What about Yom Kippur?

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THE LAW OF THE CAPTURED WOMAN

I love this passage in par'shat ki tetseh. If only all armies followed this sort of integrity and had this godly respect for human life.

In a sense, we are each of us, and as a congfetional body as the captured woman by Hashem. We know by these verses that even though He captured js He treats us with respect!

THE DOUBLE INHERITANCE OF THE FIRST-BORN AND THE REBELLIOUS SON

I was laying awake last night when my thoughts returned to my reading in Par'shat Ki Tetseh about the inheritance of the first-born and the rebellious fist-born.

You see, I am a first-born and should receive double inheritance, but my decision as a teenager to become a disciple of Yeshua the Rabbi from Nazareth caused my family to reject me. Not only I did not receive a double share, but I didn't receive anything at all.

There is no problem though, because my riches are not of this world. If I stay faithful to Him, I will rule and reign with him in the World to Come and receive my double-inheritance in my Mashiach, who owns the cattle on a 1000 hills.

Mashiach Himself is a firstborn son. He is a king who was denied His throne: the throne of Israel. Like the rebellious son, He was accused of being a drunkard and a glutton and like the rebellious son was rejected by his brothers and made subject to the death penalty.  The irony is that whereas He was not rebellious but obedient in all things even unto death, we are more like the rebellious son who deserves to die. He took upon Himself the just reward of our waywardness.

But Mashiach did not regard this present world. He had His eyes on the world to Come in which He will also receive His just inheritance: the throne of Israel, and with it: the world!

May it be soon Abba, even in our days!

PAR'SHAT SHOFTIM: ESTABLISHING RELIGIOUS LEADERS: A TORAH COMMAND!

The Torah commands us to establish religious leaders upon ourselves (Par'shat Shoftim).

 

The western civilization seems to more and more reject the notion of religious leadership. Due to the history of religious leaders of all religions abusing their authority, we can understand people's position. Gamaliel the 3rd, of the Yavneh Academy in 2nd century Israel, is notorious for setting in stone the edicts that would until today push the nascent Nazarene movement away from its Jewish brothers. Later, the Gentile Nazarenes, egged by religious leaders such as John Chrysostom and later Constantine took over the baton persecuting the Jewish Yeshua disciples, practice continued by reformer martin Luther who stood against any Jewish practice within his idea of discipleship to Yeshua.

 

It is important to realize that the problem was not the command to establish religious leaders upon ourselves, but rather the evil inclination of man towards independence from leadership, especially the leadership of the Torah.

 

Looking at the landscape of the religious world today, we can safely say that in all monotheistic religions (and monotheism is a Torah teaching which stems from Hashem's proclamation in a polytheistic world, "Hear ye Israel, the Lord your God is one God"), both the idea of individual autonomy and of leadership have failed to unite their religious bodies. An over emphasis of leadership leads to separatism and sectarianism, while the principles of autonomy lead to spiritual anarchy and heresies.

 

As usual, the wise balance of truth lies between two extremes, a wise balance elusive to us due to our human weakness and prideful tendencies to want to individualize ourselves.

 

Soon, the true king Messiah will return and teach us all the wise precept of leadership. In those, we will not fear to establish leaders upon ourselves because righteousness will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas.

 

May it be soon Abba; even in our days!