Mishpatim- The Great Chain of Covenants

Our Sages see connections between the covenantal ceremony at the end of this week’s parsha and the Akedah (Binding of Isaac). In both stories a group of people await at the bottom of the mountain while others ascend. In our parsha, Moses says “wait here for us until we return to you.” In the Akedah, Abraham says the same to his servants. In the Akedah, Abraham rose early in the morning. Likewise, Moses rose early in the morning. In both stories an altar is built. When Moses ascended the mountain, it says “Now the sight of the glory of Adonai was like a consuming fire (aish ochelet).” In the Akedah, Abraham used a knife (ma’achelet). Both of these words come from the same root word. God tells Abraham not to raise his hand against the boy and this week’s parsha says that God did not raise His hand against the leaders of Israel.

Most importantly, however, is the fact that both events include the offering of firstborn sons. In the Akedah, Abraham offers Isaac. At Sinai, it says that Moses “sent young men of the people of Israel” to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings. Onkelos, Rashi, and Ibn Ezra all interpret these young men to be the firstborn sons from each tribe, representing Israel as a whole (This is based on an assumption that it was only later that the priests and Levites replaced the role of the firstborn in presenting offerings). In the Akedah Abraham sacrifices a ram in place of Isaac. At Sinai the firstborn of the tribes of Israel make sacrifices in their stead.

Our Sages felt that the Torah wants us to connect these two passages together. In fact, they see these as different aspects of the same covenant! One midrash says that Hashem betrothed Israel at the Akedah and married her at Sinai. The Mosaic covenant is seen as an intensification of the Abrahamic covenant, rather than merely being another covenant.

There are contrasts between the two, however. The Akedah is an event fraught with anxiety, sadness, and even terror at the prospect of killing one’s own son. The tone at Sinai is celebratory. Moses and the elders seal the covenant by eating a meal with Hashem (Ex 24:11).

As Messianic Jews we can see connections between these two events in the Tanach with two described in the Besorah. Yeshua’s death is much like the Akedah. It is a grim event, which he approaches with great dread. His disciples are thrown into confusion; they flee or outright disown him. And yet his is the offering of the firstborn son where no ram is substituted. Yeshua as the firstborn Son of God is the offering. In Revelation, we have a different scene altogether. Revelation 7 describes 144,000 representatives of Israel. (Perhaps these are the “firstborn” of Israel?) They are joined with multitudes of the nations of the earth, whose robes have been washed with the blood of the Lamb. Just like at Sinai, they are all before the throne of God and ultimately will feast with Him at the Great Messianic Banquet.

Just as Sinai was an intensification of the covenant made at the Akedah, so too, Yeshua’s death intensifies both of these covenants by dying once and for all not only for the sins of Israel, but also for the sins of the nations of the earth, bringing them into the Commonwealth of Israel. And at the end of time, Israel and the Church will feast with Hashem, finally sealing God’s covenant with the world to make us His people once and for all. Yeshua referred to this as the Wedding Feast, which we can see as a connection to the wedding at Sinai.

Today the world celebrates Love. This chain of covenants expresses Hashem’s great love for us! Rather than abrogating previous covenants, each new covenant God makes intensifies the previous ones, making them more complete. On Rosh Hashanah we recall the Akedah. On Shavuot we recall the covenant of Sinai. When we commemorate these events let us keep ever in our minds that these point forward to the Binding of Yeshua and the Great Wedding Banquet which brings all covenants to their ultimate glorious fulfillment. May we pray for this to come speedily and soon!

Beshalach- The Hidden Manna

Our parsha this week speaks of the people complaining about not having water, bread, and meat. God provides them all three; He sweetens the water and causes both manna and quail to rain down from the sky. Our Sages note that there are many connections between this story and that of Pesach (Passover). First of all, in all of the events leading to Sinai, this is the only one where a date is given. The text tells us that it was exactly a month after the first Passover. Second, God instructs them to only gather as much manna as they needed. If they tried to horde it, it spoiled. Likewise the Passover lamb was to be eaten overnight. Third, the quail arrived at twilight and the Passover lamb was to be killed at twilight. Fourth, in both these passages, Israel is referred to as not simply “B’nei Yisrael” but as “Adat B’nei Yisrael”, the Congregation of the Children of Israel. Similar wording in the Torah implies to the rabbis that there is a connection between the two passages. And finally, Aaron is visible at the Passover but then disappears from the text until the giving of manna. As the one to become the high priest, this is seen as significant and linking the two passages together.

So it is as if we have two Passovers. The first centers around the lamb, and the second manna. We can connect these two midrashically to the two appearances of the Messiah.

First, Yeshua came as the Passover Lamb. Yochannan the Immerser announces him as the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world. Rav Shaul explicitly calls him the Passover Lamb sacrificed for our sins. And in Yochannan’s Revelation we have the slain lamb sitting on the throne.

Second, Yeshua will come as the Manna. He said, “I am the bread of life come down from heaven”. This is clearly a reference to the manna in the wilderness. But he is not referring to his first appearance, because as we have already said that was as the lamb. He is referring to his future return when we will appear in the clouds, literally “raining” down from heaven as he comes to judge and rule the world.

A letter to one of the congregations in the Book of Revelation says that the hidden manna will be given to those who are victorious. This may be a reference to the fact that when Solomon placed the ark in the Temple, they looked inside the ark and the manna was not there. Yeshua is the manna hidden for now. He appeared but was hidden in his death and resurrection until that future time when he will appear again. Also, note that the manna was given in the wilderness to not only sustain our people but to test them. Yeshua as the Manna, will come to test and try the whole world!

We can be like the Israelites and get caught up in the worries of everyday life. We can forget that we are marching towards Sinai and that Hashem is providing for our needs. We can kvetch about water, bread, and meat. Our ancestors marched towards Mattan Torah, the Giving of the Torah. We are marching towards the Living Torah, Yeshua ha-Mashiach! And like Aaron, Yeshua is our Kohen Gadol (high priest) who has disappeared for a while but will reappear someday.

The solution is for us to partake of the hidden manna daily. Exodus 16:4-36 is called Parshat Ha-Man, the portion of scripture about manna. Our Sages say that we should read this parsha daily to remind us of Hashem’s providence. This reminds us of Yeshua’s prayer where he says, “Give us today our daily bread.” This clearly tells us to not be consumed with worry, but the Greek word translated as “daily” here is “epiousion”. This is an unusual word, only used in two places in the Besorah. It could literally mean “The Bread to Come”; a reference to the hidden manna, Yeshua the Hidden Manna to come! We sustain ourselves on his power and grace.

In our daily struggles and concerns of life, may we not lose sight of the fact that we are marching towards a destiny; the Living Torah. May we rely on Hashem to provide our daily bread. May we rely on that “epiousion” bread, the bread to come, who is the Hidden Manna, our Risen Messiah. May we keep our eyes on that day when he will indeed rain down like manna from heaven and reign as king over Israel and all the earth! Shabbat Shalom.

Vayechi- The People of the Mem

Remember how each Sesame Street episode was sponsored by a letter and/or a number? They used to say “Today’s show is sponsored by the letter X, and the number 3.” Well, today’s Dvar Torah is sponsored by the letter “Mem” (m).

Our parsha this week is the only closed parsha. In all other parshiot, there is either a line break when you reach a new parsha, or a nine character blank space. But this week’s parsha doesn’t have either. Our parsha begins with Jacob announcing that he will tell what will happen in the Last Days, but then he never does. Instead he goes on to assign roles to each of the twelve tribes. Rashi said that he was about to tell of Messiah’s coming but Hashem prevented him from doing so.

There is a midrash that speaks of the hiddenness of Messiah that involves the letter Mem. If you recall, the letter Mem has two forms; an open form that is used anywhere but at the end of a word, and a closed form, called a Mem Sofit, which is used when it is the last letter of the word. There is a passage in the Torah that uses an open Mem when it should be closed, and another passage that uses a closed Mem when it should be open.

The improperly closed Mem is in Isaiah 9 where it says “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; dominion will rest on his shoulders, and he will be given the name Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace, in order to increase the dominion and perpetuate the peace of the throne and kingdom of David, to secure it and sustain it through justice and righteousness henceforth and forever.” The word le-mar-bay means to increase or multiply. It is written with a closed Mem instead of an opened one. The midrash says that this is because the time of the Messiah is closed, it is hidden from us.

But this is connected to another verse where the Mem is open when should be closed. It is in Nehemiah 2, “I went out by night through the Valley Gate, to the Dragon’s Well and the Dung Gate, and inspected the places where the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and where its gates had been burned down.”

Here the words for “they were broken down” in Hebrew is haym pe-ru-tzim. The final Mem of the word haym should be written with a closed mem, but it is not. The midrash says that this refers to Jerusalem being vulnerable to the nations of the world. It says, that when the Messiah is revealed (the Mem is opened) then Jerusalem’s walls will be repaired (the Mem is closed). In other words, Messiah will establish Jerusalem as the world capital again and Israel will no longer be trampled on by the nations.

As Messianic Jews, we can see this midrash in light of Messiah Yeshua. The Mem opened with his first coming, but then hidden gain when he ascended, fittingly on Mem BaOmer, the 40th day of the Omer. The Mem was then opened as the walls of Jerusalem were destroyed by the Romans. Yeshua forewarned that the Holy City would be trampled on until the Times of the Gentiles was fulfilled, after which He will come in the clouds and be revealed again.

In gematria the letter Mem has a numerical value of 40, which signifies a span of time required for the ripening process. This refers to the Times of the Gentiles. We are in the midst of the forty, the ripening of history culminating in Messiah’s return. Forty is also the number of Yom Kippur. Jewish tradition states that Israel repented for 40 days after the sin of the Golden Calf, and God established that last day as Yom Kippur, the Great Day of Atonement. To this day, we repent for the thirty days of Elul and the ten days of awe, ending in Yom Kippur; a total of forty days.

Yochannan’s revelation speaks of the final opening of Messiah’s Mem and the closing of Jerusalem’s Mem. Yeshua is revealed in glory, defeats ha-Satan, and brings judgment on the world. This is the ultimate Yom Kippur! Then a New Jerusalem descends and becomes the capital of the world.

When we stand before the Ark, about to bring the Torah scroll out, we recite, Malchutecha malchut kol olamim, u-memshaltecha ledor vador, “Your Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and your dominion endures through all generations.” The Hebrew word for kingdom is malchut, written with an open Mem The Hebrew word for dominion used here is mimshal, and is a kind of closed Mem as the first syllable ends in a double-Mem. It comes from the root word which means “to assimilate”. God’s kingdom exists, but His dominion over the entire world is yet to come. He has yet to assimilate all the nations of the world into His kingdom.

May we be the people of the Mem; praying for the opening of the Mem of Messiah, and the closing of the Mem of Jerusalem. May we pray for the revelation of Messiah and the establishment of Jerusalem and that His kingdom will also become His dominion over all the earth! Shabbat Shalom.