Month: March 2015

Salt and Smoke

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salt of the earth

As I am reading through the next Torah Portion, Vayikra, Leviticus 1:1 to 5:26, my attention focused on the following verse:

Vayikra / Leviticus 2:13 And every meal-offering of thine shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meal-offering; with all thy offerings thou shalt offer salt. 

Just previous to these verses, YHVH tells His people that they may bring unblemished sacrifices from the herd, such as cattle; or from the flock, such as unblemished lambs and goats. He also cautions the new nation that although honey and fruits are suitable as donations to the Levite priesthood, these items are not fit to be placed on the altar. Only the designated parts of the specified animals or finely ground wheat can be burnt on the altar. Then – we come to the salt.

To understand this strange command, I believe we need to understand the complex nature of salt and its uses in the ancient Middle East.

  • Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride  (NaCl)
  • Salt comes from the sea and from underground
  • Table salt is heated to 1200 degrees F
  • Table salt = 97.5% NaCl (sodium chloride) and 2.5% aluminum
  • Sea salt = 85% NaCl + Ca (calcium) Mg (magnesium) K (potassium), S (sulfur)
  • Sea salt has 84 trace minerals, 0 in table salt
  • Salt is antibacterial and preserves from decay
  • Worldwide, salt intake averages 10 grams daily
  • In USA, 2.4 grams daily is recommended. (A level teaspoon is 6 grams.)
  • Salt stabilizes heartbeats
  • With water, salt regulates blood pressure
  • Proper salt intake removes excess acidity from cells, especially brain cells
  • Salt regulates blood sugar in diabetics
  • Salt is needed to generate energy between cells
  • Salt is vital to nerve cell communication and information processing
  • Vital to the absorption of food in the digestive tract
  • Clears sinus congestion
  • Salt clears lungs of mucus and phlegm especially in asthma and cystic fibrosis
  • There are clinics in salt mines to relieve asthma and allergies in Poland, the UK and Israel.

Salt, Medically Speaking:

  • Salt is a natural antihistamine
  • Salt prevents muscle cramps
  • Salt is vital to make bones firm (Theoretically, salt shortage contributes to osteoporosis)
  • Salt is necessary for good, sound sleep
  • Salt on the tongue will stop a cough instantly
  • Salt is necessary to prevent gout and gouty arthritis
  • Salt maintains healthy libido
  • Salt prevents varicose veins
  • Amniotic fluid is virtually identical to sea water

Salt Uses Throughout the Scriptures 

  • Health: Ezekiel 16:4, rub salt on newborn (kills germs;stimulates them to breathe; and promotes circulation)
  • Healing: 2 Kings 2:21, healed water which in turn healed the people
  • Destruction: Deuteronomy 29: 22(23) plants cannot grow salted land (it is a herbicide); Judges 9:45; Psalm 107:34; Zephaniah 2:9
  • Grace and prudence encouraged: Colossians 4:6 (Let your speech be seasoned with salt.)
  • Have a beneficial influence: Matthew 5:13 (We are salt of the earth)

Salt in Middle East Tradition

  • Arabic saying:  There is salt between us. It is a way of saying we have a covenantal relationship.
  • Covenants were sealed with salt (salt exchanged)
  • Both ancient and modern wedding ceremonies included a salt covenant ceremony.
  • The word “salary” comes from the word salt, because that is what some cultures used as money.
  • A bad worker was ‘not worth his salt’ for the same reason
  • In Leonardo DaVinci’s ‘Last Supper’, the salt cellar is overturned in front of Judas Iscariot, showing that the covenant had been broken between him and Y’shua

Salt in Covenant

When engaging in a Salt Covenant, both parties pour salt into a single vial. The concept being that the covenant can be broken ONLY when the individual parties can identify and separate their own salt. (It’s not fair to use black salt from Hawaii and pink Himalayan salt!!) Entering into a Covenant of Salt means binding oneself to another in utmost loyalty and truthfulness, even suffering death, rather than breaking the covenant.  For this very reason a Covenant of Salt was never done lightly or haphazardly – it deserves serious respect.

Prime Example

2Chronicles 13:5 ought ye not to know that the LORD, the God of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?

My Conclusion

  • Salt, like Torah, is necessary for life.
  • Salt preserves; Salt cleanses.
  • Salt is necessary for every thought, every heartbeat.
  • A Covenant of Salt, then, is not only eternal, it fully sustains us – heart, mind, body and soul.
  • When YHVH made the Salt Covenant with us, He was saying that He will purify, sustain and preserve us — FOREVER.

How Does This Apply to Us Today?

The Temple lies in ruins and in the control of those who will not let Jews or Christians pray or worship there. Our only worship is offering our selves, our lives, as a living sacrifice. We can bring sacrifices of praise, worship, and service to our fellowman, as a sacrifice to our Father in Heaven.

We were given a covenant of salt — a forever covenant of sustenance, protection and preservation.  We are to not only declare YHVH as the Maker of the covenant with our words, but with our actions.  As His covenant people, we are to season this world with His essence, His Torah, His Teaching and Instruction and with the Good News of His once-and-for-all sacrifice of reconciliation, Y’shua, who said, “Matthew 5:13 (CEBA) “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how will it become salty again? It’s good for nothing except to be thrown away and trampled under people’s feet.”

So, ultimately, nowadays,our lives are the sacrifice and the salt on us is the the seasoning we bring to this world.

May it be for a blessing.

Enough is Enough

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super moon good for better

Exodus 36:5 And [Bezalel and Oholiav] spoke unto Moses, saying: ‘The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make.’ 6 And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying: ‘Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.’ So the people were restrained from bringing. 7 For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.

I have always been thunderstruck by the magnitude of these verses!  Imagine the  favor the children of Israel had with the Egyptians that the Israelite slaves were paid to leave the country! Imagine, in their panic to get their country back in order, how generous the Egyptians were to the Israelites. Imagine the wholehearted generosity that consumed our ancestors, the ancient Israelites.  Imagine their fervent enthusiasm to see the Tabernacle built.  They embraced the task of building the Dwelling Place for Yah’s presence so passionately that had to be told to stop bringing their gold, silver and jewels!

As a believer, I have been in churches and synagogues since I was 6 weeks old. NEVER, EVER, ANYWHERE, have I heard a pastor say, ‘Stop bringing; we have enough.’ There is always a new project, a new need, a new fund, something that needs financing. Am I saying that the new project, need, fund or something is not worthy of support and financing? No, not necessarily. But I am wondering how much it takes to keep the members of Yah’s Kingdom satisfied, occupied, edified and catechized so they can be properly be spiritualized, humanized and civilized. Never have I heard a congregation say, ‘We are satisfied.’  It seems we are always looking for the next ‘mountain-top high’ experience, never satisfied with the daily routine. When is enough, enough?

This is a huge question coming from such as myself. I am not satisfied with a small Pesach Seder — so, let’s invite 100 people. I’m not satisfied with having 1 teacher come for a meeting — so, let’s have a 4 day conference with a cast of dozens. I say all this so you understand that my finger is not just pointing at ‘them;’ my fingers are pointing at ME as well.

But it all begs the question: Why don’t Yah’s people give until they are spent? Why isn’t His Set-apart place fully equipped? Why do we feel lack, at all? And what can we do to recognize when enough is enough?

In pausing to consider the questions I’ve asked, a few thoughts have surfaced. For instance, families nowadays seem to be run ragged with activities such as sports, dance, music lessons, martial arts classes and so forth. I imagine the house of worship becomes an extension of how we do things at home, so there is the congregation’s softball team, the congregation’s exercise class, the presentation for the next feast and so forth. Of the dozens of people in local congregations I know, only a handful have sought to study the scriptures in the original languages. Again, those fingers point at me too. We have become just too busy. Too busy for prayer, too busy for study, too busy to just sit and wait on our Father’s voice. It seems that we have spent ourselves on our lives (we consider our lives our own) rather than on the life Yah gave us (His life). So in spending ourselves on the things of this world, the stores for spending on His House, His World are down to mere reserves.

Today I ask myself, “What can I do to spend myself (my time, my energy, my financial resources) for Yah’s kingdom? What aspect of His kingdom am I best suited to sow into? What do I need to get out of my way so I can be on my way? What am I waiting for?

May it be for a blessing. –y

Kindle the Fire

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flames

In working out my own relationship with my Creator / Redeemer / BrideGroom and King, I’ve come to feel that reading the Word is imperative for a healthy spiritual life. Reading the Word is like receiving a daily love letter from my soul’s True Love. Otherwise, it would be like getting married, only to be suddenly unavailable, (spiritually, emotionally, or physically) to my spouse. It doesn’t take much brain power to see where that emotional distance, that unavailability, would undermine the relationship, unweaving its fabric, as it were. With that in mind, I chose to use the weekly Torah Portions as my reading guide, with the ability to add the HafTorah (writings of the prophets) when appropriate for my study.

This week’s Torah Portion is found in Exodus 35:1 to 40:38. It has to do with the building of the Tabernacle furnishings, such as the Ark of the Covenant, the Menorah, the Incense Altar and the bronze Laver. The first lines of the portion repeat the commandment to observe the sabbath and then it says in verse 3, “Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.”

Over the years, this verse has given rise to various traditions, such as: not driving on Shabbat (that pesky little spark from the plugs is the issue); not turning lights on and off without the aid of a “Shabbas goy” (a gentile who will do things forbidden to a Jew on the Sabbath.) But is this really what that line is about? Are Jews in Alaska destined to die of the cold if their furnace goes out? Must we really sit in the dark and eat cold food? I need to know!

I believe that in context, YHVH is telling His people, “I know you’re excited about building the Tabernacle so I can dwell among you. BUT, that doesn’t give you permission to violate the Sabbath or keep the fires going for melting down and forging the gold, silver and bronze. Everyone and everything needs to stop on the Sabbath.” Granted. But is there more?

One of the precepts of reading the Word is that there is always a second witness when it gives a direction. For example, the are paragraphs filled with instructions about keeping the Sabbath in both the “old” and “new” writings. What about the ‘kindling a fire’?  In doing a word search of “kindle” and “fire” I found 18 instances of those words appearing together in a bible verse. Rather than list them all here, I invite you to use an online bible, such as Blue Letter Bible, and plug those two words into the search box. In the blink of an eye, you will see the results. Presuming that you have (or will!) do so, here is what I found:

Of the 18 verses that contain the words kindle and fire, most of them have to do with stirring up anger, judgment, or instigating war. There is nothing about fires for warmth or cooking.  Could it mean that besides not keeping the industrial fires going for the construction of the Tabernacle, don’t use this time off to bicker, plot, complain, or foment strife?  The Sabbath is a prophecy of the Reign of King Messiah, a time of lasting peace and justice. If our actions are anger or strife driven, then the Truth is not in us!

So have I just given us permission to build a camp fire and cook for the family reunion? Not so fast! I believe that ‘choosing life’ means that building a fire for self preservation is appropriate; building a fire to get rid of yard trash is not. In Exodus 16:23 it says, “And he said unto them: ‘This is that which the LORD hath spoken: To-morrow is a solemn rest, a holy sabbath unto the LORD. Bake that which ye will bake, and seethe that which ye will seethe; and all that remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.'” clearly indicating that no cooking should be done on the Sabbath. The cook in the family deserves a day off too!!

May it be for a blessing.

Hello and Welcome!

yochevedliora 1 Comment

Life is challenging. I know … I have a past.

But in living for over half a century I have learned this: For every person, there is an ultimate truth. Some people find it in religion; some in self expression.  Some get lost in a bottle of booze or at the end of a joint or a line. But ultimately, the time comes when the question gets asked, “Is that all there is?”

For me, the Ultimate Truth, timeless and endlessly applicable is the Word of YHVH / the almighty God / Creator of all. Torah is the safety net, the lifeline to abundant living. There are those who may feel that it is restrictive and confining. But for me, it is like a toddler’s playpen. Within the confines of the playpen there is safety and freedom. The real pressure is beyond the boundaries of the playpen, having to constantly be on guard against the dangers of life.

Have I oversimplified? Many will think so. But I will tell you that for me, the pages of the Scriptures bring answers, confidence, direction, security, and freedom from many of life’s pressures. My plan is to read Scripture every day and share the gems I find along the way. I pray it is a blessing to you.