Featured Posts

The Prayer of the Righteous Parashat Toldot (Genesis 25:19-28:9) Parashat Toldot is essentially the story explaining how Jacob ended up receiving the birthright in place of his brother, Esau. At the very beginning of the story, however, Isaac and Rebecca have no children. Like, her mother-in-law, Sarah, Rebecca is barren. Just a few chapters over we also see that Rachel, the favored wife of Jacob, is also barren. All three of the matriarchs struggle with fertility, but yet all three eventually are able to conceive. Why is it that all three of these godly families struggled in this way? The Talmud proposes that it was because the LORD desired their prayers: R. Isaac stated: Why were our ancestors barren? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, longs to hear the prayer of the righteous. (Yevamot 64a) read more »	Identity In Anonymity Parashat Chayei Sarah - Genesis 23:1-25:18 In this week’s Torah portion we read about death and life. Although Parashat Chayei Sarah is deeply saddening in that we learn about the deaths of both Abraham and Sarah, it’s chapters are also filled with the romantic story of Isaac’s betrothal and marriage to Rebecca. Let’s turn to this latter event to understand more about our role as a disciple of Yeshua. read more »
Cloning From Abraham's DNA Parashat Vayeira (Genesis 18:1-22:24) One of the most well-known and riveting stories in the Torah is the binding of Isaac, found at the end of this week’s Torah portion. In Hebrew, it is referred to as the Akeidah, or the Binding. It is considered the final (and most difficult) of ten trials through which God tested Abraham. There are many lessons we can learn from this single event. We will attempt to bring out a few important aspects here. read more »	Abraham The Soul-Maker Parashat Lech Lecha (Genesis 12:1-17:27) At the end of last week’s Torah portion, we were introduced to one of the most important characters in the Torah: the patriarch Abraham. At this time, however, he is simply known as Abram. Abram is the foundational material that Hashem uses to build both a people and a faith. Today, he is affectionately referred to as Avraham Avinu, Our Father Abraham. In the Apostolic Scriptures, he is also called the father of all who believe (Romans 4:16). In this week’s Torah portion, we read about the calling of Abram and how God commissioned him with a special purpose. The LORD also changes his name from Abram to Abraham as a promise of what the LORD was going to do through Abraham. A curious passage in our portion begs to be explained, however. When God calls Abram to leave his family and his homeland, we read of Abram’s response: read more »
The Rainbow Covenant Parashat Noach (Genesis 6:9-11:32) When Noah and his family came out of the ark, God told them to be fruitful and multiply, repopulating the earth. He also entrusted them with certain moral obligations regarding the treatment of both man and animal. Last, He made a covenant with humanity to never again destroy the earth by water and created the rainbow as a testimony to this covenant: And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. (Genesis 9:12–15) read more »	The Devil Made Me Do It Parashat B'reisheet (Genesis 1:1-6:8) Generally, when we study Parshat B’reisheet we focus in on either the days of creation or the Fall of Man. However, there are many more lessons to be learned from this brief account of the origins of humanity and sin. We can learn an important lesson from the story of Cain and Abel about how we are the masters of our own destiny. As we know, Adam and Eve’s first two children were Cain and Abel, respectively. Cain was an agrarian, one who worked the land to grow produce. Abel, however, was a herdsman, raising livestock. They both brought offerings before the LORD: Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. (Genesis 4:3–4) read more »

Welcome

Welcome to Emet HaTorah, where we connect disciples of Yeshua to the eternal Torah of God. We're blessed to have you here! We hope to be an online source for discipleship resources from a Messianic Jewish perspective. If you're new to Emet HaTorah have a look around and enjoy some of our online teaching resources and sign up for email updates. You'll be blessed!