Weekly Torah Commentaries UMJC - Union Of Messianic Jewish Congregations
-
- 宗教/スピリチュアル
Reflections on the weekly Torah portions from a diverse group of Messianic Jewish rabbis, scholars, and lay people. Our contributors bring fresh insights to familiar texts, drawing connections to events across the whole of Scripture (including the Gospels and Epistles), and suggesting practical applications of these insights to our postmodern lives.
-
Our Priority: Conservation or Contagion?
It’s not so much a matter of contrast between conservation and contagion;
we need both. The stability and separation of a healthy religious community
provides a platform for influencing the surrounding culture. -
Sweat the Small Stuff
Once we choose to live in the universe of power in actions, do we have the
discipline to constantly push ourselves to raise the bar? Will we have what
it takes to engage in regular self-reflection and contemplation, and live
with the consistency that holiness requires? -
Walk It Out!
Spiritual discipline through the repetitive action—the “walking” out—of the
mitzvot builds within us emotional muscle memory. Given that we are largely
driven by our emotions, any repetitive action binds itself to our
personhood, our heart, our mind, and that same action builds within us an
emotional response. -
Why Is This Passover Different?
Telling our children and grandchildren a story rooted in ancient history,
and equipping them to pass it on, amidst our culture of endless sound bites
and news flashes can be challenging indeed. That’s why Passover in this
current generation may be different from all other Passovers. -
Stop the Spread of Evil Speech
Along with other rabbis, Rabbi Sha’ul correlated reckless speech with an
infectious skin disease that starts off as a small infection, grows if left
unchecked, and eventually consumes and kills the body as it expands. -
Doctors of the Soul
The kohanim, or priests, were in a sense the “doctors of the soul.” This is
the role of a kohen, to restore the person to wholeness—to have the
imagination to see beyond a person’s present brokenness, and to recognize
his or her own power to heal.