This study on the Torah reading Ki Tetze discusses contrasting approaches to justice between recent cases in Michigan and Georgia, where parents were charged for not preventing their children’s actions, and North Korea’s practice of punishing entire families for an individual’s wrongdoing. It compares these to the Torah’s principle of personal responsibility and prevention of harm.
Gossip is a premeditated destruction of one human being by another. Scripture and James Foley’s “Drop a Pebble in the Water” poem teach that we need to let our “ripples” be encouraging and uplifting.
The Torah reading בְּהַר Behar (“on mount” [Sinai]; Leviticus 25) teaches us how to be a kinsman-redeemer. It’s a beautiful ancient role for a family member with the character to step up and bail out a relative who has fallen on hard times.
The Bible book of Ruth provides an example of such a redeemer in action, and the Messiah is foretold to be the ultimate one for the world.
In the greater family of God on Earth, the lessons of the annual festivals of Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot (Tabernacles) plus the multiyear cycles of Shemitah (sabbatical year) and Yobel (Jubilee) instruct us in how to be of service to the less fortunate within our sphere of influence.
A successful kinsman-redeemer helps others with the blessing of means that God has provided. We are not called to go into debt to help others, we are not compelled by God to drown ourselves to save someone else.
From these cyclical memorials of God in action past, present and future, we also can learn how God is building up His Kingdom. It starts with the call of individuals then nations into His Kingdom to live as citizens in His presence.
If you faithfully follow the news, you have heard that an early draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked to the media, which has created a firestorm of media attention. A 1973 Supreme Court decision that created a “right” to abortion, Roe was contentious at the time, and the prospect of its overturn is equally contentious.
In our day, we pretend that we are more sophisticated than our ancestors millennia ago, because we kill our children while they are yet unborn, in the privacy of a clinic. Medical personnel dispatch the unborn modern sophistication.
In the Torah reading Kedoshim, we discover that the excuses for killing the unborn today are the same as those given by pagan priests for the infanticidal sacrifices to the god Molech several thousand years ago.
The slide of ancient Israel from redemption by God from slavery in Mitzraim (Egypt) down to apostasy from God at the golden calf is an important and enduring lesson from the Torah reading כי תשא Ki Tisa (“when you take,” Ex. 30:11–34:35).
And the intercessory prayers of Moshe (Moses) and Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) to redeem after great treachery are examples for how we should view those around us.
There was a small group from another region who called me a few months ago. The person kept asking for advice. After several phone calls, I told this person that God would now put a test on your group. When He is finished, you will have a great loss. I knew then that this would happen to Hallel Fellowship too.
That is what has transpired. I have looked back and asked God why? How did it happen? Did the Devil do it? No, the Devil is feeble and weak. The Devil only has the authority that God gives him. God can and does protect us from the Evil One.
What is it that God has in mind? For the past couple of weeks, I have been deeply meditating, asking God over and over what to do. I have sought God’s wisdom and understanding and yet something is missing.
We have found several child-friendly Torah-friendly websites that can help your children grasp the Torah studies at their own pace in an entertaining, yet respectfully way.