Kehilat Hamashiah

Instructions About Washings
Over the last several weeks, we have been establishing the bedrock of our faith, exploring the first pairing, the first dyad, of the elementary principles found in Hebrews 6: Repentance from dead works and Faith toward Adonai. We learned that Repentance (Teshuvah) and Faith (Emunah) are the internal, foundational orientations of the heart. They are how we turn away from the realm of death and embrace the rock of Israel.

This week, we transition to the second foundational dyad: "Instructions about washings, and the laying on of hands." If the first dyad was about our internal orientation, this second dyad is about our outward, physical, communal reality. These two principles are intimately connected. The "instructions about washings" focuses vertically on our holiness and purity before Adonai. "The laying on of hands" focuses horizontally on our identification and connection with one another. Purity and Community. Holiness and Identification.

Join us this Shabbat as we dive into the "instructions about washings" and see that it isn't just about a one-time Christian ritual. It's the Torah calling us to look honestly in the mirror every day, and fully joining ourselves to the "Undead One," Messiah Yeshua

The Laying on of Hands: Identification and Designation.
We have been navigating the six elementary principles the writer lists in Hebrews 6, which are structured as three thematic dyads, or pairs. We established the first dyad—the internal orientation of the heart—through Repentance from dead works and Faith toward Adonai. Then, we moved into the second dyad, which deals with our external, communal reality. Last week we started with Instruction about washings (immersions), the theology of the basin, where we examine ourselves, leave the residue of death behind, and identify with the Undead One, Yeshua.
This week, we come to the participatory partner of purification: The Laying on of Hands (in Hebrew, Semichah). Washings deal with our purity; the laying on of hands deals with our connection, identity, and responsibility as we see that Adonai uses touch as the physical mode of actively taking personal responsibility for our actions and relationships.

Back to Basics: Abram's Amen, Pt 1
The active nature of "Trust toward Adonai" results necessarily in an inward posture of trust and an outward life of obedience. This message we will go on a side quest to examine the relationship between Righteousness (Hebrews 5:13) and Trust/Faith (Hebrews 6:1) by first seeing how Torah understands Righteousness (Tzedakah) and how 2nd Temple Judaism reimagined it.

In our Back to Basics series from Hebrews 5:11-6:2 we are seeking to understand how mature, Kingdom-focused living in Yeshua requires fully training our senses with the elementary principles—the "milk"—of Messiah. Last week, we completed our exploration of the first principle: Repentance from Dead Works. We learned that it is an active turning away from the futile attempt to justify ourselves, replacing dead actions with good works. Today, we move to the necessary partner of that repentance: Faith towards Adonai. Biblical faith is not merely an intellectual agreement to a set of theological facts. It is a firm, active, and steadfast attachment —fundamentally present in all human beings - which finds its only true and secure expression in the God of Israel and His Messiah.