Torah

Parashat Vayera Genesis 18-22

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Sodom, Promise to Abraham, Ishmael, Hagar, Isaac, Akeida…Gaza

Genesis 18-22, covers a lot of ground. There is probably enough material for a book on any of the topics recorded in these four chapters.

Angels’ Visit to Abraham:

In Genesis 18, YHVH appears to Abraham, and he sees three figures pass by the tent while he is sitting in the entrance in the “heat of the day”. Genesis 17 tells of Abraham circumcising himself, Ishmael and all the males of his household. Chapter 18 follows with Abraham sitting at the door of his tent. Many commentaries say that Abraham was still in the pain of the circumcision when the visitors came to him. This is not clear from the plain reading of the text.

In chapter 17:26 we read: “Thus Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on that very day;” From the context it seems that Abraham circumcised both himself and Ishmael on the very day that he received the command to do so. The rest of the servants and staff of his household are mentioned afterwards and thus may have been circumcised a little later. It is not clear that they were all circumcised on the same day, nor is it clear that Abraham was sitting in the “heat” (“heat” according to rabbinic commentaries meaning maximum pain) on the 3rd day when the Heavenly visitors came. There is no mention of the 3rd day here.

 “Babylonian Talmud (Bava Metzia 86b), interprets “in the heat of the day” as a reference to the third day after Abraham was circumcised at the age of 99.”

What is a possible understanding of a text is not necessarily fact, as we often see when reading biblical texts and their commentaries. If we stay true to Biblical text, there will be unanswered questions which must be explored or accepted as unanswered. What would be the motive for saying that YHVH visited Abraham on the 3rd day when he was in extreme pain? 

The text shows Abraham running to meet the three visitors. How could he do this in the pain after circumcision?

 “And Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.” My Lord,” said Abraham, “if I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will bring a bit of bread so that you may refresh yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. After that, you may continue on your way.”

Why does Abraham address the three men as “my Lord” in the singular (Master–Adonai in Hebrew)? The first verse of chapter 18 says: 

“Then YHVH appeared to Abraham by the Oaksa of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent.” 18:1

Does Abraham address YHVH or the three men since it is written in the singular? Does he recognize one of them as YHVH and the other two as angels? 

Later, after two of the men leave, YHVH stays with Abraham to bargain for the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. It would appear that Abraham knows whom he must speak to. 

We see Abraham with typical Middle Eastern hospitality, send his servant to prepare a calf and his wife to make three portions of flour into bread to set before his guests. What was set before the guests in this meal? 

Milk and Meat:

“Then Abraham brought curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and he set them before the men and stood by them under the tree as they ate.” 18:8

Why does Abraham serve milk, curds and a calf at the same meal? It is clear that the meat was prepared separately from the milk, (it was not boiled in the milk). But in Modern Judaism, dishes made with milk are never allowed at a meal where meat is consumed. How has this bottom line rule of Modern Judaism evolved from a clearly written passage that apparently Abraham understood? (By the way the law was written three times in the Torah so we wouldn’t get it wrong. (Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, Deuteronomy 14:21). 

Is it possible that the law about boiling a kid in its mother’s milk was not known by Abraham? It is pretty clear that he did not boil anything, so when Genesis 26 says that Abraham knew the laws of the Torah, it must mean he had a better idea of what it meant than what is known as Torah today. So how did this law evolve to what it is today? 

Did Abraham keep the Torah?

26:5  עֵקֶב אֲשֶׁר־שָׁמַע אַבְרָהָם בְּקֹלִי וַיִּשְׁמֹר מִשְׁמַרְתִּי מִצְוֺתַי חֻקּוֹתַי וְתוֹרֹתָי׃

Gen 26: “5 because that Abraham hearkened to my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” (The Hebrew for ” law” is Torah).

After the meal the two men with YHVH got up to journey to Sodom and YHVH stayed to speak more with Abraham about His plans to destroy the wicked city. Abraham bargains for the salvation of the city from 50 innocent, down to 10, that the judge of the earth be merciful–not slaying the righteous with the wicked (verse 23). And then YHVH left. 

Ten Men

From this passage which shows ten people as being the limit to God’s mercy, we have the declaration that an Orthodox minyan requires 10 men to intercede with the Eternal on important matters such as reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish or Yahrzeit or Wedding blessings. If we look at the passage in Genesis, the 10 referred to righteous persons not necessarily, men. And another question arises, is it always necessary to have 10 persons pray to YHVH on important matters? Certainly, from the standpoint of numbers the more righteous people pray the more they will be heard. But what about when Elijah called down fire from heaven? He was a lone voice. Are there other times when God answers prayers without a minyan? 

Isaac

In chapter 21 the promise to Sarah is fulfilled. She gives birth to Isaac. His name means laughter. Isn’t it interesting that both Abraham and Sarah laughed when the promise was first given to them? Isaac’s name was given by YHVH in advance of his birth. When Abraham laughed (Chapter 17:17), he asked how it might be that a man at 100 and Sarah at 90 could have a son? In chapter 18 when the three Strangers visited Abraham, it was Sarah’s turn to laugh (Chapter 18:12) but she was afraid and lied that she had not laughed. She asked how she having passed her child bearing age and her husband so old, should finally find enjoyment. 

Angels visit Lot

In chapter 19, the two angel messengers arrive at Sodom and are urged to stay with Lot. In the evening, the town’s people want to defile them, and Lot offers to surrender his two virgin daughters for the town to do as they wished. The angels then saved Lot from this harrowing encounter with the townsfolk by striking blindness upon those gathered outside. 

Why would this be right for a father to say if he stands as the protector of the family? Later, Lot did not seek husbands for his daughters, and they chose the path of incest with their father to be able to produce offspring. Some say they were so isolated that they didn’t ever encounter men available to marry. Maybe they were afraid to marry any of the inhabitants of the land.

Looking back at the escape from Sodom: when in the morning Lot, his wife and daughters were hurried out of the city, they were warned to hurry and not look back. Lot’s wife turned to a pillar of salt when she disobeyed. What does this mean? Was it a literal pillar, or was it a lesson in not having bitterness about leaving the past behind? Was she unwilling to leave and got caught by the fire that was falling? Did she lag behind when the rest of them were hurrying to safety? Why did she look back? 

Casting out Ishmael

In chapter 21, when Isaac is born and is circumcised, we see Sarah asking to have Ishmael cast out with his mother, so that he would not inherit anything that belonged rightfully to Isaac. But if we remember, it was at Sarah’s insistence that Hagar be taken to produce a son for Abraham. Now that she has a child of her own, she turns on Hagar who is extradited at God’s command and sent to wander with her son in the desert. The boy was more than 13, given the timeline of what had happened previously. Abraham and Ishmael are circumcised when Ishmael is 13, then the next year Sarah gives birth to Isaac, Ishmael is playing, perhaps mocking Isaac and Sarah tells Abraham to send them away. Ishmael, strangely is shown to be a child in the verses that follow. His mother lays him down under a bush to die. How is this possible, if he is a strapping lad of 14 or more? Was he in grief so overbearing that he wanted to die and thus lay down himself? When the angel found Hagar, he said that God had heard Ishmael’s prayer (21:17). He also gave her the promise that Ishmael would be blessed and grow to a great nation. 

Not many years hence it was the Ishmaelites that bought Joseph when his brothers decided to sell him. Only 2 generations had passed, and there was already animosity enough to sell their kinsman as a slave. 

Why the test of Akeida

We see Abraham making an alliance with Abimelech which later seems to have brought about the test of all time, the call for the Akeida on Mt. Moriah. God tested Abraham with an almost unimaginable test after making a covenant with a foreign power. The land was not to be bartered off. The land was given to Abraham, so why did he make a covenant with Abimelech? Looking back on this with knowledge of Israel’s struggles with alliances seems to reveal a that God was showing Abraham that if he gave the land away, he might as well not have descendants, and we see that happening all around us today. Curiously Abimelech returned to the land of the Philistines which was Gaza. 

“And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines a long time.” (21:34)

Why are we still having trouble with Gaza? Was all this started with a wrongful covenant that Abraham made with Abimelech?

Shabbat Shalom!

Ariella

Mezuzot

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Several years ago, my husband and I made Aliya to the Land of Israel, we lived for a time in Tzfat, which is considered one of the four “holy” cities of Israel. 

During that time, I tripped over an uneven place in the doorway of our  house and broke a bone in my foot. Several observant Orthodox friends told us we needed to have the Mezuzah inspected because it might have a broken letter in the scroll. That seemed pretty weird. Since that time I have had suspicions about man made laws. And to have the mezuzah inspected by a trained person costs money so again the element of making money over rabbinic teachings comes to view. . 

We left Tzfat after a hard struggle with some rabbis. We found a little town that was not so fanatical, a bit more secular, and where people left you alone. 

But the Mezuzah theme never left my mind. If you look at Torah there is nothing said about a box. It says to “write these commandments.” Does it say to buy an expensive parchment scroll, expertly written by a sofer and then hide it away in a box that you kiss when you pass in and out of your house? 

The verse says nothing about putting a scroll in a box. It does command each of us to do our own writing, not to go buy something and hide it away in a box!

Deut 6:4-9: “Hear, O Israel: YHVH our God, YHVH is one.[a] 5 Love Hashem your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

So the purpose of the Mezuzah, which means door post, is that we might have the commandments embedded, if you will, in our hearts and minds. What a better way than to do the writing ourselves and to place them where we can see them! 

The act of kissing an object is what is done in paganism. People kiss the graves of Saints and Rabbis. People kiss the image of St. Peter in the Cathedral in Rome and other places. Nowhere does the Torah tell us to kiss an object. 

But before we totally dismiss the Mezuzah, we need a new approach to it. How about finding a way to engrave the 10 commandments in a wooden plaque? Paint them, write them, wood burn them and hang them up so you see them and remember them when you go out and when you come in? 

Let’s make the Torah something personal between us and our God! 

Shabbat Shalom
Ariella

¿En estos momentos, por qué nos distraemos?

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¿Hay algo real en nuestro mundo?

El mundo ha estado girando fuera de control en un caos loco que nadie entiende realmente. Trump fue investido. Logró algunas cosas alentadoras durante sus primeras horas en el cargo. Todo suena bien. ¿Pero lo es realmente? Algunos de nosotros estamos agotados por preocuparnos por lo que viene después. ¿Trump nos está diciendo la verdad? ¿O esto es propaganda?… ¿Otra vez? ¿Otro gran espectáculo para ganar poder y dinero? ¿Está Donald Trump realmente trabajando para establecer un control global? ¿Quizás el mundo estaba tan debilitado bajo el régimen pasado que ahora, con la espalda y la voluntad destrozadas, por así decirlo, aceptaremos e incluso daremos la bienvenida a un líder que va más allá de los deberes de un presidente de los Estados Unidos? 

No, ¡realmente no puedes culparnos por pensar que lo que vemos no es realmente lo que obtenemos! ¿Y cómo llegamos a ser así? Los que hacemos estas preguntas evidentemente tomamos la pastilla roja, lo que nos hace sospechar de todo. ¿Pero Dios influye en alguna parte? ¿Podemos creer que el Eterno y todopoderoso Maestro del Universo todavía tiene el control? ¿Realmente Él levanta reyes y derriba reyes? (Daniel 2:21), ¿o las promesas en las que hemos confiado en el pasado son nulas y sin cumplimiento? 

¿Tiene Israel realmente un propósito en este mundo para los últimos tiempos? ¿Las gloriosas promesas de la Biblia realmente están destinadas a nosotros hoy, o de alguna manera perdimos el rumbo en el camino? Es fácil preguntarse y quizás no sea correcto pensar de esta manera. Pero es extremadamente triste ver a tantos inocentes asesinados, violados, decapitados, aterrorizados e incluso después de que algunos sean liberados, ¿cuál es la probabilidad de que aquellos que soportaron los últimos 16 meses tengan enfermedades mentales, es decir, si es que sobrevivieron? ? Naturalmente, somos inseguros e incluso dudamos de las razones de nuestra fe. Nos preguntamos si veremos otro mañana.

Tratamos de sacárnoslo de la cabeza, la distracción es un juego al que jugamos y puede ser la única forma de sobrevivir a esta horrenda guerra con algo de cordura. Es difícil no pensar en los rehenes medio enterrados en oscuros agujeros bajo la mugre, violados y odiados. No hay certeza de que alguno de ellos siga vivo. Como seres humanos, nunca podemos estar satisfechos con no saber acerca de algo tan precioso como la vida humana. ¡Y por eso tratamos de evitar pensar en lo impensable! Después de todo, hay mucho que un ser humano puede soportar, y la larga saga de insistir en el destino malvado de estas queridas víctimas (viviendo o quizás incluso preferiblemente muertas en los túneles del miedo helado) es un infierno puro tanto para ellos como para todos. de nosotros que tenemos alma.

Entonces dejamos de pensar porque debemos hacerlo. Y, sin embargo, ¿adónde se ha ido la esperanza? ¿Dónde está Dios en un momento como éste? ¿Hay algunas almas fieles que todavía ven el bien más allá de la tragedia de nuestros tiempos? 

El mundo está siendo pesado en la balanza, siendo Israel la pieza central sobre la que se decide el juicio. 

Llamar al mal bien y al bien mal parece ser el tema de un mundo enloquecido. Que el Todopoderoso vea tal como vio a Israel en los horrores de los pozos de lodo de Egipto cuando llamó a Moisés para liberar a su pueblo.

“Y vio Dios a los hijos de Israel, y supo Dios…” Éxodo 2:25

¿Que quiere decir este pasaje? ¡Que nada pasa con nuestro Creador sin que se oye y se da cuenta!

¿Podemos confiar en eso ahora? 

Por favor comparten sus pensamientos. ¡Realmente me gustaría saber lo que piensen!

Ariella

Sion: Tierra de Visión

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¡Qué no importemos la diáspora!
Por Ariella Casey

Durante casi 2000 años el pueblo de Dios estuvo esparcido por todas las naciones. Podemos culpar a Roma como la causa principal de esto y de gran parte de la persecución posterior que se produjo, pero ¿por qué aparentemente YHVH se alejó de nosotros? Y aunque esta dispersión fue profetizada y dada como advertencia (Levítico 24:14-33), la trágica historia continúa entristeciendo los corazones de quienes intentan regresar al camino de los justos. Pero ¿cómo sabremos el camino de regreso? ¿Y dónde está este camino de todos modos? ¿Qué fue lo que condujo originalmente a esta trágica historia? ¿Será que Dios de alguna manera se olvidó de nosotros? ¿Elegimos dejar de seguir la luz? Al leer la Biblia parece que ‘cambiamos de caballo en medio del arroyo’, pero ¿cómo y cuándo? ¿Y cómo volvemos a donde necesitamos estar? ¿Cuándo reemplazaron los rabinos a los profetas? 

Durante más de 2000 años no hemos tenido un profeta genuino. Algunos pueden argumentar, pero cuando aplicamos el estándar bíblico para los profetas (Deuteronomio 18:22), vemos que ninguno de los que han sido considerados como poseedores del don de profecía en realidad califica. Yo le diría a cualquiera que piense lo contrario, que me muestre la evidencia de que no agregaron ni restaron a la Torá original. Dejando a un lado los milagros y las profecías cumplidas, si cambian aún un solo principio de la Torá, no califican. 

Pero a pesar del horrible sufrimiento pasado, hoy hay esperanza. Pero esta esperanza solo está disponible en la tierra de Israel. ¿Cómo es eso? Eche un vistazo a lo que Isaías, uno de los últimos profetas, dice sobre la esperanza y la restauración en la tierra:

“El desierto y la tierra árida se alegrarán; y el desierto se alegrará, y florecerá como el tulipán. Florecerá abundantemente, y se regocijará con alegría y canto: le será dada la gloria del Líbano, la excelencia del Carmelo y el Sarón, verán la gloria de YHVH y la excelencia de nuestro Dios. 

Fortalece las manos débiles y fortalece las rodillas débiles. Di a los de corazón temeroso: Esforzaos, no temáis: he aquí, vuestro Dios vendrá con venganza, con recompensa divina; él vendrá y os salvará.

Entonces se abrirán los ojos de los ciegos y se abrirán los oídos de los sordos.

Entonces el cojo saltará como un ciervo, y la lengua del mudo cantará; porque en el desierto brotarán aguas, y arroyos en la soledad.

Y la tierra seca se convertirá en estanque, y la tierra sedienta en manantiales de agua; la habitación de los chacales se convertirá en pasto para ganado, en recinto de juncos y juncos.

Y habrá allí calzada y camino, y será llamado Camino Santísimo; el inmundo no pasará por él; y él será para ellos un guía, y los necios no se equivocarán en ello.

No habrá allí león, ni bestia rapaz subirá sobre ella, no se hallarán allí; pero los redimidos caminarán allí; y los redimidos de YHVH volverán, y vendrán a Sión con cánticos y gozo eterno sobre sus cabezas: tendrán gozo y alegría, y la tristeza y el gemido huirán.” (Isaías 35:1- 10 Biblia Koren)

¿Hay entonces alguna esperanza? Si hay en Sion. ¿Puede haber esperanza en algún otro lugar? ¿Quién regresará a la Tierra Santa? Los que son rescatados por el Todopoderoso YHVH que se acuerda de su alianza con Israel y el pueblo judío. ¿Puede haber cumplimiento de esta promesa fuera de la tierra? Solo hay un lugar seguro para los judíos. 

Así en la tierra de Israel se abrirán los ojos de los ciegos, según Isaías 35:5. ¿Los ojos de los ciegos? ¿Somos todos ciegos? La mayoría de nosotros no estamos físicamente ciegos, pero casi todos hemos estado en condición de la ceguera  espiritual. Hemos pensado que Dios nos ha dejado, o que no estamos siguiendo la Halajá (las reglas inventadas por los sabios) correctamente y que una vez que lo hagamos bien, tendremos una conexión con lo divino. Pocos sabemos que lo que hemos seguido entre las naciones no es requerido para vivir en la tierra de Israel. Gran parte de lo que siguieron los judíos en otros países fue inventado por los rabinos para proteger a sus feligreses de la asimilación. Pero al crear nuevas leyes, a menudo cambiaron las leyes mucho más allá de lo especificado en la Torá. Y eso, que ahora no es necesario para los que vienen a Israel, debe ser dejado a un lado mientras aprendemos de la Mano de Aquel que sigue presente para instruirnos. Es posible que necesitemos que nos despojen de todas nuestras ideas antes de poder ver por primera vez. Las vendas de nuestra vista espiritual sobre el estilo de vida deben ser quitadas antes de que podamos ver. 

Pero ¿qué pasa con aquellos que aún no han venido a Israel? ¿Qué pasa con las diez tribus que todavía flotan entre las naciones? Esto no es para condenar a los que aún no han venido. El proceso de canje está en curso. Pero, un día, todos los que son de Israel tendrán que venir si quieren ver de verdad. 

Pero debo decirles que Israel no es un lugar de consuelo. Es un lugar de prueba, un lugar para romper las cadenas, o despojarnos de ellas, de aprender a depender de la Mano que nos trajo hasta aquí. ¿Tenemos siquiera un poquito de confianza en el Eterno? 

Los israelíes que nacieron en esa tierra probablemente eran descendientes de quienes lucharon por establecer un hogar para el pueblo judío. Muchas de estas personas no cumplen estricta obediencia a las reglas de los rabinos. Pero son personas reales. Aman la tierra. Hacen todo lo posible para ayudarte cuando estás deprimido. Y son impulsivos e imprudentes mucho del tiempo. Y es posible que no toleren las tonterías diásporas. Hacen cosas no ordinarias como tomar prestado su lugar de estacionamiento y se detendrán y hablarán con un amigo en medio de la carretera cuando otros estén impacientes por pasar. Y piten o encienden las luces si simplemente vas al límite de velocidad para que ellos pueden rebasar. Pero todo es corazón, y eso es algo que muchos de nosotros hemos perdido mientras vivíamos en el extranjero. ¿Cómo se desarrolló esta cultura? Fue al luchar por el derecho de existir. Lucharse por la tierra que les fue entregada por Dios a nuestros antepasados. Muchos dieron su sangre por esta tierra y no están dispuestos a renunciar ni un centímetro de aquello para lo cual sus compatriotas dieron su sangre. 

La tierra de Israel es pura luz. ¿Cómo es eso? Es casi como si nada de lo que hacemos aquí estuviera oculto, ni de Dios ni de nadie. Todo queda bajo el escrutinio divino y la conciencia se aviva cuando se nos revelan nuestras faltas. Es el lugar de aprender a caminar, aprender a ver, aprender a oír. Una vez aquí, por un tiempo, no hay vuelta atrás. 

Pero Israel no es para todos, muchos han venido y no pueden acomodarse. Muchos han tratado de vivir una halajá estricta mientras vivían en la tierra y se han ido. Otros quieren las comodidades del estilo de vida de su diáspora, grandes juegos y espectáculos y hermosas casas y patios traseros. Pronto regresan a sus comunidades para restablecerse en el confort al que estaban acostumbrados. Y con razón, Israel no se trata de eso. Se trata de aprender, crecer y ser el pueblo de Dios. Y todos venimos con el deseo de lo viejo y familiar, los comestibles que acostumbramos en Egipto, simbólicamente. Pero cuando aprendemos que las vegetales y frutas son mucho más grandes, más dulces y las granadas y pomelos menos amargos, nos damos cuenta del sabor de la tierra de leche y miel. 

Algunos, para sentirse en casa, han desarrollado comunidades en las ciudades más “santas” del país. Estos lugares están llenos de judíos de la diáspora. Han recreado comunidades para los que observan las reglas religiosas más estrictas, siguiendo lo que consideran la voluntad de Dios. Pero muchos de nosotros nos mantenemos alejados de estas ciudades. De alguna manera no encajamos. 

Si tengo algo que destacar en esta publicación es el énfasis de que Sion no es un país cualquiera. Es una tierra mágica que abraza a sus hijos, pero vomita a los que no pertenecen aquí. A mí, me parece que la guerra del 7 de octubre fue una respuesta de la oscuridad para bloquear el llamado a los judíos a regresar a su legítima tierra. Muchos han llegado a Israel durante este tiempo. El miedo a la guerra no los ahuyentó. Esta fue una de nuestras muchas pruebas. La gente vino de todos modos. ¡Yo digo “Kol HaKavod” (bien hecho)! Muchos perciben el peligro que les espera y la urgencia de venir antes de que las naciones vendrían contra ellos. 

¡De hecho, es hora de volver a casa, hermanos míos! La tierra nos espera como una madre con los brazos abiertos.

¿Vendrán?

Sigame en Take Hold the Tzitzit por WordPress.com

Zion, the Land of Seeing

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Stop importing the Diaspora!
by Ariella Casey

For nearly 2000 years God’s people were scattered to all nations. We can blame Rome as chiefly the cause of this and much of the subsequent persecution that came about, but why did Hashem apparently walk away? And though this scattering was prophesied and given as a warning (Leviticus 24:14-33), the tragic history continues to sadden the hearts of those who try to return to the path of the righteous. But how will we know the way back? And where is back, anyway? What was it that originally led to this tragic history? Is it that God somehow forgot about us? Did we choose to stop following the light? It seems from reading the Bible that we ‘changed horses in the middle of the stream’, but how and when? And how do we get back to where we need to be? When did rabbis replace prophets? 

For more than 2000 years we have not had a genuine prophet. Some may argue, but when we apply the Biblical standard for prophets (Deut. 18:22), we see that none who have been held up as having the gift of prophecy actually qualify. I would say to anyone who thinks otherwise, show me the evidence that they did not add to nor subtract from the original Torah. Miracles aside, and fulfilled prophecy aside, if they change even one principle of Torah they do not qualify. 

But regardless of the horrific past suffering, there is hope today. But this hope is available only in the land of Israel. How so? Take a look at what Isaiah, one of the latter prophets, says about hope and restoration in the land:

“The wilderness and the arid land shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom like the tulip. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of the Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellency of the Carmel and the Sharon, they shall see the glory of YHVH, and the excellency of our God. 

Strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even with a divine recompense; he will come and save you.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Then shall the lame man leap as a hart and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: the habitation of jackals shall become a pasture for cattle, an enclosure of reeds and rushes.

And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness: the unclean shall not pass over it; and he shall be to them a guide, and fools shall not err in it.

No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up on it, they shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: and the ransomed of YHVH shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isa 35:1-10 Koren Bible)

So is there any hope? There is in Zion. Can there be hope anywhere else? Who will come home to the land? Those who are ransomed by the Almighty YHVH who remembers his covenant with Israel and the Jewish people. Can there be a fulfillment of this promise outside the land? There is only one place of safety for the Jews. 

So in the land of Israel the eyes of the blind will be opened according to Isaiah 35:5. The eyes of the blind? Are we all blind? Most of us are not physically blind, but almost all of us have been spiritually blind. We have thought that God has left us, or that we are not following Halakha closely enough and that once we get it right, we would have a connection to the divine. Little do we know that what we have followed among the nations is not required in the land of Israel. Much of what was followed by Jews in other lands was invented by rabbis to safeguard their congregants from assimilation. But, in creating new laws, they often went too far, far beyond what was specified in the Torah. And that now being irrelevant for Israel, it needs to be laid aside as we learn first-hand from the ONE who is there to instruct us. We may need to have everything stripped away before we can see for the first time. The blindfolds of our former lifestyle must be removed before we will be able to see. 

But what about those who have not yet come to Israel? What about the ten tribes that still float around in the nations? This is not to condemn those who have not yet come. The redeeming process is ongoing. But, one day, all must come if they want to really see. 

But, I must tell you that Israel is not a place of comfort. It is a place of trial, a place of breaking down, or stripping off, of learning dependence upon the Hand that led us here. Do we have even a little bit of trust in the Eternal? 

Israelis who were born in the land probably were offspring of those who fought to establish a home for the Jewish people. Many of these people are not observant in the Orthodox sense. But they are real people. They love the land. They go out of their way to help you when you are down. And they are wild and reckless much of the time. And they may not tolerate your diasporic nonsense. They will borrow your parking place and stop and talk to a friend in the middle of the road when others are impatient to get by. And they will hoot at you or flash their lights if you are merely going the speed limit, and they want to get around. But they are all heart, and that is something many of us have lost while living abroad. How did this culture develop? By fighting for the right to exist. By fighting for the land that was given to the forefathers. Many gave their blood for this land and are unwilling to give up even an inch of what their compatriots gave their blood for. 

The land of Israel is pure light. How so? It is almost as if nothing we do here is hidden, no not from God and not from anyone. Everything comes under Divine scrutiny, and the conscience is quickened as our faults are revealed to us. It is the place of learning to walk, learning to see, learning to hear. Once here for a while, there is no going back. 

But Israel is not for everyone, many have come and do not make it here. Many have tried to live strict Halakha while living in the land and have left. Others want the comforts of their diaspora lifestyle, big games and shows and lovely heated homes and backyards. They soon go back to their communities, to reestablish themselves in the comfort they were accustomed to. And rightly so, Israel is not about that. It is about learning and growing and being the people of the Book. And we all come with a desire for the old and familiar, the leeks and the onions of Egypt. But when we learn that the leeks are much bigger, the fruit is sweeter, and pomegranates and grapefruits less bitter, we realize the taste of the land of milk and honey. 

And others have developed communities in the most “Holy” cities of the land. These places are full of these Diaspora Jews. They have recreated communities for the blind, following that which they feel is the will of God. But many of us stay away from these cities. We somehow do not fit in. 

If I have anything to stress in this publication, it is the emphasis that Zion is not just any country. It is a magical land that hugs its children but spews out those that do not belong here. That the war of October 7 was a response from the dark to block the call for the Jews to return to the land. Many have made their way to Israel during this time. The fear of war did not drive them away. This was one of our many tests. People came anyway. I say Kol HaKavod! Many read the handwriting on the wall that the nations would come against them if they did not come home. 

It is indeed time to come home, my friends! The land awaits us like a mother with outstretched arms.

Will you come?

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