25. Par'shah Tzav

[alon]

Next week’s reading schedule:

Date of reading- April 14, 2018/29 Nissan 5778

Name of Par’shah- Shemini; 8th

Par’shah- Leviticus 9:1 – 11:47

Haftara- 2 Samuel 6.1-7.17

Brit Chadashah- Mark 7.1-23; Acts 5.1-11; 10.1-35; 2 Corinthians 6.14-7.1; Galatians 2.11-16; 1 Peter 1.14-16

This week’s readings:

Date of reading- March 24, 2018/8 Nissan 5778

Name of Par’shah- Tzav; Command, Give an Order

Par’shah- Leviticus 6:1 – 8:36

Haftara- Jeremiah 7.21-8.3; 9.22-24

Brit Chadashah- Mark 12.28-34; Romans 12.1-2; 1 Corinthians 10.14-23


D’rash: You should note that the Hebrew TNK and the Christian OT are not always broken up in the same way by chapter and verse. This par’shah is one of those times. I recommend getting a good Hebrew TNK to study from along with the CJB. Their translations are generally better, except for the fact Dr. Stern, who translated the CJB, is Two ; and this shows up at times in his translation. And while he did a commendable job of translating, still it was a one man effort and thus lacked the checks of a collaborative work.

The chapter and verse delineation in this par’shah will follow the Hebrew TNK format. However let’s start this with part of our B’rith Chadashah readings:

Mark 12:28-33 (ESV)  And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Now this sounds like an amicable discussion between two men with a common interest. The Scribe would of course have been interested in this Rabbi he’d not met before. Note that it was apparently (but not necessarily, as we’ll find in a moment) the talmidim of Yeshua who were “disputing with each other” here. The Scribe merely interjects a question of his own. After Yeshua answers his querry, he compliments the Rabbi, and Yeshua then commends him:

Mark 12:34a (ESV) And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

This then begs the question; why this apparently confrontational phrase is the next thing said:

Mark 12:34b (ESV) And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

I want to be clear; I do not advocate the removal of things from scripture as we have it. However I do say we should read scripture with a critical eye. We know that the “New Testament” was added to as well as interpolated incorrectly by the church fathers at about the time they were rewriting it in the pagan Greek. This to me seems to be possibly one of those times.

G5111 τολμάω tolmáō, tol-mah’-o; dared- from τόλμα tólma (boldness; probably itself from the base of G5056 through the idea of extreme conduct); to venture (objectively or in act; while G2292 is rather subjective or in feeling); by implication, to be courageous:—be bold, boldly, dare, durst.

This seems it could have originally meant more they were intimidated, or possibly unnerved by Yeshua’s knowledge and force of presence. We’ve all had teachers who made us feel that way because of their advanced learning and understanding. We were afraid any question we asked in front of the class would look foolish by contrast. So this may have lost something in the translation from Hebrew to Greek. It could also have been intentionally mistranslated, or possibly just added to the text. But if they were sufficiently awed by Yeshua’s knowledge in answering the question put to Him by one also very knowledgeable of scripture, they may have feared to ask what might be seen as silly questions.

But why would the church fathers, ostensibly godly men themselves go to such lengths to misrepresent what took place here? Well, our church fathers were (and I chose these words intentionally) “hell-bent” on making it look like all the Jews wanted to come against Yeshua. They had to separate Him from mainstream Judaism as part of an effort to remake Him in their pagan image. They may have been “godly,” however they followed the wrong gods. They remade Yeshua, His besorah and the messages of His shaliachim into pagan texts by mistranslating and misinterpreting them so as to make a new religion based on their own pagan understanding.

besorah בְּשׂוֹרָה- tidings. news; good news; carry news; reward

However Matthew gives a few more details in his recounting:

Matthew 22:34-46 (ESV) But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” 
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
  “‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet”’?
 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Again, the Pharisees would have been interested in hearing any Rabbi who had silenced the Sadducees. And it was the duty of the priests to investigate anyone who spoke with authority, often by delegating Rabonim to learn and report back. So this is not necessarily a confrontational encounter. Matthew omits the pleasant exchange between the Scribe and Yeshua, but adds an additional question Yeshua puts to these men; ‘Whose son is the messiah?’ And again, the reasons for their being silenced do not seem to be the confrontation the church teaches it is.

The Pharisees could have been satisfied Yeshua was indeed a Rabbi who spoke with authority. And here even more than in Marks account it would seem no one wants to ask another question that might reveal their ignorance in the face of His knowledge. Remember too that in Luke 2:41-52 Yeshua had astonished the Rabonim in the Temple with His knowledge as a young boy. This is now a grown Rabbi who could bruise some egos just by comparison, and who wants that?

[alon]

Moving on to our haftara:

Jeremiah 7:21-23 (ESV) Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’

Our Gd first demands obedience, then He instituted the rituals that we should observe. Ritual is therefore subsumed under obedience.


Jeremiah 7:24-27 (ESV) But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. “So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you.

This is a passage that may sound all too familiar to Meshiachim. We try to reach our friends and acquaintances, yet whether Christian or Jew, religious or not, they refuse the truth. Most dig in their heels and fight it all the way. Many see it, but yet they fight against it and refuse to admit.

However there is also a warning in this for us; the Hebrews, who were given the truth “went backward and not forward.” For this they were being warned of impending judgement. We need to be searching the scriptures to renew our minds, going forward in understanding and obedience.


Leviticus 6:1-2 (ESV) Adonai said to Moshe,“Give this order to Aharon and his sons: ‘This is the law for the burnt offering [‘olah]: it is what goes up [‘olah] on its firewood upon the altar all night long, until morning; in this way the fire of the altar will be kept burning.

5930 olah עֹלָה- whole burnt-offering (that which goes up) derivitive of the word alah, to go up, ascend, climb

I don’t think it was a coincidence that the demon of Islam chose the name (or was chosen for its name), Allah. He makes men bow low all day giving to himself what should go up to Gd:

1 Corinthians 10:14, 15-16, 19-21 (ESV) Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. … The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? … What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

We cannot offer the sacrifice of our worship, prayers or understanding to idols. Idolatry is pagan, and we are of the Most High. Therefore we should give no acknowledgment or credence to paganism in any form. The demon Allah is not the same elohim as our Elohim, and we should never acknowledge it as such. Nor should we equate the Quran or any part of it with our scriptures. Any similarities are intentional to lead us into a snare; first getting us to agree to something, then taking us down the primrose path to destruction. First agreement, then new knowledge, and finally destruction. Look at the sequence in the following passage:

Genesis 3:1-5, 6b (ESV) Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”  And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, [agreement] but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”  But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.  For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” [new knowledge]  … she took of its fruit and ate, [destruction]


Romans 12:1a,c, 2 (ESV) I appeal to you therefore … to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern [what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God].

We need to be careful what we allow into our minds. Reading the Word will transform our minds to the will of Avinu. Smut, whether from TV, books or magazines, or just talking with the ungodly will conform your mind to the world; as will studying from paganized texts.

We are also told here to test any word we are given. Testing doesn’t refer to Gd testing us, but to our doing as the Bereans did (and were commended for) and testing whatever we are given; first against and then against all the TNK. Anything which is of the Ruach shel Chochmah v’Binah, The Spirit Of Wisdom And Understanding (Isaiah 11:2) must conform to what He has already given us. Gd cannot contradict Himself. Therefore everything in the so called “New Testament” must conform to the “Old Testament.” If it contradicts, something is wrong. Usually this would be the instructions or interpretations of the church fathers; and by extension, the church as a whole. And sadly, at times Rabbinic Judaism as well.


In all, this week’s readings remind me of this verse from Shmuel Alef 15:22 (OJB):

And Shmuel said, Hath Hashem as great chefetz (delight) in olot (burnt offerings) and zevakhim (sacrifices), as in obeying the voice of Hashem? Hinei, to obey is better than zevach (sacrifice), and to pay heed than the chelev eilim (fat of rams).

We have been called out of the church; called to the truth, and called to obedience. I do not know at what point anyone may lose their salvation, so I do not condemn those still in the church. However as I read scripture, those who have been called out and refuse are in danger of eternal damnation. And many times I’ve heard pastors and evangelists talking with my father; and by their own estimations fully half at a minimum of all people filling church pews and voting in business meetings are not really saved. By the estimations of Messianic Rabonim I’ve met the tally of unsaved in churches would be much higher. We need to watch for this in our synagogues and in those claiming to be Messianic who we may happen to meet.

Our movement has attracted a wide variety of seemingly knowledgeable people who purport heresies. Many deny the eternal divinity of Yeshua. Some say He is not Gd, others that He was created at some point after or at the creation of the world (usually Miriam’s pregnancy). Others espouse ungodly practices such as polygamy. Indeed, the opportunity to reinterpret scripture to allow this seems to be their entire reason for becoming “Messianic.” Others may just be “Baptists with tallits.” Test whatever you are told. Ask questions and find out who they really are; what they really believe. Then if you have truly found another kindred spirit, motzeltov. If not, I refuse association with them, and encourage you to do the same.

We are now in Leviticus, the central book of . It is the place where Elohim told us how to worship Him. I know, we can’t make sacrifices right now. But we can learn from what we are told here nonetheless. According to the notes in my Study TNK, this the largest book was given in one month after the Hebrews were encamped at Sinai for a full year! Moshe must have been worn out after this! The ordinances given here are central to Judaism and supposedly the foundation of Christianity. Yet this is probably the least read book in the Bible outside of Judaism. We need to approach the readings each week with an eye to improving our worship. It is also the first book that most young Jews study, because as my Study TNK puts it, ‘their eyes are pure.’ So we need to read it with the eyes of a child. Try to just accept what is said with a pure heart.

Daniel Alon Caan


Mekorot: JPS Study TNK, Rav S, my father and others