Digging with Darren

One exciting thing about the conference was the re-release of Paul Philip Levertoff’s Love and the Messianic Age, a chasidic-orthodox insight into the message of the Gospel in relation to a chasidic frame of reference, drawing from some of the deepest of mystical texts within Judaism. It was released in hardback (a first for FFOZ) under a new publishing arm of FFOZ called Vine of David (which I will have to discuss at a later date). It is a small book, but packed with a lot of punch. Therefore, they simultaneously released a study guide (which is actually larger than the book) in which Daniel Lancaster and others break down concepts that appear within the text and try to guide the uninitiated reader into a working knowledge of the principles Levertoff uses to explain his discourse. Unless you are extremely familiar with rabbinic works (especially chasidic ones), I suggest you acquire the book and study guide as a set. Lord willing, I hope to publish a full review of the text in the days ahead.

This is a recent video from Toby Janicky of FFOZ. This is teaching #8 in a series called “Mishlei Musings.” (”Mishlei” is the Hebrew name for the book of Proverbs.) This episode is called “The Fruit of Humility.” It would have really helped me if I had watched this before we went into Passover, per my last post.

Rambam/Maimonides

Recently, Daniel Lancaster posted a great article on how the rejection of Yeshua/Jesus in large by the Jewish community can be compared in some ways to the same rejection Rambam (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, 12th century Spain, known for his monumental codification of Jewish Law, and 13 Foundational Principles of the Jewish Faith) written by Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein. It’s too good not to share. You can read up on it here: http://tinyurl.com/c6yafm

If you don’t know about FFOZ’s project to restore the writings of past Messianic leaders from bygone days, it would be worth your while to check it out. FFOZ is undertaking a monumental task of 1) finding, 2) translating, 3) republishing, and in some cases 4) adding additional commentary to the works of these incredible heros of our movement. If you want to hear it from the horse’s mouth (no offense, Boaz), here is part 1 and part 2 of their Back Office video giving all of the details of this endeavor:

FFOZ Back Office – Lost Luminaries of Messianic Judaism Part1

FFOZ Back Office – Lost Luminaries of Messianic Judaism Part2

FFOZ’s new online resource—TorahPortions.org—is now live. It is going to be a really great resource for weekly Bible study.

At a glance, you can see the weekly reading from the Torah, the Prophets and the Gospels, as well as:

• A topical outline for the current readings
• A summary of the weekly Torah reading
• Messianic commentary with insights on the weekly reading
• A preview of next week’s reading
• Any specific weekly reading throughout the year
• Downloadables & resources with more to come

Be sure to check it out and pass it along to anyone who you think would appreciate it. We really want to get the word out on this valuable online tool.

Yesterday brought to an end First Fruits of Zion’s Shabbat Shalom Shavuot Conference in Hudson, Wisconsin. Today, we are driving back towards Arkansas pondering the events, teachings and new relationships with which we are bringing back with us. Thinking back over the events of the conference, probably the most significant factor of the conference for our family was being a part of the Beth Immanuel community. Shabbat was exceptionally nice, with the ability to have several homes a park and a playground within walking distance from the shul. During the conference we were able to spend time at the homes of Justin Johnson and his family, as well as Brian Tebbitt and his family. It was hard to leave these good friends. In regard to other aspects of the Beth Immanuel community, it was both very encouraging and very depressing to see how advanced their community has become. It was encouraging to see what Hashem is doing, but yet disheartening at the same time to realize the wide chasm between where we are as a community in relationship to Beth Immanuel and the long journey that was still ahead of us.

The theme of conference this year was “Shabbat Shalom.” And although there were lectures on the topic of Shabbat, from my point of view it could have just as easily been called the “Pray In The Spirit Extended Remix” conference. It seemed the primary focus of the conference was prayer and the introduction of the highly anticipated siddur project. And for all those who are anxiously awaiting the new siddur, here’s the scoop:

We were hoping to bring back the Shabbat siddur, but it is still incomplete. In defense of First Fruits, the main reason this has not been completed is because of their deep understanding of their responsibility of creating a resource such as this with excellence. (They compared it to trying to edit Shakespeare without it being obvious – a great analogy. I will explain more about this later.) We were, however, able to experience the first fruits of their labor in draft form in our day to day services during the conference. I plan on sharing more on this later, but need to cover my bases as to what is “shareable” or not. Keep your eyes peeled for more info on this in the next few days…

Better late than never… Here are my notes from the “To Whom Shall We Go?” seminar last month. I hope they come in handy for someone. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about trying to decipher them.

Right-click (pc) or Control-click (mac!) to download: