Every Saturday morning, people from literally around the world join with us for a unique religious service that is aimed at inspiring people to live a more biblically authentic lifestyle. Services are broadcast live over the internet at www.shma.tv. Class begins at 10:30 AM CST. Viewers can log in and participate in a live chat session before and during the class.

Our services begin with a stimulating, engaging and educational class on the reading from the Law of Moses (the Torah) for that particular week. This part of the service lasts about an hour. These teachings are available for download through iTunes or directly from our site each week and are enjoyed and shared by hundreds.

After the conclusion of the class, the local congregation reads the designated reading from the Law of Moses (Genesis though Deuteronomy). These weekly readings are identical with those read in most synagogues around the world and thus participants find themselves in sync with the Jewish people. It typically takes about 30 minutes to read the weekly portion of Scripture.

After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the local congregation assembles on camera at a table where we discuss elements of the weekly reading. The internet audience participates in the discussion through an interactive chat feature.

In addition to the weekly services, Roots of Faith also celebrates the Biblical Festivals and broadcasts these services over the internet.

If you are looking for spiritual nourishment and an environment where you can learn and share your views with others, then perhaps Roots of Faith is for you. We are making efforts to fully utilize technology to convey an ancient and relevant message to the modern world.

Non-Jews as well as Jews are welcomed and encouraged to participate as we seek to learn to live a more Biblically authentic lifestyle! Anyone who believes in the One God of Israel and seeks to live according to the principles of His words will find this outreach quite refreshing.

Please join us and tell others about us. Thanks for your continued interest in Roots of Faith!

Shalom,
Ross

You can find the descriptions in the Torah, particularly in Leviticus 23: 39-43. But what is really interesting about Sukkoth is that it not only looks back, but also forward. Notice these words of the Prophet Hosea:

I have been YHVH your God since your days in Egypt, and I will make you DWELL IN SUKKOTH again, as in the days of MEETING.
I will speak through prophets, I will give vision after vision and through the ministry of prophets will speak in similies” (12:9-10)

This is really an incredible verse, as it pictures a time of Israel’s restoration, when Prophecy returns, no more “hiding of the Face,” and the days of “meeting” could well refer to that “Tent of Meeting,” from those wilderness times. Here we have that same motif that we find elsewhere in the Prophets, the idea of an Exodus II that parallels Exodus I of the time of Moses. Thus Micah the Prophet declares: “Once again YHVH will show marvelous things as in the days when you came out of Egypt (Micah 7:14-15)

Zech 14 also tells of a time when the whole world will come up to Jerusalem and dwell in Sukkoth/tents/shelters during this week….

Some other relevant readings for this time are Hosea 12, Micah 7, Psalm 80-81, Isaiah 24-35…

Some folk camp out in tents, others gather at campgrounds or even hotels, some just stay out on their porches or balconies and many build shelters on their property, as is the custom within Judaism. The more one can actually “live” in the Sukkoth, the better in terms of getting the meaning of the festival. The moon during Sukkoth is full. On a clear night everything is bright and lovely, almost magical. The experience can remind us of a more simple and primitive time, getting away from all the “modern conveniences,” more or less what we mean when we talk of “camping out.”

We at United Israel wish all of you, our thousands of readers worldwide, a meaningful festival. Sukkoth is truly an extended Biblical “Thanksgiving.” In our troubled and complex world it pulls us outside, away from it all, to sit/dwell in our “huts” for the next seven days…

Click here to listen to this teaching.

http://rootsoffaith.org/2011/10/08/the-day-of-coverings.htm

Two male goats are selected for Yom Kippur, one is “for YHVH” and the other “for Azazel.”  Both are said to be “for a sin offering” (v. 5).

One is slain and the other is sent away into the wilderness.  What has been confusing to me and many others who have discussed this passage is that BOTH goats are spoken of as somehow providing “atonement,” or better translated “covering.”  So why the difference?

Many have favored the interpretations that make the two goats positive and negative, and it is the case that Azazel in ancient Jewish texts (1 Enoch, and various rabbinic traditions, etc.) is the name for an “angel” who opposes YHVH.  But if one is negative and one positive, how can both provide “covering”?

What is easy to miss here is that the first goat, the one that is “for YHVH,” that is slain, makes “covering for the Holy Place because of the uncleanness of the people and because of their transgressions, all their sins” (v. 16).  In other word, the blood off that goat is to cleanse the Tabernacle that has become unclean because of the sins of the people, NOT to removed the sins of the people per se.

In contrast, the sins of the people themselves are PUT ON the head of the live goat.  That goat is not killed, yet that goat too is spoken as a “sin offering” (v.5), ,making atonement/covering (v. 10), and that goat “bears all their iniquities” into a remote area.

This distinction seems to be an important one.  There seems to be no evidence in this text that the slain goat is for the forgiveness of the people’s sins as such, yet this is how the many have read this (see Hebrew 9), as applying it to “Christ.”  The other goat is not even spoken of in the N.T. texts and yet it seems THAT goat is the “sin bearer.”

A lot of the reason this mystery of the two hairy goats is difficult to grasp, and engenders many opinions, is that we come to the text with presuppositions from our backgrounds, assumptions, and the history of interpretation.  It is hard to actually read the text with “new eyes” and allow it to say what it appears to say.

It might well be that the “two hairy goats” represent two related pictures of the “Covering” or redemption from sins that come each year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Covering…One is related to YHVH dwelling in the Tent of Meeting, the other to Azazel…It is the latter that has gotten people confused, because many have transferred the meaning of the latter to the former, and read about the blood of the slain goat as if it brings redemption from moral sins.

According to Leviticus 16 both goats are spoken of as “sin-offerings,” and both “atone,” but one by dying and the other by being driven into the wilderness. They seem to be closely related, rather than one “good” and the other “evil.”  This creates a real problem for the view that these two hairy goats represent a good/evil contrast.

An important key might be to look at Lev 16:15-20.  The goat that is KILLED and the blood that is shed is specifically said to be for the “covering” (atoning) for the sins of the people, but as related to the “uncleaness” of the HOLY PLACE.  In other words, Aaron going in, with blood from the bull for himself and household, and blood from the goat for the people, is related to making the TENT or Tabernacle holy where YHVH dwells–among an unclean people–see v. 16.  This seems very clear. This is what we would call “ritual” cleansing. It is specifically related to the Tent/Tabernacle.

Accordingly, the way the slain goat on YK is interpreted by the Christians, as in Hebrews 9, as a picture of the atoning for sins in general, especially for “moral” failures, through the shedding of blood, is incorrect.  The statement “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins” is often quoted, but seems to be without basis in the Torah.  Notice, with the live goat there is no shedding of blood mentioned, and yet there is “atonement” or “covering” by its removal.

The goat that really “bears the sins” is the one sent away, into the desert.  Notice v. 22.  All the sins and iniquities and transgressions are put on the head of this LIVE goat and he is send away TO Azazel!  This seems to be what really brings the thorough REMOVAL of the sins of the people, the ultimate “covering” that comes on Yom Kippur–not the blood of that first goat that was for the cleansing of the Tent of Meeting. It is as if to say–to hell with your sins!  They are cast FAR AWAY, to the desert places, where Azazel and the demons dwell.

In 2nd Temple times there is the tradition of casting this second goat off a cliff and killing it. And this might be appropriate.  But if one sticks with the text itself, there is an emphasis on the LIVE goat–not a dead one.  It is the SENDING forth, to the desert, to Azazel, that seems to be the point.  No SHED BLOOD is mentioned or involved.

This insight seems to provide a kind of “breakthrough” in thinking about Yom Kippur in the Biblical texts.  What it means is that the MAIN image of ATONEMENT, the one GREAT atonement, on the DAY of atonement/ covering, is the REMOVAL of sins borne by a LIVE animal–NOT the via the shedding of blood. This has implications in taking one beyond the sacrificial system of ritual cleansing that was set up in connection with the Mishkan, upon which so many have put their focus.

This line of understanding makes the Haphtarah readings for Yom Kippur all the more powerful.  The story of Jonah is read. And then the passage in Micah 7:18-20–where sins are CAST AWAY…into the depths of the sea. The whole emphasis is on TURNING, and then sins being carried away–on “mercy not sacrifice” as the Prophets put it.

The primary texts that concern this holy day are found in the Torah (Leviticus 16 and Leviticus 23:26-32). Leviticus 16 contains an ancient ceremony performed by Israel’s High Priest. The central theme of the ceremony and of the day is “atonement”. “For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the YHVH from all your sins. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever (Leviticus 16:30-31).”

The word “atonement” is a translation of a Hebrew word that comes from a root composed of the letters (Kaph, Peh, Resh). The word “atonement” occurs 14 times in Leviticus 16 alone. The basic meaning of this word is “to cover”. So this is literally a day of covering. What is it that is being covered on this day? The covering associated with Yom Kippur refers to the sins of the people. The ceremonies that brought about this “covering” involved two identical goats; one that was killed and one that was led away into the wilderness l’azazel (often translated as the “scapegoat”).

The detailed rituals and sacrifices described in the Torah for Yom Kippur were principally carried out by Aaron, but there remains a point that was then and is now to be performed by all – citizens as well as the alien residing with you (Leviticus 16:29 and Leviticus 23:30) – to “afflict” the soul. The Hebrew here is anah (aleph, nun, heh – ana’) and means, “to be bowed down, afflicted” according to Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon.

Some translations render this as “deny yourself”. The word occurs twice in Leviticus 16 and three times in Leviticus 23 (Leviticus 16:29, 31; 23:27, 29, 32). This means that this word occurs five times in the two passages that deal with Yom Kippur.

Given this information, a key theme that emerges at this time is “self-denial”. In the Bible, this word is associated with what we would call “fasting”. Examples are found in Ezra 8:21-23 and Psalm 35:11-14.

During this time of year we should be focused on returning to God through repentance. If we are to effect a change in our walk, we must turn to God and His ways with all of our heart and soul. This repentance can include fasting and mourning as we read in several passages, but it is not merely the participation in a fast or in the refraining of certain activities that will put one in right standing with God. The heart has to be right! I would encourage you all to read Isaiah 57:14 – 58:14. A careful reading of this passage indicates that a true fast involves a focus on the needs of others as well as a denial of self. When we learn to place the needs of others above our own needs, we will begin to walk in the ways of righteousness.

ESV Isaiah 57:14 And it shall be said, “Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people’s way.” 15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. 16 For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made. 17 Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. 18 I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, 19 creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the LORD, “and I will heal him. 20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. 21 There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” 58:1 “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. 3 ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. 4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD? 6 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? 8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. 11 And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. 12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. 13 “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; 14 then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Beginning at sundown this evening, millions of Jews around the world begin their fast for Yom Kippur, joined by hundreds of thousands of non-Jews who also seek to observe the holy days of the Torah.   The ceremonial aspects of the day are not currently practiced, but the heart of the matter is still required and the true meaning of anah seems to be the key to understanding the meaning of this holy day. Remember that this is an eternal statute! We can still perform the weightier portion of this day. Deny yourself! Afflict your soul! If we return to HaShem, He will return to us. May your sins be forgiven! May they be cast into the depths of the sea! “For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever (Leviticus 16:30-31).”

Since the days of the 2nd Temple, which the Romans destroyed in 70 CE, Yom Kippur has continued to be observed by Jews worldwide all through the centuries. Indeed, it is considered the holiest and most solemn day of the year. It has essentially come to be understood as a day of Atonement. The word Atonement, literally, “At-One-Ment” is the day Jews and Torah believers want to be at one and at peace with their heavenly Judge. Heshbon HaNefesh, is the Hebrew term for “an accounting of one’s life” and this is the prerequisite for entering into G-d’s redemptive plan for the past year and beginning the new year with a clean, pure slate. This is the day of being inscribed in the “Book of Life.” It is a day of individual and collective Acknowledgment of sins, Repentance, and Redemption, all steps which lead to G-d’s forgiveness and reconciliation. Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar and though these three steps seem easy and simple enough, they are interwoven over a period of 10 days (known as the Asseret Y’mey T’shuvah, or 10 days of repentance) into a tapestry which is given in order to allow us to ask for forgiveness from our friends, acquaintances, and family as well as from G-d. Atonement is the goal on this day of “last chance” as G-d finalizes His judgment.

Some believers emphasize confession; Jews emphasize repentance. Confession admits a wrong. Repentance, to be accepted, requires a commitment to change. To confess without change is to accept evil as unalterable behavior. Repentance or Teshuvah is the total reversal of behavior in order to receive redemption. Leviticus 23:27 instructs us to “afflict our soul” which simply says to deny ourselves of food, drink, sex, work or any activity which would divert our attention from meditation and focusing on the sins we’ve committed during the past year. Yom Kippur is called “the Sabbath of Sabbaths” in the Torah. It is set apart as is the weekly Sabbath to emphasize introspection, self-evaluation, and on trying to figure out the meaning and purpose of our lives. Reconciliation with G-d and mankind is paramount to having our names written in the Book of Life and having the seals affixed for the coming year.

Leviticus 16:22 describes how the High Priest performed sacred rites during Yom Kippur which included having a lottery to choose two goats: one consecrated to G-d; the other the Azazel goat. The High Priest confessed the sins of Israel on the Azazel-goat and set it free in the wilderness so that it “shall carry on it all their iniquities to an inaccessible region”. The goat consecrated to G-d was offered on the altar as a purification offering.

In Rabbinic literature, Yom Kippur is given an additional name, Yom HaDin, or Day of Judgement and is a fasting holiday of epic proportions. This should be a festival without food. The fast for this day is biblically mandated and is an act of self-denial. This is the designated day to nourish our souls and not our bodies. The words of Isaiah are read in every congregation: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the fetters of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your reward.” (Isaiah 58:6-8)

Finally, on Yom Kippur, the shofar is blown just once, one long blast at the very end of the holiday. Thus a new year begins and the sages have proclaimed that the day after Yom Kippur is when we are the cleanest and purest of the entire year.

Rebecca Buntyn