it is written about me.”  Rabbi’s note: Significantly, these few verses of Psalm 40 are quoted in Hebrews 10:5-9.  The wr...  Read More

Shavuah Tov,Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have in mind for you,” declares Adonai, “plans for shalom and not calamity—to give you a future and a hope.”In my last RR earlier this month, I ...  Read More

Shabbat Shalom,Gratitude is an essential aspect of humility’s foundation. Humility opens the door for increased favor. A nuance of charis is thankfulness.Sinners love (agape) those who love (agape) th...  Read More

(Early) Shabbat Shalom,Psalm 40:7 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire—my ears You have opened—burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.Well, well, well!!! What have we here?  These ne...  Read More

Shalom,Psalm 40:6 Many things You have done, Adonai my God—Your plans for us are wonderful—there is none to be compared to You! If I were to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to count!Go ...  Read More