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And in prayer for those sorrows relieved of September 11, 2001 ...
Welcome to Nitzavim (You Are Standing), this week's Torah portion.
This is the portion that we will be reading during Shabbat (Saturday) services.
Please follow along as we study this week's Parasha.
We know you will be blessed !
NITZAVIM (You Are Standing)
Deuteronomy 29:9 (10)–30:20, Isaiah 61:10–63:9, Romans 10:1–12
“You are standing [nitzavim] today in the presence of the Lord your God ….
You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God.”
(Deuteronomy 29:10–12))
Last week, Parasha Ki Tavo (When You Enter) concluded with Moses telling the
people that just 40 years after they had attained nationhood, they had acquired
“a heart to know, eyes to see and ears to hear.”
Reaching that point entailed a 40-year journey in the wilderness.
Free to Choose Good
In Parasha Nitzavim, God sets before the Jewish People two diametrically opposed choices:
life and good, or death and evil (et ha'chayim v'et ha'tov; v'et hamavet v'et hara).
Just as a good father might instruct his son or daughter as to the best decision to make,
God implores His children to choose life.
“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you
life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”
(Deuteronomy 30:19)
This verse provides an incredible insight into the purpose of the Torah.
God gave the Scriptures to us as a guide so we know what is good and what is evil;
nevertheless, it is up to each of us to either live according to God’s Word by accepting
the good and rejecting the evil—or to live according to the dictates of our own heart
and the current cultural perspective or worldview.
This is the concept of free will that God has given to mankind.
One ancient Jewish Bible commentator, Rashi, cites a story, or midrash, in the oral tradition
(in the treatise Niddah) about the angel responsible for conception who asks God whether
the child will grow up to be strong or weak, wise or foolish, rich or poor.
The angel, however, never asks God if the child will become wicked or righteous, since God
may determine the circumstances of one’s life but the decision to choose the good path or
the evil one has been left up to man’s own free will.
You can view this Parasha on our website complete with embedded links ...
Nitzavim: The Freedom to Choose Life
http://free.messianicbible.
Parasha Reading Schedule 5775
http://free.messianicbible.
http://www.templeinstitute.
http://universaltorah.com/
"Behold, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil." (Deut. 30:15)
"I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse." (ibid 30:19)
Elul 27, 5775 / September 11, 2015
It seems so obvious, but is it? Today death, evil and curse seem to be the choice of millions of the descendants of Adam. Did someone fail to whisper in their ear? Or do they fear Israel's historic reentry into the land of Israel and all the good that this prophecy fulfilled promises? Is their choice for death a desperate attempt to keep the soles of Israel's feet off the Temple Mount, the place of the Holy Temple, the place of the altar, the place of the creation of man from the dust of the earth?
"Choose life!" This commandment is one to keep in our hearts and on our lips as we bring in a new year, one, we pray, in which good news will betide all of G-d's children. "Choose life!" Pass it along!
This week's Temple Talk is dedicated to Rosh HaShana, anniversary of Adam's birth and time of judgement for all his descendants. Join Yitzchak Reuven and Rabbi Chaim Richman as they focus on Rosh HaShana, not as the 'Jewish New Year' - but as the universal coronation of G-d as King of the Universe. Our hosts also take a look at the rumors sweeping social media that the end of the world is rapidly approaching. Are we worried? Tune in to this week's soaring edition of Temple Talk, the last Temple Talk of the year 5775! Here's to new beginnings!
http://universaltorah.com/
THE SHABBAT CANDLE BLESSING
Jewish people around the world mark
this day by the candle lighting and blessing:
"Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe,
who has sanctified us with His commandments, and
commanded us to kindle the light of the Holy Shabbat."
http://lp.eteacherhebrew.com/
✡ ✡ ✡
Yavoh ~ He is coming !
Yahweh - Yeshua - Ruach Ha-Kodesh
Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה
BREAKING NEWS FROM ISRAEL
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http://www.voiceofisrael.com/
http://www.defendingzion.org/
http://www.breakingisraelnews.
http://pamelageller.com/
http://www.jihadwatch.org/
http://www.joyofkosher.com/
http://prophecyupdate.
http://www.prophecynewswatch.
http://prophecynewsdaily.com
http://www.itshallcometopass.
http://www.
http://hummingbird027.com/
http://pawcreek.org/
http://www.
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/
http://www.yeshua-hamashiach.
http://www.templeinstitute.
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http://free.messianicbible.
Pray at the Kotel - the Western Wailing Wall
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click continue to use PressDisplay.com
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This is it folks !
Everything has been leading up to this moment - Rosh Hashanah 5776
starts Sunday night. We wish you the happiest,
healthiest, sweetest New Year ! Shana Tova U'Metuka
from the entire JOY of KOSHER Team.
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Sweet & Tangy Pulled Turkey with Pomegranate Vinegar
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Honey-Cinnamon Basket Challah
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Become a Challah Expert HOME by Jamie Geller
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Cookbook Questions - Q & A Monday with Jamie Geller - Episode 4
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Pomegranate Guacamole
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Eggplant Tomato Stacks
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Whether you keep kosher or are just kosher-curious, JoyofKosher.com,
starring best-selling cookbook author Jamie Geller, is the ultimate online
community for people with good taste who are passionate about food.
JoyofKosher.com features thousands of gourmet and everyday kosher
recipes searchable by category (dairy, meat or pareve), cuisine, course,
and/or holiday, plus cooking tips and tricks from celebrity chefs and food
personalities. JoyofKosher.com also offers mouth-watering menu ideas for
Shabbat and all Jewish holidays. You don’t have to be kosher to love kosher !
Verily, Beloveds, I can scarcely take this all in while here on
the Lord's Earth, when we are all finally home, please, do
stop by to see Jamie and those beloveds within her given house ...
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I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1-2 KJV
Shabbat Shalom - Parasha Nitzavim (You Are Standing)
- The Freedom to Choose Life !!!
Torah and yad
Shabbat Shalom
Welcome to Nitzavim
(You Are Standing), this week's Torah portion.
This is the portion that we will be reading during Shabbat
(Saturday) services. Please follow along as we study this
week's Parasha.
We know you will be blessed !
We know you will be blessed !
NITZAVIM (You Are
Standing)
Deuteronomy 29:9 (10)–30:20, Isaiah 61:10–63:9,
Romans 10:1–12
“You are standing [nitzavim]
today in the presence of the Lord your God …. You are
standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the
Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 29:10–12)
Last week, Parasha Ki Tavo (When You Enter) concluded with
Moses telling the people that just 40 years after they had
attained nationhood, they had acquired “a heart to know, eyes
to see and ears to hear.” Reaching that point entailed a
40-year journey in the wilderness.
A 13-year-old Jewish boy reads the Torah for the first time publicly from
the bimah in a synagogue. (Photo by dutchboy)
Free to Choose Good
In Parasha Nitzavim, God sets before the Jewish People two
diametrically opposed choices: life
and good, or death and evil (et ha'chayim v'et
ha'tov; v'et hamavet v'et hara).
Just as a good father might instruct his son or daughter
as to the best decision to make, God implores His
children to choose life.
“This day I call the heavens
and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set
before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose
life, so that you and your children may live.”
(Deuteronomy 30:19)
(Deuteronomy 30:19)
This verse provides an
incredible insight into the purpose of the Torah.
God gave the Scriptures to us as a guide so we know what
is good and what is evil; nevertheless, it is up to each of us
to either live according to God’s Word by accepting the good
and rejecting the evil—or to live according to the dictates of
our own heart and the current cultural perspective or
worldview.
This is the concept of free will that God has given to
mankind.
One ancient Jewish Bible commentator, Rashi, cites a
story, or midrash, in the oral tradition (in the treatise
Niddah) about the angel responsible for conception who asks
God whether the child will grow up to be strong or weak, wise
or foolish, rich or poor.
The angel, however, never asks God if the child will
become wicked or righteous, since God may determine the
circumstances of one’s life but the decision to choose
the good path or the evil one has been left up to man’s own
free will.
The handwritten Hebrew of a precious Torah scroll.
Free to Choose Life
in Adversity
While it is not possible to control all the
circumstances that affect our lives, we can determine how we
will react to them.
It might be easier to be happy or be nice when everything
is going well, but there is no guarantee that we will be happy
or nice even in the midst of good times.
Likewise, tragic circumstances do not have to shake us
from our firm foundation so that we lose faith in God and
become miserable and bitter.
One Messianic Prophecy Bible team member tells the story
of an older woman whose son had passed away from cancer,
leaving behind a lovely young wife with three small children.
“They were an observant, Orthodox Jewish family, and I
wondered how they would react to such a terrible tragedy,” she
said. “It was then that
I overheard the woman speaking to a friend on the phone.
Her words were full only of honor toward God, frequently
uttering, Baruch
Hashem (Blessed be His Name).
"It reminded me of how Job was able to say, 'He gives and He takes away. Baruch
Hashem,' after losing his health, his children and
his livelihood." (Job 1:21)
An Orthodox Jewish woman stands near a fresh grave on the Mount of
Olives in Jerusalem.
A famous psychologist and Holocaust survivor, Viktor
Frankl, wrote in his book Man’s Search for Meaning
about humankind's ability to exercise free will during the
horrific circumstances of the Nazi concentration and death
camps.
Although we might expect that a person would be incapable
of acting in kind, moral, humane ways under such terrible
conditions, Frankl reports in his book that this was not the
case; he observed many examples of heroic individuals.
Frankl wrote, “[These men] offer sufficient proof that everything
can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of
human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of
circumstances, to choose one's own way . . .” (pp.
86–88)
Even under extreme physical and emotional stress, we can
choose our behavior—whether to love and forgive—or remain in
hatred and bitterness.
Jewish women and children walk toward the gas chambers at
Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Most of us will never have to endure such brutal
conditions, but each one of us will be presented with
choices throughout our lives.
We must choose whether or not to be courageous, unselfish
and faithful; or bow to fear, fight for our own way, and lose
our human dignity, especially during serious adversity.
Our morality and ethics will be tested at various times
throughout our lives. We cannot plead, as did some of the
Nazis charged with war crimes, who defended themselves saying,
“I had no choice…. I was just following orders.”
The truth is that we
always have the ability to act in accordance with the
values of the Torah or to walk along that broad path that
leads to destruction.
We would do well to consider carefully our ways as we
prepare to enter into the Days of Awe this weekend.
Two Orthodox Jewish girls walk in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Free to Return to
God
Sunday begins a ten-day period called Days of Awe (Yamim Nora’im)
that ushers in Rosh HaShanah (the Jewish calendar New Year
5776) and ends with Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).
These ten days are meant to be a period of somber
introspection during which time we pray for forgiveness of our
sins—and ask for forgiveness from those we have sinned against
throughout the year.
The repentance required at the time of these
upcoming Fall Feasts of the Lord is meant to bring each
person back to God.
In Yeshua's day, people came to Yochanan (John the
Baptist) at the Jordan River during this season of preparation
for the Fall Feasts, to be immersed
in the mikvah (baptized). There, he
warned them that they must produce
fruit demonstrating their repentance.
“John said to the crowds
coming out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who
warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in
keeping with repentance.’” (Luke 3:7–8)
A Jewish man blows the shofar on Erev Rosh
HaShanah (Jewish New Year's Eve).
The Hebrew word for repentance, t’shuvah,
comes from the root shuv,
meaning return.
In other words, when we choose the path of sin, evil and
death, it leads us out of the presence of God. And when we
repent, we return to the presence of God.
We learn in this Parasha, that the result of
unrepented sin for the Israelites would be even more than
personal separation—it would also be
national exile.
But Baruch HaShem, exile is not the end of the story.
In this Parasha, God tells the Israelites that those who
will be scattered into exile due to sin, would be gathered
back to the Promised Land when they returned to Him. And
after He gathers and returns them to their own land, He would
bless and prosper His people Israel.
“When you and your children
return to the LORD your God and obey Him with all your heart
and with all your soul according to everything I command you
today, then the LORD your God will restore your
fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again
from all the nations where He scattered you.” (Deuteronomy
30:2–3)
New olim (immigrants) arrive in Israel.
Still, today many believe that it is just too
hard to obey God or keep the Torah.
This Parasha reminds us that God promises that it is too
difficult for us to walk in obedience:
“Now what I am
commanding you today is not too difficult for you
or beyond your reach.... The word is very near you; it is
in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.”
(Deuteronomy 30:11–14)
(Deuteronomy 30:11–14)
Moreover, there are many rewards for being obedient.
These rewards are not relegated to olam habah (the
world to come) but are also for our lives here and
now.
They are not only
spiritual rewards for when we get to Heaven; they are also
physical, material, and emotional rewards such as long
life, prosperity, and success for today.
Israeli synagogue (Photo by Elihu Silberman)
Yet, evil persists, and we know that even the obedient
ones fall prey at times to the oppression and attacks of the
enemy and to a world that is fallen. Yeshua (Jesus) even said
that “in this world you will
have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
(John 16:33)
Those who have troubles do not have to succumb to fear.
While Frankl reminds us that we can find meaning even in
the midst of suffering, Scripture tells us that the enemy
cannot take away from us many good things: our freedom to
choose good; our faith in the God of Israel; and our faith in
Yeshua as our Messiah, who sacrificed His own life to release
us from spiritual bondage so we can be truly experience
freedom in this life.
No matter how bleak things look at any given moment, God
will show us us evidence of His goodness and mercy while we
are yet on this earth.
As King David said, “I would
have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the
goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” (Psalm
27:13)
Choosing life entails loving God with all of our
heart, mind, soul, and strength, listening to the voice of
His Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) and keeping His
commandments. Doing so is the
very best choice we could ever make—for this is our very
life !
“Now choose life, so that
you and your children may live and that you may love the
Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.
For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years
in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob.” (Deuteronomy 30:20)
Please help the Jewish People choose life through Yeshua
HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) by supporting the work of
Bibles For Israel.
"Hear the word of the LORD,
you nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands: 'He who
scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over His
flock like a shepherd.'" (Jeremiah 31:10)
Prayer Alert for the next
47 days: Please pray
for Hadas, that
she would have a visitation / encounter with the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and be immersed in the Living
Waters of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit).
We believe that Hadas will be a future spiritual leader,
including leading Hebrew worship here in Israel, instrumental
in bringing thousands into a relationship with Adonai.
Please pray for these others here in Israel who need the
same holy encounter with the Messiah as Hadas: Jacky,
Miriam, Haya, Talia, Shmuel & Anav.
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