Thursday, October 2, 2014

"You Are My Protective Shelter" ✡ Yom Kippur Prayers

I have cried out to You, God. I have said, ‘You are my protective shelter, my portion of the living land.’

PSALMS (142:6)

זָעַקְתִּי אֵלֶיךָ יְ-הֹוָה אָמַרְתִּי אַתָּה מַחְסִּי חֶלְקִי בְּאֶרֶץ הַחַיִּים

תהילים קמב:ו


za-ak-tee ay-le-kha a-do-nai a-mar-tee a-ta makh-see khel-kee b'-e-retz ha-khai-yeem

Today's Israel Inspiration

One of the central features of the Yom Kippur service is known as the “Yizkor” memorial prayer in which we pray for those who have past away. This year, all High Holiday support for the Hebron Fund will be used for projects to honor the memory of the three Israeli boys who were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas this summer. Local residents of Hebron assisted in the search for the boys and many came to pray throughout the ordeal at the Cave of our Patriarchs in Hebron.

The First "City of David" in Hebron

The ancient tombs of Jesse and Ruth, King David’s father and great-grandmother, are located in Hebron and visited in this eye-opening video. Learn how Hebron was the site of the first “City of David” and his kingdom.

Prayers in Hebron

The Hebron Fund has brought together both Chief Rabbis of Israel as well as many other spiritual leaders, together with the parents of the three slain teens, Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar, and Eyal Yifrach, in a commemorative evening of inspirational prayer, in the second holiest site in Israel.

Star of David Necklace

This unique necklace features a Star of David with the Rose of Bethlehem, a natural flower of the Judean desert which blossoms again and again with only a few drops of water. Carry God's miraculous blessings close to your heart with this meaningful gift.

Today's Israel Photo

During the days of the High Holidays, many worshipers come to pray here in the Cave where our Patriarchs and Matriarchs are buried in Hebron.

Thank You

Please help us continue to spread the beauty and significance of the Land of Israel!

“Great to Read Israel365 Everyday!”

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Great to read Israel365 every day! I’m praying for Israel regularly, sometimes several times a day. Shalom! Tine

Rabbi, Truly a blessing to hear your inspirational words and quotes... I pray that God will watch over His people... May God always bless you for your work and keep you strong to carry on. Bruce P., Oklahoma USA
Shalom,
Rabbi Tuly Weisz
RabbiTuly@Israel365.com

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Huckabee: It's an Urgent Time to Stand with Israel

Mike Huckabee

Huckabee: It's an Urgent Time to Stand with Israel


On Sunday, October 5, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee joins Concerned Women for America for a rally in support of Israel in Washington, D.C.

"I have been to Israel nearly 30 times over the past 41 years and have never seen the nation under such threat," Huckabee said. "Israel is our closest ally and friend in the Middle East, and they are suffering due to the weak policies of the Obama administration."

"God has protected this tiny but increasingly powerful nation, and it's time for the United States to do the same," he said.

CWA President Penny Nance agreed.

"The violence wrought by Hamas, coupled with the jaw dropping anti-Semitic reaction by much of the Western world, should awaken American Christians to the clear and present danger to our allies and our friends," she said.

Huckabee spoke with Pat Robertson about the rally and why it is more important than ever before to stand with Israel.

Stand with Israel Rally
Date: Sunday, October 5, 2014
Time: 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. EST
Location: Upper Senate Park
200 New Jersey Ave, NW
Washington, D.C. 20001

Mike Huckabee & Pat Robertson


What did Netanyahu discuss with the President in the Oval Office? - Joel Rosenberg

What did Netanyahu discuss with the President in the Oval Office? Stopping Iran. Here’s the latest.

by joelcrosenberg
President Obama talks to Israeli PM Netanyahu during an Oval Office meeting on October 1st. (Credit: YouTube/The White House)
President Obama talks to Israeli PM Netanyahu during an Oval Office meeting on October 1st. (Credit: YouTube/The White House)
Many issues have complicated the U.S.-Israeli relationship -- and particularly the personal relationship between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu -- in recent years. The Palestinian issue. The future of Jerusalem. Settlements. Hamas and Gaza. But none have divided the two leaders more than how to deal with Iran.
Obama and Netanyahu have deeply divergent views of the urgency of the nuclear threat, and how best to stop Iran from building nuclear warheads and the missiles to deliver them. Now we are rapidly approaching the end game with the P5+1 talks with Iran. It is crunch time, and Netanyahu is worried that Obama is not worried enough. The Israeli premier is concerned that the President is too willing to make too many concessions to Iran, concessions that could make it easier for Iran to quickly build The Bomb.
Many issues were touched on in Wednesday's Oval Office meeting. But none so important as the Iran issue. Here's a sampling of the coverage from major media outlets:
(Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly told U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday that he must make sure that any final nuclear deal with Iran does not leave it at the “threshold" of being able to develop nuclear weapons.
Even as Netanyahu pressed Obama over Iran in White House talks, the president urged the Israeli leader to help find ways to prevent Palestinian civilian casualties like those inflicted in the recent Gaza war between Israel and Hamas militants.
Netanyahu's visit was clouded by word of Israel's approval of the planned construction of more than 2,600 settler homes in mostly Arab East Jerusalem.
The White House said the matter came up in the leaders' closed-door talks and warned that it would draw international condemnation, "poison the atmosphere" with the Palestinians as well as Arab governments and call into question Israel's commitment to peace.
Meeting for the first time in eight months, the two leaders, who have a history of strained relations, avoided any direct verbal clash during a brief press appearance and even seemed in sync over the fight against Islamic State militants.
But they were unable to hide their differences on some of the issues that have stoked tension between them.
Underscoring Israeli misgivings at a critical juncture in nuclear talks between Iran and world powers, Netanyahu made clear that he remains at odds with Obama about the course of international negotiations with Israel’s regional arch-foe.
"As you know, Mr. President, Iran seeks a deal that would lift the tough sanctions that you worked so hard to put in place and leave it as a threshold nuclear power," Netanyahu said. "I firmly hope under your leadership that would not happen."
The crux of the U.S.-Israeli disagreement is that Netanyahu wants Tehran completely stripped of its nuclear capability, while Obama has suggested he is open to Iran continuing to enrich uranium on a limited basis for civilian purposes.
While Netanyahu put the emphasis on Iran, Obama was quick to focus on the bloody 55-day Gaza conflict, which ended in August with no clear victor. This followed the collapse of U.S.-sponsored peace talks between Israel and Palestinians in April.
“We have to find ways to change the status quo so that both Israeli citizens are safe in their own homes and school children in their schools from the possibility of rocket fire, but also that we don’t have the tragedy of Palestinian children being killed as well,” Obama said.
The Obama administration had backed Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas cross-border rocket fire, but also voiced rare criticism of Israeli military tactics as Palestinian civilian casualties mounted.
The conflict killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry. Sixty-seven Israeli soldiers and six civilians in Israel were killed.
THINKING 'OUTSIDE THE BOX'
Netanyahu said he remained “committed to a vision of peace for two states for two peoples," but he did not offer any path toward restarting negotiations.
Instead, he suggested there was a need to “think outside the box” and recruit moderate Arab states to advance peace in the region, though he offered no specifics. Palestinians have dismissed this approach as a bid to circumvent direct talks.
Within hours of the talks, both the White House and State Department blasted Israel's housing decision, reported by the anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now, to move forward on the settler housing project slated for construction since 2012.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to speculate whether disclosure of the settlement plan was timed for Netanyahu's Washington visit.
The Obama administration has repeatedly urged a halt to settlement expansion.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem after its capture in the 1967 war, when the West Bank and Gaza were also seized. Citing Biblical roots, Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its capital, a claim not recognized internationally.
The leaders showed no outward tension as they sat side-by-side in the Oval Office. Both were cordial and businesslike. The last thing the White House wanted was a repetition of a 2011 visit when Netanyahu lectured Obama on Jewish history.
But even with calm words, there was little doubt about the lingering differences.
Netanyahu was expected to use the Oval Office meeting to reiterate the warning he issued in his speech at the United Nations this week – that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a far greater threat than Islamic State fighters who have seized swathes of Syria and Iraq. An Iranian U.N. delegate accused Netanyahu of "propagating Iranophobia and Islamophobia."
Though Israel backs Obama’s efforts to forge a coalition to confront Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, some Israelis fear that world powers could go easy on Shi’ite Iran’s nuclear program so it will help in the fight against the Sunni Islamist group.
"The president made clear to the prime minister that regional events, including the need to destroy ISIL, won’t change our calculus on this issue," said White House spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan. "We must see concrete, verifiable steps that Iran’s program is exclusively peaceful.”
Netanyahu has cast Iran's nuclear ambitions as an existential threat to Israel. Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons. Israel is widely assumed to have the Middle East’s only atomic arsenal.
Iran and six world powers ended 10 days of talks in New York last week that made little progress toward a long-term agreement by a November 24 deadline.
joelcrosenberg | October 2, 2014 at 7:38 am | Categories: Uncategorized | URL:http://wp.me/piWZ7-38j

Are We Headed Toward Revival or Retribution? DAVID RAVENHILL

Are We Headed Toward Revival or Retribution?

David Ravenhill
David Ravenhill
Within the last three days I've received two very different YouTube messages from two senior charismatic prophetic leaders. The first leader, Rick Joyner, was citing a very vivid and frightening dream he recently had of terrorists coming across our southern border and carrying out unimaginable acts of brutality. So horrendous were these acts that Joyner stated he was not even going to describe them due to their violent and barbaric nature. (Only today we learned of the beheading of an Oklahoma woman by a recent convert to Islam.)
The other video centered around the "Appeal To Heaven" movement. Dutch Sheets, a well-known teacher and prophetic minister, was relating how our nation's first flag was that of a green pine tree on a white background bearing the words "Appeal to Heaven."
America during its first fledgling years knew the people's only hope for existence as a nation was sole dependency upon God. The point of the message was that several people through dreams, etc., believed that God was once again bringing us back to this place of absolute dependency upon Him; and that as we sought Him, He would bring about a Third Great Awakening in our nation.
My first reaction to these very different prophetic words was one of confusion. On one hand was the possibility of retribution while on the other, that of revival.
What was I to believe? As I pondered over these words I came to the realization that both were correct and that one was not necessarily in opposition to the other.          
Let me see if I can explain myself. I believe it's all a matter of timing or order.
Imagine if you were one of the many hundreds of missionaries who had given their lives to serve God in China prior to the Cultural Revolution under Chairman Mao Zedong. Once the revolution had begun, you were forced to leave—no doubt wondering in your mind what on earth was going to happen now that all the missionaries had been forced out. Fast-forward to the present, and we are now witnessing one of the greatest moves of God in recent history. What at first appeared to be a major disaster turned into mighty testimony to the power and grace of God.
The prophet Isaiah declared, "When the earth experiences Thy judgments the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness." He went on to say, "Though the wicked is shown favor he does not learn righteousness" (Is. 26:9-10). It is my personal belief that America is in for a time of judgment and that to be shown favor now would only delay God's ultimate purpose.
That said, I believe we are going to see an increase in violence, terrorism and natural calamities. God will use this to separate the carnal from the consecrated and in turn, produce a church that is truly Christ-centered. It would not surprise me in the least to see an underground church in America in the not-too-distant future—a church where every member functions in their God-given gifting and where everyone depends not only on each other but also holds fast to Christ their Lord and Head.
I truly believe that God wants to send revival to our nation, but revival now would simply cause the vast majority of believers to go on with business as usual.
I well recall during the first year of our ministry working with Brother David Wilkerson in Teen Challenge in Brooklyn, New York. One cold winter's day two drug addicts came in seeking shelter. Bro. David talked to them for a while and then I saw them leave. Bro. David said to me after they had left that he couldn't help them because they were not desperate enough to give up their drugs. He went on to say that all they really wanted was a bed for the night and a good hot meal. I somehow think that is what the church is looking for in revival—a good sermon, some great music, followed by some carpet time.
But I believe God's plans are radically different. He's looking for a pure, passionate, powerful people whose only desire is to extend His kingdom. A people who will love not their lives unto death, and whose first love is not the NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL, but Christ Himself.
We are nowhere near to having Christ as our first love. God must first produce a real CRY in His people. We cry when we are in pain and not until. King David said, "Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now I have kept Thy word" (Ps. 119:67, KJV). Or to put it another way, "Spare the rod and spoil the child."
The shakings have begun. Watch out for more. But remember, that while "no chastening seems to be joyful for the present ... afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness" (Heb. 12:11, NKJV, emphasis added).
I see Joyner's dream coming to pass first, and then followed by a great awakening.
That's my opinion, and time will prove me right or wrong.
David Ravenhill has served the Lord for more than 40 years as a missionary, pastor, teacher and itinerant minister, having worked with the late evangelist David Wilkerson, Youth With A Mission, pastor Mike Bickle and the late evangelist Steve Hill. He is the author of several books, including For God's Sake, Grow Up! and Welcome Home.


Yom Kippur at the Western Wall 100 Years Ago

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)


Posted: 01 Oct 2014 

Jews at the Kotel on Yom Kippur (circa 1904) See analysis of  the graffiti
on the wall for dating this picture. The graffiti on the Wall are memorial
notices (not as one reader suggested applied to the photo later). (Library of Congress)

On Saturday, Jews around the world will commemorate Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  For many centuries, Jews in the Land of Israel prayed at the Western Wall, the remnant of King Herod's retaining wall of the Temple complex destroyed in 70 AD.

Several readers noticed and commented on the intermingling of men and women in these historic pictures. It was not by choice.  The Turkish and British rulers of Jerusalem imposed severe restrictions on the Jewish worshipers,  prohibiting chairs, forbidding screens to divide the men and women, and even banning the blowing of the shofar at the end of the Yom Kippur service.  Note that the talit prayer shawls, normally worn by men throughout Yom Kippur, are not visible in the pictures.

The men are wearing their festival/Sabbath finery, including their
fur shtreimel hats. Note the prayer shawls.  (Credit: RCB Library1897)


We found one rare picture in an Irish church's archives, dated 1897, showing men wearing prayer shawls at the Kotel.




View this video, Echoes of a Shofarto see the story of young men who defied British authorities between 1930 and 1947 and blew the shofar at the Kotel.









Another view of the Western Wall on Yom Kippur. Note the various groups of worshipers: The Ashkenazic Hassidim wearing the fur shtreimel hats in the foreground, the Sephardic Jews wearing the fezzes in the
center, and the women in the back wearing white shawls. (Circa 1904, Library of Congress)

For the 19 years that Jordan administered the Old City, 1948-1967, no Jews were permitted to pray at the Kotel.  Many of the photo collections we have surveyed contain numerous pictures of Jewish worshipers at the Western Wall over the last 150 years.

After the 1967 war, the Western Wall plaza was enlarged and large areas of King Herod's wall have been exposed.  Archaeologists have also uncovered major subterranean tunnels -- hundreds of meters long -- that are now open to visitors to Jerusalem.
  
Click on the photos to enlarge.  Click on the captions to see the originals. 

Did Netanyahu Bury the Two-State Solution?

Did Netanyahu Bury the Two-State Solution?

Wednesday, October 01, 2014 |  Ryan Jones  ISRAEL TODAY
Some Israeli politicians see in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stirring speech before the UN General Assembly the final nail in the coffin of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In his speech, Netanyahu made clear that the current “template” for peace has failed, and that Israel is not prepared to repeat the mistakes of the Lebanon and Gaza withdrawals in Judea and Samaria (the so-called “West Bank”).
The Israeli leader strongly urged that Western peace brokers first facilitate stronger ties between the Jewish state and its more moderate Arab neighbors as a necessary first step toward eventual rapprochement with the Palestinians.
As far as Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely was concerned, Netanyahu had effectively stated there would never be a Palestinian state on Israel’s biblical heartland.
Netanyahu’s speech “informed the world that the two-state solution is dead,” Hotovely told Arutz Sheva Radio. “He spoke about the Middle East, about Cairo and Saudi Arabia and in essence hinted at other solutions rather than dividing the country. He alluded to the concepts of confederation.”
While Netanyahu did make reference to “territorial compromise,” he very conspicuously avoided the phrases “Palestinian state” or “two states for two peoples.”
In an interview with NPR, Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who heads Israel’s peace negotiations and supports the two-state solution, suggested that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ intransigent speech days earlier had facilitated Netanyahu’s new position and all but killed the peace process.
Last Friday when he mounted the same podium at the UN General Assembly, Abbas essentially labeled Israel as his enemy and gave virtually no hope that peace talks based on mutual goodwill would restart any time soon.
“Instead of following the path of negotiations which would have enabled the creation of a Palestinian state, Abbas is now going to spend years on his [unilateral] demand for the UN to set a date for statehood,” said Livni. “Abbas should have opted for the American framework document which would have led him to a Palestinian state.”
Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz said he was unsurprised by Abbas’ belligerence, insisting that the current Palestinian leader had transformed into “a more serious enemy” than his predecessor, Yasser Arafat.
“[Abbas’] ideology is stronger and [he] negates the existence of a Jewish state and the right of the Jewish people to have a state of their own,” Steinitz told a conference at Bar-Ilan University. “For [Abbas], there is no Jewish people. He is only willing to recognize the Jewish religion.”
Still, there were some holdouts for “land-for-peace,” even if it meant Israel tread that path alone.
During a panel discussion on Channel 2 News, Opposition and Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog was asked to explain exactly what he expects of Netanyahu in his (Herzog’s) repeated demands that the prime minister continue to advance the peace process.
Herzog acknowledged that all previous surrender of land had only resulted in more terrorism, but nevertheless insisted that Netanyahu announce additional withdrawals backed by “iron clad guarantees.”
He failed to elaborate, or to address the fact that the 2005 Gaza pullout was supposedly backed by “iron clad guarantees” that failed to prevent Hamas’ violent takeover or subsequent assaults on southern Israel.
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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Benjamin Netanyahu at UN Full Speech 9/29/2014

Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister of Israel


Published on Sep 29, 2014
UN General Assembly

Hamas rockets placed among playing children.

"Israel was using its missiles to protect their children. Hamas was using its children to protect its missiles." Benjamin Netanyahu





Israel's Role in the Battle Against Ebola

Israel's Role in the Battle Against Ebola

Tuesday, September 30, 2014 |  Israel Today Staff
Israel over the past month has been playing an increasingly central role in the global battle against the Ebola epidemic in West Africa that the UN Security Council recently deemed a “threat to international peace and security.”
Over 6,000 cases of Ebola have been reported and over 3,000 people have died of the disease in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since the start of the year. The actual numbers are estimated to be much higher, though most cases are concealed for fear of forced quarantine.
On at least two occasions in recent months Israel has quarantined people suspected of having contracted the virus during visits to Africa. Both cases turned out to be false alarms.
Israel has dispatched medical teams to Sierra Leone and Cameroon to train local doctors on how to better combat the Ebola outbreak. Sierra Leone has also requested medication for treating the symptoms of Ebola, and Israel has reportedly promised to provide.
There is no known cure for Ebola, though American drug company Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. has produced an experimental treatment known as ZMapp. The only problem is that the relatively limited supply of ZMapp has been exhausted, and the company says it will take months to produce more.
An Israeli biopharmaceutical company, Protalix, says it is ready to step in and fill the gap.
“Today our production capacity exceeds our needs, and we would certainly be happy to have the company producing the Ebola drug have us produce the drug for them. We would know how to do it effectively, in large quantities, and in a relatively short period of time,” a representative of Protalix told Channel 2 News.
Meanwhile, a smartphone app developed atop an Israeli-made platform is already having a major impact on the spread of Ebola.
Called “About Ebola” and available for both iOS and Android, the app’s makers successfully leveraged the Snapp platform to get the crucial software to market in a mere three days.
About Ebola has since been downloaded thousands of times by medical workers in the field and by residents of the affected areas. It has even been rapidly translated into local rural languages thanks to the flexibility of Snapp.
When the UN Security Council two weeks ago gathered in emergency sessions for the first time ever in response to a health crisis, Ambassador Ron Prosor said that “Israel is proud to be playing its part” in the urgent global effort to defeat Ebola.
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