In Revelation 3:14 it is written:
To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
In Revelation 19:11 it is written:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
Wow! The fall moedim were really a blessing this year. The timing was very challenging with two children in public schools, though. The moedim coupled with some recent trips out of town and other school and work related activities have left the family desperately in need of a day of rest. G-d is good and He has provided a wonderful day of rest in His Shabbat and we most DEFINITELY rested today! :)
All this recent activity has left little time for study and writing articles. I wanted to provide an update on what's going on behind the scenes to let everyone know that work is still ongoing but has slowed a great deal.
The Sabbath day began at the end of the first week of creation (Genesis 2:2). The Word of G-d tells us that He blessed the seventh day and separated it as a holy day (Genesis 2:3). If the Sabbath was given before Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's time and was created for them for them to observe was it also not created for us? If we are to be doers and hearers of the Word, shouldn’t we observe the Sabbath just as our Lord and Savior did?
That is the question. But what is the answer?
Yes, that was a riff on Shakespeare's famous "to be or not to be... " line from Hamlet. Let me be fair and clarify the question:
The question I am trying to answer is whether or not the Talmud should serve as a guide regarding Torah observance. One group in my congregation says "yes!"... another group in my congregation says "no!". I wanted to jot down my thoughts about both sides of the issue. I don't know if I will come to an answer any time soon (likely not!) but it's cathartic nonetheless.