Author: Yosef (ytl)

The U.N. and Hanukkah

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The U.N. passed a resolution recently condemning Israel and the settlements.  For the first time, the U.S.A. did not veto the resolution.  Here are a couple thoughts.

In the time of the Hanukkah story, there was a ‘peace for land’ deal.  (Read the history – fairly recent discoveries).  A king told the leader of the fledgling nation, “Give us land or there will be war.”  Land was given.  Did it work?  Of course not – that king shortly thereafter invaded.

Now the U.N. is saying, “give land or they can be no peace.”  Will it work?  What land is wanted?

It is said that Israel should go back to the 1967 boundaries.  Okay.  What happened in 1967 that the boundaries changed?  There was a war – the ‘6 day war.’  Israel’s neighbors, including countries such as Egypt and Syria, we planning on invading Israel, and were amassing troops and weapons.  Egypt even convinced the U.N. to pull out of the zone it was monitoring so that Egypt could invade.

So, the U.N. is saying to Israel, go back to the way things were where your neighbors were planning and executing invasions to wipe you out.  This is supposed to be reasonable?

-Yosef

 

Creation

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There are all sorts of stories, theories, and explanations about the creation story in the first couple chapters of the book of Genesis (Bereshet).   This post is not addressing any of those.  Rather, it is about the comment God makes about making man “in His image.”  Besides, even the context of the creation story reveals that we aren’t going to understand it when we think of it from our viewpoint.  Think about it.  The story starts off with the first few ‘days’ of creation before, but not until on the fourth day are the things that mark passage of day and night, from our viewpoint, first made.  That is just food for thought.

Comments and theories abound about what “made in His image” means.  Take a look at the comment from God in context.  God is creating.  Then He rests.  He made man with the ability to choose to do the same.  We can choose to work for 6 days, and rest on the seventh, in honor of the God who made all things.  Mankind is the only creation on earth that can do this.  We can set aside the seventh day and honor the creator.

Read the story.  Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 to chapter 2 verse 2.  After that comes the story of Adam and Eve, but that is not for this post.

Shalom!

-Yosef

 

Christmas vs. Hanukkah

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The internet is full of reasons why the one holiday is better then the other and vice versa.  But there is one difference that most simply ignore, and that difference is the core of the issue.

Christmas is all about assimilation.  Taking in practices of many people so as to be acceptable to as many people as possible.  Morphing to be relevant.

Hanukkah is all about resisting assimilation.  Staying pure.

It is written in the Bible, in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 12 verse 30, “…do not ask about their gods, saying, ‘how did these nations serve their gods?  I want to do the same. You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way.”  There are other verses stating the same principle: don’t assimilate.

So, which holiday pleases Yehova (or Yahweh), God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?

– Yosef