Torah For Women Ministries and TorahforWomen.com
Torah For Women Ministries and TorahforWomen.com are the women’s outreach and education ministry of Shofar Productions. Our ministries bring awareness to the foundations of our faith for believers in all denominations. Scripture testifies that we serve a Jewish Messiah, who taught Hebrew people the true meaning of the scriptures. These early Jewish followers brought the message of Jesus (Yeshua) to the people of Israel first and then also to the nations. Jew and Gentile heard the Word.
James and Judith (Yehudit) Garton, the founders of Torah for Women, both have Jewish ancestry and a keen ability to show how the Tanakh (Old Testament) and the New Testament have a united message. Many think the apostolic writings contradict the Old Testament, especially the writings of Paul, but the apostolic writings are a strong confirming commentary of the Old Testament writings. We also believe Yeshua did not do away with the law when he said he would fulfill it (Matthew 5:17), but gave us his teachings and example, to demonstrate how we can live out the Torah (God's instructions) properly.
What is the Torah?
Traditionally, the Torah refers to the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Within these writings is a collection of instructions, wisdom, promises, blessings, examples, and revelations. These are the foundations of scripture, upon which is built the rest of the Bible.
What is your ministry about?
Our ministry is designed for women who desire to follow God's word and live a life of holiness. We DO NOT preach or teach legalism, nor do we teach or preach salvation and atonement for sins by works. However, living in holiness/sanctification is required as part of our life with God -- This is not optional. God empowers us by his grace to live out His holiness. It’s up to us to cooperate with His grace by acting upon God's word and instructions - with our thoughts, words, and actions we can live a righteous and fruitful life. Again, this is not works-based salvation or sanctification. It is about relationship with the Holy Spirit who works in us and through us.
Are you a feminist organization?
We believe that some Jewish and Christian traditions have gone against the scriptural teachings on the role of women in the assemblies, community, and home. We seek to correct these errors and only to teach pure biblical truth - without tradition, dogma, adding to, or taking away from scriptures. We do not use rabbinic rules, church doctrines, or political agendas such as feminism mixed with biblical teachings. Simply put, we don't advocate any man-made, woman-made, political, or religious dogma that goes against The Word of God. We believe the modern feminist agenda is blatantly counter to scriptures, and therefore, not a part of our ministry in any way.
What makes you different than any other women's ministry?
Just as we described above, most women’s ministries push church doctrines, legalism, or other traditions and dogma that are not biblical. We strive to teach women pure scriptures and how to live the scriptures. We allow the scriptures to interpret scriptures and do not base our teachings on twisting scriptures to fit an agenda. Our process of study and teaching is to allow God's Word to speak to us and to those with whom we share His words. Many women’s ministries center on activities that keep women involved in busy-work, groups that act as auxiliaries to support the men's activities, or attempt to keep women under the teachings of an organizational hierarchy, limiting a woman's role in the church. We want women to receive the correct biblical teachings, then use that knowledge to discover their true role and calling. We pray women of faith will discover the gifts God has blessed them with, and exercise those gifts amongst His people.
What religious affiliation are you?
We are simply followers of God's Word. We see the Torah as our faith foundation and a wonderful gift of instructions and wisdom from a loving God. He desires that we use the words He has given us to bless our home and help us live a life pleasing to Him. We preach and teach scripture, not religious teachings. We also believe salvation, redemption, atonement, and healing come through the Messiah, Yeshua, also known as Jesus Christ.
Here is our Statement of Faith backed by scriptural reference:
There is one Godhead: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. [Genesis 1:26 (plural), Matthew 28:19, John 1:1, Acts 5:3,4]
Yeshua (Jesus) is the one and only Messiah. He is both fully God and fully man (John 1:1 and John 1:14). He was born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18-25 and Isa. 7:14), and he was crucified, died, and buried. He was resurrected from the dead, and he is the head of the church. His sacrifice alone has paid for the sins of all that trust in him as Savior, and by his stripes we were healed. [John 20:31; Matthew 1:25; Luke 16:22; 1 Corinthians 2:2, 15:4; Colossians 2:15; Romans 4:25; 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18-20; Ephesians 4:7-10].
Sin and a curse entered the world through the fall of Adam and Eve. All their offspring (all mankind) are born into a fallen sin nature. We cannot stand before God justified in our own merits or earn our salvation. All humans are in need of personal salvation, and there is but one way for salvation, which is grace through faith by accepting Christ as Savior (the 2nd Adam). We must trust in the power of his blood to cleanse us of all our sins. We then have access to go boldly before the Father's throne. [1 Corinthians 15:21-22, 45; Romans 3:23, 5:12; Titus 2:11; Hebrews 4:16]
We believe we receive power when the Holy Spirit indwells us and the fullness of the power through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:17, 10:44-46, 19:6). We believe the Holy Spirit is our comforter and teacher who guides us into righteousness and writes the laws of God on our heart and mind. We believe TRUE GRACE is the ability and power given to us by the Holy Spirit to live out God’s definition of holiness and, by His power, sin has no dominion over us. WE DO NOT believe in the FALSE GRACE (Radical Grace) message as taught in many churches today. That message turns God's grace and mercy into a "free pass" to live in sin, worldliness, and a lukewarm condition. Grace is power to live Godly, not permission to live worldly. [John 14:26, 16:7-14; 1 Corinthians 2:10, chapter 12; 2 Corinthians 3:3; Romans 6:1-2, Hebrews 10:16, Rev. 3:14-22]
We believe that God’s laws will be the standard He will use to define sin during the Day of Judgment. Therefore, he could not have "done away" with his laws as some claim. If God abolished his laws, by what will He judge sinners? Without the law there is no sin (Romans 4:15, 5:13, 7:7). The scriptures tell us that sin is violation of God's laws: "Everyone who sins is breaking God's law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God." (1 John 3:4). Unless a sinner has their sins removed by the blood and sacrificial work of Yeshua, they will stand and give an account for what they did wrong in this life and for rejecting Yeshua (Jesus). We believe true repentance [confessing and turning from sin] is necessary for the forgiveness of sins and that all sin can be forgiven and removed by the power of the blood of Yeshua. Once we repent and ask God for forgiveness, we are no longer under condemnation. We then must learn to forgive ourselves because many struggle with accepting the simplicity of God's grace and mercy. Even after our sins are removed many believers suffer guilt and the lack of ability to forgive themselves, which causes them to endure self-inflicted condemnation. But God offers assurance of forgiveness and invites them to know His mercy and love. He wants to show you His perfect love which has the power to remove all fear and dread of condemnation, which will truly set you free from guilt, depression and anxiety. His mercy and loving-kindness endures forever [Matthew 7:23, 12:35-37; Revelations 2:5, 20:12, 22:12; Romans 2:1-29; Mark 6:12; Acts 3:19; 1 John 4:16-19, Psalms 100:5, 136]
We believe that the two greatest commands are: (1) "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thine understanding" and (2) "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" on these -- the two commands Yeshua stated -- all the law and the prophets do hang. However, men think they can define what love means instead of looking to see how God defines love. For example, a believer cannot love worldliness (1 John 2:15); believers cannot love sin and wrongdoing (Isa. 61:8). Love must be sincere, which means we must hate what is evil and cling to what is good (Romans 12:9). Believers today look the other way at sin or even support those who live in sin while hating those who preach holiness because they believe not correcting sin or error is being "non-judgmental" and "loving." This is why men cannot define the love God meant for us to observe toward him and others. This is also why we cannot "unhook" (Matthew 22:36-40) the laws and prophets that hang on the two greatest commands. The Old Testament and New Testament instruct us in the ways of right living and teach us how to express God's definition of love. [Matthew 22:36-40, Psalms 45:7, 1 John 2:15]
We believe that accepting Yeshua (Christ) as Savior is the start of a relationship and begins a process in the life of the believer, which involves sanctification (setting apart from the world - holiness), living in the Spirit, and renewing the mind to transform us to the image of Christ. We believe living a Spirit-filled life and following the totality of scriptures are important in this process and crucial in our transformation process. [Galatians 5:22-25; Hebrews 2:11, 10:28-29; 1 Thessalonians 4:7; Colossians 1:9-12; Ephesians 4:23; Romans 12:2, 15:4, 7:13-24; 2 Timothy 3:15-17]
We believe the original text of the Old Testament is Hebrew, with a few sections in Ezra, Daniel, and a verse in Jeremiah written in a language called Aramaic. We believe the entire New Testament was originally written in Greek. We refute any claim that the New Testament originally was written in Hebrew, Aramaic, or any other language. These claims of an Aramaic or Hebrew Primacy are not supported by legitimate evidence. We believe God promised to preserve his word and we have faith that he did it. Therefore, the scriptures that we have today are the scriptures God has preserved and carry the message He desires for us to know and study. (Psalm 12:6-7; Mark 13:3; Isa. 40:8; 1 Peter 1:25). We also feel that believers must be careful of the Bible translations they use as some are more of a commentary than a translation. Some of the modern translations have inserted liberal theology and politics within the Holy Scriptures. We feel the King James and a select number of modern translations are useful for reading and study.
We believe the name of Christ is Yeshua in Hebrew, Iesous in Greek, Iesus in Latin, and Jesus in English. His Hebrew name and Greek transliteration are revealed in the scriptures by using the Old and New Testament text and the Septuagint to bridge the gap between the two languages (Hebrew & Greek). We deny the invented names such as Yahshua, Yahushua, or any other newly-invented names that are not supported by history, linguistics, or scriptures. We also believe God revealed His name to men as "Ehyeh asher ehyeh," which translated means I will be who I will be, or I am that I am, Ehyeh is a form of hayah, and YHWH is a form of Hayah (I AM), based on a Hebrew triconsonantal root (h-y-h), which forms the Tetragrammaton (YHWH). God told Moses to tell the children of Israel to call him YHWH in the Book of Exodus chapter 3. The Aleppo and Leningrad Codex support a vocalization of "Yhwah", with no pointing on the first "h". However, scriptures like Psalms 68:4, reveal to us the first part of the Tetragrammaton is clearly "YAH" (see Strong's H3050). Therefore, we believe the name of God is revealed as Yahweh (pronounced YAH-Way). We do not believe God's name is Jehovah or Yehovah or the many combinations seen all over the internet. We also believe the sacred name movement is a false teaching that treats God's name as some sort of magical mantra. The movement and their teaching should be avoided.
We do not believe in the false doctrine of "Soul Sleep," which we categorize as false teaching. We believe when a person dies their spirit and soul immediately go to a literal heaven above (2 Cor. 5:8, Phil 1:23, and 2 Tim. 4:6-8), or a literal hell below (Lk. 12:5, 16:22-24; Mt. 23;33, 25:46; and John 3:36), depending on their profession of faith, and lifestyle. A person named in the Lambs Book of Life (Phil. 4:3, Rev. 3:5, and 21:27), who maintains a holy life (Exodus 32:33;Ps. 69:28; Matthew 7:22-23; 1 Corinthians 10:12; Hebrews 3:12, 10:39; Revelations 3:5) will have eternal life. However, those who deny the Savior with their mouth and live a life of sinful actions will suffer eternal damnation. We do not believe in the false teaching of universal salvation, which claims everyone will be saved regardless of their action, lack of repentance or lack of belief in the one and only Savior Yeshua (Jesus) the Christ.
We do not believe in the concept of the "Lone Ranger" believer, who thinks they can cut themselves off from the Body of Christ, the church, and do "their own thing" or create their own "do-it-yourself" religion. Believers in the Body of Christ need one another. We need the various gift and ministry callings that operate in the corporate body (church). Spiritual survival comes through our unity with true believers sharing the fundamentals of the faith and not from our isolation. (1 Corinthians 12:12-30)
We believe in a true, open and visual Second Coming of the Savior (Yeshua/Jesus), to be seen by all the world and the establishment of his kingdom on Earth. Prior to this, we believe in a "snatching away," a "Rapture," of his people followed by a seven year period of tribulation and judgment on the earth as indicated in the scriptures.
James and Judith (Yehudit) Garton, the founders of Torah for Women, both have Jewish ancestry and a keen ability to show how the Tanakh (Old Testament) and the New Testament have a united message. Many think the apostolic writings contradict the Old Testament, especially the writings of Paul, but the apostolic writings are a strong confirming commentary of the Old Testament writings. We also believe Yeshua did not do away with the law when he said he would fulfill it (Matthew 5:17), but gave us his teachings and example, to demonstrate how we can live out the Torah (God's instructions) properly.
What is the Torah?
Traditionally, the Torah refers to the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Within these writings is a collection of instructions, wisdom, promises, blessings, examples, and revelations. These are the foundations of scripture, upon which is built the rest of the Bible.
What is your ministry about?
Our ministry is designed for women who desire to follow God's word and live a life of holiness. We DO NOT preach or teach legalism, nor do we teach or preach salvation and atonement for sins by works. However, living in holiness/sanctification is required as part of our life with God -- This is not optional. God empowers us by his grace to live out His holiness. It’s up to us to cooperate with His grace by acting upon God's word and instructions - with our thoughts, words, and actions we can live a righteous and fruitful life. Again, this is not works-based salvation or sanctification. It is about relationship with the Holy Spirit who works in us and through us.
Are you a feminist organization?
We believe that some Jewish and Christian traditions have gone against the scriptural teachings on the role of women in the assemblies, community, and home. We seek to correct these errors and only to teach pure biblical truth - without tradition, dogma, adding to, or taking away from scriptures. We do not use rabbinic rules, church doctrines, or political agendas such as feminism mixed with biblical teachings. Simply put, we don't advocate any man-made, woman-made, political, or religious dogma that goes against The Word of God. We believe the modern feminist agenda is blatantly counter to scriptures, and therefore, not a part of our ministry in any way.
What makes you different than any other women's ministry?
Just as we described above, most women’s ministries push church doctrines, legalism, or other traditions and dogma that are not biblical. We strive to teach women pure scriptures and how to live the scriptures. We allow the scriptures to interpret scriptures and do not base our teachings on twisting scriptures to fit an agenda. Our process of study and teaching is to allow God's Word to speak to us and to those with whom we share His words. Many women’s ministries center on activities that keep women involved in busy-work, groups that act as auxiliaries to support the men's activities, or attempt to keep women under the teachings of an organizational hierarchy, limiting a woman's role in the church. We want women to receive the correct biblical teachings, then use that knowledge to discover their true role and calling. We pray women of faith will discover the gifts God has blessed them with, and exercise those gifts amongst His people.
What religious affiliation are you?
We are simply followers of God's Word. We see the Torah as our faith foundation and a wonderful gift of instructions and wisdom from a loving God. He desires that we use the words He has given us to bless our home and help us live a life pleasing to Him. We preach and teach scripture, not religious teachings. We also believe salvation, redemption, atonement, and healing come through the Messiah, Yeshua, also known as Jesus Christ.
Here is our Statement of Faith backed by scriptural reference:
There is one Godhead: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. [Genesis 1:26 (plural), Matthew 28:19, John 1:1, Acts 5:3,4]
Yeshua (Jesus) is the one and only Messiah. He is both fully God and fully man (John 1:1 and John 1:14). He was born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18-25 and Isa. 7:14), and he was crucified, died, and buried. He was resurrected from the dead, and he is the head of the church. His sacrifice alone has paid for the sins of all that trust in him as Savior, and by his stripes we were healed. [John 20:31; Matthew 1:25; Luke 16:22; 1 Corinthians 2:2, 15:4; Colossians 2:15; Romans 4:25; 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18-20; Ephesians 4:7-10].
Sin and a curse entered the world through the fall of Adam and Eve. All their offspring (all mankind) are born into a fallen sin nature. We cannot stand before God justified in our own merits or earn our salvation. All humans are in need of personal salvation, and there is but one way for salvation, which is grace through faith by accepting Christ as Savior (the 2nd Adam). We must trust in the power of his blood to cleanse us of all our sins. We then have access to go boldly before the Father's throne. [1 Corinthians 15:21-22, 45; Romans 3:23, 5:12; Titus 2:11; Hebrews 4:16]
We believe we receive power when the Holy Spirit indwells us and the fullness of the power through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:17, 10:44-46, 19:6). We believe the Holy Spirit is our comforter and teacher who guides us into righteousness and writes the laws of God on our heart and mind. We believe TRUE GRACE is the ability and power given to us by the Holy Spirit to live out God’s definition of holiness and, by His power, sin has no dominion over us. WE DO NOT believe in the FALSE GRACE (Radical Grace) message as taught in many churches today. That message turns God's grace and mercy into a "free pass" to live in sin, worldliness, and a lukewarm condition. Grace is power to live Godly, not permission to live worldly. [John 14:26, 16:7-14; 1 Corinthians 2:10, chapter 12; 2 Corinthians 3:3; Romans 6:1-2, Hebrews 10:16, Rev. 3:14-22]
We believe that God’s laws will be the standard He will use to define sin during the Day of Judgment. Therefore, he could not have "done away" with his laws as some claim. If God abolished his laws, by what will He judge sinners? Without the law there is no sin (Romans 4:15, 5:13, 7:7). The scriptures tell us that sin is violation of God's laws: "Everyone who sins is breaking God's law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God." (1 John 3:4). Unless a sinner has their sins removed by the blood and sacrificial work of Yeshua, they will stand and give an account for what they did wrong in this life and for rejecting Yeshua (Jesus). We believe true repentance [confessing and turning from sin] is necessary for the forgiveness of sins and that all sin can be forgiven and removed by the power of the blood of Yeshua. Once we repent and ask God for forgiveness, we are no longer under condemnation. We then must learn to forgive ourselves because many struggle with accepting the simplicity of God's grace and mercy. Even after our sins are removed many believers suffer guilt and the lack of ability to forgive themselves, which causes them to endure self-inflicted condemnation. But God offers assurance of forgiveness and invites them to know His mercy and love. He wants to show you His perfect love which has the power to remove all fear and dread of condemnation, which will truly set you free from guilt, depression and anxiety. His mercy and loving-kindness endures forever [Matthew 7:23, 12:35-37; Revelations 2:5, 20:12, 22:12; Romans 2:1-29; Mark 6:12; Acts 3:19; 1 John 4:16-19, Psalms 100:5, 136]
We believe that the two greatest commands are: (1) "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thine understanding" and (2) "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" on these -- the two commands Yeshua stated -- all the law and the prophets do hang. However, men think they can define what love means instead of looking to see how God defines love. For example, a believer cannot love worldliness (1 John 2:15); believers cannot love sin and wrongdoing (Isa. 61:8). Love must be sincere, which means we must hate what is evil and cling to what is good (Romans 12:9). Believers today look the other way at sin or even support those who live in sin while hating those who preach holiness because they believe not correcting sin or error is being "non-judgmental" and "loving." This is why men cannot define the love God meant for us to observe toward him and others. This is also why we cannot "unhook" (Matthew 22:36-40) the laws and prophets that hang on the two greatest commands. The Old Testament and New Testament instruct us in the ways of right living and teach us how to express God's definition of love. [Matthew 22:36-40, Psalms 45:7, 1 John 2:15]
We believe that accepting Yeshua (Christ) as Savior is the start of a relationship and begins a process in the life of the believer, which involves sanctification (setting apart from the world - holiness), living in the Spirit, and renewing the mind to transform us to the image of Christ. We believe living a Spirit-filled life and following the totality of scriptures are important in this process and crucial in our transformation process. [Galatians 5:22-25; Hebrews 2:11, 10:28-29; 1 Thessalonians 4:7; Colossians 1:9-12; Ephesians 4:23; Romans 12:2, 15:4, 7:13-24; 2 Timothy 3:15-17]
We believe the original text of the Old Testament is Hebrew, with a few sections in Ezra, Daniel, and a verse in Jeremiah written in a language called Aramaic. We believe the entire New Testament was originally written in Greek. We refute any claim that the New Testament originally was written in Hebrew, Aramaic, or any other language. These claims of an Aramaic or Hebrew Primacy are not supported by legitimate evidence. We believe God promised to preserve his word and we have faith that he did it. Therefore, the scriptures that we have today are the scriptures God has preserved and carry the message He desires for us to know and study. (Psalm 12:6-7; Mark 13:3; Isa. 40:8; 1 Peter 1:25). We also feel that believers must be careful of the Bible translations they use as some are more of a commentary than a translation. Some of the modern translations have inserted liberal theology and politics within the Holy Scriptures. We feel the King James and a select number of modern translations are useful for reading and study.
We believe the name of Christ is Yeshua in Hebrew, Iesous in Greek, Iesus in Latin, and Jesus in English. His Hebrew name and Greek transliteration are revealed in the scriptures by using the Old and New Testament text and the Septuagint to bridge the gap between the two languages (Hebrew & Greek). We deny the invented names such as Yahshua, Yahushua, or any other newly-invented names that are not supported by history, linguistics, or scriptures. We also believe God revealed His name to men as "Ehyeh asher ehyeh," which translated means I will be who I will be, or I am that I am, Ehyeh is a form of hayah, and YHWH is a form of Hayah (I AM), based on a Hebrew triconsonantal root (h-y-h), which forms the Tetragrammaton (YHWH). God told Moses to tell the children of Israel to call him YHWH in the Book of Exodus chapter 3. The Aleppo and Leningrad Codex support a vocalization of "Yhwah", with no pointing on the first "h". However, scriptures like Psalms 68:4, reveal to us the first part of the Tetragrammaton is clearly "YAH" (see Strong's H3050). Therefore, we believe the name of God is revealed as Yahweh (pronounced YAH-Way). We do not believe God's name is Jehovah or Yehovah or the many combinations seen all over the internet. We also believe the sacred name movement is a false teaching that treats God's name as some sort of magical mantra. The movement and their teaching should be avoided.
We do not believe in the false doctrine of "Soul Sleep," which we categorize as false teaching. We believe when a person dies their spirit and soul immediately go to a literal heaven above (2 Cor. 5:8, Phil 1:23, and 2 Tim. 4:6-8), or a literal hell below (Lk. 12:5, 16:22-24; Mt. 23;33, 25:46; and John 3:36), depending on their profession of faith, and lifestyle. A person named in the Lambs Book of Life (Phil. 4:3, Rev. 3:5, and 21:27), who maintains a holy life (Exodus 32:33;Ps. 69:28; Matthew 7:22-23; 1 Corinthians 10:12; Hebrews 3:12, 10:39; Revelations 3:5) will have eternal life. However, those who deny the Savior with their mouth and live a life of sinful actions will suffer eternal damnation. We do not believe in the false teaching of universal salvation, which claims everyone will be saved regardless of their action, lack of repentance or lack of belief in the one and only Savior Yeshua (Jesus) the Christ.
We do not believe in the concept of the "Lone Ranger" believer, who thinks they can cut themselves off from the Body of Christ, the church, and do "their own thing" or create their own "do-it-yourself" religion. Believers in the Body of Christ need one another. We need the various gift and ministry callings that operate in the corporate body (church). Spiritual survival comes through our unity with true believers sharing the fundamentals of the faith and not from our isolation. (1 Corinthians 12:12-30)
We believe in a true, open and visual Second Coming of the Savior (Yeshua/Jesus), to be seen by all the world and the establishment of his kingdom on Earth. Prior to this, we believe in a "snatching away," a "Rapture," of his people followed by a seven year period of tribulation and judgment on the earth as indicated in the scriptures.