TorahBytes: Household Responsibility (Mattot & Masei)

When a young woman still living in her father's house makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand. (Bemidbar / Numbers 30:3,4)

The Torah gives us an interesting perspective on household responsibility. The context of its directives on this issue assumes that a husband and father is to take responsibility for his wife and daughters respectively. Before we get into the main thing I wish to address, I want to mention that, contrary to what some may think, the Torah's understanding of the husband's and father's role in the household in no way degrades the worth of women. In fact the equality of males and females is made clear by the statement that vows made by widows and divorcees are binding (30:9). If women lacked value before God and within Israelite society, then their vows would be worthless or easily deemed invalid. The specific issue we are looking at, namely household responsibility, is not about the worth of individuals, but about the roles pertaining to households, in particular the special role given by God to husbands and fathers.

The Torah teaches that if a wife or daughter makes a vow (a promise to God), and her husband or father hears about it, he has the right to nullify it. But if he says nothing about it, then the vow stands. This clearly outlines for us the delineation of responsibility within the household. It is important to note that if the husband or father says nothing, then the vow is binding. If he nullifies it after a period of time, then "he is responsible for her guilt" (30:15).

I have the impression that we live in a day when husbands are, for the most part, disengaged from family life. Whether or not the husband and father is physically present with his family, fewer and fewer fathers get involved in the aspirations and desires of their wives and daughters. These principles apply to sons as well, though the context here is specifically wives and daughters.

Our passage assumes a certain level of involvement on the part of husbands and fathers. This kind of involvement is not simply about car pooling, family vacations, or other occasions when a man might just be present with his family. This kind of involvement implied by our passage is that when a husband or father is engaged sufficiently to hear and interact with the aspirations and desires of his wife and daughters.

The most crucial thing to understand before we can be the godly husbands and fathers we are called to be is that it is we who bear responsibility before God for our wives and daughters. Husbands and fathers will answer to God for their families. I know this is contrary to what many cultures believe today. I also know that this is contrary to what many people who adhere to the Bible believe today. But if this is the Torah's perspective on the delineation of responsibility in the household and this same perspective is expressed throughout the entire Bible, then accepting our special role of responsibility is necessary if we want to build godly households.

Too many men today, out of fear and intimidation, avoid confronting their families with what they know is right. God calls husbands and fathers to create the kind of boundaries in our homes that will protect our families from harm and lead them effectively in God's ways. This does not mean we run their lives for them or think on their behalf. But when they seek to step outside God's boundaries and we know better, God expects us to speak up. We will answer to God for every time we have failed to do so.

TorahBytes: Life Isn't Just Fun and Games (Pinhas)

"Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 1:8)

Jeremiah was called by God to be a prophet at a most difficult time in Jewish history. The northern kingdom of Israel had been overrun by the Assyrian empire many years prior and now the southern kingdom of Judah was in the hands of the Babylonian empire. Jeremiah would see the destruction of the temple and the vast majority of his people taken away into exile. God gave him the difficult job of telling the people that this was all due to God's judgment upon them and that they should submit to it. Even though the leadership of his day recognized God's call on his life, they regarded him as a traitor. Jeremiah took no delight in the message he was given to proclaim, but through it all he remained faithful to God and his word.

Jeremiah was at first intimidated by the task God gave him, due to his youth. But God told him not to be afraid, since God himself would be with him and would rescue him. To be honest, I wonder about these words. As the story of Jeremiah's life plays out, he had a pretty hard time of it. Besides having to live through the general hardships of his day, he had to endure the disregard for his message, personal criticism, imprisonment, and forced exile. How could these things happen, if God promised to take care of him? Did God not come through for Jeremiah?

In order to properly answer this question, we need to take a closer look at what God actually promised him and how it related to the difficulties he faced.

God didn't say that Jeremiah would not have a hard time. He said he would be with him and would rescue him. The fact is that even though Jeremiah had a hard life, he was able to remain true to his calling and survive through it all. We don't know the exact circumstance surrounding his death, but the list of kings provided at the beginning of his book makes it clear that he lived a long life.

My difficulty with understanding how God's promises are in keeping with Jeremiah's life has more to do with my personal distaste for hardship. When I read references in the Bible about God's commitment to be with his people forever, I tend to take that to mean that if God is real, and I have a right relationship with him, then my life is going to be comfortable.

I believe that one of the reasons why I think this way is due to some general misnomers I have about life. There's a part of me that believes that life is or should be about fun and games, so when I hear that the God of the Universe is with me, then I expect that things are going to work out the way that I want.

What has taken me many years to grasp is that life is actually a battle. Whatever our circumstances, we are all living in the midst of war - a cosmic battle between the forces of good and evil. It was just more obvious in Jeremiah's case than it might be for most of us, but we all share his call to some extent - the call to stand against the forces of evil, whatever the cost.

Once we can accept that life is not about fun and games, then we can see how much God was with Jeremiah and that he really did rescue him time and time again. And as we are willing to stand in the midst of the battles we face, we too can experience what it means for God to be with us and to be rescued by him.

TorahBytes: The Spiritual Roots of Illicit Behavior (Balak)

While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD's anger burned against them. (Bemidbar / Numbers 25:1-3)

The history of the people of Israel is fundamentally a spiritual one. As a nation created as a result of God's promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and then rescued by God from oppression in Egypt, Israel was called to be God's people. According to the Torah, the welfare of the nation would be dependent on its faithfulness to God. Israel was also to be the framework through which God would send the Messiah, the Savior of the whole world. Israel's history has also been designed to help the rest of the world understand spiritual principles.

Whenever Israel would turn to other gods, it would inevitably cause them great trouble. As we read in this week's parsha, before entering the Promised Land, Israel was in the vicinity of the nation of Moab. At some point they joined the Moabites in their worship of the false god, Baal, resulting in the death of thousands of Israelites.

Just prior to this incident, we read how Balak, king of Moab, having heard of Israel's earlier exploits, hired a sorcerer by the name of Balaam to curse the Israelites. God intervened and caused Balaam to bless Israel every time he tried to curse them. We may wonder then why God didn't intervene again in order to prevent Israel from turning to Baal as they did. Balaam's attempt to curse them was completely out of their hands. In that case God foiled the King of Moab's evil scheme. But in the case of the Moabite women, there was something else going on.

As we can see from the verse quoted at the start, Israel's sin was not purely religious. It was spiritual, as I will explain shortly, but not purely religious. It was not as if the people were drawn into simply singing songs to Baal, which would be bad enough, but they also engaged in sexual immorality. It is difficult to tell if they were lured into Baal worship by the advances of the Moabite women or if the sexual activity was part and parcel of the worship. Either way, unlike the earlier attempted spiritual attack, the men of Israel willfully engaged in illicit sexual activity.

What isn't obvious from the immediate context is it was Balaam that instigated this sexual activity (See Bemidbar / Number 31:15-17). What he could not accomplish through direct spiritual attack, he did through the advances of the Moabite women.

The lure of illicit sexual activity continues to be a snare to people today. The connection with Baal worship and the resulting destruction should warn us of the seriousness of such activity. Even though secular societies rarely, if ever, acknowledge the spiritual aspect of immoral behavior, that doesn't mean that it is not rooted in evil spiritual forces. The tactics of evil have not changed in all these centuries. Until we accept how serious sexual immorality really is and what its roots really are, the forces of evil will continue to overcome us.

TorahBytes: You Don't Have To Do Stupid Things (Hukkat)

And Yiftah (English: Jephthah) made a vow to the LORD: "If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." (Shoftim / Judges 11:30,31)

The biblical book of Shoftim (English: Judges) includes some "interesting" stories and characters. It underscores for us the interpretive principle of prescriptive vs., descriptive passages. Prescriptive passages are those that provide general directives or life principles to live by, such as "Honor your mother and your father" or "To give is better than to receive." Descriptive passages are those which simply describe an incident or provide dialogue without necessarily encouraging the reader to follow suit. This isn't always straightforward, which gives us the opportunity to ponder over these passages as we seek God to speak to us through them.

Shoftim, is especially challenging in this regard. Several of its characters who seem to be the heroes of the stories, engage in some disturbing behaviors. Since these characters appear to be divinely inspired to save the day, so to speak, the reader may be inclined to think that these behaviors are acceptable.

When this passage was chosen to be part of the annual cycle of readings, it was decided to stop the reading at the point where the hero wins the day, which leaves out the disturbing part. Maybe the conclusion of the story was just too embarrassing or too difficult to handle. Yiftah promised God that if God would give him victory in battle, then, upon his return home, he would sacrifice whatever came out of the door of his house to meet him. That much we learn from this week's passage. But what is not included is what it was that met him upon his return. I don't know what Yiftah was thinking when he made his promise in the first place. Did he think he would be initially met by one of his goats or sheep? As it turned out it was his daughter. So what does he do? Does he say to himself, "Oy veh! Am I meshuge (English: crazy person)! Forgive me O Lord for making such a rash vow!"? No, instead he tells his daughter how bad he feels that he has to go through with his promise!

I could see some supposedly spiritually minded people attempting to justify Yiftah's actions. After all it was God to whom he made this promise. Of course his daughter's death was tragic, but "God is God," they might say. But what does God think about murder and human sacrifice? While we should keep our promises even when it is extremely difficult, it is never to late to stop ourselves from doing stupid things.

One of the things about descriptive passages, even though they are not prescriptive, is that we are still to learn from them. The story of Yiftah and his daughter shows us how someone could be chosen by God and inspired by him to do great things, yet still say and do some of the most ridiculous and destructive things in the entire Bible.

What lesson should we learn from this? Are we to learn that if we are really spritual, then we can get away with murder, both literally and figuratively, or should we stop and realize that being spritual doesn't autmactically prevent anyone from doing stupid things? I suggest that as soon as we realize that we have gone down a foolish road - no matter how we got there or how far down that road we are - it is never too late to change course.

TorahBytes: Do We Dare Dream? (Korah)

Moses also said to Korah, "Now listen, you Levites! Isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the LORD's tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. It is against the LORD that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?" (Bemidbar / Numbers 16:8-11).

How do you like your position in life? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Maybe you never think about it. Maybe you think about it all the time. Do you have a dream? Do you dare dream? I hear a lot about daring to dream. Some people think that everyone has a dream - that each and every person deep inside has a yearning to do some great significant thing. Some people call it a destiny, a chosen path that we need to find in order to become all we were intended to be.

As for realizing those dreams or finding our destiny, some say that we can do anything, if we would only put our minds to it - that there's nothing we can't do, if we want it badly enough.

I don't know if that's how the Torah sees it, however. Were the Israelites stuck in oppressive bondage for all those years just because they all failed to want freedom badly enough? Then there was Moses. He was a man of destiny alright. How else can we explain his adoption by Pharaoh's daughter after being left in the Nile to die? We also know he was a man of destiny, because we know the rest of the story. It seems that he knew that he was a man of destiny early on. He had a dream of delivering his people from their bondage. But his dream became a nightmare when he killed an Egyptian, his people rejected his help, Pharaoh sought his life, and he ended up living forty years of his life as a fugitive in the wilderness.

Do you think he held on to his dream all those years? By the time God called him to the task, it doesn't look like it. He resisted the call of God, who had to persuade him to fulfill his destiny. This doesn't sound like the stuff of motivation seminars to me.

Now let’s look at a real dreamer. His name is Korah. His heart's desire was to be in the inner circle of the spiritual life of Israel. As a Levite, he was born into a certain level of spiritual privilege, but he wanted more. He wanted to be a priest (Hebrew: cohen), just like Aaron and his sons. Where did his dream get him? The earth swallowed him up. So much for dreams. Perhaps he had a subterranean destiny. Perhaps not.

I don’t know if everyone has a dream or a destiny. We read about many people in the Bible who did. Besides Moses, there was Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Samuel, David, Solomon, and others. But everybody? Some people have dramatic encounters with God through dreams and visions. Others, like Korah are simply born into their calling. Perhaps the burning in your heart is the fire of God calling you to great things, maybe it’s your discontent. How do we know?

God knows. I don't think there is any easy way to figure this out, but God knows. All we can do is be open to him - although even when we aren't, we may have a Moses experience. But unless we submit ourselves to God and entrust our lives to him, we may end up with a Korah experience.

The key? Here are the words of a dreamer, Solomon:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Mishlei / Proverbs 3:5,6)

TorahBytes: The Fear Is Real (Shela Lekha)

That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt." (Bemidbar / Numbers 14:1-4)

I don't criticize the people who make up the negative examples (of which there are many) in the Bible. While I would like to think that I would be a Moses confronting Pharaoh or a David challenging Goliath, I fear that I am far more like the complainers and grumblers referred to in this week’s parsha.

It would be nice to think that after seeing God's power expressed so dramatically through the plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea, and after delighting in his miraculous provision of food and water, that when the time came to enter the Promised Land, I would be ready go. Walled cities? No problem! Giants, armed to the teeth? No big deal. With the God of Abraham on our side, it would be like cutting melted butter!

Weren't Joshua and Caleb like that? They were among those who had spied out the land. They were confident. Even though the others brought back an intimidating report and even though they saw all the same things they did, Joshua and Caleb believed God would help them. I would like to be like them. But I have my doubts.

It's so easy to boast about faith in theory. It’s another thing to be confident when facing true danger. It's easy to pretend confidence. It's another think to demonstrate real courage. It's one thing to be calm when there's nothing to fear. It's another thing to stand strong when facing the impossible.

The problem wasn't that the people were scared. It's that they didn't submit their fear to God. When Joshua and Caleb urged them to not give into their fears, but to trust God, they actually wanted to kill them.

We cannot learn the lessons from other people's failures until we can accept that we are prone to the same kind of failure. I wonder how many challenges God has brought into our lives that we have rejected outright due to fear. How many times have we let fear dictate our decisions, rather than submitting to God's direction?

It may be nice to think that we are like Joshua and Caleb, but the sooner we realize we are acting like the others, the sooner we will be able to face the fearful challenges God brings into our lives.

TorahBytes: Healthy Community (Be-ha'alotkha)

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost - also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!"...The LORD said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone." (Bemidbar / Numbers 11:4-6,16,17)

God's desire for people is to live in healthy community. Throughout the Scriptures, it is understood that God's people would live as family with God himself being our Father. Community as family is expressed in a variety of ways, from living with parents and siblings to being part of a clan, a tribe, and the nation. This reality is expanded in the New Covenant era as we become family with other followers of the Messiah.

Sadly it is too common that we profess love for the community, while we are disconnected from the individuals who make up that community. But this certainly was never God's intention when he designed humanity to be in community. Should we therefore accept our dysfunctional communities because they are the norm, or should we strive for the kind of healthy community that God wants for us?

This week's parsha (Torah portion) provides us with one of the things that is needed in the establishment of healthy community. A discontented group within the community of Israel expressed their discontent with their food situation. God miraculously provided a substance called "manna" which they collected daily. After eating manna for a couple of years they understandably got tired of it. I don't think that being bored with the same food day after day was the problem as much as it was their attitude and the expression of that attitude. The discontent of one group was contagious and affected the whole community.

That one discontented subgroup could so affect the whole, is a sign of communal dysfunctionality. This all became too much for Moses to bear. So like every other problem he faced, he went to God in prayer about it. God's answer was to broaden Moses' leadership to a group of 70 recognized elders, who would then be spiritually equipped by God to share Moses' burden.

It is interesting that in the New Covenant era inaugurated by Yeshua, the leadership model for congregations is teams of elders, that is men recognized as elders by the community and who have been spiritually equipped by God for leadership.

Qualified elders are key in the establishment of healthy community. To neglect God-ordained structure is to invite dysfunctionality. Too many New Covenant communities are suffering the ill effects of unhealthy community, but are unwilling to submit to God's structure. Instead of following God's directives, we look for ways to cope with our destructive behavior. It needn't be this way, however. Healthy community is possible, but only as we cooperate with God and his plan for us.

TorahBytes: Our Lives Affect Others (Naso)

A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless. The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines." (Shoftim / Judges 13:2-5)

The story of Samson is one of the more troubling stories in the Bible. It is troubling because, on one hand it seems that Samson can be called a Bible hero, yet his life was not an exemplary one. Those familiar with the Scriptures are aware that even some of the noblest of biblical personalities had their share of personal issues, but Samson is extreme.

One of the lessons we can learn from his life is that just because a person has the call of God upon them as well as an experience of God's presence and power, doesn't automatically mean that they will live good lives and make wise choices. While God used Samson against Israel's enemies at the time, his tragic end demonstrates where careless living will take us.

How we live our lives makes a difference. It makes a difference to ourselves and to those around us - not to mention our relationship with God. The tendency to do whatever we feel like at the moment is far more destructive than we care to admit.

Samson's mother was to learn this even before Samson was born. When God revealed to her that she would give birth to a special son, she was given specific instructions as to what she was to eat and drink. It was essential that she limit her own freedom in order to ensure her son's fulfillment of his calling.

Her response to God's instructions would make all the difference. Her personal decisions would have a direct impact on her yet-to-be-born son's life - and upon the welfare of her people.

I don't think that Samson's mother's experience is that unique. Obviously there are elements of her story that are particular to her and her son, but the general principle applies to all of us. Samson's mother had to live for someone other than herself. Her decision to do just that set the stage for what God wanted to do in her nation.

How each of one us lives our lives affects others far more than we realize. Unlike Samson's mother we don't usually know exactly whom we affect in this way and how we affect them, but we do - for good or for harm.

TorahBytes: God's True Identity (Bemidbar)

"In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.' I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked." (Hosea 2:18,19; English: 2:16,17)

My family and I are fans of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, a series of well-known children's fantasy books. In these stories people from our world have adventures in a parallel world. Masterfully written, Lewis weaves spiritual insights throughout these books, some of which have helped me to better grasp certain biblical concepts.

However, there is one particular concept Lewis seems to espouse that I take exception to. It is found in the last of the series, entitled The Last Battle. This story pictures the transition from life as we know it, to the age to come. The allegiance of the various characters is basically split between the messianic figure Aslan and an evil god, named Tash. It is only those who have served Aslan who will inherit eternal life in the age to come.

As it turns out one individual who, as far as everyone knows, including himself, has served Tash his whole life, is welcomed into the new creation. The explanation given is that those who have served Tash with noble and good deeds were, without knowing it, actually serving Aslan, while those who, in Aslan's name, lived cruel lives were actually serving Tash.

If this is Lewis's understanding of who, in the end, is truly accepted by God, then it expresses one biblical truth, while missing the mark in another. Certainly throughout history there have been many who have abused the name of the true God for their own evil purposes. Some of these people have put on a good front and others have not. Lewis is right that those who do evil in God's name are actually standing against him. These people should not be surprised when they are rejected by God in the end.

But Lewis has erred in his assertion that allegiance to the true God will be judged solely on the basis of people's intensions, faithfulness and good deeds. Whether or not people clearly and openly profess faith in the true God is therefore irrelevant according to "The Last Battle."

God is more than a spiritual concept; he is an actual personal entity with whom we need to be in proper relationship. God's identity is revealed to us very specifically. He is the God of Abraham , Isaac and Jacob - the God who led his people out of slavery in Egypt. It was essential that his people learn to in no way confuse him with other gods. He knew that if they made that confusion, they would engage in all sorts of destructive behaviors and would break loyalty to him.

The fact is the people of Israel continually engaged in this very confusion. They regularly integrated the spirituality of the nations around them with their service to the true God.

This week's Haftarah is taken from the writings of the prophet Hosea. Through him God foretold of a time when this confusion would be no more. Baal was a popular false god in those days. Throughout Israelite history the people were drawn into Baal worship. Through the passage quoted above we see that the true God was being called by the name of "Baal." The reference to "my master" is actually "my Baal." To the people of that day, they were one and the same. The day would come, however, when this confusion would be broken for good.

God's true identity is found in who he really is and not simply through our intentions. Our acknowledgement of his true identity is an essential part of being in right relationship with him. While true faith is not just a matter of using correct religious labels, to disregard the way in which God has revealed himself is to disregard him.

TorahBytes: Author's Intent (Be-har & Be-hukkotai)

Do men make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods! (Jeremiah 16:20)

I have a friend who is a university English professor. I was somewhat surprised when he explained to me that the general approach to studying literature today disregards the author's intent. Instead, the goal of literature is to get in touch with what the text means to the reader. Personal interpretation has become infinitely more important than what the writer of the work had attempted to communicate.

Maybe I am overly influenced by my own upbringing (elementary and secondary education in Canada starting in the early 1960's through the mid-1970's), but I thought if there was some way to ascertain the intent of a written work, then that would establish its meaning. I can accept that I may be affected by the work in a way that the writer didn't anticipate. But that is more a matter of application, not interpretation.

The reluctance today to seek original intent stems from the popular philosophy of relativism. According to this worldview, life is what you perceive it to be. There is no actual reality to get in touch with. Everything then becomes a matter of perception alone.

I find this way of thinking lacks integrity. Do people who claim to think like this actually expect others to treat their communications in the same way? If I receive a written message from someone, is it for me discover what it means to me or is it assumed that I will interpret the message in keeping with the author's intent.

The sooner I come to grips with the way things really are, the sooner I will live life in the way God intended me to. The sooner I adjust my perceptions to reality, the better it will be for me and for others in my life.

The words of Jeremiah from this week's Haftarah, confront relativism. People make gods; they create values and ideals; they establish principles and ways of thinking. But no matter how elaborate or impressive the things that we make might be, that which is false is false. Only what is really true is true.

A false god is a false god. It doesn't matter if it has been in the family line for generations or if others paid a high price for it. It is still false. It may take a long time before the truth is known, but its day of reckoning will come.

What I believe or you believe about life or God or truth or whatever, means nothing apart from its reality. Do not believe the lie that truth can't be known. The only ones who want you to believe that, are those who also want you to believe their lies.

Like all literature, the universe too has an author - an author who designed it with an intent - an intent that can be known. Whatever meaning people derive from the universe, it is about time we came to grips with its author's intent.

TorahBytes: Spiritual Cleansing (Emor)

Say to them: "For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person must be cut off from my presence. I am the LORD." (Vayikra / Leviticus 22:3)

As God's creatures, we were made to know him intimately. The relational aspect of our being human, reflects the profound relational component of life, the greatest of which is our relationship with God. That this relationship is not what it should be, is life's greatest tragedy. It is the primary cause of our deepest longings and fuels all other forms of relational brokenness, whether that be with our fellow human beings, the animal kingdom, the earth's environment, or the rest of the universe.

The human drive to pursue various forms of intimate relationships is evidence of this brokenness. We know things are not what they should be. We want real, loving, meaningful relationships. We want to be at home in the universe. We know that the troubles we experience on a regular basis, including pain, disease, and disaster of all kinds, are to be resisted and overcome. To give in to the brokenness of life is to give up.

The Torah helps us to understand the cause of our brokenness in the hope that we will discover God's remedy. Until we can accept this fundamental problem and its cause, we will have great difficulty grasping the remedy.

The Torah illustrates for us the separation between ourselves and God, while at the same time underscoring the need for an intimate relationship with him. We see this, for example, in the priests of Israel. Their very existence makes it clear that the people were to draw near to God. Yet in so many ways we see through the priests the reality of the great gap between us and him. While the priests had the great privilege of entering God's inner sanctum on behalf of the rest of us, if they failed to meet the detailed requirements, they risked death.

Israel was reminded over and over again that while we could have relationship with God, we were not fit for such a relationship. We are unclean. We need cleansing. The good news is that if the priests would be properly prepared, they could approach God without fear of death.

Like the priests of old we cannot approach God unless we are ceremonially clean. If we are clean, we can approach God without fear of death. But unlike the priests of old, we no longer have the Torah-prescribed ceremonies. Instead we have what the Torah anticipated: the Messiah. Through him and the cleansing he provides, we are able to approach God in a far more intimate fashion than the ancient priests. It is through the Messiah that we can have the kind of relationship with God which our hearts so long for.

TorahBytes: God's Standards for All (Aharei Mot & Kedoshim)

Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. (Vayikra / Leviticus 18:24)

The Torah (the five books of Moses) is not simply a collection of dos and don'ts; it gives us God's perspective on life. The word "Torah," often translated as "law" could be understood more correctly as "direction." It shows us the way of life. Some of its teaching is explicit, such as certain clear moral directives, while much of its teaching is implicit, as we learn about God and life through good and bad behavioral examples or indirect statements. The verse just quoted is one of those indirect statements. This statement is part of the conclusion of a detailed list of immoral behaviors in which the people of Israel were forbidden to engage. The implications of this statement are essential in helping us understand how God views immorality among people in general.

Among some people who claim to believe the Bible, there is a tendency to avoid imposing biblical standards upon the society at large. In order to do this subject justice, we would need to discuss what "impose" really means in this context. In this brief discussion we don't have the time and space to get into every aspect. Before I delve into an aspect of this that I think is one of the most foundational, I do want to state that I don't believe that the biblical mandate is fulfilled in creating a religious political state. Faith cannot be legislated. But that doesn't preclude the need to address moral issues. All governments legislate morality; it is just a question of what kind of morality it will legislate.

Returning to the particular aspect of this issue that this week's passage addresses, note that God told the people of Israel that the peoples they were to displace in the Promised Land were being judged by God for the immoral behaviors listed. We don't know if and when God may have communicated morality to the peoples of the world. It is possible that no such communication was ever given. Yet this did not prevent God from calling these peoples to account for failing to meet God's standards.

This tells us that the God of the Universe responds to the behavior of people whoever they might be and whatever they might know. We who have received biblical revelation know what people in general do not know - and that is that God will judge them for failing to meet his standards. How then can we not communicate this truth to people? Whether or not the people among whom we live believe the Scriptures or have any concept of the true God at all, they and their children will benefit by following God's standards. Their failure to do so will lead them to a fate similar to those referred to in our passage.

It would take a fair amount of study to determine which of God's standards should apply to societies in general. But that some of his standards do apply is evident by this and other biblical passages. Of course the most important of these standards is the need for all people to trust in the Messiah. But personal faith is not the only aspect of life that God gives attention to, so neither should we.

TorahBytes: Healthy Skepticism (Tazri'a & Mezora)

Go and find out what has happened. (2 Melachim / 2 Kings 7:14)

It has been said that if something is too good to be true, it probably isn't. Well, thankfully that is not always the case. From time to time things do happen that are truly wonderful. When we first hear about things like this, they may seem literally unbelievable, but sometimes we just have to believe the unbelievable.

This is what happened during a most difficult time in the days of Elie-sha (English: Elisha), the successor to Elie-yahu (English: Elijah). The capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel was under siege resulting in severe famine. Elie-sha predicted by the word of God that prosperity would return to the city within one day - something that in the natural seemed completely impossible.

There were four men afflicted with leprosy who used to hang out by the city gate. They decided that since death was inevitable, they may as well surrender to the enemy in the slight hope that their lives would be spared. But when they arrived at the enemy camp, they discovered it completely deserted and all the enemy’s belongings still there, including food, drink, animals, clothes, gold, and silver. At first the four men began to take things for themselves alone without telling anyone else, but we read,

Then they said to each other, "We're not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. et's go at once and report this to the royal palace." (2 Melachim / 2 Kings 7:9)

So they went back to the city and announced their great discovery. When the news got to the king, he didn't believe it right away. He thought it was a trap. So one of his officers suggested that he send some men to go to check out the situation, which they did. Their investigation confirmed what the four men had said. As a result the city instantly went from disaster to prosperity.
I don't blame the king for his skepticism. His reaction was reasonable. The city had been completely crippled to the point of starvation by the enemy army. What responsible leader would immediately accept the report of four outcasts? Even if he fully respected Elie-sha's prediction from the day before, there had been no indication that this is how Elie-sha's words would be fulfilled. It is right and good for leaders to be cautious when confronted by fantastic reports such as the one he heard.

That's not the end of the story, however. The king was willing to check out the report even though it was unbelievable. Once the facts were in, the king didn't continue in his skepticism. The city was then able to enter into the miraculous turn of events.

I get the impression that some people think that true faith never includes intelligent skepticism. By intelligent skepticism, I mean a good and healthy understanding of life that prevents us from being drawn into foolishness and falsehood. The king understood the strategies of armies. He knew that just because their enemies seemed to be nowhere in sight, they may have been hiding in order to stage an attack.

But there is another kind of skepticism, which we might call philosophical skepticism. This is when we keep committed to our skepticism even when the evidence shows otherwise. Though the king had prejudged the situation at first, once the investigation had been made, he was willing to change his opinion.

We should never be scared to question the unbelievable. When we hear of something that goes against everything we understand to be true and right, there is nothing wrong about being hesitant to accept it. But it takes humility and honesty to adjust our opinion once the evidence is in.

TorahBytes: Avoiding Disaster (Shemini)

They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. (2 Samuel 6:3,4)

The ark of God referred to in this passage is also known as the Ark of the Covenant. It was a gold-covered chest that was to be kept in the most sacred area of the Mishkan (English: Tabernacle) and later, the Temple. Some time before the time period of this passage, it had been taken into battle and captured by the Philistines. The Philistines placed it in the temple of their god, Dagon. After several destructive occurrences, the Philistines discerned that the God of Israel was displeased with their keeping the ark, so they returned it. It remained at the house of Abinadab until after David became king and eventually sought to bring it to Jerusalem.

This happened at a time when things were going well for the nation of Israel. The return of the ark was one of several positive signs of those times. The return of the ark was accompanied with much joy and celebration. But at some point the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah, one of the sons of Abinadab, grabbed the ark. No one but the priests of Israel was ever to touch this most sacred object, and so as a result, God struck him dead. After this, David wasn't willing to take the ark any further. It would be three months before David would again attempt to bring it to Jerusalem.

We read in a parallel account of this story that when David made his second attempt to bring the ark, the method of transport was very different from that used in the disastrous first attempt: "Then David said, 'No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the LORD chose them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister before him forever.'" (1 Divrei Yamim / 1 Chronicles 15:2)

That only men from the tribe of Levi should carry the ark was established in the Torah (see Bemidbar / Numbers 4:15 and Devarim / Deuteronomy 10:8).

Why David neglected this instruction the first time is not stated, but there is something in this from which we may be able to glean an important lesson. When the Philistines returned the ark to Israel, they had come up with an elaborate method that they thought would be best. One aspect of that was transporting it on a new cart. In that case the transport of the ark went according to plan with no mishaps (see 1 Samuel 5 & 6).

While we certainly don't know for sure, it is conceivable that David, knowing that the Philistines had successfully delivered the ark the way they did, sought in some way to copy their methodology. Even if he wasn't aware of it, his method was unintentionally patterned after theirs to some extent.

The Philistines didn't have God's revelation of the Torah, while Israel did. God showed favor toward the Philistines in their humility and respect toward the ark. He did not hold them accountable for the directives he had given to Israel. On the other hand, Israel's neglect of God's clear directives proved to be disastrous for them.

I wonder how many times we determine what is good and right for ourselves by looking at the lives of others. We tend to assume that if good results occur when others do what they do, then we too will experience the same results. But God doesn't treat everyone the same. He holds each of us accountable according to what he has revealed to us.

It also seems that many think we can experience the successes of others by copying their methods, but life doesn't work that way. What God wants is for each one of us to know him personally and to allow him to instruct us in his ways, seeking him for wisdom in how to live our lives. This is not to say it is we ourselves who determine our own truth. God has established his Truth through the Scriptures. What we need to do is to be careful not to filter God's truth through the experiences of others. Instead we need to allow God through his Word to directly impact our lives. As we do that we will avoid many unnecessary disasters.

TorahBytes: Modern Slavery (Pesach)

This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. (Ezekiel 37:12)

March 25 of this year was the 200th anniversary of the abolishing of the slave trade by Britain. It is good and right that many at this time are bringing to our attention the fact of modern slavery. This is similar to what we experience at Pesach (English: Passover), which begins this week (starting the evening of April 2). As we remember our own slavery in Egypt 3500 years ago, we are called to not only appreciate our freedom, but are also challenged to have compassion for those who still remain in bondage today.

Bondage takes several forms. This is not to detract from the need to confront the evils of modern slavery in the world today. Far from it. For perhaps if we take the reality of the general bondage of the human race more seriously, we will find that we will be able to more effectively deal with the issue of modern slavery. A closer look at the celebration of Pesach is instructive in this regard.

The Pesach celebration is not only a remembrance of our deliverance from Egypt. At the time when much of the symbolism of the traditional ceremonial meal (or "Seder" as it is called) was developed, the Jewish people were, yet again, in an oppressive situation; this time under the control of the Roman Empire. They understood that even though years before they had known deliverance at the hand of God and that since then God had rescued them over and over again from the oppression of various foreign powers, there was to be a much greater deliverance to come. Not only were they expecting God to remove the oppression of Rome, but that a greater change - a more profound rescue - a spiritual deliverance - was to come.

As we read at the start, the prophet Ezekiel, during the time of the Babylonian exile over five hundred years before the coming of Yeshua the Messiah, predicted that the return of the people of Israel to the Land of Israel was somehow connected to a greater spiritual experience. This experience was likened to being raised from the dead. God showed Ezekiel the true condition of his people. Not only were they cast out from their God-given home, but they were actually spiritually dead. But God, who delivered the nation from literal slavery years before would eventually deliver them from spiritual slavery. The Jewish people during the days of the Roman Empire rightly expected God to fulfill Ezekiel's words. They also rightly understood that their deliverance from spiritual slavery would only come about by the hand of the Messiah - something that many Jewish people of that day did experience just as many more Jews and non-Jews since then have also experienced.

It is death and everything that goes with it (sickness, injury, oppression, depression, relational dysfunction, etc.) that continues to hold people in its grip. Slavery is but a symptom of the bondage that affects us all. This bondage is not an illusion or a state of mind, though it affects our states of mind as it does every other area of our life. This is the human predicament. And it is this predicament from which God through Yeshua has determined to free us.

At Pesach we encounter the reality of the God who delivers his people - a reality we may all experience today. But in order to experience that reality, we must be willing to acknowledge our own modern day bondage. It is when we are able to admit that we truly are in bondage, that we are in a place where God can rescue us. And once we experience that rescue, we are in the place where God can, through us, rescue others from whatever their bondage might be.

TorahBytes: Fearing God (Zav)

Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. (Malachi 3:16)

According to the Scriptures God has special regard for those who fear him. The concept of fearing God has been a confusing one for many people. I remember many years ago, a good friend of mine who was just beginning to read the Bible encountered this concept. He told me that upon reading about the need to fear God, he closed the Bible. His desire was to love God (good desire), but his understanding of love did not allow for the inclusion of his understanding of fear.

I say "his understanding," because I don't think he was able to grasp the biblical meaning of fearing God. He confused a common use of the word "fear," which is the emotion of being afraid, with the kind of fear that is referred to in the verse I quoted above.

I don't know if you have the same difficulty with this concept that my friend had, but I have the impression that there is quite a bit of confusion over it.

Whatever we may think of the term, the Scriptures see the fear of God as a foundational part of life:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)

So shutting the Bible is no way to properly deal with this important concept.

There are two ways I often hear this kind of fear explained by teachers of the Scriptures. The first is "reverence." I don't know if too many people understand the word reverence to start with, but I have the impression that it is thought of as thinking of someone or something in terms of great honor. It is associated with the emotion we may feel in the presence of a very famous or important person. This may result in our speaking to or acting towards this person with a great deal of deference. The problem with this term is that it lacks the kind of ongoing life response that is included in the concept of fearing God.

The second term frequently used to try to explain this kind of fear is "respect." As with "reverence," we behave in a special way towards someone we respect, but there is an emotional intensity lacking that the word "fear" conveys.

It may be difficult to find one word to use instead of fear to adequately convey an accurate understanding of what it means to fear God. I will try to illustrate what this concept is all about. Healthy societies have authority structures in place to protect the well being of their people. Good governments pass laws for the benefit of its citizens. These governments appoint officials to enforce these laws. Breaking laws have consequences. These consequences are designed as deterrents to keep people from disregarding those laws.

When we stay within the boundaries of the laws of our society, we need not be concerned about the consequences of breaking them. In other words, we need not fear the authorities when we abide by the law. It is only those who consciously break the law that have something to fear. Yet it is the law breakers who are the ones who don't really fear the authorities. It's the law keepers who actually fear the authorities.

To fear governing authorities doesn't mean that we live our lives being afraid of them. Far from it. Our fear keeps us from being afraid because we take their power over our lives seriously. Note too, how law abiding citizens react when they think they may have broken a law. That's when they get afraid.

And so it is with God. To fear him does not mean to be scared of him, unless we live in such a way that will bring his displeasure upon us. To fear the Lord means living in right relationship to him. When we fear him we consider who he really is and all he requires of us. Strange as it may sound, when we truly fear God, not only do we need not be afraid of him, we discover we need not be afraid of anything else either.

TorahBytes: I Have Redeemed You (Vayikra)

I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. (Isaiah 44:22)

I was very struck recently by the personal story of Charlene Cothran, the publisher of Venus Magazine (http://www.venusmagazine.org/cover_story.html - Note: I don't know if this is a permanent link.) Cothran writes of her decision to leave her long-time unbiblical lifestyle. If I understand her correctly it appears that throughout much of her life she had an awareness of God and his Truth, yet had decided to go her own way. Her recent turn to the Messiah was a reckoning with what in her heart she already knew.

When God began to tug at her heart, she was already well aware of who he was and of his mercy toward her. The day came when she knew that she had to return to him or risk being lost forever. Thankfully she cooperated with God and is now willing to serve him in helping others discover him too.

Cothran is an example of many, many people, who have a godly heritage, but who have purposely ignored that heritage in favor of going their own way. While there are those in the world who know little to nothing about the God of the Bible, there are also countless others, like Cothran, for whom the true God has played a significant part in their lives. Many of these people have encountered God either personally or within their families. I don't fully understand how someone who has been exposed to the reality of God could drift as far away as Cothran had, but the fact is many have.

It is to these people that, I believe, we can apply the words of the prophet Isaiah that I quoted at the start:

I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. (Isaiah 44:22)

Isaiah’s original audience was the people of Israel of his day. Israel had what is referred to as a covenant relationship with God. By virtue of God's promises to the forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; their deliverance from bondage in Egypt; and God's word to them at Mt. Sinai, God obligated himself to them as a nation. His obligations included the Land of Israel, their continual existence as a people, and various relational aspects between himself and them. The full benefits of God's commitment toward them depended on their faithfulness to God.

If and when the people neglected God, they were in danger of losing his benefits. But no matter how persistently rebellious they would become, his commitment to them provided them with the ongoing opportunity to return to him. This is what God, through Isaiah, sought to remind them of. He had already provided the means of their restoration for them. It was then up to them to respond by returning to him.

While non-Jews, like Cothran, cannot make a claim on God in exactly the same way as the people of Israel can, this principle still applies to cases such as hers. While I don't know Cothran personally, I suspect that she comes from a family that at some point committed themselves to the God of Israel through the Messiah. Perhaps Cothran herself had made such a commitment. When a person or a community comes into a true relationship with God, God takes them at their word. Should such people then renege on their commitment, God doesn't immediately turn his back on them. Instead he says to them:

I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. (Isaiah 44:22)

To neglect God for too long, just as Cothran understood, may place the person beyond God's help forever. When that point is reached is not something we may readily know.

What God still longs for the Jewish people, if you are like Cothran, he also longs for you. He has already done everything necessary for you to return to him. Please don't wait any longer.

Building community - the need for informality

I was recently asked about the formality of what is commonly known as "communion" and whether it should simply be a part of our regular meals when believers gather. Here are my thoughts on the subject. Note that what I wrote was off the top of my head (and heart) and is not to be considered a formal treatise on the subject.

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First, while bread was common at Jewish meals, I don't think wine was.

Second, the meal in which what has become known as communion was instituted was Passover, hence the (unleavened) bread and the wine.

Third, in Acts, where we read of the believers meeting from house to house and "breaking bread", scholars don't really know whether the breaking of bread was "communion" (however they did that) or simply eating together. I lean towards the latter.

Fourth, apart from Paul's teaching in Corinthians regarding their abuse of communion, which in their case included a meal, we don't have much to go on as far as explicit details regarding how to do it.

Some conclusions: I think meals and more informality should be regular parts of our gatherings. I think this is essential in building the kind of community the New Testament calls for. This doesn't mean that our gatherings should be devoid of all formalities, but we could do a lot better than the current models, which are either just religious ceremonies or performance/audience oriented.

So I agree with your friend that the New Testament models something more akin to extended family gatherings than ultra-religious temple ceremonies or entertainment-style performances.

This is all besides the particular communion issue. Remembering the Lord though the consumption of matza (unleavened bread) and wine (I think grape juice [very new wine] will do) should occur within our community gatherings. If we do not address the overall nature of how we gather, as we create a homey atmosphere just for communion, then communion again takes on a very otherly nature, rather than something well integrated into our community lives.

That said, I would emphasize that what we call communion is taken from the Passover Seder (celebratory symbolic meal), not from everyday meals. It is important to preserve the intended biblical link of the original exodus of the people of Israel through Moses and the greater spiritual exodus of all people through the Jewish Messiah.

TorahBytes: An Ancient Book (Va-Yakhel)

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (Shemot / Exodus 40:34)

This week's parsha (English: Torah portion) details the construction of the Mishkan (English: Tabernacle) and associated items. For the most part this section repeats what God had told Moses to do, except this time we have the description of it all being done. It is common for people, when they begin to read the Bible, to get bogged down at this point. It is difficult to keep attentive when reading something so foreign to our own culture and experience.

Interestingly this is not the only part of the Bible that is foreign to us. In our attempt to make Scripture relevant to our day and age, we sometimes forget that the Bible is an ancient book, written in, what is to most of us, foreign languages in a foreign cultural context. This is not to say that the spiritual truths we discover within its pages are not timeless. It is just that these timeless truths are to be discovered within a foreign context.

In God's providence and wisdom he determined to reveal himself through the Scriptures that were written during a particular time period and in a particular part of the world. These were days of tribal peoples, of kings and prophets, of fighting with spears, swords, and chariots. This was a time when religion and life were intertwined, and each people group had its own god or gods. Affluence was rare; most people worked the land. It was a time before hospitals and modern medicine, pesticides and genetically modified foods, motors and telecommunications. Yet it was a time when the God of the universe entered the lives of certain people and situations. For God's own reasons it was those people and those situations which were recorded to provide subsequent generations, including our own, with an understanding of God's reality and truth.

The Mishkan, upon its completion, was filled with God's glory. The very presence of God filled this elaborate, tent-like structure. Yet due to its foreign nature we find reading about it boring. I wonder what we are missing just because we tend to shy away from reading about it.

The Mishkan is but one example of how the Bible's foreign nature presents a challenge to the modern reader. That is why many have attempted to modernize the language of the Bible. Scholars try to bridge the multi-millennial gap between the Scriptures and our own day. But no matter how modernized we try to make these ancient writings, there is no way to completely transform them into contemporary writings and still convey the things that God has revealed.

I do not want to give any impression that I think the Bible is not relevant for our day and age, nor that it cannot be understood by our contemporary culture. The teachings of the Bible are timeless. But at the same time, let us remember that we are dealing with an ancient book that does require significant work to fully understand it. Therefore, when we encounter hard-to-understand sections, it may be necessary to work a little harder to discover the riches God has for us there.

TorahBytes: Nothing Like an Idol (Ki Tissa & Parah)

Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." (Shemot / Exodus 32:2-4)

Idolatry comes in two forms. The first is a false god. From the days of the ancient world until now, people have worshiped innumerable gods. Each of these gods has a name and is ascribed particular characteristics, is usually understood to have rule over some aspect of life, and calls for specific types of service from its followers. The second type of idol is of the kind we encounter in this week's parsha (Torah portion). In this case Aaron fashioned an image to represent the god or gods who delivered them from Egypt. He ascribed the words and power of the one true God to the idol he made.

As in the case of all idolatry, the result for the people was devastating. God commands us not to make images of himself, because he loves us and fully understands the destructive nature of idolatry.

It's hard to believe that the same people who witnessed God's amazing reality through Moses would so quickly give themselves to such a ridiculous misrepresentation. Not only were the people so quick to engage in phony spirituality, they also were encouraged and led by Moses' own brother, Aaron, who was also Moses' God-appointed partner in representing God before the people and Pharaoh and was to be the first chief priest of Israel. How could the people engage in such error after all they had experienced?

Actually this quick turn to idolatry is not as strange as it might seem, for it is something we are all prone to do. While we may not literally fashion statues and bow down to them, claiming that they are representing the God of the Bible, it is a regular occurrence to image God in ways of our own making. We claim to be worshiping the one true God. yet we misrepresent him by fashioning him according to our own ideas and calling for behaviors that fit these images. In most cases the falseness of these images are mixed with some of God's true attributes. Instead of allowing God to define himself to us in his own way, we determine what he is really like according to our own preferences.

Here are some of the golden calves of our day:

The chicken soup for the soul god. This god says he loves us, but only in a very sentimental sense. He has our picture on his fridge, giggles when we mess up, and never corrects our behavior. His goal is to give us warm fuzzies to help us learn to always feel good about ourselves.

The vending machine god. This god suits our push-button, fast-food society. He only exists to fulfill our desires. He makes no demands of us, except to encourage us to ask him for whatever goodies we may want. Any lack of response on his part is usually due to our not learning how to get him to perform according to our wishes. He has many representatives dedicated to help us get the most out of him.

The fantasy god. This god lives in a realm detached from human reality. He loves it when we view our lives based on grandiose statements whether or not they have any basis in reality. This god gives us the power to say we are healed when we are sick, rich when we are poor, and wise when we are foolish. He is nice most of the time, until we ask too many questions.

How very different these attempts of imaging the true God are from the God whom Moses encounters later in the parsha, when he asks to see his glory. God personally revealed himself to Moses by saying,

The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation. (Exodus / Shemot 34:6,7)

The true God is nothing like an idol. Moses knew that. Unlike those who were easily satisfied with a perverted, false version of truth and reality, Moses yearned to know his God, not according to his own perceptions, but according to who he really is. May we not settle for anything else.