Baruch HaShem

A Messianic Synagogue

Shabbat Services 10:40am

6304 Beltline Rd, Dallas TX 75254

Visitor’s Guide

Shalom! 

On behalf of the Greeting Team, the Rabbanim, the Z’Kanim (Elders), the Shamashim (Deacons) and the entire kehilah (congregation) at Baruch HaShem, we want to welcome you to our synagogue! 

We are here to introduce you to Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah,  to explain the Messianic Jewish lifestyle and to worship with you just as Yeshua (Jesus) did in the first century…Jew and Gentile together…One in Messiah. 

Our Shabbat (Sabbath) services begin at 10:40 a.m. every Saturday morning. We also have children’s classes, a nursery and adult Shabbat classes starting at 9:30.  Dress is business casual. We look forward to meeting with you and answering any and all of your questions. 

We are also happy to provide a short overview of our service and review some of the Messianic terms and customs before every Shabbat service. If you, or one of your synagogue or church groups, would like to participate in one of these sessions, please call our office at 972-386-0121 to set up a specific visiting time and date that we may greet and meet with you.  Please let us know how many of you are coming and we will see to it that you have reserved seats for the service. (The exception may be during the High Holy Days. Seating during those times may be extremely tight.) 

We also provide a bagel nosh (snack) for those of you that might need a little boost before service. Just a reminder… eat a big breakfast before you come…our services last until about 1:00-1:15 p.m. 

Blessings in the Name of our Messiah, Yeshua! 

Order of Service

LITURGY: V’sham’ru 

PSALM READING : Pesukei Zimrat

 

 LITURGY: Ma Toevoo (The blessing of Bala’am)
“How lovely are your tents, Oh Jacob; your dwelling places, Israel.” (B’midvar 24:5)

 LITURGY: Adonai s’fatai tiftach ufi yagid t’hilatecha    ”Eternal L-RD, open my lips that my mouth may declare Your glory” (Psalm 51:15).

 WORSHIP THROUGH SINGING

 SHABBAT AMIDAH: Standing Prayer

 VAYEHI BINSOA ARON  (Removal of the Torah from the Ark)
“When the ark moved forward, Moshe said, ‘Arise ADONAI!  May your enemies be scattered!  Let those who hate you flee before you!” (B’midvar 10:35)

 SHEMA
- “Hear, Oh Israel! The L-rd is our G-d, the L-rd is ONE.” (D’varim 6:4)
- “Blessed is His Name, Whose glorious kingdom is forever & ever.”

V’AHAVTA: “And you shall love…” (D’varim 6: 5-9, Vayikra  19:18)

 TORAH WALK

 D’VAR TORAH (5-minute sermonette) on the Torah portion that will be canted

 TORAH READING IN HEBREW (canted)

 V’ZOT HATORAH (Congregational response to Torah reading)
“This is the Torah which Moshe placed before the people of Isra’el, given by G-d, through Moshe’s hand….” (D’varim 4:44; B’midvar 9:23; Mishlei 3:16-18; Yesha’yahu 42:21).

EITZ CHAYIM HI (Returning the Torah to the Ark)

- “And when it rested he would say, ‘Arise, Oh L-RD, return to your resting place, You and the Ark of your Might. Let your priests be robed in righteousness, and your faithful with joy. Forsake not thy servant, David; reject not your anointed.’
- ‘I have given you good teaching, forsake not My Torah. It is a Tree of Life to those who hold it fast. Everyone who upholds it is happy. Its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace’.
- ‘Turn us to You, Oh’ L-RD and we shall return. Renew our days as of old.”
(Traditional Jewish Liturgy from B’midvar 10:36; Tehillim 132:8-10; Mishlei 3:17-18, 4:2; Eikhah 5:21)

 DRASH

 KIDDUSH (Blessing over the wine)

MOTZI (Blessing over the bread)

BIRKAT HAKOHANIM (Numbers 6:22-27)

Special Notes

The personal name for God—When G-d appeared to Moshe (Moses) at the burning bush, He revealed his personal name, I Am [YHWH] B’resheet 3:14.  Sometime between Moshes’ time and B’rit Chadashah (New Testament) times, the Jewish community came to believe that it was irreverent to utter G-d’s personal name; only the priest who entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement spoke the name of G-d, and only on that one occasion. For that reason, the Jewish community developed alternate terms to use in place of G-d’s personal name: Adonai and HaShem.

Adonai —Literally, “my Lord.” English translations commonly translate the Hebrew word “Adonai” as “Lord,” and translate “YHWH” as “LORD.” When reading the Tanach in Hebrew, it is common to utter, “Adonai” when the Hebrew text reads “YHWH.”

HaShem —Literally, “the Name.” An alternate tradition is to utter “HaShem” when the Hebrew text reads “YHWH.” Scripture teaches that G-d’s Name is holy (Mattityahu 6:9), and it speaks of the Tabernacle and the Temple both as dwelling places for His Name (D’varim 14:23, 16:2; Divrei HaYamim – Aleph 22:8, 10, 19; 29:16). In keeping with this tradition, and out of reverence to G-d, the Messianic Jewish community commonly removes the vowels of words that refer to G-d when writing in English (i.e., “L-rd,” “G-d”).

Torah Walk—During the Jewish worship service, the Torah scroll is removed from the Ark (a closet in the front of the synagogue, used to symbolize the Ark of the Covenant). The scroll is then carried in a procession among the congregation before it is placed on the bema (wooden table) and the Parashat HaShavua (weekly Torah portion) is read.

During this procession, it is common for the people to touch and even kiss the Torah scroll out of reverence to God, who gave the Torah to us. King David declared that God’s Torah was more precious than pure gold and sweeter than honey (Tehillim 19:10). The psalmist also exclaims, “How I love your Torah (law)! I meditate on it all day,” (Tehillim 119:97) and expounds on “How happy are those who observe his instruction, who seek him wholeheartedly!” (Tehillim 119:1, cf. Tehillim 119:2ff).

The tradition of kissing the Torah scroll is centuries, if not millennia, old.  It is highly possible that Yeshua the Messiah (Lord Jesus Christ) kissed the scroll during a similar procession. Rav Shaul (Apostle Paul) claimed to have strictly adhered to the traditions of his fathers (Acts 28:17, cf. Acts 21:20-24). In the Messianic community, kissing the Torah is also considered a way of showing love to Yeshua the Messiah, who is “[t]he Word [that] became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (Yochanan 1:14).

Tree or Execution Stake— In the Messianic Community, it is common to use the words “tree” or “execution stake” instead of the word “cross.” Centuries of persecution under the symbol of the cross, by those who called themselves “Christians,” have caused the word “cross” to strike fear in the hearts of most Jews.  Since crosses were used to execute criminals, using the term “execution stake” is means of communicating the same concept, (the concept of Yeshua dying as the lamb to atone for our sins), without triggering an unnecessary cultural reaction. The term “tree” is used by Rav Shaul (Apostle Paul) in Galatians 3:13 (NASB), where he quotes D’varim 21:22-23, saying “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”  We desire that Yeshua himself be the only stumbling block to our Jewish brothers.

Dictionary of Terms

Adonai—Literally “my L-rd”

Aliyah—The process of going up to the bema (front platform) and reading from the Torah; this term is also used for immigration to Israel.

Ark—Cupboard in front of the synagogue where the Torah scrolls are stored. This symbolizes the Ark of the Covenant in which was stored a copy of the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses (Ex. 25:16; Deut. 10:3-5).

Baruch HaShem—Bless the Name (of G-d)

Bir’kat Cohanim—Aaronic Benediction or Priestly blessing (B’midvar 6:24-27)

Brit Hadashah—New Covenant

Chaverah—Fellowship

D’var Torah—A mini derasha (sermon) on the weekly Torah portion given before the reading

Haftarah—Weekly reading from the prophets

Kaddish—Mourner’s Prayer expressing praise for G-d

Kehilah—The congregation

Kippah—Skull cap (Yarmulke)

Meshiach—Messiah

Mezzuzah—A small box containing a small scroll that lists the Shema; G-d commanded (D’varim 6:9) that the Shema, be written on the doorframes of our houses to remind the children of Israel of the commandments He gave through Moshe.

Parashat HaShavua—Weekly Torah portion

Shabbat Shalom—Peaceful Sabbath (greeting)

Shema—The central affirmation of faith in one G-d. (D’varim 6:4-9)

Tallit—Men’s prayer shawl worn as a reminder to observe all G-d’s mitzvot (commandments) (B’midvar 15:37-41)

Tanach—The Old Testament; also called the Hebrew Bible. Tanach is a Hebrew abbreviation for Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvi’im [the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings], which is how the Jewish community organized the Tanak (Old Testament books). Yeshua referred to this in Mattityahu 7:12 when He spoke of the “Law and the Prophets.”

Torah—The first five books of the Bible, also known as the Five Books of Moshe and the Pentateuch. While “torah” is commonly translated as “law,” it has a broader meaning closer to that of “teaching.”

Tzedakah Box—Literally “righteousness box;” charity. The boxes between the entry doors used for depositing tithes and offerings. Yeshua (Jesus) preached, “Be careful not to parade your acts of tzedakah in front of people in order to be seen by them!  If you do, you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  So, when you do tzedakah, don’t announce it with trumpets to win people’s praise, like the hypocrites in the synagogues and on the streets.  Yes!  I tell you, they have their reward already!  But you, when you do tzedakah, don’t even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.  Then your tzedakah will be will be in secret; and your Father, who sees what you do in secret, will reward you.” (Mattityahu 6:1-4).

Yeshua—Jesus. “Yeshua,” (ADONAI saves), is the original Hebrew name given to our Messiah by the angel Gavriel to his Jewish mother, Miryam (Mattityahu 1:21).  Jesus is a modern transliteration of the Greek, “Iesous”.  The English language did not develop the letter, “J”, until the 16th century.

Scripture references are from the Complete Jewish Bible, translated by David H. Stern.

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