Rabbi's Drash

Reeh

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5 7 6 9

Numbers 30:2-36:13
 

Rabbi Kahane was extremely radical in his stance for Torah. He was strong in his rhetoric against the foreigners in Israel and especially those who desecrate the land with their pagan practices. He was also very harsh against the native born Israelis who did not observe Torah. Today I would like to call this message "Anachnu lo benoni" ynwnb al wnxna "We are not Mediocre". Yeshua spoke about this in the book Chason (Revelation) 3:15-16: "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth." I also want to make emphasis using Deut. 13 trying to understand who we are today as believers. After 2000 years the Jewish community is more against Jesus than ever. One of the greatest battles we have to deal with is conversion to another religion willingly or unwillingly. In the last 2000 years of Christianity, terrible crimes were committed in the name of G-d through forced conversions by torture or death. In this portion Moshe is warning the people that G-d has put before us blessings and curses. Let us not be confused with terminology. These blessings and curses have nothing to do with Salvation. He is talking to people who have already been chosen by G-d. When you belong to G-d something happens to you. It is as if the spiritual blinders have been removed and you can see things as you have never seen them before. One of the first things that you realize is that you have been chosen. If however, you insist that it is you who chose G-d instead you remove Him from having power over your life. You are the one who is in control and salvation becomes a condition that depends upon yourself. The Rabbis too struggle with this point. They believe that you deserve and can work for your own salvation and receive rewards if you are good and are cut off if you don't keep the rules. Yet at the same time, they believe that all Jews are saved simply due to the fact that they are Jews. They also have many disputes about who is a Jew so the entire issue is one of confusion. If we examine the issue of "being chosen" we can see that the Jews were a people chosen by G-d through the Isaac the child of the promise of Abraham. There was however another child of Abraham's-Ishmael and his descendants are not the children of the promise. Really Abraham represents the father of all those chosen and not chosen. The issue of the two trees as described by Rav Shaul in Romans 11:16-24 almost caused him to be stoned by the religious Jews because they wouldn't look at another people who could be also chosen. Rav Shaul repeated this idea over and over that not because one was born to the chosen people meant that they were in any way better. In fact, it is that they are more responsible since they had 3500 years of more experience with the G-d of Israel and should know that they were called to be a light to the nations. Rabbi Kahane also spoke about the greatest mistake that we make is that we blame G-d for everything that happens to us instead of blaming ourselves. If you as a child touch a hot stove and burn yourself after you have been warned, whose fault is it? It is the same with G-d. He warned us and we suffered the consequences of our own disobedience. One of the expressions we hear in the Jewish community today is that Messiah will appear when every Jew will keep one Shabbat all together. This is true since we cannot do it and will not do it until we are a broken people and are crying out as Yeshua said "Baruch habah b'Shem Adonai"- Blessed is he that comes in the Name of the Lord. The problem stems from translating the Torah as Law. It is far more than Law. G-d gave us Torah out of His love for us to teach us our beginnings, our history, and our future. It would prepare us through His regulations and principles for living under His loving protection. Our suffering becomes a warning for us that we need to return to His covering and protection. I call it "A Warning for Good or Bad". G-d is not standing there pointing His finger and waiting to say "I got you." He is a loving Father who wants us more than anything to trust Him. Who do you really trust? In an organization, a job, a boss, your parents, your children…? Are you being obedient to His call or are you doing whatever you want? Deut. 13:1 tells us not to add nor take away anything from His Word. Yeshua said the same thing in Matthew 5:17 -20 "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." Yet every, I repeat every religion adds or takes away from G-d's Word, to the point of killing for the sake of defending their human doctrines…not for G-d's Word. In chapters 2-5 we read that G-d is testing us. He wants us to hold fast to His Truth and to banish the evil from within us very much like Rav Shaul wrote in 1 Cor. 5:9-13. Even to the point of killing them. Before Rav Shaul had his experience on the road to Damascus he was doing that. He believed that he was removing idolatry from Israel when he got rid of the Jews who believed that Yeshua was the Messiah-Immanuel- G-d with us. The same thing is happening today when radical Jews like Rabbi Kahane and his followers, Jews who consider themselves to be zealots, take a stand to defend G-d's Word. The sad thing is that Christians have given them so much ammunition to do that. When a Christian tells a Jew that he believes that Jesus is G-d and then puts up a picture of him in their home or church, he is breaking the 2nd commandment; not to make any images of G-d in order to bow down and worship it. The Christian church with its missionaries under the veil of holiness and goodness have been trying to get Jews to abandon the ways that G-d set down for them and to adopt another god. This is impossible for us. Modern Judaism which started in the Middle Ages with Rashi in reaction to Christianity has changed much in the Word of G-d trying to defend their right to remain Jews. Isaiah 52:12-53:12 is one such example. Up to Rashi, the rabbis understood this to mean the Messiah but afterwards, it was interpreted as referring to the nation of Israel in reaction to the Christians using it to refer to Jesus Christ. This is not about casting blame. In Romans 9, 10 and 11, Rav Shaul is crying out to the Goyim Tsaddikim (Righteous Gentiles) to bring our people back to G-d. They have the responsibility to do that... How can they do that if they are trying to introduce us to a pagan god? Even in our ignorance G-d is keeping us from being seduced to a wrong religion. He is now bringing us back and we need to keep doing what G-d has called us to do …to be "or l'goyim"-a light to the nations. Again I call this message "Anachnu lo benoni"…we are not called to mediocrity. He called you for the best…not according to the world but according to His standards. Do not confuse the two. Do not envy the world but have pity on it instead. We are not called to be part of the world-only to be in it. It is as if you have been reborn into royalty…spiritual royalty. We cannot do what everyone else does. There is a price to pay but it's His choice for us and He paid the price. Are you complaining about your life? Are you not satisfied? There are four things I want you to look at: 1) If you blame your parents, it is time to stop. Remember the 5th commandment. They gave you life and it is time to grow up. If you are unhappy, there is something that you are not doing. Don't blame others but examine carefully the areas you need to change. 2) You cannot change on your own. You need heavenly help. You need to acknowledge and confess the areas of change to G-d and He will give you freedom. 3) Next act upon it. Once the first two things have been done and there is no longer a problem, then live like there is no longer a problem. 4) If you cannot find release through this there may simply be areas where you need to say," Your Grace is sufficient for me.      May G-d add blessings to His Word!      Rabbi Percy Johnson      Netanel ben Yochanan      [nxy [b lantn      © 2008 Use by Permission      Kehilat She’ar Yashuv

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