Chayyei Yeshua Shabbat Besorah Readings

By Rabbi Mark S. Kinzer, Ph.D.

The Chayyei Yeshua Three-Year Besora Reading Cycle is based on the conviction that Messianic Jewish life is founded on two intertwined narratives: the story of Israel contained in the Torah, and the story of Yeshua contained in the four Besorot (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).

The traditional annual cycle of Torah readings invites us to set our daily life in the context of Israel's founding events - the call of Abraham and Sarah, the exodus from Egypt, the giving of the Torah, and the journey to Cana‘an. Similarly, this new annual cycle of readings from the Besora invites us to see both our own personal stories and the story of Israel in the light of Yeshua's redemptive journey, from his birth to his resurrection.

The cycle begins after Simchat Torah with the birth of Yeshua and his early work, just as the Torah cycle begins with the creation of the world and the call of the patriarchs and matriarchs.

The cycle reaches its climax, with the narrative of Yeshua's death, between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av, when the Jewish calendar enters a period of mourning for the destruction of the temple, and three haftarot of admonition are read. It reaches its joyful
conclusion with seven readings related to Yeshua's resurrection, corresponding to the seven Sabbaths between the 9th of Av and Rosh Hashana, when haftarot of consolation from the latter chapters of Isaiah are read. The cycle thus points us to the truth that Yeshua, as the King of Israel and its representative, embodies in his person the meaning of the temple, the holy city, and Jewish history as a whole. His suffering sums up and purifies Israel's suffering, and his resurrection will bring about Israel's ultimate restoration.

How to Use the Cycle

The Chayyei Yeshua cycle found on the following pages is correlated to the weekly Torah portions with appropriate substitute readings indicated for special Shabbats and holidays and with readings indicated when double-parashiyot (e.g., Acharei Mot-Qedoshim) are read together or separately. This reading cycle is designed to take the community through the majority of the Besorot plus a selection of readings from the Apostolic Writings over the course of a three-year cycle.

The following table is designed to enable a congregation adopting the reading cycle in subsequent years to join in the reading cycle and read it along with other Messianic Jewish Synagogues throughout the world.

Year A: 5771 (2010-11); 5774 (2013-14); 5777 (2016-17); 5780 (2019-20); etc.

Year B: 5772 (2011-12); 5775 (2014-15); 5778 (2017-18); 5781 (2020-21); etc.

Year C: 5773 (2012-13); 5776 (2015-16); 5779 (2018-19); 5782 (2021-22); etc.

Download Reading Cycle (PDF)

Parashat Bereisheet, Genesis 1:1-6:8

by Jonathan Roush

This week we are reminded of many different beginnings. Earlier this week we rolled the Torah scroll all the way back to its beginning, and each passage we read this week talks about the beginning of the world in some way.

Bereisheet (Genesis) opens with the beginning of the world:

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1 ESV)

The passage from Isaiah also hearkens back to the beginning of creation:

“Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it...” (Is. 42:5 ESV)

 Lastly, we read where John, referring to Yeshua, openly proclaimed:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1 Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels)

A few weeks ago on Rosh Hashanah we began the year 5773 and ten days later on Yom Kippur we repented of our sin and asked for a fresh start to this new year. We have been in a season of new beginnings and hopefully, this hasn't escaped us.

So where does all of this focus on “beginnings” leave us?

by Rabbi David Friedman

“Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the festival of Sukkot for seven days, for the purposes of Adonai. On the first day is a holy time of gathering; all wage-earning work is forbidden… You will sit in sukkot for seven days, every citizen of Israel will sit in sukkot, so that your generations will experience the fact that I sat the people of Israel down in sukkot when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am Adonai your God.” (Leviticus 23. 34-35, 41-43, my translation)

As I sit in our beautifully decorated sukkah this year, I hear the sounds of Israel during our most joyful mo’ed (national meeting time with God): beautiful melodies are coming from the synagogues surrounding my home; the Hasidic community in town can be heard, with hundreds of men singing in unison, all in joyful tunes. Then there is the sound that only God Himself can produce: the long-awaited thunder, signaling the change of seasons and the rainfall for which all of us hope. A children’s group is playing and also learning texts of the Torah together, happily singing as Zechariah told us they would: “So the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls, playing in its streets” (Zech. 8.5, my translation).

Such joy is inspired by the historical narrative of God’s protection and provision in Israel’s honeymoon period of our ancestors’ lives. But this joy is a bit tempered this year.

Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days. . .  And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. Lev. 23:39-43

May you, your families and your loved ones all enjoy a joyous festival, along with the whole house of Israel--as we look forward to celebrating Sukkot in the age to come! 

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Rev. 21:3-5

By Zack Feinberg

Parashat Ha’azinu has a very special meaning for Congregation Etz Chaim as well as for the Jewish people as a whole. Our congregation has six members who all share Ha’azinu as their Bar/Bat Mitzvah Torah portion. As a result, our congregation has spent many hours studying the words and learning to chant the Song of Moses in both Hebrew and English as an effort to internalize the song that describes Israel’s story as Moshe overlooks the promised land, knowing he will never live to experience the land of milk and honey. Here is what my friend Noah Swift—a fourth generation Messianic Jew!—has to say about his Torah portion. He will be sharing this drash at his Bar Mitzvah this Friday evening:

Moshe is about to die in an unmarked grave outside the land and he’s saying, ‘Don’t end up like me, don’t end up dying outside of the Promised Land. If you follow this word that I’m giving you now, it will prolong your days in Israel. It is your life. Learn this song so that when your children’s children’s children wind up in exile, they will know how they got there.’ But we didn’t obey, and we’re outside the land, but we will be regathered. There is still hope that we will return, because God has to keep His promises, even if we don’t.

The days of Ezra and Nehemiah resonate with our own days. After years of exile, Jews are returning to the Land of Israel to rebuild its cities, towns, and farms. But, as in our day, exile continues at the same time and Jewish life in Israel is far from ideal. The Jewish remnant is surrounded by enemies seeking its destruction, pressured by the dominant cultures around it, and losing its vision for God and his ways. But Ezra and Nehemiah rally the people and stir up a renewal in their relationship to Scripture, tradition, and God himself—the kind of renewal we need today to reverse the maladies of info-idolatry, isolation, and self-absorption. And it all happens on Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the seventh month

When the seventh month came—the people ofIsraelbeing settled in their towns—the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the scroll of the Torah of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel. Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the Torah before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the scroll of the Torah. (Neh. 7:72b–8:3)

Under Ezra and Nehemiah, restoration has been going on for years, but now they come to the heart of it, renewed attention to the Torah—the teaching of the God of Israel to his people. It sounds as if the people hadn’t heard much Torah before this time, because when they hear the words, they begin to weep, doubtless at least in part in repentance.

By Rabbi Ira Brawer, Ayts Chayim, Boca Raton, Florida

This week’s portion (Deut. 29:9-30:20) opens with Moses addressing the people of Israel as they stand before him, preparing to enter the Promised Land. We immediately notice that he specifically addresses each segment of the community as the covenant is renewed:

“All of you are standing here today in the presence of Adonai your God--your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, together with your wives, and the strangers living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water. You are standing here today to enter into a covenant with Adonai your God, that Adonai your God is making (literally, “cutting”) with you today.”

Talk about inclusiveness; that just about covers everyone. And in case we have any doubt, verse 14 makes it clear that the covenant extends throughout space and time and includes “those that are not here today,” that is, us and our children and their children. This is the nature of the covenant that God made. It is an oath, which he originally swore to our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and which is now being renewed for the next generation getting ready to enter the land.