Many people who are realizing the importance of following the Torah begin by celebrating Shabbat on the seventh day. The first question they may ask is, “How do you celebrate Shabbat?” Most people automatically turn to our Jewish brothers and sisters for guidance rather than the written Torah. The Torah is overwhelming at first and learning where to begin can be very challenging. In the beginning we are overzealous to get started and think we are taking a short-cut by turning to the knowledge of the Rabbis. We have left behind old doctrines which have left a hole in our belief system and we are anxious to fill this gap with truth or what we perceive as truth in our new found belief system. We have travelled this road ourselves and after 14 years, we encourage people who have taken the first step towards change to proceed with caution.
Rabbinic Judaism and Messianic Judaism offer tremendous insights and wisdom that provide enlightenment but unless you know and understand the written Torah, you will not be able to discern between truth and manmade doctrine. Let me give you an example in Rabbinic Judaism and Messianic Judaism. In the Shabbat service at sundown on Friday evening, the woman of the house may say the following words:
Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe, Who sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us to kindle the Sabbath light.
This is a very beautiful ceremony but where is this commandment to kindle the Sabbath light in the written Torah? If people are unfamiliar with the written Torah, they will not realize that this commandment is not found in the written Torah and was never spoken by YHWH. Here is another example.
Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who sanctifies us with his commandments, and commands us concerning washing of hands.
Where is the commandment to wash our hands in the written Torah? Yeshua discussed hand washing with the scribes and the Pharisees in the following passage quoted from the Scriptures version:
Mattithyahu (Matthew) 15:1-9 Then there came to יהושע scribes and Pharisees from Yerushalayim, saying, “Why do Your taught ones transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” But He answering, said to them, “Why do you also transgress the command of Elohim1 because of your tradition? Footnote: 1See Mat. 5:20. “For Elohim has commanded, saying, ‘Respect your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me has been dedicated,” is certainly released from respecting his father or mother.’ So you have nullified the command of Elohim by your tradition. “Hypocrites! Yeshayahu rightly prophesied about you, saying, ‘This people draw near to Me with their mouth, and respect Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. ‘But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as teachings the commands of men.’ ”1 Footnote: 1Isa. 29:13, Mk. 7:7, 2 Ki. 17:19.
The scribes and Pharisees were teaching people the traditions of men when they were teaching people the hand washing ceremony before eating food. Yeshua and his disciples did not submit to this teaching by the scribes and the Pharisees because it is a manmade doctrine not found in the written Torah. Hand washing and lighting candles may seem to be harmless activities with beautiful symbolic meaning but consider the following commandment in the written Torah.
Debarim (Deuteronomy) 12:32 “All the words I am commanding you, guard to do it – do not add to it nor take away from it.1 Footnote: 1See also 4:2, Prov. 30:6, Rev. 22:18-19.
YHWH spoke this commandment and He is very clear by what He means. There is no commandment in the written Torah to kindle the Sabbath light or to wash hands. These prayers lead people to believe that YHWH Elohim commanded these activities to be done on Shabbat. These commandments have added to the written Torah which YHWH specifically prohibits. Sin is transgression of the Torah as described by Mosheh (Moses) in the following passage quoted from the Scriptures version.
Vayikra (Leviticus) 5:17 “And when any being sins, and has done what is not to be done, against any of the commands of יהוה, though he knew it not, yet he shall be guilty and shall bear his crookedness.
Adding to and subtracting from the Torah is a sin against YHWH. Yeshua and his disciples did not wash their hands as the scribes and Pharisees taught because it would have been a sin against YHWH which is why Yeshua asked them the following question in Mattithyahu (Matthew) 15:1-9 when discussing the issue of hand washing:
“Why do you also transgress the command of Elohim because of your tradition?”
This question is as relevant today as it was when Yeshua walked this earth. The traditions of the scribes and Pharisees are also known as the Oral Torah of Mosheh (Moses). The Oral Torah includes teachings, discussions and decisions made by Rabbis throughout the ages. It is their interpretation of the written Torah that they teach to their people. There is wisdom within these writings but there are also commandments imposed upon people that are not sufficiently supported by the written Torah. The Shabbat service is just one of those teachings.
Avi Ben Mordechai wrote a commentary on Galatians that provides extensive detail on the Oral Torah proving that it is the subject of Shaul’s letter to the Galatians. Nehemiah Gordon also wrote an excellent book called The Hebrew Yeshua vs. the Greek Jesus that includes his personal testimony in Rabbinic Judaism. Nehemiah Gordon is now a Karaite Jew who does not adhere to the Oral Torah taught by Rabbinic Judaism. Understanding the difference between the written Torah and the Oral Torah brings clarity to some of the teachings written by the disciples of Yeshua.
Everything we need to know to celebrate Shabbat is in the written Torah. We can gain even further understanding by learning the Hebrew words underlying our translations. If Rabbis teach us principles, let us ask them to show us where it is in the written Torah just as the Bereans in the book of Acts:
Acts 17:10-12 And the brothers immediately sent Sha’ul and Sila away by night to Beroia, who, having come, went into the congregation of the Yehuḏim. Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonike, who received the word with great eagerness, and searched the Scriptures daily, if these words were so. Then many of them truly believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, decent women as well as men.
The Bereans verified the teachings of Shaul (Paul) and Sila with the Scriptures. We can do the same. We can ask the following questions:
Where does YHWH tell us to kindle the Sabbath light in the written Torah?
Where does YHWH tell us to wash our hands in the written Torah?
If our teachers and leaders can provide the evidence in the written Torah, then we can apply these teachings to our lives with the confidence that what we are doing is right and pleasing in His sight.
In following lessons, we are going to take a closer look at the Hebrew words underlying the commandment to observe the Shabbat on the seventh day and discuss how to apply them to our lives. If you feel we are in error, please provide the scriptural support for your position and we will consider your perspective on the matter. If you are just beginning to observe the Shabbat on the seventh day, go to the written Torah in prayer and ask Him what you should do first. Learn from the Torah right from the start and proceed with caution. My husband and I are more than happy to help in any way we can.
Shalom!
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