Hebrew Voices #117 – Live from Quarantine #3

You are listening to Hebrew Voices with Nehemia Gordon. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon's Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

Keith: So Nehemia, is it true that Wednesday night, April 8th, people around the world from different faiths will shelter in grace?

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: And they will remember the story of redemption, and we need redemption now.

Nehemia: Shalom, this is Nehemia Gordon with Hebrew Voices, and I am here today, once again, with…

Keith: Wait, wait, wait. This is not Hebrew Voices right now. This is Live From Quarantine…

Nehemia: We’re going to say, “Live From Quarantine”.

Keith: By the way, Hebrew Voices, if people have not listened to it, what you do a really powerful job of, is that you play the role… not play the role, you are in the role of interviewing really important people.

Nehemia: Yeah.

Keith: And I have a surprise guest that you’re going to have to interview right now, because you’re supposed to ask me the question real quick, “What’s that behind you, Keith? What’s the background?” Every week, you ask me what’s my background, so ask me what is my background.

Nehemia: It’s your Christmas decorations.

Keith: It is not. But I have someone that I have been in quarantine with for 14 days and have been married to for 30-some years, who came up with a really, really cool thing we do at our house around this time, and I want you to interview her. It’s my wife, Andrea. I want you to ask her what that is, back there.

Andrea, would you come over here and talk to the master Hebrew Voices interviewer, Nehemia Gordon? And I want him to ask you about this wonderful tradition that you started at our house.

Andrea: Hey, Nehemia.

Nehemia: Hey, Andrea. How are you doing? Good to see you.

Andrea: I’m good.

Nehemia: So, tell us about the tradition with the red thing you have in the back there. What’s going on there?

Andrea: You know, I’ve always felt a conviction to observe the Passover. And even when we were pastoring at the United Methodist Church, we had Good Friday, and Easter, but we never actually were instructed to liturgically observe the Passover. But I’ve just always felt that it’s such a beautiful observance, and we’ve always tried to integrate it into our home.

So, reading the Scriptures in Exodus, I just became really convicted when I would read in Exodus 12, verse 21, after Moses called together the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go take yourselves lambs for your families for the Passover,” and gave them provisions and instructions on how to do that. It says in verse 22, “And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel, and the two doorposts. And none of you shall go outside the door of this house until morning.”

And so, I wanted to give some sort of idea and expression to make these words of Scripture living, for our family. So, I was led to take a piece of fabric and prepare a red fabric over the posts of our door, and then this little bunch of flowers that are in the spirit of hyssop, and place them on the side of the doorposts. And the way that this kind of unfolds for our family each year is that before we have our Passover dinner, we gather together outside the front of the house, and somebody… usually, when our boys were a lot younger, somebody would be reading the story of the Passover and these particular Scriptures, while another one of us was actually hanging up this cloth over the doorway.

Nehemia: I love it.

Andrea: Yeah, it was really neat. You know, our children are all grown now, and so for several years we’ve had other kinds of dinners with friends and associated family. And when we’re really fortunate, maybe we’ll have one or two of them to be able to join us again, so we continue the tradition. So, whoever is with us for Passover observance, we’ll gather outside the door.

Nehemia: So, you lived in China. And when I was in China, I saw that around the time of Chinese New Year, they do this thing where they put red across the top and across the sides. And I looked into it, and I saw some, like wow, this is just like what it describes in the Torah with the Pesach in Egypt, and it was done then in future generations.

And so, I asked the question, “Where did this come from? Where did this idea come from, of putting red around the door in China?” And they have a legend that there was a dragon that would come every year and would kill children around the time of the Chinese New Year. One year, they put out a child, they said, “Okay, we’ll put out a child for the dragon to kill.” And one year, the child was dressed in red and the dragon was scared away.

And I thought, “Wow, this really does sound like it’s an echo of… they heard the story of the exodus from Egypt. They confused the details, because it’s not a dragon, it’s either the angel of death or Yehovah Himself, depending on how you interpret it, but it’s this plague that comes upon Egypt. So, they have a form of that which they still commemorate around this time of year. A little bit earlier, but around this time of year, where they have red on the doorposts. I love what you’ve done here, this is very cool. What a beautiful tradition. I love that.

Andrea: Yeah.

Nehemia: And what I love about it is, you’re not saying, “Hey, we have to do this,” or, “We’re required to do this. God commanded us to do this.” You’re saying, “No, God commanded us to put blood on the door posts. We’re not doing that today, because we’re not in Israel with the Temple, so we do something symbolic to represent that.” I really love that idea, that’s beautiful.

Andrea: Yes. And personally, throughout the years, we’ve encountered challenges and struggles, perhaps it’s friends who are going through difficulties. I think even each place that our sons have lived, or their bedroom doors when they were younger, we are always entitled to think about this Passover as being as this great passing over of evil that does not touch our homes, our spirit, our lives. So, I encourage people to use whatever creative expression you have to do that.

And often, over those doorposts of challenging situations, you may just even go in your mind there. Every apartment our boys have ever lived in, even sometimes at night, as I mentioned, at night before they would go to sleep as younger children, I would just place that image of the Passover over their doorway at night. We are able, in the power of Yehovah, to still pronounce that Passover blessing over places of trouble. And so, we’re all experiencing that right now. I encourage us to walk in that authority, that we still have this power to place the blood on the doorposts, the blood of the lamb over the doorposts, and encourage our Father’s life instead of the death that’s surrounding us.

Nehemia: And of course, we’re not telling people that this is instead of medical advice and social distancing. This is, as you say, prayerfully, symbolically… still follow recommended guidelines of social distancing. Because there, literally they put the blood on, and death didn’t come into that door. This was a promise from Yehovah. Here, this is a symbolic thing. We want to be really careful not to mix the two. But yeah, I think it’s a beautiful symbolism you have there, absolutely.

So, one of the teachings I’ve done is called something like “Passover, Pesach, Feast of Protection.” So, the biblical meaning of Pesach, we usually translate it as Passover, but actually, the biblical meaning of Pesach is “protection.” And the image we have there in the Torah, in the Exodus, is that the angel, or sometimes it’s described as the angel of death or the plague, that passed over Egypt, and then Yehovah protected the house of the Israelites from that death coming in. And so really if you look in the Tanakh, the symbolism there is that Yehovah is our Pesach. Yehovah is our protection.

Keith: Amen.

Nehemia: Wow, what a beautiful symbolism you have there. Thank you for coming on the program and sharing that. I’m sorry, this is Hebrew Voices, Live From Quarantine, with Keith’s wife, Andrea. And now, back to Keith, shalom.

Andrea: Bless you.

Keith: Okay, you can do more than one program at once. Great job.

Nehemia: This was a surprise. What a beautiful testimony.

Keith: That’s beautiful. You know, what’s interesting, Nehemia, to have Andrea do this, is that every single year, no matter when it’s time to go do that, it’s just a really, really stark reminder of not only the symbolism, but the power of listening to Yehovah’s instruction and actually doing it. And listen, let’s all be clear. Under no circumstance do we believe that we are fulfilling the Passover sacrifice, which cannot be done right now. But it’s just the idea of reading and putting into place this type of thing.

I always like to say this; it’s not a matter of what you have to do, it’s what you get to do. We get to enter into it this time of year, so I know we’re going to get right into Passover and discuss it, and we need to pray. But thanks to Andrea for what she does in our house. She’s that Proverbs 31 person who leads in so many different ways, and this is one of them, that really has blessed our family over the years. I want to pray with you…

Nehemia: In a way, Keith, this is a fulfilment of Passover. In other words, we have this idea in the Tanakh, in Hosea chapter 14 and Psalm 51, of prayer in place of sacrifice, when you can’t bring a sacrifice you offer the bulls of your lips. You offer sacrifices of the contrite spirit. Now, we’re not literally splashing blood around, but here, symbolically, this can represent the blood that then Yehovah will see, and He would honor, and hopefully, He will honor and protect the house. Beautiful symbolism. I’ve got to go outside and get some fabric…

Keith: Actually, I want to challenge people to do something. We’ll get into this in a little bit, but I would really like to challenge people to consider this symbolism at this time of year, and we’re going to talk about that. But I want to take in the spirit of what you just said regarding prayer, that prayer is our sacrifice. So, let’s open with prayer right now, and you pray first, and then I’ll pray.

Nehemia: Yehovah, Avinu shebashamayim, Yehovah, our Father in Heaven, we need You right now in this time of plague to protect the entrances of our homes, protect the holes in our bodies from this disease coming in and infecting us. And those who are in the hospitals, Yehovah, we need You to protect them from this pneumonia.

Yehovah, please, we ask You to put Your protection, to be our Pesach and protect us from all the diseases of Egypt, and the ones that were not named, from all these plagues. I ask especially that You be with the people who are alone, and people who are afraid, the people who can’t be with friends and family, who are doing quarantine and sheltering in place. Yehovah, please protect them, in Your Holy Name, Yehovah, amen.

Keith: Father, thank you so much for this opportunity to share. Thank you that we have found a platform that’s reaching people. Thank you for the many people that are encouraged during this time. We pray that You will continue to encourage them, and as the news continues to report bad news, we have good news in You. We have good news in who You are, and who we are, as Your people. We pray that You’ll continue to watch over all of Your children. And just, Father, we ask that You would intervene in this situation and that the world would know that You are God, and You are the One who is able to do what we see in Scripture so many times, when You stay Your hand regarding this, and intervene. And we pray that that would happen, and people would then turn to You and know, and be able to say, “Yehovah, hu haElohim,” Yehovah, He is God. So, thank you so much for this opportunity and bless You, in Your name, amen.

Nehemia: Amen. Can we quickly jump into what Passover… So, there’s a sacrifice, right? We can’t do the sacrifice today. What can we do today? I want to jump into that real quick and then ask, what about today? Meaning, this year with the great pandemic, the Wuhan Coronavirus that’s upon us.

And can I just make a comment here? I had some people say to me, “Nehemia, you’re not allowed to call it the Wuhan Coronavirus, the Chinese Coronavirus, because that’s racist, and it’s bad for Chinese people.” So, I decided to do something a little bit radical. I typed in “Chinese Wuhan Coronavirus” to see, are Chinese people using it? And it turns out that that’s the phrase that they’re using in Taiwan. And according to the Taiwanese, it’s actually a Chinese Communist Party talking point. Maybe we’ve got some collusion going on here. There are these talking points in the Chinese Communist Party to deflect not to call it the Wuhan Coronavirus. I think 10 years from now people aren’t going to remember COVID-19, they’re going to remember this Wuhan Coronavirus. But whatever, it doesn’t matter.

I want to look at what we can do today. So, can we look just quickly at Exodus 12?

Keith: We’re going to get into a little battle today, because I’m 100 percent excited that we’re going to look at Exodus 12. But there are a lot of people that I’ve found out that are listening, that don’t really know even about this time of year in terms of talking about Passover. So, I definitely want to do what you’re saying, 100 percent. But before we get to the actual Passover, can we just address for a second what time of year this is from a biblical standpoint?

Nehemia: So that’s in Exodus 12. So, there’s a famous discussion by the rabbis, and they say that the Torah should not have begun in Genesis 1:1, “Bereishit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve’et ha’aretz,” “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” They say, “It should have begun in Exodus 12 verse 2, because the first commandment that Israel was given as a people is not the creation, that’s not a commandment. The first commandment that Israel was given as a people is Exodus chapter 12 verse 2, where it says, “Hakhodesh hazeh lakhem rosh khodeshim, rishon hu lakhem lekhodshei hashana.” “This month is for you the beginning of months, first it is for you of the months of the year.” That’s the first commandment we have in the Torah is God’s time as it relates to the year. Later, the commandment concerning the Shabbat, and that’s in Exodus 16 after the exodus, but the first time they’re commanded any commandment as a people… we have the circumcision but that’s given to Abraham. But the first time Israel as a people is given a comment is here, Exodus 12 verse 2.

Keith: Here’s what’s interesting. So now let’s be practical. So, this is what it says from however many years ago, in the time of the exodus, the Father says that. So why have I been excited about this? It’s because this happens to be the time of year where it matches this ancient biblical text, that we’re within that time of year right now. And a lot of people that listen to us, and that we talk to, obviously know that. But there’s a bunch of new people that we’re reaching that are like, “What do you mean, you can know that it’s matched to this time of year?” And that’s something that’s really, really exciting, and I think that knowing that we’re in that time of year makes this even more practical, this whole idea of Passover. That basically, we can look up and say, “Okay, there’s the beginning of the month. We know what time of year it is, based on what’s happening in the earth, and here we are.”

And one more thing, we actually have some unity regarding the calendar, both from the Jewish perspective, those that are trying to follow the biblical calendar, even some of those that have different views regarding the Aviv.

Nehemia: The Jewish to mean the Rabbinical perspective, yeah.

Keith: The Rabbinical perspective. This year happens to be that we’re all kind of like… can I say, in sync, in sync.

Nehemia: Isn’t it interesting? That may be the first time I can remember that the biblical calendar and the Rabbinical calendar are on the same day. We’ve all come together, yet we’re in a time of… It’s unprecedented that we’re apart.

Keith: Exactly.

Nehemia: Like, “Wow.” And on that note, you know, there’s a lot of people who want to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. They want to observe Pesach. You brought on Andrea, your wife. Now, I would like to bring my mother to talk about what it’s like.

Keith: Are you really going to bring… You’re going to call your mother?

Nehemia: We’re going to call my mother right now. My mother, Dina Gordon, who is currently in Modi’in, Israel. I wanted to hear from her about what’s going on in Israel concerning people who maybe are in danger of being exposed to the virus, who are in high-risk groups, who have been told by the Israeli government, “You can’t go to Passover with your family.” Even if you’re sitting alone at home, you can’t do it.

And to give some context here in Orthodox Rabbinical Judaism, on Shabbat and on holidays, they don’t interact with electricity. So, because they’re not allowed to interact with electricity, what they’ll do is, they’ll leave electrical lights on, and they’ll turn electrical lights off before the holiday starts. But if you, for example, left the radio on, you’re not allowed to turn it off on the holiday. That’s the concept they have.

So, there are rabbis who issued a special dispensation to leave programs like Zoom running, so that people who otherwise couldn’t participate in a Passover Seder, that is, a ceremony commemorating the Passover sacrifice… it’s not just commemorating, it’s telling over the Passover story from Egypt, Exodus 12. People who can’t do that because of the social distancing and the fear of getting infected, they have the opportunity now, according to some Orthodox rabbis, not all, of leaving on WhatsApp, or Zoom, or something like that. There’ll be a video feed that they can participate in. So, this is unprecedented. Other rabbis have come out and said, “No, this is forbidden. You must be by yourself.”

Keith: What are you talking about? The two Chief Rabbinates said, “No, you can’t. Mamash, you’re you going to go by the Chief Rabbinate, David Lau, and all the…

Nehemia: The Chief Rabbis, yeah. Let’s hear what she has to say. Here is mother, Dina Gordon. Shalom, Mother. How are you doing?

Dina: Fine, great. I’m calling from Modi’in, a city in central Israel, and we’re discussing Pesach, Passover. Can I tell them how we’re arranging it when people are supposed to be isolated from one another? And because I am considered in one of the groups that are endangered, because of my age, I am supposed to be isolated from everybody else. So, what we’re planning to do is have the Seder at night via Zoom. That is, my family members will arrange to meet me via Zoom, and we’ll do all the Seder. I’ll be in my place, and they’ll be in their places. And the rabbis have given a more or less okay with it. Some have, some haven’t, as is typical. And that’s what we’re planning to do.

Nehemia: Mother, have you ever been by yourself, I guess, physically by yourself before, for a Passover Seder in your life?

Dina: No, of course not. Normally, it’s with as many friends and family as you can.

Nehemia: Wow, so this is the first in all of your years, and it’s because of the quarantine for the COVID-19, the Wuhan Coronavirus.

Dina: Right.

Nehemia: Tell us what’s going on, in Israel. I know you’ve got two dogs. Are you able to take them out and walk them? How do you get groceries?

Dina: Let me tell you all about that. First of all, yes, so far, my daughter has been running to the grocery for me and getting them. They have special early hours for people of my age to go into the grocery, but so far, I haven’t done it because of course, one can never be sure if the other people are okay.

As far as walking the dogs, you’re not supposed to. You’re not allowed to go more than 100 yards from your house in any direction. However, the exceptions are being made, and one of the exceptions is if you have a dog. So, my daughter and her kids come by and walk the dogs, because they’re thrilled to get out of the house, and they live quite close. They take turns in getting out of the house.

And in fact, one of the cartoons I came across was a man saying, “Honey, I’ve got to go take the dogs for a walk.” And she says, “Oh, but you’ve taken them out five times already this morning.” People suddenly are walking their dogs a lot.

Keith: Bubby Dina, hello.

Dina: Yes, yes. Hi, Keith.

Keith: This is your friend, Keith, and I have a question for you.

Dina: Sure.

Keith: So, here’s my question for you. How is your heart? How are you doing internally, with all of this that’s going on? I mean, it’s got to be difficult. How are you doing just emotionally? How are you doing…

Dina: You know, it’s amazing. People are coping. We’re a very communal kind of people, and so we’re using phones a lot. I can’t imagine how we would have done it before the invent of the cellphones, or whatever we call it, our devices and computers.

Keith: Thank you for that.

Nehemia: Mother, when’s the last time you left the house?

Dina: Oh, so I leave the house quite early, at 6 o’clock in the morning when it’s dark out, and nobody is around. It’s like a post-apocalyptic world. You don’t see anybody, and Keith, I have a kind of special dispensation to go out to walk the dogs.

Nehemia: You do the early morning walk, and then…

Dina: I do the early morning.

Nehemia: …they come to take them…

Dina: Then one of the kids comes over to take them out at other times. The dogs are very, very happy. They haven’t been taken out quite so much in their lives.

Keith: I want to ask you one question. As you mentioned earlier, there seems to be a big debate. There’s an article today in The Times of Israel saying the Chief Rabbinate has issued guidelines for Passover, saying that the Passover Seder cannot be held via video conference. Other rabbis have said that they are going to do that. When you hear that sort of debate, how does it affect you, practically?

Dina: Okay. Everybody’s different in their approach to religion, especially among Jews. My approach is, I take whatever permission is around and run with it, so to speak. If there are those who say that it’s okay, it’s okay by me.

Keith: That’s a classic Bubby Dina answer. Thank you, Bubby Dina.

Dina: Okay. Everybody has a different approach to how they do things here, and this is my approach. For example, some people insist on a special… How do you translate hekhsher, Nehemia?

Nehemia: Uh…

Dina: Okay, kosher-okay for Passover for certain things that I think don’t need it, like coffee and tea.

Nehemia: Or like toilet paper. No joke.

Keith: Get out of here.

Dina: No, it’s not a joke. Toilet paper, silver foil, aluminium foil…

Nehemia: Absolutely. They say that toilet paper’s kosher, even though you don’t eat it!

Dina: Aluminium foil is kosher.

Nehemia: Water.

Dina: Really, seriously.

Nehemia: Bottled water.

Dina: Yeah, bottled water.

Nehemia: The point is, you’ll always have people who are what we call “makhmirim”, who are looking to pile heavy burdens on people, and that makes them feel more holy.

Dina: Be stricter, to be stricter in certain ways, which I don’t agree with.

Nehemia: Is it really strict, is the question? It’s interesting, the word “makhmir” is related to the word “khamor”, which is donkey, because a donkey shares its load on its back. And makhmir is to like load on the donkey’s back, to load on stringencies.

Dina: I never thought of that.

Nehemia: Yeah.

Dina: Right.

Nehemia: And then also a donkey is known…

Dina: But it’s sort of like the hair shirts that the monks in medieval times used to wear, right?

Nehemia: I suppose.

Dina: To make life a little harder.

Nehemia: And the point is, if you didn’t have this ability to do it on Zoom, what would happen? Would you be sitting by yourself alone on Passover eve? Or would you risk going to someone’s house and getting sick?

Dina: No, the reason I wouldn’t risk going to someone’s house and being sick is, were I to get sick, I would add to the burden of the medical system. I mean, nobody wants to do… Well, most people don’t to do that. The medical establishment is doing amazing stuff, just amazing. For example, Ariella, your older sister, her college, the people who can, they’re all volunteering. They’re working in the medical field to help out. Her husband, who is a geneticist, is also working with the tests, the results of people to see if they have the virus or not. Everybody is doing what they can, and you don’t want to push the burden on them even more.

Nehemia: Right, right.

Dina: So as the cartoon goes, it used to be you’d see a man lying around, watching TV, and the wife is saying, “Boy, you’re so lazy.” And now she’s saying, “You’re really helping out your society by staying home and watching TV.”

Keith: Wait, Bubby Dina.

Dina: Yes, Keith.

Keith: Listen, you have always been, from the first time I met you until now, I knew that you would be one that would follow your heart and what is practical. You’ve shown that so many times, and I want to tell you, it’s great that we were able to talk to you, because you are a shining light, and you are a light to the nations. I want to thank you for sharing your perspective.

Dina: Well, thank you for that.

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: Mother, can you offer some Pesach greetings for people out there who might be alone, who might not even have someone to Zoom, to communicate with? And they can’t go visit. Could you offer a bracha for Pesach?

Dina: Yes, absolutely. May Hashem keep them safe and keep them healthy, and may next year we all celebrate together for Pesach with our families and our loved ones, amen.

Nehemia: Amen. Chag sameakh.

Dina: Okay, bye.

Keith: So here you’ve got the two Chief Rabbis of Israel saying, “No, you can’t do Zoom,” and then you’ve got others saying, “You can.” And your mother says, “Well, guess what? We look for ways that we can. We’ve got approval from some that say we can, so we’re going to do it.” I’m excited that she’s going to do it. She will not be alone, and the people that would normally go and visit homes of their family and others, this is the way that they’re going to get a chance to actually be in community, like what we’re doing right now. I mean, I think that’s pretty cool, and I’m glad that she’s going to do so. Your mother did that before, you know. The rabbis told her not to go to the Temple Mount and she did. That’s where you get it from, I’m pretty convinced.

Nehemia: There’s something to be said for that.

Keith: Absolutely.

Nehemia: Yeah.

Keith: But Nehemia, I want to ask you a question. You talked about this earlier. Just so I’m clear, what’s your calendar? Are you going to actually celebrate Passover this year? And when will you do that? What’s that based on?

Nehemia: All right, so based on the sighting of the new moon and the finding of the aviv barley in Israel, I will be holding my Passover Seder, that is the telling over of the story of the exodus, on the 8th of April 2020.

Keith: Awesome. On the evening of the 8th, you’re going to…

Nehemia: The 8th at sunset, I will be doing a Passover. It’s possible that I will be here in Dallas and be doing it with people on Zoom. I don’t know, we’ll see.

Keith: Let me just set this in context for a second, because this is really important what you just said.

Nehemia: Yeah.

Keith: You said, and your mother just said, from Israel, “Here’s what we’re going to be doing during Passover.” Well, what changed? So, what’s going on? At this time, as we all know, 80 percent of Americans are sheltering in place. Which means I have a family of 11 people that I invited for Passover, and they can’t come. They literally can’t come. You, normally… I don’t know what you normally do, but you normally aren’t going to do that. So Nehemia, I know you just mentioned when you’re going to celebrate Passover, but can I just share this with you? And this is why I was excited about doing this with you, is that this whole shelter in place thing, I have a new term. I want to introduce it here, and it’s called “shelter in grace”. We are sheltering in grace. There’s been a change, something has changed.

Yesterday, I could play it right now for you, but look at what happened last night. The President of the United States stood up and said this, last night. “This is a plague.” He actually used these words, and he said, “This really is a plague.” And I’m thinking to myself, “Wait a minute. So, we’re sheltering in place. It’s being called a plague. This is Passover. We’re going to be in our homes.” The first shelter-in-grace was Yehovah saying, “Go to your homes.” Now, it’s a little longer for us, but isn’t that interesting, that we’re actually at the time where the Israelites sheltered in grace? And where did they shelter in grace? The Father said, “Something’s out there, so you’ve got to go inside.”

Nehemia: So, tell us what’s involved in sheltering in grace.

Keith: So, sheltering in grace, I think about the first thing being this; is it not an act of grace from the Father, that this which is coming is deadly? However, He gives instruction how to stay away from that which is deadly, and He basically says, “Here’s what I want you to do. You do it this way. Here’s what I want you to do while you’re in your homes. And here’s why I’m doing this.” And we’re going to get to Exodus 12 where he says, “Because I’m about to do this thing.” Now, think about this, Nehemia; the grace being, the Father tells them, “Here’s what time it is.” And guess what? It’s that time for us.

Second of all, “Here’s what I want you to do. I want you to shelter. Go into your homes.” Then He tells them, “While you’re in your homes, in preparation to create this wonderful Passover, Pesach meal.” And at the end of that passage, then He says, “Here’s what I’m going to do.”

So, what’s the grace? The plague itself is terrible for the Egyptians, but it’s an act of grace for the Israelites. It’s coming.

Nehemia: So, one of the things I wanted to do here, I want to bring people… You know, they’re alone, they’re at home, they’re sheltering in place. Is it true, 80 percent of Americans, I didn’t know that…

Keith: 80 percent, as of this morning, are actually under a shelter in place order.

Nehemia: Wow. Oh, okay. Are they actually doing it, I guess, is a different question.

Keith: Hopefully, they are.

Nehemia: Hopefully they are, yeah. So, what I want to do is, I want to look at this concept of grace because, is that something that only people coming from a New Testament perspective have an opportunity to be involved in?

Keith: Absolutely not.

Nehemia: Look, there are some Christians… I just want to put this in context. There are some Christians who will say that, before there was the dispensation of law, now there’s the dispensation of grace. And so, I want to look at what grace is in the Tanakh. Do we have grace in the Tanakh? Or do I have? Do my Jewish audience, or people coming from a Tanakh perspective, do we have anything to do with this grace stuff?

So, I want to look at what, for me, is one of the key passages. I’ve said it’s my favorite passage in the Tanakh, among 100 others. Exodus 34 verse 6, when Moses has asked God to reveal His attributes to him, it says, “And Yehovah passed before his face,” before Moses. “And He called out,” meaning Yehovah called out. And He starts out saying, “Yehovah, Yehovah.” And that’s really interesting, “Yehovah, Yehovah.” Why say His name twice? Have you ever wondered that? Why would He say His name twice?

Keith: You know me. I say, once for heaven, once for earth.

Nehemia: Okay, that’s possible. But in Hebrew… so there are two possibilities in Hebrew. One is that He’s calling out, like when He says, “Avraham, Avraham.” And he says, “Hineini.” So, then who is Yehovah calling? He’s calling Himself? And He’s talking to Moses, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense there.

So, the Jewish explanation here is that this is what’s called a nominal sentence. It’s something you have only in Semitic languages… I shouldn’t say only. We have it in Semitic languages, we don’t have it in English. In English, whenever you say, “X is Y,” you stick in the word “X”. In Hebrew, you say, “X-Y”. And so, what that means is, “Yehovah, Yehovah” means “Yehovah is Yehovah.”

In other words, “The One that was, is, and will be, is the One that was, is, and will be,” which is what it’s saying. Yehovah is Yehovah, a God, merciful and gracious, or full of grace, “khanun” is the Hebrew word, “khanun”, grace. Long-suffering, meaning abundantly patient, full of righteousness and truth. That is Yehovah’s… what are called the “attributes of Yehovah”, Yehovah’s characteristic.

Joel 2:13 says, “Ki khanun…” It says, “Return to Yehovah, your God, ki khanun ve’rakhum Hu,” “for He is gracious and merciful.”

Keith: Amen.

Nehemia: “He is long-suffering,” meaning full of patience, “abundant and merciful, and He has repented of evil,” meaning, if you repent, He will decide not to carry out evil upon you. That is the punishment. So, Joel 2:13 is clearly quoting the attributes of Exodus 34:6, no question about it.

You have a number of passages in the Tanakh, and again, in the Psalms. So now we’ve done the Torah, the Prophets, and now the Writings. In Psalm 86:15, “And You, Lord…” and there, it actually says “Lord,” “are a God who is merciful and full of grace,” khanun, “abundantly patient, full of righteousness and truth.” Word for word, almost, what we have in Exodus 34:6. It appears a number of other times in the Psalms. I’m not going to read them all.

So, you’ve got now in the Prophets, the Torah, and the Writings. That’s three witnesses. So, I’ve got three witnesses from the Tanakh, and there are many more in the Tanakh, that there is grace in the Tanakh. So, we could shelter in grace, even from a Tanakh perspective, which I think is pretty cool.

Keith: Well, you know, it’s interesting too, and the other thing that hit me was that grace is not only from Him to us, but us to each other. And so, this is what I’ve been dealing with, honestly, 14 days, Nehemia. And then, in the middle of the 14 days they say, “Okay, at the end of the 14 days,” the government said, “now, we’re going to extend another 30 days.” And then, the state of North Carolina says, “We want you all to shelter in place for 30 more days.” Somebody say, “grace in your house.” You may not have to deal with that, but for us, Andrea and I, I have to give grace and receive it. She’s got to give grace and receive it. And I bet there’s a lot of people…

Nehemia: Oh, yeah.

Keith: Now, they just did this study in China, it just came out last night, that the divorce rate went up by 25 percent after they let people out of their sheltering in place, because in the midst of that, people are stuck in the house. You’re hearing about people with children, the children are bouncing off the walls. The husband’s there, the wife’s there. And all of a sudden, they’re saying, “Wait, what’s going on?”

So, I’m praying that during this time, we would give each other grace as Yehovah gives us grace, grace for others and others to us. So that’s why I call it “shelter in grace”. That’s keeping me… that’s keeping me sane, to be graceful as I receive grace. That’s what it means for me.

Nehemia: Can I quote from your book now, from the Gospel of Matthew?

Keith: Absolutely.

Nehemia: Matthew 9:13, he says, “Go and learn what this means. I desire…” and this is the NRSV, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners.” And in the Greek, it says, “eIeos”, which is “grace”. It’s the same root word that appears in the Septuagint translation of “khanun”, in a slightly different form, “ela emon”, but it’s from the same word, “eleos”. It is the same word, it is “khanun”. It is “grace”. He desires us to have mercy…

Keith: Amen.

Nehemia: …not sacrifice. And remember, what’s the context there? Tell the people, in Matthew 9, why does Yeshua say, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” And He’s quoting, of course, from Samuel. That’s what Samuel said to Saul. But what’s the context there in the New Testament? Can you share that with people?

Keith: Tell us, Nehemia. You’re in the zone, come on.

Nehemia: All right. So it says in verse 10, “And as Yeshua sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Him and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, ‘Why do you, as their teacher, eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When He heard this, He said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means.’” And He’s quoting Samuel. “I desire mercy, grace, not sacrifice, for I have come to call, not the righteous, but sinners.”

So, I think this is profound, because my conclusion from years of interacting with people of different denominations of different religious is that we want to put God in a box. And then we want to decide, that person’s righteous. Those people over there are not righteous. Those three are kind of righteous, if they give us the right tithe, and if they do the right thing.

And what I’ve found is, God is far more merciful than we are. God has far more grace than we do. If we could only have as much grace towards each other as He gives us, and I think that’s what Yeshua is teaching there. They say, “Don’t be with the tax collectors,” who are like the Mafia of that time, right? “And don’t be with these sinners.” And He says, “Well, wait a minute. God is about mercy. God is about repentance. God is about turning to Him.”

This morning, I read with a dear friend, Ezekiel 18, and he says there, “Do I desire the death of the sinner? I desire for him to repent that he may live.” Yehovah wants us to turn to Him, so He can give us the grace. We can’t do it ourselves. If it was just left up to me, I could never be righteous enough to live up to Yehovah’s standards. But if I turn to Him and repent and am willing to ask humbly for His grace, He is a God who is full of grace. Yehovah is Yehovah, a God full of mercy and grace, Exodus 34:6.

Keith: I mean, I’m just telling you, Nehemia, in the midst of this, there’s got to be grace. There’s got to be grace for each other. There’s got to be grace, knowing that we’re receiving it, and we’re giving it. So that’s why I’m calling this shelter in grace. I believe that this time is a time for reflection, a time for testing, and just for a time for us as His people, to really look in and say, “Okay, search me. Let me know if there’s anything in me that needs to change.” I don’t know about anyone else that’s listening, this is not an easy time for me, being here. I want to be able to be out in freedom, and guess what? The freedom has been taken away, and that’s tough.

Nehemia: So, tell us about the shelter in grace. I want to continue on that. So, people are stuck in their houses. How can they shelter in grace? What does it look like?

Keith: There’s a number of things. First of all, think about this, and I know for myself, this is one thing that’s happened. Can I just give a really quick report?

Nehemia: Sure.

Keith: A really quick report that as of today, all 40 people that were on tour with us in Israel passed the 14-day quarantine health check. We’re clear. We had four phases to the trip, getting there, being there, getting home, and passing the 14 days. It is grace to hear that after all of that liability and all of those issues that went back and forth, as Israel’s numbers have gone through the roof, we literally got there when the country shut off and left just before they couldn’t let people leave. So that feels graceful to me, that during this time, we now have made it back and everyone is healthy.

But Nehemia, there just seems to be… And again, I want to talk more from my perspective. I have had to give myself grace. I’m struggling with how this is changing life as I knew it. When I left to go to Israel… when I came back, I was in a new country. My neighbors say that. People are experiencing this, people are losing their jobs, people are losing their health. There is a lot that’s going on right now, and so I’m asking for the Father’s grace during this time.

And I don’t want to switch gears too much, but I have a passage I want you to look at, if you would, regarding this time and what I think would be Yehovah’s grace. Would you be willing to do that?

Nehemia: Sure, absolutely. Let’s look at it.

Keith: Can you go to Numbers chapter 16, and I was reflecting on this today. And I don’t want to go overboard, but I’m asking for grace, the sheltering in grace during this time. Can I just read it in English, and then have you make some comments? It would be chapter 16 verse 41.

Nehemia: All right.

Keith: And what it says is, “On the next day, all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron saying, ‘You are the ones who caused the death of the Lord’s people.’ It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron…” verse 42, “that they turned towards the tent of meeting, and behold…”

Nehemia: Oh, okay. That’s in 17 in the Hebrew.

Keith: So, in 16:41… I’m at 43, now. “Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of the meeting, and the Lord spoke to Moses saying, ‘Get away from among this congregation that I may consume them. And Moses said to Aaron, ‘Take your censer and put it in the fire from the altar, and lay incense on it, then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from Yehovah.’” And it says in English, “that the plague has begun.” Now, when I read that, the last couple of days, for those of us who have been inundated with news… literally yesterday, as I mentioned, the President says, “We’re in a plague.” And within the context, he says he’s now agreed with the experts that if things go really, really good, Nehemia, if things go really good, only 100,000 to 240,000 people will die.

Nehemia: Wow.

Keith: They said, “If things go really well, we will have done a good job if only 100,000 to 240,000 people die. If we do nothing, 1.8 to 2.2 million people will die.” Now, Nehemia, I read this story, and I have to be honest, they say that in two weeks from now is when we’re going to see the worst of it. Now, I told you about this time of year, and you brought up a really interesting thing. You said, “Two weeks from now. When is that, according to the biblical calendar? What will be happening in two weeks from now, around the 15th of April?”

Nehemia: The Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Keith: The Feast of Unleavened Bread. Now, can I read the rest of the story and make a proclamation, a request for grace? It says this. Verse 47, “Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people.” So, he put on the incense and made atonement for the people, and he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked. But those who died by the plague were 14,700 besides those who died on account of the quarrel. “Then Aaron returned to Moses in the door at the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.” That’s what it says in English. Maybe if you check the tap-tap, it’s more 3D in the language there.

Nehemia: “Vate’atzar hamagefah,” “The plague stopped.”

Keith: It stopped. Now, here’s what I’d like to share with you and our listeners.

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: It’s April 3rd. They’re listening to this on April 3rd. The government has said, the experts have said, “If we do really, really good, only 100,000 to 240,000 people will die.” Unacceptable. During this time of sheltering in grace, and my heart feels this, I am pleading with Yehovah that He would stop it. That whatever needs to happen, that their numbers would be wrong. That He would step in as a result of sheltering in grace, where people are not out, passing this virus to each other. That those vulnerable people would not end up being in hospitals and being intubated, and not be on these machines, and not have people pass it to them. That somehow, some way, I ask this in the name of Yehovah, just as Aaron ran amongst the people and it stopped. That during these two weeks, during a time that’s unprecedented, we’re all on the same calendar, symbolically, we’re sheltering in place. We’re putting the sign over. We’re asking the Father to give us grace.

And the grace that I specifically am looking for is that there would be a barrier between life and death, that death would not advance the way they say it will. This is my prayer request. This is the grace that I’m asking for, that the Father will do as He did back in Numbers chapter 16. Whatever has to happen, maybe enough of us praying, enough of us pleading, enough of us calling, enough of us running to Him in grace saying, “Father, we need grace, that this number would be wrong.” Imagine your family, Nehemia. Does it matter if it’s 100,000, or 200,000? It just takes one. People losing one person, can you imagine?

Nehemia: Can I put those numbers in context, Keith?

Keith: Yes, please.

Nehemia: Talking about the United States.

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: The United States comprises about five percent of the world population. If 240,000 people die in the US, that’s 4.8 million world-wide.

Keith: That’s right.

Nehemia: And there are countries that aren’t sheltering in place like the United States.

Keith: And we can name them.

Nehemia: There are countries where they say, “Look, it’s going to sweep through the whole population. Let’s clean out the old people.” That’s what they’re saying. Not in those words, but basically, they’re taking a different approach, and they’re saying, “Let’s get it over with. Rip off the Band-Aid before we even know how to deal with this disease.”

Keith: Unacceptable. So, here’s what I’m saying. I believe that this is an opportunity that’s unprecedented in our lifetime. That we’re going to see a biblical calendar in line with what’s happening in our world right now. Shelter in grace has always been in my heart. I called you about it. Thank you for allowing me to share that here, and for us to talk about this.

But I am asking, and I hope that we would all together, as we’re listening, ask for the Father to display grace, because right now, it is going to get, as they say, ugly. But I’m calling, I’m asking and I’m pleading for Him to intervene in grace for us.

And I want then for people to look and say, “Hmm, isn’t it an interesting controversy?” Some of the people where I come from, the Methodist Church of which I’m no longer part of, they’re excited about Easter coming. I’m excited about Passover.

Nehemia: Why are you no longer part of the Methodist Church? Did they finally kick you out?

Keith: I turned in my ordination papers with my credentials, because the United Methodist Church has gone so far away from its foundation that I just can’t be a part of it anymore. So that happened at the end of the year. I won’t bore you with all of it right now, but it’s exciting to me right now to be free to focus on what our mission is, inspiring people around the world to build a biblical foundation for their faith. And it is biblical for us to be in His time, in His Torah, in His Name, at this time, and what a great opportunity for us to actually live through the symbolism at the actual time it took place, of Him allowing His people to shelter in grace. That’s what I meant.

Nehemia: Just to remind people, I’ve got Makor Hebrew Foundation, you can go to nehemiaswall.com. Keith has a Biblical Foundations Academy at, what’s your website, Keith?

Keith: Bfainternational.com. But I want to ask you something, I don’t know if there’s anything you want to say about this, anything about Exodus 12.

Nehemia: Well, I just want to really quickly say that the parts of it that we can do today is telling over the story of the exodus, eating the matzah with the bitter herbs. If you want to have lamb, you have to remember, that’s symbolic. We’re not actually doing a sacrifice today.

Keith: Say that again, it’s symbolic.

Nehemia: It’s symbolic. But then, the matzah and the bitter herbs, and telling over the story, and it being a night of remembering and commemorating what happened, those are actually commanded, not eating leaven during those seven days, those are things that are actually commanded in Exodus 12 and other passages.

Keith: So Nehemia. Is it true that Wednesday night, April 8th, people around the world from different faiths will shelter in grace?

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: And they will remember the story of redemption, and we need redemption now.

Nehemia: We need the Pesach, and we need Yehovah to protect the entrance, to protect us from these diseases, this pandemic. I mean…

Keith: You brought Matthew 9, and you inspired me last week, and I asked you to do this if you could. I have an announcement. We’re going to actually be sheltering in place for a while, and we’re going to be doing bible study, and invite people to a personal bible study where they can actually spend some time in the word of God. We’re going to be studying in Hebrew Matthew. And when I say “we”, I’m talking about those who are on BFA International. I said it last week, you provided a wonderful tool, and I’d like to just share the announcement, it’s a two-minute announcement of this that we’re going to be doing, starting on April 19th.

But in the meantime, you can actually get caught up now, while you’re sheltering in grace, to do the first 18 lessons, and then, on the 19th, we’re going to do phase two with our new tool.

Nehemia: This is an announcement that people can come through your ministry, and through things prepared through my ministry that we’re still working on, Biblical Foundations Academy and nehemiaswall.com have come together to study the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew in the original Hebrew.

Keith: And I want to stop and say something. I want to say this again, Nehemia, and I know you don’t like for me to say this, but what you were willing to do by making available a tool that has not been created before for this study, we are extremely happy. I also want to say something to people; it wasn’t free. What you did actually cost, and so I really want to encourage people to support Makor Hebrew Foundation, nehemiaswall.com and I mean that. Because what you did is, you allowed us at BFA to use that, and you didn’t charge us a penny. So, guess what? It’s worth something. So, folks, here’s the deal. We’re going to share this. We want you to get caught up, if you have not gotten a chance to do it. And by the way, this whole series is free. You pay nothing. Can I say that again, Nehemia?

Nehemia: Mm-hmm.

Keith: It’s free. You pay nothing. The first 18 episodes, you can do that now, and then on the 19th of April we’re going to be studying with people around the world using the tool that Makor Hebrew Foundation has made available to BFA International.

And so again, I really want to thank you for that, and people are going to get a chance to study them for the next 17 weeks on the 19th, the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, which I call the Red Letter Revival of the Mountain. And I think the message from Yeshua 2,000 years ago is appropriate today, and especially when you look at language, history and context. So, I’m going to share this video. Go to BFA International, sign up, and we are going to be supporting this entire world-wide process, Nehemia, that you really, really, really helped us go to another level. So, thank you for that.

Nehemia: Excellent.

[recording]

Keith: I just returned from leading a group of friends to a mountain in northern Israel that has captivated me for well over a decade. We spent time exploring the very spot where a really important message was preached 2,000 years ago, that is still relevant today. After we were done researching, reading, and reflecting, I invited my group of friends for a short meeting I would like for you to join in with us.

Keith: Now, you all have come here to the spot that we believe to be the place where Yeshua taught on the mountain. This is the mountain. And those of you that know about our Red Letter Series, we’ve completed one phase, say, “one”.

Group: One.

Keith: In the last few weeks, we now are ready to complete the second phase. However, I need a group of people that will make a commitment to go along with me in the Bible Study Adventure. There are 17 lessons that begin on 19th of April. I need to know how many of you would commit today to walk me with on this Bible Study Adventure for 17 lessons on April 19th? Seventeen weeks of study of the words in their original language, history, and context, of Yeshua teaching at this very spot. I need to know, because you’re about to be put on camera. How many of you will walk with me and the rest of the world, for 17 weeks, for this study?

Man: I will.

Keith: That’s all, you just raise hands. Is nobody saying nothing?

Group: Yeah!

Keith: Everyone is joyful, excited. Come on, are you excited about this?

Group: [cheers]

Keith: [Blows shofar] Amen.

Group: Amen.

[music]

Keith: 2,000 years ago, powerful words were spoken that have withstood the test of time and translation. These words trumped tradition, wrecked religion, and transformed the condition of lives around the globe. Uncovering the meaning of these words in their original language, history, and context is a Bible Study Adventure. Welcome to the Red Letter Series, encountering words that changed the world.

[music and end of recording]

Keith: So how would you like to end this?

Nehemia: I was going to read a Psalm. I want to pray a Psalm.

Keith: Excellent. What do you have?

Nehemia: Psalm 4, a beautiful Psalm. I feel like parts of it are really apropos to what’s going on. I’ll start in verse 2, “Bekor’i aneini Elohei tzidki, hirkhavta li, khaneini ushma tefilati.” “Answer me when I call, God, my vindicator. You’ve freed me from distress, have mercy on me, hear my prayer. “Benei ish ad me khvodi likhlima te’ahavun rik, tevakshu khazal,” “You men, how long will My glory be mocked, for You love illusions, have recourse to frauds.” “U’deu ki hifla Yehovah khasid lo, Yehovah yishma bekori elav,” “Know that Yehovah singles out…” literally, “separates out the faithful for Himself.”

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: “Yehovah hears when I call Him.” Yehovah, hear the prayer that Keith has offered, the one that he has submitted to You to protect the people, to keep them from this virus. “Rigzu ve al tekhetau imru bilevavkhem al mishkavkhem vedomu,” “So tremble and sin no more. Ponder it on your bed…” Literally, “say it in your heart on your bed, silent.” “Zivkhu zivkhei tzedek u’bitkhu el Yehovah,” “Offer sacrifices in righteousness and trust in Yehovah.” “Rabim omrim, mi yareinu tov nesa aleinu ohr panekha Yehovah,” “Many say…” literally, “Oh, that He would show us good, that He would lift upon us the light of Your face, Yehovah.” “Natata simkha belibi, me’et deganam metirosham rabu.” And here, there are different translations, but what it says in Hebrew is, “You have given joy in my heart, which is more than their grain and their oil or their wine.”

So, there are these people who are the nay-sayers, and they’re saying, “Well, Yehovah is not blessing us. Yehovah is not shining His face upon us.” But their understanding from that is that for Yehovah to shine His face upon us, Yehovah, that means You give them some sort of prosperity. And David here says, “You’ve given joy in my heart, which is greater than any prosperity.”

Keith: Amen.

Nehemia: “Beshalom yakhdav eshkavah ve’ishan,” “In peace I will both lay down and sleep,” “Ki ata Yehovah levadad,” “For You are Yehovah alone,” “lavetakh toshiveini,” “You cause me to dwell in security.” Yehovah, we need this security. We need this safety now, surrounded by disease. And Yehovah, we need You to protect the people from those who being careless and spreading this disease. Yehovah, please let us lay down and sleep, in safety and security. In Your Holy Name, Yehovah, shine Your face upon us, whether you give us the physical prosperity, or just joy in our heart, at being safe. Amen.

Keith: Amen. So, I’m going to blow the shofar and I pray for those that are listening during this time, that they would ask, what can they do between now and the time of Passover, to be a light to the nations? What can they do that would send a message of those people that are stuck, that are sheltering in place? What can they do to provide grace for people, as Yehovah provides grace for us?

And once again, those that are listening, we thank you for your support and prayer. And we are believing that, together, we’re going to make a difference and be a light to the nations.

Keith: [blows shofar] Amen.

Nehemia: Amen.

You have been listening to Hebrew Voices with Nehemia Gordon. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon’s Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

We hope the above transcript has proven to be a helpful resource in your study. While much effort has been taken to provide you with this transcript, it should be noted that the text has not been reviewed by the speakers and its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. If you would like to support our efforts to transcribe the teachings on NehemiasWall.com, please visit our support page. All donations are tax-deductible (501c3) and help us empower people around the world with the Hebrew sources of their faith!