Yitro Jethro — יתרו
HAFTARAH: Isaiah 6:1-7:6, 9:5-6
Note: The regular readings above are often interrupted with special readings on Jewish holidays, special Sabbaths, and Rosh Chodesh. Refer to the annual Torah Portion schedule for these special portions.
Portion Summary
The seventeenth reading from the Torah is named Yitro (יתרו), which is the literal Hebrew behind the name Jethro. The title comes from the first words of the first verse of the reading, which says, "Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people" (Exodus 18:1). The portion tells the story of Jethro's visit to the camp of Israel, then relates the great theophany at Mount Sinai, where God gives Israel the Ten Commandments and invites the people to enter a special covenant relationship with Him.
Portion Outline
· Torah
o Exodus 18:1 | Jethro's Advice
o Exodus 19:1 | The Israelites Reach Mount Sinai
o Exodus 19:9 | The People Consecrated
o Exodus 20:1 | The Ten Commandments
o Exodus 20:22 | The Law concerning the Altar
· Prophets
o Isaiah 6:1 | A Vision of God in the Temple
o Isaiah 9:1 | The Righteous Reign of the Coming King
FRIEND OF THE BRIDEGROOM
On the day of the revelation at Mount Sinai, the Almighty brought his bride, the nation of Israel, under the chuppah.
A bride and groom in a sunflower field. (Image:
Pexels)
At Mount Sinai, God officially proposed to Israel (so to speak) offering to make them His people if only they would obey Him and keep His covenant. The rabbis compared it to a betrothal. In that metaphor, the Holy One, blessed be He, came to Israel as a suitor proposing marriage to His beloved.
The Almighty was the bridegroom. Israel was the bride. The Torah was their wedding contract (ketubah). Moses played the role of the “friend of the bridegroom” as a liaison between God and the people.
In Jewish wedding customs, the friend of the bridegroom served as an intermediary between the suitor and the woman. In the wedding, he presented the bride to the groom. As the friend of the bridegroom, Moses was responsible for negotiating the match. He brought the bridegroom’s proposal to the girl, and he carried messages back and forth between the two parties. Finally, Moses led the people to the foot of the mountain and presented them to God:
And Moses went forth and came to the camp of the sons of Israel, and he aroused the children of Israel from their sleep, saying to them, “Arise from your sleep, for behold, your God desires to give the Torah to you. Already the bridegroom wishes to lead the bride and to enter the bridal chamber.” … And the Holy One, blessed be He, also went forth to meet them like a bridegroom who goes forth to meet the bride. So the Holy One, blessed be He, went forth to meet them to give them the Torah. (Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer 41)
In the Gospels, John the Immerser played a similar role. Once, his disciples came to him, warning him that Yeshua of Nazareth was growing in popularity and that His disciples were baptizing people. John’s disciples felt as if Yeshua’s ministry infringed upon their ministry. John corrected them, pointing out that he only came as the forerunner of Messiah. Just as the friend of the bridegroom gets out of the way, relinquishing the girl under his charge to the groom, so too, John needed to relinquish his ministry to Yeshua. John seems to have alluded back to the story of Moses at Mount Sinai by comparing the people of Israel to a bride, Yeshua to a groom, and himself to a friend of the bridegroom:
John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:27-30)
THE WEDDING GIFT FROM GOD
What does it mean to "remember" the Sabbath? Was there ever a danger of forgetting to keep the Sabbath?
Jewish wedding chuppah against the golden
sunset. (Image: Bigstock)
If the covenant ceremony at Mount Sinai can be compared to a wedding, then the Sabbath can be compared to a wonderful wedding gift. Wrapped up in blessing and holiness, it is a gift that continues to radiate the love of God every week.
The LORD commands Israel to remember the Sabbath. What does it mean to "remember" the Sabbath? Was there ever a danger of forgetting to keep the Sabbath? In Semitic culture, the word "remember" has clear covenant connotations. To remember means to act in faithfulness to the covenant. Similarly, God remembered Noah in the Ark, and He remembered Sarah when He was ready to open her womb. Therefore, God is telling Israel to show faithfulness to His covenant by keeping the Sabbath.
Rashi says that we should remember the Sabbath all week long by preparing for it. For example, he says that if a person comes across a nice article of food or drink during the week, he should set it aside for the Sabbath. This reminds me of a story from the days of the Master.
When the Master was not but a baby, there lived a sage by the name of Shammai. Whenever Shammai was in the market place, he always kept a lookout for exceptionally fine items that he might be able to purchase for the Sabbath. If he found a really good goat or chicken or vintage of wine, he would purchase it and say, "This is for the Shabbat." If later on in the week he found one even nicer, he would purchase that one for the Sabbath and use the previous thing he had bought on a week day instead.
Sometimes Gentile Christians want to keep the Sabbath, but they are distressed because in their current circumstances they cannot. They wonder what they should do.
If you find that you are unable to observe the Sabbath, you can at least remember it. At a minimum, this requires being conscious of the Sabbath's presence. Remember it on Friday night when the sun goes down and the Sabbath begins. Remember it on Saturday morning when the sun rises on the day of rest and the Torah is being read in the synagogue. Remember it on Saturday night as the holy day comes to an end. By doing at least that much, a person can take at least a small share in the Sabbath. The path of Torah is never all or nothing, and something is always better than nothing.
FUNDAMENTALS OF FAITH
The Ten Commandments continue to speak across the centuries. The voice from Sinai echoes even today in the lives of millions of people.
Ten Commandments tablets above the entrance to
Congregation Eumanath Israel on West 23rd Street in Chelsea, Manhattan, NY.
(Image © Bigstock)
He did not give the laws of the Torah just to tidy up human society. Each commandment communicates a piece of divine revelation, a piece of godliness. More than just rules for governing human behavior, the laws of the Torah reflect the Lawgiver.
Our Master told us that “out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” When God broke the silence and spoke to His creation at Mount Sinai, He spoke from the fullness of His heart. Each law and commandment, no matter how small or seemingly irrelevant, communicates a piece of revelation from God, an overflowing of His heart.
The Ten Commandments are moral absolutes. They were spoken aloud by God, and everyone heard them. They require no further justification. They are non-negotiable.
The Ten Commandments are well known. Even non-believers and people from other religions are more-or-less familiar with the concept of the Ten Commandments. In the United States, political and social battles continue to be waged about whether or not it is appropriate to display the Ten Commandments on public property. The popular culture abounds with jokes about breaking the Ten Commandments, but most people reflexively accept their moral authority.
In Hebrew, they are called the Aseret haDebarim, which literally means the “ten words,” but could more loosely be translated as “the ten matters.”
The Ten Commandments were spoken aloud by God (Exodus 20), written in stone by His own finger (Exodus 31:18), and chiseled into a second set of stone tablets by Moses (Exodus 34:28). Moses repeats the ten words to the assembly of Israel in Deuteronomy 5:6-21.
The “ten matters” summarize the 613 commandments of the Torah, but they cannot be separated from the Torah or from each other. Some Christian teachers claim that the Ten Commandments are still valid but the rest of the laws of Torah is obsolete. Even Christian Sabbatarians have, for the most part, divorced the Ten Commandments from the rest of the Torah. The Bible itself makes no distinction between the commands of the Decalogue and the imperatives and prohibitions that follow in the rest of the Torah. The same God spoke both. He bound them upon His people with equal measure.
A person should not imagine that the Ten Commandments in the Decalogue are the only real commandments and the other six hundred and three are merely suggestions.
Is God jealous in the sense of a petty, selfish jealousy that takes offense when attention and affection are directed anywhere else?
God is passionately in love with His people. He
is like a steadfast and faithful husband who does not waver in his affection or
commitment to his bride. (Image © Bigstock/HalfPoint)
Jewish tradition maintains that the first commandment is the commandment to believe in God. Christian tradition has the first commandment as the prohibition on worshipping other gods. Eastern Orthodox reckoning agrees that the second commandment is a prohibition on idols. All of these commandments teach us to worship God alone and not to make representations of Him or any other gods. God explains these commandments by saying, "I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God" (Exodus 20:5).
Does this mean that God is jealous in the sense of a petty, selfish jealousy that takes offense when attention and affection are directed anywhere else? Of course not. God is jealous in the sense that a loving husband is jealous over his wife.
If your spouse told you, "I don't care whether you see other people; it doesn't bother me," you would be alarmed that he or she no longer holds your wedding vows as sacrosanct. It would bother you that your spouse had such little affection for you that infidelity was not even an issue. It would be a clear and certain sign that your spouse cared little for you or for your relationship.
The Hebrew word for jealousy (kana, קנא) is also translated as "zeal." The term "jealous God" could be translated as "zealous God" or even "impassioned God." God is passionately in love with His people. He is like a steadfast and faithful husband who does not waver in his affection or commitment to his bride. Because of that, He will not tolerate the worship of other gods, nor will He allow for the worship of idols. He feels the same way about idolatry and paganism that a faithful husband would feel about his wife having an affair.
God's fidelity should encourage us to adopt the same standard of jealous devotion to Him. Just as a faithful and steadfast wife would shun the affections of other men and refuse their flirtatious gifts and suggestive advances, we should be resolved to give no room to idolatry in our lives.
God is passionately in love with us. We should return that passion.
THE GIVING OF THE TORAH
Long before the tongues of fire fell upon the believers in Jerusalem, the fire fell upon Mount Sinai.
Multi-colored tapestry of ancient Italian art
depicting the giving the the Holy Spirit (Image: Bigstock/alephcomo)
Most Christians know the story of Pentecost: the mighty wind, the tongues of fire, the Holy Spirit, and the apostles speaking in every language. Most, however, are unaware of the significant background behind the story. The church holiday known as Pentecost was not originally a church holiday at all; the festival goes back to the days of Moses.
Christianity celebrates Pentecost as the day that the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in tongues of fire:
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1–4)
The first Pentecost happened at Mount Sinai. Long before the tongues of fire fell upon the believers in Jerusalem, the fire fell upon Mount Sinai. The children of Israel arrived in the desert of Sinai in the third month, as the Torah says. On the sixth day of the third month, God descended onto Mount Sinai to give Israel the Torah. He came in blazing fire heralded by the loud blast of the shofar.
Just as Passover memorializes the exodus from Egypt, Pentecost memorializes the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. For that reason, Pentecost is called the festival of Mattan Torah (מתן תורה), the “Giving of the Torah.”
To commemorate the day that He gave His Torah to Israel, the LORD commanded the children of Israel to observe the day of Shavuot as an appointed time.
Pentecost means “fifty.” The festival is called Pentecost because it comes fifty days after the first day of Passover. The Torah refers to it as the Festival of Weeks (Shavu’ot, שבעות) because it occurs seven weeks after the first day of Passover. Henceforth we will use the Hebrew name of the festival: Shavuot.
Our Torah portion this week tells the story. On the first Shavuot, a thick, dark cloud covered Mount Sinai. The whole mountain shook and trembled as the sound of a loud ram’s horn trumpet, a shofar, split the air. God spoke and all Israel heard His voice.
As the disciples of the risen Messiah gathered to celebrate Shavuot in Jerusalem, they gathered to celebrate the anniversary of the giving of the Torah. The festival already carried heightened significance for the disciples of Yeshua because it came fifty days after the day of their Master’s resurrection. The Shavuot-miracles that accompanied the giving of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 allude to the giving of the Torah at Sinai. The mighty wind, the tongues of fire, and the speaking in other languages commemorate Mattan Torah.
THE SPECIAL TREASURE
Does God have a favorite nation? According to the Bible, He has chosen one people to be he treasured possession.
In Exodus 6:7, the LORD told the children of Israel, "I will take you for My people, and I will be your God." This phrase was an adaptation of an expression from the sphere of marriage. The ancient Near Eastern wedding formulation was "You will be my wife; I will be your husband." In the Hebrew Bible, it is common to speak of marriage as "taking" a wife. God likened Himself to a suitor and the people of Israel to the young woman He was courting. He was not content to simply redeem them from slavery; He wanted to take them as His very own people and enjoy an intimate relationship with them, like that of a husband to a wife.
Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine. (Exodus 19:5)
This is covenantal language. God wanted to enter into a covenant with Israel. A covenant is a contractual arrangement that specifies the terms and conditions of a relationship. The marriage metaphor is a good way to understand the covenant at Sinai. The sages speak of Exodus 19 as God's betrothal of Israel. At the foot of Mount Sinai, God officially asked for Israel's hand in marriage.
He spoke to her lovingly. He reminded the people of how He had carried them out of Egypt, as if on the wings of an eagle, and how he had brought them to Himself. He promised to make them His own special treasure above all other peoples. He said, "You shall be my own possession" (Exodus 19:5). The Hebrew word that the NASB translates as "possession" is the word segulah (סגלה). Some versions translate it as "beloved treasure" or "peculiar treasure."
In the ancient Near East, the term segulah was used to describe a king's prized trophy. When a king's army vanquished an enemy, the king kept the most valuable items for his own treasure. A precious object like this was called a segulah. In Exodus 19:5, the word is used as a term of endearment for Israel. God says that He will make the Israelites into His specially prized treasure. He says that even though He owns the entire earth, Israel will always be His special people.
This can be compared to a king who had conquered many lands and possessed great wealth. His treasuries were filled with valuables, but he had one precious gemstone that he valued above all others. Rather than leave it in the treasury with the other valuables, he had it hung on a golden chain and wore it around his neck every day.
That's the way God looks at Israel and each of His children.
THE SIGNS OF PENTECOST
The first Pentecostal outpouring of tongues of fire and the gift of speaking in tongues took place at Mount Sinai.
Rabbi Yochanan transmitted the tradition about God’s voice speaking in all languages as well. According to Genesis 10, the nations of the world descended from seventy original families. The “seventy tongues” is idiomatic for “all the languages of the nations.”
The Torah says [in Exodus 20:18], “And all the people saw the voices.” Note that it does not say “the voice,” but “the voices”; wherefore Rabbi Yochanan said that God’s voice, as it was uttered, split up into seventy voices, in seventy tongues, so that all the nations should understand. (Shemot Rabbah 5:9)
Rabbi Yochanan said: “What is meant by the verse [in Psalm 68:12(11)], ‘The LORD announced the word, and great was the company of those who proclaimed it’? Every single word that went forth from the Almighty divided up into seventy tongues.” (b.Shabbat 88b)
The Pentecost-miracles that accompanied the giving of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 allude to the giving of the Torah at Sinai. The mighty wind, the tongues of fire, and the speaking in other languages commemorate the first Pentecost (Shavu’ot). Just as Passover memorializes the exodus from Egypt, Shavuot memorializes the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Jewish tradition regards it as the anniversary of the day on which God descended onto Sinai and spoke the Ten Commandments. For that reason, Shavuot is called the festival of Mattan Torah (מתן תורה), the “Giving of the Torah.” On the festival of Shavuot, synagogues read the story of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 19 and 20.
The disciples and followers of Yeshua experienced the day of Pentecost as a second giving of the Torah. They knew the rabbinic legends about the words of fire dividing into seventy languages as they left the mouth of God. They knew the story of God’s voice speaking to all mankind in every tongue. Those legends gave significance to the miracles, signs, and wonders that they experienced on Shavuot, the anniversary of the giving of the Torah. The tongues of fire and utterances in every tongue pointed directly back to the experience at Mount Sinai, and they underscored a connection between God’s Holy Spirit and His holy Torah.
Believe in Moses?
This week’s parashah is one of the most pivotal in terms of human history. In this parashah, the Creator of the Universe begins to reveal Himself in a manner previously unknown to mankind. It is the pinnacle of the Exodus, and the very reason He delivered His people from Egypt. Hashem delivered the Children of Israel from the bondage of Pharaoh in order to bring them to this moment. It was on Mount Sinai that the Lord called Moses and commissioned him to lead the Children of Israel out of Egypt. And now it was from Sinai that God would reveal Himself and His divine will to His people. His voice would be heard for the first time by an entire people. And for the first time He would call an entire people to Himself as a nation that would be set apart from all other nations on the face of the earth.
But in order for all of this to happen, Hashem had to set the stage to allow His people to hear His voice and accept the offer He would present to them. The specific thing He had to do for this to happen was to get the Israelites to trust in His messenger, his shaliach. Therefore, the Lord did great and mighty works through the hand of Moses so that they would fully realize he was indeed sent by Hashem:
Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses. (Exodus 14:31)
As the Israelites encamped at the base of Mount Sinai, the mountain was surrounded by various displays of the Divine Presence. Why? Because the Lord needed to remind the people to trust in His shaliach. He explained this to Moses:
Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe in you forever. (Exodus 19:9)
Believe in Moses forever? But isn’t it Yeshua that we are supposed to believe in forever? In his Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16), Yeshua demonstrates that belief in Moses is not optional, but foundational. In the parable, both Lazarus and a rich man die and enter the realm of the dead. Abraham attends to the needs of Lazarus while the rich man suffers torment. As the rich man is suffering, he begs Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to call his brothers to repentance. Abraham responds by telling him, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.” Immediately the rich man objects, saying, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” Abraham’s response is striking, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”
Why was faith in Moses so critical for the Children of Israel fleeing Egypt? Because he was the one sent to guide them to their destination and facilitate God’s covenant with them. Why has faith in Moses been critical for the Children of Israel since the Exodus? Because he points them back to that covenant God made with them, reminding them of their responsibility to remain faithful to their Redeemer. Sometimes, however, we forget that our faith in Yeshua should also serve the same purpose. Yeshua’s job was to point us back to his Father and his Father’s covenant as well. Each self-disclosure of Hashem required that humanity might believe in His shaliach, but not to that end. They were to trust in His shaliach so that ultimately, we might see beyond the messenger to the One whom the messenger represents, and then they can hear His voice fresh and anew. Yeshua desired that the world believe in him so that they could ultimately hear the voice of his Father and be united for His purposes:
That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20–21)
Once we believe in the messenger, we can hear his message. The message of Moses was, “I am giving you a covenant with the Creator of the Universe. Cling to its details—loving God and others through the details of this covenant—and you will live.” Yeshua’s message was, “Repent—turn back to the covenant of your forefathers—because if you do, the Messianic Kingdom will come upon you.” We must do more than believe in the messenger. We must hear his voice and be obedient to his message as well.
PARASHAT YITRO (EXODUS 18:1-20:23)
Should We Fear God?
Our current Torah portion contains one of the most famous sections of the entire Bible: the Ten Commandments. These “ten words,” as they are literally translated (see Exodus 34:28), are the pillars of both Judaism and Christianity. They form the basis of our Judaeo-Christian value system. Moses climbed to the top of Mount Sinai to receive God’s covenant. It was this moment that the Children of Israel had been waiting for since their exodus from Egypt. They weren’t waiting for just ten commandments, but for all six-hundred and thirteen commandments contained in the Torah, the full revelation of the God who redeemed them from the house of bondage. However, when the Children of Israel saw the awesome display of God’s glory at Mount Sinai they were immediately filled with fear:
Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” (Exodus 20:15[18]–16[19])
This is the first (and last) time in history that an entire people would see what is normally only heard. They were seeing unbelievable things and it scared them stiff. How did they respond? They told Moses, “We need you to be the buffer between us and God, because if we hear Him anymore we will die!” They had an extreme fear of the very One who had delivered them from Egypt.
This brings us to an important question. Should we fear God? Many people quote the words of John, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (1 John 4:18). They say that followers of Yeshua should not fear God. However, Yeshua told his disciples, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). The fear of the LORD should be properly placed.
Moses knew that the fear that the Children of Israel had was an unhealthy one. He didn’t want to remove it, but to properly redirect it. He told them:
Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin. (Exodus 20:17[20])
Notice that immediately after telling them, “Do not fear,” he told them that that should fear God. However, they needed to realize that God’s plans for them were not malevolent, but that a healthy fear of the LORD was the key to give them a healthy fear of sin. Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa taught his disciples a similar principle of how healthy fear is a deterrent to sin:
He in whom the fear of sin takes precedence of wisdom, his wisdom will endure; but he in whom wisdom takes precedence of his fear of sin, his wisdom will not endure. (Avot 3:8)
How does this work? Let’s look at an example from the midrash. King Solomon was the wisest of all men, but yet he fell prey to sin. How so? The midrash tell us that when he was writing his copy of the Torah, as all kings are required to do, he altered the text to permit himself to disobey the commandment prohibiting a king from having too many wives. The commandment of the Torah reads, “And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away” (Deuteronomy 17:17). Why did he do this? Solomon believed he understood the reason the Torah gave the commandment (that his heart not go astray) and consequently thought his superior wisdom would keep him from being entangled in this particular sin. In other words, his wisdom took precedence of his fear of sin. Therefore, his wisdom failed and he ended up exactly where he believed he would not.
Fear of God is a trait that requires extreme balance in a person’s life. If we throw it out completely we will end up like Solomon, in a place we never dreamed we would be. However, we can also have a fear of God that cripples us like the Israelites at Mount Sinai. The middle road is the path Moses took. He knew that a healthy dose of the fear of the LORD is a deterrent to sin and would put us into a right relationship with our Redeemer. The fear of God, or lack thereof, can either cripple us, misguide us, or empower us. May we all have a healthy dose of the fear of the LORD that empowers us to overcome sin and gain wisdom from our Redeemer.
A PENTECOSTAL EXPERIENCE
A Pentecostal
Experience
Parshat Yitro (Exodus 18:1-20:23)
We are all familiar with what took place in Acts 2. After Yeshua’s resurrection he instructed his disciples to remain in Jerusalem so that they would be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4–8). Here’s the account of how it happened:
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1–4)
Yeshua’s disciples encountered the Spirit of Hashem in a powerful way that not only transformed their lives but also empowered them to boldly proclaim the good news of Yeshua’s coming Kingdom. But what does this event that happened during the lives of the Apostles have to do with our current Torah portion? Parashat Yitro records for us the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, particularly the “Big Ten” of the 613 commandments. It tells us how God revealed Himself to an entire nation at once:
Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off.” (Exodus 20:15[18])
There is a problem with this passage, however, that almost every commentator addresses. We are told that all the people “saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning.” It’s normal to hear thunder, but not normal to see thunder. And to compound the problem even further, the Hebrew doesn’t use the normal word for thunder. It uses haqolot, which means “the voices.” Literally, the people saw “the voices.” How do you see voices and what voices are we talking about? The Midrash understands this to mean that the voice of God came from the top of the fiery mountain (Deuteronomy 5:19[23]-20[24]) and went out to all the nations in all of the known languages of the world:
Rabbi Yochanan said, “The voice would go out and divide into seventy voices for the seventy languages, so that all the nations would hear. And each and every nation would hear in the language of the nation and their souls would depart. But Israel would hear and they were not injured.” (Shemot Rabbah 5:9)
Jewish tradition places this event at the festival of Shavuot, also known by its Greek name, Pentecost. God gave His Torah at Pentecost and His voice went forth in all the known languages of the world to proclaim His Kingship on earth. Essentially, this is what happened in the book of Acts as well. The Apostles would have associated this experience with the original Shavuot, confirming that God was doing something related to that first event. When all of Israel had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate Shavuot (Pentecost), something incredible happened. God once again revealed Himself in a powerful way. This time, however, it was in a way that transformed the hearts of Yeshua’s disciples and enabled them to live out the Torah’s precepts from the inside out. The Spirit began the work of renewing their hearts in fulfillment of the prophecies of both Jeremiah (31) and Ezekiel (36), as well as give them supernatural strength to share the good news of the Kingdom with all those who would hear.
At the first Shavuot the Children of Israel guarded and protected the message. At the Shavuot in Acts Hashem used them to send His message forth into all the world. At the first Shavuot Hashem’s voice went out in every language, but only the Children of Israel heard it and responded. At the Shavuot in Acts Hashem’s voice went out in every language, but this time it came from the mouth of the Children of Israel and people from every nation responded.
When most people speak of Pentecost and the Pentecostal “experience,” the focus is on the gift of speaking in a language unknown to them. For the Apostles, however, the experience was completely about transmitting Yeshua’s Kingdom message to people they would otherwise be unable to communicate with. What good is a gift if it’s never used for its purpose? The Apostles realized that their experience was for a higher purpose and utilized it to accomplish the will of God and bring untold thousands into the Kingdom.
YITRO: THE TORAH OF MESSIAH
“The Torah that a man learns in this world is vanity in comparison to the Torah of Messiah.” Kohelet Rabbah 11:7, Soncino Press Edition
SHAVUOT
In Parashat Yitro (Exodus
18:1–20:23), the Torah is revealed to Israel upon Mount Sinai. This singular
event has completely reshaped human history. Rashi, R’ Shlomo Yitzchaki,
comments on the atmosphere that was conducive to the reception of the Torah,
“Israel encamped there’ Heb. וַיִחַן, (the singular form) as one man with one heart, but all the other encampments were divided with complaints and with strife.” Rashi on Exodus 19:2, Chabad.org [1]
The people were unified, and this provided an environment in which the Revelation could take place. The book of Acts echoes Exodus,
ּבְיוֹם מְלאת שִׁבְעַת הַשָּׁבֻעוֹת נֶאֶסְפוּ כֻלָּם לֵב אֶחָד
“And in the day of the Shavuot being fulfilled, they all met with one heart.” Acts 2:1
In Jewish tradition, the Torah was revealed on Mount Sinai on the Festival of Shavuot, just as the Holy Spirit, the Torah written upon the heart, was given on Shavuot. Incredibly, Exodus describes the miracles associated with the Matan Torah, the Giving of the Torah, “And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the voice of the shofar, and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw, they trembled, and stood afar off.” Exodus 20:18
The Hebrew word for “thunderings” is the word ‘qolot’, which can mean ‘sounds’ or ‘voices.’
It may be asked, how is it possible to “see a sound”? The Midrash says,
“They saw what is ordinarily heard and they heard what is ordinarily seen.” Midrash Lekach Tov, Rashi cited at Chabad.org [2]
They saw the Voices. In the book of Acts, it says, “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.” Acts 2:3, King James Version
In modern translations, the word for “cloven” is rendered ‘divided’, ‘separated,’or ‘distributed,’ “Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them.” Acts 2:3
Jewish tradition confirms this idea. The Midrash Rabbah says, “R. Johanan said that G-d’s voice, as it was uttered, split up into seventy voices, in seventy languages, so that all the nations should understand.” Exodus Rabbah 5:9
Acts continues, “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak. . . When this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were bewildered, because everyone heard them speaking in his own language.” Acts 2:4-6
Notice the
amazing parallels from Midrash Rabbah, ”When G-d gave the Torah on Sinai,
He displayed untold marvels to Israel with His voice. What happened? G-d spoke
and the Voice reverberated throughout the world. . . It says: And all the
people perceived the thunderings (Ex. 20:15). Note that it does not say “the
thunder” [qol], but “the thunderings.” [qolot]. Wherefore R. Johanan said that
G-d’s voice, as it was uttered, split up into seventy voices, in seventy
languages, so that all the nations should understand. When each nation heard
the Voice in their own vernacular their souls departed, save Israel who heard
but who were not hurt.” Exodus
Rabbah 5:9, Soncino Press Edition
In Exodus it says,
“…there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.” Exodus 32:28
It seems that a tikkun, a repair, was made for this in the book of Acts, “Then those who gladly received his word were immersed. There were added that day about three thousand souls.” Acts 2:41
In addition to this, the restoration of a language that all can understand is a reversal of the curse of the Tower of Babel, “The whole earth was of one language and of one speech…They said, “Come, lets build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and lets make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.” The HaShem came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. HaShem said, ‘Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. Come, lets go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one anothers speech.’ So HaShem scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city.” Genesis 11:1-8
The prophet Zephaniah says that this will characterize the Messianic Era,
“For then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that they may all call on the name of Hashem, to serve him shoulder to shoulder.” Zephaniah 3:9
FREEDOM UPON THE TABLETS
In Exodus it says, “The tablets were the work of G-d, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved (charut, חָרוּת) on the tablets.” Exodus 32:16
The Hebrew word for “engraved” can also be read “freedom.” Pirkei Avot comments, “Said Rabbi Joshua the son of Levi: … it says (Exodus 32:16): “And the tablets are the work of G-d, and the writing is G-d’s writing, engraved on the tablets,” read not “engraved” (charut) but “liberty” (chairut)—for there is no free individual, except for he who occupies himself with the study of Torah…” Pirkei Avot 6:2, cited at Chabad.org
This tradition is apparently quoted by Yaakov, James, the brother of Yeshua, “…he who looks into the perfect Torah of Freedom (תּוֹרַת הַחֵרוּת), and continues, not being a hearer who forgets, but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:25
The Zohar comments on the deeper level meaning of this concept, “Therefore the Scripture proclaims: ‘the tablets were the work of G-d’ (Elokim), from the time when the world was still under the aegis of the name Elokim, before the Sabbath had entered. The writing, too, was the ‘writing of God’, black fire on white fire, and it was haruth (engraved) because the Jubilee proclaims freedom (heruth) to all worlds.” Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 114a, Soncino Press Edition
It is often taught that the Torah is “bondage.” This is only true if one misinterprets and misapplies the Torah. HaShem did not lead the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt into spiritual bondage. Yet, the nation of Israel did not become free when they left Egypt. They become truly free when they accepted, and applied the Torah. The Torah is freedom!
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BLACK FIRE UPON WHITE FIRE
A Torah scroll is written with black ink upon white parchment (usually made from the skin of a lamb), yet the Torah preceded the creation of the physical universe. The book of Deuteronomy says,
מִימִינֹו אֵשְׁדָּת אֵשׁ דָּת לָמֹו
“At his right hand was a fiery law for them.” Deuteronomy 33:2
The Zohar comments, “…that the Torah was written with black fire on white fire.” Zohar, Bemidbar, Section 3, Page 154b, Soncino Press Edition
The Encyclopedia Judaica eludicates this idea, “The most radical form that this view took was associated with the talmudic aggadah according to which prior to the creation of the world the whole of the Torah was written in black fire on white fire. As early as the beginning of the 13th century the daring notion was expressed that in reality the white fire comprised the true text of the Torah, whereas the text that appeared in black fire was merely the mystical Oral Law. Hence it follows that the true Written Law has become entirely invisible to human perception and is presently concealed in the white parchment of the Torah scroll, the black letters of which are nothing more than a commentary on this vanished text. In the time of the Messiah the letters of this “white Torah” will be revealed. This belief is referred to in a number of the classic texts of Hasidism as well.” Encyclopedia Judaica, Kabbalah
Chabad.org continues, “There are 304,805 plus letters in the Torah, but as you noted, we often hear of the 600,000 letters in the Torah…[One] view explains that the count of 304,805 letters includes only those that we see, black ink against white parchment. But there are also the letters in white against black. The heavenly, non-physical version of the Torah is described as black fire on white fire, and both the black and white are equally meaningful. The black are the letters we see, while the white, the inverse space between the black, are the letters we don’t see. The count of 600,000 includes both the black and the white letters.” Where Are There 600,000 Letters of the Torah?, Malkie Janowski, Chabad.org
Michael L. Munk says, “The
sum total of human knowledge derives from the Torah because the universe is a
product of Torah which is the blueprint of the world…When His Ineffable Word
took physical form, heaven and earth became the clothing for the word of God
which infuses Creation, and without which Creation would not continue to exist.
The spiritual Torah which preceded the world became clothed in ink and
parchment…the wisdom of God took for the form of the 613 commandments. But the
precepts are not isolated phenomena; they are all interrelated aspects of a
single Torah, like the organs and vessels of a single human body to which the
totality of the commandments are likened.” The Wisdom in the Hebrew
Alphabet, Artscroll, Michael L. Munk, pg. 47
John elucidates that as the Primordial Torah became clothed in ink and parchment, it also became clothed in flesh and blood, “In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with G-d, and the Word was G-d…And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” John 1:1,14
THE SOUL OF THE TORAH
If the black letters refer to what is revealed, then the white space refers to that which is concealed. R’ Levi of Berditchev says,
“When our Righteous Messiah comes, we shall also understand the blank spaces in the Torah.” Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, Imre Tzaddikim, pg 10, Cited in the Messiah Texts, Raphael Patai, pg. 257
Throughout Yeshua’s teachings, especially in Matthew chapters 5 through 7, Yeshua reveals the White Fire of the Torah. For example, he teaches that the root of murder is hatred, “You have heard that it was said to the ancients, “You shall not murder“. . . But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be liable to the judgment. And whoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the Sanhedrin, but whoever shall say, Fool! shall be liable to the fire of Gey-Hinnom.” Matthew 5:21-22
John expounds on this concept, “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. . . If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar. For if a person does not love his brother, whom he has seen, then he cannot love God, whom he has not seen. Yes, this is the command we have from him: whoever loves God must love his brother too.” 1 John 3:15, 4:20-21
The black letters of the Torah are our deeds, our actions, that are perceptible in the physical world. The white spaces in the Torah refer to the thoughts, motives and intentions of the heart, which are the invisible roots of our actions. Hebrews says, “For the word of G-d is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
The Midrash Rabbah says, “And the flaming sword…” (Genesis 3:24) ”Rabbis said: ‘Sword’ refers to the Torah, as it is written, And a two-edged sword in their hand (Ps. 149:6).” Genesis Rabbah 21:9, Soncino Press Edition
Two double-edged sword
of the Torah simply does not command us to ‘not murder’, but to eradicate the very
source of murder. In the book Moshiach, Day by Day, there is a section called
“Beyond the Letter of the Law,” that comments, Beyond the Letter of the Law
“Our Sages taught: The law of Chanukah requires that
we light one candle each night, those who are zealous light one for each
person, and the most beautiful way is to light one candle the first night and
increase the lights every night.(Talmud, Shabbos 21b.) On Chanukah it has
become accepted custom of all Jews to perform the mitzvah in the “most
beautiful way,” far beyond the letter of the law. In Talmudic times, going
beyond the minimum letter of the law was considered an act of extra piety. In
our times, however, because of the increasing intensity of darkness in the
world, more light was needed—and the concept of going beyond the minimum has
now been incorporated as part of Jewish law. Achieving personal liberation
demands that one go beyond the minimum law. This is an intrinsic aspect of
celebrating the liberation of Chanukah, and achieving the complete liberation
of Mashiach.(See Sichas 19 Kislev, 5744, sec. 4)” Moshiach, Day by Day, Elul
The New Torah, the Torah of the Messiah, is actually more “strict” than that of Moshe, because while it bids us to obey letter of the Torah, we must go beyond, higher and deeper, into the very root of our physical actions, into our thoughts, intentions and motives. The Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, inspires us to become more observant, not only outwardly but inwardly.
THE NEW TORAH
As noted above, the Torah preceded the Creation of the world. R’ Aryeh Kaplan comments, “The Torah is Wisdom, and is therefore the “head” of creation . . . It might be thought that the Torah was created only to rectify creation as it already exists. If this were so, the Torah would have been created after the earth. But actually, the Torah was the blueprint of creation, and therefore preceded it.” Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, The Bahir, pg. 96
When HaShem created the world through the Primordial Torah, it was absolutely perfect. There was no death, suffering, sadness or pain. However, when Adam sinned, the letters of the Primordial Torah re-arranged, to apply to a fallen world. The Torah remained perfect, but it now applied to a world that was no longer perfect, as Numbers 19 says
זאת התוֹרה אדם כי יָמוּת באהל
“This is the Torah when a man dies in a tent…” Numbers 19:14
The Torah’s letters re-arranged to apply to situations like death, sickness, divorce, sin, suffering and war. In the New Torah the word ‘death’ will never be mentioned. Even the Midrash on Psalms hints that the Torah of this world is not in its proper order, “Man knows not the order thereof” (Job 28:13). R. Eleazar taught: The sections of Scripture are not arranged in their proper order, and any man so read them, he would be able to resurrect the dead and perform other miracles. For this reason the proper order of the sections of Scripture is hidden from mortals and is known only to the Holy One, blessed be He, who said: “Who, as I, can read and declare it, and set it in order.” (Isaiah 44:7) Midrash Tehillim, translated by William G. Braude, Yale University Press, pg. 48
Yet the Midrash Talpiyot comments that the letters of the Torah will re-configure itself back to its primordial state, “The Holy One, blessed is He, will sit and expound the New Torah which He will give through the Messiah. “New Torah” means the secrets and the mysteries of the Torah which have remained hidden until now. It does not refer to another Torah, heaven forbid, for surely the Torah which He gave us through Moshe rabbeinu, peace be upon him, is the eternal Torah, but the revelation of her hidden secrets is called the “New Torah”. . . when Adam the first man sinned, God arranged the letters into words, such as, When a man dies in his tent (Num 19:14). For had Adam not sinned, the letters would have arranged themselves into other words. Therefore, in the Olam Haba, the words will return to their primordial state.” Midrash Talpiyot 58a, cited in the Messiah Texts, Raphael Patai, pg. 256
It is important to note that the New Torah is the same Torah of Moshe, but with its hidden soul revealed. Yeshua teaches that ‘not one jot or tittle shall ever pass from the Torah, “Dont think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter[4] or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the Torah, until all things are accomplished.” Matthew 5:17-18
When ‘heaven and earth pass away’ is when the Olam Haba, the World to Come arrives. Then the New Torah will be revealed in its fullest measure. HaShem will use the New Torah in order to re-create the Heavens and the Earth. In Mark 1, it tells us of a “New Torah,”
מַה־זֹּאת מַה־הִיא הַתּוֹרָה הַחֲדָשָׁה
“They were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, What is this? A new Torah? For with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him!” Mark 1:27
The Yemenite Midrash says, “In the future the Holy One, blessed is he, will seat the Messiah in the supernal Yeshiva, and they will call him, “the Lord” just as they call the Creator . . . and all those who walk on earth will come and sit before him to hear a New Torah and new commandments and the deep wisdom which he teaches Israel. . . and no person who hears a teaching from the mouth of the Messiah will ever forget it.” Yemenite Midrash, cited in the Messiah Texts, Raphael Patai, pg. 256
R’ Chaim Kramer comments
on the teachings of Rebbe Nachman on the subject, “…just as Mashiach’s level
has yet to be revealed, so too the level of the hidden mysteries of the Torah
has yet to be revealed. This awesome level of “hidden mysteries” is called the
“Torah of Atika Stima’ah (“Torah of the Hidden Ancient One”) or simply, the
“Torah of Atik” that will be revealed in the future. Throughout our history,
the Torah of Atik has been concealed, with rare revelations made by our
Prophets and Sages, as when they foretold the Days of Mashiach. They were given
“a taste” of the Torah of Atik…They glimpsed the “New Torah” which will be
revealed in the Future. It is the same Torah that we have today, but in its
deepest form. The same laws will apply – not one iota will change! But its
application to our daily lives will bring a much deeper understanding….it is
possible to taste and experience this Torah of Atik even today…Praying with
self-sacrifice, whereby the person negates himself totally before G-d, is known
as 
hitpashut hagashmiyut (“the
shedding of corporeality”)…” Mashiach,
Who, What, Why, How, Where, When, R’ Chaim Kramer, Breslov Research Institute,
pgs 102-103
In the Gospels, Yeshua gives us a taste of the Olam Haba, the World to Come. He reveals a commandment from the White Fire, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just like I have loved you; that you also love one another.” John 13:34
It is not enough to merely “not murder.” It is not enough to simply “not hate.” One must love. Love is action. Love is obedience, as Yeshua says,
“If you love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15
Yeshua reveals that all 600,000 letters of the Torah are contained in one word: אהבה, Ahavah, Love. This word has the gematria, the numerical value, of 13, linking to the 13 Attributes of HaShem (Exodus 34). The number 13 is also the gematria of the word אחד, echad, one. Unity. When the people were one, the Torah was revealed, and the Holy Spirit to be given. This is the prayer of Messiah, that all will be one in him, that the world may know that HaShem sent him. When this happens, HaShem will be one, and His Name one (Zechariah 14:6). The essence of loving our neighbor as we love ourselves, is to love each other as Messiah loved us. We are to love each other with every fiber of our being, al kiddush HaShem, even to the death, for Love conquers death. HaShem is love, and the Torah is love. HaShem and the Torah are one. When we love one another, we draw down the Spirit of HaShem into this world, and we are given a taste of the New Torah from the World to Come, as Paul says in Galatians,
שְׂאוּ אִישׁ אֶת־מַשָׂא רֵעֵהוּ כֵּן תְּקַיְּמוּ אֶת־תּוֹרַת הַמָּשִׁיחַ׃
“Bear one another’s
burdens, and so fulfill the Torah of Messiah.”
Galatians 6:2
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