Nisan-Halakah of the month (Part 1)

Chodesh Tov everyone!

I want to start by just offering my translation of a Mishnah. This will be the text basis for our halakha of the month. I'll do an initial post of comments later, but feel free to chime in on it from the get-go!

M Pesachim 1.1-2

[From the] advent of the fourteenth [of Nissan we] examine for chametz by the light of a candle. All places where [there is] no storage of chametz there is no need to search. And why do we say [to search] two rows of vessels in the cellar? This is a place where chametz is stored. Beit Shammai say, “two rows of vessels in all of the cellar.” Beit Hillel say, “[only] two outer rows of vessels that are in the highest places.” They don’t worry [if] perhaps a weasel drags [chametz] from house to house and from place to place, because if so [they would worry about the weasel dragging] from yard to yard and city to city; [there would be] no end to the matter.

II Adar-Halakha of the Month Part 3

Hello all! I hope the second installment of this week's discussion of "Barukh Hu Uverukh Sh'mo" and "Amen" was good food for thought and practice. As we are nearing the end of this month, with Rosh Chodesh Nisan coming next week, I wanted to share just a little more on this halakha in the hopes of continued discussion before we move on.

"Barukh Hu Uverukh Sh'mo" and "Amen", as we have discussed below, are verbal expressions of praise. They are also expressions of agreement.

Agreement has incredible value. In fact, b. B'rakhot 53b teaches us that one who responds, "Amen" is greater than the one who recited the blessing! Why would this be so? I would suggest that the agreement that occurs when one blesses, and another responds, is a greater expression of God's will in the world. One person reciting a blessing creates vertical agreement. In other words, the one saying the b'rakha is in agreement with God's will. When there is a another person responding to the blessing then the agreement does not remain only vertical, it becomes horizontal also. When more and more people agree with God's will, then there is a greater manifestation of olam haba in olam hazah. Humanity's agreement with God's will allows blessing to flow in great abundance.

"Barukh Hu Uverukh Sh'mo" and "Amen" are declarations that reflect agreement with God and a fellow human being. This realization transforms these responses from being mere performative excercises to verbal expressions of the Kingdom to which we are responsible.

Any thoughts on this, or other layers of meaning in the halakhot of "Barukh Hu Uverukh Sh'mo" and "Amen"?

II Adar Halakha of the Month-Part 2

We've had interesting discussion so far. I wanted to shift the discussion specifically to the topic of participation and response. Unfortunately, in many mainstream synagogues one can find the pattern of the shliach tzibbur (cantor) davening for the community, as opposed to leading the community in davening! It should be the latter. The moments where one actually does a mitzvah on behalf of others are rare:

Shofar: The tokiah (shofar blower) blows the Shofar on Rosh HaShanah and the sh'liach tzibbur recites the blessing on behalf of the congregation

Megillat Esther: Unless one has a scroll of Esther in hand, other than the reader for Purim, the people listen to the blessings and respond: Amen. The Megillah is being leined so they can hear.

Communal Kiddush: In a big communal gathering where wine is not available for everyone, the one leading kiddush does it on behalf of the people there. This is not ideal, and many will actually do their own kiddush at home, but this is will within the bounds of custom.

There may be some others I'm not remembering, but these are the main circumstances. The first two are the main ones. This is because the mitzvah is connected with listening. In most prayer, the mitzvah is connected with doing/speaking. Now, one would assume the Torah blessings would be included. After all, it's a mitzvah to hear the Torah! The difference is that the b'rakha recited is a part of the b'rakhot recited over learning Torah in Birkhot HaShachar. This means that, presumably, one has already recited this blessing earlier in the day and is therefore listening to the one making the aaliyah One might ask, wouldn't this also be true of the one making the aaliyah...Wouldn't that person's recitation also be considered a repitition? The answer is: No. When it is over leining form a scroll, it counts as a different blessing....Wait...didn't he just say it's the same...aaagghh!

This can cause one's head to spin because it isn't so logical on the surface. It's rather inconsistant. The real reason is that there is a fundamental difference between Torah learning and other mitzvot. Megillah is a mitzvah once a year. Shofar is a mitzvah once a year. Torah is a daily mitzvah, with specific requirements on certain days to have it publicly read. This is why on the one hand Torah must be listened to, and on the other hand must be learned and recited. I would love to hear your thoughts on why Torah leining/aaliyot would be unique.

Moving on: It is unfortunate that much of American Judaism has developed a vicarious religious practice. I think there are a great many factors that have contributed to this, but I want to address one factor that is unique for the Messianic Jewish community. The Yeshua narrative many have adopted is the belief that he died for us so that we might have life. This is a true, BUT incomplete, notion. This leads to an incomplete spirituality. What's wrong with it? It totally removes responsibility from the "believer." What seems to be more accurate to say (see Romans Chapter 6) is that Yeshua died and rose again so that we, in him, could also die to sin and live in him. Rav Shaul speaks of this in terms of Immersion in Yeshua (this is also spoken of in terms of martyrdom and trials because of Yeshua faith). I believe we ought to see the same going on in our communal prayer life. Yes, Yeshua laid the road for us; we do not have to lay the road. Nevertheless, he paved it so we could travel it! The shliach tzibbur sets the pace for the davening and, at times, elicits responses from the community (Bar'khu, Kaddish, Kedushah, etc.). The shliach tzibbur is not meant to be davening instead of anyone. The shliach tzibbur is not a performer and professional davener.

This is another layer of meaning surrounding the halakhot of "Barukh Hu Uverukh Sh'mo" and "Amen." These halakhot teach us when it is appropriate to take on the responsibility and privilege to bless and pray and when to humbly accept our role in listening and responding to another. I would like to suggest that the halakhic clarification of the role of the shliach tzibbur can teach us something about the role of Yeshua in our community as well. He does not pray to HaShem for us-He teaches us how. He doesn't live Torah for us-he enables us to do so. He doesn't live sinless for us-he guides us on a journey to live in him, free of sin.

I look forward to our continued discussion!

II Adar-Halakha of the Month

"Upon hearing any berachah made by someone, when you hear the words: Baruch Attah Hashem, [Blessed are you Hashem] you should say: Baruch Hu Uvaruch Shemo [Blessed is He and Blessed in His Name] and when he completes the berachah you should Amein. Amein means it is true...If you are reciting prayers when an interuption is forbidden, you should not say Baruch Hu Uvaruch Shemo. Similarly if you hear a berachah which you must hear to fulfill your obligation...for instance the berachah over the Shofar...you should not say Baruch Hu Uvaruch Shemo because this constitutes an interuption in the middle of the berachah...You must not answer Amein to your own berachah (except...after the berachah to rebuild Jerusalem [in Grace after Meals]."

-Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, selections from Chapter 6, sections 8, 9, and 11 (pgs. 31-32)

B'rakhot (blessings) are not treated lightly in Judaism. Each blessing's phrasing is specific and designed to enable the speaker to fulfill a mitzvah. The b'rakha creates a partnership between divine decree and physical action and merges the will of God and that of the one making the blessing. With all of this going on (in what is often just a few words) concentration is of the utmost importance. At the same time, there is value in listening to a blessing. One fortunate enough to listen to another’s blessing is often invited to join in blessing God without fulfilling the specific mitzvah of the b’rakha being recited. For example, if I waved the lulav and etrog on Sukkot and then later in the day heard my friend recite the b’rakha over lulav and etrog I wouldn’t join her word for word (I already recited that blessing). I would say, “Blessed is He and Blessed in His Name,” though (and respond, “amen”). Now, if someone is reciting a blessing on my behalf (i.e. the chazzan reciting the blessings over shofar) I must concentrate as if I were reciting it myself. Therefore, I would say “amen” at the end, but I wouldn’t interrupt the blessing with an extra praise of God (i.e. Baruch Hu Uvaruch Shemo).

The main point behind all these details is to stress that people not treat mitzvot or blessings lightly. These b’rakhot are not mere words, they are responses to unique moments or actions in time that may not be repeated again until tomorrow, another month, or another year. The focus on proper concentration and decorum for both the speaker and listener reflects value of the moment…of the Torah…of the Holy One.

Lets discuss and ruminate on this for a few days and then we’ll get into some more of the specifics around “Amein” and “Baruch Hu Uvaruch Shemo.”

Introduction to "Halakha of the month"

My goal is to offer a halakha for discussion at the beginning of each new Jewish month. I will not approach this uniformly each time. Some months I will offer a halakha from a law code, and we'll discuss meaning and applications. Other months I will share a halakhic discussion in the Gemara and we will enter that discussion together. Some months I will offer a progression of how a halakha has developed from its initial descriptions in Torah through centuries of application. Other months we'll discuss how B'rit Chadasha impacts halakhic application.

Sometimes the halakhot will have practical applications, and other times will deal with institutions foreign to our experience. Sometimes the discussions will deal with existential issues while others will deal with nitty-gritty practicalities.

All of this variety will hopefully serve to allow us to enter deeply into the various levels of halakhic thinking/living.

Let the learning commence and continue!

Halakhic Learning/Living

I have had the privilege of contributing to the Riverton Mussar program (see links list on the right) for quite some time now. As I was preparing for this coming week's piece a small portion of what I wrote felt like it needed to be unpacked a little more, in a different context. I felt that context would be here. Here is the paragraph I am referring to: "Halakha, in general, removes the veil between the spiritual and physical and reminds us that creation is good and that we are empowered to make it holy. Our daily lives do not become holy by us making them more “spiritual.” They become holy when we acknowledge God as Lord over them, in all their physicality and messiness. In this light we can see that the more we are diligent to bless/thank God (or the world around us) the more likely we are to engage the task at hand. May we all grow in our capacity to use every opportunity to bring holiness and goodness into the world." About a month ago I finished reading a translation of Rabbi Soloveitchik's, Halachic Man. I was challenged by it, but there were a few key points that struck me so very strongly. I will share just two of them here. 1. Soloveitchik suggests that "halachic man" sees a responsibility to experience (and respond to) God within the context of the details of life. Eternal life is found beginning with this life! There is no desire for some disembodied soul state. The goal lies in the Jew's capacity and responsibility to sanctification of the world he/she lives in. 2. The goal of halakha is the prophetic state! Soloveitchik defines this state (in part) as the awareness of the heavenly throne above you at all times. Through deep engagement with halakha in learning and practice, "halachic man" is able to move toward the perception of God and his holiness in a way akin to that of the prophets. I do not mean to oversimplify incredibly complex concepts. Soloveitchik presents a lot of crucial background and caveats so as to avoid confusion in what he is saying. One cannot fully understand these points unless one reads his book. Nevertheless, I feel comfortable asserting that these two points are congruent with values we see in the ketuvim sh'lichim (Apostolic Writings). The Kingdom is at hand, and we have a responsibility to draw it out in the here and now. Make no mistake about it: The mechanisms of halakhic thought/living contrast the pursuit of healing the sick and raising the dead. The real chidush (new idea) here is that in spite of the contrast, they have the same goal and root. Therefore deep halakhic engagement and pursuit of seeing the "Yeshua-natural" (I prefer this to "supernatural") are complimentary and should be equal pursuits of any Messianic Jewish community. So, where do we begin? I have to confess that, by and large, the Messianic Jewish community is lacking in its pursuit of halakhic thinking/living (I am including myself in this critique...I have a long way to go). Even among those Jewish Yeshua followers that engage Jewish life in the context of our people's developed tradition, it normally stops shy of transforming our largely non-halakhic culture. So, I suggest we begin where this way of thinking began, where our sages began: Learning. We need to develop learning cultures that transform the way we think and live. there is much more to do than this, but I want to do my part in promoting this. So... I am going to offer one small way for at least some of us to get started. Every new Jewish month, within the first week, I want to offer a halakha of the month. I will provide some background in the particular halakha and then we can all have a discussion about what it means, how to grow towards it, etc. Any takers?

Broken Torah

It took me a while to begin to understand why God would seem to not care at all that Moshe broke the tablets. I mean, He keeps Moshe out of the land for striking a rock instead of speaking to it! My first experience with Rav Hartman (from Eretz Yisrael) began to open my heart and my mind to the layers of what happened as those tablets shattered:

1. Moshe broke the Torah with the people. Whether intentionally or not, Moshe demonstrated a profound identification with the people breaking the Torah right before his eyes. He saw them breaking into pieces before him and so he broke the Torah in front of their eyes, in front of God's.

2. The Torah needed to broken to make a way for t'shuvah. By showing that the Torah could be broken and then set right, we also learned that we could be broken and then made right.

This, of course finds its ultimate conclusion in Yeshua, through whom breaking is the prerequisite for wholeness-a process in which we are invited to participate

This year, in reading Ki Tissa I discovered yet another layer: God cares more about our relationship with Him than our relationship to the written word. Don't get me wrong, I will still kiss every holy sefer that falls to the ground...I will still fast if I witness a Torah scroll fall (chas v'shalom). Nevertheless, God had not a single word of protest at Moshe's act. He simply told Moshe to write a new one. However, the people started worshiping a calf and He was ready to call the whole thing off! God loved those made in His image more than the stone bearing the imprint of his finger alone.

I wonder if that's still true. I wonder if God would care less seeing me throw a TaNaKh into a river rather than seeing me make a god of anything other than Him. I'm humbled to admit I'm more likely to do the latter than the former (in fact I have). I pray we all let the Torah written within us be put back together when it breaks, when we break.

It's Been a LONG Time

Hello All!

I apologize for the long hiatus from writing for this blog. I have been deeply involved in other things and needed to take a break. I'm ready to be back but want to start by bringing some things to your attention.

Most of why I haven't been blogging has been to my regular weekly contributing to the Riverton Mussar website (see right) and to the Set Table publication (also, see right), which I am also editor of. I will be continuing to work there so, please feel free to check those out. It is exciting to have the honor to add my voice to the many wonderful voices already present there.

I am very happy to announce my mentor, Rabbi Carl Kinbar, has begun a blog: The New Messianic Jewish Learning (also, see right). This is one of the most exciting new blogs beginning and I encourage everyone to check it out.

I look forward to adding some new material of my own over the next couple of days!

What should we be focusing on?

It seems to be rather obvious that everyone has his/her unique calling toward advancing those things which are crucially important for the Messianic Jewish movement:

Mussar
Jewish-Christian relations
Hebrew education
Creative thinking
Developing halakhic standards
Developing siddur material and music

All of this goes towards the ultimate goal of developing community that addresses the needs and goals of the MJ movement for itself and the world.

I am preparing a book revew of Rabbi Elie Kaunfer's Empowered Judaism which I will be presenting late next month. As a part of this review I will be touching on the applicability of Rabbi Kaunfer's model for the MJ movement. As I have been engaging in this project some questions have manifested:

How can the way we move forward respond to our particular needs as a community (as opposed to making us look like a particular, already-existing, form of 21st century Judaism)?

What does being an empowered Messianic Jew look like...what should we be focusing on?

I'm looking for some feedback from all of you on your answers to some of these questions :-)
I hope some of the feedback I receive here will help me develop a more diverse and responsive presentation.

In The Likeness of Men

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Messiah Yeshua, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

For this reason also, God highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Yeshua every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Messiah Yeshua is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5–11 (NASB)

On the surface, Paul is encouraging the Philippians to live a life of humility and total devotion to God. The reason given is Yeshua’s humility, though being worthy of exaltation. By the end, we find Yeshua bearing the Name of God. One might ask which of Yeshua’s attributes we are to admire most: his humility or his equality with God. The answer is both. Yeshua is the fullest expression of what it means to be in the image of God, an appellation given to Adam in Genesis. The revelation of his Divinity comes to pass through the perfection of his humanity. Because he is the perfect man, he is the Son of Man . . . The Son of God. What we find is that his humanity is perfected in his divinity. But this is not so that we would not aspire to be fully human, but rather he teaches us to be more fully human than we could ever be. By connecting to his humility, we tap into what can be mutual between us and God: the capacity for sacrificial love.

When we submit fully to God we are responding to the sacrificial love he bestowed upon us. His sacrificial love was fully realized in his death, burial, and resurrection yet it was activated by his very birth. God gave us the fullness of himself completely over to us in the form of a little baby. God gave us an opportunity to truly see his face in one another as we were given privilege to see his own face. What child is this? Who is this King of Glory? Our Messiah Yeshua, the risen One, the crucified One, the Word wrapped in flesh, the baby wrapped in poor cloth, the Light of the world!

Chodesh Tov-Tevet

Chodesh Tov everyone!

I pray your Hanukkah has been filled with light and gladness...We are entering the month of Tevet where am Yisrael have the task to carry the light of Hanukkah into the upcoming days. We will celebrate renewal once again in Sh'vat (stay tuned...)

In the meantime, there are lessons to carry from Hanukkah that we are given space to reflect on in the seemingly "empty" month of Tevet (apart from one minor fast day on the 10th).

1. Our particularity has universal implications

The Jewish people live as a reminder of a unique relationship with God, one that is constantly growing and bearing fruit. Without the Jewish people, we could not consider God as faithful or loving (heaven forbid!). any time a nation or ideology comes up to espouse universalism at the expence of particularity the root of all things good in this world is removed: Love. Love requires particularity. I do love all people, but I also love my family uniquely. I care for both and one group does not have intrinsic value over the other but my focus is on my family. Without the uniqueness of love, there is no God of the Bible. God loves creation. God loves humanity uniquely among creation. God loves those who draw near uniquely among all people. God loves the ekklesia uniquely among those who draw near. God loves the Jewish people uniquely. God loves Mashiach Yeshua as the embodiment of all, uniquely.

Let us all never forget this in a world in love with universalism that the love of the all can only be real when there is the ability and acceptance of unique love.


2. Assimilation will not save us

The Jewish people cannot become more "palatable" to the world by assimilating. It is only in being who we are, deeply and fully that we can hope to represent God in this world.

Let us carry this into Tevet. When our hanukkiot are no longer lit may we be living hanukkiot when the Hanukkah products are taken off the shelves, and the token ode to our people has been forgotten.

3. A little light goes a long way

It doesn't take much light to light up a dark room. It doesn't take large numbers to keep the Spirit of God and our people alive. As our brothers and sisters in the Church worldwide will remind us on the 18th of Tevet (this year) it only takes one birth to change the world!

FFOZ-Latest Messiah Journal!

First Fruits of Zion (and Vine of David) is a profound resource for believers in Yeshua. All of their materials are worth checking out (http://ffoz.org/).

Particularly special, however, is their latest issue of Messiah Journal. In addition to a wonderful article on the ethics of Yeshua, there are two biographies of luminaries of Messianic Judaism: Franz Delitzsch and Rabbi Isaac Lichenstein. This articles are informative and timely, as FFOZ and VoD hope to release their special edition of a Delitzch Hebrew/English translation of the New Testament soon.

My personal favorite in this issue is a translation of R Lichenstein's, "The Talmud on Trial," which is an apologetic defese of the Talmud to the Christian world.

There are other excellent articles in this issue, including dicussions of "one law" theology and apologetics for Yeshua's Messiahship.

I cannot say enough good things about the journal or the thankfulness I feel for having the opportunity to take a sneak peek...What are you waiting for...check it out: Messiah Jounal Issue 105 Fall 2010

Chanukkah-Increasing in Holiness

(For any "ruachites" stumbling on the blog, this gives a good portion, though not all, of the material from my shiur last Shabbat)

Chanukkah holds two modes of redemption in tension:

1.The defeat of the foes of the Jewish people and God
2.The increasing light of the Jewish people shining forth into a dark world

The matter is best described in the famous machlochet ("disagreement") between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai. Beit Shammai say we start with eight lights and gradually decrease, while Beit Hillel say we start with one light and gradually increase all eight days. The first explanations given in the gemara are that Beit Shammai count by the number of days left while Beit Hillel count by the number of days that have passed. This has a certain philosophical import, but it's pretty straightforward. It is the next set of explanations that bring the conversation to another level:

Beit Shammai corresponds to the [Sukkot] Festival
Beit Hillel [say] we increase in matters of holiness

One of the unique features of Sukkot (another 8 day holiday if you count Shemini Atzeret as a part of it) is the large portion of bull sacrifices that decreases by number as you go through the chag. These sacrifices are understood to correspond to the nations of the world. Each sacrifice is a kind of atonement for the nations. It has been suggested that these sacrifices weaken the power of the enemies of Am Yisrael and God. Now we get to the heart of the matter: Beit Shammai are essentially saying that the focus of Chanukkah is the weakening of the foes who oppose us. Beit Hillel say the focus is on the ever increasing light that comes into the world beginning with one nation and growing from there: holiness increases.

Both are valid, but we go with Beit Hillel. The simple reason is, with very few exceptions, the halakha goes with Beit Hillel. We are being taught something even more profound however: It is not the weakening of our foes that is primary for Am Yisrael but rather our increasing light into a dark world. As our light increases foes will be vanquished. Nevertheless, light warms and brightens as much as it burns and we have a responsibility to focus on brightening and warming.

It is fascinating that the only Besora that mentions Chanukkah is Yochanan's. Yochanan, more than any of the others, focuses on Yeshua as the light of the world. From him, our great shamash, all the other lights of holiness are ever-increasingly illuminated. May all chasidei Yeshua remember that we are called to be the light of the world, set ablaze by the fire for God and mankind Mashiach set in us. May we be sure to have enough oil to keep our lamps lit. As we publicize the miracle of Chanukkah, may we join all of Am Yisrael to increase in matters of holiness.

Chodesh Tov-Kislev

Kislev is both the darkest and brightest month of our year. It is a month burdened with long dark nights, and at one point of our history the threat of destruction under the Greek empire. A great miracle happened in this month, however: a little candle blazed bright enough to shut out the overbearing darkness. That candle was the menorah...that candle was am Yisrael. As a commemoration of that victory we have an opportunity every year to make our light shine without impending doom as a catalyst, but rather the joy of being alive. May all of k'lal Yisrael be blazing lights this month...I pray that those of us who are still waiting for the bridegroom keep enough oil in our lamps to welcome him for the wedding.

Oral Torah: Lifestyle and Communication

In my previous post I discussed a variety of things which Oral Torah is not. I want to continue with what I feel are two helpful ways of understanding Oral Torah that may point us in a direction of clarifying it as a modality.

1. Oral Torah is a lifestyle-Oral Torah requires an engagement with TaNaKh and tradition that asks more questions than it answers and yet produces more clarity than confusion. The midrashim wrestle with deep existential questions and issues raised by the biblical text as it interfaces with the Jewish historical experience (even the more general human experience). Midrash does not produce dogma, but it does produce a way of engaging Scripture that values what it could be saying as much as what it actually does. Halakhic Oral Torah balances the midrashic/aggadic mode of living with the daily practical application of biblical law and ethics. Halakha understands biblical law to be applicable at the most basic level, and in every way possible. There is no room to have any aspect of life to be "secular." Oral Torah, in this sense moves beyond the realm of thought and engagement with Scripture and becomes a fundamental mode of living which consistently allows for the Written Word to say more than we could have ever imagined, and requires our attention in every facet of life.

2. Oral Torah is communication-This is more obvious. It is transmitted "orally," after all (in my next post I will discuss scholarship on what makes Oral Torah, well, oral). The texts of Oral Torah strive as much as possible to share the names of those who spoke the tradition. In fact, the titles of the earliest transmitters of Oral Torah are: Taanaim and Amoraim (literally, "speakers," in Aramic and Hebrew respectively). Almost all traditional Yeshivot require and encourage ongoing conversation about what various halakhot and midrashim mean. The conversation does not end, because to do so would diminish the very name of Oral Torah.

Gerard Bruns (a Christian Scholar) had the following to say about midrash, which I feel is applicable to Oral Torah, generally. This selection of his work ties together the view that Oral Torah is both, a lifestyle and conversation:

“At all events, my argument would be that we ought to think of midrash as a form of life…rather than simply as a form of exegesis; midrash is concerned with practice and action as well as (what we think of as) the form and meaning of texts...There is…no conflict of authority in midrash because in midrash authority is social rather than methodological and thus is holistic…the institution of midrash itself-rabbinic practice-is authoritative, and what counts is conformity with this practice rather than correspondence to some external rule or theory concerning the content of interpretation as such”

(Bruns, G. (1992). The Ancients. New Haven: Yale University Press, pgs.105 and 113).

In my section I will discuss ideas of the oral nature of Oral Torah.

Oral Torah-What it isn't

I have been inspired by one of my current MJTI classes to reflect a bit more on concepts around Oral Torah. I want to begin by sharing two underlying assumptions I bring to the conversation right from the get-go:

1. I do not believe legalism has anything to do with Judaism whatsoever. Among the critiques I have of developed mesorah (tradition/heritage), and there are some, legalism does not ever come up.

2. I DO believe Oral Torah is an indispensable componant to the life of any Jewish community and to attempt to completely do away with it is both unfortunate and impossible.

The question lies in what "it" is. I have a few thoughts for our consideration.

I plan on doing an extended "series" on this topic and so I will start with what I believe Oral Torah is NOT.

Oral Torah is not a collection of documents. In other words, I would say it is inaccurate to define Oral Torah as : Talmud, Tur, Shulchan Arukh, Midrash Rabbah, etc. The process of Oral Torah led to the creation of such works. Oral Torah, by definition, oughtn't be reduced to a list of documents.

Oral Torah is not a verbatim recitation of a series of laws given to Moses at Sinai. The Savoraim, who redacted the Gemara, preserved a number of metaphors, declarations, and parables to describe the differences between Oral Torah and Written Torah and they did not seek to describe anything apart from Oral Torah's "rootedness" and authority from Sinai (examples to come in the series).

Oral Torah does not "trump" Written Torah-Oral Torah was never in competition with Written Torah in the first place. To put them at odds is to fundamentally misunderstand the sages who first described them as unique componants of Torah.

In the coming days and weeks I will post more on what Oral Torah actually is (and it is multiple things)...first a mashal (parable):

" What is the difference between the Written Torah and the Oral Torah? To what can it be compared? To a king of flesh and blood who had two servants and loved them both. He gave each of them a measure of wheat and each a bundle of flax. What did the wise servant do? He took the flax and spun a cloth. He took the wheat and made flour. He cleaned the flour and ground, kneaded and baked it, and set it on top of the table. Then he spread the cloth over it and left it until the king would come. The foolish servant, however, did nothing at all." (Seder Eliyahu Zuta, Chapter 2)

To the Messianic Jewish Community: What Are We Waiting For?

Some of you may not be surprised that patience has been on my mind lately! I've been particularly struck by the patience God required of Avraham as I reflect on this week's parsha (Lekh Lekha). Avraham was not, by and large, an "arriver." He was constantly on the move, pursuing God's call. He had the requirement to be patient without the luxury of stillness. This is true of all of us. Each of us are waiting for something, some promise to come into fullness...

However, there was something that Avraham did not need to be patient about, and that actually enabled him to be patient about almost everything else:

Responding to God and hearing His voice...

Avraham was in constant relationship with God and responded to Him with urgency.

Unfortunately, I know I am sometimes "patient" with my response and relatioship with God. "I'll pray later...I know I should stop and listen for answers, but I'm busy right now...I'll eventually get to improving on that mitzvah, etc."

It is no wonder that my limited sufferings sometimes feel unbearable: I have a tendancy to set aside for later those the things I have access to right now!

I find this to be true on a communal level also....

Do we have to move slowly out of fear we might become to transformed too quickly?
Do we have to forgo living out of the identity we already have just because we need to patient for it to look how it's supposed to?
Do any of us really know yet how it's supposed to look?

I'm now wondering if we're being patient with the right things. I'm willing to be patient for every Jew in the Messianic community to daven out of a siddur. I'm not so willing to wait on davening with the awareness that in Yeshua we have inherited ALL THINGS, whether we're using siddurim or not.

It will take time for us to fully be the community we want to be, but I wonder if we're accidently opting out of the things we have inherited for the sake of getting to the external more quickly (not that any of us would have ever conciously expressed it that way). The truth is that I don't know. I'm just getting a sinking suspicion that we are in a season to shift our focus to the internal communal awarness of our inheritance so that we are able to pursue our current goals with true patience (as opposed to complacency, which tends to rule often).

I leave the question out there with the hopes of hearing some of your responses:

What are you waiting for...what should we be waiting for?

Religion

Theology can be a dangerous enterprise, albeit an important one. The process of determining boundaries and central themes of belief and practice usually ends with one group of people cutting themselves off from another. With all this inner-communal divisiveness, it is no wonder that the world is largely saying "no" to religion.

Interestingly enough, this is even a theme within religious groups! Whether it is drawing a distinction between Yeshua faith and religion, or Torah from religion, most current revivals (I've heard in Jewish and Christian groups-though it is more pervasive in certain christian groups) are growing because of the distance their leaders place between themselves and "religion." There's a big problem with this, however.

I am reminded of a song introduction from Tom Lehrer in which he sarcastically said, "I know there are people in this world who do not love their fellow human beings and I hate people like that!" There is a similar dynamic going on among the "anti-religion" religious of our day. There is a pervasive lie in society that "most wars are caused by relgion." Those who buy into this lie miss the fact that most wars have actually been caused by governments, and those governments use religion to justify their endeavors. People in power tend to want more. You take your average frum yid who bakes challah (who wouldn't hurt a fly) and put him in a position of power with an army at his fingertips, and see what happens...It would certainly be missing the mark to target his frummness as the problem (any takers on the pressure of having an army at his fingertips having something to do with it?). What has happened is that the need for control has been equated with the word, "religion." Whole new theologies which are completely foreign to the world of the Bible, as well as those communities that preserved it for us, are read into Scripture.

Glorifying religious systems is not a good plan, but denegrating "religion" and pretending Yeshua faith or Torah lifestyles are independant of religion isn't going to help much either.

What is the goal, then? Even those of us who admit we are religious would agree it is not to glorify religious structures instead of God.

I offer for our consideration that the goal of our faith and practice be to make God and Messiah known in this world. This requires systems that operate with God at the center. This means growing relationships with others that bear resemblance to the love Yeshua commanded us to have with our fellows. This means NOT conforming our own minds to match misconceptions of who we are and redifining ourselves accordingly, but rather being conformed into the identity we have in Yeshua. This is a spritual AND religious endeavor. I pray we may all take it.

Chodesh Tov-Cheshvan

For thoughts on this month, see, "Cheshvan," below.

Here is my quote of the month:

"and be not conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, for your proving what [is] the will of God -- the good, and acceptable, and perfect."

Romans 12:2, YLT

...any thoughts?

Cheshvan

Today is Erev Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan and (as is common in this blog) I am compelled to share some about this month...I'm drawing a blank!

Why is that?!

Because unlike every other month of the Jewish calendar, there are no particular holidays or special mitzvot. Once both days of Rosh Chodesh are over, we are on our own until next Rosh Chodesh. Even Iyyar has the Omer!

What's the theme of Cheshvan, then?

We have a tradition that Cheshvan is reserved for the building of the third Temple and Mashiach's coming-events so special they'll need a month all to their own. There is something very profound going on here. Mashiach's month is one in which all traces of uniqueness and specialness are hidden and/or reserved for a later time. Mashiach is supposed to be there but there is nothing overt that enables us to see him there. While all the parallels of Yeshua are swirling around in Tishrei, in Cheshvan we Messianic Jews are reminded of a stark reality that Yeshua is largely hidden (or missing) in our tradition. Our normal mode of operation-revealing Yeshua's mysterious presence with tradition-is very important, but it's not possible on Cheshvan.

All of Am Yisrael face Cheshvan with the same experience of its surface-level emptiness. All of Am Yisrael have to "make it happen" on Cheshvan, having been filled up during Elul and Tishrei. We Messianic Jews have an even more profound task ahead-revealing the Mashiach in Cheshvan so that he be known speedily and soon. May Cheshvan be a time we bring Mashiach more into the light, revealing him not as we often do (mysteriously present within our holydays and mitzvot), but as one who in a very real way is missing from the month our tradition reserved for him (whether known or not).