Messiah

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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Hello Darkness and Now What?

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Nothing is the same as we once knew it. I remember a common-sense world where outcomes were generally predictable, where the good was exalted and evil was shunned, where crime was punished—Where boys were boys and girls were girls.

But nothing is the same anymore and I wonder when exactly we stepped into this new reality when did that which was black is now seen as white?

Today we have new vocabulary, words which some of us over 50 years of age can’t quite wrap our heads around. Our logic doesn’t work anymore either. When it is unusually cold in part of the world, it is claimed that this is the result of climate change. I find it interesting how global warming became climate change! Could it be that too many of us pointed out the illogical theory that too much ice and snow came about by the earth heating up?

Now boy babies can choose to be girl babies because they feel feminine at three years old. My six-year old daughter used to put makeup and ribbons on my two-year old son, but they were just playing and I never took them anywhere to decide if the boy was actually a girl. It was child’s play, nothing more.

In universities racial proportionality is the determining factor for those who attend, not intelligence, acumen or hard work! Football stars don’t have to show up to Economics or Basic Algebra more than once or twice in a semester and they still graduate at the end of the term.

We hear across the mainstream media that Jews are guilty of genocide for exerting efforts to defend their country and their personal right to exist. This generation doesn’t even know the meaning of the word genocide. But what do I know? The meanings of words have changed, so get used to it!

So maybe it is better to sit back and wait for this generation to destroy itself? Unfortunately, many of us have children or grandchildren that are caught up in the new mentality. What to do about it? Is there anything? Shall we all beg a ride on a UFO for a few light-years with the promise to return when the earth is in balance? The way it looks, a good balance is not going to happen, at least not in our lifetime, unless people do something about it, and soon! How? That is the difficult part!

So if the solution of leaving the planet is not feasible, then how do we deal with it? Do we go out and fight? Re-educate the woke crowd? Do we wrap ourselves in a surreal world—put on rainbow glasses and just pretend we are back in the 60s? Or worse yet, shall we all like lemmings go jump off a cliff?

I must contend that some rethinking is going to be necessary. We have a choice, accept that which we cannot change and stop complaining. Or a better way in my mind is to get out and do something about it—whether or not it is easy or possible. It seems improbable, but is anyone trying? There are some. And can we somehow get on board with those who are fighting it? Is crying out on social media enough? How about talking to real people? And what if they will not listen to us? Do we have enough confidence to keep pushing when people tell us we are wrong? Would a civil war put things right?

Upheaval–that is what has always changed the world. None are alive today that remember the attitudes that were prevalent when the first airplane came on the scene. 200 years ago the use of electricity was unknown, but it was developed and eventually made the world functional as it is today with extensive communication networks across the globe. Wireless mobile phones long ago all but replaced wall phones. Are cell phones indispensable? Communication as we know it is impossible without them. Some of these things show progress as we look back at them. But and the question looms large: what progress, what is the trade off? Though we can’t live without them, did they, somehow replace values that were attached to simple things and simple times? Were times more meaningful when you walked a few blocks to buy a quart of milk at a friendly corner store than charging up your electric car to drive across town to a super Walmart? Has anything been lost?

A logical mind will as good in these things for the most part, but there are other things. How do we value virtual reality—does it change anything? Does it make us see things that do not exist? And what about gender–can women really become men? Is it a crime to kill murderers? Is social media the new education system? Does fake news impact us and steer us where we are only automatons doing the will of whoever has the loudest voice? Does 2 plus 2 even add up to 4 anymore? What is real and what is not real? Does a person have the right to judge his own physical health and refuse medicine that he does not want?

So, are we guilty of misjudging this generation? Is there anything that shows progress now? Is there anything solid to base reality on? Are there no absolutes—things that do not change over time or things that will continue to hold their value for the future? We need to know what is real, what will stand the test of time and what needs to be incinerated. And of course as we begin to burn their books, so to speak, may we not destroy everything! Clearly it is time to think clearly and to place responsible, intelligent and wise people at the helm of the world’s future!

Thank G-d for those who fight for the right, the logical, and the true. Thank G-d for those who hold principles of justice in this chaotic world. Kudos to them and may those of us who listen and support them not give up hope. They may well bring a golden age where peace reigns and a Messiah can lead his people to better things! Will we roll up our sleeves and be a part? Or will we sit back and wring our hands as we watch the world careening off course towards oblivion?

Yours for better times,

Ariella