The Scriptural approach to learning

The Scriptural approach to learning.

We commence reading from the first part of Proverbs 1: 5, “A wise man will hear and increase in learning.” Continuing in Jeremiah 10: 2 – 4, we read (YHVH)’s warning to especially the house of Israel through Jeremiah, in this way: ‘Thus says YHVH, “Do not learn the way (derek) of the nations, and do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens although the nations (goyim) are terrified by them; (3) For the customs (like Xmas and Easter) of the people are delution; because it is wood cut from the forest, the work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. (4) They decorate it with silver and with gold; and fasten it with nails and with hammers so that it will not totter (move or fall).”’ Similar to the opposing views of these two Scriptural portions, it is the purpose of this teaching to show the difference between the Scriptural (or more correctly the Hebraic) method of learning and the Greek philosophical methods that the Western Civilization adopted and use as the foundation of their educational systems.

The Hebraic point of view understands that knowledge (da’at) and wisdom (chockmah) are interrelated concepts and both are emanations flowing from YHVH Elohim and are embodied in the person of Messiah. Wisdom and knowledge is the application of learning to the life experience here on earth; meaning a person cannot do until he first learns and acquires knowledge. In contrast to the Hebrew mindset, the Greek/Roman mind restricts the concepts of knowledge and wisdom to conceptual thoughts and theoretical principles in the intellect of the student. The Scriptural Hebraic mind has the understanding to ‘know’ something means to experience a teaching or principle in a relationship and individual manner within a personal intimate connection rather than to intellectualize it. The transliterated Hebrew word ‘yada’, to know, means to ‘have an intimate encounter, experience or sharing with another person’. To know or ‘yada’ means an act of concern, inner engagement, and attachment to a person. Knowledge embraces the whole person and not just the mind. It is not just the accumulation of data and information as the Western thought belief system declares. The goal of education is not to provide us with more input of data and facts. It is for this reason that Rav Shaul wrote in 2 Timothy 3: 7, saying: ‘Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.’ To ‘know’ means that the information you have studied is applied in your behavior, thoughts and morals.

For example we read from Jeremiah 22: 15 & 16: ‘“Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. (YHVH is talking to Josiah who became king of Judah after his father) (16) He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?” Declares YHVH.’ We understand from this verse that social action, good works and good moral character are the end result of ‘knowing’ YHVH. YHVH is revealing Himself to us through His word. To ‘know’ YHVH (Hebraically) means to walk in faithfulness (transliterated as ‘emunah’ in Hebrew) according to His covenant (commandments, statutes and judgments) and to live out the terms of that covenant in this life. We have to internalize the concept of truth and walk them out in our actions on a daily basis. Hebrew is an action language, therefore to ‘know’ means to do! Yahshua explained this concept in Matthew 7: 21, saying: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven (when it comes to earth[1]); but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.” Yochanan one of Messiah’s original disciples (students) repeated this teaching in 1 John 2: 3 & 4, saying: ‘And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. (4) The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.’ We gain a better understanding of the Hebraic view of “to know” by a study of the Hebrew verb ‘Yada’. The word ‘yada’ is mostly translated as “to know”, but it can also mean ‘to teach’ or ‘to lead’. According to the Tanach, “to know” went further than the intellect; it was deed! It was the practical application of personal knowledge to the various areas of life here on the earth. The goals of education in the Hebrew mind means:

To transmit knowledge and skills from one generation to another or from one person to another;
To broaden the range of man's knowledge and skills; and
To reinforce cultural values into the form of accepted groups and individual behavior.

Rav Shaul summarized this suitably in Colossians 1: 9 - 12, saying: ‘For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge (da’at) of His will (ratzon) in all spiritual wisdom (chockmah) and understanding (binah), (10) so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Master (Adonai), to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of Elohim; (11) strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously (12) giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.’ Greek thought patterns and those of the Hebrew people are not the same and as a result their views are poles apart. Whereas the Greek/Roman system is ‘gnothi seauton’ (know thyself), the Hebrew method starts with Elohim - they acknowledge that the only true wisdom comes from YHVH and His Torah, as Solomon also wrote in Proverbs 1: 7, saying: ‘The fear of YHVH is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.’ Rav Yaa’cov confirmed this in James 3: 17 & 18, saying: ‘But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. (18) And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.’ According to the Hebrew mindset a man can never know who he is, his relationship to others and the world until he first learns of YHVH and submits himself to His will and Kingship.

On the other hand, the Greek system starts with man and seeks to rise up to know the ways and Elohim’s nature through a secret knowledge of “man’s higher nature”. In this tradition, it is the Sophists (Greek ‘Sohpistes’, expert, master of wisdom who provides instruction in higher braches of learning for a fee) who first challenged the certainty of human knowledge. Fundamental to the Sophistic way of thinking was the idea that "man is the measure of all things". They held that truth and morality were matters of opinion. This meant that human knowledge, rather than conforming to some objective reality, in fact imposed itself and its own interpretations on the outside world. The Sophists were, however, less concerned with natural sciences than they were with ethics and politics; they would argue that there was no such thing as absolute or objective morality. The best-known Sophists were Protagoras (480 – 411 BCE), Gorgias, and Hippias, who were significant original thinkers. To get a position of importance, especially in a democracy, one had to have oratorical skill, strength in debate, and a knowledge of law and politics; one would need to know how to manage property and maybe run the State, and know something of music, astronomy, mathematics, physics, and so on. The Sophist equipped one to be a leading citizen, and supplied answers to help people live in a world whose reality had been somewhat undermined by the Pre-Socratics. Philosophers of antiquity have nothing but bad things to say about the Sophists (even though it is extremely likely that Thucydides adhered to Sophistic principles).

However, despite all we say about the origins of the modern university in Plato and Aristotle, the modern university owes more to Sophistic principles than any other philosophical school. Perhaps the most important Sophistic idea is a brand of skepticism: human affairs, ethics and politics, do not admit of certain knowledge so that good arguments can be made on either side of an argument. This view will dominate later antiquity and modernity and the exercise of arguing on both sides of the question (called in Latin, ‘in utrumqem partem’) is one of the principal aspects of Western education from the Roman Republic until today. A big question that concerned the Sophists and their critics was: how is virtue acquired? Can it be taught? These aren't ivory tower questions, such as the nature of intellect/reason, but were vital in a society where power was shifting from the well-bred aristocrats to the less educated masses. Answers involved two different principles which are essential for understanding Greek thought: physis, "the unchanging," "fundamental existence," or "nature" (we get the word "physics" from this term: physics in the Greek world is primarily the study of "the unchanging" and secondarily the study of "nature") and nomos,"custom," "the changing," "convention," or "law," and includes morality, tradition and state laws, all of which are subject to change or revision. This (nomos) exact Greek word is used for the Torah in the Renewed Covenant. The Greeks looked upon nomos as the ever changing morality or customs that could be revised or changed, therefore the Torah, the unchangeable instruction from YHVH, appeared as “legalism”.

For the Greeks the scope of the contrast between nomos and physis applied to practically everything, and it entered into questions such as: do “gods” really exist (physis), or are they only a conventional human belief (nomos)? Are class divisions or gender divisions natural (physis) or artificial (nomos)? Is justice an inborn characteristic of humanity (physis), or a convention invented by the weaker as a defense against the stronger (nomos)? Is it natural for the stronger to rule the weaker? Is it "natural," or merely self-evident, for all men to be created equal? Both nomos and physis may be considered good or bad. Nomos brings progress in society; but if laws are only valid by nomos they may be changed with circumstances, and may conflict with physis rather than from Deity. They specialized in the art of rhetoric to achieve success in life by persuasion. They were the first to systematize education. Hellenistic and Roman philosophy almost overwhelmingly rejected the notion that human beings can know anything for certain; the most radical of these thinkers were called Skeptics and Cynics. Their concern was largely with the nature of probable knowledge: how do you arrive at that knowledge? How do you apply it? And most importantly, how do you convince others? The latter question dominated the science of rhetoric, which took as its starting point the idea that all ethical and political questions yielded probable and hence uncertain knowledge. Much of the history of early “Christian” philosophy is an attempt to paste Greek and Roman philosophical methods and questions onto the new world religion; the first thing that had to go was the insistence on probable knowledge to the exclusion of certain knowledge. Early “Christian” thinkers such as Augustine and Boethius took on the epistemological traditions of Greece and Rome to demonstrate that one could arrive at certain knowledge in matters of the Christian religion.

But, nowhere in the Scriptures do we find the Greek approach to knowledge. Both the Tanach and the Renewed Covenant are deeply-rooted on the foundation of Hebraic thought and attitude. The aspiration of true education and learning in the Hebrew culture was to become holy, set-apart to YHVH as a distinctive people. The goal of (religious) education was and still is to produce "a kingdom of priests, a holy people" as witnessed in both, Exodus 19: 6[2] and 1 Peter 2: 9 & 10[3]. We read Elohim’s instruction to the Israelites through Moses in Deuteronomy 12: 29 & 30, saying: “When YHVH your Elohim cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, (30) beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’” The means of achieving this goal were twofold: Firstly, the recognition of the divine will in the laws of the Covenant; and secondly, the study of Israelite’s history, which reflected (YHVH)’s concern for His chosen people. Learning (YHVH)’s law and Israel’s history became the basic means of receiving a peculiarly Israelite religious education. It is like when Napoleon Bonaparte came to Palestine during his reign in Europe and saw some Jews mourning over the destruction of the Temple. When he found out that they were mourning for a Temple that was destroyed almost two thousand years ago, he exclaimed that the Jewish people will endure throughout history, because they know their history.

The Torah was regarded as the conditions of or covenant between YHVH and Israel. Since the covenant at Mount Sinai was accepted by all those present when they said "We will do and obey" (as per Exodus 24: 7), it followed that the whole nation would have to be taught the laws incumbent upon them. It is for this reason that Moses, Israel’s first teacher is repeatedly commanded to "Speak unto the Children of Israel saying”. How was the Torah to be taught? The text of the covenant was read at the time of the agreement and an authentic copy was kept in the holy ark guarded by the priesthood (as recorded in Deuteronomy 31: 9 & 26), The covenant was to be reread publicly once every seven years during the Feast of Sukkot (as instructed in Deuteronomy 31: 10 – 11); this was the earliest prescription for mass education in ancient Israel, as recorded in Deuteronomy 31: 12 & 13, in this way: “Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and the alien who is in your town, in order that they may hear and learn and fear YHVH your Elohim, and be careful to observe all the words of this law. (13) And their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear YHVH your Elohim, as long as you live on the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.” The second way of acquiring a religious education was through the study of Israelite history. The belief in Elohim acting in events, coupled with a high regard for oral tradition, made the telling of history a most effective educational method. These communal memories took the literary forms of songs, poems, and stories/parables that made up so large a part of Biblical literature. The basis of education is according to Talmudic sources, the study of the Torah, an all-embracing concept which includes means and ends alike. Two basic educational principles followed from the sages regarding Torah as the very substance of their lives:

Education is not to be treated as distinct from the inner content of life but as one with it;
Accordingly, Torah study is not to be limited to a certain age but to continue throughout one's life under the guidance of a teacher/rabbi.

The prompting of Rabban Gamaliel, "Provide yourself a teacher" (Avot 1:16 cf. also 1:6), was intended for everyone, without regard to age or social standing. The unique character of Jewish education finds expression in the phrase "Torah for its own sake," a concept which sets before the student of Torah two goals: the disinterested fulfillment of the commandment itself—as it is written in Joshua 1: 8, as follows: “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” The sages, in what was apparently designed to serve as a model for educators in all generations, defined the ideal man as one who studies the Scriptures and the Mishnah, attends upon scholars, is honest in business, and speaks gently to people (Yoma 86a). To the end that a man support himself by his own labors and not become a burden on society, the sages declared: "All study of the Torah that is unaccompanied by work is ultimately futile". Accordingly, the permission granted parents to make arrangements on the Shabbat for the education of their children was extended to include arrangements "for teaching him a trade," both activities being regarded as "the affairs of Heaven," i.e., religious duties (Shab. 150a). One sage even declared that whoever fails to teach his son a trade encourages him to become a brigand (or gangster) (Kid. 29a). A child was also to be taught swimming, undoubtedly for the preservation of life. As for other subjects, astronomy and geometry were regarded as aids to the study of the Torah, philosophy ("the wisdom of the Greeks") was not approved, and foreign languages, though discouraged for fear of contaminating cultural influences, were apparently, in view of the number of non-Hebrew words that found their way into Talmudic literature, not entirely prohibited .

The Greek world never made the connection of education and scholarship to the goal of set-apartness of life-style. Instruction by the teacher was a simple transference of knowledge in the intellectual realm, such as music, art, reading, and sports. The teacher educated his disciple the rules which hopefully would develop any attitude the pupil might possess. To develop his reasoning powers certain intellectual exercises were given to him; if his body needed development, then sports and athletics were provided. The Greek teacher did not focus upon the development of the whole personality and character. In the Greek society, very much like America today (since our culture’s foundation is built upon the Greek philosophical system), only the wealthy and elite could afford this enlightenment offered in the higher institutions of learning. The English words “scholar” and “school” come from the Greek word “scholazo”, which means “to have leisure, to have spare time, to have nothing to do”. The English word “school” means “to be employed in the leisure of learning.” It must be noted that this Greek word does not have a corresponding word in the Hebrew vocabulary. The Hebrews considered this a definition of learning ‘idleness’.

Plato (speaking through Socrates) divides human beings up based on their innate intelligence, strength, and courage. Those who are not overly bright, or strong, or brave, are suited to various productive professions: farming, smithing, building, etc. Those who are somewhat bright, strong and especially courageous are suited to defensive and policing professions, whilst those who are extraordinarily intelligent, virtuous, and brave, are suited to run the state itself; that is, Plato's ideal state is an Aristocracy, a Greek word which means "rule by the best." The lower end of human society, which, as far as Plato is concerned, consists of an overwhelming majority of people in a state, he calls them "producers," since they are most suited for productive work. The middle section of society, a smaller but still large number of people, makes up the army and the police and is called "Auxiliaries." The best and the brightest, a very small and rarefied group, are those who are in complete control of the state permanently; Plato calls these people "Guardians." In the ideal state, "courage" characterizes the Auxiliaries; "wisdom" displays itself in the lives and government of the Guardians. A state may be said to have "temperance" if the Auxiliaries obey the Guardians in all things and the Producers obey the Auxiliaries and Guardians in all things. A state may be said to be intemperate if any of the lower groups do not obey one of the higher groups. A state may be said to be just if the Auxiliaries do not simply obey the Guardians, but enjoy doing so, that is, they don't grumble about the authority being exercised over them.

The Hebrews never considered manual labor menial or degrading to the individual student of the Torah. To the Greeks; however, manual labor was only for slaves and the underprivileged. Aristotle regarded manual labor as unworthy for those that were aloof, and was only for those of an inferior intellect who were incapable of being educated. The Mishnah states that no one should use the Torah for a spade for the digging of wealth (Avot 4:5). This is why various teachers are linked to various occupations or skills. Rabbi Hillel was a woodchopper, Rabbi Shammai was a surveyor, Rabbi Joshua was a blacksmith, Rabbi Ishmael was a tanner, Rabbi Huna was a water-carrier ( Avot 2:2), Rav Shaul from Tarsus was a leather worker as per Acts 20: 34; 2 Corinthians 11: 7 & 8; 1 Thessalonians 2: 9; 2 Thessalonians 3: 8), and even Yahshua was known to be a carpenter. The Hebraic education system was for all the people and it was concerned about the total person. Every person had the responsibility to learn the Torah, whether he was young or elderly. From the beggar on the street to the working man, all were obliged to set time aside for the study of the Torah. Teaching was communicating the Torah and its principles to the student and then having the student implement the principles into his behavior and life-style. The goal of the rabbi was to have the student submit to the authority of the Divine Will as revealed in the Torah, which the rabbi communicated orally to the student. It was a call to radical obedience to the Divine Reality outside oneself. The Greeks learned to comprehend, and the Hebrews learned in order to obey and reverence YHVH as witnessed in Deuteronomy 4: 5 & 6, as follows: “See I have taught you statutes and judgments just as YHVH my Elohim commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. (6) So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’”

The role and responsibility of the teacher or rabbi in the Hebrew culture was to impart true wisdom and knowledge to the people under his charge. This same principle should hold true today, just as it did in the time of Yahshua. During the Second Temple Period Israel had many itinerant teachers and their disciples, one example being Yochanan the Immerser. Rebbe Yahshua was one of these traveling rabbis who traveled the land of Israel, as recorded in Matthew 9: 35 – 36, in this way: ‘And Yahshua was going about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. (36) And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd.’ The Four Gospels use the Greek word teacher 41 times and the term “rabbi” 16 times. Rebbe Yahshua sits in the synagogue on Shabbat, sits down to teach the Torah, and expounds in depth on the Hebrew Scriptures.

After the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–135 C.E.), the Roman Emperor Hadrian attempted to end the spiritual authority still wielded by the Sanhedrin, which had been shorn of all government support, by forbidding the granting of permission (s’mikhah) for new scholars. It was declared that "whoever performed an ordination should be put to death, and whoever received ordination should be put to death, the city in which the ordination took place demolished, and the boundaries wherein it had been performed uprooted" (Sanh. 14a). R. Judah b. Bava was executed for ordaining several of his pupils in a no-man's-land between Usha and Shefaram. It is not clear when the original authority with the powers described above was discontinued. Majority opinion favors the latter part of the Fourth Century CE during the time of Hillel II. According to Nahmanides this happened before the fixing of the permanent calendar by Hillel in 361 C.E. Some date it with the extinction of the patriarchate at the death of the last patriarch, Gamaliel VI, in 425 C.E. Others set the time as late as 1062 CE with the death of Daniel b. Azariah, the Gaon of Palestine. Still others cite proof that this traditional ordination continued until the time of Maimonides. The Teacher’s role is to “tend the flock” or “feed the sheep”. A shepherd is called a “ro’eh” of the people. Jeremiah used this term for the leaders of the nation of Israel who supposed to call the nation back to YHVH, as Jeremiah prophesied in Jeremiah 3: 14 & 15, saying: “Return, O faithless sons,’ declares YHVH; ‘For I am a master to you, and I will take you one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. (15) Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding.” This term “teach” suggest to the Israelite mind the edification, protection, and personal guidance that the teacher/shepherd must have for his flock. They also must provide good food and nourishment for the sheep to grow healthy and strong. Teaching and nourishment go hand and hand. A good example of this in the Renewed Covenant is in Mark 6: 35 – 43 and again in Mark 8: 1 – 8, where Yahshua fed the multitude after teaching them with bread and fish. We read more about this in some of Messiah’s teachings as follows:

In Luke 4: 4 Yahshua quoting from Deuteronomy 8: 3, said to the devil: “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, (but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of YHVH).”
In John 4: 34 Yahshua said to His disciples: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.”
In John 21: 15 – 17 Yahshua spoke to Kepha, in this way: ‘So when they had finished breakfast, Yahshua said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these (meaning the other disciples)?” He said to Him, “Yes, Master; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” (16) He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Master; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep,” (17) He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Master, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Yahshua said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

In the Renewed Covenant a teacher was not a stand-up comedian who tickles the ears of his listeners with jokes and golf stories, as witnessed in the following two passages where Rav Shaul gives the reason why Yahshua gave the congregation teachers (Ephesians 4: 11 – 15) and also what will happen in the last days (2 Timothy 4: 3 & 4), as follows:

Ephesians 4: 11 – 15: “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, (12) for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Messiah; (13) until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of Elohim, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Messiah. (14) As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; (15) but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Messiah.”
2 Timothy 4: 3 & 4: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; (4) and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.”

We also read about the qualification of teachers given in 1 Timothy 3: 1 – 7, in this way: “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desire to do. (2) An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, (3) not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money. (4) He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (5) (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the congregation of Elohim?); (6) and not a new convert, lest he become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. (7) And he must have a good reputation with those outside the congregation, so that he may not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” In fact Yahshua commissioned all of us to first become disciples and then after we come to the knowledge of the truth and become ‘qualified’ to teach ourselves (as per Luke 6: 39 – 40[4]), to immerse new believers and teach them what we learnt from those who followed Messiah’s commission before us in Matthew 28: 18 – 20, as follows: “And Yahshua came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (19) Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Set-apart Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” This commission gives each of us a responsibility and method for making other disciples of our Master Yahshua. Unfortunately, the English loses the richness of the Hebraic term “talmid”. The Hebrew word represents the interpersonal relationship between a rabbi and his students. The disciple gave himself totally over to his teacher (not in a mind control way as the cults but as in a student –teacher relationship). At the core of this relationship was the trust in every area of life, and the goal of the relationship was to shape the talmid into the image of Rebbe Yahshua in knowledge, wisdom, and moral behavior. They received their authority from Yahshua to spread his doctrines and teachings to others. That is what is meant by the “Hebraism” of “In My Name”. It is not simply a catchy little sign off in prayer, but means that what is said or done is done with all the authority of our original teacher Himself, as Yahshua taught in John 16: 24, saying: “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.”

The making of taught ones should result in making other teachers, as Rav Shaul taught in 2 Timothy 2: 2, saying: “And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” Rav Kepha actually exhorted those who have been around the longest to teach Elohim’s people in 1 Peter 5: 1 – 3, saying: “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Messiah, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, (2) shepherd the flock of Elohim among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of Elohim; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; (3) nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.” Each of us must renew our commitment by our actions not just our words to personally know YHVH, the Elohim of all Israel. It is one thing to proclaim that you are Israel; it is a completely different thing to LIVE as Israel. Until we are willing to embrace the study and practice of the Torah with all our hearts, as Israel, we will never see the learning of the Scripture as an obligation given to us from the Master Teacher. We are commanded to study the Scriptures not just read them. Reading is not studying! To this end Rav Shaul wrote in 2 Timothy 2: 15, saying: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to Elohim as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.” Exploring the Scriptures is to be a challenge and requires us to contemplate, meditate, and practice its truths. Each end becomes a new beginning and each answer a new question. As long as the house of Israel is satisfied with the intellectual facts of their “Hebrew Roots”, they will never begin to actually DO the Torah and guard its commands. They will continue to sit and “learn” for years but never taste of the richness of the Torah. Torah study per se is insufficient unless it is transformed into action and obedience. Study is not the goal, rather the deeds. If one’s deeds exceed his knowledge then his knowledge will endure. But if one’s knowledge exceeds his deeds, then his knowledge will not endure. Think carefully about it!

This is a précis of a much longer teaching by Rabbi Ed Nydle.

[1] Matthew 6: 10, ‘Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.’

[2] Exodus 19: 6, “‘And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel”

[3] 1 Peter 2: 9 & 10: ‘But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR Elohim’s OWN POSSESSION, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

[4] Luke 6: 39 & 40: “And He also spoke a parable to them: ‘A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.”