As a child I was constantly reminded that “You Jews killed Jesus” by my Christian friends and acquaintances.
Back then I didn’t know and (frankly) didn’t care about God or the Messiah, but I knew enough to say that Jesus came to die for their sins, so all we did was help Him.
Now I know better- it wasn’t the Jews who killed Jesus, nor was it the Romans: it was ME.
This is the first chapter of the second book of the Torah.
Joseph and that generation are gone, a new Pharaoh enslaves the children of Israel, Moses is born and called by God to free the people.
This is where we first hear God tell us His name, but He also tells us by what name He wants us to use.
In Luke 4 we read of Yeshua teaching at a synagogue and reading from Isaiah. He reads a few passages from the scroll, folds it up and tells the people that He is the one talked about in that scroll.
But He didn’t read the entire scroll- in fact, He left out the part about salvation and resurrection of Israel and the Jewish people.
Why?
A new year, a new beginning for most everyone in the world. But how do we start it?
Many make resolutions to do something that they know they need to: a diet, give up smoking, be more helpful to the needy….whatever.
As for me, I think the best way to start anew is to get past the past, and the only way to do that is to learn forgiveness.
And that’s not just a good idea- it is a commandment!
This week we come to the end of the book of Genesis.
Jacob blesses Joseph’s children, and adopts them. He later blesses each of the 12 Tribes, then acob dies. The book ends with Joseph’s death and his request to make sure his bones are brought back to the Land when the children of Israel return.
When Jacob blesses Judah, we have a messianic prophecy of the coming of Yeshua…or do we? Where as Christianity sees this as a messianic prophecy, Judaism rejects it as such,,,but why?
Part of the definition of a Demagogue, according to Wikipedia, is:
Demagogues overturn established customs of political conduct, or promise or threaten to do so.
Although the term is usually applied to a political system, can it be found within spiritual circles?
And if so, how do we recognize it?
As this parashah starts, the brothers have been accused of stealing a cup from Joseph’s house, and Benjamin is found to be the one holding the cup. They are brought before Joseph, and Judah pleads for Benjamin’s life.
His plea is so heartfelt that Joseph can no longer hide his identity, and upon the brothers being reunited, Joseph has them all move to Goshen for the remainder of the famine. Of course, they stay a little longer than that.
Joseph tells his brothers that what happened to him was God’s work, which provides us a great lesson to remember when we have Tsouris in our own lives.
A bridge gives us passage from one place to another over a terrain or obstacle that cannot be crossed by walking or driving. In the Marines Corps, one of the things I was responsible to do was to be able to blow up bridges that gave the enemy a tactical advantage
We have a bridge that is between us and God, which has it’s entrance here in the world and leads to salvation. Like all bridges, it is composed of components that provide the support needed to allow us to cross over.
The enemy of God wants to destroy that bridge, and we need to know how he plans to do it.
Before I was saved, one of the things that always turned me off, right away, to those “Born-Again” people was that they talked so “spiritually” about everything.
When you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you can’t relate to it, or to people who talk using spiritual terminology.
We need to take a lesson from Shaul (Paul), and talk to people in a way that they can relate to us if we want to be able to open their ears and minds to the truth of God’s plan of salvation.
We now learn the history of Joseph’s life, starting with his bad report on his brothers and ending with his interpretation of the dreams of his prison mates.
Along the way we read about an incident in Judah’s life- why now? Why here?
What does the significance of Judah’s experience have to do with the life of Joseph in captivity?
