May 14, 2008

• ON TORAH AND CIRCUMCISION - pt. 1

  B"H

  I plan on sharing a teaching each week from the current Torah portion, but I thought I had better give some background information first, since most of my readers here know very little about this subject.

  (The material I came up for this topic is rather long so I have broken it into several installments. Some readers may wish to skip, or pass over  these posts entirely. )

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  Let me start by giving a brief description of the term Torah. Taken
  literally the word torah means instruction. In general Christian
  usage it has been equated solely with the concept of law. The
  different and divergent conceptions of Torah between Judaism
  and Christianity lies at the heart of the distinction between the
  two religions.
  
  Within a Jewish mind set Torah means instruction and teaching.
  It also is a term used to refer to the Five Books of Moses -
  Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. ( Those
  names are Christian designations which come to us from the Latin.
  The Jewish names are all generally not translated into English, but
  rather left in the Hebrew - Beresheet, Shemot, Vayikra, Bamidbar
  and Devarim.)
  
  Translated that would be:
  
  Genesis = Beginnings
  Beresheet = In the beginning of creation
  
  Exodus = The going out (from Egypt)
  Shemot = Names
  
  Leviticus = Priesthood
  Vayikra = And He called
  
  Numbers = Counting (taking a census)
  Bamidbar = In the wilderness
  
  Deuteronomy = Second Law
  Devarim = Words
  
  You might ask, "Why are these designations so different?"
  If, indeed you did ask such a question, this would be the answer.
  The Christian titles were taken from the context of the Books,
  but the Jewish titles were taken from the first word or phrase of
  the Books. Thus, for example, if you read the text you see it says
  in Exodus 1:1 "And these are the names of ..." and also in Deut 1:1
  "And these are the words ..."
  I don't mean to indicate that either system is better or worse than
  the other, they are simply different.
  
  Again, within Judaism, Torah because it means instruction, is also
  used to refer to the actual scroll of parchment upon which the words
  are written. In this context one might hear mention being made of a
  Torah procession. The scroll is then being carried around the
  Synagogue.
  

  Torah is seen within Judaism, as a gift from GOD, which outlines the
  details of how to live as a people in covenant relationship with GOD
  and one another. Contained within the Torah is another term, which
  is also often misunderstood. This is the word mitzvah, or mitzvot in
  the plural. A mitzvah is a commandment. These are the specific
  things that GOD said should be done, or should not be done. This
  is where the legal aspect of Torah comes from.
  
  In distinction from Judaism, Christianity holds a view of Torah which
  is rooted in an idea called the Doctrine of Merits. This idea teaches
  that one is accepted or rejected by GOD based on a sort of
  "baseball" analogy. That is, if your good deeds outnumber your bad
  deeds then God will accept you, and if not, then you will be rejected.
  Christians maintain that no one measures up to GOD's standards
  of righteousness and therefore Jesus came to Earth. He came to
  accomplish two tasks.
  
  1) To keep the Law perfectly and set for us an example.
  2) To give himself, in place of those who sinned, as a sacrifice
  to satisfy the anger of GOD.
  
  This construct is not bad in and of itself, except that Christians insist
  on teaching that "under the Old Testament" or "under the Law," one
  was accepted by GOD by keeping the commandments. Now that
  Jesus has come, all one needs to do is believe in Him and the
  commandments of the Torah are no longer necessary. Even worse
  than this though, is the idea any aspect of keeping the Law (Torah)
  indicates a lack of faith in GOD through Jesus. This debate is usually
  referred to in terms of Law vs Grace. (More, much more, on this
  coming soon.)
  
  So, with Christians, Torah = Law, and this is viewed in negative terms.
  Jews, on the other hand, regard Torah as a love gift from GOD. You
  can easily see how this sets the two religions into very opposite camps.

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  Pt. 2 Coming soon. Feel free to add any thoughts or questions.

  Blessings,

  Shlomo

  • 7:55 am
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