SHUVOO NEWSLETTER
Issue No. 32 – March 15,
2007
It is the desire of
Shuvoo to awaken within all people the importance of mankind turning to the
Torah at this time in history. For Jews,
there is a specific responsibility to Torah, but also for Gentiles. The nations of the world are accountable to
the Universal Laws of Torah. In recent
years, many 100’s of thousands of God-fearing and Torah-loving Gentiles have
been struggling with their spiritual identities and seeking to find answers in
the midst of much religious confusion. These groups have created, been given,
and co-opted various
names of
identification. Shuvoo wishes to simply
speak to the God-fearers
of the nations, and to
speak especially to our own people, the Jewish nation,
of our unique
responsibility in sharing the Light of Torah at a time when
confusion and darkness
increase with each passing day.
Colored pencil sketch adaptation of
photo of the men and women’s
Courts at the Western Wall. (© Ashirah Yosefah 2007)
Before We Compel Others,
Should We Not Compel Ourselves?
For Jews,
the past two millennia have greatly obscured our role as light unto the
nations. “Bnei Noach” (the Talmudic term
given to Righteous Gentiles of the nations) and the Universal Torah Laws to
which they are accountable have not been the focus of Jewish awareness. Be assured, there was good reason for this
lack. To have dared to teach the
Universal Torah Laws to Gentiles in the lands of our exile would have been
considered incitement and insurrection by the religions governing these
nations. Jewish persecution and murder
was rampant without any attempt to share the light of the Universal Torah. Now, however, Jews have returned to Eretz
Yisrael and with this comes a responsibility to fulfill the command to be a
light unto nations that the Torah should go forth from
When Shuvoo
was first being contemplated, its founders went to seek the counsel and the
blessing of Rabbi Yoel Schwartz. Rabbi
Schwartz has sacrificially devoted over forty years of his life to studying and
teaching the commandment for
When our
lives reveal Hashem in this world and when we encourage God-fearing Gentiles to
keep the Universal Torah commandments, Jews fulfill the commandment to be a
light unto the nations. In doing so, we
are proactively fulfilling the first obligation under the Shema. Not an unworthy deed and certainly not one
that should undermine or weaken anyone’s Jewish identity.
Each
morning when Jews daven, we say the blessing “Blessed are You, Hashem, King of
the Universe, Who has created me according to His Will.” Just before this, we also say, “Blessed are
you, Hashem, King of the Universe, Who has not made me a gentile.” I often pause at this one. Truth is, God did make me a gentile the day I
was born, and Hashem does not make mistakes…
For the
rest of this essay, go to:
Ashirah Yosefah
Ad Matai /
Shuvoo
Rehov
Cremieux 6A/1