Wit vs. Witness

“When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.”
— Abraham Joshua Heschel

1 Clement Online

For anyone interested, I recently posted the full text to the First Epistle of Clement on my (s-l-o-w-l-y progressing) eTexts site. It is an original translation from the Greek by Kevin P. Edgecomb which I have been given permission to post. It includes all 67 chapters and is searchable. If you’re not familiar with 1 Clement, it would behoove you to familiarize yourself with it. It’s a worthy study and contains some very valuable information. D. Thomas Lancaster frequently refers to it in FFOZ’s Torah Club commentary on the Apostolic Scriptures.

As a brief introduction, Eerdman’s Bible Dictionary says this about it:

Clement, Epistles of. Two writings, a letter and a homily, included among the works of the Apostolic Fathers and traditionally attributed to Clement of Rome, the third bishop of Rome and mistakenly identified by some early writers as a disciple of Peter. Both works were appended to the New Testament in Codex Alexandrinus, and 1 Clement was regarded by some Church Fathers as canonical.

1 Clement, written ca. A.D. 96, was sent by the bishop of Rome to the church at Corinth, where a bitter dispute had resulted from the removal of certain presbyters. An important document regarding the development of ecclesiastical hierarchy, the letter exhibits great familiarity with the LXX text of the Old Testament and with various sayings of Jesus as well as the Pauline Epistles and the Letter to the Hebrews.

Be sure to check it out here.

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin: The Rebbe’s Example

A wonderful video of Rabbi Telushkin, author of many books including A Code of Jewish Ethics, Volumes I & II. In this video, Telushkin brings out an important characteristic in the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the most important characteristic of a great leader: humility. He then relates this back to Moses, and the reasons why he was such a great leader. This is an excellent resource I will watch many times.

Celebrate Tu Bishvat!

What do wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, honey and/or dates and this month have in common? Two weeks from today is a minor holiday called Tu Bishvat. Tu Bishvat means the 15th (ו + ט) of the Hebrew month of Shevat. A few years ago our family started celebrating Tu Bishvat, and it has been a unique and fun time for the family to remember the provision of Hashem in our lives, as well as to do something for Him in a practical way.

So, you don’t understand Tu Bishvat and are not sure why you should celebrate it? First Fruits of Zion has just released two new resources to help believers both understand and celebrate this yearly event in a meaningful way, fully centered on Messiah Yeshua.

Since the second Temple, Tu Bishvat is a day that has been designated to demarcate time in regard to how the tithe from the produce of trees was given (I won’t go into the details now, but it is an interesting study). Since the destruction of the Holy Temple, this date has lost much of its significance. However, during the Middle Ages there was a resurgence which made the celebration of Tu Bishvat once again significant and meaningful. Once again, this date is being restored, but to believers.

PLANT, FFOZ’s first booklet, is designed to help you learn:

• that the fifteenth of Shevat (Tu Bishvat) was recognized in Temple times as an important day in Temple worship
• that Yeshua was aware of this day, and perhaps even taught about it
• the evolving history of its observance post-Temple
• activities and ideas about how to celebrate Tu Bishvat
• stories and encouraging testimonies from believers in the land of Israel about modern observances

BLOOM is a Tu Bishvat Haggadah, similar to a Passover Haggadah, which will walk you through enjoying a Tu Bishvat seder in your home with family and friends. It is the most recent addition to the Vine of David “branch” of FFOZ.

BLOOM is inspired by the story of the early pioneers of the modern State of Israel. This seder reflects upon the dreams of a Jewish national homeland in the Promised Land throughout the centuries and its culmination with Zionism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Bloom is simple and not deeply mystical. It focuses the modern return of the Jewish people to their land as a part of the broader plan of world redemption.

Contemplate our Master Yeshua’s heart of thankfulness for the land and his lament as he perceived its destruction. Share in the vision of the Messianic Jewish luminaries who longed to see that hope restored in the State of Israel, the “beginning of the sprouting of our redemption.”

Since all of the observances related to Temple worship are not currently in effect, modern Tu Bishvat has observances similar to Arbor Day in which trees are planted in Israel, often in memory of a loved one. This year, we have a special goal. We want to send the funds to Israel to plant a sapling in the name of our unborn child we recently lost. Maybe you have a similar situation and would like to remember a loved one. The Jewish National Fund is a great place to accomplish this.

Tu Bishvat for 2011 is Thursday, January 20th

If you’ve never experienced Tu Bishvat, this year can be your first. Don’t delay. Order these resources today so that you will have them in time for your seder. Experience something unique and special with your family while making a difference in the world.

Israel Rolls the Stone Away

As many of you know, one of my favorite daily studies (outside of Torah Club) is A Daily Dose of Torah from Artscroll. In the Torah Thought for the Day section this past Tuesday there was an interesting concept. It relates the story of when Jacob (although weary from his travels and lack of rest) met Rachel at the well, he was easily able to roll the stone off of the well single-handedly (where it was implied that it took many men to do this). This is interpreted midrashically as a portent of a future event in which the “great stone, symbolic of our sins, which prevents the exile from coming to an end, until Yaakov himself will come and remove it, like one removing a cork from a bottle.”

I can easily see this representation in the rolling away of the stone of Yeshua’s burial site. When the stone was rolled away, Yeshua’s resurrection & his work of redemption & triumph over sin and death are realized, as Paul speaks about in 1 Corinthians 15:50-58:

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

(1 Corinthians 15:50-58 ESV)