The Torah Portion

In this week’s Torah portion we are looking at Deuteronomy 7:12–11:25

Moses continues his closing address to the children of Israel, If they will fulfil the commandments of the Torah, they will prosper in the Promised Land they are about to enter.

Moses rebukes the people by reminding them of their creating of the golden calf at Mt Sinai, the rebellion of Korach, the sin of the spies, their angering of God at Taveirah, Massah and Kivrot Hataavah (‘The Graves of Lust’).

God sustained them with daily manna from heaven for 40 years – teaching them that man does not live on bread alone, but by the utterance of God’s mouth.

Moses describes the land they are about to enter as “flowing with milk and honey,” blessed with the “seven kinds” (wheat, barley, grapevines, figs, pomegranates, olive oil and dates), and as the place that is the focus of God’s providence of His world.

In the second chapter of the Shema, Moses describes the rewards of fulfilling God’s commandments and the curse of their neglect (famine and exile).

Ekev is the source of the precept of prayer, and includes a reference to the resurrection of the dead in the messianic age.

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Preparing to enter the land.

What is God asking of us?

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Teen Takeaway with Jay Belshaw – Ekev

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Moses on Mt Nebo

Darius Gilmont

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Sweet and Pungent Asian Roast

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The Statutes, Testimonies and Judgements

The Statutes, Testimonies and Judgements

One giant cluster of grapes

The Seven Species

Barley

Wheat

Grapes in the Negev

Grapes in Mt Carmel

Grapes in Israel

Figs

Pomegranates

Olives

Olives

Dates Jordan Valley

Dates

Date Honey

Date Honey

In this week’s Torah portion we are looking at Deuteronomy 3:23–7:11

Moses tells the people of Israel how he implored God to allow him to enter the Land of Israel, but God refused, instructing him instead to ascend a mountain and see the Promised Land.

Continuing his “review of the Torah,” Moses describes the Exodus from Egypt and the Giving of the Torah, declaring them unprecedented events in human history. “Has there ever occurred this great thing, or has the likes of it ever been heard? Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire . . . and live? . . . You were shown, to know, that the L‑rd is God . . . there is none else beside Him.”

Moses predicts that in future generations the people will turn away from God, worship idols, and be exiled from their land and scattered amongst the nations; but from there they will seek God, and return to obey His commandments.

Our Parshah also includes a repetition of the Ten Commandments, and the verses of the Shema, which declare the fundamentals of the Jewish faith: the unity of God (“Hear O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one”); the mitzvot to love G‑d, to study His Torah, and to bind “these words” as tefillin on our arms and heads, and inscribe them in the mezuzot affixed on the doorposts of our homes.

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Moses Says Goodbye, Plus, a Beatboxed Shema!

Building an intimate relationship with God

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Moses reminds Israel of the 10 Commandments

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Moses – I pleaded

Oven Baked 1 Hour Shabbat Menu

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Mt Nebo

View from Mt Nebo

View from Mt Nebo

Mezuzah

Tefillin

In this week’s Torah portion we are looking at Deuteronomy 1:1–3:22

On the first of Shevat (thirty-seven days before his passing), Moses begins his repetition of the Torah to the assembled children of Israel, reviewing the events that occurred and the laws that were given in the course of their forty-year journey from Egypt to Sinai to the Promised Land, rebuking the people for their failings and iniquities, and enjoining them to keep the Torah and observe its commandments in the land that the Lord is giving them as an eternal heritage, into which they shall cross after his death.

Moses recalls his appointment of judges and magistrates to ease his burden of meting out justice to the people and teaching them the word of G‑d; the journey from Sinai through the great and fearsome desert; the sending of the spies and the people’s subsequent spurning of the Promised Land, so that God decreed that the entire generation of the Exodus would die out in the desert. “Also against me,” says Moses, “was God angry for your sake, saying: You, too, shall not go in there.”

Moses also recounts some more recent events: the refusal of the nations of Moab and Ammon to allow the Israelites to pass through their countries; the wars against the Amorite kings Sihon and Og, and the settlement of their lands by the tribes of Reuben and Gad and part of the tribe of Manasseh; and Moses’ message to his successor, Joshua, who will take the people into the Land and lead them in the battles for its conquest: “Fear them not, for the Lord your God, He shall fight for you.”

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Moses reviews history

What Does It Mean To Have Faith?

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Moses reminds Israel of things that happened in the desert

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Moses Speaks to Israel (19th-century engraving by Henri Félix Emmanuel Philippoteaux)

Delicious Cheese-cake Dip

Babka Four Ways

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Kadesh Barnea

Plains of Moab (Arabah)

Plains of Moab (Arabah)

The Letter ‘Heh’

The Rift Valley from Dead Sea to Red Sea

Water from the Temple through the Mt of Olives Valley to the Dead Sea

Bethany beyond Jordan

Bethany beyond Jordan

Bethany beyond Jordan

By way of the Red Sea – Deuteronomy 2

Brook Zered, Ar and Arnon River

Brook Zered

Ar

Arnon River

In this week’s Torah portion we are looking at Numbers 33:1–36:13

The forty-two journeys and encampments of Israel are listed, from the Exodus to their encampment on the plains of Moab across the river from the land of Canaan.

Also in Massei: The boundaries of the Promised Land are given, and cities of refuge are designated as havens and places of exile for inadvertent murderers. The daughters of Tzelafchad marry within their own tribe of Manasseh, so that the estate which they inherit from their father should not pass to the province of another tribe.

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A Biblical case study on urban planning?!

The Art of Negotiation

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Killing our ego and evil inclination

A list of places in the desert the Israelites stopped at on the way to Israel

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Looking Into The Land

The Promised Land

City of David with Israeli Master Chef Tom Franz

Massei Midrash

The Levite Cities

The Layout Of A Levite City

Location Of The Six Cities Of Refuge

In this week’s Torah portion we are looking at Numbers 30:2 – 32:42

Moses conveys the laws governing the annulment of vows to the heads of the tribes of Israel.

War is waged against Midian for their role in plotting the moral destruction of Israel, and the Torah gives a detailed account of the war spoils and how they were allocated amongst the people, the warriors, the Levites and the high priest.

The tribes of Reuben and Gad (later joined by half of the tribe of Manasseh) ask for the lands east of the Jordan as their portion in the Promised Land, these being prime pastureland for their cattle. Moses is initially angered by the request, but subsequently agrees on the condition that they first join, and lead, in Israel’s conquest of the lands west of the Jordan.

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Bible Raps on the Tribes of Israel

The Art of Negotiation

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Killing our ego and evil inclination

Reuben, Gad and half tribe of Manasseh not entering the land

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Crossing over the Jordan RIver

The Women of Midian Led Captive by the Hebrews (watercolour by James Tissot)

Apples and Honey Cakes

Mattot Midrash

Mattot 2020

Mattot Midrash 2020

If Day and Night Cease – The Lord’s Vows 2021 – Ps Greg Cumming

It’s Not About Me 2021 – Ps Kyal Cumming

Midian and Moab

Reuben, Gad and half Manasseh

In this week’s Torah portion we are looking at Numbers 25:10 – 30:1

Aaron’s grandson Pinchas is rewarded for his act of zealotry in killing the Simeonite prince Zimri and the Midianite princess who was his paramour: G‑d grants him a covenant of peace and the priesthood.

A census of the people counts 601,730 men between the ages of twenty and sixty. Moses is instructed on how the Land is to be divided by lottery among the tribes and families of Israel. The five daughters of Tzelafchad petition Moses that they be granted the portion of the land belonging to their father, who died without sons; G‑d accepts their claim and incorporates it into the Torah’s laws of inheritance.

Moses empowers Joshua to succeed him and lead the people into the Land of Israel.

The Parshah concludes with a detailed list of the daily offerings, and the additional offerings brought on Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh (first of the month), and the festivals of Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret.

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The Daughters of Tzelafchad

What Is True Leadership?

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Moses dies

The daughters of Tsolfchad and all the women have the same rights as men

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The Daughters of Tzelafchad

Herb-Crusted Salmon Cutlets

Pinchas Midrash 2021

Pinchas 2020

The Ghost and Mrs Muir – Ps Greg Cumming 2021

Tribal Distribution By Population

Messianic Era Tribal Distribution

In this week’s Torah portion we are looking at Numbers 22-25.

Numbers 22:2–25:9

Balak, the king of Moab, summons the prophet Balaam to curse the people of Israel. On the way, Balaam is berated by his donkey, who sees, before Balaam does, the angel that G‑d sends to block their way. Three times, from three different vantage points, Balaam attempts to pronounce his curses; each time, blessings issue forth instead. Balaam also prophesies on the end of the days and the coming of Moshiach.

The people fall prey to the charms of the daughters of Moab, and are enticed to worship the idol Peor. When a high-ranking Israelite official publicly takes a Midianite princess into a tent, Pinchas kills them both, stopping the plague raging among the people.

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Donkeys, Angels, Prophecy in the Torah

What Is Israel’s Purpose In The World?

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Balaam the Sorcerer

Balaam discovers he can only bless the people of Israel.

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Balaam’s Donkey

Standing Rib Roast

Balak Midrash 2021

Balak 2020 – Ps Kyal Cumming

Balak 2021

The Kingdom Of Moab

The Kingdom Of Moab

Map Showing The Kingdoms Plus The Amorites

View To The Arnon Valley

In this week’s Torah portion we are looking at Numbers 19:1–22:1

Moses is taught the laws of the red heifer, whose ashes purify a person who has been contaminated by contact with a dead body.

After forty years of journeying through the desert, the people of Israel arrive in the wilderness of Zin.

Miriam dies, and the people thirst for water.

God tells Moses to speak to a rock and command it to give water. Moses gets angry at the rebellious Israelites and strikes the stone. Water issues forth, but Moses is told by the Lord that neither he nor Aaron will enter the Promised Land.

Aaron dies at Mt Hor and is succeeded in the high priesthood by his son Elazar.

Venomous snakes attack the Israelite camp after yet another eruption of discontent in which the people “speak against God and Moses”; God tells Moses to place a brass serpent upon a high pole, and all who will gaze heavenward will be healed. The people sing a song in honour of the miraculous well that provided them water in the desert.

Moses leads the people in battles against the Amorite kings Sihon and Og (who seek to prevent Israel’s passage through their territory) and conquers their lands, which lie east of the Jordan.

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How Snakes Help us Confront our Fears

Why Did Moses Hit The Rock?

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Why did Moses, Aaron and Miriam not enter the land of Israel?

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Water from the rock

Beer Battered BBQ Schnitzel

Chuqat Midrash 2021

Chuqat 2020

The Red Heifer – Ps Kyal Cumming

The Red Heifer

The Ramp To The Mount of Olives

The Bronze Serpent on a Pole

Job’s Spring Tabgha -Miriam’s Well

Mt Hor

The Valley of Arnon

The Kingdom of Moab

The Kingdom of Moab and the Amorites

The Different Types Of Commandments (Mitzvot)

In this week’s Torah portion we are looking at Numbers 16:1–18:32

Korach incites a mutiny challenging Moses’ leadership and the granting of the kehunah (priesthood) to Aaron. He is accompanied by Moses’ inveterate foes, Dathan and Abiram. Joining them are 250 distinguished members of the community, who offer the sacrosanct ketoret (incense) to prove their worthiness for the priesthood. The earth opens up and swallows the mutineers, and a fire consumes the ketoret-offerers.

A subsequent plague is stopped by Aaron’s offering of ketoret. Aaron’s staff miraculously blossoms and brings forth almonds, to prove that his designation as high priest is divinely ordained.

G‑d commands that a terumah (“uplifting”) from each crop of grain, wine and oil, as well as all firstborn sheep and cattle, and other specified gifts, be given to the kohanim (priests).

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Moses vs. Korach – A Showdown of Biblical Proportions

Rejecting Israel’s Leaders

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Korach and his gang want to be the leaders of Israel

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The Mouth Of The Earth

Chicken Tacos

Qorach 21 Midrash

Qorach 2020

What Does HE Mean To You? 2021

Qorach’s Genealogy

Reuben’s Camp Near the Kohathite Camp

The Incense Censers

The Incense Censers

Almond blossom, flower and fruit

In this week’s Torah portion we are looking at Numbers 13:1–15:41

We will see how God agreed to have the 12 spies sent into the land of Canaan ahead of the tribes of Israel.

Also in these passages, we will explore the meal, wine, and oil offerings. Are these relevant to today?

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Targum Jonathan (1st Century)

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Daily Commandments

The Spies and their Confidence Problem

How Can I Be Vulnerable With God?

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The 12 Spies

What caused the children of Israel to wander in the land for 40 years

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The Spies Return with Discordant Views

City of David

Shelach Midrash 2021

Shelach 2020

The Different Spirit Of Caleb – Ps Greg Cumming

Hoshea to Yehoshua (Joshua)

Grain Offering

Tzitzit

Tzitzit

Woman wearing Tzitzit

Woman touching the Hem (Tzitzit) of Jesus’ garment

Greek Letter Gamma