Shabbat shalom and welcome to another sabbath talk with the Hebrew Priest. Today, we talk about a new subject:
Tag Archives: Hebrew Priest
Priestly Chat, Neighbors /Gender
Another Sabbath chat with the priest, but this is a double-header. It’s a late delivery, as I was not able to access the internet.
Not your everyday view – a Hebrew view:
Priestly Chat, Shabbat
For a new thing, we’re adding voice chats with the Hebrew Priest. I won’t sully the post, but get right to it:
Sh’ma Yisra’eil: Return to the Law
Sh’ma Yisra’eil – Return to the Law.
Torah Law, that is… the religion of the Hebrews.
I can keep it, it’s not terrifically hard, but it doesn’t matter.
Outside the land – It doesn’t matter.
I can live my life restrained only by civil law – eat, drink and be merry. An ocean away, across the border, on the moon… as long as I’m not in the land chosen by Almighty, the Law is not a matter to much concern me.
So why am I so morose, so concerned with doing what YHVH commanded? What keeps me on course, holding the line, standing apart and keeping separate from everyone and everything I know? Why do I not just blend in, become a comfortable fit with society, with culture, with family and friends and community?
If nothing else, so that I can sleep well at night, so that I can practice what I believe with all of my heart. Even if my obedience makes no difference, none. Inconsequential, insignificant. Important only to me. Important only that by extension, I hope to revere YHVH by keeping the commands.
Truly, YHVH said I will bless them that bless you and curse them that curse you – by you all of the families of the earth will be blessed.
Not me. Almighty didn’t say that about me.
Not anyone outside the land. Other nations didn’t get this condition, this special selection.
Only Israel. Chosen resident of the land.
So hey there Israel – Are you listening?!? – people in the land, citizens, strangers, residents of all shapes, sizes and beliefs – do you not believe YHVH?
Are you fearless, thinking Almighty, YHVH will not require? See Numbers 35.
The land is chosen, deliberately; forever claimed by YHVH – a possession only lent to others as punishment to those peoples who defiled it, those who denied that YHVH owned the land.
Israel – pay attention before you also are spewed from the land! Please!
There are terms. There are conditions. Go back and search for the God of your father Abraham. Look to the ancients, those Hebrews who came out of Egypt to serve your Almighty, and repair your ways. Strip your extraneous laws and traditions and return to YHVH who chose you – to be the blessing, to dwell safely in the land, to become the rightful servants of YHVH.
Look closely at Leviticus 26. Is the land and its people truly blessed?
Not according to Torah. Is the land and its people truly in the midst of punishment? It appears clearly so to me.
Find your priests, the sons of Aaron. Ask them to take their stand, to resume their eternal inherited positions. Support them. Give them reason to seek YHVH, to inquire of, and worship YHVH as they have been commanded. Ask them to seek out the old ways, the ways of Abraham. Ask them to become servants of YHVH, as designed.
Do your part – clean house, prepare yourselves and the tabernacle of Almighty – set yourselves straight. Accept the punishment and ask YHVH to Remember – to Remember the Covenant with Abraham – to Remember the Covenant with Isaac – to Remember the Covenant with Jacob – and to Remember again the Land.
Kick those rabbis to the curb. Eject them from the land if you have to, if they, like others before them, refuse to honor the established hierarchy set forth by YHVH. If they continue to usurp the position of authority, the priesthood, set forth by YHVH, then send them away. They lead you astray.
The rest of us are counting on you – whether we know it or not – our future hangs in the balance, waiting on you. All of the families of the earth are looking and hoping for a thing that will not happen without you.
Save yourselves, and allow us to rejoice in your resumed status, as Chosen of YHVH, rightful residents of the Land of Israel, Land of YHVH.
Not for me, not for the Sojourner. I have no position. I just have great hope for your future.
Narrowing It Down: Define The Hebrew
Of all of the religions, all of the religious groups, and all of the belief systems that exist, the Hebrew religion – the Hebrew people – may be defined very simply.
Torah. Only Torah.
No Talmud.
No Prophets.
No additives, no chemicals, no preservatives.
No heaven to aspire to.
No hell to be damned to.
Seriously, the basis for the Hebrew belief is that following Torah, in its pure form, is the requirement.
This presents a new twist on religion, a new but old thing which typically sends minds reeling from the shock. Hebrews rely on the priest to deliver the Torah information, as defined in… (wait for it… you might already know this… ) Torah!
Just as Torah describes, the Aaronic priest is born into the duty, born into the hierarchy, to lead the Hebrews in their religious life. The priest directs the community, according to Torah. The Levites are directed to serve the priests, and to carry the Tabernacle (yes, tabernacle not temple) and Courtyard and Articles.
I don’t have a need to do Torah readings, Torah studies, although I spent nearly twenty years doing just that. As my priest told me, “you know Torah, just go live Torah.”
Had I been a true member of a Hebrew community throughout life, or came upon such during travels, I would have been exposed to the Torah by the priests there.
Some of the differences between a Hebrew and nearly every other religion:
- We work to accept our punishment. The reality dealt to the Hebrew people and their generations for their refusal to keep Torah Law.
- We do not ask of Almighty, YHWH. This means we do not make prayer requests.
- We, the congregation, do not read the Law. We rely on the priest for matters that are too difficult.
- We accept that we do not have the right to live in the Land. We’re in exile, see the first point.
- We are not commanded to ‘go forth and gather people’ to believe as we do. You either believe as we do or you don’t. Each and every human being has the right, the ability to choose. If you choose differently, so be it, you are allowed to do so.
- As exiled people, we recognize that the land we live in is not up to us to rule. We are subject to the laws of the land we’re in.
- A Hebrew may or may not be genetically tied to the original people of Torah. The only difference for the Hebrew who voluntarily joins the community is that they don’t appear to be included in land inheritance.
- There is no satan, no messiah, no king, no temple. Our sole worship, our sole belief is in Almighty and the hierarchy set down by Almighty. The anointed one is the High Priest.
- The commanded Dwelling is the tabernacle and the enclosure – to keep out any but those who are of the tribe of Levi. The priests are the only who offer, and the only who enter the tabernacle. Only the High Priest enters the Holy of Holies.
- It is up to the community to freely give items for construction of the tabernacle, the enclosure, the cloths and coverings, the Ark, table, lampstand, priestly clothing and articles of the clothing and tabernacle.
- There are elders chosen who take the message of the priest to the community, should the community be too large for adequate delivery.
- Only Hebrew Priests are allowed to say the blessing. As described in Torah.
Those are the primary differences, for any who were wondering.
Hillbilly to Hebrew
I recall during the early years of grade school, a teacher had asked us to find out about our ancestry. So, I went to my best resource, Mom.
I asked “what are we Mom?”
Well, she must have been in fine humor that day because she answered me “hillbilly”.
And that’s what I reported back to the class.
I’m really glad that I don’t recall the reaction, as I’m certain that teacher was moved to either shock or laughter!
Seriously!
I thought Hillbilly was my label for a long while.
It did make sense, somewhat.
The family reunions for Mom’s side were happy, musical affairs, always including acoustic guitars, tambourines, banjos and mandolins. Bluegrass was always the theme, and quite a few of the relatives could play and sing.
There’s a small town (population 200 or so) that several of the relatives call home, so when we all assembled to enjoy each other’s company, moving from house to house – mostly barefoot – it seemed like it was “our town”.
They’re fabulous memories to have: My hillbilly memories.
For the record, it turns out I’m mostly German/English.
Whatever that means.
You see, I’ve transitioned.
I don’t want to be thought of as hillbilly
or German
or English.
I have a preference now, and no – it’s really not Hippy either, hehehe.
Because I’ve taken the label of Hebrew – in fact, it was a label that was given me by my Priest.
Accepted; willingly, eagerly, and with great respect for the serious implications that it requires.
You see, I have agreed to keep the law of Torah as best I can in a world that is not conducive to Torah.
It’s sobering.
It’s complicated, yet breathtakingly simple.
If only all things were so simple!
The Disconnected Life of a Common Man
Religion is one of those subjects best left off the table.
You keep to your beliefs and I’ll keep to mine and we’ll get along just fine, yes indeed.
But years go by…
Beliefs evolve and mature, as an aging soul takes stock. The outcome: a realization that time is slipping ever so quickly past and that what there is left is all there is.
Time to make the best of what I’ve got.
I find that I no longer care to get along. Haven’t, in fact, cared for almost two decades. But I’m polite, sociable, so I’ve kept my mouth shut for the most part. Carried my beliefs in my innermost being and trudged along like everything was just fine on the exterior.
I’m saddened, you see.
I’m bereft and disconnected.
My people, my community, is not to be found.
I’m a functional silo, like the others who believe as I do, with our only support system one that is as tenuous as the continued strength of the electrical grid and the satellite system.
Our “community” is who we are – individuals pocketed and scattered hither and thither, singular souls taking stance in a world of difference and indifference.
It creates a sorrow like no other, an ache for what has been lost since before the first Israelite temple was built, before the first king was chosen:
The community of the Hebrews, comprised of twelve tribes and the Levites, all ruled by the Priests. The Aaronic priests, who were the sole recipients, the sole keepers, the sole instructors for God’s words. A community whose rules included full acceptance of strangers, like me, who stumbled across and took as oath the wholehearted beauty of a system entirely dependent upon the Rule of God.
Mesmerizing in its perfect simplicity, it has created a longing, a desire for a thing that I don’t believe I will ever live to see.
There.
That’s the reason for the sorrow, the ache.
Detachment.
Unfulfilled dreams.
Dreams dependent on people who are blind to their roles.
My role is to be a common man, the role of the twelve tribes and the stranger – no gender bias, just simplicity – and to fulfill my daily role of living a life commanded by God through Torah, relayed by the Priests, sons of Aaron.
I’ll keep my role. I’ll not waver from it.
But damn, it’s lonely out here.
