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Showing posts with label Ketuvim. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ketuvim. Show all posts

Thursday, February 20, 2014

To My Persecutors...

I ask you to examine yourself. Contrary to what you want to think, I mean no harm against you or anyone else. In fact, especially if you claim to be wise, remember that "[r]ebuke is more effective for a wise man
Than a hundred blows on a fool."

This is part of why I am dealing with you. I think about you and I think about others. My actions are not just for me or my benefit. I always dread (read: sadly expect) that someone will eventually try to oppose me. I am not perfect, and I will admit when I am wrong and not walking in integrity. However, I'm right when I'm right, and I'm not right because of me—I'm right when I'm right only because of Christ.

I am not Moses; I am not Jeremiah, and I am not any other of the prophets or righteous people of blessed memories or blessed names—I am not worthy to be even considered among these. Nonetheless, I try to stand up to evil. When I do stand up to evil and you persecute me, I have to ask (as did Moses when our countrymen were persecuting him), "Why do you contend with meWhy do you tempt the Lord?"

Also, why do you glorify the Amaleks—whether or not you mean to do so? The Torah states:

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner;[c] 16 for he said, “Because the Lord has sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

The Torah does not state that we are to remember Amalek in any other way or context but in regards to what he did against Israel. We are not to revive him, and we are not to enable any Amalek in this generation. Even when we do Purim readings in the synagogues (Messianic and otherwise), we do not revive or remember Haman. In fact, we make a deliberate effort to drown out his name when we read it.


We rejoice that Haman (Yemach shemo u'zichrono.) cannot hurt us anymore, and we don't want to hear his name. Nonetheless, we don't (or at least we shouldn't) rejoice in the death of the wicked


Saturday, February 1, 2014

What A Prize Candle Can Teach One About Shabbat, Humanity, Etc.; And...

Yes, I put a link to Prize Candle's website in the title on my own volition, unbeknownst to Prize Candle until they read this blog entry. Speaking of unbeknownst matters, that my sister had the "brill" idea of digging out the Prize Candle before it was naturally ready to come out is her schtick—she dug hers out and got the "brill" idea to dig out the ring (and she hates that I use the slang for "brilliant" to annoy her!)—in other words, Mom won't know that Michelle had the idea until I either squeal, let Michelle confess, or share this blog entry.

Here are just a few of the lessons (There are many more that I'll probably even think of as I type or that you could add as you read this, for example.):


  1. A Prize Candle can be a great Shabbat candle. It has eco-friendly soy wax, a manifestation of tikun ha'olam v'tzedek—and soy wax is kosher. It also saves the work of having to hold a Havdalah candle, since it comes in a glass containerwhich can be recycled and/or reused latertada! Another manifestation of tikun ha'olam v'tzedek.
  2. Like Shabbat, the Prize Candle (at least if you get it for a gift and/or join the Candle of the Month Club like I did) gives you things to which to look forwardlighting the fragrency candle itself (like sanctifying Shabbat) and waiting for the ring (like waiting to find discovered treasures within kiddush Shabbat).
  3. The wax can remind of you of the following verse: "I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me." Just as when wax melts when a candle is lit, so we can feel "like wax" when we're put under pressure.
  4. Each of us, like a candle has a wick, is called to be a light. "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
  5. Israel is called to be a light to the nations and has treasure within her.
  6. Our days are like wax, melting away. After those days end or earlier, in time either way, our treasure might be revealed.
  7. Sometimes (like Michelle dug out the candle and Mom actually even used a knife to see if she could get through the wax that was holding the ring in and down), God digs through our days with pain to reveal our treasure.
  8. Like only Prize Candle ultimately knows the value of the ring within the candle, only God ultimately knows what our treasure is worth.
  9. Sometimes (and see Lesson 7 above), God uses other people to reveal our treasure.







PS Mom came home as I typed...and yes, I squealed before I could get into trouble (and Michelle told me that I should've seen the look that Mom gave her).


Monday, November 4, 2013

PS: Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) 4:16 and The World

I saw a quote that said, "No matter how famous, or rich you become, the weather will determine the attendance at your funeral." I don't buy it. People have braved the worst kinds of weather to attend a millionarie's or celebrity's funeral, and I'm even questioning that "There was no end of all the people over whom he was made king;
Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him." (Kohelet 4:16a-b)

Unless Sholmo was writing about normal times and not the End of Days, we certainly remember kings and other celebrities—and we even pass down the knowledge of them to our children and grandchildren, and their grandchildren and their grandchildren. For example, who doesn't know about King Hammurabi?—and he died in 1750 BCE! Who doesn't remember or know about Elvis—the "King of Rock and Roll"? "Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him." Really?

Again, unless Shlomo wasn't being told about the time that is "such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be." (Mattityahu 24:21. cf. Markus 13:19, 1 Timote 4:1-2, and Romim 1:22-24), I question Kohelet 4:16a-b. Even a certain celebrity (and I guarantee that he'll be remembered) got 924 "likes" and 112 comments as well as 11 shares for one picture within five hours today. He also got 9 "favorites", 27 retweets, and 17 comments within the same amount of time. Unless the time where we say "Will a man make gods for himself, Which are not gods?" (Yirimiyahu 16:20) comes soon, the veracity of Kohelet 4:16a-b is a question for me.

<a href="http://www.sodahead.com/living/if-you-dont-want-to-be-famous-why-do-you-care-about-famous-people-so-much/question-4028601/" title="If you don't want to be famous, why do you care about famous people so much?">If you don't want to be famous, why do you care about famous people so much?</a>

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

The Shanah L'Kesafim Blog Entry Is Delayed. Meanwhile....

Please say "Kaddish" in memory of the victims of 9/11 and all victims of terrorism before and after 9/11. L'laila l'yizkor. PS Please read Page 251 of the 9/11 Commission Report and understand what 9/11 was really about. Every day, my relatives who made aliyah and were born b'Ha'Eretz Yisra'el live as though something like 9/11 had just happened or will happen again.

Remember, too, that bin Laden's name and memory have yet to be wiped out, even though we wiped out bin Laden (Y'Sh'v'Z). Someday, bin Laden's name and memory will exist and remain only in Hell, where bin Laden himself (Y'Sh'v'Z) is consigned for eternity. "“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people.”" (Deuteronomy 32:43. Also see Psalm 9:11-14.) and "I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:12-14)

Let me assure, once in the Name of the Father, that bin Laden and his co conspirators (Y'Sh'v'Z) are not in the Book of Life.Let me assure, once in the Name of the Son, that bin Laden and his co conspirators (Y'Sh'v'Z) are not in the Book of Life.

Let me assure, once in the name of the Ru'ach HaKodesh, that bin Laden and his co conspirators (Y'Sh'v'Z) are not in the Book of Life!

!שמע ישראל! יהוה אלהינו, יהוה אחד


Thursday, July 11, 2013

From a Question on Yahoo! Answers: "How Do You Reconcile Daniel In the Lions' Den With Six Million Daniels in the Gas Chambers?"

Let's look at the following Scripture:


"24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was alarmed, and rose up in haste; he spoke and said unto his ministers: 'Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?' They answered and said unto the king: 'True, O king.' 25 He 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.' {S} 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace; he spoke and said: 'Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye servants of God Most High, come forth, and come hither.' Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, came forth out of the midst of the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, and the king's ministers, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power upon their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed, neither were their cloaks changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said: 'Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent His angel, and delivered His servants that trusted in Him, and have changed the king's word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other god that is able to deliver after this sort.' 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, in the province of Babylon. {P}"


Who is the Angel of the Lord?


"20 Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee by the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 21 Take heed of him, and hearken unto his voice; be not rebellious against him; for he will not pardon your transgression; for My name is in him. 22 But if thou shalt indeed hearken unto his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. 23 For Mine angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off."
We know, then, that the Angel of the Lord IS the Lord (thus, why He is Yehovah-Tzva'ot--Yehovah of Hosts). Thus, Yeshua was with the Holocaust victims as much as He was with Daniel's friends--even if he did not save them from physical death. For what has Yehovah stated? "Behold, they may gather together, but not by Me; whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall because of thee."


Sometimes, evil happens; and even if Yehovah does not rescue us from every consequence of it, He is with us in it--just like He was with the Holocaust victims.


Source(s):
Daniel 3:24-30, JPS; Exodus 3:20-23, ibid.; Isaiah 54:15. Also, I lost relatives in the Shoah--I do not believe that Yeshua was not with them, especially the children, when they were in Auschwitz and the other murder camps.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Bible Literalism


To begin, not everything in the Bible is literal--some things (such as creationism, the Flood, the burning bush, and the Exodus) are literal. Some are figurative. Being a Jew (as I am and if you are a Jew--given that the person for whom I originally wrote this is Jewish), you might be familiar with the figurative, "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (See http://karaite-korner.org/tefillin.shtml). In context, the verses are "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

Now could you write all of Torah (even all of Tanakh) on your doorposts and gates? Sure; but that would take time, effort, and resources. Even tefillin and mezuzot don't contain all the words of Torah (See http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/272660/jewish/Making-Tefillin.htm and http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/278460/jewish/Guide.htm.). Others are obviously similies, metaphors, and symbolisms--which could fall into the figurative category. Now, did every word of Tanakh literally come from G-d's mouth and finger? Yes (cf., e.g., Exodus 31:18 and Deuteronomy 9:10). But as I said, not everything in the Bible is literal--for example (and I ran out of characters in the original answer), "I am the rose of Sharon, And the lily of the valleys." Is Song 2:1 literally saying that he's a bunch of flowers? No. 

Sunday, September 30, 2012

I've Made My Decision In Terms Of Naming A Pet...

If I ever get a pet, I may name the said pet after a deceased love one. After all, based on the answers that I've received (one of them quite inappropriate, as I made clear), I see no contradiction against or contradistinction from Judaism or Jewishness in naming a pet after--for example--my beloved and late Great-Granduncle Bernie. The answers (not in chronological order) that I received are as follows, and I break down the answers as to why they affected me to decide that naming a pet after Great-Granduncle Bernie would be okay:

Firstly (and I made quite clear that I didn't appreciate being yelled at or having to ask a follow-up question):


Reform Judaism/Answered Question

Expert:Rabbi Sue Levy
Subject:Naming Pets In Judaism
Question:QUESTION: Is naming a pet after a deceased loved one appropriate or encouraged for a Jewish person to do?

ANSWER: Dear Nicole,

No, it is absolutely NOT appropriate to name a pet after someone who died.

Chag Sameach,

Rabbi Sue

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Why is it inappropriate to do so?
Answer:A pet is not a person who will carry on the honored legacy of the individual being remembered. You cannot teach a put about the person for whom it is named. A pet cannot emulate that person or behave in its honor. A pet cannot feel a sense of connection with that individual. It is degrading to the memory of the deceased to consider an animal worthy of such an honor.


Secondly (and I give David kavod for not yelling at me, and I asked him partly because he didn't list himself as a "rabbi" or an Anti-Messianic ["Anti-Missionary"] type):


Orthodox Judaism/Answered Question

Expert:David Rosenblum
Subject:Naming Pets In Judaism
Question:Is naming a pet after a deceased loved one appropriate or encouraged for a Jewish person to do?
Answer:Hi Nicole,

Please know that I am not a Rabbi.

I never heard of a provision for naming a pet after a person.  It is most certainly not encouraged.  I would avoid it for the following reason (this is my own judgement and subject to critical debate):

The purpose of naming someone after they passed away is so that their memory should continue.  Since we remember the dead fondly, we remember their good deeds and will strive to emulate their ways which benefits ourselves for obvious reasons but also benefits the deceased since we improved ourselves in their merit.  This is stimulated by attaching the name to another person and continually calling that person who has equal standing in the hierarchy of creatures, by that same name.  If the name is attached to a lesser creature I can see the possibility of the memory being degraded and the effect being nullified and perhaps even reversed.  In other words, since we degraded the memory, we will not end up emulating the good ways and perhaps incur a negative trait due to the degradation.

About the naming in general: many families attach great importance to this and sometimes quarrel about which name to give to newborns.  I always hear Rabbis say that the loss of peace is a much greater issue than can be gained by naming after their loved one.  Intelligent and learned Jews always are very easy with giving up the right to such honors in favor of keeping peaceful relations.  To me it always seemed that the naming after a deceased is a nice to have but not very important.

I hope this helps.
David


Thirdly:




Fourthly (and this connects to this):


Nicole Maratovah Czarnecki
3 hours ago near Baltimore
: Wait a minute: if you give a pet a Jewish name, isn't that possibly naming that pet after a deceased loved one--e.g., "Rivkah", 'imenu?
Like ·  · 




Fifthly:

Nicole Maratovah Czarnecki
Friday near Baltimore
: Is naming a pet after a deceased loved one Jewish or Jewishly appropriate?
Like ·  · 




By way of these answers, I'm getting  impression that one's naming of a pet after a deceased loved one would be okay provided that doing so would not cause someone else to stumble--after all, if one can't die for another person, why should he or she have to live for the same--especially if living is or was incumbent on the other person (After all, that Yeshua died for someone else is often an objection to Yeshua per a perversion of. for example, Deuteronomy 24:16, and Ezekiel 18:4 and 18:20.)? . Also, as a ChaCha expert stated, what the deceased one would have wanted or not wanted is what matters.

So, maybe I shouldn't have stopped for a minute and worried when a Golden Retriever named "Bernie" affected me to, G-d willing, someday name a pet after Great-Granduncle Bernie--after all, especially if I don't have children, can't one of my "fur children" have a family name? By the way, the above-cited verses meant only that a sinful human couldn't die for another sinful human--if anyone died for someone else, G-d would have to (See, for example, Psalm 112 and Isaiah 43:10-13--where G-d even states, "And My servant whom I have chosen,[t]hat you may know and believe Me, [a]nd understand that I am He."--and 53.). 

Also by the way, the answers from Amy, David Marshall, and Tareq (as far as I know) came from gentiles; Michelle is my twin and (as much as I love my twin) not--as far as I know--a mevinah (though she was our community college's JSU President until an Anti-Messianic type came in and took it over); and I'm a little surprised that Nehemia, for a Karaite, cited Jewish tradition as opposed to giving an answer from a purely-Karaite (even if a Non-Messianic Karaite) perspective. 

Furthermore by the way, since--in the case of a grieving cat owner--"[i]t might be wise to purchase another cat, similar in breed to the previous one, and even name it the same name as the previous one.  [since t]his will somewhat alleviate the pain.", why can't a grieving person name his or her fur child after a deceased loved one?

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

In Case Wikipedia Deletes This...

Here's what Messianic Jews and gentile Christians alike have failed to take up in regards to Messianic prophecy--in other words, I (as far as I know) am the only Messianic Jew taking this up:



Psalm 112

Ironically, Messianic Jews and gentile Christians alike have failed to take up the following:
"Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, Who delights greatly in His commandments. 2 His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches will be in his house, And his righteousness endures forever. 4 Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. 5 A good man deals graciously and lends; He will guide his affairs with discretion. 6 Surely he will never be shaken; The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance. 7 He will not be afraid of evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. 8 His heart is established; He will not be afraid, Until he sees his desire upon his enemies. 9 He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted with honor. 10 The wicked will see it and be grieved; He will gnash his teeth and melt away; The desire of the wicked shall perish."(NKJV)
Messianic Jews and Christians could easily argue that the psalm states, for example, "his righteousness endures forever", not "will endure forever", meaning that only God could fit the description of the one whose "righteousness endures forever." Furthermore, for instance, verse 2 ("His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed") could be connected to zerah (i.e., "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.") in Isaiah 53:10.
Therefore, especially in connecting Psalm 112 to Isaiah 53, one could argue that only Jesus fits the description of the Messiah. Furthermore, in light of that Messiah has to be God, one could connect Psalm 112 to Isaiah 43:11 [32] and Isaiah 45:21[33].


By the way, be forewarned: if I did any more editing, I'd have to weed out much of the Anti-Messianic bias. 

Friday, July 20, 2012

Was James Holmes Just Plain Evil Or Evil and Lonely?

"How Do You Get That Lonely?" might apply to James Holmes. Maybe he had a death wish or was otherwise a loner. Loneliness never excuses evil, by the way, but loneliness must still be considered. "A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; [h]e rages against all wise judgment." (Proverbs 18:1)



I blame only James Holmes, but his family and friends maybe should've seen the writing on the wall.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

The 13 Messianic Jewish (Christian) Principles Of Faith With Corrections and Updates


Based on and taken from Maimonides' 13 Priniciples of Faith, basic:

  • Belief in the existence of the omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent Creator who created all life (of people, animals, and other kinds of beings) and all non-living matter; and who created all people b'tzelem Elohim--in the image of G-d.
  • The belief in G-d's absolute and unparalleled Pluralunity as Father, Son, and Spirit--"Shema, Yisra'el; Yehovah Eloheinu, Yehovah Echad." (cf. Deuteronomy 6:4, from the passage known as "The Shema")
  • The belief in G-d the Father's noncorporeality, and that He will be affected by any physical occurrences, such as movement, or rest, or dwelling; and the belief that Yeshua (G-d the Son, Begotten--Not Made) is both G-d and the only sinless Man, thus why human beings are created b'tzelem Elohim; and the belief that the Spirit of G-d the Father is also the Spirit of Yeshua.
  • The belief in G-d's eternity, immortality, and complete and perfect morality; thus, the eternal security and life of the believer (cf. 2 Timothy 2:12-13) 
  • The imperative to worship Him exclusively and no foreign false gods, and that nobody can worship or come to G-d the Father but through G-d the Son--who, with the Father and the Spirit, gives faith by grace, and vice versa. 
  • The belief that G-d communicates with man through prophecy, dreams, visions, TaNaKH (Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim, Hadashah), creation, the Holy Spirit, and other direct and indirect revelation
  • The belief that the prophecy and direction of Yeshua, and any prophecy and direction given through and by Him has priority; and that all spirits which give prophecy, direction, and revelation should be tested to see whether they are of or from Yeshua.
  • The belief in the divine origin of the TaNaKH, and that TaNaKH itself is G-d in written form (cf. John 1:1)--for all words of TaNaKH are G-d's words ad dictum ("to word", as he dictated) and ad verbatim.
  • The belief in the immutability, infallibility, and inerrancy of the TaNaKH; and that only those who are not under grace are still under all of the 613 mitzvot given to Moses and to Israel through Moses, and that those under grace are under the New Covenant (B'rit Hadashah) in Yeshua--to which Torah and the rest of TaNaKH that come before Hadashah pointed.
  • The belief in providence and miracles that emanate therefrom (e.g., life itself).
  • The belief in divine reward and retribution, and Heaven and Hell being the realms of the afterlife in which souls, because of humankind being created b'tzelem Elohim, will continue to exist eternally--Heaven in which the fallen asleep (the believers) reside, Hell in which the dead (the non believers) reside; until the Final Judgement--wherein the believer will reside in the New Jerusalem (the New Heaven and New Earth) and the non believer will reside in the Lake of Fire.
  • The belief in the arrival of the Messiah (which was the First Coming; in which Yeshua was born of a virgin and took on a mortal form which was not corrupted by sin and the sin nature, and fulfilled the other Messianic prophecies); and the Second Coming, the 7-Year Tribulation, and the 1000-year Messianic Era.
  • The belief in the resurrection of the dead who are in Yeshua the Messiah (that is, the fallen asleep) at the Second Coming--just as Yeshua was resurrected on the Third Day after he died on a Cross for our sins--, the Rapture of the resurrected fallen asleep and of the living in Yeshua the Messiah, and the Final Judgement of the dead who were not Raptured or saved in the Messianic Era--which is to come after the Tribulation and Messianic Era, and in which the dead who are not found in the Book of Life will be condemned to the Second Death and the Lake of Fire.


  • By the way (Messianic Jews and gentiles only), please correct me if and where I am wrong.