Mezuzah

A while ago I bought a Mezuzah for our home, and recently was able to go through the ceremony of putting it up on our doorpost.

Having a Mezuzah is an ancient Jewish custom that takes a literal view of the following verses:

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart; you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes [origin of phylacteries]. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates" - Deut. 4: 6-9

and also:

"And it shall be that if you diligently obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul...I will give you the rain for your land in its season...that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled. Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, lest the LORD's anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you. Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children...when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days...may be multiplied in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth" - Deut. 11: 13-21.

A Mezuzah means different things to different people, but for me, it is a way of connecting with Jesus and His Jewish roots, and also a reminder for me that God is who He promises, and that He is faithful from begginning to end.

As I walk by the Mezuzah as I enter and leave my home, I am reminded of who God was, is, and is to come.


*For more thoughts and some history on the tradition of the Mezuzah, click here and here.
**For information on the ceremony and use, click here.

Quote of the day:

"The best way to learn is with your feet."

- Ancient Rabbi

Quote of the day:

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am not for others, what am I?
And if not now, when?

Rabbi Hillel

The most excellent way.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."


-Excerpts, 1 Corinthians 13.



"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 'This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."


Matthew 22: 36-40

The phrase “to be a disciple” is explained in my Hebrew Study Bible like this:

“the action of the verb describes much more than the mere academic impartation of information…Rather, the word suggests the deep shaping of character and the cultivation of a world-view through a close, personal relationship between the disciple and the teacher. The teacher is a mentor par excellence who seeks to stamp his image on his disciples and thereby enable them to participate in his life. For the goal of discipleship is not simply the attaining of information, but the experience and the enjoyment of fellowship. The adherent in turn seeks to emulate his master and partake of his life.”

I think a lot of times our Western minds think of discipleship as the act of learning the facts, knowing the issues, or studying for truth within a situation. Although all of these things are important, they miss the heart of what discipleship was in Biblical times.

In Jesus' day, a Rabbi invested years of His life into his Talmidim (students, disciples). A Rabbi's talmidim would travel with him, stay where he stayed, walk where he walked, and experience what he experienced . It wasn't like coming to school to learn. It was living life with someone. Every day you followed the Rabbi. Every moment you spent with him, trying to learn more, so that you could model yourself after him and BE LIKE HIM. It was TIME SPENT TOGETHER.

Generally, a Talmid would be the one to choose His Rabbi, based on the Rabbi's beliefs, etc. If the Rabbi thought the student competent enough to study under him, he would accept the offer, and from then on the Talmid would follow the Rabbi wherever he went and learn with him. Normally, only the best and the brightest Talmidim would be accepted, and only after rigorous "testing" by the Rabbi of their skills and knowledge.

Jesus flipped the model. He comes to us, saying, "be my disciples, I think you are worthy, I choose you to live with me and learn from me and partake of my life." We don't have to withstand the test or prove ourselves worthy. He wants us all as His Talmidim, and the only thing he requires of us is to follow.

So, we as Talmidim of The Great Rabbi are called to far more than just knowing about Jesus. We are called to fellowship with Him. This requires doing relationship things; talking, listening, pouring out our hearts, questioning, spending time together.

I have to ask myself in light of this description; do I see Jesus as a great man of faith who walked this earth long ago, or do I invite him into my world, recognizing him as a teacher who leads me through life with patience and love? Do I understand that He looks at me as one of value and ability, that he LONGS to teach me, that He wants what is best for me and that HE chooses ME daily as His own? Do I really know this deep down in my gut, daily, as I walk throughout my life?

Remember two things today:

We are HIS and He has chosen us to follow Him.

In order to be a disciple, we NEED to spend time with our Rabbi, getting to know him, partaking of His life, listening to His advice, modeling ourselves after Him, following close behind.

He is beckoning you to follow.

"The LORD bless you
and keep you;

the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;

the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace."

Numbers 6:24-26

אמת:

EMET is the Hebrew word for “truth,” and it is a word that I have come to cherish.

The Rabbis call this word (and idea) “the seal of God,” not only because the 3 letters that make up the word EMET are the final letters in the last 3 words of the creation account (bara Elokim la’asot – “God created to do”), but also because those 3 letters are the first, middle, and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Because of this, EMET is a constant reminder to us that God was, is, and is to come.

This idea is also a personal one, because in the Jewish tradition, truth is not really looked at as “fact,” but more as what a person uses his life for. If we are living a life that honors the Lord and that looks after His creation, then our life is TRUE.

Not only does God want us to value truth and the idea of being faithful, but He desires us to rest in the fact the He is forever the same.

I hold this word as a promise from the Lord - that he cares for us, just as He always has, and that He has “sealed” us for His glory and His love.

This blog is in honor of Him, the one that is forever EMET. It is my personal search for His truth, and my journey to know Him better.