Author: Steven R. Bruck

I Am Not Your Brother, Really

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I want to say, from the start, that this is not something I received from God. This is my personal rant and so if anyone disagrees strongly or feels insulted or put-out, I apologize. I am NOT against anyone calling me “Brother Steve” or using “Brother” or “Sister” with other members in the body of Messiah, or even saying they “love” me if they feel the need to do so. This is simply how I feel about calling each other “brother” or “sister”, or telling people you love them.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

I agree that we are all brothers and sisters in the body of the Messiah, Yeshua, who is known by many as Jesus Christ because they don’t know his Hebrew name and haven’t learned how the Hebrew name was translated incorrectly to become “Jesus Christ”.

But that’s another issue.

We have a spiritual connection with each other through Messiah, which is separate from our real-world relationship. As such, when I am called “brother”, I accept that and appreciate it, but still I feel uncomfortable (to a small degree) because I am not their brother in real life. I have sisters, and I love people, but when a stranger I am meeting for the first time tells me he or she loves me, well…c’mon, really? You love me? -you don’t even know me!

Even people I meet and talk with, maybe for years, but only at the synagogue don’t really know me.

They see “synagogue Steve”. not “just waking up and grumpy Steve”, not the “mad as all get-out and cursing Steve (and believe me, when I am that mad that I curse, the curses flow like water down a waterfall!)”, or any of the other aspects of my personality that are the total me.

So please- don’t tell me you love me. Love is too important a word to throw around like a hot potato, or use flippantly.

Call me Steve, Steven, Yo!, Hey You, but NEVER “Stevie”: the last person who called me that is recovering very well and should be released from the hospital soon.

I have never called anyone I know from a synagogue or Facebook or any of the Facebook accounts I am associated with “brother” or “sister”, and I have never told anyone I love them, except those who I truly love and have known me, the whole me, for years.

Now, I know that Yeshua said to love each other (John 13:34) and Shaul (Paul) even went as far as to say we should greet each other with a holy kiss (2 Corinthians 13:12). But Yeshua was talking on a spiritual plane; I really don’t think he meant loving each other in a physical way: he said to love us as he did, which means to treat each other with respect and compassion.

I really don’t think Yeshua meant to go around telling everyone in the church or synagogue that “I love you”.

And what about greeting each other with a kiss? I don’t know about you, but I do not want to have anyone to kiss me, especially a stranger. Now, if we have already had a friendship for a long enough time that we both know each other well enough to kiss, that’s OK.

And that kiss better be a peck on the cheek, and nothing more.

I feel the same way about hugging.

So, that’s my rant for today- this is the real me, people, and I am sharing with you my private and true feelings. Not that I pretend to be different when I am with you in these messages or when I am in a house of worship with other congregants: I am just much more careful about what and how I say things, and I try to stay emotionally “disconnected”.

I hope you understand my feelings, and if you feel the same way I do, please let me know.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

(Hey, in case you didn’t notice, I did not include anything about liking my Facebook Messianic Moment page or joining my “Just Gods’ Word” group, or buying my books or subscribing to my website on this post or …… oh, my! I guess I just did.)

Let’s Know the REAL 10 Commandments

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Do you know the 10 Commandments? Most of us can tell you all ten, but the problem is whether or not those are the Real 10 Commandments.

Specifically, it’s the first commandment I am talking about.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

I have found many different versions of the Big 10, depending on whether you are looking at a Jewish Bible or a Gentile Bible.

Here are some blatant examples of what I mean (Exodus 20):

Complete Jewish Bible (the Hebrew letters stand for “1” and “2”)-

“Then God said all these words:

א  “I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the abode of slavery.

ב  “You are to have no other gods before me.  You are not to make for yourselves a carved image or any kind of representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath or in the water below the shoreline….”

The Church of Jesus Christ Internet site –

The following review of the Ten Commandments includes brief explanations of how they continue to apply in our lives today:

1. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me…”

2. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…”

Google search (first hit)-

“The 10 Commandments

  • You shall have no other God’s before me.
  • Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images. …”

Do you see what I am talking about?

If you are a Gentile, the 10 Commandments you most likely have been taught (to be fair, not all Gentiles were taught incorrectly) that the first commandment is not to have any other Gods before the true God. It ignores the first commandment from the Torah, which God, himself, dictated to Moses, essentially rejected that he is the God who brought us out of Egypt.

In other words, many Gentiles have never been taught that it is God who is truly our Savior.

Oh yes, it references that God brought us out of Egypt in the regular text, but it is NOT listed as a commandment.

Now, why would a Gentile Bible ignore this commandment?

(I haven’t looked at every different version, but my experience justifies my statements)

Why leave out what God considers to be the very first thing that people who worship him should know and remember?

Well, the answer seems obvious: the Gentiles who worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob- the TRUE God- weren’t taken out of Egypt, so they can ignore that first commandment.

Simple. Easy to understand, and quite frankly…it makes sense.

But, as Dick Tracy detectives would say before calling him on their wrist-radio,

“HOLD EVERYTHING!”

(If you’re not older than 65 then you probably don’t understand this reference)

If you are a Believer, someone who has accepted Yeshua (Jesus) as your Messiah, then according to the New Covenant writings, you are a member of Israel and an adopted child of Abraham (Ephesians 3:4-6).

In other words, when you accept Yeshua as your Messiah and are “Born Again”, then you are also a member of the tribes that came from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

That means that you, too, were taken out of slavery from Egypt!

Now, maybe the “Egypt” for Gentiles is more spiritual than it was physically for the Jewish people back then; i.e., Egypt representing slavery instead of a country, which is a metaphor often used in the Tanakh.

But the idea that God is the one who saved you from an “Egypt”, which could be either physical slavery to people or spiritual slavery to sin, is just as meaningful and important for Gentiles as it is for Jews!

So, here is my message for today: The first commandment, which identifies the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the one who took us out of slavery is important for Jews and Gentiles: representing to Jews the freedom from slavery to men, and representing to Gentiles their freedom from slavery to sin.

Of course, for all of us now, this is only available through the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua, who has also made it possible for Gentiles to become adopted children of Abraham.

The real first commandment identifies God as the one who is our savior from sin.

Gentiles have been taught that Jesus is their Savior, which is true him being the instrument through which we can receive forgiveness of our sins.

BUT…Jesus doesn’t forgive sins now, so he isn’t really the one who saves us: the one, and only one, who forgives our sins, thereby saving us from spending eternity out of the presence of God is…G-O-D!

Yeshua (Jesus) is our Intercessor– he sits at the right hand of God, pleads our case, asks his Father to answer our prayers sent in his name, and tells God that we are one of his flock.

If you pray to Jesus, your aim is off- he never said to pray to him. He is the Intercessor of our prayers, not the Interceptor of them.

So, if you want to learn the real 10 Commandments, remember that the first one is:

God is the one who saved you from slavery by bringing you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Whether that “Egypt” was the country or representative of slavery (as in, to sin) doesn’t matter: what does matter is that you know God is your true Savior.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe to this ministry, on both my website and my YouTube channel, and join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (please read and agree to the rules); please comment on these messages and let’s drash it out, together.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Parashah Emor 2022 (Speak) Leviticus 21-24

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These chapters begin with rules for the priests regarding not defiling themselves by having any contact with the dead (except for close family members) and marrying only a virgin. The Cohen HaGadol (High Priest) shall not even have contact with family members who die, nor shall he ever mourn (at least, not in public).

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

No priest can offer any sacrifice or perform any priestly duties if they have any sort of deformity or blemish or are in a condition of uncleanliness.

Chapter 23 is where God instructs us about the 7 Holy Days, which are not to be confused with holidays, those being man-made. God’s required celebrations are the Shabbat, Passover, Hag HaMatzot (Passover is only the late afternoon until midnight, with the 7 days of unleavened bread being a separate festival), Counting of the Omer (not a Holy Day but important because it brings us to the next one), Shavuot, Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot.

God instructed Moses about the show bread and the Ner Tamid (Eternal Flame).

We are told of an incident where an Israelite man (Israelite mother and Egyptian father) blasphemed God’s name and cursed, and his punishment was to have all the people who heard him lay their hands on his head, then the entire congregation was to stone him to death. We are told that any punishment must be equal to the crime, which was described by God as “breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.”

(I can make an entire message on the way this one statement has been misunderstood.)

Probably one of the most important instructions, and the final one for this parashah, is the commandment that there shall be only one law for both the natural Jew and the Gentile.

Okay, then…not much to analyze or look for deeper, meanings here. This is all pretty straight-forward.

But what does it mean to us? What do I have to worry about if I am not a descendant of Aaron, or a Levite?

Well, if you are a member of the body of the Messiah, or any sect of Judaism (even if you haven’t accepted Yeshua as your Messiah), then you are a priest.

YIKES! You mean to tell me that even as a Gentile Christian I am considered to be a priest?

I believe the answer is….YES!

Why? Because any one who sojourns with Israel, i.e., joins the chosen people of God, is considered to be an adopted son of Abraham (Galatians 3:29), and, as a member of God’s chosen people, you are also one of God’s priests to the world( Exodus 19:6).

Not what they told you in church, huh?

Did they also fail to tell you that as a adopted child of Abraham, that because God said there is to be one law for both the stranger (i.e., Gentile joined to the people) and the Jew, that means you are also required to obey his law (that means the Torah, people)?

Now that’s quite a kick in the pants, right?

Here’s how it works, folks: when you accept Yeshua (Jesus) as your Messiah, you are a spiritual sojourner with Israel and an adopted child of Abraham. This does NOT mean you are a Jew- that has to be by blood, not by choice (except maybe in the case of total conversion). But, as a member of Israel you are a priest for God, which requires you to obey the priestly requirements in this parashah, and throughout the Torah.

And as a natural-born Jewish person, you are already a priest, Believer or not, like it or not.

This is how I see it, based on how I interpret the Torah and some of what Shaul (Paul) wrote.

I understand that this does open a can of worms, as they say, because now we have to ask if your marriage is acceptable (if you didn’t marry a virgin); are you allowed to visit the graves of your loved ones; can you come into church (or synagogue) if you had sex recently and didn’t shower afterwards?

And these are just the easy questions!

If you expect me to answer them, I am sorry but I won’t go there. I think we all have to read the Torah and come up with the answers for ourselves, asking God to have the Ruach HaKadosh (Holy Spirit) guide us in our decision. I know this sounds like a cop-out, but I am not sure of the answers, myself.

I do know one thing- thanks to Yeshua, if I do sin accidentally by not properly observing the rules for a priest, then I can receive forgiveness through him.

Here’s an interesting thing I would like to share with you: when I worked at a Jewish cemetery, if the people looking to buy a burial plot had a last name that was Cohen or Levy, or anything similar, they had to buy a plot directly off the road because as a Levite, they couldn’t even stand on the ground without (ceremonially) becoming unclean. For me, as a salesman, that meant more money because those are the most expensive areas in any cemetery.

I have been told that my DNA analysis (my older sister, Wendy is our genealogist) shows I have the genetic marker of a Levite, so I know I have to be careful in how I live my life. My current marriage is a second marriage for both my wife and myself, so that would disqualify me, but these things happened before I became a Believer, so I hope that they are not counted.

After all, we are born a new creation every day (2 Corinthians, 5:17) so I am trying, each day for the rest of my life, to qualify for God’s requirements as one of his priests.

What about you? Do you feel “priestly”? You are, you know, whether or not you want to be, so if you like being blessed by God and want to act in accordance with what God says (not what some man-made religion says), then I suggest read this parashah for yourself and get with the program.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know. Subscribe to my website and YouTube channel, buy my books, and join my Facebook discussion group called “Just God’s Word” (please read and agree to the rules).

And I always welcome any comments you may have: feedback lets me know someone is listening, so please (at least) send me a “Good Job”, or “You’re crazy!”, and let’s drash it out, together.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and Shabbat Shalom!

Did Eve Really Do Something Wrong?

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I am back from a week-long cruise in the Caribbean, which was restful and allowed me to catch up on  some reading.

So now, it’s back to work…

I know, I know…I am taking a risk that I might destroy the belief system founded on the idea of Original Sin by even suggesting that Eve did not really do anything wrong. 

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

But having just read (again, for the umpteenth time) the story of Eve and the serpent, I have to wonder if Eve really should have been held accountable.

Why would I think that? After all, she was told not to eat from that tree, right? That was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, right? That fruit would give her the same understanding that God has of good from evil, right?

And THAT is why I started to wonder: if the fruit of that tree gave her the knowledge of good and evil, then before she ate from the tree, she must not have known good from evil. So, that begs the question: how could she have been held accountable for doing wrong (i.e., evil) if she was incapable of knowing good from evil?

That’s when the judge said, “Hmmm…that is an interesting thought, Counselor; please, continue to make your case.”

In Judaism, we believe that children are born with the Yetzer Hara (evil intention), and it isn’t until they are (at least) 10 years old (some say 13) that they develop the Yetzer Tov, the Good Intention (Tanchume, Genesis 7). 

In other words, when we are too young to know the difference between good and evil, which I believe I can make a reasonable argument is equatable with right and wrong or righteous and sinful, we really don’t know what is what, which is which, or who is who when it comes down to what to do, what to say, who to believe or what to obey. 

The only thing we know is our innate desire to sin, the Yetzer Hara, and until we are able to understand the difference between right and wrong, is it really justice for us to be held accountable for our actions? 

When you see toddlers, maybe 5 years old or less, playing with toys, when they all go for the same toy, whichever one has it first doesn’t want to relinquish control. Do we think that is an evil child and punish him or her? No, we explain they need to learn to share, and we do so because we understand they don’t know any better. 

God clearly says in the Torah (you can find this in the first chapters of Leviticus) that even if someone sins unknowingly, that person is still guilty. Once they are made aware of the sin, they must then observe the sacrificial system requirements in order to be forgiven.

Now, if you ask me, I do not believe God is talking about young children here, but only those people who are old enough to know that what they did was wrong. 

I feel the same way about Christian baptism: when the kid is only a month or so old, do you really believe that God will send an infant to suffer in Hell for all eternity if it dies without being baptized? 

To me, during a Christian baptism, when the Godparent (by answering for the child) commits that child to a system of religious doctrine that has been created by men, not God, that is not helping the child in any way, whatsoever. 

Jews don’t baptize their infants. We do have baptism (after all, where do you think John the Baptist got the idea?), which is called a T’villah. This is not the same as a Mikvah, which is a ritual cleansing; the T’villah is a physical representation of a spiritual change, such as was done when John baptized people, when Cornelius and his family were baptized by Kefa, and when the Ethiopian was baptized by Phillip. 

And we do not do it with anyone not yet old enough to know what they are doing! 

So, going back to Eve and that nasty so-and-so, the Serpent, if Eve really had no idea of the difference between what was right and wrong, and she ate because the serpent told her it was okay to do so, then should she really have been held accountable for that action? 

Good point- God did tell them not to eat from that tree; no doubt about that! But- and, again I say, BUT- if Eve was incapable of knowing that she did something wrong, why should she be punished?  

The same goes for Adam, when Eve told him to eat, also. 

Before the lightning strikes me, I want to make it clear I am not saying God was wrong in doing what he did- heaven knows (actually, he does) I believe everything that God does, he does for the ultimate purpose of teaching us how to protect ourselves from ourselves. 

For example, what happened to Job seems totally unfair and cruel, yet the lesson we all learn from it is valuable in that we better understand who God is, and that we cannot always understand why he allows things to happen. But, when we trust in him to see us through, we will come through it. 

So, maybe, even though Eve didn’t understand right from wrong and maybe she really wasn’t responsible for disobeying God, the lesson we learn from this is that when God says to do, or not to do, something, he means it. Whether or not we understand God’s purpose, it is not important or even relevant- there is obey or reject; there is either gathering with or spreading; it comes down to is you, or isn’t you, my Baby? 

If I may, I would like to share what I do on a daily basis, which I decided to do a long time ago. 

Because God does hold those who know good from evil accountable for what we do and say, whether we mean to do wrong or not, every day I pray for forgiveness of any and all sins I have or may have committed against God. 

As I have already mentioned, in the first chapters of Leviticus, God says absolutely that whether we know we did it or not, when we sin we are guilty. Period; end of line; close the door; das ist alles!  That is why I ask for forgiveness all the time, whether I know I have done anything wrong, or not.

I recommend it for everyone.

So, nu?  After all this discussion, what is the bottom line: did Eve (and Adam) really deserve to be punished or not?  

Well, the serpent definitely deserved what he got, so we can close the book on that one. 

As for Eve, maybe my original contention that not knowing good from evil is the same as not knowing right from wrong, is wrong? If so, then she defiintely did know what she was doing, and punishment was deserved. 

If, on the other hand, I was right in thinking right from wrong and good from evil are the same thing, then maybe what God did, in a human view, wasn’t really fair or justified, but I will say this (and this statement can only be made by reason of my total and absolute faith in God): 

Whether or not I understand why, and whether or not I agree or not whether something God does is justified, I believe that if God does it or allows it, then it must be for a good purpose. 

Furthermore, I also believe that it is not wrong or sinful to question God (respectfully, of course) because God is big enough to be able to handle a few questions. 

Of course, because he is God, he doesn’t have to answwer them if he doesn’t want to, but we can always ask. 

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know. Subcribe to my website and YouTube channel, and join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (please read and agree to the rules.) 

And while you are on the website, buy my books: if you like what you get here, you will like my books. Hey- they aren’t expensive.

One final thing- please do not ever hesitate to make comments: agree, disagree, drash it out with me…I can handle it.

That’s it for now, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!  

PS: Please pray for the quick and complete recovery of my wife, who is suffering with sever pancreatitis. It hit her the day we came off our cruise, which was all last week, and she has been hospitalized and in pain for 4 days now.

Do You Ask God, or Do You Tell Him?

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We are told that whatever we ask for, in Yeshua’s name, we will receive (John 14:13).

Yet, I have heard so many people, so many times, not just ask God for what they want, they actually tell him what to do and how to do it!

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

Haven’t you heard people pray for God to help someone, and instead of asking God to heal the sickness or resolve the problem, they outline the things God should do:

“Oh Lord, take away the pain and destroy the sickness in their body.”
“Oh Lord, excise this disease and destroy the illness.”
“Oh, Lord, provide them a job that will give them financial security, with good promotability and close to home, and with vacation and sick days. Oh, yes, and don’t forget they should have a good 401-K plan!”

I have to tell you there are two things people do when they pray that I just cannot believe need to be done: first off, they go on and on…and on…and it seems they think the more they say, the better a job God will do. And I’m not alone feeling this way, because Yeshua (Jesus) says the same thing in Matthew 6:7.

Not only that, but they tell God what he should do, as I exemplified above.


I don’t know about you, but I would never profess to know what to do better than God does, and because I have faith in God, I trust him to know exactly what needs to be done. I really don’t think, if praying for healing, that anyone needs to tell God how he should go about the business of healing that person.

And, again, I am not alone in feeling this way because Moses demonstrates this same faithfulness in Numbers 12:13.

You may recall that Miriam and Aaron spoke up against Moses for taking a Cushite wife. God called them to the Tent of Meeting and chided them both for speaking against his servant. As punishment, he infected Miriam with tzara’at (leprosy). When Moses saw this, he prayed for God to heal her:

“So Moses cried out to the LORD, “Please, God, heal her!””

Just 4 words! His sister is white as death and will be forced out of the camp, yet he didn’t go through an entire treatise of how God should make her skin pure and clean, or how he should not turn her white as death, or any of the literary euphemisms that we associate with tzara’at. No, he simply asked God to heal her, knowing that God knew what he meant and what to do.

So, when you pray for someone, please don’t try to sound like some fancy-schmancy preacher at the pulpit, trying to make an appeal that is more of a political speech; but just ask God simply, and concisely, for what you want.

Believe me, whether you pray for healing, for help, for health, for joy, or whatever you need, God knows better than you do what to do, how to do it, and when is the best time to do it for you.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know to help this ministry continue to grow. Subscribe to my website and YouTube channel, join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (please read and agree to the rules), and remember that I always welcome your comments.

I have written a book on Prayer, which is available on Amazon- there is a link to it on my website.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

PS: Thank you for the prayers you have sent- my back surgery went very well and for the first time in almost a year I can walk and move without nerve pain down my legs.

Praise God!