Gairdin Spreagtha (Inspired Garden)

Shemot = names The Hebrew word for Exodus is Sh’mot (Shemot) שְׁמוֹת‎.  Shem means name and Shemot is the feminine plural form of the word, so this book is actually called names.   It is in the book of Shemot that the names of God are revealed and the power behind each of His names.   In Hebrew the book of Exodus begins with the letter VAV which is the conjunction “and” to show that Exodus is…

12 Vayechi (Gen 47:28-50:26)

“Vayechi” which means “And he lived” 28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was a hundred forty and seven years. 29 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee,…

#11 VAYIGASH (Gen 44:18- 47:27)

18 Then Judah came near (vayigash) unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh. Vayigash (וַיִּגַּשׁ‬)— Hebrew for “to draw near”  Vayigash has a gematria of 319 and drawing near in this context means to intercede.   We first see this word in Genesis 18.  And Abraham…

10- The month of Tevet (Dec-Jan)

As we enter the month of Tevet, we enter the first of the dark winter months where we somewhat.hibernate because the days feel shorter. It is during this time of year that it may be more difficult to put effort into community and spend time out of our homes. While somewhat secluded we find our frustration and anger sometimes close to the surface. Tevet is its a month to deal with our frustration…

#10 Miketz (Genesis 41:1-44:17)

Miketz = at the end Miketz starts with Pharoah having two dreams but no one is available to interpret these dreams until the chief cupbearer remembers Joseph who gave him the interpretation of his dream.   Joseph is called forth and the Lord gives him the interpretation.  He offers advice to pharaoh and this results in him being placed as the #2 person in all of Egypt.    Pharaoh gives Joseph a…

 #9 Vayeshev (Genesis 37:1-40:23)

Vayeshev = “he dwelled, he settled” This portion of the Torah starts with Jacob settling in the land of Canaan and what we can learn from Jacob’s settling. This is immediately followed by the start of Joseph’s story and how the Lord always had a plan for Joseph to descend into Egypt so that his family would be saved and would ascend as a nation out of Egypt. In the middle of Joseph’s story is…

#8 Vayishlach (Genesis 32:3-36:43)

Vayishlach; And he sent To start this parsha I want to recap some of what Jacob is facing from the Peshat (literal) level of this portion.  Jacob has entered the land of Israel and he has gotten word that his brother is coming at him with 400 men.    He prepares for what could be war by dividing his camp, and he sends forth messengers and gifts to appease his brother.    There has been debates…

#7 Vayetze (Gen 28:10- 32:2)

Vayetze = he went out Jacob had a dream, behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.   Gen 28:12 In Hebrew the pronoun “it” is identical to the pronoun for “him”.  Hu = him, it For over a thousand years Rabbis have debated on if the proper translation is it or him. Rabbi Chiyyah the Elder and Rabbi…

9- The Month of Kislev

This month I want to start with the number nine because it symbolizes finality and wholeness.  You see this reflected in the nine gifts of the Spirit, nine fruits of the Spirit, nine Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-11) and the 9th hour when our Messiah died on the cross (Luke 23:44-49).   Nine is associated with fullness and birthing, so this month is set aside for birthing into those promises that the…

#6 Toldot (Genesis 25:19-28:9)

Toldot is usually translated as generations. This week’s parsha starts with the families of Ishmael and Isaac, followed by Esau selling his birthright. Then it heads back to Isaac and his encounters with the Philistines and Abimelech before we get to the blessing of Jacob, Esau’s anger and Jacob fleeing. There are some specific verses in this parsha that stand out from a Hebraic perspective that…

#5 Chayei Sara (Gen 23:1-25:18)

Chayei Sarah means the life of Sarah, the lifetime as Sarah, Sarah lived and you can even translate it as the lives of Sarah.  You might wonder how someone can have more than one life, but you will pick up that Sarah had three lives before death.   And it’s also interesting that this is called the life of Sarah when it starts with her death.   And Abraham came to eulogize Sarah and to cry for…

לך לך Lech Lecha is usually translated as go, but it is literally “Go, Go to yourself, go within yourself”. The basic teaching of this parsha is about transcendence. “Transcendence” comes from Latin and means climbing or going beyond. True spiritual light, true connection to the creator of heaven and earth is found outside of the box that we have grown accustomed to living in physically,…

Last week’s parsha ended on this verse… 8 Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. Gen 6:8 Here we are in this month of Cheshvan which centers around Noah and the flood and now we have this parsha that centers around him. I want to focus on this word favor for a moment, which by the way is also the word “grace”. Favor (chen) = favor, gracious, pleasant, precious, well-favored,…

THE TORAH AS ARCHETYPE An archetype is a universal symbol that evokes deep and sometimes unconscious responses in a reader People (characters), images, and themes within the story embody universal meanings and basic human experiences, regardless of when or where the person lives.  Think of the Torah as more than an old photograph or history… picture it as your personal history and genealogy of…

8- The Month of Cheshvan

Cheshvan is sometimes referred to as Marcheshvan because the prefix “Mar” means Bitter in Hebrew. In the Bible, Cheshvan is called the month of bool (בּוּל) which denotes a drying up (like leaves) but the name also stems from the word for “flood” and Israel’s rainy season Mabul. Cheshvan has been a very dark and bitter month at times, you could even call it an apocalyptic month but despite these…

Leviticus 23:33-44 33 The LORD said to Moses, 34 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the LORD’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. 35 The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. 36 For seven days present food offerings to the LORD, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the LORD. It is the…

The Bible tells us this about Yom Kippur: 30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins. 31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever. Leviticus 16:30-31 10 Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns. This annual atonement must be made with the blood of the…