Beth El of Manhattan, Two-Testament Synagogue

Heaven-commanded all Israel - even orphans and widows in our midst - to be "altogether joyful" during the holiday of Sukkot. Yet, certain realities of human life in the real world affect how to live in a healthy way into this commandment. It is worth thinking through carefully - and so we do, as best we can. May it all be for shalom! Hag Sameakh!

"Accepting the Lord" (Psalm 2 & Psalm 24) involves exactly that: we come to be "saved" (in right standing with God) when we "accept (God as) The Lord" of our lives. We live in a genuine 1-on-1 Theocracy, not merely in theory. We cannot obey our King until we hear him. Somehow, some way, we need to come know we have "shema'd" (heard) so we can "shema" (obey). We explore our relationship with God and with the Atoning Messiah in some depth this way today. May it be for shalom!

Since there was a mini-service on 16 May with the rabbi absent, and no service on 23 May due to Memorial Day – we offer this in place of the usual sermons. Trustee Sherry Shieh shares some Scripture, prayers and thoughts on Jerusalem Day; and Elder Scott Poticha shares a brief "drasha" entitled, "Names," pondering the week's Torah portion, "Ba-Midbar." Shavuah tov & shalom!

When God commanded us as Israel to do a "Shmittah" or a Jubilee year (every 7 years let the land rest without being farmed for a solid year) ... God also promised to give us enough food in the sixth year for a 3 year buffer - with other sources of food promised as well. Messiah Yeshua we are told in Matthew 16 called this dynamic in "the lesson of the loaves" – and urged us to learn it, and not forget it. So - here - we ponder into this pattern to weave to deeply into our soul's expectations. Shavuah tov, and Enjoy!

We are told in Romans 8:20-21 that God has woven **apparent** futility into the fabric of existence in the material universe. Yet, Scripturally, it exists in a kind of spiritually "quantum" state where futility both exists, and does not - at the same time.

Concerning what *seems* futile to both King Solomon (see Ecclesiastes 1) and The Messiah, Himself (Isaiah 49:4) –– we are also told, "God has put all your tears in a bottle: none are forgotten" (Psalm 56:8) "even if you give a cup of cold water" to someone who needs it, "you will not lose your reward." (Mark 9:41).

The tragedies that begin the Book Of Ruth end with the birth of line of King David and the Messiah. What is our Creator, our Father in Heaven, up to?

Sermon Subtitle: "Limping With The Limp With Which God Has Made Us A Limper" Aaron, the first High Priest, lost both his sons early in the Exodus journey; and by the direct hand of God; and afterwards served for 40 years as the first High Priest of Israel, the central mediator between Israel and the God who had directly slain his two boys. How did Aaron's soul and spirituality survive this terrible contradiction of heart he surely "never saw coming" before it befell him? We reverently explore how God places what Rav Saul called "a thorn in the flesh" as part of the path by which God ushers "out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son." May it be for shalom.

Going beyond reduction to simplicities and soundbites, the Scriptures tell a story of Israel's national origin that is highly complex and filled with stages. It is not slavery to beach-vacation in one neat step. The Exodus has much in common with many group-origin stories: God creates a "camp" (the slaves in Goshen, Gideon's 300, the Israelites committed to King David, the Disciples of Yeshua) ... and gives them a cause. Then, God schools them in precept and experience in the new life and journey He is offering them. And in Messiah - the life is indeed new! We become "a new creation." We feast on this one! May it be for shalom!

In the Torah portion this week there is an enlarged "nuun" (Hebrew Letter "N") in every Torah scroll's Exodus 34:7. This number in Hebrew represents the number "50." The Sages of Israel say there is profound reason this "Nuun" is made large to grab attention: It has to do with the limits of how much anyone - even a Moses who knew God so intimately - can "know" God to the full reach of God's identity. We explore this aspect of knowing God today. Enjoy, and Shalom!

A double holiday with great meaning for Two Testament synagogues all over the world. God has declared certain things will happen. Not might happen - WILL happen. Declarations of such certainty are certainly worth exploring! Enjoy & Shalom!

"And you shall command ..." the week's Torah portion starts. Commands, vows, and promises powerfully elevate ideas by eliminating alternative options. A thing is the only thing we may do, or must not do. Beyond his - as God did with Moses this week – He also chooses to put us as humans into positions in which we must issue commands, and make or stand by promises or vows. We explore this way of God communicating with us in Torah Portion, "Tetzaveh."