Converting the Household to HaDerech Torah Part I
by Emah/Rabbanit Nava Michaels
In returning to Abba as a family, teshuba must be thoroughly understood and taught. This is why it states in Acts 15:21 "For Moshe Rabbenu from ancient dorot (times) in every shtetl (Jewish town) has his maggidim (preachers) and in the shuls every Shabbos (Shabbat) he has been read." HaShem desires household teshuba (to feel sorrow and to return to HaShem), qadash (sanctification) and geullah (redemption). In Scriptural Yehudi thought all of life - which includes relationships, beings, property, food, occupations - is to be set apart, to be qadosh, to be redeemed for HaShem's purposes. According to the NAS TaNaK Hebrew Lexicon "Qadash" is defined as:
The NAS Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon Strong's Number: 6942 Original WordWord OriginXdqa primitive rootTransliterated WordTDNT EntryQadashTWOT - 1990Phonetic SpellingParts of Speechkaw-dash' Verb Definition
H6942
קדשׁ
qâdash
kaw-dash'
A primitive root; to be (causatively make, pronounce or observe as) clean (ceremonially or morally): - appoint, bid, consecrate, dedicate, defile, hallow, (be, keep) holy (-er, place), keep, prepare, proclaim, purify, sanctify (-ied one, self), X wholly.
To begin the process of teshuba as a family you must learn and teach ha'basar - the good news from TaNaK. First, you are to understand that to believe in the Alaha of Abra'ham, Yitchaq, w'Ya'acob is to trust with your powers (intellect and will), and thus to confess with your mouth that you are guilty before a Kadosh Elohim according to Leviticus 5:5, and that in the place of a lamb we bring to our defense His Messiah the Lamb who was slain before the foundations of the world (Gen. 3::15, 21), and who was and is the Kaphoreth, the Atonement, the Kippur/Covering for your transgressions, that as the Lamb of HaShem His perfect, sinless blood once and for all has covered you as was written in Tehillim 40:7 (Heb. 10:10). The next fruit of teshuba is to learn about, and then to perform a tevilah, or to be immersed in a living body of water to show a change of status from death unto life. The tevilah is an act of self-renewal and re-birth, and also shows the preparation for a new kingdom as taught by Moshe in Exodus 19:10 and then by John in John 1:26. With kawanah/intention, the immersion ideally should be done before witnesses (a Beit Din - a 3-man court) as it is a major life change and, like marriage, cannot be done solo. If this isn't possible, prayerfully consider and perform this ritual in a mikvah of your choice. Yeshua, our Rabbi, the Davar/Word made flesh, set the example for us when He submitted Himself to fulfill all righteousness in John 3:16-17 His witnesses being John, who was of the priestly lineage, HaShem the Father, and the Ruach Hakodesh. According to tradition, Av Abraham being the first Yehudi, performed the first tevilah (Gen. 18:4 - a form of tevilah). Also teaching and performing teshuba/restitution to man is also a Torah instruction. Leviticus 6:1-6 teaches that we are to make restitution in full plus add 1/5 to what was wrongfully taken. If the man has died, it goes to the heir, if there is no heir, the spiritual leader (if he has one) may take it in his stead.
HaShem said of Av Abraham "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him".
As the woman of the home it's your responsibility to command your children after you. I don't know anyone's marital status, or how each of your families' function, but just as Emah Sarah, of blessed memory, was responsible to convert the souls of the women that they'd acquired, Torah requires both the father and mother to teach the banim (children). As it says in Debarym 6:4-9 Shema Yisroel Adonoi Eloheinu Adonoi Echad. 5And thou shalt love Hashem Eloheicha b'chol l'vavcha u'vchol nafshcha uvechol modecha (heart, soul, strength). 6And these devarim (words), which I command thee today, shall be in thine lev (heart); 7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy banim (children), and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine bais (house), and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8And thou shalt bind them for an ot (sign) upon thine hand, and they shall be as totafos (ornaments [Shemot 13:16, Shabbos 57a]) between thine eyes. 9And thou shalt write them upon the mezuzot (doorframes) of thy bais, and on thy she'arim (gates). Notice He says "Shema (Listen, Hear, Witness) Yisrael. Not men of Israel, but Israel corporately - men and women.
Diligence is key especially since some here may have teens, or children who don't cooperate, and therefore the process may be more difficult. Under-girding all your efforts must be diligence in prayer, asking HaRuach Hakodesh for g-dly sorrow with tears (a form of tevilah), and a personal heart-felt conviction of your own need for making teshuba. This attitude will motivate you to speak in gentleness and conviction to your family as to HaShem's requirements for them, and the need to make a full 180 degree return to Him.
by Emah/Rabbanit Nava Michaels
In returning to Abba as a family, teshuba must be thoroughly understood and taught. This is why it states in Acts 15:21 "For Moshe Rabbenu from ancient dorot (times) in every shtetl (Jewish town) has his maggidim (preachers) and in the shuls every Shabbos (Shabbat) he has been read." HaShem desires household teshuba (to feel sorrow and to return to HaShem), qadash (sanctification) and geullah (redemption). In Scriptural Yehudi thought all of life - which includes relationships, beings, property, food, occupations - is to be set apart, to be qadosh, to be redeemed for HaShem's purposes. According to the NAS TaNaK Hebrew Lexicon "Qadash" is defined as:
The NAS Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon Strong's Number: 6942 Original WordWord OriginXdqa primitive rootTransliterated WordTDNT EntryQadashTWOT - 1990Phonetic SpellingParts of Speechkaw-dash' Verb Definition
H6942
קדשׁ
qâdash
kaw-dash'
A primitive root; to be (causatively make, pronounce or observe as) clean (ceremonially or morally): - appoint, bid, consecrate, dedicate, defile, hallow, (be, keep) holy (-er, place), keep, prepare, proclaim, purify, sanctify (-ied one, self), X wholly.
- to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate
To begin the process of teshuba as a family you must learn and teach ha'basar - the good news from TaNaK. First, you are to understand that to believe in the Alaha of Abra'ham, Yitchaq, w'Ya'acob is to trust with your powers (intellect and will), and thus to confess with your mouth that you are guilty before a Kadosh Elohim according to Leviticus 5:5, and that in the place of a lamb we bring to our defense His Messiah the Lamb who was slain before the foundations of the world (Gen. 3::15, 21), and who was and is the Kaphoreth, the Atonement, the Kippur/Covering for your transgressions, that as the Lamb of HaShem His perfect, sinless blood once and for all has covered you as was written in Tehillim 40:7 (Heb. 10:10). The next fruit of teshuba is to learn about, and then to perform a tevilah, or to be immersed in a living body of water to show a change of status from death unto life. The tevilah is an act of self-renewal and re-birth, and also shows the preparation for a new kingdom as taught by Moshe in Exodus 19:10 and then by John in John 1:26. With kawanah/intention, the immersion ideally should be done before witnesses (a Beit Din - a 3-man court) as it is a major life change and, like marriage, cannot be done solo. If this isn't possible, prayerfully consider and perform this ritual in a mikvah of your choice. Yeshua, our Rabbi, the Davar/Word made flesh, set the example for us when He submitted Himself to fulfill all righteousness in John 3:16-17 His witnesses being John, who was of the priestly lineage, HaShem the Father, and the Ruach Hakodesh. According to tradition, Av Abraham being the first Yehudi, performed the first tevilah (Gen. 18:4 - a form of tevilah). Also teaching and performing teshuba/restitution to man is also a Torah instruction. Leviticus 6:1-6 teaches that we are to make restitution in full plus add 1/5 to what was wrongfully taken. If the man has died, it goes to the heir, if there is no heir, the spiritual leader (if he has one) may take it in his stead.
HaShem said of Av Abraham "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him".
As the woman of the home it's your responsibility to command your children after you. I don't know anyone's marital status, or how each of your families' function, but just as Emah Sarah, of blessed memory, was responsible to convert the souls of the women that they'd acquired, Torah requires both the father and mother to teach the banim (children). As it says in Debarym 6:4-9 Shema Yisroel Adonoi Eloheinu Adonoi Echad. 5And thou shalt love Hashem Eloheicha b'chol l'vavcha u'vchol nafshcha uvechol modecha (heart, soul, strength). 6And these devarim (words), which I command thee today, shall be in thine lev (heart); 7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy banim (children), and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine bais (house), and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8And thou shalt bind them for an ot (sign) upon thine hand, and they shall be as totafos (ornaments [Shemot 13:16, Shabbos 57a]) between thine eyes. 9And thou shalt write them upon the mezuzot (doorframes) of thy bais, and on thy she'arim (gates). Notice He says "Shema (Listen, Hear, Witness) Yisrael. Not men of Israel, but Israel corporately - men and women.
Diligence is key especially since some here may have teens, or children who don't cooperate, and therefore the process may be more difficult. Under-girding all your efforts must be diligence in prayer, asking HaRuach Hakodesh for g-dly sorrow with tears (a form of tevilah), and a personal heart-felt conviction of your own need for making teshuba. This attitude will motivate you to speak in gentleness and conviction to your family as to HaShem's requirements for them, and the need to make a full 180 degree return to Him.