Blessing of Torah.
Hebrew:
Baruch atah YHVH eloheinu melech
ha-olam, asher kideshanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu la'asok b'divrei Torah.
V'ha'arev na YHVH eloheinu et divrei toratecha befinu uvfi amecha beit Yisrael.
V'niyeh anachnu v'tze'etze'einu v'tze'etza'ei amecha beit Yisrael kullanu yodei
sh'mecha v'lomdei toratecha lishmah. Baruch atah YHVH hamelamed Torah le'amo
Yisrael. Baruch atah YHVH Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher bachar banu mikol
ha'amim venatan lanu et torato. Baruch atah YHVH, notein haTorah.
English
translation: Blessed are You, YHVH our
Elohim, King of the universe, who has made us set apart through His
commandments and commanded us to actively study Torah. Please YHVH, our Elohim,
sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your
people Israel. May we and our offspring, and the offspring of Your people, the
House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for
the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, YHVH, Who teaches Torah to
His people Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, Who
chose us from all the nations and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, YHVH, Giver
of the Torah.
The
Hebrew word and title of this parasha “kodesh” has two significant and also
opposite meanings. “Kodesh” means to be “set apart.” We mortals have the choice
to set ourselves apart unto blessing or to destruction.
Lev 19:1 And יהוה spoke to
Mosheh, saying,
Lev 19:2 “Speak to
all the congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl,(all the tribes) and say to
them, ‘Be set-apart, for I יהוה your Elohim am
set-apart.
The Torah portion opens with a command and the reason for
that command.
Lev 19:3 ‘Each one
of you should fear his mother and his father, and guard My Sabbaths. I am יהוה your Elohim.
The Hebrew word for fear is “yare” (3372) and can mean
awe and reverence, but it can also mean “to be afraid of.”
The Hebrew word used in the fifth saying about honouring
parents is “kavad” (3513) means “to glorify” “kavad” which also means “heavy”
implying that you can be burdensome to your parents. I’m sure we are not
commanded to be a burden to our parents. YHVH however expects us not to honour
our parents above His Name and His Word.
Sadly there are times when we can be a “burden” to our
parents when we chose to obey YHVH and His Torah.
In fact we should “fear” our parents if they are giving us
instruction contrary to Torah.
The scriptures warn us regarding our parents and
forefathers.
Jer 16:19 O יהוה, my strength
and my stronghold and my refuge, in the day of distress the gentiles shall come
to You from the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have inherited only
falsehood, futility, and there is no value in them.”1 Footnote: 1See
Ps. 147:19, Isa. 2:3, Isa. 60:2-3, John 4:22, Rom. 2:20, Rom. 3:2, Rom. 9:4.
Luk 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his
father and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and his
own life too, he is unable to be My taught one.
The conclusion of vs 3 is that you fear your parents if
they obey YHVH and His Torah and fear if they don’t obey YHVH and obey His
Torah.
Lev 19:4 ‘Do not
turn to idols, and do not make for yourselves moulded mighty ones. I am יהוה your Elohim.
Idols are often “moulded” false ideas about YHVH and how
to be set apart to Him. This is the essence of idolatry. We can all witness how
in our journey to follow YHVH how we have also allowed “moulded” ideas and
images of Him to rule our lives. The only safeguard we have against these false
teachings and doctrines is to pray that the Ruach of YHVH will guide us in His
Torah as to how we are to live and worship the only true Elohim.
To the extent that there are “moulded” images of YHVH’s
Torah in our lives, to that extent we are set apart unto Him.
Lev 19:5 ‘And when
you bring a peace offering to יהוה, bring it for
your acceptance.
Lev 19:6 ‘It is
eaten the same day you slaughter it, and on the next day. And that which is
left on the third day is burned with fire.
Lev 19:7 ‘So if it
is eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable, it is not accepted,
Lev 19:8 and he
who eats it bears his crookedness, because he has profaned the set-apart
offering of יהוה, and that
being shall be cut off from his people.
Vs 5-8 are possibly a hidden reference to Messiah. He
became our peace offering to YHVH. Although we know that Yahshua existed in the
mind and plan of YHVH before the foundation of the world, Yahshua has only
physically existed in the flesh for the past 2000 years. Remember a day with
YHVH is like a thousand years to YHVH.
We learn from this that we have “two days” to accept
Yahshua as our peace offering with YHVH. After that it may be too late.
2Pe 3:8 But, beloved ones, let not this one matter
be hidden from you: that with יהוה one day is as
a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
What about those who lived before Yahshua?
Mat 13:17 for truly I say to you, that many prophets
and righteous ones longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear
what you hear, and did not hear it.
Many so called “Old
Testament saints” knew that there was going to be a day when the Messiah Yahshua
would appear and they understood that when the scriptures spoke of the peace
offering that needed to be consumed in only
two days, they understood that this was a reference to Yahshua Ha Moshiach.
They also understood that Hebraically three days could include parts of days as
well.
For example some
believe that Yahshua was impaled on the afternoon of sixth day. He arose from the
dead on the morning of the first day of the week. We see that this is not a
full 72 hour period but still may be considered in the Hebraic way of thinking
as three days and three nights. Is this important? Maybe more than we realize
especially if we claim to know him. (Yoch 17:3) Maybe YHVH does not like any
fact about Yahshua’s death and resurrection to be incorrect.
This means that
Yahshua as a peace offering is about to expire.
This revelation when given to us causes salvation to come to us.
Rom 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart” – that is, the word of belief which we are
proclaiming:
Rom 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth the
Master יהושע and believe in
your heart that Elohim has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with
the heart one believes unto righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth,
and so is saved.
Rom 10:11 Because
the Scripture says, “Whoever puts his trust in Him shall not be put to shame.”
In the light of these scriptures read vs 5-8 again.
Hos 6:2 ‘After two days He shall
revive us, on the third day He shall raise us up, so that we live before Him.
Lev 19:9 ‘And when
you reap the harvest of your land, do not completely reap the corners of your field
or gather the gleanings of your harvest.
Lev 19:10 ‘And do
not glean your vineyard or gather every grape of your vineyard, leave them for
the poor and the stranger. I am יהוה your Elohim.
Lev 19:11 ‘Do not
steal, do not lie, do not deceive one another.
Lev 19:12 ‘And do
not swear falsely by My Name and so profane the Name of your Elohim. I am יהוה.
Lev 19:13 ‘Do not
oppress your neighbour or rob him. The wages of him who is hired is not
to remain with you all night until morning.
The Torah continues to speak about money. In this verse,
there are three prohibitions against taking or withholding another person’s
money. The first speaks about not taking advantage of a position if one has the
upper hand, in order to withhold another person’s money. For example, if one
person owes another money, he cannot withhold it using excuses or deceit.
The second
speaks of openly robbing through violence, as opposed to verse 11 where it
speaks about theft done in secret. The third speaks of procrastinating the time
for a salary to be paid This crime is compared with taking the soul of the
worker.
Lev 19:14 ‘Do not
curse the deaf or put a stumbling-block before the blind, but fear your Elohim.
I am יהוה.
Lev 19:15 ‘Do no
unrighteousness in right-ruling. Do not be partial to the poor or favour the
face of the great, but rightly rule your neighbour in righteousness.
Lev 19:16 ‘Do not
go slandering among your people. Do not stand against the blood of your
neighbour. I am יהוה.
A slanderer is one who listens to a negative message
about another, passes the message on to a third party, and then reveals to the
accused person what has been said about him. Even though what was said is true,
it is still considered slander, in Hebrew “rechilut”, and it is forbidden according
to the Torah.
Lev 19:17 ‘Do not
hate your brother in your heart. Reprove your neighbour, for certain, and bear
no sin because of him.
Lev 19:18 ‘Do not
take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people. And you
shall love your neighbour as yourself. I am יהוה.
To take vengeance means to repay someone with the same
kind of evil actions that he has committed. Bearing a grudge is not the same as
taking vengeance. A grudge is a feeling that a person holds against another
when he has done something evil. Be careful that a grudge doesn’t go over into
unforgiveness and then bitterness.
Vs 9-18 clearly reminds us that we ARE responsible for
other people as well.
Lev 19:19 ‘Guard
My laws. Do not let your livestock mate with another kind. Do not sow your
field with mixed seed. And do not put a garment woven of two sorts of thread
upon you.
The Hebrew word that is translated here as “My laws” and
in other versions as “my statutes” is “chukotai”. It comes from “chuk” which is
the name of a commandment that does not have any clear logical explanation.
Shifchah Charufah – The designated maidservant.
Lev 19:20 ‘And
when a man has intercourse with a woman who is a female servant, engaged to a
man, and who has not at all been ransomed nor redeemed, there should be an
inquiry. But they are not put to death, because she was not free.
Lev 19:21 ‘And he
shall bring his guilt offering to יהוה, to the door
of the Tent of Meeting, a ram as a guilt offering.
Lev 19:22 ‘And the
priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before יהוה for his sin which he has done. And the sin
which he has sinned shall be forgiven him.
This unusual decree is unlike any other commandment in
several ways. According to the sages this verse deals with a non Jewish slave
woman owned by two partners. As a slave she was forbidden to live with a Jew,
but her master was allowed to let her live with a Jewish or non Jewish slave.
When a Jewish owned non Jewish slave goes free he or she has the status of a
fully fledged proselyte. Now this woman was freed by one of the partners,
meaning that she is half free and half slave. Because she is half free she is
prohibited to a now Jewish slave, and because she is half slave she is
prohibited to an Israelite. Now a Jew slave or free takes her as wife or
concubine, but since she is not completely free she does not receive the full
status of a married woman, so therefore there is no death penalty for adultery.
This is a strange law (chok) maybe one can make more
sense of such decree when thinking of the slave woman as the “gentile bride”
who is “half slave and half free.”
She needs to be fully ransomed and redeemed by her Jewish
husband – Yahshua Ha Mashiach.
There must be other deeper hidden truths around this
commandment. Perhaps one needs to investigate the giving and receiving of a
pure unmixed seed.
Lev 19:23 ‘And
when you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then
you shall reckon their fruit as uncircumcised. For three years it is as
uncircumcised to you, it is not eaten.
The root of the Hebrew word that is translated
“uncircumcised” is “arel”, which means “hindrance”, “block”, “close”, “be
uncircumcised”, see Shemot/Ex 6:12, “uncircumcised lips”. The Hebrew text
literally reads, “and you shall block their hindrances”, “ve-araltem arlato”.
In other words, you must forbid the fruit from the tree because it is hindered,
or closed off. It is forbidden to use the fruit of trees during the first three
years after planting. Even though this is a chuk-commandment, the Torah gives a
small explanation in verse 25, “that it may yield its increase to you”.
Lev 19:24 ‘And in
the fourth year all its fruit is set-apart – praises to יהוה.
Lev 19:25 ‘And in
the fifth year you eat its fruit, so that it increases its yield to you. I am יהוה your Elohim.
Lev 19:26a ‘Do not
eat meat with the blood.
Verse 26b Do not practise divination or magic.
The first word here, in Hebrew “nachash”, has to do with
predicting the future through different events that are considered omens, for
example when a black cat crosses the street or when a mirror breaks. This
commandment prohibits superstition. Lavan practiced this sin, see Genesis 30:27
“for I know through divination…”.
This type of
divination, however, is not the same thing as when a person receives a
revelation through the Ruach HaKodesh (Spirit of prophecy), with the help of
certain signs, see Genesis 24:14; Judges 6:37; 1 Samuel 14:9-10. Be careful
though to always test.
The second word in this text, in Hebrew
“anan”, has to do with “onah”, “season”, “time era”. It means believing in
certain days as bringing luck and others bad luck for certain activities. This
is forbidden.
Lev 19:27 ‘Do not
round the corner of your head, nor destroy the corner of your beard.
Lev 19:28 ‘And do
not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor put tattoo marks on you.
I am יהוה.
According to Rashi, the Amorites, (in Hebrew “Emorim”),
used to cut marks on their bodies as a sign of mourning when someone had died. The Hebrew word for tattoo marks is קעקע
qa‛ăqa‛ kah-ak-ah'. Tattooing is forbidden.
Lev 19:29 ‘Do not
profane your daughter by making her a whore, so that the land does not whore,
and the land becomes filled with wickedness.
How do you make your daughter a whore? By not providing a
husband and protection for her.
Lev 19:30 ‘Guard
My Sabbaths and reverence My set-apart place. I am יהוה.
Lev 19:31 ‘Do not
turn to mediums, and do not seek after spiritists to be defiled by them. I am יהוה your Elohim.
The Torah forbids all forms of spiritism or black magic.
The Hebrew word that is translated “medium” is “ov”, which is a reference to
one who believes that he can call forth the spirits of the dead and that they
speak through the armpit. The Hebrew word that is translated “wizard” is
“yidoni”, which is referring to one who puts the bone of an animal in his mouth
and it begins speaking. The word “yidoni” comes from the name of this bone,
“yadua”. One who practices any of these crimes is unclean and detestable to
YHVH.
Lev 19:32 ‘Rise up
before the grey-headed. And you shall favour the face of an old man, and shall
fear your Elohim. I am יהוה.
The Hebrew word that is translated “gray head” is
“seivah”, which means “older man”, “gray
haired person” speaking of a man who is old.
Lev 19:33 ‘And
when a stranger sojourns with you in your land, do not oppress him.
Lev 19:34 ‘Let the
stranger who dwells among you be to you as the native among you, and you shall
love him as yourself. For you were strangers in the land of Mitsrayim. I am יהוה your Elohim.
Lev 19:35 ‘Do no
unrighteousness in right-ruling, in measurement of length, in weight, or in
measuring liquids.
Lev 19:36 ‘Have
right scales, right weights, a right ĕphah, and a right hin. I am יהוה your Elohim, who brought you out of the
land of Mitsrayim.
Lev 19:37 ‘And you
shall guard all My laws and all My right-rulings, and do them. I am יהוה.’ ”
Lev 20:1 And יהוה spoke to
Mosheh, saying,
Lev 20:2 “Say to
the children of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Any man of the children of Yisra’ĕl, or of the
strangers who sojourn in Yisra’ĕl, who gives any of his offspring to Moleḵ,
shall certainly be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with
stones.
Lev 20:3 ‘And I, I
shall set My face against that man, and shall cut him off from the midst of his
people, because he has given of his offspring to Moleḵ, so
as to defile My set-apart place and to profane My set-apart Name.
Lev 20:4 ‘And if
the people of the land at all hide their eyes from the man, as he gives any of
his offspring to Moleḵ, and they do not kill him,
Lev 20:5 then I
shall set My face against that man and against his clan, and shall cut him off
– and all who go whoring after him, even go whoring after Moleḵ –
from the midst of their people.
Lev 20:6 ‘And the
being who turns to mediums, and to spiritists, to go whoring after them, I
shall set My face against that being and cut him off from the midst of his
people.
Both physical and spiritual adultery are sins punishable
by death.
We can think that we have nothing to do with these things
but: We ought to have a very radical attitude toward deception, even in our own
lives. Today, people seek spiritual experiences. They seek wonders, signs, and
prophecies. They are not so particular about whether the source of these
manifestations is in line with the Torah or not. They are more interested in
the feeling that these experiences produce in their souls (emotions) and bodies
than they are in the pure revelation of the Eternal’s Word. Yeshua spoke of
these movements that would come in the end times. He said that there would come
false prophets who would do great signs and wonders, as it is written in
Matthew 24:4-5, 11, 24 “Yeshua answered them, ‘Be careful that no one leads you
astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah (“anointed”),’
and will lead many astray… Many false prophets will arise, and will lead many
astray… For there will arise false messiahs, and false prophets, and they will
show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the
chosen ones.’”(HNV)
Today, much is said of “anointed” preachers. Be careful!
All that glitters isn’t gold! Moshe, the Prophets, the Scriptures, and the
Messiah all give very clear warnings about false prophets. It is easy to be
deceived. Looks can be deceiving. Our emotions can cause us to believe the
false prophets and be led into deceptive movements.
The Torah of Moshe tells us how we can know whether a
prophet is true or false. Someone who says that the law of Moshe (Torah) is out
of date, or has been done away with by “Jesus Christ”, is a false prophet, no
matter how many signs and wonders he performs. The rule that we have for
judging the prophets says that the important thing is not whether they have
power or not, but whether their message, and above all their personal
lifestyles, are in line with the Torah of Moshe and with the teaching of our
Rebbe Yahshua.
Lev 20:7 ‘And you
shall set yourselves apart, and shall be set-apart, for I am יהוה your Elohim,
Lev 20:8 and you
shall guard My laws and do them. I am יהוה, who sets you
apart.
Lev 20:9 ‘For
everyone who curses his father or his mother shall certainly be put to death –
he has cursed his father or his mother, his blood is on him.
Lev 20:10 ‘And a
man who commits adultery with the wife of another man, who commits adultery
with the wife of his neighbour: the adulterer and the adulteress shall
certainly be put to death.
Lev 20:11 ‘And a
man who lies with the wife of his father has uncovered the nakedness of his
father, both of them shall certainly be put to death, their blood is upon them.
Lev 20:12 ‘And a
man who lies with his daughter-in-law: both of them shall certainly be put to
death, they have made confusion, their blood is upon them.
Lev 20:13 ‘And a
man who lies with a male as he lies with a woman: both of them have done an
abomination, they shall certainly be put to death, their blood is upon them.
Lev 20:14 ‘And a
man who marries a woman and her mother: it is wickedness, they are burned with
fire, both he and they, that there be no wickedness in your midst.
Lev 20:15 ‘And a
man who has intercourse with a beast: he shall certainly be put to death, and
the beast you kill.
Lev 20:16 ‘And a
woman who approaches any beast and mates with it: you shall kill the woman and
the beast, they shall certainly be put to death, their blood is upon them.
Lev 20:17 ‘And a
man who takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and
sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness: it is wickedness, and they shall
be cut off before the eyes of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness,
he bears his crookedness.
Lev 20:18 ‘And a
man who lies with a woman during her sickness and uncovers her nakedness: he
has laid bare her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood, both of
them shall be cut off from the midst of their people.
Lev 20:19 ‘And do
not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister nor of your father’s sister,
for that is laying bare one’s own flesh, they bear their crookedness.
Lev 20:20 ‘And a
man who lies with his uncle’s wife: he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness,
they bear their sin, they die childless.
Lev 20:21 ‘And a
man who takes his brother’s wife: it is uncleanness, he has uncovered his
brother’s nakedness, they are childless.
Lev 20:22 ‘And you
shall guard all My laws and all My right-rulings, and do them, so that the land
where I am bringing you to dwell does not vomit you out.
Lev 20:23 ‘And do
not walk in the laws of the nation which I am driving out before you, for they
do all these, and therefore I loathed them.
Lev 20:24 ‘But I
say to you, “You are going to possess their land, and I Myself give it to you
to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am יהוה your Elohim, who has separated you from
the peoples.
Lev 20:25 ‘And you
shall make a distinction between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean
birds and clean. And do not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird, or
whatever creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.
Lev 20:26 ‘And you
shall be set-apart to Me, for I יהוה am set-apart,
and have separated you from the peoples to be Mine.
Lev 20:27 ‘And a
man or a woman in whom there is a medium, or who are spiritists, shall
certainly be put to death, they are to stone them with stones. Their blood is
upon them.’ ”
Conclusion:
“The injunction to be set apart calls upon the Torah
community to avoid all illicit sexual relationships, because where there is a
separation of from immorality there will be set apartness.
Ramban maintains that the concept of set apartness is not
limited to the observance of any particular category of commandments. Rather it
is an admonition that ones approach to all aspects of life be governed by
moderation, particularly in the area of what is permitted.”
1Pe 4:17 Because it is time for judgment to begin from
the House of Elohim. And if firstly from us, what is the end of those who do
not obey the Good News of Elohim?
1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous one is scarcely saved,
where shall the wicked and the sinner appear?
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu,
Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu.
Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you Yahweh, our Elohim, King of the
Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and have planted everlasting
life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of the Torah – Ameyn
Please
note these notes are under construction and are subject to correction and are
in no way a final authority on any subject.