"Please pray for the Peace of Israel"  Psalm 122  [Chapter-3]

While summer weddings are popular in many parts of the world,
traditionally in Judaism, weddings do not take place over the next
three weeks.

Observing Bein HaMetzarim: Between the Straits

“Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwells among the heathen, she finds no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.”  (Lamentations 1:3)

The three-week period of mourning observances the intensity and culminate on the Ninth of Av (Tisha B’Av), which coincides this year withAugust 5. Such observances include no Jewish weddings or major celebrations. Some abstain from cutting their hair or shaving while others refrain from attending concerts or even listening to music. In Ashkenazi Jewish tradition, the last nine days of the three weeks are especially intense. Many do not eat poultry, red meat or wine, and they refrain from the luxury of wearing freshly laundered clothing and taking warm baths.  Although Sephardi Jews also observe many of these customs, they do so beginning the Sunday before Tisha B’Av.  If the 9th of Av falls on Sunday, however, these customs are dispensed with.

As during the period of the counting of the Omer, the Three Weeks is a time for considering our thoughts and actions.  It is a season of teshuvah (returning to God, repentance) and salvation. While some may wonder the purpose of such days of fasting on the Jewish calendar, Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov explains that they are designed “to awaken hearts towards repentance through recalling our forefathers' misdeeds; misdeeds which led to calamities.”  (Book of Our Heritage) Indeed, as the breach of the wall in Jerusalem is remembered, it is a good time for all Believers not only to stand with Israel, but also to take stock of their lives. Sin can cause a breach or gap in the protective wall surrounding us.  Through that breach, the enemy (Satan) can enter in and wreak havoc in our lives or the lives of those we are responsible for. As we take stock, we should repent and seek God’s never-ending grace for our shortfalls. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  (1 John 1:9)

The Search for God During the Three Weeks

            

There is a Hassidic (branch of Orthodox Judaism) parable (mashal) that relates to this three-week period of mourning.

A story is told of the grandson of Rabbi Baruch of Medziboz who was playing hide and seek with another child.  After hiding and waiting a long time for his friend to find him, he popped out of his hiding spot only to discover that his friend was not looking for him. The boy ran to his grandfather.  With tears rolling down his face, he explained that his friend had stopped looking for him. In response, the rabbi said, “Indeed.  That is exactly what the Almighty Himself says: ‘I hide myself but nobody wants to look for Me.’”  (Rabbi Aryeh Hendler)

 Although every child enjoys hiding, he still wants to be searched for, and Rabbi Baruch wisely pointed out that God hides Himself because of our sins.  Nevertheless, He wants us to seek Him out and to really desire to find Him. Sadly, like the child’s young friend, we too often fail to respond to the challenge to find Him.  But His promise remains that we will find Him when we search for Him wholeheartedly. “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”  (Jeremiah 29:13)

Children play a game of hide and seek.

This three-week period of mourning is an opportune time to seek God with all heart.

The 17th of Tammuz and these next three weeks remind that there have been times when God’s face has been hidden because His people strayed so far that they found themselves beyond the bounds of His protective covering. “And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide My face from them, and they will be destroyed.  Many disasters and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, 'Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?'”  (Deuteronomy 31:17) As we Christians, let us examine our ways and look for possible breaches in the walls that surround our soul in order that we through teshuvah and redemption might repair them and renew our relationship with our Father in Heaven.Let us also pray that not only those who know Him will use this time to renew their relationship with their Creator, but also that all of Israel will sincerely seek Him and find Him. 

Men pray at the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem.

                                

"Please pray for the Peace of Israel"  Psalm 122  [Chapter-2]

Moses Destroys the Tablets of the Ten
Commandments, by James Tissot

Defying Coincidence

The 17th of Tammuz is a day of ominous coincidences.

As people remember the breach of the wall, this is not the only tragedy that happened on this day.  Throughout history, a host of others occurred, as well.  The Mishnah (book of rabbinic teachings) records five in all.

The first tragedy happened in the days of the Israelites after the Exodus.  When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Tablets of the Law (Ten Commandments) and saw the Israelites worshiping the Golden Calf, he smashed the tablets.To understand the timing for this, it is helpful to know that Tammuz 17 occurs 40 days after the Jewish holiday of Shavuot (Pentecost).  On Shavuot, Moses ascended Mount Sinai where he remained for 40 days.On the 16th of Tammuz, thinking that Moses would not return, the Israelites constructed the Golden Calf.  The next day, the 17th, when Moses descended, he saw that they were violating the laws God had given and he destroyed the tablets.

Another tragedy occurred during the First Temple Era.  The daily Temple sacrifices were cut off on Tammuz 17 (Taanit 28b) because the city was under siege by the Babylonians, and it was no longer possible to attain the necessary animals for the sacrifices. A year later to that very day, Nebuchadnezzar and his invading army breached the walls of Jerusalem  (2 Kings 25:2–7).  (Although Jeremiah 39:2 and 52:6–7 seem to indicate that this breach happened on the 9th of Tammuz, the Jerusalem Talmud [Tannit 4:5] states that it took place on the 17th and that the timing given in Jeremiah was distorted due to the distress of the times.) Three weeks later, the First Temple was destroyed on Tisha B'av. The Mishnah states that during the Second Temple Era, Titus’ armies also breached the walls on Tammuz 17, and three weeks later, they destroyed the Second Temple on Tisha B’Av in AD 70. The breach of the walls of Jerusalem and the destruction of the First and Second Temples on these same dates, so many years apart, defies coincidence. It speaks of the hand of God and judgment, and that is why the summer is such a time of mourning and repentance. But there is yet more that has happened on these days.

Ancient walls in Jerusalem.

It was also on this date that the Jewish King Manasseh had an idol placed in the Holy Temple (2 Kings 21:7). As well, a Greek oppressor named Apustemus burned the Torah on this day during the time of Antiochus Epiphanies.

Five events in more recent times that also occurred on the 17th of Tammuz include the following:

1.     1239 – Pope Gregory the IX ordered the confiscations of all copies of the Talmud.

2.     1391 – 4,000 Jews were killed in Toledo and Jaen, Spain.

3.     1559 – The Jewish quarter of Prague were burned and looted.

4.     1944 – The entire population of the Kovno ghetto was liquidated.

5.     1970 – Libya ordered the confiscation of all Jewish property.

Civilians looking at the massacre of 68 Jews in the Lietukis garage of
Kovno in Lithuania on June 25 or 27, 1941.

Please pray for the Peace of Israel"  Psalm 122

[Chapter-1]

A rocket fired from Gaza hit Ashdod on Friday[18/07/14], causing a massive fire

near a gas station.  The day before, 194 rockets struck Israel.  At the time

this photo was posted on the Israel Defense Forces Facebook page,

Palestinian terrorists had fired 548 rockets in three days.

"Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king's garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city.”  (2 Kings 25:4)

While for much of the world summer is a time of joy, relaxation and vacations, for the Jewish People it is a time of mourning and remembrance of great loss, including the destruction of both the First and Second Temples.

In modern times in Israel, summer can also be a time of war.

In the summer of 1967, the Six Day War was fought.  During the summer of 2006, the Second Lebanese war broke out. This year follows the same trend.  In response to heavy missile fire from Gaza over the last month, which is reaching further into Israel than ever before, Israel has launched Operation Protective Edge to defend Israeli citizens whose businesses, transportation, and homes are being destroyed and whose peace is being shattered. Israel now stands in the midst of an existential battle as Operation Protective Edge rages on.  She fights back as her enemies pursue her from beyond her borders.  Each day sees hundreds of rockets and missiles raining down on all parts of the country.

As terrorist missiles continue to fall on Israel, Jews around the world will solemnly prepare for a fast that recalls historic tragedies that befell the Jewish People on the Shiva Asar B'Tammuz (בתמוז עשר שבעה), which is more simply called the Fast of Tammuz or 17th of Tammuz. Although the 17th of Tammuz begins at sundown, the fast begins at dawn tomorrow morning and lasts until sunset. In the midst of bombs blasting and windows shattering, people fast and lament a great tragedy—the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem by the Romans under the command of Titus, in AD 70.

This melancholy day ushers in the three-week period of mourning called Bein HaMetzarim (Between the Straits), which culminates with Tisha B'av, the anniversary of the destruction of the Holy Temple. The fact that the current bombardment of Israel is coinciding with this time called Between the Straits is both distressing and chilling.

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans Under the
Command of Titus, AD 70, by David Roberts

IS YOUR CHRISTOLOGY , STRONG ENOUGH???

The term Christ comes from the Both Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “the one who has been anointed.”, who is Savior. Concept of Messiah is the universal hope of human being to resolve their problems and world peace. A ruling under one and every people obtain the justice in the challenges of life and cosmic problems irrespective of all races, gender and continent. That is the reason Samaritan responded to Jesus in her conversation like this, John 4:25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” 

There are two significant and exclusiveness of Christ. 1. Universalities of Christ. Means,  He is the universal savior, whole cosmic is looking unto the second coming of Christ.  2. Uniqueness of Christ. Means in Christ only, exclusively salvation is been supplied. Christ is the only way for whole humanity. Under the heaven on earth no any other name other than Christ, to be saved. Christian means one who follow Christ. There fore the role model of every christian should be Christ. Paul applied it in his life and said be model of Christ and the attitude of Him. Know who is Christ and for what we should follow Him. Without having enough knowing about Christ don not follow Him. Listen what Jesus replied to Samaritan women, John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you had known the gift of God and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” Yes if we acknowledge "who it is" we follow we never give up Him and will try to be like Him. Test yourself whether you are following the real Christ or a Christ that introduced by Christian religion? Christ never be exclusively for Jew, though He been born into a Jewish community. Christ never be exclusively for Christians, this community is been known after His name!!!

 Look Christ is for all, in the current situation looking for a single, one and only savior who can save out side all religious formalities. Even UNO is struggling to maintain the world peace, it shows no man can establish the world peace, "Loko sukano bhavanthu" can established by Messiah, Christ only!!! 

   

WHAT YOU FEAR TODAY???

 നിങ്ങൾ ഇന്ന്  ഭയപെടുന്നത്‌ എന്താണ്‌ ???

" Today, i would not fear death.
 But fear those who loves me... 
Because it is painful than death, 
when those people hurt me..."

It is fact, what people fear today is nothing but our co livings. Because this is the ends of  time and everything is its epic and extreme. The life is as lopsided, what can balance the life? Human being become self centered and self loved one. I fear whether we even love our self.....! The holy scripture warn us if we do not have love we are just as an instrument. Many of time and many  act the love, where do not have any idea about love. Look to Jesus he denied himself in the cross not for any fame and gain purpose but for each one who may accept him get salvation and experience real love....! 

There fore we learn to love our self first, and expose those love to others too. In this post modern, digital world human stretch out 'love', in the consumer basis. Today's world love shared in the anticipation of some profit. So in the universal issue to day is people searching for love and struggling to sustain. Parents fear whether their children's love may lost, couples fear in loose of their love.... but there is unfailing Love, Agape Love, Godly love. So the word of God says a"a complete love cast out the fear". 

ഇന്ന് ജെനങ്ങൾ  ഭയപെടുന്നെത്‌  എന്താണ് , മറ്റൊന്നുമല്ല  അവെന്റ്റെ  സഹജീവികളെ  ആണ് . എന്താന്നാൽ  ഇത്  അന്ത്യകാലവും  എല്ലാം  അതിന്റെ  പര്യ്മയ്തയിലും  ആകുന്നു . ജിവിതം  നില  ഇല്ലാതെ  ആയിരിക്കുകയാണ് . മനുഷ്യൻ  സോയാസ്നേഹികൾ ആയിരിക്കുന്നു.  നമ്മൾ  നമ്മെ  തന്നെ  സ്നേഹിക്കുന്നു  ഉണ്ടോ ?വജനം  നമ്മെ  ഓര്മപിക്കുന്നു  നമുക്ക്  സ്നേഹം  ഇല്ലെങ്കിൽ  ചിലമ്പ്പു്ന കൈതാളം മാത്രമാണ്! പലപ്പോഴും ,പലരും സ്നേഹം  നടികുകയാണ്, അതിനെ  കുറിച്ച്  ഒന്നും  അറിയാതെ.യേശുവിനെ നോക്കു സോയം സ്നേഹികാതെ തനിൽ  വിശോസികുന്നവര്ക്ക് രക്ഷ  ആയി.

ആയിതിനാൽ  നമ്മൾ  നമ്മെ  തന്നെ സ്നേഹിച്ചു  അതു  മറ്റുള്ളവർക്ക്  പകരണം. ഇന്നെത്തെ ഉത്തരനുതിക ലോകത്ത് ചിലതൊക്കെ പ്രേദിഷിച്ചു സ്നേഹം കോടുകുമ്പോൾ, സ്നേഹം  നഷ്ടപെടുമോ  എന്ന്  ഭയപെടുമ്പോൾ.... പരാജയപെടാത്ത ദൈവ സ്നേഹിത്തിൽ അശ്രിയിക്കാൻ പറ്റുമോ...... എങ്കിൽ  വജനം  പറയുന്നു  തികഞ്ഞ  സ്നേഹം  ഭയത്തെ പുറത്താക്കുന്നു .   

When you have nothing to do or in Dilemma Just Praise God!!!

Praising and Worshiping God is the best way to restore our mind and even whole being. When we worship God we forget anything and everything and reliant to God, Himself. Understand it is the open way for the people who trust God. Bible warn us do not depend in your own ability or sad on our weakens. But simply look unto him and please Him by our adoration and worship. Because to Worship you need nothing but just connected to God's spirit and worship Him in truth!!! Hai my dear reader whatever problems you confront now just listen to God and worship Him....I am sure and heaven is guarantee God will deals to your limitations.

LET US PRAY AND LET GOD WORKS

When we try to attain something from our own efforts the result will be measured by our limitations. So when we decided to work in our own way we take all the way to done it. And would not allow God to involve. But listen to the words of Mary “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” John 11:32  those words shows her longing for Jesus. She expected Jesus had to come and do something in her problem and involve in her needs. Mary's responds is a responds of human basic need of God's involvements in urgency. She was so limited in her all possibility, none was there to help her. So her thinking about God was limited to her circumstance but in the following words Jesus replied to her, “Where have you laid him?”⁶⁷ Now Mary should have courage,which will over come all her assumption and limitations, and say o lord my brother is there, Jesus works there and given back her brother Lazarus. There Mary's prayer brought result and become worth. Where as other thought she going to weep before Lazarus tomb! 

Dear reader whatever your problems let Jesus woks in your needs and wishes. For that only one thing you need to do Pray and let God works, other than you leave prayer and run to work in your own way. It doesn't mean that without work through prayer only you can attain something.But both are needed, not suppose to stay with only either one.