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Parashat Lekh-Lekha ("go forth yourself!")

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Nov. 9, 2024
Cheshvan 8, 5785

Chodesh Cheshvan

Lekh-Lekha
 

Gen. 12:1-17:27
[Table Talk]

Isa. 40:27-41:16

Rom. 4:1-25; Gal. 4:21-5:1; Heb. 11:8-10

 

  • Lekh-Lekha Summary...
  • Abram the "Hebrew"
  • Crossing over to life...
  • Conduit of Messiah...
  • Who was Melchzedek?
  • Adonai Tzidkenu...
  • Avraham Avinu
  • The Father of Faith...
  • The Seed of Abraham...
  • Sarah and Hagar...
  • The Name El Shaddai...
  • Justification by Faith...
  • Seeing the Invisible...
  • The Call of Abram and Sarai...

    Last week's Torah portion (i.e., parashat Noach) showed how the LORD miraculously preserved Noah and his family from the cataclysmic judgment of the great flood.  Just as there were ten generations from Adam to Noah, so there were also ten generations from Noah to Abram. And just as Noah became the father of 70 nations, so Abram would become the father of the Jewish people, through whom the Promised Seed - the Messiah and Savior of the world - would eventually come.

    In this week's portion (Lekh-Lekha), Abram was 75 years old, married to (his half-sister) Sarai, and guardian of his nephew Lot (his deceased brother Haran's son) when he received the promise of divine inheritance and left Mesopotamia for the Promised Land: "And the LORD said to Abram, "Go from (i.e., lekh-lekha: לך־לך) your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.  In Hebrew, the phrase lekh lekha means "go for yourself" (lit. "walk [הָלַךְ] for yourself [לְךָ]"), though the sages interpreted it to mean "go to yourself," that is, "look within yourself" in order to begin walking out your own journey into the promises. The realm of divine promise is only attained when we venture out in faith. Like Abraham, we likewise are called to leave everything behind and to go forth by faith to take hold of God's promise for our lives...

     For more see the Torah summary pages as well as these resources:
     

    Genesis 12:1a Hebrew Lesson

     

    The Month of Cheshvan - חדש חשון

    On the Biblical calendar, the month of Cheshvan (חֶשְׁוָן) immediately follows the "holiday month" of Tishri, though it is sometimes called Mar-Cheshvan ("bitter Cheshvan") because there are no festivals during the month ("neither feast nor fast") and it marks the start of the cold and rainy season in Israel. The Torah records that God brought down the Flood that destroyed the world on Cheshvan 17 (Gen. 7:10-11), which lasted until Cheshvan 27 (Gen. 8:14) - exactly one calendar year after it began (the Jewish sage Rashi notes that the 11-day discrepancy between the 17th and 27th represents the 11-day difference between the solar and lunar year). Because Noah's Flood began and ended during this month, Cheshvan is generally regarded as "mar" - a time of judgment and hardship (the sages say that God gave Noah the sign of the rainbow to announce that God would never again destroy the world by a flood on the first day of the month of Kislev).

    Despite its association with judgment, some Jewish traditions affirm that the month of Cheshvan will eventually lose its bitterness, because it will be during this time that the "third Temple" will be inaugurated. For Messianic believers, however, this future Temple will be the "Tribulation Temple," the place where the Messiah of Evil will betray the people of Israel about midway through the final "week" of Daniel's great prophecy.  Indeed it will only be after Yeshua returns to save Israel at the End of Days that the Fourth (Millennial Kingdom) Temple will be established, and then all the surviving nations will come to Zion to honor the Jewish people and the LORD God of Israel...

    Rosh Chodesh Blessing...

    The following (simplified) blessing can be recited to ask the LORD God Almighty to help you for the coming new month:
     

    יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֵיךָ יהוה אֱלהֵינוּ
    וֵאלהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ שֶׁתְּחַדֵּשׁ עָלֵינוּ חדֶשׁ טוֹב
    בַּאֲדנֵינוּ יֵשׁוּעַ הַמָּשִׁיחַ אָמֵן

    ye·hee · rah·tzohn · meel·fah·ney'·kha · Adonai · E·loh·hey'·noo
    vei·loh·hey · a·voh·tey'·noo · she·te·cha·deish · ah·ley'·noo · choh·desh · tohv
    ba'a·doh·ney'·noo · Ye·shoo'·a' · ha·mah·shee'·ach · ah·mein
     

    "May it be Your will, LORD our God and God of our fathers,
    that you renew for us a good month in our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Amen."



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    Blessing before Torah Study:

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    Some terms:

    • Parashah is the weekly Scripture portion taken from the Torah. Each parashah is given a name and is usually referred to as "parashat - name" (e.g., parashat Noach). For more information about weekly readings, click here.
       
    • Aliyot refer to a smaller sections of the weekly parashah that are assigned to people of the congregation for public reading during the Torah Reading service. In most congregations it is customary for the person "called up" to recite a blessing for the Torah before and after the assigned section is recited by the cantor. For Shabbat services, there are seven aliyot (and a concluding portion called a maftir). The person who is called to make aliyah is referred to as an oleh (olah, if female).
       
    • Maftir refers to the last Torah aliyah of the Torah chanting service (normally a brief repetition of the 7th aliyah, though on holidays the Maftir portion usually focuses on the Holiday as described in the Torah).  The person who recites the Maftir blessing also recites the blessing over the Haftarah portion.
       
    • Haftarah refers to an additional portion from the Nevi'im (Prophets) read after the weekly Torah portion. The person who made the maftir blessing also recites the blessing for the Haftarah, and may even read the Haftarah before the congregation.
       
    • Brit Chadashah refers to New Testament readings which are added to the traditional Torah Reading cycle. Often blessings over the Brit Chadashah are recited before and after the readings.
       
    • Mei Ketuvim refers to a portion read from the Ketuvim, or writings in the Tanakh. Readings from the Ketuvim are usually reserved for Jewish holidays at the synagogue.
       
    • Perek Yomi Tehillim refers to the daily portion of psalms (mizmorim) recited so that the entire book of Psalms (Tehillim) is read through in a month. For a schedule, of daily Psalm readings, click here.
       
    • Gelilah refers to the tying up and covering the Sefer Torah (Torah Scroll) as an honor in the synagogue.
       
    • Divrei Torah ("words of Torah") refers to a commentary, a sermon, or devotional on the Torah portion of the week.

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