Weekly Torah Commentaries

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

Weekly Torah Commentaries episodes

February 17, 2021 The Holy Ark: Pointing The Way
One of the most intriguing places my wife and I have experienced in Israel
is David Ben Gurion’s home in Tel Aviv. The square brick building is not
only plain outside; its first floor has sparse, basic furnishings with few
touches of color. It almost disdains luxury. But then you reach the second
floor and feel you’ve entered the great man’s inner sanctum, his desk, his
papers. You sense his presence . . .
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February 10, 2021 Us and . . . Us
Though our contemporary society might have a passion for ethics, without an
understanding of the social dimension of human life—that we are not simply
individuals, but that our families, communities, and nation make up part of
our core identities—we have lost a key ingredient for making ethics
comprehensible.
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February 04, 2021 Steadfast or Merely Informed?
I remember the first time I saw a smartphone. Naively, I thought I was
looking at an instrument of peace and enlightenment. With the Internet in
everyone’s pocket, I thought that having more and better information would
inspire us all to make better choices and to treat one another better.
Clearly, I was mistaken. Why didn’t we improve? What were we missing?
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January 21, 2021 The Price of Hesed
How natural for all Jews to begin the Seder with the strange declaration,
“This is the bread of poverty,” followed by the seemingly contrary, yet
open, invitation for “all who are hungry to come and eat.” It is not the
physical act of eating that draws us together; rather it is the great sense
of solidarity and empathy that we each crave.
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January 14, 2021 A Way Forward for Pharaoh
Fear makes for bad politics. Just ask the folks who lived through Pharaoh’s
reign in the days of the Exodus. As our story opened in last week’s
parasha, Pharaoh was stoking fears about a peaceful minority group thriving
among the Egyptians: “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too
mighty for us. . . .”
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January 05, 2021 The Power of Small Choices
If you think about it, it’s almost obvious: patterns of behavior become
harder to change over time. This implies that those first actions, even if
small, have outsized importance to one’s character. Maybe when Moses first
noticed the Egyptian taskmaster beating an Israelite slave, the future hung
in the balance as he decided what to do . . . but the next time at the
well, it was a little easier to make that decision.
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December 31, 2020 Leave Behind Your Best
Children don’t miss a beat. They observe things about us we don’t see in
ourselves, in the process being imprinted with both the good and the bad.
This is unavoidable. And yes, this can be troubling.
This week’s parasha reminds us all is not lost.
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December 22, 2020 Whose Justice?
Justice in our tradition is not preoccupied with crime and punishment, but
is focused on shalom, restoration, and wholeness, and finds its ultimate
embodiment in Yeshua, who like Judah, was willing to sacrifice himself for
the sake of restoration, regardless of whether it was fair.
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December 15, 2020 Miracles Obvious and Hidden
Nachmanides says there are two types of miracles; Nes Nigleh, the obvious
miracle, and Nes Nistar, the hidden miracle. Our job is to constantly seek
the hidden miracles in life.
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December 01, 2020 Words Still Stick—for Good or Ill
Words have power for good and ill; words stick and their absence sticks
too. The power of words gives us an opportunity to create good amidst the
confusion, chaos, and anxiety of the days we’re living in.
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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…