US Ambassador on War Path Against Israel’s Majority Right: ‘We’ll Fight Any Annexation Attempt’By David Israel and Remarkable Linguistic ‘Coincidences’ in the Hebrew Bible and Rabbi Schwartz Puzzle Jokes and Rare Discovery in Ancient Shiloh – 5 Intact 2,000-Year-Old Giant Jugs
Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher, and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement.
US Ambassador Tom Nides on Thursday morning issued a warning regarding the possibility that the next government would try to annex territories in Judea and Samaria. Speaking like the representative of a true imperialist power (whatever happened to all the talk about America's greatest ally?), Nides told Reshet Bet radio that the administration would fight any attempt to make such a move, and clarified: "The United States and most Arab countries oppose annexation."
OK, thanks for the clarification.
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As to Otzma Yehudit Chairman Itamar Ben Gvir and his becoming a minister in Benjamin Netanyahu's next government, Nides said that only after the government is formed would a decision be made regarding the discourse on this issue.
Generous: the White House will decide in due time whether the votes of some half a million Israelis are acceptable to them.
Perhaps the thing that spares Israel from Biden's nasty and brutal scrutiny will be the Republican House, which promises to be pretty nasty and brutal to Biden. Karma rhymes with rich.
But the ambassador's fighting words were not in response to Ben Gvir, but to a statement on air from MK Yariv Levin, the second-strongest member of Likud, who said: "We were a mere step away from applying sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and I hope that we will make fewer statements and take more actions to move there."
Levin was referring to that single, heady day, January 28, 2020, when former President Trump appeared to have given visiting PM Netanyahu the green light to apply Israeli law on the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria (Ambassador Friedman: Go Annex Those Settlements, What Are You Waiting For?). As US Ambassador David Friedman (Oh, we liked him so much better than this one) put it: "If the Israelis apply Israeli law to the settlements and to the territory that you'll see soon enough is allocated to Israel under the plan […] then we will recognize Israeli sovereignty."
That's what MK Yariv, soon-to-be Minister Yariv, was referring to, and it irked Nides to no end.
Regarding whether he would talk to Ben Gvir, Ambassador Nides said he would not make "draconian statements that I will not speak with anyone, no matter if it is right or left," and added that the administration is waiting to see "what positions they will take, I want to see what they say rhetorically and how they act."
Actually, no, you don't, you just gave an interview to the country's most popular radio station, threatening Israeli elected officials even before they were sworn in. You are not a benign ally standing on the sidelines, you are a bully, Ambassador Nides, and the problem with an ambassador who is a bully is that sooner or later he becomes useless to his bosses.
Asked if Ben Gvir would be invited to the embassy's Fourth of July BBQ, Nides was noncommittal, saying, "There's still a lot of time, many things will happen until then."
OK, what about the Chanukah party
The Three Musketeers at the Kotel
The Three are Rabbi Yehuda Glick, famous temple mount activist, and former Israel Mk, and then Robert Weinger, the world's greatest shofar blower and seller of Shofars, and myself after we had gone to the 12 gates of the Temple Mount in 2020 to blow the shofar to ask G-d to heal the world from the Pandemic. It was a highlight to my experience in living in Israel and I put it on my blog each day to remember.
The articles that I include each day are those that I find interesting, so I feel you will find them interesting as well. I don't always agree with all the points of each article but found them interesting or important to share with you, my readers, and friends. It is cathartic for me to share my thoughts and frustrations with you about life in general and in Israel. As a Rabbi, I try to teach and share the Torah of the G-d of Israel as a modern Orthodox Rabbi. I never intend to offend anyone but sometimes people are offended and I apologize in advance for any mistakes. The most important psychological principle I have learned is that once someone's mind is made up, they don't want to be bothered with the facts, so, like Rabbi Akiva, I drip water (Torah is compared to water) on their made-up minds and hope that some of what I have share sinks in. Love Rabbi Yehuda Lave.
Rare Discovery in Ancient Shiloh – 5 Intact 2,000-Year-Old Giant Jugs
100 years after the first excavations at the ancient Shiloh site, a number of rare finds were discovered in a new excavation, including five intact large storage jars that were placed in a row inside a building from the Talmud period (200-400 CE).
The jars were discovered in their entirety as part of an excavation led by Dr. Reut Ben Aryeh, a resident of Shiloh.
The jugs were found lying under the floor and this was probably to keep their contents at a cool and constant temperature. Their burial is also what kept them completely intact.
The Bible recounts how Joshua set the Mishkan (Tabernacle) in Shiloh after conquering the Promised Land, and for more than three centuries, this was the center of Israelite life. The site includes archaeological findings from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Early Muslim periods.
The Benjamin Council, which operates the ancient Shiloh heritage site, says that the current excavation was intended to examine the route of the wall around the ancient city and its entrance area in ancient times. The excavators made a cut on the edge of the southern mound and revealed layers from all historic periods, starting with the Bronze Age and ending with the Ottoman period.
The Canaanite wall of the site was revealed for the first time in the excavations of the Danish expedition, which marked the centenary of its work this month.
During the excavation, additional finds were found such as coins, a key that was probably used to open a box, and a wooden game cube that is exactly like the game cubes we have nowadays.
Yisrael Gantz, head of the Benyamin Regional Council which is home to Ancient Shiloh, said Tuesday that "we are privileged to uncover discoveries that are evidence of our connection to the areas of Judea and Samaria and to the whole of this land."
"The findings here give meaning to our daily activities in the development of this region of the country. There is nothing more exciting than realizing with our eyes how we are continuing the lives of our ancestors here. The eternal story of the people of Israel and this story instills strength in us," he added.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TERRIBLE PUZZLE JOKES OF THE WEEK
Yentl calls her husband Berel over and says, "Please come over here and help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can't figure out how to get started."
Berel asks, "What is it supposed to be when it's finished?"
Yentl says, "According to the picture on the box, it's a rooster."
Berel decides to go over and help with the puzzle. She lets him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table. He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and says,
"First of all, no matter what we do, we're not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a rooster."
He then takes her hand and says, "Secondly, I want you to relax. Let's have a nice cup of tea, and then..... he said with a deep sigh" ............
"Let's put all these Corn Flakes back in the box
Robin turned and shouted, "The Batmobile won't start!" Batman growled, "Check the battery!" Puzzled, Robin wondered... "What's a tery?"
I told my daughter, "Go to bed, the cows are sleeping in the field."
Puzzled, she asked, "What's that got to do with anything?" I chuckled, "Well, that means...""It's pasture bedtime!"
Can you imagine Yoshka doing a crossword puzzle? And getting stuck on 2 across..
I don't want to brag, but I finished the jigsaw puzzle in a week...And it said 2-4 years on the box.
"Make me one with everything," says the Buddhist to the Israeli tofu hot dog vendor.
Then, after getting his tofu hot dog, the Buddhist hands the vendor a $20 bill.
The vendor takes the money and begins helping the next customer.
The Buddhist looks puzzled and asks the vendor, "Where is my change?"
The Israeli vendor replies, "Change comes from within."
I hate connect-the-dot puzzles. That's where I draw the line.
The inventor of the crossword puzzle lives near me. Street's three across and two down.
I need help with a crossword puzzle. The clue is 'overloaded postman' and the number of letters is... too many..
My wife asked for help with a puzzle. She said to hand her pieces with rocks and water. I said shore.
A blonde is doing a crossword puzzle...
"What's a 7-letter word for 'easily perceived or understood' that starts with 'O'?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"It should be, but I can't figure it out. That's why I'm asking."
I believe pencils are superior to pens, especially for filling out crossword puzzles. Does that make me erasist?
Moishe and Yankel were in a mental institution. The place had an unusual annual contest, picking two of the best patients and giving them two questions. If they got them correct, they were deemed cured and free to go.
Yankel was called into the doctor s office first and asked if he understood that he'd be free if he answered the questions correctly. Yankel said "Yes" and the doctor proceeded. " Yankel, what would happen if I poked out one of your eyes?"
Yankel said, "I'd be half blind."
"That's correct. What if I poked out both eyes?"
"I'd be completely blind." The doctor stood up, shook Yankel's hand, and told him he was free to go.
On Yankel 's way out, as the doctor filled out the paperwork, Yankel mentioned the exam to Moishe, who was seated in the waiting room. He told him what questions were going to be asked and gave him the answers.
So Moishe went into the doctor's office when he was called. The doctor went thru the formalities and then asked, "What would happen if I cut off one of your ears?" Remembering what Yankel had told him, he answered, "I'd be half blind."
The doctor looked a little puzzled, but went on. "What if I cut off the other ear?"
"I'd be completely blind," Moishe, answered."
" Moishe,, can you explain how you'd be blind?"
"My hat would fall down over my eyes."
Remarkable Linguistic 'Coincidences' in the Hebrew Bible
Research shows that the Bible is literally filled with remarkable linguistic nuances and unexplainable "coincidences." Prof. Haim Shore, from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, has researched into the science behind these peculiar biblical intricacies. Described below are a small handful of his fascinating discoveries that relate to the question of the divine inspiration in the Bible.
Let us state from the outset that Professor Shore is a self-described non-observant Jew. In an interview with Dr. Rivkah Lambert, Shore said of himself:
As a scientist, my only motivation was to reveal the truth, based on statistical analysis, based on real quantitative data. I have not tried to prove that the Torah is divine or any other such objective.
Here are a few of the coincidences Shore found in his research.
Letters in the Hebrew alphabet, like Roman numerals, have a numeric value. A word's numeric value is the sum total of its letter values. For example, the total sum of the Hebrew word for pregnancy, heraion, is 271. This number is significant because it happens to be the median number of days for pregnancy. On average, pregnancies last between 266-280 days. Shore suggests there is unique—and intended—significance in the early Hebrew word for pregnancy equaling the number of days for pregnancy.
Another example: The Hebrew word for year is shanah. In the Hebrew calendar, a complete non-leap year is 355 days. What is the value of the word shanah? 355.
In biblical times, days were still customarily divided into 24-hour blocks. Midday and midnight occurred at the "sixth hour" of the day and night. Is there any significance behind these words?
Midday, tsaharaim, equals 345. Day, Yom, equals 56. The value for midday is divided by the value for daily rounds to 6.
Midnight, neshef, equals 430. Night, lil, totals 70. The value for midnight divided by the value for night? Again, 6!
These are two completely separate sets of numbers—and they both equate to a rounded figure of 6!
Now compare day and night: In Jerusalem, the average daylight duration is longer than the night—about 51.8 percent for the day vs. 49.2 percent for the night. The value of the words for morning and day added together is 358. The value of the words for evening and night equals 347. To the nearest 10th of a percentage, the Hebrew words for morning and day represent the exact numerical percentage of time of average daylight. Likewise, with the evening and night, the dark is the corresponding numerical percentage.
Shore also found that the value of the words for colors—such as red (adom) and yellow (tsahov)—match up with their wave frequencies. That the value of the words for Earth, sun and moon correspond to the diameters of each of these celestial bodies—among other Hebrew planetary "coincidences." (Such results are shown by logarithmic scale. For more on this, take a look at Shore's short video here. He also explains the virtual impossibility—statistically—of these results happening by "chance.")
How could the ancients have known? Typically, evolutionary scientists paint them as blundering simpletons grunting out primitive words. They especially like to downplay the complexity of Israel's past compared to that of the nations around it. Where did this ancient mathematical linguistic precision come from? Even granting ancient Israelite society a high level of complexity and intellect, how humanly possible is it to have this level of intricacy underlying the "common" language? And remember, these are ancient biblical words, not some modern mathematical Hebrew synthesis. These are words that have been discovered on artifacts some 3,000 years old!
What about non-mathematical "coincidences"? The word ozen (ear) is another interesting Hebrew word. The Hebrew word for balance is ezun, which comes from the same root word. Today, we understand that our sense of balance comes from the mechanism in the ear. But this was only discovered at the end of the 19th century! Is it just a coincidence that the biblical Hebrew words for ear and balance are directly connected? (See here for many more "modern" scientific discoveries that were actually already known—or divinely revealed?—in the pages of the Bible.)
Then there's the human hand. This word is yad in Hebrew, and it adds up to 14. The are 14 finger bones in the human hand.
There are other nuances of the Hebrew language. Hebrew words can often be read forward and backward, with different meanings. Those meanings, obviously, get lost in translation. Shore gives several examples, one of which is from Genesis 6:8. This verse says, "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." "Grace" is actually the same word as Noah, inverted. Again, just coincidence? Or a special, added depth and richness to the language?
There are many stunning examples that could be given. (You'll have to take a look at Professor Shore's 326-page book for more information.) And his work is only half of it. There is another, related field of research known as Bible numerics—examining the precise mathematical layout of the Bible. This underlying numerical system was discovered and researched by Ivan Panin (1855–1942). Without going into detail, here is a quick example of the numerics behind the first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1. Specifically, regarding the use of sevens—a particularly significant divine number, the biblical number of "completion"—that feature in this verse.
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
There are 7 Hebrew words. The number of letters in the verse is a multiple of 7. The verse is broken up into two main parts, both of which are a multiple of 7. The nouns add up to a multiple of 7. The single verb adds up to a multiple of 7. The three leading nouns (God, heaven, earth) add up to 777. The value of the first and last letters of all the words add up to a multiple of 7. Actually, 31 different features of the number 7 have been deduced just from this one verse—we've only listed 8 here (maybe we should have listed 7!).
Coincidence?
Shore—a scholarly, non-observant man—wrote the following about his research (emphasis added):
When I first obtained the new findings on my computer's screen, I could not believe my eyes – it was so overwhelming! I ran around like a lion in a cage. I then ran and reran the program and still got exactly same results. It took me a while to digest all these new findings and comprehend that these are all for real.
So why isn't the research more widely known and discussed? In his book, Shore explains why it was never published in a scientific journal:
The reader may wonder why the statistical analyses in this book, including those in the current chapter, have not been submitted for publication in recognized and highly esteemed scientific journals, like Science or Nature. The answer may be easily guessed: No journal was willing to even consider reviewing (let alone publish) papers with claims, as displayed in this book. Open-mindedness to all facts of nature, a source of pride for many highly revered journals, ended when claims of religious flavor, no matter how scientifically corroborated, were involved. Therefore, as a result of responses received to preliminary enquiries, none of the statistical analyses displayed in this book have ever been submitted for review in peer-reviewed journals.
I can hardly blame editors who have refused even seeing a first draft of a paper. I might have decided likewise, had I not known better.
It's troubling that our scientific editors and educators will only publish knowledge and discoveries suiting their own theories and agenda. That's not science—that's religion. And it's quite literally a cover-up.
So the question remains for you, the reader, to decide: Are all of these elements of the biblical Hebrew language coincidental? Or proof that the Holy Book—as the Scriptures themselves state—is "God-breathed"?
