Torah Time PARASHA Parasha Shemini Leviticus 9:1-11:47 2 Samuel 6:1-7:17 Hebrews 7:1-19 TORAH TIME On the eighth day following "seven days of ordination," Aaron and his sons begin to act as Kohanim (priests). A fire comes forth from YHWH to consume the offerings on the Altar and the Divine Presence comes to dwell in the Sanctuary. Aaron's two oldest sons, Nadav and Avihu, offer a "strange fire before YHWH. This is wrong because YHWH didn t tell them to do this. Nadav and Avihu died. Aharon is so upset that he can t talk. Soon Moshe and Aharon disagree about a law regarding an offering. Moses finally agrees that Aharon is correct. YHWH gives the rules regarding food and clean kosher eating. YHWH identifies some animals as good for food. Other animals are not to be eaten. Land animals may be eaten only if they have split hooves and also chew their cud. For fish to be considered food they must have both fins and scales. YHWH also gives a list of non-kosher birds and a list of kosher insects (four types of locusts). Also in Shemini are some of the laws of ritual purity. YHWH also talks about the importance and power of a mikvah (baptism pool of water). The people of Israel are told to "distinguish between the impure and the pure." (This is an easy explanation of the Torah portion taken from the book The Open Bible - available at )
MEMORY VERSE What you eat or drink, or whatever you do is for the glory of YHWH, 1 Corinthians 10:31 LEARNING ACTIVITY People eat the weirdest things! In China and Indonesia dragonflies are boiled or friend. Many Canadians love jellied moose nose that is boiled in onion, garlic, and vinegar. Eskimo ice cream is made of reindeer fat, seal oil, snow, berries, and ground fish. Some people of Australia think that kangaroo meat is really tasty. Casu Marzu is Mexican cheese that is filled with yummy maggots. Many Hebrews eat pickled fish from a clear glass jar called gefilta fish. Some of these people know about the food laws in the Torah, but many people do not. Did you know that YHWH cares about what you eat and how much you eat? YHWH defines food for all believers in this week s Torah portion. In Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 we learn that some animals are okay to eat while others are not to be eaten. To YHWH, the food we are to eat is listed in our Torah portion. The Torah tells us what we are to eat and what we are not to eat. Anything other than what the Torah says we can is not really food. For example, many people often eat pig meat. YHWH has said that the pig is not food and should not be eaten. Shrimp is not food either. Animals that YHWH says can be eaten are called clean or kosher. The Hebrew word kosher means blessed. Kosher items have been blessed by YHWH. We can enjoy kosher food as clean and tasty! Eating is a type of worship. What you eat matters to YHWH. Our memory verse says, What you eat or drink, or whatever you do is for the glory of YHWH, 1 Corinthians 10:31. In the handout, use the chart to list animals that YHWH calls food for us and some animals that are not food. If you need help read the Torah portion or just look in your refrigerator! Which will you eat this week?
WALK THE TALK Learning the Hebrew language is very important. We study to read and write Hebrew so that we can better understand the Bible and better know YHWH. In the beginning YHWH created with the Hebrew language. He said let there be light in Hebrew and light was. He made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them by the power of His tongue. Each Hebrew letter is a container of YHWH s power. Just like a plastic pitcher holds tea or juice for you to easily pour into cups, the Hebrew letters hold special things for us today. Each letter is a number and a special symbol from YHWH. This is just like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Don t get confused about this! When someone today says they need some zzzz s they are saying that they need to get some sleep. They don t need a bunch of Z letters. The letter Z is a symbol of sleep. Each Hebrew letter is just like that! Hebrew letters are signs and numbers. We can look at the Hebrew letters and find special meaning. For example, there are 7 days in a week. The number 7 is the number of divine completion and wholeness. There are 10 Commandments. The number 10 is the number of law and order. This week s Torah portion is named shemini. This word on the eighth. It was on the eighth day that Moses called Aharon and his sons to make an offering to YHWH. This was eight days after YHWH began setting the sons of Aharon apart for a special job as priests. The number eight, shemini or shemonei, is the symbolic number of new life. When the world was covered by the flood of water, it was Noah who was the "eighth person" (2 Peter 2:5) who stepped out on to a new earth. "Eight souls" (1 Peter 3:20) came to the new world. On the eighth day of life, all Hebrew boys are to be circumcised. After seven days of a week the eighth day starts a new week. The eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is chet. In the Torah, numbers are more than just numbers. Letters are not just letters. Here s a chart of each Hebrew letter, its number and meaning. Name Letter Number Meaning Aleph a 1 Unity, sovereignty, whole Bet B 2 Gimel g 3 Dalet d 4 Division, witnessing Completeness, resurrection Weakness
Hey h 5 Vav w 6 Zayin z 7 Chet X 8 Tet j 9 Yod y 10 Kaph k 20, 500 Lamed l 30 Mem m 40, 600 Nun n 50, 700 Samekh S 60 Ayin [ 70 Peh P 80, 800 Tzaddi Ec 90, 900 Qoph K 100 Resh r 200 Shin v 300 Tav t 400 Grace, giant Man, manifestation of sin Completion, divine number New birth, new creation Plagues, fruit of the Spirit Legal number, testimony Going out and coming in; military; generation; redemption Priest hood, dedications, blood Generation, divine discipline, trials, probation, testing Congregation, Ruach HaKodesh, Holy Spirit Worldly production, pride Elder, pastor, teacher, Yisra'el Strength, saints Election, new order Divine production, election of grace Insufficiency Almighty Being without TORAH TALK What does the name of this portion mean? What is the main subject of this portion? What commandments are in this portion? How did YHWH show His love to man in this portion?
Why is this portion special? How can you live this portion? Did you read about the Messiah in this portion? Where? What did you learn from the Torah? HEBREW LESSON REVIEW THE HEBREW VOWELS: In Hebrew the vowels are not letters like a, e, i, or o. The vowels in Hebrew are special marks placed near a letter like dots, lines, or the t symbol. Remember that Hebrew is read from right to left. So, a Hebrew letter with a dot underneath it has a different sound than a letter with a dot on top. Where the vowel mark is placed determines the vowel s sound. The name of the vowel mark also gives the sound of the vowel. For example the vowel named patach has the ah sound. The vowel cholem has the oh sound. Review the chart and read each letter and it s sound out loud. Then below the chart fill in the blanks to make your own Hebrew vowel chart.
Activity Ideas Go grocery shopping! Make a list of items you see that are kosher / clean and considered food by YHWH. Make another list of items that are not food. Why would people eat items that are not food? Continue learning the Hebrew letters. Memorize the numbers that each letter stands for in the chart provided. The first 10 are really easy! Help your parents make a clean kosher blessed meal. Say thanks to YHWH before and after you eat. Enjoy YHWH s food..
YHWH says this IS food YHWH says this is NOT food