Author: Steven R. Bruck

Parashah Shoftim 2020 (Judges) Deuteronomy 16:18 – 21:9

Leave a comment

This parashah contains the instructions and guidelines God gave to Moses, to teach the Israelites so that they can teach the rest of the world, regarding how to choose the ones who will judge the people. God goes on to lay down what is, in essence, a set of rules that create a constitution. He not only instructs us how to create and run the courts, but also that when a king is desired (which, in the long run, is NOT what God wants for the people) that it shall be who God chooses the one to be king.

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

There are instructions regarding prophets and soothsayers, specifically how to recognize a legitimate prophet and that soothsayers are to be killed.

The Cohanim are to be given their wages from the people, and God reiterates his rulings about the city of refuge and lays out other civil laws regarding property rights and witnessing.

Finally, God gives rules for the waging of war, from banning and destroying the sinful peoples of the land to not destroying fruit trees to make siege weapons.

So much good stuff, so little space to comment.

I usually open my mind when reading the parashah before I start to write, and pray for God to put something in that empty space that will glorify him and edify you. Today I was struck with the idea of judging: not the judges that this parashah talks about, but the judging that we do with each other, every day.

When it comes to judging others, we have both instructions for how we should do it, and admonitions against doing it.

How many times have you heard someone tell someone else that they should not judge others, for they will be judged?  The Bible says “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged.” (Matthew 7:1), which many people misuse to defend themselves against someone else rebuking them. In other words, they are defending their actions not by reasoning why they take them, but simply by deflecting the accusation by turning the focus back on to the person who is making the judgment.

I say that they misuse this verse because the rest of the verse goes as follows: “For the way you judge others is how you will be judged — the measure with which you measure out will be used to measure to you.”

Judging is what we must do; we are told that one day, as God’s people we will judge the world (First Corinthians 6:2), and anyone who has ever had to write an evaluation on someone will tell you that to do it correctly is very hard and takes practice. We must learn how to judge each other now when we can make mistakes that won’t have eternal consequences, mistakes that can be corrected. It is imperative that we take advantage of this time to learn how to judge others as best as we can.

And let’s not forget that we will be judged as we judge others, so to be the best judge of people we can be is not just to render justice that will be pleasing to God, but it is in our own best interest to judge as fairly, honestly, and as compassionately as we can.

If someone is accusing you of being a certain way, or of not being correct in your opinions, before you respond think about what they are saying. A good judge can discern emotional anger from legal truth, and recognize whatever value there may be in someone’s ranting. If you judge what someone is saying to you as being without merit, then you can defend yourself; but don’t do it by accusing them of being judgmental. Do it by addressing their accusation. If you believe you are being unfairly judged, then attack what the person says and not the person. And when you judge someone for what they have said, again, deal with the statement and not the one making it.

In other words, judge what is said and not who is saying it.

For example, someone says that what you have taught is wrong and you clearly have no spiritual understanding of the Bible. They accuse you of saying things that are evil and tell you that you work for the Devil!

OK, so the first reaction is to give them a knuckle sandwich. Good idea, but not really going to solve anything, so let’s judge what they are saying. If you are certain that what you taught is biblically sound, then instead of attacking them, attack their accusation by quietly asking, “What part of my teaching are you talking about?”  Allow them to cross-examine your teaching, so to speak, and as they tell you what they believe is wrong, you can then respond with the biblical verse(s) to justify your statements. And as far as their personal attack, once you show how their first accusation is wrong, the rest of what they said will fall by the wayside, and people will recognize it as nothing more than ranting.

Judging is not just of others, but of ourselves, as well. We must hold ourselves up to the standards a judge is held to, which we are shown in this parashah. And one last bit of advice to end this Shabbat Message: First learn to judge what should be ignored and what necessitates a reply, and deal with each as it deserves. As we are told in Proverbs 26:4, answer a fool as he (or she) deserves, which in many cases means to just ignore the idiot.  That is often the best judgment you can make.

Thank you for being here. Please remember to subscribe, share these messages, check out my books on my website, and I always welcome your comments.

I am taking a vacation next week and will be back in September. Until then, L’hitraot and Shabbat Shalom!

Yeshua Certainly Knew the Book of Proverbs

Leave a comment

It is truly a shame that too many Christians are being taught mainly from the New Covenant writings while ignoring most everything in the Tanakh. The reason it is a shame is that Yeshua didn’t teach anything from the Epistles, and not just because they hadn’t been written, but because he tells us, over and over throughout all four gospels, that he does and says only what his Father in heaven has told him to do and say. And what God has said is only in the Tanakh.

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

I have been reading Proverbs lately, and as I go through them I see so many that I immediately relate to some of the teachings that Yeshua gave. Here are just a few examples:

Proverbs 11:2- First comes pride, then disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

Doesn’t Yeshua tell us that the meek will inherit the earth? (Matthew 5:5)

 Proverbs 11:4– On the day of wrath, wealth doesn’t help; but righteousness rescues from death.

Doesn’t Yeshua tell us that we are to seek first the kingdom of God? (Matthew 6:33)

Proverbs 24:3– By wisdom a house is built, by understanding it is made secure.

Didn’t Yeshua tell us that rejecting his wisdom is like a house built on sand? (Matthew 7:26)

Proverbs 25: 6,7– Don’t put yourself forward in the king’s presence; don’t take a place among the great. For it is better to be told “Come up here,” than be degraded in the presence of a nobleman.

Didn’t Yeshua say that when you sit at a table, take the least important place? (Luke 14:10)

Proverbs 25:21– If someone who hates you is hungry, give him food to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.

Didn’t Yeshua tell us to love our enemies? (Matthew 5:44)

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that what Yeshua taught is from the Tanakh, for that was the only word of God that existed then. The New Covenant hadn’t been written. So if Yeshua taught from the Tanakh, my question is why don’t the Christian churches teach from it, also? Why do they use, almost exclusively, the Gospels and the Epistles? In the Gospels, Yeshua teaches what the Tanakh says, and the Epistles were written by a man to the Gentiles in congregations he started and were not written to teach them anything new, but to remind them of what he already told them. Things that he already taught them that they were having trouble remembering and living by.

You’ve seen those bracelets that have “WWJD” written on them, right? I believe the people who wear them really want to do as Jesus did; the problem is that the Christian church teaches Constantinian doctrine and not what is in the Torah, which is what Jesus followed, so to do what Jesus did means to NOT do what (most of) Christianity teaches.

Jesus did not celebrate the Christian holidays, he celebrated the Holy Days that God commanded we celebrate in Leviticus 23.

Jesus did not eat many of the foods that Christians eat, he ate only what God said we should eat in Leviticus 11.

Jesus did not rest on Sunday, he rested from Friday night to Saturday night.

The point of today’s message is that if you really want to live “as Jesus lived”, you need to worship as he worshiped, eat as he ate, and celebrate as he celebrated.

Doesn’t that make sense?

It is truly a shame that this very sensible argument is lost on so many people; people who probably really want to please God and do as Jesus did, but refuse to because they would rather accept the easy way of life that is Constantinian Christianity.

What a terribly disappointing surprise they will have when they come before the Throne of Judgment.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe and share these messages with others. And, as always, I welcome your comments.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

 

 

 

A Personal Strife You May Have Gone Through, Too

Leave a comment

Many of us who have accepted Yeshua as our Messiah, and have turned back to God, have been ostracized by not just friends but by our family, as well.

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

I have two children, from a previous life which I may have mentioned this in the past, who were constantly exposed to my “ex” verbally battering me whenever I visited them. She even did that when I wasn’t there, and after many years of this, my children grew up to accept her version of who I am and had rejected reject me, totally.

Every day since then I have prayed that God would reconcile my children to me, and every year for over 10 years I wrote both my daughter and son on their birthday asking to reconcile. About a year and a half ago, when I wrote to my son on his birthday, he replied that he wanted to start over. I was elated and knew that this was an answer to my daily prayers. We had emailed each other a number of times and also we have had pleasant conversations using the video app on Instant Messenger. Everything seemed to be getting better.

This week I replied to a couple of his posts and those of his girlfriend and his replies were not just nasty, but degrading and insulting. I went back and asked why he is being so nasty, and that if he can’t disagree with me he doesn’t have to say anything at all. I sent him a personal message saying that I don’t deserve to be talked to that way and I am still his father, who deserves some respect. I said I wasn’t his punching bag.

His reply was that he has been thinking about it and he doesn’t respect me, which is why he was lashing out at me. He added he doesn’t want to respect me and that we should separate permanently. He also unfriended me and blocked me before I could even respond.

I am not sharing this to hear people say how sorry they are; the reason I am sharing is that this being a ministry, there is an important message here about answers to prayer, and raising the question if praying may sometimes be a waste of time.

As of this moment, because this is how they want it, both my son and daughter are dead to me. It isn’t my choice, it is theirs, and as sad and painful as it is, I will respect their wishes. And to tell you the truth, it is somewhat of a relief because they have insulted and berated me constantly for over 20 years.  I spent most of my time turning the other cheek, realizing that this was their mother’s hatred which she infused into their innocent minds as they were growing up, but at 33 and 28 years of age, they are more than old enough now to make up their own minds.

I prayed to God for many years to be reconciled with them, and with their mother, as well, and after my son said he wanted to reconcile, I thanked God every day for that answer to prayer. I continued to pray for my daughter to turn back to me, as well. But now that my son has, completely out of the blue, rejected me again, how can I trust God to answer prayer?

The answer is that God DID answer my prayers, but he won’t force people to change who they are. Somehow, someway, God influenced my son to turn back to me, and despite my efforts to tip-toe around him for the past year and a half, he returned to the disrespectful, hateful, and angry person that his mother is, inside of him.

In looking back, I really can’t see how I did anything to anger him- even Donna, my wife, said my responses were not at all written in any way to be construed as nasty or insulting, but he just did a complete “180” and now things are back to where they used to be.

Except for one thing- I am not praying for them anymore.

Now, some of you may be thinking I should pray even harder, and I can understand the reasoning behind that; after all, Yeshua told us to pray for our enemies. He also said that we shouldn’t throw pearls before swine. Most people interpret that as not wasting time preaching to those who won’t listen, and that is the correct interpretation, but I am adding my own twist to it.  I believe that there are some people for whom intercessory prayer is inappropriate. You can pray and pray, but since God will not change who a person is unless they ask him to, it might just be a waste of time.

I believe that prayer for people who are not just godless, but God-hating is a waste of time. For our own emotional protection, we have to learn to allow people to make their own decisions even when we know where that decision will take them. As painful as it is, sometimes we have to cut our losses and move on, and the only consolation I can find from this is that what I am doing is also what God does.

Today’s lesson is that my experience with my children is similar to what happens to God, every day when people reject him. God wants everyone to turn from their sin and live (Ezekiel 18:23), but when they reject him he will allow them to live their lives on their own. Even though he knows the pain and eternal suffering they will have to endure because of their choice.

So taking God’s example, I am removing my children from my life, as they have requested, and I won’t pray for them, but I won’t reject them if they turn back to me. The ball is now entirely in their court.

God will turn his face from those who ignore and hate him, but he will never give up on them and is always happily willing to take them back the moment they do teshuvah. And that is the hope we can have for those whom we love and care for but who reject us.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe, share, and comment if you feel you have anything to add to this message.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

 

ADDENDUM: It is now three days later, and I am adding this because as I prayed this morning before I even knew it I was praying for my children. I realized that when I wrote the above message, I neglected one factor: when we pray, and we are praying genuinely from the heart, the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) will help lead us in the prayer. And what I learned is that it is always right to pray for someone, even when you are pretty sure that they will never change.

So I learned this morning  and wanted to add to this message, that when you ask yourself “Should I pray for this so-and-so?”, my answer is something my people always say: “Vat could it hoit?“

Parashah Re’eh 2020 (See) Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17

Leave a comment

This parashah continues Moses’ discourse, now going into the second of Three Discourses, this one concentrating on the laws that he has given.

He tells the people when they enter the land to write a blessing on Mount Gerizim and a curse on Mount Ebal. He orders that all the pagan people and their altars be completely destroyed and that the Israelites are not to follow any of their practices.

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

When the Israelites sacrifice to God, it must be done at the place where God puts his name (initially this is the Tent of Meeting at Shiloh, later King David moves it to Jerusalem; after Solomon finished the temple, that was and still is the only place where God has set his name.)

Moses warns about false prophets and those who entice others to worship the pagan, Semitic gods of the people who live there. He states that anyone, even a close family member, who tries to apostatize the people must be put to death.

He again warns the people not to do whatever they think is right, but to follow God’s instructions. This parashah ends with Moses reiterating the laws regarding Kashrut (Kosher), rules regarding the Jubilee Year, and the Moedim (Holy Days).

 

When I read the passage in Chapter 12, verse 8 I was struck by how it is exactly what I read, more than once, in the Book of Judges (Shoftim). Here is that passage, straight out of my Chumash:

 Ye shall not do after all that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes;...

When we read Judges 17:6 and 21:25, we are told this is exactly what the people did. There was no king in Israel, and every man did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. And throughout the Book of Judges, the people bob up and down like a log on a wavy ocean, going from proper worship to paganism, from subjugation to rulership, back and forth, over and over, depending on what phase of their worship they were in at that time.

When they did what God said to do they were blessed and protected; but then they got haughty and prideful, did what they wanted to do, and were cursed and conquered. After being enslaved by one of their enemies for a while, they did T’shuvah (turning from sin), pleaded for God to rescue them and he sent a Judge to do that.

Then they repeated the same pattern.

This is still happening today. Those who profess to be doing what they know to be right, which goes against God’s word, seem to be victorious for a while, but end up in trouble. There is always someone, some country, some leader, doing wrong and stating that it is what they must do because it is the right thing to do.

I learned a long time ago that people don’t mean what they say, they mean what they do. When someone is doing what they “know” to be right, if they haven’t first confirmed that action as being in accordance with God’s instructions, then no matter what they say their motivation is, it is simply them doing what seems right in their own eyes.

And the Bible teaches us, undoubtedly, that when we do what is right in our own eyes, we are wrong. And we are told that, precisely, in Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 (it is such an important lesson, I guess they had to tell us twice):

There can be a way which seems right to a person, but at its end are the ways of death.

Too many people say they are doing what is right, but it is really only what they want to do. They make lame excuses or create their own facts to justify their actions, but in the end, it always comes to trouble.

In this parashah, we are told to beware of false prophets and that we will know them as such when what they say doesn’t come about, or by the intent of their prophecy, i.e. if they are telling us that we should worship other gods. Maybe we should look to the people telling us what to do as being prophets, leading us today. When we are told what to do to contain the virus, yet 5 months later a two-week gestational period virus is still running rampant, is what we are being told really the right thing? When people say they are protesting against racial inequality, but do so by burning, looting, rioting and murdering people, mostly those who are the ones they are supposedly protecting the rights of, can we say that is right in God’s eyes? Or is it that they are just doing what they want to do?

People must use discernment and judge correctly- NOT based on what they feel is right, but based solely on what God says is right, and what he says is right is right here in the Torah!

Decide for yourself if you will follow what people say is right, or what God says is right because you will be held accountable for what you do, no matter who told you to do it.

Thank you for being here; please subscribe, share these messages, and I always welcome your comments.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Shabbat Shalom!

 

 

 

 

Proverb Wisdom Fit for Today

Leave a comment

My daily reading of the Bible (I use the “Complete Jewish Bible“) is currently in Proverbs, and while reading Chapter 14 I came upon these two:

Proverbs 14:15– One who doesn’t think believes every word, but the cautious understands his steps; and 

Proverbs 14:25– A truthful witness saves lives, but a liar misdirects (judgment)

Maybe as you read these you also thought of the same thing I did, which is the news we are bombarded with every minute of every day and have been for the past 5 months.

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

I have seen articles about studies done by “experts” reported in newspapers and posted on Facebook that say wearing a face mask, any kind of mask, is useful and saves lives. And I have seen the exact opposite statements, i.e. no masks are useful or some are helpful but most aren’t, from other “experts” who have the same level of credentials.

I have seen reports of increased death rates and new cases of COVID, and I have seen reports of declining cases and reduced deaths.

Some of these are true, and some are false, and many (if not most) are not giving all the facts, only the ones that will interest people.

That is why these two proverbs seem so apropos for today.

People are reading and listening to these reports and believing them without ever analyzing the data for themselves. I “ran the numbers” for myself and found that based on the total population of the US, total deaths from COVID and the total number of confirmed cases (which I got from a Google search), that about 1 in 5 people will catch COVID, and of 100 people who have COVID, 97 or more people will survive and recover within 5-7 days, and many of those 97 recoveries will not even know they had it because they might not even display symptoms.

The numbers we have been given are all suspect; we have recently learned that so many were improperly counted or exaggerated. If people had taken everything they read with a “grain of salt”, then there would be much less panic and much more freedom of movement today. And now the business world is jumping on the “protection” bandwagon, which only adds to the problem.

When we analyze the data, even with the exaggerated numbers, we see the panic level that has been created by the media and the politicians isn’t really justified.

As for mask-wearing, the bottom line (from my analysis of the available data) is that there are some that are effective in reducing the spread of COVID. The most effective is the N95 surgical mask, however, these are designed for a sterile environment, and when in the “real world” they collect so many larger particulates in the air that they clog within 20-30 minutes of use and become much less effective. Even at their most effective level, they prevent the exhalation of germs, but not the inhalation. The only one that prevents inhaling germs is the P95, but that doesn’t filter exhalation at all.

So, yes, wearing a mask, the N95 mask being regularly replaced, is effective in reducing the spread of COVID, but does little to nothing to stop you from getting it from others.

The truthful witness is that wearing a mask can save the lives of (mostly) people who are high-risk, but only when you have the correct mask, worn correctly, and only when you wear it in public and only during the time you are infected with COVID. All the rest of the time, it is doing nothing for anyone.

All that I just said is relevant to the second proverb I cited, which is that when we tell the truth we can save lives. Yes, mask-wearing can help but when the CDC or WHO or newspapers say just put anything on your face, they are telling an untruth that misdirects judgment, and can potentially get people killed.

Similarly, when the politicians lie in order to fulfill a political agenda and governors lock-down their states in order to perpetuate that agenda, they create tension and unrest among the populace. I believe this contributed to the lootings and riots we’ve seen, which might not be singularly due to the unjust death of one man but were an emotional release, fueled by the frustration and anger that comes from feeling helpless as you see your world falling apart. Obviously, racial tensions are also a contributing factor, and they are, as well, often reported in a way not to save lives but to misdirect judgment, whether that be legal judgment from a court or the individual judgment each of us should be making on our own, which begins with not believing every word.

People need to wise up, to use discernment, a mature evaluation of what they read, and to analyze what they are told to determine for themselves what is truth and what is suspect.

Sorry to say, I don’t think most people today are able to do that.

Thank you for being here, and I pray that you will analyze what I have said and relate it to what you hear and read, and make your own judgment, one which I have tried not to misdirect.

As the Oracle said to Morpheus, all I expect of you is that you make up your own, damn mind.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!