Vayikrah/ Leviticus 12:1 – 13:59
Haftará: Yekhezkel / Ez. 45:16 – 46:18
Shabbat Hachodesh: Shemot / Ex. 12:1-20
Brit Hadashah/Covenant Renewed: Peter 2:4-10
Tazria means “she conceives“
This Shabbat is very special. It’s not just Shabbat or a day of rest. It is Rosh Chodesh Aviv and Rosh Hashana / Beginning of the month and beginning of the year. It’s a New Month and a New Year. And today’s parashah is Tazria wants means “when she conceives or gives birth.” And today we are “born” in a “new” place. You are here not by chance. You’re here because you knew you had a date with HaShem that you couldn’t miss.
I want to take you at the beginning to B’reshit / Gen. 1:13-19 (14-18).
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי מְאֹרֹת בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם לְהַבְדִּיל בֵּין הַיֹּום וּבֵין הַלָּיְלָה וְהָיוּ לְאֹתֹת וּלְמֹועֲדִים וּלְיָמִים וְשָׁנִֽים׃
14 Vayomer Elohim: yehí meorot birekía hashamáyim lehavdil bein hayom uvein halailah, vehayú leotot, ulemoadím, uleyamím veshaním.
14 Elohim said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to divide the day from the night; let them be for signs, seasons, days, and years.
15 and let them be for lights in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth”; and that is how it was.
16 Elohim made the two great lights — the larger light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night — and the stars.
17 Elohim put them in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth,
18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness, and Elohim saw that it was good.
19 So there was evening, and there was morning, the fourth day.
The word “moedim” has been translated as “seasons,” which is not bad, but would give another meaning to the prayer or the purpose for which HaShem created them.
Moedim in Hebrew also means “Appointed Times“.
When you hear “ Appointed Times,” what do you think?
When we call a doctor to make an appointment, what do you do?
He prepares in advance for that “appointed times”.
What happens if you are late for that “appointed time“?
Or what happens if you don’t make it to that “appointed times“?
Now, who is setting the “appointed times“? HaShem.
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹֽר׃
Vayedaber Adonay el-Moshe lemor.
דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם מֹועֲדֵי יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר־תִּקְרְאוּ אֹתָם מִקְרָאֵי קֹדֶשׁ אֵלֶּה הֵם מֹועֲדָֽי׃
Daber el-beney Yisra’el ve’amarta alehem mo’adey Adonay asher-tikre’u otam mikra’ey kodesh eleh hem mo’aday.
2 “Tell the people of Israel: ‘The designated times of Adonai which you are to proclaim as holy convocations are my designated times.
Now, who is setting the “appointed times“? HaShem.
Are they times from the Jews? NO.
Are they times from the Gentiles? NO.
They are “Appointed Times” by HaShem, our Elohim.
What are the Sun and Moon for?
To point out that ” Appointed Times “.
They are all with me. They understand what the Torah / Bible says.
Also, the word Torah has been translated as Law, and it is not wrong, but if you remember when HaShem gave the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel, they had just been freed from slavery under Paroh / Pharaoh’s command of Mitzraim / Egypt.
HaShem was giving them some ‘Instructions’ on how to live ‘Free’ from slavery.
He told them, in other words, “this is how they are going to live from now on.“
So, Torah is not only Law, but they are also instructions on how to live with your neighbor and how to live before HaShem, your Elohim.
Now let’s go to Shemot / Ex. 12:1-2
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לֵאמֹֽר׃
Vayomer Adonay el-Moshe ve’el-Aharon be’erets Mitsrayim lemor.
And Adonai spoke to Moses and Aharon in the land of Mitsrayim, saying,
הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים רִאשֹׁון הוּא לָכֶם לְחָדְשֵׁי הַשָּׁנָֽה׃
Hajodesh hazeh lajem rosh jodashim rishon hu lajem lejodeshey hashanah.
This month will be the beginning of the months; it will be the first of the months of the year.
HaShem recommends that the Hebrew month “Nisan” or “Aviv” be considered as the first of the months of the Israelite year (even though, according to Jewish tradition, the world was created on the first day of the month of Tishrei), thus indicating the beginning of Hebrew life and its redemption.
The month of Nisan is the month of deliverance for the Israelite people, for whose sake the holiday of Passover (Pesach) is celebrated.
Indeed, what can the days, seasons and feast mean for a slave people?
For him time does not run its course, and his existence is like an eternal night.
It was precisely with their deliverance that the Israelites began to count the time and dates.
We have said that we are celebrating today.
And we are going to celebrate His feast with the freedom that Yeshua HaMashiach has given us. (Yochanan/John 8:36)
“So, if the Son sets you free, you will be truly free.”
This week’s parsha tells us about Tazria” / “when she gives birth“.
But this parsha also tells us about the Brit Mila / the Pact of Circumcision.
In other words, if we are going to start a New Year, in a New Place, we must allow HaShem to Circumcise our Stone Hearts and give us a New Heart to Feel and See His Kavot / His Glory / His Shechinah / His Presence.
Shabbat Shalom Mishpocha!