Rabbi’s Reflections – Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Shalom,
Rabbi Trail: Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. (Not helpful to those of you who forgot.). Someone asked me if they celebrate Valentine’s Day in Israel. Remember, it’s Saint Valentine’s Day. The rabbis don’t encourage celebrating too many saints. So in Israel Saint Valentine’s Day is a big non-event. End RT.
The Fourth Commandment – part 3, You Gotta Love Shabbat!
There are special prayers for Shabbat. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. We have prayers for every day and prayers for holidays. The greatest holiday of all is (the weekly) Shabbat. When a holiday falls on Shabbat (which actually happens quite often) there are even more special prayers. It is the nature of those “even more” special prayers that is my subject today.
Many of the prayers change with the addition of only two words. Those two words are “in love.” God gave us “in love” His Shabbat. Think about it. The creator of the universe knows us (humanity) so well that He knew in advance we would have a desire to perform, to excel, to strive, to compete, to provide, so much that we would devalue taking a break or resting.
God is thinking, “I know those people. If I don’t command them to rest, they will just work, work, work. If they don’t demand it of themselves, their taskmasters will. Therefore; I will command a day of rest, a day when they can cease from their work, just as I (God) did from Mine. Not only will I command their rest, but when they obey My command, I will also command a blessing for them.”
Deuteronomy 7:12 “Then it will happen, as a result of your listening to these ordinances, when you keep and do them, that Adonai your God will keep with you the covenant kindness that He swore to your fathers. 13 He will love you, bless you and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the produce of your soil, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that He swore to your fathers to give you.
Did Yeshua cancel this blessing or affirm this blessing? Let’s ask Him. Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets! I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.” Yeshua Himself says He came to fill the Torah to fullness. Isaiah 42:21 affirms this thought. Isaiah 42:21 Adonai was pleased, for the sake of His righteousness, to make Torah great and glorious. That’s right, Yeshua is pleased to make the Torah great and glorious.
Neither Yeshua nor His disciples broke the Shabbat, though they were accused of doing just that. There is a prohibition against harvesting on Shabbat, but not against eating. Mark 2:27 Then He said to them, “Shabbat was made for man, and not man for Shabbat. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of Shabbat.” The Shabbat is a gift from God, an expression of His love for us, to ease our burdens, not to increase them.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Tue 15-Feb-2022 14th of Adar I, 5782 Purim Katan
Ex 33:12-16 2 Ki 8 Ps 119:73-96 Jn 12:26-50 (Heb 3)
Rabbi Trail: You might notice the words “Purim Katan” above. “Katan” means “small.” Purim Katan is not a holiday, but a notation on the calendar, in a leap year, that on this day next month we will be celebrating Purim. A leap year on the Jewish calendar happens about once every three years when an extra month is added (Adar II). Purim is celebrated on Adar 14th every year. In a leap year, it is celebrated on Adar II 14th, thus the notation on Adar I 14th. Now you know. End RT.
Week 8
Memory Verse: Exodus 20:1 Then God spoke all these words saying, 2 “I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
36 2/14 Monday: Exodus 19-20
37 2/15 Tuesday: Exodus 24-25
38 2/16 Wednesday: Exodus 26-27
39 2/17 Thursday: Exodus 28-29
40 2/18 Friday: Exodus 30-31