Beth El of Manhattan, Two-Testament Synagogue

"Accepting the Lord" (Psalm 2 & Psalm 24) involves exactly that: we come to be "saved" (in right standing with God) when we "accept (God as) The Lord" of our lives. We live in a genuine 1-on-1 Theocracy, not merely in theory. We cannot obey our King until we hear him. Somehow, some way, we need to come know we have "shema'd" (heard) so we can "shema" (obey). We explore our relationship with God an...

Since there was a mini-service on 16 May with the rabbi absent, and no service on 23 May due to Memorial Day – we offer this in place of the usual sermons. Trustee Sherry Shieh shares some Scripture, prayers and thoughts on Jerusalem Day; and Elder Scott Poticha shares a brief "drasha" entitled, "Names," pondering the week's Torah portion, "Ba-Midbar." Shavuah tov & shalom!

When God commanded us as Israel to do a "Shmittah" or a Jubilee year (every 7 years let the land rest without being farmed for a solid year) ... God also promised to give us enough food in the sixth year for a 3 year buffer - with other sources of food promised as well. Messiah Yeshua we are told in Matthew 16 called this dynamic in "the lesson of the loaves" – and urged us to learn it, and not fo...

We are told in Romans 8:20-21 that God has woven **apparent** futility into the fabric of existence in the material universe. Yet, Scripturally, it exists in a kind of spiritually "quantum" state where futility both exists, and does not - at the same time. Concerning what *seems* futile to both King Solomon (see Ecclesiastes 1) and The Messiah, Himself (Isaiah 49:4) –– we are also told, "God has p...

Sermon Subtitle: "Limping With The Limp With Which God Has Made Us A Limper" Aaron, the first High Priest, lost both his sons early in the Exodus journey; and by the direct hand of God; and afterwards served for 40 years as the first High Priest of Israel, the central mediator between Israel and the God who had directly slain his two boys. How did Aaron's soul and spirituality survive this terribl...

Going beyond reduction to simplicities and soundbites, the Scriptures tell a story of Israel's national origin that is highly complex and filled with stages. It is not slavery to beach-vacation in one neat step. The Exodus has much in common with many group-origin stories: God creates a "camp" (the slaves in Goshen, Gideon's 300, the Israelites committed to King David, the Disciples of Yeshua) ......

In the Torah portion this week there is an enlarged "nuun" (Hebrew Letter "N") in every Torah scroll's Exodus 34:7. This number in Hebrew represents the number "50." The Sages of Israel say there is profound reason this "Nuun" is made large to grab attention: It has to do with the limits of how much anyone - even a Moses who knew God so intimately - can "know" God to the full reach of God's identi...

"And you shall command ..." the week's Torah portion starts. Commands, vows, and promises powerfully elevate ideas by eliminating alternative options. A thing is the only thing we may do, or must not do. Beyond his - as God did with Moses this week – He also chooses to put us as humans into positions in which we must issue commands, and make or stand by promises or vows. We explore this way of God...

A double holiday with great meaning for Two Testament synagogues all over the world. God has declared certain things will happen. Not might happen - WILL happen. Declarations of such certainty are certainly worth exploring! Enjoy & Shalom!

"And Moses congregated the whole assembly of the children of Israel, and said to them, 'These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do.'" (Exodus 35:1) God gathered a group that had been created by a shared experiences (Exodus & Sinai) creating a sense of calling ... and then gave them "spiritual DNA" for the journey forward as a community. This depth in this concept is extremely valua...

With the intricate descriptions of exactly how God wants the implements of the Temple Service to be made, we are given an summary commandment: "See to it that you make everything in accord with their patterns shown to you (by God) on the mountaintop." We explore in this week's study what it means to learn – and to stay within – God's designs rather than just make up or substitute our own.

This week's Torah portion "Mishpatim" contains an exquisite rhapsody on resisting the very human urge to attack and exploit weakness. It takes us to sublime understanding of Love Of and For God, and Love Of and For Humankind. We dive in with zeal to understand the heart of God and nature of moral truth expressed by these laws of compassion and mercy, and the commentary of the New Testament upon th...

Revelation from God interferes with things coming naturally to humans: hurtful or wrongful deeds we often reflexively do. The 10 Commandments go to the heart of how God "sent His Word and healed" us. Our Parent in Heaven teaches us how to rein in our instincts and be "good people," just as any good parents teach their children. Yet, Scripture does far more than offer "good" ideas. It offers "God I...

In this parasha Beshalach on "Shabbat Shirah" – "The (Red Sea rescue) Song-Shabbat" – we hear sung, "And you have become my salvation." This salvation/rescue is not some meager, just-barely-effective deflection of the sabotages of God's Adversary (Ha-Sa-táhn). It is the UTTERMOST "rescue" God can provide, leaving BOTH our Free-Will and His Sovereign Will honorably intact. Not "meager" - but "to th...

In this week's Torah portion we see the Exodus from Egypt being accomplished with miracles involved in the process. The words used for what God did were "Otot" (signs) and "Mof'téem" (marvels). In Psalm 71, the writer says, "I have become a 'marvel." ("Mo-fétt" singular of "Mof-téem.") How exactly does a *person* become a "marvel?"

What does it mean that we have been given awareness of, access to, use of, and right to "stand within" The Name Above Every Name? The name of Yeshua The Messiah. We steep ourselves in His Name in this message. Enjoy!

The Haftarah with this week's Torah portion "VaYechi," closing out the book of Genesis, shows King David at the end of his life cleaning up loose ends and passing the baton to his son, Solomon. It is not a one-dimensional story of "happily ever after." It is a balanced story of fulfillments, disappointments, enjoyable blessings to pour out, and unpleasant-but-necessary justice & statecraft to put...

God's very Name in which we are told to trust (Isaiah 50:10) is "Rakhum V'Chanun" – Compassionate & Merciful. We see the traits in this Name surface especially clearly in moments of high chaos like this week's Parasha in which Jacob returns to Beth El, and his name is changed to "Israel" after he wrestles for his rightful destiny with passionate endurance.

How do we go about rightly being fallible Human Mortals following and effectively accessing the Perfect God among Imperfect Humans in A Stormy and Unsafe Universe? This sermon "gropes for truth" as to these questions through the powerfully unvarnished and candid Patriarchal Narratives of Genesis.

This week's Torah and Haftarah are both about the endgame of human existence. Everyone ages and passes away - and for the aging and the bereaved, the rest of life does not necessarily go kind and gentle before, during, or afterwards. This week, we watch some of life's hardest hammer-blows land on God-following (not perfect) souls (Abraham and David), and learn from these passages which other Scrip...

Choice-making narrows our world. Choosing to be a long-distance runner has inherent in it the choice to be often alone. The story of Noah gives us a sobering portrait of how some choices in God-following and truth-living can lead to seasons narrow or lonely - with Noah as an extreme example. Scripture also teaches us how people of truth survive such storms. We solemnly engage with this lesson this...

The Hebrew word "HaBai'yitah" (Home) has been rich in the news as the remaining living Israeli Hostages in Gaza were returned home to Israel. "Home" is a sentiment deep in the heart of the People Israel in the Jewish homeland - and scattered across the world. "Home" for God-followers is a concept God defines: and His definition is worthy of serious contemplation. And so - we ponder, together.

We are commanded to rejoice exclusively for seven days, and yet we are conscious of the Hostages still in Gaza as we rejoice, like background radiation in everything we do. As Believers who seek to do God's will as revealed through His Word, how do we SANELY engage with life as life throws itself at us? We are not the first generation of God-followers to have such a balancing act made incumbent up...

Since we cannot deliver perfection to God or humankind in our actions or ideas ... how can we live with reasonable "shalom" in a world filled with error/sin-committing-and-repeating creatures ... like ourselves?

Fresh from "Tashlikh," we are full of consciousness of God's mercy that leads to relationship with Him in this world (Olam Ha'zeh), and eternity with Him in the next (Olam Ha-Ba). We take a deep dive into God's mercy toward us - and right mercy toward ourselves and our fellow human beings. AFTER the sermon is a 1981 recording by the musical group Kol Simcha of a song our Rabbi Bruce Cohen composed...