Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
“Say to B’nei Yisrael: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month there shall be the festival of Sukkot to Hashem, [to last] seven days.” Leviticus 23:34 (The Israel Bible™)
As the nation of Israel prepares for the Biblical holiday of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), Jerusalem is bracing for 700,000 visitors in Israel’s capital. The holiday of Sukkot begins in Israel on the evening of October 4 and continues until sundown on October 11.
“The most popular place to visit during Sukkot is the Kotel, the Western Wall,” explained Rabbi Mendy Blau, director of Colel Chabad, one of Israel’s leading charity organizations, to Breaking Israel News. “Part of the reason is that the Bible commands Jews to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem a minimum of three times a year, for Passover, for Shavuot and for Sukkot.”
Sukkot is Israel’s busiest season for Jewish and Christian tourism. Not only is this one of the holiest and happiest times of the year, but the country also holds a multitude of cultural and religious festivities. All this leads to a plethora of visitors to the Kotel.
“And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Shaul, that Shaul said: ‘Is this thy voice, my son David?’ And Shaul lifted up his voice, and wept.” I Samuel 24:16 (The Israel Bible™)
On Sunday, November 6th, American Friends of Meir Panim, in collaboration with world-renowned cantors and influential community synagogues in northern Long Island, New York, hosted a benefit concert to raise urgently needed funds to help disadvantaged children in Israel.
The event, called “Voices for Children in Need”, was attended by 500 enthusiastic participants who were inspired by both the performances as well as the outstanding work of Meir Panim.
The benefit concert took place at Temple Beth Sholom in Roslyn, New York. It was Chaired by Beth Sholom’s Cantor Ofer Barnoy, along with Honorary Chair Rabbi Myron Fenster and Vice Chairs Allison and Martin E. Levine.
The event honored and paid tribute to Mrs. Lee Steinberg, long-time friend of Meir Panim, with the Spirit of Humanity Award. As Meir Panim’s most devoted and beloved friend, Mrs. Steinberg’s unwavering generosity, inspiring leadership, and everlasting dedication to global philanthropy, the State of Israel and enrichment of its citizens’ lives truly reflect the spirit of humanity of the Jewish people. Among the extensive help which Mrs. Steinberg has provided to Meir Panim, she is credited with establishing the free restaurant-style soup kitchen in Israel’s northern city of Tiberias. .
“And He changeth the times and the seasons; He removeth kings, and setteth up kings; He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.” Daniel 2:21 (The Israel Bible™)
Rabbi Tuly Weisz, director of Israel365 and publisher of Breaking Israel News offered the first public prayer for President-Elect Donald Trump in Jerusalem at the Bridges for Peace solidarity conference on Wednesday.
Rabbi Weisz spoke at the Bridges for Peace gathering in Jerusalem. Entering the hall, he was informed that Donald Trump had just been elected President of the United States.
Following the contentious campaign which left many wondering what had become of the democratic process in America, it was clear that the diverse group of over 100 mostly Christian participants from eight nations, were anxiously waiting words of clarity from Rabbi Weisz.
With UNESCO’s recent endorsement that Jews and Christians have no connection to the Temple Mount and continued negative reports about the Holy Land, the event was called “Encountering the Truth About Israel: 40 Year Celebration of the Dispatch From Jerusalem”.
“This event was the perfect venue to pray for the welfare of America and the State of Israel,” smiled Rabbi Weisz.
Bridges For Peace is an organization made up of Christians worldwide who support Israel and the building of relationships between Christians and Jews in Israel and across the globe. They bless Israel through humanitarian projects throughout the Holy Land.
Rabbi Weisz began his talk by asking the audience to stand and join him in a “Prayer for the Welfare of the Government”. This prayer is found in many Jewish prayer books. Instituted in 1948 by the Sephardic and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbis of the newly formed State of Israel, today the prayer is commonly said in religious Zionist synagogues on the Sabbath and during Jewish holy days.
Prayer For the Welfare of the Government:
May He who gives salvation to kings and dominion to princes,
whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
who delivers His servant David from the evil sword,
who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters,
bless and protect, guard and help, exalt, magnify and uplift the
President Elect Donald Trump
and Vice-President Mike Pence
and all officials of the United States of America.
May the supreme King of kings in His mercy
put into their hearts and the hearts of all their counselors and officials,
to deal kindly with us and all Israel.
In their days and in ours may Judah be saved and Israel dwell in safety,
and may the Redeemer come to Zion.
May this be His will, and let us say: Amen.
As citizens all over the world wonder what the next four years of this new American leadership will bring, this prayer sends a message of hope that all is in God’s hands. Rabbi Weisz continued his talk by reiterating that God keeps His promises to His children and that we are blessed to be living in this era where the prophet’s words are coming to life.
“Through the prophets, we know that God promised that the Jewish people would be ingathered from the four corners of the earth to return to their Biblical homeland and bring the greatness of Godliness back into the world,” said Rabbi Weisz to Breaking Israel News. “I fully believe that Trump in the White House is part of God’s greater plan to bring the Messiah and I am honored to open this event and this momentous occasion with this heartfelt prayer.”
“Moshe said unto God: ‘Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them: The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me: What is His name? what shall I say unto them?’ And God said unto Moshe: ‘I AM THAT I AM’.” Exodus 3:13-14 (The Israel Bible™)
In the first verse of the Bible, God is referred to as Eloheem (אֱלֹהִים). Yet in Genesis 12:7, God introduces himself to Abraham as יְהוָה (we do not know how to pronounce this name, which is described as the “Ineffable Name”). And, just a bit later, in Genesis 17:1, God reintroduces Himself to Abraham as El Shadai (אֵל שַׁדַּי). What do all of God’s names in the Bible teach us about Him?
“God’s essence is eternal and unchanging. However, in order for man to gain a clearer understanding of his relationship to God, He changes His name,” explained Roni Segal, the academic adviser for eTeacher, an online language academy, to Breaking Israel News.
The importance of names is established early on in the Bible. In Genesis, after God creates “every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air”, the animals are brought to the first man, Adam, to be named. Adam calls each animal by its essence.
From here, we understand that, in Jewish thought, a Hebrew name is not an arbitrary designation but rather more of a definition. In fact, the Talmud states that, in today’s world, the only prophecy left is when a parent names a child. Naming a child is considered one-sixtieth of prophecy and called Ruach HaKodesh (רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ). Ruach HaKodesh comes to parents in the form of an angel who whispers into their ears what Hebrew name to give.
Therefore, our first Biblical introduction to God is as Eloheem (אֱלֹהִים). This is actually a plural word, yet we know that God is only one. Eloheem encompases the idea that God contains all powers and essences of the world, especially as The Creator, The Mightiest, The Ruler and The True Judge.
God’s Ineffable Name (Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay) reflects that His existence is eternal. Contained in these four Hebrew letters is the idea of past (הָיָה- hah-ya), present (הֹוֶה- hoh-veh) and future (יִהְיֶה- yih-hee-yeh). This name also is used when discussing God’s relationship with man through His qualities of loving kindness and mercy.
El Shaddai usually translates as “God Almighty”. “Dai” in Hebrew means enough or sufficient. As God’s strength is endlessly mighty, when creating the world, in essence, His creation would have gone on forever had He not said, “Dai”.
El Shaddai is the name of God which is written on the outside of mezuzah scrolls placed on the doorposts of Jewish homes. The letters shin dalet yud (שדי) stand for the acronym, “Shomer Daltot Yisrael” which means, “Guardian of the doors of Israel”.
God Himself chooses a unique name for Moses to introduce Him to the Jewish people in ancient Egypt. In Exodus 3:13, Moses asks God what He should be called. God answers, “I AM THAT I AM”, implying that He is eternal and not really knowable except through His creations and deeds, as seen through His various names.
“Learning Biblical Hebrew can transform the way one reads and understands the Bible,” noted Segal. “Hebrew is God’s holy language. Shouldn’t we know the names of its creator?
“Although all Bible study is a blessing, the importance of studying it in Hebrew cannot be stressed enough,” she explained. “The sacred Hebrew language contains many levels of understanding which gets lost in translation.”
As the Bible testifies, the world was originally populated by people all speaking one language: “And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.” (Genesis 11:1). In Jewish tradition, that language was Hebrew, as the sages state that God “looked into the Torah [written in Hebrew] and created the world”.
However, after the Great Flood, pride got the better of the new generation. The people used their unified speech to turn against God. They strove to build a tower in order to reach heaven and make them “equal to God”.
One characteristic of man which God most abhors is arrogance. Therefore, He destroyed their ability to understand one another by splitting them into seventy different nations with seventy different languages.
Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. (Genesis 11:7)
It is interesting that there are many words in English whose roots lie in Hebrew. This is a possible throwback to the time of the Tower of Babel story when everyone spoke Hebrew.
Here are just a few examples:
Abracadabra
Commonly used by magicians to make things appear or disappear, the word is likely derived from Hebrew or Aramaic (a Semitic language related to Hebrew). It is comprised of abra (אברא) and c’dabra (כדברא) which loosely translates as, “I create as I speak.”
Babble
When a baby speaks indiscernible gibberish, we say that he is babbling. The source of this word is the Biblical Tower of Babel story, as is says in Genesis 11:9, “That is why it was called Babel (בבל)—because there the Lord confused [bavel] the language of the whole world.”
Brouhaha
This word most likely stems from the Hebrew baruch ha’ba (ברוך הבא), which means “blessed is he who comes” as a brouhaha is an excited public situation usually caused by someone attending a sensational event.
Maven
A maven is someone who understands or is an expert in something. The word stems from the Hebrew mevin (מבין) which means “understanding”.
Messiah
The one who we all wait for to anoint the world with peace. The word comes from the Hebrew mashiach (משיח) which means “anointed”.
Sabbatical
In this overly busy day and age, we all crave a sabbatical, a time of rest. The word stems from Shabbat (שׁבת) which is mentioned numerous times throughout the Bible, the first being in Genesis 2:3, “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested (Shabbat) from all his work that he had done in creation.”
“With today’s technical advancements, people all over the world are able to communicate in the same language,” noted Roni Segal, academic adviser for eTeacher Online Language Academy, to Breaking Israel News.
A new way to learn, eTeacher provides online lessons in languages via a virtual classroom made up of students from all over the world.
“People are particularly keen on learning the language of the Bible from a native Hebrew speaker. It’s kind of like returning to our ancient roots, only this time we’ll learn from our past mistakes,” she said with a smile.
“Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you.” (Genesis 26:2–6)
Western civilization is facing an onslaught of conflicting messages. On the one hand, hundreds of thousands of Muslim refugees are being welcomed into countries around the world under the auspices of humanitarian aid. On the other hand, people are fearful of the spread of radical Islam and the terrorism which comes with this extremism.
Yet, Israel remains on the front page of news reports around the world. As the only democracy in the Middle East, a place where all religions are free to worship and all cultures attend its universities, Breaking Israel News sat down with David Rubin, the founder and president of the Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund and a survivor of a miraculous terror attack, to hear his views on Islam and the Biblical reasons to stand with Israel.
Terror survivor David Rubin, founder of the Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund. (Photo: Courtesy)
“I always talk about the role Israel plays in the world,” Rubin told Breaking Israel News. “Despite it being a tiny country, smaller than the size of New Jersey, it is the world leader for freedom against Islamic terror and the encroaching Islamic tsunami taking place today in Israel, the US and across all western civilizations.”
Rubin explained that the goal of Islam is to change western civilization from a Judeo-Christian way of life to one under Islamic Sharia law. “If that happens,” he continued, “freedom of press, religion, dress and speech will be done away with. Islamic Sharia law will take over which does not tolerate anything but Islam.”
Israel may be on the front lines battling terror and Islamic extremism. But, more and more countries are finding their demographic landscapes shifting dramatically. “Muslims are not only looking to destroy Israel,” noted Rubin. “Rather, they seek the end of all of western civilization and the rest of the free world as we know it.”
According to Rubin, today, people do not understand the need to stand with Israel. Rubin, who lives in Israel’s Biblical heartland, explained the Biblical reasons and practical importance of supporting the Holy Land.
Quoting God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you [Israel], and curse those who curse you,” Rubin shared, “As a religious person, I believe in God’s promises. When the US stood with Israel and didn’t force us to give up our land, America thrived. Since the Carter administration, presidents have pressed Israel to hand over land and the US has suffered the consequences.”
The word “Israel” is mentioned more than 2,300 times in the Bible, second only to the various names of God. As it says in Deuteronomy 11:12, Israel is “a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year.”
“God is clearly passionate about the land of Israel and it’s people. Shouldn’t we all be?” asked Rubin.
Today, many people around the world believe that the prophecy of Isaiah 43:6 is being fulfilled: “Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth”. Millions of dispersed Jews have returned to the Holy Land and the once barren country is flourishing.
“But, terrorism has taken its toll,” noted Rubin. “It is critical for the west to defend and help those that fight terrorism. I believe that God placed Israel in the Middle East surrounded by Arab countries so that we can be a light unto the nations as it says in Isaiah 49:6, ‘I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’ We have a special responsibility to lead. But, we cannot do that without support.”
Rubin points out three ways that people can stand with Israel. He stated, “First, pray for Israel’s welfare and that we should meet the challenges we face every day, as it says in Psalm 122:6, ‘Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love You.’”
An ambulance brings a wounded soldier to the Hadassah Ein Karem hospital in Jerusalem on October 17, 2015. The Israeli soldier was injured in a stabbing attack in Hebron, October 17, 2015. (Photo: Hadas Parush/Flash90)
Second, get politically involved. Support political leaders in the free world who stand with Israel, not those who ask to withdraw from Israeli land, especially the Biblical heartland.
Thirdly, connect directly with those on the front lines. God sent Abraham specifically to this land, as it says in Genesis 12:1, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation.’
“We, on the front lines have listened to God’s command and feel that we are holding down the borders for the ultimate redemption. But, we need help, especially when it comes to supporting children traumatized by terror,” Rubin explained to Breaking Israel News. “The Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund heals trauma and restores the lost innocence of children. This is our future so that they can grow into productive, idealistic and caring adults willing to sacrifice for the Holy Land.”
Rubin ended by noting that there is a Jewish tradition that after a person passes on to the next world they receive a review of their life, “similar to the self-reflection that people do as they approach the end of the calendar year.”
“We learn from Jewish sources that when a person dies and comes before his Creator, he is asked, ‘Have I stood with God and been good to my family? Have I stood up for my country, God’s chosen people, the people of Israel and the Land of Israel?’ Don’t wait until that point. Stand and support Israel today.”
LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE FEATURED BOOK
Why Israel? Why not?
This little booklet consists of messages previously written in my books, which of themselves contain many various themes. I wanted to devote one book to just Israel and the Jewish people, and so this small booklet was compiled.
As you read the following, consider the truth contained in Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, which spell out the commitment of God the Father to choose a people who will be a light to the nations. He chose the Jews, and gave them the Promised Land of Israel.
It does not matter what other national governments try to say, do, or accomplish apart from the plans and purposes of the Lord. They will fail. His Word is true. It is eternal. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever, and thus His commitment in keeping His promises made to the Jewish people will be fulfilled. I hope you stand with them in these last days.
