In the old ages, there was a place, which the safest to the murderer- the horns of the altar. There were four horns to the altar, where the priest used to splash the blood over during the sacrifice.
Due to his holiness, the altar was the place that helped to protect the people. However, if the man was a murderer intentionally, he could be taken away from this sacred place as written in Exodus 21:14-
“וְכִי-יָזִד אִישׁ עַל-רֵעֵהוּ, לְהָרְגוֹ בְעָרְמָה–מֵעִם מִזְבְּחִי, תִּקָּחֶנּוּ לָמוּת”
“And if a man comes presumptuously upon his neighbor, to slay him with guile; thou shall take him from Mine altar that he may die”

One of the most famous stories with the horns of the altar is with Adonijah, the son of David that thought he would be the king after his father. When he saw that Solomon was anointed to king, he became afraid and held in the horns of the altar as written in one kings 1:50-
“וַאֲדֹנִיָּהוּ, יָרֵא מִפְּנֵי שְׁלֹמֹה; וַיָּקָם וַיֵּלֶךְ, וַיַּחֲזֵק בְּקַרְנוֹת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ”
“And Adonijah feared because of Solomon; and he arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.”

Now my dearest friends, a small question to you- who held in the horns of the altar, and they didn’t help him?
Shanna tova!

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

In the days of Amos all seemed to be fine, especially for the northern kingdom!

No enemy was in the area, the trade prospered, the borders of the country were wide. Yet, the picture was totally different. This is the period of time when the morals is just a word on the paper, this is the time when the society was rotten and the rich people saw themselves and only themselves.

One of the most famous prophecies in the book of Amos is in chapter 2. For me, every time When I am reading the sins of Israel, I remind to myself what I must not do in my life as an individual and what I must teach my pupils at school no to as well.

Let us look at the verses as written in Amos 2:6-8

“כֹּה, אָמַר יְהוָה,

עַל-שְׁלֹשָׁה פִּשְׁעֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְעַל-אַרְבָּעָה לֹא אֲשִׁיבֶנּוּ:

עַל-מִכְרָם בַּכֶּסֶף צַדִּיק,

וְאֶבְיוֹן בַּעֲבוּר נַעֲלָיִם.

הַשֹּׁאֲפִים עַל-עֲפַר-אֶרֶץ בְּרֹאשׁ דַּלִּים,

וְדֶרֶךְ עֲנָוִים יַטּוּ;

וְאִישׁ וְאָבִיו, יֵלְכוּ אֶל-הַנַּעֲרָה, לְמַעַן חַלֵּל, אֶת-שֵׁם קָדְשִׁי.

וְעַל-בְּגָדִים חֲבֻלִים יַטּוּ, אֵצֶל כָּל-מִזְבֵּחַ;

וְיֵין עֲנוּשִׁים יִשְׁתּוּ, בֵּית אֱלֹהֵיהֶם“

“Thus saith the LORD: For three transgressions of Israel, yea, for four, I will not reverse it:

Because they sell the righteous for silver,

And the needy for a pair of shoes;

That pants after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor,

And turn aside the way of the humble;

And a man and his father go unto the same maid, to profane My holy name

And they lay themselves down beside every altar upon clothes taken in pledge,

And in the house of their God they drink the wine of them that have been fined.”

What we need to remember?

We won’t judge the righteous people without ethics, we won’t sell or buy slaves, we won’t have slaves in our world, we won’t trample the poor people, and we won’t take the money of the poor people and drink on the account of them!

These are few good advices for the year to come!

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

In the beginning of every New Year in Judaism there is birth of the new events and the memory of the old ones. This is actually essence of Rosh Hashanah. There are some customs that are unique to this day:

1. The blowing in the Shofar which reminds us the crowning of The Lord on the earth, the binding of Isaac and the covenant between God and the people of Israel.

2. The Tashlich, this is the day when we are going out to place with water, a well, the sea, a river or a place that we can see a water source. When we reach that place we are praying to The Lord, and we are throwing from our pockets all the sins that we had during the last year. You need to pay attention that all your pockets are empty from your sins!

3. Asking for forgiveness from people whom we hurt them and from The Lord.
4. Eating the apple with honey in order to have a sweet year and many more!

I wish you all happy New Year and don’t forget to send a card to all of your friends; you can all use this link, Eli.

http://roshhashanah.hebrewonline.com/show_card.aspx?cardId=1252838208554

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

The beginning of every Jewish year is in the first day, which is also called Rosh Hashanah, the seventh month according to the book of Leviticus, as written:

“דַּבֵּר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, לֵאמֹר: בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ, יִהְיֶה לָכֶם שַׁבָּתוֹן–זִכְרוֹן תְּרוּעָה, מִקְרָא-קֹדֶשׁ. כָּל-מְלֶאכֶת עֲבֹדָה, לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ; וְהִקְרַבְתֶּם אִשֶּׁה, לַיהוָה”

“Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest unto you, a memorial proclaimed with the blast of horns, a holy convocation. Ye shall do no manner of servile work; and ye shall bring an offering made by fire unto the LORD” (Leviticus 23, 24-25)

In this day, the people of the world acknowledge in the kingship of The Lord, and they are making an anointment of him over the world. One tradition is telling us that the first man had been created in that day (the other is telling us that it was in Nisan).
According to the Talmud in Rosh Hashanah three books are opened – the book of the righteous, the book of the evils and the book of those in the middle. The only book that needs to be discussed over there in heavens is the last one. Rosh Hashanah is the judgment day for all the people of the world – I hope that you all will do good in the year to come, Shanna Tova.

Next time we will discuss on the customs of Rosh Hashanah.

meanwhile, i want you to wish you all happy new year. you can send a lovely gift card from this link:

http://roshhashanah.hebrewonline.com/show_card.aspx?cardId=1252838208554

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

We all know that in the Bible, there is a law that forbids the man to curse his parents or worst, his God, as written in Exodus 22:27-

“אֱלֹהִים, לֹא תְקַלֵּל; וְנָשִׂיא בְעַמְּךָ, לֹא תָאֹר.”

“Thou shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of, thy people”

You can see also what is written in Exodus 21:17-
“וּמְקַלֵּל אָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ, מוֹת יוּמָת”
“And he that cursed his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.”

Cursing the most important relatives in your life, whether they are close to you, whether you believe in them is a wish of death according to the law.
Therefore, Jeremiah the prophet and Job the ultimate righteous have a problem to curse God, so they are doing something else- both are cursing the day that they were born as written in Jeremiah 20:14-
“אָרוּר הַיּוֹם, אֲשֶׁר יֻלַּדְתִּי בּוֹ: יוֹם אֲשֶׁר-יְלָדַתְנִי אִמִּי, אַל-יְהִי בָרוּךְ.”
“Cursed be the day wherein I was born; the day wherein my mother bore me, let it not be blessed”

Next time we will speak about Job- why did he curse the day the day that he was born? Who job wanted to curse, and he couldn’t?

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

Whenever I need to remember the function that we, as the people of planet earth, need to do, I am reading one of the best midrashim, that is written on the first man.

In this midrash, that appears in Koheleth Rabbah it’s been told to us which The Lord took the first man whom he just created and made him a tour in all the trees of the Garden of Eden saying to him:

Dear friends, can you see it? How beautiful is the world that I created to you? All the creation is for you! Pay attention not to destroy, ruin or banish this world, because if you will destroy, there won’t be a man who will repair it after you!

This is the message that we should tell our children all the time! Think about yourself as the only person in the world, as the one who keeps it alive, as the one who is responsible of this entire planet!

One of my favorites verses in The Bible is in Genesis 1:29-

“וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי לָכֶם אֶת-כָּל-עֵשֶׂב זֹרֵעַ זֶרַע אֲשֶׁר עַל-פְּנֵי כָל-הָאָרֶץ, וְאֶת-כָּל-הָעֵץ אֲשֶׁר-בּוֹ פְרִי-עֵץ, זֹרֵעַ זָרַע:  לָכֶם יִהְיֶה, לְאָכְלָה.”

“And God said: ‘Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed–to you it shall be for food;”

For sure we should try to go back to save and keep what The Almighty gave us!

  Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

One of the prophets that are less familiar to the bible lovers is Joel. Only 4 chapters there are in his book and his time of prophecy is an argument between the scholars until today, from the 900 B.C.E to 450 B.C.E. For me it is less important the time of the prophecies, it is more important the ideas and the contents there.

Last time we spoke about the plague of locust in Egypt, but it turns out that in the book of Joel we can find another reference for this plague, this time in the promise land, as written in Joel 1:2-4

“שִׁמְעוּ-זֹאת, הַזְּקֵנִים, וְהַאֲזִינוּ, כֹּל יוֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ; הֶהָיְתָה זֹּאת בִּימֵיכֶם, וְאִם בִּימֵי אֲבֹתֵיכֶם.  עָלֶיהָ, לִבְנֵיכֶם סַפֵּרוּ; וּבְנֵיכֶם, לִבְנֵיהֶם, וּבְנֵיהֶם, לְדוֹר אַחֵר.  יֶתֶר הַגָּזָם אָכַל הָאַרְבֶּה, וְיֶתֶר הָאַרְבֶּה אָכַל הַיָּלֶק; וְיֶתֶר הַיֶּלֶק, אָכַל הֶחָסִיל.”

“Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten; and that which the canker-worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten”

The plague here was so severe that the farmers and the drunken ones need to pray for The Lord because there is no crop anymore. The description in this chapter is so beautiful when the author tells us that the even the ground is mourning and the fruit felt miserable!

But, don’t feel so miserable my friend, after every plague there is a growth to the world- let us pray that our world also will feel the growth and the development!

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

One of the ten plagues God imposed upon the Egyptians was the plague of locusts. The locust is a general name for all of grasshoppers collected in groups, they multiply rapidly, spreading on crop fields rapidly and eating almost everything, except for palm or olive. Surprisingly, the locust is kosher animal to eat.

In the book of Exodus we can find the plague of the locust as number eight in the order of the plagues as written in Ex. 10:13-15

“וַיֵּט מֹשֶׁה אֶת-מַטֵּהוּ, עַל-אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, וַיהוָה נִהַג רוּחַ-קָדִים בָּאָרֶץ, כָּל-הַיּוֹם הַהוּא וְכָל-הַלָּיְלָה; הַבֹּקֶר הָיָה–וְרוּחַ הַקָּדִים, נָשָׂא אֶת-הָאַרְבֶּה.  וַיַּעַל הָאַרְבֶּה, עַל כָּל-אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, וַיָּנַח, בְּכֹל גְּבוּל מִצְרָיִם:  כָּבֵד מְאֹד–לְפָנָיו לֹא-הָיָה כֵן אַרְבֶּה כָּמֹהוּ, וְאַחֲרָיו לֹא יִהְיֶה-כֵּן. וַיְכַס אֶת-עֵין כָּל-הָאָרֶץ, וַתֶּחְשַׁךְ הָאָרֶץ, וַיֹּאכַל אֶת-כָּל-עֵשֶׂב הָאָרֶץ וְאֵת כָּל-פְּרִי הָעֵץ, אֲשֶׁר הוֹתִיר הַבָּרָד; וְלֹא-נוֹתַר כָּל-יֶרֶק בָּעֵץ וּבְעֵשֶׂב הַשָּׂדֶה, בְּכָל-אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם”

“And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt; very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left; and there remained not any green thing, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt”

Only after begging of the Egyptian king The Lord is taking the locust into the red sea, with the power of the wind and there was no locust in Egypt anymore.

If the locust wasn’t with the Egyptians, where was he afterward in The Scriptures?

Next time we will meet him in the land of Judah!

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

In the Book of Judges you can find one of the most beautiful pomes in the Bible: the song of Deborah.

The song of Deborah is an ancient hymns of praise, that describes the victory of the Jews over the armies of Sisera. There are 31 verses in this song. In the hymns, Deborah praises the Lord and thanks him for this victory. According to the text, God uses the forces of nature to defeat the enemy as mentioned in Judges 5:4-5:

” יְהוָה, בְּצֵאתְךָ  מִשֵּׂעִיר בְּצַעְדְּךָ מִשְּׂדֵה אֱדוֹם,    אֶרֶץ   רָעָשָׁה, גַּם-שָׁמַיִם נָטָפוּ;  גַּם-עָבִים, נָטְפוּ  מָיִם.   הָרִים נָזְלוּ, מִפְּנֵי יְהוָה:  זֶה  סִינַי–מִפְּנֵי, יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. ”

“LORD, when Thou didst go forth out of Seir, when Thou didst march out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, yea, the clouds dropped water. The mountains quaked at the presence of the LORD, even yon Sinai at the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel.”

Although Deborah praises the Lord throughout the hymns, she doesn’t forget the ten thousand soldiers that put their lives on the line to defend the nation against the superior armaments of the armies of Sisera.

Deborah also celebrating the power of women and glorifying Yael for risking her life in order to kill Sisera as mentioned in Judges 5:24:

” תְּבֹרַךְ, מִנָּשִׁים–יָעֵל, אֵשֶׁת הַקֵּינִי:  מִנָּשִׁים בָּאֹהֶל, תְּבֹרָךְ. “

“Blessed above women shall Jael be, the wife of Heber the Kenite, above women in the tent shall she be blessed”

There is no doubt that Deborah represents the power of women in ancient times. She was a judge, a prophet and was a powerful leader, wise and a brave one.

Can you think about more strong women in the Bible?

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

When Abraham our father entered to the promise land, his second stop was in the city of Bet El as written in Genesis 12:8-

“וַיַּעְתֵּק מִשָּׁם הָהָרָה, מִקֶּדֶם לְבֵית-אֵל–וַיֵּט אָהֳלֹה; בֵּית-אֵל מִיָּם, וְהָעַי מִקֶּדֶם, וַיִּבֶן-שָׁם מִזְבֵּחַ לַיהוָה, וַיִּקְרָא בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה”

“And he removed from thence unto the mountain on the east of Beth-El, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Ai on the east; and he builded there an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD”

The tenth, the altar and the calling in the name of The Lord gives this city a special status in the idea of the birth of Judaism or the birth of ant belief- this is the house of God. We need to remember that Beth-El was also the place that Abraham returned to when he came back from Egypt as we can read in Genesis 13:3-4

“וַיֵּלֶךְ, לְמַסָּעָיו, מִנֶּגֶב, וְעַד-בֵּית-אֵל–עַד-הַמָּקוֹם, אֲשֶׁר-הָיָה שָׁם אָהֳלֹה בַּתְּחִלָּה, בֵּין בֵּית-אֵל, וּבֵין הָעָי.  אֶל-מְקוֹם, הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, אֲשֶׁר-עָשָׂה שָׁם, בָּרִאשֹׁנָה; וַיִּקְרָא שָׁם אַבְרָם, בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה”

“And he went on his journeys from the South even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Ai; unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first; and Abram called there on the name of the LORD”

Perhaps the name Beth-El relates also to its value in gematria- number 2- this is the second place, 2 times that Abraham called in the name of The Lord – what are you thinking?

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com