Messianic Audio Teachings

Have you ever heard of the "Hudson Twenty"? Beth Immanuel's new associate pastor, Toby Janicki, speaks about some of the "weighty matters" of Torah in this teaching from Parashat Shoftim, encouraging us to lighten up.

One mussar theme pervades Yeshua's teachings, but it defies the typical categories of middot (traits) taught by the mussar masters. This instruction for life is the defining theme of Yeshua's message to Israel: Endurance and Perseverance for the Kingdom of Heaven.

Was Paul in disguise? Paul says, "I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some." Did he adopt hypocritical pretenses in order to win people with the Gospel, acting like Jew around Jews and like a Gentile around Gentiles? This teaching on Galatians 4:12-20 considers Paul's evangelism strategies and the real meaning behind 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.

Your soul's purpose in this world is to serve God. That's why it was given a body. This purpose implies that there is a foundational commandment in the Torah that many of us may be neglecting. The soul is like an astronaut in a spacesuit. Is an astronaut concerned with maintaining his spacesuit?

In the interest of proper credit, some inspiration for this teaching came from this page. Beth Immanuel does not necessarily endorse everything on that site (which appears to be from a Breslov perspective).

Does Paul rebuke Gentiles for observing the biblical calendar? If not, how do we understand Galatians 4:9-10?

"How can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years!" (Galatians 4:9).

"Every generation in which the Temple is not rebuilt, is considered guilty of its destruction." Our Master knew that baseless hatred was the sin which was going to cause his generation to forfeit the redemption and go into exile. Therefore he called upon his generation to repent, and by repent, he meant, "Love God," and "Love one another." Love is at the center of his Gospel message.

Why was the second Temple destroyed at a time when people occupied themselves with the study of Torah, the observance of the commandments, and the practice of charity? Because baseless hatred prevailed within them. (b.Yoma 9b)

 

 

"We were held captive under the law ... imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed ... but now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian" (Galatians 3:23-26). This difficult saying is understood to mean, "The Torah was only a guardian until faith in Messiah came, but now that the Messiah is here, we are no longer under the Torah's authority, therefore the Torah has been done away with." This teaching takes a look at Paul's analogy in which the Torah and Jewish status is compared to a paidagogos, a guardian-slave entrusted with the care and supervision of a child. 

Humility is one of the primary qualities of the soul emphasized by our Master Yeshua. The mussar teachers say that humility is the root of divine service, and a necessary foundation for acquiring any other good traits. While humility is often discussed, it is not always well understood. Learn how true humility leads to joy, courage, and inner dignity.

Paul says, "The Torah is not faith." This seems to imply that, if you want to be a person of faith, the one thing you chould not do is observe the Torah. Does this make sense? In Galatians 3:11-12, Paul quotes Leviticus 18:5 and Habakkuk 2:4 in a manner consistent with rabbinic interpretation to establish that it is not the hearers of the Torah who will be declared righteous but the doers of the Torah.