Moshe: Kavanah in Worship[Shevat 2025/5785]
Read the transcript below, or watch a video of the teaching by Moshe.
Shalom guys! Hi, one more time directly from Jerusalem, directly from Netivyah headquarters. Moshe here, preparing a message for you at the beginning of a new month. I've been studying for more than a month now a tractate of the Talmud called Tractate Rosh Hashanah. More specifically, I've been studying the laws and customs of the shofar, blowing the shofar, hearing the shofar.
So don't worry, I know that it is not Rosh Hashanah. Tonight we are celebrating the beginning of a new month, the month of Shevat, and the only new year that we are celebrating this month is the new year of the trees, Tu B'Shevat. But bear with me, okay? Going back to the Talmud, in this tractate we dealt with the shofar itself, what it is, how it is made, what makes it kosher, what makes it not kosher, the sound of the shofar, blowing the shofar, hearing the shofar, ritual purity, ritual impurity, how this influences the fulfilling of the mitzvah.
I don't know if you're familiar, but the Talmud is never straight to the point. No, the text usually guides us through various scenarios, various ideas, talking about several issues, and in this case talking about, for example, the requirements to make a valid, a kosher shofar. Then it talks about, for example, a shofar that was broken and had to be repaired and changed in a way that it was its natural state. Is it still valid for use? Is it not valid anymore?
How about the sound produced by this changed shofar? Does it affect the fulfilling of the mitzvah? If the instrument is altered in some way, does it affect the result, the final result? Then the sages that wrote the Talmud, they started to discuss many scenarios where the sound might, for example, be muffled or distorted by something in between the blower and the listener, and the implications of fulfilling this mitzvah.
And you are probably thinking, why, oh God, why do those Jews invest so much time, so much effort, discussing these details? There are so many more important things in the Bible to talk about, about God, about His word. Why? And I agree with you, okay? I agree with you. Sometimes Jewish people lose the big picture. Sometimes we miss the point entirely. But that's how God made us, you know? He has His reasons for it.
But going back to the Talmud, okay, at the end of the chapter, we started to study another important subject to fulfill the commandment of hearing the sound of the shofar. The text started to talk and to explore the idea of intent, whether simply hearing the sound of the shofar fulfills the mitzvah or not, or if we need a specific intent, if we need a specific kavana (intent in Hebrew) to fulfill this mitzvah.
Is there a difference when we hear the sound directly from the shofar or through an intermediary? For example, hearing an echo or a recording of the sound of the shofar—does it fulfill the commandment? Does it not? And when I heard this word intermediary, my spirit started to move inside me, because I know how much importance a mediator has for our faith.
So going back to the Talmud, with these things in mind, I started to think what the Lord is trying to teach me here. Going back to the concept of intent, we studied several situations, whether anything that interferes with the sound between the shofar blower and the shofar listener could affect the validity of this mitzvah. Does the intent of the listener matter to fulfilling the mitzvah? If so, how much more does the intent of the shofar blower interfere with the mitzvah since he is performing as a representative of the congregation? He’s helping the congregation; he’s helping several people to perform an important mitzvah.
As a disciple of Yeshua, I know that intent, that kavana, lies at the heart of worship and service to the Lord. It reflects our sincerity, our focus, it reflects our alignment with God's will. And the New Testament repeatedly talks about the need for pure intent in order to please the Lord.
And that's what I want to bring today for you. We can talk about intent in several areas, but for example, we can talk about intent in our personal lives, or for example, as a church, as a group of people, a group of believers, and we can even talk about the intent of our leadership.
Let’s talk about it. Yeshua, quoting Isaiah 29:13, He says in Matthew 15:8, He says,
“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”
He reminds us that God looks at our hearts and that our worship must not be mechanical, must not be superficial. Instead, it must come from a heart that is really seeking the Lord. In Luke 18:13, He talks about the tax collector. He commends the tax collector’s prayer when he says,
“God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
Yeshua commends his behavior, demonstrating that sincerity and repentance are more pleasing to the Lord than self-righteousness.
Intent also matters when we talk about a group of believers praying together. Yeshua warned us about hypocrisy. He said in Matthew 6:5, He said,
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing up in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you that they have received their reward in full.”
Yeshua also said that true corporate prayer arises from humility, from a collective alignment with God's will. For example, in Acts 4:31, we learn that believers praying together as one, with one heart, are filled with the Holy Spirit. So there is power in unity and in purity of heart.
But studying this tractate and studying the laws of the shofar, although not connected whatsoever, I have learned something that is very important, and I believe it's very important to our leadership. I learned that studying the laws of the shofar, I see that leaders have a profound responsibility to ensure that their intent is the correct one, and their intent needs to be aligned with God's purpose for their church.
The Book of James warns us:
“Not many of you should become teachers.”
Not many of you that are in positions of leadership tonight should be teachers, should be leaders, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. Apostle Paul also teaches that the right intent of the leadership is important. He says in 1 Thessalonians 2:4, he says,
“We are not trying to please people, but God, who tests our hearts.”
So leaders, leaders are called to be shepherds with integrity, remembering that their service ultimately is a service to the Lord. God says to us, in 1 Peter 5:2,
“Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be.”
Whether in personal devotion or in shared prayer, but mainly for the leadership, our intent, our kavana, must reflect a heart that is totally, that is completely, surrendered to the Lord. In this month of Shvat, I pray that our hearts and our prayers always echo the Psalm as it says in Psalm 139:
“Search me, God. Search me and know my heart. Know me, know my thoughts.”
That’s what I ask for us this month, that we can search ourselves and we can let the Lord search us.
May you all have a blessed month. Rosh Chodesh samech!
Gary Webster: Shevat [2024/5784]
Read the transcript below, or watch a video of the teaching by Gary Webster.
Shalom from Jerusalem. Tonight begins the month of Shevat, a time of cold and wet here in the land of Israel, a time of looking forward to the warmer and drier weather. The 15th day of this month is called the Festival of the Trees, Tu B’Shevat. We could talk about trees or Moses, but I wish to talk about the King of the Jews. The Jews have a king? Yes, they do. We also have a prime minister, but we're going to talk about the King of the Jews. His name is Jesus, Yeshua. The wise men from the East came looking for him. Remember what they said to Herod:
"Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East and are come to worship Him."
Pilate gave him the title at his crucifixion. He had his name or the title written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Today, disciples of Yeshua are awaiting his coming. What will he do when he comes? Matthew 25:11-46 tells us, so let's read it together:
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right hand: Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him: Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? Or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? And the King will answer and say to them: Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it unto me.
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"Then he will also say to those on the left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me no food. I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger, and you did not take me in. Naked, and you did not clothe me. Sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you? Then he will answer them, saying: Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
This parable seems fairly straightforward, doesn't it? But let's make sure we get what Yeshua is trying to say. First, let's identify the characters in the parable. Who is the Son of Man? It is Yeshua. He links himself with this title at least 80 times in the Gospels. During Yeshua's time on Earth, the title Son of Man had Messianic overtones. The titles Lord and King also refer to Yeshua. Second, who are the sheep and who are the goats? They are all the Gentile nations of the world. The sheep are also referred to as the righteous in this parable. Third, who are the brethren? They are the Jewish people, descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember, Yeshua is born of a Jewish mother.
Okay, let's unpack the parable. Sometime in the near future, Yeshua the King will come. He will sit on his throne, and every nation will acknowledge him as King and make an appearance. The one big "O" who was crucified and rejected as Savior is now the Sovereign and the Judge. Since his ascension to heaven over 2,000 years ago, Yeshua's flesh and blood brethren have been persecuted, starved, imprisoned, and killed. How many Gentiles have had compassion on the Jews during the centuries? The Romans? No. The Muslims? No. The Crusaders? No. The Inquisitors of Spain and Portugal? No. The Czars of Russia? No. Sir, the Nazis were compassionate? A big no. Throughout the millennia, there have been righteous Gentiles who put shoes to their faith in God. They have fed Jews, clothed Jews, and housed Jews, to the risk of their own lives. Works alone won't get us a seat in heaven; neither will faith alone. Remember, James the Apostle said: Faith without works is dead. What separates the sheep from the goats? A heart of compassion.
The Gospels record several instances where it is stated, "Yeshua had compassion on..." (you fill in the blank). Unless you have compassion, you will miss the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, stranger, imprisoned people that are around you. Unless you are born from on high, you cannot get this heart of compassion that Yeshua has. But once you become a new creation in him, then his Spirit will create in you a heart of compassion. Hell will no longer be your destination. You can become a sheep if you are a goat today. Rosh chodesh samech.