Torah Portions

Numbers 22:22: Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary (a SATAN) against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. If the only definition of satan is a rebellious angel, then the […]

This week’s Torah Portion is about a Levite who gathered a company of Israelites to contend against the Lord’s anointed, Moses and Aaron, in the wilderness. They pierced a God-given boundary and reaped dire consequences.   This rebellion is unique because the earth opened and swallowed up the rebellious congregation, their tents, and their families. They […]

At the beginning of Genesis, in chapter one, verse one, we have two things present when Light was born. The Word of God was present and spoke, “Let there be Light,” and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. At the appointed time of Shavuot, which we just celebrated a few days ago, God […]

I have yet to meet anyone claiming this Torah portion as their favorite because it contains curses. Tell us about blessings all day, but curses are for the birds. We will interrupt our regular programing of re-creation patterns to talk about a de-creation pattern. Let’s closely examine Leviticus 26.  Day One: In the Torah portion Vayetzei, […]

Here we are, knee-deep in Leviticus, the heart of the Torah. Leviticus is where people who do not understand the Ancient Near East culture try to invalidate Judaism as an inhumane religion. If you wanted to judge Judaism based on its cultic practices, you would have to consider the traditions of the surrounding nations.   The […]

What a fantastic Torah portion this is! I want to take you on a simple walk through the growth of a tree since this is the imagery God uses to describe His kingdom. Day One-A seed is planted. Day Two- The seed coat and endosperm dies, so to speak, giving its nutrients so that the embryo […]

  We are quickly approaching what seems to me to be a recreation pattern in the annual moedim given to us in Leviticus 23. On the fourth day, the luminaries are in the heavens for ot and moed. Moed is the Hebrew word often translated as season. However, an appointed time is a better definition. […]

This story shows just how good God is. I was at my Torah Club class, a weekly dive into the Torah Portions put on by First Fruits of Zion. What do you know, one of the teachers, Aaron Eby, starts talking about how the work of the tabernacle mirrors the creation pattern. My ears perked […]

We will take a little pause in our Torah Portion to talk about a new beginning found in the story of Purim which is found in the book of Esther. I love the story of Purim, the salvation of Israel by the hand of Esther and Mordechai. Let’s take a walk through the Megillah to […]

Here is a fourth new beginning found in Exodus, and the fact that it is the fourth one is just perfect! If we look carefully at the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, we will find a re-creation pattern. Out of Israel, a Kingdom of Priests is born. They are to be a light […]