Today is a day for mourning with the Jewish people. Pray for peace and safety. Practically speaking, read some or all of the book of Lamentations, skip out on sweets and indulgences, or fast if you are so inclined. Since I have done this now a couple of times, I have learned that one of the ways to learn what true joy is all about is to practice real mourning. Sit on the floor when reading. Try and get a sense for the tragedy and difficulties of exile and dispersion: no unified nation, no land, no Jerusalem, no true joy. I’m so thankful that we are alive to see a new state of Israel and are able to help in whatever way we can.

And there are lots of blog posts you can find from Messianic and Jewish believers about this day. Here is one:

http://www.messianicjudaism.me/musings/2011/08/08/classic-reprint-tisha-bav/

Why is this story in the Torah? I certainly don’t pretend to know the reason. But one thought is that the story of Balaam provides a different perspective on Israel. Thus far since the Exodus, the story has been about Moses, G-d, Israelites, Priests, rules, regulations, complaining etc. WITHIN the nation. Now we take a big shift, we see the people from someone else’s perspective. And the fresh perspective contains some beautiful poetic blessing and yields a very important insight.

(Numbers 23) 8. How can I curse whom God has not cursed, and how can I invoke wrath if the Lord has not been angered? 9. For from their beginning, I see them as mountain peaks, and I behold them as hills; it is a nation that will dwell alone, and will not be reckoned among the nations.

We have the Torah changing scenes to an outsider’s vantage point, and we see the holiness (read: set-apartness) of G-d’s priestly nation. Balaam can only bless Israel. Israel is a nation set-apart. In one of the Torah’s strangest episode changes we get the benefit of an independent witness of Israel’s unique redemption and testimony that G-d has chosen them for something important.

With regard to Gentiles or the Nations, I appreciate this idea of fulfilling a mitzvah (read the referenced post for context), in and of itself being a sign that the individual accepts the commandment and thereby accepts and acknowledges that Hashem truly is God. I think this goes a little way to cracking the identity crisis that many are struggling with.

The commandments are a light. When we are focused on them and Torah life, it is sanctifying. In my personal life recently, I have experienced less prayer and bible study due to an extremely busy Fall/Winter. It has affected me. I currently feel closer to worldliness than Godliness. The Sabbath has been a weekly reminder of what I long to strive for, holiness not just once a week but every day. Fulfilling commandments is not the objective, though it is a byproduct. Living a sanctified life, empowered by the observance of mitzvot, truly shines a bright light when so much of the world is continuing in varied levels of dim light or even darkness. It is thanks to God first, and also Israel that we are able to attach ourselves closer to Hashem through study and application of His word.

In summation, the more mitzvot we observe, the brighter our light is. Which is good for us, and good for others. It is all too easy to keep our light hidden in the world. Even if we are genuinely nice, servant-minded, humble people; what causes our light to stand out? In my view it is a proper understanding and application of the Torah that our forefathers in Christianity sadly cast aside for too long.

* http://christian4moses.wordpress.com/2010/12/24/rationale-for-observing-commandments-other-than-the-7/

To begin, I realize that my following comment steers away from the thrust of your post, but please indulge me (nevermind now it’s on my blog!). And I’ll also say that I follow your blog and work with great interest, so I appreciate your efforts.
I just wanted to point out that this statement is offensive in the way I originally interpreted it:
“Why should non-Jews keep a Jewish day that is not required of them and has little meaning for them?” (see here)

It sounded like a cheap shot at those of us who have implemented the Shabbat in to our lives on some level.  Derek has clarified that he was specifically referring to Christians who are, for lack of a better term, ignorant of the sacredness of the Sabbath.
We can debate about the Sabbath being “not required of them (non-Jews),” which should factor little into a person’s decision process anyway.  Books could be and are already written on the meaning found in the Shabbat. There is meaning in the past, present and future regarding Shabbat. Past meaning (the exodus), present meaning and blessing for the Sabbath-observer (physical rest and focus on God), and future meaning of the Sabbath and what the 7th day represents regarding the millenial kingdom and the “rest” and peace that the world will come to know. Here are four bullets of important meaning.

• Hashem rested on Shabbat and declared the day holy.  It’s a holy day for God, and as followers of God we can choose if it will be a holy day for us.
• Yeshua rested on Shabbat and participated in synagogue services. If it’s a holy day for Yeshua, as His disciple I would do well to imitate him.
• Further, Yeshua taught at length about compassion and often healed on Shabbat to teach priceless lessons about Godly virtues and weighty mitzvahs.
• Isaiah the prophet says that keeping the Sabbath is a sure sign of a foreigner who loves the LORD.

I know that some Messianic Jews reject just about any reference made to Christians being any part of “Israel,” whether the buzzword is adoption, grafted in, fellow heirs, or what have you. However, in Messiah Paul does teach that we do become part of the people of God, whether I am a “grafted-in” Gentile or just a Gentile. As believers in Messiah we do have a connection to “the root.”

Any honest, humble Sabbatarian will tell you that their lives have been blessed as a direct result of ceasing labor on Shabbat.  For non-Jews, I would say that declaring and participating in the holiness of Shabbat does indeed further God’s agenda of revealing his kingdom to the wold. I dare say that there will be more than only Jews observing Shabbos in the kingdom to come! Why not in the kingdom now?

Further, being a righteous person just doesn’t happen.  We need boundaries, limits, rituals.  Speaking personally, Christian Sunday traditions, Christmas and Easter did not cut it for me or leave me feeling sanctified and encouraged in my faith. Sunday found me wanting to sleep in, Christmas found me desiring video games and toys, and Easter left me sick of chocolate bunnies. Yes, there was emphasis on Jesus in our house. It was fine at the time, but it is only through a more disciplined, biblical, and even Jewish lifestyle of prayer and practice that my morality and ethics have changed dramatically. According to what I would call a more radical bilateral ecclesiology, I should not be doing this. For example, I am encouraged to implement neither the Shabbat or the other biblical holidays in my life. I ask rhetorically, what is the 21st-century Judeo-Christian left to do?

Along with Shabbat and Gentiles, there has arisen a dialog of obligation to the sign commandments of Torah.  And for the record, I do not have a problem with the basis of this idea. Recognizing the obligatory nature of signs and commandments for different groups of people is fine, and I see it as valid, and necessary for recognizing and including Jews and Gentiles in the body of Messiah, so I don’t take issue with that here. But whether or not I am obligated to something, whoever I am, should not be the sole reason to actually do or not do said commandments. Pure obedience results from love. Being spiritually-minded is more than robotic, mechanical observation of required rituals. Loving God today often results in what I would call a more biblical lifestyle. It so happens that this lifestyle, if done with respect to Israel and history, will look Jewish. It is the biblical lifestyle that, again personally, has made all the difference in my life to help change my mind and transform my heart to repentance and good deeds.

So then merely weeks after this happened, my favorite Jewish publisher decides to go ahead and announce THIS:

Are you kidding me?  Well, needless to say I will be pursuing this beautiful new set as well, one volume at a time.

So as an afterthought, if anyone is interested in a complete 1951 Soncino edition of the Midrash Rabbah, please feel free to contact me.
Note: The set has now been sold.

“The vital issue for the church is to decide whether to look for roots in Judaism and consider itself an extension of Judaism or to look for roots in pagan Hellenism and consider itself as an antithesis to Judaism” (Abraham Joshua Heschel in his Insecurity of Freedom, p. 169-170)

Via Darren Huckey’s Facebook Page, 9/13/10

I thought this was excellent and worth meditating on.  I needed to remember it to look the book up, thus it is now blogged.

My son Silas was circumcised this morning on his eighth day of life, and despite the health advantages of circumcision, in light of all of the discussion regarding Jews and Gentiles in the last year I thought I should at least attempt to define just why in the world we are doing this in the first place.  The following is what I put together.

[18] Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. [19] For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.

(1 Corinthians 7:18-19 ESV)

[9] And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. [10] This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. [11] You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. [12] He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,

(Genesis 17:9-12 ESV)

Today was a special day in Silas’ life.  Per Genesis 17:12, he was circumcised in the morning of his eighth day from birth.  We are thankful to God and want to make it known that He is the source of this boy’s life and deserves praise for that and so many other things.

Genesis 17:11 says that the circumcision is a “sign” of the covenant between Hashem and Abraham.  This is interesting; since Abraham’s promise was for children, the sign of God’s covenant happened to be positioned in the most appropriate place.  Similar to the covenant with Noah, God chose an appropriate sign in the rainbow, which has to do with rain and clouds, a reminder to humanity that the earth would not be flooded again.  Contrary to how it is understood today, the sign of circumcision was not originally intended to be a method of converting a person from one thing to another.  In first century Judaism however (before Christianity), circumcision had already been one of the marks of converting to Judaism for who knows how long.  Realizing this fact, Paul’s gospel (of including the chosen ones from the Nations into the “commonwealth of Israel” = Jewish + Gentile believers) required him to address the issue of conversion time and time again.  The whole letter to the Galatians is based on this issue, as Yeshua-believing converts were attempting to convince the new Gentile believers to go through the conversion process so that they no longer were a sort of “half-breed” Jew, participating in the synagogues of the first century without adopting Jewish status through conversion.

Quoting Torah Club 5 (pages 60-61):

In Genesis 17 the LORD gives to Abraham the everlasting covenant of circumcision.  In spelling out the terms of the covenant, God methodically debunks several of the errant teachings prevalent today and throughout history concerning the mitzvah of circumcision.

• To those who say it was “only temporary,” the LORD says that it is “an everlasting covenant” (17:13).
• To those who say that it was “only for the Jews,” the LORD says that it is for “all males among you [the people of Abraham]” (17:10, 12) and not just those who are descended from Abraham.  This is why Abraham circumcised the servants of his household as well as his sons (17:27).
• To those who say that the “true meaning of the covenant is ‘spiritual’ circumcision—of the heart and not of the flesh—therefore the physical sign is not necessary,” the LORD says “My covenant shall be in your flesh” (17:13) and “you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin” (17:11).
• To those who say that “circumcision was for the ‘age of Law’ and we are in the ‘age of grace’ now,” the LORD says that “every male among [Abraham] shall be circumcised … as an everlasting covenant, throughout all [Abraham’s] generations” (17:7, 9-13).  In other words, circumcision is an everlasting covenant, not confined to a so-called ‘age of Law;’ it is for all males among all of Abraham’s generations, not just those generations preceding the coming of Messiah.

It is as if the Torah anticipated all the contrivances that man would devise against the sign of circumcision. (end quote)

So when Paul says “neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision” it is not only important, but absolutely essential that we remember that circumcision in Paul’s letters is referring to the ritual practice of conversion to Judaism, not, not, not just the commandment from Genesis 17.  Conversion in that day essentially included three things: circumcision (males only), immersion (baptism), and offering a sacrifice in the Temple.  Henceforth, the person was reckoned as an Israelite in every respect.

But if this were the case, and a position in God’s family were only offered based on the person’s ethnic status, what of God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 17:5 that he would be the father of a “multitude of nations,” and elsewhere about his descendants being as the sand of the sea, and the stars of the heavens?

[16] Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings [seeds],” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring [seed],” who is [Messiah].

(Galatians 3:16 ESV)

Well, thanks Paul.  This seems simple enough: if you are in Messiah Yeshua, you are part of the great promise to Abraham.  Abraham has then been made the father of a multitude of nations, just as God promised, through Messiah Yeshua.  And the beautiful mitzvah of circumcision is the ideal sign to remind us that in Yeshua all believers are of the ‘seed’ of Abraham.  Further, Paul says:

[29] And if you are [Messiah’s], then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

(Galatians 3:29 ESV)

The Bible says that our status in the eyes of men does not define us before God; that is, to be Jew or Greek in Paul’s lingo.  Rather, keeping the commandments is what counts.  So let us strive to keep those commands, and become new creations in Messiah, zealous for expanding the kingdom of God on earth.

As for Silas, my wife stated that today he got to do his first mitzvah; may it be the first of many.

Dr. Twerski has impressed me and fascinated me with his insight within the context of Pirke Avot.  I have been exposed to m.Avot in the last few years but never undertook to see the depth that lies therein.  The main benefit I get when reading Pirke Avot is the way the teachings are applicable to everyday life experience.  It may sound strange, but it’s a different kind of ethical teaching than when reading the Bible, for example.  Of course the ultimate ethical and moral discourses and instruction on conduct is found in the Holy Scriptures, and because they are the Holy Scriptures, they almost invariably cannot be read without considering what type eternal ramification is being revealed or fussing about just how exactly do I “go the extra mile” or “take up my cross” in the way that Yeshua is talking about?  I better stop and admit thought that there is nothing better than drinking in Yeshua’s prose and masterful illustrations and instruction.

So Pirke Avot is on a different level.  I enjoy reading what these wise men of old have to say to their disciples and hearers.  You can take it or leave it, it’s not sacred, though in a way it is since it contains instructions for living differently, living according to a higher standard.  I.e., being holy.  What’s not to appreciate, for example, from this little nugget?  (taken from this link):

Shammai said: Make your study of the Torah a fixed habit. Say little and do much, and receive all men with a cheerful face. (Pirke Avot 1:15)

How difficult it can be to devote daily time to Bible study!  I’m talking every single day of your life.  Again, practical instruction that hits home.  ”Say little and do much.”  Enough said.   Greeting people warmly and friendly, for me, requires a little action on my part.  This is a great reminder.

Twerski takes it even further, translating the words of the great Rabbis and distilling them down into modern day examples and I enjoy how he interjects his personal opinions and thoughts based on his years of professional and personal experience.  It is fun to read his commentary and he makes me consider things on an even more practical level.  I look forward to pulling this off the shelf in months and years to come.

Well, time to keep rolling on the JBoM train.

J-BOM stands for “Jewish Book of the Month Club.” It is a movement across more than a dozen Messianic Jewish blogs and including hundreds of readers all over the U.S. and abroad. J-BOM is about improving Jewish education grass roots style. At the end of this post I include a list of other J-BOM bloggers.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT J-BOM SELECTIONS TO COME:

April: Visions of the Fathers, Abraham Twerski. Get it here or here.

May: The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million, Daniel Mendelsohn. Get it here.

Summer: Jewish fiction selections, soon to be announced.

I hope that I can at least make an attempt to keep up, though the two upcoming selections are long(er) in length, and so I already plan to spread out Twerski’s insights on Pirke Avot over the summer.

Happy readings!