For the week of November 1, 2025 / 10 Heshvan 5786

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Lech Lecha
Torah: Bereshit/Genesis 12:1 – 17:27
Haftarah: Isaiah 40:27 – 41:16

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Bereshit/Genesis 12:1–3)

It’s tough not to get sentimental when coming back around to this parsha. It was twenty-eight years ago this week on the Jewish calendar that I attempted something radical—a weekly online messianic Torah commentary. The Internet was still catching on, and I didn’t know if my writing would catch on as well. But here we are, twenty-eight years later, and for now, TorahBytes is still being produced, not only in text format, but in audio as well, and more recently, a YouTube version. Be sure to check out the website for all past messages.

There are so many layers to the call of Avram (in English we say, Abram), whose name was later changed to Avraham (English: Abraham). This passage could be taken as the real start of the Bible’s overall story, following the essential but introductory subject matter of the eleven previous chapters. It’s there that we learn of God’s good creation that he cursed due to our first parents’ disobedience. While he hints at an eventual resolution to evil and its influence early on, the outworking of that plan doesn’t get going until God tells Avram to “get going” as he entrusts him with a mission designed to bless the entire world.

It’s difficult for us to fully appreciate the great risk Avram willingly took on. And yet he did so, but not without God’s assurance that he would watch his back, based on these words from Bereshit/Genesis 12:3: “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse.”

While in its immediate context, God is promising special protection to Avram specifically, this should be understood as an integral part of the overall unconditional covenantal package given to the people of Israel. This is based on the covenant’s being passed on to his son Isaac (Bereshit/Genesis 26:3–4) and later, to his grandson Jacob (Bereshit/Genesis 27:27–29; 28:13–15), whose name was changed to Israel from whom the nation is derived.

Now, I would like to share an important promise dynamic that I have missed for most of my life. Many English translations fail to reflect the original wording by falsely creating an exact parallel of the blessing and cursing phrases. For example, the New International Version (NIV) reads, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse,” which is the way I have tended to remember it. That’s because in my first thirty years as a Yeshua follower, my go-to Bibles were first, the New American Standard Version, which is very similar to the NIV in this regard, and then the NIV, which I just read to you. Even though I have been using the English Standard Version (ESV) for about twenty years, I didn’t notice that it was different: “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse.” The Hebrew uses barach, meaning “to bless,” twice, but is then followed by kalal, meaning “to belittle,” and arar, meaning “to curse,” a difference reflected in only a few translations. For the record, the two other occurrences of this blessing/cursing-type statement, found in Bereshit/Genesis 27:29 and B’midbar/Numbers 24:9, do use “arar” (to curse) twice, but that should not give translators the green light to not reflect the word differently in God’s promise to Avram.

God was not simply promising Avram that he would only confront those who formally curse him or his promised descendants. God made clear to him that the world would not get away with mistreating him or his people in any way, even if it were simply looking down on them. Israel was called to be God’s chosen nation through whom he would bless the world. Whether the individuals were aware of this or not, we (since I myself am Jewish) have been set aside as holy vessels for his purposes. If anyone messes with what belongs to God, he will mess with them.

Scriptures taken from English Standard Version unless otherwise indicated

For the week of October 25, 2025 / 3 Heshvan 5786

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Noach
Torah: Bereshit/Genesis 6:9-11:32
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1 – 55:5
Originally posted the week of October 24, 2020 / 6 Heshvan 5781 (updated)

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” (Bereshit/Genesis 9:1)

I am the main computer person at home. It helps that for years I worked in high tech, including providing computer training and technical support. Through the years, most of the time, my family has no issues with their various technical devices, but every now and then, they would need my help: the screen is frozen, the mouse is stuck, the sound isn’t working, the web browser is too slow, a program won’t open, and so on. These things don’t happen as often as they once did, but when the solution isn’t obvious, I often suggest restarting. Restarting clears out any data that may be lodged in memory and resets the computer, tablet, or phone. There are times when this is not the answer. Depending on the device, loose cables may need tightening, programs may need to be reinstalled, a virus might be present, who knows? The solutions to many of these problems are often fairly simple, except for viruses. Restarting won’t repair physical damage, of course, but before taking more drastic measures, it’s always worth a try. But do remember to save your work before doing so when necessary. Otherwise, information may be lost forever.

Our planet is a very complex system within a larger complex system, the universe. This week’s Torah portion is about the time when the system of life on earth was so problematic that it needed to be restarted. After Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s directions, human existence went from bad to worse. Near the end of last week’s parsha (weekly Torah reading portion), we read: “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Bereshit/Genesis 6:5). Every intention of the heart was continually evil! That’s pretty bad! The passage goes on to say: “And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart” (Bereshit/Genesis 6:6). It is difficult for us to conceive how God could regret anything, but he did. Time to restart!

I imagine he could have completely destroyed the Earth instead, but he didn’t. Having found one man who was in right relationship with him, Noah, he restarted the human race through him and his family. He then blessed him to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,” the same words he had said to Adam and Eve (see Genesis/Bereshit 1:28).

By restarting the earth rather than replacing it altogether, God demonstrates his commitment to the system he created. The creation is essential to his grand plan. That might be hard for some people to understand or accept, for there is a tendency for spiritually minded people to view the material world as somewhat of a mistake. Associating evil with the creation itself is contrary to how the Bible regards life. Scripture views the material and the spiritual aspects of the creation as an integrated whole. We are called to love and serve God within the material world as integrated material/spiritual beings. The New Covenant Writings tell us that God’s motivation for sending the Messiah was that he “loved the world” (John 3:16). The Greek word for “world” here is “cosmos,” referring to the whole of creation, not just the people in it. Not only does God love the creation, but he continues to work out his plans and purposes within it, the culmination of which will be a new heavens and a new earth (see Isaiah 66:1-24; especially v. 22).

The new heavens and the new earth are not a restart, but a major upgrade. While there are aspects of the current system that will carry over to the new, there will be brand new features, some of which we have a taste of today through Yeshua the Messiah, including a right relationship with God, forgiveness, and healing. The new system will feature God’s personal presence on earth forever, along with the complete eradication of evil, sickness, and death.

You can experience the preliminary features of the upcoming upgrade right now, but only for a limited time! All you need to do is turn from self to God and trust in Yeshua’s death and resurrection. Your sins will be forgiven, you will have an intimate relationship with God, and you will live forever in his new creation. Act now before it’s too late!

Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version

For the week of October 18, 2025 / 26 Tishrei 5786

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Bereshit
Torah: Bereshit/Genesis 1:1 – 6:8
Haftarah: Isaiah 42:5-43:11
Originally posted the week of October 2, 2021 / 26 Tishrei 5782

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Bereshit/Genesis 1:28)

Some time ago, I read through the New English Translation, also called the NET Bible. One of its key features is its extensive notes. In 2021, when I first wrote this message, the NET Bible included a note that led me to consider an intriguing concept. It’s difficult to prove technically, which might be why the note has been removed since then. However, it seems to me that this idea is self-evident. The note was in reference to Bereshit/Genesis 1:22, where the word “blessed” is first found in the Bible. There it has to do with the sea creatures and birds. The second time blessed appears is in the verse I quoted at the start, regarding human beings.

The NET Bible note at the time made a connection between the Hebrew words for create and bless based on the similarity of their sounds. The Hebrew for create is bara; the Hebrew for bless is barach (check out the TorahBytes video version for the pronunciation). As far as I know, this similarity is purely coincidental. I doubt the early readers of the creation story would have thought to make a connection between creating and blessing, but there is one.

Torah is clear that God is the author of life. He is the originator, designer, and developer of all there is in the universe. He brought everything into existence by the exertion of his will through the power of his word. He himself is not created but eternal. The universe is not made up of his substance as if he used up part of himself and transformed it into something. Rather, he created everything out of nothing.

The suggestion of a close association between bara and barach caused me to be aware of a creative dynamic that is present in blessing. When God blesses something or someone, he fills it with life. It possesses health, strength, and all it needs to grow and to reproduce. It is the opposite of cursing, whereby life is removed, and death ensues.

The connection between create and bless should be obvious. One initiates life, the other enables it to come to fruition, realizing its potential. That God is both the one who creates and blesses underscores that he is more than the originator of life, but he’s also its ongoing sustainer. Creation is dependent upon him both for its origins and its continuation. But this is not the intriguing idea that came to me that day.

What dawned on me then was that the association of bara and barach is just as God created out of nothing, so he also blesses out of nothing. In the same way that God did not depend on pre-existing stuff to create the universe, so he doesn’t depend on pre-existing stuff to bless us.

Why is this important? Maybe it’s just me, but when I am in a difficult situation and I look to God to help me, I tend to base my expectations upon possible solutions that appear to exist. I think in terms of what’s possible. Sure, I give God some credit for being God, but I tend to think he is really good at fixing things that exist, but not necessarily providing solutions that require him to make something out of nothing. He did that at creation; he doesn’t do that now—or does he?

God’s blessing is not derived from his ability to manipulate that which already is. His blessing is based on himself, his infinite creative self. His resources, therefore, are unlimited. There’s nothing he can’t do. I can’t say I know how this works. But instead of my focusing on possibilities, I need to expect the impossible. Blessing is dependent upon God and not on the world around me.

Recognizing this connection between bara and barach is essential to effectively facing today’s challenges. Many people are confused, frustrated, and depressed. But that’s not necessary when we know the One who blesses out of nothing. Once we accept that his possibilities are limitless, we can be open to anything he wants to do in and through us.

Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version

For the week of October 11, 2025 / 19 Tishrei 5786

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Sukkot
Torah: Shemot/Exodus 33:12 – 34:26; B’midbar/Numbers 29:23-31
Haftarah: Ezekiel 38:18 – 39:16

Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” (Shemot/Exodus 33:18)

The weekly TorahBytes message follows this reflection on the October 7 second anniversary:

I was preparing this a few days prior to the second anniversary of the most devastating day in Jewish history since the Holocaust. On October 7, 2023, Gazan terrorists broke into Israel and murdered about 1200 people, including the elderly, young people, babies, and foreign nationals. They also took about 250 hostages. Since then about 150 have been released, several have been killed, and about twenty are alive among those who are still being held. What many have been oblivious to is that dark day also unleashed a wave of worldwide antisemitism that has rarely, if ever, been seen, as cries of “Death to the Jews!” have been heard around the world, and unprovoked attacks on Jewish individuals have occurred, including where I live in Canada’s federal capital.

While October 7^th and the specter of Jew-hatred constantly weigh heavily on our hearts, the grief is especially great as we approach the two-year mark. Too many people continue to victimize the victims of terror instead of sharing God’s perspective and standing with God’s covenant people (Genesis 12:3; Romans 9 –11).

As we are currently in the High Holy Day season, a time of reflection, restoration, and thanksgiving, we grapple with the tension between God’s faithfulness and ongoing suffering. The October 7 attack occurred on Simchat Torah (English: rejoicing over the Torah), one of the most joyous days of the year, as the Jewish world marks the end of the fall festivals and celebrates the restarting of the annual Torah reading cycle. While we struggle through these dark days, God’s Word continues to give us hope. Not only does it foretell better days ahead for those who submit themselves to the God of Israel, it does so in a way that accurately reflects the complexities and challenges of living in our broken world. Am Yisrael Chai! The people of Israel live!

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This week’s TorahBytes message:

This week’s parsha (weekly Torah reading) is special for the intermediate days of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles/Booths). It was likely chosen due to its mention of the festival (see (Shemot/Exodus 34:22), where it is called Chag Ha-Asif, the Feast of Ingathering, most likely referencing its function as a harvest festival.

The reading also contains one of the most intense interactions between Moses and God. Israel was in a precarious state due to the incident of the Golden Calf. Moses had been on Mount Sinai, receiving God’s Holy Word, while the people were cavorting with idols below. In response, God was preparing to wipe out the people completely and continue his mission by making Moses a new nation. Yet Moses prevailed upon God to relent by appealing to God’s own reputation and faithfulness. As Moses continued to intercede for the people, he earnestly sought greater and greater assurances from God that he would not abandon them, eventually asking him: “Har-eni na et-k’vodecha” (English: “Let me see your glory!”). Moses was asking for a revelation of God even greater than anything he had already experienced. He wanted to see a completely unobscured manifestation of God’s honor and character.

God’s response was a “yes and no”:

“I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.  But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Shemot/Exodus 33:19–20).

God was willing to grant Moses a partial revelation of his glory, knowing that he would not survive the fullness of what he was asking for.

This moment captures the overarching tension between God and human beings ever since he went looking for Adam in the Garden (see Bereshit/Genesis 3:9). Ever since our first parents’ rebellion against God, the whole creation has suffered within a cursed brokenness. What Moses experienced with God that day illustrates this tension. The God of all, the God of Israel, wants to fully connect with his beloved human creatures, but sin has created an impenetrable barrier so that we can never get too close. That is, until the coming of the Messiah.

In the midst of the High Holy Days is Yom Kippur, the Day of the Atonement, which occurred this year on October 2^nd. In the days of the Mishkan (English: the Tabernacle) and the later Temple, this day—just as we see with Moses—illustrates our alienation from God. He wants us near, but our sin prevents it. Year after year, the rituals of this day maintained the Temple’s purity in the midst of a sinful world as manifested through the Chosen People. But the enactments of that day were temporary until the permanent resolution occurred, the arrival of Yeshua the Messiah, “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

Year after year, on Yom Kippur, the high priest would confess the sins of the people upon the head of one of the two special sacrificial goats and send it off into the wilderness to demonstrate the carrying away of the nation’s sin (see Vayikra/Leviticus 16:21–22). Yet, he had to repeat it year after year, reminding us of its long-term ineffectiveness, unlike Yeshua’s sacrifice that truly “takes away the sin of the world.”

As a result, we have what Moses wanted, unfettered access to God: “We have confidence to use the way into the Holiest Place opened by the blood of Yeshua” (Hebrews 10:19; Complete Jewish Bible).

Because of what Yeshua has done, we have unobstructed access to God’s presence. Our sin, which alienated us from God, has been dealt with, allowing us to engage God in a way that Moses could only have dreamt of.

Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise indicated