Shalom, Mitspacha!
Justice – holiness in relationships
Heavenly Father, YHVH, we come before You on this third day of Yom Teru'ah with grateful hearts. Thank You for continuing to sustain us and for calling us deeper into awakening, righteousness and holiness.
Thank You for Your Torah, which teaches us that holiness is not separated from the way we treat one another. Teach us to recognise that justice, faithfulness, dignity and proper relationships are all part of walking uprightly before You.
As we continue through this appointed time, examine the relationships in our lives and reveal where selfishness, injustice, exploitation or disregard for Your boundaries have entered. Give us wisdom to treat others with dignity, courage to correct what is wrong and faithfulness to honour the order You established.
May this third day of Yom Teru'ah deepen our understanding that obedience is lived out not only before You, but also in the way we conduct ourselves toward those around us. Keep us attentive to Your voice and willing to respond when Your Torah exposes what must change.
Baruch YHVH. Emet.
We remember Yahusha HaMashiach and the covenant represented through His body and blood. As we partake, let us remember that covenant calls us into a life marked by faithfulness, righteousness and love expressed through obedience.
Justice in relationships begins with recognising the dignity YHVH has given to every person. Our relationships are not merely matters of personal preference. They are areas in which our obedience, integrity and treatment of others reveal whether we honour the order established by YHVH.
May this remembrance cause us to examine how we treat those closest to us, those entrusted to our care and even those with whom we disagree. May we reject exploitation, manipulation and injustice, and instead walk with honesty, restraint, faithfulness and respect.
“You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.”
- Vayiqra (Leviticus) 19:15
“You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am YHVH.”
- Vayiqra (Leviticus) 19:16
“You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am YHVH.”
- Vayiqra (Leviticus) 19:17-18
“Speak to the children of Yisrael, saying: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a Shabbat-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a set-apart gathering.”
- Vayiqra (Leviticus) 23:24
Justice – holiness in relationships means recognising that our dealings with other people are part of our obedience to YHVH. Torah does not separate spiritual holiness from practical righteousness. The way we judge, speak, correct, forgive, protect and conduct ourselves toward others reveals whether we are truly walking according to His ways.
Leviticus 19 places justice directly within the life of the covenant community. YHVH does not permit judgment to be distorted by favouritism. Neither poverty nor status is to determine what is right. Justice must remain anchored in righteousness rather than personal preference.
This principle reaches beyond formal judgment. Every relationship contains opportunities to act justly or unjustly. We can misuse authority, manipulate trust, exploit vulnerability, withhold truth or treat another person unfairly. We can also protect dignity, speak truth, show restraint and act with integrity.
Holiness therefore affects the way we use power. Whoever has greater authority, knowledge, resources or influence carries responsibility. YHVH does not give authority so that one person may exploit another. His Torah establishes boundaries that restrain injustice and protect human dignity.
Our words are also part of justice. Torah warns against becoming a talebearer and against standing against the life of a neighbour. Words can destroy trust, damage reputations and divide families and communities. What we repeat about another person matters before YHVH.
Yet Torah does not teach silence in the face of wrongdoing. We are instructed to rebuke our neighbour rather than allowing sin to remain unaddressed. Proper correction is therefore different from malicious gossip. One seeks restoration and righteousness; the other seeks damage.
This requires discernment. We must learn to distinguish between correcting someone because we genuinely desire what is right and speaking about someone because we want to expose, humiliate or destroy them. Both may use the language of truth, but their purposes are completely different.
The command not to hate our brother in our heart also exposes something deeper. It is possible to appear outwardly correct while harbouring resentment, vengeance or grudges within. YHVH examines the heart as well as the outward action.
The instruction not to take vengeance or bear a grudge challenges the desire to make another person suffer because they have hurt us. Justice belongs to YHVH. Our responsibility is to remain faithful to His ways rather than allowing personal injury to become permission for retaliation.
This is especially important in close relationships. Families, marriages and communities can become places where old wounds, unresolved anger and accumulated resentment quietly shape behaviour. Yom Teru'ah calls us to awaken to these things rather than allowing them to become normal.
Holiness in relationships therefore requires both boundaries and responsibility. We must know what YHVH permits and forbids, while also accepting responsibility for the way our choices affect others. Righteousness is not simply about avoiding wrongdoing; it is about actively choosing what preserves dignity, justice and covenant faithfulness.
Where have we allowed resentment to remain in our hearts? Where have we treated someone unfairly because of what they have done to us? Where have our words damaged another person's dignity? Where have we confused correction with condemnation? Where have we used authority for ourselves rather than for what is right?
The answer is not to ignore these questions. Awakening means allowing YHVH's Torah to expose what needs correction. Where there is injustice, we must turn from it. Where there is resentment, we must release it. Where there has been wrongdoing, we must pursue righteousness and restoration according to what YHVH requires.
May this third day of Yom Teru'ah teach us that holiness is visible in our relationships. May our conduct toward others reflect the justice, truth and faithfulness that YHVH requires.
Yom Teru'ah Day 3 continues the call to awaken under the kingship of YHVH. His kingship reaches into every relationship, every responsibility and every decision in which we have the opportunity to act justly or unjustly.
To awaken is to become conscious again of the authority of the King. It means recognising that our relationships do not exist outside His rule. The way we treat others matters because YHVH is watching, judging and teaching His people how to live.
YHVH is King, and His Torah establishes a righteous order for human relationships. His boundaries protect dignity, restrain exploitation and teach us that freedom does not mean permission to disregard the wellbeing of another.
As we continue through Yom Teru'ah, may our awakening become visible in our conduct. May we become quicker to recognise injustice, slower to retaliate, more willing to correct with righteousness and more determined to protect the dignity of others.
The sound of teru'ah calls us to attention. Let that attention continue beyond the appointed time. May we hear the call of the King and respond by bringing our relationships under His authority.
Heavenly Father, YHVH, thank You for bringing us into Yom Teru'ah Day 3. Thank You for continuing to awaken our hearts and for giving us Your Torah to teach us justice, righteousness and holiness in our relationships.
Search our hearts and reveal every place where resentment, selfishness, favouritism, manipulation or injustice has entered our relationships. Give us humility to recognise our own wrongdoing and courage to correct what must be corrected.
Teach us to use authority responsibly. Protect those who are vulnerable and prevent us from exploiting the trust, weakness or dependence of others. Let our homes, marriages, families and communities be places where dignity, truth and righteousness are protected.
Guard our mouths from gossip, slander and words that damage another person's reputation. Give us wisdom to know when correction is necessary and the humility to correct with the purpose of restoration rather than humiliation.
Help us to release vengeance and grudges. Where we have been wounded, teach us to respond according to Your ways rather than according to anger. Where justice is required, help us to pursue it without hatred. Where restoration is possible, give us wisdom and courage to pursue it.
We pray for families experiencing conflict, broken trust or unresolved resentment. Bring truth into hidden places and give those involved the wisdom to act righteously. Protect marriages, children and vulnerable people from abuse, manipulation and injustice.
We pray for those who have been harmed by the wrongdoing of others. Bring them comfort, protection and righteous support. Where healing is needed, begin the work of restoration. Where boundaries are necessary, give wisdom and strength to establish them.
We pray for our communities, that they may not be governed by favouritism, gossip, retaliation or cultural pressure, but by truth, justice, dignity and faithfulness to Your Torah.
As we continue through the appointed times of the seventh month, keep us attentive to Your voice. Let Yom Teru'ah continue to awaken our conscience and remind us that You are King over every relationship and every responsibility entrusted to us.
May our conduct honour You in public and in private. May we walk justly, speak truthfully, correct faithfully, forgive wisely and protect the dignity of those around us.
Baruch YHVH. Emet.
“Shema, Yisrael: YHVH our Elohim, YHVH is one!
And you shall love YHVH your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your might.
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
And you shall impress them upon your children, and shall speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
- Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6:4-8
“YHVH bless you and keep you;
YHVH make His face shine upon you,
and be gracious to you;
YHVH lift up His countenance upon you,
and give you peace.”
- Bemidbar (Numbers) 6:24-26
Shalom until tomorrow!