Levitt Letter Extra News

By Charles Krauthammer, www.WashingtonPost.com

The world is outraged at Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Turkey denounces its illegality, inhumanity, barbarity, etc. The usual U.N. suspects, Third World and European, join in.

But as Leslie Gelb, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, writes, the blockade is not just perfectly rational, it is perfectly legal. Gaza under Hamas is a self-declared enemy of Israel—a declaration backed up by more than 4,000 rockets fired at Israeli civilian territory. Yet having pledged itself to unceasing belligerency, Hamas claims victimhood when Israel imposes a blockade to prevent Hamas from arming itself with still more rockets.

In World War II, with full international legality, the United States blockaded Germany and Japan. And during the October 1962 missile crisis, we blockaded (“quarantined”) Cuba. Arms-bearing Russian ships headed to Cuba turned back because the Soviets knew that the U.S. Navy would either board them or sink them. Yet Israel is accused of international criminality for doing precisely what John Kennedy did: impose a naval blockade to prevent a hostile state from acquiring lethal weaponry.

Oh, but weren’t the Gaza-bound ships on a mission of humanitarian relief? No. Otherwise they would have accepted Israel’s offer to bring their supplies to an Israeli port, be inspected for military materiel and have the rest trucked by Israel into Gaza—as every week 10,000 tons of food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies are sent by Israel to Gaza.

Why was the offer refused? Because, as organizer Greta Berlin admitted, the flotilla was not about humanitarian relief but about breaking the blockade, i.e., ending Israel’s inspection regime, which would mean unlimited shipping into Gaza and thus the unlimited arming of Hamas.

Israel has already twice intercepted ships laden with Iranian arms destined for Hezbollah and Gaza. What country would allow that?

But even more important, why did Israel even have to resort to blockade? Because, blockade is Israel’s fallback as the world systematically de-legitimizes its traditional ways of defending itself—forward and active defense.

(1) Forward defense: As a small, densely populated country surrounded by hostile states, Israel had, for its first half-century, adopted forward defense—fighting wars on enemy territory (such as the Sinai and Golan Heights) rather than its own.

Where possible (Sinai, for example) Israel has traded territory for peace. But where peace offers were refused, Israel retained the territory as a protective buffer zone. Thus Israel retained a small strip of southern Lebanon to protect the villages of northern Israel. And it took many losses in Gaza, rather than expose Israeli border towns to Palestinian terror attacks. It is for the same reason America wages a grinding war in Afghanistan: You fight them there, so you don’t have to fight them here.

But under overwhelming outside pressure, Israel gave it up. The Israelis were told the occupations were not just illegal but at the root of the anti-Israel insurgencies—and therefore withdrawal, by removing the cause, would bring peace.

Land for peace. Remember? Well, during the past decade, Israel gave the land—evacuating South Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005. What did it get? An intensification of belligerency, heavy militarization of the enemy side, multiple kidnappings, cross-border attacks and, from Gaza, years of unrelenting rocket attack.

(2) Active defense: Israel then had to switch to active defense—military action to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat the newly armed terrorist mini-states established in southern Lebanon and Gaza after Israel withdrew.

The result? The Lebanon war of 2006 and Gaza operation of 2008-09. They were met with yet another avalanche of opprobrium and calumny by the same international community that had demanded the land-for-peace Israeli withdrawals in the first place. Worse, the U.N. Goldstone report, which essentially criminalized Israel’s defensive operation in Gaza while whitewashing the casus belli—the preceding and unprovoked Hamas rocket war—effectively de-legitimized any active Israeli defense against its self-declared terror enemies.

(3) Passive defense: Without forward or active defense, Israel is left with but the most passive and benign of all defenses—a blockade to simply prevent enemy rearmament. Yet, as we speak, this too is headed for international de-legitimization. Even the United States is now moving toward having it abolished.

But, if none of these is permissible, what’s left?

Ah, but that’s the point. It’s the point understood by the blockade-busting flotilla of useful idiots and terror sympathizers, by the Turkish front organization that funded it, by the automatic anti-Israel Third World chorus at the United Nations, and by the supine Europeans who’ve had quite enough of the Jewish problem.

What’s left? Nothing. The whole point of this relentless international campaign is to deprive Israel of any legitimate form of self-defense. Why, just last month, the U.S. reversed four decades of practice by signing onto a consensus document that singles out Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons—thus de-legitimizing Israel’s very last line of defense: deterrence.

The world is tired of these troublesome Jews, 6 million—that number again—hard by the Mediterranean, refusing every invitation to national suicide. For which they are relentlessly demonized, ghettoized and constrained from defending themselves, even as the more committed anti-Zionists—Iranian in particular—openly prepare a more final solution.

By Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi, www.TabletMag.com

11th century No. African Koran in the British Museum

Over the past 15 years, the political conflict between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs has been reframed as a religious war in which leaders from Yasser Arafat to Hassan Nasrallah to Osama bin Laden have appealed to the authority of the Koran to support their goal of eliminating the State of Israel. The authority of the Koran has also been cited in support of a revisionist history that seeks to deny the historical connection of the Jewish people to the city of Jerusalem and to its holiest sites, including the Temple Mount. Ignorant of what the Koran actually says about Jerusalem, Western reporters have recently tended to ignore archaeological and historical evidence and give equal weight to the supposedly competing religious narratives of Jews and Muslims: Jews are said to believe that there was a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, while the Koran states that the historical and religious claims of the Jews are false.

The transformation of a political conflict over land into a religious war is one of the most dangerous and frightening goals of radical Islamist politicians—but it has nothing to do with the Koran.

Here the Italian Muslim communal leader and Koranic scholar Sheik Abdul Hadi Palazzi examines what the Koran says about the connection of the Jewish people to the land of Israel. Far from negating the historical claims of a Jewish presence on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Koran actually confirms Jewish accounts of the building of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem and supports the biblical claim that the land of Israel was given to the Jews by God.

1. Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem

In August 2002, the Yasser Arafat-appointed “mufti of Jerusalem and the Holy Land,” Ikrima Sabri, told the Western media that “there is not even the smallest indication of the existence of a Jewish temple in Jerusalem in the past. In the whole city, there is not even a single stone indicating Jewish history.” By saying this, he confirmed what Arafat had already said to the London-based Arabic paper al-Hayat and reportedly repeated to Bill Clinton and Ehud Barak at Camp David: “Archaeologists have not found a single stone proving that the Temple of Solomon was there because historically the Temple was not in Palestine.”

In making such statements, Sabri and Arafat not only blatantly denied history, archaeology, and the teachings of the Bible, but they also denied the words of the Koran. From the time of the Revelation of the Noble Koran until recently, all Muslims unanimously accepted that the Haram as-Sharif, or Holy Esplanade, on which the Dome of the Rock today stands is the same place where Solomon’s and Zorobabel’s Temples once stood. As a matter of fact, Haram as-Sharif, the Sacred Area of Temple Mount, includes a place called Solomon’s Standpoint, or Maqam Sulayman—according to the Muslim tradition, Solomon used to sit there and supplicate while Hiram’s masons were engaged in building the Temple. From that same place the Muslim tradition says that Solomon prayed to dedicate the House once it was completed and to intercede for those who will approach it for worshiping.

Accepting that Solomon’s Temple was in Jerusalem is compulsory for every Muslim believer, because that is what the Koran and the Islamic oral tradition, called the Sunnah, teach.

In the Koran, Sura Bani Isra’il (the Chapter of the Children of Israel), verses 1-7, we find a description of Solomon’s Temple and of how it was destroyed twice by the enemies of the Jewish people:

Glory to Him Who caused His servant [Mohammed] to travel by night from Masjid al-Haram [in Mecca] to Masjid al-Aqsa [in Jerusalem] whose precincts We did bless, in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One Who heareth and seeth everything. We gave Moses the Book [Torah], and made it a Guide to the Children of Israel, commanding: ‘Take not other than Me as Disposer of your affairs.’ O ye that are the offspring of those whom We carried [in the Ark] with Noah, verily he was a devotee most grateful. And We warned the Children of Israel in the Book, that twice would they do mischief on the earth and twice be elated with mighty arrogance. When the first of the warnings came to pass, We sent against you Our creatures [Babylonians], given to terrible warfare: they entered the very inmost parts of your homes, and thus the first warning was fulfilled. Then We did grant you the return as against them; We gave you increase in resources and sons and made you abundant in human power. If ye did well, ye did well for yourselves; if ye did evil, [ye did it] against yourselves. So when the second of the warnings came to pass, [We permitted your enemies] to disfigure your faces, and to enter your Temple as they entered it once before, and to bring to destruction all that fell into their power.

Imam Abu Abdullah al-Qurtubi, who lived from 1214 to 1273 and was one of the most authoritative medieval Koranic annotators, in his Al-Jami’ li Ahkam il-Qur’an, or Encyclopedia of Koranic Rules, explains the context (asbab) of the verses by mentioning among other sources the authentic Prophetic tradition (hadith). He wrote:

Hudhayfah Ibn al-Yaman asked the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him:

‘I traveled more than once to Jerusalem, but saw no Temple standing there. What is the reason?’

The Prophet Muhammad replied:

‘Verily Solomon son of David raised Bayt al-Maqdis [i.e., Beth ha-Mikdash, the First Temple] with gold and silver, with rubies and emeralds, and Allah caused human beings and spirits to work under his command, until the raising of the House was completed. Afterward, a Babylonian King destroyed Bayt al-Maqdis and brought its treasures to the land of Babylonia, until a King of Persia defeated him and ransomed the Children of Israel. They rebuilt Bayt al-Maqdis for the second time [the Second Temple], until it was destroyed for the second time by an army led by a Roman Emperor.’

One can easily verify that Jewish and Muslim traditional sources are confirming each other: The Temple was built by Solomon and destroyed by a Babylonian king. A Persian king later defeated the Babylonians and ransomed the Jews, permitting them to return to the Land of Israel. The Temple was rebuilt but afterward was destroyed by the Romans. This Temple stood in the area referred to as Beth haMikdash in Hebrew and Bayt al-Maqdis in Arabic. Those political and pseudo-religious Palestinian leaders who claim that “there was never a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem” are surely aware that, in order to support their political claims, they are compelled to lie, hide sources, and contradict the letter of the Koran and the Islamic tradition.

An earlier Koranic exegete and jurist, Imam Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari, who lived from 838 to 923, writes in his Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk, or History of Prophets and Kings, that the same sacred area was the place where Jacob had his vision of the Heavenly Ladder:

When Jacob awoke he felt blissful from what he had seen in his trustful dream and vowed, for God’s sake that, if he returned to his family safely, he would build there a Temple for the Almighty. He also vowed to perpetual charity one tenth of his property for the sake of God. He poured oil on the Stone so as to recognize it and called the place Bayt El, which means ‘the House of God.’ It became the location of Jerusalem later.

In Jerusalem on a huge Rock, Solomon son of David built a beautiful Temple to expand the worship of God. Today on the base of that Temple stands the Dome of the Rock.

Historical negation of Jewish and Islamic sources concerning Jerusalem is recent and does not predate the PLO and its political propaganda. In 1932, during the British Mandate period, the Supreme Muslim Council of Jerusalem published a Brief Guide to Haram as-Sharif for Muslim pilgrims, written in English. “This site is one of the oldest in the world,” it says. “Its sanctity dates from the earliest times. Its identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.”

Not only were Arafat’s minions and heirs in Jerusalem attempting to rewrite the history of Arabs and Jews in the region as told by others; they were also attempting to rewrite the history of Arabs and Jews in the region as told by Islamic Arab sources, too.

2. Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel

The Biblical notion that God granted the land of Canaan to the Children of Israel is confirmed by the Koran. In the Sura of Jonah, verse 93, we read:

We settled the Children of Israel in a beautiful dwelling-place, and provided for them sustenance of the best.

In Sura al-Ahraf (of the Barrier), verse 137, we read:

We made a people considered weak inheritors of the Land in both Eastern and Western side [of the Jordan river] whereon we sent down Our blessings. The fair promise of thy Lord was fulfilled for the Children of Israel, because they had patience and constancy, and We leveled to the ground the great works and fine buildings which Pharaoh and his people erected.

Sura al Maidah (the Table), verse 21, is the only passage in which the Holy Land is mentioned by that title (al-Ard al-Muqaddas). It refers to the words Moses spoke to the descendants of Isaac:

Remember Moses said To his people: ‘O my People, call in remembrance the favor of God unto you, when He produced prophets among you, made you kings, and gave You what He had not given To any other among the peoples. O my people! Enter The Holy Land which God hath written for you, and turn not back ignominiously [to this heritage of yours], for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin.

In a commentary of Imam Abu al-Qasim Mahmud al-Zamakshari, who lived from 1074 to 1144, titled al-Kashaf, or The Revealer, we read the following explanation:

As for the borders of ‘the Holy Land,’ some scholars says its northern border is the Mount [Hermon] and its surroundings, and for others in also includes a part of the Land of Sham [the Golan]. Others say it extends from the territory of the Philistines [Gaza] until Damascus and a part of Urvum. Some say that God presented to Abraham this Land as an inheritance for his children when he went up to the mountain and said to him: ‘Look around as far as your gaze can reach. Every place reached by your eyes will be theirs.’ The Holy Temple was the dwelling place of the prophets and the residence of the believers. ‘God hath written for you’ means ‘God swore it and wrote in the Divine Tablets of Predestination: that it is yours, belongs to your people and do not turn back from it. Do not be afraid of the Philistine giants who live there.

A similar note is also found in a commentary of Abdallah ibn ‘Umar al-Qadi al-Baidawi, who lived from 1226 to 1260, titled Asrar ut-Tanzil wa Asrar ut-Ta’wil, or The Secrets of Revelation and the Secrets of Interpretation.

3. Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel was never abolished

Moreover, the Koran explicitly refers to the return of the Jews to the Land of Israel before the Last Judgment when it says in the Sura of the Children of Israel, verse 104:

And thereafter We [God] said to the Children of Israel: ‘Dwell securely in the Promised Land. And when the last warning will come to pass, we will gather you together in a mingled crowd.’

Therefore, from an Islamic point of view, Israel is the legitimate owner of the land God deeded to her and whose borders were defined by Abraham in Genesis.

All recent claims according to which the “assignment of the Land of Israel to the Jewish people was withdrawn or abrogated” are bereft of scriptural or traditional evidence. The Koran mentions the territory that God assigned to the Jewish people, but neither it nor the traditional Islamic sources mention a supposed withdrawal.

Imam al-Qurtubi explains in al-Jami that the last promise concerning the return of the Jewish people “together in a mingled crowd” after the destruction of the Second Temple will be a sign that precedes the coming of the Messiah.

The Koran only mentions a double period of mischief and a double punishment with exile from the Land. God says:

We warned the Children of Israel in the Book, that TWICE would they do mischief on the earth and TWICE be elated with mighty arrogance.

According to this Koranic proof, the contemporary Zionist rebuilding of the State of Israel—the third entry of the Jews to their divinely appointed land—is not mischief but rather a fulfillment of what Imam az-Zamakshari reminds the Jews: “God swore it and wrote in the Divine Tablets of Predestination: that it is yours, belongs to your people and do not turn back from it.”

By Becca Owsley, The (Kentucky) News-Enterprise  www.TheNewsEnterprise.com

While many of us went about our daily business, Monday at sundown, Passover began.

The Jewish faith has been celebrating Passover (Pesach) since the time of the Old Testament and some Christian churches also celebrate it as a connection to the beginnings of their faith.

But what exactly is the Passover?

Morris Schwartz, Jewish Lay Leader at Fort Knox, explained.

On the Shabbat preceding the beginning of Nisan, the month in which Passover falls, he reads the Parshat HaHodesh, Exodus 12:1-20Exodus 12:1-20
English: World English Bible - WEB
12 ¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ² “This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. ³ Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household; ⁴ and if the household be too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbor next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls; according to what everyone can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. ⁵ Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats: ⁶ and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening. ⁷ They shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two side-posts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it. ⁸ They shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs. ⁹ Don’t eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts. ¹⁰ You shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire. ¹¹ This is how you shall eat it: with your waist girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh’s Passover. ¹² For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am Yahweh. ¹³ The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be on you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. ¹⁴ This day shall be to you for a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to Yahweh: throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. ¹⁵ Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ In the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no manner of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you. ¹⁷ You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall you observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance forever. ¹⁸ In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day of the month at evening. ¹⁹ Seven days shall there be no yeast found in your houses, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a foreigner, or one who is born in the land. ²⁰ You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread.’”

WP-Bible plugin, that contains the command to observe the very first Passover while Israel was still in Egypt.

The significance of the event for all generations to come is found in Exodus 12:2Exodus 12:2
English: World English Bible - WEB
2 “This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.

WP-Bible plugin, “this month shall be first among the months for you; it shall be first for you among the months of the year.”

“Given that we will be privileged to celebrate Pesach once again this week, the importance of this Torah portion is as a reminder that time has a spiritual, as well as a physical dimension, and that the celebration of this, our most favorite holiday, has the continuing potential to root us firmly in the story of our people and to bring us to a place of deeper connection with the Holy One,” Schwartz said.

His connection to the military gives a special meaning to Pesach. “We all know the slogan, ‘freedom isn’t free.’ It means that sometimes we have to make sacrifices for it, perhaps even the ultimate sacrifice–or that others have done so on our behalf,” Schwartz said.

For Jews, Schwartz said, freedom is endowed with special significance, signifying the removal of obstacles to their service to the Holy One.

While the Seder, or Passover meal, is typically a family event, many communities come together to celebrate one of the two Seders, Schwartz said.

Why are two Seders celebrated two nights in a row? “In Israel, there is only one Seder night because they are in the Promised Land,” Schwartz said. “We know they are in the right place at the right time to celebrate the anniversary of the Exodus from slavery into freedom.”

Outside of Israel, Schwartz said, two days are celebrated, with two Seders to ensure they have marked the anniversary date correctly.

Marnie Clagett, whose father is Jewish, has memories of celebrating Passover as a child. When she and her brother, Dave, were children, they were one of three families there who celebrated Passover.

“Dave and I have always been glad that we were able to be a part of those celebrations,” Clagett said. “Neither one of us is Jewish — we’re both Christian — but having an awareness of what the Passover celebration really means has deepened my awareness of where the Christian faith began. It’s much easier for me to imagine Jesus and His followers preparing for and celebrating the Passover, having experienced those Passovers as a kid.”

She remembers amazing cooks and a ton of food. Clagett remembers the Seder being filled with fantastic rituals such as men and boys wearing their yarmulkes and women pinning a piece of lace at the backs of their heads. Children had questions assigned to them.

“Everything is explained so that the children will remember what their Jewish ancestors went through in Egypt and how God delivered them from slavery into freedom,” Clagett said.

Rabi Vann Lantz is a Messianic Jew who’s ministry, Davar Emet, helps teach Christian churches about aspects of the Jewish faith that are foundations to their faith.

Part of that is conducting and explaining the Seder in churches. The Messianic Seder points out the element of Jesus in the celebration.

During the meal, the story of Passover is retold from a special book called the Haggadah, which means “the telling.”

“At a Messianic Passover we recognized the symbols of Jesus in all that happens as well as see the three special events that occurred during Messiah’s final Passover, called the Last Supper,” Lantz said. “We see where He washed the feet of the Disciples, where He and Judas dipped their matzoh — unleavened bread — and where he blessed the matzoh and wine, passing them in recognition of the new symbols of His sacrifice.”

While the Passover has many symbols in it, one of Lantz’s favorite is the three matzohs.

“There are three matzohs that are wrapped in a single white linen,” Lantz said. “This represents a mysterious three in one that Believers in Messiah can see as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

During the Seder celebration, the middle piece (which Messianics see as representing the Messiah) is pulled out. Participants see it is striped and pierced—which to Messianics represent the stripes from the whips and the piercing of Jesus by a spear.

That piece is broken in half; one half is wrapped in linen and hidden by the father for later. The broken matzoh is called the afikomen — that which comes later. Jews have differing reasons for its tradition, but Christians recognize it instantly as Christ’s body buried before His resurrection. The afikomen and third cup of wine are likely what Jesus passed out to his Disciples as His Body and Blood.

At the end of the Seder they shout “Next year in Jerusalem.” For 2000 years Jews have concluded their Passover meal with this phrase, indicating their hope for a Temple in Jerusalem in which to conduct the required feasts and sacrifices.

By Chris Mitchell, Christian Broadcasting Network, www.CBN.com

This week marks the celebration of Passover for Jews and the beginning of Holy Week for Christians around the world.

For a growing number of Messianic Jews in Israel and elsewhere, the holiday has double meaning: commemorating the time of deliverance for the Jewish people, as well as the sacrifice and resurrection of the Messiah.

For days, Jerusalem has been filled with preparations for Passover, one of the most important of all Jewish feasts. It commemorates the deliverance of the Jews from the slavery of Egypt.

Some of the most visible and colorful preparations took place in the Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim. Many Jews brought their cookware to be cleansed in large vats of boiling water to make them kosher for use in the Passover.

On the streets, people burned hamatz. Hamatz is any food like bread that contains leaven. All hamatz has to be removed from Jewish houses to fulfill the biblical command found in the book of Exodus to cleanse their homes of leaven.

Instead of bread, Jews will eat matzoh, or unleavened bread, for the seven days of Passover. Prior to the feast, it was a time of intense preparations.

“Cooking and cooking and cooking and cooking. If you don’t have everything done as far as cleaning, you’re in trouble,” said one woman.

“It is a holiday when the family all sit together,” explained one man.

Jews here in Jerusalem and around the world are observing the Passover. Among the diverse Jewish groups observing the traditions handed down over 3,000r 3,000
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Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se začne z ¹! Vrstica ⁰ ne obstaja!

WP-Bible plugin years ago are Messianic Jews– Jews who believe that Jesus is the Messiah.

“There are six elements put around the Pessach plate,” said Uri Marcus, a Messianic Jew. He sees within the elements of Passover a reflection of God’s salvation through Yeshua, or Jesus, as the Messiah.

“As Messianic Jews, we don’t have to look very far to apply our own traditional views of these elements, the matzoh inside of these covers, into our own understanding of what and who Yeshua was as the Messiah. It’s all a picture of redemption. Redemption for the world from the beginning of time until the end of time,” Marcus said.

“It fits very well with everything that the New Testament teaches us and everything that Yeshua Himself commanded us,” he continued.

Steve Schneider is another Messianic Jew. For him, Passover signifies not only national redemption but personal salvation.

“Passover to me is a joyous, joyous occasion as I recognize that all of the elements that are celebrated are all pinpointing and focusing in on Yeshua, my Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” Schneider said.

“It’s a family gathering that we as a family that can come together and celebrating that which was commanded by the Lord God of Israel. To commemorate year by year, in light of what has taken place, of that great deliverance that God brought about so many thousands of years ago,” he explained.

“And in Jesus’ day, if I had asked you for a Passover meal you would have been so concerned not to touch any leaven that you would have brought your own dish and plate along to eat from it,” said Elfie Gill of the Biblical Resources Center.

Many believers in Yeshua believe Jesus not only celebrated the Passover meal, but fulfilled it. It’s this fulfillment with Jesus as the Passover Lamb that many Christians rejoice in at Easter. At the Biblical Resources Center just outside of Jerusalem, they explain the significance of the Passover meal and the relationship between the observance of Passover and celebration of Easter.

“Once you finished with the meal you would ask the youngest child to look for that special piece of bread called the afikoman,” said Gill as she explained the meal to a group of participants.

“That was also the piece of bread Jesus took that night. ‘This is my Body, broken for you’ — the afikoman. Now when you say, you break it, you wrap it, you hide and then take it out; doesn’t it also symbolize the Body of Christ? Broken for us, buried, and resurrected. And I’m sure God is saying to each one of us, eat from that bread which is the living Bread,” she continued.

“You would share it among you and then you would take the third cup of wine called the cup of redemption,” Gill said. “And that was the cup that Jesus took that night when He said, this is the blood of the new covenant, My blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Take you all from it and as often as you do so, you proclaim My death until I come back again. You know, I always remind people here that we have a beautiful promise — He’s coming back one day.”

It’s this promise of His return that is a source of hope for Messianic Believers.

“At this time we have a very special meaning for Pessach. We can celebrate it with more vigor than ever, with more faith than ever. These are times when anyone with eyes open to the Torah and to the Prophets and to the writings and to the New Testament can see with clarity that God is working the ends. We’re about to enter the End of Days and we’re looking forward to it,” Marcus said.

Yet this year, Israel is on edge and virtually at war with the Palestinians, so for Jews and Messianic Jews this Passover has extra meaning.

“We want to encourage Believers the world over to raise Israel up especially during this season, Passover/Pessach, because it is a season of redemption,” Marcus said. “It is a season of our protection. It is a season that points us to the reality of the world it will be in a Messianic Age–that God would be King over all the Earth.”

By Hillel Fendel, www.IsraelNationalNews.com

Passover is known as the Festival of Unleavened Bread (Matzot), based on the Torah commandment (Exodus 12:14-20Exodus 12:14-20
English: World English Bible - WEB
14 This day shall be to you for a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to Yahweh: throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. ¹⁵ Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ In the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no manner of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you. ¹⁷ You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall you observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance forever. ¹⁸ In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day of the month at evening. ¹⁹ Seven days shall there be no yeast found in your houses, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a foreigner, or one who is born in the land. ²⁰ You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread.’”

WP-Bible plugin and Leviticus 23:4-8Leviticus 23:4-8
English: World English Bible - WEB
4 “‘These are the set feasts of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season. ⁵ In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is Yahweh’s Passover. ⁶ On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to Yahweh. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. ⁷ In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. ⁸ But you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work.’”

WP-Bible plugin) to eat matzoh on the holiday. Matzohs (plural: matzohs or matzot) come in various forms; see below for a link to the actual baking process.

Matzoh is the baked product of grain and water that has not been fermented (leavened). Hametz, its forbidden-on-Passover counterpart, is any fermented grain product. Only wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye can become matzoh or hametz, according to the Torah. Strict custom (e.g., Ashkenazi Jews) also prohibits the consumption on Passover of rice, millet, and bean products, known on Passover as kitniyot; one reason is because they swell when dampened and resemble leavened products.

Fermentation takes place only after the flour and water have been in contact for at least 18 minutes. In order to become matzoh, therefore, the dough must be baked within that time period. This is accomplished by protecting the ingredients from moisture and/or heat before they are combined, kneading and otherwise preparing the dough very rapidly, and then baking it at extremely high temperatures.

For more details and do-it-yourself instructions, click on (or copy and paste) this URL: www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Passover/At_Home/Food_and_the_Kitchen/Matzah_Baking.shtml

Different kinds of matzoh include the following:

Simple matzoh, made of flour that was carefully watched from the time it was milled. Not all “simple matzoh” can be eaten on Passover; it must have ”Kosher for Passover” certification.

Matzoh shmurah, made of flour made from wheat that was carefully watched from the time it was harvested, in accordance with Exodus 12:17Exodus 12:17
English: World English Bible - WEB
17 You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall you observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance forever.

WP-Bible plugin “and you must guard the matzohs.”  The custom of many is to eat only this at the Seder; others eat only this throughout the weeklong holiday.

Hand matzoh. No machines are used, and the flour is the same as in matza shmurah. It is traditionally used to fulfill the commandment of eating matzoh at the Seder meal, usually round and quite chewy.

Egg matzoh, known in Hebrew as “rich matzoh” – a dough kneaded with fruit juice or eggs.  It must not become hametz, but one cannot use it to fulfill the commandment of eating matzoh at the Seder meal, because of its “richness;” the Torah commands us to eat “poor matzoh” (Deut. 16:3Deut. 16:3
English: World English Bible - WEB
3 You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shall you eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for you came forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.

WP-Bible plugin). Strict custom is not to eat it at all during Passover, unless one is ill, weak, or a young child.

Soft matzoh. Unlike the hard matzohs familiar to most Jews around the world, the Yemenite and Iraqi Jewish communities eat soft, pita-like matzohs, as was apparently the custom in most of the Jewish world until recent centuries. In fact, many rabbis permit these matzohs to be eaten on Passover even today. They have gone out of mode not because of a Halakhic [Jewish legal] reason, but rather due to a technical issue: In the pre-freezer period, they did not retain their freshness and softness for more than a day or two, and therefore were customarily baked on Passover itself – when even a “drop” of hametz disqualifies an entire matzoh. However, now that there are freezers and soft matzohs can be baked before Passover – when a “drop” of hametz that might fall into a dough is “batel b’shishim” (less than 1/61 of the whole and therefore nullified) – such matzohs would be kosher. They must not be more than approximately a centimeter thick, however; one should consult a rabbi for precise instructions.

Gebrochts
A commonly held stringency forbids the eating of Matzoh shruyah (also known as  gebrochts), which is matzoh or matzoh products that were cooked or otherwise became wet after being baked. According to Jewish Law, once matzoh is baked, it cannot become hametz. However, some Jews, chiefly in Hassidic communities, do not eat matzoh shruyah, for fear that part of the dough was not sufficiently baked and might become hametz when coming in contact with water.

As described above, the process is precise and demanding, and is carried out under the constant shadow and fear of mishandling the dough and turning it into forbidden hametz. That is why many rabbis make a point of baking their own matzoh for the Seder night or holiday, making appointments to do so at matzoh bakeries.

At the bakery, the first step is measuring out the water and wheat flour in exact amounts, both having been specially preserved beforehand. A stopwatch is set for 18 minutes, after which time non-baked dough—and according to many, even unhandled dough within the 18 minutes—begins to ferment and rise.  Large batches require many hands and stations to process the dough in the short time.

With the clock ticking tensely away, kneading brings the mixture to a full-fledged dough as quickly as possible. After shaping into a long roll, the dough is cut up into small pieces and rolled into thin round circles, up to about 8 inches in diameter. Most of the pieces do not turn out exactly that shape; some are shaped more like triangles, elongated ovals, and other more unfamiliar shapes. Each is quickly turned over to the hole-maker (“holy work”) who uses small, specially-designed hole-fashioning tools to create the small openings that will allow the oven’s heat to escape while causing minimum puffing-up.

At this point, with the clock unyieldingly approaching the 18-minute cut-off mark, three of the flat, round, holed pieces of dough are rolled onto a long stick, which is quickly given over to the baker himself. Standing next to the large, flaming, very hot oven, the baker places them inside, and within seconds, the baking process is over — either because the matzoh has been successfully baked, or because it has caught fire…

After the matzohs are removed, the 18-minute deadline has been announced, and everyone has breathed a sigh of relief, the rabbi — having supervised and checked all aspects of the assembly-line process — checks each matzoh individually. Those that are not completely baked, meaning that they are still completing the fermentation process and becoming hametz, are thrown out, leaving only 100% kosher matzohs for the joyous Passover consumption of the participants and their families.

By David Bedein, Middle East Correspondent for The Bulletin (Philadelphia, PA)

http://thebulletin.us

Saturday, February 6 will be the observation of Tu Bshvat on the Hebrew calendar, the 15th of Shvat, the Jewish arbor day, a day when the Jewish people bid a “happy birthday to the Land of Israel.”

One rabbi, known as “the Ari of Tzfat,” declared in the 16th Century that Tu Bshvat should be celebrated as the real Jewish New Year.

In the modern era, Tu Bshvat combines a heavenly commitment of love for the land of Israel with the Zionist enterprise in order to make the Land bloom in the modern era.

The organization in charge of planting trees in the land of Israel, after two millennia of desolation, is known as the Jewish National Fund (JNF).

This is how the momentum of tree planting in the land of Israel has progressed over the past 90 years:

In 1920, the year the JNF was established, there were 14,000re 14,000
English: World English Bible - WEB
Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se začne z ¹! Vrstica ⁰ ne obstaja!

WP-Bible plugin dunams (a measurement of one-quarter of an acre) of planted forests in the land of Israel. By 1942 there were already 35,000 dunams of forest, and more than a half a million in 1980.

Israel is the only country in the world that will have more trees in its territory this year than it did in 1910. The trees that will be planted this year during the annual Tu Bishvat celebrations are part of the JNF’s “A Tree for Every Resident” program.

“In the framework of the program we are going to plant seven-and-a-half million trees,” said Efi Stentzler, the JNF chairman. “A tree for every resident of Israel. Our project is part of a global project that was announced by the UN, the goal of which is to fight the causes of pollution that humanity is responsible for.”

Forests currently cover some 1.6 million dunams of land in the state of Israel. A million of those dunams are administered by the Jewish National Fund.

The JNF has planted more than 240 million trees to date. The national master plan envisions another 300,000r 300,000
English: World English Bible - WEB
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja! Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se začne z ¹! Vrstica ⁰ ne obstaja!

WP-Bible plugin dunams of available land to be covered with forests. This year, between 15,000 and 20,000 dunams of land will be forested. Tree-planting season ends in March. The saplings are provided by the JNF nurseries, which produce 1.2 million saplings every year.

In 1960, pine trees accounted for 85 percent of all trees planted in Israel, which made them the icon of JNF planting in Israel. In recent years, pine trees have come to account for under one-third of the trees planted. Rather, 70 percent of all saplings planted are indigenous trees.

The JNF plants 150 different kinds of trees and invests an average of five million dollars every year for that purpose. The JNF has recorded in a special diary an account of all plantings since Israel was re-established. In 1991, that diary was computerized.

The largest forest in Israel is the Yatir Forest, which is spread over 40,000r 40,000
English: World English Bible - WEB
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja! Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se začne z ¹! Vrstica ⁰ ne obstaja!

WP-Bible plugin dunams, half of which are desert. The smallest forest is the Dalton Forest, which is on a modest 42 dunams of land.

The first forest ever planted by the JNF is the Ben Shemen Forest —which was initially called the Herzl Forest and consisted of just 18 olive trees.

By Ludwig Schneider, Israel Today

Most of the Jewish prayers are brachot (benedictions or blessings), in which the one praying blesses God. Blessings begin with this formula:

Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu,

Melech ha’olam…

Blessed are You, O Lord our

God, King of the universe…

There are specific blessings for all occasions—for bread and wine on the Sabbath, for festivals like Passover and Hanukkah, and for simchot (joyous occasions) like bar mitzvahs and weddings.

Any individual Jew can pray alone in his room or at the Western Wall, but when the prayer occurs in the context of a religious service, there must be at least 10 men praying together, or a minyan. This is derived from Abraham’s struggle in prayer for the rescue of Sodom, going down to 10 men (Genesis 18:32Genesis 18:32
English: World English Bible - WEB
32 He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once. What if ten are found there?” He said, “I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake.”

WP-Bible plugin).

In accordance with the daily sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem, three prayer times were established, which were later taken up for the service in the synagogue:

Shacharit—The Morning Prayer

Mincha—The Afternoon Prayer

Ma’ariv—The Evening Prayer

At all three prayer times, these two prayers are recited: the Shmoneh Esrei (18 benedictions), and the confession of faith, Shema Yisrael, the “Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4Deuteronomy 6:4
English: World English Bible - WEB
4 Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is one:

WP-Bible plugin).

The prayers are mostly from the Psalms. However, when the word sela appears, the one praying can add his own extemporaneous prayers and bring his personal requests before the Lord. The sela acts as a finale in the sense of “God is my final help.”

In addition, one is to pray after getting up in the morning and before going to bed, as well as before and after meals and on other set occasions. These prayers are contained in the common prayer book, the Siddur. The word siddur comes from seder (order) because the book gives directions about what to pray and when.

For the Jewish festivals there is the Machzor (cycles), which has several volumes and regulates the cycle of prayers throughout the year. Since the Jews were scattered among the nations and spoke many different languages, the Hebrew text is often printed on the right-hand page of the Siddur while a translation appears on the left-hand page.

A religious Jewish man wears a kippah (skullcap) when he prays. The word kippah means cap, which in turn can be linked with kapparah (atonement), implying that “I am covered by a propitiation.” A religious woman wears a headscarf when praying.

The men also wear a prayer shawl or tallit (Numbers 15:37-41Numbers 15:37-41
English: World English Bible - WEB
37 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁸ Speak to the children of Israel, and bid those who they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put on the fringe of each border a cord of blue: ³⁹ and it shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look on it, and remember all the commandments of Yahweh, and do them; and that you not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to play the prostitute; ⁴⁰ that you may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. ⁴¹ I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am Yahweh your God.

WP-Bible plugin; Deuteronomy 22:12Deuteronomy 22:12
English: World English Bible - WEB
12 You shall make you fringes on the four borders of your cloak, with which you cover yourself.

WP-Bible plugin), which has tzitziot (tassels) on each of its four corners. In the New Testament, this term is often translated as the “hem” of the garment.

During morning prayers observant men bind prayer straps or tefillin (phylacteries) to their arms and foreheads. Inside the small tefillin box, which is tied to the forehead, are the following texts written on parchment: Exodus 13:1-10; 11-16Exodus 13:1-10; 11-16
English: World English Bible - WEB
13 ¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Sanctify to me all of the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal. It is mine.” ³ Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. ⁴ This day you go forth in the month Abib. ⁵ It shall be, when Yahweh shall bring you into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. ⁶ Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Yahweh. ⁷ Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and no leavened bread shall be seen with you, neither shall there be yeast seen with you, in all your borders. ⁸ You shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of that which Yahweh did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.’ ⁹ It shall be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the law of Yahweh may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand Yahweh has brought you out of Egypt. ¹⁰ You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year. ^{11 1} Yahweh said to Moses, “Yet one plague more will I bring on Pharaoh, and on Egypt; afterwards he will let you go. When he lets you go, he will surely thrust you out altogether. ² Speak now in the ears of the people, and let them ask every man of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.” ³ Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people. ⁴ Moses said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt, ⁵ and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the maid-servant who is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of cattle. ⁶ There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been, nor shall be any more. ⁷ But against any of the children of Israel a dog won’t even bark or move its tongue, against man or animal; that you may know that Yahweh makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel. ⁸ All these your servants shall come down to me, and bow down themselves to me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who follow you; and after that I will go out.’” He went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. ⁹ Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh won’t listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go out of his land. ^{12 1} Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ² “This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. ³ Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household; ⁴ and if the household be too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbor next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls; according to what everyone can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. ⁵ Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats: ⁶ and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening. ⁷ They shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two side-posts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it. ⁸ They shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs. ⁹ Don’t eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts. ¹⁰ You shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire. ¹¹ This is how you shall eat it: with your waist girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh’s Passover. ¹² For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am Yahweh. ¹³ The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be on you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. ¹⁴ This day shall be to you for a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to Yahweh: throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. ¹⁵ Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ In the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no manner of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you. ¹⁷ You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall you observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance forever. ¹⁸ In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day of the month at evening. ¹⁹ Seven days shall there be no yeast found in your houses, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a foreigner, or one who is born in the land. ²⁰ You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread.’” ²¹ Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, “Draw out, and take lambs according to your families, and kill the Passover. ²² You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. ²³ For Yahweh will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two side-posts, Yahweh will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you. ²⁴ You shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever. ²⁵ It shall happen when you have come to the land which Yahweh will give you, according as he has promised, that you shall keep this service. ²⁶ It will happen, when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ ²⁷ that you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of Yahweh’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and spared our houses.’” The people bowed their heads and worshiped. ²⁸ The children of Israel went and did so; as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. ²⁹ It happened at midnight, that Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. ³⁰ Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. ³¹ He called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve Yahweh, as you have said! ³² Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also!” ³³ The Egyptians were urgent with the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We are all dead men.” ³⁴ The people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. ³⁵ The children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing. ³⁶ Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. They despoiled the Egyptians. ³⁷ The children of Israel traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot who were men, besides children. ³⁸ A mixed multitude went up also with them, with flocks, herds, and even very much cattle. ³⁹ They baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt; for it wasn’t leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt, and couldn’t wait, neither had they prepared for themselves any food. ⁴⁰ Now the time that the children of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years. ⁴¹ It happened at the end of four hundred thirty years, even the same day it happened, that all the armies of Yahweh went out from the land of Egypt. ⁴² It is a night to be much observed to Yahweh for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night of Yahweh, to be much observed of all the children of Israel throughout their generations. ⁴³ Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover. There shall no foreigner eat of it, ⁴⁴ but every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then shall he eat of it. ⁴⁵ A foreigner and a hired servant shall not eat of it. ⁴⁶ In one house shall it be eaten; you shall not carry forth anything of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall you break a bone of it. ⁴⁷ All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. ⁴⁸ When a stranger shall live as a foreigner with you, and will keep the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one who is born in the land: but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. ⁴⁹ One law shall be to him who is born at home, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you.” ⁵⁰ Thus did all the children of Israel. As Yahweh commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. ⁵¹ It happened the same day, that Yahweh brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies. ^{13 1} Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Sanctify to me all of the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal. It is mine.” ³ Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. ⁴ This day you go forth in the month Abib. ⁵ It shall be, when Yahweh shall bring you into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. ⁶ Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Yahweh. ⁷ Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and no leavened bread shall be seen with you, neither shall there be yeast seen with you, in all your borders. ⁸ You shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of that which Yahweh did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.’ ⁹ It shall be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the law of Yahweh may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand Yahweh has brought you out of Egypt. ¹⁰ You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year. ¹¹ “It shall be, when Yahweh shall bring you into the land of the Canaanite, as he swore to you and to your fathers, and shall give it you, ¹² that you shall set apart to Yahweh all that opens the womb, and every firstborn which you have that comes from an animal. The males shall be Yahweh’s. ¹³ Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and you shall redeem all the firstborn of man among your sons. ¹⁴ It shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall tell him, ‘By strength of hand Yahweh brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage; ¹⁵ and it happened, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that Yahweh killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of animal. Therefore I sacrifice to Yahweh all that opens the womb, being males; but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ ¹⁶ It shall be for a sign on your hand, and for symbols between your eyes: for by strength of hand Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt.” ¹⁷ It happened, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God didn’t lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt;” ¹⁸ but God led the people around by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea; and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the children of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones away from here with you.” ²⁰ They took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. ²¹ Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night: ²² the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, didn’t depart from before the people. ^{14 1} Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal Zephon. You shall encamp opposite it by the sea. ³ Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are entangled in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.’ ⁴ I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will follow after them; and I will get honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh.” They did so. ⁵ It was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” ⁶ He made ready his chariot, and took his army with him; ⁷ and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over all of them. ⁸ Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel; for the children of Israel went out with a high hand. ⁹ The Egyptians pursued after them: all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army; and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baal Zephon. ¹⁰ When Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The children of Israel cried out to Yahweh. ¹¹ They said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us forth out of Egypt? ¹² Isn’t this the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?’ For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.” ¹³ Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will work for you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again. ¹⁴ Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still.” ¹⁵ Yahweh said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward. ¹⁶ Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them: and I will get myself honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies, over his chariots, and over his horsemen. ¹⁸ The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have gotten myself honor over Pharaoh, over his chariots, and over his horsemen.” ¹⁹ The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them. ²⁰ It came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night: and the one didn’t come near the other all the night. ²¹ Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. ²² The children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left. ²³ The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea: all of Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. ²⁴ It happened in the morning watch, that Yahweh looked out on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and confused the Egyptian army. ²⁵ He took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily; so that the Egyptians said, “Let’s flee from the face of Israel, for Yahweh fights for them against the Egyptians!” ²⁶ Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” ²⁷ Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it. Yahweh overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. ²⁸ The waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh’s army that went in after them into the sea. There remained not so much as one of them. ²⁹ But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left. ³⁰ Thus Yahweh saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ Israel saw the great work which Yahweh did to the Egyptians, and the people feared Yahweh; and they believed in Yahweh, and in his servant Moses. ^{15 1} Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and said, “I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously: The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. ² Yah is my strength and song, He has become my salvation: This is my God, and I will praise him; My father’s God, and I will exalt him. ³ Yahweh is a man of war. Yahweh is his name. ⁴ He has cast Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea; His chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea. ⁵ The deeps cover them. They went down into the depths like a stone. ⁶ Your right hand, Yahweh, is glorious in power, Your right hand, Yahweh, dashes the enemy in pieces. ⁷ In the greatness of your excellency, you overthrow those who rise up against you: You send forth your wrath. It consumes them as stubble. ⁸ With the blast of your nostrils the waters were piled up. The floods stood upright as a heap. The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. ⁹ The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil. My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’ ¹⁰ You blew with your wind. The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. ¹¹ Who is like you, Yahweh, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders? ¹² You stretched out your right hand. The earth swallowed them. ¹³ “You, in your loving kindness, have led the people that you have redeemed. You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation. ¹⁴ The peoples have heard. They tremble. Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia. ¹⁵ Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away. ¹⁶ Terror and dread falls on them. By the greatness of your arm they are as still as a stone; Until your people pass over, Yahweh, Until the people pass over who you have purchased. ¹⁷ You shall bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, The place, Yahweh, which you have made for yourself to dwell in; The sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have established. ¹⁸ Yahweh shall reign forever and ever.” ¹⁹ For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and Yahweh brought back the waters of the sea on them; but the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea. ²⁰ Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dances. ²¹ Miriam answered them, “Sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously: The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.” ²² Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. ²³ When they came to Marah, they couldn’t drink from the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. Marah means bitter. ²⁴ The people murmured against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” ²⁵ Then he cried to Yahweh. Yahweh shown him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them; ²⁶ and he said, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Yahweh who heals you.” ²⁷ They came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water, and seventy palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters. ^{16 1} They took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. ² The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness; ³ and the children of Israel said to them, “We wish that we had died by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, when we ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” ⁴ Then said Yahweh to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from the sky for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law, or not. ⁵ It shall come to pass on the sixth day, that they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” ⁶ Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening, then you shall know that Yahweh has brought you out from the land of Egypt; ⁷ and in the morning, then you shall see the glory of Yahweh; because he hears your murmurings against Yahweh. Who are we, that you murmur against us?” ⁸ Moses said, “Now Yahweh shall give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy you; because Yahweh hears your murmurings which you murmur against him. And who are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against Yahweh.” ⁹ Moses said to Aaron, “Tell all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come near before Yahweh, for he has heard your murmurings.’” ¹⁰ It happened, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of Yahweh appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread: and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God.’” ¹³ It happened at evening that quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp. ¹⁴ When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the hoar-frost on the ground. ¹⁵ When the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, “What is it?” For they didn’t know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread which Yahweh has given you to eat.” ¹⁶ This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded: “Gather of it everyone according to his eating; an omer a head, according to the number of your persons, shall you take it, every man for those who are in his tent.” ¹⁷ The children of Israel did so, and gathered some more, some less. ¹⁸ When they measured it with an omer, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according to his eating. ¹⁹ Moses said to them, “Let no one leave of it until the morning.” ²⁰ Notwithstanding they didn’t listen to Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and became foul: and Moses was angry with them. ²¹ They gathered it morning by morning, everyone according to his eating. When the sun grew hot, it melted. ²² It happened that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one, and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. ²³ He said to them, “This is that which Yahweh has spoken, ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to Yahweh. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.” ²⁴ They laid it up until the morning, as Moses asked, and it didn’t become foul, neither was there any worm in it. ²⁵ Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to Yahweh. Today you shall not find it in the field. ²⁶ Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath. In it there shall be none.” ²⁷ It happened on the seventh day, that some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. ²⁸ Yahweh said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? ²⁹ Behold, because Yahweh has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone stay in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day. ³¹ The house of Israel called the name of it Manna, “Manna” means “What is it?” and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded, ‘Let an omer-full of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.” ³³ Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot, and put an omer-full of manna in it, and lay it up before Yahweh, to be kept throughout your generations.” ³⁴ As Yahweh commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. ³⁵ The children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.

WP-Bible plugin; Deuteronomy 6:4Deuteronomy 6:4
English: World English Bible - WEB
4 Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is one:

WP-Bible plugin-9; 11:13-21.

Jews always pray facing Jerusalem, and those who live in the Holy City pray facing the Temple Mount. In places of Jewish worship and in private homes abroad, a mizrach (a decorated plaque with a blessing, often Psalm 16:8-11Psalm 16:8-11
English: World English Bible - WEB
8 I have set Yahweh always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. ⁹ Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices. My body shall also dwell in safety. ¹⁰ For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, Neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption. ¹¹ You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.

WP-Bible plugin) is often placed on the wall facing toward Jerusalem, indicating which way to face in prayer.

The posture of prayer includes bowing down, particularly when the name of God is spoken, or a spreading out of one’s hands before the Lord. Those who wish to demonstrate particular reverence will cover their heads with their prayer shawl or move back three steps. Placing your hands in your pockets while praying is considered irreverent.

While some holy days like Yom Kippur are solemn, prayer is supposed to be joyous, especially on the Sabbath and other festivals. For instance, on the festival of Simchat Torah (Rejoicing in the Law), congregants rejoice like a bridegroom over the bride, dancing around the synagogue while holding the Torah scrolls in their arms.

Outward appearance is not the key factor when praying; however, the outward appearance should mirror one’s inward attitude.

By Peggy Shapiro, www.americanthinker.com

Where could you hear radio talk show hosts Dennis Prager and Michael Medved, military analyst Elliot Chodoff, Israel’s Ambassador Michael Oren, Senator Joe Lieberman, country music star Randy Travis, and cantor and musical theater singer Dudu Fisher on the same stage with ministers and orthodox rabbis? Where could you see over four thousand Christians waving Israeli and American flags to the singing of national anthems of Israel and the U.S. and breaking out in spontaneous dance during the playing of Havah Nagilah? Where could you witness Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, and Pentecostals wearing Star of David necklaces, which they had just purchased at an Israel bazaar?  That’s what I heard, saw, and witnessed at the Conference of Christians United for Israel in Washington D.C. on July 19-22 when Christian Zionists from a multitude of denominations and backgrounds took up the huge Convention Center and made over 400 lobby appointments on Capital Hill to speak up for Israel and mark a change in the Jewish-Christian relationship.

The attendees were African Americans, Asians, Caucasians, Hispanics, teens, octogenarians, the affluent, and the unemployed from all over the U.S. I met a Nigerian mechanical engineering student who was pursuing a Master’s Degree and supporting a wife and child, a stunningly beautiful airline hostess who brought her granddaughter, an African American grandmother who was planning her 16th trip to Israel, and a food chemist for a large corporation. I spoke to a shy woman from the southern tip of Illinois. She had never made a public speech or taken political action and called herself “a hick from the sticks.” My roommate, along with 89 others, made their way to Washington from Minnesota on a 24-hour bus ride. The crowd was diverse, but they shared one common mission, which was proclaimed on the banners which hung from every rafter: “For Zion’s sake, I will not keep silent.” They were united by their commitment to speak up on behalf of the State of Israel and for its rights to exist, to self defense, and to sovereignty.

The focus of the conference was a two-pronged message to Congress and to the Obama administration, which has recently taken Israel to task for adding housing to accommodate the natural growth in its “settlements,” while soft-peddling any criticism of Iran’s nuclear ambitions: Israel is not the obstacle to peace, and the U.S. must place crippling sanctions on Iran to stop the terror-sponsoring state from acquiring nuclear arms.

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told the group, “Critics say the stumbling block [to peace in the Middle East] is settlements or Jerusalem or refugees,” “We all know the real stumbling block to peace is posed by those who vehemently deny the nation of Israel’s historical right to the land of Zion.” Democrat Shelley Berkley (D-Nev) minced no words in her criticism,  “…to pin the peace process” on the settlement issue “is absolutely foolhardy. To publicly dress down the State of Israel is a huge mistake.”  CUFI founder and chairman Pastor John Hagee forcefully summed up the message, “America is singling out Israel…Despite all of the risks Israel has taken for peace, our government is pressuring Israel to take more risks. Hello Congress, we’re putting pressure on the wrong people here. You want to get tough, get tough with the terrorists, not the only democracy in the Middle East.” The crowd responded with a thunderous ovation.

Speaker after speaker pointed to the refusal of Palestinians and Arabs to accept a Jewish state in any part of the Middle East as the cause of the sixty-one year conflict, and to Iran for escalating the terror through its proxies of Hezbollah in the north and Hamas in the south. They urged the administration not to underestimate Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the existential threat they pose to Israel and to the entire region. U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who accepted CUFI’s Defender of Israel Award at the Tuesday Night to Honor Israel, evening, said, “The chief obstacle to peace in the Middle East is not Israelis living on the West Bank but the regime in Tehran.”

After an extravagant Night to Honor Israel, on Wednesday, CUFI delegates took the message to Capitol Hill to tell their members of Congress not pressure the Jewish state but to respect the democratic nation and work with it as a friend. Representatives were also asked to co-sponsor legislation that could strengthen the President’s hand in the event that negotiations do not prove fruitful. One bill is the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act, which would impose sanctions on companies that help Iran import or produce refined petroleum. The other bill, The Iran Sanctions Enabling Act, which authorizes state and local governments to divest from companies investing in Iran’s energy sector, never made it to the floor when it was introduced last year.

The CUFI conference sent a message not only to Congress and to the President, but also to Jews. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who addressed the conference via satellite, acknowledged that the conference marked the changing relationship of Christians and Jews. “For centuries, the relationship between Christians and Jews was marked by conflict rather than partnership and friendship, but this is changing. A new chapter in the relationship between us is now being written.” Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice-chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, in a passionate speech proclaimed that the threats Jews face today from a regime that is determined to wipe Israel off the map are fundamentally different from the threats Jews faced in 1939 because now there are “tens of millions of Christians who will not be silent and stand with the State of Israel.”

In the breakout sessions to fellow Christians, pastors addressed the skepticism of some in the Jewish community about allying with Christian Zionists because of a history of Church anti-Semitism and replacement theology (which teaches that Christians replaced Jews as the “Chosen People”). In a number of meetings, clergy warned that some Evangelicals, such as former President Jimmy Carter, are spewing anti-Semitism when they profess Replacement Theology. The pastors gave the biblical foundation for the support of Israel. It is not the conversion of Jews nor hastening the end of days, but the strongly held belief that God blesses those who bless the Jews and curses those who curse the Jews. (Genesis 12:13Genesis 12:13
English: World English Bible - WEB
13 Please say that you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you.”

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C.U.F.I., established only four years ago, now has 150,000has 150,000
English: World English Bible - WEB
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja! Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se začne z ¹! Vrstica ⁰ ne obstaja!

WP-Bible plugin members who are living their belief and who have aspirations for growing to millions of voices which “are silent no more” when Jews or the Jewish State are in danger.