Yo searchers! Can we help you? — November 2014

[Welcome November in the Gregorian calendar! Sinai 6000 goes by the world system as far as earthly reckoning of time but if you’re interested in the Hebrew calendar and how it goes according to lunar cycles, please go to http://www.jewfaq.org/calendar.htm.

Time marches on as do our individual lifetimes; let us make the most use of the time the Giver of Life has allotted for each of us in our ‘tent’ (our physical body) as well as on the patch of earth we inhabit (our geographical, cultural, regional milieu). Be kind to ourselves and others; feed our body with nutritious healthy food, keep our minds working actively till our old age, and fill our spirits with knowledge of God and His Way for living on His planet earth. This is a good way to live each moment of each day from Sabbath to Sabbath, don’t you think?.—Admin1.]

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11/30 “the sons of jacob” –

11/30 “in what literary genre do you approach the 1 kings 18?” – A Literary Approach to 1 and 2nd Kings/Melekiym

11/29 “happy sabbath quotes” – For Sabbath images with quotes, google “images for Sabbath blessings”; however if you have appreciated our Sabbath liturgy year round, we offer prayers for all to use in your Sabbath celebrations. Please feel free to use any of them under the Category of “A Sinaite’s Sabbath Liturgy.” We are a resource website, sharing everything we learn as well as our own writings which our webvisitors are welcome to use.

11/27 “israel in wilderness” – Numbers/Bamidbar 22-23-24: “I behold him: here, a people, alone-in-security it dwells, among the nations it does not need to come-to-reckoning.”

11/27 “as the deer pantetn” / “as the deer panteth background” – “Soul Thirst” – Art by AHV@S6K

11/26 “yaakov stole heart of lavan” – Genesis/Bereshith 29: The deceiver is deceived.

11/26 “genesis 37” – Genesis/Bereshith 37 – “Yisrael loved Yosef above all his sons”

11/26 “shabbat” – We have a year-round liturgy for every Sabbath; but if this searcher is interested in articles on the Sabbath, here are a few posts:

11/25 “zohar predestination” – If you google this search term, the listing refers you to Chapter 43 of Genesis which is part of the Joseph story which, if one believes in ‘predestination’ might indeed apply to Joseph whose initial misfortune was turned into fortune not only for himself but for his whole tribe and the bigger benefit extends to the saving of the people that would eventually compose the nation of Israel. We don’t have a specific discussion of predestination, what we do have is a discussion of the Genesis chapters that are relevant to predestination which is defined as :

(in Christian theology) the doctrine that God has ordained all that will happen, especially with regard to the salvation of some and not others. It has been particularly associated with the teachings of St Augustine of Hippo and of Calvin.

11/25 “warshippping pharaohs” – Hmmm, is this searcher asking about worship or war-ship (meaning warring pharaohs)? Most likely it’s the worship of pharaohs . . . for that matter worship of kings which was prevalent in the days of antiquity. Why monarchy and royalty get elevated to the status of superior, if not divine beings is beyond understanding but leave it to idolatrous humanity to go gaga over mere humans who are given adoration which should due to only one Being, the One True God. There’s nothing unusual about the worship of pharaoh, just look at media-idols and the perfect example is the Vatican Pope. Read: I-Pope-latry . . . . is YHWH pleased?

11/24 “what the difference between sermon on the mount the books of exodus and deuteronomy?” The Sermon on Sinai vs. The Sermon on the Mount

11/24 “tanakh and shepherd in psalm 23 symbolism” – We have a MUST READ: A Shepherd’s Song, Psalm 23 and the Shepherd Metaphor in Jewish Thought; unfortunately we have yet to feature this in a future post; for now here’s a post:

Revisited: Who is the Shepherd in the TANACH?

11/23 “bible yom kippur lamb sacrificed” – Sacrificial goat, Scapegoat . . . what about the Lamb? Not on Yom Kippur. 11/23 “ask the rabbi am i cursed” – Ask the Rabbi: Why was the serpent cursed when he was just following his animal instinct and has no free will?

11/22 “ishmael and isaac” –

Genesis/Bereshith 17: “as for Yishmael, I hearken to you . . .but my covenant I will establish with Yitzhak”
Genesis/Bereshith 21: “Avraham circumcised Yitzhak his son at eight days old”
Genesis/Bereshith 25a: “Yitschaq and Yishma’el buried him in the cave of Makpelah”

11/21 “shabbat shalom blessing” – If this searcher is looking for images with those words, there’s a lot to choose from in the internet; however if he/she’s looking for specific blessings in our Sinaites liturgy, we have a whole year of Sabbaths blessings to choose from under the category: A Sinaite’s Sabbath Liturgy. We have designed our unique way of celebrating the Sabbath, incorporating some Jewish traditions such as candle lighting and the kiddush and havdalah; all others, particularly prayers and blessings are our own expression reflecting a gentile’s approach to the God of Israel Whom we have embraced as our God and who we recognize as the God of ALL nations. Our former Jewish Torah teacher asserts that God is a ‘Jewish God’; we assert that the God Who formed the nation of Israel to make known His Name and His prescribed way of life for all humankind cannot be defined as such—‘a Jewish God’ — but can be referred to as the Hebrew Scriptures call Him–the God of Israel, among other identifying titles. We need to quit putting the Almighty God, Creator and Master of the universe in a box that we label with our own limited perception and understanding and recognize Him as Who He says He Is in His own words.

11/19 “what are the necromancer and yidoni-diviners” – Saul and the Spirit Medium – 1 Samuel 28:3-25

11/18 “egyptian gods and goddesses” –

11/18 “moses built a slaughter-site” –

11/14 “orthonymous definition” – Check out these posts:

11/14 “what was israel’s occupation, which was abominable to the egyptians?” – Check out this post: Genesis/Bereshith 46 – “Now I can die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive!”

34 Then say: Your servants have always been livestock men, from our youth until now, so we, so our fathers- in order that you may settle in the region of Goshen. For every shepherd of flocks is an abomination to the Egyptians.

every shepherd. The Hyksos, or alien Shepherd-kings, thus seem to have acquired the native Egyptian dislike of foreigners in general and herdsmen in particular.

[EF] every shepherd . . . is an abomination to the Egyptians: Speiser understands this as a reference to the Hyksos “shepherd kings,” who as foreigners ruled Egypt in the mid-Second Millennium (until they were driven out).

[RA] that you may dwell in the land of Goshen. For every shepherd is abhorrent to Egypt. This claim is puzzling because there is an indication in the next chapter that Pharaoh had his own flocks (see 47:6b), and there is no extrabiblical evidence that shepherding was a taboo profession among the Egyptians, as the categorical language of the last sentence here appears to suggest. The least convoluted explanation is that the Egyptians who were by and large sedentary agriculturists and who had large urban centers, considered the seminomadic herdsmen from the north as inferiors (an attitude actually reflected in Egyptian sources) and so preferred to keep them segregated in the pasture region of the Nile Delta not far from the Sinai border.

11/13 “how were the animals in abraham’s covenant cut in half” – We love searchers like this one who goes beyond what anyone would normally think; it’s not enough that the animals were cut in half to signify the party’s faithfulness to [or potential to break) the covenant, he/she wants to know ‘how’ or perhaps ‘who’ did the cutting. The text is clear:

Genesis/Bereshiyth 15:

9 He said to him: Fetch me a calf of three, a she-goat of three, a ram of three, a turtle-dove, and a fledgling. 10 He fetched him all these. he halved them down the middle, putting each one’s half toward its neighbor, but the birds he did not halve. Please check out this post:

Genesis/Bereshith 15: “Now he trusted in YHWH, and he deemed it as righteous-merit on his part.”

11/12 “the davidic messiah pdf” – Revisited: The Messiahs – 2 – The Davidic Messiah

11/12 “this chapter concludes the biblical account of the first of the” – Must Read/Must Own – The Great Partnership – Diverging Paths – 3c

11/12 “the jewish mystique ernest von haag” – Revisited: The Jewish Mystique by Ernest Van Den Haag

11/12 “joseph dream interpreter chiefs dreaming” – Genesis/Bereshith 40 – “DDD”

11/11 “the origins of prophecy is veiled as obsecurity.discuss” – Q&A: “Israel prophecy” – “veiled in obscurity”?

11/11 “reuven firestone denied entry israel” –

11/10 “alden thompson who’s afraid of the old testament god?” – Revisited: “Who’s Afraid of the Old Testament God?” 1

11/09 “everett fox nehemiah 8″ – A Literary Approach to Ezra and Nehemiah

11/09 “caleb conquers giants at hebron” – Revisited: My servant Caleb – a different spirit

11/09 “cupbearer and baker” – Genesis/Bereshith 41: From Prison to Pharaoh’s Court

11/08 “switch off its sabbath” – Not sure what this searcher means, but if it’s about A Sinaite’s Liturgy, we have completed our cycle for a whole year; everyone is welcome to use any of them for any Sabbath or follow the specific liturgy for any Sabbath; we have recited liturgy as well as musical liturgy. Have a joy-full Sabbath, all!

11/07 “aaron’s budding staff” – Numbers/Bamidbar 17 – ” And it will be that the rod of the man whom I will choose will bud;”

11/07 “cupbearer of pharaoh spoke” – Genesis/Bereshith 41: From Prison to Pharaoh’s Court.

11/06 “jewish torah” – First, the Torah is not “Jewish” but since observant Jews/Judaism are about the only group that seriously live the Torah way as prescribed for Israel, this thinking is prevalent. Secondly, the Torah is FROM the Universal God of humankind, YHWH, Who is also called “God of Israel” of course, since He adopted Israel as His ‘firstborn son’. As universal God, YHWH intends the Torah to be the way of life for all humanity, not just Israel. That clarified, the searcher is probably looking for a Torah version by Jewish translators.

There are Jewish publications of the five books attributed to Moses are: [JPS] Jewish Publication Society, [AST] ArtScroll Tanach.

Our translation of choice is Everett Fox, The Five Books of Moses and alternately, Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses.

11/05 “malki tzedek” – Genesis/Bereshith 14: ” Now Malki-Tzedek, king of Salem . . . he was priest of God Most-High, “

11/05 “pictures of jewish symbols” – Must Read – 6 – Robert Schoen/The Torah and the Law; Jewish symbols

11/04 “avraham ‘let yishmael live in your presence'” –

Genesis/Bereshith 17: “as for Yishmael, I hearken to you . . .but my covenant I will establish with Yitzhak”

11/04 “abraham sacrifice isaac sacrifice” –

11/04 “revelation in a nutshell for kids” – Our ‘revelation in a nutshell’ is actually ‘for kids’ of all ages, from the age of understanding (whenever that happens) to any age ready for new enlightenment and illumination (whenever that happens) and the most significant age when one finally decides to leave man-made ‘truth’ to start seeking the One True God and His Truth (whenever that happens).

Nice to be with other ‘kids’ in this journey through the wilderness wandering of gentiles who don’t quite know where to go but hopefully end up at the foot of ‘spiritual Sinai’ where the God Whose Name He revealed as YHWH gave His one-time-historic-complete revelation. Here’s a post: Revelation in a Nutshell and also try Further to Our Statement of Faith. 11/03 “davidic messiah pdf” – Revisited: The Messiahs – 2 – The Davidic Messiah 11/02 “bible joseph cupbearer and baker” –

11/02 “moult of snake” – Revisited: Shedding without blood . . .

Source: Exodus/Shemoth 24 – "the sight of the Glory of YHVH (was) like a consuming fire" -- We gentiles living in this 21st century are able to experience that climactic moment [God appearing on Sinai] by reading and studying this portion of the TORAH. Indeed, we see YHWH not quite as dramatically as the mixed multitude did, but perhaps even better through these accounts recorded in Exodus. There is a saying that hindsight is 20/20 vision, i.e., we begin to see and understand the question marks in our past only later in our lives, as we mature and hopefully become wiser and more introspective about the meaning or seeming meaninglessness of happenings in history, whether personal, national, or universal. Søren Kierkegaard adds a twist to this: “Only 20:20 vision is hindsight. Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” As we endeavor to understand each portion in the TORAH of YHWH, much of it will seem irrelevant to our current situation but if we see beyond the time-bound cultural and religious situations and begin to understand what truly has not change—human nature and the Great Revelator who designed the perfect blueprint for living in peace, happily and contentedly with family, community, country and the nations, the unquestionable conclusion is: TORAH is relevant to ALL humankind, not just to Israel, to this very day.

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