Letters from Jerusalem
September 21, 2021
“What shall I render to the Lord For all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord Now in the presence of all His people.” Psalm 116:12-14
Joyful and sober greetings dear sisters and brothers, in The Name of our Lord Yeshua. Blessing and honor and glory and worship unto Him to Whom all glory is due. May you be blessed and encouraged and strengthened by all that His Spirit has for you and may The Lord Alone be glorified.
It is Sukkot and we have been out in our ‘sukkah’ for last night’s meal and most of the day today.
For the first time in 27 years, I did not write on Yom Kippur. The very first letter that I wrote after making Aliyah, was on Yom Kippur 1994 and was hand written to 4 friends and photocopied. It was then that The Lord had impressed upon me: ‘What you see, write.’ But this year was different. For us it was different in a ‘Good way’, even as globally things are ‘different’ in so many ways that try the soul. Our newest Granddaughter was born on the 14th. (Thankfully before Yom Kippur. It’s a sad thing for a kid to have a birthday on Yom Kippur!) She was expected to be a Sukkot Baby so literally NOTHING was ‘ready’…but it was God’s time…the ‘moed’…the appointed time for her. She is beautiful and healthy and still has no name (only because even THAT was still unprepared) and I do thank the so many of you who have prayed! I was just getting ready to go to work last Tuesday morning when E rang at 5am and asked if Y could come and get me to stay with the girls as she was in labor. I grabbed my laptop so that I could work from their apartment and off I went. Before 10 the Baby was born! I brought the girls home to stay with us for Yom Kippur and THAT was a Yom Kippur different than any that I have ever had before.
I think about that Yom Kippur of 1994 when I was taken aback by the sudden stopping of EVERYTHING …no cars, no motors, no stores, nothing… until… the loud speakers on the nearby mosques began blaring their obviously hate filled speech and I was rapidly immersed into the battle of the spirits in an area that I had been but superficially familiar with before. I became intimately entwined with the ancient battle being fought in the Middle East. Welcome home! It was also that very first Yom Kippur that I began to UNDERSTAND the immensity of what Yeshua’s spilt Blood on the cross had done for me and the utter LOSTNESS of what it meant to have been given the law by The Holy God and to have His temple destroyed because of our own disobedience…meaning that the very form of sacrifice that HE HAD INSTUTITED for the sons of Jacob to be cleansed from sin…the way that HE made into His Presence…was GONE! The day of Atonement became for me a day of searching out HOW to pray for my people! HE Who had brought our family back ‘suddenly ‘and through paths impossible, had brought us back KNOWING the blessing of being forgiven and cleansed - to my people to whom the way was still hidden! So, my first Yom Kippur letter was written.
This year, for the first time, the letter WASN’T written, but instead I was looking at two of our 3 small Granddaughters as they tried to absorb the huge event that had taken place in their tiny lives…’Move over, here I come: sister #3!’: Lots of emotion expressing itself. But whether I fasted or not…whether I meditated in His Word or not…Yom Kippur came again to Jerusalem, to Israel and to the Jews around the world with the great question: IS YOUR NAME WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE? Each greeting ended with ‘gmar chatima tova’ (may the signature be signed in your favor). You and I know that this is not a small question, but sometimes our confidence in our own atonement can make us less acutely aware of the agony that we felt when we knew that we were lost and could find no way to God…no hope. Rabbinic Judaism has many ways and explanations, but they don’t satisfy everyone who honestly faces the question. Hebrews 9:22 says that “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” Leviticus 17:11 “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” So for me, back in 1994, Yom Kippur became a day of thanksgiving for The Precious Blood of The Lamb and a day of seeking the revelation for my brothers and sisters after the flesh…so I have written and encouraged others over these years.
Usually, this time of year Christians are pouring into the country, bringing blessing from the 4 corners of the earth to pray during the fall feasts and to partake in the Christian Feast of Tabernacles celebrations. Many of you have participated in these for years. It is no news to say that with covid these large international events have been cancelled or gone to an online platform. None the less…as Yom Kippur comes, so has Sukkot! A ‘moed’ is an ‘appointed time’, but it is specifically used in scripture as GOD’S appointed time. The word itself carries a great deal of weight. This morning in my regular reading I was in Daniel 8 and as I read again through this second vision of Daniel’s, I saw that he was told that it wasn’t for ‘now’ but was for the last days…the ‘appointed end’. I looked over to the Hebrew and it said "למעד קץ" (moed ketz) and I stopped and looked at that and it gave me such comfort. THE APPOINTED END TIME: The ‘end time’ is APPOINTED and no man can change that.
Our Granddaughter helped us decorate our merepesset (balcony) as a sukkah. It is NOT a ‘kosher sukkah’…there is a ‘ceiling’ over our merepesset…however God has blessed us with a TREE that gives us the covering through which we can see the stars and sky! He has been so good to us! We can no longer reach up and build a covering that extends both inside and out, so we accept this grace as the tree for our roof. My granddaughter and I went out hand and hand and picked branches off of leafy trees…myrtle and olive all sorts of flowering trees and rich looking green shrubs and we decorated the walls with those and colorful paper chains and even a bird that our oldest Granddaughter, who is now 16, made back when she was in gan here…although now they live elsewhere. It was a festive, joyful time and the table was set with fruit and blessing. My husband wanted a new experience, so he went with our son in law to the 4 species market where the ‘lulav’ is purchased. The 4 species in the lulav are myrtle, willow, palm and etrog fruit. I searched for an explanation as to where the ceremonial use of the lulav began since although the species are mentioned in Leviticus 23:40 in connection with the sukkah, they have evolved into the purchasing of these items to be held and ‘shaken’ in 6 directions each time one enters the sukkah, in the morning, in the evening, if you go to the wall or to the synagogue, each group has developed their own ceremonies however generally the reason is to sanctify and recognize God’s sovereign creation and rule over His creation in all directions…above and beneath, in front of us and behind us, to the left and to the right, He is there as we grasp these different fruits of His making, together in our hands, we are to recognize that all that He made in their varieties and smells come from Him and go to Him. As with much of the symbols and practices of Judaism, they are to point us to Him and to the Hugeness of Who He is and to compare that to our miniscule moment between dust and dust in which we live out our lives; also to give place to ‘the other’. Judaism is very much a ‘corporate body’ where individualism and individual ‘rights’ are NOT the central issue at all. In many ways, Judaism and the western idea of democracy with its individualism and individual ‘rights’ diverge. So, holding the 4 species of the lulav in hand and shaking them in all directions, the diversity of man becomes equal, with God above all…as we sit in the little flimsy sukka…the temporary dwelling…we look at the grandness of the sky above and remember that the body that we dwell in for such a short period is ALSO temporary…is also flimsy…BUT HE HAS GONE TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR US! Oh that my sisters and brothers after the flesh would also have this reassurance, for which He came. MAY IT BE SOON REALIZED! MAY THE VEIL FALL AWAY LIKE FISH SCALES THIS YEAR…THIS VERY DAY!
Thank you so much for your prayers for Israel, for your prayers for HIS WILL AND PURPOSES FOR HIS GLORY…and even for our little family. THANK YOU!
Chag Sameach – Joyful Holy days
Lovingly, your sis here.
“What shall I render to the Lord For all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord Now in the presence of all His people.” Psalm 116:12-14
Joyful and sober greetings dear sisters and brothers, in The Name of our Lord Yeshua. Blessing and honor and glory and worship unto Him to Whom all glory is due. May you be blessed and encouraged and strengthened by all that His Spirit has for you and may The Lord Alone be glorified.
It is Sukkot and we have been out in our ‘sukkah’ for last night’s meal and most of the day today.
For the first time in 27 years, I did not write on Yom Kippur. The very first letter that I wrote after making Aliyah, was on Yom Kippur 1994 and was hand written to 4 friends and photocopied. It was then that The Lord had impressed upon me: ‘What you see, write.’ But this year was different. For us it was different in a ‘Good way’, even as globally things are ‘different’ in so many ways that try the soul. Our newest Granddaughter was born on the 14th. (Thankfully before Yom Kippur. It’s a sad thing for a kid to have a birthday on Yom Kippur!) She was expected to be a Sukkot Baby so literally NOTHING was ‘ready’…but it was God’s time…the ‘moed’…the appointed time for her. She is beautiful and healthy and still has no name (only because even THAT was still unprepared) and I do thank the so many of you who have prayed! I was just getting ready to go to work last Tuesday morning when E rang at 5am and asked if Y could come and get me to stay with the girls as she was in labor. I grabbed my laptop so that I could work from their apartment and off I went. Before 10 the Baby was born! I brought the girls home to stay with us for Yom Kippur and THAT was a Yom Kippur different than any that I have ever had before.
I think about that Yom Kippur of 1994 when I was taken aback by the sudden stopping of EVERYTHING …no cars, no motors, no stores, nothing… until… the loud speakers on the nearby mosques began blaring their obviously hate filled speech and I was rapidly immersed into the battle of the spirits in an area that I had been but superficially familiar with before. I became intimately entwined with the ancient battle being fought in the Middle East. Welcome home! It was also that very first Yom Kippur that I began to UNDERSTAND the immensity of what Yeshua’s spilt Blood on the cross had done for me and the utter LOSTNESS of what it meant to have been given the law by The Holy God and to have His temple destroyed because of our own disobedience…meaning that the very form of sacrifice that HE HAD INSTUTITED for the sons of Jacob to be cleansed from sin…the way that HE made into His Presence…was GONE! The day of Atonement became for me a day of searching out HOW to pray for my people! HE Who had brought our family back ‘suddenly ‘and through paths impossible, had brought us back KNOWING the blessing of being forgiven and cleansed - to my people to whom the way was still hidden! So, my first Yom Kippur letter was written.
This year, for the first time, the letter WASN’T written, but instead I was looking at two of our 3 small Granddaughters as they tried to absorb the huge event that had taken place in their tiny lives…’Move over, here I come: sister #3!’: Lots of emotion expressing itself. But whether I fasted or not…whether I meditated in His Word or not…Yom Kippur came again to Jerusalem, to Israel and to the Jews around the world with the great question: IS YOUR NAME WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE? Each greeting ended with ‘gmar chatima tova’ (may the signature be signed in your favor). You and I know that this is not a small question, but sometimes our confidence in our own atonement can make us less acutely aware of the agony that we felt when we knew that we were lost and could find no way to God…no hope. Rabbinic Judaism has many ways and explanations, but they don’t satisfy everyone who honestly faces the question. Hebrews 9:22 says that “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” Leviticus 17:11 “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” So for me, back in 1994, Yom Kippur became a day of thanksgiving for The Precious Blood of The Lamb and a day of seeking the revelation for my brothers and sisters after the flesh…so I have written and encouraged others over these years.
Usually, this time of year Christians are pouring into the country, bringing blessing from the 4 corners of the earth to pray during the fall feasts and to partake in the Christian Feast of Tabernacles celebrations. Many of you have participated in these for years. It is no news to say that with covid these large international events have been cancelled or gone to an online platform. None the less…as Yom Kippur comes, so has Sukkot! A ‘moed’ is an ‘appointed time’, but it is specifically used in scripture as GOD’S appointed time. The word itself carries a great deal of weight. This morning in my regular reading I was in Daniel 8 and as I read again through this second vision of Daniel’s, I saw that he was told that it wasn’t for ‘now’ but was for the last days…the ‘appointed end’. I looked over to the Hebrew and it said "למעד קץ" (moed ketz) and I stopped and looked at that and it gave me such comfort. THE APPOINTED END TIME: The ‘end time’ is APPOINTED and no man can change that.
Our Granddaughter helped us decorate our merepesset (balcony) as a sukkah. It is NOT a ‘kosher sukkah’…there is a ‘ceiling’ over our merepesset…however God has blessed us with a TREE that gives us the covering through which we can see the stars and sky! He has been so good to us! We can no longer reach up and build a covering that extends both inside and out, so we accept this grace as the tree for our roof. My granddaughter and I went out hand and hand and picked branches off of leafy trees…myrtle and olive all sorts of flowering trees and rich looking green shrubs and we decorated the walls with those and colorful paper chains and even a bird that our oldest Granddaughter, who is now 16, made back when she was in gan here…although now they live elsewhere. It was a festive, joyful time and the table was set with fruit and blessing. My husband wanted a new experience, so he went with our son in law to the 4 species market where the ‘lulav’ is purchased. The 4 species in the lulav are myrtle, willow, palm and etrog fruit. I searched for an explanation as to where the ceremonial use of the lulav began since although the species are mentioned in Leviticus 23:40 in connection with the sukkah, they have evolved into the purchasing of these items to be held and ‘shaken’ in 6 directions each time one enters the sukkah, in the morning, in the evening, if you go to the wall or to the synagogue, each group has developed their own ceremonies however generally the reason is to sanctify and recognize God’s sovereign creation and rule over His creation in all directions…above and beneath, in front of us and behind us, to the left and to the right, He is there as we grasp these different fruits of His making, together in our hands, we are to recognize that all that He made in their varieties and smells come from Him and go to Him. As with much of the symbols and practices of Judaism, they are to point us to Him and to the Hugeness of Who He is and to compare that to our miniscule moment between dust and dust in which we live out our lives; also to give place to ‘the other’. Judaism is very much a ‘corporate body’ where individualism and individual ‘rights’ are NOT the central issue at all. In many ways, Judaism and the western idea of democracy with its individualism and individual ‘rights’ diverge. So, holding the 4 species of the lulav in hand and shaking them in all directions, the diversity of man becomes equal, with God above all…as we sit in the little flimsy sukka…the temporary dwelling…we look at the grandness of the sky above and remember that the body that we dwell in for such a short period is ALSO temporary…is also flimsy…BUT HE HAS GONE TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR US! Oh that my sisters and brothers after the flesh would also have this reassurance, for which He came. MAY IT BE SOON REALIZED! MAY THE VEIL FALL AWAY LIKE FISH SCALES THIS YEAR…THIS VERY DAY!
Thank you so much for your prayers for Israel, for your prayers for HIS WILL AND PURPOSES FOR HIS GLORY…and even for our little family. THANK YOU!
Chag Sameach – Joyful Holy days
Lovingly, your sis here.
September 7, 2021
“Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre. Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival; this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. When God went out against Egypt, he established it as a statute for Joseph. I heard an unknown voice say “I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah, Hear Me, My people, and I will warn you--
if you would only listen to Me, Israel! You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than Me, I am the Lord your God, Who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.” Psalm 81:1-10
Unto The King, Most High, Eternal; to Him Who has created and will faithfully oversee His workmanship until He rolls it up at the appointed time…to HIM BE THE GLORY AND THE HONOR AND THE PRAISE!
Greetings dear sisters and brothers in Yeshua. May you be blessed and encouraged and may He receive blessing and glory.
Here, Jerusalem time, it is late afternoon on the 1st day of Rosh h’shana (yes…we get 2) and I have FINALLY heard someone coming around blowing the shofar on our street corner…that joyful yet mournful…thrilling sound that CALLS to ‘pay attention! STOP AND HEAR!’
I am enclosing an excellently written article by a dear sister, that explains so well much of what I would like to say and have said in the past. Her explanation is fresh concerning what we, in modern times, celebrate as Rosh h’shana, or the head of the year…although the command is to blow the shofar and remember.
The evolution of the traditions surrounding Rosh h’shana or Yom h’teruah (day of the blowing of the shofar) are varied and well known. This, the first of the fall feasts, or the feasts of (the month of) Tishrai, is one of the feasts appointed by God. (G shares some of the scriptures) It is a full holy day with no public transportation nor open shops. Gifts are given and apples and honey are shared. There is a festive meal with a round, sweet challa and symbolic foods that have morphed with the generations and are colored with the various backgrounds from where different segments of the population migrated. The liturgical services are sung in the synagogues, around the tables, in the streets and at the Western Wall. I enjoyed listening to a rabbi say on the news the other night that the Sephardic (Eastern Jews) liturgy is full of joy, counting on the fact that God is a merciful and forgiving God Who will forgive our sins…while the Ashkenazi (western or European Jews) liturgy is chest beating ‘woe is me’ in style. I had not understood that before. As you can see there is much variety and elasticity with these traditions.
As I said in my last letter, the entire month leading up to these feasts is filled with preparations for repentance…a sort of breaking up of the hardened ground of the heart through prayer and searching scriptures. For the past month the synagogues and the Western wall have been filled with people through each night. Many believe that God’s Book of Life is opened on Rosh h’shana and sealed on Yom Kippur (the day of Atonement) 10 days later: whether you are written in The Book unto life or death, is ordained during these 10 days and sealed at the end of Yom Kippur. The ‘greeting addended during this time is ‘gmar khatima tova’ or ‘may you finish with a good seal’ Judgment is taken very seriously…it is a very tangible reality that is often passed over, or somehow ‘lighter’ in Western culture.
But (keeping this letter short) it is the sounding of the shofar that I would like to focus on right now. Revelation 1:10,11 says; “ I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, ‘ “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to…” Exodus 19:19 says “And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.” When Israel was learning how to proceed through the wilderness, they were instructed to listen for the sound of the trumpet which would announce the times to move, the order that they were to move. It also signals the approach of danger, a call to meet with leadership concerning God, a call to war …everything important was (and is…and will be) announced by the sounding of the trumpet.
This says to me that it is a call to LISTEN…and to RESPOND.
Perhaps you are different than I am…perhaps you are ahead of me or less rebellious by nature, but I have learned that I am WOEFULLY slow to listen…and slow to respond (without excuses). In His great mercy, God made for me a ‘moed’! An appointed time to remember the trumpets…remember their purposes…remember that they WILL CALL EACH OF US and that there will indeed be a ‘last trump’ …either collectively or individually…but ultimately collectively…it WILL sound. These days that we live in seem to be offering me a wonderful opportunity to FINE-TUNE my dull heart and REMEMBER that I am called to LISTEN for the trumpet sound…and RESPOND…NOT according to my emotions…but according to the instructions given. What a time to KNOW HIS WORD…the FULL counsel of His Word…not the bits and pieces that we favor. What an opportunity to be sequestered in with HIM and His unadulterated WORD!…not with social media and you tubes (and having said that I AM including a link to a wonderful you tube segment – I don’t mean to be a hypocrite, but this piece of history that I had never known about is precious and truly demonstrates what the shofar blast means…how MUCH it means…NOT as a ‘magic sound’ but as a commandment…a moed.)
Ok. Enough for today. Thank you so much for listening…for praying…for walking His path for His glory. May we be found in Him Alone…for His purposes and bearing fruit for His kingdom…being sign posts toward HIM!
Lovingly, your sister here
ECHOES OF A SHOFAR - please watch
SHARING A WORD FROM G:
“…At least I am getting it out to you before the "new moon" which is also the very important day of God called Yom Teruah or "Feast" of Trumpets. "Feast" really isn't a good translation/connotation of the Hebrew word "moed." Really, it is best to think of it as an appointed time, an appointment set by God.
Leviticus 23:1, 2 says:
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts."
The word "feasts" is the word "moedim" in Hebrew. ALL of the moedim are God's, as He says in these verses. They are not the "Jewish" Feasts...they are God's Feasts. A moed is a set-apart time, an appointment, a set season, even a signal. God set them in place and commanded His people to keep/observe them for a reason.
The other word worth looking at in the verse above is "convocation" or "holy convocation." The Hebrew word is "miqra" and it means called out or rehearsal, and can also mean an assembly.
If you actually read Leviticus 23, you will see that the first of God's moedim that He lists is Shabbat/Sabbath. Then He follows with the 3 spring moedim (following the time of year in the Land of Israel), the moed that occurs midway between the spring and fall (Shavuot), and the 3 fall moedim.
The first of the 3 fall moedim begins tomorrow evening and lasts until Tuesday evening. It is Yom Teruah - the Sound of the Trumpets. (Rosh HaShanah - the New Year - is what it is celebrated as in modern times, but that is not what God commanded in His Word, so I won't really be talking much about Rosh HaShanah.)…
…Why do I keep these "moedim?" Because I am legalistic? Because I am delusional and think I am Jewish? Because I am trying to be super-spiritual? Trying to earn my salvation? No! No! No! and No!
I keep them because God said to keep them, and because I love Him.
I keep them even if I don't understand all that God has built into them and all that is behind them. After all, like the tabernacle was a shadow of the heavenly tabernacle, the moedim are shadows of God's provision of salvation, atonement, sanctification, justification... all that He has provided us to allow us to have relationship with Him through Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah is shown in minute detail in His moedim. Yeshua/Jesus has fulfilled/will fulfill ALL of them COMPLETELY and ABSOLUTELY. They are annual rehearsals until the time comes for His people to live eternally with Him, face to face, with the KING of kings on His throne forever! He has provided the way for Himself to dwell in our midst. The more I keep the moedim, in my limited understanding and ability, the more my love for Him grows. It really is that simple.
And in a world as complicated and chaotic and uncertain and .... well, crazy... as our world is, my ROCK, my SALVATION, my TOWER, my PEACE, my COUNSELOR, my ETERNAL FATHER becomes so much more tangible and real and faithful and present when I rehearse what He has told me to rehearse to get ready for what is to come after this temporal world is done. When I am listening to a shofar or trumpet blast on Yom Teruah, when I am "afflicting my body" in fasting on Yom Kippur, when I am sitting in my flimsy Sukkah looking up at the stars during Sukkot, the cares of this world and the worries about money and the weariness of work and physical pains all fade away and I get a glimpse of what is to come. Now I am looking through a glass dimly, but then it will all be clear!
It is not a way out of reality. It IS reality. God's reality beyond what we know in this world.”
“Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre. Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival; this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. When God went out against Egypt, he established it as a statute for Joseph. I heard an unknown voice say “I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah, Hear Me, My people, and I will warn you--
if you would only listen to Me, Israel! You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than Me, I am the Lord your God, Who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.” Psalm 81:1-10
Unto The King, Most High, Eternal; to Him Who has created and will faithfully oversee His workmanship until He rolls it up at the appointed time…to HIM BE THE GLORY AND THE HONOR AND THE PRAISE!
Greetings dear sisters and brothers in Yeshua. May you be blessed and encouraged and may He receive blessing and glory.
Here, Jerusalem time, it is late afternoon on the 1st day of Rosh h’shana (yes…we get 2) and I have FINALLY heard someone coming around blowing the shofar on our street corner…that joyful yet mournful…thrilling sound that CALLS to ‘pay attention! STOP AND HEAR!’
I am enclosing an excellently written article by a dear sister, that explains so well much of what I would like to say and have said in the past. Her explanation is fresh concerning what we, in modern times, celebrate as Rosh h’shana, or the head of the year…although the command is to blow the shofar and remember.
The evolution of the traditions surrounding Rosh h’shana or Yom h’teruah (day of the blowing of the shofar) are varied and well known. This, the first of the fall feasts, or the feasts of (the month of) Tishrai, is one of the feasts appointed by God. (G shares some of the scriptures) It is a full holy day with no public transportation nor open shops. Gifts are given and apples and honey are shared. There is a festive meal with a round, sweet challa and symbolic foods that have morphed with the generations and are colored with the various backgrounds from where different segments of the population migrated. The liturgical services are sung in the synagogues, around the tables, in the streets and at the Western Wall. I enjoyed listening to a rabbi say on the news the other night that the Sephardic (Eastern Jews) liturgy is full of joy, counting on the fact that God is a merciful and forgiving God Who will forgive our sins…while the Ashkenazi (western or European Jews) liturgy is chest beating ‘woe is me’ in style. I had not understood that before. As you can see there is much variety and elasticity with these traditions.
As I said in my last letter, the entire month leading up to these feasts is filled with preparations for repentance…a sort of breaking up of the hardened ground of the heart through prayer and searching scriptures. For the past month the synagogues and the Western wall have been filled with people through each night. Many believe that God’s Book of Life is opened on Rosh h’shana and sealed on Yom Kippur (the day of Atonement) 10 days later: whether you are written in The Book unto life or death, is ordained during these 10 days and sealed at the end of Yom Kippur. The ‘greeting addended during this time is ‘gmar khatima tova’ or ‘may you finish with a good seal’ Judgment is taken very seriously…it is a very tangible reality that is often passed over, or somehow ‘lighter’ in Western culture.
But (keeping this letter short) it is the sounding of the shofar that I would like to focus on right now. Revelation 1:10,11 says; “ I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, ‘ “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to…” Exodus 19:19 says “And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.” When Israel was learning how to proceed through the wilderness, they were instructed to listen for the sound of the trumpet which would announce the times to move, the order that they were to move. It also signals the approach of danger, a call to meet with leadership concerning God, a call to war …everything important was (and is…and will be) announced by the sounding of the trumpet.
This says to me that it is a call to LISTEN…and to RESPOND.
Perhaps you are different than I am…perhaps you are ahead of me or less rebellious by nature, but I have learned that I am WOEFULLY slow to listen…and slow to respond (without excuses). In His great mercy, God made for me a ‘moed’! An appointed time to remember the trumpets…remember their purposes…remember that they WILL CALL EACH OF US and that there will indeed be a ‘last trump’ …either collectively or individually…but ultimately collectively…it WILL sound. These days that we live in seem to be offering me a wonderful opportunity to FINE-TUNE my dull heart and REMEMBER that I am called to LISTEN for the trumpet sound…and RESPOND…NOT according to my emotions…but according to the instructions given. What a time to KNOW HIS WORD…the FULL counsel of His Word…not the bits and pieces that we favor. What an opportunity to be sequestered in with HIM and His unadulterated WORD!…not with social media and you tubes (and having said that I AM including a link to a wonderful you tube segment – I don’t mean to be a hypocrite, but this piece of history that I had never known about is precious and truly demonstrates what the shofar blast means…how MUCH it means…NOT as a ‘magic sound’ but as a commandment…a moed.)
Ok. Enough for today. Thank you so much for listening…for praying…for walking His path for His glory. May we be found in Him Alone…for His purposes and bearing fruit for His kingdom…being sign posts toward HIM!
Lovingly, your sister here
ECHOES OF A SHOFAR - please watch
SHARING A WORD FROM G:
“…At least I am getting it out to you before the "new moon" which is also the very important day of God called Yom Teruah or "Feast" of Trumpets. "Feast" really isn't a good translation/connotation of the Hebrew word "moed." Really, it is best to think of it as an appointed time, an appointment set by God.
Leviticus 23:1, 2 says:
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts."
The word "feasts" is the word "moedim" in Hebrew. ALL of the moedim are God's, as He says in these verses. They are not the "Jewish" Feasts...they are God's Feasts. A moed is a set-apart time, an appointment, a set season, even a signal. God set them in place and commanded His people to keep/observe them for a reason.
The other word worth looking at in the verse above is "convocation" or "holy convocation." The Hebrew word is "miqra" and it means called out or rehearsal, and can also mean an assembly.
If you actually read Leviticus 23, you will see that the first of God's moedim that He lists is Shabbat/Sabbath. Then He follows with the 3 spring moedim (following the time of year in the Land of Israel), the moed that occurs midway between the spring and fall (Shavuot), and the 3 fall moedim.
The first of the 3 fall moedim begins tomorrow evening and lasts until Tuesday evening. It is Yom Teruah - the Sound of the Trumpets. (Rosh HaShanah - the New Year - is what it is celebrated as in modern times, but that is not what God commanded in His Word, so I won't really be talking much about Rosh HaShanah.)…
…Why do I keep these "moedim?" Because I am legalistic? Because I am delusional and think I am Jewish? Because I am trying to be super-spiritual? Trying to earn my salvation? No! No! No! and No!
I keep them because God said to keep them, and because I love Him.
I keep them even if I don't understand all that God has built into them and all that is behind them. After all, like the tabernacle was a shadow of the heavenly tabernacle, the moedim are shadows of God's provision of salvation, atonement, sanctification, justification... all that He has provided us to allow us to have relationship with Him through Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah is shown in minute detail in His moedim. Yeshua/Jesus has fulfilled/will fulfill ALL of them COMPLETELY and ABSOLUTELY. They are annual rehearsals until the time comes for His people to live eternally with Him, face to face, with the KING of kings on His throne forever! He has provided the way for Himself to dwell in our midst. The more I keep the moedim, in my limited understanding and ability, the more my love for Him grows. It really is that simple.
And in a world as complicated and chaotic and uncertain and .... well, crazy... as our world is, my ROCK, my SALVATION, my TOWER, my PEACE, my COUNSELOR, my ETERNAL FATHER becomes so much more tangible and real and faithful and present when I rehearse what He has told me to rehearse to get ready for what is to come after this temporal world is done. When I am listening to a shofar or trumpet blast on Yom Teruah, when I am "afflicting my body" in fasting on Yom Kippur, when I am sitting in my flimsy Sukkah looking up at the stars during Sukkot, the cares of this world and the worries about money and the weariness of work and physical pains all fade away and I get a glimpse of what is to come. Now I am looking through a glass dimly, but then it will all be clear!
It is not a way out of reality. It IS reality. God's reality beyond what we know in this world.”
August 25, 2021
“Would you indeed annul My judgment? Would you condemn Me that you may be justified? Have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His? Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor,
And array yourself with glory and beauty Disperse the rage of your wrath; Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him. Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low; Tread down the wicked in their place. Hide them in the dust together, Bind their faces in hidden darkness. Then I will also confess to you
That your own right hand can save you.” JOB 40:8-14
(PART 1 THAT DID NOT GET SENT)
Greetings brothers and sisters!
In The Name of Him Who is only Wonderful…Who’s judgments are perfect…Who’s way is strait and narrow and before Who’s Presence no one can stand. Unto Him Who washed and purchased us…of all people…with His Own Blood…I dare to write. Having just finished again, one of my favorite books, Job, and still hearing His Words resounding in my ears (Job 38:2) “Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?”
Yep…more of You and less of me Lord!
May you all be blessed and encouraged and may THE LORD ONLY be glorified.
It is again, the month of Elul on the Hebrew calendar, and you can feel the change in the air. Our calendar is ‘early’ this year and as the calendar changed into the month of Elul, so the air began to taste of Autumn (‘stav’ in Hebrew). It is ever so subtle, but it is there…like a breath…suddenly I saw birds flocking in the sunset. They know their time even if we don’t. They sniff the air and there it is…their ‘call’ to obey that which has been placed in them. How strangely important it seems to me to consider the seasons in these days…His Word says that even the stars know their paths and the waters their boundaries. I see in Turkey where they have been battling deadly fires in their south (as many many of you are also experiencing where you live…oh my dear dear friends in California…yes we pray for you) and at the same time even more deadly floods in the north…TWICE already while the fires continue to rage. Floods, fires, earthquakes, plagues…Afghanistan…and yet The Lord really HAS set all things in order…from Genesis…through Revelation…He speaks through His creation…in His order.
And so, it is Elul…the month of deep, soul-searching repentance leading up to what we call in the English ‘The Fall Feasts’…Rosh h’Shana (the new year), Yom Kippur (the awe-some day of Atonement) and the week-long feast of Sukkot or ‘booths’ or ‘tabernacles’.
This time, the first blast of the shofar did not take me by surprise. I see that after being here for 27 years, the rhythm is, yes, in my heart. When I was growing up in New York City, the Jewish holidays did not ‘touch the outside’. Regular life swirled on and only the calendar reminded us of the approaching high holidays. Here, the holy days are painted into daily life…it is the ‘color’ of the day!
I have been going to work very early to avoid the early morning crowds on the bus and train, so I was walking past the synagogue at 6:15 when the shofar was being lifted to the lips of someone who sounded it strongly and clearly and my heart rose with each sword-sharp note. Elul had begun between Sunday the 8th and Monday the 9th of August. It was just a few days before that, that I had noticed the trees on the way to work breaking forth abundantly in fruit; tiny grapes were clustering and the pomegranate tree that I pass on the way to work has NEVER been so full of fruit as it is this year! In a year when humans are finding difficulty producing fruit…these trees are thriving. And then I remembered: It is a ‘shmita’ year coming up; the year that the land is to rest. The commandment is found in Leviticus 25:1-7
”And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land. And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food.
It will begin on the 7th of September this year…Rosh h’shana. Not EVERY Israeli who works the land observes these commanded 7-year cycles, but many do and this is a year when perhaps many more will think about The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Who set patterns and promised both blessings and curses or judgment.
As I said, Elul is a time of preparation of the heart. It is believed that the Book of Life is opened between Rosh h’shana and Yom Kippur and those who are written in the Book of Life will continue; It is considered a time of weighing the hearts of the people in judgment and blessing…the deeds and the intents of the heart. Customs, yes, abound, but there is also a ‘fear of The Lord’ that becomes more acute.
It is a good time to pray for His full revelation to come to open and seeking hearts.
(PART TWO – 25th AUGUST. I WROTE THE ABOVE ON THE 11TH AS THE 3 DAY FIRE PICTURED BELOW BEGAN IT’S DESTRUCTIVE PATH…MAKING IT EQUAL TO THE CARMEL FIRE OF 2010 WHEN 44 PEOPLE WERE KILLED. THIS ONE BROUGHT MUCH DESTRUCTION AND THREATENED JERUSALEM. HADASSAH HOSPITAL WAS MINUTES FROM BEING EVACUATED…BUT THANKFULLY THERE WERE NO DEATHS. I TRIED TO SEND OUT A PRAYER REQUEST BUT GOOGLE WOULD NOT LET ME AND LOCKED MY EMAIL FOR SEVERAL DAYS. I AM PRAYING THAT THIS ONE CAN GO OUT. I WILL REMOVE THE PHOTO…PERHAPS THAT WILL HELP)
Last night was a particularly big ‘night of ‘slichut prayers’ at the Western Wall’. It is a powerful thing to see and hear…100,000 or more crying out to The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…the liturgy is beseeching, weeping…it presses the heart. Last night the trains and buses ran all night long enabling people to arrive at the wall and return throughout the night. It looks like a sea of black hats and white shirt…but there are others mixed in with the Haredim. The prayers gain momentum through out the month of Elul. This was a notice on one of the news outlets today:
The selichot prayers are said nightly throughout the Hebrew month of Elul and are meant to ask God for forgiveness. They are said in the lead-up to the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
The prayer events will be held in cooperation with the Israeli government's COVID-19 guidelines and are ready for last-minute changes. Hosting 17 events, each with a chazzan, speakers, and live broadcast ensures the crowds will be spread out. The live broadcasts on the Foundation's websitePRESS HERE FOR LIVE FROM THE WESTERN WALL ensure that those who can't come will still be able to participate.
“We call upon the public to come to say selichot earlier in the month of Elul and not just during the last days of selichot so that the crowds can be spread out and we can maintain the safety and health of all who visit the Western Wall,” the Foundation stated.
The first event will take place on Thursday, 4 Elul, August 12, 2021, at midnight. Here are the dates that follow, with all prayers beginning at midnight.
The government has okayed (thus far) the opening of schools on 1 of Sept. through the 3rd and then again on the 5th and maybe part of the 6th IF all goes as planned…but nothing does go as planned these days. Traditionally, school opens for a week and then closes again for the nearly month long holidays…this year ending on the 30th of Sept.
HOW BLESSED WE ARE TO KNOW AND TRUST THE ONE WHO IS IN CONTROL!
AND thank you for reading all (or part) of this! May He grant each of you and us the center of His path. May He even now Lord…?...reveal Himself to His people Israel.
I send my love. Your sister here
“Would you indeed annul My judgment? Would you condemn Me that you may be justified? Have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His? Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor,
And array yourself with glory and beauty Disperse the rage of your wrath; Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him. Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low; Tread down the wicked in their place. Hide them in the dust together, Bind their faces in hidden darkness. Then I will also confess to you
That your own right hand can save you.” JOB 40:8-14
(PART 1 THAT DID NOT GET SENT)
Greetings brothers and sisters!
In The Name of Him Who is only Wonderful…Who’s judgments are perfect…Who’s way is strait and narrow and before Who’s Presence no one can stand. Unto Him Who washed and purchased us…of all people…with His Own Blood…I dare to write. Having just finished again, one of my favorite books, Job, and still hearing His Words resounding in my ears (Job 38:2) “Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?”
Yep…more of You and less of me Lord!
May you all be blessed and encouraged and may THE LORD ONLY be glorified.
It is again, the month of Elul on the Hebrew calendar, and you can feel the change in the air. Our calendar is ‘early’ this year and as the calendar changed into the month of Elul, so the air began to taste of Autumn (‘stav’ in Hebrew). It is ever so subtle, but it is there…like a breath…suddenly I saw birds flocking in the sunset. They know their time even if we don’t. They sniff the air and there it is…their ‘call’ to obey that which has been placed in them. How strangely important it seems to me to consider the seasons in these days…His Word says that even the stars know their paths and the waters their boundaries. I see in Turkey where they have been battling deadly fires in their south (as many many of you are also experiencing where you live…oh my dear dear friends in California…yes we pray for you) and at the same time even more deadly floods in the north…TWICE already while the fires continue to rage. Floods, fires, earthquakes, plagues…Afghanistan…and yet The Lord really HAS set all things in order…from Genesis…through Revelation…He speaks through His creation…in His order.
And so, it is Elul…the month of deep, soul-searching repentance leading up to what we call in the English ‘The Fall Feasts’…Rosh h’Shana (the new year), Yom Kippur (the awe-some day of Atonement) and the week-long feast of Sukkot or ‘booths’ or ‘tabernacles’.
This time, the first blast of the shofar did not take me by surprise. I see that after being here for 27 years, the rhythm is, yes, in my heart. When I was growing up in New York City, the Jewish holidays did not ‘touch the outside’. Regular life swirled on and only the calendar reminded us of the approaching high holidays. Here, the holy days are painted into daily life…it is the ‘color’ of the day!
I have been going to work very early to avoid the early morning crowds on the bus and train, so I was walking past the synagogue at 6:15 when the shofar was being lifted to the lips of someone who sounded it strongly and clearly and my heart rose with each sword-sharp note. Elul had begun between Sunday the 8th and Monday the 9th of August. It was just a few days before that, that I had noticed the trees on the way to work breaking forth abundantly in fruit; tiny grapes were clustering and the pomegranate tree that I pass on the way to work has NEVER been so full of fruit as it is this year! In a year when humans are finding difficulty producing fruit…these trees are thriving. And then I remembered: It is a ‘shmita’ year coming up; the year that the land is to rest. The commandment is found in Leviticus 25:1-7
”And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land. And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food.
It will begin on the 7th of September this year…Rosh h’shana. Not EVERY Israeli who works the land observes these commanded 7-year cycles, but many do and this is a year when perhaps many more will think about The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Who set patterns and promised both blessings and curses or judgment.
As I said, Elul is a time of preparation of the heart. It is believed that the Book of Life is opened between Rosh h’shana and Yom Kippur and those who are written in the Book of Life will continue; It is considered a time of weighing the hearts of the people in judgment and blessing…the deeds and the intents of the heart. Customs, yes, abound, but there is also a ‘fear of The Lord’ that becomes more acute.
It is a good time to pray for His full revelation to come to open and seeking hearts.
(PART TWO – 25th AUGUST. I WROTE THE ABOVE ON THE 11TH AS THE 3 DAY FIRE PICTURED BELOW BEGAN IT’S DESTRUCTIVE PATH…MAKING IT EQUAL TO THE CARMEL FIRE OF 2010 WHEN 44 PEOPLE WERE KILLED. THIS ONE BROUGHT MUCH DESTRUCTION AND THREATENED JERUSALEM. HADASSAH HOSPITAL WAS MINUTES FROM BEING EVACUATED…BUT THANKFULLY THERE WERE NO DEATHS. I TRIED TO SEND OUT A PRAYER REQUEST BUT GOOGLE WOULD NOT LET ME AND LOCKED MY EMAIL FOR SEVERAL DAYS. I AM PRAYING THAT THIS ONE CAN GO OUT. I WILL REMOVE THE PHOTO…PERHAPS THAT WILL HELP)
Last night was a particularly big ‘night of ‘slichut prayers’ at the Western Wall’. It is a powerful thing to see and hear…100,000 or more crying out to The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…the liturgy is beseeching, weeping…it presses the heart. Last night the trains and buses ran all night long enabling people to arrive at the wall and return throughout the night. It looks like a sea of black hats and white shirt…but there are others mixed in with the Haredim. The prayers gain momentum through out the month of Elul. This was a notice on one of the news outlets today:
The selichot prayers are said nightly throughout the Hebrew month of Elul and are meant to ask God for forgiveness. They are said in the lead-up to the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
The prayer events will be held in cooperation with the Israeli government's COVID-19 guidelines and are ready for last-minute changes. Hosting 17 events, each with a chazzan, speakers, and live broadcast ensures the crowds will be spread out. The live broadcasts on the Foundation's websitePRESS HERE FOR LIVE FROM THE WESTERN WALL ensure that those who can't come will still be able to participate.
“We call upon the public to come to say selichot earlier in the month of Elul and not just during the last days of selichot so that the crowds can be spread out and we can maintain the safety and health of all who visit the Western Wall,” the Foundation stated.
The first event will take place on Thursday, 4 Elul, August 12, 2021, at midnight. Here are the dates that follow, with all prayers beginning at midnight.
The government has okayed (thus far) the opening of schools on 1 of Sept. through the 3rd and then again on the 5th and maybe part of the 6th IF all goes as planned…but nothing does go as planned these days. Traditionally, school opens for a week and then closes again for the nearly month long holidays…this year ending on the 30th of Sept.
HOW BLESSED WE ARE TO KNOW AND TRUST THE ONE WHO IS IN CONTROL!
AND thank you for reading all (or part) of this! May He grant each of you and us the center of His path. May He even now Lord…?...reveal Himself to His people Israel.
I send my love. Your sister here
July 28, 2021
Leviticus 26:4 “then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.”
Job 28:25-28 “To establish a weight for the wind, And apportion the waters by measure When He made a law for the rain, And a path for the thunderbolt Then He saw wisdom and declared it He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’”
Greetings Dear brothers and sisters,
All glory and honor to The One Who both created, and set all things in order and Who judges according to His Righteousness…which is perfect. To Him Who’s Word we tremble at and delight in: May HE be glorified and blessed, and may you be encouraged in Him.
It was nearly 6 am when I got off of the train yesterday morning and approached my bus stop. There was glass all over the street and the closer I got the more I entered into a place of mess. There was my bus stop shelter (tachanat autobus) with one of it’s 3 heavy, shatterproof glass walls smashed by a cinder block that was still sitting in the midst of the chunks of broken glass. I moved to a rear-of-the-bus entry point and joined an Arab man who was also waiting. He shook his head in anger: ‘Kids! What are they doing?’ I heartily agreed. It’s summer and the nights have seemed filled with untamed prowling and roarings.
When we made Aliyah back in 1994, I remember the cultural dilemma that was taking place here while the country was absorbing the huge wave or Russian Olim (immigrants). That wave was still in the midst. ‘Drinking to drunkenness’ had generally NOT been a known Israeli problem, but our brothers and sisters arriving from the Russian culture brought with them a ‘drinking culture’ and the problems that went along with it. Now we seem to be in a wave of Aliyah from western countries and a lot of young people have arrived bringing the destructive ‘party drinking’ too often seen in the west. These summer nights I have often found myself hard pressed to sleep as groups of young people roam the streets, drinking and yelling…and sometimes hurling cinder blocks through public property as they go. I know that most of you in Western countries are experiencing similar things…lawlessness abounding; anarchy.
On the bus, the bus driver was listening to the liturgy at the Hadj in Saudi Arabia over the radio. (That probably IS unique to here?) I know that I’ve spoken about it in depth before, but you may not remember that this Moslem feast of ‘the sacrifice’, commemorates ‘the sacrifice of Ishmael’ before God…Did you read that twice? Yes. That is what Islam says: It was NOT Isaac who was sacrificed (and redeemed) as we know from The Word of God, but ISHMAEL…and that is what this, one of the most holy of times in Islam, celebrates. The incantations from Saudi Arabia rolled through the bus with monotone chants droning…so I sang to The Lord and thought about the great privilege that we have to be able to read and know The Word and to love it and to study it and to ask The Holy Spirit to teach it to us according to His purposes. What a city I live in!
Today I took a trip! Yes I did! I have really become quite a ‘stick in the mud’ of late. I go to work…I shop…I come home… I cook… I take care of necessities and I attempt to sleep at night and begin again.
I had an appointment across town, in the north of the city, an area that I have not been to for years, and oh how things have changed! After studying maps and online tools, I decided that the only way that I would be able to get there in one piece was by taxi. Taxi drivers use ‘WAYS’ and they know EVERYHING, right? That is why we pay them exorbitant prices to ‘get us there’.
A gentleman stopped for me. He was a religious Jew with a kippa and I couldn’t help but notice that he was about my age. ‘Where are we going?’ he asked me and I read from the paper that I had written on: שדירות גולדה מאיר 255 – (GOLDA MEIR BLVD 255 ) ‘WHAT?’ he yelled…’where’s that!!?’ Shocked I said ‘I have no idea. That’s why I’m taking a taxi. My daughter thinks it’s in Ramot but I have never been there’. He looked at me and said ‘Neither have I! Call your daughter or the place that you are going to and ask directions!’ Uh oh…no… ‘Don’t you have ‘ways’ for your taxi?’ I asked him. Again he rolled his eyes and pulled over. Remember I said that he was about my age? Well, his love of technology proved that. He put on his reading glasses…and poked the buttons of his phone and turned it around and moved it out and rolled his eyes again. ‘I think that it is in the Ramot Kanyon (mall)’ he said. ‘Call them and ask.’ I repeated ‘I can’t. I don’t have a phone number for them. I’ll go to the mall and ask around.’ Off we went into territory that I hadn’t been in for many years and oh my how it had changed. We sped past areas that were new to me…neighborhoods with tall apartments where there had been rolling hills…new apartments where there had been old ones. We stopped at the Ramot mall and it was HUGE! Definitely this was a religious area, filled with large young families who were wonderfully helpful and I soon found my way.
After my appointment was over, full of adventure, I decided to take the bus home. I was told that it was the number 36 that I wanted but which direction would take me back to central Jerusalem I could not ascertain for sure. No problem: If I went the wrong way, I would simply get to see more new things. The bus finally came and although I had black pants on, I stuck out like a sore thumb as everyone else on the bus were wearing Haredi clothes…and it appeared that half of the bus was on their way to a wedding. The bus took a much more scenic route than the taxi and I knew that we were heading the right way then we entered the northern outskirts of Mea Sharim and the ancient narrow streets of the Bukhara section that I used to wander through when we first came to Jerusalem, enchanted by the old world myster. Back then there were small one room apartments that still had dirt floors… there was an amazing glass blower in a tiny cave like shop…and although I could not see inside the old buildings from the bus, the area looked basically unchanged. Yes, it is rather squalid…a poor area, but an old and mysterious one.
But that IS another story…a long one.
To everything there is a season.
God made it that way.
I was struck as I was reading in Leviticus 26 the other morning (Parallel verses being in Deut. 28) that when our walk is pleasing to Him and in His Path before Him by His Spirit…He promises us all things that He has made ‘in its season, and in its boundaries’. As my reading on the same day continued in the vein as Job elaborated upon His order for things.’ As we have brokenly noted the floods and fires, the whirlwinds and plagues, the black holes and building collapses…it is with an awe that we pray that the TRUE FEAR OF GOD would take root in each of our hearts and bring us to the place at His feet where we recognize HIS WAY ALONE…and choose once and for all to walk there in.
It is time to go and to cook so I wish you all…MORE OF HIM…for you and for me. May we be found in Him in His Peace for His glory…not by might nor by strength…but by HIS SPIRIT.
Loving blessings from me. Your sis
Leviticus 26:4 “then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.”
Job 28:25-28 “To establish a weight for the wind, And apportion the waters by measure When He made a law for the rain, And a path for the thunderbolt Then He saw wisdom and declared it He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’”
Greetings Dear brothers and sisters,
All glory and honor to The One Who both created, and set all things in order and Who judges according to His Righteousness…which is perfect. To Him Who’s Word we tremble at and delight in: May HE be glorified and blessed, and may you be encouraged in Him.
It was nearly 6 am when I got off of the train yesterday morning and approached my bus stop. There was glass all over the street and the closer I got the more I entered into a place of mess. There was my bus stop shelter (tachanat autobus) with one of it’s 3 heavy, shatterproof glass walls smashed by a cinder block that was still sitting in the midst of the chunks of broken glass. I moved to a rear-of-the-bus entry point and joined an Arab man who was also waiting. He shook his head in anger: ‘Kids! What are they doing?’ I heartily agreed. It’s summer and the nights have seemed filled with untamed prowling and roarings.
When we made Aliyah back in 1994, I remember the cultural dilemma that was taking place here while the country was absorbing the huge wave or Russian Olim (immigrants). That wave was still in the midst. ‘Drinking to drunkenness’ had generally NOT been a known Israeli problem, but our brothers and sisters arriving from the Russian culture brought with them a ‘drinking culture’ and the problems that went along with it. Now we seem to be in a wave of Aliyah from western countries and a lot of young people have arrived bringing the destructive ‘party drinking’ too often seen in the west. These summer nights I have often found myself hard pressed to sleep as groups of young people roam the streets, drinking and yelling…and sometimes hurling cinder blocks through public property as they go. I know that most of you in Western countries are experiencing similar things…lawlessness abounding; anarchy.
On the bus, the bus driver was listening to the liturgy at the Hadj in Saudi Arabia over the radio. (That probably IS unique to here?) I know that I’ve spoken about it in depth before, but you may not remember that this Moslem feast of ‘the sacrifice’, commemorates ‘the sacrifice of Ishmael’ before God…Did you read that twice? Yes. That is what Islam says: It was NOT Isaac who was sacrificed (and redeemed) as we know from The Word of God, but ISHMAEL…and that is what this, one of the most holy of times in Islam, celebrates. The incantations from Saudi Arabia rolled through the bus with monotone chants droning…so I sang to The Lord and thought about the great privilege that we have to be able to read and know The Word and to love it and to study it and to ask The Holy Spirit to teach it to us according to His purposes. What a city I live in!
Today I took a trip! Yes I did! I have really become quite a ‘stick in the mud’ of late. I go to work…I shop…I come home… I cook… I take care of necessities and I attempt to sleep at night and begin again.
I had an appointment across town, in the north of the city, an area that I have not been to for years, and oh how things have changed! After studying maps and online tools, I decided that the only way that I would be able to get there in one piece was by taxi. Taxi drivers use ‘WAYS’ and they know EVERYHING, right? That is why we pay them exorbitant prices to ‘get us there’.
A gentleman stopped for me. He was a religious Jew with a kippa and I couldn’t help but notice that he was about my age. ‘Where are we going?’ he asked me and I read from the paper that I had written on: שדירות גולדה מאיר 255 – (GOLDA MEIR BLVD 255 ) ‘WHAT?’ he yelled…’where’s that!!?’ Shocked I said ‘I have no idea. That’s why I’m taking a taxi. My daughter thinks it’s in Ramot but I have never been there’. He looked at me and said ‘Neither have I! Call your daughter or the place that you are going to and ask directions!’ Uh oh…no… ‘Don’t you have ‘ways’ for your taxi?’ I asked him. Again he rolled his eyes and pulled over. Remember I said that he was about my age? Well, his love of technology proved that. He put on his reading glasses…and poked the buttons of his phone and turned it around and moved it out and rolled his eyes again. ‘I think that it is in the Ramot Kanyon (mall)’ he said. ‘Call them and ask.’ I repeated ‘I can’t. I don’t have a phone number for them. I’ll go to the mall and ask around.’ Off we went into territory that I hadn’t been in for many years and oh my how it had changed. We sped past areas that were new to me…neighborhoods with tall apartments where there had been rolling hills…new apartments where there had been old ones. We stopped at the Ramot mall and it was HUGE! Definitely this was a religious area, filled with large young families who were wonderfully helpful and I soon found my way.
After my appointment was over, full of adventure, I decided to take the bus home. I was told that it was the number 36 that I wanted but which direction would take me back to central Jerusalem I could not ascertain for sure. No problem: If I went the wrong way, I would simply get to see more new things. The bus finally came and although I had black pants on, I stuck out like a sore thumb as everyone else on the bus were wearing Haredi clothes…and it appeared that half of the bus was on their way to a wedding. The bus took a much more scenic route than the taxi and I knew that we were heading the right way then we entered the northern outskirts of Mea Sharim and the ancient narrow streets of the Bukhara section that I used to wander through when we first came to Jerusalem, enchanted by the old world myster. Back then there were small one room apartments that still had dirt floors… there was an amazing glass blower in a tiny cave like shop…and although I could not see inside the old buildings from the bus, the area looked basically unchanged. Yes, it is rather squalid…a poor area, but an old and mysterious one.
But that IS another story…a long one.
To everything there is a season.
God made it that way.
I was struck as I was reading in Leviticus 26 the other morning (Parallel verses being in Deut. 28) that when our walk is pleasing to Him and in His Path before Him by His Spirit…He promises us all things that He has made ‘in its season, and in its boundaries’. As my reading on the same day continued in the vein as Job elaborated upon His order for things.’ As we have brokenly noted the floods and fires, the whirlwinds and plagues, the black holes and building collapses…it is with an awe that we pray that the TRUE FEAR OF GOD would take root in each of our hearts and bring us to the place at His feet where we recognize HIS WAY ALONE…and choose once and for all to walk there in.
It is time to go and to cook so I wish you all…MORE OF HIM…for you and for me. May we be found in Him in His Peace for His glory…not by might nor by strength…but by HIS SPIRIT.
Loving blessings from me. Your sis
July 18, 2021
“…What you see, write…” Revelation 1:11 (fragment)
In The Name of The Lord Who is Holy and Just and True and Eternal and Merciful…I write again.
I can’t NOT write right now because I asked Him ‘Why did my eyes have to see these things.’ His first answer was to my heart, and His second was a now familiar directive: “…what you see…WRITE.’ and I dare not say no.
Today is Tisha b’Av as I wrote to you the other day. Most of the country is likely not that mindful of this date, but here in Jerusalem, its observance is felt everywhere, from the empty streets and public transportation to closed shops and a general heaviness in the air. As usual on this date, the temperature is oppressively hot: 35 Celsius or about 95 Fahrenheit. In the streets tensions are also high as traditionally on this day Jews wend their way to the Western (Prayer) Wall through Arab parts of the city and also circle the ancient city walls. This is NOT NEW, however, for political reasons and in different seasons the Palestinians decide to yell ‘Help! The Jews are trying to take over the Mosque!!’ and then the trouble begins.
Be that as it may, beginning last night before 8pm, many of our people began to fast and to make their way down to the Old City Wall to fast and pray the book of Lamentations through the night…to repent and to remember that we are a people without their Temple where the cleansing sacrifices were commanded. (Hebrews 9:22 reminds us that: “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission”
Returning home from work, I found a seat on the bus across the narrow aisle from a sleeping woman. She caught my eye. She was quite beautiful, perhaps 35 years old, dressed modestly in the style of the ‘settler orthodox’ … with a flowing skirt and loose fitting blouse. She was bare footed and looked exhausted. It seemed evident to me that in this high heat she had spent the night fasting and praying at The Wall and was pretty zonked. In front of me sat a mother and a son of about 13 who was, perhaps, somewhat autistic. I was simply ‘noticing the people’ as the ticket inspectors got on the bus announcing that we were to get our tickets ready for inspection. I have to explain here that we CAN no longer simply ‘buy a ride’ on the bus or train. AT (not ‘on’) the train it is possible to buy a one time ride, but the buses no longer carry money. Everyone HAS to have a ‘smart card’ that you load with tickets. That’s IT! At the announcement, the young woman jumped up and said ‘Oh no! I missed my stop. Please let me off.’ The ears of the inspectors went up and they immediately called for her to stop and wait. She said ‘No I can’t…I have to get off!’ They said ‘Did you pay?’ She said ‘No…but I TRIED to and the driver wouldn’t take money.’ She proceeded to explain that she had left her home the night before to go to the Kotel (Western Wall) and taken nothing with her (she showed everyone her little plastic sack) and planned to walk home but got too weak and had to take the bus. She had left her card at home and tried to pay but the bus driver couldn’t take money. The inspectors were NOT buying it (everyone else on the bus did and tried to pay for her with extra smart cards) and were giving her a fine of 180 shekels. At that point, she got pretty hysterical. The whole bus load of people became fairly distraught but amazingly restrained themselves. She cried, ran, yelled ‘I have NEVER taken a ride without paying and I never would! Don’t you understand that I had no way to pay?’ They called the police. They cornered her in front of the bus and told the driver not to open the door. She was hysterical…this girl who had just spent the night weeping and praying… and the sight was extremely emotional. I prayed and wept silently…my heart in my mouth at the implications of the scene in front of me. There was something very significant about this beautiful, religious young woman lashing out and screaming after spending the night in prayer, repenting and mourning sin and judgment and the destruction of the Temples which effectively removed the very door that The Lord had given through Moses to the Jewish people to repent and be forgiven! I could not digest what I was seeing. We were let off of the bus and I cried out to God as the tears rolled down my face…weeping I wept. Praying I asked The Lord for His keys. The streets were relatively empty but as I walked toward the train, I heard more yelling. A mans voice sounded cornered and very angry. People were looking but I could not see what was happening and I wasn’t sure if I should keep walking, so cautiously I kept on. Where was the yelling coming from? It seemed so close. Then there he was; a man, perhaps in his 70s, thin and rather debonair, well dressed in a white suit, but with a child’s suitcase, preaching? prophesying? ranting? to the wind…or to the city…or to everyone or to no one – the emotions of the prayer and fasting and focus of the day apparently being too much for him and he snapped. (No, it was NOT ‘God’s prophet’…this poor man had snapped).
My tears continued to flow as I approached the train station, grieved for this people, this city with such a calling…and, yes, so many promises. I thought of people whom I had known who had been ‘gloriously saved’…but for a time…and then they fell away. And some went to crime and some to alcohol or drugs or worse. Like this city…
And WE…The Temple of The Living God: called, sanctified, …
I can not go on. I can not write more.
I came home and we prayed.
Then we read the book of Lamentations.
The Lord did not repent of the judgment upon Jerusalem for 2,000 years. We again live in a time of world judgment. Like Jeremiah, may our eyes overflow with rivers of water. Thank you for letting me share. May GOD ALONE BE GLORIFIED!
Lovingly, your sister
“…What you see, write…” Revelation 1:11 (fragment)
In The Name of The Lord Who is Holy and Just and True and Eternal and Merciful…I write again.
I can’t NOT write right now because I asked Him ‘Why did my eyes have to see these things.’ His first answer was to my heart, and His second was a now familiar directive: “…what you see…WRITE.’ and I dare not say no.
Today is Tisha b’Av as I wrote to you the other day. Most of the country is likely not that mindful of this date, but here in Jerusalem, its observance is felt everywhere, from the empty streets and public transportation to closed shops and a general heaviness in the air. As usual on this date, the temperature is oppressively hot: 35 Celsius or about 95 Fahrenheit. In the streets tensions are also high as traditionally on this day Jews wend their way to the Western (Prayer) Wall through Arab parts of the city and also circle the ancient city walls. This is NOT NEW, however, for political reasons and in different seasons the Palestinians decide to yell ‘Help! The Jews are trying to take over the Mosque!!’ and then the trouble begins.
Be that as it may, beginning last night before 8pm, many of our people began to fast and to make their way down to the Old City Wall to fast and pray the book of Lamentations through the night…to repent and to remember that we are a people without their Temple where the cleansing sacrifices were commanded. (Hebrews 9:22 reminds us that: “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission”
Returning home from work, I found a seat on the bus across the narrow aisle from a sleeping woman. She caught my eye. She was quite beautiful, perhaps 35 years old, dressed modestly in the style of the ‘settler orthodox’ … with a flowing skirt and loose fitting blouse. She was bare footed and looked exhausted. It seemed evident to me that in this high heat she had spent the night fasting and praying at The Wall and was pretty zonked. In front of me sat a mother and a son of about 13 who was, perhaps, somewhat autistic. I was simply ‘noticing the people’ as the ticket inspectors got on the bus announcing that we were to get our tickets ready for inspection. I have to explain here that we CAN no longer simply ‘buy a ride’ on the bus or train. AT (not ‘on’) the train it is possible to buy a one time ride, but the buses no longer carry money. Everyone HAS to have a ‘smart card’ that you load with tickets. That’s IT! At the announcement, the young woman jumped up and said ‘Oh no! I missed my stop. Please let me off.’ The ears of the inspectors went up and they immediately called for her to stop and wait. She said ‘No I can’t…I have to get off!’ They said ‘Did you pay?’ She said ‘No…but I TRIED to and the driver wouldn’t take money.’ She proceeded to explain that she had left her home the night before to go to the Kotel (Western Wall) and taken nothing with her (she showed everyone her little plastic sack) and planned to walk home but got too weak and had to take the bus. She had left her card at home and tried to pay but the bus driver couldn’t take money. The inspectors were NOT buying it (everyone else on the bus did and tried to pay for her with extra smart cards) and were giving her a fine of 180 shekels. At that point, she got pretty hysterical. The whole bus load of people became fairly distraught but amazingly restrained themselves. She cried, ran, yelled ‘I have NEVER taken a ride without paying and I never would! Don’t you understand that I had no way to pay?’ They called the police. They cornered her in front of the bus and told the driver not to open the door. She was hysterical…this girl who had just spent the night weeping and praying… and the sight was extremely emotional. I prayed and wept silently…my heart in my mouth at the implications of the scene in front of me. There was something very significant about this beautiful, religious young woman lashing out and screaming after spending the night in prayer, repenting and mourning sin and judgment and the destruction of the Temples which effectively removed the very door that The Lord had given through Moses to the Jewish people to repent and be forgiven! I could not digest what I was seeing. We were let off of the bus and I cried out to God as the tears rolled down my face…weeping I wept. Praying I asked The Lord for His keys. The streets were relatively empty but as I walked toward the train, I heard more yelling. A mans voice sounded cornered and very angry. People were looking but I could not see what was happening and I wasn’t sure if I should keep walking, so cautiously I kept on. Where was the yelling coming from? It seemed so close. Then there he was; a man, perhaps in his 70s, thin and rather debonair, well dressed in a white suit, but with a child’s suitcase, preaching? prophesying? ranting? to the wind…or to the city…or to everyone or to no one – the emotions of the prayer and fasting and focus of the day apparently being too much for him and he snapped. (No, it was NOT ‘God’s prophet’…this poor man had snapped).
My tears continued to flow as I approached the train station, grieved for this people, this city with such a calling…and, yes, so many promises. I thought of people whom I had known who had been ‘gloriously saved’…but for a time…and then they fell away. And some went to crime and some to alcohol or drugs or worse. Like this city…
And WE…The Temple of The Living God: called, sanctified, …
I can not go on. I can not write more.
I came home and we prayed.
Then we read the book of Lamentations.
The Lord did not repent of the judgment upon Jerusalem for 2,000 years. We again live in a time of world judgment. Like Jeremiah, may our eyes overflow with rivers of water. Thank you for letting me share. May GOD ALONE BE GLORIFIED!
Lovingly, your sister
July 14, 2021
“And The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. ‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. ‘These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.” LEVITICUS 23:1-4
Blessed greetings dearest sisters and brothers in The Name of Yeshua; The “image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” as it says in Colossians 1. And we are blessed to know Him as even more…May you be blessed and encouraged and may He Alone be blessed and glorified.
I wonder if I will be able to write this letter…to finish it and send it. May what is gelling within me be not only somehow communicated, easy to be understood, but only for His glory!
Some of you may remember (I’ve written about it several times over the past years) that there IS NO letter (sound) ‘J’ in Hebrew…nor is there the sound of the ‘ch’ combination…nor is there a letter for the ‘W’ sound. There are some interesting letters and sounds that do NOT appear in the English language, most notably the ‘throaty sound’ that is difficult for new Hebrew speakers to distinguish…and the ‘clearing your throat’ sound. The letters ‘B/V’ are interchanged depending upon a ‘dot’ (that is sometimes ‘understood’ and not written…as are the letters ‘F/P’. Perhaps you can see that lately I have been again thinking of and praying about the challenge of sharing Him in His own language.
Yesterday was the 27th anniversary of our ‘ALIYAH DAY’…our immigration from The Old/New Land to the New/Old one. It has been 27 incredible years in which we have been a lot like Alice in Wonderland, as it has not ceased to amaze us that…well…here we are!
I was surprised at how many of you told me that you had ordered the book that I recommended in my last letter (A Psalm in Jenin) and I found myself ‘worrying’ about how it would be perceived by any of you who will read it: Will it, in fact, make any sense, or is it a book that would only look like a bloody war book with no point of reference? I am interested in your feedback and or questions. The juxtaposition of the book and our Aliyah date has caused me to think back pretty intently concerning how MUCH the country has changed. Modern Israel was just 46 years old when we first arrived…now she is 73. We were 48 when we arrived…and now we are 75. Yes, I feel like Alice in Wonderland sometimes. The book that I had recommended is an intense and unique look into the season- the heart and soul- of the second Intifada (NOT written by believers) …and, in looking back, I believe that that was a season that left an indelible mark on the nation and people, and was a turning point. The media played a huge part in labeling ‘right’ as ‘wrong’ and ‘wrong’ as ‘right’, and the resulting discouragement among our people, young and old, soldiers and civilians planted a seed of bitterness that did not seem to be there before:
…and we changed.
During the second intifada, I would ride the bus to work and our daughters would ride different buses to their studies. It was at that time that we got our first cell phones. That was because I was at an awful bombing on Jaffa Road and I had no way to let any of the family know that I was ok…but that I would be very late getting home. Cell phones were passed from person to person and I realized that this had become a necessity. My senses were jarred and changed by that ‘blast’ that blew a female bomber into a dark eternity and maimed innocent passerby’s. I remember the deafening thud of the blast and then…silence…such a silence! And then the birds ‘flew up’…and that seemed to be the only movement or sound for seconds…but LONG seconds…the birds flying up…their wings flapping. The next thing that I remember was seeing my friend R literally pulling his hair out. (He didn’t know that he was doing that…it was a nervous reaction). I and my friends with me (thank You Lord) were not hurt, but I for one, was changed. There was rarely a day that we weren’t either the bus ‘behind’ or the bus ‘in front’ of one that was blown up. One awful day, just before ‘Jenin’ took place, FIVE BUSES were blown up in Jerusalem as I rode my bus home. Other passengers were crying- some were hysterical…no one believed that this could be happening. I felt as if I were inside of some strange bubble. Working in the doctor’s office during that season we had more than our share of people walking in after an attack (or soldiers from a battle). I’d buzz the doctor; ‘Walk in…from a bomb’ and he would come out and take them in.
I told you that during this entire year, I have been reading and re-reading our old library of books to my husband who has severe dyslexia. We have a life long habit of me reading out loud and it has been rich. However, I found myself at a standstill when it came to find a follow-up book to A Psalm in Jenin. We have been peppering our reading list…mostly testimonies…with Israeli history as well; diaries and first hand accounts, as our knowledge of the modern history of Israel is woefully scanty…mostly because the history has His fingerprints everywhere and is so incredibly rich that the more we dig, the more we feel that we are still scratching the surface.
So…as I sought for a follow-up book, I grabbed one that many of you may know: “ZVI”. It is the biography of Zvi Kalisher and yes, it was the PERFECT follow up to A Psalm in Jenin. Zvi was a lone child Holocaust survivor (from his family) who was a teenager when he decided, at the end of the war, to re-locate to Israel (not yet re-born). He entered the country as the fighting for Independence began! (being an officer in all 5 wars)…and in the midst…he found The Lord! His testimony is powerful and his witness was lightening sharp. I was particularly challenged as I saw the way that he spoke to religious Jews. ‘Wow!! This is the same argument that I have used as I have spoken to many!’ I thought. (Perhaps some of you met him or have heard him. One of his sons is a Pastor nearby)
Why am I bringing up yet another book?
We are coming up to ‘tisha b’av’ or the fast of the 9th day of the month of Av. When we made Aliyah in 1994, it was not so much observed but by the most ‘religious’ of Jews. It has grown greatly in importance in society in the past 27 years as a day of fasting and repentance. It commemorates the destruction of BOTH the first and second temples…but the list goes on and it seems that so very many of the catastrophic events that befell the Jewish people and nation have eerily occurred on this particular date. This year it falls on the night of the 17th through the night of the 18th of July. My boss, who studies in a study pair (a common practice here) told me that before Tisha ‘b’ av, one is not supposed to study Torah because Torah is to bring joy to the soul and preparation of the heart for Tisha ‘b’av must be grieving. However, the train and buses have been jammed with religious men and women reading texts and obviously preparing themselves for the day ahead. I have been watching them…thinking of the collapse of the facility on Mt. Meron on l’ag b’omer with the death of 45 and then the subsequent collapse of a makeshift synagogue on Shavuot. I know that this is on their hearts.
And then (wouldn’t you know it) I was reading Leviticus 23 this morning and the verse above jumped out at me: “…THESE ARE MY FEASTS…”! I have often discussed with religious people the ‘adding on’ of other holidays which seem to climb up the ladder of importance. Purim is NOT a commanded holiday. Lag b’omer…yes they are traditions, but I have watched in the short 27 years of my ‘journey’. As I re-read the book Zvi, I have been greatly challenged by his boldness to share Truth openly and I pray that I will also have His boldness to stand firm and not sell truth for tradition.
Does that mean that I will not fast and pray on tisha’b’av? Definitely not! But rather may I use the time to radiate forth Messiah Who sets us free…who came for US…for each of us and Who IS our Peace in the midst of the turmoil and grief of judgment. He IS our clear path through the confusion of the storm…of today.
It is time to go and make dinner, but I miss and appreciate you. It is the oddest feeling as I sit down and write... it is a feeling of fellowship and I pray that it may also be sweet fellowship for you.
May The Lord be glorified in each of you and me too. May He come to each of us and find fruit in us and talents that have multiplied. May we live for His glory alone.
Lovingly, your sister here.
“And The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. ‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. ‘These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.” LEVITICUS 23:1-4
Blessed greetings dearest sisters and brothers in The Name of Yeshua; The “image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” as it says in Colossians 1. And we are blessed to know Him as even more…May you be blessed and encouraged and may He Alone be blessed and glorified.
I wonder if I will be able to write this letter…to finish it and send it. May what is gelling within me be not only somehow communicated, easy to be understood, but only for His glory!
Some of you may remember (I’ve written about it several times over the past years) that there IS NO letter (sound) ‘J’ in Hebrew…nor is there the sound of the ‘ch’ combination…nor is there a letter for the ‘W’ sound. There are some interesting letters and sounds that do NOT appear in the English language, most notably the ‘throaty sound’ that is difficult for new Hebrew speakers to distinguish…and the ‘clearing your throat’ sound. The letters ‘B/V’ are interchanged depending upon a ‘dot’ (that is sometimes ‘understood’ and not written…as are the letters ‘F/P’. Perhaps you can see that lately I have been again thinking of and praying about the challenge of sharing Him in His own language.
Yesterday was the 27th anniversary of our ‘ALIYAH DAY’…our immigration from The Old/New Land to the New/Old one. It has been 27 incredible years in which we have been a lot like Alice in Wonderland, as it has not ceased to amaze us that…well…here we are!
I was surprised at how many of you told me that you had ordered the book that I recommended in my last letter (A Psalm in Jenin) and I found myself ‘worrying’ about how it would be perceived by any of you who will read it: Will it, in fact, make any sense, or is it a book that would only look like a bloody war book with no point of reference? I am interested in your feedback and or questions. The juxtaposition of the book and our Aliyah date has caused me to think back pretty intently concerning how MUCH the country has changed. Modern Israel was just 46 years old when we first arrived…now she is 73. We were 48 when we arrived…and now we are 75. Yes, I feel like Alice in Wonderland sometimes. The book that I had recommended is an intense and unique look into the season- the heart and soul- of the second Intifada (NOT written by believers) …and, in looking back, I believe that that was a season that left an indelible mark on the nation and people, and was a turning point. The media played a huge part in labeling ‘right’ as ‘wrong’ and ‘wrong’ as ‘right’, and the resulting discouragement among our people, young and old, soldiers and civilians planted a seed of bitterness that did not seem to be there before:
…and we changed.
During the second intifada, I would ride the bus to work and our daughters would ride different buses to their studies. It was at that time that we got our first cell phones. That was because I was at an awful bombing on Jaffa Road and I had no way to let any of the family know that I was ok…but that I would be very late getting home. Cell phones were passed from person to person and I realized that this had become a necessity. My senses were jarred and changed by that ‘blast’ that blew a female bomber into a dark eternity and maimed innocent passerby’s. I remember the deafening thud of the blast and then…silence…such a silence! And then the birds ‘flew up’…and that seemed to be the only movement or sound for seconds…but LONG seconds…the birds flying up…their wings flapping. The next thing that I remember was seeing my friend R literally pulling his hair out. (He didn’t know that he was doing that…it was a nervous reaction). I and my friends with me (thank You Lord) were not hurt, but I for one, was changed. There was rarely a day that we weren’t either the bus ‘behind’ or the bus ‘in front’ of one that was blown up. One awful day, just before ‘Jenin’ took place, FIVE BUSES were blown up in Jerusalem as I rode my bus home. Other passengers were crying- some were hysterical…no one believed that this could be happening. I felt as if I were inside of some strange bubble. Working in the doctor’s office during that season we had more than our share of people walking in after an attack (or soldiers from a battle). I’d buzz the doctor; ‘Walk in…from a bomb’ and he would come out and take them in.
I told you that during this entire year, I have been reading and re-reading our old library of books to my husband who has severe dyslexia. We have a life long habit of me reading out loud and it has been rich. However, I found myself at a standstill when it came to find a follow-up book to A Psalm in Jenin. We have been peppering our reading list…mostly testimonies…with Israeli history as well; diaries and first hand accounts, as our knowledge of the modern history of Israel is woefully scanty…mostly because the history has His fingerprints everywhere and is so incredibly rich that the more we dig, the more we feel that we are still scratching the surface.
So…as I sought for a follow-up book, I grabbed one that many of you may know: “ZVI”. It is the biography of Zvi Kalisher and yes, it was the PERFECT follow up to A Psalm in Jenin. Zvi was a lone child Holocaust survivor (from his family) who was a teenager when he decided, at the end of the war, to re-locate to Israel (not yet re-born). He entered the country as the fighting for Independence began! (being an officer in all 5 wars)…and in the midst…he found The Lord! His testimony is powerful and his witness was lightening sharp. I was particularly challenged as I saw the way that he spoke to religious Jews. ‘Wow!! This is the same argument that I have used as I have spoken to many!’ I thought. (Perhaps some of you met him or have heard him. One of his sons is a Pastor nearby)
Why am I bringing up yet another book?
We are coming up to ‘tisha b’av’ or the fast of the 9th day of the month of Av. When we made Aliyah in 1994, it was not so much observed but by the most ‘religious’ of Jews. It has grown greatly in importance in society in the past 27 years as a day of fasting and repentance. It commemorates the destruction of BOTH the first and second temples…but the list goes on and it seems that so very many of the catastrophic events that befell the Jewish people and nation have eerily occurred on this particular date. This year it falls on the night of the 17th through the night of the 18th of July. My boss, who studies in a study pair (a common practice here) told me that before Tisha ‘b’ av, one is not supposed to study Torah because Torah is to bring joy to the soul and preparation of the heart for Tisha ‘b’av must be grieving. However, the train and buses have been jammed with religious men and women reading texts and obviously preparing themselves for the day ahead. I have been watching them…thinking of the collapse of the facility on Mt. Meron on l’ag b’omer with the death of 45 and then the subsequent collapse of a makeshift synagogue on Shavuot. I know that this is on their hearts.
And then (wouldn’t you know it) I was reading Leviticus 23 this morning and the verse above jumped out at me: “…THESE ARE MY FEASTS…”! I have often discussed with religious people the ‘adding on’ of other holidays which seem to climb up the ladder of importance. Purim is NOT a commanded holiday. Lag b’omer…yes they are traditions, but I have watched in the short 27 years of my ‘journey’. As I re-read the book Zvi, I have been greatly challenged by his boldness to share Truth openly and I pray that I will also have His boldness to stand firm and not sell truth for tradition.
Does that mean that I will not fast and pray on tisha’b’av? Definitely not! But rather may I use the time to radiate forth Messiah Who sets us free…who came for US…for each of us and Who IS our Peace in the midst of the turmoil and grief of judgment. He IS our clear path through the confusion of the storm…of today.
It is time to go and make dinner, but I miss and appreciate you. It is the oddest feeling as I sit down and write... it is a feeling of fellowship and I pray that it may also be sweet fellowship for you.
May The Lord be glorified in each of you and me too. May He come to each of us and find fruit in us and talents that have multiplied. May we live for His glory alone.
Lovingly, your sister here.
June 29, 2021
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” PSALM 16:11
Greetings sisters and brothers, for the glory of God Alone Most High, Who reigns in this world that He made as an expression of His Love and through His creative power for His glory. How thankful that we can be called to partake, even as darkness swirls around us, HE IS GOD! May He be blessed and glorified and may you be blessed and encouraged!
28.June.2020 /Yesterday I was blessed to be able to give two of our Granddaughters (the ones who live here) ages 4 and 7, wristwatches! We hadn’t seen them for two weeks as they have had colds and, yes, we missed them. M is learning how to tell time and their watches had to be analog (not digital). It had been…a typical Grandmother (Savta) search: Intense! The little purple boxes sat impatiently on my shelf, and yesterday was the big day. They were thrilled with their child design, real, colorful watches and M went to work immediately calling out the time and following the hands and numbers.
Suddenly, with a distraught voice, she shouted ‘WAIT!’ and looked panicked. “It doesn’t STOP! I want it to STOP for a moment but it keeps going! Make it stop! When I’m not looking, shouldn’t it wait?’ WOW! Of course she then received (and LEARNED…what a privilege to watch a child LEARN!) a full lesson on ‘time’ and how her Ima (Mommy) knows when they need to get up and eat and nap etc. But I was stunned by her deep agitation at the way TIME runs and continues and takes no break…not even when we aren’t looking. Particularly in these days in which we are living when old and young alike are panting as we run to try to keep up with ever-speeding up time! I watched M absorb the fact that ‘This is IT…TIME is moving on and waits for no one.’ And I held my breath. Yes, Lord…help me to number my days (and seconds!) and use them wisely.
You know that I am NOT a news commentator. What I see, hear…this I write. Our new government is now attempting to govern…to lead through the impossible situations that we face, and we, as a country, are generally praying for their success because this IS The God of Israel’s land and people, and for HIS GREAT NAME’S SAKE we do not want to see it dragged through the mud. It seems to me that they are really trying to rule with integrity. We are generally praying for the fear of God to fall upon both the government AND the population, and give them (us) His path through the unsurmountable challenges. He can. May He.
As you know, Israel was the first country to blanket vaccinate the population against covid. By 15th June we were down to no more daily deaths and only 5 new daily cases…and the indoor mask mandate was lifted for the first time. At the same time, many travel restrictions were also lifted. Within a week the new cases had climbed above 200 daily (a rate not seen in several months) and the mask mandate indoors (along with some travel restrictions) has been reinstated. And speaking of travel, since I now work back in the Doctor’s office, my nearly daily train and bus encounters continue and I am seeing some fruit from the prayers that I have prayed this past year; that I would have a heart of HIS love and compassion for my fellow travelers and NOT a judgmental spirit!
Having crossed the line into ‘old age’, I have inherited a new vantage point from which to view my travels. I have ‘joined the club’ so to speak. Although my hair never turned white (yet), the rest of me betrays my age I guess because no sooner do I enter the train or bus then there is a chorus of voices ‘Give her a seat!’ (usually people older than I are exhorting people younger than I). Being me, I protest loudly ‘Lo lo lo, bevakasha!’ (no no no, please) That is almost always followed by people trying to PUSH me into a seat and asking me ‘LAMA? SHVI!’ (WHY? SIT!) Then I get to tell them that my KNEES bother me and it is harder for me to sit and then stand than to just stand. A knowing look comes to each older face; “Ah, Oh!” they nod knowingly; they all hurt too…but … bless God…not their knees they tell me. ‘Rak bri-oot’ (only health) comes the chorus – and everyone nods. Then I pipe in with my word for the day for them to think about; ‘Well…sometimes we don’t HAVE health, but we CAN have a joyful heart. That’s about the only thing that we can choose’. Eyebrows go up and they begin talking. ‘Yes, you are right there!’ someone says. I may have relayed to you similar conversations before, but they have become important to me and ‘a thing that I can DO’ as I travel the streets of Jerusalem daily, praying to be Light and Salt in the place where HE said that HE chose to put HIS Name.
I had to make a shiva (condolence) on Sunday after work. Perhaps you remember that the ‘shiva’ is the 7-day official first mourning period when the immediate family sits (often for more traditional or religious families, in torn clothes, with no shoes or leather, on the floor with the mirrors covered) in the house and everyone gathers around them, only leaving them for set rest times. Everyone brings food (LOTS of food) and the idea is that the grieving should be fed to keep their strength up and to not be left to grieve alone, but encouraged by remembering the good memories. It works. It helps.
I have known this particular family for the more than 20 years that I have worked with their doctor. They had made Aliyah when they were young…either late teens or early 20s; he from America and she from S. Africa. They met and married in army/university and raised a family with 5 children. He was a lawyer and she, a famous artist. They live in a beautiful one family old Arab style house just down the street from my work and, although they so often invited me in for coffee in their garden, I always had to rush home after work and never saw the inside. When someone sits shiva (even totally secular people as they are) the door is left open and there is a black and white sign posted that states that The Righteous Judge has called someone home on such and such a date, sharing the funeral and shiva times. I entered to find the house filled with people…perhaps 70. The front garden, shaded with fruit trees and grapevines spoke of a full and rich life; but when I entered the house my eyes were met with such a history of Israel and art work spread over the stone walls. The new widow rose and grabbed me ‘This is my friend, our doctor’s secretary! She is the angel who saved my life time and time again!’ and she moved me aside, to my relief. Their friends were well known ‘movers and shakers’, famous academics…I was a bit intimidated. She led me out the back door ‘Let me show you our wonderful secret garden’, she exclaimed. I went out under a grape arbor to find THREE separate gardens, tiered, loaded with trees; figs, dates, ancient olive trees, pomegranates, lemons, almonds- there seemed to be no end. I took her elbow: ‘M. How are you doing?’ I looked into her eyes. ‘I’m doing well…I think…I am surrounded by so much love!’ She went on to tell me how it was the unity of Israelis that had kept and solidified them here…planted them in the land when they came. She talked about how people had surrounded them with such abundant and active love – so different than the countries that they had left. She told me that when her daughter was born it was during a war and her husband was away fighting. A woman from the center of the country traveled to her and insisted on staying with her for two weeks until she was stronger. She related story after story. I told her that I would be back for tea after the shiva and when she had need of a visitor. They KNOW that I’m a believer…but had never outright asked. They had had dinner with someone who told them about me. They were interested, but I have learned to wait for them to ask. Now it is just her and I am praying for the open door and to go through that door by His Spirit…that she would meet Him Who is the ONLY one who can fill the heart of even this one who ‘seems’ to have all.
Yesterday, after having written the above, I received a ‘small touches’ email from my Pastor and I know that many of you also receive these. It touched me deeply that he had shared (out of ALL of scripture!) the SAME verse that I set above…and that he had shared (as always, SO much better than I) what was in my heart! Wow, that is so comforting to me.
As I hear (so often against my will!) ‘debates’ about ‘this is right’ or ‘that’…I have come to the bottom line in my heart (that is ‘tach-las’ in Hebrew) that He Who created us for His Own pleasure and glory is looking for fruit in these days, perhaps to help feed a starving world, and we can only produce that fruit by abiding in The Vine…’IN HIS PRESENCE IS FULLNESS OF JOY…AND AT HIS RIGHT HAND ARE PLEASURES FOREVERMORE’ I do not want to be found looking the wrong way…’knowing’ the wrong ‘facts’…carrying the ‘wrong banner’.
My part in His plan is small…and yet it IS ‘my part’. May I be found faithful.
I wanted to share one more thing-a final ‘story’.
A very dear sister, who faithfully shares with neighbors, recently asked me a question that took me aback because for me, it has become foundational. I live with it daily. In two weeks it will be 27 years that the progression has been in front of my eyes and although I have explained it in the past, it was in the FAR past and I realize that it is important know facts concerning Israel because of the place that Israel has in God’s heart and plans…and in light of the constant media attacks, it can be awfully difficult to keep perspective especially from a distance. This sister was asked about the origins of ‘the Palestinian people as a people group’ (nation) and did Israel kick out all of the Arabs in 1948.
We made Aliyah 13 July 1994…right after the signing of the Oslo accords, about which we knew NOTHING! Everyone here thought that we made Aliyah because of the accords…they were all so hopeful that NOW there would be peace! We…on the other hand…coming from rural Alaska before computers had reached us…had had only the Scriptures and the call of God as our ‘road map’, and my Jewish family. I thought that we were coming to camels and sand: Not much better than my New York relatives who reminded me to take a lot of toilet paper as there was none in Israel. (none of them had visited since the 1950s) In other words…we knew NOTHING and still don’t know much!
When the ‘peace accords’ failed the violence (which never really stopped) intensified and we were constantly told (as we buried bodies of our people blown to bits) that we should not respond as they ‘were not against us but against ‘The Peace’… as if ‘The Peace’ was sacred flesh being placed in the ground. As part of the Oslo Accords, Yasser Arafat, truly the arch terrorist and architect of the modern terrorism strategy, had to be allowed back into Israel, from which he had been banned. He took up residence in Jenin (the Mukata) and directed all that followed.
I told you that I have been reading books to my husband since the covid restrictions; mostly testimonies but also books concerning the history of modern Israel. It is SO complicated that we have trouble keeping up, even with events that we have lived through. It was with that in mind that I picked up a book that I have not read since it appeared in 2003 or 4 and I do want to recommend it to you NOW. It was about the battle in Jenin which took place in 2002 and was the culmination (almost) of the second most bloody and awful 2-year TRAUMATIC intifada …that I can barely believe that we lived through. I wrote letters through out that time…riding to work on the bus daily with buses more than once blowing up in front of and behind mine…of sending our young teenager to school praying each step of the way…of tanks on our street and bringing food out to the soldiers lying there…It is difficult to even try to remember…because it was very painful.
As I pulled this book off of the shelf, I also remembered how the world media screamed: ‘THE ISRAELI OCCUPIERS ARE SLAUGHTERING THE HELPLESS PALESTINIAN CHILDREN!’. This book, I believe, is the sole witness in English that I know of and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND GETTING IT AND CATCHING A SECRET GLIMPSE INTO THE HEART OF ISRAEL.
A PSALM IN JENIN - by Brett Goldberg ISBN 965-7141-03-6 Modan publishing house
It is not a ‘history’ book but a ‘fingerprint’ of Israel.
With this I will close another ‘too long’ letter with love and the prayer that God would be GLORIFIED and that you and I would be filled with The Holy Spirit and The Spirit of true prayer…that we would have His discernment and be kept from deception… that we would be set day by day to bring pleasure to His Heart and bear fruit for the kingdom of God. I send my love, a sister in Jerusalem.
(ps…I don’t re-read these. Please forgive unintended errors.)
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” PSALM 16:11
Greetings sisters and brothers, for the glory of God Alone Most High, Who reigns in this world that He made as an expression of His Love and through His creative power for His glory. How thankful that we can be called to partake, even as darkness swirls around us, HE IS GOD! May He be blessed and glorified and may you be blessed and encouraged!
28.June.2020 /Yesterday I was blessed to be able to give two of our Granddaughters (the ones who live here) ages 4 and 7, wristwatches! We hadn’t seen them for two weeks as they have had colds and, yes, we missed them. M is learning how to tell time and their watches had to be analog (not digital). It had been…a typical Grandmother (Savta) search: Intense! The little purple boxes sat impatiently on my shelf, and yesterday was the big day. They were thrilled with their child design, real, colorful watches and M went to work immediately calling out the time and following the hands and numbers.
Suddenly, with a distraught voice, she shouted ‘WAIT!’ and looked panicked. “It doesn’t STOP! I want it to STOP for a moment but it keeps going! Make it stop! When I’m not looking, shouldn’t it wait?’ WOW! Of course she then received (and LEARNED…what a privilege to watch a child LEARN!) a full lesson on ‘time’ and how her Ima (Mommy) knows when they need to get up and eat and nap etc. But I was stunned by her deep agitation at the way TIME runs and continues and takes no break…not even when we aren’t looking. Particularly in these days in which we are living when old and young alike are panting as we run to try to keep up with ever-speeding up time! I watched M absorb the fact that ‘This is IT…TIME is moving on and waits for no one.’ And I held my breath. Yes, Lord…help me to number my days (and seconds!) and use them wisely.
You know that I am NOT a news commentator. What I see, hear…this I write. Our new government is now attempting to govern…to lead through the impossible situations that we face, and we, as a country, are generally praying for their success because this IS The God of Israel’s land and people, and for HIS GREAT NAME’S SAKE we do not want to see it dragged through the mud. It seems to me that they are really trying to rule with integrity. We are generally praying for the fear of God to fall upon both the government AND the population, and give them (us) His path through the unsurmountable challenges. He can. May He.
As you know, Israel was the first country to blanket vaccinate the population against covid. By 15th June we were down to no more daily deaths and only 5 new daily cases…and the indoor mask mandate was lifted for the first time. At the same time, many travel restrictions were also lifted. Within a week the new cases had climbed above 200 daily (a rate not seen in several months) and the mask mandate indoors (along with some travel restrictions) has been reinstated. And speaking of travel, since I now work back in the Doctor’s office, my nearly daily train and bus encounters continue and I am seeing some fruit from the prayers that I have prayed this past year; that I would have a heart of HIS love and compassion for my fellow travelers and NOT a judgmental spirit!
Having crossed the line into ‘old age’, I have inherited a new vantage point from which to view my travels. I have ‘joined the club’ so to speak. Although my hair never turned white (yet), the rest of me betrays my age I guess because no sooner do I enter the train or bus then there is a chorus of voices ‘Give her a seat!’ (usually people older than I are exhorting people younger than I). Being me, I protest loudly ‘Lo lo lo, bevakasha!’ (no no no, please) That is almost always followed by people trying to PUSH me into a seat and asking me ‘LAMA? SHVI!’ (WHY? SIT!) Then I get to tell them that my KNEES bother me and it is harder for me to sit and then stand than to just stand. A knowing look comes to each older face; “Ah, Oh!” they nod knowingly; they all hurt too…but … bless God…not their knees they tell me. ‘Rak bri-oot’ (only health) comes the chorus – and everyone nods. Then I pipe in with my word for the day for them to think about; ‘Well…sometimes we don’t HAVE health, but we CAN have a joyful heart. That’s about the only thing that we can choose’. Eyebrows go up and they begin talking. ‘Yes, you are right there!’ someone says. I may have relayed to you similar conversations before, but they have become important to me and ‘a thing that I can DO’ as I travel the streets of Jerusalem daily, praying to be Light and Salt in the place where HE said that HE chose to put HIS Name.
I had to make a shiva (condolence) on Sunday after work. Perhaps you remember that the ‘shiva’ is the 7-day official first mourning period when the immediate family sits (often for more traditional or religious families, in torn clothes, with no shoes or leather, on the floor with the mirrors covered) in the house and everyone gathers around them, only leaving them for set rest times. Everyone brings food (LOTS of food) and the idea is that the grieving should be fed to keep their strength up and to not be left to grieve alone, but encouraged by remembering the good memories. It works. It helps.
I have known this particular family for the more than 20 years that I have worked with their doctor. They had made Aliyah when they were young…either late teens or early 20s; he from America and she from S. Africa. They met and married in army/university and raised a family with 5 children. He was a lawyer and she, a famous artist. They live in a beautiful one family old Arab style house just down the street from my work and, although they so often invited me in for coffee in their garden, I always had to rush home after work and never saw the inside. When someone sits shiva (even totally secular people as they are) the door is left open and there is a black and white sign posted that states that The Righteous Judge has called someone home on such and such a date, sharing the funeral and shiva times. I entered to find the house filled with people…perhaps 70. The front garden, shaded with fruit trees and grapevines spoke of a full and rich life; but when I entered the house my eyes were met with such a history of Israel and art work spread over the stone walls. The new widow rose and grabbed me ‘This is my friend, our doctor’s secretary! She is the angel who saved my life time and time again!’ and she moved me aside, to my relief. Their friends were well known ‘movers and shakers’, famous academics…I was a bit intimidated. She led me out the back door ‘Let me show you our wonderful secret garden’, she exclaimed. I went out under a grape arbor to find THREE separate gardens, tiered, loaded with trees; figs, dates, ancient olive trees, pomegranates, lemons, almonds- there seemed to be no end. I took her elbow: ‘M. How are you doing?’ I looked into her eyes. ‘I’m doing well…I think…I am surrounded by so much love!’ She went on to tell me how it was the unity of Israelis that had kept and solidified them here…planted them in the land when they came. She talked about how people had surrounded them with such abundant and active love – so different than the countries that they had left. She told me that when her daughter was born it was during a war and her husband was away fighting. A woman from the center of the country traveled to her and insisted on staying with her for two weeks until she was stronger. She related story after story. I told her that I would be back for tea after the shiva and when she had need of a visitor. They KNOW that I’m a believer…but had never outright asked. They had had dinner with someone who told them about me. They were interested, but I have learned to wait for them to ask. Now it is just her and I am praying for the open door and to go through that door by His Spirit…that she would meet Him Who is the ONLY one who can fill the heart of even this one who ‘seems’ to have all.
Yesterday, after having written the above, I received a ‘small touches’ email from my Pastor and I know that many of you also receive these. It touched me deeply that he had shared (out of ALL of scripture!) the SAME verse that I set above…and that he had shared (as always, SO much better than I) what was in my heart! Wow, that is so comforting to me.
As I hear (so often against my will!) ‘debates’ about ‘this is right’ or ‘that’…I have come to the bottom line in my heart (that is ‘tach-las’ in Hebrew) that He Who created us for His Own pleasure and glory is looking for fruit in these days, perhaps to help feed a starving world, and we can only produce that fruit by abiding in The Vine…’IN HIS PRESENCE IS FULLNESS OF JOY…AND AT HIS RIGHT HAND ARE PLEASURES FOREVERMORE’ I do not want to be found looking the wrong way…’knowing’ the wrong ‘facts’…carrying the ‘wrong banner’.
My part in His plan is small…and yet it IS ‘my part’. May I be found faithful.
I wanted to share one more thing-a final ‘story’.
A very dear sister, who faithfully shares with neighbors, recently asked me a question that took me aback because for me, it has become foundational. I live with it daily. In two weeks it will be 27 years that the progression has been in front of my eyes and although I have explained it in the past, it was in the FAR past and I realize that it is important know facts concerning Israel because of the place that Israel has in God’s heart and plans…and in light of the constant media attacks, it can be awfully difficult to keep perspective especially from a distance. This sister was asked about the origins of ‘the Palestinian people as a people group’ (nation) and did Israel kick out all of the Arabs in 1948.
We made Aliyah 13 July 1994…right after the signing of the Oslo accords, about which we knew NOTHING! Everyone here thought that we made Aliyah because of the accords…they were all so hopeful that NOW there would be peace! We…on the other hand…coming from rural Alaska before computers had reached us…had had only the Scriptures and the call of God as our ‘road map’, and my Jewish family. I thought that we were coming to camels and sand: Not much better than my New York relatives who reminded me to take a lot of toilet paper as there was none in Israel. (none of them had visited since the 1950s) In other words…we knew NOTHING and still don’t know much!
When the ‘peace accords’ failed the violence (which never really stopped) intensified and we were constantly told (as we buried bodies of our people blown to bits) that we should not respond as they ‘were not against us but against ‘The Peace’… as if ‘The Peace’ was sacred flesh being placed in the ground. As part of the Oslo Accords, Yasser Arafat, truly the arch terrorist and architect of the modern terrorism strategy, had to be allowed back into Israel, from which he had been banned. He took up residence in Jenin (the Mukata) and directed all that followed.
I told you that I have been reading books to my husband since the covid restrictions; mostly testimonies but also books concerning the history of modern Israel. It is SO complicated that we have trouble keeping up, even with events that we have lived through. It was with that in mind that I picked up a book that I have not read since it appeared in 2003 or 4 and I do want to recommend it to you NOW. It was about the battle in Jenin which took place in 2002 and was the culmination (almost) of the second most bloody and awful 2-year TRAUMATIC intifada …that I can barely believe that we lived through. I wrote letters through out that time…riding to work on the bus daily with buses more than once blowing up in front of and behind mine…of sending our young teenager to school praying each step of the way…of tanks on our street and bringing food out to the soldiers lying there…It is difficult to even try to remember…because it was very painful.
As I pulled this book off of the shelf, I also remembered how the world media screamed: ‘THE ISRAELI OCCUPIERS ARE SLAUGHTERING THE HELPLESS PALESTINIAN CHILDREN!’. This book, I believe, is the sole witness in English that I know of and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND GETTING IT AND CATCHING A SECRET GLIMPSE INTO THE HEART OF ISRAEL.
A PSALM IN JENIN - by Brett Goldberg ISBN 965-7141-03-6 Modan publishing house
It is not a ‘history’ book but a ‘fingerprint’ of Israel.
With this I will close another ‘too long’ letter with love and the prayer that God would be GLORIFIED and that you and I would be filled with The Holy Spirit and The Spirit of true prayer…that we would have His discernment and be kept from deception… that we would be set day by day to bring pleasure to His Heart and bear fruit for the kingdom of God. I send my love, a sister in Jerusalem.
(ps…I don’t re-read these. Please forgive unintended errors.)
June 13, 2021
MARK 15: 6, 7 “Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion.” And 15 “So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.”
Greetings brothers and sisters, in The Name of Yeshua, the Messiah, who deserves all of our attention and obedience. May He be glorified and blessed and seen…only Him. May you be encouraged and blessed.
The Middle East has often been described as a land of intrigue and mystery, and in my own experience I have found that to be accurate: Things certainly aren’t always what they seem to be and 1 plus 2 most often does not result in 3.
I wanted very much to write this letter TODAY; the day BEFORE we find out if we have a new government…or not. As I said…things here are not always what they seem to be. As of this moment, tomorrow, Sunday the 13th of June, we are scheduled to swear in a ‘new’ government following 4 devastating and divisive elections. Is anyone ‘happy’? No. But everyone IS exhausted and holding a collective breath. Binyamin Netanyahu has been our Prime Minister for 12 years and the new government is an unwieldy coalition of extreme right to extreme left with everything in between (including the Arab ‘Ram’ party) …except for the Likud, which is slated to head up the opposition. But this is the Middle East and anything can happen.
As I was sitting before The Lord yesterday morning, praying and reading His Word, I happened to be in Mark 15. It was one of those times when reading about the crucifixion seemed particularly real to me. My heart was heavy as I read the now so familiar words and pictured the crowd of my own people saying ‘Give us Barabbas! Crucify Yeshua!’ and I ‘looked around the crowd’ and thought of those so passionate about what is happening in our countries today, particularly concerning the leadership. I thought about the oppressive Roman rule back then. Israel was occupied, conquered and the rule was…anti God…anti Jewish…and this Barabbas, leading a seemingly ‘just’ uprising against such oppression…perhaps (dare I say?) ‘peaceful demonstrations’ that just happened to end with death. As I ‘looked’ at the crowd I thought ‘They are looking the WRONG WAY! They are missing seeing The Messiah… their deliverance…because their eyes are focused on the wrong subject.’ The HORROR of that understanding settled over me so much so that I wanted to cry. People were so angry and so tired of godless oppression. Everything political was upside down and yet there really were so many promises from God for this people…but they looked to man’s answer… and crucified God’s answer! How could this be??
Their eyes were looking in the wrong direction.
They looked upon Yeshua hanging on the cross and chose Barabbas.
I do not want to choose Barabbas…I want to SEE Yeshua.
“Looking unto Yeshua, The Author and Finisher of our faith…”Hebrews 12:2
Well…today is the 13th of June and at this moment the new government is being introduced and, as I watch, I don’t know who is being heckled more…Naftali Bennett, our new Prime Minister or Binyamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister now leaving that position (who is speaking at this moment). At the same time, fire engines scream past our apartment and planes fly over attempting to put out a massive fire in Mevesseret Zion, just outside of Jerusalem. This is the second fire (arson investigation obviously) this week in the foothills. The one several days ago also burned into communities…one of them being Yad h’shmonah (known by many of you – a believer’s moshav that also houses the Bible translators’ school). God was merciful and answered our prayers and they were miraculously spared…albeit, many many precious trees were destroyed. All that I hear so far is that homes in Mevesseret are being evacuated. These fires are not natural.
Dare I say that what I see all around me is not natural.
As I listen to the speeches in the Knesset right now, the mocking and heckling on both sides is grievous; such words!
We have a new government.
The writing of these letters began nearly 27 years ago…’What you see…write!’ Now I ask: Where do I rest my eyes Lord? Your precious Eyes can not behold evil.’ How The Heart of The Lord must hurt to see such hatred…to hear such words. “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—think upon these things” Philippians 4
I am so deeply thankful that opinions fly BUT THE LORD says ‘LOOK UPON ME…. WHOM YOU PIERCED!’ and the only answer is ‘Yes Lord! Unto You I will look.’ But it isn’t always easy, is it?
My husband and I have been looking around lately at the path that we have been brought on and it leaves us openmouthed and often with tears; truly He has led us all this way and we can trust Him to lead us to the end of our path.
We left our old country on the 13th of July 1994 having NO idea where we were going. I had never been here before. We were trusting in His Word to us that He had confirmed and confirmed to us in so many ways that we are almost embarrassed to have needed so much confirmation…but He GAVE! We came ‘on our own, at His Word.’ No one else was sending us or even understood why we were going… or WHERE! (‘You mean that you are going to …Palestine??)
When we arrived, I really thought that we would see sand and camels everywhere. There was sand and camels, but it was NOTHING that I could have imagined (we had no computer, or google…we really were pretty ‘back woods’ people from a remote area). Why did we come up to Jerusalem? I have no idea! One afternoon, visiting with Derek Prince, he told us ‘You can’t CHOOSE to live in Jerusalem! Jerusalem chooses whom she wants to live in her.’ I must admit that I do now believe that. We had no choice. I saw low stone buildings and a dry land. I heard a language that I did not (yet) understand. I was sad. I remember that when we moved here there were no advertising signs and that really impressed me…there was something ‘clean’ and ‘new’ about living somewhere not cluttered with advertising or graffiti. (that has changed) ACTUALLY, there were very few signs at all and those that there were more often than not without any English. Because we came during the large Russian Aliyah, there was much Russian spoken and written. We would receive all sorts of announcements in Hebrew, Arabic and Russian and we knew no one who could help. ‘Our Aliyah counsellor’ was French and spoke VERY little English…we really did learn ‘the hard way’…but HE NEVER FORSOOK US!
Our youngest daughter turned 13 right after we came and it was a daunting effort to even begin to understand the school system (TOTALLY different than the one that we were used to). When I finally brought her to a school to enroll her, the teacher said to me ‘Where did you learn to speak English?! It is EXCELLENT!’ I laughed, but one of our daughter’s classes was ‘English’ and the teacher was Russian. The class would begin ‘Gooda morninn class’ and the class was taught to respond ‘Gooda morninn teacher.’ This is no longer the case.
Building codes in Jerusalem were strictly regulated and buildings could not be built higher than 3 stories and all buildings had to be built of the classic white ‘Jerusalem stone’. It was really (now I can say) beautiful, stunning. This too has given way to great change. Huge sky scrapers (‘luxury apartments’) with elevators are replacing the older buildings faster than I can keep track of. Roads and infrastructure are exploding Jerusalem into a modern metropolis with the ‘lite rail’ moving into nearly every neighborhood (not at ALL without resistance from the ‘locals’ but to no avail.) Somehow the old ‘Jerusalem law’ changed… who knew?
The shuk was such a classic Middle Eastern market all of these years, but restaurants and bars have found this a ‘hip’ place to take over for ‘night life’ and I for one, find that my heart grieves at this change as it does over many others.
I’ve written too much and I’ve rambled and I apologize for that. I do SEE ‘something’ and felt that I was supposed to write…but I don’t see ‘clearly’ perhaps? Oh may we see Him clearly through the fray! May we train our eyes to be fixed on Him!...And may we bring Him glory.
I send my love from Jerusalem. May His Word be fulfilled for His glory by the power of His own Spirit: Here and in you … and us.
MARK 15: 6, 7 “Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion.” And 15 “So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.”
Greetings brothers and sisters, in The Name of Yeshua, the Messiah, who deserves all of our attention and obedience. May He be glorified and blessed and seen…only Him. May you be encouraged and blessed.
The Middle East has often been described as a land of intrigue and mystery, and in my own experience I have found that to be accurate: Things certainly aren’t always what they seem to be and 1 plus 2 most often does not result in 3.
I wanted very much to write this letter TODAY; the day BEFORE we find out if we have a new government…or not. As I said…things here are not always what they seem to be. As of this moment, tomorrow, Sunday the 13th of June, we are scheduled to swear in a ‘new’ government following 4 devastating and divisive elections. Is anyone ‘happy’? No. But everyone IS exhausted and holding a collective breath. Binyamin Netanyahu has been our Prime Minister for 12 years and the new government is an unwieldy coalition of extreme right to extreme left with everything in between (including the Arab ‘Ram’ party) …except for the Likud, which is slated to head up the opposition. But this is the Middle East and anything can happen.
As I was sitting before The Lord yesterday morning, praying and reading His Word, I happened to be in Mark 15. It was one of those times when reading about the crucifixion seemed particularly real to me. My heart was heavy as I read the now so familiar words and pictured the crowd of my own people saying ‘Give us Barabbas! Crucify Yeshua!’ and I ‘looked around the crowd’ and thought of those so passionate about what is happening in our countries today, particularly concerning the leadership. I thought about the oppressive Roman rule back then. Israel was occupied, conquered and the rule was…anti God…anti Jewish…and this Barabbas, leading a seemingly ‘just’ uprising against such oppression…perhaps (dare I say?) ‘peaceful demonstrations’ that just happened to end with death. As I ‘looked’ at the crowd I thought ‘They are looking the WRONG WAY! They are missing seeing The Messiah… their deliverance…because their eyes are focused on the wrong subject.’ The HORROR of that understanding settled over me so much so that I wanted to cry. People were so angry and so tired of godless oppression. Everything political was upside down and yet there really were so many promises from God for this people…but they looked to man’s answer… and crucified God’s answer! How could this be??
Their eyes were looking in the wrong direction.
They looked upon Yeshua hanging on the cross and chose Barabbas.
I do not want to choose Barabbas…I want to SEE Yeshua.
“Looking unto Yeshua, The Author and Finisher of our faith…”Hebrews 12:2
Well…today is the 13th of June and at this moment the new government is being introduced and, as I watch, I don’t know who is being heckled more…Naftali Bennett, our new Prime Minister or Binyamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister now leaving that position (who is speaking at this moment). At the same time, fire engines scream past our apartment and planes fly over attempting to put out a massive fire in Mevesseret Zion, just outside of Jerusalem. This is the second fire (arson investigation obviously) this week in the foothills. The one several days ago also burned into communities…one of them being Yad h’shmonah (known by many of you – a believer’s moshav that also houses the Bible translators’ school). God was merciful and answered our prayers and they were miraculously spared…albeit, many many precious trees were destroyed. All that I hear so far is that homes in Mevesseret are being evacuated. These fires are not natural.
Dare I say that what I see all around me is not natural.
As I listen to the speeches in the Knesset right now, the mocking and heckling on both sides is grievous; such words!
We have a new government.
The writing of these letters began nearly 27 years ago…’What you see…write!’ Now I ask: Where do I rest my eyes Lord? Your precious Eyes can not behold evil.’ How The Heart of The Lord must hurt to see such hatred…to hear such words. “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—think upon these things” Philippians 4
I am so deeply thankful that opinions fly BUT THE LORD says ‘LOOK UPON ME…. WHOM YOU PIERCED!’ and the only answer is ‘Yes Lord! Unto You I will look.’ But it isn’t always easy, is it?
My husband and I have been looking around lately at the path that we have been brought on and it leaves us openmouthed and often with tears; truly He has led us all this way and we can trust Him to lead us to the end of our path.
We left our old country on the 13th of July 1994 having NO idea where we were going. I had never been here before. We were trusting in His Word to us that He had confirmed and confirmed to us in so many ways that we are almost embarrassed to have needed so much confirmation…but He GAVE! We came ‘on our own, at His Word.’ No one else was sending us or even understood why we were going… or WHERE! (‘You mean that you are going to …Palestine??)
When we arrived, I really thought that we would see sand and camels everywhere. There was sand and camels, but it was NOTHING that I could have imagined (we had no computer, or google…we really were pretty ‘back woods’ people from a remote area). Why did we come up to Jerusalem? I have no idea! One afternoon, visiting with Derek Prince, he told us ‘You can’t CHOOSE to live in Jerusalem! Jerusalem chooses whom she wants to live in her.’ I must admit that I do now believe that. We had no choice. I saw low stone buildings and a dry land. I heard a language that I did not (yet) understand. I was sad. I remember that when we moved here there were no advertising signs and that really impressed me…there was something ‘clean’ and ‘new’ about living somewhere not cluttered with advertising or graffiti. (that has changed) ACTUALLY, there were very few signs at all and those that there were more often than not without any English. Because we came during the large Russian Aliyah, there was much Russian spoken and written. We would receive all sorts of announcements in Hebrew, Arabic and Russian and we knew no one who could help. ‘Our Aliyah counsellor’ was French and spoke VERY little English…we really did learn ‘the hard way’…but HE NEVER FORSOOK US!
Our youngest daughter turned 13 right after we came and it was a daunting effort to even begin to understand the school system (TOTALLY different than the one that we were used to). When I finally brought her to a school to enroll her, the teacher said to me ‘Where did you learn to speak English?! It is EXCELLENT!’ I laughed, but one of our daughter’s classes was ‘English’ and the teacher was Russian. The class would begin ‘Gooda morninn class’ and the class was taught to respond ‘Gooda morninn teacher.’ This is no longer the case.
Building codes in Jerusalem were strictly regulated and buildings could not be built higher than 3 stories and all buildings had to be built of the classic white ‘Jerusalem stone’. It was really (now I can say) beautiful, stunning. This too has given way to great change. Huge sky scrapers (‘luxury apartments’) with elevators are replacing the older buildings faster than I can keep track of. Roads and infrastructure are exploding Jerusalem into a modern metropolis with the ‘lite rail’ moving into nearly every neighborhood (not at ALL without resistance from the ‘locals’ but to no avail.) Somehow the old ‘Jerusalem law’ changed… who knew?
The shuk was such a classic Middle Eastern market all of these years, but restaurants and bars have found this a ‘hip’ place to take over for ‘night life’ and I for one, find that my heart grieves at this change as it does over many others.
I’ve written too much and I’ve rambled and I apologize for that. I do SEE ‘something’ and felt that I was supposed to write…but I don’t see ‘clearly’ perhaps? Oh may we see Him clearly through the fray! May we train our eyes to be fixed on Him!...And may we bring Him glory.
I send my love from Jerusalem. May His Word be fulfilled for His glory by the power of His own Spirit: Here and in you … and us.