Posts Tagged israelites

Weekly Sidra: Shemot (Names) Torah Portion: Shemot /Exodus 1:1-6:1 Haftorah: Yermiyahu /Jeremiah 1:1-2:3 According to the yearly Torah cycle, this week we are reading the weekly Parasha called Shemot which means Names in Hebrew and begins the book of Exodus 1:1-6:1. This portion of Scripture details the birth of Moshe. At the time of Moshe’ birth the people of Israel were slaves to the kingdom of Pharaoh and Egypt / Mitzrayim. The root word of Mitzrayim, according to Brown, Driver and Briggs, is mem/tzadi/resh, metzeir, meaning to border, to shut or to limit. Other sources claim the etymology of the word Mitzrayim lies in tzar, either or the verb, means to bind, tie up, be restricted, narrow, scant, or cramped, while , a noun, means straits, or distress, and as an adjective means narrow, or tight. All commentators agree that Mitzrayim, the word, represents hardship, distress, oppression, a narrow place or straits etc. They were oppressed by the Egyptians and no matter how hard they worked, their lives were ultimately spent in bitter futility. They were without mercy in their condition and needed a saviour (a Mashiach type). This can be compared to the life of sin and death. This is similar to the situation Israel was in during the 1st Century under Roman rule when Yeshua was born. This is also a situation, at least spiritually, that we’re all in until...
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Can / Should Women Wear Tzitzit? Women are exempt from wearing tzitzit because it is a time-bound mitzvah which a woman does not have to follow. If women are exempt from this commandment, does that mean she cannot observe it at all if she willingly chooses? We often see Reform and Conservative women draped in a tallit gadol. Many times it is ...
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What is a tallit? The tallit (also pronounced tallis, or talet) is a prayer shawl, the most authentic Jewish garment. It is a rectangular-shaped piece of linen or wool (and sometimes, now, polyester or silk) with special fringes called Tzitzit on each of the four corners. The purpose of the garment is to hold the Tzitzit. Most tallitot (alternativ ...
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Shabbat (Sabbath) is mentioned over 170 times in the Bible, one-third of those in the Besora Tova HaGeula (Good News of Redemption). In the first book of the hebrew Scriptrures, in Bereshit / Genesis 2:3 tells us "God blessed the seventh day and separated it as holy" as the final act of Creation. It has been thousands of years sinc ...
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Jewish prayer is an aid to developing a meritorious attitude and a commendable way of feeling. Therefore, Jews actively seek reasons to praise God's creation. There are Jewish prayers to be said when witnessing a falling star, when hearing the clap of thunder in the clouds, when seeing a rainbow, when noticing the first bud of spring on the branch ...
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Sukkot (Hebrew: סוכות or סֻכּוֹת, sukkōt, Feast of Booths, Feast of Tabernacles) is a Jewish holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei (late September to late October). It is one of the three biblically-mandated Shalosh regalim on which Jews made pilgrima ...
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Chag Sukkot / חג הסוכות , translated means “the feast of Tabernacles", occurs for seven days. There is a quick transition from the high holidays, with their somber mood of repentance to a holiday of rejoicing and celebration, for which the people are commanded to build a hut (Sukkah; plura ...
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Kedusha (holiness) is the theme opening again for this portion. Twice Moshe speaks, about this lifestyle required of them. A lifestyle with more required and more restrictions than the rest of the Israelites. The priests and high priests were more than just religious figures performing roles. They stood in for the people, made korbanot (sacrifices ...
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Weekly Sidra: Ma’sei (Journeys) Torah Portion: Bamidbar/ Numbers 33:1-36:13 Haftorah: Yermiyahu / Jeremiah 2:4-28; 4:1-4:2 Bamidbar 33:1 These are the journeys of the Children of Israel when they went out from the Land of Mitzrayim in their legions by the hand of Moshe and Aaron. אלה מסע ...
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Weekly Sidra: Balak Torah Portion: Bamidbar/ Numbers 22:2-25:9 Haftorah: Micah 5:6-6:8 Bamidbar 22:2 And Balak son of Zipor saw all that Israel did to the Emorites. Balak the king of Moav is introduced to us as בן צפור Ben Tzipor. Why are we only told he is the King of Moav later in the passage?&n ...
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Weekly Sidra: Balak Torah Portion: Bamidbar/ Numbers 22:2-25:9 Haftorah: Micah 5:6-6:8 "My people, Remember what Balak king of Moab Plotted against you, And how Balaam son of Beor Responded to him. [Recall your passage] From Shittim to Gilgal And you will recognize The gracious acts of the Lord." (Micah 6:5) This week is P ...
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Most of the Jewish commentators on the Tanach have understood Yeshayahu / Isaiah 53 to concern Mashiahch’s sufferings, and although a very few do disagree; the Talmud, the Targumim, and many other Jewish writtings uphold such view. Scripture gives opposing views of Messiah; Messiah was to rule the world, yet Messiah was also to suffer for th ...
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Weekly Sidra: Shelach Lecha (Send for yourself) Torah Portion: Bamidbar/ Numbers 13:1-15:41 Haftorah: Yehoshua / Joshua 2:1-24 Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, "Go, reconnoiter the region of Jericho." So they set out, and they came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodged there. ...
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Weekly Sidra: Bamidbar (In the Wilderness) Torah Portion: Bamidbar / Numbers 1:1-4:20 Haftorah: Hoshea / Hosea 2:1-2:22 “The number of the people of Israel shall be like that of the sands of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted; and instead of being told, "You are Not-My-People," they shall be ...
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For lo! That day is at hand, burning like an oven. All the arrogant and all the doers of evil shall be straw, and the day that is coming — said the Lord of Hosts — shall burn them to ashes and leave of them neither stock nor boughs. 20 But for you who revere My name a sun of victory shall rise to bring healing. You shall go forth and s ...
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