Archive for the ‘Hebrew Months’ Category

Tammuz 17 and the Season of the Basilisk

Posted: July 9, 2014 in Hebrew Months
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It has been said, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Please learn from the history of this Hebrew month and pray. This is going to be a very challenging month world-wide.  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Israel’s enemies acknowledge historical dates and plan attacks on those dates.

The 3 week period between Tammuz 17 and Av 9 (Tisha B’Av) are called ‘bein haMetzarim’, aka Between the Straits, Dire Straits. Lamentations 1:3, “Judah has gone into captivity, under affliction and hard servitude; she dwells among the nations, she finds no rest; all her persecutors overtake her in dire straits.” Fear is strong during these 21 days because of the historical events connected with these two dates.

Zechariah 8:17,  “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘The fast of the fourth [month], the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth..’ Each one of these Jewish fasts are memorial times, causing them to examine themselves so they would not repeat the sins of the past.

Bob Jones and Paul Keith Davis wrote a great article in the Elijah List June 21, 2007 called The Season of the Basilisk. www.elijahlist.com  This season for 2014 will be July 15 through August 5 . The teaching is lengthy but worth reading. Bob Jones had visions of Basilisk in 1996 and 1997, each year it was larger.

That three week period of time cause great dread and fear in the hearts of the Jewish people. MUCH MORE this year as they entered into constant rockets and air raid sirens as soon as the month of Tammuz began. We understand that faith draws from the spiritual to the negative. Faith in the negative brings into reality what you fear or dread. Job 3:25, For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. Faith in God and His Word brings what we greatly desire to come to pass.

We must not forget that prayer changes things, that our God will give us songs of deliverance. We must never forget that if God be for us who can be against us. We must never forget that the Covenant making and Covenant keeping God never slumbers or sleeps, He preserves and protects His chosen people and His Promised Land.

BUT HE NEEDS TO HEAR OUR PRAYERS!! Isaiah 62:6, “I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent. (7) And give Him no rest til He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”

Here are some historical events connected with this the 17th of Tammuz

  • 1312 BC, Moses descended from Mount Sinai and found the people worshiping the Golden Calf, breaking the 2 tablets containing the Ten Commandments- 3,000 Israelites were killed by Levites that day
  • 2 Kings 21:7, evil King Manasseh of Judah set up an idol in the Holy Sanctuary of the Temple
  • 586 BC, Jerusalem were breached after many months of seige by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces (First Temple was destroyed 3 weeks later on Av 9)
  • 70 AD, Titus & Rome breached the walls of Jerusalem. Beginning of the end of the Second Temple, which was destroyed three weeks later on Av 9)
  •  135 AD, Second Jewish-Roman War. Roman military leader Apostomus burned a Torah scroll prior to Bar Kokba’s revolt
  • 1239, Pope Gregory IX ordered the confiscation of all manuscripts of the Talmud
  • 1391, More than 4,000 Spanish Jews were killed in Toledo and Jaen, Spain
  •  1559, The Jewish Quarter of Prague was burned and looted
  • 1944, The entire population of Kovno ghetto was sent to the death camps
  • 1970, Libya ordered the confiscation of all Jewish property
  • 1981, Israel attacked the Tammuz-1 nuclear reactor at Osiraq in an attempt to scuttle Iraq’s nuclear program
  • 1994, Shoemaker Levi Comet began to break up, ending with bombarding Jupiter with 16 fragments on Av 9, each with an impact of a nuclear bomb
  •  Tammuz 24, 2002, one week following the 17th of Tammuz fast, water started to come out of the Western Wall. One of the stones, 15 meters up the wall, has suddenly become dripping wet with no earthly explanation
  • 2006, Lebanon and Israel went to war after Hezbollah kidnaped 2 Israeli soldiers. (Chuck Pierce prophesied January 29, 2006, “watch Lebanon. I will bring conflict into Lebanon, because it is the boundary that I will deal with this year concerning My promised land of Israel. The warlike tribes of Lebanon will once again arise. But in the end, I will win this war, and the riches that have been withheld from My Kingdom plan will be released.”)
  • 2010,  GAZA STRIP – The U.S. has asked Hamas not to talk about contacts with Obama administration officials, a source close to Gaza-based Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh told London’s Arabic-language al-Quds al-Arabi, according to a report in YNet news. The Washington paper said the U.S. administration has decided it must work with Hamas because of its status in the Arab and Islamic world (now look what the US alliance with Hamas has caused Israel)

Isaiah 62:1, “For Israel’s Sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not hold my peace”

 


Hebrew Month of Adar 1 Begins Friday at Sundown

Posted: January 30, 2014 in Hebrew Months
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The first of 2 months of Adar begins Friday night, January 31, 2014 at sundown.  The first day of the month is called Rosh Chodesh, which means ‘the head of the month’.

This year the Hebrew calendar has a leap year and adds another month of Adar. Both are called the 12th month and one is called Adar Aleph (A or 1) and the second month is called Adar Bet (B or 2). In the lunar Hebrew calendar,  there is a leap year 7 times in 19 years. When there is a leap year the Festival of Purim is on Adar 2, always being the month before Passover. The first month of Adar still has a Purim remembrance, but it is called PURIM KATAN – Little Purim and is celebrated on the 14th and 15th of Adar 1.

Adar 14-15-  Little Purim, There are no funerals, eulogies, mourning or fasting allowed on this day- only joy, laughter & feasting!  [Rejoice in expectation of  your mess become a message and your test to become your testimony of God’s faithfulness]

“When Adar arrives, we increase our joy”. Jewish Talmud- Taanit 29a

Adar is the 12th month on the Jewish calendar and represents completion of a cycle (yr). The sages say that this is the best month to try to remove your personal barriers to holiness, thereby creating potential for great joy.  Adar gives us keys to victory, that will bring hope producing faith to be victorious over any opposition, both personally or nationally. YEAH!!!!

The name Adar  is found as a proper masculine name as a descendant of Benjamin or a city in Judah. (many patterns about the Church are found in the life of Benjamin).  The name means “exceeding glorious“.  The word Adar as a month is found in Ezra 6:15 and numerous times in the Book of Esther and means ‘glorious.  The Lexicon comments that ‘perhaps this month is so-called from the flowers and trees being so splendidly covered with leaves’.   Since we have 2 months of Adar, I am expecting 2 months full of  double favor and multiplied glory!!!   Remember, this is the Year of the Double!  And I am expecting for Israel to have double honor instead of shame!!   These are double blessing months so expect the favor of God to come into every and all of your areas of attack. THIS ARE THE MONTHS FOR KINGS AND PRIEST UNTO GOD TO DECLARE AND DECREE  “INSTEAD”!! (See Isaiah 61)

Purim is very important to watch because it falls on a full moon, middle of the lunar month. Only The Feasts of the Lord of Passover and Tabernacles fall on a full moon and qualify for a possible ‘blood moon’. (Joel 3:21)   NASA projects there will be a lunar eclipse (blood moon) on Passover & Tabernacles 2014 & 2015.   That back-to-back eclipse cycle is called a Tetrad,  and it is an incredible sign to watch for when it falls on God’s fixed appointed Feast Days.   Note: There were no astronomical back-to-back blood-red moon events in the 1800’s, the 1700’s or the 1600’s. In the 1500’s there were six, but none fell on Passover or Tabernacles. The 2014/2015 events will be the last in this century.    In 1492 following Spain kicking the Jews out of the country or death by Av 9 (the most dreaded day on the Jewish calendar) a Tetrad followed, Passover and Tabernacles 1493 & 1494 (full blood moons on each). Other years there were back-to-back blood red moons on Passover & Tabernacles followed the 1948 War of Independence and  the 1967 Six Day War.

In the month of Adar women begin  Spring Housecleaning in preparation for Passover & the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Everything will be spotless and all leaven removed before Nisan 14. (Fall house cleaning is done in preparation for Rosh Hashanah 6 months later) Both Spring and Fall house cleaning began with these Jewish events. (This year I get two months to clean, expect double cleansing) 
Just as Elijah kept sending his servant to look for clouds of rain- expect your miracle and don’t give up. If you don’t see God working it is because He is working behind the scenes, hidden like in the Book of Esther.

TRIBE- NAPHTALI

Naphtali is the 6th son of Jacob and the 2nd son of Rachel’s handmaid. Naphtali means to ‘wrestle’ and comes from his birth as Rachel proclaims, “With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.” Those from that Tribe do not look for a fight, but when they do enter into a fight they win. For this reason the Tribe of Naphtali makes great intercessors. Their banner symbol is that of a hine,  a 3-year-old red deer. The unique thing about a hine is that it has no gall bladder. Gall is symbolic of bitterness and an intercessor cannot carry bitterness and win. One of the heroes from Naphtali’s lineage was Barak from Judges 4-5, who battled alongside Deborah. The men from that tribe are masculine, but not intimidated by women in ministry. The weakness of the tribe  is compromise. Since they do not like to fight they did not drive out the enemy on their allotted land in the Promised Land and eventually were full of idol worshipers. His land was north by Lebanon and was one of the first of the Lost Tribes sent into dispersion and captivity. (Don’t compromise with your weakness and enemy, you will win the fight if you press in to defeat the enemy one and for all)

HEBREW LETTER- KAF (pronounced kaf) This is the 11th letter with the numerical value of 20. It is a pictograph of a wing or an open hand symbolizing 1) to allow 2) to cover 3) to open.

Kaf also looks like a mask. It is interesting that the ungodly carnival of Mardis Gras is usually in the month of Adar. It is also the month that Queen Esther revealed her true identity as a Jew, removing the so-called Gentile mask she had been wearing. It is time to remove all human, man-made masks of your self worth and reveal who you are in Christ.

Each of the stanzas of Psalm 119:81-88 begin with Kaf and teach us when we cry out to God in a time of need. It is not the hand of man that will bring us help in a time of need, but our loving Father who is waiting for us to ask.

The literal meaning is of a ‘palm’ which is considered the location where potential of Yod (hand). For this reason we bless children with palms facing them as we envision God as having His palms over us.

KAF words: (1) Yes- – (Kaf Noon), yes (ken) is to open your hand to life or activity (2) Priest– (Ken Hey- in center of yes) Ko-hen, placing HEY in the heart of yes (ken) tells us the job of a priest is to reveal the heart of the ‘yes’. (3) To Forgive– (Kaf Pey Reysh) To Atone- (kee-per), forgiveness comes when, instead of pronouncing judgment, you cover the mouth of the person.: 

Constellation- Pisces, The Fishes (Hebrew, Dagim)  This constellation always represented Israel, who were strangers and pilgrims on this earth, looking for a heavenly city whose builder and maker is God. However, the symbol of the Church is a fish. So, these 2 fish, one swimming heaven-ward & one swimming on the path of the sun represent Israel and the Church, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant- the one new man spoken of in  Ephesians 2:15. The two fish are held together by a cord called ‘al Risha’, which means ‘a common bond’.

Jesus is what ties the two together. He did not come to destroy the law and the prophets, but fulfill them (Mt 5:17). Prominent stars of the 113 that make up the constellation are, Okda (Hebrew) meaning ‘the united’; Al Samaca (Arabic) ‘the upheld’.

Isaiah 41:10b, “Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand“. The Church is forever tied to Israel. Pray for the Peace (shalom, nothing missing, nothing broken) of Jerusalem. They shall prosper that love thee (Ps 122:6)

This is a special month on a special year. We should expect favor to come our way, for our mountains to be thrown into the sea and be ready to shout ‘instead’ at every attack of the evil one. To God be the glory!!

IN HISTORY

  • Adar 1-Ezekiel 32, Ezekiel received the word of the Lord of lamentation for  Pharaoh & Egypt, Elam (Iran) mentioned [expect troubled systems to be troubled by Almighty God]
  • Adar 2- 1942, Hitler devised a plan for a Museum of Judaism, to remember the dead Jewish religion, culture and people. Millions of Jewish treasures — Torah scrolls, ritual objects, books and art — were looted by the Nazis and taken to warehouses. In Czechoslovakia, the objects were taken to the Jewish Museum in Prague, where the Jews themselves were forced to sort, label, and pack the items for use in the Nazi’s future museum. After the war, many of these items were recovered, including thousands of Torah scrolls and nearly one million books. (it is interesting that the movie The Monuments Men about this historical event is coming out in the month of Adar)
  • Adar 3- 350 BC, the building of the second Holy Temple was completed in Jerusalem, as recorded in the biblical Book of Ezra (6:15).  (expect restoration)
  • Adar 5- 1957, Israeli troops withdrew from the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula. This followed the Suez War of 1956, in which France, Britain and Israel teamed up to stop Egyptian interference with shipping through the Suez Canal. (The canal was a crucial trade link between Europe and the regions of India, North Africa and the Middle East; two-thirds of Europe’s oil passed through the Suez Canal.) In the war, Israel was able to secure Gaza and the Sinai, but fearing a larger conflict with the Soviet Union, U.S. President Eisenhower forced a cease-fire and persuaded Israel to withdraw. In response to the Suez War, the Egyptian government expelled 25,000 Egyptian Jews and confiscated their property, and sent 1,000 more Jews to prisons and detention camps.
  • Adar 6- 1273 BC (Jewish year 2488), Moses completed his farewell address to the Jewish people, and God informed Moses that the day of his death was approaching (Deut. 31:14). Amazingly, the anniversary of Moses’ completing his teaching coincides with the date in 1482 of the first printing of the standard format used for Jewish Bibles today: vowel signs, accents, translation (Targum), and Rashi commentary.
  • Adar 7- 1273 BC– Death of Moses  (Jewish year 2488), on the same day of his birth 120 years earlier. (Consequently, “May you live to 120” has become a common Jewish blessing.)
  • Adar 10- 1980, Israel and Egypt exchanged ambassadors, marking a new era of cordial, if cold, diplomacy.
  • Adar 12- 11 BC– Adar 12 marks the dedication of Herod’s renovations on the second Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 11 BC. Herod was king of Judea in the first century BC who constructed grand projects like the fortresses at Masada and Herodium, the city of Caesarea, and fortifications around the old city of Jerusalem.  As the Talmud says, “He who has not seen Herod’s building, has never in his life seen a truly grand building.”
  • Adar 13- 1946, On Adar 13, during the biblical story of Purim, the 10 sons of Haman were hanged (Esther 9:7). This would find eerie parallel over 2,000 years later when 10 top Nazi officials were hanged at the Nuremberg Trials. Incredibly, the Hebrew year of the hangings at Nuremberg, 5707, is encoded in the Book of Esther: In the listing of Haman’s 10 sons, three Hebrew letters — taf, shin and zayin, representing the year 5707 — are written unusually small. (This anomaly appears in every authentic Megillah scroll, written that way for over 2,000 years.) Incredibly, when Nazi officer Julius Streicher ascended the gallows to be hanged at Nuremberg, he shouted, “Purimfest 1946.” (hanged Adar 14)
  • Adar 13 is Nicanor Day, remembrance of the defeat of wicked Syrian Nicanor by the Maccabees in 161 BC (Josephus Antiquities Book 12, Chapter 10, pt 5) [expect your enemies to be overthrown]
  • Adar 13, 2003– Eve of Purim, March 17, 2003- President George W. Bush announces War on Iraq (12 Purims after Iraq war under President Bush, Sr)
  • Adar 14- In 355 BC, the Jews celebrated their successful defeat of Haman’s anti-Semitic mobs, an event we commemorate today with the Purim holiday.We read the Megillah (Scroll of Esther), dress up in costumes, and celebrate how the Jews of Persia narrowly escaped annihilation, thanks to the bravery of Esther and Mordechai. In Shushan, the Persian capital, however, the battle lasted one additional day and Purim was not celebrated until the 15th of Adar. Thus today in Jerusalem, Purim is celebrated one day later than the rest of the world. (During Jewish leap years we celebrate Purim in the second month of Adar.)
  • Adar 14 – in 1991 Saddam Hussein tried to rain missiles down on Israel and was defeated on Purim [First Gulf War under President George Bush Sr]  [expect God to do it again if Israel would fall under attack]
  • Adar 18- 1953, Death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Historians contend that Stalin was preparing a Soviet-wide pogrom, a ‘Second Holocaust’, but the scheme was cancelled upon Stalin’s death.
  • Adar 20- Special Torah reading regarding the Red Heifer cleansing (Numbers 19:2) This is for the special purifying before Passover (may be Adar 2)
  • Adar 23– This date marks the beginning of the seven-day inauguration period of the Tabernacle, the portable sanctuary that accompanied the Jewish people in the desert following their Exodus from Egypt. Moses served as the High Priest during these seven days, and on the eighth day his brother Aaron took over, as recorded in Leviticus chapters 8-9.
  • Adar 24- 1451, Pope Nicholas V issued a decree forbidding all social contact between Christians and Jews. The Church sought to stop Christian converts to Judaism; throughout Europe, those who did so were liable to the death penalty.
  • Adar 25- 561 BC- This date marks the death of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia
  • Adar 27-1979, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat signed the Camp David Peace Agreement at the White House.
  • Adar 28- 163 BC, two years after the miracle of Chanukah, Syrian King Antiochus V granted religious freedom and political autonomy to the Jews in Israel. This reversed an earlier decree of his father, King Antiochus IV, prohibiting Torah study, Shabbat observance and circumcision. This event was commemorated for many centuries as a Jewish holiday.
  • Adar 30-1948, the headquarters of the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem was bombed, killing 12 people.

Hebrew Month Shevat 5774 Begins At Sundown January 1, 2014

Posted: January 1, 2014 in Hebrew Months
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Shevat (shvat)  is known as the ‘eleventh month” according to the sacred calendar and is the ‘fifth month’ on the civil calendar.

The only mention of Shevat is found in Zachariah 1:7, “On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat (Shevat), in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechaih, the son of Iddo the prophet.” This month is mentioned with reference to the angels ‘walking to and fro throughout the earth’ (Vs 11) so this month is associated with our awareness and cooperation with heavenly messengers. The significance of this vision was God’s message that He will again be merciful to Jerusalem. (Vs 14, 16, 17)

The word Shevat is not a Jewish word, but a word coming most likely from Babylon. The word means ‘rod’. Which is a symbol of judgment to God’s enemies. For us, we find the rod and the staff of our Shepherd as a comfort (Ps 23:4). As we walk through these dark last days we find comfort that the Lord, Jehovah Rohi, is protecting us with His rod and staff.

For 37 days Moses gave his last message to Israel. He began the message on the 1st day of the 11th month (Shevat) and ended on the 7th day of the 12th month of Adar. Deuteronomy 1:3 reads, “And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first [day] of the month, [that] Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the Lord had given him in commandment unto them.” Note: “Now it came to pass” means behind the phrase- ‘begins in turmoil and ends in a blessing’. (Genesis 22:1; Ruth 1:1)

The 15th of Shevat is called Tu B’Shvat, the “New Year of Trees”, which is the Jewish Arbor Day. This is technically the day when trees stop absorbing water from the ground, and instead draw nourishment from their sap. No fruit is eaten from a tree under three years old. Tu B’ Shevat is celebrated by eating some of the varieties of fruit found in Israel (dates, pomegranates, figs, grapes). Food is made from dried fruit and gifts of fruit are often given and received. This is also a celebration for the Tree of life, which symbolizes the Messiah who give true life. The first blooming in Israel is the almond. Nehemiah 10:35 reads, “And me made ordinances to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, to the house of the Lord.”

In History, this is the month that 2 Space Shuttles were destroyed in Space, both carrying Israeli astronauts- 1986 & 2003. (see historical dates below)

TRIBE- Asher,  the 8th son of Jacob and the 2nd son of Zilpah, the handmaiden of Leah. His name means ‘happy’.  Genesis 30:13, “Then Leah said, ‘I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed.’ So she called his name Asher.”

Asher’s symbol was a fruitful olive tree.This symbol was given to Asher because of the abundance of joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. It is not that Asher never had problems, but he was able to overcome all of the problems with his optimistic attitude. Asher is fearless, optimistic and has the strength to go to hard and dangerous places.

Asher’s weaknesses were that he did not like to fight and compromised.  Judges 1:31, “The tribe of Asher also failed to drive out the residents of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob (32) In fact, because they did not drive them out, the Canaanites dominated the land where the people of Asher lived.”  As a result Jezebel was able to introduce Baal worship to God’s chosen people in this area.

His strengths were that the tribe is optimistic and gets things right in the end. Judges 7:23, “Then Gideon sent for the warriors of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, who joined in the chase after the fleeing army of Midian”. They became part of Gideon’s mighty men and proved to loyal, faithful and committed to the end. They were part of Solomon’s soldiers as recorded in I Chronicles 7:40, part of Hezekiah’s revival as recorded in 2 Chronicles 13:10-11. Anna, the prophetess, was a true example of a loyal, faithful and committed servant of God in the House of the Lord as recorded in Luke 2.

CONSTELLATION/MAZAL- AQUARIUS, ‘THE WATER BEARER’. This represents the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The symbol is shown of a man, symbolizing Jesus Christ, who physically poured forth literal waters from an inexhaustible source, removing the curse and turning the world into a paradise.

LETTER- Tzadik- (pronounced tsadee) is the 18th letter in the Hebrew Aleph Bet and has the numerical value of 90.  The number 90 represents the fullness of life: Psalm 90:10,  Sarah was 90 when she became pregnant with Isaac. In the classic Hebrew script this letter looks like a tree. The word tzadik means ‘righteousness or righteous one’. Tzadik is the pictograph of a man lying down and represents need.

HISTORICAL EVENTS IN SHEVAT:

  • 1-Moses began his farewell address after 40 years in the Wilderness as recorded in Deuteronomy 1:3
  • 3-In 1933, Adolph Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany
  • 6-In 1393, following a massacre of Jews at Majorca, an edict was issued guaranteeing the Jews protection. (Majorca is one of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea.) In just a few short years the protective decree was forgotten; persecution of the Jews began again in 1413. By 1435, the Jewish community had been completely destroyed, with many Jews forcibly converted to Christianity. These forced converts retained Jewish practice in private, but they publicly boiled pork lard in large pots, as a way to appear non-Jewish. (Hence these Jews were nicknamed Chuetas — “pork lard.”)
  • 7- In 1943, plans were finalized to deport the Jews of Athens, Greece. From 1941-1943, Greece was under control of the Italians, who by and large protected the Jews against the Germans. In the Holocaust, 77 percent of Greek Jewry were murdered — 60,000 Jews
  • 8-On this date in 1960, Jonas E. Salk finalized a proposal to build the Salk Institute for Biological Studies near San Diego. Salk (1914-1995) had achieved fame as the physician who discovered the first polio vaccine while working at the University of Pittsburgh. Polio was a widely-feared disease that caused paralysis and oftentimes death.
  • 11-On this day in 1601, Hebrew books that had been confiscated by Church authorities were burned in Rome.
  • 12-In 1945, the Russian army liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp. The gas chambers of Auschwitz II (Birkenau) were blown up by German troops in November 1944 in an attempt to hide their crimes. In January 1945 the Nazis began to evacuate the facility; most of the prisoners were ordered on a death march, which lasted for weeks in the cold and snow. In the end, some7,000 people survived Auschwitz; over one million perished.
  • 13-In 1790, France granted full and equal citizenship to Sefardi Jews. (Ashkenazi Jews gained citizenship a year and a half later.) In the 1940’s the French turned over 61,000 Jews to the Nazis.
  • 15- Tu B’ Shevat, New Year for the Trees, the Jewish Arbor Day
  • 15- In 1925, the Technion opened in Haifa, becoming Israel’s first modern university. Albert Einstein served as president of the first Technion Society.
  • 18- In 1980, following its peace treaty with Israel, the Egyptian parliament voted to end its economic boycott of Israel, which began in 1945.
  • 18-1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds after the launch of its mission, when an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster failed. All seven crew members were killed, including Judith Resnik, 36-year-old Jewish American. Challenger was one of two space shuttles destroyed during a mission, the other being Columbia in 2003 which included Israeli Ilan Ramon.
  • 19- In 1349, Jews in Basle, Switzerland were burned alive in a wooden house, erected specifically for that purpose.The Jewish community of Basel had flourished until 1348, when they were accused of poisoning wells during the Black Plague. This triggered a variety of persecutions: Jewish children were forcibly baptized, 600 Jews were burned at the stake, and the remainder were burned alive in the wooden house. In modern history, Basel became better known as the host of the first Zionist Congress in 1897. Ironically, on this date in 1949 — exactly 600 years after the massacre in Basle — the State of Israel elected its first president, Chaim Weizman
  • 21-In 1948, a car bomb exploded in front of the Palestine Post (later the Jerusalem Post) on Havatzelet Street in Jerusalem.
  • 23-On this date in 1918, the Jewish Legion left England to join the Allies in liberating Palestine from the Turks.  This would be remembered as the first organized Jewish fighting force since Roman times, and a precursor to the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).
  • 24-In 354 BC, the prophet Zechariah predicted the rebuilding of Zion, as recorded in  Zechariah (1:7). King Darius of Persia had given permission to rebuild the second Holy Temple, and Zechariah rebuked the people for not quickly taking the opportunity to do so
  • 27-In 1583, a convert to Judaism named Joseph Sanalbo was burned at the stake in Rome. In the second half of the 16th century, Jews were subject to grave Church-sponsored persecutions: Pope Julius III and Pope Clement VIII condemned the Talmud and other Hebrew writings as “obscene,” “blasphemous” and “abominable” — and ordered them all seized and burned.
  • 28- 163 BC, King Antiochus V lifted the siege of Jerusalem. The day was observed in subsequent years as a holiday. Antiochus V was only nine years old when he became head of the Seleucid dynasty, following the death of his father Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the oppressor of the Jews who provoked the Maccabees’ revolt.
  • 29- On this date in 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke up during re-entry, killing all seven crew members aboard, including Israel’s first astronaut, Ilan Ramon. During his 16 days in space, Ramon defied gravity by lifting his country from the morass of terror, by making Jews feel connected and proud. Ramon’s space luggage included a small Torah scroll that had survived Bergen-Belsen. He also brought along a mezuzah adorned with barbed wire — symbolizing the Nazi concentration camps — in tribute to his mother who survived Auschwitz and his grandfather who was murdered there. On board the Shuttle, Ramon ate kosher food and welcomed Shabbat with the first intergalactic Kiddush. And as he passed over Jerusalem, he recited “Shema Yisrael,” the age-old declaration of Jewish faith.
  • 30-In 1667, the Jews of Rome ran the humiliating “Carnival race” for the last time. Every year, during Rome’s annual carnival, scantily-clad Jews had been forced to race along the main street, while the crowd mocked them, threw trash, and reigned heavy blows. (The event often proved fatal.) As further indignity, Jews were forced to contribute financially to the operation of the Carnival. During this time, Jews were confined to living in the Roman Ghetto, a walled quarter with three gates that were locked at night. The Jews were subjected to other degradations, including having to attend compulsory Catholic sermons on Shabbat. Outside the ghetto, Jews were required to wear identifying yellow clothing.

Tevet 5774 Begins at Sundown 12/3/13

Posted: December 3, 2013 in Hebrew Months
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Every Hebrew month has a Tribe, Constellation and Hebrew letter associated with it. These hold keys to our promises for that month and help us to pray in line with God’s timing and to get our lives into time with His specific appointed times.

I have found that if you follow God’s timing you will come into the rhythm of His appointed seasons. Last month I ministered about the month of Kislev being the month of dreams and I have had incredible testimonies to those who had breakthroughs by purposely day dreaming and also by expecting God to speak to them in the night season!

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 tells us ‘to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven’. Ecclesiastes 3:15 reads, ‘That which is has already been, and what is to be has already been; and God requires an account of what is past.’ From these verses we get an understanding of cycles and how history repeats itself. Just as our ‘seasons’ repeat themselves naturally (ie, Gulf experiencing hurricane season), things spiritually repeat themselves and we can learn from history. Not superstitiously, but seeking God in specific times.

Tevet  is known as the ‘tenth month” according to the sacred calendar that counts the months and is the ‘fourth month’on the civil calendar that counts the years.  This month one of the four fast-days which commemorate the destruction of the Temple of 587 BC is held on the 10th day of Tevet. Zechariah 8:19, “”Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘The fast of the fourth [month], The fast of the fifth, The fast of the seventh, And the fast of the tenth, ..”

The month begins with the ending of Hanukkah, also called the Festival of Lights or the Festival of Dedication. The eight-day celebration commemorates the miracle of one day’s supply of holy Temple oil lasting eight days until more pure Temple oil could be prepared. This year Hanukkah began at sundown November 27 and ends at sundown December 4.

The first mention of this month is found in Esther 2:16, “ So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tevet (Teveth) in the seventh year of his reign.” Tevet is a Babylonian name and means ‘goodness’. It was the goodness of Yahweh to raise up an Jewish orphan child named Hadassah to become Queen Esther and save the entire Jewish race. I pray that God will raise you to a higher level to be a deliverer to those around you that are in darkness.

TRIBE- Dan, “Genesis 30:6, And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.” He is the 5th son of Jacob and his name means ‘judge, discern, divine judgment’. Dan was gifted (graced) to ‘judge righteously’. His symbol is of a scale with a serpent wrapped around it. This is showing that the satanic influences will dominate if they did not turn to the Lord for help. The serpent is very beguiling and you will need divine discernment to judge every circumstance this month. Samson was from the lineage of Dan and one of the first workers to be filled with the Spirit to build the Tabernacle was from the Tribe of Dan. But in order to be mightily used of God, we need to judge ourselves and overcome our carnal nature. Remember, the Tribe Dan was almost wiped out entirely out of the Bible but they show up in the millennium as first mentioned. Again, we see the goodness of Yahweh.

CONSTELLATION/MAZAL- Capricorn, ‘The Sea Goat’. It appears to be dying with its head bowed down, the right leg folded under the body and seems unable to rise with the left. The other part of the body is as a fish, full of life. The fish has always been a symbol of Christians. This represents the death of Jesus (scapegoat) so we cold live. In the goat we have an atoning sacrifice, in the fish we have the people for whom the atonement was made. The entire part of this heavenly Bible story is telling of our benefits because of the death of Jesus Christ.

LETTER- Ayin, the 16th letter in the Hebrew Aleph-Bet with the numerical value of 70. The ancient pictograph is an eye and means ‘eye, look, appearance, see, understand’.  The letter Ayin combined with the Tribe of Dan show us that we are going to need divine understanding and discernment in this month of Tevet.

THE TRANSLATION OF THE SEVENTY ON THE 8th OF TEVET– ‘Ptolemy once gathered 72 Elders, 6 from each of the Tribes of Israel. He placed them in 72 chambers, each of them in a separate one, without revealing to them why they were summoned. He entered each one’s room and said: ‘Write for me the Torah of Moshe, your teacher.’ After 72 days of writing, each of the Elders’ Greek  translations  were ‘identical’. This is called the “Translation of the Seventy”. This is what is called the Septuagint and refers to the committee of seventy translators The miracle of the translation was completed on the 8th of Tevet. (Tractate Megillah 9). Each of the translators of Moses’ writings wrote identically the same thing, because God intended His Word to remain forever. Darkness descended on the land for 3 days after the Torah was translated from Hebrew to Greek.

SPECIAL DATES IN TEVET:

  • 1- In 355 BC, Esther becomes Queen (Esther 2:16)
  •  2- On this date in 1947, the Arab Legion surrounded Jerusalem and isolated its 100,000 Jews from the rest of the Israeli population. By March 1948 the city was under full siege, and in May, Jordan invaded and occupied east Jerusalem, dividing the city for the first time in its history, and driving thousands of Jews into exile. The Arabs proceeded to destroy all 58 synagogues in the Jewish Quarter, and used Jewish gravestones on the Mount of Olives to build roads and latrines. The Western Wall would be off-limits to Jews (in spite of the cease-fire agreement granting freedom of access to holy places), restored again with Israel’s victory in the 1967 war.
  • 5- In 422 BC, the prophet Ezekiel heard the news of Jerusalem’s conquest by a foreign power, as recorded in the biblical Book of Ezekiel (33:21).
  • 6- In 1949, six British RAF warplanes enforcing a UN ceasefire were shot down by Israeli forces over the Israel-Egypt border.
  • 8- This date marks the completion of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible in the third century BC — the oldest Bible translation. The Septuagint derives its name from the Latin word for ‘ seventy,’ alluding to the 72 Jewish scholars drafted by Egyptian King Ptolemy to translate the Bible for inclusion in the Library of Alexandria.
  • 9- Believed to be the death of Ezra. Ezra was the founder of the Great Assembly, a body of 120 prophets and sages who established important matters like the standard text found in Jewish prayer books today.
  • 10- In 424 BC, Babylonia King Nebuchadnezzar began his siege of Jerusalem. There was little damage on that first day and no Jews were killed, yet it began a chain of disasters which ended with the destruction of the Holy Temple. The 10th of Tevet is still observed today by Jews as a public fast day, as mentioned by the prophet Zechariah (8:19).
  • 11- In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln pledged to amend a federal law granting only Christian clergy the right to serve as military chaplains.  It is regarded historically as the first case of American Jews successfully challenging federal legislation.
  • 11- In 1688, Jews were expelled from Austria
  • 16- In 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant was instructed to revoke Order No. 11, which had called for the expulsion of all Jews from Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi.  Grant wrote: “No Jews are to be permitted to travel on the railroad southward from any point… The [region] must be purged of them.” Based on Grant’s orders, Jews were expelled from their homes, including 20 families from the town of Paducah alone.  Jewish community leaders immediately arranged a meeting at the White House with President Lincoln, who cancelled the expulsion order. Grant, who would later become U.S. president, never offered any explanation or apology.
  • 19- In 1901, the Jewish National Fund was founded for the purpose of purchasing settlement land in Israel.
  • 20- In 1496, the Talmud was first printed
  • 22- In 1798, mobs attempted to torch the Jewish ghetto of Rome, but rains put out the fire. The day was then designated as a holiday by Roman Jews. The Roman Ghetto had been in existence since 1555, when the Pope segregated the Jews in a walled quarter with three gates that were locked at night.
  • 24- In 1837, Galilee Earthquake in northern Israel killed 4,000 Jews in Safed and between 700-1000 in Tiberius
  • 26- In 1826, Maryland adopted a law which allowed Jews to hold public office, on condition that they accept the concept of reward and punishment in the afterlife.
  • 28- In 81 BC Sadducees were ejected from the Sanhedrin
  • 29- In 1808, Ezekiel Hart, the first Jew elected to Canadian Parliament, was denied his seat when he swore the oath of inauguration on a Jewish Bible

Kislev – The Month of Dreams

Posted: November 3, 2013 in Hebrew Months
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Tonight at sundown begins the Hebrew month of Kislev. It is the 9th month on the sacred calendar that counts the months and the 3rd month on the civil calendar that marks the year. The name Kislev comes from a Hebrew word that means ‘security, hope or trust’.

Each month on the Jewish calendar has a Hebrew letter, Constellation and Tribe associated with it. This month all three of those have to do with ‘security, hope and trust’!!

I had a spiritual dream last week in which I was given point by point of what to minister when I gave the Kislev message at Breath of Life International Ministries yesterday. The message was Dare to Dream- Dream on Purpose. Father God wants us to change our mindset and begin to see your life today in the positive instead of the negative.

The Torah portions for the month of Kislev include 9 of the 10 dreams of Genesis. All are from the Throne of God and carry heavenly strategies that help us get back into alignment with His purpose for each of us.

Each of us have thought constantly going through our minds that are either positive or negative. In the times we are living in we need to purpose to be positive based on what the Word of God says. Jeremiah 29:11says that our Heavenly Father has a good plans and a good future for each of us. Dream on purpose that things are going to turn around in your life.

  • When Dottie Osteen was told she had a short time to live she put pictures of herself with scriptures and kept seeing herself living and strong. She is alive today and ministers with her son Joel Osteen at Lakewood Church in Houston.
  • When Gloria Copeland had nothing but bills she began a scrapbook of pictures of what her home would look like and began to dream about her new home. She is now living in her dream home.
  • When Dr Cho of South Korea had nothing he began to dream on purpose, visualizing about his ministry. Little by little his nothing became one of the largest churches in the world.

What can you lose? Begin a dream book or a dream board and dare to dream. Keep a journal by your bed and expect Throne Room strategies in this divinely ordered month when heavenly dreams are in season!

LETTER: Samech. This is the 15th letter of the Hebrew Aleph Bet and has the numerical value of 60. When I think of 60 I think of the clock of 60 minutes. We have been given another hour today as we turned our clock back! We don’t have to redo the past but we have a fresh start! The letter literally means ‘trust, complete, support or coming full circle’. Dare to trust God’s Word completely that your circumstances are about to shift and your best is yet to come!

CONSTELLATION: Sagittarius, ‘the archer’.  This represents our Redeemer has already triumphed and is coming back as the Son of God & Son of Man with great quickness. (Rev 6:2)Dare to dream that your turnaround victory has already been won and will come quickly.

TRIBE: Benjamin, represents Abundant Grace.

  • 12th son of Jacob
  • Only son born in the Promised Land
  • Spoiled, protected and provisions freely provided
  • 5 times more food and clothing given to him in Egypt
  • King Saul, Paul the Apostle and Queen Esther all from the Tribe of Benjamin
  • Began his life with selfishness, but ended his life as a great giver

Dare to dream that you are going to be lavished and spoiled with heavenly grace this month and everything is shifting to your favor. A video from the evil one has been playing in your head that you will die, your will be homeless, you are fat and will always be fat, you are a failure, nobody likes you, etc. Read the promises written in our Father’s love letter to us and dare to dream that your best days are coming quickly. Your children are coming home, your back wages are being restored, your house is supernaturally paid off and you are giving testimony to your divine healing!! JUST DARE TO DREAM & DREAM BIG. DON’T LIMIT GOD WITH YOUR SMALL THINKING!!

 

5774 Pregnant With Double

Posted: August 31, 2013 in Feast of Trumpets, Hebrew Months, Holidays- Holy Days
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Next Wednesday night at sundown will begin the new year 5774 on God’s calendar. I say God’s calendar and not Hebrew calendar for a reason. 5774 marks the years since the beginning of the world as we know it since Creation. God never changes, His Word never changes, His promises never change, His love never changes and his ‘moedim’ (fixed appointed times) never change. We need to get into the rhythm of Yahweh’s timing because the End Time prophetic happenings will be on His fixed appointed days. (Did you notice that He was not moved by Y2K or the Mayan calendar?)

Last night we had an incredible Head of the Year meeting at Breath of Life International Ministries in Friendswood with Pastors Albert and Marcelia Anderson. Awesome! Worship Minister Michael Moses ushered us into a realm where it was easy to hear what Abba is saying for us this next year. Lavonne Chandler of Touched by Grace brought forth the prophetic word and it was off the charts awesome! I know that BOLIM will have those audio messages available for sale soon. www.breathoflifeinternational.net.

As Sister Lavonne was ministering, Yahweh spoke to me that this next year was pregnant with twins, double. On May 18, 2013 I blogged about 5774 being a leap year, which the Jewish call a ‘pregnant’ year.  This means that there will be an extra month of Adar and that Purim (the celebration of the  victory over Haman’s edict to destroy the Jewish people as recorded in Esther) will be delayed a month to Adar 2.

WHAT DOES PREGANT WITH DOUBLE MEAN FOR US? Today’s Torah reading confirmed what I was shown last night. There is a ‘double Torah reading’ and both have to do with choosing. The readings are Nitsavim (“You are standing”) Deut 29:9 – 30:20 & Va Yelech (“And he went”) Deut 31:10-20). We are in the 25th day of Teshuvah, turning back to Yahweh. Choose today whom you will serve.

  • 30:15, life and good or death and evil
  • 30:19, I call on heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have presented you with life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life, so that you will live, you and your descendants (CJB)
  • 31:6, 7, 23, Be strong and of good courage- do not fear (we can choose to be strong or be in fear)

Last year was all about the camels coming loaded down with blessings for the Bride of Isaac, as recorded in Genesis 24.

This year we are entering into Genesis 25 with the “TWINS”,  Jacob and Esau, coming forth through the ‘door’ of the womb. This year we will see the fullness birth of blessings and cursing, life or death.

Many believers are asking the same thing Rebekah asked “If it is going to be like this, why go on living?” So she went to inquire of Adonai,  who answered her, “There are two nations in your womb. From birth they will be two rival peoples. One of these peoples will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

Choose life no matter how you feel, choose to decree your future, choose to believe the report of the Lord. You are a prophet of your own future. No one can choose for you.

Just as the natural seed of Jacob and Esau has come to fullness as war is rising between the ‘twins’, war is rising with our promises. The enemy of Yahweh has a future planned for the Bride, but God’s promises are greater!!!! Satan may have been the god of this world, but Yeshuah won the victory and redeemed us to our place of dominion, washed us in His precious Blood to rule and reign as kings and priests unto the Most High God!

I decree and declare, “the older shall serve the younger”!!! Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, may they prosper who love you.

Shabbat Shalom

Today in History – Tammuz 6, Raid on Entebbe

Posted: June 14, 2013 in Hebrew Months
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Uganda Raid 1976

July 4, 1976 the United State of America was celebrating its bicentennial. The date on the Hebrew calendar was Tammuz 6, 5736.

On this day the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) performed an incredible, against all odds, rescue of 100 Jews held hostage at Entebbe airport in Uganda. The prior week, Palestinian terrorists hijacked an Air France flight and landed the plane in Uganda with the full support of dictator Idi Amin. The terrorists threatened to kill all the Jewish hostages if the Israeli government did not release convicted Palestinian terrorists.

The government of Israel refused to negotiate with the Palestinian terrorists demands and planned a rescue mission. God knows in advance what is going to happen to His chosen people and Israel had all the blueprints of the building where the hostages were held. It was built by an Israeli construction firm!

200 Israeli soldiers were flown to Entebbe and brought a black Mercedes disguised to look like Uganda dictator Idi Amin’s personal car. The raid took 58 minutes. All hostages were killed, 97 of the 100 Jewish hostages were rescued and one Israeli soldier died. That soldier was Lt. Col. Jonathan Netanyahu, the elder brother of PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

The raid was first called Operation Entebbe, but after the completion it became known as Operation Jonathan (Yanaton), named after the soldier that died in battle.

The flight crew of Air France all volunteered to stay with the Jewish hostages  and upon return were reprimanded for their courage to help the Jewish people by a temporary suspension from Air France.

Hebrew Month Shevat 5773 Begins At Sundown January 11, 2013

Posted: January 10, 2013 in Hebrew Months
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Shevat (shvat)  is known as the ‘eleventh month” according to the sacred calendar and is the ‘fifth month’on the civil calendar.

The only mention of Shevat is found in Zachariah 1:7, “On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat (Shevat), in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechaih, the son of Iddo the prophet.” This month is mentioned with reference to the angels ‘walking to and fro throughout the earth’ (Vs 11) so this month is associated with our awareness and cooperation with heavenly messengers. The significance of this vision was God’s message that He will again be merciful to Jerusalem. (Vs 14, 16, 17)

The word Shevat is not a Jewish word, but a word coming most likely from Babylon. The word means ‘rod’. Which is a symbol of judgment to God’s enemies. For us, we find the rod and the staff of our Shepherd as a comfort (Ps 23:4). As we walk through these dark last days we find comfort that the Lord, Jehovah Rohi, is protecting us with His rod and staff.

For 37 days Moses gave his last message to Israel. He began the message on the 1st day of the 11th month (Shevat) and ended on the 7th day of the 12th month of Adar. Deuteronomy 1:3 reads, “And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first [day] of the month, [that] Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the Lord had given him in commandment unto them.” Note: “Now it came to pass” means behind the phrase- ‘begins in turmoil and ends in a blessing’. (Genesis 22:1; Ruth 1:1)

The 15th of Shevat is called Tu B’Shvat, the “New Year of Trees”, which is the Jewish Arbor Day. This is technically the day when trees stop absorbing water from the ground, and instead draw nourishment from their sap. No fruit is eaten from a tree under three years old. Tu B’ Shevat is celebrated by eating some of the varieties of fruit found in Israel (dates, pomegranates, figs, grapes). Food is made from dried fruit and gifts of fruit are often given and received. This is also a celebration for the Tree of life, which symbolizes the Messiah who give true life. The first blooming in Israel is the almond. Nehemiah 10:35 reads, “And me made ordinances to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, to the house of the Lord.”

In History, this is the month that 2 Space Shuttles were destroyed in Space, both carrying Israeli astronauts- 1986 & 2003. (see historical dates below)

TRIBE- Asher,  the 8th son of Jacob and the 2nd son of Zilpah, the handmaiden of Leah. His name means ‘happy’.  Genesis 30:13, “Then Leah said, ‘I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed.’ So she called his name Asher.”

Asher’s symbol was a fruitful olive tree.This symbol was given to Asher because of the abundance of joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. It is not that Asher never had problems, but he was able to overcome all of the problems with his optimistic attitude. Asher is fearless, optimistic and has the strength to go to hard and dangerous places.

Asher’s weaknesses were that he did not like to fight and compromised.  Judges 1:31, “The tribe of Asher also failed to drive out the residents of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob (32) In fact, because they did not drive them out, the Canaanites dominated the land where the people of Asher lived.”  As a result Jezebel was able to introduce Baal worship to God’s chosen people in this area.

His strengths were that the tribe is optimistic and gets things right in the end. Judges 7:23, “Then Gideon sent for the warriors of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, who joined in the chase after the fleeing army of Midian”. They became part of Gideon’s mighty men and proved to loyal, faithful and committed to the end. They were part of Solomon’s soldiers as recorded in I Chronicles 7:40, part of Hezekiah’s revival as recorded in 2 Chronicles 13:10-11. Anna, the prophetess, was a true example of a loyal, faithful and committed servant of God in the House of the Lord as recorded in Luke 2.

CONSTELLATION/MAZAL- AQUARIUS, ‘THE WATER BEARER’. This represents the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The symbol is shown of a man, symbolizing Jesus Christ, who physically poured forth literal waters from an inexhaustible source, removing the curse and turning the world into a paradise.

LETTER- Tzadik- (pronounced tsadee) is the 18th letter in the Hebrew Aleph Bet and has the numerical value of 90.  The number 90 represents the fullness of life: Psalm 90:10,  Sarah was 90 when she became pregnant with Isaac. In the classic Hebrew script this letter looks like a tree. The word tzadik means ‘righteousness or righteous one’. Tzadik is the pictograph of a man lying down and represents need.

HISTORICAL EVENTS IN SHEVAT:

  • 1-Moses began his farewell address after 40 years in the Wilderness as recorded in Deuteronomy 1:3
  • 3-In 1933, Adolph Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany
  • 6-In 1393, following a massacre of Jews at Majorca, an edict was issued guaranteeing the Jews protection. (Majorca is one of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea.) In just a few short years the protective decree was forgotten; persecution of the Jews began again in 1413. By 1435, the Jewish community had been completely destroyed, with many Jews forcibly converted to Christianity. These forced converts retained Jewish practice in private, but they publicly boiled pork lard in large pots, as a way to appear non-Jewish. (Hence these Jews were nicknamed Chuetas — “pork lard.”)
  • 7- In 1943, plans were finalized to deport the Jews of Athens, Greece. From 1941-1943, Greece was under control of the Italians, who by and large protected the Jews against the Germans. In the Holocaust, 77 percent of Greek Jewry were murdered — 60,000 Jews
  • 8-On this date in 1960, Jonas E. Salk finalized a proposal to build the Salk Institute for Biological Studies near San Diego. Salk (1914-1995) had achieved fame as the physician who discovered the first polio vaccine while working at the University of Pittsburgh. Polio was a widely-feared disease that caused paralysis and oftentimes death.
  • 11-On this day in 1601, Hebrew books that had been confiscated by Church authorities were burned in Rome.
  • 12-In 1945, the Russian army liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp. The gas chambers of Auschwitz II (Birkenau) were blown up by German troops in November 1944 in an attempt to hide their crimes. In January 1945 the Nazis began to evacuate the facility; most of the prisoners were ordered on a death march, which lasted for weeks in the cold and snow. In the end, some7,000 people survived Auschwitz; over one million perished.
  • 13-In 1790, France granted full and equal citizenship to Sefardi Jews. (Ashkenazi Jews gained citizenship a year and a half later.) In the 1940’s the French turned over 61,000 Jews to the Nazis.
  • 15- Tu B’ Shevat, New Year for the Trees, the Jewish Arbor Day
  • 15- In 1925, the Technion opened in Haifa, becoming Israel’s first modern university. Albert Einstein served as president of the first Technion Society.
  • 18- In 1980, following its peace treaty with Israel, the Egyptian parliament voted to end its economic boycott of Israel, which began in 1945.
  • 18-1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds after the launch of its mission, when an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster failed. All seven crew members were killed, including Judith Resnik, 36-year-old Jewish American. Challenger was one of two space shuttles destroyed during a mission, the other being Columbia in 2003 which included Israeli Ilan Ramon.
  • 19- In 1349, Jews in Basle, Switzerland were burned alive in a wooden house, erected specifically for that purpose.The Jewish community of Basel had flourished until 1348, when they were accused of poisoning wells during the Black Plague. This triggered a variety of persecutions: Jewish children were forcibly baptized, 600 Jews were burned at the stake, and the remainder were burned alive in the wooden house. In modern history, Basel became better known as the host of the first Zionist Congress in 1897. Ironically, on this date in 1949 — exactly 600 years after the massacre in Basle — the State of Israel elected its first president, Chaim Weizman
  • 21-In 1948, a car bomb exploded in front of the Palestine Post (later the Jerusalem Post) on Havatzelet Street in Jerusalem.
  • 23-On this date in 1918, the Jewish Legion left England to join the Allies in liberating Palestine from the Turks.  This would be remembered as the first organized Jewish fighting force since Roman times, and a precursor to the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).
  • 24-In 354 BC, the prophet Zechariah predicted the rebuilding of Zion, as recorded in  Zechariah (1:7). King Darius of Persia had given permission to rebuild the second Holy Temple, and Zechariah rebuked the people for not quickly taking the opportunity to do so
  • 27-In 1583, a convert to Judaism named Joseph Sanalbo was burned at the stake in Rome. In the second half of the 16th century, Jews were subject to grave Church-sponsored persecutions: Pope Julius III and Pope Clement VIII condemned the Talmud and other Hebrew writings as “obscene,” “blasphemous” and “abominable” — and ordered them all seized and burned.
  • 28- 163 BC, King Antiochus V lifted the siege of Jerusalem. The day was observed in subsequent years as a holiday. Antiochus V was only nine years old when he became head of the Seleucid dynasty, following the death of his father Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the oppressor of the Jews who provoked the Maccabees’ revolt.
  • 29- On this date in 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke up during re-entry, killing all seven crew members aboard, including Israel’s first astronaut, Ilan Ramon. During his 16 days in space, Ramon defied gravity by lifting his country from the morass of terror, by making Jews feel connected and proud. Ramon’s space luggage included a small Torah scroll that had survived Bergen-Belsen. He also brought along a mezuzah adorned with barbed wire — symbolizing the Nazi concentration camps — in tribute to his mother who survived Auschwitz and his grandfather who was murdered there. On board the Shuttle, Ramon ate kosher food and welcomed Shabbat with the first intergalactic Kiddush. And as he passed over Jerusalem, he recited “Shema Yisrael,” the age-old declaration of Jewish faith.
  • 30-In 1667, the Jews of Rome ran the humiliating “Carnival race” for the last time. Every year, during Rome’s annual carnival, scantily-clad Jews had been forced to race along the main street, while the crowd mocked them, threw trash, and reigned heavy blows. (The event often proved fatal.) As further indignity, Jews were forced to contribute financially to the operation of the Carnival. During this time, Jews were confined to living in the Roman Ghetto, a walled quarter with three gates that were locked at night. The Jews were subjected to other degradations, including having to attend compulsory Catholic sermons on Shabbat. Outside the ghetto, Jews were required to wear identifying yellow clothing.

Tevet 5773 and Hanukkah 2012 Day 7

Posted: December 14, 2012 in Hebrew Months, Holidays- Holy Days
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Every Hebrew month has a Tribe, Constellation and Hebrew letter associated with it. These hold keys to our promises for that month and help us to pray in line with God’s timing and to get our lives into time with His specific appointed times.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 tells us ‘to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven’. Ecclesiastes 3:15 reads, ‘That which is has already been, and what is to be has already been; and God requires an account of what is past.’ From these verses we get an understanding of cycles and how history repeats itself. Just as our ‘seasons’ repeat themselves naturally (ie, Gulf experiencing hurricane season), things spiritually repeat themselves and we can learn from history. Not superstitiously, but seeking God in specific times.

Tevet is known as the ‘tenth month” according to the sacred calendar and is the ‘fourth month’on the civil calendar.  This month one of the four fast-days which commemorate the destruction of the Temple of 587 BC is held on the 10th day of Tevet. Zechariah 8:19, “”Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘The fast of the fourth [month], The fast of the fifth, The fast of the seventh, And the fast of the tenth, ..”

The month begins with the ending of Hanukkah, also called the Festival of Lights or the Festival of Dedication. The eight-day celebration commemorates the miracle of one day’s supply of holy Temple oil lasting eight days until more pure Temple oil could be prepared. This year Hanukkah began at sundown December 8 and ends at sundown December 15. This is the only Festival that covers 2 months. It always begins on Cheshvan 25 and ends of Tevet 3 on the Hebrew Calendar.

The first mention of this month is found in Esther 2:16, “So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tevet in the seventh year of his reign.”

TRIBE- Dan, “Genesis 30:6, And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.” He is the 5th son of Jacob and his name means ‘judge, discern, divine judgment’. Dan was gifted (graced) to ‘judge righteously’. His symbol is of a scale with a serpent wrapped around it. This is showing that the satanic influences will dominate if they did not turn to the Lord for help. The serpent is very beguiling and you will need divine discernment to judge every circumstance this month. Samson was from the lineage of Dan and one of the first workers to be filled with the Spirit to build the Tabernacle was from the Tribe of Dan. But in order to be mightily used of God, we need to judge ourselves and overcome our carnal nature. Remember, Dan was almost wiped out entirely out of the Bible but shows up in the millennium as first mentioned.

CONSTELLATION/MAZAL- Capricorn, ‘The Sea Goat’. It appears to be dying with its head bowed down, the right leg folded under the body and seems unable to rise with the left. The other part of the body is as a fish, full of life. The fish has always been a symbol of Christians. This represents the death of Jesus (scapegoat) so we could live. In the goat we have an atoning sacrifice, in the fish we have the people for whom the atonement was made. The entire part of this heavenly Bible story is telling of our benefits because of the death of Jesus Christ.

LETTER- Ayin, the 16th letter in the Hebrew Aleph-Bet with the numerical value of 70. The ancient pictograph is an eye and means ‘eye, look, appearance, see, understand’.  The letter Ayin combined with the Tribe of Dan show us that we are going to need divine understanding and discernment in this month of Tevet.

SPECIAL DATES IN TEVET:

  • 1- In 355 BC, Esther becomes Queen (Esther 2:16)
  • 2- On this date in 1947, the Arab Legion surrounded Jerusalem and isolated its 100,000 Jews from the rest of the Israeli population. By March 1948 the city was under full siege, and in May, Jordan invaded and occupied east Jerusalem, dividing the city for the first time in its history, and driving thousands of Jews into exile. The Arabs proceeded to destroy all 58 synagogues in the Jewish Quarter, and used Jewish gravestones on the Mount of Olives to build roads and latrines. The Western Wall would be off-limits to Jews (in spite of the cease-fire agreement granting freedom of access to holy places), restored again with Israel’s victory in the 1967 war.
  • 5- In 422 BC, the prophet Ezekiel heard the news of Jerusalem’s conquest by a foreign power, as recorded in the biblical Book of Ezekiel (33:21).
  • 6- In 1949, six British RAF warplanes enforcing a UN ceasefire were shot down by Israeli forces over the Israel-Egypt border.
  • 8- This date marks the completion of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible in the third century BC — the oldest Bible translation. The Septuagint derives its name from the Latin word for ‘ seventy,’ alluding to the 72 Jewish scholars drafted by Egyptian King Ptolemy to translate the Bible for inclusion in the Library of Alexandria.
  • 9- Believed to be the death of Ezra. Ezra was the founder of the Great Assembly, a body of 120 prophets and sages who established important matters like the standard text found in Jewish prayer books today.
  • 10- In 424 BC, Babylonia King Nebuchadnezzar began his siege of Jerusalem. There was little damage on that first day and no Jews were killed, yet it began a chain of disasters which ended with the destruction of the Holy Temple. The 10th of Tevet is still observed today by Jews as a public fast day, as mentioned by the prophet Zechariah (8:19).
  • 11- In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln pledged to amend a federal law granting only Christian clergy the right to serve as military chaplains.  It is regarded historically as the first case of American Jews successfully challenging federal legislation.
  • 11- In 1688, Jews were expelled from Austria
  • 16- In 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant was instructed to revoke Order No. 11, which had called for the expulsion of all Jews from Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi.  Grant wrote: “No Jews are to be permitted to travel on the railroad southward from any point… The [region] must be purged of them.” Based on Grant’s orders, Jews were expelled from their homes, including 20 families from the town of Paducah alone.  Jewish community leaders immediately arranged a meeting at the White House with President Lincoln, who cancelled the expulsion order. Grant, who would later become U.S. president, never offered any explanation or apology.
  • 19- In 1901, the Jewish National Fund was founded for the purpose of purchasing settlement land in Israel.
  • 20- In 1496, the Talmud was first printed
  • 22- In 1798, mobs attempted to torch the Jewish ghetto of Rome, but rains put out the fire. The day was then designated as a holiday by Roman Jews. The Roman Ghetto had been in existence since 1555, when the Pope segregated the Jews in a walled quarter with three gates that were locked at night.
  • 24- In 1837, Galilee Earthquake in northern Israel killed 4,000 Jews in Safed and between 700-1000 in Tiberius
  • 26- In 1826, Maryland adopted a law which allowed Jews to hold public office, on condition that they accept the concept of reward and punishment in the afterlife.
  • 28- In 81 BC Sadducees were ejected from the Sanhedrin
  • 29- In 1808, Ezekiel Hart, the first Jew elected to Canadian Parliament, was denied his seat when he swore the oath of inauguration on a Jewish Bible

Cheshvan 5777 – November 1, 2016

Posted: October 18, 2012 in Hebrew Months
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Cheshvan is the eighth of the twelve months on the Jewish “lunar” sacred calendar and second in the civil calendar. This year it begins at sundown November 1st and ends at sundown November 30  . The length of this month may be 29 or 30 days, this year it will have 29.

Cheshvan (khesh-vahn) is call the month of bool, a name that stems from the word for “flood”. The flood began on the 17th of Cheshvan, and ended the following year on the 27th of Cheshvan. On the following day, the 28th of Cheshvan, Noah brought his sacrifice to God and God swore never again to bring a flood upon the earth to destroy all mankind, and then revealed the sign of His covenant with the world, the rainbow. For this reason, it is called “MarCheshvan” or ‘bitter Cheshvan’.

I Kings 6:38 calls this month Bul. “And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which [is] the eighth month” Bul means ‘increase, produce’ from the root meaning ‘rain, showers’, referring to this being a month of showers.

Kristallnacht, the Night of the Broken Glass of 1938, falls on the 15th of Cheshvan. This commemorates when the Nazis youth gangs roamed through Jewish neighborhoods breaking windows of business and homes and burning synagogues. The began the violence against the Jewish people in Germany. 75,000 businesses were destroyed, 26,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps for defending themselves & property. 91 Jews died and this began the Holocaust.

Cheshvan is the only month which has no holidays or special mitzvot. It is taught that it is “reserved” for the time of the Messiah, who will inaugurate the third Temple in Cheshvan. This is known as the most drab and colorless month of the year. This month falls after Tishri, with the Feasts of Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Tabernacles. Cheshvan cannot compare to the brilliance of the Falls Feasts. This is another reason it is called ‘bitter Cheshvan’.

Letter- nun, (noon) the 14th letter in the Aleph-Bet and has a numerical value of 50 (representing freedom and fullness of life). The pictograph of this letter is a fish and in ancient symbols it is seen as a fish darting through water. Nun is also seen as a sprout of vegetation. Both of these pictographs denote action and life. The word “please” is made up of the letter aleph & nun, aleph representing an ox and nun representing action. Asking please is an “sign of strength”.

Mazal : “Akrav” (Scorpio- the Scorpion) The Hebrew root for Scorpio means “a deadly foe” or “to cleave in conflict“.  In the story of Jesus in the heavenly constellations, the stars from brightest first tell the story of  “The serpent seeking to wound, but itself trodden under foot.”
Tribe: Manasseh, first born son of Joseph when he was in rulership under Pharaoh in Egypt. Manasseh’s name means “one who makes me forget”. Manasseh’s weakness was he wanted everything ‘right now’. His strength was the ability to forget and not hold grudges, loyal and would not bend under pressure.
Notable Dates in Cheshvan
  • 3- In the year 1290, the last of the 16,000 Jews expelled by King Edward I left England. King Edward had banned usury and forced Jews over the age of seven to wear an identifying badge.
  • 4-In 1483, Tomas de Torquemada was appointed as “Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition.” Jews of Spain had been forced to convert to Christianity, and the Inquisition was designed to uncover those who were continuing to practice their Judaism in secret (called Conversos or Marranos). Those who never confessed were burned at the stake; those who did confess were strangled first.  An estimated 32,000 were burned at the stake, and Torquemada’s name became a byword for cruelty and fanaticism in the service of religion. The order of expulsion was not officially voided by the government of Spain until 1968.
  • 5– In 1975, Israel signed the Sinai disengagement pact with Egypt. The agreement called for Israel to withdraw from the Sinai passes captured in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
  • 7- “Deliver Dew and Rain” prayers are added for rain in Israel
  • 10-On this date in 2105 BC, Noah and family entered the Ark. It wasn’t until seven days later, however, that the intense rains began for 40 days and 40 nights. The delay was to allow a proper mourning period for Methuselah, the righteous grandfather of Noah who had just died at the age of 969 years, history’s oldest human being.
  • 11– Jewish Mother’s Day commemorating the death of Rachel, wife of Jacob (Israel). Rachel’s Tomb, located by Bethlehem,  is regarded as Judaism third-holiest site.
  • 12– Assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (1955), not a national memorial day
  • 12- In 1975, the United Nations passed a resolution declaring that “Zionism is racism.” Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Chaim Herzog, noted the irony of the vote coming (on the English calendar) exactly 37 years after Kristallnacht. The UN Secretary General at the time was Kurt Waldheim, later accused of war crimes while serving as a Nazi officer. The “Zionism is racism” canard is easily refuted by Israel’s open and democratic character — with Arabs serving in parliament, as well as Israelis of all skin colors. Upon the airlift of Ethiopian Jews to Israel, William Safire noted: “For the first time in history, thousands of black people are being brought to a country — not in chains but in dignity, not as slaves but as citizens.” The UN General Assembly voted to repeal the resolution in 1991.
  • 13– In 1938, Hank Greenberg of the Detroit Tigers narrowly missed breaking Babe Ruth’s single-season home-run record of 60 home runs. Greenberg hit his 58th homer with two weeks remaining in the season, but several pitchers then intentionally walked him rather than give a Jewish man a chance to break Babe Ruth’s record. (He led the league that year with 119 walks.) Though Greenberg disputes this motive, he did acknowledge being subject to the most vicious ethnic taunting seen in the sport since the days of Jackie Robinson in 1947. Greenberg testified: “During my first year in the big leagues, the remarks from the stands and the opposing bench about my Jewish faith made life for me a living hell.” Greenberg grew up in an observant Jewish household, and did not play on Yom Kippur. In 1954, he became the first Jewish player to be elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown
  • 14- In 1917, the British government gave final approval for the Balfour Declaration, calling for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in historic Israel
  • 15- Kristallnacht, Night of the Broken Glass 1938. The Nazis destroyed almost all of the 1,600 synagogues  in Germany, as well as thousands of Jewish businesses and homes.
  • 17– If no rain has fallen yet in the month, special prayers are prayed this day for rain
  • 17– Great flood began 1656 (2105 BC) and Noah and his family were the only survivors
  • 17– 960 BC Solomon’s Temple completed, but dedicated the following year in Tishri, the month of Isaac’s birth. This month  is believed to be the future dedication of the Third Temple
  • 17– On this date in 1919, a New York Times headline declared “Einstein Theory Triumphs.” In 1952 he turned down an offer to become President of the State of Israel. Einstein has been called one of the most influential figures in history, and Time magazine named him “Person of the Century.” Einstein was Jewish and born in Germany.
  • 18- In 1938, Nazi leader Hermann Goering announced that in order to “solve the problem of the Jews,” the African island of Madagascar was being considered as a giant ghetto for 4 million European Jews. The Madagascar Plan was cancelled due to a British blockade. One year later, it was decided that the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question” would mean extermination.
  • 18– 1990, Assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane, Jewish leader, founder of the American Jewish Defense League and former Knesset member, was assassinated in New York by an Egyptian terrorist
  • 22- The deportation of Budapest Jews was resumed on this date in 1944. During this time, 20,000 Budapest Jews were shot by the banks of the Danube by Hungarian forces. Another 70,000 Jews were forced on a death march to Austria, of which the majority were either shot or died of starvation and exposure. Raoul Wallenberg was involved in saving some of Hungary’s Jews. Out of 750,000 Jews that lived in Hungary before the war, only 30 percent survived.
  • 23- In 164 BC, following the victory of the Maccabees, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem was purified and rededicated. The stones of the Temple’s altar which had been defiled by the Greeks were removed and placed in a storage chamber on the Temple Mount. In Talmudic times, this day was celebrated as a holiday
  • 23– 127 BC, according to Talmudic tradition, this was the date the stone of the altar was defiled by the Greeks and removed from the Holy Temple
  • 27– 2104 BC, in the Jewish year 1657 the ‘earth dried’ (Genesis 8:14) after the great flood of Noah’s family 365 days on the Ark. On this day, God is said to have commanded Noah to “Come out of the ark” and repopulate, settle and civilize the earth.
  • 30- In 1783, American forces recaptured New York City, clearing the way for the return of Jews who had been forced to flee when the British captured New York City in 1776. Jewish leaders were in danger due to their public support of the American Revolution. Perhaps the best-known was Haym Salomon, an immigrant from Poland, who worked as an undercover agent for George Washington. Salomon was arrested in 1778, accused of plotting to destroy British property in New York. Salomon was condemned to death for sabotage, but bribed his guard while awaiting execution, and escaped to Philadelphia. Salomon was an astute merchant and banker, and succeeded in accumulating a huge fortune which he used to finance the Revolution and later to save the new nation from financial collapse. When Salomon died at age 45 of tuberculosis, he was bankrupt and the U.S. government owed him $700,000 in unpaid loans.
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