Rabbi’s Reflections – Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Shalom,

Day 3 of counting the Omer
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹֽמֶר
Baruch Atah Adonai Elohenu Melech Ha-Olam, Asher Kid’shanu B’mitzvotav, Vitzivanu Al Sefirat Ha-Omer.

Blessed are You O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by his commandments and commanded us about the counting of the Omer.  Today is no weeks and three days of the counting of the omer.

Follow up that prayer by remembering a blessing from the Lord and give Him thanks.

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Victory Over Sin 2 – Romans, part 63

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound? 2 May it never be! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

The Hebrew liturgy for the High Holidays (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) is contained in a prayer book titled “Machzor.”  That word is derived from the Hebrew word “Chozair,” meaning “return.”  Our “return” to God is not a destination as much as it is a path to a destination.  That path or road is His path.  It is the “path of righteousness.”  Proverbs 12:28 In the path of righteousness is life— it is a path to immortality.

Rabbi Trail:  If General Douglas MacArthur spoke Hebrew when he left the Philippines in defeat at the beginning of World War II, he would have said (in transliterated Hebrew), “Ani Echzor,” meaning “I will return.”  (And he did return at the end of the war.)  We add the  “Mem” (Hebrew letter that makes the “m” sound) to the front of “Machzor” to indicate it’s noun form.  End RT.

The Machzor contains all the prayers used for the various High Holiday services.  One lengthy prayer is called “The Al Chet,” meaning “about the sin.”  It enumerates the possible transgressions of individuals and communities.  The whole world is suffering from a sin problem.  We are called to leave that world behind.  Yeshua told the woman caught in adultery… “Go and sin no more.” (John 8:11b) 

The essence of the reformation is the recognition that the call to follow Yeshua is a call to personal holiness.  When we begin to follow Him, our allegiances change as we mature.  This change involves taking on His character and reflecting the fruits of the spirit.  Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Ruach is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control—against such things there is no law.

There is flesh and there is spirit.  These three chapters of Romans (6, 7 & 8) are all about the victory of the spirit over the desires of the flesh.  Galatians 5:24 Now those who belong to Messiah have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Paul asks the question, “How can we who died to sin still live in it?”  Yeshua gives us the answer with a two word commandment, “Follow Me.”

Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Day 3 of the Omer
Tue 11 April-2023 20th of Nisan, 5783 Pesach VI
Le 9:1-16, Nu 28:1-25 Isa 42   Pr 31 Jas 2 (Mt 2)