Leaving the Old Culture Behind

Jan 22, 2023 | Torah Portion

The Apostle Paul says, “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
The old starter-dough leaven represents our old way of life. It is sin, godlessness, bad company, bad habits and all the things that taint our lives. Like an old culture of leavened starter dough, those things continue to leaven our lives from day to day, conforming us to our past. Paul urges us to make a clean break with the old culture and to start over as a new batch, like unleavened bread.
When the children of Israel left Egypt, they were leaving behind their old culture. While in Egypt they had absorbed much of the wickedness and idolatry of Egyptian society. The unleavened bread symbolized a new beginning. They were starting over.
In a spiritual sense, we leave Egypt when Messiah saves us. That’s what it means to be born again. It is a matter of starting over. When we become believers, we are supposed to die to our old way of life and begin life again as new creatures. We have to leave our old ways behind us.
Addiction counselors warn recovering addicts about falling back into old patterns. The recovering addict is at greatest risk when he spends time with old friends or revisits familiar hang-outs. To successfully overcome his addiction, it is important to break with the past, carve out new patterns of behavior and develop new, healthy habits. It is the same for all of us.
The leaven in our lives comes in a variety of disguises. It may be certain entertainments, amusements, vices, habits or social circles. Paul suggests that it may lie in the wicked and malicious attitudes of our hearts. Passover is an opportune time to break with our past and start over as new creatures in Messiah. Passover is an annual reminder that we must leave the old culture behind. Every Passover is a chance to start over. At Passover we remember that we have left our spiritual Egypt. We are free from the past, and we need to set aside those things in our lives that continue to enslave us. After all, starting over is what it means to be born again.

What’s His Name?

Jan 15, 2023 | Torah Portion

The LORD reminded Moses that He appeared to the forefathers as God Almighty (El Shaddai, אל שדי), but He did not reveal His personal name the LORD (HaShem): “I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, LORD, I did not make Myself known to them” (Exodus 6:3-4).
This seems like a contradiction because Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did know God Almighty by His holy name, “the LORD.” Abraham invoked the Name the LORD when he first entered the land of Canaan. He swore an oath in the name of the LORD. When the Almighty made the covenant between the parts with Abraham, He said, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.” Abraham replied, “O Lord LORD (HaShem), how may I know that I will possess it?” (Genesis 15:7-8).
Obviously the forefathers did know His name, “the LORD.” If so, why did He say to Moses, “By My Name, the LORD, I did not make Myself known to them?”
Rashi reconciles the seeming contradiction. He explains that the LORD did reveal His name, “the LORD (HaShem),” to the forefathers, but He did not reveal the meaning of His Name to them. Rashi understands the name, “the LORD,” to imply God’s unchanging nature. The LORD is “I will be as I will be.” The unchanging God is faithful to keep His word. The Name of the LORD implies, “[I am] faithful to uphold [verify] my words (ne’eman le’ammet debarai, נאמן לאמת דברי).” He is the Promise Keeping God.
According to Rashi’s explanation, the ineffable name, “the LORD” implies God’s unchanging character, His covenant devotion, and His mercy. God revealed His name, “the LORD,” to the patriarchs, but He did not reveal the meaning of His name.
For example, God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation with descendants as countless as the stars. He promised that the land of Canaan would be given to those descendents. He also predicted that Abraham’s seed would be enslaved by a foreign nation and ultimately liberated from that nation:

God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.” (Genesis 15:13-14)

The forefathers did not see these promises fulfilled. They knew the name, “the LORD,” but God did not reveal the essential meaning of that name in that they did not see the covenant promises fulfilled: “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13).
In the days of Moses, the time had come for God to fulfill the covenant promises He made to Abraham. God was ready to reveal the essential meaning of His name: “I am faithful to uphold my words.”
Va'era – וארא : “And I appeared” Torah : Exodus 6:2-9:35 Haftarah : Ezekiel 28:25-29:21 Gospel : Mark 3