Volume 1, #8  NL

March 24, 2023

Nisan 2, 5783

ROSH CHODESH MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

Let's share what HaShem is doing around the world!

Let's build His Kingdom together

preparing for His return!



Click here to visit our website.

FROM RABBI KEN "MACCABEES" MACNEIL



UMJA PRESIDENT

Shalom shalom mishpucha v chaverim (family and friends),  


I hope everyone had a blessed Purim! We now are closing in on the moed of Pesach which is most central to our belief and faith in our Lord Yeshua. 


We all know Yeshua as our sacrificial Lamb, the Lamb of G-d. But what exactly was the Pesach korban/sacrifice one might ask? The Hebrew word Korban translates to “something that draws near.”  The korbanot/sacrifices offered enabled us to draw near to G-d. 


Most people assume that Yeshua was solely our chatat/sin sacrifice, which was offered up during the festival of Pesach, but this was not entirely correct. There were basically 5 types of sacrifices offered in the Temple.  


A sin offering could be offered individually for someone by the Cohen Gadol/High Priest, or for all of Israel which occurred during Yom Kippur.  There was the Olah/burnt offering that was completely consumed as an offering to the Lord.  Then, there was the Asham/Guilt offering and a Mincha/meal and drink offering given from the first fruits of one’s efforts.


So, what type of offering was the Passover Lamb? It was known as the Zebach Shelamim offering/The Peace Offering.  Yeshua was all these offerings in one.


Hebrews 10:5-7 “This is why, on coming into the world, he says, “It has not been your will to have an animal sacrifice and a meal offering; rather, you have prepared for me a body. No, you have not been pleased with burnt offerings and sin offerings. Then I said, ‘Look! In the scroll of the book, it is written about me. I have come to do your will.’”


Scripture speaks about peace/Shelamim makers. 


 

Matthew 5:9 CJB “How blessed are those who make peace, for they will be called sons of G-d.



How would first century Jewish ears have understood what making peace with G-d entailed? It would have consisted of bringing up your Shelamim offering (root word Shalom/Peace). This was the only offering that a person took home and ate with their family and community, symbolic of having a meal with G-d!


This is why Yeshua was our Passover Lamb. He first ate with disciples, G-d, and then with all of us! Every year we are invited to dine with our master as we await His return.


1 Corinthians 11:24 CJB “And after he had made the b’rakhah he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this as a memorial to me.”

 

During the Passover meal we are commanded to see ourselves as if we personally had been taken out of Egypt.  As followers of Yeshua, we not only put on our symbolic sandals as if we came out of Egypt, but we also rejoice as we dine with our Lord!


Chag Pesach Sameach B’shem Yeshua!



Happy Passover in the Name of Jesus!


Announcement!

Mazel tov Rabbi Greg!

We're so blessed

to have you!

Congratulations to

Rabbi Greg

(Shmaryahu)

Lehtimaki

At the last meeting of the Beit Din, we unanimously voted to welcome Rabbi Greg as our new Vice President!


In any instances where Rabbi Ken is attending conferences or traveling as we found last month, Rabbi Greg will step in to handle needed business and keep the ship running smoothly.


More Besorah Tovah for the UMJA!


We Celebrate a Great Deliverance!


"This will be a day for you to remember and

celebrate as a festival to Adonai; from generation to generation

you are to celebrate it by a perpetual regulation. For seven days you are to eat matzah — on the first day remove the leaven from your houses. For whoever eats hametz [leavened bread] from the first to the seventh day is to be cut off from Isra’el."


Exodus 12:14-15 CJB


"Behold,

the lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world."


John 1:29


Lessons of Hametz for the “Acharit-Hayamim”

(lessons of yeast for the end of the days)


By Rabbi Gabriel Lumbroso


The designated times in HaShem’s calendar all point to the redemptive work of Messiah. Yom Kippur speaks of Israel’s national repentance leading up to national redemption, but Passover is all about personal repentance and redemption, leading up to Yom Kippur.


In his exhortations to the mostly Gentile congregation in Corinth, Sha’ul teaches the tenets of the Torah by using the events surrounding Passover and the Exodus from Egypt. Twice it makes mention: “These things happened to them as prefigurative historical events, and they were written down as a warning to us who are living in the “acharit-hayamim,” the end of days.  (1 Corinthians 10:11, CJB)


If, in the first century, Sha’ul said that these events were written for those who are living in the acharit-hayamim, how much more are they for us 2000 years later? This idea reinforces the narrative of the Exodus from Egypt as something that might be even more relevant to us today than it even was to them.


1 Corinthians 10 teaches the first-century congregation the Torah according to the lessons learned in the desert—principles of godliness that we should learn ourselves. Using the episode of the Golden Calf, the shaliach warns the congregation of the sins of idolatry due to unbelief, revelry, and gluttony. He reminds them of the quail debacle to chide them about ungratefulness for the many blessings HaShem provided. But the Passover lessons do not start there.


The letter to the Corinthians was Sha’ul’s response to a letter that was sent to him from a concerned congregant. In the letter, the congregant complained about the immoral behavior of members, even of leadership. So, after five chapters of addressing the problem in no minced words, he starts his Passover analogies. Could it be that he wrote this letter around the time preceding Passover?


The congregation seemed to take no notice of its poor and naked spiritual condition. It even boasted of its so-called “liberties.” So, in the fifth chapter, after exposing the issues in no uncertain terms, Sha’ul condemns their behavior using a pascal analogy. “Your boasting is not good,” he says.


“Don't you know the saying, ‘It takes only a little hametz

to leaven a whole batch of dough?’”

(1 Corinthians 5:6, CJB)


In those days, when a Jewish woman prepared a loaf of bread, she mixed her flour with water and whatever else she may flavor it with, while adding yeast. The yeast transforms into a “culture.” Before she shapes her bread and sets it in the oven, she would keep some of that leavened culture as a starter for the next batch, reusing the same culture all year long, until Passover. The commandment to empty the house of leaven every year, meant she would discard what she had, and start over with a new culture after the Feast of Unleavened bread.


This lifestyle, tightly synchronized with the seasons and the feasts, providing Sha’ul an excellent midrash. The Spring feast first commemorates our redemption from Egypt through Moshe, the First Redeemer, and from the clutches of the enemy through Yeshua, the Second redeemer—the Prophet like unto Moshe (Deuteronomy 18:15). We need to renounce the old culture, the passing pleasures of sin as Moshe did and start again with a new culture. (Hebrews 11:25)


Hametz/leaven” represents the culture of pride through inordinate knowledge which puffs up (1 Corinthians 8:1). The shaliach exhorts us to get rid of the old hametz, "so that you can be a new batch of dough.”  In other words, we must prepare a new batch without leaven, meaning our new culture or meek humble obedience to His commandments.


“ …in reality, you are unleavened. For our Pesach lamb, the Messiah, has been sacrificed. Behold, it is a new day, so let us celebrate the Seder not with leftover hametz, the hametz of wickedness and evil, but with the matzah of purity and truth. Do not celebrate Pesach in the spirit of the old, proud disobedient ways, but in the newness of our redeemed soul.” (1 Corinthians 5:6-8, CJB)


Finally, as we attempt to rid our houses from all leaven during this season of Passover, we realize what an impossible job it is. In the same way, trying to rid ourselves from our sinful nature, we can only do our best. It is in this humble admission of human inadequacy that the sages composed this prayer to be said after cleansing a house from leaven: 


“All hametz in my possession,

which I have neither seen nor removed,

and of which I am unaware, is nullified and ownerless

like the dust of the earth.”

 

Thank HaShem for Yeshua, our Mashiach, who covers us with His Fatherly favor.


Surely, He is “our Pesach lamb, the Messiah, who has been sacrificed. So let us celebrate the Seder not with leftover hametz, the hametz of wickedness and evil, but with the matzah of purity and truth.”


Chag Sameach!

Isaiah 53


3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.




4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.


5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.


6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.


7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.



The First Passover


Rav Richard 'Aharon' Chaimberlin


THE VERY FIRST PASSOVER was observed in Egypt in approximately 1490 BCE.  It is the first of the annual holy days, one of the most popular holidays in Judaism, and increasingly popular in Christian circles, primarily due to the Messianic symbolism in the Passover seder. Christians also recognize that the "Last Supper" celebrated by Yeshua and His talmidim (disciples) was a Passover seder. 



Most of the invitations we have received to speak in Christian churches have been to teach about Passover or to do a Passover seder. The holidays in Leviticus 23 are normally considered to be "Jewish festivals." However, Leviticus 23:2 calls them moedei YHWH which means, the appointed times of YHWH. Biblically, these are not merely Jewish Feasts, but these are actually "the feasts of the LORD."



In Exodus 12, we find the instructions for the very first Passover. While some elements of that first Passover are still used in our celebrations today, there are other elements of that first Passover which were only for that one time, about 3500 years ago.



In Exodus 12:2, we read, "This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you." According to the Rabbis, the first day of Tishrei (normally in late September) was the day in which Adam was created, on the sixth day of Creation, Yom Shishi ("Friday"). Therefore, the Jewish New Year ("Rosh HaShanah") is observed on the first day of Tishrei, as the annual "birthday of Creation." However, when it comes to the celebration of the Holy Days as found in Leviticus 23, the month of Aviv (Nissan) in early spring is the first month of the year. This is the month we celebrate Passover.



An unblemished male lamb or goat one year old would be brought into the home on the tenth day of Aviv (Nissan). My grandmother had a pet lamb that she kept in her home. They can become rather endearing. Thousands of years ago, it wasn't unusual to allow farm animals in the house, as dirt floors were the norm. The lamb (or goat) would be kept in the home from the 10th day until the 14th day of Aviv and then was slaughtered.  This would be a difficult sacrifice, after the family had become attached to the animal after four days. 



The crucifixion of Yeshua took place approximately 4000 years after the Creation in Genesis 1. And we know from 2 Peter 3:8, that "with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." Yeshua was with his Father for 4000 years before He was sent to Planet Earth to die for the sins of the world. Symbolically, as God might reckon time, Yeshua went to the cross four days after Creation. This was not something that HaShem would do lightly.


He loved His son. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."  (John 3:16)


Click here to read the rest of the article on our Blog page.


Apparent Contradictions about the Resurrection 

in the Newer Testament



by Rav Richard ‘Aharon’ Chaimberlin



Someone once asked me if it disturbed me when I found contradictions in the Bible. There are many congregations in which this topic would be completely forbidden, but not here! In many Evangelic Christian churches, it is an article of faith that every word in the Bible (especially if it is a King James Version) is the inspired, inerrant Word of God. 


The Jewish people have done a remarkable job in preserving the Tanakh (O.T.). The Masorites of old set up a complex system of preserving the Hebrew text of the Bible, in which every word and letter of the Bible is counted. Some letters are written larger than surrounding letters, and some are smaller. There are occasional variant spellings, even misspellings. The Hebrew text was transmitted and preserved incredibly accurately for thousands of years. The ancient Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in late 1940s. When these Hebrew texts of the Bible from over 2000 years old were compared with the modern Hebrew manuscripts, only very few minor variances could be found.


This doesn't mean that there aren't minor apparent contradictions in the Tanakh. For example, it isn't easy to reconcile the accounts of the death of Saul in 1 Samuel 31 with 1 Chronicles 10. However, there seems to be more apparent contradictions in the Newer Testament.


One of the problems is that there are many more variant texts of the NT than of the Tanakh, even though the Tanakh is several hundred years older. Christians weren't nearly as careful in transmitting the texts of the NT as the Jews were in transmitting the Tanakh. Nevertheless, I am amazed and impressed that the Gentile scribes preserved the Jewishness of the NT, which remains an incredibly Jewish document. The original "autograph" texts of the First Century have long since disappeared due to the ravages of time. However, there were "discrepancies," even in the original Gospel accounts as penned by their authors.


Yeshua's talmidim (disciples) were expecting Messiah Yeshua to set up the Messianic Kingdom in their lifetimes, as we see in Acts 1:6, when they asked Him: "Lord, is it at this time that You are restoring the Kingdom to Israel?" This was a very logical question. Israel was under the very oppressive rule of Roman occupation. They no doubt expected Yeshua to return in their own lifetimes to set up this Kingdom. Perhaps for this reason, they waited a couple of decades before writing down the events of the life and times of Yeshua the Messiah. As they wrote their Gospels, they would have to gather information from others. Of the Gospel writers, only Matthew and Yochanan (John) were with Yeshua during his earthly ministry.


Luke and Mark had to rely on their memories of events which had become oral legends in composing their Gospels. According to the early Church Fathers, Matthew wrote his B'sorah (Gospel) in Hebrew.[1] In the 19th Century, liberal theologians came up with the idea that Mark's Gospel was the oldest. However, the historical evidence for this theory is totally lacking. The Church "Fathers" all agree that Matthew's Gospel is the first Gospel to be committed to paper. All four Gospels were written in the First Century of the Common Era. Yochanan's Gospel was the last to be written down, possibly after the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash (Temple) in 70 CE.[2]

         

It is beyond the scope of one article to delve into all of these apparent contradictions in the Newer Testament. I will concentrate on the ones surrounding the most pivotal event since Creation: The Resurrection of Messiah Yeshua.


The first ones to go to the empty tomb were the ladies. The men were hiding out, no doubt with locked doors. They had good reason to fear. The occupying Roman army had crucified thousands of Jews in the past, and had just recently crucified their Rabbi Yeshua, who they felt was the Messiah who would deliver Israel from the hands of the Romans. Their hopes were completely crushed. The men might have wanted to go to the tomb to ritually cleanse and anoint the body of Yeshua but feared that men going out to the tomb would be arrested by the Romans. Women represented less of a threat to the Romans and were less likely to be arrested.


Since none of the Gospel writers were with the ladies when they went to the tomb, they had to rely on the eyewitness testimonies of the ladies on what they had seen and heard. As the Gospel writers tried to assemble the facts, some minor apparent contradictions with each other arose in their written accounts.



First of all, how many women went to the tomb?

We read in Matthew 28:1 that "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave." It sounds to me like two women, but Mark 16:1 tells us that there were three women. And in Yochanan (John) 20:1, we find only one woman, Mary (Miriam) Magdalene going to the tomb. It is perhaps possible that all the Gospel writers were aware of three women going to the tomb, but simply didn't think it necessary to name them all.



When did the woman (or women) arrive at the tomb?

Mark 16:2 says it was at the rising of the sun, whereas John 20:1 says it was still dark.



How many angels (or men) were at the tomb?

Matthew 28:2-5 mentions one angel. Mark 16:5 says it was a young man. Luke 24:4 says it was two men. John 20:12 says there were two angels.[3]



Was the angel (or men) inside or outside the tomb?

Matthew 28:2 tells us that the angel was outsidesitting on the stone. Mark 16:5 tells us that it was a young mansitting insidethe tomb. Luke 24:4-5 tells us that two men were standing inside the tomb. John 20:12 says that one angel was sitting inside the tomb at the head and a second angel was sitting at the feet of where the Messiah had been laid.



To Whom did Yeshua first appear?

Matthew tells us that He first appeared to the women (28:10), and then to the eleven (28:16) talmidim (disciples). Luke tells the story of Yeshua appearing to two disciples on the road to Emmaus (24:13), which is unique to Luke's Gospel. Then Yeshua appeared to the eleven (24:33). John's Gospel tells us that Yeshua appeared to Mary only, and then to ten (20:24) disciples. 


Unique to John's Gospel, Thomas was absent, and unbelieving, saying he would not believe, "Unless I shall see in his hands the imprint of the nails and put my hand in his side (John 20:25)." Hence, the term, "Doubting Thomas."  I find great encouragement in the account about Thomas. He had obviously been greatly discouraged and must have desperately wanted to believe that Yeshua resurrected, but he dared not allow his hopes to rise again. The reappearance of the resurrected Yeshua changed all that. 


Thomas eventually made it all the way to India, where he founded a body of believers which was still in existence 1400 years later when the Portuguese began their colonial adventures in India. He eventually died a martyr's death on what became known as Mount St. Thomas in Madras, India.


         

It is possible to reconcile some of the differences in the accounts with inventiveness. Each Gospel writer included events that he felt were significant, leaving out events he felt were not so important. However, it really isn't important to me if all the events can be reconciled.




Is my faith totally blown away by these apparent contradictions?

 

No way! Instead, I would be suspicious if they all had the same exact story, verbatim. It would indicate that they all got together and contrived a story. In a court of law, if all the witnesses had the same exact testimony, it would demonstrate a conspiracy of deceit. 


Each of the disciples died a horrible martyr's death, except for Judas (who hung himself) and Yochanan. They would never have done this to keep a myth alive. The essential truth of the Resurrection gave them the courage to die for their Messiah rather than deny Him. 


Each Gospel writer tells the same essential truth of the Resurrection. To which I say, "Halleluyah! Because He lives, we can live forever!"


[1] Papias, Irenaeus, and Origen all lived in the 2nd Century AD, writing between 150 CE and 210 CE, testifying that Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew. Papias wrote that "Matthew composed the words in the Hebrew dialect, and each translated as he was able." (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History3:39.) Epiphanius, writing in 370 CE, wrote, "They (the Nazarenes) have the Gospel according to Matthew quite complete, in Hebrew, for this Gospel is certainly still preserved among them as it was first written, in Hebrew letters. (Ibid., 5:10.)

[2] "Common Era," equivalent to A.D.

[3] I don't want to make too big of a deal about whether they were men or angels. The Hebrew word for angels is malachim, which can be human messengers or angelic messengers. Angels normally looked like men in both Testaments.




Yeshivat Rabban Gamaliel

Starting Classes!



We are finalizing curriculum for the opening semester of the first UMJA Yeshiva, Rabban Gamaliel! 


Many courses are free to UMJA members. (See our members page for details.)


We're aiming for kick-off after Passover with over a dozen courses, and the Jewish Objections course is available now. 


Course details and an enrollment form are available on our Resource and Education page on our website.

Prayers are appreciated and love offerings are welcome through our donation page. 


For further questions, email Rav Yosef Koelner, our Rosh Yeshiva (director) at ravko@ix.netcom.com.



UMJA Annual Membership dues


Please check out the Members page on our website and update your contact info.

Also, please be reminded that we are past the March 1 deadline for membership dues for 2023.


The annual dues for a congregation or synagogue is $100/year. Individuals can join as Associates of the UMJA for $25 per year.


Thank you to all our members, as we labor together and prepare for Messiah's return!

Click here to visit our website

An Opportunity to Bless Israel


"Because Torah without kindness is nothing. It is not alive."

-RABBI YITSCHAK NAKI, DIRECTOR OF NOAM ELIEZER 


Our Mission is to help the poor families and children in Jerusalem and provide them with food and clothing.



Since 1993, Rabbi Yitschak Naki and his wife Zippora, started teaching in Synagogues and small groups. In 1996, they registered their initiative and established a rabbinical school

“Noam Eliezer Institute.”

Noam Eliezer Institute also started helping the poor of Jerusalem.

Families, widows, orphaned children and underprivileged immigrants, are given food vouchers, winter clothing

and student supplies through their ministry.


GO TO noameliezer.com to learn more.

For the Women!


A wonderful gift for mothers, wives, daughters, sisters who love Torah! Every issue is 50 colorful pages of helpful and inspiring articles. Find out about Passover PostcardsStickersPassover Metal Art, and activity books for children for Passover and Unleavened Bread from Bible Pathway Adventures. Ask about a free Passover Kit!

Torah Sisters is a bi-monthly magazine published in email format as well as hard copy. Click here to subscribe and to learn more.

PRAYER REQUESTS


  • Let's pray for continued REVIVAL as reports are flooding in with the great news that lives are being touched by the Spirit of G-d! Pray for divine outpouring across our hurting nation in America and around the world, and for a growing unity and bonds of understanding among believers.



  • Pray against the falling from grace and the destruction of many who have not held to the way of holy living and the obedience of the faith. May Adonai help us to help one another to stay the course and endure to the end that we might hear that great welcome home, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."



  • Pray for the kick off of the UMJA YESHIVA, now beginning! The Rabban Gamaliel Yeshiva is opening with more than a dozen courses. (See our website for more details.) Pray the LORD goes before us in every detail, for the teaching staff, and for our future students to be greatly blessed.



  • Pray for the growth of our outreach and impact around the world as we labor to make Him known in all our regions through all our studying, writing and teaching. Pray for material production of the textbook, “Writings of the Messiah,” as well as the Lamed Vav House, and other projects in the works.



  • Please pray for Rabbi Gary, member of our Beit Din, recently hospitalized and recovering from Covid. Pray his lungs and breathing return to normal and he is fully restored. From our lips to G'd's ears, hear us from heaven Father! We also continue to lift up Dr. Max's wife Angie, in Scotland.



  • Pray for UMJA conference in July! Pray for all the details to come together for the facility, musicians, speakers, and for preparation of heart as we come together for refreshing as a community.


  • Let's continue praying for the Father's blessing in the year 2023 according to the prayer of Moses in Tehillim 90 (see below). We are gathering momentum in the UMJA! May it all be for His great glory!



Email prayer requests and praises to the editor: prayer requests.

James 5:17-18

A Note from the Editor


This letter is intended for all believers

interested in studying and learning more

about Torah. The goal is to build connections

and edify one another as we prepare

for Messiah’s return! 

Please share this letter and invite friends,

family and congregants to

subscribe on our website

under the newsletter tab.

ARTICLES WANTED

  • Has the Lord been moving in your your part of the world? We need to learn from one another.  
  • Are you new to our UMJA family? We want to support one another.
  • Do you have a story or testimony to share? Let's encourage one another.  


Please send to the editor for a future issue.


IN THE NISAN CALENDAR


Nisan 2: First red heifer made ready - Num 19:1-21

Nisan 3: Levites ordained for Tabernacle service - Num 8:5-22

Nisan 5: Two spies sent to Jericho - Josh 2:1

Nisan 9: Triumphal entry - Mk 11:1-11, Selection of Paschal lambs - Ex 12:3

Nisan 11: Messiah enters Jerusalem and cleanses Temple - Mk 21:10-19

Nisan 13: Messiah prepares early seder with disciples - Mt 26:17-19

Nisan 14: Passover lambs slaughtered; Master is executed - Mt 26-27

Nisan 15: Israelites leave Egypt - Ex 12:28-51

Nisan 18: Messiah's Resurrection (traditional)

Nisan 21: Crossing of the Sea of Reeds (traditional) - Ex 14-15

Nisan 24: Master appears again to disciples and Thomas

Nisan 27: Holocaust Remembrance Day

Nisan 28: Walls of Jericho fall - Josh 6:20


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