Rabbi’s Reflections – Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Shalom,

“Let’s talk.”  Are you immediately concerned when you hear those words?  Well, I want to have a talk with all my subscribers concerning the RR.  I love writing the RR.  Mostly, it’s what I’m hearing from God that day and I get to write it down and share it with you all.  What is not from God is some of my thoughts which get mixed in.  Please pay attention to that which is from God and you are free to ignore that which comes from me.  You’ll have to discern the difference.  It’s not always obvious.  

RabbiTrail:  Sometimes it is very obvious, like this.  Every “Rabbi Trail” is from me.  Some Rabbi Trails turn into Rabbit Holes and I delete them before I send them.  Anyway, I have not yet expressed my reason for the “Let’s Talk,” so let’s get back to it.  End RT.

Lately I’ve been writing 3 sections to every RR and it is taking me 4 or 5 hours to write.  It used to take me 2 to 3 hours.  Maybe I’m slowing down.  Anyway, I’ve got to find a way to get back to about 2 hours of writing.  It will give me more balance to complete some projects which are starting to pile up unfinished.  Originally, four years ago when I started writing every day, I wrote one section on something I felt a leading of the Spirit to write about.  Then we added the F-260 reading plan, and for the past year we have also added the Daily Bread reading plan. 

We’ve got another 18 months of the F-260 and the Daily Bread is our daily bread.  Reading the Bible is not optional.  Writing about it is.  My point is that I want to be free to hear from the Spirit of God and be obedient to what I’m hearing, rather than being so task oriented, Spirit led and not task driven.  That’s my heart’s desire.  My hope and prayer is that the quality of each RR will improve with this change in motivation.  

Blessings my friends.  Rabbi Michael.

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The focus of Tisha B’Av has been on the destruction of the first and second Temples.  These dates are approximate as the destruction, per se, took many days that included the 9th of Av.  Moreover, many other calamities to Jewish communities have occurred throughout history on or close to the 9th of Av.  Here is a partial list taken from a Wikipedia website…

The First Crusade officially commenced on August 15, 1096 (Av 24, 4856), killing 10,000 Jews in its first month and destroying Jewish communities in France and the Rhineland.

The Jews were expelled from England on July 18, 1290 (Av 9, 5050).

The Jews were expelled from France on July 22, 1306 (Av 10, 5066).

The Jews were expelled from Spain on July 31, 1492 (Av 7, 5252).

Germany entered World War I on August 1–2, 1914 (Av 9–10, 5674), which caused massive upheaval in European Jewry and whose aftermath led to the Holocaust.

On August 2, 1941 (Av 9, 5701), SS commander Heinrich Himmler formally received approval from the Nazi Party for “The Final Solution.” As a result, death camps began the mass murder of Jews during which almost one third of the world’s Jewish population was murdered.

On July 23, 1942 (Av 9, 5702), the mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka death camp began.

The AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina) bombing, of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, killed 85 and injured 300 on July 18, 1994 (10 Av, 5754).

The Israeli disengagement from Gaza began in the Gaza Strip, expelling 8000 Jews who lived in Gush Katif; August 15, 2005; 10 Av, 5765.

I’m reading the “Kinnot” of Tisha B’Av.  These are poems on the meaning of the date.  They are read as part of the worship service of Tisha B’Av, after the Book of Lamentations is finished.  They speak of the pain and suffering  that started with the first Tisha B’Av transgression, believing the bad report of the 10 spies.  

It wasn’t the report itself that caused the harm.  It was the response of the people who went back to their tents and cried over the report.  Every Jewish holiday has its main symbol.  Rosh Hashanah has its Shofar.  Sukkot has its Lulav.  Pesach has its Matzah.  Tisha B’Av has its tears.  Something happened when the 10 spies were believed that caused a spiritual separation between the people and the promised land (the people did not have faith in the Truth of His promise) that can only be healed by Mashiach.

We are all broken in various ways.  All of life (the life of believers and of non-believers) is one big effort to attain satisfaction.  At the highest level, we want to help others attain satisfaction.   John 8:32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free!” Let me share a well known secret with you; only in Yeshua can we find Truth, which is the root of all satisfaction.  Only in Yeshua can we be healed.  

On Tisha B’Av, only in Yeshua can the brokenness of sin (believing a lie is sin) be healed.  Let’s pray for the deception of Satan to end.  Let’s pray that the chosen people will come to see the Son (the meaning of the name Reuben) and that will be a first step toward healing the separation between the God of promise and His people Israel.  

Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)

Wed 14 July 2021 5th of Av, 5781

De 1:39-2:1Ez 281 Ch 8(Lk 23:26-56)Col 4

Week 29
Memory Verse: Nehemiah 9:6 You alone are Adonai.You made the heavens, even the highest heaven with all its array, the earth and everything on it, the seas and everything in them. You give life to them all, and the multitudes of heaven worship You.

141   7/12  Monday:        Nehemiah 7-8 

142   7/13  Tuesday:       Nehemiah 9

* 143 7/14  Wednesday:  Nehemiah 10

144   7/15  Thursday:      Nehemiah 11

145   7/16  Friday:           Nehemiah 12

The question of the day:  Whenever we read the Scriptures, we are constantly asking ourselves the question, “What does this mean to me today?”  When we read the last part of the last verse of Nehemiah 10, how to do we answer the question?

Answer:  The Scripture is Nehemiah 10:40b “We will not forsake the House of our God.”  What does it mean when we make that same declaration?  I’m not going to really write the answer.  The question is for you to answer for yourself.  We call that courteous and efficient self service.