Letters from Jerusalem
April 8 , 2021
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.” ROMANS 12:14-16
Greetings Dear sisters and brothers …may The Lord be glorified and blessed…may we produce fruit for HIS glory! ONLY.
I dialed the number quickly to avoid chickening out, (I don’t like phones) but K didn’t answer the phone so I had to leave a message anyway. ‘zeh rak hee-book, Kala’ (‘It is just a hug, K’) I said in my message. When the siren began its haunting, undulating wail at exactly 10:00, I had already moved out to my merepesset (the sort of small balcony) in anticipation of the united call to attention, to take on the mantle of grief and to share in the collective tears of memory that won’t go away. The siren filled the air and the street below me froze…the buses, the train and every car stopped and people got out and stood in the streets beside their cars…all bowed their heads, stopping where they stood …and for these two minutes I pray for K and yes, weep for her…or rather share her weeping that her heart can not bear alone. K is 96 now, always with a big smile and happy stories of her sons and grandchildren and now her great grandchildren.
When I began working for Dr. R. some 20+ years ago now, K and N were one of the first couples that I fell in love with. They were warm and kind and patient with me. I remember that K shared her story with slow and easy Hebrew for me. She was in her early 20s when she and her young family were taken to Auschwitz…and Bergen Belsen and other concentration camps. All of her family was killed – root and seed - and her health was broken. When she found herself alone and sick on the streets of Europe after the war, she knit sweaters to remain alive (selling them). As the Jewish Agency rounded up the surviving Jews, she was now alone in the world, so was taken to Israel (still Palestine), where she met N. He had also survived alone. They married and began a new life in the new land, and a new family. It was not to be easy. You do not survive such trauma without some terrible scars…none the less, K has had one of the brightest and most giving and compassionate hearts that I have ever known. We, more than once discussed her faith in God. We had other patients – Y and R among them – who were also survivors. Y and R were violent atheists…firmly intellectual. When I asked Y about it, he said angrily ‘The holocaust proves that there is no God…and if He was there and silent?!? I would hate Him all the more!’ His statement had so hurt my heart that I relayed the story and asked K how she had been able to retain such a vibrant belief in God. She looked at me with a deep, knowing and said, “But how could I possibly have survived if He wasn’t there?” Her relationship with God was so intimate and sure that I asked her one day if she was a follower of Yeshua (I thought that she must be) and she answered questioningly “Yeshua? Who is Rabbi Yeshua?” We spoke some but the door was not opened to share more…so I do trust Him with her.
She didn’t answer the phone today when I called but I do know that she is usually busy on Holocaust Memorial Day. She shares her testimony whenever and wherever she can. She used to work at Yad v’Shem (the Holocaust memorial museum here).
K…6,000,000 did not survive…K is still enriching this world with love.
The news tonight said that more than 900 Israeli Holocaust survivors died of covid this year.
This is a very dramatic week here in Israel.
We ‘begin’ with Holocaust Memorial Day and continue into Memorial Day for Israel’s fallen soldiers and terror victims 6 days from now…which very dramatically ‘blooms’ into our Independence Day next Thursday. Just incase this wasn’t intense enough; Ramadan begins Tuesday night.
I am off to bed, but wanted to send this short taste of the day for you from Jerusalem. We live in such times… Here is a link to a local news article that some of you might want to see.
Lovingly, your sister.
Living through Holocaust to die in 1948, with no one to mourn
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.” ROMANS 12:14-16
Greetings Dear sisters and brothers …may The Lord be glorified and blessed…may we produce fruit for HIS glory! ONLY.
I dialed the number quickly to avoid chickening out, (I don’t like phones) but K didn’t answer the phone so I had to leave a message anyway. ‘zeh rak hee-book, Kala’ (‘It is just a hug, K’) I said in my message. When the siren began its haunting, undulating wail at exactly 10:00, I had already moved out to my merepesset (the sort of small balcony) in anticipation of the united call to attention, to take on the mantle of grief and to share in the collective tears of memory that won’t go away. The siren filled the air and the street below me froze…the buses, the train and every car stopped and people got out and stood in the streets beside their cars…all bowed their heads, stopping where they stood …and for these two minutes I pray for K and yes, weep for her…or rather share her weeping that her heart can not bear alone. K is 96 now, always with a big smile and happy stories of her sons and grandchildren and now her great grandchildren.
When I began working for Dr. R. some 20+ years ago now, K and N were one of the first couples that I fell in love with. They were warm and kind and patient with me. I remember that K shared her story with slow and easy Hebrew for me. She was in her early 20s when she and her young family were taken to Auschwitz…and Bergen Belsen and other concentration camps. All of her family was killed – root and seed - and her health was broken. When she found herself alone and sick on the streets of Europe after the war, she knit sweaters to remain alive (selling them). As the Jewish Agency rounded up the surviving Jews, she was now alone in the world, so was taken to Israel (still Palestine), where she met N. He had also survived alone. They married and began a new life in the new land, and a new family. It was not to be easy. You do not survive such trauma without some terrible scars…none the less, K has had one of the brightest and most giving and compassionate hearts that I have ever known. We, more than once discussed her faith in God. We had other patients – Y and R among them – who were also survivors. Y and R were violent atheists…firmly intellectual. When I asked Y about it, he said angrily ‘The holocaust proves that there is no God…and if He was there and silent?!? I would hate Him all the more!’ His statement had so hurt my heart that I relayed the story and asked K how she had been able to retain such a vibrant belief in God. She looked at me with a deep, knowing and said, “But how could I possibly have survived if He wasn’t there?” Her relationship with God was so intimate and sure that I asked her one day if she was a follower of Yeshua (I thought that she must be) and she answered questioningly “Yeshua? Who is Rabbi Yeshua?” We spoke some but the door was not opened to share more…so I do trust Him with her.
She didn’t answer the phone today when I called but I do know that she is usually busy on Holocaust Memorial Day. She shares her testimony whenever and wherever she can. She used to work at Yad v’Shem (the Holocaust memorial museum here).
K…6,000,000 did not survive…K is still enriching this world with love.
The news tonight said that more than 900 Israeli Holocaust survivors died of covid this year.
This is a very dramatic week here in Israel.
We ‘begin’ with Holocaust Memorial Day and continue into Memorial Day for Israel’s fallen soldiers and terror victims 6 days from now…which very dramatically ‘blooms’ into our Independence Day next Thursday. Just incase this wasn’t intense enough; Ramadan begins Tuesday night.
I am off to bed, but wanted to send this short taste of the day for you from Jerusalem. We live in such times… Here is a link to a local news article that some of you might want to see.
Lovingly, your sister.
Living through Holocaust to die in 1948, with no one to mourn
March 27, 2021
“They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!”REVELATION 15:3
As we prepare to begin Passover I wanted to share some of His Words for His glory…for REVELATION 12:11 rightly says “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” May you be blessed as you are refreshed in these Words from Him Who never changes and has been and will be completely faithful to all He Is…and may you (and I) serve Him faithfully to the end of our walk.
EXODUS 12:1-28
“Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.
‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. ‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ”
Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped. Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
PSALM 78:1-8 (but it is the WHOLE Psalm)
“Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born,That they may arise and declare them to their children That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments; And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God.”…
My concordance of the New King James version shows “THE LAMB” mentioned 34 times in the New Covenant (134 in the First) …and 28 of those references are in the book of the Revelation. 1 PETER 1:18-20 says “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you”
To Him Who IS The Living Word, to HIM ALONE be all glory and honor and praise! Worship The Lamb!
“They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!”REVELATION 15:3
As we prepare to begin Passover I wanted to share some of His Words for His glory…for REVELATION 12:11 rightly says “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” May you be blessed as you are refreshed in these Words from Him Who never changes and has been and will be completely faithful to all He Is…and may you (and I) serve Him faithfully to the end of our walk.
EXODUS 12:1-28
“Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.
‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. ‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ”
Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped. Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
PSALM 78:1-8 (but it is the WHOLE Psalm)
“Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born,That they may arise and declare them to their children That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments; And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God.”…
My concordance of the New King James version shows “THE LAMB” mentioned 34 times in the New Covenant (134 in the First) …and 28 of those references are in the book of the Revelation. 1 PETER 1:18-20 says “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you”
To Him Who IS The Living Word, to HIM ALONE be all glory and honor and praise! Worship The Lamb!
March 23, 2021
“Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. “ EXODUS 12:1-3
Now unto The King eternal, immortal, invisible, The Only Wise God, be power and glory for ever and ever…and blessings to you His servants, His body, His children. May this short note bring Him glory and honor and may you be blessed and edified.
The sky was dripping as we walked over to our voting station at 7:am this morning…THE 10TH OF NISSAN “…every man shall take for himself a lamb…” I have been reflecting on ‘sheep’. Sheep don’t eat meat. Sheep do not attack and devour their shepherds. On the 10th of Nissan the lamb…a young male without blemish, was to be taken into the home…to live along with the family before being killed as the Passover lamb.
Yes…it’s quite a day to have elections…for the 4th time in 2 years.
The atmosphere is a strange mixture of vanity fair festivity and hostile aggression. The division and anger give me no hope of any sort of government that can rule this nation. “BUT GOD…”! Who is rich in mercy and full of compassion and yes remembers mercy even in judgment and has chosen this people to glorify His Name…BUT GOD KNOWS AND SEES… and it is in Him and His kingdom that I trust.
The weather has been spring like, up and down, but today was different. I have written before…it struck me when we first moved here some 26 or more years ago… that the weather ALWAYS speaks to the situation here. It can be quite dramatic. Today was no different. There was a sha’arav, a heat wave with a dust storm and then the ‘dripping sky’ (as my Granddaughter’s called it…sort of rain…leaking really) and…well… how can heat be so cold?? Strange strange weather.
Our polls opened at 7, so we thought that we would go over then. We receive little ‘voting cards’ in the mail that tell us where to go. We vote at a school around the corner. They have 5 separate rooms for voting and our room was 600/5. WELL… Rooms 600/1-4 were working…BUT something was ‘wrong’ with room 5. (Perhaps the workers overslept?) The line for room 5 grew as did the impatience. ‘Social distancing’ fell by the wayside as the ‘leak in the sky’ became bigger. Every few minutes someone would ask the guard to estimate ‘how long’? He would come back with the same response ‘Rack aud comma dakot’ (just another couple of minutes.) So it continued until 7:30. The complaining became louder and I had to begin work, so we decided to go home and try again later. It is hard to be around complaining.
All morning vehicles with loud speakers went through the neighborhoods encouraging people to get out and exercise their democratic right to vote. I shuddered as I read what our President, Ruby Rivlin said (and I quote):
“President Reuven Rivlin voted Tuesday morning in Israel's elections and urged Israelis to cast their votes as well, calling it "the Holy of Holies of our democracy". "Go out and vote. I am doing this for the last time as president, but also as a very concerned citizen," he said. "The Knesset elections are the holy of holies of our democracy. Although a fourth election campaign undermines the public's trust." His use of the word ‘Holy of Holies’ broke my heart! The Name of God has disappeared from our debate and the FEAR OF GOD from our hearts; how can we expect mercy…But, Oh God, we cry out for it…because You ARE The God of Israel!
There were all sorts of special provisions made for people with corona virus to vote…it was quite elaborate.
Our method of voting remains ‘the old one’ with paper ballots placed in a cardboard voting box. When we arrive at the voting room, we go forward to a worker who checks our voting card along with our teudot zehut (identity card with photograph). We stand back and pull down our masks while they look at our pictures (loving comments like ‘My you have lost weight’ or ‘You have hardly changed in all of these years’ are exchanged) and double check our information from a printed log. They keep our id and hand us an official envelope which we take into a screened area. This election 36 cards lay before us and we have to pick the one that we choose and put it into the envelope and seal it. We then walk to the box and drop it in with observers watching. We returned to vote after lunch and we were the only ones there this time, so, chick chak… in and out…easy as pie. Cakes, cookies, coffee and light drinks were served.
Tentative results should be in by Friday before Shabbat we are hoping. The country will be ‘closed’ from sundown Friday through sundown Sunday since Passover begins on sundown Saturday. And even then, of course, we won’t have a government until the coalition wrangling is over…it will be awhile.
The 10th of Nissan…take a lamb for each household…a young male with no blemish…live with him…feed him…observe him…kill him and put his blood over the doorposts and do not go out of the house…for sheltered by that BLOOD you have LIFE!
May God have mercy upon us and may we choose Life. May this be the Passover in which The Lamb is made known.
As I finish this up the polls will close across the country in 7 more minutes and I am late to bed, so am basically writing this cross eyed with fatigue and won’t even be re-reading to proof read…but I do want to thank you for your prayers.
May The Lord be GLORIFIED!
Loving blessings, your sister.
“Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. “ EXODUS 12:1-3
Now unto The King eternal, immortal, invisible, The Only Wise God, be power and glory for ever and ever…and blessings to you His servants, His body, His children. May this short note bring Him glory and honor and may you be blessed and edified.
The sky was dripping as we walked over to our voting station at 7:am this morning…THE 10TH OF NISSAN “…every man shall take for himself a lamb…” I have been reflecting on ‘sheep’. Sheep don’t eat meat. Sheep do not attack and devour their shepherds. On the 10th of Nissan the lamb…a young male without blemish, was to be taken into the home…to live along with the family before being killed as the Passover lamb.
Yes…it’s quite a day to have elections…for the 4th time in 2 years.
The atmosphere is a strange mixture of vanity fair festivity and hostile aggression. The division and anger give me no hope of any sort of government that can rule this nation. “BUT GOD…”! Who is rich in mercy and full of compassion and yes remembers mercy even in judgment and has chosen this people to glorify His Name…BUT GOD KNOWS AND SEES… and it is in Him and His kingdom that I trust.
The weather has been spring like, up and down, but today was different. I have written before…it struck me when we first moved here some 26 or more years ago… that the weather ALWAYS speaks to the situation here. It can be quite dramatic. Today was no different. There was a sha’arav, a heat wave with a dust storm and then the ‘dripping sky’ (as my Granddaughter’s called it…sort of rain…leaking really) and…well… how can heat be so cold?? Strange strange weather.
Our polls opened at 7, so we thought that we would go over then. We receive little ‘voting cards’ in the mail that tell us where to go. We vote at a school around the corner. They have 5 separate rooms for voting and our room was 600/5. WELL… Rooms 600/1-4 were working…BUT something was ‘wrong’ with room 5. (Perhaps the workers overslept?) The line for room 5 grew as did the impatience. ‘Social distancing’ fell by the wayside as the ‘leak in the sky’ became bigger. Every few minutes someone would ask the guard to estimate ‘how long’? He would come back with the same response ‘Rack aud comma dakot’ (just another couple of minutes.) So it continued until 7:30. The complaining became louder and I had to begin work, so we decided to go home and try again later. It is hard to be around complaining.
All morning vehicles with loud speakers went through the neighborhoods encouraging people to get out and exercise their democratic right to vote. I shuddered as I read what our President, Ruby Rivlin said (and I quote):
“President Reuven Rivlin voted Tuesday morning in Israel's elections and urged Israelis to cast their votes as well, calling it "the Holy of Holies of our democracy". "Go out and vote. I am doing this for the last time as president, but also as a very concerned citizen," he said. "The Knesset elections are the holy of holies of our democracy. Although a fourth election campaign undermines the public's trust." His use of the word ‘Holy of Holies’ broke my heart! The Name of God has disappeared from our debate and the FEAR OF GOD from our hearts; how can we expect mercy…But, Oh God, we cry out for it…because You ARE The God of Israel!
There were all sorts of special provisions made for people with corona virus to vote…it was quite elaborate.
Our method of voting remains ‘the old one’ with paper ballots placed in a cardboard voting box. When we arrive at the voting room, we go forward to a worker who checks our voting card along with our teudot zehut (identity card with photograph). We stand back and pull down our masks while they look at our pictures (loving comments like ‘My you have lost weight’ or ‘You have hardly changed in all of these years’ are exchanged) and double check our information from a printed log. They keep our id and hand us an official envelope which we take into a screened area. This election 36 cards lay before us and we have to pick the one that we choose and put it into the envelope and seal it. We then walk to the box and drop it in with observers watching. We returned to vote after lunch and we were the only ones there this time, so, chick chak… in and out…easy as pie. Cakes, cookies, coffee and light drinks were served.
Tentative results should be in by Friday before Shabbat we are hoping. The country will be ‘closed’ from sundown Friday through sundown Sunday since Passover begins on sundown Saturday. And even then, of course, we won’t have a government until the coalition wrangling is over…it will be awhile.
The 10th of Nissan…take a lamb for each household…a young male with no blemish…live with him…feed him…observe him…kill him and put his blood over the doorposts and do not go out of the house…for sheltered by that BLOOD you have LIFE!
May God have mercy upon us and may we choose Life. May this be the Passover in which The Lamb is made known.
As I finish this up the polls will close across the country in 7 more minutes and I am late to bed, so am basically writing this cross eyed with fatigue and won’t even be re-reading to proof read…but I do want to thank you for your prayers.
May The Lord be GLORIFIED!
Loving blessings, your sister.
March 20, 2021
“ For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.” 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
“So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance.”
Exodus 12:17
“Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” 1 Corinthians 5:7-8
Greetings in the GREAT GRACE of Yeshua, whom to know is to be set free! Greetings in Him Who is our Peace! Greetings in Him Who Is The Living Word and Who has given us His Spirit to lead us …out of ourselves and into Him. GLORY! May you be blessed and encouraged, and may He be blessed and glorified.
I love to get mail! I, sadly, don’t always get to answer it (although I always do in my heart and head…) but oh how I love to hear from those who write. An old friend wrote after my last email and wondered at the need to participate in cleansing my home of leaven since I am a believer and not under the law…and it is the heart that stands before God and the leaven of the heart should be what we purge. Her comment led me to realize that it HAS been a LONG TIME since I addressed these things, and because in years past I did share in depth, I begin to think that no one really wants to hear about this anymore but perhaps some things do bear repeating.
Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, begins a week from tonight (27th March)…next ‘motzi Shabbat’, meaning ‘as Shabbat is going out’. As the years have passed, I have understood more and more that ‘TO REMEMBER and REPENT and REJOICE’ is the very center of each celebration that The Lord initiated…and HE is not trite. If He tells us to REMEMBER something, He has a reason. REMEMBERING is the center of Passover, and The Lord takes it seriously.
I remember when I first got saved being told by an older sister in The Lord whom I much respected that I ‘didn’t need to do these things anymore. Now I was a Christian and I was no longer a Jew.’ But Judaism is far more than a ‘religion’. It is a race and it is the ROOT of Christianity, the foundation…I was not about to renounce THE ONE TRUE GOD…THE FATHER OF OUR LORD YESHUA! It is NOT ‘my identity’ nor my ‘culture’ that I care about. Acts 21:39 says “But Paul said, “I am a Jew from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city; and I implore you, permit me to speak to the people.” And again in 22:3 “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.” No…I had no doubt that I am still a Jew…but one who has had the veil removed and has been freed from bondage. I have NO DOUBT that I am not judged by the Law nor am in in bondage to it. But I DID find that knowing Him, I DELIGHTED in His Word and His ways! I ‘win’ nothing but to draw nearer to Him.
When we first made Aliyah and ended up living in Jerusalem, of all places, I prayed MUCH for The Lord to show me how to walk in relation to my nation and people in the way that HE wanted me to walk. I thought about Hudson Taylor and how The Lord led him. I am speaking for myself here…NOT for all believing Jews! Although we are one body and one in Him, we each need to stand before Him alone, being obedient to His leading and His calling for each of us. The ‘colors’ of the body here resemble the ‘colors’ of the Churches world wide. There are differences in calling, but THE SAME LORD. Here there are fellowships that look and worship similar to synagogue worship and others that worship similar to western Church worship…and so many shades in between. Living here changed my perspective of looking at The Word (Genesis through Revelation) because I was now living in proximity with the promises unfolding before my eyes. As I read, I wasn’t reading some remote history, but the living story of my people…and more important, of my God. I found early on (in my own personal walk for me) that if God said that He hated something or found it to be an abomination, then I also wanted to hate it. It didn’t feel right to me to say ‘Well…now I’m under grace…I can love that’. Our GOD is ALWAYS ‘under grace’! I wanted, through love, to love what He loved and hate what He hated. When our first Passover came, I remember thinking ‘Wow! As a kid we would throw away our leaven and put some stuff in boxes and take out the dishes that we only used at Passover. We spent the week eating matzo, matzo and more matzo…lots of eggs and vegetables, gefilte fish, and macaroons. Our diet was plain but was a tool to ‘REMEMBER’ that we were slaves and brought out of Egypt by His strong arm…and remember we did! Growing up in NYC in a very small post WW2 family, our seders were solemn but filled with awe and a sense of the holy. After I got saved, we had our own family seders in Alaska. Instead of using the rabbinically written haggadah… we would read much of the book of Exodus and also from John. Seeing the fulfillment of the promises of God shook me at my very core.
And then He plucked us out and moved us to Jerusalem. As I watched the local customs of preparing for the Passover I prayed for His direction. I watched the women scrub down their houses with toothbrushes. I listened in ulpan to the stories of the olim from Yemen and how they took their dishes and broke them all before Passover and made new ones out of clay. I studied The Word and I saw two things: That The Lord told US…(the Jews, not the gentiles nor even the believing gentiles…see the writings of Paul and Acts) that there should be NO leaven seen in our homes during the days of the Passover and that this was an ordinance for the Jews to keep FOREVER – THROUGHOUT OUR GENERATIONS – EVERLASTING. I learned that the word that we translate into English as leaven, is NOT what we westerners consider leaven…but to be honest, to this day, I do NOT understand WHAT ‘chametz’ is if not leaven! So to me, the western interpretation of leaven is what I go with before God, and yes, I get rid of my leavened products and don’t eat any if it is perchance overlooked in my house.
Micah, a patient from work, sent me a video the other day and I quoted Psalm 84:3 back to him and he said ‘I didn’t know that you were religious’, to which I answered truthfully ‘Oh I am not but I DO fear and love God and His Word.’
I am tempted, so tempted, to write a thorough Bible study but The Lord checked my spirit that that is NOT what He has called me to do but ‘What you see and hear…write.’ I am not a teacher. YOU can seek and find in the scriptures yourself with the same Holy Spirit as your teacher. But this I want to share from what I SEE AND HEAR: I was in bondage to satan…deep bondage…and The Lord set me free. No man can take that from me! The bondage of the soul is SO DARK, and SO PAINFUL that I do not find a comparison in the flesh. I often think of slaves “Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave.” says Paul in 1 Corin. 7:21-22. And I think of the disciples and apostles rejoicing in prison, because they were FREE. It is a small thing to me to be able to identify with my brothers and sisters after the flesh in this to the extent that it brings glory to God. My salvation is of HIM Who IS, after all, our Passover Lamb!
So, yes, I am getting rid of my leaven and NOT scrubbing my house with a toothbrush (although no doubt it could benefit from it). As I do clean, as is my habit, I turn my heart toward Him and seek for Him to search out the leaven in my own heart and make me fit for His use that my people may too be set free in the radiant Presence of our King.
As I close this email, I thank those of you who pray for our nation, as our 4th election in 2 years is scheduled for this Tuesday…I don’t think that I need to say more. MAY GOD BE GLORIFIED AND MAY HE YET HAVE MERCY ON US according to Exodus 34:8-9 “ So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
I thank you for your prayers…for our people and nation and for our family…may HE BE GLORIFIED and SEEN in us… and may His purposes be fulfilled.
Lovingly, your sis here
“ For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.” 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
“So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance.”
Exodus 12:17
“Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” 1 Corinthians 5:7-8
Greetings in the GREAT GRACE of Yeshua, whom to know is to be set free! Greetings in Him Who is our Peace! Greetings in Him Who Is The Living Word and Who has given us His Spirit to lead us …out of ourselves and into Him. GLORY! May you be blessed and encouraged, and may He be blessed and glorified.
I love to get mail! I, sadly, don’t always get to answer it (although I always do in my heart and head…) but oh how I love to hear from those who write. An old friend wrote after my last email and wondered at the need to participate in cleansing my home of leaven since I am a believer and not under the law…and it is the heart that stands before God and the leaven of the heart should be what we purge. Her comment led me to realize that it HAS been a LONG TIME since I addressed these things, and because in years past I did share in depth, I begin to think that no one really wants to hear about this anymore but perhaps some things do bear repeating.
Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, begins a week from tonight (27th March)…next ‘motzi Shabbat’, meaning ‘as Shabbat is going out’. As the years have passed, I have understood more and more that ‘TO REMEMBER and REPENT and REJOICE’ is the very center of each celebration that The Lord initiated…and HE is not trite. If He tells us to REMEMBER something, He has a reason. REMEMBERING is the center of Passover, and The Lord takes it seriously.
I remember when I first got saved being told by an older sister in The Lord whom I much respected that I ‘didn’t need to do these things anymore. Now I was a Christian and I was no longer a Jew.’ But Judaism is far more than a ‘religion’. It is a race and it is the ROOT of Christianity, the foundation…I was not about to renounce THE ONE TRUE GOD…THE FATHER OF OUR LORD YESHUA! It is NOT ‘my identity’ nor my ‘culture’ that I care about. Acts 21:39 says “But Paul said, “I am a Jew from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city; and I implore you, permit me to speak to the people.” And again in 22:3 “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.” No…I had no doubt that I am still a Jew…but one who has had the veil removed and has been freed from bondage. I have NO DOUBT that I am not judged by the Law nor am in in bondage to it. But I DID find that knowing Him, I DELIGHTED in His Word and His ways! I ‘win’ nothing but to draw nearer to Him.
When we first made Aliyah and ended up living in Jerusalem, of all places, I prayed MUCH for The Lord to show me how to walk in relation to my nation and people in the way that HE wanted me to walk. I thought about Hudson Taylor and how The Lord led him. I am speaking for myself here…NOT for all believing Jews! Although we are one body and one in Him, we each need to stand before Him alone, being obedient to His leading and His calling for each of us. The ‘colors’ of the body here resemble the ‘colors’ of the Churches world wide. There are differences in calling, but THE SAME LORD. Here there are fellowships that look and worship similar to synagogue worship and others that worship similar to western Church worship…and so many shades in between. Living here changed my perspective of looking at The Word (Genesis through Revelation) because I was now living in proximity with the promises unfolding before my eyes. As I read, I wasn’t reading some remote history, but the living story of my people…and more important, of my God. I found early on (in my own personal walk for me) that if God said that He hated something or found it to be an abomination, then I also wanted to hate it. It didn’t feel right to me to say ‘Well…now I’m under grace…I can love that’. Our GOD is ALWAYS ‘under grace’! I wanted, through love, to love what He loved and hate what He hated. When our first Passover came, I remember thinking ‘Wow! As a kid we would throw away our leaven and put some stuff in boxes and take out the dishes that we only used at Passover. We spent the week eating matzo, matzo and more matzo…lots of eggs and vegetables, gefilte fish, and macaroons. Our diet was plain but was a tool to ‘REMEMBER’ that we were slaves and brought out of Egypt by His strong arm…and remember we did! Growing up in NYC in a very small post WW2 family, our seders were solemn but filled with awe and a sense of the holy. After I got saved, we had our own family seders in Alaska. Instead of using the rabbinically written haggadah… we would read much of the book of Exodus and also from John. Seeing the fulfillment of the promises of God shook me at my very core.
And then He plucked us out and moved us to Jerusalem. As I watched the local customs of preparing for the Passover I prayed for His direction. I watched the women scrub down their houses with toothbrushes. I listened in ulpan to the stories of the olim from Yemen and how they took their dishes and broke them all before Passover and made new ones out of clay. I studied The Word and I saw two things: That The Lord told US…(the Jews, not the gentiles nor even the believing gentiles…see the writings of Paul and Acts) that there should be NO leaven seen in our homes during the days of the Passover and that this was an ordinance for the Jews to keep FOREVER – THROUGHOUT OUR GENERATIONS – EVERLASTING. I learned that the word that we translate into English as leaven, is NOT what we westerners consider leaven…but to be honest, to this day, I do NOT understand WHAT ‘chametz’ is if not leaven! So to me, the western interpretation of leaven is what I go with before God, and yes, I get rid of my leavened products and don’t eat any if it is perchance overlooked in my house.
Micah, a patient from work, sent me a video the other day and I quoted Psalm 84:3 back to him and he said ‘I didn’t know that you were religious’, to which I answered truthfully ‘Oh I am not but I DO fear and love God and His Word.’
I am tempted, so tempted, to write a thorough Bible study but The Lord checked my spirit that that is NOT what He has called me to do but ‘What you see and hear…write.’ I am not a teacher. YOU can seek and find in the scriptures yourself with the same Holy Spirit as your teacher. But this I want to share from what I SEE AND HEAR: I was in bondage to satan…deep bondage…and The Lord set me free. No man can take that from me! The bondage of the soul is SO DARK, and SO PAINFUL that I do not find a comparison in the flesh. I often think of slaves “Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave.” says Paul in 1 Corin. 7:21-22. And I think of the disciples and apostles rejoicing in prison, because they were FREE. It is a small thing to me to be able to identify with my brothers and sisters after the flesh in this to the extent that it brings glory to God. My salvation is of HIM Who IS, after all, our Passover Lamb!
So, yes, I am getting rid of my leaven and NOT scrubbing my house with a toothbrush (although no doubt it could benefit from it). As I do clean, as is my habit, I turn my heart toward Him and seek for Him to search out the leaven in my own heart and make me fit for His use that my people may too be set free in the radiant Presence of our King.
As I close this email, I thank those of you who pray for our nation, as our 4th election in 2 years is scheduled for this Tuesday…I don’t think that I need to say more. MAY GOD BE GLORIFIED AND MAY HE YET HAVE MERCY ON US according to Exodus 34:8-9 “ So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
I thank you for your prayers…for our people and nation and for our family…may HE BE GLORIFIED and SEEN in us… and may His purposes be fulfilled.
Lovingly, your sis here
March 14, 2021
“He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.” Psalm 103:7
“And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory." Revelation 16:9
Pre Passover greetings, dear sisters and brothers, in The Name of Yeshua h’Meshiach – BEHOLD, THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD! May we BEHOLD HIM together in this day of discord, and beholding Him, may we abide in Him and produce fruit for the glory of God The Father! May you be blessed and encouraged and may He Alone be glorified.
Passover truly crept up on me this year…my house is NOT prepared.
From reading the Scriptures in English, you would think that the physical preparations might not be too complicated: rid your house of all leaven. Ok…so I chuck out my yeast, baking powder, baking soda and check the ingredients of packaged items. NOT SO SIMPLE! The Hebrew word that is translated into ‘leaven’ is really quite intricate and is under constant debate. You (older among us) used to think that a ‘mixed marriage’ meant, perhaps, people of different RACES? Not here! Put an Ashkenazi Jew together with a Sephardic Jew and you have culture shock which boils over when it comes to the interpretation of Passover rules and traditions. At the end of this email, I will try to remember to attach a discourse sent to us at work by a reform rabbi (in other words, not orthodox) laying out the ongoing argument concerning eating of kitniyot (legumes) during Passover. I think that it will share with you a ‘flavor’ that you might not have been aware of.
Meanwhile, the fresh newly picked garlic, always a sign that Passover is near, has filled the shuk with that pungent fragrance, and I always enjoy seeing the beauty of the garlic braided into long ropes or wreaths; a beautiful way to keep the huge bursting bulbs available to cook with throughout the year. While the battle over foods and traditions begin, it is the cleaning that is the most time and energy consuming. ‘Hametz’ or what is called ‘leaven’ in English, must be scrubbed from every nook and cranny of the house. [*note: I find that I am unable to attach the article that I planned to. IF you are interested, let me know and I will forward the email to you]
Yet it is the leaven of the heart that offends……
I have some stories to share. When this whole ‘season’ began just about a year ago now, I did what so many of you also did…especially during that first month when the world locked down; I sought The Lord – desperately! I didn’t seek Him to ‘know what He was doing’ or ‘what was happening’…I wanted to know how He wanted me to walk through this time: what were my marching orders from Him: what did HE expect from me. I had to trust HIM with the rest as I did not suspect that He was going to give me the key to the solution. I have shared over the years what I have learned from friends who were in the Israeli army (IDF) that even if one has a square foot of territory to hold, that is their job and it does not matter what is going on around them…they are to hold that ground period. When Yeshua told Peter to follow Him and Peter asked ‘but what about John’…Yeshua said ‘what is that to you? You, follow ME.’ And that is what I wanted to know…what do You want from me during this intense season? And as I shared before I felt Him searching searching searching me and I believe that He began SEEKING FRUIT…as it says in 1 Peter 4:16 “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”. So, as I shared in the last letter, I have been looking at the fruit of The Spirit and comparing it to what has been coming out of me and seeking and studying abiding in The Vine, and letting Him bear His fruit through me, and brothers and sisters, I did not like what I saw!
So…I sought. NOT fruit, but Him. And I want to share with you a lovely experience, ALL glory to HIM!
I have shared with you that our postal system is falling apart. Along with the growing problems, so many of the postal workers came down with covid that they have also been understaffed. They began encouraging us to come only with an appointment…and through many tears and trials I succeeded in learning how to make an appointment at my post office ONLINE! The ‘take a number and wait’ option was still available …until 2 weeks ago! Now, we can only enter the post office with an appointment…and wouldn’t you know it…the water bill came! I had to schedule an appointment around my work time so I took one for last Monday at 10:06 (or something like that). The little paper tells me that I might have to wait up to 10 minutes. When I arrived, I found that there were 100 people ahead of me…and…yes… they ALL had appointments! The place was a balagan (remember? Spaghetti thrown on the wall…) and the anger was palpable (and audible!) I left and made another appointment for Wednesday at around 15:00 (usually nap time). When I arrived, there were over 50 people ahead of me and again I opted to leave. Thursday, a predicted storm arrived and I made an appointment during the height of the storm. Twenty-nine other diehards were in front of me, but since this bill HAD to be paid, I determined to wait. Fights broke out around me and I was sorely tempted to put my two agorots (pennies) in or sulk and become depressed, but instead I prayed and I asked The Lord to produce HIS FRUIT HERE through me. Oh my I was sorely tempted but I kept returning to gaze at Him and meditate on His kingdom of which I am SUPPOSED to be a citizen…IT WAS WORK!
AND…FINALLY MY TURN CAME! WOW! I was so happy! I went up to the man at the counter actually thrilled that I had kept calm and filled with joy that He was Lord even at times like these, and I said to the clerk something like ‘Thank you so much for your work! It must be so hard and you are working so hard.’ His mouth dropped open and he said ‘Well…thank you!!’ I handed him my water bill which took less than a minute to pay, and he said ‘What else?’ and I answered ‘Nothing. That’s all. This was my third appointment to try to pay it and I’m happy that I succeeded.’ There is an expression in Hebrew that sounds like ‘zay mah yesh lee’ or ‘this is what I have’. It is sort of like ‘If you have lemons you can make lemonade’. THE WHOLE ATMOSPHERE CHANGED! He thanked me profusely and said ‘What a sweet Spirit! Aren’t you angry?’ I looked at him and said ‘I fear GOD too much to be angry.’ THAT STARTLED ME AND I ALMOST MELTED INTO A PUDDLE BECAUSE I REALIZED THAT THE LORD HAD PRODUCED A FRUIT THROUGH THIS HARD WOOD CALLED ‘me’ AND HANDED IT TO A VERY TIRED PAKID (clerk) AND I WANT HIM TO DO IT MORE. It took a year. It was a small fruit…but THE ATOMOSPHERE IN THE ROOM CHANGED…and I give HIM thanks and glory!
As an immigrant I have a perpetual disability because I will never be fluent in Hebrew. Reading is difficult and now with all of the animated web sites and electronic signs I’m lost when it comes to following directions.
BUT…I’m NOT the only one and another great joy that I have had is ‘making tutorials’ for friends who crumble at the sight of the post office website! I kid you not! I tell them; ‘You can do this! I will take pictures of how you make an appointment.’ It feels so good to help someone with something that crushed you to learn!
But not everything is milk and honey here in our land of promise … the winepress of time. It’s all so much bigger than us. You may have noticed that I try (on purpose) to avoid discussing the ‘bigger’ and divisive issues. Yesterday we were allowed 20 people at Kehila and MY TURN came up to be with the body and I was beside myself with excitement. Now that we no longer have a car, I have to take a taxi to Kehila and frankly I dread that. It’s all The Lord’s money so it is not the expense that I find most difficult…I just don’t like taxis. My ride yesterday reinforced that. The driver greeted me kindly enough, a young Arab man. Like most people these days he had a device in his ear for listening to his technology and there was a phone perched on the windshield with some nice pictures. However, I noticed that he was watching something else, so after a bit I looked over to see what it was. He was watching a tutorial about how to dig terror tunnels under the border into Israel. I watched more closely; perhaps it was a national geographic story explaining about them…but no. This was definitely an instructional video made in Gaza. My driver would back up to listen to a part that he wanted to see more clearly. I watched a ‘builder’ explaining the finer points of cutting through the rock… You ARE aware, of course, of the terror tunnels? Not much is said about them on the news… they are just always hovering underground and our IDF keeps vigilant watch on all of the borders. I shuddered and remembered when the tutorials were about how to make explosives (during the second intifada) or about how to cut a throat (during the knifing intifada) …and it just seemed too creepy, so once I wasn’t too far away, I thanked him and said that I would get out here and walk thank you. Sobering reminders are abundant…what is it that You want me to do Lord? I had BETTER be found doing what YOU expect me to be doing and not looking the other way.
Before I close this rambling note, I want to thank SO MANY of you who prayed for_______. I did make a list and sent out updates and I’m sorry that I couldn’t answer all of the individual inquiries that followed. THANK YOU FOR PRAYING AND HE ANSWERED! It was VERY difficult in all of the cases but they are all recovering and the children never did come down with it thankfully. There are SO VERY MANY in crisis right now all around each of us, you and me, HUGE crisis’…may we be found walking in the part of the path that He planned for us, fulfilling what He has called us to do…and be. May we be of those to whom He can make known His ways… And may we be found of Him in HIS peace, praising Him and in humility serving one another. I plan to write more about Passover/Pesach. As your sister, I send my love from Jerusalem.
“He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.” Psalm 103:7
“And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory." Revelation 16:9
Pre Passover greetings, dear sisters and brothers, in The Name of Yeshua h’Meshiach – BEHOLD, THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD! May we BEHOLD HIM together in this day of discord, and beholding Him, may we abide in Him and produce fruit for the glory of God The Father! May you be blessed and encouraged and may He Alone be glorified.
Passover truly crept up on me this year…my house is NOT prepared.
From reading the Scriptures in English, you would think that the physical preparations might not be too complicated: rid your house of all leaven. Ok…so I chuck out my yeast, baking powder, baking soda and check the ingredients of packaged items. NOT SO SIMPLE! The Hebrew word that is translated into ‘leaven’ is really quite intricate and is under constant debate. You (older among us) used to think that a ‘mixed marriage’ meant, perhaps, people of different RACES? Not here! Put an Ashkenazi Jew together with a Sephardic Jew and you have culture shock which boils over when it comes to the interpretation of Passover rules and traditions. At the end of this email, I will try to remember to attach a discourse sent to us at work by a reform rabbi (in other words, not orthodox) laying out the ongoing argument concerning eating of kitniyot (legumes) during Passover. I think that it will share with you a ‘flavor’ that you might not have been aware of.
Meanwhile, the fresh newly picked garlic, always a sign that Passover is near, has filled the shuk with that pungent fragrance, and I always enjoy seeing the beauty of the garlic braided into long ropes or wreaths; a beautiful way to keep the huge bursting bulbs available to cook with throughout the year. While the battle over foods and traditions begin, it is the cleaning that is the most time and energy consuming. ‘Hametz’ or what is called ‘leaven’ in English, must be scrubbed from every nook and cranny of the house. [*note: I find that I am unable to attach the article that I planned to. IF you are interested, let me know and I will forward the email to you]
Yet it is the leaven of the heart that offends……
I have some stories to share. When this whole ‘season’ began just about a year ago now, I did what so many of you also did…especially during that first month when the world locked down; I sought The Lord – desperately! I didn’t seek Him to ‘know what He was doing’ or ‘what was happening’…I wanted to know how He wanted me to walk through this time: what were my marching orders from Him: what did HE expect from me. I had to trust HIM with the rest as I did not suspect that He was going to give me the key to the solution. I have shared over the years what I have learned from friends who were in the Israeli army (IDF) that even if one has a square foot of territory to hold, that is their job and it does not matter what is going on around them…they are to hold that ground period. When Yeshua told Peter to follow Him and Peter asked ‘but what about John’…Yeshua said ‘what is that to you? You, follow ME.’ And that is what I wanted to know…what do You want from me during this intense season? And as I shared before I felt Him searching searching searching me and I believe that He began SEEKING FRUIT…as it says in 1 Peter 4:16 “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”. So, as I shared in the last letter, I have been looking at the fruit of The Spirit and comparing it to what has been coming out of me and seeking and studying abiding in The Vine, and letting Him bear His fruit through me, and brothers and sisters, I did not like what I saw!
So…I sought. NOT fruit, but Him. And I want to share with you a lovely experience, ALL glory to HIM!
I have shared with you that our postal system is falling apart. Along with the growing problems, so many of the postal workers came down with covid that they have also been understaffed. They began encouraging us to come only with an appointment…and through many tears and trials I succeeded in learning how to make an appointment at my post office ONLINE! The ‘take a number and wait’ option was still available …until 2 weeks ago! Now, we can only enter the post office with an appointment…and wouldn’t you know it…the water bill came! I had to schedule an appointment around my work time so I took one for last Monday at 10:06 (or something like that). The little paper tells me that I might have to wait up to 10 minutes. When I arrived, I found that there were 100 people ahead of me…and…yes… they ALL had appointments! The place was a balagan (remember? Spaghetti thrown on the wall…) and the anger was palpable (and audible!) I left and made another appointment for Wednesday at around 15:00 (usually nap time). When I arrived, there were over 50 people ahead of me and again I opted to leave. Thursday, a predicted storm arrived and I made an appointment during the height of the storm. Twenty-nine other diehards were in front of me, but since this bill HAD to be paid, I determined to wait. Fights broke out around me and I was sorely tempted to put my two agorots (pennies) in or sulk and become depressed, but instead I prayed and I asked The Lord to produce HIS FRUIT HERE through me. Oh my I was sorely tempted but I kept returning to gaze at Him and meditate on His kingdom of which I am SUPPOSED to be a citizen…IT WAS WORK!
AND…FINALLY MY TURN CAME! WOW! I was so happy! I went up to the man at the counter actually thrilled that I had kept calm and filled with joy that He was Lord even at times like these, and I said to the clerk something like ‘Thank you so much for your work! It must be so hard and you are working so hard.’ His mouth dropped open and he said ‘Well…thank you!!’ I handed him my water bill which took less than a minute to pay, and he said ‘What else?’ and I answered ‘Nothing. That’s all. This was my third appointment to try to pay it and I’m happy that I succeeded.’ There is an expression in Hebrew that sounds like ‘zay mah yesh lee’ or ‘this is what I have’. It is sort of like ‘If you have lemons you can make lemonade’. THE WHOLE ATMOSPHERE CHANGED! He thanked me profusely and said ‘What a sweet Spirit! Aren’t you angry?’ I looked at him and said ‘I fear GOD too much to be angry.’ THAT STARTLED ME AND I ALMOST MELTED INTO A PUDDLE BECAUSE I REALIZED THAT THE LORD HAD PRODUCED A FRUIT THROUGH THIS HARD WOOD CALLED ‘me’ AND HANDED IT TO A VERY TIRED PAKID (clerk) AND I WANT HIM TO DO IT MORE. It took a year. It was a small fruit…but THE ATOMOSPHERE IN THE ROOM CHANGED…and I give HIM thanks and glory!
As an immigrant I have a perpetual disability because I will never be fluent in Hebrew. Reading is difficult and now with all of the animated web sites and electronic signs I’m lost when it comes to following directions.
BUT…I’m NOT the only one and another great joy that I have had is ‘making tutorials’ for friends who crumble at the sight of the post office website! I kid you not! I tell them; ‘You can do this! I will take pictures of how you make an appointment.’ It feels so good to help someone with something that crushed you to learn!
But not everything is milk and honey here in our land of promise … the winepress of time. It’s all so much bigger than us. You may have noticed that I try (on purpose) to avoid discussing the ‘bigger’ and divisive issues. Yesterday we were allowed 20 people at Kehila and MY TURN came up to be with the body and I was beside myself with excitement. Now that we no longer have a car, I have to take a taxi to Kehila and frankly I dread that. It’s all The Lord’s money so it is not the expense that I find most difficult…I just don’t like taxis. My ride yesterday reinforced that. The driver greeted me kindly enough, a young Arab man. Like most people these days he had a device in his ear for listening to his technology and there was a phone perched on the windshield with some nice pictures. However, I noticed that he was watching something else, so after a bit I looked over to see what it was. He was watching a tutorial about how to dig terror tunnels under the border into Israel. I watched more closely; perhaps it was a national geographic story explaining about them…but no. This was definitely an instructional video made in Gaza. My driver would back up to listen to a part that he wanted to see more clearly. I watched a ‘builder’ explaining the finer points of cutting through the rock… You ARE aware, of course, of the terror tunnels? Not much is said about them on the news… they are just always hovering underground and our IDF keeps vigilant watch on all of the borders. I shuddered and remembered when the tutorials were about how to make explosives (during the second intifada) or about how to cut a throat (during the knifing intifada) …and it just seemed too creepy, so once I wasn’t too far away, I thanked him and said that I would get out here and walk thank you. Sobering reminders are abundant…what is it that You want me to do Lord? I had BETTER be found doing what YOU expect me to be doing and not looking the other way.
Before I close this rambling note, I want to thank SO MANY of you who prayed for_______. I did make a list and sent out updates and I’m sorry that I couldn’t answer all of the individual inquiries that followed. THANK YOU FOR PRAYING AND HE ANSWERED! It was VERY difficult in all of the cases but they are all recovering and the children never did come down with it thankfully. There are SO VERY MANY in crisis right now all around each of us, you and me, HUGE crisis’…may we be found walking in the part of the path that He planned for us, fulfilling what He has called us to do…and be. May we be of those to whom He can make known His ways… And may we be found of Him in HIS peace, praising Him and in humility serving one another. I plan to write more about Passover/Pesach. As your sister, I send my love from Jerusalem.