 www.TorahWellsprings.org |
||
|
Donate
Site Menu
Update
Contact
|
Parsha Page
Torah, Genesis 44:1-34
Then he instructed his house steward as follows, "Fill
the men's bags with food, as much as they can carry, and put each one's money in
the mouth of his bag. Put my silver goblet in the mouth of the bag of the
youngest one, together with his money for the rations."
The brothers have brought Binyamin back with them to
procure more food. Yosef has not yet revealed himself as their brother, but
continues to test their character.
The
final test occurs when Yosef's silver goblet is placed in Binyamin's sack. After
they leave, Yosef has his men chase after them, find the goblet and accuse
Binyamin of stealing it. When Yosef
demands that Binyamin stay and serve as his slave, while the others return to
their father, Y'hudah stands forward as the leader, begging for mercy. He does
not try to prove their innocence, only that he be allowed to stay as a slave in
place of Binyamin in order to save their fathers grief.
In this way Y'hudah, who first suggested that they sell Yosef into slavery,
substitutes himself for Binyamin and becomes inextricably linked with both of
the brothers.
Qeriath, Joshua 14:6-15
Y'hoshua (Joshua) is assigning portions of Eretz Isra'el to the 12 tribes. Since
there is no allotment to Levi, both of the sons of Yosef, Ephraim and Manasseh,
receive allotments to maintain 12 equal portions.
The first portion goes to the tribe of Y'hudah, where Caleb son of Jephunneh is
specifically honored for his obedience to Adonai as well as his military
prowess. Y'hudah will become the most prominent tribe in Isra'el. The
descendants of Yosef will be next, taking their place in the north, opposite
Y'hudah.
Da'ath, 1John 5:13-21
Yochanon is writing to Messianic Jews, telling us that we need to
recognize and admit that each one of us has the yetzer hara’ (evil inclination),
and that even though we have the Ruach HaKodesh indwelling us, we will
occasionally sin. We are not to deny our sin, instead we are to confess our sins
and repent before Adonai. We are to then make a determined attempt to live
righteously.
Igarath, James 4:1-10
Ya'akov, the brother of Yeshua, continues his letter of
exhortation to the believers in the Diaspora. Now he tells us that the reason we
are not satisfied is that we desire things with the wrong motive. Or we fail to
pray with proper motives, instead wanting to satisfy worldly desires. Ya'akov
tells us that there is a spirit within us, (which is called the yetzer hara', or
evil inclination) which creates this worldly lust. He quotes Psalms 3:34,
telling us that God opposes the arrogant but gives peace to the humble. By
submitting to God, opposing the Adversary who is Satan, and humbling ourselves,
God will lift us up. The implication here is that part of this "lifting up"
means to rise above the yetzer hara', changing our motives to be more aligned
with the motives of Adonoi.
Conclusion
In the Torah portion Y'hudah has repented of his sin, and become obedient
to Adonai's command to put others ahead of our own interests. In Qeriath the
tribe of Y'hudah is given honor for obedience to Adonoi. In Da'ath we understand
that Y’hudah’s confession and repentance is an example of what HaShem desires.
Igarath tells us that by opposing the yetzer hara', and humbling ourselves
before God, He will lift us up out of our sinful desires, and grant us Shalom -
just as He did for Y'hudah when he repented and became obedient.
Barukh HaShem,
|
Shalom