V’ahavta וְאָהַבְתָּ ‘And you shall love’ -The Miracle of Hebrew. Hadassah from Jerusalem

V’ahavta  

וְאָהַבְתָּ    ‘And you shall love’ 

The Miracle of Hebrew

Hadassah from Jerusalem

Last week, my Grandson Moshe and I went on an exploring walk down Rehov Nevi’im (Prophet Street) We went to see the Ethiopian Church- a beautiful and historic structure. What we found across the alley was something that really made our day. We discovered the first home of the amazing pioneer, Zionist and ‘prophet ’~Eliezer Ben Yehuda.

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, is known as the ‘Father of Modern Hebrew’. Quoting from his biography, “I read somewhere that we Jews speak seventy different languages, yet not one of us speaks our own language.” 

Hebrew is the language of the Torah and only in the last 100 years the language of the Jewish people in Israel. The 'resurrection' of the Hebrew language as a daily language was brought about almost solely by this one man.

One of the first with a Zionist vision (even before Theodor Herzl), Eliezer Ben-Yehuda spent his life resurrecting the Hebrew language for the Jewish people to speak on a daily basis. He knew that the nation of Israel could never become a ‘country on its own’ if it did not have a common language.

When he arrived in what was then Palestine in 1881, Hebrew had not been the spoken language of the Jewish people since Bible times. Eliezer went against supreme opposition and persecution to bring to life the Hebrew language. Many believed that Hebrew should only be used in connection with the Torah. To use the ‘Holy Tongue’ for common dialogue was unheard of. Once he grasped the vision of a national tongue, Hebrew became the only language spoken in Eliezer’s home. He forbid for his son Ben-Zion to hear any other language. The task was daunting, but he gave his life to the task of making Hebrew available to everyone and within 40 years, succeeded. 

In 1922, Hebrew became the official language of the Jewish people in Palestine.

Hebrew defines the culture, the religious life, and the rich inheritance we have as Jews with a history that dates to Creation. With the promise of returning us from the four corners of the world, Hebrew unites the immigrants with the rest of the country and begins, after a manner, cleansing and washing the heart and mind of the diaspora. By embracing Hebrew, we embrace our true identity as People of the Book. The ones with whom God has made His Covenant.

Learning Hebrew is easier said than done for most people. But that story is for another post...           

Nissim & Hadassah

Jerusalem, Israel

Hadassah and Nissim, her accountant husband, live in a settlement just outside Jerusalem with their dog Molly. After making Aliyah (immigrating) from the U.S. with their five children in 1989, they are now semi-retired and open their home to guests and those wishing to make Aliyah. When not busy with their 16 'GrandWonders', they enjoy a quiet life of study, prayer and learning to serve the LORD. 

Hadassah #15 12.27.17

From the Editor (Steve Martin, Love For His People Founder):

If these messages have ministered to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $10-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families as Hadassah's in Israel, whom we consistently help monthly through our work. Your tax-deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.

Secure, conveniently contributions can be done online now through our website using the DONATE buttons on either side column of our blog.

Contribution checks can be sent to: 

Love For His People, Inc. 

P.O. Box 414   

Pineville, NC 28134

Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.) 

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V’ahavta וְאָהַבְתָּ ‘And you shall love’ - Cleansing the Temple - Hanukkah. Hadassah from Jerusalem

V’ahavta  

וְאָהַבְתָּ    ‘And you shall love’ 

Cleansing the Temple

 - Hanukkah

Hadassah from Jerusalem

Hanukkah is coming- A festival of lights and rejoicing and, as always, special foods to celebrate. Lasting for 8 nights with candle lighting, there are often gifts, especially for the children. Such a lovely holiday of joy.

Hanukkah is a time we remember when the Greeks had taken over our Temple in Jerusalem and had defiled it with pagan sacrifices and practices. A righteous family (Maccabee) arose and, after great battles, removed the enemy and cleansed the Temple. In the rededication, tradition has it, that there was only enough oil to burn for one day of the dedication BUT it burned for eight days- thus showing God’s favor. I won’t go into this part of the story here as it is well known. There is another part of the saga I’d like to focus on.

According to the Book of Maccabees, there was a large group of Jews who had aligned themselves with the pagan Greeks, even before the defiling of the Temple:

^{1 Maccabees 1:11} "It was then that there emerged from Israel a set of renegades who led many people astray. 'Come,' they said, 'let us ally ourselves with the gentiles surrounding us, for since we separated ourselves from them many misfortunes have overtaken us.' ¹² This proposal proved acceptable,¹³ and a number of the people eagerly approached the king, who authorized them to practice the gentiles' observances.¹⁴ So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, such as the gentiles have,¹⁵ disguised their circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant, submitting to gentile rule as willing slaves of impiety.

It is hard to imagine Jewish people willingly seeking the king’s favor to practice the pagan customs, but this group ‘eagerly’ sought after this permission. In their hearts they were already convinced that it was good for them to ‘ally themselves with the Gentiles’ using the excuse that their lives had many misfortunes because they were different. Such deception!

Imagine if you will the lengths they went to be like their neighbors. They wanted to practice the gentile observances- thus throwing off Torah boundaries. They built a gymnasium in Jerusalem! This is not a ‘Gold’s Gym’ where one exercises and does Pilates-but a place of debauchery and blatant sexual sin and idolatry- explaining the ‘disguise’ (removal)  of their circumcision- because all practice there was done naked.

“They submitted willingly”. This paragraph always makes me want to cry. Our people willingly, eagerly sought to through off the Torah and the relationship with God thru its covenant and eagerly sought to sin- to go in the opposite direction from Him.

From this point, the spiral down for Israel was horrific.

1.     In the year 143, Antiochus advanced on Israel and Jerusalem in massive strength and pillaged the Temple- carrying away all the Holy vessels.

2.     There was deep mourning for Israel throughout the country:

3.     Rulers and elders groaned; girls and young men wasted away; the women's beauty suffered a change; every bridegroom took up a dirge, the bride sat grief-stricken on her marriage-bed.

4.     The earth quaked because of its inhabitants and the whole House of Jacob was clothed with shame.

5.     Later the king sent an emissary who gained the confidence with false words of peace. He pillaged the city and set it on fire, tore down its houses and encircling wall, took the women and children captive and commandeered the cattle.

6.     They then rebuilt the City of David where they installed a brood of sinners, of renegades, who fortified themselves inside it. It became an ambush for the sanctuary, an evil adversary for Israel at all times.

7.      They shed innocent blood all-round the sanctuary and defiled the sanctuary itself.

8.      The citizens of Jerusalem fled because of them, she became a dwelling-place of strangers; Her sanctuary became as forsaken as a desert, her feasts were turned into mourning, her Sabbaths into a mockery, her honor into reproach.

9.      Her dishonor now fully matched her former glory, her greatness was turned into grief. 

10.    The king then issued a proclamation to his whole kingdom that all were to become a single people, each nation renouncing its particular customs. All the Gentiles conformed to the king's decree, and many Israelites chose to accept his religion, sacrificing to idols and profaning the Sabbath.

^{1 Maccabees 1:44} The king also …,⁴⁵ banning burnt offerings, sacrifices and libations from the sanctuary, profaning Sabbaths and feasts,⁴⁶ defiling the sanctuary and everything holy,⁴⁷ building altars, shrines and temples for idols, sacrificing pigs and unclean beasts,⁴⁸ leaving their sons uncircumcised, and prostituting themselves to all kinds of impurity and abomination,⁴⁹ so that they should forget the Law and revoke all observance of it.⁵⁰ Anyone not obeying the king's command was to be put to death." 

On the fifteenth day of Chislev in the year 145 the king built the appalling abomination on top of the altar of burnt offering; and altars were built in the surrounding towns of Judah⁵⁵ and incense offered at the doors of houses and in the streets.⁵⁶ Any books of the Law that came to light were torn up and burned.⁵⁷ Whenever anyone was discovered possessing a copy of the covenant or practicing the Law, the king's decree sentenced him to death. ⁵⁸ Month after month they took harsh action against any offenders they discovered in the towns of Israel.⁵⁹ On the twenty-fifth day of each month, sacrifice was offered on the altar erected on top of the altar of burnt offering.⁶⁰ Women who had had their children circumcised were put to death according to the edict⁶¹ with their babies hung round their necks, and the members of their household and those who had performed the circumcision were executed with them.⁶² Yet there were many in Israel who stood firm and found the courage to refuse unclean food.⁶³ They chose death rather than contamination by such fare or profanation of the holy covenant, and they were executed.

⁶⁴ It was a truly dreadful retribution that visited Israel.

Please forgive so much quoting of the Book of Maccabees, but I want to share the depth of darkness that covered the Land and the people. Some of it brought on by the evil King Antiochus but much brought on by the desire of God’s people wanting to be like the Greeks. They had forsaken their God and His Torah, stepping out of His protection.

And this brings me to my observations of Hanukkah. Not so much focus on the traditional miracle of the oil but on the absorption or resistance to the culture around us. . Maybe in some measure they had already abandoned Biblical obedience.  But then the people willingly sought to be like the ‘world’- to engage in the worship of idols and all that entailed. What started off as possibly ‘innocuous’ ended up as blatant. In light of what we see in this historical account, I must examine my life.

Have I, without realizing it, absorbed practices into my life that are more cultural and less Biblical? Without giving it much thought, do I just ‘go with the flow’ in my daily life. Have I assigned to certain scriptures the label of ‘irrelevant’ or ‘legalistic’? Do I practice selective obedience? How do I separate myself enough to examine my priorities and practices and be fearless in my conclusions? And on the scale of weighing everything out, what is the counter-balance?

James 1:22 tells us that if we do not DO what the Word says we will be deceived. During this season leading up to Hanukkah is a good time for me to weigh my life using the Word as my counter-balance. To not ‘presume’ anything, but allow the Lord to show me where I may have fooled myself, made excuses, and am becoming a ‘cultural-infected’ Believer.

December 3^rd this year is the 15^th of Chislev- the date that the abomination (idolatry) was set up in the Temple. I will be taking the next ten days leading up to Hanukkah to examine my ‘temple’- asking the Lord to shine His Light and show me where I have allowed the world to influence me. Seeking His Word to wash and cleanse, and then on the 25^th of Chislev - to enter into a true time of dedication and celebration for the 8 nights of Hanukkah. Won’t you join me? May it be said of us that we ‘stood firm’ in the days ahead.

Suggested verses for meditation: Day 1:James1:22, Day 2: Psalm 139; Day 3: Matt 7:13; Day 4: Psalm 19:12; Day 5: Matt 7:24; Day 6: Jer 10:1; Day 7: Lk 6:45; Day 8: Jer 15:19;  Day 9: Psalm 51:10; Day 10: Psalm 85:10,11

Nissim & Hadassah

Jerusalem, Israel

Hadassah and Nissim, her accountant husband, live in a settlement just outside Jerusalem with their dog Molly. After making Aliyah (immigrating) from the U.S. with their five children in 1989, they are now semi-retired and open their home to guests and those wishing to make Aliyah. When not busy with their 16 'GrandWonders', they enjoy a quiet life of study, prayer and learning to serve the LORD. 

Hadassah #14 11.25.17

From the Editor (Steve Martin, Love For His People Founder):

If these messages have ministered to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $10-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families as Hadassah's in Israel, whom we consistently help monthly through our work. Your tax-deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.

Secure, conveniently contributions can be done online now through our website using the DONATE buttons on either side column of our blog.

Contribution checks can be sent to: 

Love For His People, Inc. 

P.O. Box 414   

Pineville, NC 28134

Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.) 

Please share Now Think On This with your friends on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and LinkedIn.  We appreciate your help.

V’ahavta וְאָהַבְתָּ ‘And you shall love’ - Lessons I Learned from Wonder Woman. Hadassah from Jerusalem

V’ahavta  

וְאָהַבְתָּ    ‘And you shall love’ 

Lessons I Learned from Wonder Woman

Hadassah from Jerusalem

This past July we had a lovely young lady who came to serve our family by helping with the GrandWonders. She is a delightful Believer who is finishing her high school education. For two years, she has given up her vacation time to be here in the Land taking care of someone else’s children. 

We appreciate her maturity and willingness to sacrifice. Especially, since it really was hard (and often monotonous) work. In the delight of having a ‘Teen’ in the house, I decided I would take her to see the just released ‘Wonder Woman’ movie. Of course, being a modern teen- she had already seen it BUT we went anyway.

As I watched the movie, I realized that there were lessons for me as a Prayer Warrior for my family, the Jewish people and Israel. I am not going to go into a synopsis of the movie but just share the ‘take-aways’. 

(This message is dedicated to our young warrior friend, Maddie, pictured here with Hadassah.)

Disclaimer: Normally, I do not go to movies so I am not giving the movie a ‘pass’ or my recommendation. Each person must decide for themselves. If you’ve seen the movie, you will know the background. If you have not seen the movie--- the lessons are still just as real.

There is a scene where Wonder Woman and her companions are stopped in their mission and must sit in the trenches, waiting. She is a bit impatient at the delay. She knows their mission and is anxious to get to it.  While there, Wonder Woman talks with a refugee woman who has escaped the battle and shares the devastation on her city. Wonder Woman cannot just sit and ‘do nothing’.  And thus begins her single- handed charge into battle and the lessons I was shown:

1.     Her compassion moved her to battle. She warred on behalf of the wounded and suffering. She couldn’t listen to the suffering and remain impassive. She did what she was trained to do. "Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." Col 3:12

2.     She came out of the trenches (a safe place) armed with a sword (truth), shield (faith) and a rope (to bind) AND a dogged determination of her goal- breaking thru enemy lines. In this first battle, her shield took all the blows (bullets and missiles) fired by the enemy and she pushed thru and defeated them. Her shield (faith) was her greatest weapon. "Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.  For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.  Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Eph 6:13-17

3.     Her courage in battle emboldened the other troops in the trenches to join the battle. To engage the enemy with a purpose. Inspired by her zeal, remembering they also were trained for battle; her companions entered the fray. "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." Heb 10:24

4.      She was trained extensively for battle PREVIOUS to engaging. She did not engage from a position of weakness. The weapons of her warfare were specific. She knew how to use her weapons skillfully WITH success.

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 2 Cor 10:4,5

5.     She was not distracted. She remained steadfast in her goal- which was to uproot and destroy the enemy.  "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have laid hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead." Phil 3:13

6.     Warfare operating in and motivated by love succeeds in stopping the enemy.           "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love." 1 Cor 16: 13,14

Remembering that we are at war, whether we engage or not; there is an enemy. BUT the battle belongs to the LORD and He is our Captain and our Champion. AND to Jerusalem-  our soon coming KING!

Nissim & Hadassah

Jerusalem, Israel

Hadassah and Nissim, her accountant husband, live in a settlement just outside Jerusalem with their dog Molly. After making Aliyah (immigrating) from the U.S. with their five children in 1989, they are now semi-retired and open their home to guests and those wishing to make Aliyah. When not busy with their 16 'GrandWonders', they enjoy a quiet life of study, prayer and learning to serve the LORD. 

Hadassah #13 11.22.17

From the Editor (Steve Martin, Love For His People Founder):

If these messages have ministered to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $10-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families as Hadassah's in Israel, whom we consistently help monthly through our work. Your tax-deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.

Secure, conveniently contributions can be done online now through our website using the DONATE buttons on either side column of our blog.

Contribution checks can be sent to: 

Love For His People, Inc. 

P.O. Box 414   

Pineville, NC 28134

Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.) 

Please share Now Think On This with your friends on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and LinkedIn.  We appreciate your help.

V’ahavta וְאָהַבְתָּ ‘And you shall love’ - "Perspective" Hadassah from Jerusalem

V’ahavta  

וְאָהַבְתָּ    ‘And you shall love’ 

Perspective

Hadassah from Jerusalem

When we first moved back to Israel, we had a small two-bedroom apartment. It was exactly what we wanted and needed at the time. There was a fig tree in our ‘yard’. We say ‘yard’ because it was really only the size of a small bedroom. There used to be an apple tree, but for some reason the landlord saw fit to remove it. That left a massive fig tree surrounded by dirt. Not a very useful area as in the winter it turned into mud and the summer it was full of bugs. So we decided to pave the area to make it more useful.

Having a fruit tree in ones’ yard is a mixed blessing. There is the romantic notion of trotting into the garden, bowl in hand, to pick the morning fare. (We are not especially fond of figs though). The reality is, there is dropped fruit everywhere including on the clean laundry. Dropped fruit means ants and bees and bugs and a funny smell if not cleaned up right away. This tree also had a branch that seemed to always swipe me in the head as I walked by! 

We did not fully understand the ‘gift’ that had been given us. In looking in the Torah, we know that the fig is one of the 7 species of Israel. (Deuteronomy 8:8) There is also a wonderful promise that upon returning to the Land, we will ‘live in houses we did not build and eat from trees we did not plants’. That each of us will invite our neighbor to sit with us under our fig tree-- a picture of dwelling in peace. (Zechariah 3:10). 

Right in front of us, we had the blessing of returning to the Land in the ‘person’ of this fig tree. But we also learned another lesson from our Arab gardener, Ya’acov and our Moroccan Jewish landlord, Pini.

Ya’acov installed tile in our yard. The branch that hangs too low kept clipping him and he saw what a nuisance it can be. He kept wanting to cut it off. Actually, even before putting in the tile when he worked for us he had been bugging us to cut it off. 

One day he came and said that the landlord wanted it cut. We asked him several times if he was sure. We couldn’t imagine Pini doing that as it would be about half of the tree! Our understanding of Hebrew isn’t that bad but I thought I should ask Pini to be certain. 

Sure enough, when we asked Pini about it he said ‘NO! It is a mitzvah to grow this tree! It is one of the Shivat HaMinim! The 7 species’ He went on the show us the others of the 7 species that he was growing in the garden.

As Pini walked away, we were struck by the different perspectives on this tree:

Ours: the fig tree was a bit of a nuisance- messy, bug drawing, sticky mess.

Ya’acov: cutting the fig tree represented a bit of income if he could cut it.

Pini: his fig tree was a mitzvah… an act of obedience to Torah and a Holy work; a blessing and a fulfillment of promises made by God. 

After this, we looked at the fig tree with totally new eyes. I also learned to make jam so we could enjoy the fruit! May we continue to have this kind of ‘seeing’ as we walk this Land of promise.

"Every man will sit under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid; for the Lord Almighty has spoken." Micah 4:4

Nissim & Hadassah

Jerusalem, Israel

Hadassah and Nissim, her accountant husband, live in a settlement just outside Jerusalem with their dog Molly. After making Aliyah (immigrating) from the U.S. with their five children in 1989, they are now semi-retired and open their home to guests and those wishing to make Aliyah. When not busy with their 16 'GrandWonders', they enjoy a quiet life of study, prayer and learning to serve the LORD. 

Hadassah #12 11.04.17

From the Editor (Steve Martin, Love For His People Founder):

If these messages have ministered to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $10-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families as Hadassah's in Israel, whom we consistently help monthly through our work. Your tax-deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.

Secure, conveniently contributions can be done online now through our website using the DONATE buttons on either side column of our blog.

Contribution checks can be sent to: 

Love For His People, Inc. 

P.O. Box 414   

Pineville, NC 28134

Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.) 

Please share Now Think On This with your friends on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and LinkedIn.  We appreciate your help.