One of the most common questions heard when talking about living as an observant messianic Jew is, why? Why should we continue to observe the Torah? The simple answer, of course, is simply because G-d told us to live this way and when our ancestors were standing at the foot of Mt. Sinai, they agreed to keep these laws. It is the most elementary definition of a covenant. G-d has agreed to be our G-d and we have agreed to be His people. Our part of the covenant is to obey the law. Not, G-d forbid, that He needs anything from us but because the Torah contains within itself an experience (as much as humanly possible to receive) of the world to come.
We must also remember that again and again Hashem has told us that His law is eternal, that it is for all the generations of Israel. Do we dare to discard so precious a gift? Do we presume to minimize or, in any way, to dilute the revealed will of G-d to his people? Here is the why. We must live the Torah because G-d has given it to us and commanded us to observe it.
How we observe the Torah is, likewise, very simple. As with any journey, you begin my deciding to take the first step and, thereafter, taking one step at a time. And, just an no journey can be made in a single step, we cannot become shomer mitzvot in a day.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (the Rebbe Gadol), instructed us to choose a single law and observe it in all of its complexity and to the fullest extent possible and to fulfill the other laws as well as we can in the position we find ourselves in. This should not be understood as an excuse to neglect the Torah or any part of it, but as acknowledgement of our own ignorance and weakness.
One of the foundations of Yoshker Chassidus is daily study of the codes of law. Each of us should have a copy of the Shulchan Aruch, or some similar work which explains the laws and how to observe them. We should faithfully study one law each day and find ways to incorporate them into our daily life. In this way, eventually, the entirety of the Torah will become a part of our life.
One of the primary reasons for beginning this blog, is to provide resources for those who wish to be obedient to G-d but who lack the background and education on Yiddishkeit to do so. In the next weeks, we will concentrate on practical Yiddishkeit. Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have and we will either answer them directly or through the pages of this blog.
Kol tov!
We must also remember that again and again Hashem has told us that His law is eternal, that it is for all the generations of Israel. Do we dare to discard so precious a gift? Do we presume to minimize or, in any way, to dilute the revealed will of G-d to his people? Here is the why. We must live the Torah because G-d has given it to us and commanded us to observe it.
How we observe the Torah is, likewise, very simple. As with any journey, you begin my deciding to take the first step and, thereafter, taking one step at a time. And, just an no journey can be made in a single step, we cannot become shomer mitzvot in a day.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (the Rebbe Gadol), instructed us to choose a single law and observe it in all of its complexity and to the fullest extent possible and to fulfill the other laws as well as we can in the position we find ourselves in. This should not be understood as an excuse to neglect the Torah or any part of it, but as acknowledgement of our own ignorance and weakness.
One of the foundations of Yoshker Chassidus is daily study of the codes of law. Each of us should have a copy of the Shulchan Aruch, or some similar work which explains the laws and how to observe them. We should faithfully study one law each day and find ways to incorporate them into our daily life. In this way, eventually, the entirety of the Torah will become a part of our life.
One of the primary reasons for beginning this blog, is to provide resources for those who wish to be obedient to G-d but who lack the background and education on Yiddishkeit to do so. In the next weeks, we will concentrate on practical Yiddishkeit. Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have and we will either answer them directly or through the pages of this blog.
Kol tov!
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