Rabbi’s Reflections – Monday, June 20, 2022
Shalom,
Surprise!!!! Yesterday, (I’m writing this on Sunday) was June 18th, 9 days before next Monday, June 27th, my 70th birthday. I was totally surprised at the end of the regular Shabbat service to learn that the entire congregation at the instigation of Jan and Kami planned and coordinated a surprise birthday party without my knowledge. No one tipped me off in any way. They “smuggled” food and decorated the social hall (great job Maya) completely outside my awareness. And they “pulled it off” perfectly. Maya was a great MC. Thank you to all who participated. It is now a memory I will always cherish.
Matthew 6:24 One Master One Lord
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick by one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
News flash, “You cannot serve God and money.” There is only one God. As we sing in the Adon Olam (Siddur hymn titled “Lord of the Universe”) “He is ‘one’ and there is no ‘two.’” It’s okay to have money (I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor, and I’ve decided that I like rich better), but not to serve money. What or Whom we serve is either our lord or our Lord. The Bible never identifies money as a problem, it identifies the love of money as a problem. It says, 1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil—some, longing for it, have gone astray from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Many translations end Matthew 6:24 with “mammon” from the Greek “mamónas (phonetic spelling: mam-mo-nas’) taken from an Aramaic word meaning riches, money, possessions, and property. In general, we are warned not to allow the cares and concerns of this world to encroach on our love for God. In the parable of the sower, the one whose seed is cast among thorns is so described. Mark 4:19 but the worries of the world, the seduction of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
In Matthew 6:24 then, Yeshua is effectively building on the message of the previous verses as he warns us have only God as the object of our devotion. In those verses (Matthew 6:22,23) there is the single eye and the bad eye. Message received… let’s keep our eyes on God as the object of our love and devotion and receive His blessing.
Tomorrow we’ll talk about living the worry free life.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Mon 20-Jun-2022 21st of Sivan, 5782
Nu 13:21-14:7 Jer 37 Da 3 (Mk 15:25-47) 2 Co 5
Week 26
Memory Verse: Daniel 6:27(26) I issue a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom people are to tremble with fear before the God of Daniel. “For He is the living God, enduring forever! His kingdom will never be destroyed, His dominion will never end. 28(27) He delivers and rescues. He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions!”
126 6/25 Monday: Daniel 5-6
127 6/26 Tuesday: Daniel 9-10,12
128 6/27 Wednesday Ezra 1-2
129 6/28 Thursday: Ezra 3-4
130 6/29 Friday: Ezra 5-6