Congregation Shema Yisrael

This week Rabbi Glenn reviewed Genesis 33-35 in preparation for the next few weeks of the study. Source

The parasha for this Shabbat is entitled Terumah and covers Exodus 25:1 through 27:19. This morning, rather than our usual 5-7 minute commentary, I’ll be expanding our parasha into a full message. Terumah means contribution, gift or offering. The parasha opens with God’s invitation to raise a contribution – a terumah. It was not to […] Source

This week Rabbi Loren lead the Bible Study. Last week’s study was not recorded. Rabbi Loren’s notes are below: Genesis 34-35 Jacob is one of the greatest men who ever lived. The Egyptians, one of the great civilizations of that time, gave him a funeral procession worthy of a king (see Genesis 50). He is […] Source

The thoughts I will be sharing with you this morning from Scripture fall under the category of the Second Great Commandment – “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” I have a riddle to propound to you. I wield no weapon, nor do I even raise a hand, and yet I can inflict wounds from […] Source

Today’s Torah portion is titled, “Mishpatim,” which means “Judgements.”  It covers Exodus: 21:1–24:18.  This parasha passage is also known as Sefer ha B’Rit (The Book of the Covenant), since this 4 chapter parasha contains over 10% of the 613 commandments found in the Torah. We often forget that the ancient world was a very brutal […] Source

Yitro, the Hebrew name for Jethro, is our parasha for this Shabbat. Parashat Yitro covers Exodus 18:1-20:23. Besides practical management advice, this parasha contains the Ten Commandments, and a lesson for those who would approach Adonai on their terms. Chapter 18 begins with Jethro, Moses’ Father-In-Law, going out to meet Moses at the base of Mount Sinai […] Source

This week Rabbi Glenn covered Genesis 30:25-32:2, the section that describes Jacob’s desire to return to Canaan, the deal Laban strikes with Jacob to get all the speckled, spotted and striped animals, Jacob’s ingenious method to increase his own flock, his eventual secret departure from Laban, Laban’s pursuit of him and their meeting up and covenant agreement […] Source

The Christians In Rome Should Respect Paul And Receive This Letter With Respect; Paul Intended To Visit Them After Delivering A Donation To The Impoverished Messianic Jews In Jerusalem; He Intended To Get Financial Support From The Romans To Continue His Pioneering Ministry In Spain We are near the end of one of the greatest […] Source

The name of this week’s parasha is Beshalach, which means “when he sent” or “when he let go,” and covers Exodus 13:17-17:16.  After Pharaoh finally released the Jewish people, Adonai led them along the Red Sea with a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night.  Moses took Joseph’s bones when […] Source

This week Rabbi Glenn covered the Jacob/Leah/Rachel/Laban narrative in Genesis 29:1-30:24. Source

Maintaining Our Unity By The Strong Bearing With The Failings Of The Weak; By Trying To Please Our Neighbors And Not Ourselves; By Having The Same Attitude Toward Each Other That Messiah Had Toward Us; By Not Separating Because Of Differences In Nationality; A Prayer For Peace, Joy And Hope Because we come from a […] Source

Today’s Parsha is entitled Bo which means ‘Go’ and covers Exodus 10:1 through 13:16. Egypt has already suffered severely through seven plagues. Moses was instructed to announce to Pharaoh yet another plague –  the plague of locusts. This time, Moses’ warning produced a great reaction. The situation had become so desperate, that finally Pharaoh’s officers dared […] Source

This week Rabbi Glenn reviewed Genesis 27 and 28:1-9, and then went on to complete Genesis 28.  There was then a Q&A for about 1/2 hour. Source

Maintaining Our Unity Because We Understand The Difference Between Essentials And Non-Essentials; Emphasizing The Spiritual Elements, Not The External Observances Of Religion Because we come from are a fallen race, alienated from God and alienated from one another, it’s hard for people to get along with others. We disagree with someone and we want to […] Source

This week’s Torah portion is Va’era, which means “and I appeared” and covers Exodus 6:2-9:35. In last week’s parasha, Moses and Aaron were sent to see Pharaoh and request him to allow them to celebrate a feast for three days in the wilderness. Pharaoh does not allow this to happen, and he increases the Israelis’ […] Source

This week Rabbi Glenn continued his study of Genesis with Genesis 27. Source

Being on the Right Side of (Repeated) History Our Torah reading this Shabbat bears the same name as the book it introduces: Shemot meaning “names”. The English name for the book, Exodus, is borrowed from Greek, and means “the way out”. It reflects the real, historical, monumental event of Israel leaving Egypt as a free […] Source

Our Responsibility To Government – Obedience; Our Responsibility To One Another – Love; Our Responsibility To The Present Time – Messiah-Like Living Paul wrote 11 chapters on theology, teaching us about God and what God wants and what He does and how He works. Now, we are in the section in which the Rabbi helps […] Source

This week Rabbi Glenn reviewed all of Genesis 25 and covered all of Genesis 26. Source

Offer Yourself To God As A Living Sacrifice; Renew Your Mind So You Will Be Able To Live The Right Way; Understand Your Gifts So You Can Serve The Best Way; Other Instructions For God-Honoring Living The letter to the Romans was written by one of the greatest men who ever lived. Paul was an […] Source

This week we end the book of Genesis with parasha Vayechi which translates to “and he lived”. It takes us from Genesis 47:28 to 50:26 and finishes the book of Genesis.  This parasha contains the final Messianic prophecy of Genesis as well as a powerful lesson on forgiveness. Our parasha begins with Jacob making Joseph swear an […] Source

This week Rabbi Glenn reviewed Genesis 24 and continued on into Genesis 25. Source

God Has Not Rejected His People – For Many Reasons; God Expects Gentile Christians To Make The Jewish People Jealous; And Bring Us The Good News So far in his letter to Messiah’s Community in Rome, the Rabbi has informed us that God has saved us with a great salvation, a salvation that we have […] Source

Click Here For Part 1 In this chapter, the Apostle to the Gentiles is dealing with a very important question: “Did God reject His people? ” – referring to the nation of Israel. The Rabbi gives many reasons why God has not rejected His people. In the first part of this chapter, he gave us […] Source

This week’s parasha is entitled VaYigash, which means, “and he drew near.”  It covers Genesis 44:18 – 47:27. Last week, Rabbi Glenn left us with a cliffhanger at the end of his parasha commentary as Joseph’s brothers were about to depart Egypt for the second time.  The evening before, they had feasted with Joseph, who […] Source