Parashah #25 Tzav / Command
Parashah #25 ~ Tzav ~ Command
Torah: Vayikra / Leviticus 6:1 (8) ~ 8:36
Haftarah: Yirmeyahu / Jeremiah 7:21 ~ 8:3 & 9:22 – 23
B’rit Hadashah: Mark 12:28 – 34; Romans 12:1 – 2; 1 Corinthians 10:14 – 23
Another week of “which road do I travel”! Too many choices, too much to do!! Oy vey . . .
NOTE: Since the numbering is different between the Tanakh and the Christian Bible, the numbers in parenthesis are for the Bible.
Our Torah portion this week begins with Vayikra / Leviticus 6:1(8) “Command (give this order) to Aharon and his sons . . .” Interestingly, the portion ends with Vayikra / Leviticus 8:36 “Aharon and his sons did all the things which Yehovah ordered (commanded) through Moshe. Bookends, so to speak ~ for those of us who need word pictures!!
The Hebrew word for command or order is (Zahv) Tzav and is composed of two Hebrew letters (zah – dee) tzadi and (vahv) vav. According to “Hebrew Word Pictures” by Frank Seekins these letters indicate the following:
• Tzadi (צ) is the original picture of a (fish) hook and represents “catching, desiring or needing”.
• Vav (ו) is depicted as a “nail or peg” and often refers to “adding to or securing” something.
Having these word pictures, one should be able to see The Almighty is telling the reader (listener) these commands are to be hooked and even nailed to us for our welfare.
When we look this word up in the Hebrew text, we find it is used 517 times in the Tanakh beginning with B’resheet / Genesis 2:16 & 17 and again in 3:11 & 17. We know what happened concerning the consequences of their disobedience to Yehovah’s explicit “command”. It would be wise for us to choose obedience. For instance, are we going to observe His (moe – eh – deem) moedim / appointed times? Or, are we going to choose to ignore the commands? Or, even worse, will we do something “man” has conceived to replace Yehovah’s commands?
Ya know, it’s much easier to be Torah observant in Israel. There, you have two choices: either observe or not observe. Those of us who have been raised apart from Torah Observance have been taught to follow the traditions of men. Many of us replaced . . .
• (Pay – sahk) Pesach / Passover
• Feast of Unleavened Bread
• Feast of First Fruits
•
. . . with a one – day recognition of the Resurrection of the Messiah labeled Easter, a pagan holiday named for the fertility goddess, Ishtar. But that’s another teaching, in and of itself!!!!
Don’t take my word for it . . . look it up!!! It’s amazing the information “Wikipedia” has!!!!
Easter isn’t mentioned in any translation of the Bible except the King James in Acts 12:4 (KJV). In this translation, The Almighty’s holidays of (Pay – sock) Pesach / Passover (pascha / pasca in Greek) and Unleavened Bread were blatantly mistranslated as Easter in approximately 1611 AD. Anti – Semitism reared its ugly head, even back then! And what’s worse, they didn’t even try to conceal their disobedience in not observing what our Creator commanded. My question is . . . did these different translators of the various English texts of the Bible have an agenda they wanted to perpetuate?
We better move on . . . let’s turn to Malachi 3:6 – 7 “But because I, Yehovah, do not change, you sons of Ya’akov / Jacob will not be destroyed. Since the days of your forefathers you have turned from my laws and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you.’ Says Yehovah – Tzva’ot.” But you ask, ‘In respect to what are we supposed to return?” Truly, the question is “how shall we return?” I believe the answer lies in Malachi 3:22 (4:4) “Remember the Torah of Moshe my servant, which I enjoined on him at Horev (Sinai), laws and rulings for all Isra’el.” By obeying the command to remember the Torah of Moshe and its Statutes, father’s hearts are being restored to their children and vice versa.
Perhaps when those who have distanced themselves through the traditions of men begin reading ALL of Paul they will discover Ephesians 2:11 – 13 and realize with Christ they, (“who previously were gentiles”) become part of the “Commonwealth of Israel” not some lone wolf group.
The same offerings and sacrifices from last week are addressed again this week. It appears Chapters 6 and 7 could be considered a “manual for the priesthood” because they cover . . .
• “the law for the burnt offering,
• the grain offering,
• the guilt offering,
• the consecration offering and
• the sacrifice of peace offerings”. (7:17).
CHAPTER 6
The law for the Burnt Offering comes from the Hebrew word (oh – lah) olah (עלה), meaning to rise up or ascending just as smoke rises up from the burnt offering. Additionally, it was completely burned up, i.e. completely consumed on the altar, ascending as a soothing aroma to our Creator.
Rashi interprets the “soothing aroma” as a metaphor for man’s obedience. He explains the aroma of the sacrifice is pleasing to The Holy One because it is a token of His children’s obedience. When The Almighty smells the sacrifice, He delights in the human being who has gone to such effort to draw near / close to Him. (Vayikra / Leviticus 6:2 [9] )
Vayikra / Leviticus 6:3 – 4 (10 & 11) addresses the removal of the ashes, first from the altar and then to an area outside the camp. It is reported the (Koe – hah – neem) Kohanim / Priests were extremely anxious to take out the ashes. Consequently, a lottery system was introduced to stop the arguing about who would get the job! To parallel this, we should be anxious to remove the “ashes” which we accumulate in our day to day activities. It is up to us to remove them on a daily basis.
The Chumash tells us the Kohen / Priest would very likely soil his sacred garments because of the amount of ash to be moved. Therefore, he was to remove his regular sacred garments and change into older, more worn priestly garments. Torah teaches a common courtesy: one would not wear the same clothing in the kitchen that one would wear when pouring wine for his master. “From this we learn the importance of changing into our best clothing in honor of the Sabbath, after having worn something else while performing the menial chores in preparation for the holy day. [This applies especially to women, who generally do not attend the synagogue on Friday evening.]” (Rashi)
AISH TAMID
The above means, literally: (aysh) aish = fire and (tah – meed) tamid = always; an “always fire”. Tending to the (aysh tah – meed) aish tamid / eternal flame was the first mitzvah of the day (verses 5 & 6 [12 & 13]). The Holy One gives the priests instructions for keeping the fire burning on the altar. He sent the first fire by His Presence but He never promised to send it again if they let it go out. Fire brought from some other source than the altar fire lit by The Almighty is referred to as “strange fire” (Vayikra / Leviticus 10:1). The priest was to keep wood on the altar so the fire would not go out. He also was to keep the ashes cleaned out to make room for more wood.
Doesn’t this speak to us today? We should be ablaze with the fire of Yehovah. It is His fire which causes us to be light in a dark world. His fire continues to purify us as gold in the refiner’s fire. As we are refined, it is important for us to remove the ashes of yesterday and continually add His Word / His Wood daily, following Torah so we do not let the fire go out!
Going back to what has already been pointed out, mixing pagan practices into our lives is bringing in strange fire . . . (Bah – ahl) Ba’al worship . . . mixed worship . . . traditions of men. Such practices bring death.
Even back then, the priests saw a great significance in serving the Holy One of Israel on yet another new day. Can’t you sense the anticipation and excitement? Each new day brought with it a chance to serve . . .
• The One who struck all of Egypt with the deadly Ten Plagues
• The One who opened up the Sea of Reeds and made His people to cross over on DRY ground
• The One who brought them out, both slave and free, Egyptian and Israelite, to the foot of Mount Sinai and gave them His Words of Life, His Torah, His marriage covenant.
According to Yeshua, in Mattityahu / Matthew 5:14 – 16, when we surrender to the (Roo – ahk Ha Koe – desh) Ruach HaKodesh / Holy Spirit and become living vessels to be used for His glory, He places the Torah in our hearts and we become the “Light for the world”. What an awesome description given to us by the Light of all Light, Yeshua HaMashiach / Jesus the Messiah, Himself. When we allow His light to be kindled in us, the entire world has a chance to see the goodness of His perfect grace and mercy. We must keep our (nehr tah – meed) ner tamid / eternal lamp lit for those around us to see!
From here we learn about the continuity of God’s service. The night continues the offerings of the day, and the first thing in the morning is the continuation of yesterday’s service. We must see our relationship with The Holy One as ongoing. Every prayer is a continuation of the one before but frequently from a different perspective of life than before.
The law for the (men – khah) Minchah / grain offering in verses 7 – 11 (14 – 18) say it was to be offered in front of the altar.
• A handful of the fine flour was to be the reminder portion and was to go up in smoke.
• The rest, Aharon, his sons and every male descendant, were to eat in the courtyard.
• It was to have no leaven.
• Whatever touched it became holy.
Verses 12 – 16 (19 – 28) cover the law for the consecration offering, in Hebrew, (mill – lou – eem) Miluim. which was offered on the day Aharon and his sons were anointed. Each time a new cohen / priest was anointed from Aharon’s descendants. This offering was to be made.
• Two quarts of flour ~ one quart in the morning and one quart in the evening
• Mixed well with olive oil and fried on a griddle.
• Broken in pieces and offered.
• To go up entirely in smoke.
• It is not to be eaten.
• It is a perpetual obligation.
As I see it, when our soon coming (Coe – hen Hah – Gah – dole) Cohen HaGadol / Great High Priest, Yeshua returns, He will re – initiate this offering. (Yechezk’el / Ezekiel 44:11 more on this later.)
The law for the (khah – taht) Chatat / sin offering is covered in verses 17 – 23 (24 – 30).
• It is to be slaughtered where the burnt offering is slaughtered.
• It is especially holy.
• The Cohen offering it is to eat it in the courtyard.
• Whatever touches it becomes holy.
• Any blood is to be washed off in the Holy Place.
• After cooking, a clay pot was to be broken and a bronze pot was to be scoured and rinsed.
B U T . . .
• A sin offering whose blood was brought for atonement in the Holy Place was NOT to be eaten.
• It is to be burned up completely.
CHAPTER 7
Verses 1 – 7 address the law of the (Ah – shahm) Asham / guilt offering.
• It is especially holy.
• Slaughtered where the burnt offering is slaughtered
• Blood to be splashed against all sides of the altar
• All its fat, kidneys and covering of the liver are to go up in smoke
• The guilt offering is like the sin offering. The same law governs both.
The (sh’lah – meem) sh’lamim / peace offering is addressed in verses 11 – 21 and is also known as a (Kore – bahn Toe – dah) Korban Todah / thanksgiving offering. One offers a thanksgiving offering (in the Temple) when he is saved from potential danger. According to the Sages, there are four types of potential danger:
• those released from prison
• a seriously ill patient who has recovered (including childbirth)
• sea travelers and
• desert travelers.
Another one of the commentaries had the following to share. The Hebrew word picture for this group of four types of potential danger is (kha – yeem) CHaYYiM, which means life and looks like this:
• Chavus [khah – voos], Hebrew for jail
• Yisurim [yis – oo – reem], Hebrew for illness
• Yam [yahm], Hebrew for sea
• Midbar [mid – bahr], Hebrew for desert
Certainly, we thank Yehovah for delivering us from possible disaster. This is why the Siddur / Jewish prayer book has a prayer, the (moe – deh ah – nee) Modeh Ani, which is recited each morning upon arising: “I am thankful before You, Living and Everlasting King, that You returned my life to me with mercy. Great is your faithfulness!” Thanksgiving is a recognition of receiving something undeserved and feeling indebted to repay the giver with gratitude.
With regard to the thanksgiving offering in verse 12, there is reference to . . .
• Unleavened cakes mixed with olive oil
• Matzah spread with olive oil
• Cakes made of fine flour mixed with olive oil and fried.
About a month ago we read a similar verse in our Torah portion. My comment at the time was “I think there is more to this than I am getting at this time.” Someone made the remark perhaps the priests liked variety and that’s why there were different kinds of grain offering. Perhaps so . . .
Then, verse 17, mentions the meat of the sacrifice is to be burned on the third day. I compare this to Yeshua, who is referred to as our Sacrificial Lamb, who arose on the third day, thereby becoming an acceptable sacrifice and did not become putrefied. The more I study Torah, the more shadows of our Messiah are revealed to me.
It is said the American holiday of Thanksgiving stems from this Torah portion.
There are two differences between the thanksgiving – offering and the peace – offering. The todah / thanksgiving is eaten for a day and a night while the sh’lamim / peace offering is eaten for two days and the night between. A todah must be accompanied by forty loaves of bread. Now anyone knows there is NO WAY one individual could consume that much bread in the specified amount of time. Consequently, one was encouraged to bring family and friends to celebrate your thanksgiving with you. Let’s face it . . . everyone LOVES to party!!!! Also, if there is anything left after two days, it is to be completely burned.
The Sages teach whoever delves into the studies of the Offerings in Torah, is considered as if he actually sacrificed one. The point being, it is not the blood of the animal, rather it is the feeling of closeness to our Creator which comes from appreciating its meaning.
In previous chapters and here too, we find an order to the offerings. According to the sacrificial practices, the sin, guilt and burnt offerings took priority over the peace offering. I believe this is the same approach we need to make before our Lord. It is difficult to have fellowship / peace when we have sin and guilt in our lives. The burnt offering, which was to be totally consumed, represents the necessity for us to be totally surrendered to The Almighty. Once cleansed of sin and completely surrendered, we are ready to enjoy peace and fellowship with our Abba Father.
The Sages expound upon the greatness of peace in Leviticus Rabbah 9:9. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai says “Great is peace, since all the blessings are comprised of peace, as it says in Psalm 29:11, ‘Yehovah will bless His people with peace.’” And Rabbi Hezekiah said the commandment to seek peace is greater than the other commandments. It is written, “Seek peace and pursue it.” (Psalm 34:14) So, the Hebrew blessing / greeting is Shalom! Peace!
The peace offering represents peace between us and our Creator. It is uniquely represented by the work of Yeshua HaMashiach / Jesus the Messiah, for “we have peace with God through our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah (Romans 5:1). Remember Yeshua’s words, “Peace I leave with you . . .” (Yochanan / John 14:27)
Yeshua’s resurrection on the third day is linked to the peace offerings. On the third day the sacrifice would become invalid because it would become rancid. Yeshua rose after three days, as Scripture says of Him, “You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.” (Acts 2:27 quoting Psalm 16:10) His flesh did not experience decay. He is the Imperishable One.
Verses 23 & 24 tell us we are not to eat the fat of bulls, sheep or goats. The fat can be used for other purposes (i.e. candles, soap, etc) but “under NO circumstances are you to eat it.” Then verse 26 tells us not to eat any kind of blood.
CHAPTER 8
The actual consecration service for Aharon and his sons is quite detailed in this chapter and lasted for seven days. During this time they were not to leave the (Mish – kahn) Mishkan / Tent of Meeting. Before Aharon and his sons were inaugurated as priests, Moshe was in charge of the Tabernacle. Moshe was the one who . . .
• Prepared the sacrifices
• Offered the incense
• Conducted the service and
• Installed Aharon and his sons into the priesthood
Consequently, we can say Moshe was a priest also and apparently his priesthood must have been a higher order than Aharon’s. The Aaronic priesthood was limited to entering the Holy of Holies only once a year but Moshe could enter at any time. You might say Moshe’s priesthood was birthed from his face – to – face relationship with Yehovah on Mount Sinai.
Verses 6 – 9 tell us Moshe brought Aharon and his sons . . .
• Washed them with water
• Put the tunic on him
• Wrapped the sash around him
• Clothed him with the robe
• Put the ritual vest on him
• Wrapped around him the decorated belt
• Fastened the vest to him with it
• Put the breastplate on him
• Put in the urim and tumim
• Set the turban on his head
• On the front of the turban affixed the gold plate, the holy ornament
. . . as Yehovah had ordered Moshe.
In verses 10 – 12, Moshe sprinkles the anointing oil on the altar seven times. I believe this points toward Yeshua, who was anointed with the seven – fold anointing of the Spirit of God:
1. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him
2. The spirit of wisdom
3. And (the spirit of) understanding
4. The spirit of counsel
5. And (the spirit of) strength
6. The spirit of knowledge
7. And the (spirit of the ) fear of the Lord (Yesha’yahu / Isaiah 11:2)
Over and over different commentaries refer to Aharon as “the Peacemaker”. Verse 12 says “Then he poured some of the anointing oil on Aharon’s head and anointed him, to consecrate him.” This only happened one time but it is remembered in the Psalms of Ascent (133:1 – 2). “A song of ascents, by David: Oh, how good, how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in harmony (unity)! It is like fragrant oil on the head that runs down over the beard, over the beard of Aharon, and flows down on the collar of his robes.” The Sages explain this psalm is sung in memory of Aharon’s peaceful nature. He was known as a peacemaker between men. Given this information, I wonder if it was this peaceful nature which caused him to agree to make the Golden Calf at Mount Sinai; to keep peace within the camp.
As followers of Yeshua, we are also called to be peacemakers. Not only are we to be peaceful people, we are to be people who are proactively making peace. This is one of the things which characterize true disciples of Yeshua. He said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Mattityahu / Matthew 5:9)
According to Vayikra / Leviticus 8:13, after Moshe anointed Aharon he turned to Aharon’s sons. The priestly garments were meant to consecrate them for the priesthood. These garments were not like their father’s. They were simply of white linen and consisted of breaches, tunic and sash. If Yeshua is a parallel to Aharon, the anointed priest, then I believe we can be considered a parallel to Aharon’s sons, the ordinary priests. The simple white linen garments of the average priest can be compared to the fine white linen garments given to the righteous in the book of Revelation (Revelation 7:9). And again, in Revelation 19:8 it says, “It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Before we leave Chapter 8, I want to address verse 23, which says, “After it (the ram of consecration) had been slaughtered, Moshe took some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aharon’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.” Although this ritual is referred to as a “Scriptural decree”, it definitely has a lesson which I believe applies to everyone.
• The blood on the ear symbolizes we should always listen to and obey The Almighty’s commands.
• The hand actively grasps things so the blood upon the thumb symbolizes we should actively carry out the Father’s will.
• The foot indicates movement so the blood on the big toe symbolizes our steps should always move with eager willingness to serve our Creator.
SACRIFICES AFTER YESHUA
Many believe the sacrificial system was done away with when Yeshua died; however, this is a gross misunderstanding because it is obvious sacrifices were still made until the Temple was destroyed approximately 37 years later (70 CE). There is ample Scriptural evidence! The Apostles participated in the Temple sacrificial system including the Apostle Sha’ul / Paul. We need to realize the early Believers, who were Israelites / Hebrews, followed the Torah and the Torah commanded sacrifices. What the early Believers knew was their sacrifices were not for the remission of their sin but instead were remembrances of what Yeshua had done on their behalf.
The same way we ask or say the blessing over the fruit of the vine and the bread. (Some call it communion.) In remembering what Yeshua has done for us, we are doing the same as the early Believers in their participation in the sacrificial system. We don’t have sacrifices now because the Temple has been destroyed. The Temple was designated by The Holy One to be the place where the sacrifices could be offered and the only place for His name, according to D’varim / Deuteronomy 12:5 & 11.
Our good friend in Jerusalem, Rabbi Ya’akov Youlus, of blessed memory, tells us when the special prayers for the High Holy Days were composed, the rabbis determined three steps are necessary for a person to do in order for his sins to be forgiven. These three steps are . . .
• Teshuva / repentance, which involves self – improvement
• Tefila / prayer, which involves a person improving his relationship with The Almighty
• Tzedaka / charitable giving, improving one’s relationship with others
Turning to Yechezk’el / Ezekiel 44:11 we learn there WILL BE sacrifices taking place in the third Temple. It’s difficult for our westernized minds to comprehend sacrifices will once again be offered when the third Temple is built because of the “Christian” teaching to the contrary. The probability of a Believer offering a sacrifice would be out of the question because most Church – goers think they will be gone in the “Rapture”. If this is true, The Almighty has a LOT of apologizing to do to . . .
• The children of Israel in Egypt
• Noah and his family
• The three Hebrew children in the fire
• Daniel in the lion’s den
. . . and I am sure there are many, many others who were not whisked away!!!
As I have said before, the (Say – fer B’resheet) Sefer B’resheet / Book of Genesis is a blueprint for life as well as a blueprint for the rest of Torah. I have full confidence the Holy One of Israel could have delivered the Children of Israel out of Pharaoh’s hands and into the Promised Land in the twinkling of an eye but He didn’t. He could have saved Noah and his family from the flood but He didn’t. He could have intervened in the lives of the three Hebrew children as well as for Daniel and any others who were faced with tribulation but He didn’t. Yehovah’s greatness was revealed in spectacular ways in each of these instances. If that was His M.O. then, I believe it will be His M.O. in the last days for His children who have chosen to follow Him and His Torah. Let them who have ears to hear, HEAR!!!
There are principles we can learn from Tzav which will form a basis for the Biblical society The Almighty wants to restore to His people.
We should learn from the priests who would take a shovel full of ash each day from the peace offering and deposit it in the courtyard as a national symbol of dedication to the Lord. As we are encouraged to be living sacrifices before Yehovah, we must be burning continually before Him as peace offerings. May Yeshua, as our High Priest in Heaven, place the “ashes” of our sacrifice in the Heavenly Temple, indicating we are on fire for Him.
The Ancient Israelites were judged because they failed to follow His commandments. In these Last Days, we must learn from their example and seek to follow Torah knowing it will bring great blessings or we will be judged as they were and will experience the curses.
The Apostle Paul speaks of things which are beneficial and things not beneficial for Believers, telling us to be concerned with the well – being of others. As the world sinks further and further into lawlessness (Torah – less – ness . . . iniquity), we must demonstrate the truths of Torah to the masses, many of whom are unknowingly deceived.
May we put aside our idol worship so we do not hear the words “depart from me for I never knew you” (Mattityahu / Matthew 7:23); rather through obedience to what The Holy One has told us to do in His Torah, let us hear, “well done, good and faithful servant” (Mattityahu / Matthew 25:21).
Tzav ~ Command / Order
Haftarah: Yirmeyahu / Jeremiah 7:21~8:3 & 9:22 – 23
The general overview of these verses is not the happiest in the Tanakh / Bible. The main case The Almighty seems to have against the people in this haftarah is their disobedience to the covenant. He desired holy living from them and the worst part of their disobedience was their idol worship, which included sacrificing their own children right outside their doors in the Hinnom Valley of Southern Jerusalem. Furthermore, when The Holy One gave them the Decalogue / Ten Words, none of the ten mentioned anything about offering sacrifices.
Yehovah, speaking through His prophet, Yirmeyahu / Jeremiah, says, “Pay attention to what I say. Then I will be your God and you will be my people. In everything, live according to the way that I order you, so things will go well for you.” Abba tells His people to obey His voice and to walk in ALL the ways HE has commanded / ordered them. He does not say to walk in the way you determine or how you feel. He says walk in ALL the ways HE has commanded / ordered us. Where has He commanded us to do this? In the Torah! Verse 24 talks about those who walked in their own counsel and stubbornness of heart. Most of us are part of the group Jeremiah is addressing. We think we are obeying what God told us to do. However, in reality we have disobeyed His Word and are following in the footsteps of our forefathers, in the tradition of man, rather than the tradition of The Holy One.
We have violated the commandments of The Almighty and have made ourselves to be “god” either by ignoring and deliberately disobeying what He has asked or worse yet, both Rabbinical Judaism and Constantinian Christianity have replaced His commandments with their own “commandments”. Let us heed this warning and seek to follow our Father’s commandments so it will be well with us! (verse 23)
Tzav ~ Command / Order
B’rit Hadashah: Mark 12:28 – 34; Romans 12:1 – 2; 1 Corinthians 10:14 – 23
Mark 12:28 – 34 Verses 29 – 30, quote the Shema from D’varim / Deuteronomy 6:4 – 5 and verse 31 is a direct quote from Vayikra / Leviticus 19:18. According to Yeshua, observing these instructions are more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. Bear in mind, Yeshua said this during a time when sacrifices were still being made in the Temple.
Romans 12:1 – 2 In these verses, Rav Sha’ul / Rabbi Saul / Paul exhorts us to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, set apart for Yehovah. To do this, begins with our minds. We need to make a decision to turn from the “standards” of this world, which are rooted in everything but The Holy One and His Word and learn what The Almighty wants of us. What He wants of us is morally good and psychologically satisfying and, when put into practice, it will cause us to be able to succeed.
1 Corinthians 10:14 – 23 In a nutshell, Rav Sha’ul / Rabbi Saul / Paul, is strongly warning the Messianic Believers, like us, to run from idolatry. In this particular instance, he is saying it just doesn’t make sense to “drink both a cup of the Lord and a cup of demons” (verse 21). In like manner, he could be saying this to us today. Why would we want to celebrate pagan holidays (Christmas and Easter) when we have the moedim / appointed times? These are times The Almighty has told us He wants to meet with us. If we will just read and believe the instructions He gave us, it will be well with us!!!
The corresponding Psalm for this Torah portion is: Psalm 107
Next week’s lesson: Parashah #26
Sh’mini ~ יינמש ~ Eighth
Torah: Vayikra / Leviticus 9:1 ~ 11:47
Haftarah: Sh’muel Bet / 2nd Samuel 6:1 ~ 7:17
B’rit Hadashah: Mark 7:1 – 23; Acts 5:1 – 11; Acts 10:1 – 35;
2nd Corinthians 6:14 ~ 7:1; Galatians 2:11 – 16; 1 Kefa / 1st Peter 1:14 – 16
Who fills his mind with Torah clears it of fear and folly.
Rabbi Chanina Sgan HaKohanim
Organize yourselves into classes for the study of Torah,
since it can best be acquired in association with others.
Talmud: Berkot 63b
Shavuah tov (have a good week)!!!!!
