It is amazing how the current criminals running our government can take Biblical writings out of context to support their crazy notions and promote them as fact!
There are two criminals running this show at the moment, both belong in prison and can only stay out of it by war. Nothing Trump would rather have than martial law the next 3 years, and Netanyahu can only play the war card, be it Gaza or Iran. I´m sure N. gave T. a pep-talk beforehand, telling him that if he gets involved, everyone will love him, and his ratings will go up. Trump is a simpleton, all these despotic leaders play on this.
Great point. It is hard for me to understand how so many people can follow the village idiot and believe his lies as gospel. Propaganda hammered into so many people, over and over again on the Trump media machine, eventually sounds like fact. It would be nice if we could convince people to turn off all media and begin thinking for themselves.
I have seen the world change considerably over my lifetime. When I was in seventh grade, during the Cuban Missel Crisis, I went to a Social Studies Class and had no idea that the teacher was very "Conservative". He spent a good part of an hour bashing Russia saying how bad they were. I was always a good student and naively raised my hand. I asked him if "he had ever been to Russia"! He sent me to the Principal who laughed on hearing what I said. He could only say it was a great Question! Always question the news and authority.
Wow! No child should ever be punished for asking a question. Even before Trump, the first day of a war tends to bring undue optimism and premature celebration. Then we slowly discover that “shock and awe” turns out to be shocking and awful. The media cheerleads too - until it doesn’t. We’ll see what happens this time.
Rabbi: I never thought of this experience as punishment! It is, however a great example of the power and influence of the Media. I simply remember it as a great example of why we should not blindly believe any media. As a great example, how can anyone believe that Twitter (X) is "Free Speech"? It is only "Free Opinion"!
As I understand it - all evangelicals, dead and alive, will one day rise in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air....above Israel of course. That is why Israel must be "preserved" for the "second coming" which is where it is supposed to take place (get it? Jesus 2.0 = Israel). In this "Rapture," as they call it, us scum of the earth ("non-believers" = everyone who isn´t them) will parish in hell fire. Of course. They "love" Israel and hate Jews. Very simple. And these crazies are running our country. Mazel tov.
I’m no expert on the Rapture, but I’ve heard about those theories. What Cruz is talking about is related to that, but it’s also not just about the apocalypse. He just thinks the key to being blessed is to bless the seed of Abraham
I simply wanted to throw that in because it is a big part of these people´s religious beliefs. And explains their (most of them, anyway) position regarding antisemitism and Israel.
I wouldn’t give so much credit to the “smart evil man” in this case. I’m sure Israel was pushing hard for American support, but I think the conversations were mostly internal. The White House has some major voices from the evangelical world. And by “internal” I’m also talking about within Trump’s head.
I hope the temple is never rebuilt and in saying so, I echo nearly 2,000 years of rabbinic consensus. The early rabbis, from rising from the late second temple period sect known as Pharisees, were outsiders in the temple cult, mostly from the countryside beyond Jerusalem. When the temple was destroyed in 70 CE, the Pharisees revolutionized Judaism, adapting it to the new historical realities. Good deeds, Torah study and prayer replaced animal sacrifices - and they were just fine with that. So for me, and for mainstream Judaism, the answer to your question is always “later.” But we can at least agree that Trump is not the King of Kings! So there’s that! You can read more about Judaism and Messianism in my piece from last week on No Kings. See also my packet on that topic. https://files.constantcontact.com/59fef7db001/4cf15d21-bc90-497b-958f-b9d3e8e75bc4.pdf?rdr=true
Thank you for answering my question, Rabbi Hammerman.
The reason that I said “when, not if” about the Jewish Temple being re-built in Jerusalem is because that’s what a prominent Palestinian opponent of the Temple Movement said when he was interviewed on National Public Radio almost a decade ago before the election of Donald Trump in 2016, if I’m remembering correctly the story that played on my car stereo when I was driving home on Yom Kippur.
NPR did a piece on a once obscure fringe political issue in Israel that was originated by Ultra Orthodox Jews and their spokesman said that the movement which was once a minority had now achieved majority support among modern Israelis. As you can imagine, I was intrigued.
You likely know that Evangelical Christians have developed an eschatology from verses in Ezekiel, Daniel, Mathew, and the Revelation surrounding the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to reign as “King of kings and Lord of lords” forever and ever, and that the modern state of Israel is the countdown clock for the fulfillments of what we believe are Biblical prophesies that will come to pass.
The “clock” started in 1948 with the establishment of the modern state of Israel. It advanced when modern Israelis recaptured Jerusalem.
The rebuilding of the Jewish Temple will usher in the fast moving climax of human history in which according to a rabbi who first persecuted the first century Jewish believers in Jesus Christ until he encountered the Resurrected Lord Jesus who literally knocked him on his ass and then became the most successful evangelist for this faith and took it to Gentiles all over the Roman empire, according to this man, a time is coming when “ALL Israel will be saved!”
The current United States Ambassador to Israel at the United States Embassy in Jerusalem is also an Evangelical Christian. You should go interview him if you can and he can tell you more of what I’m writing briefly about here.
I'm horrified by this! I'm a writer on early Hebrew biblical math and a "blessing" in the Bible is like saying "× 2" with modern notation. A "curse" is the opposite, that's "÷ 2". I hope they're not doing ANYTHING on the basis of a book they don't understand and can't even read properly.
— Bethsheba Ashe, author of "Behold! The Art and Practice of Gematria".
As a brief example of biblical gematria with the right ciphers, I give you Genesis 1:1-2.
1.
בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ׃
700 = בראשית + אלהים + השמים + הארץ
And the notariqon with the cipher reversed:
ב ב א א ה ו ה = 800
2.
והארץ היתה תהו ובהו וחשך על פני תהום ורוח אלהים מרחפת על פני המים׃
והארץ היתה תהו ובהו - וחשך + פני ב אלהים - אלהים + פני המים = 700
And the notariqon with the cipher reversed is:
ו ה ת ו ו ע פ ת ו א מ ע פ ה = 666
So you will see here that most of the nouns are calculated by the sum of their letters, but there is an operator when we reach על meaning we have to subtract the former word. There is also a class of words represented here that have a set value, and Ruach (Spirit) has the set value of the letter Beth (2). "מרחפת" (hovering) is another operator that indicates a multiplication by 2 of the prior word, which is followed by another subtraction using the על of an instance of the אלהים then simple addition of the final words.
It had a lot of rules and conventions, which is why it functions so well as a formal system of mathematics. :-)
Of course. Bible math was a formal system that used specific classes of words as mathematical operators. The simplest examples of operators of this type is את et, the direct object, which is used to indicate addition "+" and על meaning 'upon' which is used to indicate the subtraction of the prior word in the sentence. Besides +, -, × 2 and ÷ 2, you also have operators for × 10.
In the Torah, the rule is alluded to by the story of the doubled amount of mana that is produced for the Sabbath because the Sabbath is a blessed day.
Fordo is not a Hobbit. Frodo was. I usually agree with you. But I am so incredibly sick and tired of being told because I do NOT support Netanyahu that I am antisemitic!! That because I condemn the horrendous genocidal actions against the innocent men, women and children in Gaza that I must be antisemitic! I am as appalled by the improper and cruel treatment of pro-Palestinian college protestors as I am by masked ICE goons grabbing brown people off the street!! Netanyahu is an EVIL man!! And tRUMP is an egotistical stupid man who followed him because Netanyahu played him and made him look bad! Netanyahu bombed Iran BEFORE negotiations could be concluded. And Iran “raining missiles on Israel” after they were attacked is called retaliation!! Was Iran bombing Israel first? No.
There’s a lot to unpack here, so I’ll just make a few quick clarifications: 1) you’re absolutely right that no one should be branded antisemitic simply for disagreeing with the Israeli government and its prime minister. Otherwise, I’d have a it big problem! 2) Yes, I know it’s Frodo. But is it Fordo or Fordow ? I’ve seen both. 3) No doubt Israel plays a big role in this - and it can be argued whether the current war was justified. Bibi has a HUGE credibility problem. Long term, through, Iran is the state that has declared publicly its genocidal intent toward Israel. 4) Trump may indeed have been played here, but I’m not sure by whom. And it’s a slippery slope, unfortunately, from condemning the acts of a single individual, even a prime minister, to a discussion of some kind of Jewish conspiracy to draw America unwillingly into war. I know that is NOT what you are saying. But it’s not a huge leap for someone like Tucker Carlson to say it, and I fully expect that to begin happening very soon. Thanks for your comments! It’s fine for us to disagree from time to time.
Thanks. I’m still getting over the shock. I would feel so much better if tRUMP was not the US President in charge. We have good friends who are Jewish and their daughter has a one year teaching position at Brown (starting in September) after finally getting her PhD and I am concerned that he has done everything he can to make that experience more dangerous than it was for her 12 months ago. I also have 2 grown daughters who are both partners with Mexican-American men. So I have 8 little brown grandchildren (aged 5-15) running around in Texas and Arizona … somehow none of their blonde blue-eyed mothers figured into their DNA 🤎. It is like every night I go to bed thinking it cannot get worse and it does. ☮️💟
Would not be surprised. Yes, I’ve heard those voices saying that Russia not only knew in advance (no surprise, it was probably on a Signal chat) but removed the enriched uranium to safe havens in Russia weeks ago.
Sometimes I even surprise myself! But if I’m going to preach pluralism, especially in how one interprets sacred text, I have to practice what I preach!
Thank you for responding.. I will subscribe. I've read Rabbi Sacks. His book Not in God's Name came when I was wondering how Jewish people interpret the violent passages in the Old Testament.
I have his fine books on the Torah for bedtime reading, which I need to start in again. I'm at the end of Exodus. I can trust him to lead me to sleep in God's good words.
He was a great man and indeed a pluralist - but the politics of his position as chief rabbi did not allow him to treat non Orthodox streams of Judaism with complete equality, which offended some.
I would imagine, but offense seems to take too much energy. I first heard him on a video about happiness that included the Dalai Lama, a Christian and Imam whose names I forgot. I used it in my first year English class when we were writing about happiness...
What I love so much about Judaism is the constant struggle with the text. Thank you for the d’var. It was thoughtful. Unfortunately, I can not join you in an optimistic outcome. The players are too caught up in their literal interpretation of their sense of destiny.
It is amazing how the current criminals running our government can take Biblical writings out of context to support their crazy notions and promote them as fact!
There are two criminals running this show at the moment, both belong in prison and can only stay out of it by war. Nothing Trump would rather have than martial law the next 3 years, and Netanyahu can only play the war card, be it Gaza or Iran. I´m sure N. gave T. a pep-talk beforehand, telling him that if he gets involved, everyone will love him, and his ratings will go up. Trump is a simpleton, all these despotic leaders play on this.
Great point. It is hard for me to understand how so many people can follow the village idiot and believe his lies as gospel. Propaganda hammered into so many people, over and over again on the Trump media machine, eventually sounds like fact. It would be nice if we could convince people to turn off all media and begin thinking for themselves.
I have seen the world change considerably over my lifetime. When I was in seventh grade, during the Cuban Missel Crisis, I went to a Social Studies Class and had no idea that the teacher was very "Conservative". He spent a good part of an hour bashing Russia saying how bad they were. I was always a good student and naively raised my hand. I asked him if "he had ever been to Russia"! He sent me to the Principal who laughed on hearing what I said. He could only say it was a great Question! Always question the news and authority.
Wow! No child should ever be punished for asking a question. Even before Trump, the first day of a war tends to bring undue optimism and premature celebration. Then we slowly discover that “shock and awe” turns out to be shocking and awful. The media cheerleads too - until it doesn’t. We’ll see what happens this time.
Rabbi: I never thought of this experience as punishment! It is, however a great example of the power and influence of the Media. I simply remember it as a great example of why we should not blindly believe any media. As a great example, how can anyone believe that Twitter (X) is "Free Speech"? It is only "Free Opinion"!
Immigrants pay into social security and receive nothing in return. This is a boon to the soc. Sec. Syst.
As I understand it - all evangelicals, dead and alive, will one day rise in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air....above Israel of course. That is why Israel must be "preserved" for the "second coming" which is where it is supposed to take place (get it? Jesus 2.0 = Israel). In this "Rapture," as they call it, us scum of the earth ("non-believers" = everyone who isn´t them) will parish in hell fire. Of course. They "love" Israel and hate Jews. Very simple. And these crazies are running our country. Mazel tov.
I’m no expert on the Rapture, but I’ve heard about those theories. What Cruz is talking about is related to that, but it’s also not just about the apocalypse. He just thinks the key to being blessed is to bless the seed of Abraham
I simply wanted to throw that in because it is a big part of these people´s religious beliefs. And explains their (most of them, anyway) position regarding antisemitism and Israel.
“A smart evil man convinced a stupid evil man to bomb an evil regime” . The innocent are the victims . No matter what your beliefs are.
I wouldn’t give so much credit to the “smart evil man” in this case. I’m sure Israel was pushing hard for American support, but I think the conversations were mostly internal. The White House has some major voices from the evangelical world. And by “internal” I’m also talking about within Trump’s head.
Thank you for writing this post and highlighting something to which most people are oblivious.
My question for you, Rabbi, is when will the Jewish Temple be rebuilt in Jerusalem?
When it is . . . not “if” but “when” . . . the final countdown toward “Armageddon” will begin for Evangelical Christians like Ted Cruz and myself.
But after the horrors of the “Apocalyse,” the one, true “King of kings and Lord of lords” will Return . . . and his name will NOT be Donald Trump.
Shalom!
I hope the temple is never rebuilt and in saying so, I echo nearly 2,000 years of rabbinic consensus. The early rabbis, from rising from the late second temple period sect known as Pharisees, were outsiders in the temple cult, mostly from the countryside beyond Jerusalem. When the temple was destroyed in 70 CE, the Pharisees revolutionized Judaism, adapting it to the new historical realities. Good deeds, Torah study and prayer replaced animal sacrifices - and they were just fine with that. So for me, and for mainstream Judaism, the answer to your question is always “later.” But we can at least agree that Trump is not the King of Kings! So there’s that! You can read more about Judaism and Messianism in my piece from last week on No Kings. See also my packet on that topic. https://files.constantcontact.com/59fef7db001/4cf15d21-bc90-497b-958f-b9d3e8e75bc4.pdf?rdr=true
Thank you for answering my question, Rabbi Hammerman.
The reason that I said “when, not if” about the Jewish Temple being re-built in Jerusalem is because that’s what a prominent Palestinian opponent of the Temple Movement said when he was interviewed on National Public Radio almost a decade ago before the election of Donald Trump in 2016, if I’m remembering correctly the story that played on my car stereo when I was driving home on Yom Kippur.
NPR did a piece on a once obscure fringe political issue in Israel that was originated by Ultra Orthodox Jews and their spokesman said that the movement which was once a minority had now achieved majority support among modern Israelis. As you can imagine, I was intrigued.
You likely know that Evangelical Christians have developed an eschatology from verses in Ezekiel, Daniel, Mathew, and the Revelation surrounding the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to reign as “King of kings and Lord of lords” forever and ever, and that the modern state of Israel is the countdown clock for the fulfillments of what we believe are Biblical prophesies that will come to pass.
The “clock” started in 1948 with the establishment of the modern state of Israel. It advanced when modern Israelis recaptured Jerusalem.
The rebuilding of the Jewish Temple will usher in the fast moving climax of human history in which according to a rabbi who first persecuted the first century Jewish believers in Jesus Christ until he encountered the Resurrected Lord Jesus who literally knocked him on his ass and then became the most successful evangelist for this faith and took it to Gentiles all over the Roman empire, according to this man, a time is coming when “ALL Israel will be saved!”
The current United States Ambassador to Israel at the United States Embassy in Jerusalem is also an Evangelical Christian. You should go interview him if you can and he can tell you more of what I’m writing briefly about here.
Shalom!
Its Frodo, from Lord of the Rings/ Hobbit, not Fordo!
I'm horrified by this! I'm a writer on early Hebrew biblical math and a "blessing" in the Bible is like saying "× 2" with modern notation. A "curse" is the opposite, that's "÷ 2". I hope they're not doing ANYTHING on the basis of a book they don't understand and can't even read properly.
— Bethsheba Ashe, author of "Behold! The Art and Practice of Gematria".
Thanks for this insight, Bathsheba. Can you explain further what +2 and -2 means?
As a brief example of biblical gematria with the right ciphers, I give you Genesis 1:1-2.
1.
בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ׃
700 = בראשית + אלהים + השמים + הארץ
And the notariqon with the cipher reversed:
ב ב א א ה ו ה = 800
2.
והארץ היתה תהו ובהו וחשך על פני תהום ורוח אלהים מרחפת על פני המים׃
והארץ היתה תהו ובהו - וחשך + פני ב אלהים - אלהים + פני המים = 700
And the notariqon with the cipher reversed is:
ו ה ת ו ו ע פ ת ו א מ ע פ ה = 666
So you will see here that most of the nouns are calculated by the sum of their letters, but there is an operator when we reach על meaning we have to subtract the former word. There is also a class of words represented here that have a set value, and Ruach (Spirit) has the set value of the letter Beth (2). "מרחפת" (hovering) is another operator that indicates a multiplication by 2 of the prior word, which is followed by another subtraction using the על of an instance of the אלהים then simple addition of the final words.
It had a lot of rules and conventions, which is why it functions so well as a formal system of mathematics. :-)
Of course. Bible math was a formal system that used specific classes of words as mathematical operators. The simplest examples of operators of this type is את et, the direct object, which is used to indicate addition "+" and על meaning 'upon' which is used to indicate the subtraction of the prior word in the sentence. Besides +, -, × 2 and ÷ 2, you also have operators for × 10.
In the Torah, the rule is alluded to by the story of the doubled amount of mana that is produced for the Sabbath because the Sabbath is a blessed day.
Fordo is not a Hobbit. Frodo was. I usually agree with you. But I am so incredibly sick and tired of being told because I do NOT support Netanyahu that I am antisemitic!! That because I condemn the horrendous genocidal actions against the innocent men, women and children in Gaza that I must be antisemitic! I am as appalled by the improper and cruel treatment of pro-Palestinian college protestors as I am by masked ICE goons grabbing brown people off the street!! Netanyahu is an EVIL man!! And tRUMP is an egotistical stupid man who followed him because Netanyahu played him and made him look bad! Netanyahu bombed Iran BEFORE negotiations could be concluded. And Iran “raining missiles on Israel” after they were attacked is called retaliation!! Was Iran bombing Israel first? No.
There’s a lot to unpack here, so I’ll just make a few quick clarifications: 1) you’re absolutely right that no one should be branded antisemitic simply for disagreeing with the Israeli government and its prime minister. Otherwise, I’d have a it big problem! 2) Yes, I know it’s Frodo. But is it Fordo or Fordow ? I’ve seen both. 3) No doubt Israel plays a big role in this - and it can be argued whether the current war was justified. Bibi has a HUGE credibility problem. Long term, through, Iran is the state that has declared publicly its genocidal intent toward Israel. 4) Trump may indeed have been played here, but I’m not sure by whom. And it’s a slippery slope, unfortunately, from condemning the acts of a single individual, even a prime minister, to a discussion of some kind of Jewish conspiracy to draw America unwillingly into war. I know that is NOT what you are saying. But it’s not a huge leap for someone like Tucker Carlson to say it, and I fully expect that to begin happening very soon. Thanks for your comments! It’s fine for us to disagree from time to time.
Thanks. I’m still getting over the shock. I would feel so much better if tRUMP was not the US President in charge. We have good friends who are Jewish and their daughter has a one year teaching position at Brown (starting in September) after finally getting her PhD and I am concerned that he has done everything he can to make that experience more dangerous than it was for her 12 months ago. I also have 2 grown daughters who are both partners with Mexican-American men. So I have 8 little brown grandchildren (aged 5-15) running around in Texas and Arizona … somehow none of their blonde blue-eyed mothers figured into their DNA 🤎. It is like every night I go to bed thinking it cannot get worse and it does. ☮️💟
IDK exactly. But I do know that Russia, and by proxy Iran, were warned in advance.
https://kyivindependent.com/fueling-chaos-across-the-middle-east-russian-nuclear-diplomacy-and-irans-weapons-program/
I also know that the real target was dissidents in the USA.
Would not be surprised. Yes, I’ve heard those voices saying that Russia not only knew in advance (no surprise, it was probably on a Signal chat) but removed the enriched uranium to safe havens in Russia weeks ago.
Yes. Those are voices of truth.
Thank you for this call to be a blessing and for your respectful discussion of Cruz’s viewpoint.
Sometimes I even surprise myself! But if I’m going to preach pluralism, especially in how one interprets sacred text, I have to practice what I preach!
Thank you for responding.. I will subscribe. I've read Rabbi Sacks. His book Not in God's Name came when I was wondering how Jewish people interpret the violent passages in the Old Testament.
Thanks. Rabbi Sacks is a superb resource for coexistence. I’m a great believer in that as well.
I have his fine books on the Torah for bedtime reading, which I need to start in again. I'm at the end of Exodus. I can trust him to lead me to sleep in God's good words.
He was a great man and indeed a pluralist - but the politics of his position as chief rabbi did not allow him to treat non Orthodox streams of Judaism with complete equality, which offended some.
I would imagine, but offense seems to take too much energy. I first heard him on a video about happiness that included the Dalai Lama, a Christian and Imam whose names I forgot. I used it in my first year English class when we were writing about happiness...
What I love so much about Judaism is the constant struggle with the text. Thank you for the d’var. It was thoughtful. Unfortunately, I can not join you in an optimistic outcome. The players are too caught up in their literal interpretation of their sense of destiny.
I always find literalism to be dangerous. My “optimistic outcome” is more driven by aspiration than expectation, unfortunately.