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Rabbi Harold Kushner asked God tough questions and shared the answers …

Posted By on May 5, 2023

Jewish lore says that in every generation, the fate of the world rests on the merits of 36 righteous people. They are called lamed vavniks. Its a Yiddish term that comes from combining lamed (the Hebrew word for 30) and vav (the Hebrew word for 6). Lamed vavniks are righteous people living among us anonymously and, underscoring their humility, unaware of their elevated spiritual status.

I believe Rabbi Harold Kushner, who died on April 29, 2023, was a lamed vavnik. He brilliantly, and gently, transformed the time-honored Jewish tradition of questioning God and the very idea of faith. In doing so, he gave solace to people of all backgrounds and faith traditions.

He was 88 years old and leaves a legacy of kindness, love and humility through his good deeds and bestselling books, including When Bad Things Happen to Good People, which skyrocketed to the top of bestseller lists when it was published in 1981.

[He] transformed the time-honored Jewish tradition of questioning God and the very idea of faith.

Kushner wrote the book, which was eventually translated into 14 languages, in the aftermath of the death of his 14-year-old son, Aaron, in 1977. When Aaron died, Kushner stepped away from his pastoral duties for 30 days to grapple with his grief and anger. Eventually, he turned to Jewish wisdom and his faith to try to answer his questions about why tragedy befalls good people. He ultimately decided that there was no quid pro quo with God. It was a simple proposition that yielded a profound yet accessible theology.

In When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Kushner explains:

The idea that God gives people what they deserve, that our misdeeds cause our misfortune, is a neat and attractive solution to the problem of evil at several levels, but it has a number of serious limitations. As we have seen, it teaches people to blame themselves. It creates guilt even where there is no basis for guilt. It makes people hate God, even as it makes them hate themselves. And most disturbing of all, it does not even fit the facts.

Kushner led Temple Israel, a Conservative Jewish congregation in Natick, Massachusetts, for 24 years before stepping down in 1990 to focus on his writing. But rather than become a rabbi emeritus, he became the congregation's rabbi laureate, a fluid title indicating his desire to maintain a strong intellectual and emotional connection to his congregants and the rabbinate. He attended Temple Israel until the end of his life.

But Kushners influence extended far beyond Temple Israel. He engaged those Jewish and not Jewish, exploring the omnipresence of kindness and mercy in the midst of life's tragedies. Through his writing and public speaking, Kushner became everyone's rabbi. In recognition of that, the national organization Religion in American Life named him Clergyman of the Year in 1999. And in 2007, the Jewish Book Council honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Kushner was a man of deep faith, but he was also forthright about his occasional disappointment in God. On the last page of his twelfth (and last) book, "Nine Essential Things I've Learned About Life" (2016), he wrote a letter that he called a "Love Letter to a World that May or May Not Deserve It," trying to convey his faith in a God that sometimes seems fickle. In that letter, he beautifully deploys radical amazement finding the holiness in the everyday a concept advanced by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, (who may also be a lamed vavnik).

In that final book, Kushner directly addresses God:

There were days when you were more generous to me than I could possibly have deserved. And there were days when you cheated me out of things I felt I was entitled to. There were days when you looked so achingly beautiful that I could hardly believe you were mine, and days when you broke my heart and reduced me to tears. But with it all, I choose to love you. I love you, whether you deserve it or not (and how does one measure that?). I love you in part because you are the only world I have. I love you because I like who I am better when I do. But mostly I love you because loving you makes it easier for me to be grateful and hopeful about tomorrow. Love does that.

After 9/11, Kushner penned a meditation, "The Lord is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the 23rd Psalm." Once again, he offered plainspoken, sage guidance on coping with tragedy, this time on a national scale:

Much of the time, we cannot control what happens to us. But we can always control how we respond to what happens to us. If we cannot choose to be lucky, to be talented, to be loved, we can choose to be grateful, to be content with who we are and what we have, and to act accordingly.

In Judaism, it is tradition to say to a person mourning the loss of a loved one, "May [his or her] memory be a blessing." Kushner blessed so many with his love and wisdom, and his discernment of all that was holy in our day-to-day lives.

Everyone's rabbi was laid to rest on May 1, 2023. May his memory be a blessing for us all.

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Rabbi Harold Kushner asked God tough questions and shared the answers ...

Holocaust Museum Houstons newest exhibit celebrates the history, culture, and food of the Jewish deli – Houston Public Media

Posted By on May 5, 2023

Holocaust Museum Houstons newest exhibit celebrates the history, culture, and food of the Jewish deli  Houston Public Media

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Holocaust Museum Houstons newest exhibit celebrates the history, culture, and food of the Jewish deli - Houston Public Media

Kevin McCarthy wants to use Israel’s Netanyahu to embarrass Biden – MSNBC

Posted By on May 3, 2023

  1. Kevin McCarthy wants to use Israel's Netanyahu to embarrass Biden  MSNBC
  2. McCarthy's High-profile Israel Visit Sets Netanyahu on a Collision Course With Biden - Israel News  Haaretz
  3. Republicans, Dems accuse each other of dissing Israel, as 2024 campaigns get going  The Times of Israel

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Kevin McCarthy wants to use Israel's Netanyahu to embarrass Biden - MSNBC

Sephardic Passover Traditions | Rabbi Barbara Aiello

Posted By on May 3, 2023

Sephardic Traditions at the Passover SederSephardi and Ashkenazi Jews Whats the Difference?

There is a division within the Jewish community that began thousands of years ago and continues to this day. It is not a division between religious denominations such as Reform, Conservative, Orthodox or Reconstructionist. The division is earlier and more pervasive it is the division between Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews.

The division seems odd, especially since ashkenaz is the Hebrew word for German. In practice most Jews whose families come from eastern Europe, from countries such as Germany, Poland and Russia, are considered Ashkenazim. Those whose families come from either Spain or the Arab world are called the Sephardim. But if you meet a Jew and she tells you her last name is Ashkenazi, then she is most certainly Sephardi! Thats because many generations ago one of her European ancestors went to live among the Sephardi Jews. That ancestor was referred to as The Ashkenazi, and the name stuck, even though the family took on the culture and the customs of the Sephardi Jews.

Sephardi Jews The word Sephardi comes from the word, Sefarad which is the Hebrew word for Spain. Those of us whose background is Sephardic trace our roots to the Jews of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Morocco and other parts of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Within the group known as Sephardic, are Jews whose history is that of the anousim. Anousim is the Hebrew word for the forced ones, and Sephardic Jews who are also anousim are Jews whose roots include having been forced into Christian practice called marranos, or those who took their Jewish practices into hiding crypto Jews. Interestingly, the word marranos is not a Spanish word but a Portuguese one, and a word which is no longer appropriate among many Sephardim. It comes from the Ladino (the language of the Sephardi that is a mix of Spanish and Hebrew) and although it means swine in Spanish, the word marranos in Portuguese often means coerced one, and comes from the Hebrew word anous which has the same meaning.

Seder traditions for us are an collection of practices that are Sephardic in origin, but for many of us these practices have grown and changed because they were practiced underground in either maranno or crypto-Jewish households.

It is important to build a bridge of understanding between Jews of all backgrounds. When my family came to America there was a young girl from our Sephardic community who fell in love with a young man from an Ashkenazi shul. This happened in the 1950s and the uproar between the two families was similar to their reactions to a mixed marriage!

Today there are still great differences between Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews both in belief and practice. But as we work to broaden Jewish Continuity and Identity, it is more helpful to focus on those things that unite us rather than those that divide us. Labels are for the Jelly Jars, not the Jews. Our sages tell us that, from a halachaic perspective, any custom accepted by a community over a significant period of time carries great weight. If our rabbis are correct then many of our interesting, even quirky Seder traditions are not wrong, but examples of Jewish differences that enhance us all.

Rice is considered kosher for Pesach by Sephardi Jews. It was a tradition among Egyptian Jews to purchase all the Pesach rice one month before the holiday. For some families that meant that they would buy about 40 pounds of rice. The rice would be placed in the middle of the table and the family would sift and wash the rice then divide it into eight portions for the eight days of Pesach. Rice is part of a group of legumes known in Hebrew as kitniyot. These foods are considered kosher for Passover by Sephardi Jews and include corn, millet, string beans, green peas, lentils, split peas, soybeans and chickpeas.

The Seder plate is brought to the Seder table with great ceremony. It would be covered with a beautiful scarf and the family wouldsing as the plate arrived at the table. Before it was set down, the Seder plate would be placed on a childs head and then rotated for everyone to see.

As the plate arrives at the table, the Seder leader sets it on the head of the Seder leader. The plate is then passed from person to person around the table held for a moment on each head by a family member. The Seder begins in this manner to demonstrate that we were once slaves in Egypt and carried heavy burdens on our heads.

At the point in the Haggadah where the matzah is described as the bread of affliction, Egyptian and Moroccan Jews would have ready three pieces of matzah tied up in a napkin, like a little sack. The sack would be passed around the table, shoulder to shoulder like this: First the sack would be held on the persons right shoulder and the leader would ask her/him, Where are you from? The person with the shoulder sack would reply, I am from Egypt. The leader then asks the same person, Where are you going? Then the person with the sack would shift it to the left shoulder and say, I am going to Yerushalayim. Will you come with me? The sack is then passed to the next person at that table who says, Yes. And the process repeats around the table.

Passover bread made and eaten first by the Jews in pre-Inquisition Spain and later on by Mexicans and Mexican Americans along the Texas border. (Note: There are some historians who believe that the entire Caucasian population of Mexican is of Jewish origin, having escaped the Inquisition and fled to what is now Mexico. In the remote villages of Mexico many peasants observe Jewish traditions and customs without knowing the underlying Jewish basis of their practice!). Pan de semita is always eaten around Passover season, even when families dont understand their Jewish connection. It is always unleavened and is made by combining two cups of flour, one half cup of water, a few tablespoons of olive oil and baked unleavened. Mexicans says that pork lard is prohibited, hence the name, semetic. Only olive oil may be used.

Yemenite Jews follow a custom that has become minhag for many of us. As each plague is said aloud, the Seder leader would pour a little bit of wine from his cup into a tin can. When all the plagues have been repeated, the matriarch of the family would take the tin can out into the farthest part of the yard, pour the wine into the ground and say in a loud whisper, May this go to all of our enemies and haters. May they create no suffering for us or for themselves. Amen! Those at the table remain very quiet, so that the loud whisper can be heard. In Greece this same ceremony is done with vinegar poured into a can as each plague is said.

In Italy the Seder table is set with a green onion (with long stems), one for each person. When it is time to sing Dayenu, each person takes an onion and wields it like a whip. At the chorus, each person takes the onion and whips the wrist of the person next to her/him. The sound of the onion stems represents the sounds of the whips of our slave masters. In Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq the onions are gathered in a bunch and one person whips the person next to her/him, then passes the onion bunch along. Incidentally, this ritual is performed while singing Dayenu because Dayenu is the song of miracles, so the whipping reminds us that it was a miracle that we were freed from the lash of oppression.

The Charosetis one of the most popular and well-remembered Seder foods. It is part of the ritual food on the Seder plate, chosen to remind us of our lives as slaves where we had to mix mortar to make the bricks for Pharaohs buildings. Sephardi charoset is often made with dates as the staple (in Ashkenazi homes the staple is apple) because the color of the dates is similar to the color of mortar. Other Charoset ingredients include a variety of nuts, apricots, cinnamon and wine.

In Cuba where Jews have had difficulty practicing their religion, traditional fruits are often not available. Apples and nuts and dried fruit were impossible to find. So Cuban Jews created a recipe called Charoset of the Oppressed. The mixture is basic and includes only matzah, honey, cinnamon and wine. Using this charoset at your Seder table will remind your family, especially the children, of the plight of Cuban Jews and all oppressed people around the world.

The Four Cups In the Sephardi Seder blessings are said over the first and third cup of wine only. According to Sephardic halacha, rabbis believe that the blessings over the first cup for the Kiddush and the third cup after the Grace After Meals covers these cups as well.

It is traditional for everyone to wear white to the Seder. In Italian and Spanish homes, the leader will always dress in a white caftan or robe, even if the guests do not. It is also a custom to have a crown present and to select someone as Pharaoh. The Pharaoh wears the crown and during the singing of Dayenu and the whipping with the onions, the Pharaoh moves from table to table, supervising the whipping!

Mimouna (mee-moh-oo-na) is the celebration that marks the end of Pesach There are several ways to celebrate the crossing of the Sea of Reeds and our path to freedom. In Sephardi synagogues in Mediterranean countries, the synagogue is opened at one minute after midnight (the end of the eighth night). The Torah is taken from the ark and the Song of Songs is read while congregants dance in the aisles. Following the Torah reading, the Mimouna festival begins. (Mimouna can also be done on the evening of the ninth day with visiting of neighbors and friends.) The Mimouna celebration honors Rabbi Maimon, the father of Moses Maimonides who was the beloved leader of the Moroccan Jews. Traditional Mimouna foods include pita bread, cut into pieces and eaten by dipping a piece into honey. The meaning behind this tradition is that the pita and honey will glue the family together and slavery and oppression will never again separate us.

(with special thanks to author Anne deSola Cardoza, Donald Harrison (The San Diego Jewish Press) and Rabbi Jonathan Chipman (The Jerusalem Post)

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Sephardic Passover Traditions | Rabbi Barbara Aiello

Sephardic Genealogical Society

Posted By on May 3, 2023

Special Projects and Philanthropy

Our Sephardic World series of free weekly online meetings hosts speakers on Sephardic genealogy, history and culture. You can join the mailing list here. You can watch recorded videos here. We are the leading source of free audiovisual educational material on Sephardic history, heritage and genealogy.

We are training Transkribus artificial intelligence software to read 17th and 18th Century Portuguese-language documents. Our work has been commended by the software's creators.

We are building a family tree of the early modern Western/Portuguese Sephardic diaspora.

We urgently seek funds to digitize at-risk genealogical records and to record tombstones in certain Arab countries.

We need funds to support digitization projects in Curacao, Israel, Germany and the United States.

We are happy to provide our services for free to everyone, but they are not without cost to us. To provide us with monthly or annual financial support, please click here. If you can offer substantial support to help us finance our important work in preserving and sharing Sephardic Jewish heritage, please contact us at the email address below.

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Sephardic Genealogical Society

Every Republican Governor Honors Jewish Heritage Month in Joint …

Posted By on May 3, 2023

Every Republican governor in the country26 of themsigned a statement markingJewish American Heritage Month, which is May.

As public servants and governors, we support and recognize May as Jewish American Heritage Monthand call for observance to celebrate the historical, economic and cultural impact of theJewish-American peoplewho have strengthened our communities and emboldened our nation throughout history, theywrote.

They added that they are proud the United States was the first to recognize Israel and noted the unbreakable bond between the two nations, based upon shared values, ultimately leading to prosperous economic, educational and cultural partnerships.

We stand with our constituencies who oppose antisemitism, and we affirm the significance of Jewish-American contributions throughout U.S. history, they added.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee reportedly led the drafting and signing of the statement. Both have articulated their support for Jews and Israel publicly on social media in the past.

Last month, theKansas state legislaturepassed aresolutionto declare May officiallyJewish American Heritage Montha designation that then-President George W. Bush proclaimed nationally in 2006.

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Every Republican Governor Honors Jewish Heritage Month in Joint ...

A Proclamation on Jewish American Heritage Month, 2023

Posted By on May 3, 2023

This month, we celebrate the enduring heritage of Jewish Americans, whose values, culture, and contributions have shaped our character as a Nation. For generations, the story of the Jewish people one of resilience, faith, and hope in the face of adversity, prejudice and persecution has been woven into the fabric of our Nations story. It has driven us forward in our ongoing march for justice, equality, and freedom as we recommit to upholding the principles of our Nations founding and realizing the promise of America for all Americans.

For centuries, Jewish refugees fleeing oppression and discrimination abroad have sailed to our shores in search of sanctuary. Early on, they fought for religious freedom, helping define one of the bedrock principles upon which America was built. Union soldiers celebrated Passover in the midst of the Civil War. Jewish suffragists fought to expand freedom and justice. And Jewish faith leaders linked arms with giants of the Civil Rights Movement to demand equal rights for all.

Jewish Americans continue to enrich every part of American life as educators and entrepreneurs, athletes and artists, scientists and entertainers, public officials and activists, labor and community leaders, diplomats and military service members, public health heroes, and more. Last year, I was proud to host the White Houses first-ever Jewish New Year reception. During our Hanukkah celebration, I was also proud to unveil the first-ever permanent menorah at the White House reinforcing the permanency of Jewish culture in America. In my own life, the Jewish community has been a tremendous source of friendship, guidance, and strength through seasons of pain and seasons of joy.

But there is also a dark side to the celebrated history of the Jewish people a history marked by genocide, pogrom, and persecution with a through line that continues in the record rise of antisemitism today. We have witnessed violent attacks on synagogues, bricks thrown through windows of Jewish businesses, swastikas defacing cars and cemeteries, Jewish students harassed on college campuses, and Jews wearing religious attire beaten and shot on streets. Antisemitic conspiracy theories are rampant online, and celebrities are spouting antisemitic hate.

These acts are unconscionable and despicable. They carry with them terrifying echoes of the worst chapters in human history. Not only are they a strike against Jews, but they are also a threat to other minority communities and a stain on the soul of our Nation. I decided to run for President after I saw this hatred on display during the rally in Charlottesville, when neo-Nazis marched from the shadows spewing the same antisemitic bile that was heard in Germany in the 1930s. These incidents remind us that hate never truly goes away it only hides until it is given just a little oxygen. It is our obligation to ensure that hate can have no safe harbor in America and to protect the sacred ideals enshrined in our Constitution: religious freedom, equality, dignity, and respect. That is the promise of America.

I have made clear that I will not remain silent in the face of this antisemitic venom, vitriol, and violence. During my first year in office, I signed the bipartisan COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act to help State and local law enforcement better identify and respond to hate crimes. I appointed Deborah Lipstadt, a historian of the Holocaust, as the first Ambassador-level Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism. And my Administration also secured the largest increase in funding ever for the physical security of nonprofits, including synagogues, Jewish Community Centers, and Jewish day schools.

At my direction, we are also developing the first national strategy to counter antisemitism that outlines comprehensive actions the Federal Government will undertake and that reflects input from over a thousand Jewish community stakeholders, faith and civil rights leaders, State and local officials, and more. This strategy will help combat antisemitism online and offline, including in schools and on campuses; improve security to prevent antisemitic incidents and attacks; and build cross-community solidarity against antisemitism and other forms of hate.

But governance alone cannot root out antisemitism and hate. All Americans including business and community leaders, educators, students, athletes, entertainers, and influencers must help confront bigotry in all its forms. We must each do our part to put an end to antisemitism and hatred and create a culture of respect in our workplaces, schools, and homes and across social media.

This Jewish American Heritage Month, let us join hands across faiths, races, and backgrounds to make clear that evil, hate, and antisemitism will not prevail. Let us honor the timeless values, contributions, and culture of Jewish Americans, who carry our Nation forward each and every day. And let us rededicate ourselves to the sacred work of creating a more inclusive tomorrow, protecting the diversity that defines who we are as a Nation, and preserving the dignity of every human being here at home and around the world.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2023 as Jewish American Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to learn more about the heritage and contributions of Jewish Americans and to observe this month with appropriate programs, activities, and ceremonies.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of April, in the year two thousand twentythree, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-seventh.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

By U.S. Mission Poland | 2 May, 2023 | Topics: Events, News, President of the United States

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A Proclamation on Jewish American Heritage Month, 2023

Meet the Texan who liberated the first German concentration camp nearly 78 years ago to the day – WFAA.com

Posted By on May 3, 2023

Meet the Texan who liberated the first German concentration camp nearly 78 years ago to the day  WFAA.com

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Meet the Texan who liberated the first German concentration camp nearly 78 years ago to the day - WFAA.com

White House to host Jewish American Heritage Month reception amid …

Posted By on May 3, 2023

As the Biden administration prepares to release its national strategy on antisemitism, the White House will host a reception to mark Jewish American Heritage Month on May 16, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by Jewish Insider.

The afternoon reception will be hosted by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.The event is not tied to the strategy session, a White House official told JI on Tuesday.

White House domestic policy chief Susan Rice said in a Monday address to the Anti-Defamation League that the White House plans to release the strategy later this month. Rice, who leads the task force that is working on the strategy, is stepping down from her position at the end of May.

Jewish American Heritage Month has taken place each May since 2006, when the occasion was first marked by former President George W. Bush. Former President Barack Obama held the first White House reception for the occasion in 2010. This is the first time Biden will host an event for Jewish American Heritage Month.

In a presidential proclamation, Biden said he celebrate[s] the enduring heritage of Jewish Americans, whose values, culture, and contributions have shaped our character as a Nation.

He also outlined the objectives of the national antisemitism strategy, which he said is being developed at my direction.

The strategy will help combat antisemitism online and offline, including in schools and on campuses; improve security to prevent antisemitic incidents and attacks; and build cross-community solidarity against antisemitism and other forms of hate, said Biden. The Biden administration convened a working group that is focused on antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of hate in December.

The White House, which has spoken to hundreds of people in listening sessions focused on antisemitism, has not shared any details about the policy recommendations the report will make. Jewish community leaders have told Jewish Insider that administration officials arent revealing any details about the specific plans.

Several Jewish communal leaders tell JI that one detail to track is whether the White House plan embraces the consensus International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. Some groups have advocated against adopting the IHRA definition, which tags certain slurs against the Jewish state (such as applying double standards to Israel and comparing Israeli policy to that of the Nazis) as antisemitic.

Shortly after Biden was sworn into office in 2021, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, in a letter to the American Zionist Movement, said the administration enthusiastically embraces the IHRA definition, including its examples.

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White House to host Jewish American Heritage Month reception amid ...

Book of Hebrews Overview – Insight for Living Ministries

Posted By on April 30, 2023

Who wrote the book?

The author of the letter to the Hebrews remains shrouded in mystery. Even early in the churchs history, a Christian as learned as Origen had to admit his ignorance of the true author of Hebrews. Several theories regarding the authors identity have been proposed over the years, but all of them contain significant problems.

Most of the churches in the eastern part of the Roman Empire believed Paul to have authored the book, leading to its early acceptance into the Canon by the churches in those areas. Even though Clement of Rome drew much from Hebrews in his late-first-century letter to the Corinthian church, many in the Western church pointed away from Paulas the source of the book. Authors such as Luke, Barnabas, Apollos, and even Clement have been considered as possibilities. The unknown authorship of this book should not shake our confidence in its authority. Hebrews makes important theological contributions to the biblical Canon, it has been drawn upon as sacred Scripture since the late firstcentury, and Christians have for two millennia consistently upheld the divine inspiration and, therefore, the canonicity of the book of Hebrews.

The strongly Jewish character of the letter to the Hebrews helps to narrow down its date of composition, most likely AD 6469. Significantly, the book makes no reference to the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem in AD 70, and the author wrote as if the sacrificial system were still in existence (Hebrews 10:12, 11). With its myriad references to Hebrew customs and the Old Testament, the book waslikely sent to a Jewish Christian community, possibly in Rome.

Hebrews clearly lays out the present priestly ministry of Christ in the life of the believer. Jesus is both the divine Son of God and completely human, and in His priestly role He clears the way for human beings to approach the Father in heaven through prayer (Hebrews 4:1416). The priesthood of Jesus is superior to the Old Testament priesthood of Aaron,because only through Jesus do we receive eternal salvation (5:19). Furthermore, Jesus became the permanent and perfect High Priest, going beyond all other priests by offering Himself as a sinless sacrifice on behalf of the sins of human beings (7:2426; 9:28).

Throughout its pages, Hebrews makes clear that Jesus Christ exceeds all other people, pursuits, objects, or hopes to which human beings offer allegiance. Hebrews pictures Jesus as better than the angels, as bringing better lives to humanity through salvation, as offering a better hope than the Mosaic Law could promise, as a better sacrifice for our sins than abull or a goat, and as providing a better inheritance in heaven for those who place their faith in Him (Hebrews 1:4; 6:9; 7:19; 9:23; 10:34). Jesus is indeed superior to all others.

This message of the superiority of Jesus would have been particularly important to Jewish Christians in Rome, who were struggling under Neros persecution and were considering moving back toward the Mosaic Law. The writer to the Hebrews showed these Jewish Christian believers that, though they were faced with suffering, they were indeed following a better way . . . and they should persevere.

The ancients created idols fashioned of wood and stone. Modern society has set aside that type of idol in favor of new idolsidols of fancy gadgets, material wealth, a comfortable lifestyle, and even our children. Human beings have seen and experienced the limitless bounty of idolatry, where we place some created object or person in the place of the one true God. What idols do you hold dear in your life?

The letter to the Hebrews makes clear that only one Person deserves to hold the primary place in our lives. While we are busy idolizing our move up the corporate ladder or placing all our hopes in our kids, Jesus offers us a better position, a better priest, a better covenant, a better hope, and a better sacrifice.

Only when we give Jesus His rightful place in our lives will everything else in life fall into its rightful place.

Originally posted here:

Book of Hebrews Overview - Insight for Living Ministries


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