Freezing rain has come after blasting heat and drought. The cold is blown in by hurricane like winds. It is so cold it cuts right through us! The only place of comfort is to tuck myself in bed under a heavy comforter and an electric blanket. That is how I feel this winter after complaining of the constant heat and dry weather that shriveled most of the grape vines and even some of the fruit trees. Will they revive? Better yet, will we survive? Seems like an odd question for one who lives in a closed house with heat and air conditioning, yet somehow this cold cuts through even when the heater runs all day. Maybe this is not just about weather…
Maybe what is spelled out by the weather reveals the situation in the Middle East. The tight fisted wind and cold speaks of hopelessness, people who may be fighting to survive. I am not speaking of those who preempted this war. No! They should feel the full bite of the cold and misery but some are fighting for freedom and nobody seems to care. Thousands have died and all hands are slack. Seems they are giving up. And why shouldn’t they, except–it may be better to die at the cruel hands of the regime than live without freedom. What is freedom anyway?
Will God help these people when America and all of Europe close their eyes to the suffering. But why was so much ado made over Gaza? Shall we speculate? Does Gaza offer something that the other nations want to control? Is Iran somehow not significant at this time?
America usually has not fought for the causes of justice and righteousness, that is…not without a rich dividend and Gaza is a rich dividend. How so? Several things.
- A centralized footprint in the Middle East
- An ideal port in the Mediteranean
- Israel’s Natural gas discovery off the coast of Gaza.
Maybe more deals are in the offing…
But why trust America as someone who is going to haul us out of a jam? Is there no faith in the God of Israel anymore?
Or is it that Israelis have allowed leadership to take over that has their own interests in mind?
Why are we looking to the nations to protect and provide for us while we smuggly refuse to help others in distress–Iran, Sudan…anybody else? Is it that we are as guilty as the other nations? Are Israel’s leaders trading off the divine principle of justice in exchange for whatever material and military benefits may be offered? And what about power and absolute power? What may become of us if we refuse to do what is right and good?
May I ask again, why nobody did anything for several hours on October 7 when it was announced beforehand by several sources? What may have been the game that was being played? Do we have to get permission from America to defend our people?
May I continue to ask, even to an empty sky, why Israel did not go in and finish the job in Gaza right after the attack on October 7? Whom did we need to get permission from? Have we sold out so fully to Big Brother America that we cannot even protect our own children? Like the Bible says…”they have sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes.” Amos 2:6-8.
So is there any hope for those of us who see these things? Should Jews really look to Israel as a safe place when the government turns around and taxes what we struggle to earn to pad their own pockets, using the excuse of buying better military equipment and fancier jets?
What is the Almighty God of the Universe going to say to these leaders? Most of them deny His existence, whether by their actions in uniting with the nations for support or outright atheism.
It is true that the world is not a safe place for Jews right now. And many are choosing the impossible dream of making Aliyah with the hope that they will at last find safety, but is this only a Pipe dream?
And what of the prayers of the righteous? Do they go anywhere or perhaps are those righteous being separated by the Master of the Universe–Separated to save for a coming king who will set things right? But is this a Pipe Dream as well, or can we count on it. Sometimes it seems like the line from Shakespear’s famous Sonnet 29:
“And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope…”
But then, this is not what I believe, but I admit that I am tempted to feel this way. Where is Heaven at this time when so many have left all to come to the promised land?
Ariella Casey
Discover more from Take Hold the Tzitzit
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
An addition to the previous — A comprehensive Jewish polemic against the theological foundations of Xtianity and Islam. Where was JeZeus throughout the Shoah? Where was Allah throughout the Nakba total defeat disasters of ’48, ’67, & most recently the 12 Day War?
1. Peter claims that through JeZeus, significant miracles occur, thereby validating his role as a miracle worker and messianic figure… this serves as zero proof of the mitzva of Moshiach according to the Torah. Moshiach based upon King Shaul and David and all the kings of Yechuda and Israel thereafter has nothing to do with healing miracle workers as the definition of the Torah mitzva of Moshiach.
The prophet Natan issued a mussar prophetic rebuke to king David when he contemplated the possibility to duplicate how the Goyim worshipped their Gods through construction of Great Cathedrals. The Torah “Temple” which king David commanded his son Shlomo to build – not a literal wood and stone building. Rather the establishment of the Torah Constitutional mandate of Sanhedrin Federal common law courtrooms across Jerusalem and the cities of refuge. The last mitzva which Moshe Rabbeinu sanctified: Moshe constructed three Cities of Refuges/Small Sanhedrin courtrooms on the other side of the Jordan river. Moshe did not build a Goyim manner of worship Temple. The revelation of the Mishkan teaches the mussar that HaShem lives in the hearts of the chosen Cohen people through tohor middot spirits. Hence the p’suk: שמות: כה:ח — ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם — prioritizes the vision that HaShem through the revelation of Oral Torah tohor middot quickens the Yatzir Ha-Tov with life through all the generations of Israel upon this Earth. This vision has nothing to do with the NT “salvation from sin” substitute theology.
2. The NT fails to address the central act of rebellion when Israel demanded from the prophet Shmuel a king, when HaShem through the Sinai brit ruled as KING. Recall that Israel requested a king to lead the nation to fight its wars. The bait N’ switch to the topic of “salvation” therefore exists as classic substitute theology. Revisionist history defines the NT like Holocaust Denial defines modern anti-Semitism. Specifically, the NT introduces a theology of a Universal God. This alien foreign idea has nothing to do with the Sinai revelation because Goyim rejected the Torah and do not accept the Torah to this very day.
The deliverance from Egyptian bondage and conquering of Canaan – these fundamental “miracles” serve as the basis for Israel to rule conquered Canaan with justice as a total repudiation of Par’o judicial injustice to Israel. Torah prophesy centers upon mussar rebukes which all generations can grow as their own ideas sprouting from within their Yatzir Ha-Tov spirits breathing within their hearts. The NT shares no connection whatsoever toward achieving the justice leadership of HaShem in this world through the Torah mandate of Federal Sanhedrin common law courtrooms.
Both the NT and Koran attempt to replace the oath brit which defines Torah as the Written Constitution of the Cohen Republic. They both attempt to establish a theological backdrop wherein Torah prophesy applies to all Goyim Universally. These attempts reject the revelation of the Torah at Sinai but seek thereafter to worship their Name God replacements as substitutes for HaShem taking Israel alone out of Egypt. Such theological revisionist history substitutes other Universal Gods for the local god which only Israel accepted at Sinai. Miraculous miracle workers do not replace the prophetic mussar visions established through the T’NaCH literature which the NT attempts to replace with the label “Old Testament”.
3. Declaring the ‘Good News’ of the Name of JeZeus has no T’NaCH precedent. Torah a common law legality which stands upon the foundation of precedents. No courtroom objectively examines (prosecutor vs. defense legal briefs) any courtroom case based upon the “Name of JeZeus”. Hence the challenge to Judicial common law courtroom practices – simply a red herring. The Written Torah serve the chief function as the Constitution of the Republic of Judea which mandates Sanhedrin common law courtrooms. No different than the US Constitution mandates 3 branches of Government. By emphasizing the miraculous events attributed to JeZeus as the Son of God, this substitute theology replaces oath brit cut with Avraham Yitzak and Yaacov to father the chosen Cohen people.
The Written Torah serves as the legal constitution for the Jewish people, establishing a system grounded in established precedents and judicial proceedings. The NT does not provide this framework or engage with it meaningfully. Most significantly: the NT emphasis upon the Divine Name of JeZeus worships a new God which the Avot did not know.
The Written Torah functions analogously to a constitution, establishing a system of laws that courts operate upon, thus framing the concept of justice within a concrete legal structure. The absence of any NT precedent in this regard significantly undermines its claims. The NT pivot to a new Universal Trinity God contradicts the specific oath britot cut through the Torah alliance established by Avraham Yitzak and Yaacov.
4. Miracles as “signs” do not prove or disprove the mitzva of Moshiach. Moshe anointed Aaron as Moshiach. Aaron dedicated korbanot/sacrifices NOT as some Cain-like “Barbeque to Heaven”, but rather based upon the k’vanna of Hevel whose korban dedicated the sanctification through swearing an oath to pursue justice in this world. Justice: defined through both T’NaCH & Talmudic common law – as the legal pursuit of justice/fair compensation of damages as the intent of the Torah commandment: “Eye for an Eye and tooth for a tooth”. Legal judicial justice rejects as טיפש פשט-utter bird brained stupidity-any literal reading for “Eye for an Eye”!
The sacrifices are not simply ritualistic acts. They are deeply intertwined with the intent (k’vanna) to pursue justice and right wrongs, differentiating them from mere offerings. This highlights a legal and ethical framework wherein Moshe first anointed the House of Aaron as Moshiach; it explains the connection between the revelation of the Mishkan with the pursuit of judicial justice through logically juxtaposing the Torah mitzva of sacrifices against the Torah mitzva to pursue justice.
The understanding of korbanot not as mere rituals but as essential acts tied to the pursuit of justice brings a critical perspective on their religious significance. The intentionality behind these actions (k’vanna) focuses on justice and ethical behavior which has nothing to do with the NT “forgiveness of sin as the salvation of Mankind”.
LikeLike