Posted by Navah on Apr 3, 2022 in The Exiles
There are two commonly accepted exiles of Israel: in Babylon and Rome. While much has been written about the Babylonian and the Roman exiles, there are two exiles about which we know very little: the Egyptian and the Arabian exiles. The term “exile of Israel in Egypt” sounds peculiar as we have not read anywhere in the Scripture that Israel had been sent in Egypt for any reason other than the famine in the land of Kana’an. Moreover, Torah is virtually silent about the...
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Posted by Navah on Mar 23, 2022 in The Exiles
The Jewish holiday of Purim is not one of the Appointed Times of the Creator listed in Leviticus 23, nevertheless, it is a joyful holiday for all Jews around the world. It is celebrated every year on the 14th of the month of Adar (according to the Rabbinic calendar), or the 12th month of the Biblical calendar. But why “the lost Purim”? Purim (Farsi for “lots) commemorates the deliverance of Jews in the Persian empire from the notorious anti-Semite Haman, who was...
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Posted by Navah on Mar 15, 2022 in The Messiah
The Book of Leviticus Vayikra begins with “And he called”, which has given the name of this book (Hebrew for “and he called”). This seems like an unusual way to begin a book with “And”. But, this is not the only book that begins in such a way. The books of Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, Samuel 1&2, Kings 1&2, Ruth, Esther, and Ezra too begin with the Hebrew letter vav, “and”. Who called to Mosheh in the very opening...
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Posted by Navah on Mar 7, 2022 in The Exodus
Israel saw the mighty hand of Elohim in Egypt, what He did to the Egyptians by the works of the ten plagues, and how the whole Egypt was destroyed economically, demographically, and militarily. Israel saw them, the Egyptians saw them too, and all other nations heard what the Elohim of the Israelites did to the world power of their time, so that when Israel entered the Land forty years later, the fear of these awesome events were still in their memories. Then YHVH declared...
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Posted by Navah on Feb 27, 2022 in Bible Study
There is rabbinic prohibition in Judaism to kindle a fire on Sabbath, the most set-apart day. This prohibition is derived from the Torah and further extends to lighting the Sabbath candles and turning on the kitchen ovens. For this reason, traditionally the Jewish woman kindles the candles before the beginning of Sabbath, and there are kitchen ovens with a “Sabbath mode” designed to keep the Sabbath meal warm from Friday sunset until Saturday sunset. Where did...
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Posted by Navah on Feb 22, 2022 in The Messiah
We should recall that there was a messenger, who led the people out of Egypt and went before them in the pillar of cloud and fire, to guide and to defend them day and night (Exo 13:21) in the wilderness for forty years. But because it was the Eternal who was guiding His people in the person of His messenger, He demanded unconditional obedience to him. He said concerning this messenger, Beware of his presence and listen to his voice. Do not rebel against him, for he is not...
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Posted by Navah on Feb 8, 2022 in Hebrew Study
The Almighty is very clear in His Word that He does not show partiality and that there is one law for the Hebrew and for the stranger who has joined Israel. Yet, there is a law in the Torah that has perplexed the strangers, who observe the Torah in obedience to the Eternal. At first reading of that verse, it seems to the reader that Mosheh our teacher has departed from this fundamental principle in the Torah putting the stranger in an awkward position to eat what otherwise...
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Posted by Navah on Feb 1, 2022 in The Messiah
In rabbinic tradition, Metatron is the unique Messenger of the Presence of the Eternal, the one who bears the Tetragrammaton and guided Israel through the wilderness to Mount Sinai. According to the rabbinic sources, this Messenger of the Presence (literally, the Faces) has been entrusted by the Creator to run the universe according to natural laws. In some rabbinic works, he is called also “Metatron Mashiach”, or the Anointed Metatron. The messianic expectation...
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Posted by Navah on Jan 23, 2022 in Bible Study
When thinking of “resurrection” and “the world to come”, many people do not realize that there are different concepts behind these words, and if we add the term “reincarnation” the things become even more complicated. In this introduction to the matter of the resurrection of the body and the reincarnation of the soul, we would like to clarify certain concepts in Judaism that the rabbis have written about, but still their controversy has...
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Posted by Navah on Jan 16, 2022 in The Name of YHVH
Now that the heaven and the earth had been made after six days of creation, the narrator of the creation story for the first time reveals the Creator’s full Name to Mosheh — Yehovah Elohim. But this would not occur until the seventh day of the creation: the first Sabbath, when the phenomena of creation had been completely reached. Only then was Elohim referred to by His full Name: Yehovah Elohim. The Name Elohim, which alone appears in Chapter 1, is associated with...
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Posted by Navah on Jan 6, 2022 in Hebrew Study
Hebrew language being set-apart from all other languages has no particular names for the terms of intimate relation between man and woman. Torah highly regards intimacy and carefully choose Hebrew words to describe things in a figurative manner to completely avoid vulgar language. In the following article, we will continue what we have started in the earlier article How Hebrew Addresses Delicate Matters and explain words and passages which have either been misunderstood or...
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Posted by Navah on Dec 30, 2021 in Hebrew Study
We have a reason and cause for calling Hebrew language set-apart without any exaggeration, and this will not be an overstatement but a fact, as we will show it in the following. A careful reading of the Hebrew Scripture will show that the Hebrew language has no particular names for the private organ in males or in females, nor for the act of reproduction itself, nor for other things in that matter. Hebrew has no original words or expressions for these things, and only...
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