Rabbi’s Reflections – Saturday, September 21, 2019
Shabbat Shalom *|FNAME|*,
Special Announcement: If you would like to have your own lulu and etrog, here is an excellent source. You’ve got another week to order and still have them delivered on-time. myesrog.com
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this. We are commanded to wave four species before the Lord on Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). Leviticus 23:40 On the first day you are to take choice fruit of trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and rejoice before Adonai your God for seven days.
Wait a minute! I thought you said 4 species (arba’ah minim). I only count 3 species. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/four-species Nope, it’s four. Let’s count them… 1. The choice fruit of trees (etrog). 2. Palm branches (lulav). 3. Leafy boughs (hadas). 4. Willows (arava). Note – Although the English is expressed in plural the Hebrew is expressed in singular.
These are all significant and I’ll be teaching on them during Sukkot next month. (Starts 3 weeks from Sunday). End of special announcement.
On this Shabbat I want to write about being coachable. That’s my term, but there are others such as teachable, moldable, pliable, and flexible. God began a work in you (and me) and the only way for Him to finish His work is if we remain coachable, etc.
Paul wrote to the Philippians 1:6 I am sure of this very thing—that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the Day of Messiah Yeshua.
He is the potter and we are the clay. If we stay moist (water is symbolic of the Holy Spirit), God can shape us. If we dry out, He has to break us. Better we fall upon God than He fall upon us. Matthew 21:44 Whoever falls on this stone will be shattered; but the one upon whom it falls, it will crush him.”
Read Jeremiah’s vision (Jeremiah 18). Jeremiah got the message from the Lord while watching the potter’s wheel. Change is the way of life for followers of Yeshua. People tend to resist change. My friend Pete Scalise used to say, “At the very least people find change more or less difficult. We determine how much more or how much less.”
As we approach these High Holidays, there are 10 days between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur (If these terms mystify you, you haven’t been paying attention. Take a minute and look them up.) are called Yomim Noraim (days of awe). They are 10 days to get right with God and each other. You know how Christmas “tis the season to be jolly?” Well, this “tis the season to repent to God and each other.” Message delivered. Shabbat Shalom (again).