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Parasha Noah–Strange things Unexplained

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Why the Curse on Canaan

By Ariella Casey

Somewhere around 4000 years ago, just before the flood, if we take the timeline of the Bible to be accurate, YHVH declared that the earth was unredeemable and began the quest to find any righteous who might be living. If he had not found Noah, we who inhabit the earth today may have never seen the light of modern day. For some of us, it isn’t so hard to imagine the extent of wickedness to which the world had fallen at that time for we see our world today in a similar condition, excusing every type of sin imaginable; rape of little children, murder, thievery, almost every sexual aberration imaginable and other things not even mentionable. And what is worse, the authorities are hesitant to punish this evil. Children are taken from parents who refuse them a sex change. 

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But Noah found favor with the Creator being the only righteous person He could find upon the earth. But what of that world that we know so little about other than the giant craters and jutting mountains that stand as a witness to the Bible’s story? Is it all just a myth as many like to claim, basing their beliefs on “scientific” discoveries that predate the creation of our world to millions of years ago? And rather a massive celestial explosion, “a big bang” if you will, as its Designer rather than a loving God who carefully planned each and every creature with the idea of a harmonious universe?

As we look at the pre-flood story, a lot of questions come to mind. Chapters 4 and 5 of Genesis (Bereshit) are especially intriguing. After Cain slew Abel it seems that Adam did not recognize him as his son for it was only upon the birth of Seth 130 years later that he claimed a son in his likeness (image). 

“And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:” (Gen 5:3 KJV)

What happened to create such anger in Cain that he slew Abel? Why so close to the time of Gan Eden, did we find this overpowering urge to sin? I know about what the Catholics teach about Original Sin. But there is a verse in this story that shows clearly that people are not forced to obey a so-called “fallen nature:”

“But on Cain and his offering he (Elohim) did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then YHVH said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”” (Gen 4:5-7 NIV)

Very early on we see that sin can create an urge to act out, but as the Creator pointed out to Cain, “you must rule over it.” Humans are not subject to sin, it presents itself, but it must be resisted. Cain followed his inclination and that began a process of evil that continued right up until the time of the flood. His lineage was not noted for good morals. This is why Adam was relieved when he begat Seth who was in his image. After taking of the fruit in the Garden, Adam himself was not recorded as having sinned in any other way. Chapters 4 and 5 are about the two lineages from Adam. The one through Cain which was markedly evil and the one through Seth that showed very little evil. It is almost as if the power of good was manifest through this royal lineage–the lineage of Seth that continued up until Noah. At the time of the flood Noah was the only one of this lineage still alive. His father Lamech had died and Methuselah, his grandfather died the year of the flood. An outstanding example from this lineage is Enoch, who walked with Elohim after the birth of his son, Methuselah. 

“When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” (Gen 5:21-24 NIV)

We do not see men who walked with God among Cain’s descendants. Why? It is often taught by religious groups that people from all levels of sin can repent and change. We can take what is said about sin extending to the 3rd and 4th generation (see following verse) and assume that this lineage never ever corrected their ways, repeatedly sinning and thus extending and amplifying the urge to sin on down the line.  

“Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them, for I YHVH thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me,” (Exo 20:5 ASV)

But why the striking contrast in the two lineages? It seems that the righteous lineage from Seth actually carried some kind of extra inherent blessing as two of this line were mentioned as walking with Elohim. (Enoch and Noah). 

But what happened in chapter 6? 

The sons of Elohim took the daughters of man and procreated with them because they were fair to look upon. 

Who were the sons of Elohim? Many say the angels were seduced by these women and thus the mighty giants were formed and thus God had to put an end to the world as it was then. But, I have a lot of problems with that assumption. I thought Angels only serve the Eternal, that they are without free will. How would they be tempted? They were not subject to the knowledge of good and evil as the descendants of Adam were after the choice our first parents made at the tree. Also, an angel does not have human flesh so how could he/she create children. These are eternal beings that serve before the Throne of the Most High continually. They are not of the same DNA. How does one mate with an angel if they are not made of flesh and blood? 

We must remember that there is nothing in Tanakh that says that Angels ever sinned. 

“The Hebrew Bible reports that angels appeared to each of the Patriarchs, to Moses, Joshua, and numerous other figures. They appear to Hagar in Genesis 16:9, to Lot in Genesis 19:1, and to Abraham in Genesis 22:11, they ascend and descend Jacob’s Ladder in Genesis 28:12 and appear to Jacob again in Genesis 31:11–13. God promises to send one to Moses in Exodus 33:2, and sends one to stand in the way of Balaam in Numbers 22:31. Isaiah speaks of מַלְאַךְ פָּנָיו “the Angel of the Presence” (“In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them, and carried them all the days of old”) (Isaiah 63:9). The Book of Psalms says “For He Will give His Angels Charge over you, to keep you in all your ways” (Psalms 91:11).” Wikipedia, see link here. 

Not only that, if angels were susceptible to temptation with humans and could be distracted from their appointed missions, how could humans trust that God was dealing rightly with them? What if they changed the words of the message that they were sent to bear? Wouldn’t they be wiped out by the great YHVH? 

So who were the “sons of God” mentioned in chapter 6 if not the men of the royal righteous lineage of Seth? And could a human ever be exalted to be called a “son of God”? Are there instances in the Bible where men are called Sons of God?

Sons of YHVH:

“And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith YHVH, Israel is my son, my first-born:” (Exo 4:22 ASV).

“When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, that shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son: if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men;” (2Sa 7:12-14 ASV)

“Yet I have set my king Upon my holy hill of Zion.  I will tell of the decree: YHVH said unto me, Thou art my son; This day have I begotten thee. ” (Psa 2:6-7 ASV)

“Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a darling child? for as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith YHVH.” (Jer 31:20 ASV)

“Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.” (Hos 1:10 KJV)

It is very clear from these verses that humans can be called “sons of God.”

So who were the Sons of God in the book of Job? 

“Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before YHVH, that Satan also came among them. And YHVH said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered YHVH, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And YHVH said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? for there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and turneth away from evil.” (Job 1:6-8 ASV)

So we have Satan which is an angel created for a special work-that of being an adversary to mankind. The word Satan is used several times in the Tanakh and it always means adversary. It does not always refer to an angel and a fallen angel it is not. It is true that the Satan is rebuked for attacking the High Priest, Joshua in Zechariah. Why?

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of YHVH, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. YHVH said to Satan, “YHVH rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”” (Zec 3:1-2 NIV)

What can be said about a Satan that is assigned the work of finding the evil among mankind and reporting it. He seems to be set up as a prosecuting attorney, framing mankind in the courtroom of the Universe. 

Back to Job 

The others gathered at the assembly were called “Sons of God.” Satan notably comes “also among them”. He is not one of them. He  comes as an imposter. We already discussed men who walked with God. We also know of Elijah who was taken up in a fiery chariot. Can these be the sons of God mentioned in the first chapter of Job? Or could those gathered there be representatives of unfallen worlds? Could it be that Satan comes to the meeting as the representative of this fallen world? (Since Adam no longer is living). He clearly is not welcome there among them, but God allows him to accuse Job and sends him back to earth to test him. The story is heartbreaking. But in this, Satan shows his work. If he had not been limited, he would have destroyed Job along all the other things he lost. 

Based on my earlier suggestion, the Sons of Elohim took wives from among the descendants of Cain who were very beautiful women. Their offspring became renowned in the works of evil. They were called Nephalim (the fallen ones). 

This is not the whole story, however. There were strange creatures that roamed about the earth. In ancient mythology of different pagan cultures, there are stories of odd creatures, Centaurs, half men and half beast, giants, perhaps including the well documented dinosaurs which never made it on the ark. Where did these come from? Where did Og come from? Og appeared after the flood and was finally killed during the time of conquest before Moses died. 

In my speculation, one of the women on the ark may have had DNA from a Nephalim relative. Or perhaps Ham himself was the son of one of these women. No verse says that Noah had all three children from one woman. The strangeness in having 3 children would force them to be triplets or from a different woman or women if they were born in the same year. The other possibility is that the Bible merely summarized the birth of the sons of Noah as happening in his 500th year? It seems out of character considering all the other timelines and begats that are written before and after this time. Was Noah tempted with one of these women and then took their son on the ark? 

The sin of Ham.

After the flood, Noah planted a vineyard and upon drinking the wine, became very drunk. Perhaps the change in the earth made fermentation possible at this time. Obviously, either he planned to get drunk or he drank and didn’t know about alcohol. Perhaps he was depressed, but he was seen by Ham uncovered in his bed. Now accidentally seeing his father naked, was not the sin, but scoffing about it and doing something which provoked a curse on his son Canaan, certainly was. 

“When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.” He also said, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend Japheth’s territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”” (Gen 9:24-27 NIV)

What Ham had done it does not say, but it could have involved some kind of sexual act and it could have produced Canaan. Did he have relations with Noah’s wife? Is it possible that just joking about it to his 2 brothers was what happened? Yet why was Canaan cursed if he was not involved? It leaves a lot to be imagined, and perhaps we should not explore further, yet how is it that Og, who was a Rephaite, a giant and was a descendant of Canaan, came to possess that strange DNA if Ham or Canaan had not some type of warped DNA from the time before the flood? This points strangely to one of the women on the ark or even the wife of Noah, or a former wife who might have been the mother of Ham. 

But we don’t know anything for certain and therefore the elephant in the room still looms large but without definite identification. I hope you found it enjoyable to search for hints in Scripture and find things that might be bigger than our current understanding. For now, we must leave Ham and Canaan alone, but the questions certainly indicate something went wrong. That something we may have to wait a while to discover.

We still don’t know much about the Nephalim except that they came about by the Sons of Elohim cohabiting with the daughters of man of which I am certain that these women were of the lineage of Cain. One thing I believe we can be sure didn’t happen is the assumption that angels or aliens mated with women bringing about the mythical characters portrayed in paganism. These creatures may have existed, but it was not by mating with angels or aliens. Perhaps they experimented in crossing animals with humans. Some sources claim this has been a practice even in recent years. 

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Parashat Bereshit: Tidbits from Ancient Times

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Genesis 1-6

By Ariella Casey

Every year, Jews read this parasha very quickly, and most take very little time to scrutinize it. If we look at it closely, we see that there are things that do not seem to line up with what we know about the world today. There are some hidden things that we probably will never fully understand, based on our perspective of life today. 

So here are a few thoughts and observations. I do not claim pre-existent knowledge, but please check out the logic. It rings clearer than some of the fiction that is written about those times. 

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The idea of Eve claiming to get a “man from Yehovah” when Cain was born has been understood by some that she had a child by someone other than Adam, perhaps she slept with the serpent. But I believe she simply remarked when she was surprised by the birth of their first child and gave credit to the Creator for giving her a child. Some Christian theology says that Eve was looking forward to the “messiah” who would come and save the world from the mess they were now in. But this is not indicated anywhere in the Torah or Tanakh. 

Then there was the incident of the sacrifices brought by Cain and Abel. Yehovah smiled upon Abel’s sacrifice but ignored Cain’s. What can we make of this? There is nowhere that the Torah that says they or our first father and mother were instructed about making a sacrifice. I often consider that they somehow knew about sacrifices but, again, nothing is mentioned previously. One thing we do know, and that is that Cain did not bring the best of his produce. The verse says:

“And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto Jehovah. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And Jehovah had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering, he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” (Gen 4:3-5 ASV)

So whom was the anger about? Why did Cain blame Abel for what the Creator chose to favor? Was YHVH showing partiality? Was this a teaching moment about sacrifices? Why did Cain not honor the Eternal by bringing the choice fruits of his harvest? It appears he brought just average fruit. It specifies that he brought the “fruit of the ground” which was not tree fruit. Was this “fruit” somehow of less value?  It does not specify that it was the best of the crop. 

Perhaps these sons of Adam had an idea of the covenant that was to be written out much later on Sinai. It seems clear that the sacrifices that they brought were not sin offerings, or were they? There was never any written instruction before this incident about atonement. Were they somehow taught to make sacrifices and somehow Cain was doing his own thing? 

This raises the question about the eternal nature of the Covenant. If the Covenant was to be everlasting and if even the Creation was accomplished by the principles of Torah, then why would they not know about sacrifices for pleasing the Creator by returning to him the best of what they had labored to produce? Was this a test of their minds? And if so, then Cain showed very little respect, and certainly no gratitude to the Creator. Could it be that tithing started here? 

People tell me that tithing started at Sinai, but why then did Abraham know about it when he tithed the spoils of war to Melchizedek?

A glaring problem that raises its head is; who were the divine beings that took the beautiful women who were daughters of men and procreated with them, producing nephilim? The word Nephalim in Hebrew means “fallen ones”, it does not mean demon’s offspring. Were they indeed angels? 

Some versions of the Bible interpret the verse to say: divine beings, but the Hebrew says Bene Elohim (sons of God). This does not mean necessarily that they were angels. They could be righteous men.

Hear me out if you will. I do not believe that angels can mate with humans, (they are of a different order) nor do I believe that divine beings were tempted to procreate and produce strange creatures (nephalim) with these beautiful women, producing men of renown. What renown might mean, I am not sure, unless they were strong to do evil and became famous for their wickedness. My best thinking has to do with the two lineages that descended from Adam. There was the lineage of Cain which clearly was noted for its immorality, and by the way, it is never stated that Cain was in Adam’s image. On the contrary, there was Seth, whom the Bible does claim was after Adam’s image. (See Genesis 5:3). As we look down the genealogy from Seth until the flood, we see two distinct types of men. Those of Seth’s lineage who were noted as righteous, including Enoch and Noah, who walked with God. Apparently, this lineage was in Adam’s image.  But the lineage of Cain somehow fell short of achieving this righteous or noble stature. Then, if I am correct, the sons of Elohim would have been those from the righteous lineage of Seth and the daughters of men would have been from the lineage of Cain. So, when they intermarried, the world became a mixture of good and evil to the point where Noah, who was the only one left of the lineage of Seth was chosen to repopulate the earth. However, it appears that one of the wives, whether of Noah or one of his sons, maybe Ham, was of Cain’s lineage. Why? Because of the curse put on Canaan, the son of Ham when he saw his mother’s nakedness, and what that means, I am not going to discuss here. Ham himself was not declared righteous, as was Shem, which makes me wonder about Noah’s wife. Were there two lineages from Noah, just as there were from Adam? 

But this is all a mystery and remains in the shadows to be explained in the world to come. 

I hope you enjoyed studying with me. I am open to hear your thoughts. Please comment or write to me. 

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Israel is at War! Did God Leave Us?

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By Ariella Casey

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What most people believe today is extracted from what they have been taught. Most people are not thinkers. Most people have no idea of the real history that made up their religion. Most of us believe what we have been brought up to see as reality. Try, as a young person, questioning anything that your church or synagogue teaches! Most of those who question are silenced, and if they crave companionship in a non-threatening environment, they soon buckle down and stop rocking the boat. Others–those that are more insistent and less attached to people, separate themselves and become rebels looking for a cause to fight. They are often black-balled as rebels, loonies or druggies. See what happens when you don’t go along with the status quo! Most of us want to be accepted, and so we have gone along to get along! Case in point: the COVID-19 Vaccine. How many actually didn’t want to get it but succumbed to media, public and peer pressure? And how many have paid dire consequences?

Yesterday I read an article about how mistakes are actually helpful to a person’s growth. And I thought about my past. I thought about how and what led up to my leaving the church I was raised in. And how I wandered alone for over 15 years, looking for something. I had to find solid rock to base my faith on. The leaving was based on several choices I had made in my life that were not exactly favored by the church. The attitude towards me pressed me to study. And THAT was not a mistake. What was it that the church believed? What was it that was brainwashed into me, and how many centuries had this been going on?  I studied and researched for years. I finally left Christianity completely, I found community in a Jewish synagogue in Central California. After changing streams, that is, doing a conversion and moving to Israel, I began to research that school of thought and found that Judaism has a long history and some of it is not what it claims to be. Most of what is known today is not what was known at Sinai or even at the time of King David. So here I go again! I am not satisfied with mediocrity! In something so important as religion, I won’t go along to get along if what is being taught is not sound doctrine based on the Torah. Some, lately have pressured me to give up the Bible altogether. But without any standard, where is our anchor? Where is the basis of faith?  

Last week, I sat inside a friend’s Sukkah with several people. We chatted and discussed several things, but what still rings in my ears were the words my friend said during the conversation. “If we didn’t have the rabbis, would there be God?” I was shocked. She said she was leaning towards being an agnostic because it made more sense in the light of what is happening. She said perhaps God created the world and then left us to sort it all out. What could I say? What would really convince a Jewish woman who was raised to believe that Judaism is true Torah? 

I have my own ideas as to why the Jewish people suffer–why the Holocaust, why pogroms? Why the Inquisition? And why is God apparently Missing in Action? But how can I tell people, whom for the past 2000 plus years, have been brainwashed to believe that God gave all authority to rabbis for them to manage His people? 

The rabbis have created a cult and most branches of Judaism are taught that Halakha is divine instruction, when it is, at best, the will of the rabbis to gain control over the people to keep an organized religion under their authority. Did God really abandon His people? Is it possible that His Hands are tied by the extra-biblical teaching engrained in those who are most religious? When you compare Halakha to what the Torah actually says, there is very little that ties the two together. 

There was a time when the leading rabbis declared that they would no longer listen to Heaven. If that is the case, then how can the Jews hear God when He is trying to speak? This comes from the story of the Oven of Achnai. 

Here is an excerpt from the Talmud: Baba Metzia 59b:

“The Gemara presents a fairly straightforward argument between the Sages. A question was raised about the status of an oven that was made of separate pieces and then placed together with sand between the pieces. Should this tanur shel akhnai – this “snake oven” – be seen as having lost its status as an existing oven when taken apart and rebuilt, or is it considered an oven throughout, since it was made to be taken apart in this way? Rabbi Eliezer felt that it lost its status as an oven and therefore, had it become ritually defiled, it would lose that status, as well; the Hakahmim (sages) ruled that it retained its status throughout.

Rather than argue the case on its merits, the Gemara records that Rabbi Eliezer called on the carob tree to support him, the flowing water to support him, and the walls of the study hall to support him. In response to his call, the carob tree uprooted itself and moved 400 amot (=cubits), the spring flowed backwards, and the walls began to collapse – until Rabbi Yehoshua stopped them. The Sages refused to be influenced by any of these miraculous occurrences.

Finally, Rabbi Eliezer asked the heavens to support his position, and a bat kol – a heavenly voice – was heard to say “Why are you arguing with Rabbi Eliezer, whose rulings are always correct?” In response, the Sages said lo ba-shamyim he – since the Torah was given to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, decisions are no longer made based on heavenly decisions, but on the decisions of the Rabbis who interpret it.” (See reference here).

Looking closely at this story, it shows that it is not the voice of one rabbi that makes decisions for the people, but the majority–dare I say:  even if they are wrong? There is a lot of pressure to take the rulings on Halakha according to the consensus of the rabbis.  There is little room for individual study. If people only understood the history of how the rabbis replaced the Levites and the Cohanim (priests) back at the time when the Jews returned from Babylon! Then there would be room to differ with rabbinic Halakha. When people run to their rabbi for advice rather than to the Torah, they have virtually replaced the Torah with the instruction of the rabbis. This is remarkably similar to the Catholics who run to their priest for interpretation of the will of God. 

I have been advised many times not to tear down what has been established for centuries. Not to question! But my questioning of religion began many years ago. If there is no voice of God anymore, then why? Why did the holocaust happen? Why were Jews exiled, and the second temple destroyed when they were so set on following the rabbis? 

The Talmud tells us of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai who bartered off Jerusalem for Yavneh and the sages:

“The Talmud in Gittin and the midrash in Avot De Rabbi Natan tell us that Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai snuck out of Jerusalem during the siege that led to the destruction of the Second Beit HaMikdash in a coffin to make a separate peace with the future Roman emperor who would level Jerusalem. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai asked for Yavneh and its scholars to be granted the religious freedom to study and continue growing the rabbinic tradition but would leave Jerusalem for Rome to destroy. Vespasian accepted the deal. Yavneh was saved, Jerusalem was destroyed, and rabbinic Judaism survived…”(see reference here). 

All of this raises a red flag for anyone who is used to following the clear instruction of the Creator. What if all religious leaders truly followed the Torah and were guided by the God of the Universe? Could we feel safe following them? Has any of us been given a mind to discern truth? Are we all to be like robots that never question what comes before us even if it appears to be contrary to logic or contrary to Biblical/Torah standards? Again, we see an elite majority controlling the minds of the common and brainwashed people. Why, if the Torah is not complicated, should not an average person be able to understand and follow it? 

When the rabbis quoted that “the Torah is not in Heaven”, they used only part of what the verse in Deuteronomy says:

“For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not too hard for thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou should say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou should say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou may do it. See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;” (Deu 30:11-15).

I say that Heaven is trying to open the eyes of the Jewish people. In 2021, I saw that many rabbis urged their congregants to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Some people, to their credit, did not, but many did, even in Israel. Many suffered grave consequences. 

Now we have a horrible war raging against Israel by the surrounding nations. The question in the forefront of those inclined to religion, is: Why? Where is God? I ask: Where should He be? Where is the power of those who usurped God’s throne over 2 millennia ago? Go seek your rabbi, maybe he can make the missiles go away. 

Unfortunately, many are becoming more religious. Many try to reform becoming Shomer Shabbat, meaning no switching on or off of electricity, no phones, no driving, no use of makeup, no writing, no musical instruments, no carrying even a small purse or one’s keys in the street without an Eruv. Really? An Eruv is a city wall? Who are we kidding? But we go along with it? And then men must remember to go to pray twice a day in a synagogue, where hundreds of prayers are said at top speed to satisfy the Lord of the Universe! What about the prayer of the contrite heart? And of course we must have two sets of plates and flatware, pots and pans or use disposable dishes because of the rabbinic stand on the separation of milk and meat. Check it out! Chickens don’t produce milk! Nor is a goat the mother of a young cow!

I may be wasting my time here. I hope not. But I challenge anyone who has read this far to start thinking for himself. Read the Torah and don’t be afraid to question! 

Your’s for a greater challenge than the individual has ever faced! 

Ariella

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Fear and Conquest

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By Ariella Casey

Is anyone in Israel NOT afraid? Times are tough in the Holy Land and if we did not believe in the Divine purpose for the Land, we might all move to the North Pole and huddle together until the bombs stop falling. 

This morning we were awakened at 6:10 a.m by the Emergency Alerts call telling us to get to the shelter as there was a prediction of bombs coming our way. 

We get these calls almost daily.  I am getting used to them, if that is possible, but for the fact that a friend of ours was hurt yesterday by the windows that exploded inside her house, I am once again up tight. Again!  Still, I ventured out to the store for a few groceries this morning. Nothing happened. Yes, I am triggered and unpredictable! I realize that people outside the Land don’t get it. 

So, I try to philosophize and grasp hold of any meaning there may be out there.  I try to comfort myself in the Bible.

Here is the latest miracle I want to take hold of. There were over 200 Ballistic Missiles launched towards Israel from Iran last Tuesday. We saw them from our porch. It was an amazing firework show, to say the least! These are huge, powerful two-part missiles. They should have killed thousands of Israelis. But they didn’t kill anyone but an Arab from Gaza that just happened to be in Jericho. One missile came down and landed on him as he was walking across a vacant lot. This is just too out of the ordinary to be real! Why only one person in all of Israel killed? Why was it someone who had come from Gaza? Why did it happen in Jericho? Is there anything about conquering the land that began at the very beginning in Jericho? 

Well, that is where it all started when after 40 years of wandering, Israel came in to conquer the land! And by the way, this happened a couple of days before the first day of Tishri which most Jews call Rosh Hashanah, but it is called Yom Teruah in the Bible (Day of trumpets and shouting.) Hey, what happened to make the walls of Jericho fall down? Trumpets? Shouting? This is almost too much of a fit to be real! So a couple of days before the feast of trumpets, a missile misses its mark and comes down in Jericho and kills someone escaped from Gaza! What should that tell us about conquering the land that has been taken from us? For me, it is a very clear signal. Maybe others are picking up on this! 

It is indeed time to defy the world and take back the land promised to us by our Creator! Another conquest of Canaan. Some say we have to wait for the Messiah, I don’t think any more waiting is necessary. We are very close to the end of the prophecies, and most of us would love to see YHVH swoop down and do it all for us. The taking back of the land since early in the 20th century has always been by brave men and women who had no other choice, rather than go back to concentration camps. Even now, the majority of the world would be happy to see Jews in ghettos or wiped off the face of the globe. Why this attitude? Is it because somehow they know that Jews are somehow destined to rule the world? They, when they connect to the Creator of the Universe, are the very essence of peace for the future of this world. Israel, as a nation, has the highest moral compass of any nation in the world. 

Image by vectorpocket on Freepik

But, all of my rationalizing aside, why do I still sit trembling as I hear more and more alerts? I want it to get over so I can go back to my life. But if I think about it, I realize that life will never be the same again. There will be no getting back to the old ways. This war is the beginning of the end and the beginning of the future, and we are in a transition period between these two realities. Can we hang on a little longer? Hashem must hear our fears and help us to take hold of faith and trust, emunah and bitachon! 

I contemplate the miracle involved in that every one of those missiles is able to kill hundreds of people, but no Israelis were killed other than the lone Gazan in Jericho. There was another report of an incident in Jordan where one missile fell short of the Land of Israel and killed 200 people. Whether this is exaggerated, or not, is irrelevant when we think of the power of the Almighty God of the Universe and His watch over Israel. As the verse goes: 

הִנֵּ֣ה לֹֽא־יָ֭נוּם וְלֹ֣א יִישָׁ֑ן ומֵ֗ר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

“Hine lo yanum ve lo Yishan, Shomer Israel.“ “He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor Sleeps!” Psalm 121:4

“In peace will I both lay me down and sleep; For thou, Yehovah, alone makest me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8

בְּשָׁלוֹם יַחְדָּו אֶשְׁכְּבָה וְאִישָׁן כִּי־אַתָּה יְהוָה לְבָדָד לָבֶטַח תּוֹשִׁיבֵנִי׃

Messiah? What is the gathering about? 

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Who will go for Me?

By Ariella Casey

Who will bring the outcasts and the children of those who were once lost in the diaspora? We all have dreamt of someone, perhaps a divine being or a superhero, that would seek out the lost Jews and ten tribes and bring a portion of them back to the land of Israel. We know that not all will return, for it is only a remnant that will be gathered. And yet, what is this gathering all about? And how does one become selected?

How will those who desire to come be tested for their worthiness? Will they be given everything, free passage, benefits on arrival, and a large shipment to help them come? Or will there be a sacrifice required on their part? How much of a struggle will be involved? What about the old folks and the children? How will everyone make this happen? 

Many over the past 2000 years lost their lives in pograms and Holocaust and mass slaughter. Many got frostbite on their feet walking across snowy mountains with torn shoes and little clothing to escape the atrocities. Some had the vision of returning to the land. Some even came.  The inner voice was all they had to drive them on to make a home in the Holy Land for their descendants. What about now? Will it be easier to wait and let someone else take care of the details? 

Descendants of those who accepted Catholicism, rather than face the guillotine or the martyr’s pyre, may have some decisions to make. Are they going to somehow summon up enough courage to face death if necessary to be included among those called to the land and to follow God’s covenant? Will they come to Israel to fight with their bare hands if necessary to fight off Israel’s enemies and carve out a living for their families? Will their children or parents keep them from coming? What about homes and pets? What is it worth to you? 

During WW2, Jews in Europe were mass slaughtered, simply because they had Jewish blood. Why? And where was the God of the Covenant at this time? It is a big question, one that created many Jewish atheists. Many, even in the land of Israel, do not really believe in a God like this. No one really knows the answer to that question. But even though this is a mystery, the precious land of Israel was bought with the blood of these martyrs! Their descendants often took whatever path they could over land and sea to  return to the howling wilderness of what was then called Palestine. It was a land completely desolate, filled with swamps and desert and little productivity, but a land for free people even with its humongous challenges! And the courage and human effort of those who came and by their own sweat and blood, drained the swamps, planted vineyards, restored the desolate places. This courage and effort is what has turned the land of Israel into a liveable, productive and free country, the only democratic country in the Middle East. Can we do any less?

Let us not think that the land of Israel is going to be handed to us without a price! I have seen too many people come and when they find it difficult, turn tail and run back to the comforts of their home country. And all this after having wasted precious resources that Israel happily bestowed upon them.  Israel is not for the fearful! It is for warriors, farmers that will work until they drop, soldiers that will die for the land of Israel if it is called for!

Is this voice, the one that drives people to sacrifice, actually the voice of the Messiah? It may be!

If we look at the promises in the Bible, it is easy to think that Someone Else is going to gather us. But what if the voice that calls us is a conviction of soul that we must be part of the land? What if that conviction is actually the work of the Messiah, bringing the true sons of Jacob together and to the land? 

Are there those who will work to bring the elderly, the disabled and the children who cannot do this for themselves? Where are the leaders among us? Who will go for us? Where is Moses now? Wouldn’t these leaders actually be doing the work of the Messiah?

“Also the sons of the alien, that join themselves to Hashem, to minister unto him and to love the name of Hashem, to be his servants, every one that keeps the sabbath from profaning it, and holds fast to my covenant; even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar: for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the peoples. The Lord Yehovah, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, saith: Yet will I gather others to him, with those of his that are gathered.” (Isa 56:6-8)

It says that YHVH will bring the sons of the alien, but who are the hands, and who are appointed to speak for Him? Who will lead them out? Are these not human hands and human voices?

“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And I said, Here am I; send me.” (Isa 6:8)

Shabbat Shalom

Ariella 

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