January 2011 - Tu B'Shevat Edition.
Greetings to everyone!
May the richest blessings of God be yours as a new year begins and as we rejoice in refreshed opportunities to know Him and serve in His most holy Name!
Have you made your resolutions for the year? How many of them have already fallen by the wayside in the midst of temptation or maybe frustration?
I know I have said it before, but one thing I would really like to achieve this year is a more regular sending out of our BRT Ministries Newsletter. At the same time, I hope to be able to keep the website more up to date as well. I am so thankful for all the wonderful notes and words of encouragement which come back to me after folks read the newsletter, and in particular for the responses to the teaching material. Frankly, these words of support and appreciation make it all worthwhile. In some ways, as I have explained to a number of people, writing a newsletter is not unlike giving birth to a child. There is the moment of conception when an idea for the teaching comes in the midst of prayerful reflection. Then there is the long gestation period, while the idea grows and begins to take shape within my mind. The extreme effort of putting it down on paper (well, really the computer screen, but that’s just a technical point) is truly the actual time of ‘birthing’. This is followed by that period of perfecting it all, like teaching the child, editing out the faux pas, the mistakes, and faults while trying to build up the strong points. Sometimes during this period its like jumping right into the teen years, while other times it is like having the most reasonable child that ever there was. Finally the moment comes when it is detached from its parent, and attached to the e-mail – ready to go out into the world. There is always the bitter sweet moment of full trust in God when the “send” button is pushed, and off it goes – out into the wilderness – to fend for itself. Then empty nest syndrome hits, “our child is gone”. I often wonder where it will go, what adventure it will find, what joy it will bring or (let’s be honest) what dark, dead alleys it will stumble into. But one can only leave it in the hands of God, and trust that where it is most needed, it will find its way there. And of course, as the creative juices begin to flow once more, and the calling to “start again” is heard, one must turn the next page and start to think about a new beginning. So… here’s to new beginnings, new opportunities and, especially now – new growth.
May the richest blessings of God be yours as a new year begins and as we rejoice in refreshed opportunities to know Him and serve in His most holy Name!
Have you made your resolutions for the year? How many of them have already fallen by the wayside in the midst of temptation or maybe frustration?
I know I have said it before, but one thing I would really like to achieve this year is a more regular sending out of our BRT Ministries Newsletter. At the same time, I hope to be able to keep the website more up to date as well. I am so thankful for all the wonderful notes and words of encouragement which come back to me after folks read the newsletter, and in particular for the responses to the teaching material. Frankly, these words of support and appreciation make it all worthwhile. In some ways, as I have explained to a number of people, writing a newsletter is not unlike giving birth to a child. There is the moment of conception when an idea for the teaching comes in the midst of prayerful reflection. Then there is the long gestation period, while the idea grows and begins to take shape within my mind. The extreme effort of putting it down on paper (well, really the computer screen, but that’s just a technical point) is truly the actual time of ‘birthing’. This is followed by that period of perfecting it all, like teaching the child, editing out the faux pas, the mistakes, and faults while trying to build up the strong points. Sometimes during this period its like jumping right into the teen years, while other times it is like having the most reasonable child that ever there was. Finally the moment comes when it is detached from its parent, and attached to the e-mail – ready to go out into the world. There is always the bitter sweet moment of full trust in God when the “send” button is pushed, and off it goes – out into the wilderness – to fend for itself. Then empty nest syndrome hits, “our child is gone”. I often wonder where it will go, what adventure it will find, what joy it will bring or (let’s be honest) what dark, dead alleys it will stumble into. But one can only leave it in the hands of God, and trust that where it is most needed, it will find its way there. And of course, as the creative juices begin to flow once more, and the calling to “start again” is heard, one must turn the next page and start to think about a new beginning. So… here’s to new beginnings, new opportunities and, especially now – new growth.
THIS MONTH’S TEACHING: *”TU B’SHEVAT – THE NEW YEAR FOR TREES” –
Part One*
(Note: As always, when reading this “on line”, you will find some words in blue ‘ink’ which have a number attached. By placing your cursor on the number, you will find further information pop up. For those reading as a hard copy, look for footnotes at the bottom of the page.)
No doubt, you will have heard of “Arbour Day” at some point in your life, although you may not have celebrated it personally. Many people do, however, and indeed many countries around the world make it a special occasion. I knew it was marked in America and has been for some time, but I was doing a little reading about it lately and discovered that Canada, too, has a special day. It’s also noted in Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, China and many other nations. In some cases, there is a national day as well as a provincial (or local) celebration. In Canada for instance we have “National Forest Week” during the last week of September, during which Wednesday is set aside as special. In Ontario, we enjoy a weekend of festivities from the last Friday of April to the first Sunday of May. In America, Arbor Day (note the dropped u for our American friends) is celebrated nationally on the last Friday of April, while separate states may set a different time. In Britain, “National Tree Week” is set in late November at the opportune time for planting new trees. In Israel, and throughout the Diaspora, there is a special day set – the same day (on the Jewish calendar) no matter where one is. The day is known as “Tu B’Shevat”. In 2011, this occurs on January 20th.
The festival of Tu B’Shevat is a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar, but it is filled with all sorts of richness in what we can learn “around” it. Take, for example, the name itself. The last word of its name may be familiar – it is simply the name of the month we are, in fact, presently in – that of Shevat. Working to the left, we realize that B’ is a prefix meaning “of” or “in”. The fourth book of Torah is known as “B’Midbar”, after the first important words of the book in Hebrew, and it translates as “In [the] Wilderness” or “Of [the] Wilderness”. This leaves us with “Tu”. This is interpreted as the number “15”, thus Tu B’Shevat is simply “the 15th of Shevat” – but the “Tu” has a special significance ‘attached’ to it thanks to the teachings and rules set by ancient Mishnaic / Talmudic scholars. (Note: my apologies to any of our readers “on line” for the following paragraph. If you have not downloaded the font “Bwhebb”, this explanation may not be as clear. Bwhebb is a free download from most font servers, and one which I recommend heartily. Simply Google “fonts bwhebb” and you will find lots of sources.)
In Hebrew, one assigns a numeric value to each of the letters of the alphabet. If one reads from the Chumash[1], one notices that the chapters and verses are labelled not by numbers as in the Bible, but with letters, thus: a b g d h w z x j and y. These cover the first 10 digits. Then, in our system we take the “ten” and add to it certain digits starting again at 1 (10+1,10+2, 10+3 etc.). Similarly, in Hebrew we see the yod (y) added to the appropriate letter, thus: ay by gy dy until we come to fifteen and sixteen, which we will skip over for a moment, then we continue with zy xy jy (17, 18, 19) arriving at k which is the equivalent of 20. One might naturally think the two numbers we skipped would be written hy and wy but they are not. Instead, they are written wj and zj (equalling 9+6 and 9+7). So why?, one might ask. It is because hy is the abbreviated form of the ineffable[2] Name of God – known as the Tetragrammaton[3] – the four letters of God’s most holy Name, thus what should be 15 would be read “yah” and thus be un-speakable. (Note: At this point I am not sure why “16” is also written differently, though I suspect it is related to the reason for “15’s” change in appearance.) So we are left with wj which is pronounced “Tu”.
Tu B’Shevat is considered the New Year for trees. To the uninitiated, this may seem a rather insignificant point, but it is not without its purpose. Indeed, historically, the event is of great importance. Tu B’Shevat is not mentioned in the Bible as such, though we will see there are significant verses which allude to its place in history. The holiday is found in the Mishnah, in “Tractate Rosh HaShana”, the name of which should sound familiar. (For a hint look back to the first line of this paragraph.)
Tractate Rosh HaShana sets out that there are four “New Year” events in Jewish tradition. As I have noted before, different New Year ‘celebrations’ should not be surprising for us. We have the calendar year from January to January, the school year from September to September, and most companies have a Fiscal Year for their finances and we speak of aging a year when we pass our birth-date anniversary.
The first example is the spiritual or Biblical New Year which occurs on 1 Nissan. From this date, all the Moedim (Festivals) are positioned in the year’s cycle. We have seen that Pesach is set on the evening of 14 Nissan for instance. This is also the New Year of significance to Kings, and so figures into both Jewish and Christian history prominently. The second New Year is set for animals, and occurs on 1 Elul. The age of animals is set from this point onward. The third New Year is commonly known as “Rosh HaShana” itself and occurs on 1 Tishrei. (Biblically this is Yom T’ruah.) From this point of time all Sabbath years and all Jubilee years take their position. It is also the start of the Jewish “Calendar Year” so that all Jewish and Messianic calendars progress from September to September. It is also of significance agriculturally as it determines planting and harvesting schedules in Israel. Finally, we come to Tu B’Shevat which is the New Year for Trees. As with the animals, all trees are dated from this point. Tu B’Shevat is 15 Shevat. (Note: It needs to be clarified that there is a discrepancy around the dating of this event. The Yeshiva of Rabbi Shammai claimed that 1 Shevat should be the New Year, while the School (and followers) of R. Hillel claim it is the 15th of the month. Obviously, it is his teaching which has survived and which we follow.)
Now here is the interesting point. If a tree is planted on 14 Shevat, it will be counted as 1 year old on 16 Shevat, because it ‘passed through’ its official birth-date anniversary. If however, a tree is planted on 16 Shevat, it has to wait a whole year (to 15 Shevat) before it can be counted a year old. But why is this so important?
Discipline is of paramount importance in Judaism, especially Orthodox Judaism. The significance of Tu B’Shevat has to do with discipline around the tithing of produce. (Remember I said above that there were Biblical verses which allude to the event of 15 Shevat?) We read the following in Leviticus 19:23-25 – “When you shall come to the Land and you shall plant any food tree, you shall treat its fruit as forbidden; for three years they shall be forbidden to you, they shall not be eaten. In the fourth year, all its fruit shall be sanctified to laud HaShem. And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit.- so that it will increase its crop for you – I am HaShem, Your God.”
We can see the importance of the date from this passage. When a tree is first planted and still young, it will produce some fruit but perhaps not an abundance, perhaps not as nutritious as it should be. For three years, the fruit of the tree is to be considered not kosher. That means the tree has to pass through Tu B’Shevat 3 times before the fruit is considered worthy. However it is still not available to the ‘farmer’. Another year must pass, going through Tu B’Shevat a fourth time – and the fruit produced now is meant to be an offering unto God. In other words it is “korban[4]”. Only after passing through Tu B’Shevat a fifth time is the fruit available for human use, and of course only 90% would go to the grower, as the first 10% would be tithed to the Lord at the Temple. One’s sense of discipline is at stake because one is trusted to abide by these rules in terms of the fruit and offerings given to God, and the use of the fruit for one’s self and family. Once the fifth year is entered into, it would be just as undisciplined (and therefore wrong) to use the fruit from pre Tu B’Shevat to pay toward the tithes for the time after the date. Each year is responsible unto itself. This is covered in the instruction found in Deuteronomy 14:22-29 – “You shall tithe the entire crop of your planting, the produce of the field, year by year. You shall eat before HaShem, your God, in the place that He will choose to rest His Name there – the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, and your first born of your cattle and your flock, so that you will learn to fear HaShem, your God, all the days. If the road will be too long for you, so that you cannot carry it, because the place that HaShem, your God, will choose to place His Name there is far from you, for HaShem, your God, will have blessed you – then you may exchange it for money, wrap up the money in your hand, and go to the place that HaShem, Your God will choose. You may spend the money for whatever your soul desires – for cattle, for flocks, for wine, or for alcoholic beverage, or anything that your soul wishes; you shall eat it there before HaShem, your God, and rejoice – you and your household. You shall not forsake the Levite who is in your cities, for he has no portion or inheritance with you. At the end of three years, you shall take out every tithe of Your crop in that year and set it down within your cities. Then the Levite can come – for he has no portion or inheritance with you – and the proselyte, the orphan, and the widow who are in your cities, so they may eat and be satisfied, in order that HaShem, your God, will bless you in all your handiwork that you may undertake.”
From this we learn that the first tithe to the Lord is taken to Yerushalayim either directly, or by redemption and replacement (new articles purchased as the offering once in the city and Temple confines). This reminds us of Y’shua’s experience with the Temple merchants and money-lenders. The tithe is offered to God, and then shared amongst the cohen, the Levite, the poor and the farmer’s family all of whom enjoy it and rejoice before God. The last sentence tells us why this is important… so that “HaShem, your God will bless you” in the year to come.
We can see now that Tu B’Shevat is a key event in the life of the believer. From it is determined the age of a tree and the value and use of the fruit it produces. Also, we are reminded of the call to tithe unto God our regular offerings and we see that it is standard practice to convert where necessary the fruit of our labour into money and use it to bring glory to God.
For more on the traditions and practices of Tu B’Shevat, (Part 2) please go to our website and check out the teaching pages there on the topic. It should be posted before the end of the month.
[1] “Chumash” is a book containing all the Torah passages, in Hebrew and in English, as well as the assigned Hahftorah portions and the special readings used for various holy days. It also contains commentary by ancient scholars and foot-notes used in studying the Word.
[2] “Ineffable”, by definition means “not utterable”; “Too overwhelming to be expressed or described in words”; “too awesome or sacred to be spoken”; according to Webster’s New World Dictionary, Nelson, Foster and Scott Ltd, Toronto Can. 1952.
[3] Tetragrammaton – the four letter Name of God (YHVH or YHWH) most commonly interpreted as “Yahweh” or “Jehovah” and considered too holy / sacred to say aloud. Sometimes the term is translated as “Adonai” or “HaShem” in the English texts of Scripture. (see Exodus 3:15)
[4] Korban is literally an offering ‘set apart for the use of the Lord’. It is not to be used for secular purposes. In her prayer to God, Hannah promises that if granted a son, he will be given over to serve God. (1 Samuel 1:11). This would make him Korban. Compare this with Y’shua’s chastising of the Temple leaders in Mark 7:9-13. Barriers to being Korban are also found in Matthew 27:3-8.
Part One*
(Note: As always, when reading this “on line”, you will find some words in blue ‘ink’ which have a number attached. By placing your cursor on the number, you will find further information pop up. For those reading as a hard copy, look for footnotes at the bottom of the page.)
No doubt, you will have heard of “Arbour Day” at some point in your life, although you may not have celebrated it personally. Many people do, however, and indeed many countries around the world make it a special occasion. I knew it was marked in America and has been for some time, but I was doing a little reading about it lately and discovered that Canada, too, has a special day. It’s also noted in Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, China and many other nations. In some cases, there is a national day as well as a provincial (or local) celebration. In Canada for instance we have “National Forest Week” during the last week of September, during which Wednesday is set aside as special. In Ontario, we enjoy a weekend of festivities from the last Friday of April to the first Sunday of May. In America, Arbor Day (note the dropped u for our American friends) is celebrated nationally on the last Friday of April, while separate states may set a different time. In Britain, “National Tree Week” is set in late November at the opportune time for planting new trees. In Israel, and throughout the Diaspora, there is a special day set – the same day (on the Jewish calendar) no matter where one is. The day is known as “Tu B’Shevat”. In 2011, this occurs on January 20th.
The festival of Tu B’Shevat is a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar, but it is filled with all sorts of richness in what we can learn “around” it. Take, for example, the name itself. The last word of its name may be familiar – it is simply the name of the month we are, in fact, presently in – that of Shevat. Working to the left, we realize that B’ is a prefix meaning “of” or “in”. The fourth book of Torah is known as “B’Midbar”, after the first important words of the book in Hebrew, and it translates as “In [the] Wilderness” or “Of [the] Wilderness”. This leaves us with “Tu”. This is interpreted as the number “15”, thus Tu B’Shevat is simply “the 15th of Shevat” – but the “Tu” has a special significance ‘attached’ to it thanks to the teachings and rules set by ancient Mishnaic / Talmudic scholars. (Note: my apologies to any of our readers “on line” for the following paragraph. If you have not downloaded the font “Bwhebb”, this explanation may not be as clear. Bwhebb is a free download from most font servers, and one which I recommend heartily. Simply Google “fonts bwhebb” and you will find lots of sources.)
In Hebrew, one assigns a numeric value to each of the letters of the alphabet. If one reads from the Chumash[1], one notices that the chapters and verses are labelled not by numbers as in the Bible, but with letters, thus: a b g d h w z x j and y. These cover the first 10 digits. Then, in our system we take the “ten” and add to it certain digits starting again at 1 (10+1,10+2, 10+3 etc.). Similarly, in Hebrew we see the yod (y) added to the appropriate letter, thus: ay by gy dy until we come to fifteen and sixteen, which we will skip over for a moment, then we continue with zy xy jy (17, 18, 19) arriving at k which is the equivalent of 20. One might naturally think the two numbers we skipped would be written hy and wy but they are not. Instead, they are written wj and zj (equalling 9+6 and 9+7). So why?, one might ask. It is because hy is the abbreviated form of the ineffable[2] Name of God – known as the Tetragrammaton[3] – the four letters of God’s most holy Name, thus what should be 15 would be read “yah” and thus be un-speakable. (Note: At this point I am not sure why “16” is also written differently, though I suspect it is related to the reason for “15’s” change in appearance.) So we are left with wj which is pronounced “Tu”.
Tu B’Shevat is considered the New Year for trees. To the uninitiated, this may seem a rather insignificant point, but it is not without its purpose. Indeed, historically, the event is of great importance. Tu B’Shevat is not mentioned in the Bible as such, though we will see there are significant verses which allude to its place in history. The holiday is found in the Mishnah, in “Tractate Rosh HaShana”, the name of which should sound familiar. (For a hint look back to the first line of this paragraph.)
Tractate Rosh HaShana sets out that there are four “New Year” events in Jewish tradition. As I have noted before, different New Year ‘celebrations’ should not be surprising for us. We have the calendar year from January to January, the school year from September to September, and most companies have a Fiscal Year for their finances and we speak of aging a year when we pass our birth-date anniversary.
The first example is the spiritual or Biblical New Year which occurs on 1 Nissan. From this date, all the Moedim (Festivals) are positioned in the year’s cycle. We have seen that Pesach is set on the evening of 14 Nissan for instance. This is also the New Year of significance to Kings, and so figures into both Jewish and Christian history prominently. The second New Year is set for animals, and occurs on 1 Elul. The age of animals is set from this point onward. The third New Year is commonly known as “Rosh HaShana” itself and occurs on 1 Tishrei. (Biblically this is Yom T’ruah.) From this point of time all Sabbath years and all Jubilee years take their position. It is also the start of the Jewish “Calendar Year” so that all Jewish and Messianic calendars progress from September to September. It is also of significance agriculturally as it determines planting and harvesting schedules in Israel. Finally, we come to Tu B’Shevat which is the New Year for Trees. As with the animals, all trees are dated from this point. Tu B’Shevat is 15 Shevat. (Note: It needs to be clarified that there is a discrepancy around the dating of this event. The Yeshiva of Rabbi Shammai claimed that 1 Shevat should be the New Year, while the School (and followers) of R. Hillel claim it is the 15th of the month. Obviously, it is his teaching which has survived and which we follow.)
Now here is the interesting point. If a tree is planted on 14 Shevat, it will be counted as 1 year old on 16 Shevat, because it ‘passed through’ its official birth-date anniversary. If however, a tree is planted on 16 Shevat, it has to wait a whole year (to 15 Shevat) before it can be counted a year old. But why is this so important?
Discipline is of paramount importance in Judaism, especially Orthodox Judaism. The significance of Tu B’Shevat has to do with discipline around the tithing of produce. (Remember I said above that there were Biblical verses which allude to the event of 15 Shevat?) We read the following in Leviticus 19:23-25 – “When you shall come to the Land and you shall plant any food tree, you shall treat its fruit as forbidden; for three years they shall be forbidden to you, they shall not be eaten. In the fourth year, all its fruit shall be sanctified to laud HaShem. And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit.- so that it will increase its crop for you – I am HaShem, Your God.”
We can see the importance of the date from this passage. When a tree is first planted and still young, it will produce some fruit but perhaps not an abundance, perhaps not as nutritious as it should be. For three years, the fruit of the tree is to be considered not kosher. That means the tree has to pass through Tu B’Shevat 3 times before the fruit is considered worthy. However it is still not available to the ‘farmer’. Another year must pass, going through Tu B’Shevat a fourth time – and the fruit produced now is meant to be an offering unto God. In other words it is “korban[4]”. Only after passing through Tu B’Shevat a fifth time is the fruit available for human use, and of course only 90% would go to the grower, as the first 10% would be tithed to the Lord at the Temple. One’s sense of discipline is at stake because one is trusted to abide by these rules in terms of the fruit and offerings given to God, and the use of the fruit for one’s self and family. Once the fifth year is entered into, it would be just as undisciplined (and therefore wrong) to use the fruit from pre Tu B’Shevat to pay toward the tithes for the time after the date. Each year is responsible unto itself. This is covered in the instruction found in Deuteronomy 14:22-29 – “You shall tithe the entire crop of your planting, the produce of the field, year by year. You shall eat before HaShem, your God, in the place that He will choose to rest His Name there – the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, and your first born of your cattle and your flock, so that you will learn to fear HaShem, your God, all the days. If the road will be too long for you, so that you cannot carry it, because the place that HaShem, your God, will choose to place His Name there is far from you, for HaShem, your God, will have blessed you – then you may exchange it for money, wrap up the money in your hand, and go to the place that HaShem, Your God will choose. You may spend the money for whatever your soul desires – for cattle, for flocks, for wine, or for alcoholic beverage, or anything that your soul wishes; you shall eat it there before HaShem, your God, and rejoice – you and your household. You shall not forsake the Levite who is in your cities, for he has no portion or inheritance with you. At the end of three years, you shall take out every tithe of Your crop in that year and set it down within your cities. Then the Levite can come – for he has no portion or inheritance with you – and the proselyte, the orphan, and the widow who are in your cities, so they may eat and be satisfied, in order that HaShem, your God, will bless you in all your handiwork that you may undertake.”
From this we learn that the first tithe to the Lord is taken to Yerushalayim either directly, or by redemption and replacement (new articles purchased as the offering once in the city and Temple confines). This reminds us of Y’shua’s experience with the Temple merchants and money-lenders. The tithe is offered to God, and then shared amongst the cohen, the Levite, the poor and the farmer’s family all of whom enjoy it and rejoice before God. The last sentence tells us why this is important… so that “HaShem, your God will bless you” in the year to come.
We can see now that Tu B’Shevat is a key event in the life of the believer. From it is determined the age of a tree and the value and use of the fruit it produces. Also, we are reminded of the call to tithe unto God our regular offerings and we see that it is standard practice to convert where necessary the fruit of our labour into money and use it to bring glory to God.
For more on the traditions and practices of Tu B’Shevat, (Part 2) please go to our website and check out the teaching pages there on the topic. It should be posted before the end of the month.
[1] “Chumash” is a book containing all the Torah passages, in Hebrew and in English, as well as the assigned Hahftorah portions and the special readings used for various holy days. It also contains commentary by ancient scholars and foot-notes used in studying the Word.
[2] “Ineffable”, by definition means “not utterable”; “Too overwhelming to be expressed or described in words”; “too awesome or sacred to be spoken”; according to Webster’s New World Dictionary, Nelson, Foster and Scott Ltd, Toronto Can. 1952.
[3] Tetragrammaton – the four letter Name of God (YHVH or YHWH) most commonly interpreted as “Yahweh” or “Jehovah” and considered too holy / sacred to say aloud. Sometimes the term is translated as “Adonai” or “HaShem” in the English texts of Scripture. (see Exodus 3:15)
[4] Korban is literally an offering ‘set apart for the use of the Lord’. It is not to be used for secular purposes. In her prayer to God, Hannah promises that if granted a son, he will be given over to serve God. (1 Samuel 1:11). This would make him Korban. Compare this with Y’shua’s chastising of the Temple leaders in Mark 7:9-13. Barriers to being Korban are also found in Matthew 27:3-8.
ENGAGEMENTS
Since the Autumn of last year, I have not had any speaking engagements. This has been accentuated because of being so busy in the Summer months. I am reminded of how, when one is listening to music on headphones and then takes them off suddenly, there is a sort of vacuum feeling that seems to pull one’s ear drum out into the air. In a sense that is how I am feeling.
Of course, the Passover season is coming, and I am trying to book opportunities to speak about Pesach and do Seder meals / demos around the area. I am tentatively booked for one engagement (on Maundy Thursday) but I would love to have more. If you think your pastor and church family would be encouraged to learn about the roots of our Holy Communion celebration, let me know and I will approach them – or you can approach them and have them call me.
I still have a few photos in our photo gallery on the website from last year’s presentation (can it really be a year ago??) at Innisfil.
Of course, engagements need not be limited to speaking about Pesach. All the Moedim / Festivals are of import to us. Even Sunday messages can be used to teach the basics of how the Moedim touch our faith walk and influence our relationship with God.
I encourage you to pray about extending an invitation to BRT Ministries and if the time is right to give me a call.
CHAVARAH NEWS & BIBLE STUDY NOTES
We have been carrying on with both our Bible Study sessions and our Sabbath day worship quite successfully through the late fall and early winter. We took a break over the Christmas season to allow for family activities, and unfortunately some health problems inhibited our getting together for a while. We are now back to our normal schedule and look forward to the worship and learning times. Once again, let me extend an invitation to anyone who would like to join us. Just call and let us know and we will give you directions on how to find us.
Throughout the past months, we have maintained our connection with the local synagogue and the weekly Torah study there as well as attending the worship service once a month. Some of the group attended a movie night at the synagogue recently for the screening of the Israeli film “The Ushpazin” (the Visitors). It is about the Festival of Sukkot and welcoming visitors to the sukkah. We really enjoyed it, and it spoke to us about true hospitality and (again) discipline and hope in the face of temporal issues.
The Chavarah has also been visiting a local Messianic congregation and renewing acquaintances there. This has been a positive experience, both because it is uplifting to worship with others of “like mind” but also because of the relationships being renewed and strengthened as God continues to work with us.
We will be continuing our Sabbath services this weekend, and looking at the parsha called “Yitro”, the passage about Jethro’s visit to Moshe and the Hebrew people during the Exodus. (Exod 18:1-20:26) this is also the Parsha which relates the giving of the Law on Sinai.
Anytime you wish to know where we are in our studies – you can download our BRT Parsha schedule from our website. Go our Parsha page and follow the directions there.
FROM THE “IN” BOX
I recently sent out a number of bookmarks to some of our sojourners. Many people wrote to say thank you. My “Thanks!” to all who said how much they appreciated them. I still have a few left. In recognition of any donation to the ministry, I send them out as a thank you gift.
I am also pleased to report that the “traffic” on the website has been increasing throughout the last months of 2010. We had a total of more than 9200 hits last year, averaging over 25 hits a day, every day. This may be a far cry from some site postings, but BRT’s site is virtually un-advertised. I think this is a great record. It is my hope that this number will rise to over 10 000 this year.
PRAYER REQUESTS
Please continue to pray for us, and for the ministry here. There are many challenges facing us in the new year, with issues and changes arising all around us. New opportunities for engagements are of utmost importance to our success, as well as time to work on the newsletters and website. Pray for Divine insight into how God wishes to use the Chavarah, as well as our relationships with the synagogue and the Messianic community.
I can report with great joy that Joan passed a milestone a couple of weeks ago and, while she continues to work at her new store location, (which she is actually enjoying) her hours have been cut back somewhat. This will hopefully be offset as she is now eligible for CPP and OAS – (Yes, that was the milestone), and we anticipate the Lord’s provision as He ‘sees fit’ in other areas of our lives. Praise be to God our health and strength continue – (I see the doctor next week) so please continue to pray that we will be able to carry on in service to the faith community wherever and however Elohim sees the need.
Our prayers are with you as our community of “sojourners”. May the Lord bless you and strengthen you in whatever you are doing to serve the Lord and His people. May you enjoy true peace and the reassurance of God’s Love in your life. Drop us a line any time to catch us up on your news.
Until next time –
"Y'varehch'cha Adonai v'yeesh m'recha –
May the Lord Bless you and Keep you."
Since the Autumn of last year, I have not had any speaking engagements. This has been accentuated because of being so busy in the Summer months. I am reminded of how, when one is listening to music on headphones and then takes them off suddenly, there is a sort of vacuum feeling that seems to pull one’s ear drum out into the air. In a sense that is how I am feeling.
Of course, the Passover season is coming, and I am trying to book opportunities to speak about Pesach and do Seder meals / demos around the area. I am tentatively booked for one engagement (on Maundy Thursday) but I would love to have more. If you think your pastor and church family would be encouraged to learn about the roots of our Holy Communion celebration, let me know and I will approach them – or you can approach them and have them call me.
I still have a few photos in our photo gallery on the website from last year’s presentation (can it really be a year ago??) at Innisfil.
Of course, engagements need not be limited to speaking about Pesach. All the Moedim / Festivals are of import to us. Even Sunday messages can be used to teach the basics of how the Moedim touch our faith walk and influence our relationship with God.
I encourage you to pray about extending an invitation to BRT Ministries and if the time is right to give me a call.
CHAVARAH NEWS & BIBLE STUDY NOTES
We have been carrying on with both our Bible Study sessions and our Sabbath day worship quite successfully through the late fall and early winter. We took a break over the Christmas season to allow for family activities, and unfortunately some health problems inhibited our getting together for a while. We are now back to our normal schedule and look forward to the worship and learning times. Once again, let me extend an invitation to anyone who would like to join us. Just call and let us know and we will give you directions on how to find us.
Throughout the past months, we have maintained our connection with the local synagogue and the weekly Torah study there as well as attending the worship service once a month. Some of the group attended a movie night at the synagogue recently for the screening of the Israeli film “The Ushpazin” (the Visitors). It is about the Festival of Sukkot and welcoming visitors to the sukkah. We really enjoyed it, and it spoke to us about true hospitality and (again) discipline and hope in the face of temporal issues.
The Chavarah has also been visiting a local Messianic congregation and renewing acquaintances there. This has been a positive experience, both because it is uplifting to worship with others of “like mind” but also because of the relationships being renewed and strengthened as God continues to work with us.
We will be continuing our Sabbath services this weekend, and looking at the parsha called “Yitro”, the passage about Jethro’s visit to Moshe and the Hebrew people during the Exodus. (Exod 18:1-20:26) this is also the Parsha which relates the giving of the Law on Sinai.
Anytime you wish to know where we are in our studies – you can download our BRT Parsha schedule from our website. Go our Parsha page and follow the directions there.
FROM THE “IN” BOX
I recently sent out a number of bookmarks to some of our sojourners. Many people wrote to say thank you. My “Thanks!” to all who said how much they appreciated them. I still have a few left. In recognition of any donation to the ministry, I send them out as a thank you gift.
I am also pleased to report that the “traffic” on the website has been increasing throughout the last months of 2010. We had a total of more than 9200 hits last year, averaging over 25 hits a day, every day. This may be a far cry from some site postings, but BRT’s site is virtually un-advertised. I think this is a great record. It is my hope that this number will rise to over 10 000 this year.
PRAYER REQUESTS
Please continue to pray for us, and for the ministry here. There are many challenges facing us in the new year, with issues and changes arising all around us. New opportunities for engagements are of utmost importance to our success, as well as time to work on the newsletters and website. Pray for Divine insight into how God wishes to use the Chavarah, as well as our relationships with the synagogue and the Messianic community.
I can report with great joy that Joan passed a milestone a couple of weeks ago and, while she continues to work at her new store location, (which she is actually enjoying) her hours have been cut back somewhat. This will hopefully be offset as she is now eligible for CPP and OAS – (Yes, that was the milestone), and we anticipate the Lord’s provision as He ‘sees fit’ in other areas of our lives. Praise be to God our health and strength continue – (I see the doctor next week) so please continue to pray that we will be able to carry on in service to the faith community wherever and however Elohim sees the need.
Our prayers are with you as our community of “sojourners”. May the Lord bless you and strengthen you in whatever you are doing to serve the Lord and His people. May you enjoy true peace and the reassurance of God’s Love in your life. Drop us a line any time to catch us up on your news.
Until next time –
"Y'varehch'cha Adonai v'yeesh m'recha –
May the Lord Bless you and Keep you."
