Rabbi’s Reflections – Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Shalom *|FNAME|*,
About the game of Dreidel. Listen to the dreidel song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtlLHwk9_Rw Shir Soul performs this song a’ cappella. They follow the dreidel song with Mi Yimalel (Who Can Retell) and Maoz Tzur (Rock Of Ages – Jewish style). I hope you enjoy the music.
The dreidel is a four sided top that tells the message of Chanukah. There is one letter on each side of the dreidel.
Nun – Nes – meaning “miracle,” “nothing happens, play passes to the next player.
Gimel – Gadol, meaning “great,” “give me the whole pot.”
Hay – Haya, meaning “happened,” “take half out.”
Shin – Sham, meaning “there,” “aw shucks, put one in.”
Put these 4 words into a sentence and you get, “A great miracle happened there.” That’s the message of Chanukah. But there is a problem if you’re playing Dreidel in Israel. It isn’t “there” but “here” that the miracle happened. So the dreidels in Israel use a Pe instead of a Shin, because the letter “Pe” stand for “Po” which means “here.”
Why play games? Why not just teach the sentence “A great miracle happened here/there?” Because throughout history Jews have been forbidden to teach about Jewishness in whatever land they happened to be living at the time. Therefore; it was necessary to find secretive ways to teach the lessons of Jewish holidays. The game of Dreidel is the only example I know of. No other ones come to mind. Does anyone else know of any?
Week 49
Memory Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Messiah, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
241 12/2 Monday: Hebrews 7
* 242 12/3 Tuesday: Hebrews 8-9
243 12/4 Wednesday: Hebrews 10
244 12/5 Thursday: Hebrews 11
245 12/6 Friday: Hebrews 12
Question of the day: Who is on the throne?
Answer: You know from the first verse of the reading today… Hebrews 8:1 Now here is the main point being said. We do have such a Kohen Gadol, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.
That’s right, it is the Lord God, Himself. Here He is called the Majesty in the heavens. Remember this… for every physical reality, there is a spiritual reality. (Even you). And Yeshua is that greater reality from heaven. He alone is the “better sacrifice.” Hebrews 9:23 Therefore it was necessary for the replicas of these heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices—but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
The question of the day actually came up in a conversation I had earlier today. In every situation, we must remind ourselves, Who is on the throne? It is the Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
It reminds me of this verse… Romans 8:35 Who (or what) shall separate us from the love of Messiah? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? The main point is this, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God because in every situation, He is still on the throne.
As we say in Hebrew, “Al Tishkach.” (Don’t forget.)