2008-04-26 Sat 4:00a Guatemala City

Yesterday (Fri)

While investigating Jewish thought on how Abraham mentored his son Isaac, for the essay I’m writing on Mentoring for Mission, I came across Dr. Shlomo Riskin’s message on the internet, given on Passover (Easter) last year 2007, in Efrat, Israel (between Bethlehem and Hebron) where he is Chief Rabbi. Riskin has founded a network of High Schools, Colleges and graduate schools in which he’s introducing a paradigm shift from the traditional Jewish negative attitude toward the Gentiles, teaching very strongly from the Talmud respect for all nations. He’s one of the foremost authorities of Orthodox Jewry.

A few years ago Riskin was asked to speak at two Universities in China. His topic was “The Mystery of Jewish Survival”. He says the answer to that mystery is rooted in family. “God promised Abraham he would be a father of a family… When people live together, they have common stories, foods that they like, experiences that they share and experiences of parents, grandparents and great grandparents, family stories that they share.” The Jewish feasts are opportunities for retelling the stories that give national identity and destiny to their families. Many of the stories are sung.

Once he was invited to visit a group of Jews in India near the border of Bangladesh who claim to come from the lost tribe of Manasseh. They wanted to study the Torah in English. While visiting with them he heard them “sing a two hour long song in the Mesel (?) dialect, that begins with Adam and Eve and ends with the destruction of the temple, and was filled with yearning for Zion.”

Though I don’t believe in much of Riskin’s theology, his message made me appreciate an aspect of biblical faith that seems to have gotten lost in Christianity, perhaps by its institutionalization—the art of family story telling which forms identity, and transmits life, joy and wonder to our children. When Jesus came into my life at age 22 my family knew nothing of Him. I began to sing His love song to them and share His story and one by one they began to come. We lose life in our family when we don’t spend time with our children and grandchildren, daily in our home and at special holidays like Christmas and Easter, singing God’s love song with them and relating to them our stories of His care. If we do this when they’re very young, they’ll still love it when they’re older, and it will become their treasure and our legacy.

You can download Riskin’s hour and a half long message at http://ots.org.il/index.htm titled “Rabbi Riskin’s Shabbat Hagadol Drasha 2007-5767”.

2 Kings 16-18
16–17 – Recounts the destruction of the 10 tribes of northern Israel. Because they forsook the Lord, for God to continue His mission to reveal Himself to the nations, he brought the nations to the land of Israel, and repopulated the area with them. Then he brought back some priests to teach the nations respect for Yahweh, the God of that land (17:24-28). God will carry out His mission with or without us. He invites us to participate in His renewing process.

18 – King Hezekiah of Judah, under the influence of the prophet Isaiah, brought temporary revival to the southern kingdom. God was able to defend Jerusalem against the Assyrian invasion, destroying their entire army of 185,000 soldiers by 1 angel.

Prayer Power…
Teach us Your ways, oh Lord, and show us Your paths of life. We pray for each of our family members that they will see You in us for who You are and themselves in You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Psalm 115 – “You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is our help and shield.” v11

Proverbs 26 – This chapter emphasizes the characteristics of one who is a fool. The great tragedy is that his foolishness is hidden from his own eyes. Only a divine awakening can turn him from his way. He deceives his own heart (v24).