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.
This
week’s parashah contains instruction about the “shmittah” and the “yovel” or
the Seventh year and Fiftieth year Sabbaths.
“Shmittah”
means to renounce or cast off debts. The Hebrew verb “shamat” means to throw
down.
“Yovel”
means rams horn. The Hebrew verb “yaval” means to bring forth with pomp and
ceremony.
“Yovel”
is celebrated after seven “shmittah” Sabbaths.
We
see this theme of sevens repeated several times during the Pesach to Shavuot
appointments.
R.
Kattina said: “The world is to last six thousand years and one thousand it will
be
desolate,
as it says, ‘and “YHVH” alone shall be exalted in that day.’” (b.Rosh Hash. 31a)
Lev 25:1 And יהוה spoke to
Mosheh on Mount Sinai, saying,
“The commandment of the sabbatical year has a special relationship with Mount Sinai. At mount Sinai, YHVH’s majesty and power were so manifest that it was clear that the determining factors in human material success are YHVH’s will and not man’s worthiness. The lands rest in the seventh year teaches us that the primary force in the universe is YHVH, not the laws of nature. By leaving his fields untended for a year the Hebrew demonstrates that this world is a corridor leading to the ultimate world, that true life comes when man stops striving for material gain in favour of dedication to spiritual growth. But a man cannot abstain totally from the world he lives in. Shmittah is only once in seven years; that’s why the Torah states clearly that a man must sow and harvest for six years, just as it states that man works six days and rests on the Sabbath. This recognition infuses set apartness and purpose into our work years and our work days.”
The fact that this Shmittah instruction is given from
Sinai reminds us that the Torah is the perfect law of freedom.
James (Ya’akov)1:25 But he that looked into the perfect Torah,
that of freedom,1 and continues in it, not becoming a hearer that
forgets, but a doer of work, this one shall be blessed in his doing of the
Torah. Footnote: 1See 2:12.
“This commandment
proves that only YHVH is the Author of the Torah, because this chapter
guarantees that the year before Shmittah will produce a crop large enough to
last for three years, until the next available crop is harvested. If a human
being were inventing such a commandment he would have to make a prediction that
there would be enough food for three calendar years. Only YHVH has the
authority to make and back such a statement.”
It is interesting to note the mention of Sinai here in
Vayikra. In the book of Shemot where Moshe receives Torah he does not speak
about the “yovel” but now for the first time gives extensive instructions on Yovel.
Sadly the sages have used this example to justify that there were many
additional sayings of Moshe that are not recorded directly in the Torah which
comprises the Mishnah. Even more sad is that some of Jewish scholars claim that
their writings have more authority than the Torah.
“The Talmud is Judaism's most set apart book (actually a collection of books). Its authority takes precedence over the Tenach (what we called OT all the years) in Judaism. Evidence of this may be found in the Babylonian Talmud (“BT”) itself, Erubin 21b (Soncino edition): "My son, be more careful in the observance of the words of the Scribes than in the words of the Torah (Old Testament).” How sad that the Scribes must be more obeyed than YHVH’s Torah.
Lev 25:2 “Speak to
the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I
give you, then the land shall observe a Sabbath to יהוה.
It appears that the land was to rest because it belonged
to YHVH – Yisrael were merely tenants – see Lev 25:23 ‘And the land is not to be sold beyond
reclaim, for the land is Mine, for you are sojourners and settlers with Me.
All the land produces also belongs to YHVH. During the
shmittah and Yovel Sabbaths the produce of the lands were ownerless and could
be enjoyed by anyone.
This principle of YHVH’s ownership emphasizes that
nothing really belongs to us we are only stewards. When we realize this we will
be less materialistic and won’t cling to things that will sidetrack us from
serving YHVH as He deserves. We do not define ourselves by what we own or do
not own – but we define ourselves as residents with Him.
Lev 25:3 ‘Six
years you sow your field, and six years you prune your vineyard, and gather in
its fruit,
Lev 25:4 but in
the seventh year the land is to have a Sabbath of rest, a Sabbath to יהוה. Do not sow your field and do not prune
your vineyard.
Lev 25:5 ‘Do not
reap what grows of its own of your harvest, and do not gather the grapes of
your unpruned vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.
Remember the sixth year crop would suffice for three
calendar years; the sixth year from Nissan until the end of the year,
throughout the seventh year, and at least until Nissan of the eighth year when
the new winter crop will be fully grown.
Lev 25:6 ‘And the
Sabbath of the land shall be to you for food, for you and your servant, and for
your female servant and your hired servant, and for the stranger who sojourns
with you,
During the Shmittah year, it was forbidden for people to
treat their fields as their own and prevent others from enjoying the harvest.
Lev 25:7 and for
your livestock and the beasts that are in your land. All its crops are for
food.
Lev 25:8 ‘And you
shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years. And
the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.
Lev 25:9 ‘You
shall then sound a ram’s horn to pass through on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement cause a
ram’s horn to pass through all your land.
Lev 25:10 ‘And you
shall set the fiftieth year apart, and proclaim release throughout all the land
to all its inhabitants, it is a Jubilee for you. And each of you shall return
to his possession, and each of you return to his clan.
Lev 25:11 ‘The
fiftieth year is a Jubilee to you. Do not sow, nor reap what grows of its own,
nor gather from its unpruned vine.
Lev 25:12 ‘It is a
Jubilee, it is set-apart to you. Eat from the field its crops.
Lev 25:13 ‘In the
Year of this Jubilee let each one of you return to his possession.
Lev 25:14 ‘And
when you sell whatever to your neighbour or buy from the hand of your
neighbour, do not exploit one another.
Lev 25:15
‘According to the number of years after the Jubilee you buy from your
neighbour, and according to the number of years
of crops he sells to you.
The value of property was determined by the number of
crops it could still produce.
Lev 25:16
‘According to the greater number of years you increase its price, and
according to the fewer number of years you diminish its price, because he sells
to you according to the number of the years of the crops.
Lev 25:17 ‘And do
not oppress one another, but you shall fear your Elohim. For I am יהוה your Elohim.
Many scholars believe that Yesh 61:1-2 is a prophetic
announcement and fulfilment of Yahshua’s ministry beginning on a Jubilee and
his return will also be on a Jubilee
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Master יהוה is upon Me,
because יהוה has anointed Me to bring good news to the
meek. He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim release to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, (beginning of his first coming ministry)
Isa 61:2 to
proclaim the acceptable year of יהוה, and the day
of vengeance of our Elohim, to comfort all who mourn, (beginning of his second coming ministry)
Lev 25:18 ‘And you
shall do My laws (chukim) and guard My right-rulings, and shall do them. And
you shall dwell in the land in safety,
Agricultural laws are refered to as “Chukim” these are
decrees not predicated on human logic. The sages claimed that when these laws
were continually broken the people of the land went into exile.
Lev 25:19 ‘and the
land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat to satisfaction, and shall dwell
there in safety.
Lev 25:20 ‘And
since you might say, “What do we eat in the seventh year, since we do not sow
nor gather in our crops?”
Lev 25:21
‘Therefore I have commanded My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it
shall bring forth the crop for three years.
Lev 25:22 ‘And you
shall sow in the eighth year, and eat of the old crop until the ninth year. Eat
of the old until its crop comes in.
Lev 25:23 ‘And the
land is not to be sold beyond reclaim, for the land is Mine, for you are
sojourners and settlers with Me.
Lev 25:24 ‘And
provide for a redemption for the land, in all the land of your possession.
Lev 25:25 ‘When
your brother becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and his
redeemer, a close relative comes to redeem it, then he shall redeem what his
brother sold.
Lev 25:26 ‘And
when the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it,
Lev 25:27 then let
him count the years since its sale, and return the remainder to the man to whom
he sold it, that he shall return to his possession.
Lev 25:28 ‘And if
his hand has not found enough to give back to him, then what was sold shall
remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee. And it shall
be released in the Jubilee, and he shall return to his possession.
Lev 25:29 ‘And
when a man sells a house in a walled city, then his right of redemption shall
be at the end of the year after it is sold. His right of redemption lasts a
year.
Lev 25:30 ‘But if
it is not redeemed within a complete year, then the house in the walled city
shall be established beyond reclaim to the buyer of it, throughout his
generations. It is not released in the Jubilee.
Lev 25:31 ‘The
houses of villages, however, which have no wall around them are reckoned as the
field of the country. A right of redemption belongs to it, and they are released
in the Jubilee.
Lev 25:32 ‘As for
the cities of the Lĕwites, and the houses in the cities of their possession,
the Lĕwites have a right of redemption forever.
Lev 25:33 ‘And
that which is redeemed from the Lĕwites, both the sale of a house and the city
of his possession shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, because the houses
in the cities of the Lĕwites are their possession in the midst of the children
of Yisra’ĕl.
Lev 25:34 ‘But the
field of the open land of their cities is not sold, for it is their everlasting
possession.
Lev 25:35 ‘And
when your brother becomes poor, and his hand has failed with you, then you
shall sustain him, and he shall live with you, like a stranger or a sojourner.
Lev 25:36 ‘Take no
interest from him, or profit, but you shall fear your Elohim, and your brother
shall live with you.
Lev 25:37 ‘Do not
lend him your silver on interest, and do not lend him your food for profit.
Lev 25:38 ‘I am יהוה your Elohim, who brought you out of the
land of Mitsrayim, to give you the land of Kenaʽan, to
be your Elohim.
As previously mentioned this reference in Luke was the
beginning of Yahshua’s first coming ministry. Note how vs 2 of Yesh 60:2 is
omitted. This prophecy would come into effect at Yahshua’s second coming.
This was possibly Yahshua’s first sermon.
Luk 4:16 And He came to Natsareth, where He had been
brought up. And according to His practice, He went into the congregation on the
Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
Luk 4:17 And the scroll of the prophet Yeshayahu was
handed to Him. And having unrolled the scroll, He found the place where it was
written:
Luk 4:18 “The Spirit of יהוה is upon Me,1
because He has anointed Me to bring the Good News to the poor. He has sent Me
to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of
sight to the blind, to send away crushed ones with a release, Footnote: 1Isa.
61:1-3.
Luk 4:19 to
proclaim the acceptable year of יהוה.”1
Footnote: 1Isa. 61:1-2.
Luk 4:20 And
having rolled up the scroll, He gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And
the eyes of all in the congregation were fixed upon Him.
Luk
4:21 And He began to say to them, “Today
this Scripture has been filled in your hearing.”
This teaches us that Yahshua’s first coming was without
judgment but his second coming when he places his feet on the mount of Olives
will be with severe judgment.
Zec 14:4
And in that day His feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, which
faces Yerushalayim on the east.
We
conclude that Yahshua began his ministry in a year of jubilee and will return
to earth on a year of Jubilee.
If we
consider that Yahshua began his ministry when he was 30 years old, the year was
most probably around 24 CE (see notes below). Therefore 24 CE was a possible
year of Jubilee.
We know that Yahshua came about 2000 years ago (two days)
and he will return on the “third day.”
Hos 6:1 ‘Come, and let us turn back to יהוה. For He has
torn but He does heal us, He has stricken but He binds us up.
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.
If we
count 40 Jubilee’s from Yahshua’s first sermon, we come to the year 2024. If we
consider that there will be a seven year tribulation before Messiah returns, we
come to 2017.
Before
Messiah return there will be birth pains – recently there has been much talk
about the 4 blood moons which began this year 2014 during Pesach
We have also noticed that recently there have been big
changes in the world. . Could this have been the beginning
of the birth pains?
Mat 24:6 “And you shall begin to hear of fightings and
reports of fightings. See that you are not troubled, for these have to take
place, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7 “For nation shall rise against nation, and
reign against reign. And there shall be scarcities of food, and deadly
diseases, and earthquakes in places.
Mat 24:8 “And all these are the beginning of birth
pains.
Mat 24:9 “Then they shall deliver you up to affliction
and kill you, and you shall be hated by all nations for My Name’s sake.
Mat 24:10 “And then many shall stumble, and they shall
deliver up one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11 “And many false prophets shall rise up and
lead many astray.
Mat 24:12 “And because of the increase in lawlessness,
the love of many shall become cold.
Mat 24:13
“But he who shall have endured to the end shall be saved.1
Footnote:1See 10:22.
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.
Additional Notes:
The Birthdate of Yahshua.
Quote: Our present calendar is based upon the Gregorian calendar of 1582 CE (named after Pope Gregory XIII), which was a reform of the earlier Julian calendar of 45 BCE (named after Julius Caesar). The labels BC and AD were added in 525 by Dionysius Exiguus, who used them to compute the date of Easter. However, Dionysius miscalculated, and this error has been retained in the BC/AD system. While the Gregorian calendar accurately represents years of 365.25 days, Dionysius’ calculations skipped the year zero, jumping immediately from the year 1 BC to the year 1 AD. The result is a calendar that claims to be based upon the birth of Jesus, but which skips the first year of his life.
But besides the absence of the first year CE from our present calendar, an even greater problem exists with the BC/AD system: Jesus was not born in year zero. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great. According to multiple ancient sources, Herod died in 4 BCE. If the Gospel of Matthew is historically accurate, this would mean that Jesus of Nazareth was born on or before 4 BCE—meaning Jesus was born 4 BC (4 years Before Christ)! If we add to these 4 years the fact that Herod the Great did not die immediately after the birth of Jesus, but, according to Matthew, ordered the death of all children two years of age and younger in an attempt to kill Jesus, we can add an additional two years to the birth of Jesus, making his birth approximately 6 BCE. If we also add the missing year zero, it is most likely that, according to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus was born around 7 BCE!
Thus, the BC/AD system is fundamentally flawed in that it misrepresents the birth of Jesus by approximately 7 years. This means that Jesus’ ministry did not begin around the year 30, but instead around the year 23. Likewise, Pentecost and the origin of the Christian Church should not be dated to “33 AD,” but to about 26 CE.
An even greater problem still exists with the BC/AD system: the year of Jesus’ birth differs depending on which Gospel one reads. While the Gospel of Matthew states in chapter 2:1 that Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great, the Gospel of Luke states in chapter 2:1-2 that Jesus was born during the first census of the rule of Quirinius, governor of Syria. According to ancient sources, the date of this census is about 6 CE. Thus, the Bible is internally inconsistent regarding the year of Jesus’ birth. Was Jesus born about around 7 BCE under the reign of Herod the Great as Matthew states, or was Jesus born about 6 CE under the reign of Quirinius, long after Herod the Great had died as Luke contends?