Category Archives: Israel

September 14, 2014 · 7:09 am

Inside Israel

Once again, it’s time to hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua. Put your prayer shawls on and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is …

Greetings DEAR sisters and brothers, in The Name of Yeshua who was faithful, is faithful and will be faithful to glorify His Name and to bring His perfect purposes to pass. Halleluiah! May you be blessed and may He be blessed and glorified

With emotions still bruised, I am clueless, but I pray that He will bring to remembrance the observations that seem to have been quickened to me this week. I have received wonderful emails from some of you that have not yet been answered, and I’m sorry. I have been in somewhat of a quiet space. I know that some of you reading this lived amidst the bombings of WW2, or have experienced other awful wars on your own soil.

And I know that others fought in wars on foreign soil. So you know the pressures of wars far bigger then this 50-day war. I feel somewhat embarrassed to emerge at this end speaking about our stress, which also was not much when compared to what our brothers and sisters experienced in the south on the Gaza border. Then there are those who were on the receiving end of our defense as well. All of these suffered far more then I did, but I am not equipped to speak of their experiences, only to share with you my own, and so I will.

On the day that the fighting stopped, there was so much confusion. Some of that has been sorted out as I took a step back and we had opportunity to listen to one another. I am now convinced that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the generals in charge of decision-making did an extraordinary job with the options that they were faced with. Much of the warfare itself took place in booby-trapped houses. It seems to me that the leadership also had to walk through a booby-trapped maze. Although Hamas came out rejoicing and loudly proclaiming, “victory,” it has become more and more evident that it certainly wasn’t a victory for them.

You might recall the prayer that I was praying toward the end: “Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.” (Psalm 66:7) It is interesting that Psalm 68:6 says “…but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.” (again, Alla is the god of deserts and of dry places.) It took me a while to see that they had NOT achieved a victory in spite of the Hamas rallies. During which, by the way, two Gaza participants were killed by celebratory gunfire.

Nonetheless, being Israelis we are now involved in much self criticism as well as the reality of paying the huge bill for the war. Neither a raise in taxes nor cuts to the budgets of the public ministries are being well received. But these are just the facts of life.

Last night was the first night that I slept all the way through without hearing phantom air-raid sirens in my head. It felt good. The trains and buses are full of weary soldiers returning home for a break and others returning to their bases after a break, looking clean and neat again. One of our patients, Yehuda, came by and I asked him how he was doing. He looked at me and said, “Okay, I guess,” and crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out.

I laughed and said, “Brrrrrargh! Me too!”

Immediately the picture came to mind that some of you from America might remember of the comic character Peanuts. In it, there was a little bird that would often get the brunt of stress and his little feathers would be all ruffled and his tongue hanging out. PERFECT! It is sort of how most of us are feeling after these 50 days as we emerge and we are very unsure just WHAT we are emerging to.

How I praise The Lord for His great faithfulness. This war has stirred a hunger in many people. Perhaps you recall my prayer request for Rachel who visited my apartment several weeks ago and wanted to know about The Lord and how He set me free from depression and brought me victory in weight loss. She called me and said, “Guess what I found in the scriptures? I have to come over and show you. It is about the war! The answer is here!”

We plan for her to come by this week or next. Last night a at our fellowship meeting a dear sister told me that she was deeply burdened for the people of the South while she was riding to work on the bus. She had her Bible in her lap and was silently praying when suddenly the woman in front of her jumped and turned around and stared at her. “Are you PRAYING?” she asked.

“Yes, yes, I was,” she answered. “How did you know?”

The woman smiled and said, “The Holy Spirit just began pouring all over me from behind me. I knew you had to be praying!”

It turned out that the woman was a believer who had come from Russia. What an encouragement to the TWO of them and to me. So often we can’t SAY anything. If we DO share, it is as if we are sharing strange tales. But He tells us to, “Be Light and salt in the midst” and “to let HIS Light shine among men.” And what an encouragement to see that He, in His great faithfulness, is indeed walking in the midst. He WILL make His Presence AND His Name known to all.

The first day of the cease fire, as I said, there was much confusion; Did we stop too soon? Did they win or loose? Will there be quiet in the south? Did we reward terrorism? Are we better off then we were 51 days ago? But by day two, more flags were out again and people were standing a bit straighter.

On the day of the cease fire, the Syrian war spilled over into our North. Al qaeda groups fighting with the rebels took over the Christian village of Quneitra with the strategic Quneitra crossing between Syria and Israel. During the fighting, several missiles were shot into Israel damaging cars while a stray bullet injured an Israeli officer. Poor war torn Syria … so much fighting…so much grief. Barbarism – beheading and torture running rampant – Islam slays the infidels and the earth reels with blood.

God is in the midst and we are certainly learning to FIX our eyes on The Lord. Look away unto Yeshua – Jesus – behold Him as Stephen did. And so I ask Him for “…patience and longsuffering with joy…” for who knows how long it will be until we too are called upon to stand? Slowly, I’m learning the reality that it is ONLY in looking away unto Him that I will be able to stand in the face of such things. Oh, intellectually I say, “Of course I will”…but the closer I live to these actual events, the more I see my own natural inability to stand.

God bless and keep you. May we be given His discernment, be filled with His Holy Spirit and the Love of Yeshua which passes knowledge…and may we choose His way, ALWAYS, no matter what the cost. All glory to Him Who paid such a price. He must consider us very precious to have taken us each all the way to the cross. May we treat one another the same way – as precious.

Lovingly,

your sis in Jerusalem J

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September 7, 2014 · 8:37 am

Inside Israel

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Greetings from Jerusalem. Blessing and honor and glory to The Lord God Almighty! And may you, His body, be blessed and edified.

I am still trying to gain my balance following the war and what do you know, but before I can breath in and out, there they are again: The shofarim are sounding every morning.

Yep, it happened suddenly − it is that time.

Most of you remember, that the shofar is the ram’s horn (translated as trumpet in the English scriptures). How I love the powerful, plaintive sound that unfolds with its call. My skin tingles, my heart quickens, and my spirit rises when I hear it. And there it was, for the first time this year, sounding as I was on the way to work, early morning Monday.

Rosh h’shana already? How did THAT sneak up on us so suddenly? I thought.

Yesterday was summer-vacation-war and today the hagim (high holidays – the fall feasts of Rosh h’shana – feast of trumpets – Yom kippur – atonement – and Sukkot – feast of tabernacles) are all running toward us. Yikes! Forget about catching my breath! What in the world will we do? LOTS of preparation.

My boss walked in to the office with his shofar. He goes to morning prayers every morning at the synagogue, and every morning following the reading and prayers, there is the blowing of the shofar throughout the month.

It is a call to prayer, to repentance, to search your heart. It is the call to the Mountain of God and for the people hear it.

At the bus stop I see: “Prepare yourself for slichot (forgiveness) prayers” on one sign. Another announces: “There IS GPS to the Kingdom of Heaven,” referring to the Torah, or Bible as being similar to the popular navigational device.

On the train and bus there is much seriousness in the faces of the people as they read Psalms or the Tenach. Many are young wearing IDF uniforms and others are old. All are deep in contemplation of the Word and wrestling privately in their hearts. God is surely GOOD to Israel. He calls her constantly to Himself.

As I was riding the bus and train this past week, I made some notes while I listened to the very beautiful, plaintive music calling the nation to Him. Both morning and night people gather in the synagogues, pray and stand before God, asking Him to reveal their sins and His mercy to them. They actively seek repentance, and because of the war, they are taking it very seriously.

After the morning prayers, which most are sung, the shofar is blown. You might remember that the shofar is blown for several reasons: for the calling together of the country in a time of danger or to war, in gathering the people to God, in celebration of something that God has done, and at rosh h’shana − the feast of the blowing of the trumpets (Num 29, Levit 23;23, Deut 16, Levit 16 for some references). These are also the “Days of Awe”. Traditionally, the books in heaven are open between rosh h’shana and Yom kippur (the day of deep repentance with full fasting) when the books are again sealed for the year.

The greeting during this time is: “May your name be sealed in the book of life.” But I am getting ahead of myself.

We are still in the soul searching time leading up to the days of awe, but the fruits of repentance are already seen, sadly, in some cases, temporarily. And if we are honest, isn’t it that way with some of us as well? But the battle is The Lord’s and we do not battle alone, but with His Holy Spirit.

What I get to see on the bus, the train and at work is the sweet fruit of kindness. There is unusual thoughtfulness all around. It is so sweet.

The traditional foods of the holiday: apples and honey, fresh dates and almonds appear at the shuk just as the kindness appears in the people. Fish heads are discussed as they are a traditional food at rosh h’shana (from the scripture − “may you be the head and not the tail”), but many are not sure how to serve it.

Here is where my experience kicks in and I am able to come to the rescue with my Alaskan fish head soup recipe. Women gather around me at the shuk, asking details of my recipe and writing notes.

And speaking of the shuk, I have a prayer request concerning yet another lady from the shuk, much like the story of Legion. I have watched this woman for nearly 20 years and for most of that time, at a distance. She is younger then me by about 10 years, a mess, smells bad, and covered with sores. She would often ride the bus with a broom and get off at the shuk and sweep the garbage areas and collect garbage. While doing this, she would curse and scream and yell. People would laugh, or pull away, afraid of this poor woman tormented by demons. Over the years I prayed, but never thought I would become this involved.

This is what happened. One morning I saw her talking to some ‘shuk men’ (the people who run their stalls and sell their wares). They gave her a cup of coffee and some money. One young man said to her, “We love you Dalia.”

She answered tearfully, “I know that you do and that is what I can’t understand. Why would you care about me? I’m crazy, I’m a mess and I’m not nice.”

He then reached over and planted a kiss on her forehead and said, “We just do. We love you.”

There I stood and learned her name was Dalia. I couldn’t get her out of my mind. So I prayed and I asked The Lord what He wanted me to do for her. The next time I saw her, before I could think twice I walked up to her and pressed some money into her hand and said, “Hi Dalia. How are you doing?”

She looked at me. “Do you know me? How do you know me?”

“Oh I have been around for years. You just never noticed me,” I said.

“Huh,” she said, “thank you. I’m not doing too well. I have trouble where I live.”

And so it started. Little by little she’d look for me. If I had some time, I would sit with her a bit. Her stomach worries her. She is lonely. She’s sad. She is intelligent, but tormented. I got to tell her, “I was that way too a long time ago… and someday I will tell you about it.”

She looks deeply at me and I can see her still wondering: “Where do I know this crazy lady from?”

I need God’s timing and God’s door to open so I can tell her about Yeshua. I need my Hebrew to be flowing and understandable. I need to know when He is PRESENT TO DELIVER. It would make my flesh feel very righteous just to tell her, but this woman needs HIM, not my just my witness and there IS a difference. The difference is to be walking in His Spirit and to know that He is there to speak, to touch, to deliver. Will you pray with me for her? Will you pray that I have the boldness to speak His Words when He says, Now?”

Immediately following the end of the war in the south, the school year began on the 1^st of September. Again, no time to breathe in between. There was emotional debate as many in the south initially refused to send their children, still shaken by events that no one was convinced were over.

The reality of the fact that the kidnapping of our 3 teens sparked the discovery of the plotted invasion and massacre scheduled by Hamas in Gaza to take place on Rosh h’shana just really began to sink in. I still step back a bit when I think of what lengths the country was willing to go to in order to find the 3 teens. One thing is clear: Israel loves her children. They said that they would not leave one rock unturned and they meant it.

It has just recently been revealed that one of the Hamas prisoners released in the controversial Gilad Shalit deal plotted the whole event. He had received money from the Palestinian government, which was given to each released prisoner as they are considered heroes. His family members in Hevron purchased 2 vehicles, one to burn after the kidnapping and one to escape in, as well as the plot of land to bury them in.

During our house-to-house searches, rockets began to rain on our south more heavily then usual and finally, after finding the bodies, we went to stop the rocket fire. WHAT WE DID NOT EXPECT AT THE TIME WAS THAT THE UNDERGROUND SATANIC NETWORK OF TUNNELS WAS NOW READY FOR A SCHEDULED HAMAS INVASION OF ISRAEL TO TAKE PLACE ON ROSH H’SHANA!

Plans were found with all of the details: Hamas terrorists popping up into Israel, killing and kidnapping all along the south. It is a nightmare scenario that The Lord of Hosts, Adonoi Tva’ot, revealed in His great mercy. It was a miracle.

People were still recovering from the trauma of this as school began, but the educators had not been lax during the previous 50 days, and experience is a hard but good teacher. They had been preparing new curriculum to deal with trauma on all age levels as well as loss in families and communities. The first week of learning was centered around this topic.

I wept when I heard that. Slowly, the families have been returning to their homes and returning their children to schools as the quiet in the south has held. There remain many badly damaged homes to deal with and much else, too.

But it hit me afresh, that as we sit around the rosh h’shana tables this year, we will have a new miracle to be thankful for …or… perhaps an on-going one as it is just another expression of His longsuffering mercy to his people since the days of Abraham.

And speaking of ongoing and longsuffering, our people continue to seek for that repentance that has been granted already, that sacrifice for sin which was rejected once. The fact that the merciful Hand of The Lord to our people remains pierced with the nails that we hammered, only serves as more reason for me to fall on my face and worship Him.

And isn’t that another example of how one shocking thing − the kidnapping murders − opened into a broader deliverance just like our initial rejection of our Savior became salvation to the rest of the world? Oh I am so glad that His ways and thoughts are so far above mine.

May you and I be filled with His humility and granted the gift of discernment for these days…baring His fruit for a starving, dark world…ALL for HIS glory!

I send you so much love,

Your sis J

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August 3, 2014 · 9:49 am

Inside Israel

Greetings, sisters and brothers, in The Name of Yeshua, Messiah, King, The Prince of Peace. Blessing to you with love, and may He be BLESSED AND GLORIFIED!

Here are some thoughts and observations as I look through my window at a very real war. May this be fodder for prayer and may we be drawn into His Presence.

Most Friday mornings finds me at the shuk (market) on my way to the prayer meeting. I am at the shuk as it is still waking up at 6 a.m., so not all of the stalls are stocked or open yet, but I know by now the ones that are open. They know me as well. It has blessed me to watch the interactions of Arab and Jewish merchants at the shuk. They have almost a special dance to guard their relationships. There is not a feeling of hostility there at all, but of brotherhood. I see Jewish and Arab merchants embracing and I also inquire how they and their families are and look for the open-faced reply.

My bread man is Jewish. I pick up my challa (3 twined braided Shabat bread) each Friday from them and once a month, another two for communion (Tsudat h’Adon’ in Hebrew) for our kehila (fellowship).

I had just heard on the news as I rode the train that we had agreed to a 72-hour cease fire. Although it might seem hard for many to understand, this was sad news. The job is not yet completed, and if it remains as it is, we will be faced again and again with the same war while they build up more sophisticated weapons in ever increasing numbers. Once again, we feel the pressure from the world − the world that has been unsuccessful at pressuring Syria, Egypt, Russia, Ukraine, and so forth.

Since we DON’T censor our media, the constant barrage of accusations − inaccurate, ignorant and distorted − are very painful and influence many within the country.

On with my story.

The young man looked at me as he handed me the breads. “How are you? What do you think?” he asked.

I sighed. “We must finish it this time. If we do nothing and ignore the attacks, rockets and weapons will build up. Then we must do everything at once.”

He shook his head. “What they won’t let us do and what we can’t do, HE must do and HE will,” he said, pointing up to heaven.

I smiled. “Yes, Amen, oh yes,” I agreed.

That is what the bread man said. Bethlehem − Beit Lechem or House of Bread. The Promised One was hidden there like leaven in a loaf of bread as He described the kingdom of God in a parable.

And oh yes, more and more people really ARE looking UP seriously. This war is very fierce, and even though all of the other wars fought since I have lived here have been for our own homes and families, in our land or on our borders, this one IS different.

The problem has been allowed to fester and it HAS become a war for our VERY EXISTANCE, there is no doubt, and just about everyone knows it. A whopping 85-92% of the Jewish population stand behind the government’s decisions and wants to see it through to the end in spite of the great cost in lives or in allies. The sacrifice is great, but the alternative is EVERYTHING.

My heart was greatly moved on Friday night to see the demonstration up north − so brave and so very encouraging. Two hundred Christian Arabs marched together with Israeli flags and banners, saying: WE ARE ISRAELI AND WE STAND WITH ISRAEL.

The speaker was a Greek Orthodox Priest, but the group was mixed denominationally. He said boldly and bravely, “WE MADE A GRAVE MISTAKE IN 1948 AND WE MUST NOT MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN. We sided with the Arabs against Israel, but we Christians must repent and know that we share the same God, the same Bible, the same promises and that His promise is for the land of ISRAEL, and we share IN that.”

It was truly amazing and so encouraging.

All around the country it looks like yom h’atz’maoot’ (our independence day). Except for a few people, the streets are empty because more then 86,000 troops were called up. There are very few tourists or shoppers. But still flags are flying everywhere. The streets are decked in blue and white and flags are now interspersed all over, Israel, Jerusalem and armed forces. Signs and banners on walls, cars and buses (AND tee shirts) read: “Together we are strong…strengthen one another…stand with each other…help each other” and “Embrace a Golani, embrace a soldier” and of course “Messiah is coming” and even “Messiah is among us.”

Boxes and booths appear everywhere collecting money, food, underwear for the soldiers and food and help for the people of the southern communities. With NO tourism, the beautiful hotels, bed and breakfasts and resorts have opened their doors free to the people of the south and soldiers who need a break from the war. Groups of people from all over the country gather to go and shop in Sderot and other besieged towns where businesses are starving for sales. THERE IS A FACEBOOK PAGE called Israeli businesses under fire.

It lists businesses that need help. These are really families who will lose their jobs or companies in the midst of this fighting. It’s a creative way to buy things from them. I was very encouraged by it.

They say it is a list and description, easy to use. You can buy things for yourself or for others or to donate. One man in the states found a tee shirt place and ordered hundreds of tee shirts to be delivered to the soldiers. Another found a caterer (usually a family business) and ordered hundreds of meals sent to the hospitals where the soldiers are for their families who are with them around the clock. It may be worth looking at the site.

And so the cease fire on Friday lasted for almost 90 minutes. A suicide bomber entered a tunnel and blew himself up, killing 2 of our soldiers. Another cease is fire over.

Our 64 dead soldiers so far seems like a small number in comparison with the 1,700-1,800 dead people in Gaza, mainly women and children. But there is great grief here mixed in with great bravery.

Now I must share with you some things that many of you won’t read elsewhere:

The testimony below was from one of the wounded soldiers in Gaza. It gives an intimate look into what we are dealing with. May this and other first-hand accounts enable us to continue with what needs to be done:

“We went into Shuja’iya, to discover and destroy the Hamas’ terrorist tunnels. We discovered there an entire underground city, with multi-shaft, wide tunnels, with Wi-Fi & air-conditioning systems, concrete walls, and stocked to the ceiling with weapons and explosives. Some of the tunnels are so wide, that they can ride back and forwards on Vespa-type scooters. And then came the worst. The Hamas fighters started sending towards us 13- and 14-year-old Palestinian children, running at us, wearing explosive-laden suicide-bomber belts. Those children were death-trapped, and became human bombs, by the community’s adults. We were trained to fight adult soldiers or any other skilled adults, enabling us to defend our families and countrymen. But this?? We had no other option but, in self-defense, to shoot them at as far a range from us as we could, before the responsible adult that sent them used his mobile phone to detonate the belts, and kill us.”

One of the injured soldiers ended up by saying, “I do not know if I’ll ever be able to sleep again, the pictures of those poor children, killed by my gun, will probably never leave me.”

HERE IS A TRANSLATION OF AWSOME TESTIMONY PRINTED IN OUR HEBREW NEWSPAPERS ABOUT ANSWERS TO PRAYERS BY A GENERAL. He was mocked when he prayed them:

“Vinter also describes how his forces have seen miracles in their battles. One story he relates is when they were fighting in Hirbat Hizaah, Vniter says he saw something he had not seen during his entire career in the army to date. Vinter describes that they had decided to attack the area in the early hours of the morning, before daybreak, so the enemy would not notice them. The extraction team arrived at the location on time, but the fighters arrived late. Vinter says they did not know what to do, as the sky was already starting to light up and the soldiers were becoming visible, yet they needed to attack. Suddenly, Vinter says, a cloud cover came over them and protected them. Clouds of glory (ananei kavod). Suddenly it covered us, the fighters, a heavy fog, that stayed there throughout the attack. Nobody saw us. Only after the houses targeted were destroyed and there was no longer any danger to the soldiers did the fog disperse. Exactly as it says: “For Hashem will go with you to save you.”

One last thing, THE pressing issue is PRAYER. SPIRIT-LEAD SPIRIT FILLED PRAYER. He knows all and His Book is filled with directions and information. THANK YOU FOR PRAYING.

Again I have inundated you with so many words, please forgive me, but it is a most intense time. I plan to attend another funeral at 5 p.m. today at the Mount Hertzl military cemetery for a fallen soldier from a family that I know. I have been more emotional then I would like to be when I write, but please forgive my passion. I send you my love. God bless you dear body of Messiah.

Lovingly,

your sis J

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July 27, 2014 · 8:39 am

Inside Israel

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I greet you in The Name of The Great I AM. The beginning and the end, the first and the last, may He be MAGNIFIED and GLORIFIED. And may we, His body, be found faithful and obedient. I send this to you with deep love!

I sat down for a cup of coffee and a moment of rest out on the merapeset (balcony). There I saw two soldiers and an older man wearing plain clothes, solemnly crossing the street toward our building. I felt a chill and began praying as they entered the building next door to us. I waited and waited. There were no screams or wails of grief, so I felt my body relax a bit and kept praying. Soon one soldier and the older man came back outside and then walked in the same manner back to where they had come from, leaving one soldier behind.

It could signal all manner of things, none easy or happy. I am learning more and more about our army day by day and I am humbled as I do.

I cannot share the names of the believing soldiers (and children of believers) fighting right now. I have been asked not to do that. God knows their names, but I am touched by the fact that our sisters and brothers in the army are in very sensitive and strategic positions because they can be trusted.

Please pray for them and please pray that they are strengthened in their spirits…that they SEE Him Whom they serve and are given fruitful opportunities to share His Name.

We had a soldier wearing her uniform at the service last night and I learned something that I didn’t know. She had been in a battle and a member of her battalion was killed. The battalion was then removed right away from the fight. The army takes them out for a “cooling off” period because the soldiers become as close as brothers through their training and serving together. The army does not want someone blinded with grief to then act crazy in the midst of war.

IN SPITE OF WHAT YOU ARE HEARING AND SEEING, the IDF does a PHENOMONINAL job of keeping an eye out for blood-thirst, rage, and hatred. That cannot characterize us. Most Israelis agree that we need compassion with sharp discernment even in our warfare.

As we went out this morning to run errands downtown, I pointed out to my husband the flags up and down the rail line. Interspersed with the alternating Israeli and Jerusalem flags are the Golani flags. This group usually leads the IDF into battles. It is this group that lost so many on the first day of the battle. There are many signs, which read, “Hug a Golani.”

My husband and I are planning to join the throngs going to the Mount Hertzl Military cemetery here in Jerusalem to attend the funeral for a Jerusalem soldier killed in battle yesterday. His name is Amitai Yairi. I think the paper said that he was 20. We did not know him, nor his family, but it is the little we can do to stand with those nearby. As of now, 43 soldiers and officers have given their lives.

We are definitely in a battle fighting for the existence of Israel. This is not a small, light, or political battle − this is life and death. We KNOW that and we KNOW Who wins, however we also know the scriptures, and in spite of many prophets and eschatologists, we know that He calls us to STAND PRAYING and TO STAND.

It is very difficult for Israelis to see needless deaths taking place in Gaza and all the suffering there. This too is a battle and one well calculated by those who are set to destroy.

My pastor has a very important prayer letter which you can read here.

Thank you for your prayers for Israel, for us, for the plans and purposes of God to be fulfilled and to bring glory to His great Name. May there be fruit for His kingdom, and MAY WE BRING GLORY TO HIS NAME. May you be encouraged, and kept in His straight and narrow path.

Lovingly,

your sis J

I am sending this letter so soon to forward to you my Pastor’s prayer letter as I feel that it is very important. It is easier reading from the web page, so you can open it here

http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=b8e32e47671a0921e0fb3f53c&id=065abe8499&e=696712bf91

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July 20, 2014 · 8:32 am

Inside Israel

Part of my regular reading this morning was in 1^st Corinthians. I was struck afresh by the wonderful greeting; so full of blessing and prayer and wanted to greet YOU that way:

“to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: ³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and Peace − what GIFTS He has made available to us so freely. May you and I experience them today.

Oh was I ever blessed today in the midst of my life. Perhaps you remember Eliyahu the plumber whom I shared my testimony when we moved into our apartment and how grieved I was at it was been received by him. I am so thankful that today was different.

“Yoooo Hoooo, friend, come to the window. Haaalllooo. Are you home?”

There was someone calling MY name outside from the street? I was cleaning the bathroom and dropped everything and ran to the merapeset (balcony). There on the street below was Rakel looking up and calling to ME of all people.

“Wow. Rakel, come on up, I’m just one flight up.”

Rakel came huffing and puffing up the stairs, smiling her contagious smile and gave me a big hug. “Found you,” she said. “I knew you would be the window with the beautiful flowers hanging out.”

I smiled as my dog jumped around her legs and my bird began to sing.

I met Rakel at work, and over the years I have been able to share with her a bit how I believe, and she accepted that, so I wasn’t concerned that my Bible lay open on the chair as I showed her in. Rakel struggles with weight and depression. She came to Israel when she was about 9 years old from, I think, Auschwitz. Her war experience as a child and a subsequent failed marriage scarred her terribly. She has been searching for answers to relieve her pain for the nearly 17 years that I have known her. Because her food addictions seem tied to the pain, she actually joined AA and has lived by the 12 step program.

When she saw me be able to finally loose the 41 kilos (about 90 pounds), and then keep it off (it has been nearly 9 years now), it opened a door for me to share with her about The Lord. But at work my sharing is limited and we always said, “We should meet for coffee someday and talk.”

Here she was at my door.

Right away she began talking about her weight again. Even though I struggled about my own weight issues with The Lord for many years, and I don’t know WHY He gave the victory at this point in my life, it was still HIM Who did it. So the conversation soon turned to Him, His ways, and how I believe.

Rakel is religious, but is always searching for God. “I just read a scripture in Malachi about telling man how to live,” she began.

“Oh, funny, I just read this in Micah,” I said, grabbing my Bible. I turned to Micah 6:8 and read:

He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?

“That’s it!’ she exclaimed.

“Your Bible has Hebrew too. Can I see it?” she said taking my Bible and reading it in Hebrew, nodding her head. “Wow! You really read your Bible a lot don’t you?” She leafed through it.

“Yes. I love The Bible. It is the Truth that sets us free. My Bible also has the brit h’desha (New Testament) in it.”

I showed her.

“Let me see it. And that is in Hebrew too.”

We talked a bit more and then she left for an appointment.

She is very open, but she is also open to anything spiritual, including kabala (Jewish mystical occult) and new age things. I plan to get her a full Bible in Hebrew. Perhaps you will pray with me for her, and also for my testimony to be received. May His Word produce fruit in this hungry seeking lady.

Today has been Day 9 of Operation Protective Edge.

Tensions are running high as crazy information floods the airwaves and internet. The world grows darker and deeper into deception at a rate possibly unprecedented. Surely it is compounded by the abundance of available information (truth or lies…seems to make no difference). People read or hear something, form an opinion and then act on that opinion. It is almost as if the world has plunged headlong into one of those weird fantasy movies.

Here in Jerusalem it is, I think, the 3^rd day since we have had an air raid, but non the less there is much tension and expectation of one occurring at any time. The rest of the country has had an onslaught of more then 1,200 rockets. Our first death from a missile occurred yesterday when a 37 year old volunteer, the father of 3, was bringing food and water to troops waiting on the border. Meanwhile, more then 200 have been killed in Gaza thus far.

It seems self-evident for us in Jerusalem, but since the rest of the world does not understand, I will share a bit of what seems so obvious:

When Israel painfully evacuated our own people from Gaza (Gush Katif) in August 2,005, all of the rich and productive greenhouses, the fertile land and most public buildings were turned over to the Palestinian government with the sincere hope that they would build a thriving economy and build their country and government. It was an opportunity of huge value for them at great hurt and cost to us. They burned most of the greenhouses and buildings and voted the hamas terror organization in to govern them.

The billions and billions of dollars donated to the area by the world went almost entirely into weapons development, which we are seeing now. Instead of farming or manufacturing of durable goods for their people, they dug expensive, sophisticated tunnels, built weapons manufacturing workshops and starved their people, physically, emotionally and spiritually. The people are filled with fear, anger, hatred and propaganda. It deeply grieves the hearts of nearly every Israeli and totally puzzles us (me included) how on earth this isn’t apparent to the entire world. Why is the world yelling that Israelis are using disproportionate force because our people are instructed to protect themselves in bomb shelters and follow clearly given procedures and air raid sirens and the people of Gaza are told to stand on the roofs? Their children play in the streets. Even as a believer I find this frustrating to tears.

I simply want to be sure that YOU, as believers who care and desire to know and to agree with what The Lord says, understand. I have had a number of emails from people saying that they are thankful to hear from me what is happening because their local media is so biased or shares so little, but I ENCOURAGE you to put ynet and Times of Israel on your bookmarks menu. Check them because things are moving and changing so rapidly and the lies are mutating just as quickly.

And yet we all know that all of the truth about what is going on will avail NOTHING without The Holy Spirit directing our prayers. My dear mentor whom I dare have called friend used to say that we can beat the air with many poetically and spiritually worded prayers but they avail NOTHING if not filled with the Life of The HOLY Spirit. One Word anointed by Him does the job that hours of words cannot. I call it “silver bullet praying,” the arrow that hits the mark.

A news report came in today that you will likely not hear elsewhere:

It is only a few weeks ago that 3 of our teens were kidnapped and murdered by Arabs. The killers have not been found as yet, but sadly, 3 young Israeli boys kidnapped and horribly murdered an Arab boy. These 3 were tracked down and are awaiting trial, but meanwhile the homes of these Jewish boys who killed the Arab boy are being destroyed JUST AS ISRAEL DOES TO THE HOMES OF ARAB TERRORISTS. The law is equal.

The events of these days are trying and I am likely too emotional to write about them. I would rather turn my eyes and, “Look away unto Yeshua.”

“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.”

Thank you for your prayers for Israel, for us, for the plans and purposes of God to be fulfilled and to bring glory to His great Name. Thank you for your prayers for Rakel. May there be fruit for His kingdom, and MAY WE BRING GLORY TO HIS NAME. May you be encouraged, and kept in His straight and narrow path.

Lovingly,

your somewhat tired sis J

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July 6, 2014 · 9:15 am

Inside Israel

Greetings, dear brothers and sisters, in Yeshua’s Name. May He be blessed and glorified, and may you find blessing as you read.

Right now the escalating events seem different than I have seen before. I trust that He can teach us how to pray accordingly. For me, these events also serve as a “shofar blast” to alert my heart and check-list if I am ready and where He wants me to be.

On Thursday I was coming home from work after having stopped at the shuk (marketplace) along the way. The electronic sign flashed “4 minutes” until the next train. It stated that due to disruptions on the track, the train would not be going further then Ammunition Hill. The minutes counted down and as it said, “approaching,” it then switched to “4 minutes” again.

A very pregnant woman asked me what was going on. I assured her, “The train will come.”

As the clock crept ever so slowly to “1 minute,” it then switched to “12 more minutes.” At this point I had been standing in the sun for about a half hour. The crowd had deepened as the minutes passed.

An old Haradi man sat on the bench and said, “What is wrong?”

Another man standing beside him in a kippa (meaning that he was also religious, but not Haradi) said, “Yesterday an Arab boy was abducted and killed and found in the forest and they are rioting down the road.”

All ears listened. As people gathered around I couldn’t hear so well, but the standing man said, “I was born in Hevron. We had to leave in 1945.”

He said some more but I couldn’t hear him. A woman came up and said, “I was also born in Hevron and had to leave around the same time.”

She went on to argue the other side of the question. The question is always the same: “We are to blame vs they are to blame.”

Voices rose and a large crowd gathered with everyone speaking at once. There was SO MUCH ANGER. At the same time I turned around and saw a group of boys – religious teenagers – walking up the tracks with fists flexing, filled with rage. I had just seen some Arab teens with the same look and stance on the train that I took to the shuk.

I have never seen anything like this before.

These are kids who were small children during the last intifada, so they have not seen war yet. They are looking for an outlet for their anger rather then knowing when to restrain it.

I immediately flashed back to the book that I had re-read in May, Watchmen on the Wall by Hannah Hurnard. What the author described as being the emotional atmosphere just before the breakout of the war of Independence was happening around us. She described the rage on both sides as hitting a wall.

No, I have not seen it to this extent before.

Although the investigation is not complete, early reports in Palestinian media are saying that the Palestinian teen who was found in the Jerusalem forest had been burned alive. What a horror! Over and over I hear, “Oh, please don’t let it have been a Jew who did this.”

We must wait and see. But as we wait, riots rage, cars and buses are being attacked by rocks, fires are being set, and arguments are heated.

Our southern border with Gaza has been on the verge of igniting as some 30 rockets a day are raining down from Gaza. There have been a number of direct hits on buildings, including a home that was being used as a summer camp for children. It is truly a miracle that no one has been injured.

Israel is responding and many troops (including the sons and daughters of believers) have been called up to the border. Please pray for them. Egypt is trying to broker a cease-fire. I personally have been amazed at the strong calm of Binyamin Netanyahu, our prime minister, who has been quoting more and more scripture, not in a religious manner, but as one who is truly reading the Bible. He says that he studies it to find answers.

Today is Shabat and so there is quiet outside of our apartment as people rest and so does the news media. I do not hear nearly as many sirens or planes today. It is also the Moslem Ramadan and so the Arabs have been rioting mostly at night on a full stomach. Shabat ends at around 8:30 p.m. I have no idea what lies ahead, but oh how thankful I am that I can and do praise The One Who DOES know and that I know beyond a doubt that He has it all in His Hands for His glory.

Your sis,

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June 29, 2014 · 7:25 am

Inside Israel

Greetings, dearest sisters and brothers in Yeshua. May HE Whom we love be blessed and glorified and listened to and worshipped and adored…and may we His body be built into His glorious temple for His glory alone.

As I write, the train has stopped and shrill sirens fill the air as yet another fire, a very large one, burns out of control, apparently between the Jerusalem forest, Yad v’shem and Ein Kerem, right here on the outskirts of the city. Large plumes of thick smoke billow upward, darkening the sky, punctuated by the acrid smell of burning trees. The sheer number of fire trucks, water planes, police, and many ambulances are quite worrisome.

Our largest hospital, Hadassah Ein Kerem, is in this area. Many if not most of the fires like this are purposely set by Arabs. Sad but true. See photos of the ongoing fire here.

We are surrounded by “sad but true” events much more then we would like to admit. The relief comes in rare, special moments. There was one of those moments on the train coming home from work today. Actually the first time that I have had an experience like this on the train.

A small Haradi man got on the train with an old accordion. The man was a rather good looking gentleman of about 55, distinguished, neat, and intelligent. His accordion had flowers painted on it and designs that I haven’t seen since I was a child when accordions were more popular.

The train was as usual quite crowded, but some relief comes at the Central Bus Station stop (tachanat merkezit in Hebrew). Many get off the train and a collective sigh of relief comes from those of us finally able to find a seat. As the train took off again I thought that I heard the lovely melancholy strain of the accordion and turned to look. The man with the accordion was sitting and two other, much older Haradi men were standing beside him. Others gathered.

He was playing some old Russian Jewish songs, beautiful ones that spoke to the heart. The lady sitting beside me started humming. A young man called out, “Where are you from?”

Strain and fatigue left every face in the car and soon everyone was humming and smiling. The man just played quietly with such a lovely expression on his face and we all smiled. Each one thanked him as we got off at our respective stops. He simply nodded. It was a delightful and peaceful interlude in the midst of tension and pain.

The three kidnapped Israeli teens remain the prominent issue in every heart here. Billboard sized signs are displayed on the buses: Bring Back Our Boys. The responses by other countries of the world have been filled with concerns for the Palestinians being upset over our search efforts. This compounds the hurt in the hearts of the Israeli people. Perhaps it is a cultural difference.

In an interview on local news, US envoy Dennis Ross made the point that the place of the child in the Jewish family is unique and that each child is celebrated here as a special treasure. This fact is not something understood by everyone.

Over the years, I have been struck by how much cultural differences influence our perceptions of everything, even The Word of God. That is until The Holy Spirit truly becomes our translator. Then there is hope. How wonderful that through The Holy Spirit we can REALLY fellowship and communicate.

I had the opportunity to sit yesterday in a most wonderful and unique facility that I have described before, called Yad Sarah. Yad Sarah is unique and wonderful. It was started by a young Haradi boy who rode a bicycle around the neighborhood. He saw that a neighbor needed a hospital raised toilet seat. His family had one. He strapped it to his back and brought it to the neighbor.

Then he found a walker − and wouldn’t you know it − another neighbor needed one. He strapped it to his back and took it to him. Soon people began hearing about the boy who could get you hospital equipment to use at home for free. Some donated and others borrowed. An old bus shell became the first storage shed.

Well, time, vision, and a big heart began to do its work. And Yad Sarah was born. It is a 100% volunteer nationwide organization that not only supplies wheel chairs, beds, canes, walkers you name it, but dental care for the elderly, hearing aids, legal help, and so forth. Well, why am I telling you?? See for yourself here.

So, as I sat there, I noticed a young Chinese man with a kippa (yarmulke or skull cap) atop his head talking to a counselor. The conversation was in Hebrew, English, and CHINESE. Yep, the Israeli volunteer spoke Chinese. As I listened, my heart went out to them. They spoke for well over the hour. They were there when I came and still there when I left. It seemed from what I heard that the young man had made aliyah fairly recently. He seemed to be experiencing what I have come to recognize as a trauma particular to immigrants: having functioned as a competent adults in their old country, they are now helpless children, even needing to learn how to speak again.

It is a terrifying and confusing experience. Growing up in NYC I have known and witnessed this phenomena all of my life but only found out what it felt like myself nearly 20 years ago when we made aliyah. It HURTS!

I listened as the counselor said to this young man, “Ok, so you go to the shuk (market) and you will hear people say mah nish mah? (how are you?) What do you answer? At one point they discussed how to make a doctor’s appointment and then the young man took the phone and made one while the counselor coached him in the background. It was so touching. He patiently encouraged the panicky depressed young man, so gently showing him how far he had already come.

Soon my turn came.

Ok, I have NEVER had a problem like this before. You stood with us in prayer through our move and I KNOW that The Lord brought us to THIS apartment with its challenges and lessons. But I have never had a neighbor call the POLICE before and file a complaint that we were too noisy. Certainly not at 4:30 in the morning when I was asleep.

“Let none of us suffer as an evil doer.”

Oh my, this was a pickle. It will not glorify The Lord to go into full detail, but my heartbeat was thrown off by these incidents. Our stress levels went through the roof as we became afraid to even MOVE. I received very wise counsel from my Pastor who told me that I needed to consult a lawyer and find out our rights and responsibilities. Just get some legal advice.

“Lawyer!” The very word struck fear into my heart. EXPENSIVE…scary…”agree with your adversary quickly”…yada yada yada.

Well, Yad Sarah offers free legal help for those over 65 years (yep, that’s me) or under certain income (yep here, too) so I made an appointment with a volunteer Lawyer. I received not only advice, but A LOT of sympathy and a forceful letter stating that her client has been harassed and intimidated to the detriment of health. And if it continued she herself (the lawyer) would prosecute to the full extent of the law.

Wow!

She suggested that I give the letter to the upstairs neighbor immediately, but I will simply hold it in case of further trouble. We were told that we must be free to live normally and NOT to allow ourselves to be intimidated. This was then made clear to me by The Holy Spirit. Under HIS Authority we are here and HIS boundaries are also here. I am continuing to thank The Lord daily for this apartment AND to pray mercy for my neighbor and SALVATION.

I must close and make dinner, but I have been re-reading the old book, “Of Whom The World Was Not Worthy” by Marie Chapian. It’s an incredible testimony of a praying godly family in WWII Yugoslavia. Perhaps because war is such an ever present tangible here I see afresh the great value of watching someone who lived through great atrocity by fixing their eyes upon Jesus, Yeshua h’Meshiach The Lord and seeing His Hand move in impossible ways to navigate His sheep through fire and flood.

There was a 13 year old boy killed and his father injured on Golan Heights several days ago when someone from the Syrian army fired a rocket at a work vehicle. The young teenage boy had accompanied his father to work that day because it was the first day of school vacation. He was an Israeli Arab from a town in the Galilee.

Israel responded by bombing Syria for the first time. We are told that 4 soldiers were killed in our response. That is in the north. To the east, Iran and Iraq are looming large. To our south, Egypt has wrested itself out of the grips of the Moslem brotherhood. Gaza ferments on the SW and the Palestinian Authority within our borders writhes with anger and hatred.

And a small people, unworthy to be given great promises, has those promises as our only hope. May The Giver of those promises become our only focus.

OOPS…dinner is late.

I SEND MUCH MUCH MUCH LOVE,

Your sis J

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June 22, 2014 · 7:08 am

Inside Israel

Part 1.

In the midst of some huge crises here in Israel, in neighboring countries, and further abroad, I would like to share with you today about a wedding.

This isn’t very spiritual, but it sure sets the scene. I do not encourage any of you to watch it, but there is a movie from back in the 1970s called Little Big Man, which has often come to mind as a close parallel to my life. That makes sense if you have seen the movie because of the wild situations Dustin Hoffman found himself in the story. Like Hoffman, I find myself in some of the most unlikely situations. Well, that is what I thought about while my husband and I were being driven at high speeds by our son-in-law in the wedding car on Jerusalem Highway 1 heading to a huge wedding. And yes, we were late.

Now, my husband and I had never ridden in a wedding car before that day.

Where I grew up the cars were decorated with tin cans and had “Just Married” written across the back window, usually in shaving lotion. In Israel, the wedding cars are decorated with veils, huge bows and flowers and lots of ribbon. Everyone strains to see the bride and groom inside. In this case I am sure they were surprised to see a rather diminutive OLD couple.

Back up. So, how did we get into this position, and who was getting married?

Well, I told you that my son-in-law is the oldest of 14 children in a very religious Haradi family.

As I have explained before, Jews are generally divided into two ethnic groups: Ashkenazi and Sephardic. The Ashkenazi were dispersed following the Babylonian captivity into the European and Western nations while the Sephardic were dispersed into the Asian, African and Spanish speaking nations.

The Ashkenazi developed Yiddish as a common language spoken between countries and the Sephardic had a common language called Ladino. My mother was Ashkenazi and my father was Sephardic. That is known in Jerusalem as a “mixed marriage.”

Our son-in-law’s family is Sephardic, coming from Algeria to France and then finally here. The two groups usually have different customs and synagogues even within the distinctions of orthodox, conservative or reformed.

It IS hard to explain without getting you MORE confused.

They also generally support different political parties, which have their own rabbinical sages. The orthodox Haradi Sephardic party is SHAS and our son-in-law’s brother was marrying the leader’s daughter. This was BIG!

There were over 1,000 people at the wedding and I would not hesitate to venture a guess that I was the only believer. Besides all of the political leaders, there were chief rabbis, sages and scribes, all identified by different ceremonial garb.

Photos of wedding can be seen here.

Part 2.

I must admit that I laughed as I opened a few responses to Part 1. There was one collective question: Where were the WOMEN? Where was the BRIDE?

My original intent in sharing about this wedding was exactly to share some of the interesting differences that you likely won’t see at a western wedding. Although many things have changed throughout the millennia, but others haven’t changed much.

In the orthodox traditions, men and women are separated. The women are kept from the eyes of men so the men can avoid temptation and distraction.

I am so thankful for The Holy Spirit Who leads us into clean paths. Years ago, the Holy Spirit began teaching me that holiness was more than not sinning. If I guard myself from all temptation so that I do not fall into sin, I may open the door to legalism.

He showed me that the purifying work of The Holy Spirit takes place in the hidden rooms of the heart, replacing my nature with His, so that He in me is repulsed by the sin that my flesh loved. Entering into victory is a work of His Spirit and so, of course, we flee temptation.

But that evening we were separated into different areas for the reception, by a thick curtain. Men on one side and women on the other. The dancing is traditional circle dances. Women with women and men with men. The dancing men were displayed on a large screen on the women’s side, but the women were not displayed.

I must back up a bit though.

The wedding itself took place outside at the traditional time: just before or just after sunset. It was under the chuppa. a wedding canopy held by 4 poles and often the poles are held by 4 young men. I looked around at the crowd and was afraid that I was the only woman present aside from those in the wedding party, but I spotted a few others scattered around. So I felt safe about staying.

This wedding took place the night before our Knesset elected a new Israeli President for the country, but even though it was such an important political event, I was saddened that during the ceremony itself, few of the distinguished guests were praying or paying attention. They spoke with one another or on cell phones. It grieved my heart as the political wheeling and dealing swirled around me. So I prayed.

There are 7 blessings read at the end of the ceremony. Famous rabbis and sages proclaimed these blessings for the couple. The groom broke the wine glass, sealing the covenant, and more rabbis examined the papers of the couple before signing the ketuba or wedding contract between the couple and before God.

The happy couple and their families finally came down from the chuppa to shouts of “mazel tov” (good luck). But the couple did not yet join the guests, as it was necessary for them to first consummate the marriage before being presented to the waiting guests. If it is necessary for the marriage to be annulled, it is my understanding that it would happen at this time. There is a separate little room for the couple to go to while the wedding guests wait.

When the bride and groom emerge, the rejoicing and dancing begin, and it is a most joyful time.

Sephardic tradition is known for its passion, warmth and fiery emotions, whereas Ashkenazim are known for more reserved, intellectual, and cultured ways. The wedding atmosphere displayed this somewhat. A few years back there was a HUGE wedding here in Jerusalem in the Ashkenazi Orthodox community. (You can see it here.)

If I remember correctly there were more then 25,000 people at that one.

So, to answer your question: the women and the bride WERE there, but you won’t see their photographs.

Right now we are praying that the 3 kidnapped teens will live and return to be blessed at weddings of their own in the future.

I share about these issues because I write to a wide variety of brethren, some very knowledgeable about world events and others less so. Thank you for your patience. There are many prayer gatherings here for the safe return of these three, nationally, on smaller group levels and in our Knesset. The worldview, sadly, is decidedly different. One such opinion can be seen here.

In the years that I have lived here, I have watched the fulfillment of scriptural prophecy progress rapidly, and things that appeared far off just a few years ago now seem to be knocking on the door. Israel standing alone seems far more real in spite of wonderful pockets of believers who know and stand with us, recognizing God’s purposes. But from my perspective in Jerusalem, it seems the groups are getting smaller and smaller.

There seemed to me to be a time of grace and learning and opening of doors of hearts and understanding, but time has so sped up that suddenly we may be shocked to look around and find ourselves in a completely different, hostile environment.

Brothers and Sisters, I have such a sense of our need for watchfulness. When I say that, I believe that it means us individually. If we are watching, He is well able to show us the larger picture as need be for each of us. IF our hearts are steadfastly watching and waiting, we can be prepared to be used by Him at a moment’s notice.

Oops…I turned melancholy again. Not really melancholy, but serious. My portion is to share what I witness. Thank you for looking through my window. I send much love.

Your sis in Jerusalem, the pressure cooker at the center of the world,

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June 8, 2014 · 7:45 am

Inside Israel

Shavuot – 3-4June.2014

Greetings dear brothers and sisters,

Only by His grace will He be glorified and only by His grace will this bring you any blessing and encouragement. Lord, thank you for Your grace… so much more intricate and precious then we can imagine.

Shavuot begins in a few more hours, at sundown tonight. It is one of the three High holy days that God commanded all of the males of the tribes of Israel to “Come up to Jerusalem” and present themselves before Him. So many times, both in the Gospels, in Acts, and in the letters, we read about Jesus or the disciples “Going up to Jerusalem” for the feast. It was a scriptural command that remains in tact for the Jews of today, and is obeyed by the religious and many less religious.

My favorite scripture specifically about Shavuot is found in Deuteronomy 26:1-11 –

             “and it shall be, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide.  And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the country which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’

            Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the alter of the Lord your God.  And you shall answer and say before the Lord your God:  ‘My father was a Syrian, about to perish, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.  But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us.  Then we cried out to the Lord God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression.  So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders.  He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which you, O Lord, have given me.’

            Then you shall set it before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God.  So you shall rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your God has given you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger who is among you.”

We also read:

Leviticus 21:15-16, 21  “You shall count for yourselves — from the day after the Shabbat, from the day when you bring the Omer of the waving — seven Shabbats, they shall be complete. Until the day after the seventh sabbath you shall count, fifty days… You shall convoke on this very day — there shall be a holy convocation for yourselves — you shall do no laborious work; it is an eternal decree in your dwelling places for your generations. “

This is really the end of Passover. After the eating of matzo, the people are commanded to begin counting the omer for 50 days (omer being the ripened grain within the husk). A week of weeks and that is where the name Shavuot or “weeks” comes from. Many actually abstain from eating wheat from the beginning of Passover until the presenting of the new harvest before The Lord and thanking Him for it on Shavuot.

But Shavuot is celebrated by the church worldwide as well. It is known as Pentecost. (The word ‘Pentecost’ meaning 50 days) That is why it is written in Acts 2:1

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place…v.5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven…”

They were dwelling there temporarily, just like today, when devout Jews come from around the world to Jerusalem to bring their offering and fulfill the command.

When I first read about Pentecost in the light of the scriptures about Shavuot, it thrilled me. The Holy Sprit given, the fulfillment of time − just as the end of the counting of the omer is the fulfillment of time and the ripening of the grain within the husk. Oh the plans of The Lord are so intricately beautiful, even in our small glimpses. May His Holy Spirit – our Teacher Who has promised to lead us into all Truth – give us understanding and help us to rejoice before Him with an offering of firstfruits, for His glory.

I don’t know how today’s traditions evolved, but it is a day when those who observe Shavuot generally wear white and eat dairy. It is the time for commemorating the day that the Torah or the Law was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. So perhaps the white represents the pure milk of The Word, and thus the dairy food and white clothing coupled with study groups.

Our prayer is that these groups will return to studying Scripture, for as it stands now, it generally isn’t. These study groups have actually evolved into a very interesting thing. Twenty years ago, when we came, the religious had a monopoly on them. Long processions of seekers, dressed in white, would wind their way through the Old City streets to the wall, the night gently lit by old-fashioned torches that they carried on the way. They would sit all night and all of the next day in front of the western wall of Solomon’s temple, studying, reading, and praying.

Over the past few years, many of the religious started to reach out to the more secular. They hold study groups all over the country, in homes, schools, parks, any area. Not to be outdone, many secular leaders began holding their own study groups and the subjects began to vary until there are really some far fetched ones out there.

One year my boss (a Doctor) told me that he had studied with a large group of doctors – debating different philosophies applied in modern medicine in the light of Torah (example; extending life by machines, issues concerning suffering, etc.).

To read more about how Shavuot is observed there are many sites to google and there is always https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shavuot. I simply love reading what God says in His Word.

I challenged my boss this year; “Why don’t you study the Prophet Ezekiel this year?” I asked.

He looked puzzled. “Will you?” he asked me.

“Sounds good to me, ok,” I answered.

So, it looks like I will do just that. I pray that the Lord will start stirring my boss’ hungry heart to just READ THE WORD! And MANY hungry hearts, for there truly are many.

One thing that I learn daily as I look into His Word, is that there is ALWAYS room at the Cross for me AND for everyone else. God bless you as you seek Him.

Lovingly,

your sis J

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Filed under Christianity, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, God, Israel, Jerusalem, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as Christianity, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Israel, Jerusalem, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, Spiritual warfare

June 1, 2014 · 8:35 am

Inside Israel

Blessings with Love in The precious Name above all names, Yeshua h’meshiach, Jesus Christ. May HE be blessed and glorified and may you be edified, blessed and found of Him in His peace.

Whew!

The Pope came and went and it was QUITE a study in Jewish psychology to see and hear the responses. Yesterday, the streets were empty in my part of Jerusalem. We went shopping in Talpiot, a neighborhood in the South East of the city that is usually booming with people, but we just zipped through empty streets and stores.

TODAY, on the other hand, the streets and stores are full and happy. Tonight begins JERUSALEM DAY, marking the anniversary of that mystical, miraculous, wonderful day in 1967 when suddenly Israel found Jerusalem in our hands again, for the first time in 2,000 years. The wonder of it does not cease to amaze me, although the world tries its best to at least put a damper on the joy. May they not win, but may their eyes be open to come and share in the rejoicing.

AND dairy products are being bought by the ton as women begin to bake and bake and BAKE, mostly cheesecakes. Yep, in preparation for Shavuot (Pentecost) which arrives next Tuesday night: Shavuot being one of the THREE high holy days during which God commanded all the men of Israel to come up to Jerusalem and rejoice before Him at the temple. Shavuot was NOT commanded to be a sacrifice of milk (although you might think so by the tradition of eating only milk products and dressing in white), but to present the first loaves of bread baked with grain from the new harvest, as a wave offering with thanksgiving to the priest.

Ok. That was the introduction. Now to elaborate:

Two other popes have visited us since we have lived here. In both of those cases there was actually quite a bit of excitement and curiosity within Israel among the Jews. Now please understand: I am trying to describe something that might be hard to grasp for many of you. This calls for a very quick, and very inadequate history lesson given by me…NOT an authority, but only sharing what I know as a Jew and from my own experiences.

Even today, most Jews do not REALLY know the difference (or think that there is any) between Catholics, Protestants, other orthodox sects and even Mormonism for that matter. The history of relations between Catholics and Jews goes back to the Roman destruction of the temple, the dispersion and the separation of the early Church (about 120 years after it’s inception, I believe) from the original Jewish believers.

Persecution grew and continued growing with the Church of those days establishing that Jews were cursed of God as Christ killers. OF COURSE there has ALWAYS been a remnant that knew and understood the ways of God and sought Him, but I am sharing from the perspective of non-believing Jews. On came the Inquisition, pogroms, countless banishments and dispersions.

When I was a child I recall being accosted by three of my small girlfriends, Roman Catholics, on their communion day, in their white dresses, telling me that I had killed Jesus. Let’s put it this way − relations between Catholics and Jews were not good.

However, in 1948 with the establishment of the modern State of Israel, a problem was posed. If the Jews were cursed with no chance of redemption, how did THIS happen? Well, I’m not an authority on the Catholic church nor desire to become one, but there has been since 1948 a roadway of dialogue and reconciliation.

Ok. Let’s get on with it. This pope is not perceived as someone who likes Israel. The other two were. There was a great deal of nervousness on the part of most Israelis about his coming. He was going to Jordan first and then arriving in the Palestinian Authority by way of Beit Lechem (Bethlehem), circumventing Israel.

Only after that would he come to Israel. He has an obvious dislike for our Prime Minister and prefers to speak to President Peres, the very liberal figurehead of the country who is NOT supposed to have any political influence. In the midst of this, a growing number of angry Jewish youth from the settlement movement on our political right have been carrying out “price tag attacks” and vandalizing Palestinian and Israeli Arab property, often leaving very hurtful graffiti at random every time a Jewish community or home is destroyed as illegal. (I suspect that you don’t hear of such things in the press, but only about the demolition of illegal Arab housing, right?). There have been recent such attacks against some churches and there was fear that the Pope might be targeted.

THIS IS MY POINT: I was shocked and moved by the reaction of the people from my vantage point in Jerusalem during this visit. As I said, streets were deserted. People on the bus or train were all looking downward and they looked sad. I asked The Lord, “What is this?”

As I looked I realized that I was seeing the face of shame. The impression that I got was not that this was the sort of shame that leads to repentance, but the shame that comes from condemnation. I didn’t expect that, but I saw downtrodden souls. I saw a people ashamed that they exist and I KNOW that feeling. I remember it well. I am so thankful to be FREE from it, completely, in Yeshua, but I do remember the feeling. It was a feeling that my very existence, as a Jew, was repulsive to the world and a mistake. I could do nothing right, and that just when I THOUGHT I was doing something right, I would then find out I was wrong. My fault again! The world would be better without me.

This is what I saw around me and the people hid in their houses. Oh, you could say that we were warned of traffic jams and told that there would be disruptions, but I have REALLY seen enough of those over the past 20 years to know that it rarely keeps people inside.

The pope left and was not injured while he was here, thankfully, and there was a collective sigh of relief.

And things were DIFFERENT this morning on the train. The train was JAMMED with young people in their 20s, huge backpacks and sun tanned faces, long walking sticks and smiles. “Are you here for Jerusalem Day?” I asked one of them.

“We are walking the Israel Trail, but wanted to be in Jerusalem for the celebrations. Those over there have walked from the North for Jerusalem Day.”

A young man smiled. “Well, we have only been walking for 2 days,” he said apologetically.

An older man sitting across from me also enjoyed them. “So why are you on the train? Get out and walk.”

The joy caught on and I looked around at the people who had fought in the siege of Jerusalem, at those who had heard the shofar sound at the Western Wall, and at those who read the Psalm with such wonder: “Our feet are standing within your gates O Jerusalem….”

Jerusalem is a mystery. We did not intend to live in Jerusalem when we made aliyah. We intended to live in the country, NOT a city and certainly NOT Jerusalem. But I have found that what is said of her is true: “No one can choose to live in Jerusalem…Jerusalem chooses who she will.”

In the Psalms, the “song’s of ascent” are the Psalms that are (and were) sung as the tribes went up to Jerusalem at the appointed times. I understand that in 1967 when it was heard that Jerusalem was in our hands that the people were told to stay away at first because the war was so difficult and no one knew if it was really over. But the people could not be stopped. They just began walking and kept walking from all over the country and every direction they came up to Jerusalem.

I love to listen to the stories told of that day among our patients. One lived under the old city wall, (many poor people lived under the wall) but had never been inside the old city. Her mother told her, “Tamima. Stay down! Do not go out!” But she said that she heard OUR soldiers and she just ran out and followed them.

Sari Sapir was a young reporter and followed the troops in. She saw a very large ancient key fall to the ground and picked it up and ran after the Arab who dropped it saying, “Sir, sir! You dropped your key!”

The Lord had put such a fear into them that they ran when they didn’t need to. She showed me the key once when I was at her house, about a foot long. How ancient it is I cannot venture to guess.

Tomorrow there will be dancing. They call it “the flag dance” as the streets will be full of people dancing with the flag. I love Jerusalem day. I love the feeling of delight at something so much bigger then us, something that God hath done.

What will be tomorrow? We do not know. Not with this city that the world wants to divide − the stone of stumbling and the rock of offense, the place that God chose to put His Name. Why? Because.

Jerusalem day approaches.

As does Shavuot a week from tonight.

ANSWERS TO PRAYERS: Thank you SO much, those of you who took up the burden that I shared with you in my last email concerning the stillborn Baby and parents so new at seeking Him. And for my daughter…

My daughter told me that the funeral was completely centered on The Lord and that the Mother picked out worship songs to be played. They are turning to HIM for comfort. Our daughter had an unexpected outpouring of love from friends, world wide who didn’t even know about what was going on. It was unprecedented for her and it riveted her attention on Him and she was availed of the strength and provision that He had for her. I want to give HIM glory for answered prayer and to thank you so very much for your love in His Spirit.

I also want to say before I close that my words are not polished, and I am neither a prophet, teacher nor an expert in anything, but the words are an offering to Him and my sole intent is to glorify Him and bless the body as a witness in a place that most of you can not live in. I want to be faithful in what He has called me to do but I am aware that my limitations might bring offense to someone sometime. I am open to challenges or criticisms in His Spirit, so if I do offend you, please tell me how. May we all be found faithful and walking more and more in His Light and His Truth as we see the day rapidly approaching.

Lovingly,

your sister J

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Filed under Christianity, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Israel, Jerusalem, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as Christianity, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Israel, Jerusalem, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, Spiritual warfare