To Hear With Your Eyes
posted: July 12, 2008
[The following is written by Moshe Kempinski, a friend of mine who lives in Israel. I thought you might enjoy it. Be sure also to visit Moshe's Web site.]
The road forward for the Jewish people is meant to be long, circuitous, and torturous. The road for the people of this country is especially convoluted and confusing. It is a road beset by many pitfalls and many precipitous drops. Yet it is a road that must be taken, as the history of the Jewish people in particular and that of mankind in general, continue forward towards their destiny. At times in the midst of that journey, the Jewish people seem to lose direction and purpose as they wander into pastures and hills that were not meant for them. Yet that too is part of the exile and is also part of the wilderness that must be travelled.
Walking in the Statutes
posted: May 24, 2008
[This is written by my friend, Moshe Kempinski, who lives in Jerusalem.]The power of a simple verse can be so sweet.
In parshat Bechukotai (Leviticus 26:3-27:34), God begins describing a set of conditional promises with the statement "If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them;" (Leviticus 26:3), and ends the list of very physical and earthly promises with the following dramatic words "And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be My people." (Leviticus 26:12).
Rav Yitzchak Aranma, the author of Akeidat Yitzchak, asks a poignant question. "Adherents of religion who believe in Divine reward and punishment (for those who please or anger God, respectively), assail the Torah's silence concerning the spiritual remuneration that constitutes the chief aim of the Torah, which holds up transitory, material rewards, as the goal of those obedient to its laws."
It's a Shmita Miracle!
posted: February 09, 2008
A few months ago I posted a commentary to this blog title "The Sin of Heter Mechira", regarding the finagling of Yahweh's commandments by some farmers regarding the Sabbath year in Israel. Well, it seems that a miracle may have happened in regards to this. The article below appeared in The Jerusalem Post on February 7, 2008, and was written by Matthew Wagner.
In what some potato farmers in the Negev are taking as a sign from God, the recent frost that ravaged produce across the nation selectively passed over some crops, as if guided, they say, by a divine hand.
Potatoes planted in the Negev before the beginning of the shmita (sabbatical) year, in accordance with the biblical prohibition against plowing, sowing and many other field chores [Leviticus 25.1-7], were spared the damages caused by sharp drops in temperature last week.
The Sin of Heter Mechira
posted: December 09, 2007
[I have debated writing this post for some time now. However, as I have continued to see the stories reported by the media (almost as if mocking what is happening), I felt I must say something. I serve Yahweh, the God of Israel, and I pray for His people because I know that He has chosen them, and that salvation shall come through them. Israel has enough problems with its anti-Jewish Jewish government and the nations of the world trying to destroy her. She doesn't need to be disobeying Torah and bringing the curses upon her once again. Please read this post in light of the love in which it is written.]
Starting last Yom Teru'ah (Day of Trumpets, aka "Rosh Hashanah"), Israel began a sabbath year, as commanded by God. The instructions for its observance are given in Torah:
"Yahweh then spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying, 'Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, "When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath to Yahweh. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to Yahweh; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. Your harvest's aftergrowth you shall not reap, and your grapes of untrimmed vines you shall not gather; the land shall have a sabbatical year. All of you shall have the sabbath products of the land for food; yourself, and your male and female slaves, and your hired man and your foreign resident, those who live as aliens with you. Even your cattle and the animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat."'" Leviticus 25.1-7
"You shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, but on the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove." (Exodus 23.10-11)
The Horse in the Gate
posted: November 02, 2007
[The posting below is by Sara Yoheved Rigler. She resides in the Old City of Jerusalem with her husband and children. I felt I had to reprint it as it very beautifully puts forth the truth about God.]
In a God-directed world, you're never stuck.
I used to empathize with the horse in the gate. The only way for a car to exit the walled Old City of Jerusalem, where I live, is through Zion Gate. Like all authentic ancient gates, Zion Gate is a massive L-shaped stone structure. My 21st century car has a hard time maneuvering through the 16th century gate, especially when it is thronged with tourists. My car, however, has it easy compared with the horses of yore trying to invade the city.
The Message of Biblical Zionism
posted: August 28, 2007
I went to a very interesting meeting on Monday night. The speaker was Jeremy Gimpel, one of the founders and directors of the International Center of Biblical Zionism. I had heard about him and Ari Abramowitz, through their radio program, A Light Unto the Nations, heard on Arutz Sheva Internet radio. (This is an excellent program, you shouldn't miss it.) Both Jeremy and Ari are orthodox Jews.
Homosexuals March in Jerusalem
posted: June 21, 2007
Well, the homosexuals managed to persuade the Israel Supreme Court and the Jerusalem police to let them show their perverted ways in the streets of Jerusalem. Recently, there was much spiritual warfare around the world but the humanists in Israel were determine to let them have their way.
It's not surprising that the homosexuals wanted to march in Jerusalem. It's their ultimate in-your-face to the God of Creation. They may not consciously know what they are doing but spiritually they know. That is why the hatred and anger is seen; they know what they do is against God's commands and their spirit fights against it.
The Meaning of Passover
posted: April 01, 2007
Tomorrow night we celebrate the festival of Passover, as commanded by the Lord in Leviticus 23.5. It is an awesome celebration of the mighty power of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But as I look around the Web and read the newspapers and listen to people talk, it seems like there are many different Passovers. Some proclaim it to be the celebration of human freedom, others say it is a reminder that we must free ourselves from those things that enslave us, and still others claim that we must understand the "contemporary" meaning of Passover.
Take Responsibility for Your Own Actions!
posted: March 24, 2007
I'm always amused (or perhaps irritated is a better word) at how people in the United States blame others — especially Hollywood — for the degeneration of our society. It's as if we were a holy nation and suddenly, after decades of watching movies and TV, we have become degenerates. I'm not saying that we were always this bad but let's be honest. Many of these things have been going on for years but people just chose to ignore them.
For instance, children have been molested by priests, teachers, and other "trusted" adults for more than a few decades. The murder of unborn babies has been legal — and accepted by the majority — for over 30 years. In the early sixties the U.S. president was in the process of being impeached for sleeping with an enemy spy — and he was married — but he is still considered a great president. Another president defied U.S. laws and used witchcraft to run the United States, yet everyone still upholds him as a righteous 'Christian'. Wife-swapping become popular over 40 years ago. It was over 20 years ago that one of the first (or, perhaps the first) known homosexual was elected to Congress. Forty years ago the majority of the youth of the nation became sexually promiscuous and experimented with different drugs — and that was without a long history of television viewing. And what about all the sin during prohibition? That surely didn't happen as a result of watching too much television. (And it wasn't just a minority of the population, either. Otherwise, Congress wouldn't have repealed it.)
Israel Will Be Just Fine
posted: November 11, 2006
It sure seems as if a lot of people these days are willing to write off Israel if the United States government backs off from its (alleged) support. They seem to think that, without the backing of the United States, Israel doesn't have a chance of surviving, even with Yahweh's help. But, is that really true? Is Israel doomed now that the evil Democrats have taken over the US government and cast out the corrupt Republicans?
Well, I don't really care too much for the smut of politics, so I won't go into the travesties that have been accomplished by both Democrats and Republicans. (Yahweh, by the way, is neither Republican nor Democrat.) So, let's take a look at the words spoken by the only One that we can trust — the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What does Yahweh have to say about Israel, whom He chose to be His people forever?
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