August 29, 2010 / 19 Elul, 5770
Dear Berean,
Ruminations
Rumination #47: Are we to maintain "Jewish identity" and "Gentile identity" as separate and distinct in the One Body of Messiah?
There are some in Messianic Judaism who think that this is a prime directive of the Scriptures. Rightfully, they see the horrible atrocities inflicted upon the Jewish people that resulted in the theft of Israel's identity by the early Christian church. Rightfully, they are concerned about how often times, Gentiles have lead Israel astray. But regarding the need to maintain a separate and distinct identity they are wrong. There is only one identity for the believer and follower of Messiah: In Him, we are One People.
An argument is made from Acts 15, and Acts 21 that Jewish and Gentiles believers are given different standards of righteousness. Of course, this is demonstrably false, but there are some that in an effort to maintain Jewish identity in Messianic Judaism have falsely argued that the Torah is only an invitation to Gentiles, whereas to Jews it is an obligation. Arguing that the Apostles only obliged Gentile believers to some mythical "moral" code plus the four dictates of Acts 15:20; 29; 21:25 misses the entire point. Those that espouse such a theology are focused on the righteous standard at expense of the greater picture: One People in Messiah.
The fact is, there are clear and explicit instructions found within the Scriptures that tell us how Gentiles and Jews are to be identified within the People of G-d - and it isn't to be distinct and separate. Beloved, please remember this: there are no instructions either in the TaNaKh, or in the Apostolic Scriptures that tell us that we must maintain distinct "Jewish identity" and "Gentile identity." None. In fact we read of just the opposite:
One ordinance shall be for you of the assembly and for the stranger [ger, Gentile] who dwells with you, an ordinance forever throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before HaShem.
Numbers 15:15Therefore remember that you, once [former] Gentiles in the flesh - who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands - that at that time you were without Messiah, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without G-d in the world. But now in Messiah Yeshua you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances [man-made rules of distinction], so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to G-d in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
...the mystery...that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Messiah through the gospel.
Ephesians 2:11-16; 3:6
Some time ago a well-known Messianic leader and I were discussing this passage because he was insisting on a cultural distinction between Jew and Gentile. He was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home and is concerned how "Messianic Gentiles" were blurring the "cultural distinctions." Of course, he knew by my surname that my father was Scot-Irish. I asked him, what in my mind, was a pivotal question: "Are you and I in the same family, the family of Abraham?" I was surprised by his response. "No we aren't," he said. That is where such a faulty theology leads us: apartheid in the Body of Messiah. G-d forbid. While we may have many distinct cultures within the world-wide Body of Messiah, we have one standard of righteousness. The Torah is not "cultural," as some are purporting.
While some will come up with convoluted and contradictory theologies to explain away our One identity in Messiah, the fact is that their efforts to invite Gentiles and to obligate Jews to the Torah are a dangerous deviation from the biblical instructions we have regarding our single identity in Messiah. In Him, our identity is Israel.
Jew and Gentile, One in Messiah. We have One King, we are One People, and we have been given One Torah.
Parashat Nitzavim - 'You are standing' (Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20)
When it is not a leap year, this week two half-portions are read: Nitzavim and Va'yelech.
The title for this week's portion comes from verse 9 (verse 10 in your English Bibles),
Atem nitzavim ha-yom kulkhem lif'nei HaShem Elokeikhem...
All of you stand today before HaShem your G-d...
It goes on to tell us in verse 11 (verse 12 in English) the reason why they are standing on the Plains of Moab that day - on the threshold of going into the Land:
...l'av'r'cha biv'rit HaShem Elokeicha...
...that you may enter into covenant with HaShem your G-d...
We need to look at this word "covenant" found here in this week's parasha.
New Covenant, or Renewed Covenant?
There has been a debate in Messianic circles for a number of years on whether the "New Covenant" spoken of in the Gospels, 1Corinthians, and Hebrews is "new" or "renewed." The debate has centered on the Greek words used. The question is unfortunate in my mind, because it is missing some very important points regarding covenants in general - and at best such a discussion is a distraction. The incorrect focus comes when one tries to fit millennia of anti-Semitic theology into the explosion of interest in the Hebraic nature of our faith. The first step in some people's minds is to better explain what that last third of our Bibles is called. Many Messianics want to call it the "Brit Chadashah" - or, the "New Covenant." The problem of course with that, is that one is attaching a Hebrew name to a portion of our Bibles - using the same mistaken perspective. The books in the "New Testament" are not the "New Covenant" - so calling them by a Hebrew name (Brit Chadashah) still does not correctly convey what they represent. In contrast, will you call the pages before Matthew 1:1 the "Old Covenant?" This is fraught with error, stemming from a misunderstanding of the very word "covenant."
Oddly, the "New Testament" contains no covenants. It surely shows some fulfillments of the New Covenant - but this portion of Scripture itself is not a covenant in and of itself.
If you were to read a commentary on biblical covenants you would read about various covenants named various things. Some books will call the first covenant between G-d and man the "Adamic Covenant" (and some would say the "Edenic Covenant"). The next would be the "Noahic Covenant, " followed by the "Abrahamic Covenant, " the "Mosaic Covenant" and the "Davidic Covenant. " Last in most commentaries will be the New Covenant.
While I do not agree with all the distinctions that most commentators make in this simplistic list of biblical covenants, let's assume for a moment that the list is a fair representation. With that in mind, tell me, which covenant is the one being executed on the Plains of Moab in Deuteronomy 29?
Go back to our Scripture portion again, in Deuteronomy 29:12 in your English Bible. These people are standing at the threshold of the Land and are being told that they are there to make a covenant with the G-d of the Universe. So I ask you again, which covenant is this? Is this the Mosaic Covenant - the Deutero-Mosaic Covenant - the Semi-Mosaic Covenant - the Moabic Covenant or what?
The fact is, as most students of the Torah know, the Scripture makes no such demarcation with this covenant, or any covenant except the New Covenant. As most students of the Torah know, there are multiple covenants listed between Sinai and this place on the Plains of Moab.
While I can appreciate Covenant Theology and what it brings to the table in the way of recognizing how G-d interacts with man, sometimes establishing a theological system can obscure some very obvious truths. So, here is one for you to take to the bank. Pay attention because it will shape the way you see the word "covenant" from here on out. Are you ready? Here it is: Just like the Apostolic Scriptures are not a covenant, the Torah, itself, is not a covenant.
There are multiple covenants identified within the Torah. And, there is a direct correlation between the Sinai Covenant and the Torah - but that is the same correlation between the Torah and every covenant made by G-d from the beginning.
The Torah is G-d's self-revelation. It contains descriptions of what His righteousness and His holiness "looks like" when manifested in this world. It describes what His acts of redemption "look like." In the sense that the Torah is the "shape" of Him, we are able to see an outline of the One who makes these covenants with man - but that shape is not the covenant itself.
What were the terms, or stipulations of the covenant made on Sinai? Did the people not pledge fidelity to G-d? Did not G-d also pledge His love and fidelity to Israel? Did the people not break that pledge immediately with the Golden Calf incident? But here is my question - was the covenant then annulled? No it was not. The people broke the covenant in a matter of days - but was it not still binding? Yes it was. Certainly, G-d does not cast them off, does He? Instead, He immediately makes a new covenant with Israel. Yes, you read that right. As every student of the Torah knows, the covenant made in Exodus 20 and following was broken by the people almost immediately, and G-d's response was to inscribe a new set of Tablets with the Ten Words on them (Ten Commandments). Beloved, this event was the institution of a new covenant no matter what anyone ever tells you. Here it is in Exodus 34:10:
And He said: "Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of HaShem. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you."
Exodus 34:10
If you were to continue reading in Exodus 34 you would read the stipulations of this covenant. It is not the same covenant made some days earlier - the covenant that the people broke. What changed? The One Who made the covenant was the same G-d. The measurement of fidelity, written in ten broad commands was the same. The people who were parties to this new covenant were the same people (except for the fact that some of the previous offenders were dead). Even the medium for writing the measurement of fidelity was the same - stone tablets. What was different? Nothing.
Beloved, pay attention to this, because this is what we are seeing on the Plains of Moab in this week's portion. This covenant that is being made between G-d and the people of Israel is far-reaching. The blessings and the curses that were named last week and this week are certainly going to apply. The confusion that most people have with these covenants is that they sound so similar. All the covenants G-d makes through His prophet Moses sound the same. But they are not the same covenant. That is why the "Mosaic Covenant" as a title far too simplistic (although I am not necessarily opposed to lumping all of these together under such a title for simplicity's sake). If you err in this understanding you will have a very difficult time when you begin to learn about the New Covenant.
So with all these covenants that appear to have the same ingredients but are not the same covenant - one must ask why not just make them one covenant that is being renewed each time? The reason why, is the same reason why the debate of New Covenant versus Renewed Covenant misses the point. None of these covenants annul the previous covenants. In fact, if you go back and read why G-d is even entering into covenant with the children of Israel - it is because of His covenants (plural) with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You will note that in each subsequent covenant, G-d is the same. The people who were the other parties to the covenants were descendants of the previous covenant (i.e. the same people), and the test of fidelity to the covenant is always the same - obedience to HaShem. Although different covenants, they share the same elements.
But wait, don't just take my word for it. Our Bible has within it, the inspired words of one of the greatest Torah-scholars who ever lived. Speaking of the covenant G-d made with Abraham, Paul writes:
And this I say, that the law [given at Sinai], which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by G-d in Messiah, that it should make the promise of no effect.
Galatians 3:17
Here is a principle that should be self-evident. Since G-d is unchanging, so too His covenants. For they are made by Him swearing on Himself. It should be obvious to us that no covenant made by G-d can ever annul a previous covenant. Our theology has blinded us at times to this truth. Here is a question I have for those who doubt this Scripture, and this biblical principle: If G-d can annul the Covenant made at Sinai (and Moab etc.), by the New Covenant - what makes you so sure He won't do it again with an even Newer Covenant?
When I pose that question to some people they get very defensive. They know full well, that our only hope lies in the unchanging promises and covenants of the Maker of Heaven and Earth.
So, where does the New Covenant fit into all of this? As most students of the Torah know, the New Covenant is not a "New Testament thing." You see, the brit chadashah [New Covenant] as described in Jeremiah 31:31-34 is not speaking of "new" in the sense of chronological as much as in the sense of something being different. In our western minds, we think "new" is something that follows "old." But that is not the way it works. Let me show you. This is quoted in the Epistle to the Hebrews as well.
Behold, the days are coming, says HaShem, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says HaShem. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says HaShem: I will put My Torah in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their G-d, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know HaShem,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says HaShem. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
Jeremiah 31:31-34
If you read this passage in context you will see that this is a covenant between G-d and the house of Israel and the house of Judah. This covenant will not be like the "covenant which they broke" (which covenant was that? - as you have seen, it is not so easy an answer). This New Covenant will be different from the covenant that they broke. This New Covenant is what Yeshua was speaking of at His last Seder with His talmidim. This New Covenant is what the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews was speaking of when he quotes this passage. Here are my questions for you to ponder:
When you can answer those questions from Scripture, rather than your theological position, you will have a far greater understanding of the New Covenant.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 is prophetic about an event that has not yet fully occurred. That is because this is a national event. It is about the House of Israel and the House of Judah. Our parasha deals with this same event. In the cycle of disobedience and restoration described in the Book of Deuteronomy, we come to a place in Deuteronomy 30 where a very important thing is revealed - a prophecy of something that has not yet occurred. I believe it is a prophecy of the final redemption - and the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy of the New Covenant.
Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where HaShem your G-d drives you, and you return to HaShem your G-d and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that HaShem your G-d will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where HaShem your G-d has scattered you. If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there HaShem your G-d will gather you, and from there He will bring you. Then HaShem your G-d will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. And HaShem your G-d will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love HaShem your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. Also HaShem your G-d will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. And you will again obey the voice of HaShem and do all His commandments which I command you today.
Deuteronomy 30:1-8
Beloved, what is it to have a circumcised heart? Is this not the difference between the "covenant which they broke" and the New Covenant? Is this not what Ezekiel is speaking of?
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your G-d.
Ezekiel 36:26-28
You should recognize this passage as a primary passage regarding the New Covenant - but again, this is a prophecy that has not yet fully come to pass because it is tied like Deuteronomy 30 to a yet future restoration of Israel and Judah.
Beloved, Paul makes this direct connection between the events prophesied of Deuteronomy 30 and the New Covenant. In fact, he ties all of these to faith as well. He quotes right from Deuteronomy 30:11 regarding what I call this "New Covenant prophecy."
But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach).
Romans 10:8
Herein lies the issue at hand. Most folks equate the New Covenant as being a covenant of faith - and every other covenant as not being of faith. That is a false assumption. All of G-d's covenants are covenants of faith, but the New Covenant is a covenant of enablement.
For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
Deuteronomy 30:11-14
Beloved, can you see that the New Covenant is something all believers have participated in from the beginning? What sets this covenant apart is the fact that it is written on our hearts. Circumcised hearts. It was written there for one purpose: that we may live in covenant fidelity. In other words, the New Covenant is a covenant of faithfulness on our part. Deuteronomy 30 is prophesying that this New Covenant is something that the people of Israel will all participate in corporately - nationally - at a time yet future from us now. It is not separate from the covenant at Sinai - it is actually expressed within it.
The modern interpretation of the New Covenant places it as separate, and distinct from all of G-d's other covenants (remember, this does not work because a subsequent covenant cannot annul a previous covenant - Galatians 3:17). They would represent the New Covenant and what they call the Old Covenant as exclusionary things. This is not the way they are spoken of in Scripture. This would be a better representation of the relationship to the covenants of G-d. Circles of inclusion.
If you trust in the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and follow HaShem's righteous Messiah, Yeshua, then you and I are the first fruits of that New Covenant. Baruch HaShem!
Haftarat Nitzavim - 'You are standing' (Isaiah 61:10-63:9)
This week's haftarah is the last in the series of seven haftarot of consolation that are read between Tisha B'Av and Rosh Hashana. Our time of repentance is now being summed up in the approach of the High Holy Days. Yom T'ruah [Rosh HaShana], and Yom Kippur are coming. Sukkot is coming. The King is in the field. Our redemption draws nigh.
This haftarah sums it all up. Israel is once again is reminded that HaShem's anger with her is forgotten. Not only has HaShem forgiven Israel, His great favor is upon her.
It is rather easy, when you read the news to discount this week's reading from the Prophets as literal. After all, how is it possible that what we see in regard to Israel can ever be what we see in Isaiah? It depends upon whether you believe G-d's Word or not.
When the news of the day invites despair; when the nations rant against the chosen; when the current leaders of the State of Israel consider selling their inheritance and dividing their Land for some promise of "peace" - there is one thing that we should focus upon: the Promises. Then we will remember the One Who Promises. He is faithful. He always does what He says. Our hope is not in the promises of man. Our fear is not of the curses of man. It is solely upon the Holy One of Israel, blessed is He. And He says,
For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns.
Isaiah 62:1
There is no declaration of "Arab unity" that can undo it. There is no President or Secretary of State of the United States that can negate the words. There is nothing any coalition of world leaders who hate Israel can do. Nothing. HaShem's word stands. It "stands," where Israel is standing. And she will stand... forever.
Prayer Forcus for Nitzavim - 'Kedushat HaYom'
On Shabbat, the daily prayers are different. The Shemoneh Esrei has fewer paragraphs and some of the blessings are completely different. The afternoon [Minchah] version of the Kedushat HaYom blessing blesses the Almighty for the unique position in which Israel stands.
You are One, and Your Name is One; and who is like Your people Israel, one nation on earth. The splendor of greatness and the crown of salvation, the day of contentment and holiness You have given to Your people…
-- ArtScroll Translation
Parashat Va'yelech - 'And He Went' (Deuteronomy 31:1-30)
The title for this parasha comes from the first word of verse 1:
Va'yalech Moshe vay'daber et ha-de'varim ha'eleh el-kol Yisra'el
Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.
Deuteronomy 31:1
Moses is about to say, "good-bye." Our year-long journey through the Torah is drawing to a close. Like the generation standing on the Plains of Moab about to go into the Promised Land, we have a lot of history behind us. Like them, we have been reminded of our abject failure in faithfully following HaShem. And if that is not enough, we are presented with this week's parasha to make us feel even worse... At least that is what we are often led to believe.
Throughout the book of Deuteronomy Moses has alternated between outlining the responsibilities of these Covenant people - and the terrifying prophecies of their future failure, and the curses that accompany their sin. If we are not careful, we will fall into the same despicable pit of spiritual snobbery as so many Bible commentators have. So many of history's most notable theologians and commentators have read these passages and concluded that:
All in all, they seem to have learned nothing from the "Old Testament" (as they put it) other than the fact that they are glad they are not Jews living in such a "dark dispensation" as some put it. And in that state of spiritual snobbery, they may have missed much of the point.
Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were immersed into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Messiah. But with most of them G-d was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Messiah, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
1Corinthians 10:1-12
Let's briefly look at a few things that Paul is trying to tell us in this passage.
We are not under a different standard, but the same standard. We are not reading about the "mean god of the Old Testament versus the nice god of the New." The account of the people who died in the wilderness was written as an example so we would not do as they did. They all had an apparent "spiritual experience" - they were immersed, they drank of spiritual drink, they appeared to follow Messiah. They were not as they appeared. Why? Their lives did not reflect their "spiritual experience." Notice their faults:
They were all "members" of the community of faith, Israel. They were not all as they seemed. Notice that nowhere does Paul say that their failing was in "keeping Jewish Law" (as our traditional commentators keep incorrectly identifying the Torah of HaShem).
Of course, so many traditional commentators treat the Torah, the Law, as a sort of punishment for Israel because of their hard-heartedness. In their approach, the Torah of HaShem as "Jewish Law" is to be explained away with all manner of theological machinations like dispensationalism, or supercessionism. In so doing, they are doing the very thing that Israel sinned in - not taking G-d at His Word, and by not walking obediently after Him. In one breath they criticize Israel for not obeying G-d because of their "hard-hearts," and in the next breath they say, "Come on, eat some ham on Easter! You are not under the LAW." Such malice and hatred is stunning.
Instead, what does the traditional commentator take from the example of those who died in the wilderness?
"Whew, sure is a good thing that G-d lowered the bar!"
Or
"Aren't we glad we aren't like those hard-hearted Jews."
Beloved, G-d did not lower the bar, and we all find ourselves of the same sinful stock.
His challenge to Israel on the Plains of Moab was not merely a depressing reminder of their failures - and a future account of their more complete failure. No indeed. You see, the book of Deuteronomy is not only a history of past failures and a prophecy of future ones - it is a prophecy of complete redemption. In past weeks we have seen this very thing - a repeated promise of complete redemption for Israel. Not merely a redemption from the slave masters of Egypt, Babylon, or Rome; but a redemption that begins the earthly Kingdom of Messiah. Now I know that most "Prophecy Conferences" only focus on books like Revelation, Daniel, and Matthew; but as such they are missing the grand-daddy of them all: Deuteronomy.
We would do well not to take verses of Deuteronomy out of context, and to always remember that there is an ultimate end to the back and forth between obedience and disobedience. Watch the see-saw of emotion here in this week's portion:
Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them [people of Canaan]; for HaShem your G-d, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.
Deuteronomy 30:6Behold, you [Moses] will rest with your fathers; and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.
Deuteronomy 31:16
But where is the measurement of their failures (the Torah, the witness) to be found?
Take this Book of the Torah, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of HaShem your G-d, that it may be there as a witness against you.
Deuteronomy 31:26
Ah, yes. The witness and standard that speaks against their (and our) failure and sin is beside the Ark of the Covenant. Even with the Tablets within the Ark itself. Why? Because this is where it belongs - in the heart of the worshipper. At the very Throne of the Majesty on High. Beloved, the Torah is not banished from the Throne of Grace - it resides within it.
Without a doubt, it condemns the sinner. But without a doubt its provisions of redemption become the legal basis for our substitutionary atonement through the Perfect Lamb, Messiah Yeshua. And as redeemed people, it is even now being written on our hearts as a witness of Grace. Remember what so many commentators have missed in the example of those who died in the wilderness: Grace is not permissive of sin. Grace is enablement to not sin. Grace is seen in the Torah being written on our hearts. This is one of the promises of the New Covenant.
Next week, we will glory in the Song of Moses. A song that was sung over 3,400 years ago on the Plains of Moab. It is a song that is united with the Song of the Lamb in Revelation 15:3. We would do well not to dismiss these words as so many do in theological arrogance. Until then, as you read this week's portion remember where this all ends up - in the Kingdom of Messiah Yeshua, with Israel acting as host to the nations.
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of HaShem's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of HaShem, to the house of the G-d of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the Word of HaShem from Jerusalem.
Isaiah 2:2-3
Prayer Focus for Va'yelech - 'Arise HaShem'
As the Torah scroll is taken from the ark, before it is read each Shabbat in the synagogue, the following prayer is recited by the congregation. It comes from Numbers 10:35 and from Isaiah 2:2.
When the Ark would travel, Moses would say, "Arise HaShem, and let Your foes be scattered, let those who hate You flee from You." For from Zion the Torah will come forth and the word of HaShem from Jerusalem. Blessed is He Who gave the Torah to His people in Israel in His holiness.
-- Artscroll Translation
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Standing in Prayer with all Israel,
Rick Spurlock
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