KEHILAT NOTES 8/14/04
Devarim Re’eh 11:26-16:17
Acts 8 & 9
Jim:
There were questions last week about tefillim. They’re supposed to be Kosher, no scratches or mars, leather straps all black. You don’t put them on during Shabbat or Yom Kippur. They’re tied on during prayers, usually 3 times a day. You don’t tie them when you’re sick or having gas problems. They also have them for the hands. It’s bound 5 times. This fulfills a commandment in the Sh’ma. They’re buried when they wear out, just like Torah scrolls.
In the movie “A Time of Favor” the captain in the field has a PVC tube where he keeps his tefillim. The movie is in Hebrew with subtitles. It shows a lot of the way things are done, such as preparing for Shabbat and Havdalah.
You initially read the Torah portion and say “ho-hum” because it’s a repetition of what was in Exodus etc. But you can see things that you didn’t see them before, and things are tied in to it.
It’s important for us to establish a love of kindness as we try to do the Mitzvot. Then we’re not doing it just because it’s the law. Why do we do these things? Is it just because it’s a law, or is it because we’re feeling a love for our God beyond anything we’ve felt before? We do it now because it’s a good thing to do. We say the Sh’ma every night before going to bed. When we forget, we notice. Things happen, and are unsettled.
When I haven’t had the kippah or the tefillim on, I feel them. This isn’t mystical or magical.
In the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 7th years of the cycle of years the Hebrews were to bring sacrifices to Jerusalem. The other years they were to give those to the poor. You were to give with a joyous countenance. If you do it begrudgingly, it negates the mitzvah. Remember, in the 7th year all the money you loaned is gone. Even at the 61/2 year mark you’re supposed to loan, with a glad heart. Whose money is it anyway? We like to think it’s ours. But it’s all given to us by God.
The attitude with which one gives is intrinsic to the act itself. It is not enough to do chesed, kindness, we must love it. A good heart refers to an attitude which fosters chesed. The mitzvot are a means of perfecting our souls. This is a way to emulate God as he’s giving to us. The basis of all existence is God’s desire to do chesed for all his creation. Abraham longed to do acts of chesed. Even when he was in pain from his brit malah (circumcision) he was sad because he had no guests (Gen. 17:9ff). It was for that alone that Eliezer tested Rivkah (Gen. 24).
By having us bring things to Jerusalem, God taught us. Using material wealth for God brings feelings of joy. Openly and freely ask what we are to do with our wealth. Once we have internalized these lessons by bringing offerings to Jerusalem, in the 3rd year we are then using that learning to give the wealth to the poor. We must condition ourselves not only to do chesed, but to love it. We negate the good of the commandments by doing it just because we gotta.
Deut. 30:19 – choose life. That’s key. That’s the way it is with the commandments. To choose life is to accept the pain of living in reality rather than seeking comfort from escapes. We have to continue to choose good regardless of what the world is doing around us. There are many hiding places, like the bottle, drugs, etc. Going fishing might be an escape. Or it could be ok – we have to be sure why we are doing this. To strengthen ourselves, here are things we can do:
Be aware. We are making decisions all the time. Once we become sensitive to that we can monitor our decisions. Don’t let decisions just happen. Take control. Ask yourself “is this the decision I want to be making?”
Be your own person. Not like these seminars. Don’t accept society’s assumptions as your own unless you’ve thought them through and decided whether or not you agree. It’s like the Civil War – everyone north of the Mason-Dixon line was against slavery, everyone south was for it. These days, it’s the homosexual issue. People have already gravitated to one side or the other. By the time you put in your faith and make the decision according to God, people may be against you. Don’t accept society’s norms for you. Sometimes we get swung to one side or the other. We have to choose whether we’re on one side or another. Likewise, don’t be a slave to a past decision. Start each day anew. Constantly evaluate where you are in life.
Understand that the battle is between the aspirations of the body and the soul. The body wants to exist in perpetual comfort. When I’m upset getting ready for Shabbat the recliner starts looking very good. It can be hard. The ultimate desire of the body is to be comfortable. The ultimate desire of the soul is to what is right, to live fully. Identify with your soul; that’s the real you. Your task is to train your body to reflect the soul. Then you will enjoy true inner peace. You have to take care of the mitzvot first.
Ask what does God want? If you are using your power of choice to merge with the ultimate power of the Universe, that’s the ultimate form of living. It’s eternal. It’s the purest form of life itself. Make your will His will. You will be partners in perfecting this world.
Deut. 12:23-25 talking about eating the meat. Jews are going to be living dispersed away from the Temple. Be strong not to eat the blood. This is in order that it be well with you and your children after you. There are all kinds of reasons not to eat blood, mainly because God said so. People would believe that you eat the blood in order to be like an animal. Notice the words, that it be well with you and your children after you. This is important.
Deut. 12:8 think on it. This is the foundation and basis for our own private altars. We don’t sacrifice at home of course – that’s to be done in Jerusalem. It’s determined by you. Not everybody’s life is going to march to the same drum. It’s parallel to the idea of praying in your own closet.
Mikhael:
We are to be deliberate, say things purposefully, all for having a point. That is passing the Torah on, to raise up many students. We’re to teach our children and other students. That’s the purpose of the Kehilat.
Traits essential to developing a relationship with Torah:
Moses
– a unique fusion of humility and pride. He was more humble than
anyone, but a firm leader.
Joshua
– someone who is dedicated in devotion. Make the Torah part of all
thought processes.
Elders
— virtues of maturity and wisdom combined. Disciplined study.
Prophets
-- The first thought in our mind, the first action is our spiritual
value. It’s necessary to ensure that the knowledge of the elders
is more than the world’s wisdom.
Men
of the Great Assembly – making sure the Torah is passed on. So
Torah can be reflected not just to talmidim (students) but to all
neighbors and co-workers. I want the Kehilat to be more than the way
it is in most churches.
Read a few verses each day. They are in sections called Aliyot. You can get through the whole portion by investing maybe 5 or 10 minutes a day. Then we can allow to Torah to transform our souls.
Anatomy of the Soul:
Three primary lusts that all mankind must battle: wealth, sexual lust, and food.
From the lust for wealth many things evolve, including lying, stealing, etc. Sexual lust is a struggle for everyone. Food gives us fuel for the other lusts.
Paradox of the Body and the Soul:
Pr. 20:27 Spirit of the man is the lamp of the Lord.
Ex. 25:37 You shall make 7 lamps… The lampstand of the Lord is like a menorah within our souls.
Ps 139 You search me… (read the whole thing)
The lamp of the Lord is pictured many places in Scripture as having 7 branches, flames, points of light. Each point of light brings into our soul some of God’s teaching.
In Isaiah 11:1ff it’s mentioned too. All 7 spirits are listed.
These dwell in every person. There’s no place to flee or hide. They’re put within us to help discern between right and wrong. Sin is violations of Torah. Right would be the keeping of Torah. The light of God searches, exposes, and brings into our consciences the violation of Torah. It exposes the 3 lusts as they happen. It brings us to the place where the evidence and noticeable presence of God can be found within us in this world. It’s to make us lights in this world, in this darkness. It transforms us.
The word “shuv” means to repair, often translated as “restore my soul”. Bring it back to its wholeness. Bring it back to where it was before it was damaged and needed restoration, as we were in union with God before. Our flesh draws it back and damages it to where it needs to be restored.
Take a commandment and acknowledge it, submit ourselves to it. When Moses came down from the mountain, people said they would just do it.
Example: Two people who at one time loved each other, considered themselves to be best friends, almost one in the way they thought and lived. Something happened to create a schism between these individuals. They hadn’t spoken for two years. There’s been a lot of blaming, anger, resentment. I had an opportunity to speak with one who was going to be in the presence of the other within a couple of days. Didn’t want to be around the other. If we can take some of the commandments and apply them to a particular situation in our lives, it will restore us, and bring our soul to where it’s pleasing to God. Just recognize and acknowledge some. Lev. 19:18 – love your neighbor as yourself. Lev. 25 not to wrong a person through speech. Not to foster hatred, take revenge, or bear a grudge. Lev. 19:14 not to curse another believer. He made a decision to love the other, and prayed that he didn’t want to bear grudges, bring shame, etc. He woke up the next morning with love. They met, and everything was fine, because this person’s soul had been transformed. It really works.
Deut. 11:26 I set before you today a blessing and a curse. Even changing one word can make a difference. Some people put “or” in there. There’s a blessing AND a curse in every situation. Even winning the lottery can carry a curse with it. Both are there always. The line of distinction between what makes it a curse can be a hair's breadth. The moment we make a decision the curse is there waiting. That’s why Hashem tells us to be very careful about everything. When we take sometimes only the Pashat (literal interpretation) we miss something.
Deut. 12:8 there is a standard we need to walk according to. Many things are not written in the first five books. Ezra & Nehemiah gave a lot of information about how to do Shabbat. (Isaiah 58 is another good example.) Ezra sat down with them and explained everything God had spoken to Moses.
Food is a blessing, but it can also be a curse. There is a lust in our hearts for good food. It’s masqueraded in thoughts and statements. We make comments to ourselves. It’s too hard, too expensive, or difficult. Or there’s that statement that Yeshua ended the law and we’re free. Or that thing from Acts Chapter 10. That was talking about men, not about eating anything we can eat. Forbidden animals to eat in another portion a few weeks back. You can eat beef – but can a bull be clean or unclean? It’s noted in the oral Torah that it all relates to the manner in which they die. Deut. 12:21 you may slaughter animals from your herds and flocks as you’ve been instructed. Where does God show us how to slaughter animals? It can only come from the Mishnah. We have to have this document that we can trust, that is speaking to us. What if we thought it was ok to tie an animal to a pickup truck and drag it?
Both ceremonially clean and unclean people can eat this. But still blood is the life (nefesh) v. 23. Pour it out on the ground like water.
Deut. 14:21 don’t eat something that dies of itself. But you can sell or give it to a foreigner. Because it died of itself, it’s no longer acceptable to you to eat – it will make you unclean.
Not eating a kid boiled in its mother’s milk has to do with compassion. You don’t slaughter a mother and child in each other’s presence.
Shekitah = ritual slaughter.
Shoktet = someone who does this.
Apparently it’s the most humane way to slaughter an animal. I was asked to come over and slaughter a sheep for a friend last week. They eventually caught the sheep, and she apparently knew what was going to happen. In a slaughterhouse, they can see what happens to the ones ahead of them and freak out. In this case some horses were taken away so they wouldn’t see it. You have to pull the head back and cut through the trachea all the way back to the vertebra in one stroke. I said a prayer over the animal as it was laying down kicking. Then she lay perfectly still, exposed her neck, and didn’t even open her eyes. She laid calmly and peacefully. The blood was going into the ground. When I prayed the prayer, God’s shalom came into her. She didn’t move from that point, and even lifted her head back. I then hung her from a tree branch. I removed her intestines, and there was no blood inside her. Her flesh was whitish inside.
She was first of all an animal that was permitted to eat. If she had died on her own, she would not have been permitted, as ritually impure. There’s a prescribed manner through the revelation of Moses. If we eat her without having been killed properly, we become ritually impure. Lev. 11:9 – even one who touches the carcass becomes unclean until evening. Lev. 11:40 must wash his clothes.
This oral Torah was passed down through the chain listed above. Ezekiel even mentioned not having eaten anything that died of itself. Ezk. 44:23; 22:26
Lev.17:15 must wash and bathe after touching a corpse.
Lev. 22:8
This teaching is not comfortable for a lot of people because it’s hitting the most powerful lust we carry in us. The difference between clean and unclean is a hair’s breadth. If you had witnessed the passing of the sheep you would have seen her filling her Torah obligations.
NEXT
WEEK: Devarim Shoftim Judges Deut. 16:18 – 21:9
Isaiah
51:12 – 52:12
Acts
10 – 12
After this, there is a month-long gap in the
transcripts. They resume 9/18/04.