Chazak, Chazak, vnitchazek! It is customary to say, Chazak, Chazek, vnitchazek! (Be strong, be strong, and may we be strengthened) when we complete a book of the Torah. As we leave the book of Bereishit (Genesis) this reading cycle, it is good to be reminded of the strong influences that Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov have on our spiritual commitment and journey. These were lives fraught with tough tests, yet their faith was strengthened with their calling from The Holy One: For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. The first prayer of the daily Amidah mentions these three patriarchs of our faith, the Avot. While Moses is credited with leading Israel to Sinai and transmitting the instructions to them, the conditions of the covenant included curses for disobedience. The Avot, however, kept and taught the mitzvoth and mishpatim out of love. They volunteered...and in Jacobs case, actively chose to put themselves at risk for the birthright. Non-Jews who are turning to the mitzvoth and mishpatim in this generation have the same spiritual heritage. They are the volunteers to teach their children The Way commanded by Yeshua. They seek their answers from The Word of God and obey out of love, which is the Beit Midrash of Avraham Avinu, a walk that precedes the Beit Midrash of Moshe Rabbeinu. The difference? According to Rabbi Cardozo, the narrative-style presentation of Bereishit and the exodus from Egypt draws the heart and exudes the volunteer spirit of the Avot. And while they certainly kept many of the mitzvot, they did so not out of duty but as a natural expression of their closeness with God. (2005, p. 119) After Moses leads the Israelites to the mountain, however, the style of the Torah changes to a more legalistic function, using narrative to illustrate the questions of halakha, or how Moses explained the practical way that they were to walk the mitzvoth in the wilderness preparation for the Land. This was the more exacting Beit Midrash of Moshe Rabbeinu, and it was certainly as much a struggle as the tests of the Avot, yet as with the Avot, the halakhic solutions sometimes involved holy women such as the daughters of Tzelophechad, who influenced womens inheritance rights. Women are still part of the narrative! Yeshuas example was to use both the narrative style of teaching aggadah through parable to demonstrate acts of extreme faith and devotion or error as well as to issue halakhic rulings on the finer points of the Torah. He was comfortable equally in either style of teaching the Word: the Beit Midrash of Avraham Avinu or Moshe Rabbeinu. For Yeshua, though, it was important to always let ones walk in the mitzvot spring from the first love of Avraham Avinus Beit Midrash: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. (John 14:15) I might make two personal statements here. 1. Having been brought up in church, apart from an honest reading of Yeshuas words, I may never have known the importance of keeping the mitzvot. Because of him, I am learning that the words of Torah are not too high or too low to grasp. 2. Apart from an honest reading of Yeshuas words, I would not have known the importance of beginning every reading of the mitzvoth and my walk in them with Avraham and Yeshuas love for the Father and His Word. I might have reduced them only to the legalistic side of Moshe Rabbeinu. Both are important, but one is foundational to the other. For those who have turned to the Torah as our life guide and are learning to reject the ways of Ur, Egypt, or even Canaan, we may indeed feel wistful at leaving behind the pages of Bereishit, for these patriarchs and matriarchs of our faith are old friends and family with whom we have a family reunion each year. It renews our love of the Torah, the Father who gave it, and Yeshua, our teacher who neither lets us forget our family ties, nor our halakhic growth with his Word. Chazak, chazak, vnitchazek! https://itunes.apple/us/album/chazak/id64438844?i=64438328 P.S. If your Hebraic dance skills are lacking, you can actually do the Electric Slide to this one :)
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 16:58:12 +0000
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