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It was Pat's birthday and one of us came up with the idea that it would be cool if we could get into the newly constructed Camden Yards baseball stadium where the Baltimore Orioles would soon begin playing their baseball games back in the early 1990s. We were all high school baseball players, so this seemed like a great way to celebrate our buddy's birthday!
We made the short drive up to Baltimore late that night. Upon arriving, of course, we came face to face with numerous signs that said "No Trespassing" and "Violaters Will Be Prosecuted" and "Danger". But we figured that it wouldn't do any harm to jump the construction fence for a little bit, have a little fun, take a few pictures, and then make our way home. The boundaries didn't seem so relevant to us. After all, we had only good intentions.
Accompanied by my friends (one of whom became a doctor, one became a lawyer, one became a very successful salesman, and one is a professional baseball manager), we scaled the fence and we were in! For twenty minutes, we had the time of our lives. We ran the bases. We pretended to hit home runs. We horsed around in the dugouts. You talk about a good time, we had one! For a few minutes, we were Cal Ripken, Mike Mussina, Ken Griffey, Jr. and all the other big league stars that we looked up to. Until … two uniformed officers with flashlights started running down the stadium steps in our direction.
The party was over, fast. Not only that, but our lives flashed in front of us. We were good kids who got good grades and stayed out of trouble—for the most part. So the fact that we were getting arrested was, to say the least, not something that we were comfortable with. To put it bluntly, we were squirming! The police must have sensed all of the above and after effectively scaring us with some tough talk, they let us go. They claimed that they weren't in the mood to fill out the paperwork on us. We were fine with that. We thanked them profusely and told them that they would never see us in that ballpark again—without a ticket to the game. I think back now and wonder what in the world we were thinking. That could have been a real mess.
This somewhat funny story from a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, connects personally for me to a very serious story from one of the recent Torah portions in the book of Leviticus. In Parashat Sh'mini, we read about the story of Nadab and Abihu. The Torah doesn't give us a lot of details about why God struck them dead. All we know is that on their first day on the job as priests, they brought "unauthorized fire" before HaShem, which he had not commanded them (Leviticus 10:1). While studying this parashah, one of my favorite rabbis noted that the story of Nadab and Abihu has various parallels with the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden.
Both the Tabernacle and the garden were designed to be holy spaces in which God would meet with and dwell with man. Both spaces were designed to be like a little slice of heaven on earth—where death and contamination could not dwell. And with both spaces, God set up boundaries, not to hinder his relationship with the people involved, but to protect those relationships. God made it clear that when those boundaries were crossed, it would bring death in some form. Unfortunately, with both Nadab and Abihu and Adam and Eve, death resulted when they crossed the boundaries that God said not to cross.
When my friends and I went way past the boundaries at Camden Yards, God showed us mercy. We could have been arrested that night—which would have been a big mess. We didn't respect the boundaries that were in place for our good. It almost cost us a pretty big price.
Thinking about the boundaries crossed in each of these stories (the biblical ones and my own) inspired me to reflect upon the importance of boundaries in our relationship with God. I have frequently heard the saying that God is into "relationship, not rules." Someone actually said a version of that to me today. But that is not entirely true. God is into relationship. Whether in the Garden of Eden, through the Tabernacle, or in Yeshua, God has made it clear that he wants to have relationship with us and dwell in our midst. However, God has established good and healthy boundaries, not to hinder us, but to cause our relationship with him to flourish. Those boundaries, which most often are expressed through his commandments, are his kind way of marking out "safe places" for us to stay within.
I'd like to encourage you to think about boundaries in your life. Are you crossing boundaries that are hurting your relationship with God in some way? The boundary could be something clearly communicated in Scripture. Or the boundary could be something outside of Scripture that you know is a line that you shouldn't cross in order to maintain a healthy relationship with our Father in heaven.
If you know that you've crossed a boundary with God, the great news is that we can return to him. God says, "Return to Me and I will return to you" (Zechariah 1:3).
So today, don't wait! Think about your boundaries and maybe where you've crossed them with God. If you have crossed the line, turn around before it hurts you any worse. And know that just as in the garden, in the Tabernacle, and through Yeshua, God wants to dwell among us while maintaining boundaries that both protect us and cause us to flourish.]]>
According to biblical reckoning the "Doubting Thomas" episode took place on the ninth day of the Omer. We read in John 20:26 that the event took place "eight days later," which is eight days after the first resurrection appearance on the first day of the Omer. This then brings us to the ninth day of the Omer.
John tells us of Thomas' doubt that Yeshua had actually resurrected from the grave and that the other disciples had an encounter with him:
So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe." (John 20:25)
Thomas did not buy it. Unless he saw the Master with his own eyes he just wouldn't believe. He wanted concrete proof. He wanted to experience it firsthand. Thomas sounds a lot like people today. What's funny is that the very events going on in the Torah at this same time over a thousand years earlier prove that seeing is not always believing. The Israelites had experienced God's mighty hand in the ten plagues in Egypt and seen how he led them out from under Pharaoh's tight grip. Yet, just a few days later as they approached the Red Sea and saw the Egyptian army closing in they cried out:
Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: "Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians"? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. (Exodus 14:11-12)
Then just a short time after God performed another miracle at the Red Sea where the sea parted, Israel crossed through, and then the sea came back wiping out the Egyptian army, Israel complained again:
Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?" But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" (Exodus 17:2-3)
Based upon this I would argue that seeing is not believing, at least not long-term. While experiencing a miracle from God or the mighty power of his hand can initially instill in us faith and belief, it is not always long-lasting. When trials pop up again, we, like the Israelites, often forget what God has done in the past and enter into a panic. Instead, true faith that lasts is not sustained on experiencing signs and wonders but on working out our faith "with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12). That's what this period of counting the Omer is all about and this is the lesson that the Master taught to Thomas:
Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:26-29)
The Master spoke to Thomas but his words reverberate to us: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." We must remain vigilant in our faith and in our walk as disciples of Yeshua. Even when we don't see his hand actively working, even during periods when we feel like the heavens are shut up, we must believe and have faith that he is still there. Just as he was there all along for the Israelites in the wilderness and for Thomas and his doubts, he will be there for us. This Omer period is the perfect time to work on our faith and improve our walk as disciples to Yeshua. And perhaps if we listen closely enough we can hear the Master's words echoing to us: "Do not disbelieve but believe."]]>
Yet at the same time, we rarely question our own Messianic teachers. We use unequal weights and measures when assessing biblical teaching; and it damages our credibility.
For example, I first learned about Passover in a Messianic congregation. I was so excited about the things I was learning! It seemed almost too good to be true. I was amazed to learn that on the tenth day of Nisan the people of Jerusalem used to take palm branches and welcome the high priest and his Passover lamb to the city. They would shout, "Hosanna!" and "Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord!" as the high priest led his Passover lamb into Jerusalem. I have since heard it taught that the Passover lambs had signs hung about their necks with the names of their owners written on them, just as Yeshua had a sign above His head at His execution.
In my Messianic congregation, I learned that as the high priest sacrificed his lamb he declared, "It is finished." [1] As he carried the blood to the altar he would say to those around him, "Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to the altar."[2]
These thrilling details brought the gospel story vividly to life for me, so much so that I carelessly wrote them all out in an article published in the congregational newsletter. I never suspected that it was all balderdash. I never checked a single source. How embarrassing when years later I discovered myself quoted as an authoritative source for the same balderdash. I am even cited in a popular book regarding the newsletter article I wrote as a source regarding the high priest lamb's triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Let my experience be a warning to everyone. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Not only should we always demand documentation for references to 'Jewish tradition' and ancient practice, but we must also go to the effort of verifying the documentation. Just because it has a footnote doesn't necessarily make it true. Check the sources.
I have been studying Jewish sources for more than two decades and still have never found a single reference to the high priest's Passover lamb. I am unaware of a single reference to any special entrance ceremony on the 10th of Nisan, or anything about signs hung around a lamb's neck. There is no indication that any single lamb was placed on public display in the Temple for the four days before Passover. I have never seen any indication that any priest ever said the words "It is finished," in connection with any sacrifice whatsoever, nor is the verbal formula "Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to the altar," ever expressed as part of Temple ritual.
Messianic retellings of Passover are full of creative stuff like this. Another common example is that Yeshua used matzah to represent His body because it is striped and pierced. Modern, mechanically produced matzah is striped and pierced, but as far as I know, there is no way to know whether ancient matzah had these convenient, Messianic markings. The common Christian interpretation that the three pieces of matzah represent the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is just that—a Christian interpretation— it certainly does not arise from Jewish tradition.
We often hear that the Hebrew words, "Yeshua of Nazareth, King of the Jews" on the sign above the cross formed the initials Y/H/W/H. They don't. We hear that the cross was above the Temple Mount or on the Mount of Olives. It wasn't. We hear that His blood dripped through a crevice in the rock and onto the Ark of the Covenant hidden below. It didn't.
We are commonly taught that the day of Messiah's resurrection is the anniversary of the day that Israel crossed the Red Sea. That may be, but to my knowledge, Jewish tradition is unanimous in placing the crossing of the Red Sea on the seventh day of Unleavened Bread, not the third day. Neither are there any customs in Jewish tradition or Semitic ritual which explain the significance of the folded grave clothes left behind in the tomb.
Balderdash teachers rely on the vastness of Jewish literature and their students' unfamiliarity with Jewish sources and tradition. Their fabrications are passed from person to person like urban legends, often growing in the retelling by gullible listeners, just because the stories often sound so fascinating.
The truth of the matter is that there really are many amazing correspondences between the Gospels and Jewish sources. If we are willing to do the hard work of researching rabbinic literature, we will find a staggering amount of correlations between Jewish practice and the Gospels. (Torah Club: Chronicles of the Messiah contains over one thousand pages of such information, which includes double-checked references to primary Jewish sources.)
When we just make up stuff or accept whatever we hear without investigating the sources, we damage our own credibility and the credibility of the Torah movement as a whole.
This is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat! Let all who are needy come and celebrate Passover! Now we are here, but next year may we be in the land of Israel. Now we are slaves, but next year may we be free. (HaLachma Anya)
This traditional prayer (HaLachma Anya), written in Aramaic, kicks off the Passover seder and the recounting of the exodus from Egypt.
This prayer concerning the matzah is blatantly messianic in nature, especially when viewed through the lens of the Master's words in the Gospel of John, and it further underscores the beautiful redemptive nature of this Passover holiday, which offers satiating bread to all who desire to eat it.
This invitation to the hungry and the needy makes the reader recall the bold declaration of our Messiah: "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger" (John 6:35 ESV). Yeshua said this around the time of Passover, for the sixth chapter of John clearly tells us, "Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand" and it proceeds to be a chapter that has bread as its reoccurring theme. It recounts how Yeshua performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand with five loaves (and two fish). Later on in the chapter, closer to the time of Passover—if not actually during Passover—Yeshua makes large claims of being the "bread of life," the "living bread," the "bread from heaven," the giver of bread, and the one who will resurrect on the last day those who believe in and partake of him.
This chapter is filled with difficult sayings from the Master, and some who were with him that day even stumbled because of those statements, but we can now appreciate the symbolism and the veracity of his words. If we can imagine these sayings as being said at Passover, or right before, then maybe we can understand him a bit better. If we imagine this bread, with which he identifies, as the unleavened bread (matzah), then perhaps we might further understand the importance of partaking of this bread—his body—when we commemorate Yeshua's death and resurrection.
Although the loaves of bread with which the Master fed the five thousand were certainly not matzot, the bread with which he subsequently identified almost certainly was. This term "bread of affliction" comes from Deuteronomy 16:3, where it says, "Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt."
Jewish tradition notes that matzah is called the bread of affliction due to its unsavory flavor, and as a reminder of the affliction of our forefathers in Egypt. Messianic Jewish tradition has correctly noted the affliction that the matzah must go through—the punctures/piercings and the "stripes" upon it—is a reminder to us not only of our forefathers, but also and most especially about our Messiah and Redeemer.
Thus we can see that if this bread that we are invited to eat at the beginning of the Passover meal will satiate the hungry and the needy, how much more so will the Master, who is the bread extended to all who are hungry and needy in the house of Israel and among the nations! For as he attests of himself, he is the perfect, all-satisfying bread who brings resurrection and eternal life.
But this bread is the bread of affliction. Yeshua identifies with this bread directly years later at the last meal he eats with his disciples during Passover, the night before his death, when he tells them to eat this in remembrance of him. We do so even now, with varying frequency, and in so doing we remember his affliction, his sacrifice, and we take part in it in consuming the punctured and striped matzah. We claim a share in it, so to speak, and we declare its efficacy. Just as we share in his death and resurrection through immersion, we share in his affliction and the redemptive new covenant he heralds at Passover through eating the bread of affliction. This bread brings about more than just the cessation of physical hunger; according to the Master it brings something eternally satiating; it allows us to merit the resurrection and the World to Come.
When eating this bread we "proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26), honoring the greatest sacrifice that atones and initiates the start of a new order, a new covenant. This rite is weighty, and we accept upon ourselves the yoke of the cross—the yoke of the kingdom of heaven—and the kingship of the Holy One when we eat. In partaking of this bread we metaphorically pick up our crosses along with the Messiah and share in his affliction, remembering his death and resurrection, and we proclaim its significance and power until the time of his return. It is no wonder that Paul warns believers not to partake with flippancy or in an unworthy manner, for in doing so, he says, we would be eating and drinking judgment on ourselves (1 Corinthians 11:29). We would not be sharing in the Master's affliction, but rather adding our own affliction to ourselves.
As we eat the afflicting matzah and drink the wine this Passover, let us not forget the affliction of the Master, and let us thoroughly search our hearts before doing so. Partaking of this bread is extraordinary, and while it has no magical properties in and of itself, it represents our Messiah, the torture he endured on our behalf, and the redemption he brings. This affliction we commemorate has inaugurated the coming of the ultimate redemption. May we see this redemption completed, coming to the house of Israel and then the entire world speedily and soon!]]>
My mother responded, "Only three more sleeps!"
That was a good way to think about it. I thought that if I just slept, the day would come faster. As the time passed, my anticipation grew, and I could no longer keep my eyes closed. Finally, that day arrived and my excitement was turned up all the way to eleven.
For an observant Jew, it is critical to be familiar with the calendar. If you don't know what day a holiday falls on, it can pass by unnoticed. An opportunity to interact with the Creator of the universe comes and goes and you stood him up for the meeting.
I have recently been reading the book Kiddush HaShem by Sholem Asch, which tells the story of Jews present during the pogroms in the Ukraine during the seventeenth century. The book opens with a Jewish innkeeper and his wife arguing over what day of the week it was. What a tragedy for a Jew not to know what day of the week it is! They were at risk of desecrating the Sabbath and possibly every one afterward.
How do we know on what day of the week the Sabbath falls? Jews and believers in HaShem have counted up to Shabbat each week in an unbroken chain going back to the first week of Creation. One, two, three, four, five, six, Shabbat.
The Torah commands that Jews keep the Festival of Shavu'ot (known to Christians as Pentecost), but does not give us a date for when we must do so. How are we to know? What if we don't have a calendar to tell us when it occurs? It's like someone telling you he wants to make an appointment that he expects you to appear at but doesn't tell you when to pencil it in.
Leviticus 23:15-21 teaches that seven full weeks must be counted after the rest day of Passover and then Israel should celebrate the Festival of Weeks (Shavu'ot). So Shavu'ot falls fifty days after Passover, according to the mainstream Jewish reckoning. This period of counting is known as the Counting of the Omer. The first day of the count corresponds to the resurrection of our Messiah Yeshua and the culmination coincides with the day that the Spirit was poured out upon his disciples as they worshiped in the Temple. According to Jewish tradition, Shavu'ot was also the day of the giving of the Ten Commandments and the covenant made with Israel at Mount Sinai.
It might seem natural to count down to such a momentous event. As a boy, I was thrilled to shout along as the clock counted down from ten until the space shuttle broke free from the chains of earth to soar like a fiery chariot into the heavens. So why not start at forty-nine and count down until the anniversary that heaven met earth with fire and smoke upon the mountain to set men free from the chains of their own creation? It is Jewish tradition to count up for forty-nine days.
As we number the days, we ascend spiritually. It is as if we are climbing the mountain to meet together with the God of the universe to receive the Torah and the Spirit anew.
Since the Torah states that seven full weeks ought to be counted, we count each day at nightfall after the evening prayers. We join millions of voices directed toward heaven in a wave that surges around the globe, "Blessed are you, LORD, our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by his commandments and has commanded us to count the Omer. Today is the _____ day of the Omer." And when we have reached a full week we count saying, "Today is the _____ day which is _____ week(s) and ______day(s) of the Omer." In this way we make sure to count each day and each full week as the Torah commands.
Finally, when at night we count the forty-ninth day and seven full weeks of the Omer, we arrive together to join the multitude that no one can count standing at the foot of Mount Sinai upon which sits the very throne of God to receive the Torah from the author of all that was, is, and will be.
Unfortunately, we don't know the day when our Messiah will return and the glory of the LORD will be revealed on Mount Zion. We don't know how many days to count until then, but counting up the days to Shavu'ot can teach us how to make every day count.]]>
If this was your first Passover celebrated, you may have noticed that the recounting of the Passover story is almost exclusively in the first person. You would almost certainly have read the passage in the Haggadah that the Jewish people are commanded to view themselves as having personally, first-handedly, experienced the entire saga of the Israelite exodus from Egypt.
This hyper-personalization may seem strange, as today's Jewish people are well over three thousand years removed from this event. However, this story is at the absolute core of the Jew's identity. This event made the existence of the Jewish people possible; we would not be here today had this not occurred. The God of Israel and his commandments would not be known the world over, and we would have no blueprint for the final redemption that will look similar, but will be much greater and final. Therefore, we cannot help but view this as having happened even to us.
The Haggadah tells us, "In every single generation a person is obligated to see himself as if he had gone out from Egypt." The Haggadah provides the source text of Exodus 13:8, "You shall tell your son on that day, saying, 'On account of this that the LORD did for me, taking me out of Egypt.'" This is a commandment for the Jewish people in perpetuity; each generation is to recount this to the next, personalizing the redemption.
Indeed, every Jew was there at the time of the redemption from slavery. As we are physical descendants of the Israelites, we were there in the bodies of our forefathers, just as it says in Hebrews 7:9-10, when the author explains that even the Levitical priesthood offered tithes to Melchizedek, "One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him."
Just as we have placed ourselves personally and communally at the Passover exodus, we do so also in regard to our presence at Mount Sinai, hearing the revelatory voice of HaShem and receiving his Law. We see ourselves in every step of the redemption. Indeed we were, and we must never forget.
Just as we were present in Egypt, through the sea and at the mountain, so too, were we present at the cross when the Messiah was being sacrificed along with criminals. As Jews from every land and from all parts of Judea ascended to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, they brought us, the entire Jewish nation, along with them as well.
As it says in Exodus 12:6, "The whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight." Only the Jewish people can bring the Passover lambs for sacrifice, and so too, only the Jewish people were able to bring the sacrifice of the Lamb of God. We were present, witnessing and presiding over the sacrifice to which Messiah went willingly and lovingly.
And just as we were there that Passover, we were also there during that Shavu'ot that came fifty days later. We were there with our ancestors who were in Sinai, and with those in Jerusalem. We heard the revelation of the commands of God in the Decalogue, and we heard the revelation of the Messiah and witnessed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
However, it is not only us Jews who have a stake in this remembrance, but a person from among the nations can see themselves spiritually, and even in a sense, physically, to have been there at Mount Sinai, at the cross, and at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Shavu'ot. Just as the mixed multitude was present at Sinai, just as the Romans (whose empire stretched across most of the known world) were present at the foot of the cross and complicit in hanging our Messiah on it, and just there was a multitude present for Peter's message at Shavu'ot, so too, can Gentiles see themselves as having been present as well. The various Gentile nations are represented in conjunction with these redemptions that bear universal significance and are of eternal proportions.
This is not to say that the election of Israel is trivial, nor is this to say that every Gentile had a physical ancestor present in all events. However, this shows that the nations' participation in and benefit from the redemptions was not a later amendment added in the New Testament, rather it was always meant to be so.
As Jews, we must extend that national memory beyond just Egypt and Sinai, but every step of the Israelite journey is our story; every event is alive in our collective, physical memory. And just as we were present there, so too, were we present at Yeshua's death. This is not our curse, but our blessing. We are not guilty of deicide, but of leading the sacrifice to the altar for the sake of the whole world. We can find room both to rejoice and to repent as a nation.
For Gentiles, the redemptive memory is not foreign to you. Whether your nation was physically present at any of these moments, you were still represented. You have a share and a presence at the revelation on Sinai and the sacrifice at Golgotha. We all participated in the Messiah's sacrifice and we all benefit from that shed blood. There is no one group to blame for his death, there is only one God in heaven to praise for the atonement and rescue he brings.
Let us never forget our presence, and may we never cease to praise HaShem for the redemption he has wrought for all of humanity. Let us continue to hope expectantly in the final redemption that is yet to come.]]>
The second-story room we were standing in was actually built by the Crusaders during the early part of the twelfth century. Scholars nevertheless agree that this room, which is located on Mount Zion directly above the Tomb of David and just a stone's throw from the Dormition Abbey, is probably the actual location of the original upper room.
And as if that weren't exciting enough (which, of course, it is), there is good reason to believe that the room below housed the very first messianic synagogue in Jerusalem! Archeologists don't believe this room to be the actual location of David's tomb. It is rather a synagogue built during the Roman Era but unlike all other synagogues, both then and now, it does not face toward the Temple. The synagogue instead faces north toward Golgotha, the place of Yeshua's resurrection.
Even if the upper room is not a part of the original structure, it's difficult to stand in that room and not get swept up in the moment. What was it like to celebrate the Passover with the Master and remember the exodus from Egypt? What thoughts were the disciples thinking when Yeshua took the matzah and the Cup of Redemption and imbued them with even greater significance, turning them into symbols of his own sacrificial death and resurrection? I can only imagine what it was like to be a part of that first messianic synagogue in the room below. The discussions that took place there during the Passover Seder in the years that followed must have been nothing short of amazing.
I have to admit that, although I had visited this site before, I never thought of it as anything other than an old twelfth-century Crusader structure built centuries after the Gospels were written, having little or nothing really to do with Passover or the real "Last Supper." But I was wrong, of course. While the "Last Supper Room" isn't the actual room where Yeshua celebrated the Passover with his disciples, it does sit on top of, or at least very near, the original location. This was the spot on which one of the most important events in all of human history took place. It was one of those "goose-bumps" kind of moments.
On the other hand, and at the risk of completely contradicting everything I just said, that moment didn't last very long. I suddenly reminded myself that I was indeed standing in a room built in the twelfth century by the Crusaders—a group of medieval knights who conquered the Holy Land and purged Jerusalem of both Muslims and Jews in the name of Jesus Christ. The so-called "Last Supper Room" didn't seem all that meaningful after all.
As a physical structure, the present "upper room" is separated from the real Last Supper by hundreds of years and has no real biblical significance. However, as an artifact of a Christianity that had divested the Last Supper of its Jewish context, there is no escaping the room's importance. Which brings me to my point.
How did the Last Supper become so utterly detached from the Passover? We know from the Gospels that the resurrection of Yeshua took place on the third day after the Passover. Shouldn't Christians follow this timeline and celebrate Yeshua's death and resurrection during the same time period?
As I write this on April 3, 2016, Passover is still almost three weeks away. Yet on the Western church's liturgical calendar, Easter—the celebration of Yeshua's resurrection—has already come and gone. Protestants and Catholics observed Easter on March 27th of this year. Christians in the Eastern church won't celebrate Easter until May 1st of this year, nine days after Passover begins.
So why don't Christians celebrate Yeshua's resurrection on the third day after the Passover? Like everything in life, the answer is complicated so I'll spare you a long and tortured explanation. Suffice it to say that, by the second century, "the church" was composed mostly of non-Jews and by the fourth century it had completely divested itself of its Jewish heritage. Nevertheless some Christians in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) still favored commemorating Yeshua's death on the 14th of Nisan and the subsequent resurrection on Nisan 16. The church in the West disagreed and maintained that Christians were under no obligation to follow the Jewish calendar.
Rome argued that Sunday was the proper day to commemorate the resurrection because Yeshua rose from the dead on a Sunday. At least in part, the dispute hinged on whether or not the resurrection should be celebrated on a date (the 16th of Nisan) or a day (Sunday). The dispute was resolved in 325 CE when the Council of Nicaea decreed that Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox.
In this age of historical revisionism some people want to believe that this schism was simply a debate about a day versus a date; but that is simply not true. The early church was rife with anti-Semitism and it deliberately chose to sever the connection between the celebration of Passover and Yeshua's resurrection.
But, as they say, "time heals all wounds." Although most Christians today would renounce the early church's virulent anti-Semitism, few people would feel the need to revisit the dates of Holy Week. That was a long time ago and the church's liturgical calendar has been set in stone for years. Does it really matter now?
The answer, of course, is yes! It matters. It matters because tearing the Last Super and Yeshua's resurrection from their Passover context comes at a terrible cost. If we fail to appreciate the Jewish context of these events our understanding of the kingdom of God is severely diminished.
In Matthew 28:5-6, an angel greeted the two very shocked women who came to Yeshua's tomb. "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Yeshua, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said." That fact, to put it mildly, changed everything. The world was never the same again. And as a result, each year Christians all over the world celebrate Yeshua's resurrection, and they are right to do so.
The Apostle Paul reminds the Corinthians that because Yeshua rose from the dead we can rest assured that we also will rise from the dead. He has been raised from the dead as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20). Because he died for our sins "death has been swallowed up in victory" (1 Corinthians 15:54).
As disciples of the Master, we believe every word of that confession to be true. There are simply no words to express the incomprehensible hope that is ours. But amazingly, our resurrection is just a small part of a much larger reality that Yeshua's resurrection brings about. Paul's declaration that "death has been swallowed up in victory" is actually a quotation from Isaiah 25, which envisions the eschatological banquet that will take place at the end of the age when HaShem will destroy the shroud of death that covers the nations and he will remove the disgrace of his people, the Jewish people. God's kingdom is nothing less than the restoration of Israel and the conversion of the Gentiles.
During the seder, Yeshua linked the Passover meal and the new covenant of Jeremiah 31 to the promised eschatological banquet of Isaiah 25. In Matthew 26:29, Yeshua states, "But I say to you, from now on I will not drink from this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my father." The allusion here is to the eschatological banquet, which depicts the consummation of the Messianic Kingdom in terms of a joyful celebration. The Messianic Kingdom comes to fruition with the return of the righteous remnant to the land of Israel and the pilgrimage of the Gentile nations to Zion (Isaiah 2:2-4; Micah 4:1-3; Zechariah 8:20-23, 14:16).
Table fellowship in the kingdom symbolizes the nation's eschatological restoration. The Last Supper was a symbolic act—a foretaste of the fellowship meal that awaited the faithful remnant in the kingdom of God.[1] The forgiveness of sin, the reversal of judgment, the end of exile, the restoration of Zion, the conversion of the Gentiles, and the consummation of God's kingdom are all themes bound up in that event. In a word, the Last Supper—the Messiah's Passover, anticipated the cosmic transformation of the entire world.
After the Magi have departed, an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream for a second time. He commands Joseph to take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. He then instructs Joseph to remain there until he tells him otherwise, "for Herod is about to seek the child to destroy him" (v. 13). Joseph complies immediately with the angel's instructions. He takes the child and his mother during the night and flees to Egypt (v. 14). Matthew reports that Joseph and his family remained in Egypt until the death of Herod (v. 15a)
Matthew then attaches to the narrative what scholars refer to as a "fulfillment citation," consisting of a formulaic statement ("In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled") and a quotation drawn from Hosea 11:1: "Out of Egypt I called my Son" (v.15b). Matthew's application of this text to the life of Yeshua has generated enormous controversy, to put it mildly.
In its original context, Hosea 11:1 clearly alludes to the nation of Israel and its exodus from Egypt. The verse is not a messianic prophecy but a statement about God's "son" whom he delivered from slavery and bondage in Egypt. The verse begins with the words, "When Israel was a youth, I loved him." How then should we interpret Matthew's statement that Yeshua's return from Egypt has "fulfilled" what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet? Matthew's use of Hosea 11:1 is an example of typological or analogical correspondence. Matthew recognized a correspondence between events in the history of Israel and the life of Yeshua. Yeshua "fulfills" Hosea 11:1 in that events in the life of Yeshua recapitulate the Exodus event.
On a narrative level, Matthew finds a geographical connection between Israel and Yeshua. In the Exodus account, God protects Israel by sending the nation to Egypt and then bringing it out again. Similarly, in the gospel account, the LORD protects Yeshua by sending him to Egypt and bringing him out again.
On a theological level, the connection goes even deeper. Hosea 11:1 evokes the fulfillment citation's larger context of exile and restoration. Hosea 11:10-11 describes an eschatological "exodus" in which the LORD will roar like a lion and the Jewish people will come from east and west back to the land of Israel.
Many scholars conclude that the identification of Yeshua with Israel's history and mission means that Yeshua is a "new" Israel who replaces "old" Israel. This interpretation of the evidence, however, is incorrect. From Matthew's perspective, Yeshua does not replace Israel but rather becomes the embodiment of Israel. Matthew, like the Qumran community, believed that Messiah would rescue the faithful remnant from judgment and bring about the nation's eschatological restoration. It is in this sense that Yeshua is a new Moses who has come to lead the nation in a new exodus.
But there is a problem: It seems that Matthew 2:15 equates Yeshua with Israel and not Moses. How then can we argue that Matthew presents Yeshua as a new Moses based upon this text? First, as we have already suggested, Matthew's use of Hosea 11:1 evokes the citation's larger context, which is based upon the exodus from Egypt. As Dale Allison observes, Moses is the hero of that story and it is inevitable that Matthew's reader would have recognized parallels between the life of Moses and the life of Yeshua. [1]
A second observation confirms (as scholars like Donald Hagner and Craig Keener point out) that Matthew implies a parallel between Moses and Yeshua. God appeared to Amram (the father of Moses) in a dream and encouraged him not to despair. A careful examination of the Greek text of Matthew 2 reveals that it shares a number of clear verbal parallels with the story of Moses in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible. First, the language of Matthew 2:13 ("to seek to kill the child") resembles the language of Exodus 2:15 ("he was seeking to kill Moses"). Second, the verb translated as "he fled" in Matthew 2:14 is identical to the verb used in Exodus 2:15 to describe Moses' escape from Pharaoh. [2]
Matthew's narrative also contains similarities with extra-biblical traditions about the story of Moses. The Jewish historian Josephus informs us that a "scribe" predicted the birth of a child who would deliver Israel from Egypt in the future. As a result, Pharaoh ordered the death of all Hebrew male infants. Amram was afraid because his wife was pregnant and he did not know what to do about the situation. God appeared to Amram in a dream and encouraged him not to despair. God would protect his family from the Egyptians. His son would grow up and deliver the Hebrew nation from the slavery of Egypt. His memory would be famous among Hebrews as well as among foreigners.[3] Because of what God had revealed to him about his son's future greatness, Amram and his wife therefore took action to preserve the life of the child. [4]
On the narrative level, these features (the verbal similarities between Matthew 2:14-15 and Exodus 2:14 and the extra-biblical traditions about Moses) create a subtle but clear parallel between the life of Moses and the life of Yeshua. Just as Moses escaped persecution from Pharaoh, so Yeshua escaped persecution from Herod. On the theological level, this parallel implies Yeshua to be a new Moses who leads Israel in a new exodus.
By evoking the larger context of Hosea 11:1 and by creating parallels between the life of Yeshua and story of Moses, Matthew presents Yeshua as a new Moses who leads the nation in a new exodus from Egypt. The exodus event became a paradigm by which the prophets of Israel described Israel's eschatological restoration. In the first exodus, God delivered Israel from the slavery and bondage of Egypt. In the second exodus, God will gather his people from among the nations and bring them back to the land of covenant promise (Isaiah 35, 40:1-5, 49:5).
To answer this, I believe we need to first take a look at the Festival of Sukkot, which takes place seventh months earlier. The Torah commands:
On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. (Leviticus 23:39)
Seems pretty straightforward. Sukkot begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and lasts for eight days. What is strange is that in the following verses where the mitzvot of the sukkah and lulav and estrog are related the Torah tells us to do these things for "seven days." Why not eight days? The sages liken the eighth day of Sukkot to an extra day a guest might spend with his host. The guest planned to stay for seven days but the bond between the host and guest was so strong that the host asked the guest to stay for just one more day. The eighth day of Sukkot is the culmination of the festival but at the same time it is an extra day where HaShem has enjoyed our company so much that he asks us to celebrate with him one more day.
Now we come to Passover:
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work … On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. (Leviticus 23:6-8)
Why is Passover, which also begins on the fifteenth day of the month, only seven days and not eight like Sukkot? You would think it would make sense to add an eighth day so that the symmetry is complete between the first and seventh months. Yet, some commentators have insisted that there is an eighth day of Passover, so to speak. It is Shavu'ot. It's just that instead of coming one day later it comes fifty days later.
What does that mean for the forty-nine days of counting the Omer? It means that we are not counting down to something but up to something. We are anticipating spending another day with HaShem while commemorating the giving of the Torah and the giving of the Spirit. This time he has not told us to stay such as at Sukkot but rather to go and prepare. We are getting ready to celebrate what we began at Passover. We have not truly left the slavery of Egypt until we have received God's instructions and his Holy Spirit dwells within us enabling us to perform his will. In that sense the Counting of the Omer is a count that should count for something. This is not a passive count while we wait for the inevitable but an active count where we make each day count as we work on the personal refinement that began at Passover. May we use this time to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and continue to be nourished by the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.]]>
And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.
The Hebrew of verse seventeen can also be translated, "And you shall guard the matzot (unleavened bread)." From this verse we learn the importance of being very careful not to allow dough for unleavened bread to become chametz (often understood as leavened). Every step of the process of creating matzah is taken extremely seriously. From the second water touches the flour, the dough for matzah is rushed from person to person similar to an assembly line. In less than eighteen minutes dough is thrown into the oven to bake. Matzah that has been made by hand is known as shmurah matzah (guarded matzah).
The mitzvah of matzah is that it should be made in haste to remind Israel of the haste in which they fled Egypt.[1] The task of rushing to make the bread unleavened is not merely symbolic. For any leaven consumed during Passover, the consequence is karet, being cut off from the children of Israel. The penalty for a Jew eating chametz during the week following Passover is actually harsher than eating pork or shellfish!
Torah commentators have noticed that the word matzot (מַּצּוֹת) can also be read as mitzvot ("commandments," מִצְווֹת).[2] Reading it with this insight gives us the injunction to "guard the mitzvot." Judaism teaches that when one has the opportunity to perform a mitzvah, they ought to do so with alacrity. In the same way we would rush to make matzah, we should also rush to do a mitzvah![3] Moreover our Master said that our intentions have the ability to leaven our deeds.
Yeshua taught us to beware of the leaven of hypocrisy.[4] The word hypocrite means actor or performer. Both of these words describe intentions that can leaven our deeds. An actor puts on a façade. He or she acts in a way that is not reflected within their heart. They likely also act differently when no person is watching, and they deceive themselves in thinking that they are unseen.[5]
A performer is someone who loves what they do and they are often good at it. One who acts as a performer when doing mitzvot enjoys the reinforcement of others who compliment them for their good deeds. Our Messiah told us that if we do good deeds to receive accolade from people, we will have our reward in this world instead of in the next, "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward" (Matthew 6:2).
If, on the other hand, we perform our good deeds in such a way that we are not ostentatious, we can be certain God who sees all will reward us.[6] If, despite our best efforts and intentions, others do recognize us for our actions, our Master cautions us from getting puffed up with pride, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."[7]
This, and every Passover, may we enjoy our unleavened bread with unleavened deeds.
The signs and wonders that God performed for them in that time have ultimately brought them to this point in history. In light of this significance, it is customary and even a mitzvah to mention and discuss the exodus as often as possible. However, will there be a time when we will no longer tell the great tales of the exodus? This seems to be implied in Jeremiah 16:14-15:
It shall no longer be said, "As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt," but "As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them." For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.
As Messianic Jews and Messianic Gentiles, we daily await the return of Yeshua the Messiah and the beginning of the Messianic Era. Looking forward to that day but keeping in mind the magnitude of the exodus, how should we interpret these words from Jeremiah? The context of this passage is the new covenant and the final redemption when God will establish his kingdom on earth. We might ask, then, whether the exodus from Egypt and its commemoration will still bear much importance in the Messianic Era or if we will strive to mention it when the kingdom is established.
In tractate Brachot 12b of the Babylonian Talmud, Ben Zoma refers to the passage cited above and asks the sages whether or not the exodus will be mentioned in the kingdom. The sages reply that the exodus from Egypt will still be seen as important. They support this by citing Deuteronomy 16:3 where is says, "All the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt." All the days of your life doesn't just mean in this world or until the kingdom. If this mitzvah ended with the entrance of the kingdom, it would not be "all the days or your life." The sages also draw a comparison to the renaming story of Jacob where similar wording of "shall no longer be called," etc. is used. The name "Jacob" is not eliminated, however, it becomes secondary to his name "Israel." In the same vein of thought, Rashi's commentary on the same phrase from Jeremiah, "and it shall no longer be said," explains that, "Our Rabbis expounded: Not that the departure from Egypt shall be uprooted from its place, but the final redemption will be the most important and the departure from Egypt secondary to it."
From the Jewish perspective, Passover will still be seen as significant and will not be ignored or forgotten with the inauguration of the kingdom. Rather, it will be seen as a significantly less dramatic redemption than the one to come. The return of the Messiah will result in the ingathering of the people of Israel back to the land, the establishment of the kingdom, and the Messianic Era. As it says in Deuteronomy 30:4-5,
If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the LORD your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it.
Next Year in Jerusalem!]]>
The idea of literal resurrection from the dead might seem bizarre, but it is essential to Judaism. Rambam codified it in his thirteen fundamental principles of Jewish belief. It was one of the key beliefs that distinguished the Pharisees from Sadducees in the Second Temple Era. The sages made a game out of finding proof of the resurrection from the Torah. Resurrection themes are abundant in the Prophets, Midrash, and daily prayers. Even the resurrection of the Suffering Servant, the Mashiach ben Yosef, is described in Jewish literature.
In Messianic Judaism, the resurrection of Yeshua is one of our most treasured truths. He is the first fruits of the great resurrection of the Messianic Era that we will all one day experience. Just as his miracles were a foretaste of what will one day be commonplace, his resurrection was a demonstration of the special access he had to the World to Come. It also foreshadows the rebuilding of the Temple and the end of this exile.
Considering the significance of this event, some kind of intentional commemoration seems merited, even necessary. After all, it ranks no less than other great salvations and miracles in Jewish history, such as the victory of the Maccabees, which we celebrate on Hanukkah and the deliverance of the Jews of Persia, which we celebrate on Purim. Even events in the lives of individual rabbis are commemorated by their followers. For example, Chabad Chasidim celebrate the anniversary of the release of the Alter Rebbe from prison, treating it as the "new year" of their movement.
Our faith in the resurrection of Yeshua sets us apart from the rest of the Jewish community. Instead, it is something we share in common with Christianity. On this basis, one might suggest that Messianic Judaism should engage with longstanding Church tradition on this point. And yet, adopting Christian customs to commemorate the resurrection poses serious difficulties.
One problem is that the death of Yeshua is an extremely sensitive point in Jewish-Christian relations. It has been the basis for horrific anti-Semitism. "Christ killer" is the most frequent and persistent pejorative term for Jews used by Christians. Over the centuries, violent anti-Semitic mobs have often mobilized after Easter sermons and Passion plays. Although this happens less frequently in this generation, and many Christians today are not even aware of this painful legacy, the memory is no less vivid in the collective Jewish memory.
A second problem is that Easter traditions formed at a time when Christianity sought to distance itself from Judaism. Very early in the formation of Christianity, the Quartodeciman controversy led to the intentional separation of Pascha (which we refer to in English as "Easter") from the Jewish calendar. Constantine insisted, "Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd; for we have received from our Savior a different way."
Messianic Judaism is not a syncretic blend of Judaism and Christianity. (In a way, one might say that Christianity began as an offshoot of Messianic Judaism.) The resurrection of Yeshua was an event that Jewish people experienced before Christianity existed. So it must be possible to commemorate it in a natively Jewish way.
People who don't believe in Yeshua's resurrection are not going to be happy no matter what we do to celebrate, but nonetheless it is important that our application of Jewish tradition is respectful and contextually appropriate. And yet, we are not the only Jewish movement with distinctive customs that reflect our history and perspectives.
Since resurrection is so fundamental to Judaism, symbols and customs pertaining to it already abound in Jewish practice. Furthermore, Passover is the context in which it occurred, and the holiday is rife with the imagery of redemption.
Some of the most vivid resurrection-related customs in Judaism occur on Saturday night. In Judaism, nightfall on Saturday is when the first day of the week begins. Although Shabbat is over, the evening still holds onto the Sabbath's sweetness and festivity.
The Havdalah ceremony inaugurates each week with the beautiful symbols of a cup of wine, fragrant spices, and a multi-wicked candle.
After Havdalah, it is customary to eat a meal, which is sometimes known as S'udata DeDavid Malka Meshicha, "the meal of David the anointed king."
According to legend, God revealed to David that he would die on the Sabbath. After the conclusion of every Sabbath, King David would host a feast of celebration and thanks for having made it through another week. This is how the Saturday night meal custom arose.
There are strong indications that the disciples who met together on the "first day of the week" in Acts 20 were meeting on Saturday night and observing a customary meal very much like this one.
The "Meal of King David" is worth celebrating every week of the year, but on the week of Passover, I propose that this is the perfect time to rejoice that our anointed King is alive.
At the Messianic congregation I attend, we gather together on the Saturday night that falls during Passover week and pray the evening prayers, incorporating somber and hopeful Psalms pertaining to death and new life. As we light the Havdalah candle and smell the fragrant spices, we read the written account of the resurrection of our Master and the women who brought spices to his grave. Then we eat a delicious chametz-free meal together, with the words of Yeshua on our lips, and sing until late into the night. (On years when the second seder falls on Saturday night, our meal becomes a resurrection-themed seder.)
Perhaps this approach does not work for everyone, but I would love to see this custom spread in the Messianic Jewish community, because I think it shows honor to the resurrection of Yeshua in an authentic and meaningful way.]]>
Although most of us will be knee deep in Passover preparations, I decided to write a little bit on the importance of creation and what our universal responsibility as believers is to take care of it:
And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:28)
In the Garden of Eden, man is commanded not only to reproduce and fill the earth but to "subdue" and "have dominion over" it as well. Man is the principle of creation, and it is to him alone, out of all his creatures, that God communicates. He alone will partner with God in the administration and management of the earth. But there is another side to this:
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. (Genesis 2:15)
Man is to tend to the earth as well. The word translated here as "keep" is the Hebrew word shamar (שמר), which means to "guard" or "protect." Man's rule is not without restraint; rather he must care for creation in his domination. Rav Joseph Soloveitchik sees in these two passages a sort of dual nature of mankind. Ilana Stein summarizes his views:
Thus, there is a conflict built into the very essence of the human-Nature relationship. On the one hand, we are meant to utilize and exploit Nature. Considered the pinnacle of Creation, the world was created for our use, to conquer and manipulate. On the other hand, we are merely custodians of a perfect, divinely created world. Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden to nurture and protect it. [1]
In the creation, God gives man authority, but the authority comes with a warning as well. He must care for the special gift that God has given him. If God does not care whether we destroy creation, then we declare that there is no real inherent value in the present that he bestowed upon us. The midrash has HaShem warning mankind about the dangers of harming the earth:
When the Holy One, blessed be He, created the first man, He took him and led him round all the trees of the Garden of Eden, and said to him, "Behold My works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are! All that I have created, I created for you. Pay heed that you do not damage and destroy My universe; for if you damage it there is no one to repair it after you." (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:20)
Creation itself reveals God and his strength and authority. The Scriptures are replete with words of praise for the wonders of the earth. For example the Prophet Isaiah tells us:
Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. (Isaiah 40:26)
Psalm 104, traditionally referred to Barchi Nafshi ("My soul bless"), is recited every Rosh Chodesh at morning prayers. It is filled with the imagery depicting the majesty of nature:
You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains … The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them … You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills; they give drink to every beast of the field .... Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches. From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. (Psalm 104:6-13)
The beauty of creation proves that God cares for man and desires to provide for him. The Master uses the simple illustrations of flowers and birds to speak of God's benevolence. [2]
Creation inspires man to bless the Creator, and creation itself actually sings a song back to God. We read in Psalm 148 of waters, mountains, hills, beasts, and birds all singing songs of praise to HaShem. Psalm 96:12 declares, "Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy." With every movement, every chirp, every rustle in the wind, nature is calling out to the One from whom they came forth.
Additionally, creation reveals the very knowledge of God. An ancient rabbinic teaching says that God created the world with the Torah. [3] The Torah itself is the blueprint for creation. In turn, nature and the earth reveal God's innermost wisdom because they have been patterned after it. Hence we find Paul claiming that God's "invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made" (Romans 1:21).
For us, as believers in the Messiah Yeshua, we know that the Torah became flesh in the person of Yeshua, and that through this Eternal Word, (the Living Torah) the world was created. John tells us, "All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:3). The Apostle Paul echoes this sentiment:
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. (Colossians 1:16)
When we piece all this together, we can truly agree with the Psalmist: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19:1). Nature reveals to us not only the depth of God's wisdom as is found in the Torah; it also reveals to us the glory of God in Messiah. [4] Should we not seek to preserve and care for such a precious revelation?
Of course, individuals had the option of withdrawing themselves from the national commonwealth by deciding to remain in Egypt and not participate in the national freedom from bondage, but God's saving hand was for the entire nation of Israel. Redemption was their promise and their collective "right."
The salvific plan of God by the redemption that comes through Yeshua is modeled after the Passover sacrifice and the redemption of the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery. Messiah came, as he himself said, for "the lost sheep of the house of Israel," and his sacrifice, just as the Passover lamb, was for the entire nation of Israel. Israel was not merely saved for Israel's own sake, but to be God's conduit of salvation for the entire world. These redemptions in no way exclude the Gentiles; in fact, it was prophesied that Gentiles would choose to include themselves and participate in these redemptions.
Just as in the Israelite exodus from Egypt, the Passover sacrifice is a gift of redemption to all who will accept the call. It is foretold that those among the nations would throw in their lot with Israel and with the Jewish Redeemer and follow the God of Israel (e.g., Genesis 12:3, 22:18; Isaiah 42:4, 51:5, 60:9-10, 66:18-21; Jeremiah 16:19, etc.). This occurred at the exodus Passover, when free Egyptians chose to leave their lives of luxury to follow the God of Israel and sojourn with the wandering Hebrews. This also occurred after the Messiah's sacrifice at Passover, when so many among the nations gave up their ways of life to follow the Jewish Messiah.
Every physical descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is born into the covenant, whether we like it or not. Every Jew is "called," every Jew is obligated to take hold of this redemption. It is in the bold print of our contract—our covenant—with HaShem.
However, with the Gentiles it is different. Very different. And in some senses the call on Gentiles could be considered to be even more grand. The Gentiles are not called by nation, they are called by name.
Each and every Gentile believer was not called by God because of their physical lineage and association with the patriarchs. They were not called because God made a covenant with their forefathers that they broke but he has upheld. They were called, and saved, by grace, individually and by name. This means that every Gentile disciple who has ever lived had his or her specific name on the heart and mind of God. HaShem did not pick the entirety of the Greek nation as his covenanted people; rather, he went through and specifically handpicked his disciples, his children, his chose ones, from among all the Greeks, and he has done the same among every nation under heaven.
We can, of course, recognize that every Jew who has come to know that Yeshua is the Messiah has been able to do so only because of HaShem's grace, and because HaShem specifically made a way. But every Jew is called to this faith and salvation. Every Jew is meant to benefit from it, and every Jew, as Paul says, will ultimately be saved in the end, at the return of Messiah. Those of us who are believing Jews are the remnant that is to sanctify the rest of our nation. However, this is expected of us. The entire nation of Israel is to be as us: the remnant of the whole earth, sanctifying the entire world and bringing HaShem's redemption to all mankind. It is expected of us communally and nationally. However, the glory of the Gentile believers is that HaShem individually handpicked them for the task of being redeemed and participating in bringing redemption. It was not expected of their entire nation, but it is now expected of them specifically as individuals and faithful disciples.
Some Gentiles are remorseful over not being descended from the patriarchs. They most certainly should not be. Not only is their descent cherished by God, but HaShem has intentionally called them by their personal names to be a conduit of that divine light.
As we come into the time of Passover, Jews and Gentiles celebrating the exodus from Egypt together, those of us who are Jewish must remember that we were once there, leaving Egypt by God's mighty hand and outstretched arm. We must also remember that we did not leave alone, but with those faithful Gentiles who were handpicked by name, by God's grace, to share in our redemption. Just as there were Gentiles participating with us in the Passover redemption, so too, are there Gentiles with us participating in the Messiah's redemption. For God has always had a Gentile elect, chosen to travel with and live alongside the nation of Israel.]]>
Passover is the annual Torah holiday that celebrates the anniversary of the redemption from Egypt. In the Torah, God commanded the children of Israel to celebrate Passover every year with a commemorative meal called the Passover Seder. Jewish families come together around the table and eat unleavened bread and bitter herbs, just as God commanded. Throughout the course of the meal, the family drinks four ritual cups of wine. The Jewish people do not serve Passover lamb at Passover anymore because, without a Temple, there are no sacrifices today. Instead of eating lamb, everyone eats a small piece of unleavened bread in remembrance of the Passover lamb that used to be sacrificed.
The Torah calls this entire meal a "memorial"—a remembrance—of the Exodus from Egypt: "They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs ... Now this day will be a memorial to you."1
The real purpose of the Passover Seder meal is to be a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt, and it gives a chance to retell the story to our children. The whole Passover meal is meant to inspire the children to ask questions.2 To help the family navigate through the steps and rituals of the Passover meal, and to help them retell the story of the Exodus, the rabbis composed a guidebook. It is a short liturgy called the Haggadah (הגדה). The word Haggadah means "Telling." It is a book for telling the story of redemption from Egypt.
This unit is a Haggadah, so to speak, which retells the story of Redemption—not just the redemption of the Israelites from Egypt, but also the story of how the Messiah has redeemed us from the kingdom of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of light.
The exodus from Egypt is the Bible's paradigm for what salvation looks like. The salvation from Egypt is the Torah's clearest picture of what salvation is and how it works. In those events, God was planting a seed, foreshadowing the Gospel, showing us how it is that He saves His people. The exodus story sets up the pattern.
Everyone knows Moses' famous line, "Let my people go." Moses approaches the Pharaoh and says, "Let my people go." But in the Torah, there is a little more to it than that. He says, "Let my people go that they may worship me in the wilderness."3
The people of Israel in Egypt were in bondage. They were helpless to save themselves. God acted on His covenant faithfulness and saved them by a miracle.
As sinful, unredeemed human beings, we are in the same situation as the ancient Israelites in Egypt were. We have no power to save ourselves, nor do we deserve salvation. God saves us by a miracle; a direct intervention from heaven.
The wicked king of Egypt may be compared to Satan, and the kingdom of ancient Egypt may be compared to the kingdom of darkness. In a messianic sense, Egypt represents this present world, which is in bondage to the "god of this world,"4 and the "prince of the power of the air."5
In Romans 6:16, Paul compares our bondage to sin and death prior to our redemption through Messiah to the bondage of slavery:
Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?
In the Egypt of sin and death, we were driven by sin and ruled by the flesh. In the first chapter of Romans, Paul says that under the rule of the kingdom of darkness, we struggled beneath heavy burdens of sin, guilt, and shame. We were given over to impurity in the lusts of our hearts. We rejected truth and clung to lies. We worshipped and served anything and everything but God. We were given over to degrading passions, calling the unnatural "natural." We were filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil. We were full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, hatred, insolence, and arrogance. We were hating God, inventing evil, disobeying parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Metaphorically speaking, we served Pharaoh. We were the slaves of the devil.
The redemption from Egypt corresponds to our redemption from the kingdom of darkness. Moses, the redeemer of Israel, corresponds to Messiah. The Passover exodus corresponds to Messiah's victory over the cross and the grave.
This is not merely an allegorical interpretation. In the traditional Jewish perspective, the redemption from Egypt is regarded as foreshadowing the final redemption. In Jewish consciousness, the sojourn in Egypt was prophetic of the Jewish exile. The suffering in Egypt is symbolic for all Jewish suffering. The redemption foreshadows the ultimate redemption. The story of the Exodus from Egypt is the Torah's way of telling us the story of salvation in Yeshua. Yeshua is our Moses. He is our Passover Lamb. He is our Liberator, Redeemer, and Savior.
But God did not take the Israelites out of Egypt just so they could continue on as Pharaoh's slaves in the land of Israel. He liberated them so that they would be free men, redeemed for the purpose of serving God and worshipping Him. After taking them out of Egypt, He took them straight to Mount Sinai and gave them His Torah: His instruction for how they were to serve Him.
Why did God save us? Did He save us so that we could continue to serve the devil, or did He save us for the purpose of serving Him according to His instructions? The exodus from Egypt was not the end of the journey for the Israelites; it was the beginning of their walk with God. In the same way, our salvation is not the end of our spiritual journey; it is a new beginning.
The Bible says that before being redeemed, we are not able to lead lives pleasing to God:
Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the [Torah] of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:7-8)
When Paul says, "The mind set on the flesh," he is referring to the natural state of every human being. We are all simple human flesh. In our broken humanity, our mortal minds will not submit to God's Torah, and we cannot please God.
In this respect, we are like the Israelites in Egypt. So long as they were slaves in Egypt, the Israelites could not have accepted the Torah of God. They were Pharaoh's slaves. They could not choose to rest on the Sabbath day. They could not be selective about their food. They could not present offerings to God. Only after God saved the Israelites from slavery in Egypt were they able to carry out his will. That is why God did not give them the Torah until after He had already saved them from Egypt.
When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, they were set free from being slaves to Pharaoh, but they were not set free to wander off and do whatever they wanted. God redeemed them for himself. Leviticus 25:55 says:
For the sons of Israel are My [slaves]; they are My [slaves] whom I brought out from the land of Egypt.6
After their redemption from Egypt, the children of Israel were no longer slaves to Pharaoh. Instead they were slaves to God. In Romans 6, Paul alludes to this transformation. He says that before salvation, while we were still in the flesh, we were slaves to sin. After salvation, though, we became slaves to righteousness:
Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. (Romans 6:16-18)
Notice that Paul did not say we have been "freed from the Law," instead we have been freed from sin. In the next verse, the apostle goes on to say, "For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification."7
The Greek word which is translated here as "lawlessness" is anomia (ανομια). It is the opposite of the Greek word nomos (νομος) which means "law," or "Torah." If "nomos" is the Torah, then "anomia" is "Torahlessness." In Romans 6:19, Paul is saying that we were "slaves to impurity and to Torahlessness, resulting in further Torahlessness." But now we are "slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification."
When God rescued Israel from Egypt, He took the people away from Pharaoh. The Israelites no longer belonged to the Egyptians, but instead, they belonged to God. This transfer of ownership from Pharaoh to God and from sin to righteousness is what the Scripture means when it speaks of "redemption." When the Bible says that God "redeemed" us, it means that he "bought us back," transferring our ownership to himself. As our new owner, God has authority over us.
Paul employs redemption imagery in his letter to Titus. He says: "[The Messiah Yeshua] gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds."8 When Paul says that God redeemed us from "every lawless deed," the Greek word for "lawless" is anomia again. In other words, Messiah redeemed us from every "Torahless deed." He redeemed us as a "people for His own possession." He redeemed us so that "We would be zealous for good deeds."
We often hear Christians remark that, in Jesus, we are "free from the law." However, the redemption through Jesus does not free us from the obligations of the Torah. Paul's letter to the Romans says that we are free "from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2) and, "set free from sin" (Romans 6:18), but he does not say we are set free from God's commandments.
Paul says that Jesus came to redeem us, not from the Torah, but from "lawlessness," which is disobedience to the Torah. We were once like the ancient Israelite slaves, prevented from keeping the Torah because of our spiritual condition. But because of our redemption, we are now free from our slavery to sin.
Think about it like this. If the children of Israel enslaved in Egypt had to earn their salvation by keeping the Torah, they would never have been saved. Instead, God first saved the children of Israel by removing them from Egypt. Only after He had already saved them did He bring them to Mount Sinai and give them His Torah. We should never try to keep God's commandments or be "good enough" in order to be saved; we should keep God's commandments and be good people because we are already saved.


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Stephenson assessing in-home HIV testing and counseling for male couples
Thompson says mass incarceration causes collapse of Detroit neighborhoods
Liberal-conservative gap by education level growing in U.S.
Maggie Levenstein named director of ISR's Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
Arline Geronimus receives 2016 Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award
PSC spring 2016 newsletter: Kristin Seefeldt, Brady West, newly funded projects, ISR Runs for Bob, and more
AAUP reports on faculty compensation by category, affiliation, and academic rank
PSC Brown Bags
will resume fall 2016
Baker, Michael, and Gary Solon. 2003. "Earnings Dynamics and Inequality among Canadian Men, 1976-1992: Evidence from Longitudinal Income Tax Records." Journal of Labor Economics, 21(2): 289-321.
Using an extraordinary database drawn from longitudinal income tax records, we decompose Canada's growth in earnings inequality into its persistent and transitory components. We find that the growth in earnings inequality reflects both an increase in long-run inequality and an increase in earnings instability. The Canadian data strongly reject several restrictions commonly imposed in the U. S. literature, and they also suggest that imposing these evidently false restrictions may lead to distorted inferences about earnings dynamics and inequality trends.
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The GoSmart Clip is a new adjustable holder that allows you to mount your iPhone, Blackberry or other smartphone right onto your car's steering wheel. If you use your phone as a GPS or to make calls while driving (using speakerphone or a headset of course) it makes sense to mount the phone at eye level so you can keep an eye on the road.
Trying to hold your phone in one hand and use the other to manipulate the GPS map or the touchscreen is unsafe. Ever missed a call while fishing your phone out of your bag while driving? Putting the phone on the steering wheel where you can easily use it while still keeping both hands on the wheel (10 and 2, right?) is smart. The GoSmart Clip adjusts without tools to fit most phones and is much smaller than most dashboard mounts; you can easily move this from car to car. Of course you're not going to be downloading Blackberry free apps or buying songs from iTunes while you drive, but for using the phone, GPS maps, or adjusting your music while you drive- it's a good idea.
Car Mount, YUNSONG(TM) Super 3 in 1 Universal Adjustable Air Vent/ Windshield Car Phone Mount Holder Cradle for iPhone, Samsung & Other Smartphones- One Year Warranty
Mobility Universal Smart Phone Car Mount with Suction for Dashboard / Windshield - Compatible with Virtually any Smartphone Including Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy & More


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New Women's Chiffon Tops. They're just so chiffon-y.
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Mandatory Training for Health Care & Social Care Staff | Skills for Health Aligned | Regal Training
Region: Wiltshire
Including: Farnborough, Basingstoke, Andover, Winchester, Eastleigh, Southampton, Fareham, Portsmouth, Havant, Gosport, Brockenhurst, Lymington, Ringwood, Petersfield, Overton, Stockbridge, Fordingbridge and surrounding areas.
Contact: Support Team on 024 7610 0090 or via ... more about Mandatory Training | Havant, Hampshire | Regal Training
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Moving & Handling QCF Courses | Skills for Health Aligned Training | Regal Training (West Midlands)
Regal Training provide manual handling training courses at your workplace or any suitable venue in the UK. From our base in Coventry, we work with many organisations and individuals across Coventry and Warwickshire. We also have qualified and ... more about Moving and Handling Training | Havant, Hampshire | Regal Tra
Basic Life Support Training Course Level 2 | Skills for Health Aligned
Basic life support (BLS) is the level of medical care that is used for victims of life-threatening illnesses or injuries until they can be given full medical care at a hospital. It can be provided by trained medical personnel, including emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and by qualified bystanders.
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Painter required for a 2 week position in Havant
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A Superdrug Assistant Manager`s role in a Family Store is all about delivering an exceptional shopping experience through your people. You will need to create a day to day working environment that is warm, supportive and friendly. You will use your great delegation skills to get the job done. No day will ever be the same so it is real think on your feet stuff!
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House Measure Would Undermine Obama's LGBT Executive Order
Tyler Glenn Criticizes Mormon Church's Policy Of Ousting Gays In New Video
Uzo Aduba: Working With Laverne Cox On 'Orange Is The New Black' Taught Me We're All The Same
Viola Davis, Rosie Perez, Mya Taylor Weigh In On North Carolina's Anti-Gay Law
NC Senate Leader Phil Berger Defends Anti-Gay Law As Providing 'Common Sense Protections'
John Kasich: People Are 'Probably' Born Gay
A new survey has found that a majority
of Nevadans support gay marriage.
According to a poll commissioned by the
Retail Association of Nevada (RAN) and conducted by Public Opinion
Strategies, 54 percent of respondents said they support marriage
equality, while 43 percent remain opposed. Respondents who
identified themselves as deeply conservative remain overwhelmingly
opposed (76%).
"If you just go back 10 years, would
same-sex marriage pass in Nevada? No way," RAN spokesman Jim
Denton told the Nevada
Appeal. "What that poll says to me is this is not the same
state it was even 10 years ago."
The poll is believed to be the first to
document majority support for marriage equality in the Silver State.
In contrast, a Public Policy Polling
survey released in August found 47 percent of Nevada voters in favor
of such unions, and 42 percent against.
Nevada voters approved a constitutional
amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual union in 2002.
In 2009, lawmakers overrode former
Republican Governor Jim Gibbons' veto to approve a gay-inclusive
domestic partnership law which offers couples limited guaranteed
benefits associated with marriage.
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Nike's newest West Coast flagship store.
Amsterdam-based footwear label ETQ opens its very first store.
Featuring a stylish industrial layout.
Strengthening its long-standing ties with the Big Apple.
The soon-to-be 10-year-old brand moves into the world of brick-and-mortar.
CdG opens its first POCKET boutique in the United States.
Rugged Parisian flair in the heart of Shibuya.
Good store interiors don't come for cheap.
The store was the result of what a couple learned after living on a sailboat — "buy less, but better."
visvim takes over Toronto for the first time with an exclusive trunk show pop-up.


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FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) - The New York Jets have acquired wide receiver Percy Harvin from the Seattle Seahawks.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Call it the Shot That Shook the Bay.
Lorenzo Cain gearing up to run on Buster Posey. Pablo Sandoval trying to launch long balls, Alex Gordon banging into walls chasing them. Madison Bumgarner and James Shields starting big games, with lights-out bullpens poised to close 'em.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The big man they call MadBum is a playoff MVP.
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) - John Tavares scored the decisive goal of the shootout and the New York Islanders remained unbeaten with a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.
The Texas Rangers hired Pittsburgh Pirates bench coach Jeff Banister as their new manager.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Buster Posey and the Giants already know how to win in October - even without all this help from the St. Louis Cardinals.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - James Shields led thousands of fans in a celebratory chant. Lorenzo Cain pranced along the warning track, cradling his newborn son. Ned Yost finally allowed himself to smile.
BEIJING (AP) - Mirza Teletovic scored 22 points to lead the Nets to a 129-117 overtime preseason victory over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, as Brooklyn swept a pair of exhibition games in China between the teams.
ALAMEDA (AP) - Oakland cornerback DJ Hayden practiced for the first time since breaking his foot in June, a potential boost for the Raiders' struggling defense.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Adam Wainwright is determined to forget about his frustrating October outings and get back to the dominant postseason pitcher he used to be.
SANTA CLARA (AP) - San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick's $11,025 fine from the NFL for what a game official called "inappropriate language" during the 49ers' loss to the Chicago Bears last month was cut in half Wednesday.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) - Even though he's just two touchdown throws shy of Brett Favre's NFL record of 508, Peyton Manning isn't getting caught up in history, and neither are his teammates.
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Three days after his triumphant return against the Washington Redskins, Carson Palmer was looking forward to practice.
Page 242 of 748
BOSTON (AP) - Adrianne Haslet heard all the talk about taking back Boylston Street in the years after the Boston Marathon bombings.
OAKLAND (AP) - Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors had their chance to celebrate their record-setting regular season before turning their focus to even bigger ...
LOS ANGELES (AP) - On a night when two of the Giants' runs came in on wild pitches by Clayton Kershaw and three errors were committed ...
OAKLAND (AP) - The Oakland Athletics are struggling offensively and are using the bullpen a little bit too much. Catcher Stephen Vogt, an All-Star a year ...
ANAHEIM (AP) - Filip Forsberg got credit for the tiebreaking goal with 9:35 to play, and the Nashville Predators opened their first-round playoff series with ...
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) - Mitch Kupchak writes the Los Angeles Lakers' roster with a marker on a white board in his office. On Friday morning ...
CLEVELAND (AP) - LeBron James has been in the shadows, somewhat overlooked.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) - Jason Day is back at the top in a bid for his third PGA Tour title in a month.
WASHINGTON (AP) - John Carlson scored a power-play goal and Braden Holby made 19 saves to help the Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-0 in ...
OXNARD (AP) - The Rams are tired of waiting to get a franchise quarterback, and they want to make a splash in their return to Los ...
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Joe Pavelski circled out from behind the net while holding off Anze Kopitar, and the San Jose captain slipped the tiebreaking goal ...
DENVER (AP) - The San Francisco Giants came to Colorado on a little roll.
The Golden State Warriors don't want a record without a championship.
OAKLAND (AP) - Steve Kerr makes one thing perfectly clear: This special season is not about him. Far from it. Even if he is so perfectly ...
Page 10 of 30
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NEWELL - Brandon Kies caught a 68-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Stauter, and Kyle Doonan recovered a fumble in the end zone to help give Newell-Fonda a 23-13 victory over River Valley in a Class 1A district game Friday night at Newell.
The Mustangs, now 3-1 overall, led 16-6 at halftime thanks to a 10-yard run by John Witt and a safety on a fumble in the end zone by River Valley.
Kies then caught the long bomb from Stauter for a 16-0 lead.
Graham Lundt ripped off a 74-yard TD run for River Valley in the third quarter, but that would be all the scoring the Wolverines would do against the Mustang defense.
Blake Rieman rushed for 93 yards on 14 carries. Witt ran for 58 yards. Wade Brower had 17 tackles, Witt 11 and Kies 10.


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- //Home
- //Music
- //The Backsliders
From the opening track, "You're Gonna Miss Me", You're Welcome establishes itself as sturdy bar rock. Vocalist Kim Pendleton has a direct vocal style and the band's ability to veer from Beatle-esque pop to R.E.M. jangle to even a little doo-wop bounce makes it all sound like it's cut from the same cloth. There's not much indication of why the band won a Dallas Observer Music Award in the blues category, though—this is pretty straightforward rock 'n' roll. There are stray moments that stand out—the punkish riff here, the jaunty little piano melody there, the graininess that Pendleton adds to her vocals on "Fat Girls"—and the disc gets some momentum going, but it feels like something may have been lost in the translation from stage to disc. If anything, You're Welcome really makes you want to see the band live. You can tell that many of these songs would practically leap off of the stage, so maybe it's just a case of the Backsliders not capturing the right energy on this release.
Butcher Knives "American Dream" (video) (premiere) // Music
case/lang/veirs "Honey and Smoke" (Singles Going Steady) // Music
The Sound and the Warmth: An Interview with Cardiknox
// Sound Affects
"New York's Cardiknox are taking more steps in their goal of world domination. With their debut record Portrait out, the band are dreaming big, wanting to transcend the indie pop scene.READ the article


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