From Parasha: Ki Tetze

 

Case of the Rebellious Son

Tags:  accountability, court, parenting, parents, rebellious son, stoning, teenagers

The study of Torah is the study of God. When God revealed Himself to us, He did not give us a systematic theology, creeds, recipes or diagrams. He gave us laws. Yet they are more than just laws intended to tidy up human society. They are actual pieces of godliness. Each commandment is a small revelation of God. More than just a rule for governing human behavior, the laws of Torah are a reflection of the Lawgiver....
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The Least of the Commandments

Tags:  commandments, compassion, emotional pain, empathy, mercy

A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal, but even the compassion of the wicked is cruel. (Proverbs 12:10) ...
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Stoning Rebellious Children

Tags:  children, discipline, disobedience, parenting, parents, rebellious son, stoned, stoning, teenage rebellion, teenagers

Do not hold back discipline from the child, although you strike him with the rod, he will not die. You shall strike him with the rod and rescue his soul from Sheol. (Proverbs 23:13-14) ...
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Love and War

Tags:  parents

A popular English maxim states, "All's fair in love and war." The implication is that rules of proper conduct can be suspended when fighting on the field of battle and when playing on the field of romance. The Torah disagrees. ...
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Accursed of God

Tags:  curse of the law

Rabbi Meir said, "There is a parable about this matter. To what can it be compared? It can be compared to two identical twin brothers. Both lived in a certain city. One was appointed king, and the other became a bandit. At the king's command they hanged the bandit. But everyone who saw him hanging there said, "The king has been hung!" Therefore the king issued a command and he was taken down. (b.Sanhedrin 46b)...
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A Glutton and a Drunkard

Tags:  parents, repentance, stoned, teenagers

This commandment, however, reminds us that before God, we are all “stubborn and rebellious” sons and daughters. We are wayward at heart and disobedient to our Father in Heaven. As a result, we have all merited a death sentence before the heavenly court....
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The Escaped Slave and Philemon

Paul, a prisoner of Messiah Yeshua, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker, and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the [congregation] in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Yeshua Messiah… (Philemon 1–3)...
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