With the High Holy Days upon us, I thought I would go over some of the Jewish traditions regarding Rosh Hashanah.

Remember, even though Yeshua chided the Pharisees about man-made traditions, he wasn’t against all traditions- only those specific ones that were given precedence over what God said we should do. Not every tradition is bad, only those that men have created which are given more importance than the instructions God gave us.

There won’t be any video today, and I hope that you find this lesson interesting.

(I am getting most of todays information from a great 2-volume set that I recommend for anyone who wants to really get to know what being Jewish is all about, called “The Jewish Book of Why”, written by Alfred J. Kolatch.)

You may notice that I always specify “Holy Day” from “holiday”. This is because I differentiate between celebrations that God commanded from celebrations that are man-made.

The first thing I want to say, which is not from the book I referenced but from the Book of Leviticus, Chapter 23:23-25, is that the Holy Day we now call Rosh Hashanah is actually called Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets) and is commanded to be observed by God in this manner (from the CJB):

Adonai said to Moshe,  “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘In the seventh month, the first of the month is to be for you a day of complete rest for remembering, a holy convocation announced with blasts on the shofar.  Do not do any kind of ordinary work, and bring an offering made by fire to Adonai.’”

This 10-day period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called the Ten Days of Awe, in which we look, introspectively, at ourselves to confess how short we have fallen from the way God wants us to live. It is a time to remember the past year, and prepare ourselves, emotionally ands spiritually, for Yom Kippur.

One of the things we do is to go to everyone who we think we may have transgressed against over the past year, and ask them for forgiveness. This may sound familiar, as Yeshua told us if a brother has anything against us, we should leave our offering at the altar and first go make things right with that person (Matthew 5:23-4).

Another tradition is a ceremony called Tashlich (casting off). This is performed when standing by fresh, running water; we throw a rock, or sometimes people throw bread crumbs, into the water praying that just as the rock sinks or the crumbs are carried away, so should our sins be taken away from us for this new year.

Even though this is considered the new year (Rosh Hashannah means “head of the year”), there are actually other new year days.

The “civil” new year is the first of Nissan, which back then was called Aviv. This is the day that God commanded should be the first day of the calendar (Exodus 12:2). Rosh Hashanah, the first day of Tishri, is considered the “religious” new year. Each of these two celebrations coincide with a harvest.

The Talmud refers to other new years, one for royalty (the first of Nissan); one for agriculture (the first of Tishri); one for the tithing of cattle (the first of Elul); and the fourth as a new year for trees (the first of Shevat).

The Bible calls for just one day of celebrating this Holy Day, but we now celebrate it or two days. The reason is because this is the only Holy Day that falls on a New Moon. The announcement of the new moon was based on three witnesses in Jerusalem seeing the moon, then messengers were sent to light signal fires to let the outer cities in Israel know the new moon has arrived. Sometimes these messengers were late, so it was decided that we would celebrate this day over a 2-day period, but consider it as one, long day.

The Rabbis did this a lot in the Talmud- they kinda made up their own rules.

The shofar is blown some 100 times on Rosh Hashannah. The Talmud gives a rather mystical reason, that by doing so we scare off Satan, so he won’t be able to bring any charges against the Jewish people before God on the Day of Atonement.

The traditional reading on this day is called the Akedah, the Binding of Isaac. This is Genesis, Chapter 22, and is considered to be one of the many messianic passages in the Torah.

Here is something I’m sure you will find interesting: Rosh Hashanah never falls on a Wednesday, Friday, or Sunday. The reason for this is that when the Jewish calendar was issued by Hillel II in 359 C.E., it was arranged so that the Holy Days would not interfere with the Shabbat observance, or vice-versa.

The reason we use a rams horn instead of a cow horn is to honor the ram that Abraham sacrificed on Mount Moriah after the angel stopped him from killing Isaac.

The shofar blasts are composed of three different notes called Tekia, Terua, and Shevarim. The Tekia is a single blast, the Terua is 9 staccato blasts, and the Shevarim (introduced in the Talmud in Rosh Hashanah 33b) is three undulating blasts. There is an additional blast, the Tekia Gedolah, which is a long, suspended note. There is a traditional sequence for sounding them, the entre sequence is done three times after a prayer is recited, and the prayer is recited three times during the service (which can last from a few hours to 7 hours, depending on the sect of Judaism).

The notes are sounded in this order:

tekia-shevarim-terua-tekia;

tekia-shevarim-tekia; and

tekia-terua-tekia.

With the final sequence, in some synagogues, they also sound the tekia gedolah.

The total number of shofar blasts is to be 100.

A white garment called a kittle is worn to represent humility and purity. We also wear this on Yom Kippur.

Some food is also specific to this day. The Challah bread, usually braided, is round to represent eternity, which has no beginning and no end. I t also represents the cyclic nature of life.

We serve carrot tzimmes, a sweet carrot and honey dish to represent the hopes for a sweet new year.

Another food to represent hopes for a sweet new year are apples dipped in honey and the serving of honey cake ( I LOVE honey cake!).

Finally, let’s do one more tradition: many Jews avoid eating nuts on this day. Why? Because of Jewish superstition (yes, there are many superstitions in Judaism). Hebrew letters also have a numerical value, so a Hebrew word can be given a number value, which is similar to Numerology. The Hebrew word for nut is “egoz“, which has the same numerical value as the Hebrew word chet, which is sin. Therefore, we do not want the new year to have any association with sin.

Nutty, isn’t it?

So there you have it! There are even more traditions regarding this Holy Day, but this is enough for now. You can get the book I told you about above and learn all about Jewish thought, superstition, traditions, and beliefs.

The Shabbat begins tonight, so Shabbat Shalom, and come Sunday night I wish you all:

Leshanah tovah tikatevu!

(May you be inscribed for a good year)

We’ve been over this, again and again, so let’s go over it one more time.

The Tetragrammaton, the four-letter word that God told Moses, is God’s Holy Name, and how it is used in speech and prayer should honor God.

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

Yet, there are some who use his Holy Name as if it was just any ordinary name, like Tom or Dick or even Steve. They also condemn anyone who doesn’t use it.

They are called (and it probably isn’t the nicest appellation) “Holy Namers”, and that is because they constantly use the Hebrew name of God, those 4 Hebrew letters called the Tetragrammaton. That name is composed of the letters Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh (יהוה), and has been pronounced in any number of different ways.

And their justification for this is when the Bible uses the term “Call on the Name” or “The name of the Lord”, they take that out of context, both written and cultural, to mean using the Tetragrammaton.

Now, as a Jewish man I never even try to pronounce that name because it is God’s Holy Name, and Jews don’t pronounce it out of respect for God.

Many Christians, especially the Holy Namers, must think that they are on a first-name basis with the Lord, God, Almighty; addressing him as if he was one of their human friends.

If you met a world leader, would you call that person by their first name?

If you met the CEO of the company you work for, would you call him or her by their first name?

If you met a teacher that you highly respected from your past, would you call that person by their first name?

I hope not- that would be disrespectful, wouldn’t it?

So what makes anyone think they are on such a high, spiritual level that they can address God by his first name?

This is the very reason why Jews do not pronounce God’s name, but instead substitute Adonai (which means “Lord”), or HaShem (which means “the name), or Elohim or Shaddai (both different names for God, but not his actual name) whenever we come across the Tetragrammaton in the Tanakh.

We also feel that using God’s Holy Name is a violation of the 3rd Commandment.

Yet, despite these highly logical and respectful reasons for not pronouncing the Tetragrammaton, Holy Namers accuse us of being wrong by not pronouncing the name of God!

I think, and this is my own idea, that because Christians are brought up saying Jesus’s name all the time that they think it is also OK to use God’s Holy Name just as easily.

But, as for the term “the name of the Lord”, when used in the Bible almost always has nothing, whatsoever, to do with the Tetragrammaton.

The phrase “name of the Lord” refers to God’s reputation and his greatness. It represents his power, his goodness, his mercy, and everything else about God- everything, that is, but his actual name.

There are times when we do see his actual name being used, such as when Moses needed to use it to convince the people in Egypt that he was sent by God, but the need to pronounce the Tetragrammaton is rarely found in the Tanakh.

In the New Covenant it is almost completely missing, and the name that is referred to mostly is “Yeshua”. But even in the case where Yeshua says “in my name”, that doesn’t mean that we are to say “Yeshua”, or “Jesus” (which isn’t his name, to begin with) but to refer to his role as the Messiah.

So, look- if you want to call out the Holy Name of God, I won’t tell you it is wrong, and I never tell anyone what they should think, but I would ask you to consider what I have said about respecting God.

It isn’t a sin to respect God by referring to him as Lord or Sir (another usage of Adonai) or Elohim or Shaddai; but, it just may be disrespectful to address God as you would your drinking buddies.

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

And remember that I always welcome your comments.

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

We all know the story in Genesis 22, which we call the Akedah (binding), where Abraham obeys God’s demand that he sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah.

We also all know that this is all about testing Abraham’s faith.

Or, is it?

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

I had recently posted a message regarding the way Christianity has misrepresented Yeshua (Jesus) as more of an Absalom, a son who defied his father’s authority and rebelled to have people follow him, than an Isaac who obeyed his father’s wishes, even unto death.

That is when it “hit” me: yes, the Akedah is certainly a story about the faith of Abraham, but isn’t it also a story about the obedience of Isaac?

It is considered a messianic passage by almost everyone, and as such, it isn’t just about the father willing to sacrifice his only son, but it is about the son, willing to be obedient to his father at all costs.

Just as Yeshua, the Messiah, was so obedient to his father, God, as to allow himself to be sacrificed.

It was, to me, a realization of a different aspect of the Akedah that, to my knowledge and from my experience, has not been addressed.

So, what do you think? I think there are two very important lessons from the Akedah:

1. The standard lesson that Abraham’s faith was strong enough to let him sacrifice his son, just as God’s love for us was strong enough for him to sacrifice his son; and
2. That Isaac’s obedience to his father was strong enough to allow him to let himself be sacrificed, and although he wasn’t, in Yeshua’s case he was.

That’s all I wanted to say (I know- who woddah ‘tought I could write such a short message?)

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

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

I know, I know…you have always been taught that salvation is a free gift from God and cannot be bought or earned.

Now, the part about salvation being a free gift from God and impossible to be purchased is true; however, according to what God tells us, salvation can be earned!

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

How can I say salvation can be earned when all our religious leaders tell us it can’t? And even more than that, what justification do I have to claim that God, himself, tells us we can earn salvation?

I’m glad you asked.

God gave us the Torah, which tells us, in simple to understand language, what he wants us to do. And, if we do what he wants us to do, then we are righteous in his eyes. And, if we are righteous in his eyes, then we will be saved, i.e., we will not face the second death but instead be in God’s presence for all eternity.

I believe that is what we refer to as “salvation”, is it not?

And, if you need more proof, then I present to you the Messiah, Yeshua.

Here is a man, 100% human, who lived his entire life in perfect accordance with the Torah. And, after he died, he was resurrected and allowed into the presence of the Lord. In fact, more than just allowed to be there- he sits at God’s right hand!

For those of you who are members of this ministry, you will no doubt recall that when I refer to the Torah I rarely refer to it as commandments or law, but more often than not as God’s instructions.

The Torah was given to us by God (and I do not mean just us Jews, but to US: everyone throughout the world) so that we would know exactly how to worship him, how to treat each other, how to conduct business, how to punish those who do wrong, and how to conduct our interpersonal (intimate) relationships.

And in Deuteronomy 28, he tells us that when we do what he says, he will bless us; but, if we refuse to do as he says, we will suffer curses galore.

God also tells us, more than once, that we must not add to or take away from any of the instructions he gave us.

It is obvious that God gave us the Torah so we could know what he wants us to do in order to receive salvation.

So, nu? If this is true, then why have religious leaders told us for generations on end that no one can earn salvation?

I’m glad you asked.

The answer is simple: except for Yeshua, no one has been able to follow every instruction in the Torah because (as the Bible tells us, many, many times) we are all born sinners: we have, we do, and we always will sin.

It is this inability of humans to not sin that keeps us from being in accordance with the Torah, and as such, makes it impossible for us to earn the salvation that the Torah provides.

Maybe what they should be teaching is that salvation is possible if we live every day, for our entire lives, in perfect accord with the instructions God gave in the Torah, but so far (except for one, and we know who he is) no one has ever been able to do that because of our inescapable iniquity (the desire to sin).

God gave us his instructions on how we can earn salvation through sinless living, but he also knew that we wouldn’t be able to do that, so he took a lesson from school teachers…when a teacher has a course that is a very difficult subject to learn, but there has to be a test on it, the teacher will grade the test on a “curve”, which is sort of like a handicap in golf.

God gave us a difficult task, which is to obey his instructions, and he knew that it would be nearly impossible, so he grades us on a curve- that curve is the Messiah. By accepting Yeshua as your Messiah, STILL trying to live as God said to live, when you fail, the Messiah is your handicap, bringing you back to “par” with God.

BUT YOU STILL HAVE TO TRY TO LIVE AS GOD SAID YOU SHOULD!

Following standard Christian teaching that Yeshua did away with God’s instructions will not help at all, and the test paper you turn in will come back with a big, fat “F” on it!

And for us Jews, when we follow Talmudic Halacha as more important than God’s instructions (which is one of the things Yeshua chided the Pharisees about), we are adding to what he said, which is (by definition) a sin.

Accept Yeshua (Jesus) as your Messiah, then read what God says you should do- not what some human created religion tells you to do!

And you know what? You don’t even have to read the entire Torah: just read Leviticus and Deuteronomy and you will know all you need to know to take that salvation test and pass.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe to this ministry on both my website and YouTube channels. Also join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word”, but please make sure you read and agree to the rules.

And if you like what you get here, you will like my books, as well, which are available in both paperback and digital formats: you can buy them through my website or go to Amazon books.

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

I’ve been on a three day high school reunion- our 50^th, but now I am back and ready to preach!

We all know the Bible…well, actually, we all THINK we know the Bible.

We think we know what God wants, but in reality most people only know what they have been told God wants.

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

I am not going to discuss what God wants, but rather what happens when people start to talk to each other about what God wants.

My experience, after some 25 plus years of being a Believer, is that people start out easily talking about God, and soon they find there are some things in which they have a slightly different understanding.

This then becomes a discussion that turns into a bit of a debate, in that each side wants to explain their side and challenge the other side to disprove them.

And this is the place where one of two things happen: the two people respectfully agree to disagree, or the conversation takes a nosedive from nice to nasty, and I have identified this change from edifying each other to demeaning each other happening in four, distinct stages.

Stage 1: we start by talking about God and begin to discuss a specific topic about God, or what God wants.

Stage 2: as we continue with the discussion, a different understanding of that topic emerges, and now we debate what God really said or what he really meant.

Stage 3: we realize that we actually disagree.

Stage 4: one or both stop attacking the argument and begin to attack the person.

This is not the result of a godly call to help someone know God better: it is nothing more than pridefulness rearing itself up and changing the dynamic from trying to determine God’s truth to working for the Enemy of God to cause dissension.

If the people involved are spiritually and/or emotionally mature, they can respect each other’s right to their opinion and agree to disagree.

However, way too often, one or more of those involved begin demeaning the other because they will not change their mind.

There is no reason or justification, EVER, for demeaning or insulting anyone just because they disagree with you.

When you find yourself in a discussion that has turned the corner from mature argumentation to personal insult, you have only one option: get out of it.

No matter how passionate you may be about helping someone to know God better, when the talk has gone from explaining to insulting, it is time to go home.

They say the three topics you should never bring up in a conversation are family, politics, and religion. I think there is a lot of truth to that, but it should not stop you from trying.

The trick is knowing when to stop; it is as simple as that, and that is all I wanted to talk about today.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe to my website and my YouTube channel as well. By the way, when you are on the website, please buy my books- if you like what you get here, you will like my books.

And join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word”- please make sure you read and agree to the rules.

So, until next time, l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

What do I mean by “overly spiritual”?

I am talking about those people who cannot make conversation without speaking in spiritual terms which the average person cannot relate to.

I am talking about those people who cannot talk to you without pronouncing that they love you, even though they have no idea who you are.

I am talking about those people who tell you that Jesus is the way and the truth and the light, when all you did was ask them for directions to someplace.

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

Now, I am not trying to insult these people, or deny that they are wonderful examples of how joyful one can be when you have the indwelling Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit), but…if people are so spiritually oriented that they cannot have a “normal” conversation, then they will not be able to do what we are supposed to do, which is effectively spread the word of God.

“But wait a minute, Steve! People who are constantly talking about God are spreading the word, aren’t they? “

Maybe, but there is a difference between spreading the word of God and throwing pearls before swine. And what determines that is how effectively you can get your point across to your audience.

The double-edged sword of spirituality is that on one side, you are able to understand God’s word better; but, the other side is that without the Holy Spirit, people can’t understand God’s word as well, if at all!

Overly spiritual people can speak all they want, but their problem is that they are speaking the way they want to, in a way they are able to understand, and that is NOT how to reach people who are still in the dark.

Let me put it to you this way: if I cannot communicate with my audience in a way that they can understand what I am saying, then I might as well be speaking in a foreign language.

That is why overly spiritual people are useless to God, in that they are not able to help those in the dark to understand what they are talking about.

Shaul (Paul) is a perfect example of “working your audience”, and he tells us that in 1 Corinthians 9:19, where he says he will be all things to all people. He is spreading the word of God in an effective way because he relates to his audience, and makes sure they can relate to him.

Yeshua was the most spiritually filled person that ever existed, yet he was able to get people to understand what he was saying.

Yes, he often talked in parables (which fulfilled the Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 6:9), which did confuse many people, but those who had ears to hear, heard; and those who had eyes to see, saw.

That is what we need to do when we are trying to spread the word of God- we need to speak in a way that the person we are talking to can understand.

You don’t need to learn different languages, you need to simply observe the type of person you are talking to and speak in a way they can understand, i.e., using terms and references that they are comfortable with.

When I was a salesman, going to people’s homes and selling them siding, windows, and kitchen replacements, I learned very quickly that I needed to ask them about themselves (people will always be willing to talk about themselves or their children) in order to determine the best way to communicate with them. I found that by using terms and mental images they are comfortable with, that allowed me to bond with them quickly, resulting in both gaining their trust and, even more important, getting them to not just listen but understand me.

When we talk about God to people, those who cannot get their heads out of the clouds make no headway- they are speaking God’s truth to a wall.

That is why no matter how “into” the Lord you are, you need to step it down when speaking to people who are not that way so they can understand and relate to what you are saying.

And NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! tell anyone what they must do or what they must believe- the best way to get people to listen to you is first to ask them what they feel they are missing in their life. Then you can tell them why YOU don’t have those problems because you accepted Yeshua, and then let them decide for themself if they want to be better off, too.

I confess I am somewhat envious of people who are continually happy and spirit-filled, but when it comes down to helping those who are not believers, if they can’t come down out of the clouds and walk the same earth those people do, speak their language and relate to them, then whatever they say or do or teach will be useless to spreading God’s word.

And, in the long run, they are more likely to turn people away from God than turn them to God, and that would be a sin.

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 after reading them, leave them in your church or synagogue for others to read, and next time you’re on Facebook, join my group called “Just God’s Word” (please make sure you read and agree to the rules, first).

And remember this: I always welcome your comments.

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