We pray every week for the leaders of the Jewish Ministry,
Shabbat Shalom Newsletter
Resources:
• Website: https://jewishadventist-org.gcnetadventist.org
A must website. To subscribe to our newsletter. To download some resources (Hebrew Sabbath School, and other documents). To order the book “Comfort, Comfort my people…” and many other things. •
Professional Urban Development: The WJAFC provides: - Professional Urban training for Jewish Ministry - Teaching for theological students - Help to plant new congregations. - Support for AdventistJewish dialogue with scholars and rabbis
Shalom Adventure Magazine online: www.ShalomAdventure.com
If you would like to read articles, watch videos, learn things about Judaism and Israel, this website is just for you. • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WJAFC: If you would like to share with people, this forum on facebook is a good place for that. • Photos on Google+: http://picasaweb.google.com/jewishadventist: We have posted a lot of pictures on Internet during the last years. Don’t hesitate to look at them.
• WebRadio: www.shema-israel-radio.com
If you would like to listen Jewish or Messianic songs. If you want to be used to ear modern Hebrew of the Apostolic Writings, it is the right radio to listen on the web. • Adventist Mission Website: http://wjafc.adventistmission.org/ This website is the new resource provided by the Office of Adventist Mission of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists. • Russian Website: http://www.boruh.info/ This website is in Russian, many articles and the parasha are posted on it every week.
WJAFC Paris
A weekly Journal of information and training published by the World Jewish Adventist Friendship Center Under the umbrella of the General Conference —Office of Adventist Mission
Journal of Information and Training — Issue 677 — 16 April 2 0 1 6 / 8 N i s s a n 5 7 7 6
Jael Wells Cuellar English Edition: Richard-Amram Elofer
Richard Amram Elofer
Russian Edition: Alexandra Obrevko French Edition: Sabine Baris Spanish Edition: Jael Wells Cuellar Portuguese Edition: Carlos Muniz Dutch Edition: Hubert Paulleta
Hubert Paulleta 8
Carlos Muniz Emails: English: richard@elofer.com Russian: sashok_l@mail.ru French: sabinebaris@gmail.com Spanish: jael_wells@hotmail.com Portuguese: cdmuniz@gmail.com Dutch: hpauletta@hotmail.com
Credit photos: Richard Elofer, Alexandra Obrevko, Jael Wells Cuellar Hubert Paulleta, Laurent Baris and Advent Digital Media
for more information: contact us at www.jewishadventist.org
Alexandra Obrevko
Sabine Baris
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Shabbat Hagadol — Metzora’
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16 April / 8 Nissan 2016 / 5776
This issue
Weekly Jewish-Adventist Journal of Information
We pray every week for leaders of the Jewish Ministry, According to our list of prayer for 2016, I suggest that our partners pray on this week before Pesach April 17 through 23, 2016, for the Jewish people in England. Richard Elofer will celebrate the seder in London with his team of the Jewish Adventist Friendship Center in London (UK).
News P.1 Parasha’s comments P.2-4 Haftara P.4-5 Apostolic Writings P.5 Stories P.6 Inspirational Corner P.6,7 Color Sheet for Kids P.7
NEWS
Chag Pesach Sameach Happy Passover Global Mission Issues Committee
a Last week was a very busy week at the Gen-
eral Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Many committees took place before the Spring Meeting, and one of the most important meeting was the Global Mission Issues Committee. This committee is set up since the 90’ and its function is to raise some issues in mission and to look for the best way to go ahead with our mission. This committee is led by the office of Adventist Mission with report and paper from Andrews University’s Mission Department, the Mission Institute and the Global Mission Centers. The World Jewish Adventist Friendship Center led by Richard Elofer, presented a power point with the 10 top priorities where the Seventh-day Adventists should put their energy in order to plant new Jewish Adventist Congregations, the three top presented were Paris (France), New York (USA) and Israel, they are the three largest Jewish country in the world. Let’s pray for the ministry which is already taking care in these areas.
Passover Seder in London
a Richard Elofer will be in London for the first days of Pesach leading on Friday evening the Seder and training the Jewish Adventist Friendship Team in London. They are doing their best to mingle with Jews and to make friends with them. In fact, they follow the method of Yeshua when he was on the earth. It is written: “Yeshua’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Savior mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, “Follow Me. There is need of coming close to the people by personal effort. If less time were given to sermonizing, and more time were spent in personal ministry, greater results would be seen.” (MH 143) The team members in London have visited Holocaust memorials and events, Jewish place of worship, Seder meals, Jewish women events, Christian-Jewish dialogue meetings, friendly social competition in synagogues, Israelite dancing lessons, interfaith events, BarMitzwa, Hebrew classes, Messianic services, coffee and kosher restaurants in Jewish areas, Jewish supermarkets and also Jews for Jesus events. Through these visitations contacts are being made and Jewish Adventist friendships are growing. Many contacts have been established and they are very optimistic for the future.
Parasha for this Week Metzora'
Parasha Overview:
Metzora’
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he Torah describes the procedure for a Metzora’ (a person afflicted with tzara’at) upon conclusion of his isolation. This process extends for a week, and involves offerings and immersions in the mikveh. Then, a kohen must pronounce the Metzora’ pure. A Metzora’ of limited financial means may substitute lesser offerings for the more expensive animals. Before a kohen diagnoses that a house has tzara’at, household possessions are removed to prevent them from also being declared ritually impure. The tzara’at is removed by smashing and rebuilding that section of the house; if it reappears, the entire building must be razed. The Torah details those bodily secretions that render a person spiritually impure, thereby preventing his contact with holy items, and how one regains a state of ritual purity.
“the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop.” (Leviticus 14:4)
Leviticus 14: 1 - 15:33 Psychosomatic Illness
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his parasha starts saying: “The L-RD spoke to Moses, saying, “This shall be the law of the leprous (Metzora’) person for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest,” (Leviticus 14:1–2) this verse is clearly in connection with the previous parasha, Tazria’, leprosy and skin diseases starts in the chapter 13 and continue with this parasha. That is why on a normal Jewish year (12 months) this two parashot are read on the same week. According to the Jewish tradition, tzara’at and Metzora’ are spiritual diseases that comes, from speaking gossip or slander. This could seems strange, but we have an example with Myriam, Moses’ sister, got leprosy when she spoke wrongly about her brother and his wife. The Torah says: “Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman . . . When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like
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snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.” (Numbers 12: 1, 10). This kind of diseases were completely ignored in the time of the bible and even in the time of the Amorim and Tanaim (Jewish scholars from the 1st to the 6th century), but today we understand this phenomenon which is known as Psychosomatic illnesses or diseases. “That is: physical symptoms people experience which are related to psychological factors rather than a medical cause.” This has been proven for some skin diseases as eczema and psoriasis. There are two types of speech transgressions: 1) Lashon Hara “evil tongue”— making a derogatory or damaging statement about someone even though you are speaking the truth. 2) Rechilus “tale bearing”— telling someone the negative things another person said about him or did against him Here we enter in a process of hatred and bad feeling in our heart, it hurts not only others but ourselves.
Shooting an Arrow
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hen a person was afflicted with this plague, they
would have to show it to the Kohen (priest) who would determine whether the person is Tamei or Tahor — spiritually pure or impure. “The priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall look. Then, if the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop.” (Leviticus 14:3–4) The Torah tells us that to be purified from this “impurity,” the person had to bring two birds to the Kohen, a stick of cedar wood, a string dyed scarlet, and hyssop grass. The Torah explains the exact procedure the priest had to do in order to make the person pure. What is the significance of the above mentioned items for the purification process? Our sages have often emphasized the need for a person to be very careful when speaking about others. In fact, we are advised to refrain in some cases from speaking about others even when our intention is to tell nice things, for in the course of conversation one may come to say something negative.
The importance of refraining from speaking about others can also be seen from the commandment of the Torah “Remember what the L-rd your G-d did unto Miriam on the way, as you came out of Egypt” (Deut. 24:9). The Torah commands us to continuously remember this Miriam’s leprosy episode so that we too should refrain from speaking negative about others. Our sages compare the damage inflicted through Lashon Harah to a person shooting an arrow at someone else. As soon as the arrow leaves, the person who shot it looses control over it. Similarly, as soon as a person utters negative words about others, he lost control over them and there is no telling how far they may travel and how much damage they may inflict. Once they have been “aired,” there is no taking them back even if he regrets his action.
Unclean House
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he Torah tells us that before the Kohen comes to inspect the suspected discoloration to determine whether there is in fact tzara’at, all the contents of the house are to be removed. “The priest shall
command that they empty the house, before the priest goes in to examine the plague, that all that is in the house not be made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to inspect the house.” (Leviticus 14:35). In this way they do not become unclean if the house is declared to have tzara’at. The Midrash, however, adds another reason for removing all the vessels: It is a corrective for the selfishness which causes tzara’at in the first place. Selfish people often pretend that they have less than they do, to avoid lending others their possessions or giving tzedakah (tithes and offerings). Having to remove all his possessions in public causes him acute embarrassment and helps to correct his selfishness. When the person whose house was afflicted with tzara’at was made aware of Gd’s concern for every believers’ material possessions, his selfish view (tzarat ayin) was challenged and the corrective process begun. The embarrassment of being exposed to the neighbors’ scrutiny was another aspect of the same process. The removal of the vessels to the public domain hints to the fact that their purpose is not just to serve oneself.
Help Others to feel love
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ne common excuse for gossiping is that the person afflicted with tzara’at is telling the truth. The other person has done so much wrong that it is important to publicize what a bad person he is. He claims that he would never do this without having elevated intentions and that he is actually performing a Mitzvah. Although his claim might sound good at first, he causes much hatred, quarrels and pain. Therefore, the person with tzara’at was sent to Aaron, the priest. One of the traits of Aaron was that he did everything he could to make peace between people. When someone was told that the other person was speaking positively about him, he automatically felt positive about the other person and this greatly improved their relationship. Don’t justify your harming and wronging others by claiming that you want to publicize the truth. Do all that is in your power to help people feel love for one another.
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Are we Gossiping?
t is good to think about ourselves about gossip and slander, I read under
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Haftara Overview 2 Kings 7:3 - 7:20
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eprous men (2 Kings 7) are ready to accept their fate and to die, but before dying they want to help G-d’s people in their war against the Syrians. “Now there were four leprous men outside the city gate, who said to one another, “Why should we sit here until we die? If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there… (2Kings 7:3-4). Usually, in Israel leprous are unclean people, people considered as cursed by the L-rd. But the story of this Haftara shows us a complete different perception of leprous, and these four men are going to be used by the L-rd to deliver Israel from her enemy and their army. “For the L-rd had caused the Aramean army to hear the sound of chariots, and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “The king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to fight against us.” So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys leaving the camp just as it was, and fled for their lives (2Kings 7:6-7). After eating and drinking
“And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish, and a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, and one log of oil.” (Leviticus 14:10) the pen of Rabbi Baars these three questions, maybe a good reflection for each one of us: 1. What was the most harmful thing someone ever said about you? 2. Who do you know that is constantly gossiping (friend, coworker, etc.)? In what ways is this person getting you “down?” 3. What is the one thing you could undertake to reduce gossip in your life?
Ten Ways To Avoid Gossip
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abbi Pakouz suggests ten ways to avoid gossiping from Lori Palatnik and Bob Berg. 1. SPEAK NO EVIL. Say only positive statements. Let words of kindness be on your tongue. This means to respond instead of react. Edit your speech before you speak. 2. HEAR NO EVIL. Refuse to listen to gossip, slander and other negative forms of speech. If you’re on a diet, don’t bring the cake and cookies into the house. If you’re ending gossip, try and keep away from conversations that may tempt you to listen or chime in. If avoiding the conversation is impossible, have another topic of “positive” interest you can quickly bring up in order to change the subject. 3. SEE NO EVIL. Judge
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people favorably, the way you would want them to judge you. If you’ve ever been accused of doing something for which you know you were innocent, then you know how it feels to be misjudged. Remember, if you weren’t there, you don’t know. Even if you were there, you may have missed the context of what actually happened. 4. DON’T RATIONALIZE DESTRUCTIVE SPEECH. Excuses like “But it’s true” or “I’m only joking” or “I can tell my spouse anything” just don’t cut it. Gossip is gossip. The fact that it is true is what qualifies it as gossip. If it were not true, it would be libel or slander, depending upon the medium. 5. BEWARE OF SPEAKING EVIL WITHOUT SAYING AN EVIL WORD. Body language even with positive speech can bring tremendous destruction. 6. BE HUMBLE. Avoid Arrogance. These will be your greatest weapons against destructive speech. Take pleasure in your accomplishments, not pride. This way you recognize the Ultimate Source of your accomplishments. Those who are arrogant are so full of themselves, that there is no room for G-d in their lives. 7. BEWARE OF REPEATING INFORMATION. Even positive informa-
tion needs permission before being repeated. Telling someone who’s out of a job that your mutual friend got a raise, does not constitute proper speech. 8. HONESTY REALLY IS THE BEST POLICY MOST OF THE TIME. Be careful to always tell the truth unless it will hurt others or violate privacy. Strive for honesty in everything you do. If being honest means unnecessarily hurting another’s feelings, it’s better not to be so truthful. Those who boast about being “brutally honest” are usually more brutal than honest. 9. LEARN TO SAY, “I’M SORRY.” Everyone makes mistakes. If you’ve spoken badly about someone, clear it up immediately. It might be embarrassing, but get it over with quickly. Apologize, ask for forgiveness, and let him or her know it won’t happen again. 10. FORGIVE. If you have been wronged, let it go. Forgive for your sake, if not for theirs. Those who can forgive live healthier, happier, and less stressful lives. Those who say they’ll forgive but not forget are actually saying that they’ll neither forgive nor forget. (Lori Palatnik and Bob Berg. GOSSIP: Ten Pathways To Eliminate It From Your Life And Transform Your Soul. Simcha Press. Deerfield, (Fl).
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Apostolic Writings — Luke 17:12-19
he parasha speaks about the Metzora’ a skin disease which is very often associated with leprosy. The text gives all the procedure to be cleansed by the Cohen in order to reintegrate the kahal (assembly) of Israel, including two living birds for the sacrifice, a cedar wood which could be easy to find in Lebanon, but not in Israel, a scarlet wool, which was present also during the service of Yom Kippur, and a hyssop which was also used in the process of forgiveness in the sanctuary. (Leviticus 14:3–4). This procedure was well known by the Jewish people, especially in the time of Yeshua when so many leprous were in the countryside and the cave hiding themselves from normal society. It is therefore interesting to see that Yeshua had many contacts with leprous and people of many diseases. These contacts are significant to demonstrate his love for people in need and his power to clean any disease even the one which was the most hated and dreaded, leprosy. We have at least four texts in the Besorah where he cleansed people from leprosy. All of them in Galilee, The first one at the start of is public ministry, after a night of prayer, Shim’on met him and he took him to teach people in the synagogues and public places, there “a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.”And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Yeshua sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See
that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the Cohen (priest) and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” (Mark 1:40–45). The second occurrence was right after pronouncing his love sermon on the Mount, “a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, ‘L-rd, if you will, you can make me clean.’ And Yeshua stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I will; be clean.’ And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Yeshua said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the Cohen and offer the Corban (sacrifice) that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” (Matthew 8:1–4). The third occurrence was in a city, “there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Yeshua, he fell on his face and begged him, ‘L-rd, if you will, you can make me clean.’ And Yeshua stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I will; be clean.’ And immediately the leprosy left him. And he charged him to tell no one, but “go and show yourself to the Cohen, and make an Corban for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” (Luke 5:12–16). In each of these texts Yeshua is very respectful of the Torah and the authority of the Cohanim, he always said to the lepers after healing them to present themselves to the Cohen. Yeshua was a Jew and accepted the law of Moses as the Law of G-d, he was a Torah observant, that’s why he invited his hearers to be faithful to the Torah. Coming back to the text for this week written by Luke we see that leprous were present
all over the country, that is why we have these four narrations in the gospel. Now on his way to Jerusalem, some lepers met him: “On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, ‘Yeshua, Rabbi, have mercy on us’.” (Luke 17:11–13) in that time, they believed that Leprosy was a contagious sickness. They lived outside of society. Everyone who has seen the movie Ben-Hur, remembers how the mother and sister of Ben Hur were living, in a cave just before being healed by Yeshua. Yeshua was renowned for his miracles and healings, that is why the 10 lepers called him “Rabbi”. This title was not the equivalent of the title “Rabbi” used today. A “rabbi” in the first century was a recognized scholar, who received ordination and was officially accredited to teach his outstanding teaching as were the Rabbis of the Talmud. However in this text, the healing power of Yeshua is an effective sign that the age of messianic salvation has come. He is the Messiah and wants to demonstrate it by his loving actions. That is why when Yochanan Hamatbil (John the Baptist) had some doubts that Yeshua was the Messiah, Yeshua took his healing power as one of the proofs that he was the Messiah “Go back and report to Yochanan what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” (Luke 7:22).
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in the tents of their enemies they decided to go to the Jewish camp and to say to the king of Israel what happened, “So they went after them as far as the Jordan; the whole way was littered with garments and equipment that the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. So the messengers returned, and told the king” (2Kings 7:15). Israel was saved. It is a great lesson for us, how many times we have some prejudices against some people, thinking that in their condition they cannot be blessed or even be a blessing for anyone. But the L-rd like to surprise us and to take some special ways we have not thought before.
Stories and Traditions
Life and Death
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Inspirational Corner
v In the ministry of
healing, the physician is to be a co-worker with Messiah. The Saviour ministered to both the soul and the body. The gospel which He taught was a message of spiritual life and of physical restoration. Deliverance from sin and the healing of disease were linked together. The same ministry is committed to the believer physician. He is to unite with Yeshua in relieving both the physical and spiritual needs of his fellowmen. He is to be to the sick a messenger of mercy, bringing to them a remedy for the diseased body and for the sin-sick soul.— (MH 111 (1905)).
he British poet Rudyard Kipling rightly said that “Words are the most intoxicating drug in the universe!” So Shlomo HaMelech stated, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21) So much rides on the successful delivery of a word like the landing of a plane filled with passengers.
Pesach and Redemption
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person had to send an important letter to his relative in a distant city. As it was before the days of the telephone, e-mail, facebook, or What’app, he had to find someone who would be traveling to that city. He searched and indeed found a wealthy businessman from that city who was returning home in a few days. He asked him to deliver the letter to his relative. That day, the man who wrote the letter met someone who just returned from the city where his relative lived. When he asked the man for any news from that city, he was told that a fire destroyed the businessman’s factory and when he returns home, he will be greatly distressed over the great tragedy which had befallen him. Upon hearing this, the man returned to the businessman and reminded him not forget to deliver the letter to his relative upon returning home! “I told you that I would deliver the letter. Why are you reminding me again?” But the man persisted, “Please make sure to deliver it for it is a very important letter.” “Why are you so worried? It’s no big deal. I will make sure he
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gets the letter,” the businessman answered with a bit of annoyance. “I’m sorry for repeating myself. But there is very important information which my relative must have. Please do see to it that the letter gets to him as soon as you can.” “What a nudnik,” thought the businessman to himself. Upon returning to his city, he found that everything he owned was gone, his family had no place to live and his debts were staggering. He was now totally occupied with putting his life back together and completely forgot about the letter. Then one day, he remembered the letter which he had to deliver and the many reminders he got. Looking back he now realized that the man was not a nudnik. “He must have known about my unfortunate situation and was concerned that I would forget about the letter.” The same is with G-d’s repeated reminders to his people about the exodus. The exodus from Egypt serves as the model for every redemption, until the final redemption through Mashiach.
The Wise and the Wicked
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n a small town there lived a poor Jew. He barely saved up enough money to buy matzah and wine for Pesach. A few weeks before the holiday, there was a sale on clothing material. He couldn’t resist the thought of a new dress for his wife and a new suit for himself, so he took all the money and bought the material. When he told his wife what he did, she was furious. “How will we have wine, matzah and all other provisions for Pesach? Go at once and
give the material back! If the storekeeper gives you trouble, say that the material is damaged!” The man did as his wife told him. He came to the store, threw the material on the table and declared, “The material you sold me is no good, I want my money back!” To his surprise, the merchant didn’t argue and returned his money. After he left, another customer came and brought back some material. He spread the material out on the table and pointed out flaws in the fabric. The merchant took his time and showed him that they were not flaws but rather part of the pattern and design and the customer went away happy. The merchant was asked, “Why did you take your time with the second customer to show him that the material was good, yet the first customer you gave the money back right away? The merchant replied, “The trouble with the first one was not the material, but the customer himself. He didn’t point out the flaws in the material. He just said that it was no good. I knew then that there was no point in arguing or persuading him. I saw that he didn’t want the material at all!” The same, explains the Magid, is the difference between the wise son and the wicked one. The wise son wants to observe the Torah and thus points out which parts are difficult for him to understand and wants an answer. The wicked son, however, makes a blanket statement, “Of what purpose is this service to you?” His is a statement in the form of a question. In other words, the wise son’s question is a question for which he is seeking an answer. But the wicked son’s “question” is actually his “answer” — an excuse for not observing the mitzvot.
Kids Parasha Metzora’
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Inspirational Corner
v The Saviour went
Leviticus 14:1 - 15:33 “The L-rd said to Moses and Aaron, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any man has a bodily discharge, the discharge is unclean. Whether it continues flowing from his body or is blocked, it will make him unclean. This is how his discharge will bring about uncleanness: “‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and anything he sits on will be unclean. Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. Whoever sits on anything that the man with a discharge sat on must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. “Whoever touches the man who has a discharge must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.” (Leviticus 15:1–7) http://www.bnai-tikkun.org.nz 7
from house to house, healing the sick, comforting the mourners, soothing the afflicted, speaking peace to the disconsolate. He took the little children in His arms and blessed them, and spoke words of hope and comfort to the weary mothers. With unfailing tenderness and gentleness He met every form of human woe and affliction. Not for Himself but for others did He labor. He was the servant of all. (AA 364)