Weekly Bracha 37

Yom Teruah is passed, the shofar has sounded. Hope you fine blog readers had a good one.

In the interlude between Teruah and Kippur, this week’s bracha will satisfy even the most knowledge-thirsty Messianic mind, as we recap this week in the Messianic blogosphere, with relevant, tasty side dishes from the Jewish and Christian worlds:

• Position Paper on FFOZ’s Divine Invitation Theology – A friend of mine who happens to be a humble, gracious, witty leader of a Messianic congregation, Yisrael Abraham, has written a position paper on First Fruits of Zion’s “Divine Invitation” theology. Give it a read.
• Cataloging the New Testament’s Hebraisms – Biblical scholar David Bivin has catalogued a list of Hebraisms in the New Testament, discusses whether the New Testament was originally Hebrew, and whether the disciples spoke Hebrew rather than Aramaic:

  Hebraisms can be found in all books of the NT -- after all, most, if not all, of these books were authored by Jews living in the land of Israel in the first century -- but the vast majority of the NT’s Hebraisms lie buried in the Greek texts of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Isolated idioms do not prove Hebrew origins, just as a French word or idiom in American English does not prove Americans speak French. No single Hebraism can support the supposition that a NT book was originally written in Hebrew; however, masses of Hebraisms in a NT book tend to indicate a Hebrew ancestor.

• Leadership – Forgettable title, but excellent post on what makes a righteous leader. This is particularly important for you Messianics who are leaders in your congregations. Please give this a read.

  When I meet people who try to impress me with what they know or think they know, or what they have studied, it tells me they are not speaking out of humility but out of pride. Real leaders can’t act out of selfishness or what is comfortable for themselves. They need to be seeking other people’s good, and comfort those who need comforting and rejoice with those who are rejoicing. People who are trying to show what they know or what they can do, or put themselves above anyone else are not seeking other people’s good. They are jockeying for position.

• Asher Intrater Responds to Rabbi Riskin – An Israeli Messianic leader publicly responds to Israeli Rabbi Riskin’s recent  Jerusalem Post article in which he minimized the attacks on the Messianic community in Israel. Worth a read if you’re interested in the “situation on the ground” for Messianics in Israel.
• What Did Jesus Teach About Gentiles? – Given that Messiah commanded his disciples to observe God’s commandments in the Torah, and given that Messiah told his disciples to “go into all the nations, teaching them everything I have commanded you”, does this mean Jesus was teaching gentiles to keep God’s commandments? What did Messiah command his disciples to teach concerning gentiles? Bonus reading part 2 and part 3.
• Burning Books – Rabbi Resnik writes a moving letter to the Koran-burning Christian pastor, asking him to stop his plans for the burning.
• Why don’t the rabbis put a stop to this nonsense? – Yad L’achim, the Israeli organization that regularly persecutes Messiah’s followers in Israel, the organization responsible for employing the terrorist Jack Teitel who attempted the murder of an Israeli Messianic family – yes, this fine G-d honoring organization – has a special offer! One time only! Donate now and you’ll receive a free ShamWow a minyan of davening Jews!
  
  
  Don’t miss the amusing nugget in the comments, “Now all I need is someone to put on tefillin for me, shake lulav for me, and sit in the sukka for me. Heck, I'd be willing to pay $18 and have those guys keep kosher and Shabbos for me. And I'd be willing to pay even more to have them observe all the laws relating to sexual relations.”
  
  
• What I’ve Learned in Two Years of Blogging – Christian author Frank Viola, who now runs one of the most popular religious blogs on the web, has a list of 12 things that blogging has taught him.

  “I remember as far back as 2001, some of my friends encouraged me to start a blog. And I kept saying to them, ‘I don’t have the time.’ Well, I didn’t . . . and I still don’t. But here I am, blogging every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. (If I could explain the above sentence to you, I’d be three-fold a Solomon.)

• Confessions on Yom Kippur – The traditional prayers for Yom Kippur include asking forgiveness for…coercion and bribery? Uncomfortable, much? Kinbar asserts,

  Something is wrong: I must recite these confessions but I cannot honestly say that I have sinned by interest and usury. Do I live with this tension, or is there something I must learn?

• Why I Won’t Be Waving a Chicken Over My Head – Jewish blogger FinkOrSwim has an amusing post on why it’s time to end the kaparos-with-chicken ritual, a tradition done before Yom Kippur in which one’s sin is transferred to an object, usually a chicken, by swinging it around one’s head three times, then slaughtering and eating it.
• Who Was Melchizedek? – Well-known Christian apologist and “Bible Answer Man” Hank Hanegraaff ponders whether Melchizedek, the mysterious priest who appeared to Abraham, was a Christophany, that is, an appearance of Jesus in the Tenakh.
• Christians help Israel’s needy celebrate holiday – YNetNews has an article on International Fellowship of Christians and Jews donation of $1 million to help provide Israel's poorest citizens with boxes of food to prepare the special meals associated with the High Holidays.

Podcasts

• Perspectives on Rosh HaShana and the Biblical Day of Shofar Blasts – Dr. Michael Brown on the fall feasts.
  

Enjoy the bracha, fine blog readers!