Weekly Torah Commentaries

By UMJC - Union Of Messianic Jewish CongregationsReligion & Spirituality Christianity Judaism

Weekly Torah Commentaries episodes

September 20, 2021 The Courage of Our Joy
My treasured memories of spending time in Jerusalem at Sukkot always bring
to mind those inspiring commands from D’varim/Deuteronomy: “Rejoice at your
festival. . . . Adonai your God will bless you . . . so you are to be full
of joy.”
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September 20, 2021 Sukkot: The Shelter We Need in 2021
Shelter is a primal human need, along with food and clean water and air to
breathe. We’re reminded of this need in most of our cities, where folks we
label as “homeless” create encampments to protect themselves from the
elements. Beyond our primitive need of shelter, however, we require a
deeper shelter, which our observance of Sukkot hints at.
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September 14, 2021 Brokenness: We’re All in It Together
No, we are not isolated from the brokenness of the world. It is our
brokenness. In the words of our tradition, “We are not so brazen-faced and
stiff-necked as to say before you, we are righteous and have not sinned;
rather, we and our ancestors have sinned.”
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September 09, 2021 Chazak! Be Strong and Holy
Let’s practice holiness, separated from the world, while from a position of
strength we exist in the world, exhibiting the love of God to those who are
hurting, being the hands and feet of God to those in need, and being the
voice of hope and reason in a time that is rife with chaos and confusion.
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September 01, 2021 God Goes with us in Our Wanderings
At the great turning-point of Moses’ life—when God really needed to get his
attention—he chose to speak to Moses from out of a thorn-bush of all
places. Why not from the wide blue sky, or the starry heavens at night, out
there in the wilderness? Or why not from the mountain top, or at least from
some big, impressive tree? But a thorn-bush?
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August 26, 2021 Between Rebuke and Redemption
The seven weeks of consolation or comfort lead us out from summer’s heat
and into the cool of autumn. They take us from the torment of Tisha B’Av to
the joy and hope of Rosh Hashanah, a day that not only celebrates the New
Year, but is also associated through Jewish tradition with God’s kingship (
malchiyot).
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August 18, 2021 Overcoming Commitment Hesitancy
In a day of shifting loyalties and unstable commitments, the Lord’s
declaration shines out like a beacon: “The mountains may depart and the
hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my
covenant of peace shall not be removed.” It’s an unshakable promise that
empowers us to make and keep our promises to those around us and those we
love.
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August 12, 2021 “Why have you forsaken me?”
In the darkest hours we must hold on to the light of promise. That which we
choose to ignore maintains power over us. Yeshua’s suffering liberates us
from the power of death, and his final words give us the authority together
to live life with hope.
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August 04, 2021 The Temple in the Torah and Today
As Israel stood listening to Moshe at the edge of the Promised Land, they
were still a people whose greatest patriarchs had been nomads buried in a
distant cave bought from strangers. So it’s unlikely they could have
imagined a future temple of soaring dimensions to the God of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob.
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July 22, 2021 Torah Tips for a Tough Text
I’ve been dialoguing with a Jewish friend of mine who is reading through
the Torah and asking me questions. Recently, he asked me something I’ve
heard other folks ask as well, “What does it mean that the Jewish people
are chosen? Isn’t that kind of self-centered?”
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About Weekly Torah Commentaries

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Reflections on the weekly Torah portions from a diverse group of Messianic Jewish rabbis, scholars, and lay people. Our contributors bring fresh insights to familiar texts, drawing connections to…