Dry Bones and a Wake-Up Call-Part 1

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Israel at War, Ezekiel 37

Enlightening prophecies of the Bible have burst into view with current events in Israel. I have watched and learned about the return of the Jewish exiles over the years. In fact the return has increased rapidly since world war II. This is part of biblical prophecy.

But suddenly, with the attacks on Israel during the past three weeks, rather, specifically on the last day of Sukkot this year, October 7, a question faces all of us who follow Bible prophecy. Why suddenly, now that the return of Jews to the Land of Israel is this disastrous war with Hamas blowing our world apart? And why now do we see several surrounding nations starting their engines to come and finish us off? And at the same time the US demanding we compromise in exchange for military aid by accepting a 2-State Solution?

The valley seems to be a place of burial for everywhere Israel and the Jews have been exiled. God asks Ezekiel if the bones can live, and then tells him that He will cause the bones to come together….(are we seeing this? People returning to be together in the Land of Israel with fellow Jews?) But the prophecy continues that even as the tendons appear and the skin covers them, there still is no breath to vivify them. What is this breath sent by the Creator? We see that this breath comes from the four winds. What does breath from the four winds mean?

As the world has received the horrifying news, thousands of young Jews from around the world are coming to support the fight against Hamas and Hezbollah. Peoples in every nation are alarmed and praying for Israel—many, even Christians are sending money to support the war effort.

Dry Bones: Who is this?

Eze 37:1-12: 1 The hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, ” LORD God, you alone know.”

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the LORD God says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am YHVH.’ ” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ “

10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet–a vast army.” Woohoo! What is this? and what just happened in Israel?

11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the LORD God says: ‘My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.’”

Why Focus on Ezekiel 37?

Why a valley of bones?—Israel was cut off from the Land:

“Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Eze 37:11.

So this is not a physical death but a spiritual one. Desperation at the apparent cutting off from the covenant with the Eternal… But wait! He has not forgotten His part of the deal!

Mal 3:6-7 “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?”

Lev 26:44: “Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am the LORD their God.”

Jer 31:35-37: Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: 36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. 37 Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.”

Why does the House of Israel claim in Ezekiel 37:11 that they are cut off? Apparently God has not cut us off! Does this cutting off have to do with the many abominations that drove them/us into exile? What were the sins that caused Israel to be cut off from being a nation?

Lev 18:24-29: 24 “Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: 25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. 26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: 27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) 28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. 29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.”

1Ki 9:6-9: 6 But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: 7 Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people: 8 And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house? 9 And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshiped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.

So we were cut off from the Land but not from God’s constant watch care nor the promise that we would return.

Breath to come from the four winds…

What does that mean? In the Book of Daniel the 4 winds represent not only the 4 directions, but strife of nations—nations that may be at the ends of the earth.

Dan 7:2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. (then we see the rise of the different nations during times of war represented by the 4 winds on the sea—peoples/nations of the world).

What do we see now with Israel at the very center of the conflict? Ships from other nations parked in the Mediterranean, just waiting…

So if the call is for the winds to come and wake up those who are forming from the dry bones, then a tremendous upheaval, war among nations, war against Israel, brings about life—even though we all fear it will bring death. The love for the Land of Israel and fellow Jews has awakened, the indignation against the atrocities committed against our people has done something to everyone. External divisions are falling off. At this point it is not about a spiritual repentance. It is about saving the life of the Jewish people that they not be obliterated from the face of the earth. Repentance comes later. What happened when our first parents were created? The body was formed and then the breath of life was blown into the nostrils. Do we see the physical body forming now? And we feel the winds of the nations threatening to cut our land in half, to support our enemies and to resupply them that they may continue to fight against us. We dare not compromise with these nations. I don’t care if they are bigger and more powerful. As Elisha said to his servant who was afraid of the Syrians:

2Ki 6:16-17 “And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”

The people are returning, the nations are spitting them out with their antisemitism, which is now at an all-time high. Jew hatred rages everywhere. But there is little spiritual life, only a strong desire to unite as one people. That is the first part of the story in Ezekiel 37.

The Eternal promises:

“My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.” 37:12

The body of Israel is hurting and the Jews are returning en mass to help. Is this a sign? The nations are blaming the Jews for their own tragedy. This is prophecy. Out of the ashes rises a nation stronger than any people on earth.

Isa 11:11: And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. (From everywhere they have been driven?)

Eze 36:24-25: “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.”

We are at war with Hamas and Hezbollah at the moment, will a world war, one from the four winds come to fully awaken us? Something is being accomplished by this war! We have been promised more land to be able to house all of Judah and the 10 tribes, lost among the nations. Will we see that happen this time? Or will we again bow to the nations under a compromise which will give away our land? Will we ever learn that the Eternal has promised to restore us?

Extend our borders? How? Who?

Isa 54:2-3 “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; 3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.” Who is them above? Does this mean someone else is going to restore our borders?

What will happen that will bring a spiritual awakening? And who will lead the majority of religious Jews out of a false belief system established for more than two millennia? Can this happen during wartime? It seems this is later, perhaps at the coming of the true Messiah and the restoration of the Levites and the Temple.

So why do I point to false beliefs (idolatry) as the cause of exile? We were strictly commanded not to add to or take from the commandments of YHVH. But that is what has been done, Talmud, Gemara, Midrash, Zohar replace the written Torah and are believed and practiced as the only guide to Torah Law. “Chain of command” is embraced as authority for the majority of the sages to interpret and define Torah. Original truth has been lost for over two thousand years. A couple of examples are

the keeping of the Shabbat, which has become a burden because of all the rules of melacha and the required series of prayers repeated over and over. The Eternal never meant for the Shabbat to be a burden. And the rules of Kashrut have become so strict that one cannot even eat on a plate or use the same oven where both milk or meat has been used. One cannot eat in a home that does not follow the same rabbinic rules of Kashrut, which has become a huge profit-making enterprise. All this stemming from a simple law to not boil a kid in his mother’s milk (read my thoughts on this here). And these things are part of what has divided the Jewish people and made them like dry bones scattered in a desolate valley. We have not been united.

We might well ask about the original meaning of any of the commandments instead of letting some book apart from the Tanakh define our Halacha. Where did we get off track when we see clearly that in the chain of transmission from Moses to Joshua, Joshua was clearly commanded not to change anything!

Jos 1:7-8: “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

So, in the midst of suspense about what happens next in this war with Hamas and whomever else, we must encourage one another and pull together to bring people home and support one another. This is the love that unites us and will bring about our healing as a nation. This cannot fail! But in the meantime the war will rage and we must seek our God as an Eternal Refuge!

Ariella Casey

Take Hold the Tzitzit

To be continued in Part 2, “Hamas and who is Gog and Magog?”

A Plea–Spare Your People!

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Oh Great and Mighty Awesome God of the Covenant and Promise to Israel! Come! Restore Your land and return Your people!

Over the years, since 1948 Your people are returning home. They come–we come to Israel knowing there is a prophetic movement long ago foretold by Your prophets. And there is no land for us but Israel. It was foretold that because of our break with Your covenant, we would be exiled, killed, hated, chased from place to place, but that one day we would return.

We come now, we partake of the joy of this land of Israel as well as the struggles that abound.

The world still shakes its fist with hatred at Your people, yet we are Your people and You are our only God and Redeemer—Faithful to Your promises! We must not bow before the blatant mockery of other nations, and we must not cower in obedience to their desire to divide our land.

In the land, even with it’s problems, we are stronger than anywhere else on planet earth. And You told us to come home…

Yet why now do demon monsters attack from all sides, killing our little ones, the weak and the elderly? Why? Our hearts are shredded with anguish. Fear is not far even from our doorsteps-that is, for those of us who have not seen these villains in our villages. Yet we shudder as we feel them in the Land. And we ask, why? Surely all Heaven must be urging You to reveal Your fiery sword! Once again, go out with our armies, go ahead of us! Then we will sing as we hear the rushing sound of Your mighty chariots moving the very earth to save Your beloved.

Yes it is true, we have not followed Your Covenant—maybe we don’t know how! But we have come home to learn and we look to You to arise and save us now.

But still, the sound of the pillaging of our towns, the shrieks from the murders of our innocent children and the screams of our bloodied infants’ and their mother’s sobs; the rest of our people have heard and many have risen to come and fight alongside.

And You Oh Master of the Universe, You must be here as well. But how long will You wait? We need to feel Your Presence, hear Your Voice, see Your movements, and our soldiers need Your strength. May we sing as Israel sung on the far bank of the Sea of Reeds when we saw Pharaoh’s army drowned and washed up on the shore! But to sing we need to hear Your footsteps ever so faint and the sound of the Shofar as we march into battle to retake our land and lay waste those who desire to hurt us! May we raise our heads on High to witness Your Mighty Sword go forth as lightning so that our weapons may rest at our sides and our Shabbats may be as never before, true Shabbats of Shalom!

Desde el Rio hasta el Mar…

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Desde el río hasta el Mar—¿Cual Rio?

Israel fue atacado salvajemente por Hamas a través de las ciudades a lo largo de la frontera de Gaza hace una semana, Shabat 7 de octubre, que coincidió con la última parte de la fiesta de Sucot, casi exactamente 50 años después de la guerra de Yom Kippur; sí, fue en Yom Kippur. el día más santo del año para Israel y los judíos de todo el mundo. La razón expresa que subyace a todas las demás razones fue y sigue siendo que “queremos aniquilar a los judíos” y ellos los arrojarán “al mar, alegando que “reclamarán” toda la tierra “desde el río hasta el mar”, es decir, desde el Jordán. Río al Mediterráneo como tierra de los palestinos, o debería decir, de los árabes que odian a los judíos. Pero no sólo odian a los judíos. Odian a cualquiera que no adore al dios musulmán y así lo han declarado. Los cristianos serán los siguientes si se salen con la suya. Pero ¿por qué existe en el mundo este odio malvado hacia los judíos? ¿Y por qué en particular los judíos? ¿Qué tienen los judíos que los inflama? ¿Es la tierra de Israel? No creo que ese sea el tema central.

¿Por qué Hitler diseñó específicamente la limpieza de los judíos de Europa? ¿Por qué judíos? ¿Por qué hay antisemitismo en el mundo? Éstas y otras son preguntas ancestrales que, en cualquier otro nivel que no sea el religioso o el bíblico, no tienen sentido. Los judíos son diferentes, pero ¿cómo y por qué? No puede ser una cuestión racial porque hay judíos de muchos colores y de casi todos los países del mundo. Quizás lo único que tienen los judíos que otros pueblos no tienen es un Pacto con el Creador del mundo y aquellos que odian el Pacto, odian al pueblo del Pacto. Si odian al Creador, odiarán al pueblo designado por el Creador como Su pueblo. Si aman el pecado, odiarán cualquier ley que condene el pecado.

Entonces, ¿qué pasa con los judíos que odian el Pacto y pretenden no ser judíos? Quizás incluso se asimilaron a otras religiones por miedo o peor aún, para librarse de la responsabilidad de guardar el Pacto. Pero ¿por qué tantos judíos se están volviendo sionistas de repente? ¿Qué hay en la promesa hecha a Abraham de que sus descendientes heredarían la tierra? ¿Y quién es realmente el dueño de la tierra desde el río hasta el mar? ¿Y qué río fue dado en la promesa a Abraham de todos modos? El río Éufrates. Entonces, cuando Israel recupere su tierra según la Promesa, será desde el río Éufrates hasta el mar Mediterráneo. Aquí está la promesa:

“Estableceré tus fronteras desde el mar Rojo hasta el mar Mediterráneo, y desde el desierto hasta el río Éufrates. Entregaré en tus manos al pueblo que habita en la tierra, y tú los expulsarás de delante de ti. No hagas pacto con ellos ni con sus dioses. No los dejéis habitar en vuestra tierra, no sea que os hagan pecar contra mí, porque el culto a sus dioses ciertamente os será una trampa. Éxodo 23: 31-33.

¿Reconocen estos malvados de alguna manera que el Dios de Israel cumple Su Palabra? Parece que simplemente están esperando que los judíos cometan errores para debilitarlos y entonces tal vez su Dios no los defienda. Son como los hijos mimados de Esaú e Ismael, hermanos que odiaban a los elegidos. Actúan como perros celosos que se sientan en el pesebre impidiendo que las vacas coman aunque ellas no comen paja. Más específicamente, esta es la mente contraria al Creador del Universo y Sus leyes. ¡Ésta es la mente del mal y cuando el mal se ha apoderado por completo no hay vuelta atrás! Se vuelve feo… ¡no! Peor que feo: es salvaje, peor que cualquier pelea de animales. Está demasiado cerca para estar cómodo aquí en Israel. La batalla se desarrolla muy cerca: ¡incluso dos horas de camino son demasiado cerca! El mundo ha visto imágenes de los cuerpos de jóvenes y niños inocentes maltratados y sus cadáveres exhibidos para que todos los vean mientras estas bestias malvadas se regocijan por sus muertes.

Pero la pregunta insondable es ¿por qué los hombres fuertes encuentran valor y se regocijan por el asesinato de inocentes? ¡Esto es cobardía! Quizás sea más bien una adicción a la sangre… ¡al asesinato de inocentes! Una cosa es matar combatientes en una guerra, pero ¿niños, jóvenes y mujeres? ¡Esto debería ser algo de lo que avergonzarse, no algo para publicar videos gráficos en el mundo bailando y celebrando a las víctimas de la ira para que todas las naciones lo vean!

¡Lo que más me molesta es ver a nuestro propio gobierno seducido por la propaganda estadounidense y las promesas vacías de ayuda! ¿Dónde está el Dios de Elías? ¿Y qué pasa con Amalec con Moisés levantando sus manos al cielo para ayudar a los soldados de Israel a exterminarlos? Esta es una situación en la que el Dios de Israel dice: “¡no con ejército ni con poder sino con Mi Espíritu”! ¿Quién orará? ¡Podemos hacer esto! ¿Quién formará una cadena de oración y no dejará de orar hasta que Amalec sea completamente destruido?

Según todas las apariencias, este gobierno se pondrá del lado de los consejos de las naciones que prometen ayuda militar. Pero no se trata de caballos y carros, así dice la Palabra del Todopoderoso. ¡Hacer alianzas con las naciones nunca ha sido lo correcto! Puede que seamos como el pequeño grupo de 300 soldados desarmados de Gedeón, pero todo el campamento del enemigo puede ser derrotado y será derrotado si el Dios de Israel se involucra. No tenemos otra esperanza. Habrá un genocidio si no nos aferramos al poder del Único Dios Todopoderoso que nos llamó a salir de la oscuridad, la oscuridad que incluso ahora nos envuelve mientras vemos a nuestros líderes tambaleándose al borde del compromiso con las naciones. controlados por aquellos que nos odian. ¿Cómo es eso? Basta observar a este gobierno cambiar de opinión respecto del aplanamiento de Gaza y aceptar el compromiso de la ayuda militar a costa de una solución de dos Estados. ¡NO necesitamos ningún compromiso! Necesitamos tomar SUS tierras y ampliar NUESTRAS fronteras. Es hora de quienes confían en aquel que prometió salir con nuestros ejércitos. ¡Debemos y DEBEMOS ganar, pero NO será haciendo una alianza con Estados Unidos ni con nadie más! Que los falsos líderes caigan y un espíritu mesiánico de oración traiga a Israel un líder que trabaje mano a mano con El Santo de Israel, ¡Bendito sea!

From the River to the Sea

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From the River to the Sea–Which River?

Israel was savagely attacked through the towns along the Gaza border by Hamas a week ago, Shabbat October 7, which coincided with the last part of the feast of Sukkot, almost exactly 50 years after the Yom Kippur war—yes it was on Yom Kippur, the Holiest Day of the year for Israel and Jews everywhere. The express reason underlying all other reasons was and still is that “we want to annihilate Jews” and they will drive Jews “into the sea, claiming they will “reclaim” all the land “from the river to the sea” meaning from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean as the land of the Palestinians, or should I say, Arabs who hate Jews. But it is not only Jews that they hate. They hate anyone who does not worship the Muslim god and they have stated this. Christians will be next if they have their way. But why does this evil hatred of Jews exist in the world? And why in particular Jews? What do Jews have that inflames them? Is it the land of Israel? I don’t think that is the core issue.

Why did Hitler specifically design the cleansing of Jews from Europe? Why Jews? Why is there antisemitism in the world? These and others are age-old questions for which on any other level than a religious or Biblical one, make no sense. Jews are different, but how and why? It cannot be a racial issue because there are Jews of many colors and from almost every country on the globe. Perhaps the only thing that Jews have that other peoples do not have is a Covenant with the Creator of the world and those who hate the Covenant, hate the people of the Covenant. If they hate the Creator, they will hate the people designated by the Creator as His people. If they love sin they will hate any law that condemns sin.

So what about Jews that hate the Covenant and pretend to not be Jewish? Perhaps they even assimilated into other religions because of fear or worse yet, to rid themselves of the responsibility to keep the Covenant. But why are so many Jews suddenly becoming Zionists? What is there about the Promise to Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land? And who really owns the land from the river to the sea anyway? And which river was given in the promise to Abraham anyway? The River Euphrates. So when Israel gets back its land according to the Promise, it will be from the River Euphrates to the Mediterranean Sea. Here’s the promise:

“I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out before you. Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.” Exo 23: 31-33.

Do these evil ones somehow recognize that the God of Israel keeps His Word? It seems they are just watching for Jews to mess up so they can be weakened and then perhaps their God will not defend them. They are like the spoiled sons of Esau and Ishmael, siblings that hated the chosen ones. They act like jealous dogs who sit in the manger keeping the cows from eating even though they don’t eat straw. More specifically, this is the mind set against the Creator of the Universe and His laws. This is the mind of evil and when evil has taken full hold there is no coming back! It gets ugly—no!–Worse than ugly—it is savage, worse than any animal fight. It is too close for comfort here in Israel. The battle rages very close–even two hours down the road is too close! The world has seen footage of the bodies of innocent youth and children battered and their corpses paraded for all to see as these evil beasts exult in their deaths.

But the unfathomable question is why do strong men find value and rejoice over the killing of the innocent? This is cowardice! It is perhaps more of an addiction to blood—to the murder of innocents! It is one thing to kill fighters in a war, but children and youth and women? This should be something to be ashamed of—not something to post graphic videos to the world of dancing and celebrating over the victims of rage so that all the nations will see!

The element that most upsets me is seeing our own government seduced by American propaganda and empty promises of help! Where is the God of Elijah? And what about Amalek with Moses raising his hands to heaven to help the soldiers of Israel wipe them out? This is a situation where the God of Israel says: “not by might nor by power but by My Spirit,”! Who will pray? We can do this! Who will form a prayer chain and not stop praying until Amalek is completely destroyed?

From all appearances, this government will side with the advice of the nations that promise military aid. But it is not about horses and chariots, so says the Word of the Almighty. Making alliance with the nations has never been the right thing to do! We may be like Gideon’s small band of 300 unarmed soldiers, but the whole camp of the enemy can and will be routed if the God of Israel gets involved. We have no other hope. There WILL be a genocide if we do not take hold of the power of the One and Only Almighty God that called us to come out of darkness—the darkness that even now enfolds us as we see our leaders teetering on the edge of compromise with nations controlled by those who hate us. How so? Just watch this government change its tune about flattening Gaza and accept the compromise of military aid at the cost of a two-state solution. We need NO compromise! We need to take THEIR lands and extend OUR borders. It is time for those who trust the one who promised to go out with our armies. We will and MUST win, but it will NOT be by making alliance with America or anyone else! May the false leaders fall and a messianic spirit of prayer bring a leader to Israel that will work hand in hand with the Holy One, Blessed be He!

So Who Pulled the Wool over our Eyes?

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One steamy evening, actually a few days before the war started in Israel, the 3rd evening of Sukkot, five of us, my husband Ben and I, an elderly female friend and an Orthodox Jewish couple, sat on makeshift chairs in the small Sukkah of this elderly friend in the Golan Heights of Israel. The discussion was warm and friendly and soon revolved around New Moon observance and festival times and then something was said about blue dye and tzitziot which led to a discussion on Shatnez (“cloth containing both wool and linen (linsey-woolsey), which Jewish law, derived from the Torah, prohibits wearing” Wikipedia.) The man who claimed authority on this used Shatnez as the reason unclean things could be used in the Temple justifying the use of snails blood for dying Tzitzit. I had a bad feeling about this. He spoke of the Mishna as the qualifier for what he said. The broader discussion centered on the color Tekhelet and it’s source. We had suggested that Tekhelet (the color blue in the Torah) was not sourced from the Murex snail, being that the Torah condemns the use of unclean animals.

We, my husband and I had recently researched the ancient use of the dye for the color Tekhelet from Woad (check it out here). We found pretty solid evidence that the dye used for the Tzitzit, priestly garments and the blue used in the Tabernacle (Mishkan) was made from a vegetable source (most likely Woad) — not from an unclean snail as most Rabbinic Jews have believed. But this guy held out that it was totally acceptable because Shatnez was used in the Temple. He assured us that this example (the use of the dye from the unclean Murex snail) shows that other seeming inconsistencies regarding kosher and non kosher according to Torah were used in the temple service and thus also for us individually that were qualified by the written Torah.

I felt a bit confused and miffed with this explanation and began digging the next day. From where did this idea come, that a wool and linen mixture, completely forbidden for garments was allowed for the priestly service and in their garments? And even if Shatnez were allowed, how does this justify the use of extracts from an unclean marine mollusk?

Did the priests in Mishkan really wear wool in their garments? I always thought so from the Bible versions that I had read. I reached out to a friend who told me that I was mistaken, that wool was never permitted to wear inside the precincts of the Mishkan or Temple. Astounded I did a word search and found this to be correct–wool is not mentioned anywhere in the Torah as a clothing for priests. In fact the first reference was in Judges 6:37. So I went to Strongs to see if maybe it was wool but called something else. It was there under the Hebrew צֶמֶר. But what does it refer to in the 5 times it is mentioned in the Torah? Four times in Leviticus it is mentioned in relation to the plague of Leprosy (Tzarat) that can occur in a garment whether it be wool or otherwise. It was speaking, not of priestly garments but of common garments. Then the last reference is

Deuteronomy 22:11: “Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together.” (Shatnez).

But there is no reference to wool in any of the priests garments, unless of course we look at the English translation in the Artscroll Chumash and a couple of other Jewish Bibles. Wow! What did they do to our Bible? I always thought the Ephod was made of wool. Not so.

So looking at the Hebrew or a more reliable translation, what it does not say becomes very interesting:

Exodus 28:6, 8 (Hebrew) reads thus:

וְחֵשֶׁב אֲפֻדָּתוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָלָיו כְּמַעֲשֵׂהוּ מִמֶּנּוּ יִהְיֶה זָהָב תְּכֵלֶת וְאַרְגָּמָן וְתוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי וְשֵׁשׁ מָשְׁזָֽר

וְחֵ֤שֶׁב אֲפֻדָּתוֹ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָלָ֔יו כְּמַעֲשֵׂ֖הוּ מִמֶּ֣נּוּ יִהְיֶ֑ה זָהָ֗ב תְּכֵ֧לֶת וְאַרְגָּמָ֛ן וְתוֹלַ֥עַת שָׁנִ֖י וְשֵׁ֥שׁ מׇשְׁזָֽר׃

וְשֵׁש מָשְׁזָֽר means fine twined linen. Nothing about wool in Hebrew.

The Koren Jerusalem Bible translates the verse this way (no mention of wool):

Exodus 28: 6,8: “And the finely wrought girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to its work; namely, of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen…And the finely wrought girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to its work; namely, of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.

But on the other hand, the Rashi Chumash version translates this way:

Exodus 28:6,8: “And they shall make the ephod of gold, blue wool, purple wool, scarlet wool, and twisted linen, artistic work…And the cheishev [the belt] of his adornment which is above it [i.e., which is on the upper edge of the ephod], after its manner [i.e., artistic work, of the five varieties (of material)], of it [i.e., woven together with the ephod] shall it be: gold, blue wool, purple wool, scarlet wool, and twisted linen.” (Lots of things added!)

The JPS 1917 Version states these two verses:

Exodus 28:6, 8: “And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the skillful workman. And the skillfully woven band, which is upon it, wherewith to gird it on, shall be like the work thereof and of the same piece: of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.”

The Metsudah Chumash 2009:

Exodus 28:6, 8:“They shall make the ephod out of gold, greenish-blue wool, dark red wool, crimson wool, and fine twined linen, the work of a craftsman. The ephod’s belt, which is on it, shall be made in the same manner [as the ephod]—it shall be woven with it. [with] gold, greenish blue wool, dark red wool, crimson wool and fine twined linen.”

These are all Jewish translations. Why did some translate fine twined linen as wool? And why did they add several colors to the mix?

So where did this confusion come from? And why was this changed? Who authorized it? For a start, let us look at some commentaries about this:

Aramaic Targum
Onkelos Exodus 28:6 They shall make the ephod out of gold, greenish-blue WOOL, dark red WOOL, crimson [colored] WOOL, and fine twined linen, the work of a craftsman. Onkelos Exodus 28:15 Make a breastplate of judgment, the work of a craftsman. Make it in the same manner you made the ephod. [Out of] gold, greenish-blue WOOL, dark red WOOL, crimson [colored] WOOL and fine twined linen, shall you make it.

Talmud

Zevachim 88b:2 § With regard to the priestly vestments, the Sages taught in a baraita : The robe of the High Priest was sewn entirely of sky-blue WOOL, as it is stated: “And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work…, all of sky-blue WOOL” .

Rashi

Exodus 28:31 “And you shall make the me’il of the ephod [i.e., belted by the ephod] entirely of blue WOOL.”

The Rashi chumash by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein

Exodus 28:15 “a choshen which atones for subversion of judgment]; artistic work, like the work of the ephod shall you make it: gold, blue WOOL, purple WOOL, scarlet WOOL, and twisted linen shall you make it.”

The Rashi chumash by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein

Exodus 39:5 “Its skillfully woven waist band was of one piece with the Ephod, and like its material of gold, blue, purple, scarlet WOOL, and fine twined linen, as the Eternal commanded Moses.” Torah Yesharah, translated and edited by Chas. Kahane. New York, 1963

Rambam

Mishneh Torah, Vessels of the Sanctuary and Those Who Serve Therein

9:9: “They are called the belt of the ephod ….The entire garment is woven with gold, sky-blue WOOL, red WOOL, scarlet WOOL, and linen with 28 threads as described with regard to the breastplate.He should sew to it two shoulder straps …”

Mishneh Torah, Vessels of the Sanctuary and Those Who Serve Therein

9:10 “Afterwards, he places the ends of the cords of the breastplate in the upper rings that are on the shoulders of the ephod and he should place the two strands of sky-blue WOOL that are on the hem…”

Somehow I see fingerprints of who may have messed with the Torah! And now we know why the gentleman—the Mishna-ite in the Sukkah on the evening of the 3rd day of Sukkot excused the use of snails blood to dye holy garments and Tzitzit.

Apparently the laws about Shatnez had been violated even in the days of the prophet Ezekiel:

Eze 44:15-18 “But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD: They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge. And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat.”

So no wool, no combination of wool and linen, and no unkosher snails blood! Can we clean this up a little?

Ariella Tiqvah

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