Love and Preparation. What do these two words have in common at the moment?

Last night began Rosh Chodesh Elul, the beginning of the Hebrew month of Elul. Elul is a very special month because it is the month preceding Tishrei – the month the High Holidays fall in. Traditionally it is known as a month of preparation. This preparation, called Cheshbon HaNefesh, is a time we begin to take an accounting of our soul. We recall our thoughts and actions over the past year and begin to seek t’shuvah (repentance) for those things, and with those we may have wronged.

In recognition of this special month, and in anticipation for the upcoming High Holidays, a few additions are added to our daily prayers. One of the most noticeable is the sounding of the Shofar every morning. Traditionally, we Jews only blow the Shofar once a year – every morning of the month of Elul leading up to, and on, Rosh HaShanah and Neilah (the concluding service) of Yom Kippur. The reason is because of the specialness of the blowing of the Shofar. Jewish tradition teaches that there is something spiritual and mystical about the blowing of the Shofar, and I’ll touch more on this in upcoming blog posts.

Another familiar addition is Psalm 27 – the Psalm associated with the High Holidays. Psalm 27 is added to all of the services beginning with the first day of Elul and continuing through Hoshanah Rabbah at the end of Sukkot (in some congregations, only through Yom Kippur).

How are we to understand this preparation period of Elul?

The illustration of Elul in Jewish thought is the preparation before a wedding. The holidays in Hebrew are called mo’edim, set appointed times when G-d chooses to meet with us. The High Holidays are the pinnacle of these appointed times. HaShem desires that we should be caught up in a love affair with Him. As Abraham Joshua Heschel points out, G-d is in pursuit of a relationship with us. G-d desires communion with creation and the High Holidays are set times which G-d “clears away His calendar” so to speak, and chooses to spend an even greater amount of time with us. Although we can meet with G-d anytime, the mo’edim are specific and special times.

The High Holidays are also when many believe the Mashiach will return – at the final blast of the Shofar. As such, the High Holidays will inaugurate the final consummation at the end of the age when the Groom returns for His Bride, and ushers in the Messianic Age.

That love of HaShem for us, and us for HaShem is the picture of Elul. It is preparation not just for “some holiday.” It is our preparation time to meet with G-d. Elul is also our preparation for the coming of Mashiach, and preparation for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (see Rev. 19). I hope we’re ready for the month of Elul and all that it brings.

L’Shana tova tikateivu – May you be inscribed for a sweet New Year!

In a previous post titled Judaism in Crisis, we discussed the dramatic paradigm shift faced by the Jewish community, triggered both by economic collapse and a shift in leadership from the Baby Boomer generation to "millenials."

We've noticed that discussions of the future of Judaism tend toward doom and gloom.

Rabbi Hayim Herring, Executive Director of STAR (Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal) recently posted on his blog a response to those who project a dark outlook on the Jewish future:

Herring relates that if Judaism is to move forward, we need to focus on particular goals:

• Empowering younger generations
• Creating Jewish community on a global scale
• Increasing Jewish learning
• Building stronger relationships with Israel
• Creating stronger ties with people of other faiths
• Reaching out to and engaging Jews who are indifferent to Jewish living, and also [reaching out to and engaging] spiritual seekers.

This transition is centered in community. We need to create intentional communities that purposely pursue these goals. This requires that we wholly re-envision the communal structures we have grown comfortable with.

Our particular movement's MO has been to rely almost exclusively on the synagogue as the primary organizer for Jewish communal life. Perhaps this is an assumption that we need to rethink. What would it look like to have Messianic communities that serve as extended families and spiritual homes for Jews who follow Yeshua? Places where people are valued and empowered, where Jewish learning and Jewish life are intentionally cultivated, and people of all ages actively participate in our rituals and traditions? What if our communities were inviting, user-friendly, and open to Jews with little to no previous knowledge of Jewish life?

Even the role of the congregational leader (as we usually understand it to be) needs to be revisited. Perhaps a rabbi should function simply as a spiritual guide, as rabbis functioned in ages past. Only in the last 150 years or so has the position of a rabbi morphed into the multiple hats of pastor, cantor, Torah reader, fundraiser, member of the board, professional Jew, etc. As Jewish literacy has declined, the rabbi's role has evolved. Since the average Jew can no longer lead davening, the rabbi must now lead services. As fewer Jews could lein Torah (read from the Torah), the rabbi also had to read the Torah every week. Hopefully you get the picture.

The idea of going to synagogue to watch the rabbi do everything is actually not very Jewish, in an historic sense. In Orthodox synagogues to this day, any knowledgeable Jew can lead the davening, lein Torah, teach classes, and serve in various lay leadership capacities.

The empowerment of individuals within our shuls will go hand-in-hand with an increase in Jewish education. The more people are able to do, the more they’ll learn, and vice verse.

The times they are a changing. And we’ll need to change with them. The Judaism of the future must be a user-friendly, spiritual Judaism. Open and inclusive, and able to satisfy seekers' deep thirst for spirituality in their daily lives.

We serve a Messiah who was able to take those on the margins and move them to action. May we live and lead as He did.

Parashat Re'eh

The opening line of this week’s Torah portion reads, “See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse (11:26).” The first word of the parasha, re’eh, is conjugated in an imperative form. Meaning that it is a command to do, to pay attention to, and “to see to” all the instructions G-d is setting forth.

Moshe does not just present Israel with a choice between blessings and curses. Moshe actually opens with a prophetic blessing to the Jewish people. The blessing is the hope that Israel would be able to re’eh - “see” beyond the blessings and curses. It is the prayer of Moshe that the Jewish people would not only observe the mitzvot of HaShem, but would be able to prophetically “see” G-d’s ultimate purposes.

To be able to see is to have vision. Proverbs 29:18 states:

Moshe is directly connecting observance of Torah with spiritual discernment and prophetic (spiritual) giftings. Walking in the ways of HaShem is the path of spiritual maturity. All of Deuteronomy is a repetition of the Torah, and this week’s portion is an even further condensed repetition. As such, the opening verse of the portion speaks of the importance of re’eh, “seeing” to all that G-d requires of us.

Observance of the mitzvot is an exercise in spiritual discipline. In doing the things G-d instructs us, we become more sensitive to the lifestyle of the Spirit. As such, it is the blessing of Moshe that by choosing to follow G-d’s instructions we will re’eh - “see” into the mysteries of HaShem. That is why the Torah concludes with the commandments concerning the shalosh regalim, the three pilgrimage festivals, when we are to appear before G-d – Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot. These festivals are known as mo’edim. The word mo’ed is a divine appointment. These are times when G-d chooses to meet with us. Times set aside for G-d to impart something within us. These are opportunities for relationship.

G-d’s ultimate purpose for us is relationship. According to the great Jewish philosopher Abraham Joshua Heschel, since creation, G-d has been in pursuit of that relationship with us. When we invest in our relationship with HaShem, and draw closer to Him by observing what the Torah instructs, we are choosing “to see” spiritually. Parashat Re’eh gives us the keys to establishing the very presence of G-d in our midst. This week’s portion guides us through the observance of kashrut, the dietary laws, the rules for offering gifts (tithes, offerings, and sacrifices), and for the mo’edim, as prophetic opportunities to understand the essence of HaShem.

If Messianic Judaism claims to be a Judaism within the wider Jewish Community, than it behooves us to consider the place of halachah in our midst. Messianic Judaism is more than just a form of “Biblical Judaism.” To make such a claim denies the history of the Jewish people over the last two-thousand years, and the fact that other forms of Judaism are also “Biblical.” Such a perspective also fails to acknowledge the role Rabbinic Judaism has played in determining Jewish life, teaching and practice; as well as the preservation of us as a people throughout recent history.

We should understand halachah for what it is, and what it is not. What has been lost in the strictest forms of Orthodox Judaism in recent years is the fluidity of the halachic structure and the innovation out of which it was birthed. Gordon Tucker, of the Jewish Theological Seminary, helps to point out:

"The body of Jewish law is not uniform in texture, but is rather composed of materials which fall into two main categories, usually referred to as de-oraita (biblically ordained) and de-rabbanan (rabbinically developed). That which is de-oraita can be considered to be the very core of the system, which holds it in place and provides a frame of reference. It therefore must be treated as inviolable. Tampering with that which is de-oraita is tantamount to destroying the core of the Jewish pattern of life as it has existed for millennia…The much greater (that is, in terms of volume) overlay which is de-rabbanan, on the other hand, comes with procedures for change and development. What is de-rabbanan can develop, is in fact meant to develop, as the conditions of the Jewish community change. That is what ensures the vibrancy and the continuity of the halakha as the coordinate system which roots all Jewish communities."

Jewish law was never meant to be static, but rather to be reinterpreted in every generation. Rabbi Wayne Dosick describes halachah as “ever-developing” and “ever-evolving.” Halachah is derived out of evolving case law, which is based on prior precedent. As such, it is developed by wrestling with texts, the practicalities of daily life, and the teachings of previous leaders in order to decide halachic matters. It is a process. A process that is not set in stone, and not without inerrancy. However, while engaging with rabbinic texts and deciding halachah, Professor Tucker guides,

"Development in the domain of de-rabbanan must not be abrupt or discontinuous, [but] must be rooted in traditional exegetical methodologies, and above all, must be ratified by the community of the committed and informed."

This is exactly what the Messianic Jewish Rabbinical Council (MJRC) seeks to do - to wrestle with halachah in a way that is responsible to our history as Jews, to the halachic process, the inspiration of the Ruach, and the additional consideration of the Gospels and the Apostolic Writings. The MJRC is truly on the forefront of Messianic Jews who are re-engaging our texts, traditions, and the application of Torah in our lives today.

This is actually a historical moment! Although there have been significant rabbis who have come to faith in Yeshua over the last two millennia, and remained faithful to halachah and Jewish life, there has not been a body of Messianic Jewish leaders and rabbis engaging our tradition on this level since the earliest centuries. We as Messianic Jewish rabbis have a significant voice to add to the Jewish conversation of the last thirty centuries. As a body of ordained and educated rabbis, we are once again adding a voice for Yeshua within our tradition that has remained largely dormant for over 1,500 years.

Messianic Jews are obligated to engage in knowledgeable discussion with Jewish law. At times we may interpret it differently, especially in light of New Testament understandings. Yet, that does not mean we can just “do as we see fit.” We have a responsibility to ourselves and the larger Jewish world to engage in halachah through a knowledgeable and informed process.