Roots of Faith

Archive for the ‘Weekly Lessons’ Category

We are constantly working to expand the features of Roots of Faith and the Synagogue Without Walls in an attempt to create an on-line community, a cyber-based fellowship of believers all oriented towards Torah Faith.

We are using technology to spread the Torah Faith message across the globe. Our weekly classes are broadcasted over the web every Saturday morning via www.shma.tv. Participants can watch our morning service and engage with others from around the globe through the chat feature. This has enhanced the dialogue portion of our service and is becoming more popular every week as is evidenced by the increased number of attendees. My teachings of the weekly Torah portions are posted on iTunes as well as on my main website (www.rootsoffaith.org) and are available for download at no charge.

We continue to broadcast on special occasions such as Holy Days to provide those that are interested with a place to go to celebrate these appointed times. I will be sending out more information on our plans for the High Holy Days soon.

We recently added interactive Hebrew classes on the Synagogue Without Walls site. Johnny Powell, my own Hebrew teacher is leading these classes. He already has several students, and has made it clear that all are welcome regardless of their skill level in Hebrew. If you have ever wanted to learn Hebrew, now is an excellent opportunity. All one has to do is join the “Learning Torah Hebrew” group on SWW. Class is every Wednesday night at9:00 PM EST. We are still working to improve the class. We currently utilize the chat feature on the SWW site and last week we added a SKYPE feature to allow students to hear one another as well as the teacher. We will continue to get better as we experiment with various options.

I have set up Facebook pages for the Synagogue Without Walls as well as Roots of Faith and I encourage you to follow us there. You can also find me on Facebook as well as Twitter. I am making every effort to reach the masses through the social media and these popular sites provide us with an excellent outreach platform to spread Torah Faith. I encourage you to find and follow us and join us in our work.

We do not charge for any of our teachings or features. The work is fully supported through the prayers, efforts and faithful voluntary contributions of those who believe in what we are doing. The goal is to work on continuous improvement at every turn – doing the best we can with what we have. As we have more, we seek to do more. So far, as our costs have gone up, the contributions have met the challenge.

If you are able to contribute, we have several ways to do so. We have set up “donate” buttons on our sites. These allow you to donate whatever amount you wish.

We have several bills that are due every month and here are some examples in case you want to specify where your contribution goes. Some may wish to make a contribution to cover one or more of these expenses.

1 month of internet at the Synagogue – $65
1 month of usage for the SWW site – $50
1 month for our Livestream channel – $350

Recently it was requested that we set something up to allow people to subscribe for recurring donations through PayPal. This is now active and is a good way to help us on a regular basis without the hassle. Those desiring to set up to contribute have options here as well. One way is to select a set amount per month ($15, $20, etc) from the drop down menu.

The other choice is for those who follow the custom of donating in increments of 18. This custom is based upon the idea that the Hebrew word chai (life) has a numeric value of 18. Some choose to donate in increments of 18, thus symbolically sending our outreach efforts “life” in that your financial help literally brings life to others.

Whatever you can do is greatly appreciated and your help in this matter allows us to continue to provide our teachings at no charge to any who wish to receive them and also provides us with the necessary funding to maintain and improve our features.

You can send check or money order to us at the following address:

Roots of Faith
PO Box 695
Saint Francisville, La. 70775

Or on-line at www.rootsoffaith.org/support

Thanks for you prayers and continued support and interest in Roots of Faith and the Synagogue Without Walls!

Shalom, Ross

In this week’s class, Ross highlights the blessings and the curses of the Torah. He points out that there is currently a great confusion on the subject of the “curse of the Law”. It is commonly taught that all those who keep the Law are under a curse, but Ross shows that this is in fact just the opposite of what is taught in the Torah. Life and blessings are always associated with obedience to the Torah while death and curses are associated with disobedience. This confusion is shown from a sermon delivered by the famous protestant Martin Luther and is shown to be evident in the writings of Paul as well. You will not want to miss this class.

 The Blessings and the curses: Play in Popup | Download

In this week’s teaching, Ross focuses on the idea of Divorce and Marriage as it relates to prophecies of God’s unfaithful wife. You will not want to miss this class. He begins the class by covering some of the points covered in this week’s Torah portion. The title of the class is, “A Divorce Made in Heaven, A Marriage made in heaven – God’s Unfaithful Wife.

 A Divorce Made in Heaven, A Marriage Made in Heaven: Play in Popup | Download

Based upon the sighting of the new moon, today marks the first day of the 6th Biblical month – known popularly as Elul. The first of Elul is the beginning of a 40 day period held by traditional Judaism as a time of repentance, leading up to the most solemn day on the Hebrew Calendar – known as Yom Kippur (a Day of Covering or the Day of Atonement as it is most commonly known). (See Leviticus chapter 16 and 23 23:26-32) Tradition holds that it was on the first day of the 6th month when Moses makes his 3rd of 3 treks up the summit of Mount Sinai. On this day, it is believed that he rose early and climbed the mount with the two tablets of stone that would replace the ones he had broken when he descended and found the Israelites worshiping the golden calf. As many enter this time of repentance, I want to make a special plea for all of you to pray earnestly for our respective governments and their leaders. Members of the Synagogue Without Walls are from various countries around the world and many of us are concerned about the manner in which our leaders are governing the affairs of man. This week’s Torah portion contains the blueprint for a true government established upon Biblical order – a divine plan for human government. We find that this order is to be administered by human officials but under strict guidance and rules from heaven. The foundation of the divine plan for governing the affairs of man is described by the Hebrew word tzedek. What are we to learn from the Torah this week about true government? What part do we play in establishing such a government? Ancient Israel was given a charter and an order for a true government. It is known as the Kingdom of God and is to ultimately be realized ‘on earth as it is in heaven.’ The people of God have tended to veer from the plan and seek to be ‘like the nations’ when it comes to politics. The current situation in the US and abroad is presented as dismal by many. There are countless preachers of gloom and doom. Is this the end? Are we left with no alternative but to ride this down to the ground and hope for the best? Are we hapless victims being led to ‘hell in a hand basket’? I personally don’t think so and have a message that I hope will shed some light on the subject. Is the solution to the world’s situation depending on the leaders of men or of the men themselves? Asked another way; ‘Is the problem with the leaders or with the led ? ‘ I may get a little controversial this week, but perhaps that is what is needed to wake up those who slumber.

 The Politics of God: Play in Popup | Download