In Search of God - Aviel Schneider & Esti Eliraz ISRAEL TODAY

In Search of God

Friday, February 26, 2016 

Aviel Schneider & Esti Eliraz  ISRAEL TODAY

Israel Today speaks to formerly-Orthodox Jews who left the movement in search of "the living God."

The full article appears in the March 2016 issue of Israel Today Magazine.
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Textiles Dating Back to King David’s Era Found at Timna Dig by JNI Media - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Textiles Dating Back to King David’s Era Found at Timna Dig

By JNI Media February 25, 2016   BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he could get no heat.” 
I Kings 1:1 (The Israel Bible™)

Rope made from the fibers of a date palm tree found at the Timna site. (Photo: Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority/JNi Media)

The ancient copper mines in Timna, deep in Israel’s Arava Valley, are believed by some to be the site of King Solomon’s mines. The arid conditions of the mines have seen the remarkable preservation of 3,000-year-old organic materials, including seeds, leather and fabric, and other extremely rare artifacts providing a unique window into the culture and practices of this period.

A Timna excavation team from Tel Aviv University led by Dr. Erez Ben-Yosef has uncovered an extensive fabric collection of diverse color, design and origin. This is the first discovery of textiles dating from the era of David and Solomon, and it sheds new light on the historical fashions of the Holy Land. The textiles also offer insight into the complex society of the early Edomites, the semi-nomadic people believed to have operated the mines at Timna.

The tiny pieces of fabric, some only 5 x 5 centimeters in size, vary in color, weaving technique and ornamentation. “Some of these fabrics resemble textiles only known from the Roman era,” said Dr. Orit Shamir, a senior researcher at the Israel Antiquities Authority, who led the study of the fabrics themselves.

The excavation of a metallurgical workshop at Timna site. (Photo: Central Timna Valley Project – TAU/JNi Media)

“No textiles have ever been found at excavation sites like Jerusalem, Megiddo and Hazor, so this provides a unique window into an entire aspect of life from which we’ve never had physical evidence before,” Dr. Ben-Yosef said. “We found fragments of textiles that originated from bags, clothing, tents, ropes and cords.”

“The wide variety of fabrics also provides new and important information about the Edomites, who, according to the Bible, warred with the Kingdom of Israel. We found simply woven, elaborately decorated fabrics worn by the upper echelon of their stratified society. Luxury grade fabric adorned the highly skilled, highly respected craftsmen managing the copper furnaces. They were responsible for smelting the copper, which was a very complicated process,”Dr. Ben-Yosef noted.

The archaeologists have also recently discovered thousands of seeds of the Biblical “Seven Species” at the site — the two grains and five fruits considered unique products of the Land of Israel. Some of the seeds were subjected to radiocarbon dating, providing robust confirmation for the age of the site.

“This is the first time seeds from this period have been found uncharred and in such large quantities,” said Dr. Ben-Yosef. “With the advancement of modern science, we now enjoy research options that were unthinkable a few decades ago. We can reconstruct wine typical of King David’s era, for example, and understand the cultivation and domestication processes that have been preserved in the DNA of the seed.”

THE POWER OF COPPER

Copper was used to produce tools and weapons and was the most valuable resource in ancient societies. Its production required many levels of expertise. Miners in ancient Timna may have been slaves or prisoners — theirs was a simple task performed under difficult conditions. But the act of smelting, of turning stone into metal, required an enormous amount of skill and organization. The smelter had to manage some 30 to 40 variables in order to produce the coveted copper ingots.

“The possession of copper was a source of great power, much as oil is today,” Dr. Ben-Yosef said. “If a person had the exceptional knowledge to ‘create copper,’ he was considered well-versed in an extremely sophisticated technology. He would have been considered magical or supernatural, and his social status would have reflected this.”

To support this “silicon valley” of copper production in the middle of the desert, food, water and textiles had to be transported long distances through the unforgiving desert climate and into the valley. The latest discovery of fabrics, many of which were made far from Timna in specialized textile workshops, provides a glimpse into the trade practices and regional economy of the day.

Fine wool textile dyed red and blue. The textile used the varying colors of natural animal hair to create black and orange-brown colors for decorative bands. (Photo: Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority/JNi Media)

“We found linen, which was not produced locally. It was most likely from the Jordan Valley or Northern Israel. The majority of the fabrics were made of sheep’s wool, a cloth that is seldom found in this ancient period,” said TAU masters student Vanessa Workman. “This tells us how developed and sophisticated both their textile craft and trade networks must have been.”

“‘Nomad’ does not mean ‘simple,’” said Dr. Ben-Yosef. “This discovery strengthens our understanding of the Edomites as an important geopolitical presence. The fabrics are of a very high quality, with complex designs and beautiful dyes.”

Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog - U.S. losing ground against Islamic extremism, says former CENTCOM commander

Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

U.S. losing ground against Islamic extremism, says former CENTCOM commander by joelcrosenberg Despite the insistence of President Obama and his senior advisors that the Islamic State and the violent jihadist movement worldwide is losing ground, the former head of U.S. Central Commander says the exact opposite is true. "The U.S. has lost ground in the fight against Islamic extremism, the former commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East said in a recent interview," according to an article inThe Hill, a Washington based newspaper that covers Congressional affairs. The following are excerpts from this important story: "Unfortunately, we have lost ground over time," said retired Gen. John P. Abizaid, former commander of U.S. Central Command in an interview published in this month's West Point's Combating Terrorism Center's magazine. "The scope of the ideological movement, the geographic dispersion of Islamic extremism, the number of terror attacks, the number of people swearing allegiance, and the ground they hold have all increased," said Abizaid. "Groups like the Islamic State have now taken on state-like forms and features that are unlike anything we’ve seen in the past. So on balance we are in a worse position strategically with regard to the growth of international terrorism, Islamic terrorism in particular, than we were after September 2001," he said. The dire assessment highlights the difficulty the Obama administration faces as it tries to accelerate the campaign against ISIS in its remaining 10 months in office.... The administration says the primary focus will remain on Iraq and Syria, but that it will also strike ISIS in other places, such as Afghanistan and Libya, if an opportunity arises. However, with only 10 months remaining in the administration, there is little time for doing significantly more, and the administration has sidestepped questions into whether there will be a more robust effort to go after ISIS in Libya. "I'm not going to look ahead into the future. We're going to continue to respond to the ISIL threat as it develops. We are carrying out a significant campaign against ISIL in Iraq and Syria, and we are prepared — as we have demonstrated in the last 24 hours — to strike ISIL in other parts of the world, as they pose a threat," Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said Friday, using another acronym for ISIS. Abizaid also said the U.S. was making a mistake by not acknowledging that modern-day borders of the Middle East are falling apart. The U.S. is aiming for political solutions in Iraq and Syria that would keep the countries together, instead of broken up along sectarian lines. "I do not think you solve the problem by trying to reinforce the status quo that existed before September 11, 2001," he said. "I think the international community and the leaders in the region have got to decide how best to reshape the Middle East and redraw the boundaries to establish stability and a more peaceful structure," he said. "Nations that are trying to put the status quo back on the map are only going to prolong the conflict and stoke greater violence," he added. "I do not believe we are capable of putting this all back together again. That strategy is bound to fail." One thing the U.S. can do, he recommended, is to put more effort into organizing and leading the international community to do more to take on ISIS. "I’m talking about a raiding strategy where we destroy capability over time in a joint force, which is an integrated international air, ground, and naval effort," he said. "Without American leadership, we’re not going to move in a direction that’s going to produce effective results," he said. "That doesn’t mean we only employ American assets, but it does mean there has to be American commitment to lead the effort and guarantee our partners that there will be some long lasting measures that take place," he said. ————————– Order The First Hostage today — the new political thriller about ISIS plotting a chemical weapons attack against Israel, Jordan and the United States — is available in hardcover, e-book and audio formats. ——————- Subscribe (free) to the RSS feed (click here) and receive every new posting on this blog directly via email. Order THE THIRD TARGET today , the first in this new series — now out in paperback — the New York Times best-selling novel about ISIS capturing chemical weapons in Syria and plotting genocidal attacks. Make an investment in The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.net), our non-profit organization to help Christians care for Syrian refugees, educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, care for the poor and needy in Israel (both Jews and Arabs) with food and other humanitarian relief, care for Holocaust survivors, and strengthen the Church in the epicenter. Read our latest Donor Report, and make a tax deductible, secure, on-line contribution before the end of the year. Follow on Twitter — @joelcrosenberg joelcrosenberg | February 25, 2016 at 11:32 am | Categories: Uncategorized | URL:http://wp.me/piWZ7-4ir

Continuity - The Story of the Israeli Family - video Israel Today

Continuity - The Story of the Israeli Family

Thursday, February 25, 2016 |  Israel Today Staff

The following video is about Roey, a retired captain and decorated combat soldier in the Israeli army.

The following video is about Roey, a retired captain and decorated combat soldier in the Israeli army.

WATCH HERE: Israel Today - Continuity

His family history and commitment to the State of Israel is representative of a great many Israeli Jews.

This is what it means to be Israeli.

This is a story about an Israeli family for which sadness and bereavement are an integral part, but also life, hope and dedication.

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Where Does the History of Israel Begin? - Tsvi Sadan ISRAEL TODAY

Where Does the History of Israel Begin?

Thursday, February 25, 2016 |  Tsvi Sadan  

 ISRAEL TODAY

RELATED STORIES

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Topics:

Bible

In the never-ending debate between political rivals, the latest fracas erupted after right-wing Minister of Education Naftali Bennet posted to Facebook this week stating, "I am proud to announce that fifty years after Jerusalem was freed, the educational system will devote the next year to our united capital." 

Bennet went on to remind Israelis that "our history begins with Jerusalem."

Left-wing Member of Knesset Stav Shaffir (Labor) rushed to "correct" the minister via Twitter, insisting that  "we came here from Egypt," hence, our history as a people with Egypt. 

Her tweet was subjected to a feast of ridicule. One fake Twitter account had Shaffir saying that the two Tablets of Stone (Ten Commandments) were made in China because it says in the Mishna that "Moses received Torah from Sini" (in Hebrew, one vowel changes Sinai to Sini, the word for Chinese).

Laughs aside, Shaffir touched upon an ever relevant subject with which Jews have continuously wrestled – does Israel have the right to a land occupied by others? 

Those like Shaffir who support a Palestinian state are basically saying that Israel stole another people's land, and it should be given back to them. If indeed they are right, the Bible should have opened, as Shaffir suggests, with the people of Israel leaving Egypt and becoming a nation.

This position is nothing news. From time immemorial, Jews have been suggesting that since the five books of Moses are regarded as Torah or Law, the Bible should begin with the first commandment given to Israel as a people, which is, "this month shall be unto you the beginning of months" (Exodus 12:2) 

Instead, the Bible opens with "in the beginning God created..." 

Interesting as the stories of Genesis and those leading up to the Exodus are, the relevant "beginning" is the first commandment, and the passages from Genesis 1 to Exodus 12 are, therefore, superfluous. Or so this logic goes.

But it must be for good reason that the Bible opens with Genesis, and not with Israel in Egypt. 

Based on Psalm 111:6, God told the story of Genesis so that Israel could not be accused of being "robbers, because you took by force the lands of Canaan." This famous rabbinical commentary demonstrates that long before there was any Palestinian, Jews were conscience of the fact that the Promise Land was under dispute. 

Israel's claim to it rests upon the premise that it was given to her as a declaration of the power of His works and to be a light to the nations.

The Promise Land, therefore, is not some kind of divine reward for those who suffered under the hand of Egypt, or even for those who endured the Holocaust. Israel inherited the Land for the sole purpose of guiding humanity to the God who created heaven and earth. Failing to do so endangers not only Israel, but the entire world. 

In other words, the people of Israel sustain the world through submission to God.

In this light, though she claims to be Zionist, Stav Shaffir's understanding of Israel's history actually forfeits Israel's right to the entire Land of Israel, and not just to the "occupied territories," because in a world void of God, Israel is truly a robber of another people's land.

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Overcoming Satanic Attacks of Discouragement - DR. F. DEAN HACKETT CHARISMA MAGAZINE

Overcoming Satanic Attacks of Discouragement

 2/23/2016 DR. F. DEAN HACKETT  charisma magazine

Satan is well-aware of our weaknesses, and he always takes advantage of those weak spots, but you don't have to fall for it. (iStockPhoto | Chepko)

Through many years as a missionary in Asia, I have had lots of opportunity to feel the keen edge of Satan's tool of discouragement. I discovered that he keeps this particular tool in readiness at all times, and he's always sharpening it for use on the unsuspecting.

And that's what alarms me. None of us should ever be taken by surprise.

Just study the description of Satan in the Bible—he is a deceiver of the brethren, a liar, he masquerades as a harmless sheep, but he is actually a wolf in sheep's clothing, and furthermore, he is described a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. That is enough to put us on high alert!

My problem has been, and I suspect yours may be, the fact that we are lulled to sleep for various reasons and we drop our guard.

Satan is well-aware of our weaknesses, and he always takes advantage of those weak spots. Sometimes he afflicts us with sickness as in Job's case, to get our eyes off Jesus. There are times when he brings financial reverses or causes a lack of sufficient funds as in Job's case when he lost all his possessions and his children. His purpose was to bring despair into Job's heart so that he would curse God and turn his back on Him.

There are times when our children are subjected to attack while at boarding school or college in the States. That is most stressful, and if we are not living close to God, it can have devastating effects.

Such things can occur in all of our lives and can cause times of great discouragement and despair because we see the problem rather than the Problem Solver.

There are often times of misunderstanding and criticism that sweep over us like a tidal wave. To make matters worse, the criticism often comes from fellow believers, as in Paul's case in the book of Philippians. Worry and fear may grip our hearts and sometimes produce a spiritual paralysis that neutralizes faith and immobilizes us.

The first thing we need to do is get alone with God and let His reassuring voice speak peace to our hearts. I have found that it often is at times when I am especially busy doing kingdom work that I neglect communion with God. If this condition persists, we are in danger of spiritual starvation while a spiritual feast is spread out before us. Prayer has been pushed aside to meet the urgent needs confronting us. I know this is true from personal experience. Every time I have been caught in the slough of despair, it was because I failed to take the time to be with God and in His Word.

The amazing thing I have discovered when buffeted by Satan is the power of the Word of God to lift my despairing spirit, and the power of prayer to overcome anything Satan throws at me. It has always been amazing to me how the application of His Word and the power of prayer restore me to instant victory.

There are some things we must not forget.

We cannot overcome Satan in our own strength. He will come to hound us at any moment, but we know from God's Word that we are more than conquerors through our Lord Jesus Christ. Take time to immerse yourself in God's Word daily and never neglect prayer.

We know that Satan trembles when we bow our knees in prayer, and he flees from the Word.

So know your enemy and his strengths and weaknesses as a good general knows the enemy he faces. Be sure to put on the whole armor of God and stand in the strength of our Mighty Conqueror.

Whoever lives in the light of Christ's presence and Word will be well-able to stand every attack of the enemy and be more than a conqueror through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Dr. F. Dean Hackett has served in full-time Christian ministry since October 1971. He has ministered throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, serving as pastor, conference speaker and mentor. He has planted four churches, assisted in planting 15 others, and currently serves as lead pastor of Living Faith Church in Hermiston, Oregon. Dr. Hackett founded Spirit Life Ministries International in 2001 to facilitate ministries in Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina and to open a training center for workers in those nations. You can find him at F. Dean Hackett - Foundational,Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

NEW from CHARISMA: Do you want to encounter the Holy Spirit and hear God speak to you? Increase your faith, discover freedom, and draw near to God! Click Here

DNA Study Offers Definitive Proof That Jewish Ancestry Traces Back To the Land of Israel By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

(Photo: API Flickr/Wikimedia Commons)

DNA Study Offers Definitive Proof That Jewish Ancestry Traces Back To the Land of Israel

By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz February 24, 2016  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“And He brought him forth abroad, and said: ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if thou be able to count them’; and He said unto him: ‘So shall thy seed be.’ And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness. And He said unto him: ‘I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.’”
Genesis 15:5-7 (The Israel Bible™)

There are those who claim that present day Jews are not the descendants of the original Hebrews and therefore have no claim to the land. This claim also discredits the idea that the modern State of Israel could be part of the Messianic return, the ingathering of the exiles predicted by the prophets. For those willing to listen to scientific proof, this claim has been entirely discredited by recent studies in genetics.

Perhaps the strongest voice claiming the present day Jews settling in Israel are not descended from the original Hebrews is Tel Aviv University historian Shlomo Sand. In his international best-seller, The Invention of the Jewish People (2008), he asserts that the Jews of today did not originate in the Mediterranean and that a “nation-race” of Jews never existed.

Jews today, he claims, share a common religion but not a common ethnic background. His book argues that there is no evidence of the expulsion of the Jews from ancient Israel, and therefore it never happened, meaning that the diaspora is a modern invention.

He claims that Judaism was a religion which arose outside of Israel based on massive conversions that continued until the rise of Christianity in the fourth century and that most Jews today are the descendants of people who lived elsewhere in the world, the products of conversion.

Sand equates the Jews’ longing for Israel, what he calls “the mythical Kingdom of David”, with other European nationalist movements. The significant difference according to Sand is that the holy land was to be longed for but not lived in until the divinely sent Messiah arrives.

Sand’s theory has becoming a lightning rod for controversy, attracting criticism as well as high praise. His book received the “Prix Aujourd’hui” in France and has been translated into more languages than any other Israeli book. Haaretz called it a “success for Israel”. Eric Hobsbawm, a Jewish retired professor of history and fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, selected Sand’s book as one of his “Books of the Year” for 2009.

However, Professor Sand has also been criticized for his methodology and how he relates to sources and physical evidence. In addition, he admits that this area of history is not his expertise. But without a doubt, the strongest objection to Sand’s rebuttal of modern Jewish claims on the land of Israel comes from recent developments in the area of practical genetics.

In 2010, Harry Ostrer, a medical geneticist from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, published a study concluding that many “geographically and culturally distant Jews still have more genes in common than they do with non-Jews around them,” and that such genes were of “Levantine origin”.  Ostrer said, “I would hope that these observations would put the idea that Jewishness is just a cultural construct to rest.”

Sand replied to the genetic study’s refutation by saying, “Hitler would certainly have been very pleased.”

Breaking Israel News spoke to Bennett Greenspan about the genetic aspect of Judaism and how it relates to the Jewish claim to the Land of Israel. Greenspan founded Family Tree DNA, the first American company to offer genealogical DNA testing directly to the general public, and his conclusions are based on a database of hundreds of thousands of genetic samples .

“On the Y-DNA test that tracks the paternal line, 75-85% of Jews have a Semitic ancestry, that is to say they are from the Middle East. ‘Semitic’ may also include Turkey and Northern Syria, going back 3,000 years,” Greenspan explained.

He said that according to the genetic results, “I am a Jewish Arab. The world has Christian Arabs, Muslim Arabs, and Jewish Arabs. The difference is that 2,000 years ago, the Muslim Arabs didn’t yet have a religion, and the Jewish Arabs did. Our Temple was defiled, the Jews revolted, and we got beat. The Jews were exiled from our land by the superpower of the day.”

“Shlomo Sand is wrong when he says that Jews are no more related to other Jews in other places in the world than to Christians or Muslims,” Greenspan stated unequivocally to Breaking Israel News. “The genetic facts do not at all support that theory, and do support the opposite. The genetic evidence is strikingly clear.”

Sand’s premise, even when he wrote the book, was outlandish to many critics. His reason for taking such an untenable stance was that he believed a common ethnic basis for Judaism “nourishes anti-Semitism”. However, by denying Jewish ethnicity in an attempt to prevent anti-Semitism, Sand’s thesis has become a battle cry for haters of Israel.

The creation of the modern State of Israel has once again made Judaism a national identity and not just a religion limited to the occasional visit to the synagogue. The scattered children of Abraham have gathered together as an unmistakeable result of God’s covenant. Science has proven this to be undeniably true.