THANKSGIVUKKAH???

BACK TO BLOGGING!

I recently, the past 6 months, began tweeting (so birdish) for a movement that’s begun in DC. I like tweeting because you can get your message across with some impact in two sentences. Of course, the depth and desire of all you want to say may not be there, but you can get people thinking. I constantly hear my High School teachers reminding us that we need to be “less wordy”. They were 30 years ahead of the times!

I was reading an article today about “Thanksgivukkah” and got really inspired to visit “WhatAboutIsrael” again. For those of you who are part of this blog family but live in a country that does not traditionally celebrate Thanksgiving or Hanukkah, let me explain. 

This year, for Americans, The first day of Hanukkah will be on Thanksgiving.  According to the article I read, the last time this happened was in 1888! And….it won’t happen again until 2070, then 2165, then, according to calculations by Jonathan Mizrahi a quantum physicist at the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, it won’t happen again until 76,695 ! Don’t even try to picture it!

So, is there any significance here? Let’s first examine the two holidays. First, there’s Hanukkah.  Around 167-176 B.C.E. under the reign of Antiochus IV, an intense campaign was waged to defile the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. A statue of the Greek God Zeus was erected inside the Temple, and there was the slaughter of pigs on the altar. All Jewish forms of worship were eliminated. The situation for the Jewish people was grim.  The people were afraid to fight back for fear of reprisals. Observance of any Jewish worship was punishable by death.

A Greek officer ordered Mattathias, a priest, to bow to the idol and eat pig meat.  Mattathias refused.  As the tension increased, Mattathias and his 5 sons ended up killing all the Greek soldiers.  He and his followers became zealous for God’s restoration against impossible odds. He gathered his 5 sons and others in the area to lead a 3 year campaign against the Syrian occupation of Jerusalem and the Temple.

They were miraculously able to regain control of the Temple in Jerusalem, and they were determined to purify it from all the  pagan worship that had been done in it. It took eight days to make the anointing oil for the lampstand in the Temple, but the Jews were only able to find enough oil for one day.  To their amazement, that small amount of oil lasted for eight day until the new oil was made. 

Hanukkah is a part of history that reminds us that God is able to turn the most difficult situations around, that He will always fulfill His promises and that persecution does not have victory over the Spirit of G-d.

The celebration of Thanksgiving in America is similar in content.  The Pilgrims left secure lives to pursue worshipping the God of the Bible in spirit and truth. They set sail against difficult conditions in September 1620 and braved harsh weather for two months.

When they arrived at Plymouth Rock they were unprepared for the harsh New England winter. Many of the Pilgrims died that winter. Things seemed bleak.

When the spring arrived, a native American named Samoset greeted them in English that he had learned from traders and fishermen. Samoset returned to the Pilgrims a week later with Squanto, another native American who chose to live with the Pilgrims and accepted the Christian faith. Squanto was a miracle from G-d. He helped teach the Pilgrims how to live in their new environment and was instrumental in a long-lasting peace treaty between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags.

Through much prayer and teamwork, an abundant harvest came at the end of the summer. The Pilgrims sought for a pattern in the Bible to celebrate their gratitude to God.  Succot, Feast of Tabernacles was a perfect fit. They decided on three days of feasting and thanksgiving that they would celebrate together with Samoset and his people.  90 Wampanoags and 50 Pilgrims participated in feasting, playing and prayer.  This was a miraculous ending to a perilous, difficult journey that also resulted in God's victory.

So we see that both these celebrations are about freedom to worship G-d and to reject the pressures of the culture that dictate lifestyles contrary to the Bible. The center of worship in both situations is a huge heart of thanksgiving to G-d. G-d honored the hearts of the people who were in pursuit of Him, and He showed His love and power on their behalf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hanukkah is known as The Feast of dedication. The historical event was not recorded in scriptures because it happened after the writing of the Tenach. However, it does show up in the Christian Bible  in the Book of John, chapter 10, verse 22.

So the Christian Pilgrims followed a feast in the Torah and the Jewish Hanukkah celebration is only mentioned in the Christian Bible! Maybe there is a link! Whatever the case, it is a good thing to thank G-d for His love and power, to honor His righteousness and holiness and His kindness to men, and to take this historic opportunity to rededicate our lives to G-d Almighty! This November 18,  25^th of Kislev, we can give Him  double Praise and Thanks!!!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISRAEL! 65!

*Sorry for the delay. I started this yesterday, but could not post it until today.

Today ( 5 Iyar) is a day we stand in awe of G-d’s faithfulness.

In the words of Balaam (Numbers 23, verse 19):

G-d is not a man, that He should lie
Nor a son of man, that He should change His mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
I have received a command to bless
And I cannot change it.

The nation of Israel today is living testimony to the truth of G-d’s Word.



Let’s begin with the word, “everlasting”.
In case there is any question, “everlasting” means enduring through all time, eternal, never ending.
Psalm 105, verses 8- 11 tells us:
He remembers His covenant FOREVER,
The word He commanded for 1000 generations,
The covenant He made with Abraham,
The oath He swore to Isaac
He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
TO ISRAEL AS AN EVERLASTING COVENANT
“To YOU I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.”

Is it possible, G-d said this to just prove how faithful and amazing He is?
Over 3500 years ago G-d spoke these promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Since that time:
There was 430 years of slavery in Egypt.

David made Jerusalem His capital (1010-970  BCE)
Solomon built the first temple

The Northern kingdom was exiled by Assyria
The Babylonians conquered Judah.
After 70 years some returned to the land.

A few hundred years later, Alexander the Great conquered it.
Then Rome ruled.
The second temple was destroyed in 70 CE.
Between 132-35 CE, in a second Jewish revolt, Rome killed 500,000 Jews, destroying 985
villages and changing the name of the Holy Land to “Palestine” to offend the Jewish people.
In 325 Constantine changed Passover to Easter and forbid intermarriage with Jews. The Council of Nicea created new holidays for worship, omitting everything Jewish.

In 614, a Persian general captured Jerusalem and allowed 150,000 Jews to run the
     city, but 3 years later kicked them out to 3 mile border outside the city.
In 637, Muslims captured Caesarea and forbid Jews to ride horses, hold office,
and forced the Jews to wear identification badges.
The wearing of badges to distinguish Jews continued throughout history in Austria, England, Spain, and in modern history Nazi occupied Europe.

Throughout the crusades, Jews were forced to be baptized or die.
Persian Jews were forced to convert to Islam.
The Jews were falsely accused of killing Christian children and drinking their blood .
The Jews were blamed for the Black Plague in Europe and over 200,000 Jewish
      communities were destroyed.

Jews, often more than once, were expelled from England, France, Germany, Spain, Morocco, and Portugal  leaving all their possessions behind.
Jews lived under the Ottoman Turks for 400 years.
Not until 1788 (only 225 years ago) were the Jews allowed to hold public office
         granted to them in the United States Constitution.

In 1791, France followed. The first time Jews could be citizens since the Roman
      Empire.
In 1841, Denmark granted citizenship to Jews.
In 1830, Greece did the same; then a year later, Belgium followed.
A year later, Canada granted “political rights” to Jews.
In 1848, Germany granted “civil rights” to Jews.
Not until 1861, were Jews allowed to enter Norway.
In 1869, 1870 and 1871 respectively, Jews were given citizenship in Italy,
Sweden and Germany.
And in 1923, Romania granted its Jews citizenship.
In 1903, the British suggested giving the Jewish people Uganda as their homeland.

In 1920 The land of Israel was given over to the British to implement the
Balfour Declaration making “Palestine” a national homeland for the Jews.
Also in the 1920’s Henry Ford began spreading evil propaganda about the Jews with the Elders of the Protocols of Zion in his Dearborn newspaper. (Even though the London Times proved it was a fake and a forgery)

In1922, the population of Palestine, 757,182 11% Jewish.
In 1933 an anti-Jewish boycott begins in Germany.
In 1938, Kristallnacht, Jewish synagogues in Germany burned down.
In 1939 Jewish immigration to Palestine severely limited by British White Papers.
In 1940 Nazis established ghettos in Poland

Between 1942-1945 6 million Jews murdered
In 1947 Palestine Government placed Jerusalem’s 90,000 Jews under nightly
house arrest as they sent 4,529 Jews back to France .
Also in 1947 The Un proposes the establishment of  Arab and Jewish states
in  “Palestine”. The Arab Higher Committee rejects the UN Plan.

May 14, 1948 Declaration of the State of Israel.  

 

Arab armies invade the new state and there is a war from May 1948 until July 1949
Nov. 8, 1948 the First census indicates 712,000 Jewish residents, 69,000
 Arab residents in the State of Israel.

So, of course this is a very brief, highlighted history of the Jewish people.
The exodus of over 800,000 Jews from Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Arabia, Egypt and Syria is not included.

 

 

The ghettos, confiscations. Pogroms, are not included.
These ALL add to the absolute MIRACLE of the nation of Israel and the
Jewish people!
How can a people survive 1000’s of years without their own home?
How can they continue to survive when they are systematically  expelled from
their homes and killed?
How did Hebrew get reborn as the national language?
How did a vibrant economy develop from nothing?

How did a desert and a swamp land become a leader in the world’s agricultural development?

The answer is in the scriptures at the beginning of this post.
The G-d of Israel is a faithful G-d. If He says it, He will do it!
 David says it best in Psalm 65, in honor of the nation’s 65^th birthday!

Praise awaits you o G-d in Zion; to you our vows will be fulfilled,
O you hear our prayer, to you all men will come.
When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions.
Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.
You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O G-d our Savior,
The hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas,
Who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength,
Who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves,
And the turmoil of the nations.
Those living far away fear your wonders; where morning dawns
and evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.
You care for the land and water it;
You enrich it abundantly.
The streams of G-d are filled with water to provide the people with grain,
For so you have ordained it.
You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers
And bless its crops.
You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.
The grasslands of the desert overflow;
The hills are clothed with gladness.
The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain;
They shout for joy and sing!

 

 

THE HOLOCAUST - WHY?

Many people in the world today question if G-d really exists.
They see hunger, wars, injustice, and question how a just and loving G-d could allow this to happen.

 

Maybe the one of the hardest things to understand is The Holocaust.
How could a modern sophisticated, educated culture plan the systematic state-sponsored murder of an entire race of people – the Jews?

It’s even more difficult to understand that this plan was actually implemented resulting in over six million people being senselessly executed for no other reason than their being Jews.

It is understandable, especially for those who lived through and survived the extermination camps and death marches, that it is a challenge to believe G-d loves them and cares.

So let’s examine what we know about G-d from His word and figure out how this ALL makes sense.

To begin with, the scriptures give examples throughout history of evil plans for the destruction of G-d’s people. There is Moses:

When Moses was born, the Leader of Egypt made a law that any Hebrew male baby must be killed. The midwives were instructed to spare the girls, but throw the baby boys into the Nile River.

Although this evil plan did not succeed, thanks to big hearted midwives, the spiritual evil was present in Pharoah’s  heart and could have resulted in an entire generation of men being exterminated.

Most of us are familiar with Haman. Haman despised the Jews and planned the annihilation of all the Jews in Persia. It was very close to happening, but divine intervention came at the very last moment when Queen Esther obediently acted on God’s plan to deliver the Jewish people.

Throughout history, there have been numerous attempts to wipe out all Jewish people living on earth. Every one of them has failed.  Where does this evil come from? And why does it exist?

The Bible tells us that man was created without evil in him. It says when Adam and Eve were created they were naked, and felt no shame. According to the dictionary, “shame” is a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming or impropriety. They didn’t have shame because they had done nothing wrong they were without sin.

When G-d made man, He gave him dominion over all the earth:

Then G-d said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the ir, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

 

The Lord had man name everything and enjoy all He had made for him. In the Garden, the Lord told Adam “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; BUT you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

 

Now most people who know this part of scripture know Adam and Eve disobeyed G-d, ate from the tree BUT did not die. So what is that all about?

The Garden of Eden was a place of purity, holiness, no discord or strife, no evil or pain. All that died when Adam and Eve disobeyed G-d. Before they sinned, they had no knowledge of evil. It was unknown to them. Suddenly, after eating the apple, their innocence died, their purity died, their peace died. They felt shame. They had been enticed to leave their perfect environment for toil, despair, and pain resulting from their sin. They had lost the authority G-d had given them to have dominion over ALL the earth and relinquished it to G-d’s enemy, the serpent, Satan.

The prophet Isaiah describes Satan vividly, beginning when he was Lucifer, the Arch Angel of worship. In the 14^th chapter of Isaiah, verses 12-15, Isaiah prophesies:

How you have fallen from heaven O Morning Star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the
   nations!
You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne
    above the stars of G-d;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of
   the sacred mountain.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the
  Most High.
But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.

The prophet Ezekiel prophesies similar words in chapter 28, verses 12-15:
You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the Garden of G-d; every precious stone adorned
  you:
ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx, and jasper, sapphire,
  tourqoise and beryl.
Your settings and mounting were made of gold; on the day you were
  created, they were prepared.
You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of G-d;
You walked among the firey stones.
You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created

Till wickedness was found in you.

Lucifer lost his position as lead worshipper in heaven because pride was found in him. He was overly impressed with himself and thought he could be greater than G-d!

This pride did not end because of punishment, but only increased as rage and anger led Lucifer, now Satan, to lead a rebellion in heaven against G-d.

Satan hates everything that reminds him of G-d.
Satan hates every Word G-d speaks because it is truth.
Satan hates everything that G-d loves.

So when G-d created man in His image, breathed life into him, created a perfect place for him to live, wanted fellowship with him, Satan was bent on destroying it. Thus, he tricked Adam and Eve into following him.

Sin dominated their hearts and their birthright was handed over to G-d’s enemy.

Throughout the Bible, men and women like Abraham, David, Deborah, Esther, King Hezekiah and King Josiah, believed wholeheartedly in the G-d of Israel and their “faith” was credited to them as righteousness.

However, throughout history, there are many people who have been painfully deceived into doubting G-d and thus aligning themselves with His enemy.

When Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, he had the support of the people. The democratic government was collapsing and the Great depression was having an effect on the German people. Hitler promised everybody something and many opponents were fearful of opposing him. Through powerful propaganda, he convinced people the Jews were the enemy of Germany. So, the German people gave their right to choose away much like Adam and Eve did in the garden. They too relinquished their freedom to have dominion over the countries direction and gave it to an evil taskmaster to do as he saw fit.

The result in both of these situations was devastating.

Now, let’s look at G-d, the G-d of Israel, the G-d of scriptures.
David sings in Psalm 145, verse 13, that “The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving to all he has made.”

Jeremiah tells us in chapter 31, verse 3, “The Lord appeared to us in the past,” saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”

So how can we attribute the hate, the evil, the atrocities of the Holocaust to G-d? It doesn’t line up with his description. But, it certainly lines up with Satan’s description.

So, why the Jews? Why this group of people? Why are the Jews called “Chosen”? Are they chosen by G-d just to suffer?

The Prophet Ezekiel thoroughly answers this question. Like any people group, the Jews have people who honor G-d in their lives and people who dishonor Him. Ezekiel explains in chapter36, verses 22-23:
Therefore, say to the house of Israel, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my Holy Name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my Great Name, which has been profaned among the nations, the Name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.

Ahha! The Jews were not “chosen because they were the most numerous. In fact G-d says in Deuteronomy, chapter 7 that the Jews are the “fewest in number.”

The Jews weren’t chosen because they were the most righteous, because G-d says they profaned His name in the nations.

No, G-d spoke His Word over the Jewish people and despite their weaknesses and flaws, He will show himself holy through their lives so the nations will know how great He is. G-d is faithful to all He has spoken.

Let’s look at how G-d moves to exalt His Word.

To begin with, Yad Vashem, has a growing list of individuals who risked their lives and some gave their lives to rescue Jewish people during the Holocaust. The number is smaller than the real number since many records have been destroyed and some countries like Denmark want to only put their group name down. Even with this, as of January this year there are 24,811 individual names listed. Many of these individuals rescued 100’s, some 1000’s of Jewish people.

We do not know how many others are not listed.
We do not know how many others were prompted by G-d to help, but for various reasons, declined.

We do know that there are over 6 million Jewish people living in Israel today. That is a miracle! It is ONLY because “the Word of the Lord is right and true, He is faithful in all He does.” (Psalm 33, verse 4)

From 1901 to 2012, 22% of Nobel Prize winners have been Jewish. These individuals have made huge contributions to the well- being of mankind on the earth. How is this possible when evil leaders have tried to destroy them? The G-d of Israel is faithful in ALL he does.

It is so important at this time in history that we know who we follow. There are only 2 choices according to the scriptures. You either follow the Holy G-d of Israel or you follow His enemy, Satan. At least 24,811 people aligned themselves with G-d’s rescue plan in World War II as did 1000’s of troops and saved an entire race that was targeted for complete destruction.

G-d is saying to us today, like he said through Joshua:
Now, fear the Lord and serve Him with ALL faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped….and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

If we all choose to love the Lord our G-d and serve Him only, we will see huge victories over His enemies.