Beth El of Manhattan, Two-Testament Synagogue

<p>Until the Rabbi begins delivering new sermons/podcasts on May 6th, your synagogue's iTunes library, our website library, and our huge "<a href="http://Archive.Org" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Archive.Org</a>" treasury of over 500 Beth El Sermons (under the "Learn With Us" top menu at <a href="http://www.bethelnyc.org" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">www.bethelnyc.org</a>) ––– all offer you a chance to revisit favorite past sermons of yours, or listen to ones you may have missed. We cherish the place you have given us in your listening habits - and look forward to a new season sharing with you starting on Shabbat "Emor" in May. Shalom uv'rachot! (Peace and Blessings!)</p>

<p>Congregation Beth El of Manhattan, a Conservative Synagogue of Two-Testament Judaism in Manhattan's Upper East Side since 1993. <br><br>Parshat Yitro this week gives us a range of obligations – from can or may through could and should into must. We examine what the path of the God-follower / Truth-follower is in a world in which people can, at times, alter even the meaning of words to give themselves leeway to harm or defraud their fellow-humanbeings. May Heaven give us the light we need to “put aside lying, and speak truth with one another” to degree our Creator desires – and desires so much, He offers to do the “heavy lifting” on our behalf, and in our stead.<br><br>We also thankfully point anyone wishing to Tithe or Donate to our Donor’s portal at <a href="https://www.bethelnyc.org/make-a-donation" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.bethelnyc.org/make-a-donation</a>. Be sure to peruse the newly-revamped website-and DOWNLOAD OUR NEW “APP!!!”– and please do share these resources with others YOU are HOW this synagogue GROWS! :-) Shabbat shalom!</p>

<p>Parsha Bo, the first study of 2022 – is all about freedom. “Remember the day you left the house of slavery!” We are told in Exodus 13 – near the end of the parasha. Our rabbi delves into the personal experience of being set free from any kind of slavery, because “by what a person is overcome, by that (s)he is enslaved.” (2Peter 2:19) But, “If the Son shall make you free, you will be free indeed!” (John 8:36) Habits or patterns that “take control” from you – and you are no longer “in the driver’s seat?” Time to be free indeed!</p>

<p>Parsha for the last week of 2021: “Shemot” (Torah: Exodus 1:1-6:1 Haftarah: Isaiah 27:6 - 28:13; 29:22 - 29:23) – and the sermon title is ... or, “Game-Changing Truths Onto Your Radar.” With huge numbers throughout the world observing the Messiah’s birth ... what are we as Jews to do with the stunningly clear portraits in Scripture and Talmud about the “Messiah son of Joseph, who will be slain?” There is such clear understanding among our Sages of why He would come, when He would arrive, what He would do ... and yet, the topic has been moved off the table of “in-house” Jewish discussion as so many billions of “them” (the non-Jewish nations) believe in Him within their languages and cultures ... while among our Jewish 14 million, only a few hundred thousand accept The Suffering Messiah as having been Yeshua of Nazareth? No truth ever ceased to be a truth because it had not yet found its fullest following. As the Sermon title holds forth, once anyone carefully reads the content of Jewish Scripture and commentary on the Suffering Messiah, they can never “go back” to before that content was clearly seen. It is a total “game-changer.”</p>

<p>This week’s parasha is “VaYigash” – and the sermon has the title, “The Essence Of Healthy Prayer.” Rabbi Bruce delves into “drawing near” to God, and what makes sound prayer different than spiritistic activities like use of talismans and applying esoteric “special knowledge” as is done in Kabbalah. Enjoy “the simplicity of devotion” as Rav Saul of Tarshish taught it in 2Corinthians 11:3.</p>

<p>Hanukkah is the perfect opportunity to contemplate "the power of one." An old man in a backwater town, through his clarity and courage inspired his entire generation to defeat the greatest military power on earth, leading to over a century of Jewish self-government. The right person in the right place at the right time - can change the world. Am Yisrael Chai! And Happy Hanukkah!</p>

<p>This week’s parasha is “VaYeshev.” In it, we are shown how the all-foreseeing God directly, pro-actively stirs up trouble between people and nations in order to foment His objectives in human society. God tells us in Isaiah 54:16, “I, Myself created the smith who blows the fire of the coals (heats things up) I created the destroyer (intentionally) to ruin!” God claims SOLE ownership of all events in human experience, having deliberately created even the irritants intentionally to do what they do (see Isaiah 45:7). It is a mind-blowing exploration that detoxes faith from overly simplified portraits of the Creator whose ways are “as high above us as the heavens are above the earth.” Enjoy!</p>

<p>This week’s parasha is “VaYishlakh” – “And He Sent Out” – and the Haftarah from the itty-bitty 1-chapter book of Obadiah, we see see spiritual plutonium-strength display of the Deuteronomy 18 standard for the authority of the Scriptures: such specific long-range prophecy so accurate it is almost scary to read it. The prophet predicts when Israel returns from scattering across the world, exactly where in Israel certain populations will settle – abnd it is not the region of our land from which they were kidnapped and exiled! Amazing! Mind-boggling! And – we study WHY God put this content into the bread-crumb trail of the Scriptures. Enjoy!</p>

<p>This week’s parasha is “VaYetzeh” – “And He Went Out” – and we continue to see the soft under-belly of the Patriarchal Era ... the under-theme of limitation and temporality soaking every moment we read about. The sermon this week is “Life’s Two Fake-Outs” – dealing with the ways we distract ourselves from the reality about which God teaches us so clearly: 2 Cor. 4:7 – "we have this (spiritual) treasure in earthen (clay) vessels.” And why it is this way.</p>

<p>Sermon was given via the ZOOM teleconference app "in" Congregation Beit Ariel of Cape Town, South Africa - and then rebroadcast as the Sermon for the Manhattan Erev Shabbat Service 7 hours later. This week’s parasha is “Toledot” – “Generations” – and we see the full range of human glory and weakness expressed in one family: ours! Nature and Nurture, Favoritism and Faith, Lion-heart and Lily-liver ... the sermon this week is aptly entitled “The Reality Of Duality.” How God engages with our flaws and glories, without compromising His character on either! Beit Ariel of Cape Town, South Africa is a synagogue and community our Rabbi Bruce has influenced as a “shaliakh” since the 1980s, and with which he retains a vibrant connection dating from then to the present. We hope you enjoy connecting with this Two-Testament Synagogue on the other side of the world!</p>

<p>"Whatever a person has decided is God's will, it should be done without grudging or complaining," the Scriptures teach us. So – does what we NOW do, and what we NOW have bring us genuine joy without being yet perfect? Or - are "our eyes always on the ends of the earth" and is "the grass always greener elsewhere?" This sermon offers positive tools for assessing our personal joy-index, and what joy, or lack of it, teaches us.</p>

<p>This week’s parasha “VaYera” yields two themes and a sermon entitled “Two Comforts: Human Integrity & Divine Ubiquity” – both equally present and nourishing – so our Rabbi shared both. Also - quite unusually for our synagogue, the Rabbi shared a Christian music video with top tier musician Dolly Parton as a duet partner to Zach Williams, showing from “the other side of Two Testament culture how these truths make their way into our experience. The Video can be found on YouTUBE: “There Was Jesus.” We pray it nourishes your understanding of this week’s themes.</p>

<p>Parshat "Lecha Lecha" – "Get Yourself Moving" – how Golda Meir turned a room full of totally uninterested observers into zealous co-laborers when their choices in that room that night might decide whether the new born State of Israel would live or die: and the Biblical precepts that apply.</p>

<p>The story of Noakh is perhaps the clearest and best known container of the idea of the existence of limits to God’s grace. We learn how to set healthy boundaries, and we see this week how often in Scripture God portrays this aspect of “shalom” (wholeness, not merely the absence of conflict) for us.</p>

<p>Rabbi Bruce brings his Comparative Literature chops to bear on one of the most-often misread and misapplied sections of Scripture used by God-Dodgers as an excuse to avoid The Scripture, claiming they are "obviously just myths, and untrue because they say the entire universe was created in 6 earth days 6,000 years ago." This Sermon is a GREAT "sharing tool" for anyone who has offered you the "mere mythology" rebuttal.</p>

<p>On Erev Shabbat Hol HaMoed during Sukkot - a preparatory jaunt into the joy of being able to proclaim, "We Have A Torah!" (Yesh lanu Torah!). Contrasting God's laws with religious law erupting from the human mind, or what the New Testament calls, "doctrines from unclean spiritual sources." May the joy of having God's Torah (Teaching/Law) abound! Hag Sameakh!</p>

<p>The entire holiday of Sukkot emphasizes the transience of life - yet, we are commanded to rejoice for 7 straight days. How does one GENUINELY rejoice in ALL seasons, full and spare and everything in-between. There "a secret" to this Rav Saul tells us in the New Testament, "I have learned." Let's learn this precious secret also!</p>

<p>Given on "Shabbat Shuvah" 2021 – Beth El of Manhattan is the only synagogue of Two Testament Judaism having been in Manhattan before, during, and after "9/11" occurred. We lived and worked and ministered here. In the ensuring decade, ours was the only synagogue of any kind in all 5 New York Boroughs targeted for direct Islamic Terror threats: and it happened to us twice! Our story should be heard: and here, in this sermon, twenty years after – it is. May it be all for shalom.</p>

<p>RabbI Bruce Cohen, invited to share the Rosh Hashanah Sermon for Beit Ariel of Cape Town with which he has been involved as a 'shaliakh' since 1986 – a heartfelt outpouring of encouragement and exhortation to pour ourselves into "The Return" – the long-foretold thing God is doing with us in our era, scattered throughout the world, but pulled by God toward returning to our God, our Messiah and our national identity/Homeland.</p>

<p>פרשת נִצָּבִים Nitzavim, "we are standing here" before God to enter into covenant with Him ... or are we? Do we "tell" God what we are willing to do, and for how long? How do we leave His rightful Kingship over our lives in the hands of our rightful King?</p>

<p>פרשת כִּי־תֵצֵא In this parasha, we see God show compassion on us by giving us commandments which, if heeded, can prevent us from giving away our lives on impulse. It is human nature to be drawn to diverse genetic traits in mates – diversity helps us avoid genetic inbreeding are repeats of genetic errors. This good aspect of our instincts renders us vulnerable to being overwhelmed by an exotic, foreign exterior. In this parasha, we see a pattern for making sure whom we think we love, we actually do "love" as a person.</p>

<p>בּוֹנֵ֣ה יְרוּשָׁלִַ֣ם יְהוָ֑ה נִדְחֵ֖י יִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל יְכַנֵּֽס׃ "The LORD builds up Jerusalem; He regathers the outcasts of Israel." Much of the world has no idea what Israel is: they view it through the narrow lens of their own religious predispositions. This teaching from our weekly midweek "TnT" (Torah & Tefilah" - Teaching & Prayer) Meeting on 11 August 2021 after our Rabbi returned from 17 days in Israel, is a real eye-opener as to what God is doing ... and how we can seek and find our place in His plans.</p>

<p>פרשת רְאֵה What happens if we accept or decline God's invitation? Yeshua the Messiah taught us, "When invited by the Master, some began to make excuses, and for those reasons said to The Master, 'Please consider me excused.'" Now, the place is empty God Almighty intended to be yours since before time, itself, existed. What happens now?</p>

<p>On 9th of Av in the Jewish lunar calendar, both the 1st and 2nd Temples were destroyed on the same date: the 1st in 586 bce and nearly 700 years later, the 2nd in 70 ce. The Sages of Israel attribute God's choice to erase our Temples and scatter our nation primarily due to "seenát ḥeenám" (baseless hatred). This Shabbat, we seek to understand "baseless" as a description of truth being lost and replaced by contrived and inaccurate "narratives." We hope to learn from our history, so we do not repeat the worst episodes. May it all be for shalom.</p>

<p>The story of the reaction of Pinchas reveals to us how we can be in lock-step with God and how that condition manifests in action! INCLUDED BONUS: a brief teaching on "A Tale of Two Spellings," resolving the movement-wide issue of "Yeshua" vs. "Y'shua" – is there a genuinely, clearly correct first-name spelling of The Messiah? Happily, the answer is, "Yes." A VIDEO of the "Tale of Two Spellings" (not the entire sermon) is provided, because the teaching on Hebrew vowels has important Visual Aids supporting it.</p>

<p>Bil'am heard and knew the will of God – and connived to do otherwise. King Saul did the same, and was told, "because you have rejected the word of The Lord, God has rejected you from being king." Being religious, but "rejecting the Word of The Lord" is how Bil'am and King Saul met their fates we all hope to avoid. So, this week, let's learn from their "anti-models" – and strengthen our relationship with our Father in Heaven.</p>

<p>The song entitled, "Cover Me In Sunshine" by contemporary songstress, "Pink" on her album "All I Know So Far" was the inspiration for this attempt to get to the core of what every heart expects from God – how we handle "the real world" as we grow past youthful fantasies of life as a kind of Disneyworld-on-Earth – and how evildoing often arises from people simply trying to get enough of a slice of the pie to feel some measure of security and dignity for themselves, their dear ones, or the "crew" on earth they consider "their" circle of interest. A special section in presents the Biblical passages explaining WHY Israel's enemies ceaselessly bear down on the Jewish State and the Jewish People.</p>

<p>It is basic human "hardwiring" to weave stories giving us a sense of safety, starting as children believing our parents to be all-wise and all-powerful - thus creating a sense of perfect safety. This natural instinct both SERVES and HARMS us. How do God-followers & truth-seekers escape this trap, when we are commanded to "speak truth in our hearts" and "cease lying, and speak (only) truth to one-another" as Scripture clearly directs us? "The truth," Messiah taught us, "will make us free." Let's get free.</p>

<p>This week's parasha contains the source of our Manhattan synagogue's logo since 1993: the image of Joshua & Caleb bringing back the "eshkol" – the huge cluster of fruit of The Land; and in our logo, the central fruit has a Jewish star embedded in it. The symbol is of 2 people out of 10 who "got it." They had the clarity, the courage, and the trust in God to GO TO where God wanted them, and DO WITH VIGOR what God wanted them to do – despite the risks involved. This from-the-heart idea is shared by Rabbi Bruce with the Cape Town congregation he has been serving intermittently as a shaliakh since 1986.</p>

<p>We explore via the commandment in this portion to the Levites, that they be "cleansed for fitness to serve God," and Peter the Shaliakh's mandate that to be healthy spiritually, our godly qualities must grow, not stagnate ... we celebrate Asian Jewishness in our synagogue and the world at large - and the multiracial nature of both the Jewish nation and all humankind. In age of increased "Othering" - we seek to "give effort to the spirit of unity and the bond of peace," as Paul exhorted us in Ephesians 4.</p>

<p>God is a Person. He cannot only be "known about," but "known." Far too many "Believers" relate to God as if relating to or liking ideas about Him is the same thing as the "knowing God" Scripture holds forth as necessary. This sermon explores the two primary ways God communicates with human beings interested in being governed by Truth. (There a bonus at the end: a song based on Psalm 95 called "Ki El Gadol Adonai" (A Great God Is The Lord) from a Jerusalem worship band we have been featuring in our service broadcasts. Enjoy!</p>

<p>Peace in The Middle East? Really? With 3000 rockets fired by Hamas from Gaza onto Israel – and things heating up again for the nth time in memory - is there ANY GENUINE HOPE for peace between Israel and the hundreds of millions of Arabs surrounding her, and living inside her borders? Thank God, the answer is YES – a long future of peace is FORETOLD in the Scriptures - and we will look at those encouraging passages and precepts in this sermon.</p>

<p>The Rabbi gives a from-the-heart sermon for Mothers' Day 2021, having grown up without his mother from 18 months old. What the presence of a mother means, as learned by living in the absence of one; and living the New Testament triumph over bad experiences, as spoken in advance by the prophet Jeremiah (31:29-30), "In this New Testament (covenant), no longer will it be said, 'The parents ate sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge; but in this New Testament (covenant), everyone deals with only their own issues.'"</p>

<p>The Haftarah's injunction that the priesthood actively teach the people of Israel the difference between holy and ordinary, pure and tainted, is explored for the positive effects of understanding these differences, and the consequences of ignoring them.</p>

<p>Centering in on this caveat in Proverbs 21:30: "There is no 'wisdom' and no 'understanding' and no 'counsel' against the Lord" –– making sure we fulfill the "Shema" (hear/obey) by making sure we ask – and then wait for a clear answer. "You do not have because you do not ask." vs. "Ask, and you shall receive, seek, and you shall find." King David's model after the raid on Ziklag, making sure he asked God for God's counsel before doing what seemed the natural choice. (1Sam. 30:8)</p>

<p>This week's Haftarah, starting with a group of lepers thinking through their situation for maximum benefit, takes us into ways our minds work on the human and spiritual levels. We explore reason, faith, and courage/boldness applied in the real world - especially when we are facing an "impossible" situation – which is often, merely a bad forecast coming to us first out of the gate.</p>

<p>The sources of authentic joy and, identifying and avoiding its placebos. How to recover lost joy and how to avoid the traps of false comforts.</p>

<p>The 2nd Sermon in 2021 by Rabbi Bruce L. Cohen via "Zoom" at Congregation Beit Ariel of Cape Town, South Africa. There are 7000 Jewish people remaining in Western Cape – and they have inherited the false idea in Passover that "afikomen" is a Hebrew word for "dessert" – when it is actually a Greek word meaning "I arrived." So – WHO ARRIVED - AND WHEN? And WHY do we remember that arrival EVERY Passover? What is THE TRUTH? And how can all our Jewish people scattered across the earth be moved to face it, and embrace it?</p>

<p>"Returning" is the heart and soul of the historical moment in which we all live. From the time of Deuteronomy until now, God has been speaking about our exiles and our returns – from Himself, from our Land – from our very selves. This sermon is a mediation on the Haftarah's question this week "How shall we return?"</p>

<p>How to be "spiritual" when the situation you face makes you feel inadequate, "on empty," and bankrupt of sufficiency. Where the "sufficiency" comes from ... and how.</p>

<p>How genuine interaction with God, and cooperation with his rightful place as Ruler of The Universe ("Adon Olam") translates into rescue – salvation – "Yeshua" – in this life and the next.</p>

<p>The difference between your active connection to God radiating and changing people – and – merely being religious, with no God-connection radiating anything. Core idea from this week's parasha, when Moses descended from Mt. Sinai after being in God's Presence - and his face beamed.</p>

<p>A heartfelt outpouring via "Zoom" from our Rabbi in New York City, who, from 1986 to the year 2000, as an official "shaliakh" (envoy) of the MJAA - Messianic Jewish Alliance of America's "International Outreach Committee to Israel, South Africa, and Russia, became a vigorous participant the founding of, and life of, this synagogue of Two-Testament Judaism at one of "the ends of the earth." (See Deuteronomy 30:1-6)</p>

<p>Parashat Mishmpatim<br>orah: Exodus 21:1 - 24:18<br>7th aliyah: Numbers 28:9 - 28:15 | Shabbat Shekalim (on Rosh Chodesh)<br>Maftir: Exodus 30:11 - 30:16 | Shabbat Shekalim (on Rosh Chodesh)<br>Haftarah: II Kings 12:1 - 12:17 | Shabbat Shekalim (on Rosh Chodesh)</p>

<p>Parashat Yitro:<br>Torah: Exodus 18:1 - 20:23<br>Haftarah: Isaiah 6:1 - 7:6; 9:5 - 9:6</p>

<p>Torah: Exodus 13:17 - 17:16<br>Haftarah: Judges 4:4 - 5:31</p>

<p>Parashat Bo<br>Torah: Exodus 10:1 - 13:16<br>Haftarah: Jeremiah 46:13 - 46:28</p>

<p>Parashat Vaera<br>Torah: Exodus 6:2 - 9:35<br>Haftarah: Ezekiel 28:25 - 29:21</p>

<p>Parashat Shemot<br>Torah: Exodus 1:1 - 6:1<br>Haftarah: Isaiah 27:6 - 28:13; 29:22 - 29:23</p>

<p>Prashat Vayechi<br>Torah: Genesis 47:28 - 50:26<br>Haftarah: I Kings 2:1 - 2:12</p>