Israel - 'Land of Miracles'

Posted on: 6 January, 2009 | 4pm

 

For years the land of Israel has been known as the “Land of Miracles”. For the past six decades Israel has experienced miracles after miracles especially during times of war. Now is no different. In the past several years Hamas has fired thousands of missiles into Israel with relatively little precision. On Monday 5 JAN 09 Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that only two percent of Hamas rockets score direct hits in Israel.

Personally I see this as being miraculous and not just a tribute to the incompetence of Hamas. Of the attacks that have taken place, sixty percent of the missiles have fallen in open areas while 40 percent exploded in built-up areas. Of the thousands of missiles that were fired upon Israel only 10 percent partially struck buildings while two percent slammed directly into buildings.

Obvious any loss of life is a terrible thing and we do not want to minimize their loss and their contribution to society, yet we realize that without HaShem’s intervention there would have been many more lives lost. There have been numerous eyewitness accounts of rockets landing several feet from where the people were standing or from where they had been several minutes before the time of impact.

The missile attacks of Hamas have not been discriminately directed towards military targets. Instead the Katyusha missiles hit an empty kindergarten in Ashdod where thirty children usually fill the room. Fortunately it was the building which sustained heavy damage in the attack. The week before, a rocket in Be'er Sheva slammed into a high school, where hundreds of students normally attend. Fortunately, the students were not in the building otherwise the disaster would have been horrific because the students could not have reached a fortified shelter within the 60 seconds between the activation of rocket warning sirens and the strike.

It is important that we continue to stand for Israel and show her our support. Prayer is a wonderful thing and I am not trying to negate it however, those who can do more need to do so. Christians worldwide needs to show Israel in tangible terms of its support. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni articulated it very well when she made the comment "The world has to understand that it must choose a camp – Israel or the terrorists,"

How can you help? There are many ways that we can show our support here are just a few. Those who have email can send their comments to some of the members of the Knesset. Here you can voice your feelings to those who are in office in Israel.

Tzipi Livni’s email is Email:zlivni@knesset.gov.il

Benjamin Netanyahu can be reached at

Email:bnetanyahu@knesset.gov.il

Another way that we can help is to donate to:

American Friends of Magen David Adom-ARMDI
888 Seventh Avenue, Suite 403
New York, NY 10106Toll-Free : (866) 632-2763
Tel : (212) 757-1627
Fax: (212) 757-4662
E-mail : info@afmda.org

Five Years After the Disengagement

Posted on: 30 December, 2008 | 1am

 

Five years ago Israel turned Gaza over to the Palestinians by the request of the United States and the United Nations as an act of good faith to create an opportunity for peace. Since then Hamas terror organization took control of Gaza and has responded to this act of good faith by using its citizens as cover while it a) deliberately targets Israeli residential communities, b) espouses destruction of the state of Israel, and c) rejects every peace overture offered by Israel and the international community. During the past five years Hamas has terrorized Israel in the Western Negev desert town of Sderot and more recently the larger city of Ashkelon. During this time they have launched well over 5,000 missiles into Israel to date, hundreds of which were launched in the last week, including one recent day in which 80 rockets hit Israel.

 

Now after five years of Hamas breaking the treaty Israel has decided that enough is enough and has launched an attack not against the residents of Gaza but against the terrorists within Gaza and destroy the tunnels in Gaza that is being used to smuggle weapons and supplies into Gaza to fund the Hamas terrorist group. It is an unfortunate reality that civilians get caught in the attacks and pay a great price. But should the civilians whose family member was killed in the Israeli strikes be angry at the Israeli’s or at Hamas for launching the attacks against Israel from their neighborhoods? As Israel continues to defend its citizens the White House has showed its support of Israel by putting the blame on Hammas for the Israeli attacks on Gaza. Even Abbas has blamed Hammas for the attacks on Gaza. However, Hamas is continuing its assault on Israel by firing missiles deeper into the Negev. Now the United Nations is demanding that the attacks stop. Why didn’t the UN demand Hamas stop launching missiles into Israel and terrorizing the Israeli citizens? Why is that when Israel starts to defend itself that suddenly the UN is concerned and is calling for an emergency meeting for Wednesday to find a solution?

 

After spending time in the Middle East I understand that solutions are not as easy as those in the West think. There were promises that Britian and the United States have made to both sides that have gone unmet. Both sides have some legitimate concerns and complaints. Unfortunately, I do not see an easy end in sight. The giving up of land by Israel has not brought about peace and will not bring about peace.

Zippori –The Ornament of Galilee

Posted on: 25 December, 2008 | 3pm
On our tour in March the group will be stopping at the site of Sepporis also known in Hebrew as Zippori. The Hebrew name of the city comes from the word meaning bird because the city was seen "perched like a bird" on a four hundred-foot hill overlooking the Bet Netofa Valley. It’s geographic position was strategic as Sepphoris was located about midway between the Mediterranean coast and the Sea of Galilee. The city was also situated on the well-traveled highway that connected the port of Ptolemais, seventeen miles to the northwest, through the Turan Valley to Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee.As important as Zippori was during the first century one would have expected that it would have been mentioned in the New Testament, however we find no such mention. It’s history goes back to before the time of Jesus and was in existence during the time of Cleopatra. In 37 B.C.E., Herod took Zippori without a battle during a rare snowstorm in the area. After Herod’s death in 4 C.E., the citizens began to mutiny. The soldiers under Roman governor Varus captured Zippori and destroyed the city. It has been the opinion of many historians that the residents of Zippori learned their lesson from this experience which is why they later refused to take sides in the Jewish War against the Romans. Zippori was a metropolis which boasted a 4,500-seat amphitheater, built into the eastern side of the hill. It is believed by some that the amphitheater was built during the time of Yeshua (Jesus). Its stage was 156 feet wide and 27 feet from front to back. Herod’s rebuilt city included his palace, an upper city and a lower city, a new city wall, a large market place, synagogues, a colonnaded street, and a residential area. Several large cisterns, one holding a thousand gallons, supplied water for the city. What is the connection of this city with Yeshua? Part of its importance has to do with its location to Nazareth. Zippori was located only four miles from Nazareth. During the early years of Yeshua’ life, Herod Antipas started a campaign of restoring, developing and fortifying the city of Zippori. It served as his principle residence and the administrative center of Galilee, until he built Tiberias in A.D. 17-20. The fact that Yeshua’s legal father, Joseph, was identified by the Greek word tekton, "builder" (inaccurately translated "carpenter" (Matt 13:55; Mark 6:3) is also important. This would mean that they were construction craftsmen, skilled in wood and stone work. Since it was the practice of a father to teach his son his trade or skill, we can assume that Joseph trained Yeshua for this vocation. It is postulated that they would have traveled daily to Zippori to work in the building of the city. As one who has worked in the construction industry I know that you go where work is and in the case of Yosef and Yeshua this work would have presented itself.Nazareth was a small village, presumably lacking in the kind of construction projects that would provide sufficient work for skilled builders. With extensive building in progress an hour’s walk away, it is likely that on some occasions, Yosef and Yeshua would have been employed in Sepphoris. While Zippori was a Jewish city it was also heavily influenced by Greek culture and we know that there was a mixture of both Jewish and non Jewish inhabitants. The proximity of Zippori to Nazareth is not its only connection with the New Testament. According to tradition, Sepphoris was the home of Joachim and Anna, the parents of Mary, the mother of Yeshua. If the tradition is correct, this would place one set of grandparents living in this cosmopolitan city, and this would have been the place where His mother grew up. It has also been postulated that Yosef, a craftsman from Nazareth, perhaps while working on a building in Sepphoris, met Mary (Miriam) and took her back to Nazareth as his bride. What influence did this city with its predominantly Greek and Roman culture have on the young Yeshua? We know that Yeshua was a very observant Jewish man. It is apparent that he did not assimilate into its culture despite the possibilities of him working in the area. He was however, very familiar with the pagan culture and used terminology that was associated with the culture. When He used the word "hypocrite," for instance, as He often did, He may have been thinking of the meaning the word had in the theater at Zippori, "one acting under a mask," the practice in dramatic productions of the time. It was after the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, that Zippori gained its prominence in Judaism. After Jerusalem feel to the Romans it became the seat of the Sanhedrin. About A.D. 200, it was at Sepphoris that Judah Hanassi ("the Prince") codified the Mishnah. It incorporated the tradition of the elders that Yeshua had challenged in His ministry. It must be understood that Yeshua was not totally against all the things that the Pharisees taught. In fact he told the people to do what they (the Pharisees) taught but not to do as they did.

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