Rabbi’s Reflections – Thursday, March 27, 2025
Shalom,
Special Announcement: This Saturday is the 5th Saturday of March. Once a quarter there is a month with a 5th Saturday. So this Saturday there will be no Saturday morning service. Instead, we will have an Erev Shabbat dinner (bring a dish to share) followed by a time of prayer. We start at 6 on Friday night with the candle lighting (bring yours) and kiddush. Then we’ll eat and pray. And remember, no service on Saturday morning this week.
Psalms
Psalm 26:6,7 – Part 11
Psalm 26:6 I will wash my hands in innocence, so I can walk around Your altar, Adonai, 7 hearing the voice of thanksgiving while proclaiming all Your wonders.
Verse 7 adds to verse 6, so I can’t just treat it as a stand alone. “Ma Nishma?” In modern Hebrew it is idiomatically how we say, “What’s happening?” Literally, it means, “What will we hear?” According to verse 7 we will hear the “voice of thanksgiving.” And there is something else we will hear… we’ll hear our own voices proclaiming all the wonders of God!
Rabbi Trail: My generation (I graduated high school in 1970) became known for seeking reality (and never finding it). Somewhat relatedly, you may have heard me say in the past, “For every physical reality, there is a greater spiritual reality.” Don’t take my word for it, here is a Scriptural prooftext. Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the worldly forces of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
While that’s true, there more truth, another layer of truth. For almost every spiritual reality, there is an even greater spiritual reality, until we find our uitimate reality in Yeshua who is the greatest reality of all.
Hebrews 1:3a This Son is the radiance of His glory and the imprint of His being, upholding all things by His powerful word.
Colossians 1:15a He is the image of the invisible God… 16d All was created through Him and for Him. 17 He exists before everything, and in Him all holds together. 18 He is the head of the body, His community. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead—so that He might come to have first place in all things. 20b… making peace through the blood of His cross—whether things on earth or things in heaven! End RT.
How important is it that we agree with the “voice of thanksgiving?” 1Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Messiah Yeshua. What, you want more proof? Psalm 107:1 Praise (give thanks to) Adonai, for He is good, for His lovingkindness (grace) endures forever. That’s right, thanksgiving is the means by which we receive grace.
Let’s take a moment before we close today to consider the consequences of unthankfulness. Paul wrote to the Romans that unthankfulness messes up your head and everything else. Romans 1:21 for even though they (people who know God but refuse to walk in His righteousness) knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. Instead, their thinking became futile, and their senseless hearts were made dark. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools.
Don’t let that be you. Hear the voices of thanksgiving and join in with them in a concert of praise to God. Then tell you own story of how He wonderfully gave Himself to bring you into His family. Shalom shalom.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Thu 27-Mar-2025 27th of Adar, 5785
Ex 40:1-16 Isa 21-22 Pr 15 Ac 14 (Rev 8)