HaYesod

The Foundation of our Faith

Presented by Congregation Melech Yisrael
April 2, 2016
 The HaYesod Agenda
• The HaYesod Group Welcome (Rabbi Yehezqel)
• The HaYesod Teacher/Group Leaders (Selwyn &
Yvonne)

• The HaYesod Group Protocol (Yvonne)

• Welcome to the HaYesod Program (Yvonne)
• The HaYesod Program “Mission” Statement (Selwyn)
• The HaYesod Lesson Plan (Selwyn & Yvonne)
• Q & A Session
• Closing & Prayer (Selwyn)
The HaYesod Teacher/ Group leaders
Introduction
• Why teaching this course?
• Share personal testimonies
• Our desire is to strengthen the love and
appreciation of all believers in the body of
Messiah for the Land, the People and the
Scriptures of Israel

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 The HaYesod Group Protocol
• Messianic Vocabulary
• Meeting Time:
❖ Place: CMY , Teachings will be broadcast
❖ When: Shabbat After Oneg
❖ Start Time: Approximately 3:30pm or 4:00pm(latest) EST
❖ Duration: Approximately 1 and 1/2 hours
❖ Frequency: First three Shabbats of each month
❖ Except when:
➢ Feast Days (will advised)
➢ Vacations (will advised well in advance)

• Procedure for Q & A

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 Welcome to the HaYesod Program
Overview
• HaYesod – (Meaning “The Foundation”)
• Primary focus of this study/teaching is:
• To bring His people back to His Scriptures- the bedrock
foundation of Torah
• To learn how Jewish & non-Jewish believers are uniquely
united with the Land, the People, and the Scriptures of
Israel
• To get a fuller understanding of our faith. Deeper
understanding of teachings of Yeshua and Paul’s writings
in their cultural & historical context
• A love and understanding of Torah – with the aim to apply
these timeless Torah truths to our lives

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HaYesod Program Overview (Cont’d)
• Question: Where are Our Foundations of
our faith in Yeshua?
➢ Found in teachings of the Protestant Reformation of the
16th -17th C
o The reformation as a time in history when courageous believers
challenged the prevailing theology & authority of the Church
o Faith base on the authority of the written Word of God as oppose
to the traditions of the Church theologians
o A time when Biblical scholars emphasized trusting in Messiah by
faith and faith alone, not mixing faith with performance of works/
ritual and/or sacrament

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HaYesod Program Overview (cont’d)
➢ Goes back further to writings of early Church Fathers – who lived, taught, and
preached ~ early 2nd thru 4th C
o Commonly believed/cited that since they lived historically close to when Yeshua and His
earliest followers lived, their teaching is purer and closer to the intentions of God
➢ Many reject both of the above theories
o True foundations of our faith taught only in the NT (hereafter referred to as Brit Chadasha
or Renewed Covenant)
o Difficult to dispute, we can agree that the Brit C is the authoritative, inerrant (In the
original manuscripts), and infallible Word of God
o In the Brit C we find the story of the life of Yeshua, history of His followers, and their
teachings and writing – body of work we call Scriptures
o Thus Brit C would definitely qualify as the source of the foundations of our faith in Yeshua
➢ We think while there is a degree of merit in all of the above approaches- they all fail
to hit the mark
o Most basic foundations of our faith are found in the OT (hereafter referred to as the
Tenach)
o In particular the first 5 books of the Bible –often called the Torah or the writings of Moses.
Several reasons why we believe this to true, we will take a closer look tag 2 key points:
✓ The Torah, our Yesod
✓ Older, But Not Antiquated

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HaYesod Program Overview (cont’d)
• The Torah, our Yesod
➢ First, the Torah contains the foundation for all the theology taught in the Brit Chadasha.
Examples:
o Concept of sin – 1st mentioned Gen 3
o Idea of covenant – 1st mentioned Gen 9
o Basic for the doctrine of Redemption is pictured in the story of the Exodus (Chapter 12 onward)
o Underpinnings for understanding the sacrifice of Yeshua are seen in the teachings about the
sacrifices in the first 6 chapters of Leviticus
o Without understanding the original way that those and other concepts are applied in the Torah,
we loose much of the impact God intended for us in the Brit C
➢ Second, the Brit C uses very specific and technical words to describe the person of
Yeshua. Examples:
o Through Divine inspiration, the writers used such terms as Messiah, Redeemer and other
references to Him.
o They did not invent those terms or concepts that lie behind them
o All descriptive terms used to refer to Yeshua- even His name “Yeshua” – have their roots firmly
planted in the rich imagery and teaching of the Torah.
o Unless we see hoe the Torah uses such terms and introduces us to the origins of the concept
of Messiah, Redeemer, etc., we will not be able to understand fully what God means by them

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HaYesod Program Overview (cont’d)
➢ Third, the Brit C tells us that we “..are no longer strangers and aliens, but..
Are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,having been
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Messish Yeshua
Himself being the chief cornerstone (Eph 2:19-20)
o What are we to understand?
o Upon what did they build their lives If not on the Tanach, particularly the Torah?
o Moreover all of their teachings is founded upon the Tenach
o This Scripture implies that the foundation of our faith is to be the same as theirs
o That is, the entire Word of God encompassing: the Writings, the Prophets, and the
Brit C.
➢ Lastly, we are commonly led to believe that the believing community, which
the English translation of theBrit C calls “the church,” is solely a phenomenon
originating in the Brit C.
o As we begin to study the nature of God’s believing community, we will find out that
the basic characteristics of its righteousness, calling, government, and lifestyle
have their origins of the Torah – the textbook of Sha’ul of Tarsus

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 HaYesod Program Overview
(conclusion)
• Older, But Not Antiquated!
➢ Therefore, the real foundations of all we believe are to be found, not in the
New Testament, but rather in the “old Testament” – particularly the Torah
➢ Although some call that book the “Old Testament” we hope to demonstrate, it
is in no way inferior, antiquated, or irrelevant to believers in Yeshua. On the
contrary.
➢ Sole purpose of this study of the HaYesod series is to help believers in
Yeshua, both Jewish and non-Jewish, to discover the blessings that the
Torah can have for our everyday lives.

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 The HaYesod Lesson Plan
• Lesson 1: Our Foundation
• Lesson 2: The Unified Word of God
• Lesson 3: The Scriptures of Israel
• Lesson 4: The Messiah and the Torah
• Lesson 5: Messiah, the Living Torah
• Lesson 6: Our Identity in Messiah
• Lesson 7: The Covenant Connection
• Lesson 8: a Covenant Comparison
• Lesson 9: Paul, the Mystery Man
• Lesson 10: Paul, the Misunderstood man
• Lesson 11: The Torah Community
• Lesson 12: The Seasons of our Joy
• Lesson 13: Divine Permission
• Lesson 14: Celebrating Our Inheritance
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 The HaYesod: Q & A
•?

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 HaYesod: Closing & Prayer
• Closing Comments/Announcements/Resources
Resources:
1. Torah Rediscovered (Challenging Centuries of
Misinterpretation and Neglect) by Ariel and D’vorah
Berkowitz
2. Take Hold (Embracing Our Divine Inheritance with
Israel) by Ariel and D’vorah Berkowitz
3. The New Testament (Validates Torah) by J.K. McKee
4. Introduction To Things Messianic (An introduction for
newcomers to the Messianic Movement) by J.K.
McKee
• Closing Prayer - Selwyn
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