Branch of Israel

Recently I was on my way to the Ministry of Interior to apply for Aliyah, after having been there a few times before. As I was going to transfer buses the Lord spoke to me saying “ meet Me at the wall. ” I said, “ Lord can’t you talk to me here? ” Considering He is omnipresent. "Why the wall?" I asked. All I heard was “ less distractions. ”

Generally when we think of a blessing we usually think of it as something that is a standard to say or to do. Like the Catholics bless with the signing of the cross over people so as to sanctify them, the Jewish people raise their hands spreading their fingers apart representing the Hebrew letter shin ( the first letter of the Hebrew word for Almighty ). Others believe that it is to be an exclamation like, "bless you brother/sister" , or "I am so blessed."  But does anyone really know what it means? This is the problem because we tend to use words in our vocabulary without checking them out. We hear our kids do it all the time. They use slang words because they want to be cool like their friends, but really have know clue what they are saying. The body of believers do it as well.

The book of Proverbs was written to be used as a wise set of rules that we should follow. That is why some of them were written as parables so that it would be easy for us to understand and remember. The Hebrew word for proverbs ( pronounced: mish-lay ) actually means to compare as a parable or a story. The root meaning behind this word is to rule or have dominion . This would be someone who compares, as a rule, to help keep one on the right path. Or as parents we have dominion, or authority, to help set our children straight based on the Word of God. As stated in Deuteronomy 6:7 (NAS), "You shall teach them [God's Word] diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up."

According to Leviticus 23 we are to celebrate Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, on the 15th day of Tishri of the Jewish calendar. It is to be an 7-day celebration of great rejoicing, remembering the use of the huts that our ancestors might have lived in while in the wilderness for 40 years. Of course the huts we see today are flimsy and nowhere as sturdy as those back then. The roofs may be constructed from either bamboo sticks or palm branches, loosely arranged so that the sky can

Ten Days of Awe The first ten days in the 7 th month of Tishri are called the Ten days of Repentance , The Days of Awe, or the “High Holy Days." During these ten days, according to Jewish tradition, God opens up three books of our life: Those who are righteous during the year Those who are wicked Those who are in between If a person sincerely repents during these ten days then God will grant them forgiveness for another year. According to Maimonides we are constantly to regard our fate and destiny of the entire world as balanced between guilt and acquittal. So if we commit just one sin then we lean the scale towards fate and destruction. If we are to do one good deed then it leans towards salvation. – Sounds like works to me!

Like Passover Pentecost, also known as Feast of Weeks, is celebrated during the springtime as described in Leviticus 23:15-21. This holiday does not fall on a particular date instead it is celebrated 50 days ( see  Counting of the Omer ) after Passover.  Which is around the sixth or seventh day of the Hebrew month of Sivan.  It commemorates when God gave the Israelite's the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai.

During the seven weeks from Passover to Shavuot (Pentecost) , Jewish people would do what is called the counting of the omer. Which was used for helping them to determine when it was exactly 50 days after Passover. An omer is a measure of grain, which was brought into the temple on the second day of Passover as an offering. Then it was to be counted for seven weeks. On the 50th day, they would bring in the offering of the first fruit into the temple. They would use the grain as a way of measuring the seven weeks until Shavuot. For them it was a joyous time because they were looking forward to what was up and coming. Think of this in the same manner as a child does before their birthday.