The Road to Emunah

Book Review

2011-08-04T16:12:00.000-07:00

B"H It has been quite a while since I posted anything, so I will post a book review. I recently finished reading The Trail to Tranquility, by Breslev Chassid Rabbi Lazer Brody. The book deals with anger, and does an excellent job of helping one to identify what level of anger one has, whether one is angry at HaShem, or at one's neighbor, or with one's self, and then goes into the steps to deal with that anger. This isn't a "don't worry, be happy" kind of book, the ideas and methods are concrete, and have already proved a benefit to myself, since, yes, I have issues with anger with myself. The book discusses developing spiritual awareness, and provides exercises for one to go through to help deal with anger, and move to a place of tranquility. This book is easy to read, and uses very direct, easy to grasp language to bring home the ideas on concepts contained within. I give this book two thumbs up, and highly recommend it, even if you don't think you have anger issues.

Pork, It's not for Dinner

2011-02-10T17:28:00.000-08:00

The topic of whether it is OK for a follower of Yeshua to eat pork, or any other unclean animal, comes up from time to time. There are two verses in particular that usually come up in the discussion.

The first is from Mark, “Mar 7:15 CJB There is nothing outside a person which, by going into him, can make him unclean. Rather, it is the things that come out of a person which make a person unclean!"” Unfortunately, this verse is taken out of its context. The speaker, Yeshua, and those to whom he is speaking, are Jews, and this plays an important role in the discussion. The topic is whether eating food with unclean hands, that is, hands that have not been made ritually pure, make the food being eaten unclean. The answer is no. However, pork is unclean to begin with, and neither the speaker, nor those to whom he was speaking would have considered pork as food. Unclean food remains unclean, whether one ritually washes their hands or not.

The second verse that is usually brought up, is the one from Acts referring to the apostle Peter’s vision. “Act 10:10-16 CJB He began to feel hungry and wanted something to eat; but while they were preparing the meal, he fell into a trance (11) in which he saw heaven opened, and something that looked like a large sheet being lowered to the ground by its four corners. (12) In it were all kinds of four-footed animals, crawling creatures and wild birds. (13) Then a voice came to him, "Get up, Kefa, slaughter and eat!" (14) But Kefa said, "No, sir! Absolutely not! I have never eaten food that was unclean or treif." (15) The voice spoke to him a second time: "Stop treating as unclean what God has made clean." (16) This happened three times, and then the sheet was immediately taken back up into heaven.” Again, context is extremely important. The subject of the dream is not food, but of people. HaShem, blessed is He, was telling Peter that He had declared Gentiles to be clean. Up until that very point, Gentiles were considered to be unclean. What HaShem did was to take people, who had once been clean (people were created as pure and holy), and then had become defiled throough idolatry, and made them clean again. The pig, and other unclean animals were never clean to begin with, having always been unclean.

Pig, or any other unclean animal is still unclean. To get a better grasp of this, we need to look back into Torah to understand why this is. Leviticus 20:25 states, “Lev 20:25 CJB Therefore you are to distinguish between clean and unclean animals and between clean and unclean birds; do not make yourselves detestable with an animal, bird or reptile that I have set apart for you to regard as unclean.” HaShem created the pig and certain other animals as unclean, and as He calls them, detestable, and He instructs us that if we consume them, we ourselves become unclean and detestable. G-d is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and He is unchanging. He does not make mistakes that need to be corrected at a later point in time. He created pork unclean, and He told us that if we eat it, we become unclean, and that is as true today, as it was when He first instructed those He chose for Himself regarding this matter.

So, why did He do it? The answer is really a simple one. It is a matter of obedience. Do we listen to Him and the loving instructions that He has given us, or do we try to justify in our own mind doing something that He finds to be detestable, because it’s what we want to do? G-d is not arbitrary, and He never gave us arbitrary instructions; He gave them to us so that we could make a choice between accepting what He has told us, or rejecting it and doing what we want to do. I’ve pointed it out before, and I’ll point it out again; Yeshua tells us that he did not come to abolish Torah, and that “Mat 5:19 CJB So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.” So, do we obey and follow Torah, or do we disobey and follow the teachings and doctrines if men? G-d left the choice up to us, and we are free to follow His instructions, or to follow our own heart.

Pork, it’s not for dinner.

Doctrine & Tradition

2010-09-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

The doctrines and traditions of man are side-trails that lead to nowhere. Learn from the Scriptures, and let HaShem, blessed is He, illuminate your path on the road to emunah.

Observe the Sabbath Day and Keep It Holy

2010-06-19T18:12:00.001-07:00

As I stated in The Road to Emunah blog post, the road to emunah is the road we take on our journey through life. And like with any journey, especially a long a difficult one, we require rest along the way. HaShem, blessed is He, has provided us with rest stops along the way in the form of the Sabbath.

In Genesis 2, we read, “Genesis 2:2-3 ESV And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. (3) So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. Because of His nature, HaShem doesn’t require rest, but He chose none the less to take the seventh day of the week and cease all work. He took a day of rest. He took the seventh day and firstly, He blessed it, and secondly, He made it holy, and set it as a day of rest from the very foundations of Creation.

We see in Exodus, “Exodus 20:8-10 ESV "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (9) Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, (10) but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.” Here HaShem is not just instructing the Israelites regarding the Sabbath, but reminding them of it, to keep it holy, and to refrain from making it common, like all the other days of the week. This applies to all Israel, whether native born or grafted in.

Maschiach Yeshua gave us quite a few pieces of very important information, and among them are that HaShem’s loving instructions have not been done away with (Matthew 5:17-19 ESV "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (18) For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. (19) Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.), and that the Sabbath was created for the benefit of Humanity (Mark 2:27 ESV And he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.). So we see that the seventh day, which was blessed and made holy from the very beginning, is a special day, a day of rest, not just physically but also spiritually, so that we can travel on the road to emunah without tiring. There are six days on which we can do whatever we want, and HaShem asks of us only one day in the week, the seventh day that He blessed and made holy, to cease from our routine activities, from working and shopping and going to and fro.

Why is this rest important? If you have ever gone on a journey, especially a long one that involves several days, you know that if you push yourself without resting, you get tired and cranky, and you start to make mistakes. If, on the road to emunah, you find yourself in a deep dark forest, or in some dismal swamp, or a desolate, barren wilderness, and you are tired, you risk straying off of the road, and getting lost, and possibly perishing, G-d forbid. But if on your journey you stop, and you rest and allow HaShem to rejuvenate and refresh you, you can continue on with a clear mind and focus, and be able to stay on the road. The Sabbath is like an inn along the road, that can only found at specific locations along the way, and which if you bypass you miss entirely. Those waypoints along the road are the seventh day of the week, the holy Sabbath.

So, in your travels, when the Sabbath comes, take time to rest. Do as HaShem instructed us in such a loving manner, and put down the tools of work, put away the lawn mower and the garden trowel, put away the vacuum cleaner and the mop, turn off the radio and the television, and rest. Take time to connect with HaShem at the time that He has set apart to meet Him, and you will find that your journey on the road to emunah will be much more bearable, especially when you enter those forests, swamps, and deserts that we find along the way. HaShem loves us, and He blessed and made this day holy for our benefit. He didn’t make a mistake that He had to go and change it at some later time, or rescind it; we need rest today as much as Adam and Chava needed rest in the Garden.

May your Sabbaths be restful and refreshing, and may HaShem, blessed is He, bless you and keep you all the days of your life!

Prayer as an act of Emunah

2010-02-13T14:43:00.000-08:00

Rabbi Yeshua said, “Matthew 6:6 ESV But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” There is something about praying in private, where no one else can see or hear you, that boosts one’s level of emunah (pure faith and trust in HaShem, blessed is He). When one prays in secret, and there is no one around to witness it, it becomes more intimate and more meaningful. Praying in public brings about a number of pitfalls, including praying to impress others, and praying empty words. In private, there is no one to impress, and there is no reason for meaningless words and fancy, religious speech. One can pour their heart out and our Heavenly Father will reward that act of emunah as is merited. HaShem is gracious and generous, and He will answer our private prayer as fits His will. We can pray a short, intimate, heartfelt prayer, or we can weep and groan, and let the Ruach HaKodesh speak for us, for as it is written, our Heavenly Father knows what we need even before we come before Him; He is just waiting for us to approach Him and draw close to Him so that He can show us His love and mercy. Truly He will see, and He will reward.

In the Image of G-d

2009-09-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

Do you know what the Creator of the Universe, blessed is He, looks like? You ought to! Go and look in the mirror now to get a better idea. In Genesis 1:26 & 27 Moses relates to us, “Genesis 1:26-27 CJB Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, in the likeness of ourselves; and let them rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the animals, and over all the earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the earth." (27) So God created humankind in his own image; in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.” The Hebrew words used are tselem and demuth, which mean image or likeness.

That is right, every human being, you, me, the President of the US, the beggar on the corner, everyone is made in the image and likeness of the King of the Universe. This idea becomes extremely important when it comes to dealing with our fellow human beings, because how we treat a person, or how we talk about them, becomes important. We are told, “Genesis 9:6 CJB Whoever sheds human blood, by a human being will his own blood be shed; for God made human beings in his image,” and (speaking of the tongue) “James 3:9 CJB With it we bless Adonai, the Father; and with it we curse people, who were made in the image of God.” What this tells us is that how we treat another person is how we treat their Creator; HaShem, blessed is He, and the humanity He created cannot be separated, as much as some would like to do. “As you do to the least of these, my brethren, you do to me.”

Each one of us has to stop and reevaluate how we treat others, because when all is said and done, we will be held accountable for how we treat others, and how we speak of them. If we speak ill of others, then we are speaking ill of the Holy One who created them, and if we mistreat them, even if they are our enemy, then we are mistreating the Holy One who created them. This applies equally in our daily lives, in religion, and in politics, and there will be an accounting for all of us, whether one is willing to accept that or not.

If tomorrow all of humanity were to stop what they are doing, and start treating their fellow human, regardless of religion, politics, race, or what have you, and began treating them with the respect, honor, and love that we are to give to our Holy Creator, truly the Messianic age would be upon us, and a world of harmony, joy, love, and peace would come into being. These may sound like the ideas of some strange mysticism, but they aren’t; they are the ideas of the Scriptures. In humanity reconciling itself to each other, we will reconcile ourselves to G-d, or more appropriately, He will reconcile us to Himself. That is His desire for us, that is His will, and that is what we should be striving for. May that day come soon, and may the Messiah establish His reign over us, so that we may live as He desires us to live, in love, peace, joy, and harmony.

Lashon Hara

2009-08-11T17:35:00.000-07:00

You probably recognize the situation, and you may have even participated in it. You see some friends, and you go to talk to them. “Did you hear what So-and-so did last night? I heard …” Gossip. Talking about someone else, or what one heard about them. It is called “Lashon Hara” or “The Evil Tongue.” Lashon Hara is speaking about someone, anyone, in a manner that is not edifying and uplifting. It is repeating something one has heard about another person, or even witnessed, and spreading it around to others, whether it was true or not. It is being critical of another, or condemning of them, often belittling them.

Many of us live in a society where it is part of the social culture to talk about others. There are even magazines, news columns, and television programs dedicated to talking about others and how they live their lives. But what few people realize is that it is wickedness to do that. When we talk about others and what they do in a negative and demeaning manner, we spread the work of the Adversary. When we wag our tongues in gossip or condemnation, we are speaking against not only the person, but against the One who created them.

Don’t get me wrong, we should always point out immoral or evil behavior, but we should never point out the person. It is not our place to do so, and when we do that, we step into the place of G-d and take His authority for ourselves. The King of the Universe, blessed is He, does not condemn us, but He condemns only our actions, and that is the example we should take for ourselves. It doesn’t matter if the person is a political or religious opponent, or a celebrity figure, or a member of our own family, we should always speak of the other person in an edifying and uplifting manner, no matter what kind of behavior that person exhibits, or what kind of belief they may hold. One can disagree with a political or religious view of another without engaging in Lashon Hara, and in essence, speaking curses over them. Even if the other person attacks us verbally or physically, we should still speak well of them, and bring glory to the Creator, who created that person in His own image. We should speak blessings over them, and in that way, we speak blessings over ourselves.

Here are a couple of scripture verses to consider regarding the matter. Yeshua’s brother Ya’akov taught, “James 3:3-11 MKJV Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, so that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body. (4) Behold also the ships being so great, and driven by fierce winds, yet they are turned about with a very small rudder, where the impulse of him steering desires. (5) Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. Behold how little a fire kindles how large a forest! (6) And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So the tongue is set among our members, spotting all the body and inflaming the course of nature, and being inflamed by hell. (7) For every kind of animals, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of sea-animals, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind. (8) But no one can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (9) By this we bless God, even the Father. And by this we curse men, who have come into being according to the image of God. (10) Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. (11) Does a fountain send forth at the same hole the sweet and the bitter?” Yeshua himself taught us, “Matthew 15:18-19 MKJV But the things which come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile the man. (19) For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies;” and “Matthew 12:35-37 MKJV A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings out good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings out evil things. (36) But I say to you that every idle word, whatever men may speak, they shall give account of it in the day of judgment. (37) For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.”

Whatever words we speak, they should be words that honor others, not for their sake, but for the sake of G-d in Heaven. Every soul that He created, He created perfectly, and every soul that walks this Earth has at one time or another strayed away from the teachings and precepts of G-d, and as such, each and every one of us is liable to judgment, so we don’t have room to speak about others and their behavior. If we walk the path of righteousness, the path to Emunah, then the words that come from our mouth will show those around us what is in our heart, and on the day that we come to stand before our Heavenly Judge, we will not be ashamed of the things we have said. May the reader be blessed, and may the One who created us in His Divine Image be glorified and blessed through our words and deeds.

Ahavah

2009-07-10T21:08:00.000-07:00

Maschiach Yeshua's emissary Shaul wrote, “If I lack love, I become merely blaring brass or a cymbal clanging.” (1 Corinthians 13:1) He was talking about ahavah (Greek agape), a love that is selfless and giving, that is self-denying. The Western concept of love is very limited anymore, and the entertainment industry has given people a warped understanding of what love is, placing it in a sexual-romantic setting. Ahavah is love, but love does not mean ahavah, because ahavah means so much more than what we understand the word love to mean. The King of the Universe, blessed is He, loved us so much that He gave us His Torah so that we would know what His will is. He loved us so much, that He gave us Maschiach, that we might not perish. Yeshua's ahavah for us was so great, that he gave everything he had for us, including his life. He didn’t take the lives of others, but gave his own. Ahavah is probably the most important characteristic we can display in our in our relationship with the Holy Creator, and with our fellow human beings, to show that we are walking the path that G-d has set out for us. Yeshua tells us to love Adonai our G-d (the first and most important commandment), and love our neighbors as ourselves (the second commandment), and that in doing this, all of the Torah and Prophets are fulfilled. To walk in ahavah is to subject our will to the will of G-d, to become His bond-servant, and to live according to His precepts.

Shaul wrote to us, “I may speak in the tongues of men, even angels; but if I lack love, I have become merely blaring brass or a cymbal clanging. I may have the gift of prophecy, I may fathom all mysteries, know all things, have all faith — enough to move mountains; but if I lack love, I am nothing. I may give away everything that I own, I may even hand over my body to be burned; but if I lack love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind, not jealous, not boastful, not proud, rude or selfish, not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not gloat over other people's sins but takes its delight in the truth. Love always bears up, always trusts, always hopes, always endures. Love never ends; but prophecies will pass, tongues will cease, knowledge will pass. (1 Corinthians 13:1-8 CJB) Look at what he says, “I may fathom all mysteries, know all things, have all faith — enough to move mountains; but if I lack love, I am nothing. I may give away everything that I own, I may even hand over my body to be burned; but if I lack love, I gain nothing.” Do you get it? Do you understand what he is saying? We can walk a perfect, Torah observant life, a life where we do absolutely everything perfectly according to Torah, but if we don't have ahavah, we have wasted our time. It means absolutely nothing at all. We might as well have mowed the lawn on the Sabbath, and then enjoyed bacon wrapped shrimp for dinner, because without ahavah, what we do, and what we live means absolutely nothing to our Holy Creator.

We need to be passionate about what we believe, especially concerning our walk with G-d, our Torah walk, and our walk with the Living Torah, and we need to cherish it, but when we forget ahavah, then we have done the opposite, and we have only brought HaShem's wrath on ourselves. When we forget ahavah, and we start to put down other people, because they don't agree with us, or because they don't quite get it, then we have turned away from G-d and what He has taught us. When we take on a hostile demeanor, and we attack others, even to the point where we spill their blood, we have forsaken our G-d and Creator, and become worshippers of the pagan gods, offering up human blood sacrifices. Nothing, absolutely nothing ever justifies forgetting ahavah when we are dealing with other people. I've been guilty of that sin in the past (for lacking ahavah is a sin), and I have been a recipient of such as well. Ahavah is more important to G-d than anything else we can give Him. If we walk Torah perfectly, but have not ahavah, or as Shaul said, “I may even hand over my body to be burned; but if I lack love, I gain nothing.” Conversely, if we make mistakes from time to time, but we are trying our best, when we fail and we do teshuvah (repent) with ahavah for our Father in Heaven, then He will overlook those mistakes, just like a human father overlooks the mistakes of his child, when the child doesn't get it quite right.

The next time we deal with another person, with another individual who is created in the image of G-d, we must consider carefully how we treat them. This is true even if we strenuously disagree with them, or if we even find them to be offensive. If we throw ahavah out the window, and we just let them “have it”, we will have only heaped up coals of judgment for ourselves, and Yeshua has told us that the Righteous Judge WILL hold us accountable for every word we utter, and every action we take. “Moreover, I tell you this: on the Day of Judgment people will have to give account for every careless word they have spoken; for by your own words you will be acquitted, and by your own words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:36-37 CJB)

Stop. Think. We must speak our words carefully, and with ahavah. Our actons must be actions done with ahavah in mind. We must not give HaShem cause to judge against us. In everything we do and say, we must do it with ahavah and with compassion, mercy, and justice, for those are the qualities that our L-rd and G-d is looking for in us. Truly, a day is coming when everyone will walk with their brother and sister in ahavah, Isaiah 2:4 CJB He will judge between the nations and arbitrate for many peoples. Then they will hammer their swords into plow-blades and their spears into pruning-knives; nations will not raise swords at each other, and they will no longer learn war. May Maschiach come soon, and may He bring those days of peace and joy with him, that we may all live together as neighbors, and not as enemies. May the light of His ahavah fill our souls and shine forth, bringing His light and shalom to the nations of the world.

'Y'varekh'kha Adonai v'yishmerekha. (25) Ya'er Adonai panav eleikha vichunekka. (26) Yissa Adonai panav eleikha v'yasem l'kha shalom.
[May Adonai bless you and keep you. May Adonai make his face shine on you and show you his favor. May Adonai lift up his face toward you and give you peace.]'

The Road to Emunah

2009-05-30T18:26:00.001-07:00

The road to emunah is the road we take on our journey through life, the journey that we begin at birth, and is a path that we continue along until our last day in this world. It is a search for meaning, and for faith. In fact, emunah in its simplest translation means faith, but it also means much more than that; it is a firm belief and trust in the one true Divine Creator, the G-d of Israel. The road to emunah is a journey which ultimately, and hopefully, brings us closer to our Holy Creator and King of the Universe, blessed is He; so close in fact, that we become echad (one) with Him. Not like a drop of water in the ocean, that loses its identity and meaning, but like an individual grain of sand on a beach, maintaining its own unique character and history, while becoming a part of the whole. The road to emunah is a journey that some reject, and others embrace with every part of their being. It is a journey on which some become distracted by the side-shows and carnivals of life, while for others, they lose sight of the goal and become mired in their own troubles and tests. When we continue to strive for emunah, ignoring the distractions and overcoming the tests, we find that we also discover peace and joy. It is a journey that we do not walk alone, a journey where we walk with others. Some of us, though, attempt the journey alone in the midst of the crowd. Some of us don't even realize that there are others on the path with us. The road to emunah is a journey where the successful are the ones who recognize their limitations, and are willing to allow others to help them along the way, and who, when they see a fellow in need of help, reach out a hand of friendship and assistance. The road to emunah crosses through vast deserts and thick forests, up the dizzying heights of high peaks, and down into the deepest valleys. Along the way are wonders and perils, rewards and consequences, and for those who complete the journey, a crown and wisdom. Blessed is the Name of the King of the Universe, who draws us to Him, and who walks with us along the path to Emunah, blessed is He!