Mass Uncertainty and a Candle of Hope!

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A year and a half of uncertainty and lies has brought the world into a condition where the most intelligent see reality as, at best, a gray area. Mass psychosis is rampant among those who believe in personal freedom and basic human rights. On the other hand, those who have drunk the Kool-aid are confident that they are doing everything right and saving themselves and the world. Those who have resisted the fated shot are now the enemy. Nothing is working for those who are not vaccinated. Their sense of truth says that no compromise can be made with those who impose experimental medicine on individuals and use threats and bribes to accomplish compliance. And we are seeing this in every country on the map. We see behind this conspiracy a global power grab.

Even many simple folk, though they may not see the big picture, are not happy with government telling them that now they have no choice over their own health. And this group is fast becoming the object of universal excoriation. All the major media sources are zeroing in on the promotion of this totalitarian regime and the threats of more and more loss of freedoms and all “because of the unvaxinated.” Friends and family are now divided so that people don’t know whom they can trust. Public broadcasts from the health ministry speaks of those who refuse the shot as unwanted irredeemable lice in the hair of society. It becomes dangerous in many cases if they do not play along with the humiliating charade of masking and double masking. Video clips of violence are filmed and sent out. These, by the way, may be sent by well-meaning non-vaxxers who do not realize they are aiding and abetting the fear problem.

The temptation to act with pretense is immense: pretend to be something you are not in order slide by! And the urge to isolate after so many months of lock-downs has become an ingrained habit—one that leads to more and more psychosis.

Has anyone set aside his fear to scrutinize the war itself?– for it IS a war, a psychological war to subvert and imprison the souls of mankind. A war that encourages voluntary enlistment by the populace to hand over their rights to the control of the enemies of freedom. Threats, bribery, manipulation, confusion…all these are tools used to intimidate and control the masses. And they are succeeding, unfortunately, more than anyone knows.

But what is this war and how do we escape the weapons of their all invasive warfare? Must we become hermits and pretend to be what we are not? Should we go out one by one and face an unseen and unknown reality? And what are our weapons? How does anyone organize anything? When every device used by modern humanity is available to the all-seeing eye of Globalists, how can anyone do anything secretly?

Consider that whatever effort stems from a reaction to their methods is not a tool that will succeed in the war for truth and freedom.

What offensive weapons do we have? Indeed anything in our human arsenal has been tried and failed. Shall we allow the enemy to decide which tools we are to use? Protests, marches, exemptions from lawyers…? Where the rubber hits the road, logically speaking, is if the enemy is big enough and reason and laws of the constitutions of countries are not of value against the system that has arisen, either there must be more power on the side of those destined to slavery than there is on the side of the Globalist billionaires, or there must be Divine intervention. Do we think Trump is coming back to fix it? Really? After what happened on January 6? Do we think that the coup d’état that came into being and illegally rigged the 2019 US election, called for the impeachment of the 45th president of the USA and took over the government of America is going to listen to logic and reason? I beg to differ. Who stand in the courts that count?–Are there enough of them to make a difference? Are most of the good guys banished?

But, despite the shadowed outlook from a political and freedom standpoint—an outlook that holds almost zero hope, there is and must be hope available to us through Divine intervention. But! Will God deliver His people at this time? How can we conjure up spiritual assets when our God seems to be on vacation? What is required for us to be counted as His people? Is it our chosen blood-line that assures us of our destiny? The Torah says that blessings require obedience to the covenant, but which covenant? If we are somehow replacing God with the teachings of man, have we cloaked the Word of God in such a way as to not understand the clear path to deliverance?

Once we know that we are in close connection to Hashem and that we, as faulty as our past may have been, are now seeking Him with all our hearts, souls and minds, we must take hold of His strength with sheer will-power. Some of the tools include: Faith, optimism, truth, prayer, singing, trust, conversing with others of positive mind, helping the poor, the sick, the orphan and the widow…

Can we believe regardless of consequences? and can we, like Abraham, trust the voice that calls us to perform a sacrifice to stop the knife before we use it to destroy our destiny? Isn’t this all a test of our Emunah (faith) somehow? And what about Daniel who refused to stop praying at the open window when it was against the law under Darius the Mede, punishable by a night in the lion’s den? Are any of us that brave?

What about the 3 Hebrews that refused to bow to the image built by Nebuchadnezzar on the plains of Babylon and ended up in the furnace of fire. Who stands in their shoes today? It is high time we put our faith into practice.

If we do not hear Hashem’s voice, then our prayers need to be more direct. What if we secluded ourselves for an hour or more each day just to pray and listen, to understand what God is trying to say to us? Surely God understands our native language. Why pray in a language that He does not need and that does not speak from the depths of our hearts? Do we think He is limited to Hebrew in the case of Jews or Latin in the case of Catholics? There is no transformative magic power in the use of languages that do not touch our hearts!

Oh Israel, arise and conquer! We must not bow to the image that is everywhere. Stand together, hope in God and pray for one another. We must persevere until the enemy is vanquished!

Torah is Enough, or isn’t It?

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Time for Temple and Torah

My journey in the religious world often confronts me with challenges that go against a gut instinct, that for most of us defines truth. I am not saying that my gut is the standard of truth for it has been wrong in the past and has a need for fine-tuning just as a piano or navigational guidance system in planes or ships must be frequently adjusted.

But with the mind and matters as important as truth, what shall our compass be set to? What is our North Star? What IS our measure of ground zero truth? I often hear a voice in my head, the voice of my father who would say in a deep and dramatic tone: “Only those who have made the Bible their unyielding foundation of truth will be able to stand in the last battle.” And as my journey unfolds, I see many paths that branch off to one side or another, paths that seem to be right but are based on men’s assertions and interpretations of the Bible.

These paths are crooked paths and lead either to the steep cliff of unbelief or into a circling maze of religious confusion. In my study of Judaism, I more frequently than not am invited to study passages of the Talmud, the Gemara, the Mishnah—books which in themselves show the wisdom of the day in which they were written but are clearly not the original Tanakh and Torah. They are claimed to be the Oral Torah, equal to the written Torah of Moses and the true interpretation and codification of the Torah.

I have been pointed to the authority of the sages of the Mishnah and Talmud time and again and shown several passages in the Torah about the setting up of the Great Assembly, Sanhedrin, Seventy Elders, and the Shoftim (judges). What are these verses?

From the Parsha Shoftim (Deuteronomy) 16:18-19:

“Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God gives thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a bribe: for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous.”

Deuteronomy 17:8-13:

“If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between plague and plague, matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and go up to the place which the Lord thy God shall choose; and thou shalt come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall tell thee the sentence of judgment: according to the sentence of the Torah which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not deviate from the sentence which they shall tell thee, to the right hand, or to the left.

And the man that will act presumptuously, and will not hearken to the priest that stands to minister there before the Lord thy God, or to the judge, that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Yisra᾽el. And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.”

Now that could be scary and is for most Jews. DO NOT defy the sages or you have a death sentence?!

But what is this really saying? Look closely! there are at least three qualifications:

“…come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge that shall be in those days.” (1.The rabbis are not the priests and Levites as far as I know. 2. “in those days”: each time period has its own priests and Levites, not the counsel of long-dead sages. )

“according to the sentence of the Torah which they shall teach thee.” (3. most importantly! “ACCORDING TO THE SENTENCE OF THE TORAH,” the Torah is not speaking of any Torah other than the written Torah here. The Oral Torah that evolved over the centuries was not needed when this was written for Moshe was alive and understood the Torah perfectly.)

To summarize the above requirements; the group of judges, priests, and Levites compose the ultimate court which must judge from the place that Hashem has chosen (Jerusalem, and the Temple). They must be obeyed. They are present at the day when the judgment is needed and they base their judgment on the Torah of Moses, nothing more. Seems pretty simple, doesn’t it? But we don’t generally even know who the priests and Levites are in our day and there is no Temple yet, so what do we have?

But well-meaning rabbinic schools and rabbis that have been educated for many years in the writings of the sages, suggest that the Torah of Moshe had several laws that could not be understood as they are written and for this the Oral Torah came down from Moshe. (From history we know that the claim that the Oral Torah passed from Moshe to Joshua and onward is askew, we know that the Yeshivas in Babylon were where most of this started, we have the Babylonian Talmud, don’t we? And what existed before that?)

The arguments for Oral Torah base their logic on places where Elohim said to Moshe concerning a particular law, “as I have shown you on the Mount.” These included things like the slaughtering of Kosher animals for meat, the boiling of a kid in it’s mother’s milk, and the building of the Mishkan and other things.

So, let’s keep this simple; If the three guiding rules above are kept, all we need is to have a Temple, vetted and verified priests and Levites and a requirement that they make judgments based on the written Torah itself.

Is that even possible?

Deuteronomy 30:11-15:

“For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldst say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it, and do it? Nor is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldst say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it, and do it?

But the word is very near to thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayst do it. See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;“

So if it is so simple, why do we need anything else?

Once we see that we need a temple in Jerusalem and that we need to reinstate the Levites and Cohenim to their rightful positions, then they are qualified to judge from the Torah itself any matter that concerns us and then we must be careful not to defy their judgment. We also read a warning about their decisions—they are not to be decided by majority rule if they pervert justice:

Exodus 23:2-3:

“Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to incline after a multitude to pervert justice: nor shalt thou favour a poor man in his cause.”

To a lot of us, this is simple enough… Why aren’t we doing it?

A Name Used Long Ago for Other Gods

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ADONAI/Adon

Many Jews pray to The ETERNAL in religious services addressing Him as Adonai. This is the Hebrew replacement for the Holy NAME in the Tetragrammaton YHVH. Where does this practice come from and does it have anything to do with the name, Adonis which was used by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, etc? If so how did it come to be a respectful title for the Hebrew G-d? I want to clarify that there is one caveat and that is when the word for “my master” אדוני is actually used in the Hebrew text, but that often refers to rulers and prophets as well and is a title of position more than a name. The same thing is applicable to the word LORD which is used copiously by Christians to refer to Jesus. They write it as “LORD” in their “Old Testament” wherever the Hebrew uses the Tetragrammaton, and “Lord” in their New Testament to refer to Jesus.

“Etymology. From Hebrew אֲדֹנָי‎ (ādônay, “My Lord”); used in place of the Tetragrammaton YHWH as a name of the God of the Hebrews during prayer recitation.”(https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Adonai#:~:text=English-,Etymology,the Hebrews during prayer recitation.)

So, according to Wiktionary, Adonai is a replacement for YHVH. Why would we choose to replace the Holy name with something that sounds like the way the ancient pagans addressed their deities? What does the Torah say about using the names of other gods as a substitute?

Exo 23:13:

“Be on guard concerning all that I have told you. Make no mention of the names of other gods; they shall not be heard on your lips.”

Adonis comes from the ancient Phoenician, Greek, and Roman mythology and was adapted into Jewish and other religions. It is a way of saying “Master” or “Lord”.

“In the Bible the Israelite God, Yahweh is sometimes referred to as Adon, though the term is used as a title, not as the personal name of Yahweh. Eventually, the appellation “Adonai” (my Lord) became a substitution name for pronouncing in prayer the unutterable name Yahweh, which by the early rabbinical period (first and second centuries A.D.) had become too sacred to pronounce. To this day, when Jews encounter the consonants of “Yahweh’ (YHWH) in prayer, they pronounce it “Adonai.” They might be shocked to learn that this substitution word is related to the Phoenician “Adon” and the Greek Cypriot ‘Adonis.’” https://phoenicia.org/adonis.html

A River in Lebanon and it’s History

The Abraham River also known as Adonis River, is a small river in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate in Lebanon, with a length of about 14 mi. The river emerges from a huge cavern, the Afqa Grotto, nearly 5,000 ft above sea level before it drops steeply through a series of falls and passes through a sheer gorge through the mountains. It passes through the town of Nahr Ibrahim before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea. The city takes its name from the river. The ancient city of Byblos stood near its outlet and was a site for the veneration of Adonis, the god of love, rebirth and beauty in Phoenician Mythology. He was said to have been killed near the river by a boar sent by Ares, the god of war. According to the myth, Adonis’s blood flowed in the river, making the water reddish for centuries and spawning a carpet of scarlet buttercups along the river’s banks. Wikipedia

History of Adonis:

Does ADONAI really refer to Adonis? And if so what was the influence that brought about the change to The Eternal’s name during a time when other nations used that to refer to their gods?

“Adonis is a young fertility god, a comely youth beloved by Astarte, and represents death and rebirth in an oriental vegetation cult. He is also known as the agricultural divinity named Eshmun.

Adonis is derived from the Canaanite title, Adon. It is the Semitic word for master or ‘lord’ and (the) i means ‘my’, therefore Adonai (Adonis is the Hellenized version of the same) translates as ‘my lord’; similarly the meaning of Baal, with whom he shares traits, is also ‘lord’ or ‘master’.” https://phoenicia.org/adonis.html

According to the above article, the mythical god Adonis was also a name for Tammuz. During those times Adon became a way to address the pagan gods, meaning “master” and Adonai “my master,” We see masters referred to this way in the Hebrew Tanach as well. But knowing the history of how the title came into common usage for other gods, should we be using this title for the name of the ONE and only Eternal G-d?

According to another source, the title Adon and later Adonai has roots as early as the Canaanites, Greeks, Syrians, and Persians. The myth was around earlier in the Near East and throughout Mesopotamia but developed by the Greeks. The mythology apparently affected early Christianity’s dying and rising god, as well as other religions. See: World History/Adonai (Please click on either of these links to see the entire article.

So does God listen to us when we call Him by the wrong name? The fact that something has been done for a long time, does that mean it makes it right and perfect? Perhaps we need to take another long look at where things come from!

The etymology of words is certainly important. We must keep in mind that Hebrew was to be a distinct language for a distinct and Holy People, SO why borrow titles for our DEITY from other nations’ pagan deities?

Deuteronomy 12:29-31:

“When the LORD your God has cut down before you the nations that you are about to enter and dispossess, and you have dispossessed them and settled in their land, beware of being lured into their ways after they have been wiped out before you! Do not inquire about their gods, saying, “How did those nations worship their gods? I too will follow those practices.”

You shall not act thus toward the LORD your God, for they perform for their gods every abhorrent act that the LORD detests; they even offer up their sons and daughters in fire to their gods.”

So why would we have a name for our GOD that is very similar to the way the ancient pagans called their gods? If we know that The name of the Eternal is spelled with the Tetragramaton יְהֹוָ֥ה (YHVH), which some have pronounced “Yahweh” and others “Yehovah” then why would we use a title that others have used to exalt their pagan deity’s? Why would we even come close?

Some have said that since the word Adonai is used in the Holy Scriptures when addressing the Most High God, that it is correct and required that we do so, but if the word or even most of the word was a customary way of addressing pagan gods at the time (even part of the ancient languages), it is no more significant than today, using “Lord”, or “master”, or “Your Highness.”

What would happen if we should challenge ourselves to examine deeply what the Torah is actually saying–how words are used and what is the etymology of each word? What if we used our God-given intellect when studying these things, rather than follow a supposed correct practice that has been done from time immemorial?

My desire, and I pray that it is the desire of each one who reads this is to truly understand the will of Him who inspired the Torah.

Yours in the Quest of Truth,

Ariella Tiqvah

The Amalek War–or How to Fight Lies

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Life in our universe swings on a pendulum. What is real is hard to distinguish from the illusion of what is portrayed. The struggle between inalienable human rights and total control moves from one side to the other. Those fighting for truth must never give up or they lose. This is a night and day never ending struggle and confusion seems to be the order of the day. Every common element has been purchased by the evil powers, including Media, News, Governments, Schools, Hospitals and health care. All is geared to take down the right to health and happiness and individual freedom. What must we focus on? Where are our implements of war?

Loud voices shout that everything we once knew is ending, no more family, no more friends, no normalcy, no routines without subjugation–basically, no one to trust. “Promise to be obedient or all of your freedoms are gone,” they say. “We will lock you down and you must show your submission by wearing a mask on your face if you venture out of your houses.” And we know that compliance gives them a little more of the rope in this tug of war. And they are lying! They have already shown that they do NOT plan to give us back our freedoms if we give in. Freedom is going to cost something, maybe everything!

What can be the message of Heaven for us in this difficult time? Wait and see what Hashem is going to do? Those of us who have seen the intervention of the Divine Hand in our lives are taking deep breaths while we wait. How long oh LORD? How long will it be before you act? Must we die from the poison spread everywhere by the lies? How is it that we will not fear? We need a sign of your providence! We do not know how to direct our lives in the midst of this chaos.

And yet, Hashem’s promises are sure and if we are in line with His Covenant will surely be realized. it is just that there are very few people left who have any idea of what the true Covenant is or what is their part to play.

How close does the destruction have to come before Hashem will show us that He is here with us? Where can we hide? And yet, I know that the desire to flee is the voice of the monster “fear” that is driving us. When do we go forth with joy when the whole world of Amalek is scoffing and claims right to our land and our bodies? Truly we have no God but YHVH, yet how can we go forth in confidence at this time? How can we really know that He is there? Perhaps He is waiting for something; waiting for someone with Emunah and enough Bitachon to walk into the mighty surf of the deep sea and fight the sea monster with the Sword of Hashem. But where are these brave men and women? What is the war we are fighting and how do we go about it?

In the time of King Saul, the Philistines were arrayed against the armies of Israel in the valley of Elah, located several miles Southwest of Jerusalem. The Giant Goliath was offered as a bait for peace with the nation of Israel. Whomever was willing do a hand to hand battle, and kill Goliath would succeed in enslaving the Philistines. However this boast was not something the Philistines planned to follow through on. No one believed that a single person could fight Goliath and win. But courageous and faithful David didn’t see it as a problem. He took God at His word and armed with his simple sling he took on the giant. Much of the story is similar to today’s world but we lack David to take it on! What will happen if there is no David? Who will go for us? Who will fast and pray?– no not just on Holy Days—any day and any time. YHVH is open to our cries and very present when we seek Him. Remember the first battle with Amalek. When Moshe’s arms were lifted towards Heaven, Israel won and when His arms dropped from faintness, Israel lost. Shall we not strengthen each other’s up-stretched arms at this time? Shall we not strengthen the arms of those who ARE fighting for us? And let us remember:

Psalms 34:16-20: “The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, His ears attentive to their cry. The face of Hashem is set against evildoers, to erase their names from the earth. They cry out, and Hashem hears, and saves them from all their troubles. YHVH is close to the brokenhearted; those crushed in spirit He delivers. Though the misfortunes of the righteous be many, the LORD will save him from them all.”

And That, my friends, is something we can bank on!

A New Normal, So WHAT?

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The sky is caving in! Or so it seems. People are trying to go back to what they know as normal and nothing will ever be the same again as far as their eyes can see. And its about how the changing world and how much we can or will tolerate. No, I don’t mean that we shouldn’t try to stop the planned onslaught of plagues and devised cures, the cashless society that will place us all in slavery, or the world-wide famines induced to save the planet—The idea generated by the events taking place comes across loud and clear: Save the earth but not the people who live on the it!

This world, if the history of recurring climate fluctuation is reviewed, has really not changed very much, nor has it ever been due to a reaction to people living on it! The plans for the New World Order have dubious value for function-able life on earth! And it is terrifying to have one’s eyes open while the rug is swept out from under us and we have no more options. Or do we?

When the crunch comes down even in the worst possible light some people will be able to see good even in the evil chaos around them. For many of us, it seems impossible to have faith right now! And if we need faith? then in what or Whom? Is God still alive? Does He even care what is happening all around us? If not then we are all certainly doomed.

Maybe the better question would be, if this is indeed God’s hand allowing a changing world, then why are we depressed? I guess it all boils down to, IF GOD IS IN CONTROL, then why am I worried? Do I really believe in God anyway? Have I gone along in the abundance of my life taking for granted all that is good, ever seeking my own security? Is it plausible that Hashem has given free reign to evil and those who go along with it to separate the good from the bad, those who love truth from those who embrace lies? If the evil monarchs of our time, and those who embrace them, unite, will they be an easy target for Hashem to destroy?

Sennacherib’s army of 185,000 was destroyed in one night back in the days of King Hezekiah. The prophet told him not to worry about it because Hashem was going to take care of it. Whom do we rely on today to encourage us, now that we seemingly do not have any prophets?

Perhaps the problem of this threatened siege has to do with our dire need to ingest the Word of Hashem—The Torah. No I don’t mean interpretations of the Torah, I mean all of the Tanakh including the Torah. We can find many stories of like situations and deliverance. Perhaps if we really look at our lives we will see where we need to shake off the dust of imported exilic mentality and embrace our true Hebrew covenant with Hashem. Many of the towers of today’s greatest religious leaders are falling all around us. It is time to individually connect with Hashem. Time to seek Him with all our hearts. He is there! A few of us know He is there, do you?

First of all get right with God, then add gratitude for the things we still have. Complaining about what is being taken away will only lead us down the road to a life of misery. Imagine being in a concentration camp. Thank God for what things we still have. Hashem is able to stretch those things so that we have no lack. Yes we are in a time that threatens swallow us alive!

There is an ancient story of the prophet Elijah when he had been hiding out by a small stream from the wicked King Ahab during a famine. Every day the ravens brought him a piece of bread until the stream dried up. Then the word of Hashem came to him, directing him to go to a widow that he should lodge with. When he arrived the widow was gathering a bit of firewood to cook her last meal for herself and her son. Elijah asked her to serve him first and promised that the oil and the flour would last as long as it was needed. The widow’s faith was strong enough to make the last cake for him. When she had finished cooking the small cake over the fire, she found more oil in the oil jar and more flour meal in the flour bin. And according to the story in Tanakh, this supply did not run out until the end of the famine. Could this happen today? Do we trust God enough to hang on with Emunah so that His Hand will provide for us? Or will we be like the Israelites in the desert complaining about everything, constantly wishing to go back to the land of normal? Can we live in discomfort and still be happy? That, I think is the question!