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.
Chad Ashby: Judas is usually depicted in iconography as a redhead. Christian artists saw Judas as fulfilling/recapitulating the archetype of the rejected seed seen in the story of Jacob and Esau. Judas is a kind of Esau of the New Testament–who was famously a redhead.
Eric Herschthal: Epstein shares many traits with Israeli writers of his generation — a surrealist, often playful touch; a less homogenized and momentous view of Israeli life than their literary predecessors. But in other ways he is strikingly different. The first thing any reader will notice is his brevity, with stories often no more than a single sentence long.
Arlene J. Mathes-Scharf: The Asiatic water buffalo (Bubalus arnee or Bubalus bubalis) is native to India and was probably not introduced to western Asia, i.e. the biblical lands, until shortly before the Common Era, near the very end of the biblical period. The identifying features are biblical and clear; and there should be no need for a mesorah, an oral tradition. Nonetheless, they require a mesorah, an oral tradition, in order to declare a species of animal kosher. Jews from Lita - Lithuania have accepted the Chachmat Adam in general and therefore have no choice but to accept that a mesorah is needed and no new animal species may be permitted.
There is not yet a stampede for kosher buffalo, but based on my informal survey of several cities it certainly appears that there is some desire for it. Although the debate was not relevant here, there are certainly species where it would have ramifications. For example in 1993 a new species of animal was discovered in Vietnam. The wild saola (Psudoryx nghetinhensi, also known as the Vu Quang bovid) is the first large land vertebrate discovered in more than 50 years. Despite its being Old World there is clearly no tradition regarding its kosher status. It seems to be an unusual antelope with long, straight horns. Scientists are unsure even how to classify it. Originally it was put in a new genus in the bovine group together with oxen and elands. Now some people are grouping it with goats. Either way, this odd, elusive creature that is possibly on the verge of extinction exhibits both kosher indicia and yet lacks a mesorah - a perfect test case for this debate.
VATICAN: Kuwaiti royal prince Abdullah al-Sabah has become a follower of Jesus Christ. The al-Sabahs are the royal family of Kuwait (only 4% is Christian), a country rich in oil. The name Abdullah (servant of God) frequently appears in the Emir’s family tree.
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.