Commentary: Why Does Yehovah Give Us Yom Teru'ah In the Middle Of the Year, and Rosh HaShanah In the Spring?

1. "1 And Yehovah spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying: 2 'This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you." (From Exodus 12, JPS 1917)
2. "3 And Moses said unto the people: 'Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yehovah brought you out from this place; there shall no leavened bread be eaten. 4 This day ye go forth in the month Aviv." (From Exodus 13)
3. "And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no manner of servile work; it is a day of blowing the horn unto you." (Numbers 29:1. This might look familiar 🙂.)
4. "And on the tenth day of this seventh month ye shall have a holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls; ye shall do no manner of work;" (Number 29:7)
5. "Then shalt thou make proclamation with the blast of the horn on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of atonement shall ye make proclamation with the horn throughout all your land. 10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. 11 A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you; ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of the undressed vines." (From Leviticus 25)
6. "The spirit of Adonai Yehovah is upon me; because Yehovah hath anointed me to bring good tidings unto the humble; He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the eyes to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the year of Yehovah's good pleasure, and the day of vengeance of Eloheinu; to comfort all that mourn; 3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the mantle of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called terebinths of righteousness, the planting of Yehovah, wherein He might glory." (From Isaiah 61)
7. "And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the wayfaring man in the broad place of the city; and the old man said: 'Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?'" (Judges 19:17)

Ken...anachu tovim? Anachu tovim achshi'av?

Ken. Anachu tovim. Anachu tovim achishi'av.   

So, why the long drash of verses here? Well, to answer the question as to why Yehovah give us Yom Teru'ah in the middle of the year, and Rosh HaShanah in the spring:

1. If for nothing else, Yom Teru'ah marks the middle of the year to both prepare us for the next year—especially if the year is the Shanah HaYovel—and have us thank Yehovah that we've survived the year so far—see especially Passages 3-6.
2. Yom Teru'ah and Yom Kippur help us reflect on the year so far, where we're going and where we've been in terms of walking with Yehovah, and what we can do differently with the rest of the year and with the coming year—see especially Passages 2, 6, and 7. Also note how Yom Teru'ah parallels with Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur with the picking out of the Pesach lamb (See Exodus 12:3-17), and Pesach with Sukkot (ibid.).
3. In light of Yom Teru'ah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot being times of reflection (since—remember—we should, if we can, dwell in sukkot during Sukkot to remember that we were strangers in Egypt—not to mention gerim v'toshavim like Avraham, Yitzchak, v'Ya'akov Avoteinu. Thus, no day of the year is unto our ourselves—every day is to Yehovah and thus for what we might do to both glorify Yehovah and to help others (and glorify Yehovah in doing so). See especially Passages 3-6.

There are other reasons as well. Meanwhile, these are the three main reasons: preparing for the rest of the year and the coming of the next year, stopping to take stock of where we're going and where we've been, and renewing our commitment to Yehovah and to helping others commit and recommit to Yehovah. 

PS:

1. I wasn't afraid to change the euphemisms "The LORD", etc. to "Yehovah", nor "Abib" to the more-correct "Aviv".
2. In full disclosure, I'm a Jewish Christian and see additional reasons as to why Yom Teru'ah is in the middle of the year and Rosh HaShanah in the spring, although I think that everyone can agree on the reasons that I cited above—regardless of what each of us believes about Yeshua (Jesus)—thus, I think to cite the reasons that I cited is sufficient. 

Nicole Czarnecki's answer to "If my maternal grandmother was Jewish, but my maternal grandfather wasn't, am I Jewish?" on Quora

Yes. Here’s the little secret that few like to tell: the one-sixteenth rule comes right from Tanakh (Specifically, Divrei HaYamim Alef). Because Anti-Semitic and other racists perverted it, what was a protection of bloodlines for as many generations as possible—i.e., that you could be considered a given ethnicity so long as you were one-sixteenth that—became perverted into the one-drop rule.

14 The sons of Manasseh: Asriel, whom his wife bore--his concubine the Aramitess bore Machir the father of Gilead;

15 and Machir took a wife of Huppim and Shuppim, whose sister's name was Maacah--and the name of the second was Zelophehad; and Zelophehad had daughters.

16 And Maacah the wife of Machir bore a son, and she called his name Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh; and his sons were Ulam and Rekem.

17 And the sons of Ulam: Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.

18 And his sister Hammolecheth bore Ish-hod, and Abiezer, and Mahlah.

19 And the sons of Shemida were Ahian, and Shechem, and Likhi, and Aniam. {P}

[JPS 1917, via MechonMamre.org]

Machir ben Menashe was one-sixteenth Jewish and established the cutoff when he married a daughter of ‘Am Yisra’el. Why? Because Yitzchak, through whom B’nei Avraham are counted, was the first Jew (and Jews are called thus partly because Yehudah—Judah—is the tribe through whom is the ancestral line of Mashiach—assuming that there is a literal Mashiach and regardless of whom one believes him to be).

A "Secret Society" And Other ***** Conspiracy Theories

"11 For Yehovah spoke thus to me with a strong hand, admonishing me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 'Say ye not: A conspiracy, concerning all whereof this people do say: A conspiracy; neither fear ye their fear, nor account it dreadful. 13 Yehovah Tzva'ot, Him shall ye sanctify; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. 14 And He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.' {P}"

(Isaiah 8:11-15)

To how many people whom are of Israel and whom claim to be grafted into Israel would this apply? Plenty! I've already discussed how many have willingly self Pavloved re ***** and Clinton.

("['N]either fear ye their fear, nor account it dreadful. Yehovah Tzva'ot, Him shall ye sanctify; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.[']")

It's now gotten to the point at which an FBI informant purportedly alleges that an Anti-Trump "secret society" exists, and the "Daily Caller"—Tucker Carlson's former paper—claims to have procured certain correspondences. 

Meanwhile, the apparent FBI informant may not be exactly that—and Ron Johnson himself played an "It depends on what your definition of 'is' is" game:

‘Is there anything more about that?’ Baier asked.

‘No. But we have to dig into it - this is not a distraction. Again, this is bias - potentially corruption - at the highest level of the FBI,’ Johnson said.

‘By the way, Robert Mueller used to run the FBI,’ he said. ‘He is in no position to do an investigation over this kind of misconduct.’

Basically, "I can't back up my claim; so I'm just going to turn it on Mueller."

An non-"what...'is' is" answer would've been something like, "The informant in question did not reveal any more information to me at this time." or "I wasn't given any further information, although I will continue to talk to the informant in the coming days."

As for the "Daily Caller":

1. Considering that it is Tucker Carlson's former paper, you have to consider what kind of (apparent) journalistic culture the "Daily Caller" bureau has (and given that Tucker Carlson founded the paper and seems to have left his mark there, you probably will conclude that there is certainly an anti-journalistic culture there). You also have to consider who Tucker Carlson is, as much as you have to comparably consider who Ariana Huffington is when you think about the "Huffington Post" (Granted that the "Huffington Post" seems to have gotten better since its founder left it, and granted that she nonetheless left as much of a mark on her namesake paper as much as Tucker Carlson has left on his paper).
2. Considering who Tucker Carlson is and what the "Daily Caller" is, you have to consider the parallels between them and Julian Assange & Wikileaks. In other words, for example, you can guarantee that the "Daily Caller" deliberately decontextualized any correspondence that they obtained as much as Wikileaks deliberately decontextualized any correspondence that they obtained, including correspondence that they twisted in order to push conspiracy theories that the Scalia Family asked people to stop spreading (By the way, Snopes is not "Pro Soros", lefty, etc.. Were they such, they wouldn't have spoken out against notorious leftist Donna Hylton, for example.)

Meanwhile, a report that Senate Majority Leader prevented then-POTUS Obama from alerting American voters to election fraud just broke. And what have Senator Ron Johnson, Tucker Carlson, and others—including Sean Hannity—done in the meantime? Tried to affect people to believe conspiracy theories, and in the name of Judeo-Christian values and the Name of God!

("'And He shall be....for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.'" [cf. Isaiah 29:13-16])

My admonition, then, is to remember that Yehovah is speaking to everybody in this time as much as "[He] spoke thus to [Isaiah] with a strong hand, admonishing [him] that [he] should not walk in the way of this people, saying: 'Say ye not: A conspiracy, concerning all whereof this people do say: A conspiracy[']"

Trust That Yehovah Will Rebuke Tr**p And Others In Time Because...

If for nothing else and as one can bet, plenty of people have committed suicide and otherwise died as a result of Tr**p's oppression—and such others include refugees and victims of Tr**pite-committed hate crimes. As He says in Tanakh through the Nevi'im, for example:

"For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue muttereth wickedness. 4 None sueth in righteousness, and none pleadeth in truth; they trust in vanity, and speak lies, they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. 5 They hatch basilisks' eggs, and weave the spider's web; he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. 6 Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall men cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. 7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, desolation and destruction are in their paths. 8 The way of peace they know not, and there is no right in their goings; they have made them crooked paths, whosoever goeth therein doth not know peace."

"1 Moreover the word of Yehovah came unto me, saying: 2 'Now, thou, son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? then cause her to know all her abominations. 3 And thou shalt say: Thus saith Yehovah Elohim: O city that sheddest blood in the midst of thee, that thy time may come, and that makest idols unto thyself to defile thee; 4 thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed, and art defiled in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years; therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the nations, and a mocking to all the countries! 5 Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, thou defiled of name and full of tumult. " 

"Nay, but if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbour; 6 if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt; 7 then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. 8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. 9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and offer unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye have not known, 10 and come and stand before Me in this house, whereupon My name is called, and say: 'We are delivered', that ye may do all these abominations?"

 Is the supposedly-Judeo-Christian United States compared to Israel and distinguished as Israel's strongest ally for nothing? To be fair, though, that's a scary thought given how the United States has not—for example—rebuked Netanyahu, Agudat Yisra'el, and the Netanyahu-Agudat Yisra'el coalition (e.g., Shas, UTJ, Yisra'el Beiteinu, Likud outside of Netanyahu) for human-rights violations against Non-Haredi Jews or against Arabs whom are not terrorists—and imagine, then, what supposedly-less-strong-than-the-United-States friends of Israel are like!


(The "Palestinian" terrorists are another discussion and, on the other hand, being deliberately dealt with by the Anti-Zionist Netanyahu-Agudat Yisra'el coalition as they are in order to confuse, divide, and cause Pro-"Palestinian" types and Arabophobic types to attack Israel from all sides).

In conclusion, then, Yehovah will not leave Tr**p and others whom are oppressive and in-name-only Philosemitic be unrebuked for long.

"May Day" Or Pray Day? By the Way...

My ultimate loyalty is to God and God alone. For what I care, Tr**p and others can try to pursue me with swords and other weapons, throw me into a harrowing darkness or fire, build gallows for me, or otherwise murder me. As I said before, all that I need to do is keeping speaking to God and speaking against Trump—after all:

1. How did Saul's end go, notwithstanding that David even mourned Saul (and like God, David did not delight in the death of the wicked)?
2. Daniel escaped the lions' den, and Daniel's friends escaped the furnace (As for Holocaust victims, by the way, I believe that God was with them in the gas chambers, the furnaces, the pits, etc., even though He chose to not deliver them out of the gas chambers, etc.. for whatever reason. There are those whom believe the contrary and know nothing about how "[Nebuchadnezzar] answered and said: 'Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.'" Whether you believe that the fourth man is an angel, even the angel of Yehovah, and/or even someone else is your call.) Darius later did teshuvah, and Nebuchadnezzar did overall teshuvah after the seven-year suspension on his rule.
3. Haman's own gallows were built for Mordechai by Haman, and Haman quickly learned the meaning of "Or so you thought!"
4. Elijah did not even have to be around when Jezebel met her brutal end.

There are other examples of those whom did not have to lift even a hand against specific enemies—for example, Moses never had to lay a hand on Pharaoh.

In conclusion, then, action without prayer means nothing—not even speaking up against an enemy means something without prayer, as Cyrus and others learned and relearned

"1 Thus saith Yehovah to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and to loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and that the gates may not be shut: 2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron; 3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I am Yehovah, who call thee by thy name, even the God of Israel. 4 For the sake of Jacob My servant, and Israel Mine elect, I have called thee by thy name, I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known Me. 5 I am Yehovah, and there is none else, beside Me there is no God; I have girded thee, though thou hast not known Me; 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me; I am Yehovah; and there is none else; 7 I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am Yehovah, that doeth all these things. {P}"

Did The Far Left & Clinton Desperation Syndrome Crowd Have Their Leftism & Desperation Come Back To Bite Them?

In short, the Far Left and Clinton Desperation Syndrome crowd will have their support of Trump come back to bite them at the Day of Judgement if it will come at no other time—and the rest of us are suffering because of Trump and his modern Eichmanns, Goebbelses, Ribbentrops, and other Nazi equivalents. By the way, Putin as well had better watch out if God doesn't deliver us from Trump—doesn't Putin know about the "Non-Aggression" Pact? After all, Stalin and Molotov—among others—were baited by Far Left—i.e., the Alt Right, Old Right, and 19th Century Right—competition.

Both Stalin and the Nazis were Anti Semites—and both had "Final Solutions"—by the way—the Nazis implemented their "Final Soultion" in 1942, and Stalin implemented his in 1948—of course, the Nazis ended up getting theirs as much as Stalin got his, and as much Haman got his for considering Jews a problem. If anything and if one will, God answered the "Jewish question" by having the Nazis and Stalin answer to Him:

1. "Now יﬣ׀ﬣ said unto Abram: 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee. 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing. 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.'"
2. Just as were Pharaoh and Haman—among other Anti Semites—the Nazis and Stalin were created for destruction: "[']Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 14 For I will this time send all My plagues upon thy person, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like Me in all the earth. 15 Surely now I had put forth My hand, and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou hadst been cut off from the earth. 16 But in very deed for this cause have I made thee to stand, to show thee My power, and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth. 17 As yet exaltest thou thyself against My people, that thou wilt not let them go?[']"
3. Pharaoh, Haman, the Nazis, and Stalin all thought that they had to right to question Yehovah. "Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say: 'Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?' 16 O your perversity! Shall the potter be esteemed as clay; that the thing made should say of him that made it: 'He made me not'; or the thing framed say of him that framed it: 'He hath no understanding?'"
4. No matter how many other nations tried to exalt themselves as the chosen nations or destroy Israel, Jews survived being in Egypt and all the way to enduring the Holocaust—and 1922-1960, since the Holocaust both happened in Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia, is both quite a long time in terms of years and also a short time in which to destroy up to at least 26,000,000 Jewish lives (For Stalin, I once read that the number of Jews murdered was 20 Million.). "8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the children of men, He set the borders of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. 9 For the portion of יﬣ׀ﬣ is His people, Jacob the lot of His inheritance. 10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste, a howling wilderness; He compassed him about, He cared for him, He kept him as the apple of His eye."

I imagine that God must've—since there was no "Jewish question" in the way that Pharaoh, Haman, the Nazis, and Stalin saw it—rhetorically smirked, "Any questions?" After all, while Yehovah does not delight in the death of the wicked (cf. Ezekiel 33), "The Lord doth laugh at him; for He seeth that his day is coming."

Meanwhile, Bill Gates actually made a very-apt comparison between Trump and the late JFK: both are leftists and Nazi sympathizers.

Re A Rough Couple Of Months (BTW, Thanks To Those Who've Borne With Me)—And I'll Hopefully Be Able To Help Anyone Whom Can Relate

"A merry heart is a good medicine; but a broken spirit drieth the bones."

Right now, I feel it—not to mention, too, while I often feel guilty about feeling my own pain and dealing with it as others are feeling and dealing with their pain. By the way—as I've mentioned—I'm a Jewish Christian, and I believe in the Parable of the Talents, etc.—and I'm baffled to realize to while some are suffering worse on the equality scare, all of us are suffering the same on the proportionality scale.

Nonetheless, I often feel guilty for feeling my—at least in comparison—1 while someone else feels his or her 2 or 5. Still, 1/1 = 2/2 = 5/5. Thus, it all comes down to a paradox: while some are going through worse than I'm enduring, I'm going through worse than others are enduring; yet, we're all enduring the same proportion of suffering.

Incidentally, I have to take issue with Amy Grant's "Better Than a Hallelujah": I find more Christian a "broken 'Hallelu Yah'" better than no "Hallelu Yah", even when I feel the way that the songwriters of "Better" do. Job knew that a broken "Hallelu Yah" was far better than anything that's apparently "better than a Hallelu Yah". Of course, one doesn't have to vocalize "Hallelu Yah" to say "Hallelu Yah". Notwithstanding, Christians have to try to say "Hallelu Yah" in all of our actions—didn't Paul remind us of that as he wrote down that we're to give thanks in all things?

Meanwhile, this is part of why many among everyone else laughs at, jeers, derides, and otherwise abhors Christians—there is a real problem when Leonard Cohen, who is not a Christian, gets part of the core of Christianity better than those whom profess to be Christians.

This also reminds me of how many other Non Christians—both Jewish and gentile—get that supposedly-Christian Donald Trump's lack of asking God for forgiveness—aka, lack of praising God for what he supposedly professes what the sacrifice of Christ means to him—shows up in his Non-Christian narcissism, greed, racism, sexism, ableism, and Anti Semitism.

On that note, I wonder how Jewish Christians such as Edith Stein (whom, out of strong conviction, became a Carmelite nun and a namesake of another Jewish Christian, St. Teresa), Eduardo Propper de Callejon, Sir Nicholas Wintour—the first having died in the Sho'ah, and the other two having risked their lives to save others from the Sho'ah—would feel about Donald Trump-supporting Jews and gentiles whom profess to have the same Messiah that they professed. Perhaps they would sum up their feelings with gentile Christian Corrie ten Boom's words: "You cannot love God without loving the Jewish people."

I, thus, have felt the weight especially as those whom also profess the Jewish Jesus of Nazareth and support Donald Trump have persecuted me—and others—for pointing out how a man who is his own idol, has an $100-Million jet and other opulence, and loves only White male gentiles cannot genuinely profess to be a Christian—that is, profess to love a self-sacrificing Jewish man whom (as I and other Christians believe) "was despised, and forsaken of men, a man of pains, and acquainted with disease," of which he healed those such a Syrophonecian-Greek girl continuously-bleeding woman whom touched one of his tzitziyot. By the way, I'm pretty sure that Donald Trump would not let in the Syrophonecian-Greek girl and her mother today, since he'd think them to be a part of Daesh instead of gentile Nasara (Note: some, as I learned while I Googled, have objected to "Nasara" because they think that they're being called "Nasara" in the sense of supporting Daesh—despite that Daesh hates "Nasara", Nazarenes, as much as Donald Trump does. Meanwhile, "Christian" was just as derogatory as "Nasrani"; so, the complainers, with all due respect, need to just embrace "Nasarani" as a way to be "Nasara" against Daesh.).

In sum, then, I've been feeling the pain with which I deal daily (e.g., CP, Depression), fallouts from more-recent pains that I've described (such as the continuing heartbreak of the ongoing baffling estrangement from a dear friend and father figure whom is also a writing mentor—not to mention the long backstory behind it), and the distress regarding the ascent of a modern-day prince of Tyre whom claims to be a Christian as he and supposedly-Christian supporters of his persecute me and others whom point out that he wouldn't let even Jesus into the U.S., let alone love the Syrophonecian-Greek mother whom came with her own "broken 'Halleu Yah'" and a chronically-bleeding and debilitated woman whom would need to come to the U.S. to get treatment if she lived today and God would choose only to show sufficient grace. 

My Response To "The Ghosts Of My Grandmothers"

My Response To "The Ghosts Of My Grandmothers"

Perhaps the Malach Hamavet spared Helen Rose in memory of her savtot. As Tanakh states, "the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward", since Savtot Devorah v'Vered are awaiting HaTechiyat HaMetim.

Incidentally, the names Helen, Rose, Mark, and Anna (and variants thereof) are all in my paternal family. An example:

One of my own great-great-grandmothers, Anna Amalia Munková Trudnyaková, either was named for her deceased sister or took her name and claimed her baptism date as her own birthdate at some point*, presumably to honor her. She had daughters named Elizabeth Helen and Anna Margaret, and her parents were Sh'mu'el and Rosalia Korschová Munka.

At least one of her descendants is named Mark, meanwhile; and in full disclosure, one of them is my cousin Mark, whom is sadly deciding to brand himself as the shanda fur die goyim known as "Legit Viva"—for which we clearly did not become Anusim, and part of why (I assume) some of us remain Anusim.

*Anna Amalia Munková Trudnyaková was not baptized. The only baptism record which reconciles any and all dates that she gave as her birthdate is that of her sister. I assume that, by the way, her parents were not risking getting another daughter baptized, since two, Paulina and the first Anna Amalia, had died previously.

Update (September 25, 2016 and Elul 24, 5776), re "Please Stop Telling Me I'm Not 'Really' Jewish" (The context is that some people are being extremely hostile toward the author re any possibility that her daughter may choose to be Catholic.):

If you learn take nothing else from what I say, at least take this away from it: Jews—including Jewish Catholics like Sts. Teresa de Avila and Edith "Teresa Benedicta" Stein (z"l), Aaron "Cardinal Jean-Marie" Lustiger my dad's paternal grandma (a sister of Elizabeth Helen and Anna Margaret)—have believed in a Jewish man named Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, and quite a few other Jews agreed to disagree with the Jewish Christians—see, for example, in the New Testament when it talks about Gamaliel: while, despite legends, he did not become a Christian, he tolerated the Jewish Christians of his time. As Gamaliel's granddad said—and as my dad's paternal grandma (z"l) albe-imperfectly lived—"The sum of Torah is this: don't do to others what you don't want them to you. The rest is commentary—go and learn it."

Part Of What's Exacerbated My Depression Of Late, And A Prayer Request

A few months ago, a family friend to whom I had not talked in a while reached out to me. Once he began to talking to me again, and after four to five years had passed, I began viewing him as a father figure, a writing mentor, and a friend whom is more dear to me than he'll ever know—"There are friends that one hath to his own hurt; but there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."

Needlessly to say, he became "a friend that sticketh closer than a brother". Then one day, he suddenly stopped talking to me. The only explanation was this, and it came quite a bit of time later—and remember that he is, or at least was, a writing mentor: "Going through a difficult time. Keep writing."

After that, a major news story broke; and I asked him if one of the parties whom was involved in the news-making situation was associated with him—and I received no response to that inquiry. In the next day and the following days, I was left to guess whether the news story had to do with him in even any remote way (e.g., if one of his family or friends of friend was involved), other news stories involved him, or anything else had happened. After all, what did (and does) "a difficult time" mean?

This family friend, father figure, writing mentor, and closer-than-a-brother friend of my own had reached out to me in the first place, and he ditched me without explanation. Given, among other factors, my C.P. and mental illnesses, his ditching of me was absolutely the last thing that I needed—or at least wanted, since only God ultimately knows why I needed it. I've also needed other ditchings as well, by the way, and only God has also known why I needed those—and one more-recent one came from an in-law cousin, might I add.

"The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a broken spirit who can bear?" That kind of broken spirit is what I've endured once again in the past few months—and as if OCD/Anxiety. Depression, ADD, and IBS weren't enough in of themselves; and only God ultimately knows why He's exacerbated them.

"I am the LORD, and there is none else, beside Me there is no God; I have girded thee, though thou hast not known Me; That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me; I am the LORD; and there is none else; I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am the LORD, that doeth all these things.

"Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, that they may bring forth salvation, and let her cause righteousness to spring up together; I the LORD have created it. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker, as a potsherd with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him that fashioned it: 'What makest thou?' Or: 'Thy work, it hath no hands'? Woe unto him that saith unto his father: 'Wherefore begettest thou?' Or to a woman: 'Wherefore travailest thou?' Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: Ask Me of the things that are to come; concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands, command ye Me. I, even I, have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded."

I know, too, that God's ways are not our ways, as Isaiah also speaks by the Holy Spirit. So, for example and as bad as this sounds, I don't know whether God reminds me of my friend on a daily basis to remind me to pray for him or to allow HaSatan to make fun of me (as He allowed HaSatan to torment and persecute Job, whom was already suffering with the question of whether his children loved God: "'It may be that my sons have sinned, and blasphemed God in their hearts.'")

It could also be—and this is where the "as bad as this sounds" comes into play—that God's making fun of me or punishing me for some reason that only He ultimately knows: "Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me, and know my thoughts; And see if there be any way in me that is grievous, and lead me in the way everlasting." Having my guesses about hurtful situations, what I've done or not done, etc. hurts; and even if I know and the person whom I've wronged or whom's wronging me won't tell me, that really hurts.

Incidentally (as the year went from 2015 to 2016), I saw another reminder of him, since I discussed genealogy with him and wondered if a name in his own family wasn't an allusion to this verse: "The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is set up on high."

Please pray for me, pray for my friend, and pray for others whom need prayers on their behalf, meanwhile—may we all call on HaShem Yehovah, HaMigdal HaChazaq; and may Yehovah bring reconciliation or whatever is needed to be brought between me and my friend (אם ירצה, יהוה.), and may our friendship be almost as strong as Yehovah Himself.

"Brit Chadashah" Doesn't Necessarily Work For Me. What Works Instead Is...

Something with "יגדל"—something like:

1. ימים עמנואל
2. געולה
3. דרושים
4. לסוף

In transliteration and translation:

1. Yamim Imanu'el (Days of Imanu'el)
2. Ge'ulah (Redemption)
3. D'rashim (Sermons, Expositions, Etc.)
4. Lesof (For the End)

Besides from יהוה (Whom gave me the idea; ב'ה), I received help from tools such as Google, Milon, and Yiddish Dictionary Online (believe me or not; since many Yiddish words are just Ashkenazized Hebrew words). Prior knowledge, of course, also helped.

Alternatives:

1. ישוע
2. גולה
3. דרושים
4. לטובת

In transliteration and translation:

1. Yeshua (Jesus. The whole point is magnifying Yeshua [e.g., "Yigdal Elohim Chai"], although the Gospels specifically cover Yeshua.)
2. Goleh (Exile. At this point, the disciples had become exiles among many of their own and were preaching to kehillot in the Diaspora.)
3. D'rashim (Sermons, Expositions, Etc.)
4. Letovat (For Favor or Benefit. See Revelation 22, and Daniel 8:26 and 12:4.)

Sticking in a "ח" into "Tanakh" somehow just didn't work for me after a while. "תנך—יגדל!" ("Magnified [is] the Word of God" or "The Word of God—May It Grow!") works:

"For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, except it water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, and give seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, except it accomplish that which I please, and make the thing whereto I sent it prosper."

When (I Feel Like) I've No Reason To Go To Bed At Night (And I'm Sure That Others Can Relate)

I think that these few verses really sum up for me why (I often feel like) I've no reason to go to bed at night—not to mention that I am Jewish, and I'm experiencing part of Moshe's prophecies through no fault of my own (I was not yet born, though I was in the desert those millennia ago.):

"65 And among these nations shalt thou have no repose, and there shall be no rest for the sole of thy foot; but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and languishing of soul. 66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear night and day, and shalt have no assurance of thy life.67 In the morning thou shalt say: 'Would it were even!' and at even thou shalt say: 'Would it were morning!' for the fear of thy heart which thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see."

Jews do indeed have higher rates of Depression and other mental illnesses. All the harder is when I am alone in general, anyway—

"9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, and hath not another to lift him up. 11 Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one be warm alone? 12And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken." 

Consider, too, that I have a physical disability as well (not to mention that I have OCD/Anxiety, ADD, and IBS):

"The poor is hated even of his own neighbour; but the rich hath many friends."

"Wealth addeth many friends; but as for the poor, his friend separateth himself from him."5 A false witness shall not be unpunished; and he that breatheth forth lies shall not escape."6 Many will entreat the favour of the liberal man; and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.

"7 All the brethren of the poor do hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him! He that pursueth words, they turn against him."

How many other people with disabilities—physical, mental (including mental illnesses), and other disabilities alike—can relate, I'm sure!

"And when ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it no evil! And when ye offer the lame and sick, is it no evil! Present it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee? or will he accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts."

How people with disabilities and illnesses are used (including mocked), especially in the name of God! Then people wonder why I and others say "Were it morning!" in the evening and "Were it evening!" in the morning.

I'm sure, too, that, that was the experience of Great-Granddad Czarnecki 51 years ago today, after he'd had a rough life (regardless of that he caused much of it in his adult years) and lost his leg in a lawn-mowing accident on top of all that he endured—and he had Depression! (Great-Granduncle Bernie, BTW, had Schizophrenia; and Great-Great-Grandma likely had Schizoaffective Disorder).

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To Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz At HaKotel b'Yerushalayim

Rabbi Rabinowitz,

Think of the song "Light One Candle". Part of the song goes, "Don't let the light go out; it's lasted for so many years." So have our people, 'Am Yisra'el, Ha'Or L'Goyim. We have lasted for millennia, ever since Yitzchak was conceived and born; and then Yitzchak conceived and had born to him two sons of his own, one of whom became Ya'akov Avinu.

Without Imoteinu, our coming forth and longevity as a people would have been impossible. Without achoteinu, habanot imoteinu, none of acheinu would have been able to conceive and have born to them successive dorot m'Yisra'el. Without further dorot m'Yisra'el, we would've died out as an 'am.

Therefore, your banning of HaNashot HaKotel is a chillul HaShem and a chillul zichronot ha'avot v'imahot. Even Ya'akov Avinu told even Imoteinu, "'Put away the strange gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments; 3 and let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.'" (From Bereshit 35, JPS 1917) Why do you, then, put away achoteinu as Imoteinu put away their strange g-ds?

Please consider whether to put away achoteinu, habanot Imoteinu, like Imoteinu put away strange g-ds is an avodah tovah. If it is an avodah tovah, then to have put away Imoteinu would have been tov, would it not have been?

Toda v'Chanukkah Tovah.

Unforgiveness Hurts...

"Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart; thou shalt surely rebuke thy neighbour, and not bear sin because of him. Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD. "

(Leviticus 19:17-18, JPS)

Sometimes, people show how far they can go with unforgiveness. Oh well; it's still worth the risk of seeing if they forgive you & forgiving them for not forgiving you. Now, are most people going to agree with Jesus' words on this? Absolutely not! In fact, I know that some of the people who have left me unforgiven vehemently disagree with Jesus, but they would at least came to agree with the passage from Leviticus—they some apparently do not. 

Nonetheless, what did Jesus—despite what he was, whether or not he was the Messiah or just a great rabbi—say?

"“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:43-48, NKJV)

Meanwhile, what about me? Is there unforgiveness in me? Sure, and I know that I won't be forgiven until I forgive—and even if I'm not forgiven for my faults, I have to forgive others for theirs (including for not forgiving me). Again, what did Jesus say?

• "And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plankis in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." (Matthew 7:35)

• "And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”" (John 20:22-23)

As my mom said, by the way, only those who have and/or trust in the Holy Spirit can truly forgive.

• "Forgive, and you will be forgiven." (Luke 6:37c)

• "“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:14-15)

Again, there is unforgiveness in me; and I won't be forgiven until I forgive, even if I'm actually not forgiven in the end. But why is this there unforgiveness in me? Am I not a believer? I'm a believer, and one who is both:

• Left unforgiven for my faults by some people (and I am being generous and forgiving by not naming names, at least this time if I've ever named you—you know who you are, and may what I am able to write here convict you of your unforgiveness)

and

• Blamed for and left unforgiven for sins that I didn't even actually commit. For example, I was abused as a kid and blamed for things that I did not do and called a sinner for righteous things that I did do.

Why is this relevant? Jesus said, "[T]o whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”" (Luke 7:47b) This is why I myself have a hard time forgiving people—especially since some people might take my forgiving of them as a sign that they can hurt me again. Plus, I have Obsessive Compulsive and Generalized Anxiety Disorder; so, I'm afraid that I might take it as a sign that they can hurt me again just because I've forgiven them.

Meanwhile, here is one more word from Jesus (through his emissary Paul, whether or not you believe that Jesus spoke directly or indirectly through Paul) before I go back and conclude with one more passage from Tanakh (not counting Hadashah):

"[I]f anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent—not to be too severe. This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices." (2 Corinthians 2:5-11)

Unforgiveness truly does hurt. As stated, "This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow."

In conclusion, I urge you to think about the following passage and watch the video that follows it:

"Didst thou not just now cry unto Me: 'My father, Thou art the friend of my youth. Will He bear grudge for ever? Will He keep it to the end?' Behold, thou hast spoken, but hast done evil things, and hast had thy way...

"Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every leafy tree, and ye have not hearkened to My voice, saith the LORD. Return, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am a lord unto you, and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion; and I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. " (Jeremiah 3:4-5, 13-15, JPS)

Why Not Convert To Non-Messianic Judaism? Tanakh Itself Should Give You A Hint As To Why.

If I were you, I would not convert to Judaism. I come from a Jewish background (unbeknownst to me for years), and Yeshua did not have me find out until I was secure in the Messianic Jewish (Jewish Christian) faith (and Christianity is a Jewish sect that derived from Essenism, which is with what John the Baptist was affiliated).

In Judaism, you have to keep 613 laws. Concerning the Moabites, for example: "4 An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation shall none of them enter into the assembly of the LORD for ever; 5 because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Aram-naharaim, to curse thee. 6 Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee. 7 Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever."

Yet there are other mitzvot, or laws, which state, "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart; thou shalt surely rebuke thy neighbour, and not bear sin because of him. Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD."

In light of those seemingly-contradictory mitzvot, the New Testament states the following (See Romans 7:4-25 for context.):

"13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me."

The point is that we were willing to, in this case, hold a grudge against the Mo'avim and Amonim; and Yehovah knew that. That's why He gave us over to that sin.

Yet, if you convert to Judaism, you will have to follow logic like this:

"Whereas certain other nations are allowed to marry into Judaism (if they have converted) after a certain number of generations, when it comes to men from Amon and Mo’av descent, the Torah rules that no such people are ever allowed to marry Jews (23:4). Why are they given such harsh treatment? The pasuk (23:5) tells us that this ban is due to the fact that they hired Bilam to try and curse us, as well as the fact that they did not allow us to pass through their land to go to Eretz Yisrael; they did not greet us with food and drink. But why does this mean that they get harsher treatment than the Egyptians, for example, who can join our ranks after three generations? The Ramban (23:5) explains that these two nations (Amon and Mo’av) were expected to act kindly to us. For generations ago Avraham Avinu saved Lot (the father of both these nations) from captivity, and as such these two nations should have been grateful to us and should have aided us. But since they spurned Avraham’s kindness and exhibited a lack of gratitude, they showed themselves unworthy of joining the Jewish ranks - for a Jew’s life revolves around gratitude. The first word of the day we say is thanks (modeh), and the word yehudim comes from the word hoda’ah, which means to thank. Indeed, such is the centrality of this trait of gratitude, that the reason the Torah gives for eventually allowing Egyptians to join the Jewish fold is because (23:8) we were hosted in their land. Yes, they treated us harshly for two centuries, but (before that) they hosted us in their land and provided us with food when famine had hit Eretz Yisrael. Even for this we are to show a degree of gratitude."

On the other hand, you could become a Karaite Jew; but I already laid out what Romans 7:5-24 says, and Karaites do not believe it. So,

"Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.'"

The rabbis treat themselves as gods. In Bava Metzi'a 59 of the Talmud, for example:

Why [the oven of] 'Aknai? — Said Rab Judah in Samuel's name: [It means] that they encompassed it with arguments2  as a snake, and proved it unclean. It has been taught: On that day R. Eliezer brought forward every imaginable argument,3  but they did not accept them. Said he to them: 'If the halachah agrees with me, let this carob-tree prove it!' Thereupon the carob-tree was torn a hundred cubits out of its place — others affirm, four hundred cubits. 'No proof can be brought from a carob-tree,' they retorted. Again he said to them: 'If the halachah agrees with me, let the stream of water prove it!' Whereupon the stream of water flowed backwards — 'No proof can be brought from a stream of water,' they rejoined. Again he urged: 'If the halachah agrees with me, let the walls of the schoolhouse prove it,' whereupon the walls inclined to fall. But R. Joshua rebuked them, saying: 'When scholars are engaged in a halachic dispute, what have ye to interfere?' Hence they did not fall, in honour of R. Joshua, nor did they resume the upright, in honour of R. Eliezer; and they are still standing thus inclined. Again he said to them: 'If the halachah agrees with me, let it be proved from Heaven!' Whereupon a Heavenly Voice cried out: 'Why do ye dispute with R. Eliezer, seeing that in all matters the halachah agrees with him!' But R. Joshua arose and exclaimed: 'It is not in heaven.'4  What did he mean by this? — Said R. Jeremiah: That the Torah had already been given at Mount Sinai; we pay no attention to a Heavenly Voice, because Thou hast long since written in the Torah at Mount Sinai, After the majority must one incline.5
R. Nathan met Elijah6  and asked him: What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, do in that hour? — He laughed [with joy], he replied, saying, 'My sons have defeated Me, My sons have defeated Me.

"Tanakh does not speak of Heaven or Hell".

 

Post by Hebrew in Israel.

I disagree. Heaven was a well-established concept in Tanakh. For example, Hanokh was taken by Yehovah after 365 years. Also, David states about his son, "I shall go to him, but he will not return to me." Furthermore, Shlomo writes down, "Who knoweth the spirit of man whether it goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast whether it goeth downward to the earth?" As far as She'ol and per Dani'el 12:2 ("And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence."), would there be tzedek if people like Amalek and Haman weren't eternally condemned to She'ol? Also, what of Korach? "And it came to pass, as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground did cleave asunder that was under them. 32 And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. 33 So they, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit; and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the assembly."

Yavan may have been influenced by his patriarchs Yafet and Noach, but I don't think that Yavan had any influence on Yisra'el's beliefs.