Category Archives: Israel

May 25, 2014 · 7:37 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 …

Dearest Sisters and Brothers of like-precious faith, I greet you for His glory and blessing. May you be blessed and encouraged as we grow together in the knowledge of Him Who Alone is worthy of all praise!

Shalom. Once again I should be headed to bed but so want to share with you from the smelting pot of testing and grace.

The streets and public transportation of Jerusalem afford me a peculiar set of eyeglasses to see this city. I had a couple of interesting encounters this past week that reminded me of the vantage point that I have and the obligation I feel to share it.

The first event took place on my beloved bus. Coming home from work I see many of the same faces day after day, even as tired as I am. We nod, sometimes exchange a few words, but being a crowded public bus, there are always new people on board as well. I groaned with relief as I fell into a seat the other day, next to a woman about my own age. I had been standing for much of the ride and it felt so good to be sitting.

As I watched others boarding the already packed bus, a rather disheveled, large woman boarded and walked toward the back. The bus driver called her forward and there was some jostling and soon quite a bit of noise. The woman was yelling. At first I couldn’t make out what was going on, but she was speaking English and it soon became clear. She hadn’t paid and refused to pay. She began yelling, cursing the Jews, cursing Israel and all Israelis. She was neither Jewish nor Arab from her looks. The entire bus cringed. She threw the money at the driver. The woman next to me said, “Oh! I would have given her money for her ticket. Some people can’t afford it. I would give the money…”

All around me men and women cringed in pain and I recognized it. I wonder if I can describe it. It is a particular pain that comes when your race is being hated. We are surely not alone in feeling that. Arabs feel that…Blacks feel that…Hispanics… Orientals… Caucasians…ALL people have likely felt that. Some get angry. Some ignore it. I have noticed that Jews and Israelis usually cringe with pain. The whole bus was cringing with pain.

The woman next to me said again, “Poor woman. She is crazy. Maybe she doesn’t have any money. We are not all bad, are we?”

I told her about an old woman at my work that had an even older Mother, nearly one hundred. The Mother was blind and ill, but every Friday morning she would feel her way down the stairs to the street and give a shekel to a beggar who came at the same time. When her daughter saw her do this one day, she said, “Mama, why are you doing this?”

Her mother answered, “Ora, even a beggar should be able to have flowers for Shabat.”

That started the ball rolling. Stories began to pour forth, hidden gifts given anonymously for years, different ways that people could help one another without fanfare. I kept turning the conversation back to God and my seat mate smiled and said, “You know, I may not LOOK like it (she was wearing pants, so obviously not religious) but I love God and fear Him too.”

I smiled and said, “Oh, so do I. And His Word says that He doesn’t look on the outward, but on the heart.”

She asked, “Do you think that God sees this?”

Our ride was right at the end now but I smiled at her, squeezed her hand, and said, “I KNOW that He does.”

We bid each other a very warm “shalom” and parted ways, but I wondered about the bus encounters and the juxtaposition of people and events and the prevalence of hatred.

I thought of the cursing bus-woman again today as I had a totally different encounter. I was in the shuk. I have described the shuk to you countless times, but will just remind you that amongst all of the food vendors there are also small open-air shops that sell dry goods, clothing, and all manner of merchandise. I stopped to look at a light-weight bag hanging from the roof of a tiny 3 walled shop. Spoken English always catches my ear and there was the young Ethiopian-descent shop owner speaking English with an older black woman who had a thick French accent. As I listened, she explained to him that her daughter had married a Jewish man. They moved here from France. It was her first time visiting and the language was hard for her. The young man asked her what she thought of the country.

“I think it is good,” she said. “There is just something here that I can’t explain, that is good. They are happy too.”

The young man said, “I have lived in Canada and in Australia but this is the best place in the world. It is the place that we have to be and it is wonderful.”

Now I REALLY paid attention.

The woman went on, “There is something…well…different about the people here. They take time to talk to you. They help you. They are kind and smile at you. It is not like people in France.”

My mind jumped back to the cursing bus lady earlier in the week. The young man saw me looking at them and asked me if I needed help. I answered in Hebrew and said, “Oh no, I am fine but excuse me for intruding, it is just so wonderful hearing this conversation.”

He smiled and I said, “I agree. This is the place that God has called us back to and the place where He said that He would bless us if we turn to Him.”

We kept the line of discussion going and he asked me where I was from. As I shared I felt as if we were in sort of a bubble separated from the rest of the world. We were all smiling and there was real warmth being exchanged.

Up until this time I had been speaking in Hebrew and the young man would translate for the woman. She turned to him and said, “Doesn’t this woman shine? I mean there is such a Light coming from her from inside.”

I was taken aback. It has seemed a long time since I heard those words and I wasn’t feeling particularly spiritual. I said, “If there is any Light in me it is the Light of God in Yeshua. He Is The Light who called us here.”

I surprised myself, but they didn’t seem to hear me say this. They just kept smiling and the atmosphere was permeated with such a love.

The two encounters made me think again about how MUCH our response to EVERY situation is so important. David responded to the words of the prophet Nathan pointing out his sin with Bat Sheva by saying: “IT IS ME LORD. I HAVE SINNED BEFORE YOU.”

Saul responded to the words of the prophet Samuel pointing out his sin of disobedience by saying, “IT IS NOT ME. I HAVE OBEYED THE LORD”

Two kings and two different responses.

I don’t know what caused the cursing woman on the bus to arrive at the state that she was in. But I think of things common to man: rejection, hurt, offense, deep wounds, and sin. These things are danger points in our lives. We can respond by growing angry, bitter, hurt, but these things turn us AWAY from God. God HAS a proper response for us to give when awful things happen to us. Simply put, we will either turn to God and embrace His strong medicine, or turn AWAY from God and sink in the mire of our own emotions, the world’s answers or counterfeit solutions.

Here I go again…telling you stuff that you already know when I need to go to bed. Oh BLESSINGS to you dear sisters and brothers. May we each press more and more into Him Who really IS the only way, Truth and Light. Love from your sister in the midst

Inside Israel

Oh dear brothers and sisters, I greet you from a hidden place in The Rock with much love and a longing to let you know how special you are as His body. May we glorify Him and may He be blessed, and may this letter be an encouragement and blessing to you for His glory.

It is difficult to believe that this three-week period of being on my own is rapidly drawing to an end as my husband is scheduled to return on Monday. He has thoroughly enjoyed his trip.

And did I write, as I had planned? No. Did I go to the zoo, as I had planned? No. Did I do much of what I had planned to do? No. Nor do I feel that the time was wasted but it was a time of being secreted away, often just in His Presence with no words, and often finding myself just doing what I felt He wanted me to do. I was hoping for intense times of prayer, but even that wasn’t my portion.

Yesterday and the day before I had the great joy of watching His power displayed in the form of a magnificent storm. This was unusual for this time of year because the sheer amount of rain that poured out upon us. What a blessing. It began with a full 12 hours of heat lightening. We have had a sha’rav (heat wave) with dry desert winds blowing from the south for a number of days. The grand crashes of thunder sent shivers down sensitive spines. Then, suddenly, the precious water began falling in sheets and continued for more then a day.

Our southern most city of Eilat alone received 1/3 of its annual rainfall during this period and more then 60 tourists needed to be rescued from flash floods while on a hike through a wadi in the south. Meanwhile, the temperature plunged from a very hot 33 degrees Celsius (about 91 Fahrenheit) to 11 degrees (about 52 F) in the same amount of time. I loved it as did most of the people that I saw and so did the dusty trees and flowers.

The air smells so fresh and clean but my greatest delight is the way The Lord personally blessed me in it. You see, when we moved to this new apartment, we brought with us two of our small trees. One was a fig tree that I had bought for my husband as a gift. These are now living at the bottom of our 27 steps and around back of the apartment. I was to keep them watered while my husband was gone, but I couldn’t get the back gate opened to water them. Twice during the 3 weeks I did succeed in getting back there and they did fine until the sha’rav. I looked out of the back window and there was my fig tree wilting away badly. I brought a bottle of water down to it but once again, could NOT unlock the gate. I prayed, “Oh Lord, please make a way for this little tree to be watered and not die.”

Well, He sure did! And I felt personally hugged and filled with thanksgiving, as the little tree is full and green today. Thank You Lord for caring about the little things.

During this time I have been blessed with much marvelous and encouraging fellowship both from out of the country and within. This too is something I have greatly needed. He knows our needs.

The last time that I wrote to you was the day before our Memory day- Yom h’zikeron. I had intended to write again of the vastness and permeating presence of grieving in a nation where nearly every family has lost at least one, if not many, love ones to war and/or terror. The nation stood silent during the minute long siren at 8 pm last Sunday night, announcing the beginning of the time to remember the fallen together. The nation seemed huddled together as one very tight family. Regular television and radio was stopped at the time and hearts opened up to share the stories, the memories, and the history. It was really quite humbling and very dramatic with raw emotion wrapped around it.

In developing the therapies to help people with posttraumatic stress, it was found that retelling the events was very helpful. So the entire nation sat and listened to one another. Names, dates, photos, montages of precious lives were shown, baby pictures, school photos, that first day in the army, the last photo before that one was ripped away suddenly. The family openly wept and the nation wept with each one. The siren sounded again, this time for 2 minutes at 11am on Monday. Be thankful for the sacrifices made, be thankful for the moments that we can share together in this life, be thankful for the nation born in a day, the promised land restored and the dream that these stood for that so many paid with blood.

The intensity of the day of Memory was almost unbearable. And it was inconceivable that we should be able to go from such grief to the heights of joy ushered in at 8pm on the same night. A few notes on the horn sounded it’s forlorn command and then suddenly a a major musical note signaled the flag bearers to raise the flag from half mast to fly again above the nation. The command to “Remember” turned upward from the graves to the wonder of those as if in a dream, the hope of 2,000 years, and the written promise. Could it be true? Such a painful price was paid in blood and is still being paid for the re-birth of the nation that God SAID would be re-born. The wonderful chapter 37 of the prophet Ezekiel became real before our eyes.

You know the scriptures. First He brings us back from the four corners of the earth where we have been scattered by Him because of our disobedience and THEN He reveals Himself. Now THAT day will be a wonder to never be surpassed until He rolls it all up as a scroll and says, “IT IS FINISHED!”

Every Yom h’atzmaoot (Independence Day), I watch the amazing ceremony, and I wonder how in the world they are able to pull it off, to make that dramatic and impossible transition from grief to joy, to go from the minor note to the major one, to lift the subdued lights to dancing ones, and to express again the bigness of the realities before our eyes. I think, But of course they can because HE did and HE is and HE will! AND DIDN’T THE DISCIPLES GO FROM GRIEVING TO JOY WHEN THEY REALIZED THAT HE WAS, INDEED, ALIVE AND NO LONGER DEAD?

And if HE was able to really call this scattered and broken people from the ends of the earth back to our ancient homeland, if HE could turn the world’s eyes and hearts for one moment to okay the plan that they would later, collectively, curse, if HE could cause the desert to blossom, then HE can also both defend this tiny nation AND even more important, open the corporate eyes of the heart of the nation in one day to “look upon Him Whom we have pierced.”

YES these dry bones can live…and will!

Each year I try to read a book before Yom h’atzmaoot to remind myself of the impossibility of the events that paved the streets that I walk on and to remind myself that I am looking into eyes that have seen these events. This year I am re-reading Watchmen on the Walls by Hannah Hurnard, who also wrote Hinds Feet on High Places. It is a lesser-known book but unique in many ways. After a brief history, we get to read her diaries from our war of Independence as she was living on ha ne’vi’im street (the street of the prophets) in the center of Jerusalem near to the Old City Walls. Her view was unique in that she was living right in the center as a believer.

I read accounts of those here, but there were precious few believers then. As I sat to write this letter I read some lines that she wrote and it so well tied this letter together. This is what she wrote about as the great attacks of the war and the siege of Jerusalem eased a bit and she had the gift of several weeks alone in the quiet, where she planned to write about what had happened:

“I had high hopes of filling in the lonely weeks happily and profitably, but at first nothing happened as planned. I found that mentally I was very tired. My mind almost refused to concentrate on the work, and the interruptions were endless… Although the first week after their departure was comparatively quiet, everything happened with a rush afterwards, and we had two of the most sensational weeks of the summer.”

I had to laugh. Yes, Lord! These three weeks alone did NOT go as I had planned. I have NOT written as I hoped nor answered personal mail. I am not in a war, and certainly NOT in the siege of Jerusalem, but I found my mind and body tired. I have been drinking from His well and believing that He is sorting many things out.

What a GOD we serve. He is Good and full of mercy. To know Him and follow Him is the whole of it, isn’t it? And if He can do this for one of us, surely He is able to open the eyes of this nation in a day, as He said that He will.

I end this letter with so much love. May our Faithful God BLESS you in The powerful, loving Name of Yeshua h’Meshiach, Jesus Christ, Lord of glory.

Lovingly,

your sis J

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

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May 4, 2014 · 8:51 am

Inside Israel

I greet you again brothers and sisters. Blessings to you and may the Lord be blessed and receive all the glory.

I don’t want to let this day pass without telling you what I have been reflecting upon as I walked through today − another Holocaust Memorial Day or yom h’shoar.

With World War 2 fading into the past, so are its people, both victims and heroes. This is the way of time, isn’t it? More aging Holocaust survivors end their life’s walk on this earth daily, although we have still a surprising number well into their 90s. The focus of attention turned this year more and more to those who were children at the time, the VERY innocent.

I have had the privilege of hearing from those who were ripped from their Mother’s arms and still survived. I heard many say, “I had never been away from my family before and never out of sight of my Mother, and they took me and I was alone and so scared.”

Okay. Yes. I’m a mother and a Grandmother so perhaps that makes me more sentimental toward children. We all have that God-borne instinct to protect the little ones that can’t protect themselves. The stories are as varied as the names and faces, and so are the results.

This morning I listened to the testimony of a now elderly child-survivor who was hidden away. Even as I write this, my heart EMBRACES our dear, dear Dutch friends whose families hid Jews during the war. We KNOW about Corrie tenBoom and others, but there are so many dear believers who were YESHUA in the midst of such hatred. Only Yeshua knows about their love and heroism.

Most of the displaced children came to (then) Palestine on a youth aliyah. Now youth aliyah is an amazing story in itself and totally unique. Instead of orphanages, Kibbutzim rose up composed of mostly children with perhaps a nurse, a doctor, and a teacher. The older children cared for the younger. It would make a fascinating study on-line if you are interested.

Well, the man I listened to this morning, a young child then and now an old man, described himself as resilient and a success story. I hadn’t thought of the word resilient in connection with the survivors. For me, that word contains so much life and I think of the broken skeleton survivors. Resilient? Hmm!

He was raised in a children’s kibbutz and later pioneered pediatric neurology both here in Israel and worldwide. He is blessed with both successful children and grandchildren. As he reflected about his past, he spoke of those who were not so resilient. There were those who committed suicide or ended up mentally unstable. He said that he speaks to strengthen others.

The siren wailed for two minutes at 10 am. All came to attention, stepping out of their cars and buses. But the wind was speaking and so were the birds as I stood outside the doctor’s office where I work, praying for the children of Israel today. Open their eyes TODAY Lord. Isn’t the time now?

I also have childhood memories’ concerning the shoar. I was born right after the war ended, but being in NYC the ships began arriving. Our family would go to the shipyards and wait and watch. I don’t know why, but two memories stand out above all others.

I was very small and my Father went over to check the list that was posted on a wall. The names of those arriving on the immigrant ships. I saw huddled masses, so sad and bedraggled, sitting with bundles. I was scared and pulled near to my Mother.

Another time, my mother pulled me close to her as a stranger came up to me and ran her fingers through my dark curly hair and said, “I once had a little girl like you. Yes, I once had a little girl like you…” A shiver ran down my spine. I felt such a deep and frightening emotions. I was so small, but I still remember holding on to my Mother’s knee.

It’s days like this when we remember that Life and death walk so close to each other. But I am startled back to reality as I remember that I reflect on the issues of life and death from a perspective of LIFE for YESHUA LIVES IN ME. My brothers and sisters after the flesh simply open up the grave and peer in and sigh and wonder.

On the way home I prayed for the harvest and that The Lord of the harvest would raise up His workers. And I thought, Huh…THIS harvest is different. And so the harvesters need different tools and different methods, as every farmer knows, no two crops are harvested alike. What will it take? I constantly ask Him to show me. I don’t know yet, but I’ll keep asking.

And now I run off to some errands and again send my love.

Your sister in Jerusalem,

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April 27, 2014 · 7:57 am

Inside Israel

I greet you, dearest brothers and sisters, in His Name, Yeshua h’Meshiach, and in His fear, love, and for His glory. May you be blessed and may HE be blessed and glorified.

Sometimes I wonder if my greetings sound pretentious or too flowery, but you know what? I mean them from the heart, and I just can think of no other way to begin these letters, offered to Him for His glory and with so much love for you, His body. I MEAN these greetings.

It has been a long time since I wrote, but it has truly been a whirlwind. I can only assume that you know that the “peace talks” between the Israelis and the Palestinians ended today. Sadly, it was EXACTLY as Israel warned: Having been told by the world, but particularly the US President, that the status quo here would no longer be acceptable, we were plunged into a process that we had seen before. Thus, things are now much worse then before.

Those who had gotten their hopes up are more discouraged then before. Things have now been said that had been better left unsaid. Another failure has been added to the long line of failures and now with Fatah and Hamas forming a unity government there is no remote possibility of an agreement.

We have prayed that the land would not be divided and Israel not be pressed into yet even this sin against God, and although we are thankful for that answer to prayer, it does not make the reality on the ground easier. I am SO THANKFUL that God really does know and have it all under His control.

Passover came and went, full of significance, joy, promise, and matzo.

We were (and still are) BLESSED by a number of very special visitors from around the world, encouraging us through the sweet taste of fellowship. We have met our new son-in-law’s ultra orthodox (Haradi) parents and eaten with them during the holiday. I have overheard many conversations (in Hebrew) on the transportation and in the streets concerning Yeshua. People argued about Him with each other and in the midst of all this, our fellowship met in Judea/Samaria, at the lovely home of one of our congregation members for a holiday Shabat dinner. The spontaneous worship under the stars nearly transported me with His Presence. I don’t believe that I have experienced a time like that in years. Surely it is a time of promise, a time to catch the breath and look unto Him with great expectancy.

My husband left the country on Wednesday morning to visit with our children and grandchildren. A miracle trip. He plans to be gone nearly 3 weeks. My prayer is for HIS BLESSING to be upon them all AND I am given my time alone that I have felt I needed. I covet your prayers as I still have many responsibilities (some extra ones with him gone) and there is quite a temptation to use the time as I please: organize this apartment, visit with long neglected friends, answer tons of letters and emails that I WANT to answer, read, go to the zoo, and to fill the time with prayer, reading, and sitting in His Presence. What I MOSTLY want is to just do what He wants me to do and I’m in a bit of a panic that I not miss it.

So this is a short, overview update. I suspect that I will share with you in depth about the peek into a different world as we visited with our daughter’s in-laws and also about the conversations that I overheard as I was out and about.

But…not tonight. Tonight I leave you for sleep. I have missed you. I am so thankful for you and so encouraged when I hear from you. God bless and keep you and draw you into His secret place.

Lovingly,

your sis J

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April 13, 2014 · 7:03 am

Inside Israel

Greetings with love in The Name of Yeshua h’Meshiach, The Lord, Who overcame both death AND life, sin AND our own self righteousness and Who through His great love and mercy has called us – unworthy as we are – to catch a glimpse and be a part of such an intricate and WONDERful plan. May HE be blessed and glorified, and may you be blessed.

I ache over this letter…Passover (Pesach) #2…because I have been writing to you daily in my head and have so much to share on so many levels and yet time constraints will not allow it to happen. May The Lord grant great grace to share something that will add to each of us.

Passover is the biggest time of Jewish year. According to Exodus 12 and 13 it is to be the BEGINNING of the year for us [Exodus 12:2], and how that changed I do not know, but however many of us still say to one another, “shana toga” (a good new year) anyway. Passover is usually considered the beginning of the nation and the people of Israel, and we are told all through the Bible to look back to the deliverance from Egypt and not to return to captivity there in.

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you upon the alter to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” (Leviticus 17:11)

And:

“And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” (Hebrews 9:22)

Blood is a mystery. We recoil from it. Many of Yeshua’s followers turned their backs on Him when He told them that in order to live we must eat His flesh and drink His blood [Jn. 6:53] – a mystery way beyond the understanding in the flesh as it can only be spiritually discerned.

On the 10^th day of the month (of Nissan), the pure male unblemished lamb was to be taken into the home. One lamb for each house. It was to be examined closely for defects. Today is the 10^th day of Nissan and I awoke this morning thinking about what it was like to take the little pure, innocent lamb into the family and live with it until the 14^th day. Then to shed it’s blood. I have thought of it over the years as the cost of sin and the price of freedom. MY sin. MY freedom. WHAT A PRICE! BLOOD. With the life in it. And how many of Yeshua’s followers and even DISCIPLES participated in His death? What of Judas, who lived with Him?

And so, you know the story well. The Israelites were told to kill the lamb and place it’s blood on the lintel of the door posts. Only those who stayed INSIDE, protected by the blood, would be spared as the death angel passed over, as he went through the land of Egypt killing every first born, from the animals to people. In the homes of slaves even to the house of Pharaoh.

We can only marvel as we remember Yeshua – the perfect, innocent Lamb of God, the only begotten Son of The King, being lead as a Lamb to the slaughter on Passover. I can not begin to touch the intricacies of the first and last Passover and how perfectly they are intertwined.

But I was surprised at how many of you asked after the first email that I elaborate on some of the customs of the Passover itself. I thought you would be tired of them by now. So much is available on the internet for you to read, but do keep in mind that there are great variations in traditions concerning the Seder (that word means order as in the order of the service) and even the food that is considered kosher for Passover.

When I was a child growing up in New York there were not many foods available that were kosher for Passover where we lived. There was matzo (the unleavened bread, striped and pierced), matzo meal (or matzo flour) and a special Passover cookie (macaroons). Aside from that there was not much. We ate a lot of eggs, fish and chicken. The matzo was covered with chicken fat (schmaltz) and salt (TERRIBLY unhealthy…it was poor people’s butter).

We would store our every day dishes and silverware in a remote back storage area and out would come the special best Passover dishes and silverware reserved only for Passover. The ancient haggadot (traditional book read at the Seder) passed down from my Grandparents, appeared with their curious woodcuts and drawings. Our family would gather for the very special meal with my father leaning on a pillow in a comfortable chair while sitting at the head of the table. He looked so deserving of respect. We children admired him. Our mother sat at the other head of the table beaming. She would light the Shabat candles and we would all wash our hands in a basin and wipe one another’s hands. I think of Yeshua washing His disciples feet at that last Seder.

The law of the Passover is laid out in Exodus 12 and 13 and basically tells us that no LEAVEN is to be found in any of our homes. No leavened bread is to be eaten but only unleavened bread for 7 days. I have always understood leaven to be an agent that is added to something to make it rise (ferment), ie: yeast, baking powder, baking soda. Many of our people extend that to anything that CAN rise or puff up, such as flour, corn, beans, rice, peas (legumes). The list is L-O-N-G. HOWEVER, here in Israel we have ABUNDANCE of creative foods that LOOK risen or leavened to me (puffed up with air, filled with beaten egg whites or other things). So we lack for NOTHING.

As I have shared in previous letters, Jews are divided into two distinct ethnic groups according to the areas that they resided in during the 2,000 year dispersion. The Jews that settled toward the Orient (and Arab) or Spanish and North African areas are called Sephardic. The Jews that settled in the Western European areas are called Ashkenazi. The traditions are quite different in these two groups. THEN there are also major differences inside of each group. For example: Yemenite Jews have different traditions from Persian Jews although both are Sephardic. Plus, there are differences from family to family.

Of course, each is sure that theirs is right and best.

Certain things are pretty standard. The Seder dinner begins at sundown on the 14^th of the month of Nissan. This year it will be on this coming Monday.

Special prayers have been continuing for a month already and people have been searching their hearts for leaven. At the same time people have been cleansing their homes of leaven. In simpler times when people had very few possessions, families would just throw everything out and break dishes and replace them least there be some hidden crumbs. Still, the streets are currently full of household items that people put out and replace.

In certain areas huge outdoor cauldrons bubble away over an open fire to immerse pots and pans to be koshered for the holiday for those who can’t just replace them. The extent of the cleaning hit a crisis several years back when a number of women killed themselves or lost their minds, fearful that there might be a crumb left in an inevitable crack in the stone floor or old window casing. So the rabbis began to teach moderation in ridding of all hometz (leaven), but MOSTLY in our hearts.

There has been a concerted attempt to moderate the intensity with which the task is taken on. Nonetheless, most people scrub as much as possible to obey the command that was given – and confirmed again and again – unto ALL generations.

“It is a night of solemn observances to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.” (Exodus 12:42)

So!

Our homes are scrubbed and purged of leaven. Our markets either close or seal off with shrink wrap or other prohibiting materials entire sections that contain food forbidden for Passover. By LAW these may not be tampered with. More and more older people simply seal their homes and move to a hotel for the week as the task has become too difficult. The hearts have been prepared with much prayer and that special hush that I have tried to describe so often descends as people dressed in their very finest holiday garb gather together – often very large groups – to partake together in the rituals surrounding the Seder itself.

The Seder is a time to tell the story and to pass it along to the children and to the generation to come.

This will be written for the generation to come That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.” (Psalm 102:18)

The meal, which lasts for many hours, begins as mine did when I was a child. Although there are traditional haggadot, handed down since the middle ages, more and more people are re-writing them to be more meaningful as the old ones can be terribly cryptic.

As believers there are many haggadot written to show to our children the wonderfully woven covenants, the faithfulness of God and how He NEVER changes and His way is revealed to us all. There is wonderful singing and rejoicing at these special meals, which last until midnight or later.

To walk in the streets of Jerusalem anytime during the night is an absolute wonder and joy to hear the streets ringing with song rising first from one apartment and then another. There are jobs for the children. The 4 questions are asked – the story is re-told. There is a wonderful tradition that points to Yeshua. It brings me chills each year as I realize that our people don’t see yet what it means.

At the beginning of the Seder, 3 pieces of matzo are placed in a special holder. The leader of the Seder takes the center one…the striped and pierced bread without leaven and breaks it. He replaces one half in the holder and the other half will be HIDDEN AWAY until the end of the feast. The children must search for it and whoever finds it gets a prize. No one knows where this tradition came from but it so points to Yeshua.

To my great regret, I must close this email now. I told you that I was grieved that this letter would not be sufficient. There is just no more time left to write and yet so much more to share. I likely won’t get to write again until after the Seder. In the mean time, our nation stands at a critical brink again. The world pulls one way and God commands another – sound familiar? And yet, with no more time to write, I bid you goodnight (laila tov!). I covet your prayers and stand in prayer with you: Thy kingdom come…THY will be done…on earth as it is in heaven. God bless and encourage you as we give thanks for The Blood of The Lamb and our freedom in Him.

Lovingly,

your sis J

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April 6, 2014 · 7:42 am

Inside Israel

Blessings, dear sisters and brothers. May you be blessed and may The Lord Yeshua h’Meshiach be glorified and blessed.

Would you believe…PASSOVER ALREADY?

It happens very suddenly every year. One morning everyone is cleaning. The stores are getting a good scrubbing down. Buckets and a huge assortment of cleaning items take front and center stage in the shops on the sale aisles. Lines are longer and everyone’s shopping basket seems full of soaps and scrubbing items in all shapes and sizes.

I look at my calendar, still more then 2 and a half weeks away. None the less, as I look for my husband’s cereal, I see that it has already been quarantined and assigned to the “hometz zone” (leaven, not kosher for Pesach – Passover). It sits forlorn in a back aisle, joined by all sorts of other items that you might suspect had leprosy. They are not freshly dusted like every other item in the store. Taking their places, all shiny and dusted are rows of matzo, matzo meal, “kosher for Passover” cookies, cakes, candies, gefilte fish, horse radish, and on and on the rows spread.

The price wars begin. Chicken on sale for 4.90 shekels a kilo (usually 30), but tomatoes (a local staple) jump from shekel and a half a kilo to 9.80. I keep walking. The aisle is full of men and women like me who are wondering, “So what is kosher for Passover THIS year?” Yes, it does change from year to year according to what the rabbis decide.

And little wonder.

When I arrived at work on Thursday, I asked my boss how the lecture that he attended the previous night at the synagogue went. “Oh, it was VERY interesting,” he told me enthusiastically. “We discussed the nature of hometz.”

Now, according to MY (perhaps unlearned) reading of the Bible, “hometz” is leaven…period. Being a simple housewife, it seems to me that leaven is something that you ADD to a food to MAKE IT RISE. That is not the definition according to different streams of Judaism. Many people define ANYTHING that can be MADE to rise as “hometz,” which then includes rice, corn, flour, beans, etc. The list grows l-o-n-g and gives way to much philosophical discussion.

My boss continued, “So, if water added to flour causes it to rise, WHAT IF someone drops some flour into the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee – our main drinking water reservoir in the country), does the Kinneret become “hometz” and we can not drink the water?”

I stared at him. Not biting my tongue soon enough I said, “When a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise? This kind of philosophical questions drove me crazy when I was a kid!” NOT a constructive thing to say to a man who considered this a serious question of religion.

I thought of Yeshua’s statement that “they strain at a gnat and swallow a camel,” remembering that these same wise men have deemed baking soda as kosher for Passover. How THAT works I will never understand! I am NOT saying that I know more then the rabbis. Many pearls of wisdom have been shared by these often very learned men. But standing with Yeshua we ask to see through HIS Eyes and to let this mind be in us which is in Him. I often grieve at how the traditions of men and the reasoning of men can divert from the beauty of His Way.

AT ANY RATE, tradition aside for a moment, Passover IS the most important date on our calendar. The more that I read through the Bible, the more I am struck with the fact that the Passover appears to be the pivotal event from Genesis through Revelation. I say Genesis because the SEED of the Exodus was already planted in the days of Joseph or even Abraham. I say Revelation because it IS the full revelation of Yeshua and His ultimate reign in all of the heavens and earth, that is the goal. Christ, our Passover, Messiah, The Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world. The Blood of the spotless Lamb that liberates ALL slaves and sets the captives free and delivers us from the angel of death himself.

And from Genesis to Revelation we are commanded to REMEMBER.

It has really taken me all of these years to begin to see the beautiful golden thread that weaves together command after command to REMEMBER The Hand that brought us OUT to bring us IN. I am just beginning to see it and yet even in this small beginning, it has become too BIG to describe and I find myself wordless.

If you have never done a word study of Passover, I encourage you to grab a concordance or a computer concordance and simply read ALL of the verses, praying first for The Holy Spirit to begin to open to you the magnitude of what The Lord did, is doing and will do. He uses this one event as a lesson and an example of Who He is and His plan for each of us on both the personal level and all the way to His world plan.

I have been asking Him to open my understanding so that when I sit down at the seder table, some of the awe of what He is telling us to re-tell and re-member will overwhelm me and help me be re-newed in my first love.

One of the things that I have been thinking about this week is how Passover is replete with separation. Separation by Blood, by Cloud and Pillar of Fire, by leaven, and by law. Separated “from” and separated “to.”

Ok. This is “portion 1” and may it make you hungry to dig. I am hoping to share more of the traditions as they are carried out here in Jerusalem: what I observe; see with my eyes and hear with my ears and WISH you could smell with your noses, but I must stop for now.

In the midst of all of this, have you heard what is going on with the peace process here? It is for me a crucial area of prayer: Lord help us! May He overrule the plans of men. May He LAUGH at them.

Thank you for letting me share a glimpse into a way of life that has remained much unchanged for 3,000 years or more. I must go, but send you MUCH love,

Your sis, J

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March 30, 2014 · 8:14 am

Inside Israel

Greetings for His glory on Shushan PURIM,

Well, even though He is not mentioned once in the book of Esther, none the less it IS all about God. And I realized from an interesting comment that not everyone knows about Purim, a subject I have been writing about for years. Some of you are new and that is a joy.

For Jews, Esther is part of our history book and reminds us of the days during dispersion. And by comparison, it reminds us ALSO to rejoice that we are now free in our homeland, the land of promise.

It seems to me that EVERYTHING that The Lord does, He does to cause us to REMEMBER Who He is, what He has done for us, and what He requires of us. We have proven that we don’t have very long memories and our commitments are not always as deep as we wish, right?

Esther is not a difficult Old Testament book to understand and the queen is well known for her famous response of, “If I perish, I perish…” to her uncle Mordachai’s statement:

“Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:13-16.

It is the one book in the Bible where God’s Name is not used and yet He is evident on each page. I love the pause between chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 6 begins with the simple statement:

“That night the king could not sleep.” And we know from that moment on, every thing changed. At the petition of His children, God invades the plans of men.

At the time (around 500 B.C.), there was anti-Semitism against the Jewish population of Persia, much the same as it has been throughout history.

What is interesting about Haman is that he was an Agagite. Fear grips my soul whenever I think of King Saul, the compromising, weak king who became the enemy of David and the enemy of God through his fears, disobedience and half obedience. It was Saul who was told to destroy the Amalekites, but who spared King Agag. Just as Abraham’s side track into the flesh resulted in an Ishmael, the results of which continue to play out today, so we see Haman the Agagite rising up with a hatred shown so clearly in Esther 3:8,9:

Then Haman said to KingAhasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed… “

I don’t need to read the book for you or to tell you the story, but to translate it and be your eyes and ears as to how it is followed TODAY in the land of Israel, particularly Jerusalem. The descendents of Esther who would NOT BE ALIVE TODAY (including me) but for the INTERVENTION OF GOD, over and over again, to show His faithfulness to the unthankful, His faithfulness to His eternal promises and the purpose to make His Name known and be glorified and KNOWN among His children, and to a lost and dying world. How GOOD He is.

So, it is written in chapter 9 of Esther:

18 But the Jews who were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day, as well as on the fourteenth; and on the fifteenth of the month they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 19 Therefore the Jews of the villages who dwelt in the unwalled towns celebrated the fourteenth day of the month of Adarwith gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and for sending presents to oneanother. 20 And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, 21 to establish among them that they should celebrate yearly the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, 22 as the days on which the Jews had rest from their enemies, as the month which was turned from sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor. 23 So the Jews accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them, 24 because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to annihilate them, and had cast Pur (that is, the lot), to consume them and destroy them; 25 but when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letter that this wicked plot which Haman had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 26 So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur. Therefore, because of all the words of this letter, what they had seen concerning this matter, and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would join them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time, 28 that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.”

And so it is celebrated today.

In the time of Aviv (Spring) on the 14th and 15th day of the Hebrew month of Adar, it is celebrated with a contagious joy, the giving of gift baskets, parades, the wearing of costumes, and the custom among the ultra orthodox men of drinking until they can not recognize their friend from their enemy. All of this comes from the idea that the opposite happened of what was intended and worked out for the good of the Jews.

The book of Esther (Magillet Esther) is read freely by everyone all over the country in gatherings, and noisemakers (greggors) and even fire crackers are set off in a racket at every mention of the name of Haman during the reading. What a belegan! You might scratch your head to think of a night in an orthodox synagogue when the most religious of men become drunk and the children are encouraged to set off fire crackers and make a racket during the service, but this is all part of the custom and rejoicing. And yes, baskets of goodies are given to one and all.

It is a time to bring a treat to the guard at the market door or to the bus driver and to wish them “Purim sa’maech” or Happy Purim. There are fun parties, particularly for the children, with special songs and foods. In Israel, a large Purim is celebrated on the first day but in walled cities, such as Jerusalem, we celebrate the second day which means that today is Purim here for us. It is fun to see all of the little Queen Esthers out on the street, dressed as small beaming brides bringing baskets to loved ones.

May we always be reminded to lift our voices, and our lives to Him in THANKSGIVING for His great deliverance from the death penalty of sin. May we choose like Esther…”if I perish, I perish.” May there be nights that we just can’t sleep and instead grab hold of some key Truth that was buried to us before that night. And may we be just who we are meant to be, doing His will, even if it is faithfully cleaning bathrooms, “for such a time as this.”

God bless each of you. Thank you for your patience, grace and love.

Lovingly,

your sis J

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March 23, 2014 · 8:48 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 …

Blessings from quiet Jerusalem on a beautiful shabat in springtime. May The Lord Yeshua be blessed and glorified and may you be blessed and edified. Together may we be encouraged deeper, deeper into Him.

A couple of weeks ago, as my husband and I were out for our Shabat walk in the mountains surrounding Jerusalem, we had to laugh with joy at the wonder of the spring carpet of nearly microscopic flowers. This isn’t the first time that I’ve seen them, nor is it the first place. The first time I saw them was back in 1975 in California in the large horse pasture in front of our so-called cabin. I was so knew in knowing Him, but His tender voice called me to join Him outside for a walk.

As we walked that very early spring morning, I felt Him tell me to look down. So I did. I could barely discern the tiny white flowers. I got down on my knees to look, and there before me was a literal carpet of these itty bitty white flowers stretching as far as my eye could see. When I stood up, it all looked green again, but now I was aware of the flowers so that my eyes could pick them out. I worshipped Him for His beauty.

Later that evening, around sunset, He seemed to call me outside again and repeat the walk, so I went. Again I felt Him tell me to look down. As I did this time I saw a different carpet, for the evening, there were tiny diamonds of purple in the grass. They looked the same and they were just as abundant, but as different as, well, sunrise and sunset. As I worshipped Him for such beauty and thought about how billions of flowers are hidden from human eyes, blooming in remote corners of the earth for a day or an hour or even a minute, I felt that I heard His Voice speaking to me. He said, “You are on your path and someday you will meet The Artist Who created all of this.”

I’m sorry that I can’t capture for you the true wonder of the moment, but such a shiver of anticipation and longing went through me. I recall that day whenever I see again the tiny hidden joyful wonders.

This past Monday I stood outside of work waiting for someone. I looked up. My mouth dropped open and my heart leapt for flying over my head were the migrating storks coming from Africa. Now, if you haven’t seen them, these storks are BIG. They darkened the sky as they flew over. I’ve had the great privilege of living near and often seeing great flights of the California Condor, bald eagles in huge number, the migration of the trumpeter swans, snow geese, and others, but you can only see them when you look up.

I called to a young woman passing by, telling her excitedly, “Look, look up,” but she had her iPhone stuck in her ears and couldn’t hear me. She missed it.

And that got me praying and thinking as I stood there waiting, about how we have to have eyes to see and ears to hear or we miss it in the Spirit as well as the flesh. I thought, “There He is when I look down, and there He is when I look up.” I began to meditate on His ABSOLUTE FAITHFULNESS when I look at WHO is behind it all. All around me are His Fingerprints and my faith received the boost that I had been praying for. But OF COURSE He already is in the future, which my brain knows, but perhaps it is only me who finds themselves of little faith.

Israel is one of the world’s centers for bird watching, by the way. Situated in the fertile crescent, at the corner of Africa, Europe and the Orient, the bird migrations are wonderful. The country has cultivated areas to make it both safe and inviting to God’s creatures as they carry out their mysterious pattern. There is just so much of His character illustrated in the creatures, but I guess, in all creation and particularly in man, all are created in His Image.

Now, THAT is the lesson that I have found so hard to learn.

When I left NYC in my late teens, early twenties, it was because I never LIKED people, and NYC was FULL of them. Noisy, demanding PEOPLE. They didn’t understand me and I didn’t understand them and that was that. I am pretty sure that I told you that very shortly after I was saved, while living in the same house with the horse pasture I mentioned above, a difficult thing had happened. I went running up the mountain behind my house and pressed into Him until I was worshipping Him and enjoying the stillness of the trees and the beauty that seemed to worship all around me. I said to Him, “Oh it is so wonderful. I will just stay in the woods and worship You with all of nature.”

He answered me with a sad tinge in His Voice, calling me by name, “I did not die for the trees.”

And I knew that He was not going to allow me to live in remote areas forever and it scared me. However in His mercy, He allowed me so many years of learning in those hot houses that He has, undisturbed by noise and the demands of hustle and bustle.

In this new apartment I am finding that I have to finally face this battle with my flesh once and for all.

I think that is why that above faith lesson was so critical for me just now. My CONFESSION can be right on and I DO believe what I confess, but my EMOTIONS have been in utter rebellion. I grump to The Lord that I want the leeks and garlic of Egypt . It gives me the shivers just to think of it that way.

I ride the noisy uncomfortable train, the bus, work in a high demand noisy doctor’s office, ride the noisy bus and train again and then come home. And at home, there is MORE noise and people shouting in front of my apartment and yet you are telling me to PRAY for them and, even worse, to LOVE them and I DON’T.

Oh I can love and pray for people in nice small portions, bouquets’ of people, but ALL OF THESE? HELP!

And He is. Slowly slowly I am going out on to our “merepesset” (balcony) and praying for all of the people below me. I WANT to love them as He loves them and see each one as an individual. I WANT to care about their eternity. And I WANT to pray for them in earnest and with His passion. He IS faithful.

So, those are my observations for today. ..and some confessions. God bless and keep you close to Him for His glory and the furtherance of His kingdom.

Lovingly,

your sis in Jerusalem J

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March 16, 2014 · 8:12 am

Inside Israel

Blessings to you with love, dear sisters and brothers. May you be encouraged and blessed, and may The Lord of Glory be blessed and glorified.

The bus was leaking this morning, the morning of the fast of Esther. No, it wasn’t leaking gas, as our apartment was earlier this week, but water. No again, not from the radiator. I contemplated opening my umbrella, but as everyone else was being very stoic about this, I decided that I would be too. True, the rain was not as heavy INSIDE of the bus as it was outside, and I was blessed that this morning my seat was not wet, as it had been yesterday. Thank God for the rain! Even if the weather shift causes the rain to fall in torrential buckets for several days at a time rather then being scattered more evenly throughout the winter and spring, the water is a blessing and we are thankful.

And the storms are DRAMATIC to say the least.

Today is the fast of Esther. Purim is rapidly approaching when Jews everywhere celebrate survival, as a people, against all odds. Although Purim specifically celebrates our survival at the time of Esther, it is symbolic of the ancient and ongoing battle, but the means are still the same today. There are always some raised up “for such a time as this.”

The book of Esther will be read in synagogues, homes, on the bus, and really wherever people gather together, and festive activities will follow. Around the country, Purim begins this year on Saturday night through Sunday, but in Jerusalem (the walled city), Purim is Sunday night through Monday. Our shops have been filled with costumes as people, especially children, dress up…traditionally as Queen Esther and Mordachai. However, sadly, more and more super heroes and monsters are replacing the Biblical heroes.

Baskets full of tasty morsels are given out (mishloach manoat – sent portions) as gifts, baskets with sweets, humantasin – or oznaim haman (a 3 pointed filled cookie graphically called “Haman’s ears”), small bottles of wine or grape juice and the like. It is not my favorite holiday because I see it as having veered away from the focus of God’s great deliverance to a Halloween type party, and that is sad. But on the fast day I think of Esther being called “for such a time as this,” and each of us being called in our own place and purpose. Who was she?

I had the great and undeserved privilege last July to share with a large international group of praying ladies, and the topic was “for such a time as this.” As I prayed through my preparation, I was so struck by God’s timing. He said: “And it shall happen in the last days…” and “the time drew near…” and “The time is not yet…” and “As the time approached…” and “The time is very near…” and “As you see the time approaching… and “AND IT CAME TO PASS…” and many other exhortations.

I think again of the weather outside. It is very cold, much colder then we would normally expect at this time of year, nevertheless, the trees are bursting forth with new leaves, as are the flowers, and the spring birds have arrived and built their nests. They do not consider the weather. They KNOW THEIR TIME.

I was reading Matthew 24 again this morning in my regular reading. I am so thankful for this “roadmap chapter” that lays out so clearly: “Then…” and “Then…” and “When you see this…” I find His landmarks very clear. I don’t know what the fuss is sometimes between those who wrestle with prophecy because He told us.

And again I think of Esther. She found herself where she found herself “for such a time as this.” She was given a choice and could have let God raise someone else up. After all, she began as an orphan, became a queen, but she did not choose this path herself. She let God choose and she walked it out. I suspect that she would have walked as faithfully as an unknown servant.

Today I know that is what I want: to let God choose the path and then to faithfully walk it out, looking unto Yeshua, The Author and Finisher of my faith. I have no faith of my own; it is all His.

And in the midst of the path I find sisters and brothers with encouragement for me. Friends come from afar and oh how they strengthen my hands. May I strengthen theirs. His wonderful body in action.

Today in Israel I watch the seasons. There were 70 or more rockets fired at Israel last night from Gaza. British Prime Minister Cameron, visiting Israel, dazzled our Knesset yesterday with such supportive words, very unusual from a European leader or any leader. Yet as I listened to his speech, I heard him calling clearly for the return to the indefensible 1967 borders and division of Jerusalem. I read God’s Word and see that if we obey the world we disobey God. How will it play out? How will we walk in the midst? Will our eyes behold terrible things and if they do, how will we stand? More agonizing situations in Ukraine, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, we loose track sometimes of all of the problems.

And my bus leaks.

There is humor in watching the rain fall inside of the bus. May we all find our full strength in Him to keep walking, faithfully, wherever He puts us and may it be ALL for HIS glory alone.

Thanks for letting me share. Blessing and peace in His Presence to each of you.

Lovingly,

your sis J

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March 9, 2014 · 8:54 am

Inside Israel

Greetings with love from the city, which bares His fingerprints. May Yeshua be glorified and blessed and may you be blessed and encouraged in all of His best for you.

In the midst of everything, my husband gave me a most wonderful gift of a singing canary. I have always loved animals and have had a number of canaries, but never a red one, like this one. The Middle Eastern canaries are red and this one sings the most beautiful song.

Since we have our Grandson’s aggressive cat, I decided our bird needed a stronger home than the one he had at first. I purchased one and was carrying it home on the train, draped in a plastic bag. It was late afternoon and everyone looked weary and bedraggled. A small tired looking pregnant woman from Ethiopia stood by me and spied the cage as I protected it from bumps and knocks. She smiled a happy smile. “Oh! Is there a bird in there? Can I see?”

I smiled back. “No. I’m afraid that he is at home but he has such a beautiful song that I wanted him to have a good home.”

She clapped. Another young woman piped in: “Oh how wonderful! To have a bird sing in your apartment!” She too began smiling. Soon all of the people around me were happy and talking, enjoying just the THOUGHT of God’s creatures.

And that is how my Israel is…people TALK to each other. Strangers don’t remain strangers. Everyone joins into conversations, discussions, gives opinions, and it just always seems like family.

Today, I watched a young Haradi man talking to a soldier and asking about what it was like being a soldier and soon they were embracing and were friends. I remember being so touched by the young female soldier who got on the bus and passed out large bags of candy a number of years ago. “Celebrate with me! It is my 18^th birthday today.” she announced and everyone happily shared her candy to the cries of “Mazel Tov! Mazel Tov!”

Another will say, “Please hold my baby while I go and pay the driver,” and yet another will pass his money forward and ask someone to pay the driver for him. The accurate change coming back hand to hand in the same manner. Some of these things I see less these days as we moved from bus service to “smart cards” trains. However the same helpful heart is there as those of us more technically challenged try to figure out all of the right buttons to push.

This attitude that I find unique to Israel carried over into my work today. Esther is what we call here a mez’ken’ah…sort of poor thing, which means she is mentally disturbed. During the 16 or more years, I have worked for this doctor, I pass her almost daily as she walks the neighborhood streets, sometimes with a large dog. She is perhaps what we used to call retarded as well as psychotic, but she is harmless and approaches people for money or advice or just to talk and share something on her mind that usually isn’t coherent. Everyone talks to her and gives her what she may need. What seems different here is that no one appears embarrassed to be talking to her or to any other needy person.

For the past two weeks she has become more and more needy and out of it. She has begun coming into our office and demanding things, going to the bathroom and asking for meds, things she has never done before because she is not our patient. Over the past week she has come in daily and been more and more disruptive. We have discussed it as she appeared to be entering a crisis.

Today the crisis point hit and we needed to call the police and this is where the beauty of the mercy of it all touched me. She was stuck in the bathroom, unable to get herself dressed, with the door wide open. I couldn’t help her myself so another patient and the doctor helped. We sat her down and tried to adjust her to a comfortable position to await the police and to comfort her fears. A team of four of the most compassionate police appeared. They gently talked with her, so patiently. This poor lady was filthy and disheveled but she is a person and everyone tried to help her, patients as well as the police and all of us.

It was finally decided to call an ambulance. She was swollen and her pulse was rapid. She wasn’t well. I listened as an even more compassionate and volunteer ambulance worker calmed her and asked her questions in a way that finally produced some answers, like her name and an address. Later, another patient who lives in the area filled in some details. She is 63 but it turns out that there are FOUR unmarried siblings who all live together in an apartment that must have been left to them by their parents. The neighbor said they are all like that and that there is one brother worse off then she is, who only leaves the house to go to the hospital, so social workers must look after them. Esther. I put her name on my prayer list, but the incident stayed in my mind.

This morning, on my way to the IFI prayer meeting, I was in the elevator with a policeman (sho’tair in Hebrew) and turned to him (Israeli style) and told him enough of the story to be able to say, “Thank you for the kindness and compassion that your people show to the poor ones.”

He was so thankful to receive the encouragement. It continued later on when I gave the same encouragement to one of our patients. She AND her husband are police officers, and her face got so soft as I thanked her as well. Personal touches, they can do so much. And here, where I live, where I am so often unable to share HIS NAME and HIS TESTIMONY, I can share a touch IN His Name and pray that it prepares soil, breaks up fallow ground, and softens it, so that it will one day produce fruit 100 fold.

And so our Prime Minister has been to America. As far as we can see, it APPEARS that he was able to stand firm. However, none of us know what is happening behind the scenes. While he was there, we saw the dramatic capture of the Iranian arms ship bound for Gaza. It was the smoothest operation that I have witnessed since living here and the whole nation was encouraged. It could have been a scene in a 007 movie. The film clips are playing again and again in our media. The weapons on board, so well hidden, would have enabled Hamas in Gaza to reach every part of the country.

I hear over and over again: “Now the world will U-N-D-E-R-S-T-A-N-D!” I sigh and think, “No. They won’t. Not at all.”

And I remember the Keren A vessel captured a number of years ago, also loaded with weapons. The world seemed ANGRY at us for capturing it. Already Iran is denying all involvement with these weapons and the media is claiming that the timing was just too well set. This world is upside down. Its problems won’t be solved by man’s efforts.

But we can encourage one another to walk steadily in His Light, in the Light that we have. I want to thank you all for being such an encouragement to me. It’s such a big plan and we have such a small part, but oh, to see His glory and be able to bring just some glory to His Name. What a privilege!

It will be Shabat soon and I must prepare dinner. My husband, who is VERY weary, just made reservations to hopefully go to California and meet our new Granddaughter and to be with all of our Grandchildren and children from 23 April to 12 May. He has not been feeling well and we hope he will be able to go. Thank you for your prayers for him and for all of our family as they are brought to mind.

God bless and strengthen each of you in Him.

Lovingly,

your sis J

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

Tagged as Christianity, Church, Israel, Jerusalem, Kingdom of God, Prophecy, Spiritual warfare