Showing posts with label Jewish holidays. Show all posts

Friday, September 7, 2018

Jewish Holidays, But No Jews Allowed on Temple Mount - Breaking Israel News

Jewish Holidays, But No Jews Allowed on Temple Mount

Muslims get precedence at holy sites when Jewish, Muslim holidays coincide

Fire Kites Sting Negev Honey Farms Just Before Rosh Hashanah

Arson terrorism has decimated Israel's Negev, causing millions of shekels of damage

WATCH: Israel Remembers 9/11 Attacks at Only Memorial Outside US

U.S. Ambassador attends 9/11 memorial service in Jerusalem

FEATURED PHOTO: Responding to Prophecy, Replanting Jews and Vineyards in Israel

Prophet Amos proclaims that the people will return to Israel, build houses, plant vineyards and trees

ICYMI: Red Heifer Birth, Paves Way For Renewed Temple Service

Temple Institute certifies that its Red Heifer program was blessed with results

Palestinian Journalists:
We Do Not Have a Free Media

By Khaled Abu Toameh
Those working under Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the PA in the West Bank cannot write freely

The New Israel Fund is Actively Involved in Political Campaigning

By Ronn Torossian

Acid Attacks, Witchcraft and Britain’s Diversity

By Daniel Greenfield

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Thursday, September 21, 2017

IN PICTURES: THOUSANDS OF ISRAELIS CELEBRATE ROSH HASHANA IN NATURE - JPOST.COM

IN PICTURES: THOUSANDS OF ISRAELIS CELEBRATE ROSH HASHANA IN NATURE

BYJPOST.COM STAFF

SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

All across Israel, families celebrated the first day of the Jewish New Year by enjoying quality time in nature.

A Jewish worshipper blows a Shofar, at the Western Wall ahead of Rosh Hashana. (photo credit:AMMAR AWAD/REUTERS)

Some 35,000 Israelis flocked to national parks and natural reserves across the country on Thursday morning to enjoy the warm weather with their families on the first of a four-day countrywide hiatus in celebration of the Jewish New Year.

Families with small children traveled across Israel, going to hikes and visiting waterfalls up north.

Some 200 motorcyclists rode to Belvoir Fortress south of the Sea of Galilee to catch the first sunrise of the new year, and according to the Nature and Parks Authority, thousands more are expected to travel to the countries' beaches and other sites in the coming days.

Israelis enjoy the warm weather at Gan Hashlosha National Park.

Basking in the sun at Eilat's Coral Beach.

Israelis dip into the waterfalls at Gan Hashlosha National Park.

Monday, September 11, 2017

The End of the World is Coming, Again?! - David Lazarus ISRAEL TODAY

The End of the World is Coming, Again?!

Monday, September 11, 2017 | David Lazarus ISRAEL TODAY

Topics:

Bible

The end of the world is coming again and people wonder, “Is it true this time?”

This year’s doom’s day prediction is scheduled for September 23rd based on an alignment of the stars called Virgo, the constellation of a woman that will be in position over the moon and under 12 stars. As with most end-time predictions, the date corresponds to this year’s Jewish calendar and believers are saying this rare alignment of stars represents the last days woman found in Revelations chapter 12 with “the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.”

What are we to do? With the Jewish holidays just weeks away, we could spend our remaining days and hours (or until next year’s predictions) trying to calculate what the Bible says about the end of the world and wait to see what happens.

But the truth we so easily ignore, and which is often concealed behind these annual doom’s day predictions, is that the end of the world is coming for all of us - and it could be any day, at any hour. By September 23rd, millions around the world will die in car accidents, disease, overdose or in one of the many hurricanes and natural disasters now visiting the earth. Are you ready?

Can you get ready? The idea that we are at the end of the world can be scary, and if so for you, hold that thought for a minute, and ask yourself, “What am I afraid of?” When you discover the answer, think about what changes you could make in your life, where you might better invest your time and how you can make things right with God, and with yourself. Nobody knows better than you what you need to do to get your house in order.

If you clean your house just once a year it becomes an overwhelming task to face. The time you need to clean it, and the energy you would need is so great that you probably give up before you even start. Our lives are not much different than a dirty house. If it hasn’t been cleaned for a long time it's easy to give up. It would be far better to clean regularly, take the garbage out every day, wash your clothes when they are dirty and fix things when they break. Maintain your life, correct, repair and be ready for the end of your world. It could happen any day.

These end of the world scenarios remind me of the safety exercises that are supposed to make us ready for fires, bomb attacks and earthquakes, so that when the real thing happens we won’t become confused and disorientated and get lost. In the Israeli army we use a saying from Alexander Suvorov, the greatest Russian military strategist: “Hard in training, easy in war.” Practicing to be prepared for the coming of our Messiah, or to meet him sooner than we thought, is always a good idea, even if you wonder about the sign of a 12 starred constellation.

Exercise kindness, unselfishness, sympathy, decency, good will and live an upright life before God in your daily life and perhaps the end of the world (or the end of our world) might not be so terrifying. The only way to cope with the disquieting fact of our pending mortality is to practice daily the skills of faith in God and a moral lifestyle until these become so much a part of who you are that you don’t even have to think, or worry, about it anymore because you are prepared.

The Apostle Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians (chap.13) reminds us that we prophecy in part, but faith, hope and love endure forever (not doom, gloom or red moons). One more thing. Remember Noah. The end of his world came true even as he boldly warned the people through his words and actions. How many believed and repented? How many missed that boat?

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Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Muslim Clerics Incite Against Jewish Holidays

Wednesday, September 02, 2015 | Israel Today Staff

Topics:

Palestinians

Israeli media is warning of increased Palestinian violence during the upcoming Jewish High Holy Days in September and October.

During Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and the week-long Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), a great many Jews congregate publicly, especially at the Western Wall.

This year, some of those holidays coincide with Muslim holidays and Palestinian nationalist memorials. Yom Kippur and the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha falls on the same day, and the anniversary of the eruption of the Second Intifada is during Sukkot.

If the past is any indicator, the coinciding of Jewish and Muslim holidays spells trouble, particularly in and around Jerusalem.

Already, Muslim clerics are working their flocks up into a frenzy over what they term the impending Jewish “invasion” of the Temple Mount. From the Israeli perspective, this is nothing short of incitement. Jewish groups always go up to the Temple Mount over Sukkot as it is a biblically mandated practice.

But the head of the Koranic Academy of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Nashach Bakhirat, said in an Arabic broadcast in Israel: “The Jewish festivals are ominous for Muslims and for the Al-Aqsa Mosque because at that time Jewish religious extremists will perpetrate attacks against us.”

Sheikh Kamal Khatib, leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, accused the Jews of seeking to defile the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Jewish holidays. Khatib further charged Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas of conspiring with Israel to “Judaize” the city of Jerusalem.

Ekrima Sa’id Sabri, former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and head of the Islamic Council, went even further, claiming that Jewish groups visiting the Temple Mount during Sukkot were “trying to implement their scheme to build a [Jewish] temple in place of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

As easily rebutted as these accusations might be, they are consistently effective in whipping up the Muslim masses against Israel’s Jews.

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Sunday, September 15, 2013

Sukkot - Succot - Feast of Tabernacles - Feast of Booths (all the same!) - Begins 09.18.13

Happy Sukkot

from Love For His People!

A Succot Celebration in 2009

with Barry & Batya Segal in Jerusalem

Photo by Steve Martin)

Celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem

(Steve Martin and sister Mary Smith)

Jerusalem March during Feast of Tabernacles

(Photo by Steve Martin, 2009 in Jerusalem)

Sukkot

Jewish Holidays: Table of Contents | Upcoming Dates | Festivals in Israel

The Festival of Sukkot begins on the 15th day of Tishri and is the fifth day after Yom Kippur. It is a drastic transition from one of the most solemn holidays in the Jewish calendar to one of the most joyous.

Introduction

Sukkot is a seven day holiday and the two days following the festival - Shemini Atzeret and Simkhat Torah - are commonly thought of as part of Sukkot but are actually separate holidays. Sukkot is sometimes referred to as Zeman Simkhateinu, the Season of our Rejoicing.

The word "Sukkot" means "booths," and refers to the temporary dwellings that we are commanded to live in during this holiday. The name of the holiday is frequently translated "The Feast of Tabernacles," which, like many translations of technical Jewish terms, isn't terribly useful unless you already know what the term is referring to. The Hebrew pronunciation of Sukkot is "Sue COAT," but is often pronounced as in Yiddish, to rhyme with "BOOK us."

Like Passover and Shavu'ot, Sukkot has a dual significance: historical and agricultural. The holiday commemorates the forty-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Sukkot is also a harvest festival, and is sometimes referred to as Chag Ha-Asif, the Festival of Ingathering.

The festival of Sukkot is instituted in Leviticus 23:33 et seq. No work is permitted on the first and second days of the holiday. Work is permitted on the remaining days. These intermediate days on which work is permitted are referred to as Chol Ha-Mo'ed, as are the intermediate days of Passover.

The Sukkah

In honor of the holiday's historical significance, we are commanded to dwell in temporary shelters, as our ancestors did in the wilderness. The commandment to "dwell" in a sukkah can be fulfilled by simply eating all of one's meals there; however, if the weather, climate, and one's health permit, one should live in the sukkah as much as possible, including sleeping in it.

A sukkah must have at least three walls covered with a material that will not blow away in the wind. Canvas covering tied or nailed down is acceptable and quite common in the United States. A sukkah may be any size, so long as it is large enough for you to fulfill the commandment of dwelling in it. The roof of the sukkah must be made of material referred to as sekhakh (literally, covering). To fulfill the commandment, sekhakh must be something that grew from the ground and was cut off, such as tree branches, corn stalks, bamboo reeds, sticks, or two-by-fours. Sekhakh must be left loose, not tied together or tied down. Sekhakh must be placed sparsely enough that rain can get in, and preferably sparsely enough that the stars can be seen, but not so sparsely that more than ten inches is open at any point or that there is more light than shade. The sekhakh must be put on last.

It is common practice, and highly commendable, to decorate the sukkah. In the northeastern United States, Jews commonly hang dried squash and corn in the sukkah to decorate it, because these vegetables are readily available at that time for the American holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving. Building and decorating a sukkah is a fun, family project, much like decorating the Christmas tree is for Christians. It is a sad commentary on modern American Judaismthat most of the highly assimilated Jews who complain about being deprived of the fun of having and decorating a Christmas tree have never even heard of Sukkot.

The following blessing is recited when eating a meal in the sukkah:

Baruch atah adonai eloheinu melech ha'olam asher
kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu leisheiv basukkah.

Many Americans, upon seeing a decorated sukkah for the first time, remark on how much the sukkah (and the holiday generally) reminds them of Thanksgiving. This is not entirely coincidental. Our American pilgrims, who originated the Thanksgiving holiday, were deeply religious people. When they were trying to find a way to express their thanks for their survival and for the harvest, they looked to the Bible for an appropriate way of celebrating and based their holiday in part on Sukkot.

The Four Species

Another observance related to Sukkot involves what are known as The Four Species (arba minim in Hebrew) or the lulav and etrog. We are commanded to take these four plants and use them to "rejoice before the L-rd." The four species in question are an etrog (a citrus fruit native to Israel), a palm branch (in Hebrew, lulav), a myrtle branch (hadas) and a willow branch (arava).

The etrog (Photo by Steve Martin, 2009)

Every morning of Sukkot, except on Shabbat, it is the custom to hold the lulav in the right hand and the etrog in the left. Bringing them together (with the pitam, the stem of the etrog pointing downward), the following blessing is recited:

Baruch atah adonai eloheinu melech ha'olam asher
kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu al n'tilat lulav.

The four species are also held during the Hallel prayer in religious services, and are held during processions around thebimah (the pedestal where the Torah is read) each day during the holiday. These processions commemorate similar processions around the alter of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. The processions are known as Hoshanahs, because while the procession is made, we recite a prayer with the refrain, "Hosha na!" (please save us!). On the seventh day of Sukkot, seven circuits are made. For this reason, the seventh day of Sukkot is known as Hoshanah Rabbah (the great Hoshanah).

Sources: Judaism 101 and Cardin, Rabbi Nina Beth. The Tapestry of Jewish Time. NJ: Behrman House, 2000.

Inside a succa in Mevaserrat Zion, near Jerusalem

The following are photos of the Jerusalem March, held every year during the Feast of Tabernacles through the streets of Jerusalem. (Photos by Steve Martin, 2009)