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Kislev 25, 5763 / Nov 30, 2002
Kislev 23, 5766 / Dec 24, 2005
Kislev 23, 5769 / Dec 20, 2008
Kislev 21, 5772 / Dec 17, 2011
Kislev 21, 5775 / Dec 13, 2014
Kislev 21, 5778 / Dec 9, 2017 - Hanukkah begins
Tuesday evening.
Kislev 19, 5781 / Dec 5, 2020
Asher Yishchat /
Who Slaughters
SCRIPTURES (should be read first)
(V. 1-4) Previous to the Tabernacle,
offerings were permitted in various places. With the establishment of the
Tabernacle in the Wilderness, they were permitted be slaughtered only at the
Tabernacle, or its successor – the Temple. It makes no difference how far away
one might be from the Temple. Genesis 9:3 allows man to kill animals for food;
but, slaughtering for an offering outside of the Temple brings bloodguiltiness.
Prior chapters dealt with tumah
(spiritual impurity) from contaminated objects. This chapter deals with tumah
from service to alien spirits and demons. (V.7) Sher (demon) comes from
the word sh’arah (storm), because they cause turbulence and fear.
The Torah here says, “That ish
(man) shall be karat (cut off)”, meaning he shall die prematurely. When the
Torah says, “That nephesh (soul) shall be karat (cut off)” (as in Genesis
17:14), it means excision from the life to come; but the wording here means a
lesser penalty. Genesis 9:11 says “all basar (flesh) shall never again be
karat (cut off) by the water of the flood.” For the most serious offenses,
the Torah prescribes a karat that means the sinner dies prematurely, his
children die prematurely, and he is denied the world to come.
(V.5) Peace offerings are mentioned
because they are eaten by the owner, in the company of others, in a festive
manner: these must not be offered at other places.
(V.10-14) Atonement is based upon one
life being offered for another – Yeshua’s life for ours. Since life is dependent
upon blood, an animal’s life-blood on the Altar is representative of the
ultimate atonement. It is a symbol of knowledge and faith in Messiah.
Since Noah’s day, God allows animals
to be eaten as food. However, life is to be respected, and the life-blood is to
be poured out and covered. One who slaughters to drink blood – which represents
consuming life – brings upon himself God’s special attention to shorten his
earthly life.
(V.15) Dead animals convey tumah
by being touched, but dead birds of a kosher kind convey tumah only by
being eaten (excepting kosher animals and birds killed for eating or offering).
The tumah (spiritual impurity)
spoken of in this chapter is cleansed through repentance, which is shown by
immersion in a mikvah – indicating that one is rising to a new, pure
life.
Psalm 82 – God takes His stand
(V.1) God takes His stand in His
own congregation; He judges in the midst of the rulers. God’s congregation
is to become the judge of the whole earth: “Do you not know that the saints
will judge the world?” – 1 Corinthians 6:2.
(V.6) “I said, ‘You are
gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High’.” Righteous judges are
referred to as elohim, because they perform God’s work. When certain
Jews, doubtlessly from among the judges, sought to judge Yeshua, taking up
stones to stone Him, He answered them, (John 10:34)
“Has it not been written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'?”
(V.2-4) How long will you judge
unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked? Selah. Vindicate the weak and
fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and
needy; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked. We need righteous judges
in our land. We need righteous judgment in the congregation. We need to learn
righteous personal judgment by learning God’s Word.
1 John – Sin unto death
1 John 16-17 says, “If anyone sees
his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for
him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin
leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. All
unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.” This may
refer to karat of the soul: examples are Judas who betrayed Yeshua, and
Korah who slandered Moses and God. They lost all opportunity for repentance that
would allow them a part in the world to come. Or, it may refer to capital
offenses, such as murder and Sabbath desecration, where an earthly court
judgment of death is an absolute requirement.
The Torah portion is about offerings
to Yahweh and offerings to idols, and the Psalm is about judges of God and
judges that are idolatrous – such as those who put money ahead of justice. 1
John ends with “Guard yourselves from idols”, or, as the NLT reads,
“Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your
hearts.”
A we come to this Hanukkah, may God grant us His
Holy Spirit, that we may display His righteousness as the light of the pure oil
of the menorah.
Readings:
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who chose us from among all peoples by
giving us Your Torah.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the
Torah."
Reader 1*
Amen. 1 Then Yahweh
spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all
the sons of Israel and say to them, 'This is what Yahweh has commanded, saying,
3 "Any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or
a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp, 4 and has
not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to present it as an
offering to Yahweh before the tabernacle of Yahweh, bloodguiltiness is to be
reckoned to that man. He has shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among
his people.
Reader 2*
Amen. 5 "The reason is
so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were
sacrificing in the open field, that they may bring them in to Yahweh, at the
doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices
of peace offerings to Yahweh. 6 The priest shall sprinkle the blood
on the altar of Yahweh at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and offer up the
fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to Yahweh. 7 They shall no longer
sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons with which they play the harlot.
This shall be a permanent statute to them throughout their generations."' 8
Then you shall say to them, 'Any man from the house of Israel, or from the
aliens who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, 9
and does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it to
Yahweh, that man also shall be cut off from his people.
Reader 3*
Amen. 10 'And any man
from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who eats
any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut
him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the
blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls;
for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.' 12
Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, 'No person among you may eat blood, nor
may any alien who sojourns among you eat blood.'
Reader 4*
Amen. 13 "So when any
man from the sons of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, in
hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, he shall pour out its
blood and cover it with earth. 14 For as for the life of all flesh,
its blood is identified with its life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel,
'You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its
blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.' 15 When any person eats an
animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or an alien, he
shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening;
then he will become clean. 16 But if he does not wash them or bathe
his body, then he shall bear his guilt."
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who in giving us Yeshua, the Living
Torah, has planted everlasting life in our midst.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the
Torah."
______________________
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who selected good prophets, delighting
in their words which were spoken truthfully.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, Who chose the
Torah, Your servant Moses, Your people Israel,
and the prophets of truth and
righteousness."
Psalm 82 (To be sung)
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 God takes His stand in His
own congregation; He judges in the midst of the rulers. 2 How long
will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah. 3
Vindicate the weak and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them out of the hand of the
wicked. 5 They do not know nor do they understand; they walk about in
darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 I said, "You
are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High. 7 Nevertheless
you will die like men and fall like any one of the princes." 8 Arise,
O God, judge the earth! For it is You who possesses all the nations.
1 John 5:1-21
Reader 5*
Amen.
1
Whoever believes that Yeshua is the Messiah is born of God, and whoever loves
the Father loves the child born of Him. 2 By this we know that we
love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. 3
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments
are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the
world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world-- our faith. 5
Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Yeshua is the
Son of God? 6 This is the One who came by water and blood, Yeshua the
Messiah; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood.
Reader 6*
Amen.
It is the
Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there
are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and
the three are in agreement. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the
testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has
testified concerning His Son. 10 The one who believes in the Son of
God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him
a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given
concerning His Son. 11 And the testimony is this, that God has given
us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son
has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
Reader 7*
Amen.
13
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so
that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the
confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His
will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we
ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
Reader 8*
Amen.
16
If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask
and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death.
There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for
this. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading
to death. 18 We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who
was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We
know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil
one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us
understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is
true, in His Son Yeshua Messiah. This is the true God and eternal life. 21
Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
"Blessed are You, Yahweh
our God, King of the Universe,
Rock of Ages, righteous
throughout all generations.
You are the faithful God,
promising and then performing, speaking and then fulfilling,
for all Your words are true
and righteous.
Faithful are You, Yahweh
our God, and faithful are Your words,
for no word of Yours shall
remain unfulfilled;
You are a faithful and
merciful God and King.
Blessed are You, Yahweh our
God, Who are faithful in fulfilling all Your words."
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