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.
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.
JEWISH VIRTUAL LIBRARY: Cyrus the Great became the king of Persia, a small state in the Middle East, and within 30 years had replaced the Babylonian empire with his own.
KRISTA DALTON: Throughout the process, we talked about ritual efficacy, ways of knowing in the world, and legal expertise, and religious piety in the Jewish Babylonian context.
"So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations" (Matthew 1:17). From Christ's Resurrection to Babylon 56 generations. 1994 marked 56 generations plus 33 years since Christ was crucified. 7 years later the Fall of Babylon commenced on September 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center was destroyed within 1 hour. 7 years later the U.S. was in the middle of the Great Recession in 2008. 7 years later the U.S. legalized Same Sex Marriage on June 26, 2015.
KEN SPIRO: They even appoint a community leader who is the representative to the Babylonian authorities for the Jewish community, beginning not long after the exiled King of Judah, Jehoiachin (2 Kings 25:27). He is given the title of Resh Galusa in Aramaic.
This word Resh Galusa means in Hebrew Rosh Galut, and in English, "Head of the Diaspora." (Diaspora, incidentally, is a Greek word, meaning "dispersion.") The Resh Galusa is a person who is a direct descendant of the House of King David.
JEWISH VIRTUAL LIBRARY: The Persians resisted any Jewish efforts to restore the monarchy, but allowed them a high degree of autonomy under the High Priest, whose power was partially checked by the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Court, and the Popular Assemblies.
FRANKLIN LAMB: Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), the doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of high-yield weapons by two opposing sides would effectively result in the potential annihilation of both the attacker and the defender, thus becoming a war that has no victor but only reciprocal destruction is increasingly becoming relevant to the Iran/Israel regional confrontation.
THE ECONOMIST: EVEN if Iran got the bomb, it would know that Israel had one too, and that knowledge would deter both countries from using their weapons, just as the doctrine of “Mutual Assured Destruction” kept America and the Soviet Union at peace during the cold war.
SCOTT RITTER: The centrifuges that could be used by Iran to produce enriched uranium capable of being used in a fissile device are housed in a hardened underground facility located near the town of Fordow. No conventional munition currently in the US arsenal can destroy Fordow.
SCOTT RITTER: Only a modified B-61 nuclear bomb can do the job.
JEFFREY LEWIS: The new facility is likely to be a far more secure location for centrifuge assembly — it is located far from a road and the ridge offers significant overburden that would protect the facility from air attack. Iran indicated it was rebuilding in the mountains.
KAREN WOLFERS RAPAPORT: Esther's name comes from the Hebrew word “hester,” which means hidden. In the entire Book of Esther, we do not see the name of God. This is unlike any other of our holy texts. The omission of God's name illuminates the essence of this holiday. During this time period, God’s face is hidden.
God is always with us. We our His children. He is our father. But sometimes, He cloaks Himself in order for us to feel want, to feel need, and to feel void. There are times we all feel “Hester Panim,” when God’s face is hidden
Purim and Hester Panim: The opportunity of a lifetime. God is hidden, and we uncover Him and ourselves in the process.
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;
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.