MICHAEL FREUND: Ezekiel is commanded by God to take two sticks. On one, he is to write "For Judah," and on the other "For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim." Then comes the crucial instruction: "Bring them together into one stick so that they become one in your hand" (37:17). Ezekiel's vision is not one of uniformity. The two sticks do not cease to be what they are. Judah remains Judah; Joseph remains Joseph. Unity does not erase difference – it sanctifies and elevates it by placing it within a larger shared destiny.


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Ketriel Blad: In other words, in order for a total restoration to take place, the restored Ephraimites from among the nations will have to become Jewish, in the legal sense of the word, thus accepting the Jewish authorities and becoming obedient to Jewish halachah. In the prophecy of Ezekiel 37:19 the Hebrew text can be understood as HaShem giving Yehuda's stick the function of being over Ephraim's stick and this way both sticks will become one. This teaches us that the Ephraimite movement that comes from heaven cannot rise apart from the Jewish people without submission to the Jewish leaders' authority. This is not for all the gentiles.

วันอังคาร, มิถุนายน 23, 2558

||More Israeli Gothic||

  • The UN soldiers at Cafe Anan in the Golan Heights have a rectangular hole in the sleeves of their uniforms where their national flags should be. They’re not eating or drinking anything, but are sitting bolt upright at the tables, staring at each other instead of the view. You don’t know what language they speak; you’ve been there for three hours and they haven’t said a word.
  • There is a sign at the old city of Nazareth that says “DID YOU KNOW THAT JESUS WAS A MUSLIM?” As you progress through the city, you find more: “DID YOU KNOW THAT YOUR FAVORITE SPICE GIRL WAS A MUSLIM?” “DID YOU KNOW THAT YOUR MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPLE WAS A MUSLIM?” “DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU WERE A MUSLIM?”
  • you’re on your way back home from azrieli. youre waiting for a train to netanya. it’s been hours and hours and the train is not here. you ask a bypasser, dressed in all black, “excuse me, do you know when the train to netanya will be here?” there is silence. he stares at you with big, sad eyes and hands you a small keychain bible. he simply answers with “the train will come when the messiah does.”
  • You sit in the Azrieli Mall, drinking a coffee and watching the soldiers. Some of their shoulder tags have leaves on them. Some of their shoulder tags have flying snakes on them. Some of their shoulder tags have two hands cradling an eyeball on them. Some of their shoulder tags have the skeleton of a mountain goat on them. Some of their shoulder tags have a pair of eyes crying blood on them. Some of their shoulder tags have a picture of your childhood home on them, with your parents and dog standing outside. Those soldiers have orange berets and carry very large guns.

Neil Asher Silberman, Israel Finkelstein, David Ussishkin, and Baruch Halpern: The Book of Joshua (12:21) specifically mentions the defeat of the king of Megiddo and the allotment of his territory to the tribe of Manasseh;

JACQUELINE SCHAALJE: Beit Shean is mentioned as belonging to the conquered area of the Israelite tribe of Manasseh

NETANYA MUNICIPALITY: thanks to the Lord for giving them {Netan~ya, lot. "gift of God"} the ability to continue the legacy of the 12 tribes who settled in the Land of Israel, and particularly of the half~tribe of Manasseh, which settled in the region.

Stephen Epstein: Some went down the Mekong River into Vietnam, the Philippines, Siam, Thailand and Malaysia, while some of the Israelites moved to Burma and west to India.

אֵלִיָּ֨הוּ הַתִּשְׁבִּ֜י מִתֹּשָׁבֵ֣י גִלְעָד֮