Teachings
Below are the teachings from our weekly Torah Studies. If you would like to join us, please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so we can let you know where and when we meet.
Shoftim (Judges) D’Varim (Deut.) 16:18-21:9
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- Created on Saturday, 18 August 2018 14:22
Torah Portion Shoftim (Judges) D’Varim (Deut.) 16:18-21:9
Haftorah Reading: Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 51:12-53:12
Today is the first Shabbat of the Hebrew month Elul. This is a period of introspection, self examination and repentance leading up to Yom Kippur. This period has much to teach us. With this in mind, it seems appropriate that we study this portion about the process of setting up judges, courts and even the appointment of kings.
Re’eh (See) D’Varim (Deut.) 11:26-16:17
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- Created on Saturday, 11 August 2018 14:14
Torah Portion Re’eh (See) D’Varim (Deut.) 11:26-16:17
Haftorah Reading: Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 54:11-55:5
Tonight we read the Torah portion Re’eh or “See.” The verse, D’Varim/Deut. 11:26, calls us to pay attention because what follows is very important. Based on our discussion last week on the verb Shema or hear, we can understand this verse in the same way. The verse is calling our attention to what follows, to truly comprehend the meaning of these words.
Ekev (Following) D’Varim (Deut.) 7:12-11:25
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- Created on Saturday, 04 August 2018 14:21
Torah Portion Ekev (Following) D’Varim (Deut.) 7:12-11:25
Haftorah Reading: Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 49:14-51:3
Tonight I want us to look at a couple of places in this Torah portion to find what we can hear that will help us in our daily walk with the Father. First, I want to draw your attention to my second question of the week. What is the prominent verb we read over and over in the Book of Devarim/Deut.? In verse 9:1 we hear the Shema in Hebrew. I believe we have talked of this word before but I want us to go over it in some depth today. This word appears over 90 times in this book of the Bible. It can be seen as the key to understanding what Moshe is communicating to the people in his last speech before his death. First, I want us to have a clear understanding of the word Shema. In Hebrew it is used to mean “to hear, to listen, to pay attention, to understand to internalize or to respond.” It is the closest word in biblical Hebrew to express the term, “to obey.” Sometimes for us, as part of the western culture, hearing is not something that we do naturally on a deep level. The sense we us most often is seeing. This is a hold over from the Greek influence in our lives. We see this in our language, I see, foresight, hindsight, insight, vision and phrases such as “it appears.” These are only a few of the ways sight dominates our thoughts and language. By contrast Hebrew the world of Moshe and Yeshua was immersed in hearing, really hearing. It was a culture of the ear more than the eye. We read this word “Shema” or one of its derivatives used to express proof of a certain point like, come and hear, hear from this, he could not hear it.