Charity (Tzedakah

Charity (Tzedakah)

One of the most widely referred to sections of the Mishneh Torah is the section dealing with Tzedakah. In Hilkhot Matanot Aniyim (Laws about Giving to Poor People), Chapter 10:7–14, Maimonides lists his famous Eight Levels of Giving:

Giving an interest-free loan to a person in need; forming a partnership with a person in need; giving a grant to a person in need; finding a job for a person in need; so long as that loan, grant, partnership, or job results in the person no longer living by relying upon others.
Giving tzedakah anonymously to an unknown recipient via a person (or public fund) which is trustworthy, wise, and can perform acts of tzedakah with your money in a most impeccable fashion.
Giving tzedakah anonymously to a known recipient.
Giving tzedakah publicly to an unknown recipient.
Giving tzedakah before being asked.
Giving adequately after being asked.
Giving willingly, but inadequately.
Giving "in sadness" – it is thought that Maimonides was referring to giving because of the sad feelings one might have in seeing people in need (as opposed to giving because it is a religious obligation; giving out of pity). Alternate translations say "Giving unwillingly."
Maimonides

POWER OF SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION

POWER OF SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION (1Th 5:5): The more influence the Spirit has had in lighting the world, the more nations as well as individuals conform to the Word of God.
Even in countries that abide in almost total darkness spiritually there are glimmers of light in their laws and customs. The more light the more understanding of truth, of right and wrong. As I look back on my own past and recall early youthful days when our country lived much closer to biblical standards it is obvious that the farther our nation goes from the light the more corrupt the standards of living, the more perplexing the problems we face.

We Christians who have "cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light" are able to discern much more than those outside the pale of the Gospel. That is of course because the world "loves darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil."

There is such a thing as a constructive and latent faith, latent because it lacks instruction and liberty, opportunity of development and distinct disclosure, that feeds on such scanty supplies as it gains access to, and though there is more darkness than light people can discern a little as when a nightlight shows enough to discover immediate surroundings. Thus the more true Christians there are abiding in any certain area, the more understanding the community has as a whole.
Kelsey Griffin

DIVINE CALL OF THE MINISTER

DIVINE CALL OF THE MINISTER (Num 17:1-5): No man is to take this responsibility upon himself (Heb 5:1-5). The authority of the true minister of Christ arises from his being sent forth by God.
It should be obvious that when I say this I am referring to pulpit ministry for in a real sense we all are called of God to minister the gift He has given to us (1Pe 4:10). There are different gifts of the Spirit and different administrations of those gifts (1Co 12:4-11). Man did not set these in the church. It was an operation of God (1Co 12:28). Paul recognized that his calling came from God (Gal 1:1). Paul mentioned five different pulpit ministries and said they were to function for the maturing of saints to do their ministry (Eph 4:7-15). Moses proved to Israel by God's choice of Aaron that the ministry is not a man-made position.

If the ministers of Christ come to be regarded as mere lecturers on
religious themes, having no authority from God, their ministry will be productive of little true and lasting good. Crowds may gather round the eloquent preacher, but they will be like those which gathered round the ancient prophet (Eze 33:30-32). When people see in their ministers a Christ-like life, and manifest fitness for their sacred duties, and the signs of the Divine approval of their ministry, let them rest assured that such ministers have their commission from God, and their ministry should be received accordingly.
Kelsey Griffin

SET THE PREACHER ON FIRE

SET THE PREACHER ON FIRE (Num 17:12-13): When Moses' experiment was over the murmurers were as though consumed with fire and cried out, "We perish." So should the preacher and preaching affect mankind.

We all know the difference between slow motion and rapidity, If there were a cannon ball rolled slowly down these aisles, it would not hurt anybody; it might be very large, but it might be so rolled along that you would not rise from your seats in fear. But if somebody would give me a rifle, and ever so small a ball, I reckon that if the ball flew along the Tabernacle, you would find it very difficult to stand in its way. It is the force that does the thing. So, it is not the great preacher who is loaded with learning that will achieve work for God; it is the man, who however small his ability, is filled with force and fire, and who moves forward in the energy which Heaven has given him, that will accomplish the work—the man who has the most intense spiritual life, who has real vitality at its highest point of tension, and living, while he lives with all the force of his nature for the glory of God. That does not necessarily mean he is loud or demonstrative but his speech and his preaching is to be in demonstration of the Spirit of God and power (1Co 2:4).

Vitality is a test of any system of doctrine, as it is of any teacher's qualification. If you would find the value of any message, ask of it, Does it live? Do vital pulses leap through it? Does it reproduce its life? Does it help men to live? Does it leave them more alive or more dead than they were without it? Get an answer to these questions, and you will find whether the given ministry is of heaven, or of a private self-interest—whether it comes out of the all-quickening and all-comprehending God, or out of some dreamer's brain. Nothing goes with much momentum, in the long trial, that does not carry life with it.
Kelsey Griffin

Jesus is the image of the invisible God

Jesus is the image of the invisible God
Hebrews 1:3 -- The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
2 Corinthians 4:4 -- The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Colossians 1:15 -- He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Comment:
According to John 4:24, "God is spirit." Luke 24:39 tells us "a spirit has no flesh or bone." All scripture confirms that God, in the Old Testament, was invisible. "No man has seen God" (John 1:18); but Jesus is described as the "exact representation of God, the image of God, and the image of the invisible God." The spirit of God that never permanently occupied a body or form before, took on the form of a man by becoming the person of Jesus Christ. He was no longer invisible, untouchable, without form, now he dwelt among us. Both God Almighty and man: born in Bethlehem as Jesus Christ.
Kelsey Griffin

The Rock

הצור תמים פעלו כי כל דרכיו משפט
The Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice (32:4).

Throughout his song, Moses refers to G-d as The Rock, הצור which recalls the pivotal episode of Moses striking the rock in Numbers (20:11). At the end of Parsha Haazinu, we see that Moses accepts his fate of not entering the Land of Israel and does not argue with G-d when He tells him that the time has come for him to die and that he will not enter the Land.

We read Parsha Haazinu on Shabbat (Shuva שבת שובה) (Shabbat of Return), which is the last Sabbath before יום הכיפורים (Yom Kippur) and the last Sabbath to return to G-d before the Judgement Day. On this Sabbath, it is clear that the heavens are always listening to us and accepting of us should we choose to repent, as G-d said:

Return to me and I will return to you, says the L-rd of Hosts (Zechariah1:3).

Also, some understand the word השנה (the year) of ראש השנה or Rosh Hashanah to come from the word שינוי or change. On Rosh Hashana, we have to reevaluate our lives and try to change for the better.

Torah is like rain

(יערוף כמטר לקחי (לב:ב
Let my instruction flow like rainfall (32:2)

The words of the Torah (דברי תורה) are just like the rain. The same way we dont see the benefits of the rain immediately and the rain can sometimes be viewed as an inconvenience, so too with the words of the Torah, we do not see their influence immediately but in the end we absorb them like thirsty soil (Rabbi Simcha Bunim Bonhart of Peshischa- רבי בונם מפשיסחה).

PREPARE YOURSELF MENTALLY IN PRAYER

(1Pe 4:7): Earlier Peter told them to gird up the loins of their mind (1Pe 1:13). Now he said to prepare yourselves mentally [σωφρονήσατε οὖν καὶ νήψατε εἰς προσευχάς] in prayer.

There is to be a mental alertness. I have been asked at times, "How do I listen to God?" Peter addresses that here. Before he advised alertness and clear thinking; girding yourself for action and giving careful attention to all God is saying in light of "the grace brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed." Here (1Pe 4:7) his concern is to bring the Christians "alertness and attention" to focus specifically in their prayers. The importance of prayer is found throughout this epistle. Earlier he warned marriage partners against their prayers being hindered (1Pe 3:7).

Alertness or wakefulness in prayer is a common New Testament theme going back to Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane (Mar 14:38; Mat 26:41). Such passages as Luk 21:36; Col 4:2; Eph 6:18 suggest a need to be alert and clear-headed in prayer especially in our spiritual warfare. So "Pay attention." Wake up (1Pe 5:8)!
Kelsey Griffin

High Holy Days Continued.....

Moses and Atonement

Another example of the need for atonement is found in the story of Moses and the Golden Calf. After Israel sinned by making the golden calf, Moses ascended Mount Sinai to interceding for them. God was ready to destroy Israel; He was unwilling to even let His presence be among them. He said, "I will send an angel with Israel, but I cannot go with you or I might break out against you and destroy you." (Exodus 33)

Because of the sin of the calf, Israel found herself unprotected. She has no covering. She is in danger from the presence of God.

But Moses says to Israel, "Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." (Exodus 32:30). He fasts for forty days and nights, and then goes back up the mountain with the two new tablets. The two tablets are meant to replace the ones he broke when he saw the calf. He goes back up the mountain, back up into the presence of God.

On the mountain Moses implores God for mercy and requests to be shown all of God's glory. Face to face. God replies that no man can see his face and live. Moses would be consumed by God's glory. Instead God offers to cover Moses with his hand, hiding him in the cleft of the rock, while God passes by and declares the full meaning of His Name. He offers to tell Moses exactly who he is. He offers to reveal to Moses his essential person.

"And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, 'The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.'" (Exodus 34:5-7)

This revelation is called the Thirteen Attributes of God. For the first time in history, the full extent of God's mercy and grace were revealed. Moses already knew God was gracious, he already knew he was abounding in loving kindness, but to what extent he did not know, until that moment when God covered him with his hand and proclaimed his Name. Only then, with the revelation of these Thirteen Attributes, was it made clear that the essential essence of God and the meaning of his Name, the LORD is Grace.

The Thirteen Attributes are an oft-repeated refrain in the prayers of the Day of Atonement. In those prayers, the congregation readily admits that we have no worthy deeds, we have nothing to show God, we have no merit to tip the scales of judgment in our favor. We have no basis to ask for mercy except for this, "You are the LORD, the LORD, gracious and compassionate:

God’s Return Policy

"Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Return to me,' declares the LORD Almighty, 'and I will return to you.'" — Zechariah 1:3

This week marks the beginning of the High Holy Days — the most sacred time of the year for the Jewish people and among the most widely observed of all the holy days. I often wonder whether synagogues experience such high numbers because these days mark an opportunity for all Jews to wash their slate clean and begin life anew. And who, at one time or another, hasn’t truly desired an opportunity to do just that?

At the core of this opportunity to start anew is the concept of teshuvah, or repentance, literally “returning to one’s self.” The ten days between Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) is a time of deep soul-searching and introspection. Jews are encouraged to turn away from evil and return to God and to their own pure selves. True repentance, therefore, involves not only a “change of heart,” but also a “change in action” as well — a turning away from bad and a turning toward good.

While Jews and Christians differ greatly on man’s ability to “atone” — how to pay for those sins — we all agree on our need to repent. And we all rely on God’s graciousness and His mercy as we turn from our sinful ways and turn toward Him for forgiveness. Jews pray three times daily, “The LORD is near to all who call upon him … who call upon him in truth” (Psalm 145:18).

So, during this holiest time of the year, God seeks us out and confronts us, hoping that we will repent and cease sinning. Recall the biblical accounts of men such as Adam, Cain, and Jonah when they tried to flee or hide from God. God met them face-to-face, giving them no choice but to stand before Him and account for their actions — however reluctantly. This is a good thing, though, because we believe God responds a thousand fold to a man’s slightest inclination toward repentance.

And that is good news, indeed, for Jews and Christians alike.

So as we engage in this time of soul-searching, I encourage you to take time this week to participate in teshuvah and to return to God as He most graciously promises to return to you.

With prayers for shalom, peace,


Rabbi Eckstein

Water for the Soul

Without water one cannot live for long. It is the same with God's Word.

"Let my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, as the droplets on the fresh grass and as the showers on the herb. (Deuteronomy 32:2)" Moses prayed that his teaching would be to Israel like rain and dew, which water the grass and vegetation. He compared the people of Israel to the grass and the Torah that he had taught them to life-giving water.


The Apostle Paul used the same metaphor in 1 Corinthians 3. Because he was the first to bring the Corinthian believers to faith, he compared himself to a man who plants seed. Because his colleague Apollos had brought teaching to the Corinthians, Paul compared Apollos to one who waters the seed:
I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)
We need to be watered daily with the teaching of God's Word.
Consider the story of a foolish gardener. In the spring he planted some seeds and watered them. He was pleased when they began to grow, and he assumed that he could simply wait for the harvest. He did not think to water the young plants again. "After all, I have already watered them," he said to himself. The plants shriveled up and died.
Many believers behave like the foolish gardener. They espouse faith in Messiah and find relationship with God, but they do not nurture that faith and relationship by regularly watering it with the study of the Word. To live successful lives of faith, we need to drink from the water of the Bible on a regular, daily basis.
A Torah teacher once had the opportunity to address some young Christian teens. Though they had grown up in Christian homes, their own faiths were floundering. They seemed spiritually listless and disinterested in the things of God. Seeking some way of engaging them, he asked them if they played any sports. A few of them said they were involved in karate. He took his cue from this and asked, "How do you become a black belt in karate?" They explained that it required regular lessons, daily practice and discipline, and that certain tests had to be passed. Then he asked, "Do you really think it is easier to be a believer and a disciple of the Master than it is to become a black belt in karate?" He went on to explain, "Just as any skill you want to acquire takes commitment and a routine of daily discipline, so does discipleship. You need to be spending time in prayer, doing good deeds and reading and studying your Bibles on a regular basis, not just once in a while. Do you think a kid who practiced his karate skills as regularly as you are reading your Bible would ever advance by even a single belt?"
The Torah of Moses is like dew and rain that water our souls and enable us to grow into spiritual maturity.FFOZ

Today was an anniversary that Jews don't commemorate out of denial and Christians don't recognize out of naivete...In our Messianic Temple, today, we said the weekly parashah....the selected Biblical readings for the service.
There is a portion from the Torah-the 1st 5 books-the Books of Instruction or "Law," then there is a reading from the books of the Prophets and Writings. The cycle is consistent so every year that reading is the same.

Today's reading was Isaiah 61:10-.63:9..but that is the modern day schedule. Last week's reading was Isaiah 60:1-22...So what is so important about this?
Isaiah 61:1-2 says:
The Year of the LORD’s Favor
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor

Now, read Luke 4:18:

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
Luke 4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

So, after spending his 40 days confronting Satan, Yeshua returns to the Temple, and He is called to read from the Haftorah Scroll...and the reading is Isaiah 61:1-2....In other words, yesterday (Saturday) was the anniversary of the day in which Yeshua/Jesus started His ministry to the world.

The passages do not change--the next Sabbath (day of rest) is Yom Teruah or Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumptets...or Head of the New Year)....and it would be the beginning of the true Messianic Age...
Posted with permission from Jay Wiesburd



Jay Weisburd (Hebrew name "Yehuda"), the story of 3 years vs 40 is not just the saga of the Exodus and the scouts. At 16, in 1969, 3 years after his Bar Mitzvah, this former Conservative Jewish nephew of a well-known New York city area cantor first heard the term "Hebrew Christian." But, he would wander through the desert for nearly 37 more years (becoming an active Presbyterian, baptized by the Church of Christ, an usher for the Assembly of God) until, thanks to the inspiration of famous psalmist, Marty Goetz, he finally reconciled his belief in Judaism and Yeshua and became a Messianic Jew.

A dream led him, and his second wife, to a Messianic Congregation in Bath, Ohio (Rosh Pinah), where he found the answers to so many of the questions he had about Yeshua and Judaism. In 2008, after Yeshua refused to let him take his life when his wife walked away, Jay was baptized by the Ruach HaKodesh. He has used his 5 decades of experience to pass on messages about Messianic Judaism to others both online, and in churches and temples in Ohio and now on Long Island (Shuvah Yisrael, Plainview, NY).

He is writing a book called "It's Not the Messengers, It's the Message" about how both sides-Rabbinic Jews and Christians-misled him along his own spiritual journey until he realized the only true source of information was always readily available-the TaNaKh and the Brit Hadasha. Faced with terminal renal failure, Jay is only glad he finally knows what it is like to have the relationship with the "true love of my life, one who had me chasing a woman's skirts along the way until I found His robe."

Pray for Israel

“Do not let those gloat over me who are my enemies without cause; do not let those who hate me without reason maliciously wink the eye. They do not speak peaceably, but devise false accusations against those who live quietly in the land.” — Psalm 35:19-20

In the West, we like to tell ourselves that public anti-Semitism is a thing of the past. And, indeed, it’s true that Jews throughout the Western world enjoy freedom of religion and freedom from fear and intimidation that is unheard of in most Arab and Muslim states. But then a story or an incident surfaces to remind us that what one author called “the longest and deepest hatred of human history” not only lives, but flourishes, even in countries considered modern and “enlightened.”

Indeed, recent studies conducted by the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) have found that anti-Semitism across Europe has risen to a level not seen since World War II. The spike is part of a rising tide of anti-Semitism worldwide that is fueled not just by radical Islamists, but by the political far left and far right as well.

No, my friends, anti-Semitism was not a phenomenon of the Nazi regime; it is an infectious attitude of ethnic superiority that still spreads vile accusations and violence today. But we can, and we must, work toward putting an end to this infectious evil.

David understood what it was like to be the object of persecution. He knew that pride is the underlying motivation of prejudice and persecution. That’s why he spoke of those who “gloat over me” and “who are my enemies without cause” and “who hate me without reason.” Prejudice is an emotional reaction that does not respond to reason. It hates others without cause. It just hates. But it is not content to hate, it acts out its hatred.

David spoke of those who “devise false accusations against those who live quietly in the land.” What better description for the current state of Israel? The Jewish people live quietly in the land while the nations around her devise false accusations against her and spew violent threats and acts against her.

So what can one person do in the face of such violence and widespread hatred toward Jews? I offer two suggestions: counter the lies with the truth, and take time to pray for Israel.

Firstly, when we hear a lie about Israel or the Jewish people, we need to take time to set the record straight. Write to the editor of the newspaper. Talk to our neighbors when they say something ill-informed. Confront the lies with the truth and gradually the lies will stop spreading. It’s like putting out a fire.

But more than that, we can pray. Prayer makes such a difference because, ultimately, God is in control.

HLM

TABERNACLE IN THE MIDST

TABERNACLE IN THE MIDST (Num 2:17): Keeping the
tabernacle always in our midst assures us that God will ever be the central
habitation of His people, and He will settle His rest and residence among us.
(9-24-11)



However, we must understand how it is that He dwells
among us. He dwells with us in His general presence and in His special
presence. His general presence is in all
places; His special presence is in His Church. His general presence speaks of
His power; His special presence speaks of His grace and love to us. There is a
common manner of God's being everywhere, and in all things, by His essence;
there is a special way of God's being present, as that which is loved is
present in him that loves (Joh 14:23). God wanted Israel to understand that in
this special presence He would dwell with them (Lev 26:11-12). He wants to
dwell with us in that same way today.



God wants to be joined unto us in the person of Jesus
Christ (Emmanuel—God with us). For that purpose we are made members of His body
(Eph 1:22-23). And as we go forth under His
commission He is always with us to the end of the world (Mat 28:20). When we
were baptized into Christ we put on Christ (Gal 3:27). When we partake of His
body and blood He dwells in us and we in Him (Joh 6:54-56; 1Co 10:15-16). We
are a branch through which the life of the vine flows as we abide in Him and He
abides in us (Joh 15:4).


Kelsey Griffin

Yom Kippur The Day of Atonement

Yom Kippur - The Day of Covering
On the Biblical calendar, the 10th day of the 7th month is the appointment known as Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur means Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement is the Holiest day of the Biblical year. It is a day of intense prayer, fasting and calling out to God for mercy and grace. It is a day for doing business with God. It is a day for coming face to face with God.

Judgment Day

Yom Kippur comes just ten days after Rosh Hashanah. Ten days prior to Yom Kippur, the Torah commands us to blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. One of the reasons for blowing the shofar is as a warning that a period of judgment has begun. According to Jewish tradition, the Gates of heaven swing open on Rosh Hashanah. The Heavenly Court is convened on Rosh Hashanah. The Books of Judgement opened on Rosh Hashanah. The heavenly ledgers are scrutinized on Rosh Hashanah.

Rosh Hashanah begins a period of ten days of judgment. The ten days end with the conclusion of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. On Yom Kippur, the judgment is sealed. The books are closed. The gavel falls. Every human being is inscribed either in the book of life or the book of death. One last, long shofar sounds at the end of the day as the gates of heaven swing shut and close.

The weight and solemnity of the High Holiday judgment is well expressed in the following Medieval prayer:

"Let us now relate the power of this day's holiness, for it is awesome and frightening. On it Your Kingship will be exalted; Your throne will be firmed with lovingkindness and You will sit upon it in truth. You alone are the One Who judges, proves, knows, and bears witness; Who writes and seals, counts and calculates; Who remembers all that was forgotten. You will open the Book of Records - it will read itself, and everyone's signature is in it.

"The great shofar will be sounded and a still, thin sound will be heard. Angels will hasten, a trembling and terror will seize them - and they will say, 'Behold, it is the Day of Judgment, to muster the heavenly host for judgment!' - for they cannot be vindicated in Your eyes in judgment.

"All mankind will pass before You like members of the flock. Like a shepherd pasturing his flock, making sheep pass under his staff, so shall You cause to pass, count, calculate, and consider the soul of all the living; and You shall apportion the fixed needs of all Your creatures and inscribe their verdict.

"On the Feast of Trumpets will be inscribed and on the Day of Atonement will be sealed how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created, who will rest and who will wander, who will live and who will die . . ." (Rosh Hashanah Machzor).

Clearly, the Day of Atonement is regarded as a day for doing serious business with heaven. It is a day of fasting and pouring out entreaty, a day of prayer and cry for forgiveness. It is a day of judgment, but it is also a day of atonement.

What is Atonement?

In discussing the Day of Atonement it is helpful to accurately define the word "Atonement." Contrary to popular Christian teaching, atonement does not mean forgiveness of sin (though forgiveness may be an aspect of atonement). It is from the Hebrew word kaphar which means, "covering".

The sense in which the word is used is as a covering-protection from danger. The idea is that God is dangerous. If common, mortal, finite and sinful man is to enter the presence of the Holy, Immortal, Infinite and Righteous God, the man must be covered (i.e. atoned for) or he will be consumed and destroyed by the presence of God.

Adam and Eve

For example, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden enjoyed the presence of God. They walked with him daily in the garden. Then they sinned. Their eyes were opened and they immediately realized that they were naked. They immediately realized that they were without covering. Instinctively they began to try to sew fig leaves together to cover themselves because they knew God was coming, and they knew they could no longer withstand his presence. They could not enter his presence without covering.

Their effort to cover themselves, however, was futile; so when they heard God's voice and knew that he was entering the garden, they hid themselves. They could not come face to face with him.

After judging them, the book of Genesis tells us, that God made garments of skin to cover them. Thus the story of the fall of man leaves us with our first glimpse of atonement. God kills an animal to cover Adam and Eve. It is the first record of death in the creation, and it is a sacrifice meant to accomplish covering.

Perhaps this was the very first Yom Kippur. According to tradition, Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of their creation. Is it possible that 10 days later was the day they sinned?

More on this subject to come...........

THE TEN REMEMBRENCES

The Ten Remembrances

1. CORONATION: In the Scriptures, the shofar is sounded at the coronation of a king. The blast of the shofar announces the newly crowned King and proclaims his ascent to sovereignty. We see this well illustrated in the coronation contest for David's throne (1 Kings 1:39). Psalm 47:5 and 98:6 also illustrate the shofar blast as a coronation acclamation. Thus the shofar blast of Rosh haShannah might be construed to be a proclamation of coronation, specifically, the coronation of the King of the Universe. According to ancient Jewish tradition, the first day of the seventh month is the yearly anniversary of God's completion of creation. As such, it is also the New Year's Day of the Biblical Calendar. This New Year's Day aspect is reflected in the festival's common Hebrew name: Rosh haShannah. Rosh haShannah, as previously mentioned, means, "Head of the Year." The first day of the seventh month then marks and remembers the anniversary of the completion of creation as well as the day that God became King over that new creation. Therefore, sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of the coronation of the King of the Universe, and it symbolizes our acceptance of God as King.

2. REPENTANCE: Rosh haShannah marks the beginning of a ten day countdown to the Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement). Because the Yom Kippur is judgment day, the shofar is sounded as a reminder that judgment is very near and the time for repentance is short.

In Temple times, the priesthood sounded three trumpet blasts every morning to announce the opening of the Temple gates (Edersheim, 1992). So too, it is believed, that the first shofar blasts of the Feast of Trumpets announce the opening of the gates of Heaven. This is traditional Rosh haShannah image is fully employed in Revelation 4:1 when the Apostle looks and sees a door standing open in heaven and then hears a voice like a shofar say, "Come up here . . ."

In this tradition, the gates of Heaven are opened to receive our prayers of repentance and remain open until the conclusion of the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement service is concluded with one long shofar blast which announces that the gates of heaven have closed and judgment is complete. Therefore, the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of the need to repent before judgment is made.

3. SINAI: When God descended onto Mount Sinai in Exodus 19, a heavenly shofar sounded loud and long. The sound of the shofar at Sinai was one of the miraculous signs that accompanied the giving of the Torah and the invitation to covenant. Therefore, the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of the day at Mount Sinai when Israel accepted her covenant with God: the Torah.

4. WARNING: In ancient Israel, a watchman blew a shofar to sound an alarm when danger was approaching, much the way civil defense sirens are used in our modern world. When the Israelite heard the sound of the shofar, he knew to take warning of some imminent danger. Ezekiel employs this image by comparing the words of the prophets to the sound of the shofar warning. Ezekiel says, "The listener who heard the voice of the shofar and did not taking warning, and a sword came and took him, his blood will be on his own head." (Ezekiel 33:4, see also Jeremiah 4:19-21). That is to say, "If a person heard the words of the prophet but did not take warning from them, it will be his own fault when the trouble comes." Therefore, the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of the need to take warning from the words of the prophets.

5. TEMPLE: In the Ancient Near East, the shofar was blown as a battle cry during sieges and assaults. When the soldiers heard the shofar, they knew to initiate the attack. The prophets invoke the battle cry of the shofar as they repeatedly warn of the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. For a good example of this at work consider the following passage:

"I have heard the sound of the shofar; I have heard the battle cry. Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment. How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the shofar?" (Jeremiah 4:19-21)

Therefore, the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of the destruction of the Temple and a reminder to pray for its rebuilding.

6. THE BINDING OF ISAAC: A shofar trumpet is made from the horn of a ram. The most famous ram in the Torah is the ram of Genesis 22 which was sacrificed in Isaac's stead. Perhaps that is one reason that the Torah reading for the second day of the Feast of Trumpets is Genesis 22. The prayers of the Feast of Trumpets are filled with references to this story. The binding of Isaac is a central theme of the festival liturgies. As the congregation prays for forgiveness, they appeal to God for mercy and grace on the merit of the binding of Isaac.

Therefore, we find many prayers like the following one in the Festival of Trumpets prayer book.

"Remember for us, LORD, our God, the covenant, the kindness, and the oath that You swore to our father Abraham on Mount Moriah. Let there appear before You the Binding, when Abraham, our father, bound Isaac, his son, upon the altar . . . so may Your mercy suppress Your anger from upon us . . . and may you mercifully remember today the binding of Isaac for the sake of his offspring. Blessed are You, LORD, Who remembers the covenant." (Scherman, Nosson and Zlotowitz, 1985).

In the Talmud the question is asked, "Why do we sound the shofar on the Feast of Trumpets?" It is answered, "Because God said: 'I will thereby recall in your favor the Binding of Isaac and regard it as though you yourselves were bound before me.'" (Rosh haShannah 16a)

The following midrash further ties the relationship between the Feast of Trumpets and the binding of Isaac.

'After he had bound his son, Abraham then said: "You promised me seed through Isaac, yet when You commanded me to sacrifice him I restrained my most natural emotional instincts, and did not hesitate. So, too, when my descendants sin and thereby become oppressed, may you remember this binding. May it be considered before You as if Isaac's ashes were gathered upon the altar and his blood was sprinkled upon the altar, and may you forgive their sin." God answered him on that day on which God would judge all [that is The Feast of Trumpets], that if future generations wish Him to recall for them the merit of the binding of Isaac and forgive them, they should sound the shofar. "What is the shofar?" asked Abraham. "Turn around and see it," God answered. Thereupon Abraham looked up, and behold a ram!' (Scherman, Nosson and Zlotowitz, 1994).

Therefore, the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of the binding of Isaac and a prayer for mercy on the merit of a sacrificed son.

7. FEAR: As stated above, the ancient Israelite watchman blew a shofar to sound an alarm when danger was approaching a city. When the city inhabitants heard the sound of the shofar, they were frightened of what unknown danger might be about to befall them. Amos employs this image of the fear inspired by the shofar blast when he says, "If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble?" (Amos 3:6).

The danger which approaches on Rosh haShannah is God himself as he readies the heavenly court for judgment. In Jewish observance, the intervening days between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement are called the "Awesome Days." They are to be days of intense soul searching and repentance and even fear as we prepare to enter the presence of the judge of all creation. Amos reminds us to fear the judgment of God as we would tremble at the sound of the watchman's shofar.

Therefore, the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance to fear God.

8. JUDGMENT: The prophet Zephaniah reminds us that the "day of the shofar" is a day of wrath, darkness, gloom and alarm. Indeed, it is the Day of the LORD (Zephaniah 1:14-16). According to the Feast of Trumpets traditions, the heavenly court is convened on the Feast of Trumpets.

Because the Feast of Trumpets is the Torah New Year's Day (that is the anniversary of the completion of creation) it is also the end of the heavenly fiscal year. As at the end of our calendar year, New Years Day is the day when the ledgers must be settled. On the Feast of Trumpets, the books of judgment are opened and all the deeds of each person are reviewed by the heavenly court for judgment. Ten days later, on Yom Kippur, everyone's name will be written and sealed for final judgment in either the Book of Life or the Book of Death. This imagery is reflected in Revelation 20:12-15 where John sees the ultimate and final Day of Judgment. On the Day of Judgment, Yom Kippur, the righteous are written in the Book of Life. The wicked are written in the Book of Death. The intervening days between Rosh haShannah and Yom Kippur are traditionally regarded as prime-time to sway the heavenly court's decision through serious prayer, repentance and acts of charity.

Therefore, the sound of the shofar on the Feast of Trumpets is a remembrance of Judgment at the hands of heaven.

9. INGATHERING: Perhaps the most famous shofar reference out of all the prophets is Isaiah 27:13. "And it will be on that day when a great shofar will be blown, the perishing in the land of Assyria and the exiles in the land of Egypt will come, and they will worship before the LORD on the Holy Mountain in Jerusalem." This verse is a prophecy of the great Ingathering of all Israel. The Ingathering is to commence with the return of Messiah. It is anticipated and prayed for three times a day in the tenth blessing of the daily prayer.

"Sound the great shofar for our freedom, lift up a banner to gather us together from the four corners of the earth. Blessed are you, LORD, who gathers in the exiled of his people Israel."

Therefore, the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of the ultimate Ingathering of Israel.

10. RESURRECTION: The tenth and final reason Rav Saadiah Gaon gives for the blowing of the shofar on the Feast of Trumpets is to remember the resurrection of the dead. The Sages understood the words of Isaiah 18:3 to be a prophecy directed to the dead. "As a banner is lifted on the mountains, you will see, and as a shofar is sounded, you will hear." This was understood to mean that when the final shofar was blown, the dead would rise and see and hear again. The Jewish legends of the coming of Messiah include a great shofar blast which wakes up those sleeping in the dust. An Eighth Century midrash fills in the details of how this might be accomplished:

"And how does the Holy One, blessed be He, resuscitate the dead in the world to come? We are taught that the Holy One, blessed be He, takes in His hand a Great Shofar . . . and blows it, and its sound goes from one end of the world to the other. At the first blow the whole world shakes. At the second blow the dust breaks up. At the third blow their bones gather. At the fourth blow their members become warm. At the fifth blow their skins are stretched over them. At the sixth blow they become alive and stand up on their feet in their clothes . . ." (Patai, 1988).

The Apostle Paul concurs in 1 Corinthians 15:52. In that passage he explicitly states, "The shofar will sound, the dead will be raised."

Therefore, the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of the future resurrection of the dead.

Things to Come

In his letter to the believers at Collosae, Paul states that all of the Biblical Festivals are "shadows of things to come, the substance of Messiah." (Colossians 2:16,17). From the above list, it is obvious that Rosh haShannah speaks of things to come. The list of remembrances reads like a synopsis of Jewish and Christian apocalyptic expectation. The warning of impending judgment, the call to repentance, the fear of the Day of the LORD, the Ingathering of Israel, the rebuilding of the Temple, the final judgment, the resurrection of the dead and the coronation of the King are all familiar eschatological themes which both Jewish and Christian communities associate with the coming of Messiah. It is clear that the Festival is ripe with end-times implications.

In view of Paul's statement that the festivals are "shadows of things to come," and in view of the ways in which the Spring Festivals of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost received a Messianic fulfillment within the events of the first coming of Messiah, one can hardly be surprised to find that the Fall Festivals speak to Messiah's return. Yeshua himself invokes Rosh haShannah imagery when he says, "They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great shofar and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other." (Matthew 24:30,31)

The Riddle is Solved

Perhaps the Sages have solved the riddle the first day of the seventh month for us. The shofar of Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of things yet to come. It is a memorial of things that have not happened yet. Only with God can something be remembered before it has occurred! Rosh haShannah remembers the future work of Messiah.

Perhaps it is the obscurity of the future which accounts for the Torah's silence regarding the festival's meaning. Rosh haShannah's final fulfillment is still shrouded in the future. If so, then the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah reminds us to listen for the sound of the Master's shofar.

 The voice of the shofar is the voice of our Master.

Parts of this article in the magazine Bikkurei Tzion under the title "Yom Teruah, Ten Reasons for Blowing the Shofar."