Today’s Word
Conversation and Identity
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; Genesis 1:26a NASB Image/likeness – According to a footnote in my Siddur, a synonym for nefesh hayah in the Mishnah (Bava Kanna 2a) is mav’eh which the Talmud derives from the root ba’ah (to ask, request, seek). Furthermore, Onkelos renders nefesh hayah as “speaking spirit” (ruah mamlal’). The implication is significant. Our identity is…
Start Right
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; Genesis 1:26a NASB Image/likeness – As we begin another “eternal return”[1] cycle, perhaps we should start with a decidedly different view than the one behind a New Year’s pagan festival. The OT recognizes man’s total dependence with great clarity. Man is a creature…
Belonging
So all Israel was enrolled by genealogies; and behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. 1 Chronicles 9:1a NASB Genealogies – All those names. Mostly unfamiliar, difficult to read out loud. So we skip over them. Go ahead. Try reading 1 Chronicles 8 without stumbling. And this is not the…
A Change in the Weather
“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.” Acts 20:22 NIV Not knowing – Today I leave for Manila. I’ll be in the Philippines area for the next two months. Then, after a return to the USA for some teaching commitments, Rosanne and I will…
The Man You Never Knew
You shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God or accept correction; truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth. Jeremiah 7:28 NASB Perished – Almost the end of the year (as far as the pagan world is concerned). Almost. Just enough time to…
A Statement of Faith
and You are faithful to resuscitate the dead. Blessed are You, HASHEM, Who resuscitates the dead. Shemoneh Esrei Resuscitate – The footnote to this part of the morning prayer from the Siddur reads: In the case of God’s promise to resuscitate the dead, we must make a special expression of confidence in God. First, because…
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