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“Behold, days are coming, says the L-rd, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Yisra᾽el, and with the house of Yehuda… but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Yisra᾽el after those days, says the L-rd; I will put my Torah in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their G-d, and they shall be my people…”
-Jeremiah 31:31, 33
“Rabbi Elazar says: Be diligent in learning Torah, and know what to respond to one who denigrates the Torah. Know before Whom you labor–the Master of your work is trustworthy to pay you the wage for your activity.”
-Pirkei Avos 2:14
“While writing this commentary of the New Testament, I had no other goal, as I have said in the first volume, but to reconcile these two enemy sisters: The Church and the Synagogue… to show everyone that the New Testament only comes to show that the root of existence is in the unity of G–d (ahdut ha-Bore) … and also to strengthen the law of Moses (Torat Moshe)… I publish this commentary (to Matthew) in Hebrew for Jews, to introduce them to the New Testament who, until now, have not recognized its beauty (eynam makirim ’et yofya)… Notwithstanding the contrary misconception, the New Testament is in no manner contrary to the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) or to the Talmud.“
-Rabbi Eliyahu Tzvi Soloveitchik, Kol Kore
Waykeeper Principles #6 & #8
6. The Jewish writings called, “the New Testament,” are not equal, but are subordinate to the Torah given by G-d at Sinai (and therefore not a Halachic authority).
8. We do not yet have a kosher translation of the “New Testament,” but its general teachings align especially with Hasidic Judaism (e.g. serving G-d with and beyond ‘the letter’).
Based on the Weekly NT Schedule…
Sunday (1):
John 11:20 → John 11:44 (25)
20 So when Martha heard that Yeshua was coming, she went to meet him, but Miriam remained seated in the house.
21 Martha then said to Yeshua, “Master, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 Even now know that whatever you ask from G-d, G-d will give you.”
23 Yeshua said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
25 Yeshua said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who trusts in me, even if he dies, will live,
26 and everyone who lives and trusts in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to him, “Yes, Master; I have come to trust that you are the Messiah, the son of G-d, the one coming into the world.”
Yeshua and Miriam
28 After saying this, she went and called Miriam her sister secretly, saying, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”
29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.
30 Now Yeshua had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.
31 The Judeans who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Miriam rise quickly and go out, and they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
32 Then when Miriam came to where Yeshua was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Master, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Yeshua Weeps
33 When Yeshua saw her weeping, and the Judeans who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled,
34 and said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to him, “Master, come and see.”
35 Yeshua wept.
36 So the Judeans were saying, “See how he loved him.”
37 But some of them said, “Could not this one, who opened the eyes of the blind man, also have kept this man from dying?”
The Raising of Elazar
38 Then Yeshua, again deeply moved within himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
39 Yeshua said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Master, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Yeshua said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you trust, you will see the glory of G-d?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Yeshua lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard me.
42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this because of the crowd standing around, so that they may trust that You sent me.”
43 And when he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Elazar, come out!”
44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with burial cloths, and his face wrapped with a cloth.
Yeshua said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Monday (2):
John 11:45 → John 12:8 (21)
The Plot Against Yeshua
45 Therefore many of the Judeans who had come to Miriam and had seen what he did trusted in him.
46 But some of them went to some Pharisees and told them what Yeshua had done.
47 So the chief priests and some Pharisees gathered the council and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs.
48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will trust in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all.
50 Nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.”
51 Now he did not say this from himself, but being High Priest that year he prophesied that Yeshua was about to die for the nation,
52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the scattered children of G-d.
53 So from that day on they planned together to put him to death.
Withdrawal to Ephraim
54 Therefore Yeshua no longer walked openly among the Judeans, but went away from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he remained with the disciples.
55 Now the Passover of the Judeans was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.
56 They were seeking Yeshua and saying to one another as they stood in the Temple, “What do you think—that he will not come to the Feast?”
57 Now the chief priests and some Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it, so that they might seize him.
Chapter 12
Anointing at Bethany
1 Therefore, six days before the Passover, Yeshua came to Bethany, where Elazar was, whom he had raised from the dead.
2 So they made a supper for him there, and Martha was serving, but Elazar was one of those reclining with him at the table.
3 Then Miriam took a pound of costly pure nard, anointed the feet of Yeshua, and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment.
4 But Judah from Kerioth, one of his disciples—the one who was about to betray him—said,
5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
6 Now he said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money bag, he used to take what was put into it.
7 Therefore Yeshua said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.
8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
Tuesday (3):
John 12:9 → John 12:26 (18)
The Plot Against Elazar
9 A large crowd of the Judeans then learned that he was there, and they came not only because of Yeshua, but also to see Elazar, whom he had raised from the dead.
10 But the chief priests planned to put Elazar to death also,
11 because on account of him many of the Judeans were going away and trusting in Yeshua.
Entry into Jerusalem
12 On the next day the large crowd that had come to the Feast, when they heard that Yeshua was coming to Jerusalem,
13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, and were crying out,
“Hoshiana! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the L-rd, even the King of Israel!”
14 And Yeshua, finding a young donkey, sat on it, just as it is written:
15 “Do not fear, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt.”
16 These things his disciples did not understand at first, but when Yeshua was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.
17 So the crowd that had been with him when he called Elazar out of the tomb and raised him from the dead was bearing witness.
18 For this reason also the crowd went to meet him, because they heard that he had done this sign.
19 Therefore some Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look—the world has gone after him.”
Greeks Seek Yeshua
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the Feast.
21 These then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and were asking him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Yeshua.”
22 Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Yeshua.
The Hour Has Come
23 And Yeshua answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the son of man to be glorified.
24 Amen, amen, I say to you: unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
25 The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there also my servant will be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
Wednesday (4):
John 12:27 → John 12:50 (24)
Troubled Soul and Heavenly Voice
27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
28 Father, glorify Your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven: “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”
29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to him.”
30 Yeshua answered and said, “This voice has not come for my sake, but for yours.
Judgment and Lifting Up
31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
33 But he was saying this to indicate what kind of death he was about to die.
34 The crowd then answered him, “We have heard from the Torah that the Messiah remains forever; and how can you say, ‘The son of man must be lifted up’? Who is this son of man?”
Walk While You Have Light
35 So Yeshua said to them, “For a little while longer the light is among you. Walk while you have the light, so that darkness does not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
36 While you have the light, trust in the light, so that you may become sons of light.”
These things Yeshua spoke, and he went away and hid himself from them.
Unbelief Despite Signs
37 But though he had done so many signs before them, they still were not trusting in him,
38 so that the word spoken by Isaiah the Prophet might be fulfilled:
“L-rd, who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the L-rd been revealed?”
39 For this reason they could not trust, because Isaiah said again,
40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart,
so that they might not see with their eyes
and understand with their heart and turn,
and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.
42 Nevertheless many even among the rulers trusted in him, but because of some Pharisees they were not confessing it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue;
43 for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of G-d.
Summary of Yeshua’s Teaching
44 And Yeshua cried out and said, “The one who trusts in me does not trust in me, but in the One who sent me.
45 And the one who sees me sees the One who sent me.
46 I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who trusts in me would not remain in darkness.
47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has one who judges him: the word that I spoke—that will judge him on the last day.
49 For I did not speak from myself, but the Father who sent me—He has given me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak.
50 And I know that His commandment is eternal life. Therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.”
Thursday (5):
John 13:1 → John 13:20 (20)
Chapter 13
Before the Feast of Passover
1 Now before the Feast of Passover, Yeshua, knowing that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, loved them to the end.
2 And during supper, when the adversary had already put into the heart of Judah from Kerioth, son of Shimon, to betray him,
3 Yeshua, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come forth from G-d and was going to G-d,
4 rose from supper, laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around himself.
5 Then he poured water into the basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
“There is one other blemish, and that is the washing of the feet. It is known that the hold exerted by [the forces of] uncleanness is upon these feet. It is written: “Her feet go down to death” [Prov. 5: 5], and the two Messiahs are these two feet which are to redeem Israel, but when the blemish grows strong in their root, they will be unable to muster the strength to carry out the redemption. Hence Scripture says: “I have washed my feet, how can I soil them?” [S. of S. 5: 31], which is actually a figure of speech, and it is as if it said: “I have soiled my feet, how can I wash them?””
-Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, Maamar HaGeulah, p. 4-5
Washing the Disciples’ Feet
6 So he came to Shimon Peter. He said to him, “Master, do you wash my feet?”
7 Yeshua answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will understand after these things.”
8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.”
Yeshua answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”
9 Shimon Peter said to him, “Master, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”
10 Yeshua said to him, “The one who has bathed has no need except to wash his feet, but is entirely clean; and you are clean, but not all.”
11 For he knew the one betraying him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
The Example of Service
12 So when he had washed their feet and taken his garments and reclined again, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?
13 You call me Teacher and Master, and you say well, for so I am.
14 If I then, the Master and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15 For I gave you an example, that just as I did to you, you also should do.
16 Amen, amen, I say to you: a servant is not greater than his master, nor is one sent greater than the one who sent him.
17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
The Betrayer
18 I am not speaking about all of you; I know those whom I chose. But it is so that the Scripture may be fulfilled: “He who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me.”
19 From now on I tell you before it happens, so that when it happens you may trust that I am he.
20 Amen, amen, I say to you: the one who receives whomever I send receives me, and the one who receives me receives the One who sent me.”
Friday (6):
John 13:21 → John 13:38 (18)
Yeshua Troubled
21 After saying these things, Yeshua was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you that one of you will betray me.”
22 The disciples were looking at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke.
23 One of his disciples, whom Yeshua loved, was reclining close to him.
24 So Shimon Peter gestured to him to ask who it might be of whom he spoke.
25 He, leaning back against the chest of Yeshua, said to him, “Master, who is it?”
26 Yeshua answered, “It is the one for whom I will dip the piece of bread and give it to him.” So when he had dipped the piece, he took it and gave it to Judah, the son of Shimon from Kerioth.
27 After the piece of bread, then the adversary entered into him.
Therefore Yeshua said to him, “What you are doing, do quickly.”
28 Now no one at the table knew for what purpose he said this to him.
29 For some were thinking, because Judah had the money bag, that Yeshua was saying to him, “Buy what we need for the Feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.
30 So after receiving the piece of bread, he went out immediately. And it was night.
A New Commandment
31 Therefore when he had gone out, Yeshua said, “Now the son of man is glorified, and G-d is glorified in him.
32 If G-d is glorified in him, G-d will also glorify him in Himself, and will glorify him at once.
33 Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Judeans, ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’ now I also say to you.
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I loved you, that you also love one another.
35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Peter’s Denial Foretold
36 Shimon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?”
Yeshua answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.”
37 Peter said to him, “Master, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you!”
38 Yeshua answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you: a rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times.”
Shabbat (7):
John 14:1 → John 14:24 (24)
Chapter 14
Comfort for the Disciples
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in G-d; trust also in me.
2 In the house of my Father there are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am, there you also may be.
4 And you know the way where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?”
6 Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
Seeing the Father
8 Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
9 Yeshua said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
10 Do you not trust that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak from myself, but the Father who dwells in me does His works.
11 Trust me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; otherwise trust because of the works themselves.
Greater Works
12 Amen, amen, I say to you: the one who trusts in me, the works that I do he also will do; and greater than these he will do, because I am going to the Father.
13 And whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the son.
14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
Promise of the Spirit
15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever—
17 the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, because he abides with you and will be in you.
18 I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.
19 After a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.
20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
21 The one who has my commandments and keeps them, that one is the one who loves me; and the one who loves me will be loved by ny Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
Manifestation to the Disciples
22 Judah (not the one from Kerioth) said to him, “Master, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Yeshua answered and said to him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
24 The one who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.
Eye To Zion 