Weekly Torah Commentaries

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

Weekly Torah Commentaries episodes

June 18, 2020 Speaking Truth in Trust
A good report is not of any less value if our community rejects it, or if
we suffer physical threats on account of it. Caleb and Joshua’s good report
was based on long-term trusting.
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June 11, 2020 Let's Discard Our Domesticated God
When daring to speak or think of the God of all that is or ever could be,
it pays to be radically humble, a capacity which is itself beyond our
grasp. But let’s at least realize that this radical humility is a
destination toward which we should point ourselves, like Abraham leaving
the idolatry of his father’s ways and his comfortable homeland for a yet
undiscovered country.
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June 03, 2020 Bless is More
On exhibit in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem are artifacts from the
excavation of a burial plot from the end of the First Temple period. Among
the exhibit is a small thin silver plaque the size of a thumb. Inscribed on
it in Hebrew is the Birkat Kohanim, the priestly blessing we still recite
today.
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May 19, 2020 The Barren Place of the Word
In the wilderness God speaks. Torah is teaching us that it is in places of
uncertainty, challenge, and temptation that we find God. The uncertainty
we’re facing today can become the source of new understanding and nearness
to God.
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May 13, 2020 The Hero’s Journey Home
Our parasha starts off by explaining the year of the yovel, sometimes
translated as Jubilee, but I like the way Everett Fox renders it:
Homebringing. God’s realm is holy and good, and Shabbat, Yom Kippur, the
Jubilee, the Tabernacle, the Messiah, these are all part of his plan for
the holy realm to intercept the earth, as it was in Eden.
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May 05, 2020 The Blemished and the Whole
In the past most of “civilized” society dealt with others’ handicaps by
turning a blind eye. At best, the disabled were treated with dismissive
sympathies and self-congratulatory charity; at worst they were often blamed
for their disabilities and pushed to the margins of society. Only recently
has the conversation turned toward treating those with disabilities as
fully enfranchised members of society.
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April 30, 2020 The Choice Point
There are few lines of Scripture more uncompromising than the opening
verses of K’doshim: “You are to be holy as I the Lord your God am holy”
(19:2). Is this truly possible? Most of us would probably settle for
“faithful,” or perhaps, “devout.” But holy?
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April 21, 2020 Affliction and Favor
As we are all still shut in or locked down for an unknown amount of time, I
cannot help but think about some of our ancestors who experienced a type of
“shut-in” experience, and learn from their example.
It is not a pleasant example.
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April 16, 2020 When Our Grief Is Quarantined
A change in circumstances necessarily brings with it a change in
perception. This year I’ve found the story of God’s liberation of our
people from bondage resonating more deeply and fully, now that my own
freedom of movement has been temporarily removed. Even matzah has been
difficult to come by this year—we’ve had to ration ours to make it last.
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March 31, 2020 Preparing for Passover in a Pandemic
Passover is above all a story, an appeal to the imagination and to memory.
We don’t just think and talk about Passover, but we picture and reenact and
memorialize it. Ironically, one of the advantages of our current COVID
shutdown is that he helps us imagine the “night of watching” in Egypt.
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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…