Archive for the ‘Assignments’ Category

B’ha’alotcha 5770 – Assignment

Saturday, May 29th, 2010

Numbers 11:25-29  And YHWH came down in a cloud and spoke to him, and took of the spirit on him and gave it to the seventy elders. And it happened when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they never did so again.  (26)  But two of the men stayed in the camp; the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other was Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. And they were of those who were written, but did not go out to the tabernacle. And they prophesied in the camp.  (27)  And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.  (28)  And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, make them cease.  (29)  And Moses said to him, Are you jealous for my sake? Would God that all YHWH’s people were prophets, that YHWH would put His Spirit upon them!

Numbers 12:1-9  And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had taken. For he had taken a Cushite woman.  (2)  And they said, Has YHWH indeed spoken only by Moses? Has He not also spoken by us? And YHWH heard.  (3)  (Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all the men on the face of the earth.)  (4)  And YHWH spoke suddenly to Moses and to Aaron and to Miriam, You three come out to the tabernacle of the congregation. And the three came out.  (5)  And YHWH came down in the pillar of the cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both came forth.  (6)  And He said, Hear now My words. If there is a prophet among you, I YHWH will make Myself known to him in a vision, and will speak to him in a dream.  (7)  Not so, My servant Moses. He is faithful in all My house.  (8)  I will speak with him mouth to mouth, even clearly, and not in dark speeches. And he shall behold the likeness of YHWH. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?  (9)  And the anger of YHWH was kindled against them, and He moved.

Many of God’s chosen ministers work long thankless hours or they work in unusual manners or circumstances. We are often tempted to take the former for granted and to shun the latter. This week’s assignment: Single out someone who receives little acknowledgment for their service and give them encouragement or some other kind of support. And when you are tempted to dismiss someone or their ministry because of their unorthodox methods or presentation, look instead at their fruit. Ask yourself if they are truly doing something wrong or if you are just offended by inconsequentials. If God is on their side, who are we to take issue with that?

Naso 5770 – Assignment

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

Pick your tonic:

  1. Make restitution (plus 20%) for some wrong that you have done to another. (Numbers 5:6-8)
  2. Make a donation to an organization that is working to build God’s kingdom. (Numbers 7:11)
  3. Celebrate Shavuot with your neighbors or do something else to bring your community closer together. (Numbers 7:88)

Behar 5770 Assignment

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Leviticus 25:10  And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.

Leviticus 25:13  “In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property.

Leviticus 25:25  “If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold.

Leviticus 25:39-41  “If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave:  (40)  he shall be with you as a hired servant and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee.  (41)  Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return to the possession of his fathers.”

This week’s assignment: Set something right. Restore someone’s property. Give something back. Fix something that was broken.

You get the picture.

I’d love to hear from anyone who wants to participate with us. Check back here towards the end of the week for updates, and feel free to post a comment of your own.

Tazria-Metsora 5770 – Assignment

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

2 Kings 7:8-9  And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them.  (9)  Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king’s household.”

The four lepers had a major windfall. They expected death and found life and riches instead. They could have kept on gathering and stockpiling with no one the wiser, but they remembered their starving brothers and shared their knowledge, bringing life to the entire city.

Romans 6:20-23  For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.  (21)  But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.  (22)  But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.  (23)  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Tazria and Metsora are about things that cause separation from God, i.e. spiritual death, among his people. Even if they are already saved, already members of “the king’s household,” they might not know that their actions adulterate their life with death. When we were slaves to sin, we were not bound by any considerations of righteousness. But now that we have been set free from sin, we are bound to obey God, i.e. to do what is righteous. Therein lies life. We are not set free and given eternal life just to sin, but to obey a different master. Continuing in sin will only put us in bondage again because sin separates us from our Creator. Disobedience brings death. Once we know that there is a better way, that there are choices and actions that increase our separation from the world while decreasing our separation from God, like the four lepers in 2 Kings 7, we are bound by love for our neighbors to share that knowledge.

This week’s assignment is to look for opportunities to share your knowledge of greater life, to tell someone how to reduce the separation engendered by disobedience and to draw closer to the Creator.

Sh’mini 5770 Assignment

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

Leviticus 10:6  And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and lest He be angry on all the people. But let your brothers, the whole of Israel, mourn the burning which YHWH has kindled.

Assignment for April 10, 2010: Be careful that your emotions don’t lead you to neglect your responsibilities to those around you. Keep close tabs on your feelings this week. If you sense that anger, resentment, sorrow, jealousy, or some other emotion is pushing you away from some task or decision on which you know other people are depending, make a conscious choice to fulfill your responsibility in spite of your feelings.

Check back and post your thoughts and experiences. Next week I’ll post a new assignment derived from Tazria-Metsora.