If you are a Lost Jew or from the Lost of Israel and suffer already many years for not to be accepted……. Why not joining Beit Ya’aqob International? If you like the do Teshuvah in Messiah Ben Yoseph with His Divine Mandate you are most welcome to join. Follow the millions who are already joining……… click: http://beityaaqov.org/here/join-us/ For organizations, contact me (Ariel) click: http://thewatchmenfromisrael.org/contact-us/
Please read, click:
A MUST READ FOR ALL JEWS AND CHRISTIANS WHO VISIT THIS WEB-SITE!
We believe,
Yehudah has to go her ‘prophetic way’:
in ‘the Judicial Authority (Mechoqeck*) of HaShem: The Rabbinical leadership is the Divinely authorized Teacher of the Torah of HaShem’ for the Jews!
Because,
Gen 49:10 “The sceptre shall not turn aside from Yehuḏah, nor a Lawgiver (Mechoqeck*) from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to Him is the obedience of peoples.
H271 חָקַק* châqaq khaw-kak’ A primitive root; properly to hack, that is,engrave(Jdg_5:14, tobe a scribe simply); by implication to enact (laws being cut in stone or metal tablets in primitive times) or (generally) prescribe: – appoint, decree, governor, grave, lawgiver, note, pourtray, print, set.
Ephraim has to go her (different as Yehudah) ‘prophetic way’:
Devarim 30:10 if you obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim (Messiah Ben Yoseph, the Divinely authorized Teacher of the Torah of HaShem for Ephraim!), to guard His commands and His laws which are written in this Book of the Torah, if you turn back to יהוה your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being.
Read more about Messiah Ben Yoseph click: “Divine Aspects of Mashiach ben Yosef…….” According to the teachings of the Vilna Gaon
This means HaShem went with Ephraim a different way than with Yehudah. But, as the rabbi’s are teaching: Ephraim (a different nation, the Lost Northern Kingdom of Israel) comes back with Messiah Ben Yoseph as their divine ordained leader. And Yehudah comes back with ‘their Judicial Authority (Mechoqeck*) of HaShem: ‘The Rabbinical leadership, the Divinely authorized Teacher of the Torah of HaShem for Yehudah.’
Devarim 30:1-10 “And it shall be, when all these words (Messiah Ben Yoseph) come upon you, the blessing (Messiah) and the curse which I have set before you, and you shall bring them back to your heart…..
This really means, you read from the beginning of Bereshit/Genesis until the end of Devarim/Deuteronomy. And by every Word that Abba Yahweh speaks you ask Him for forgiveness where you went wrong and promise Abba Yahweh the do it good
………among all the gentiles where יהוה your Elohim drives you,
2 and shall turn back to יהוה your Elohim and obey His voice (Messiah Ben Yoseph), according to all that I command you today……
You, Ephraim and Yehudah say that already together: Devarim 5:27 ‘You go near and hear all that יהוה our Elohim says, and speak to us all that יהוה our Elohim says to you, and we shall hear and do it.’…… You should say it again Ephraim and Manasseh when Messiah Ben Yoseph ‘knock’s on the ‘door’ of your heart.’
……..with all your heart and with all your being, you and your children,
3 then יהוה your Elohim shall turn back your captivity, and shall have compassion on you, and He shall turn back and gather you from all the peoples where יהוה your Elohim has scattered you.
4 “If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under the heavens, from there יהוה your Elohim does gather you, and from there He does take you.
5 “And יהוה your Elohim shall bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. And He shall do good to you, and increase you more than your fathers.
6 “And יהוה your Elohim shall circumcise your heart (By Messiah Ben Yoseph, the teaching of the HaBerith HaChadasha Scriptures) and the heart of your seed, to love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being, so that you might live,
7 and יהוה your Elohim shall put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you.
8 “And you shall turn back (Teshuvah) and obey the voice of יהוה (Messiah Ben Yoseph) and do all His commands which I command you today.
9 “And יהוה your Elohim shall make you have excess in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground for good. For יהוה turns back to rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers,
10 if you obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim, (Messiah Ben Yoseph) to guard His commands and His laws which are written in this Book of the Torah, if you turn back to יהוה your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being.
That is the Promise from Abba Yahweh the only Way, no other Way is accepted….
This blog is a part from the website: ‘The WatchMen from Israel’.
Jerusalem-Israel, Adar Bet 15, 5776 / Friday, March 25, 2016
Yaʽaqoḇ 1:1 Yaʽaqoḇ, a servant of Elohim and of the Master יהושע Messiah, to the twelve tribes who are in the dispersion: Greetings.
Isa 48:20 “Come out of Baḇel! Flee from the Chaldeans (Muslims)! Declare this with a voice of singing, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth! Say,‘יהוה has redeemed His servant Yaʽaqoḇ!’
Isa 59:20-21 “And the Redeemer shall come to Tsiyon, and to those turning from transgression in Yaʽaqoḇ,” declares יהוה……
Your Redeemer:
Yeshayahu 43: 11 “I, I am Yahweh, and besides Me there is
no savior (Hebrew –מושׁיע Moshia). Messiah Ben David, our coming Leader, shall speak again from between the Cherubim above the Atonement Lid,
Eze 36:37-38 ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “Once again I shall let the house of Yisra’ĕl inquire of Me (speaking again from between the Cherubim above the Atonement Lid) to do for them: I shall increase their men like a flock.
38 “As a set-apart flock (by the Torah of Messiah), as the flock at Yerushalayim at her appointed times, so shall the wasted cities be filled with flocks of men. And they shall know that I am יהוה.” ’ ”
……..21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” said יהוה: “My Spirit that is upon you, and My Words that I have put in your mouth, shall not be withdrawn from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” said יהוה, “from this time and forever.”
Eph 6:17 Take also the helmet of deliverance, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of Elohim….
PS. We share these study’s for the benefit that you shall learn Torah Ephraim and Manasseh worldwide. NOT to put you under Jewish Halachah. If you like to become Jewish you have go to a Jewish Rabbi. Beit Ya’aqov Internationonal is a non-Jewish organization an Ephraim Agency and hope to become the Restored Northern Kingdom of Israel and hope to be soon united with Yehudah (the Jews, the old Southern Kingdom of Israel. Already restored in The Modern State of Israel) under the sovereignty of Messiah Ben Dawid.
Yehudah became his Holy sanctuary and Israel his Kingdom – Psalms 114 :2
We will see that the children of Israel return to Most High and Torah of Mashiach, And will hug in the Holy Land, and by obeying and listening the “VOICE of Most Ancient Holy One of Israel”, will bring offerings in a righteous way on the holy mountain and also bring the Ark of the covenant with pure heart in the right place ( i.e In Har HaBayit, on the foundation Stone [please read click: About ‘The Foundation Stone’ in Jerusalem……]) and We will Welcome the son of David on Mount Zion, Jerusalem – Gaddi, President, BeitYaaqov International.
[Ha Khadosh Baruch Hu – Baruch HaBa B’Shem Adonai ]
*********
History Crash Course: Why Study History, The Bible as History and The World of Abraham
aish-com, History Crash Course #1: Why Study History
Jewish history teaches not only to avoid past mistakes, but to understand where destiny is leading us.
by Rabbi Ken Spiro
This series is designed as a basic overview of all the Jewish history — all 4,000 years of it.
Usually when one mentions the word “history” most people break out in a cold sweat. They remember back to high school and they associate history with the memorization of names, dates, places and events necessary only for exams and then promptly forgotten afterwards. This is probably why Mark Twain said, “I never let my schooling interfere with my education.”
So before we actually begin talking about Jewish history, let’s talk a little bit about why we need to learn history in the first place. What is history? What benefit does learning history serve?
History is, first of all, the testing ground of ideas. In the words of Lord Henry Bolingbroke (1678-1751): “History is philosophy with examples.” We can talk in theory about ideas, but the passage of time clearly shows us which ideas are right or wrong –what works and what doesn’t. So, for instance, a hundred years ago a Communist and a Capitalist could debate which system would dominate the world, but recent history has shown us that Communism has failed and Capitalism continues to flourish.
There’s a tremendous amount of lessons that can be learned from history. As the Spanish-American philosopher, George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are destined to repeat it.”
So the basic reason to learn history, in general, is that people, more or less, are always the same. Empires rise and fall, technology might change, the geopolitical realities of the world might change, but people tend to do the same stupid things over and over again. And unless we learn from the past and remember it, and apply those lessons for the future, we’re destined to get stuck in the same rut and repeat the same mistakes over and over.
SPECIAL THEME
This theme applies to Jewish history as well. The Torah teaches:
Remember the days of old; understand the years of generation after generation. Ask your father and he will relate to you, your elders and they will tell you (Deut. 32:7).
But Judaism also introduced a concept into human history that is revolutionary in all aspects, particularly in the aspect of morality and the notion of history in general — the idea of an infinite God who acts in history.
The Jewish conception of God is that of Creator, Sustainer and Supervisor, which means not a God who created the world and then went on vacation to Miami, but an infinite Being who is actively involved in creation. To put it more philosophically: The entire physical world is a creation of God’s consciousness. The universe has no independent existence outside of God “willing” it to exist.
Everything in the universe is under God’s control — from the quantum to the cosmic. This has monumental implications for the events that take place on the tiny speck in the universe that we call Earth. If God knows and controls everything, then history is a controlled process leading to a destination.
Since God is the cosmic scriptwriter, director and producer, the events of human history are not random. This is a story with a plot — a goal. This means we’re headed for a specific destination; there is a finish line.
Before we begin to look at Jewish history we should first step back and get a sense of big picture-the basic outline of both the plot and the timeframe for history.
The Dawn of History
We begin counting the Jewish Year One from the creation of Adam who is seen as the physical and spiritual pinnacle in terms of the creation of the world.
As the Book of Genesis relates it, Adam was created on the sixth day in the process of creation, more than 5760 years ago. (The year 2000 of the Common Era is equivalent to the year 5760 in the Hebrew calendar)
Adam is unique among the other creatures, inhabiting the earth not just because he gives rise to such an amazingly innovative group of descendants, but because Adam is created b’tzelem Elohim, “in the image of God.” (Genesis 1:26) This means he has a soul — aneshama — a higher, spiritual, intellectual essence. This Divine spark is the God-like essence we human beings all have.
Once Adam is completed, God then, so to speak, takes off His cosmic watch, hands it to Adam and says, “Now we switch to earth time.” A day becomes a revolution of the earth on its axis, a year is the earth going round the sun once, etc. According to Jewish chronology, God took off His watch more than 5760 years ago.(1)
There is a profound lesson rooted in the idea of starting the Jewish calendar from the completion of Adam. Just as the movie director starts the cameras rolling when the big actors show up on the set (even though years of preparation may have gone into the project before the actual filming starts), so too does God start His earth clock when Adam appears on the planet. The lesson to be learned form this is that the focus of creation is humanity. God creates an entire universe for human beings. The ultimate question is then, why are we here? What is the purpose of creation?
Many people believe that God needs us so He created man to serve Him. This is not the Jewish perspective on creation. If God is infinite, then He has no needs or wants. He lacks nothing and there is absolutely nothing we can do for Him. So why were we created?
One of the most fundamental ideas in Judaism is that God created us give us the ultimate gift: a relationship with Himself, transcendence (in Hebrew the word is dvekut – attachment). Connecting to God is the ultimate form of relationship and that which our soul ultimately yearns for. Every pleasure we experience and every meaningful relationship we make in this world is just a small taste of the ultimate relationship of our soul with our creator. (see: Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto,Derech Hashem I:2:1)
That is what the Garden of Eden is all about. It is not, as it is so often portrayed in art, some kind of tropical Club Med. Rather it is the ideal physical-spiritual reality where human beings are freed from all the things that distract them: bills, shopping, carpools etc and are totally focused on achieving the purpose of creation: elevating ourselves and the world around us to the highest possible relationship with God.
The plot line of human history should have been very straightforward: God places us in a perfect environment where are free to do that which we were created for. We spend the rest of history hanging out in the Garden, perfecting creation and building relationship with God.
Unfortunately something went badly wrong. Beginning with Adam and Eve eating from the Tree of knowledge, the relationship began to fall apart. Humanity found it too difficult to maintain a relationship with an invisible God. People felt that showing respect to the various visible forces of nature, created by God, would be the way to indirectly show respect to God Himself. What happened however was that within a few generations worship of God was replaced by worship of nature: the sun, the moon the trees… God was forgotten and idol worship was practiced by all. The whole purpose of creation was lost. It is this breakdown of the relationship with God that categorizes the early history described in the Bible. (see Breishis Rabbah 23:10; Mishnah Torah, The Laws of Idol Worship 1:1)
The Biblical narrative describes how this spiritual decline continues for more than a millennia and a half, until we get to the story of the Flood. The basic plot of this story is straight forward: The purpose of creation is relationship with God. That relationship was totally lost so God decided to “clean out” the world, sparing only Noah (who, alone, maintained a relationship with God). The hope was that Noah would repopulate the world and rebuild the relationship. It doesn’t work and humanity continues to decline until the Tower of Babel. The focus of that story is humanity united for all the wrong reasons: to rebel against God. (See Talmud, Sanhedrin 109a) Already by this point in the Book of Genesis things are not going well for humanity. It looks as if God will have no choice but to destroy the world and start again from scratch. But when all seems lost along came one man who changed the course of history.
Abraham’s Mission
Abraham is great for two reasons. In an almost entirely polytheistic world that has completely lost its relationship with God, Abraham, using only the power of his intellect, chose to see the reality of one God. When we first meet Abraham in the Bible in the Book of Genesis (Genesis 12:1), he is already 75 years old. This may well have been the first time that God spoke to him! This would mean that until that point, Abraham lived his whole life without prophecy, without any kind of outside confirmation that his ideology of monotheism was correct, and this says a lot about Abraham’s dedication to truth. (See Talmud, Nedarim 32a)
Abraham is the ultimate truth-seeker. Now can you imagine being the only person in the world to believe in idea that no one else can comprehend or accept? None of us would have the chutzpah to even whisper this idea to our best friends.
This brings me to second half of Abraham’s greatness. He doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. He says “I choose to dedicate my life to ultimate cause; to bring humanity back to the purpose of creation-back to relationship with God.” He was even willing to give his life for God. Not because God needs anyone to die for him. (God is infinite-you can’t do anything for him), but rather because Abraham understood that without this relationship with God humanity is doomed. This gives us a little indication of Abraham’s greatness and his idealism. He did not mind standing alone on the “other side” — and that is the meaning of the word Ivri, in Hebrew. (see Breishis Rabbah 42:13) He stood on the other side, alone against the entire world.
This also explains what the concept of “Chosen People” is all about. Abraham, so to speak, says to God: “I choose to live with the reality of you and to bring all of humanity back to that reality.” God then says to Abraham: “Then I choose you, and your descendants.” What are the Jewish people chosen for? It’s not for privilege (although it is a great privilege to be Jewish) but for responsibility. What’s the responsibility? In Hebrew the term is called Tikkun Olam, “Fix the World.” It is the ultimate cause — to bring humanity back to the purpose of creation and create the most spiritually/morally perfect world possible. This is the national-historic mission of the Jewish people.
If we understand the purpose of creation and Abraham’s mission then the rest of our plot line for human history is pretty straightforward: Humanity returns to God with the Jewish people leading the way.
If we understand this concept of the Jewish people leading the way then what happens to the Jewish people in history begins to make sense. When we talk about the Jewish people leading the way it means that they are out in front, like the point man in an infantry unit out on patrol. Just as the point man’s job is to the lead the unit and avoid danger, so too the Jewish people’s special role in history is to lead humanity to its goal. Just as the point man faces extra danger because he’s out in front with added responsibility, so too the Jewish people have always faced unique challenges and danger. To understand this analogy is to understand what is really behind anti-Semitism and the outrageous double standard that Israel and the Jewish people are always judged by.(2) Because the Jews chose for themselves this unique responsibility, they will never be allowed to be like anyone else. The prophet Balaam said it best: “It is a nation that dwells alone and is not reckoned amongst the nations.” (Numbers 23:9)
If we would chart the historical progress of humanity’s return to God with the Jewish people leading the way, it would look very much like of graph of Wall Street since 1930: There have been big ups and downs but the overall picture is one of tremendous growth. So too with our story. 3,700 years ago Abraham was virtually the only person who believed in one God.(3) Today there are billions of people, Christians and Moslems, who believe in worldview that is based on Judaism. We still have a ways to go, but humanity has been radically changed by ideas introduced by Abraham almost 4,000 years ago.(4)
Jewish Time
The traditional Jewish understanding of the flow of history is similar to that found in all great epic stories: The plot unfolds within a finite time frame and is a clearly delineated into a beginning, a middle and an end. In the broadest of strokes the Talmud, in tractate Sanhedrin 97a, lays out the basic themes and periods of history:
The world is to exist for six thousand years. In the first two thousand there was desolation; two thousand years the Torah flourished; and the next two thousand years is the Messianic era…
The six thousand years mentioned in the Talmud is not calculated from creation of the universe, but rather from the birth of Adam and mirrors the weekly cycle. Just as the Jewish week begins on Sunday and runs through Friday, so too is human history is to comprise a maximum(5) of six millennia of history as we know it. At the end of this weekly cycle we enter the Sabbath, a day of spirituality and rest, so too after a maximum of 6,000 years of history humanity will enter the seventh millennium called “the World to Come,” in Hebrew “Olam Haba.” The World to Come is synonymous with the Garden of Eden and represents the culmination of the process of returning to God and perfecting the world (see Derech Hashem 1:3:4)
We see from this quote in the Talmud that these 6,000 years are further subdivided into three 2,000 years periods each with its own theme. The first 2,000 years, from Adam to the Tower of Babel is called desolation. The theme of this period: Humanity is spiritually desolate and has no relationship with God.
The second 2,000 year period, from Abraham to the completion of Mishnah c 240C.E, is called Torah. The theme of this period is Jewish national history in the Land of Israel and the flourishing of Torah (the Law).
The final 2,000 year period, from 240C.E. until the year 6,000 (the year 2,240 C.E.), is called Messiah. The theme of this final phase is humanity’s return to God (led by the Jewish people). At the end of this period, but before the year 6,000, comes the Messianic Era which is the final preparatory stage before humanity enters the World to Come.(6)
So where do we, today, fit into this traditional chronology? We are in the final 2,000 year period. Specifically, at the end of the sixth millennium, Friday late afternoon, close to the approach of the Sabbath. From the Jewish perspective we are standing at the edge of history, rapidly approaching the final climatic chapter of human history that precedes the final redemption.
Cycles in History
Another profound consequence of the Jewish conception of God is the concept of cycles in history. For thousands of years, through the early 20th century, the ancient Greek conception of time held sway: time has always existed and goes on forever. There is no beginning or end sort of like running on a treadmill-you work hard, but ultimately you go no where. The ancient Greeks (and other Pagan cultures) also believed that the gods created humans to serve them. You were putty in their hands with no control over your destiny. In ancient Greek literature the theme of tragedy is the futility of fighting against your fate. Combine these two concepts, the infinity of time and fatalism and you come up with a very negative and un-empowering view of history and destiny: you’re not really going anywhere and your decisions don’t matter.
The Jewish take on destiny and history was radically different. It looks something like this:
Like a giant slinky opened up, this form represents the idea of repetition that is not static. This is how Judaism understands both the holiday and history cycles work. While other nation’s holidays are purely commemorations of past historical events, Jewish holidays, while commemorating the past, are also opportunities for the future. Each holiday in the yearly cycle has a specific theme-a unique spiritual power associated with it: Passover is the holiday of freedom/free will; Succoth is the holiday of joy/how to properly use the physical world. As we travel through this yearly cycle and encounter these holidays, we are supposed to grow in our understanding of these basic concepts similar to getting a yearly software upgrade. If we miss the opportunity, we have to wait till it comes around next year. The idea is that we are not static we move forward, we grow.
This is also how the history cycle works. Unlike the fatalistic Greeks, Judaism believes that we have free will; our decisions matter; we control our destiny. Because our destiny is in our hands we have to earn our forward progress-whether individually during our lifetime or collectively during the course of human history-it is up to us to make the right decision and move forward. Because we have to earn our forward progress through our own efforts we are constantly cycled through challenges that enable us to use our free will to make the correct decisions and move forward. If we don’t decide or make the wrong decisions we will be re-cycled through the same challenge again until we get it right. So how do we know what the right decisions this? There are two possibilities: trial and error (which can be a very long, painful process) or learn from the past-use history as our guide book.
It is precisely for this reason that we must learn AND understand Jewish history. The great 13th century Jewish scholar Nachmonides said: The actions of the fathers are a sign for the children.
This is a very famous Jewish saying and Nachmonides was not the only one to say it. What does it mean?
On the microcosmic level, within the stories of Genesis in the Bible-the earliest Jewish history, we’re will see that that which happens to the earliest characters in the narrative will be repeated by their children.
On a macrocosmic level, the personalities and interactions of the early forefathers — the patriarchs and matriarchs — are going to be a model for all of Jewish history, and all of human history. This is why we have to pay extra special attention to what’s going on at this early phase of the Bible, because here is where the patterns are set. In this early narrative lies the map, and the guidebook for the future. The destiny of the Jewish people, their strengths, weaknesses and relationship with the Gentiles-all of this is revealed in the early Jewish history of the Bible. Jewish history is Jewish destiny. Learning from the past is the key to making the right decisions about the future.
This is what we will focus on in this book. The names, dates and places are nice to know, but the lessons of the past are critical to learn for the sake of the Jewish people and humanity.
Additionally, we must remember that the Jewish people are arguably the oldest surviving people on the Planet Earth, and because they have been spread out throughout the world, when we learn Jewish history we have to pay attention to all of human history. It’s a great framework for world history. To understand Jewish history means to build a great deal of general knowledge of the history of the world at large.
1) For more information of topic of the Bible and science, creation and the age of the universe see:
-Aviezer, Nathan. Fossils and Faith-Understanding Torah and Science. Hoboken, N.J.: Ktav, 2002.
-Aviezer, Nathan. In the Beginning-Biblical creation and Science. Hoboken, N.J.: Ktav, 1990.
-Schroeder, Gerald. Genesis and the Big Bang Theory. New York: Bantam, 1990.
-Schroeder, Gerald. The Hidden face of God-Science reveals the Ultimate Truth. N.Y.: Touchstone, 2002.
-Schroeder, Gerald. The Science of God-The Convergence of Science and Biblical Wisdom. N.Y.:Free Press, 1997.
2)The columnist, Charles Krauthammer, said it beautifully: “Jews is news” Whatever a Jew or better yet the Jewish State, Israel, does, it always grabs the headlines. The double standard to which the world holds Israel is nothing short of supernatural. The fact that two thirds of all U.N. resolutions passed since 1990 have condemned Israel is classic illustration of this point. No one seems to care that Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, is surrounded by 22 non-democratic, totalitarian Arab States with little or no human rights or free speech. Syria occupies Lebanon for decades, but the world ignores it. Pol Pot kills 1.5 million Cambodians in the 1970’s yet the UN never passed one resolution condemning him, yet when Israel starts building a fence to keep out suicide bombers the world goes mad. A 2003 European Union survey listed Israel as the number one country in the world threatening world peace beating out such peace-loving nations as North Korea, Iran, Syria and Libya.
3)Tradition tells us that Shem and Ever, descendants of Noah, carried on the monotheistic tradition of Noah. (see Megillah 12a; Rashi, Genesis 28:9)
4)We will talk more about this topic when we get to chapters on Christianity and Islam. For a more detailed explanation of this impact see my book WorldPerfect-The Jewish Impact on Civilization. (Health Communications Inc., Deerfield, Florida, 2003)
5)Just as it is a Jewish custom to bring in the Sabbath early (before sunset on Friday) so too we may usher in this final phase of history before the Jewish year 6,000 which is deadline.
6)The concept of Messiah is central to Christianity but actually originates in Jewish sources (The word Messiah comes from the Hebrew word mashach meaning anointing {“Christ” in Greek} or in this case chosen by God). The Messiah’s job is to prepare humanity to return to the ideal state that existed prior to humanity’s fall in Genesis. This future, ideal state is called Olam HaBah, “the World to Come.” The Messianic Era which proceeds this period is ushered in by the Messiah, a descendent of King David. The entire period is characterized by the Jewish people’s collective return to Judaism and Israel and culminates in the entire world returning to the relationship with God. Maimonides summarizes the concept of Messiah as follows:
The King Messiah will arise and restore the kingship of David to its former state and original sovereignty. He will rebuild the sanctuary and gather the dispersed of Israel. If there arise a king from the House of David who meditates in Torah, occupies himself with the commandments…prevails upon Israel to walk in the ways of Torah…fights the battles of the Lord, it may be assumed that he is the Messiah. If he does these things and succeeds, rebuilds the sanctuary on its site, and gathers the dispersed of Israel, he is beyond all doubt the messiah. He will prepare the whole world to serve the lord together (see Mishna Torah; Laws of Kings Chap.12)
History Crash Course #2: The Bible as History
An enormous amount of information in the Bible has been borne out by archeology, through indirect or circumstantial evidence.
by Rabbi Ken Spiro
We assume that people throughout human history always studied history, but that’s not true. As a matter of fact, if you go back more than a couple of thousand years you’ll find people had no interest in history. The first historian in the West is Herodotus, a Greek who lived in the 5th century BCE. And he’s given the title: Father of History.
Columbia University historian, Joseph Yerushalmi, who wrote an excellent, highly-praised book called Zahor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory, says that “If Herodotus was the father of history, the father of meaning in history was the Jews.”
This is a profound idea.
“If Herodotus was the father of history, the father of meaning in history was the Jews.”
First, not only were Jews recording history well before Herodotus, but while Herodotus might record the events, the Jews were looking at the deeper meaning, and that deeper meaning can be found most importantly and most significantly within the Bible itself.
The first of these stories that we will examine in the future installments of this series pre-dates Herodotus by about 1,300 years. It is the story of Abraham and it is takes place around the 18th century BCE, or 3,700 years ago.
Now don’t make the mistake of thinking the Bible is a history book. For example, Abraham, when he appears in the Book of Genesis is already 75 years old. He’s one of the most significant figures in Jewish history and the Torah doesn’t tell us about him as a child or as a young adult — we pick up his story when he is an old man already.
The Bible is not concerned with giving us all the details of Abraham’s life. It is interested only in history as a means of teaching us the important lessons of life — it’s a book of theology in Jewish worldview first and foremost. Therefore, it focuses on the basic information that we need to know.
An article was published recently in the Israeli newspaper Ha’Aretz, smashing the Bible, and in the same week, an article was published inUS News and World Report — a cover story, no less — supporting the accuracy of the Bible vis-a-vis archeology.
Why such diametrically opposed views? Because archeology is a very complicated field. So a few words of caution are in order.
The definition of archeology is “the discovery and interpretation of the physical remains of previous civilizations and peoples.” Note that within the definition of archeology is the word “interpretation”. How one archeologist interprets the meaning of a particular find can be very different from how another archeologist interprets the meaning of the same find.
The bias of the archeologist is going to affect how he interprets the information.
Archeology is not a hard science. When an archeologist finds a piece of rock, a vessel, or a piece of a building, he tries to decide what it means. The find has no label on it, unless it’s a written document, and even written documents are open to interpretation.
So when people make definitive statements about what archeology does or doesn’t say, you have to be very careful, because the bias of the archeologist affects how he interprets the information.
As the early books of the Bible are concerned, there is little directevidence for the characters in the Bible. There is, however, a huge amount of indirect or circumstantial evidence — names, places, business contracts, marriage contracts, migratory patterns. An enormous amount of information in the Bible has been borne out by archeology.
That is as far as the early books of the Bible are concerned, but once we get to later books, like the Book of Kings, for example, there is excellent direct evidence, written records of other emperors, etc. But the early events exist more or less in a historical vacuum and, unfortunately also in an archeological vacuum.
Keep in mind that the same thing that applies in a court of law applies to archeology: Lack of evidence is no evidence of lack. The fact that I haven’t found Abraham’s camel saddle doesn’t mean Abraham didn’t have a camel or a saddle. And, indeed, there is a huge amount of circumstantial evidence supporting the basic historicity of the Bible.
Archeology doesn’t definitively prove the Bible, and it certainly doesn’t discredit it. In fact the more we find, the more we see that there’s a tremendous amount of historicity in the text.
In summary, the Bible is not a book of history, yet it contains history and culture, which is more or less borne out by archeology. It’s a book of teachings, and it’s the ideal way to learn the patterns of history. And if we understand that the reason why we’re learning history is to learn lessons, then we have to pay extra special attention to what is going on in the Bible.
The actions of the fathers are assigned to the children.(Nachmanides)
This is a very famous Jewish saying and Nachmanides was not the only one to say it. What does it mean?
On the microcosmic level, within the stories of Genesis in the Bible, we’re going to see that what happens to the ancients will be repeated by their children.
On a macrocosmic level, the personalities and interactions of the early forefathers — the patriarchs and matriarchs — are going to be a model for all of Jewish history, and all of human history. This is why we have to pay extra special attention to what’s going on at this early phase of the Bible, because here is where the patterns are set.
The Jewish people are one of the oldest surviving people on the Planet Earth.
Additionally, we must remember that the Jewish people are one of the oldest surviving people on the Planet Earth, and because they have been spread out throughout the world, when we learn Jewish history we have to pay attention to all of human history. It’s a great framework. To understand Jewish history means to build a great deal of general knowledge of the history of the world at large.
We can’t appreciate Jewish history (or the history of any people for that matter) without understanding the larger context in which it takes place.
In the next installment we are going to zoom out and take a macro look at the world into which the first Jew, Abraham, was born.
History Crash Course #3: The World of Abraham
By understanding the character of Abraham, the “proto-Jew”, one can understand what Jews are all about.
Jewish history doesn’t happen in a vacuum. No people’s history happens in a vacuum. So before we take a closer look at Abraham, we must first zoom out and get a little understanding of where Abraham fits in the world of his time.
Abraham appears at a period of time commonly known as the Middle Bronze period, around the 18th century BCE. (Early civilization is characterized by the metals they predominantly used and the Middle Bronze period of the Near East covers the period of time from 2200 BCE until 1550 BCE.)
Whereas most anthropologists believe that hominids, forerunners of human beings physically, originated in Africa, human civilization begins in the Near East in the Fertile Crescent, which is where Abraham was born.
When we say civilization, we are talking about sophisticated arrangements of people living together, not hunter/gatherers or simple agrarian settlements, not just a few people living in a few huts. About 5,500 years ago in the Near East, there was a dramatic evolution of humanity from mostly nomadic hunter/gatherers — people who spend their whole day looking for food — to people who were able to domesticate livestock and crops. This meant they could raise animals to eat them or to use them for their milk and their hides, and to plow the land to grow crops.
Once this occurred, there was a surplus of food, which led to population growth. People had time to do more than constantly search for food. They started specializing in different types of labor — you had craftsmen, scholars, priests and warriors. That, in turn, led to the creation of cities, social and political development and the creation of the arts, literature, science and the like. The earliest civilizations in the world, according to most opinions, began in the area called the Fertile Crescent.
THE FERTILE CRESCENT
The Fertile Crescent encompasses the area that extends from the Nile Delta in Egypt, the Levant (the middle section where Israel is located), to the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers.
The three great rivers contribute mightily to the fertility, and consequent desirability, of this area. The Nile is an incredible river, the largest river in the world. Without the Nile, Egypt would be a desert. In ancient times, 3% of Egypt was arable land, 97% was desert. Also the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers are two tremendous rivers; they run through what is today basically Iraq and into Turkey, but what historians have dubbed Mesopotamia, which is Greek for “in the middle of two rivers.”
There is some debate whether the first civilization sprang up in Egypt or in Mesopotamia (specifically in the section of Mesopotamia called Sumer) but we can be fairly sure that the first hallmark of civilization — writing — originated in the Fertile Crescent.
Writing was a tremendous invention though we take it for granted today. It began with pictographs. You drew a stick figure and that stood for “man.” Later those pictures evolved into more abstract symbols which stood for phonetic sounds, until eventually there came about a system of three “letters,” each representing a sound and combining together to make a word that conveyed an idea. (To this day, Hebrew is based on a three-consonant root system.)
Writing was the single greatest human invention and is the hallmark of civilization. All the technology and knowledge of today depends on the collective accumulation of accurately transmitted information, which now comes so fast we can’t keep up with it.
“A SPEAKING SOUL”
From the Jewish perspective the ability to express oneself — whether through writing or speech — personifies what human beings are all about. We learn that when God created the first human being — Adam — He “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7) The Hebrew phrase l’nefesh chayah, “living soul,” can also be translated as “a speaking soul.” (Targum Onkelos, Genesis 2:7)
The Crossroads of Civilization
Of the two earliest civilizations that developed, Egypt is unusual because it’s surrounded by desert and so it is virtually unapproachable. Egypt as a civilization survived for close to 3,000 years. This is an incredibly long period of time for civilization to survive. Why did Egypt survive for so long? Because of its isolation it was very difficult to invade. (1). It took the Greeks — specifically Alexander, the Great — to finish Egypt off, and then it became a Greek colony.
Mesopotamia had no such natural defenses. It was a giant flood plain sitting in the middle of the great migration route of many ancient peoples. Any conqueror who came out of Asia or out of Europe usually set foot there. It had no natural defenses — no mountains, no deserts — and it was a very desirable fertile land.
We see the land changing hands many times and a huge number of civilizations in this part of the world — Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans and then, of course, the Muslims.
This tumultuous place is where Jewish history begins — at the bottom of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, in the cradle of civilization. This was the logical place for civilization to begin in terms of the development of agriculture and culture. And it’s also a logical place for Abraham to appear, because if it is Abraham’s destiny to change the world, he has to be at the center of civilization. If he were born an Eskimo or a Native American, all of human history would have been different. So our story begins in Ancient Mesopotamia and from here Abraham’s journey begins.
1)In the 3,000 year history of ancient Egypt, it was conquered only three times: by the Hyksos, the Assyrians and finally the Greeks. Compared to the Land of Israel, which has been conquered and destroyed dozens of times.
This article can be read on-line at: http://www.aish.com/jl/h/cc/48930447.html
Author Biography:
Rabbi Ken Spiro, originally from New Rochelle, NY, graduated from Vassar College with a BA in Russian Language and Literature and did graduate studies at the Pushkin Institute in Moscow. He has rabbinic ordination from Aish Jerusalem and a Masters Degree in History from Vermont College of Norwich University. Rabbi Spiro is also a licensed tour guide by the Israel Ministry of Tourism. He has appeared on numerous radio and TV programs such as BBC, National Geographic Channel and The History Channel. He lives near Jerusalem with his wife and five children, where he works as a senior lecturer for Aish Jerusalem.
Crash Course in Jewish History is “a comprehensive, thoughtful and highly educational survey of Jewish history.” – Sir Martin Gilbert
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History Crash Course: Why Study History, The Bible as History and The World of Abraham
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If you believe Messiah Ben Yoseph as is explained in Scriptures,
Jer 31:31-37 “See, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “when I shall make a new covenant with the house of Yisra’ĕl and with the house of Yehuḏah1, Footnote: 1See Hebrews. 8:8-12, Hebrews. 10:16-17 (Please read these verses in the HaBerith HaChadashah Scriptures).
32 not like the covenant I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Mitsrayim, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares יהוה.
33 “For this is the covenant I shall make with the house of Yisra’ĕl after those days, declares יהוה: I shall put My Torah in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts (Messiah Ben Yoseph). And I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.
34 “And no longer shall they teach, each one his neighbor, and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know יהוה,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares יהוה. “For I shall forgive their crookedness, and remember their sin no more.”
35 Thus said יהוה, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the laws of the moon and the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, and its waves roar – יהוה of hosts is His Name:
36 “If these laws vanish from before Me,” declares יהוה, “then the seed of Yisra’ĕl shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.”
37 Thus said יהוה, “If the heavens above could be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I would also cast off all the seed of Yisra’ĕl for all that they have done,” declares יהוה.
Yohanan (one of the writers in the HaBerith HaChadashah Scriptures) bore witness of The Righteous One – The Foundation of the world, Messiah Ben Yoseph who received the soul of, The Messenger of His Presence – מלאך פניו.
What ‘makes’ Him The Righteous One!
In the Talmud ((Yoma 38b) is written:
Hiyya b. Abba said also in the name of R. Johanan: Even for the sake of a single righteous man does the world endure, as it is said: But the righteous is the foundation of the world. 26
Hiyya himself infers this from here: He will keep the feet of His holy ones’ 27 ‘Holy ones’ means many? — R. Nahman b. Isaac said: It is written: His holy’ one. 27
26 Pro 10:25 As the whirlwind passes by, The wrong one is no more, But the righteous (in Hebrew וצדיק יסוד עולם׃ ‘and the Righteous’ –singular-) has an everlasting foundation.
27 1Sa 2:9 “He guards the feet of His kind ones (in Hebrew חסידו ‘His Righteous One’ –singular-) but the wrong are silent in darkness, for man does not become mighty by power.
Kol HaTor is telling ‘Metatron is The Messenger of His Presence, what we don’t believe!
Isa 63:7-9 Let me recount the kindnesses of יהוה and the praises of יהוה, according to all that יהוה has done for us, and the great goodness toward the house of Yisra’ĕl, which He has done for them according to His compassion, and according to His many kindnesses.
8 And He said, “They are My people, children who do not act falsely.” And He (HaShem) became their Savior – In Hebrew it is written: He became their מושׁיע – Mosiah.
9 In all their distress He was distressed, and the Messenger of His Presence – ומלאך פניו הושׁיעם באהבתו – saved them. In His love and in His compassion He redeemed them, and He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
Exo 25:8-9 “And they shall make Me a Set-apart Place, and I shall dwell in their midst.
9 “According to all that I show you – the pattern of the Dwelling Place and the pattern of all its furnishings – make it exactly so.
Exo 25:20-22 “And the keruḇim shall be spreading out their wings above, covering the lid of atonement with their wings, with their faces toward each other, the faces of the keruḇim turned toward the lid of atonement.
21 “And you shall put the lid of atonement on top of the ark (Were ‘The Righteous One’, in the ‘heavenly one’ brought from His own blood), and put into the ark the Witness which I give you.
22 “And I shall meet with you there, and from above the lid of atonement, from between the two keruḇim which are on the ark of the Witness, I shall speak to you all that which I command you concerning the children of Yisra’ĕl.
The One who spoke ‘between the kerubim above the lid of atonement’ and promise to speak again:
Eze 36:37-38 ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “Once again I shall let the house of Yisra’ĕl inquire of Me to do for them: I shall increase their men like a flock.
38 “As a set-apart flock, as the flock at Yerushalayim at her appointed times, so shall the wasted cities be filled with flocks of men. And they shall know that I am יהוה.” ’ ”
is He not:
‘the Messenger of His Presence’? (And NOT with whatever we can come up with!) The Word that became flesh……..!
Php 2:5-11 For, let this mind be in you which was also in Messiah יהושע,
6 who, being in the form of Elohim, did not regard equality with Elohim a matter to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and came to be in the likeness of men.
8 And having been found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, death even of a stake.
9 Elohim, therefore, has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name which is above every name,
10 that at the Name of יהושע every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess that יהושע Messiah is Master, to the esteem of Elohim the Father.
Who did the Yom Kippur service ‘above’ as the high-priest after the ‘order’ of Melchizedek….. (For ALL 12 Tribes and all their friends!)
Heb 9:11-12 But Messiah, having become a High Priest of the coming good matters, through the greater and more perfect Tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation,
12 entered into the Most Set-apart Place once for all, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood, having obtained everlasting redemption.
Not to ‘replace’ the ‘earthly’ service and the ‘rest’ of Torah!
Because He bears the Divine Mandate Devarim 30: 1-10 (He is: ‘These Words’ in verse one.)
He shall teach the Torah of Messiah if we let Him speak again from between the Cherubim above ‘the lid of atonement‘…….. (The ‘appearance’ of Messiah Ben David as is promised).
Then I ask you please say it again as our for parents,
Devarim 5:27 ‘You go near and hear all that יהוה our Elohim says, and speak to us all that יהוה our Elohim says to you, and we shall hear and do it.’……
And come united with Beit Ya’aqob International:
3:10 “From beyond the rivers of Kush my worshippers, the daughter of My dispersed ones, shall bring My offering – Messiah Ben Yoseph.
In real Teshuva.++++
To be:
‘A World Union of the Lost Tribes from Israel, Yehudah and Ephraim and their friends in the reconciliation with the Jews under the Divine Mandate of Messiah Ben Yoseph who we love to call Yeshua Rabbeinu our Mashiach.’
And let us built together the Holy Nation of Ephraim. Jewish Rabbis are helping Beit Ya’aqob International with good advice and we share as much as possible their Torah studies. NOT to put you under Jewish Halacha. But to teach Torah.
Take upon you what Abba Yahweh said,
Jer 31:9 “With weeping they shall come, and with their prayers I bring them. I shall make them walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they do not stumble. For I shall be a Father to Yisra’ĕl, and Ephrayim – he is My first-born.
Yes take upon you to be His First-Born……. In the family of Israel.
Beit Ya’aqov International ask you to pay a membership fee of 10 dollar a year. Furthers we hope and Pray that you bring your tithes (fulfill the Mitzwah) to the Ephraim National Fund (until we are united with Yehudah under Messiah and build His House together, to bring it there) so that Abba Yahweh shall bless you also with good and necessary the Parnassa.
After you filled out the request to join click http://beityaaqov.org/here/join-us/ and Beit Ya’aqov International received your fee, she send you your unique: Ephraim National Identity Cart.
Please Ephraim and Manasseh worldwide come, let yourself grow unto a Holy Nation unto Yahweh Elohim through Messiah Ben Yoseph your ‘Leader’.
Please write me? Click: http://thewatchmenfromisrael.org/contact-us/
Beit-Ya’aqov International
Representative: Ariel van Kessel
Email: watchmenfromisrael@beityaaqov.org
Mobile: +972 545683031
Int. Regd. no: 26538
Address: Rechov Ein-Karem 10b
95744 Jerusalem, Israel
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