Podcasts about shma

Noisy Doors, Leaky Roofs, and the Mark of the Beast Last week's newsletter was written to be very simple. This week...not simple. We're tying together our lessons on the Salt Covenant, The Scarlet Harlot, and the basic menorah pattern of Workbook One. So no, it's not simple, but it's not too difficult, either! Try printing it off and studying it over two Shabbats, referencing the suggested videos or workbooks as you go.   ***   So what do noisy doors, leaky roofs, and the mark of the beast have in common?    Excellent question! I'm glad you asked.   In order to see the connection, we have to know a little something about each of them. If you want a refresher on the Beast, consider signing up for the Creation Gospel Workbook Four class coming up with Kisha Gallagher (scroll down for info) or watching the Scarlet Harlot series on YouTube. You can also refresh your memory on the meaning of the mezuzah with our "More Than" YouTube videos. We'll cover a few basics here to tie it together.   “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me…”   Yeshua standing at the door knocking is a huge hint, especially on the heels of John's sobering prophecies of the mark of the beast in Revelation. If we can't see the link to the world commercial system as “Babylon” in Revelation, we're not trying very hard. Revelation begins with memos to the seven assemblies emphasizing their need to “overcome” the tribulations John is about to describe,   • “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Re 3:14-21)   We can conclude that how to overcome is described in Revelation, but we can also conclude that an ignorance of the Torah will make our understanding only partial. Revelation is written as an incredibly intricate re-telling of the Torah portions. Without an understanding of those Torah portions, it will be difficult to be identified as one of those who overcome when they “keep the testimony of Yeshua and the commandments of God.”   If Yeshua knocks on the door of one of these potential overcomers, he knocks on a door that is marked by a mezuzah, which contains summaries of the commandments. To pull in the themes of our Salt Covenant study over the last several weeks, a mezuzah is a sign that those inside the house know to be salty within, tenderly and joyfully salting their commandment-keeping. Because they are pliable to the work of the Ruach HaKodesh within the house, they are ready to meet the challenges of the Beast outside the house.   The mezuzah is their reminder that they've committed their coming and going, especially their work and business dealings, to preserving their covenant with the Father with salt, for savory salt is our faith, the tenderness we have toward His Word. It is our desire to draw close to Him through our sacrifices, not begrudgingly or to be admired by others, but to give glory to the Father. Yeshua reminds us that he also wants to draw near to our salty selves, so he stands at the door and knocks.   Just imagine that the mezuzah on your door was Yeshua standing there each day inquiring if he may accompany you in your coming and going.   Because he is. The custom is to touch one's fingers to the mezuzah and kiss the fingers. It demonstrates affection and tenderness toward the Shma and other scriptures in the mezuzah, which remind us in our coming and going Who the only Source of wealth is. The name Shaddai is inscribed on mezuzot, which is the name describing His attribute of nourishment and supply.   By touching the mezuzah, we also are reminded like the Israelites in Deuteronomy Eight: “Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.' But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers...”   The mezuzah on the door marks the boundary between what happens when we go into the world and how we are inside our homes. If we are at war inside our homes, then how will we war against the principalities and powers outside our homes? The shin on the tefillin reminds the person Who opens the Heavenly windows to drip down zuzim, or coins, transactions, in our lives. Zuz is found in the word mezuzah, but the letter shin is found on both the mezuzah and the prayer tefillin.   Because they are worn in prayer, it helps one to adjust those trade prayers according to Yeshua's model…daily bread…forgiveness…holiness…His will and glory on earth…protection from temptation to sin. Ever notice how many famous actors, musicians, and sports stars end up unhappy, addicted, disconnected from the real world, and just plain weird? We are not spiritually wired to receive the glory of Heaven, only to reflect the glory of Heaven outward with salt. Of course they get weird and depressed!   Our labor and business dealings outside the home must be salted and lit from within first. We must extend ourselves from within, or it will eventually be evident to the world that we did not exert ourselves according to our wealth of salvation and light.nIt is thought that the marks of tzaraat (leprosy) that appeared in a home were a result of greed and stinginess. When the priests removed everything inside to the outside to quarantine and scrape the stones, everyone would see the wealth concealed inside, especially if they'd pretended not to have enough to help the needy brother. The “best third” is where the mezuzah is placed on a door, the upper third, like an upper room. The mezuzah marks the right hand frame of the door about 2/3 of the way up: “Mezuzah guards the Covenant, and so observing the mitzvah of mezuzah leads a person to truth and faith, the faith which is absolutely necessary when conducting business.”    “And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,' And they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.'” (Zec 13:9)   Yeshua invokes this prophecy in Zechariah when he warns the Laodiceans in Revelation Three that he is standing at the door knocking: “Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich…”   This is where we see another connection to the mezuzah. Zechariah prophesies of the “third part.” This is thought to be the remnant that will come through the tribulation refined by fire instead of destroyed by it. They have not succumbed to the Beast's commercial activity, buying and selling excessively or on Shabbat (see CG Workbook Four or Workbook Two). Traditionally, the mezuzah is affixed at a pointing on the right side of the door 2/3 of the way up the door. To relate the thirds, the mezuzah is like the principle of the “upper room” we've studied over the last several weeks.    Ancient Israelite houses typically had two levels, a ground level where beasts were stabled and practical household work such as cooking and weaving took place, but the family quarters were on the second floor. An extra upper room had to be built either on the second floor or atop the family quarters, making it an upper third. More simply, an upper room was where the family made space for visitors, a space that wasn't there, yet they created the space through hospitality.   Those upper rooms in Scripture were places associated with hospitality toward the righteous visitor as well as resurrection from the dead, like the stories of Elijah, Elisha, Dorcas, and Eutychus. A mezuzah reminds us not to neglect making those spaces of hospitality for the righteous visitor, who represents hospitality toward Yeshua and the Living Word. Yeshua's noisy knocking on the door is a daily reminder that when we make an “upper room” of hospitality, then we are actually tapping into the Garden of Eden. The resurrections in the upper rooms of Scripture show us this.    On the mezuzah is either the Name Shaddai, or it is in the shorthand of the first Hebrew letter shin. Not so coincidentally, the tefillin that are placed on an Israelite male's forehead and arm are also marked with a shin (see above). The mezuzah and tefillin remind each day:   • Hear, O Israel! The LORD our God, the LORD is one! And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Dt 6:4-9)    Deuteronomy 8:11-19 reminds Israel not to be deceived when they become comfortable and prosperous in the Land, for their wealth will deceive them into thinking they earned it with their own hand. Remember the gumballs?   The tefillin on the hand and arm are a reminder that it is YHVH alone who gives the power to acquire wealth. Likewise, the mezuzah is marked with a shin for Shaddai, the One who provides sustenance, nourishment to Israel. Strangely, the shin is made of three Hebrew letters vav joined at the bottom. The gematria value of vav is six. 666.    Whaaaaat? Yes, it's the mark of the beast. But that's not the whole story. The mezuzah and tefillin are NOT the mark of the beast. The mark of the beast is when you get very close to being a salt covenant household or person, yet you have something lacking. Salt. Your daily work is not to acquire the wealth of the Kingdom to the glory of the Father, which can only be done through the power of the Ruach HaKodesh moving through the Word in you. The mark of the beast is when our daily work is to acquire the object of desire for our own sake. We can hear the disingenuous, unsalty believer when he says, “If God will just let me win the lottery, I'll build orphanages and feed the poor all over the world.”   And he probably will. But he will do it only in order to feed his own desires first. He's not really seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. He's pursuing his own kingdom, offering God a deal that the Kingdom of Heaven will benefit from the scraps. Such a person will not give commensurately with his newfound wealth, for he is stingy at heart. Unsavory salt. Tepid. Lukewarm. Blechhhh!   The secret of the 666 is that it is only the letter of the Torah without the Ruach. The shin is like a menorah when the backlight of the Ruach shines through it (again, see Workbooks 2 & 4). Remember last week's lesson on the gumball machine? It was what you couldn't see that had to occur before what you could see. The Ruach precedes the letter of the Torah. Together, with the spiritual backlight through the literal three vavs, it yields seven, the seven- branched menorah. One tefillin has three vavs, but its mate has four! 3 + 4 = 7. Compare to the above: To be unsalty is 666. To be salty is to shine the seven spirits of Adonai described in Isaiah and Revelation:     •  wisdom   •  understanding   •  counsel   •  Spirit of Adonai   •  power   •  knowledge   •  reverence    Yeshua, the Living Word, is the doorkeeper of the overcoming household. We never want to reduce him to someone there to reward us with wealth. The word mezuzah comes from a Hebrew word meaning movement, going back and forth. The historical zuz was a coin, about a day's sustenance for one adult:   • Weight: About 4.26 grams (0.137 troy ounces) of silver. • Value: Historically equivalent to a day's wage or a portion of food/clothing, (e.g., 200 zuz was a year's support).  • Modern value would be about $20.   "Give us today our daily bread." Not the lottery.   Not so coincidentally, a mezuzah means more than movement. It is rooted as well in the movement of a beast: What starts out as a beautiful creation of spirit (upper room), soul and body (lower rooms), can degenerate into the mark of the beast. Instead of letting the Ruach drip into our lower rooms of work and family, the upper room is sealed off because of our stinginess and greed. Esau and Jacob had very different motives in asking for blessings. We can become unsavory, relentless hunters like Esau, the Red One, nicknamed Edom because he was red and hairy all over like a beast, a man of the field who loved hunting. We don't want to become marked by the Red One, never satisfied, even on Shabbat.   “…and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.” (Re 13:17)   Nehemiah's struggles with those returning to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, especially in their continued buying and selling on Shabbat, are the reference point. He eventually had to order the gates of Jerusalem shut and locked to prevent the vendors from coming in with their goods. How glorious will it be when the gates no longer need to be shut, for no one will even entertain the idea of disobeying the King of King's command to rest and be with Him in Jerusalem on Shabbat.   Knock, knock.   In short, the mark of the beast is on one who buys and sells on Shabbat. Because there is no trust in Adonai to provide the many things we crave, we continue to work on His holy day. Someone who believes in God may have salt, but it is not savory. One who believes in God enough to do what He says is savory salt. Salt allows us to draw near the upper room of the Garden. I'm sure Yeshua is having wonderful conversations with the righteous souls of those who just didn't understand Shabbat, but they were faithful in what they knew. They are learning while they wait, not rebelling.   Ezekiel describes what went wrong in the “upper room” of the Garden of Eden, a hospitable place for those who want to draw near to the voice of Elohim, but a place from which rebels are purged. The “trader” was cast out of the heavenly fiery stones and tossed into the lower realms of strange, profane fire, that is, fire used by those estranged from the upper room fires of the Ruach above:   You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, and you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. (Eze 28:13-16; 18)   Ezekiel 28 drops a hint to where we should be vigilant: “By the abundance of your trading [H7404 rekula] you became filled with violence within, and you sinned...”   ????? rawkal' [H7402] to travel for trading   Our trade is part of work for our living, yet, the abundance is the danger zone. If our inner fire craves more wealth than we are willing to give back to Heaven commensurately, our going back and forth, zuzing about, to trade our time and effort for goods, power, and esteem becomes idolatry. In Hebrew, moving back and forth is zuz [zuz is also a coin], the root of mezuzah. The mezuzah marks the door where we travel back and forth each day to obtain our portion of wealth.   When our pursuit of wages and wealth pushes the testimony of Yeshua and the commandments of God beneath our feet instead of allowing them to drip daily from the upper room of the resurrection Ruach that raised Messiah from the dead, we sin. Our house's upper room should be designed to drip to lower floors of daily living, or we become unsavory salt.   We trade our precious lives, our time, our effort, to accumulate an abundance of things, not necessarily money, but what money will purchase: entertainment, security, comfort, esteem, power, knowledge, appeasement, etc. These things deceive us into believing they will bring joy and peace, but we know it's a lie because they never do. They are simply offered to the strange, consuming fire of the soul, but are not refinement of the spirit, which is everlasting peace and joy. It brings savory salt, light, and contentment from within.    The ancient investment advice is:   • Invest 1/3 of your income in tangible property such as real estate, durable goods, secure long-term investments  • Invest 1/3 in your daily labor, your paycheck, investments that provide a faster return, a little riskier, easily liquidated • Invest 1/3 above the mezuzah in the Kingdom of Heaven by lending to the poor, giving to needy, investing time in spiritual causes along with Torah study, prayer, service, discussing Scripture with others, etc. Even kindness is an investment!   We should not become “stingy” with Heavenly principles in the world of work, which would reflect a home's lower rooms sealed off from the upper room. The upper room should drip the testimony of Yeshua and the noisy commandments of God through the power of the resurrection Ruach. It leaks into the lower rooms of family and work!   The leaky roof is what we need to carry into the world of work and business as well as our relationships. An outwardly successful business producing wealth that can only be spent before the resurrection of the dead is not successful at all.    Preparation in the home under the disciplines of the Ruach HaKodesh will be evident in the place of business, not as a pile of 666 cash, but as peace in drawing near the Father, salt. The physical work is simply a means of building the Kingdom instead of demanding that the Father bless our work to build our own kingdoms of security, esteem, attention, comfort, intellectual stimulation, etc. Whether we have little or many zuzim, all we need to remember is that we must give commensurately with the wealth the Father drips down upon us.    If we can be responsible even with earthly money, which has no righteousness within itself, then we can be responsible with Heavenly riches.   If we can't be trusted to give commensurately with our wealth when there is no Temple service, and much freedom is granted in when and how much we give, then how can the Father trust us with His riches when the Temple on “the mountain of God” descends? The Temple services and the Land of Israel are places of extreme exactness in managing work and wealth.   Manage earthly zuzim faithfully, and we will inherit the Heavenly riches to manage.    One of my favorite movies is about a Quaker family, from the book Friendly Persuasion. One of the funniest lines is, “Friend, thee's got a squeaky door upstairs.”    Friend, thee's got a squeaky door downstairs, too. Yeshua is knocking, reminding, inquiring, requesting if we will open to his voice. It is the same voice of Elohim that walked and talked in the Garden, an upper room.   When we open our doors to him, we release the water of the Word from our upper rooms and let it fill our homes, workplaces, and relationships. If we move about, may we zuz for the glory of the Father.    Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

Harav Yussie Zakutinsky Shlita

Learn all aspects of Halacha through our 10 minutes a day Kitzur Shulchan Aruch Yomi with Rabbi Ya'akov Trump. This series is kindly sponsored by the Moshe Group & CA In the zechus of רבקה בילה בת נחמה שיפרה And in honor of Rabbi Trump Photo by Eldad Carin

Learn all aspects of Halacha through our 10 minutes a day Kitzur Shulchan Aruch Yomi with Rabbi Ya'akov Trump. This series is kindly sponsored by the Moshe Group & CA In the zechus of רבקה בילה בת נחמה שיפרה And in honor of Rabbi Trump Photo by Eldad Carin

This morning we focus on one of the themes in the second paragraph of Shma, which is in our Torah portion, Eikev. I reflect on the aspect of Tisha B'Av that hurts and shatters me personally more than any other. And we analyze the prayer we say now that hopefully heals that pain. Michael Whitman is the senior rabbi of ADATH Congregation in Hampstead, Quebec, and an adjunct professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. ADATH is a modern orthodox synagogue community in suburban Montreal, providing Judaism for the next generation. We take great pleasure in welcoming everyone with a warm smile, while sharing inspiration through prayer, study, and friendship. Rabbi Whitman shares his thoughts and inspirations through online lectures and shiurim, which are available on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FLcsC6xz5TmkirT1qObkA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adathmichael/ Podcast - Mining the Riches of the Parsha: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mining-the-riches-of-the-parsha/id1479615142?fbclid=IwAR1c6YygRR6pvAKFvEmMGCcs0Y6hpmK8tXzPinbum8drqw2zLIo7c9SR-jc Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3hWYhCG5GR8zygw4ZNsSmO Please contact Rabbi Whitman (rabbi@adath.ca) with any questions or feedback, or to receive a daily email, "Study with Rabbi Whitman Today," with current and past insights for that day, video, and audio, all in one short email sent directly to your inbox.

Angels don't have free will—so whats so impressive about a "robot" doing Hashem's bidding?

Does Hashem really need us? Yes—but only because He set it up that way. Rabbi Stark is currently giving the daily Hachzek mussar shiur. To access click the link below: WhatsApp Chat Free Sefer Hachzek App (Apple) Hachzek App (Google)

Shema contains both the essence of Torah and the instructions with which how to experience it.

The importance of having a mission statement and why "shema" is the Jewish one.

In this shiur we discuss: 1) Maaser on money given as a gift for specific items, 2) Displaying names by donations vs. anonymous, 3) 6 hours for aged cheese, 4) When to have purim seudah this year when purim is on Friday, 5) Order of talis and tefilin if i accidentally touched the tefillin first, 6) Keil Melech Ne'eman by Shma, 7) Brachos on food when changing locations, 8) Why do Chabad have such large tefiilin, 9) Birchas Hashachar after davening, 10) Origin of saying "L'Chaim"

Send us a textRabbi Yoni Fischer is the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Matisyahu (Fischer's) in Eretz Yisroel. With his deep empathy, unique ability to understand others, and enormous amount of love of yidden, Rabbi Fischer is a Rebbi to many, helping guide buchrim to living a happy healthy life with Hashem.Rabbi Fischer was previously the founder and Rosh Yeshiva of Lev Shlomo in Baltimore, then as Menahel Ruchani and Rebbe in Yeshiva Shor Yoshuv and also was the Director of Shma boys camps. He has also ran a wonderful rehab for Jewish young adults in Yerushalayim.Rabbi Fischer is known for his daily afternoon shiurim on mussar, chassidus, purity of speech, and a Torah-based perspective on emotional health. There are over 700 shiurim available on all podcast platforms.To listen to more of his Shiurim go to RabbiYoniFischer.comTo join the WhatsApp community

Jacob & Sons in Egypt. what was the challenge שמע addressed?

למה בכה יוסף על צווארו של יעקב ולא התפלל קריאת שמע ויעקב אכן קרא? האם מותר להתפלל קודם נץ החמה והם עדיף להתפלל במניין קודם זמן תפילה או להתפלל ביחידות בזמן הפרי חדש והפרי יצחק מהו הזמנים של משיכיר והנץ

The Bride's Wilderness Laundromat The wilderness journey brings up all sorts of practical questions. Practical questions often lead to impractical, but not impossible, answers. Although the Israelites looted the Egyptians, it is unlikely that the garments lasted for forty years in the harsh desert. How did they keep up with the laundry? What about the children born who would need clothes of their own? Having done my laundry in the Aravah several times, I know from experience that clothes hung on a line to dry have a coating of sand by the time they dry and I take them down to fold them. The pillars of cloud and fire, as well as the cloud cover in which the Israelites walked, provided supernatural assistance in these practical questions. The hint is found in the following verses: “Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.” (Dt 8:4) “I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot.” (Dt 29:5) Egyptian clothes surely wear out. The sandals even more so with a nation on foot. These supernatural garments and shoes must have come from somewhere. The Midrash explains: “From where did they obtain clothing to wear throughout the forty years that the people of Israel spent in the Wilderness? They were from what the ministering angels clothed them. Thus it is written, ‘I clothed you (Israel) in rikmah (Ezekiel 16:10). Rikmah is a royal garment.” (Midrash Rabbah Shir HaShirim 4§23) The hint in Ezekiel is that these splended, durable garments were garments of royalty, fit for a royal priesthood. They were also fit TO a royal priesthood. It was thought that the supernatural garments grew with the person like a shell grows with the chilazon, the snail from which techelet (blue) dye is extracted for tzitziyot to remind Israel of the mitzvot. From infant to adult, the garment grew. This helps us understand how the commandments grow with us when we continue to set our affection on what is above, learning to use what is below for the service of Heaven. The commandments become bigger and stronger in their protection and beauty as we grow because they are growing with us! This passage in Ezekiel is thought to describe Israel's bridal agreement to betrothal at Mount Sinai when they said, “We will do and we will hear”: “Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt [wing, kanaf] over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine,” declares the Lord GOD. Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. I also clothed you with embroidered cloth [rikmah] and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth.” (Ezekiel 16:8-13) Israel the Bride was at the time for “love,” or able to Shma, to hear and to love with all her heart, soul, and strength. At that time, the ministering angels were thought to clothe Israel with miraculous garments that did not wear out and give them the sandals that did not wear out. They were also given two royal crowns, one for “we will do” and one for “we will hear.” After the golden calf, those crowns were taken away and the “jewelry” were retrieved, but the miraculous royal garments and sandals remained upon them. (Dt 8:4) Like the Kohen HaGadol, every member of the royal priesthood was clothed in “garments of honor and glory.” The Midrash asks: But did the clothing not need washing? “The pillar of cloud,

This morning we discuss the highly-organized structure of Rosh Hashana prayers: three themes, each with 10 verses to express and describe. We investigate the one verse that does not fit into this scheme: Shma Yisroel, and we explain how this verse, while not mentioning God's sovereignty, is actually the deepest essence of it. Michael Whitman is the senior rabbi of ADATH Congregation in Hampstead, Quebec, and an adjunct professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. ADATH is a modern orthodox synagogue community in suburban Montreal, providing Judaism for the next generation. We take great pleasure in welcoming everyone with a warm smile, while sharing inspiration through prayer, study, and friendship. Rabbi Whitman shares his thoughts and inspirations through online lectures and shiurim, which are available on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FLcsC6xz5TmkirT1qObkA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adathmichael/ Podcast - Mining the Riches of the Parsha: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mining-the-riches-of-the-parsha/id1479615142?fbclid=IwAR1c6YygRR6pvAKFvEmMGCcs0Y6hpmK8tXzPinbum8drqw2zLIo7c9SR-jc Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3hWYhCG5GR8zygw4ZNsSmO Please contact Rabbi Whitman (rabbi@adath.ca) with any questions or feedback, or to receive a daily email, "Study with Rabbi Whitman Today," with current and past insights for that day, video, and audio, all in one short email sent directly to your inbox.

A dvar Torah on parashat Eikev by Ezra Furman. With rain, love, the Ronettes, the Shma, Rabbi Chanina and awe.

Rabbi Schoonmaker - Shem MiShmuel 07: The Tikkun of ערי מקלט The Tikkun Krias Shma by Shapell's Rabbeim

This is the full Shma and Veahavta

Harav Yussie Zakutinsky Shlita

NCSY bus trips!? Hugging your niece & women singing during Kriat Shma!?!

Author Rabbi Michael Strassfeld encourages us to reorganize our thinking about—and reengage our lives with—Judaism. Rabbi Michael Strassfeld has served the Jewish community for over five decades, in numerous capacities, including as an educator, writer, editor, rabbi, and community leader. He is the author of Judaism Disrupted, which is being published on the 50th anniversary of his breakthrough best-seller that sold over 300,000 copies, The Jewish Catalog. Rabbi Strassfeld, the son of a Modern Orthodox rabbi, was ordained as a rabbi over 30 years ago by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He served as rabbi for a decade at Congregation Ansche Chesed and for 14 years as Rabbi for The Society for the Advancement of Judaism. For nearly 20 years he was the leader of High Holiday services at Congregation Ansche Chesed. He also was their director of programming and development for four years, and their executive director for three years. He served as a member of the faculty of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality for 15 years, the executive director of the Jewish Counter culture Oral History Project for three years, and the founding chairperson of the National Havurah Committee for three years. He also was a founding vice-president of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School, a board member of Beyond Shelter, a coalition of Manhattan synagogues concerned with homelessness, and a founding chairperson of Learning, a young adult education brochure of seven Manhattan synagogues. He has had articles published by Tikkun Magazine, Shma, Hadassah, CLAL, Response Magazine, and other publications. He also edited the Second and Third Jewish Catalogs (1975,1979), authored The Jewish Holidays (1985), co-authored A Night of Questions: A Passover Haggadah (1999), and authored A Book of Life: Embracing Judaism as a Spiritual Practice (2002). He recorded Songs to Open the Heart: Contemplative Niggunim (2003). He also edits a free weekly newsletter about Judaism, available on his website michaelstrassfeld.com.

Harav Yussie Zakutinsky Shlita

This series is a project of the Jacob Lights Foundation. To support this and other ongoing projects of the foundation, please consider making a donation via Zelle to jacoblightsfoundation@gmail.com.

Reb zusha and Reb Meilich and we all might be koifers with Hilchot Shma continued

Kriat Shma and an Incredible Mashal about our relationship with HaShem!!!

Lenny Goldberg Bible Classes https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/Kdl2zQPL8Bb The Jewish Truth Bomb 21AUG2023 - PODCAST

Shma - Torah by Temple Isaiah

Based on the weekly Parashat Torah reading called Shemot, which includes Ex 1-6 I'll be borowing several ideas for this Selah from a teaching on this week's Parshat reading by Roger Hadad from the Mikdash Congregation in High Point, NC. The title of Roger's teaching was Slave or Slave, You Choose, which is a great title, but I'm titling this Selah episode False Freedom. In America we're all about Freedom and our individual rights, and while there's some truth and good in that, there's also some real danger and false thinking associated with that, especially when we merge and equate those American ideals with freedom that's described in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament. In Exodus 1-6 we learn that Israel has been slaves for a long time (400 years), slaves You start thinking that way, slave mentality  Reactive-your freedom to choose is taken away, you start thinking that way, limited Pessimistic-everything is bad and you have no control Lacks spiritual discernment- while you're working you stop thinking about spiritual things and focus on natural needs Ex 14:11-12 - Israelites complain, this becomes a pattern in scripture again and again Reactive, pessimistic and lack of spiritual discernment  Numbers 14:1-4 Ex 16:2-3 In ancient history if one country conquers a land, you can kill them, tax them or enslave them We often think of the story of the Exodus all about God's people becoming free from slavery in Egypt. Interesting that Lev 25:55 "For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God."  THis seems to go against the idea that God's goal was just to set the Israelites free. A little side note here I used to be a big collector of Christian t-shirts and one of them had a picture of a the Liberty Bell and it said "Let Freedom Ring" then quoted Gal 5:1 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free" Rom 6:18 "And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness." 1 Peter 2:15-16 "For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. " What follows the Ten Commandments in Ex 20 is very interesting, a command on servitude  Ex 21:2-6  If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing. 3 If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. 5 But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,' 6 then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever 6 years slave, then free 7th year Spiritually 7 is a number of completion, like the 7th day of creation Gods Master Plan (4 steps) Redemption (Passover a type of Yeshua's blood sacrifice to pay for our sins) Baptism - outward expression of our acceptance of that redemption Tutor - sometimes referred to as sanctification, walking out this new life ____  Law is tutor  Prov 16:3 "Commit  your works to the Lord, And your thoughts will be established" Prov 16:9 "A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps" This is new thinking  Prov 4:23 Prov 3:6-7 "In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall [a]direct your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil." This is not slave thinking, it's free thinking, it's what Torah gives you to understand  Yeshua fed the 5000 with a miracle Then He speaks hard truths (eat flesh, drink blood), people started leaving  Prov 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;" John 6:68 "But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." Graduation moment, He set them free, like year 7 Once they are complete set them free Ex 21:5 " But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free," Crucial moment in the Gospel I love my master I will not go  Ex 21:6 "then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever" Doorpost bc of commandments Deut 11:20, part of the Shma says we are to write his law on the doorposts and on our gates. THis action of driving the awl through your ear on the doorpost seems to indicate You become one with the law Jer 31:33, also quoted twice in Hebrews "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" John 14:15 " “If you love Me, keep My commandments" John 15:14-15 "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you" In Christianity, it's often said we now only have 2 commandments, to love God and to love others.  But what does that mean?  Do we answer that question with our own ideas and or with what God has told us. It's said there are 613 commandments in the Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible, and there are over 1,000 commandments in the New Testament.  Jesus, Yeshua actually raised the bar on many of the commandments in the Old Testament saying that not only should we not physically commit adultery but that we should not lust in our hearts. So the choice we have, in my opinion, is not slavery or freedom. The choice is to whom will you be a slave, to sin or to righteousness. To Pharoah or God. In our day, you might say to Babylon or to Israel. So the 4th step in God's master plan is to voluntarily be a slave to Yah the one and only God. How does this look? Trust the Lord and He will direct Your steps Process is messy, when we get off track we get right back  Plan your life so don't fall into the ways of the world  Or as my friend and mentor Filip says when you fall, fall towards the cross not away from the cross. One of my favorite songs I used to listen to on a contemporary CHristian compilation, I think it was called WOW hits from Lifeway, was a song "I am free" by Newsboys.  THe chorus has 3 lines: And I am free to run (I am free to run) And I am free to dance (I am free to dance) And I am free to live for You (I am free to live for You)  Now there's nothing wrong with running and dancing, and I'm glad they included the line that I'm free to live for you, but I was personally always a little confused by these lyrics, and wondered to myself what is freedom in CHrist really all about? I'm definitely still trying to figure this question out, but this 4-step master plan Roger talked about is getting a lot closer to the truth, I believe, than what I've thought of as freedom in the past. Application at work, when we go to work do we demand our rights and our freedoms?  Well, if we do we probably will be looking for another job.  I understand the government has established rights for workers including minimum pay, a safe workplace and other rules that are good, but should be our heart at work be about demanding our rights? How about our personal relationships, should our focus be on our individual rights and getting what's best for us?  Trust me, I've been there and found out how foolish and wrong that attitude is. I recently learned what's called the Humility Prayer from Dr. Joe Martin who leads the RealMenConnect Podcast and the RealMen300 group I'm a part of.  It goes like this: "I can only make requests, I have no rights, I walk by faith, not by sight.  And If my requests are denied, I endure by seeking Your face.  And anything I receive is by your grace".   E Encouragement Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go"   L Laugh  from REaders's Digest "A little boy, whenever he visited his friend's house the boy's grandmother was engrossed in the Bible.  He asked his friend why she was always reading the Bible and the boy replied " I don't know but I think she's cramming for the finals".   A Adversity and affliction Psalm 119:67 "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word" There can be many benefits of afflication and adversity.  As they see in my RealMen300 group, Tribulation brings revelation.  H Judges 17:6 - "In those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did what we right in his own eyes" Reminder to make sure you staff at work is well trained and know what they need to do and how to do it.