When a special person is dead, whether he or she is closed to you or not, the book of Micah expresses an idiom the speaks of the good quality of this person as written in Micah 7:2-

“אָבַד חָסִיד מִן הָאָרֶץ”

“The godly man is perished out of the earth”

If that man was one of a kind, one that did good to others people hearts, we will use the idiom above.

On the other end, sometimes there is someone or something that is really outdated; then you will use another idiom with the root ‘bd, originally comes from the book of Job 30:2-

“גַּם-כֹּחַ יְדֵיהֶם, לָמָּה לִּי;    עָלֵימוֹ, אָבַד כָּלַח”

“Yea , the strength of their hands, whereto should it profit me? Men in whom ripe age is perished”

If someone loses his mind, can’t control his thoughts, embarrassed the book of Psalms is giving us another idiom with the root above as written in psalm 146:4-

“… בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, אָבְדוּ עֶשְׁתֹּנֹתָיו”

“… in that very day his thoughts perish.”

When you are feeling really depressed and it seems to be that nothing can help anymore-you lose your hope as written in Ezekiel 37:11 (and also in the Jewish hymn in the opposite meaning)-

“…… וְאָבְדָה תִקְוָתֵנוּ….”

“… and our hope is lost….”

I hope that you will gain and not lose anyone/ anything important to you, my dearest

Friends!

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

 Eli@eteachergroup.com

In genesis 33 Jacob and Esau finally meets after the escape of Jacob to Laban’s house, when he stole the blessing of his brother. If someone would have read the story in Genesis 33 without knowing Jacob’s perforations, he could understand even then the relationship between Jacob’ his wives and his children , soon to be to people of Israel.

We are reading in the beginning of Genesis 33 this verses, as written:

“וַיִּשָּׂא יַעֲקֹב עֵינָיו, וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה עֵשָׂו בָּא, וְעִמּוֹ, אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת אִישׁ;

וַיַּחַץ אֶת-הַיְלָדִים, עַל-לֵאָה וְעַל-רָחֵל, וְעַל, שְׁתֵּי הַשְּׁפָחוֹת.

וַיָּשֶׂם אֶת-הַשְּׁפָחוֹת וְאֶת-יַלְדֵיהֶן, רִאשֹׁנָה; וְאֶת-לֵאָה וִילָדֶיהָ אַחֲרֹנִים, וְאֶת-רָחֵל וְאֶת-יוֹסֵף אַחֲרֹנִים”

“And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.”

When Jacob saw Esau , he was frightened , he thought that Esau will revenge, after he sold his birthright and the blessing of Isaac was stolen from him from his small little brother, the one who held his heel!

From the arrangement of his sons and also from their nicknames one can learn a lot: firstly, the children of Jacob and Lea are called kids, without telling us are their name. Also the names of his made are not written with the names of their sons as well.

Secondly, the only name that is mentioned from the sons of Jacob is Joseph; furthermore his name is coming before his mother’s name- Rachel.

What can we say, my friends, this is a sign to the future quarrel between the brothers – it does all relate to the order and to the nickname!

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

When we are looking at the heroes of The Scriptures, some of them fought with the lions in order to show us their strength and courage, when they competed with them.

The first story is with Samson, who fought against the whelp of lion as it written in judges 14:5-6-

” וַיֵּרֶד שִׁמְשׁוֹן וְאָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ, תִּמְנָתָה; וַיָּבֹאוּ, עַד-כַּרְמֵי תִמְנָתָה, וְהִנֵּה כְּפִיר אֲרָיוֹת, שֹׁאֵג לִקְרָאתוֹ. וַתִּצְלַח עָלָיו רוּחַ יְהוָה, וַיְשַׁסְּעֵהוּ כְּשַׁסַּע הַגְּדִי, וּמְאוּמָה, אֵין בְּיָדוֹ; וְלֹא הִגִּיד לְאָבִיו וּלְאִמּוֹ, אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה.”

“Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah; and, behold, a young lion roared against him. And the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as one would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand; but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.”

When the spirit of The Lord is with you, even the king of the animals can’t defeat you (see also the post on Benaiah the son of Jehoiada). The lion could be also a symbol to the power of the enemies (physical or mental) as we can see for example in Psalm 7:2-3-

” יְהוָה אֱלֹהַי, בְּךָ חָסִיתִי;    הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי מִכָּל-רֹדְפַי, וְהַצִּילֵנִי. פֶּן-יִטְרֹף כְּאַרְיֵה נַפְשִׁי;  פֹּרֵק, וְאֵין מַצִּיל”

“O LORD my God, in Thee has I taken refuge; save me from all them that pursue me, and deliver me; lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.”

When the far distant future will come the lion would be different than today; he will be with a good relationship with the humanity as written in Isaiah 11:6-7-

“  וְגָר זְאֵב עִם-כֶּבֶשׂ, וְנָמֵר עִם-גְּדִי יִרְבָּץ; וְעֵגֶל וּכְפִיר וּמְרִיא יַחְדָּו, וְנַעַר קָטֹן נֹהֵג בָּם. וּפָרָה וָדֹב תִּרְעֶינָה, יַחְדָּו יִרְבְּצוּ יַלְדֵיהֶן; וְאַרְיֵה, כַּבָּקָר יֹאכַל-תֶּבֶן”

“And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

Let us pray and hope for those days that we all will be in this amazing picture described above, as the nature and the people of this planet will live in a great harmony!

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

We all saw or heard about the famous movie the lion’ king; there is no kid that didn’t heard the words timon, pumbah, simba and muphasa!yet we all have to ask the question why the lion is the king of the animals? Is there any connection to the bible and to this saying about him?

The first appearance of the lion is as a symbol to tribe of Judah. When Jacob blessed all his sons before he died, all assumed that the first born Reuben will get the best blessings. But always as it happens – the first is being actually the last!

On the other hand, Judah is being blessed in those words, as written in Genesis 49:8-9

“יְהוּדָה, אַתָּה יוֹדוּךָ אַחֶיךָ–יָדְךָ, בְּעֹרֶף אֹיְבֶיךָ; יִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לְךָ, בְּנֵי אָבִיךָ. גּוּר אַרְיֵה יְהוּדָה, מִטֶּרֶף בְּנִי עָלִיתָ; כָּרַע רָבַץ כְּאַרְיֵה וּכְלָבִיא, מִי יְקִימֶנּוּ.”

“Judah, thee shall thy brethren praise; thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s sons shall bow down before thee Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?”

Judah is the first lion. From his tribe came King David and also the messiah will be, according to Judaism, the son of David. However Judah is not the only tribe that has the symbol of the lion, also Dan has it as written in Deuteronomy 33:22-

“וּלְדָן אָמַר, דָּן גּוּר אַרְיֵה; יְזַנֵּק, מִן-הַבָּשָׁן.”

“And of Dan he said: Dan is a lion’s whelp that leapeth forth from Bashan”

I think that every lion (Judah) has a son (Dan, the whelp), but the only lion that is really the king is the one above.

Next time we will see more stories and verses with the lion!

 Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

If you want to define exactly, without any mistakes the terms for a contract or a covenant, you will use today in the Modern Hebrew an expression that appears in Genesis 29:18, as written:

“  וַיֶּאֱהַב יַעֲקֹב, אֶת-רָחֵל; וַיֹּאמֶר, אֶעֱבָדְךָ שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים, בְּרָחֵל בִּתְּךָ, הַקְּטַנָּה“

“And Jacob loved Rachel; and he said: ‘I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.’

Jacob spoke with Laban and said to him without any place to make an error; I want your daughter Rachel (and not Lea!). Unfortunately Laban didn’t understand the unambiguous words of Jacob; maybe today in the Modern Hebrew the words of Jacob would be clearer!

Maybe this is the reason that Jacob could have waited for her seven years, as written in the next idiom in Genesis 29:20-

” וַיַּעֲבֹד יַעֲקֹב בְּרָחֵל, שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים; וַיִּהְיוּ בְעֵינָיו כְּיָמִים אֲחָדִים, בְּאַהֲבָתוֹ אֹתָהּ”

“And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.”

When you wish to have something or someone in your life, when you want or interested in an idea or a person, the waiting time is not the chronological one- the time is passing by quickly.

When we look and search in our life, even if it takes time, the one and only- the time afterwards seems to be the heaven of our life!

  Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

When the rain started to fall down from the skies and the people of earth figure out that they cannot sin anymore, there were kind of animals that the water wasn’t new to them – the fish.

We never ask the question about the fish; what happened to them during the flood? When The Lord punished all the people and the animals, were the fish included in the punishment?

In Genesis 6:7 it’s written:

“וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה, אֶמְחֶה אֶת-הָאָדָם אֲשֶׁר-בָּרָאתִי מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה, מֵאָדָם עַד-בְּהֵמָה, עַד-רֶמֶשׂ וְעַד-עוֹף הַשָּׁמָיִם:  כִּי נִחַמְתִּי, כִּי עֲשִׂיתִם ”

“And the LORD said: ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the air; for it repenteth Me that I have made them.’

The fish is not included, my dearest friends!

The people of Israel have in the zodiac the sign of Pisces. They are like the fish that mate only with their species and this is the reason why the fish didn’t get the punishment during the flood. Moses is also a member of the sign of Pisces in his birth and his death. This is the only sign that has a plural form.

From the other point of view, the Israeli poet, Dan pagis, wrote a poem in the fish during and after the flood and in his poem, named Ararat, is written that after all the survivors from the ark were happy after the end almost came to them, the fish felt the end after all the water went down and left them without any air!

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

We all know the famous verse from the story of creation, that tell us about the consolation between the Lord and his angels about the creation of the man, as written in Genesis 1:26-

“וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ; וְיִרְדּוּ בִדְגַת הַיָּם וּבְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם, וּבַבְּהֵמָה וּבְכָל-הָאָרֶץ, וּבְכָל-הָרֶמֶשׂ, הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל-הָאָרֶץ.”

“And God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.’

The only thing that is missing according to genesis rabbah in this story is the arguments between the angels. In Genesis 1 we are not in arguments, The Lord commended and created. Yet, I am sure that before that created the one who will replace/help in controlling the world- the angels spoke with each other saying, maybe being afraid that the man will replace or threaten them!

Some probably said: this man shouldn’t be created; some said: let this man created to this world, we are not feeling in tense, he is in the ground; we are up in the skies.

According to sages the angels were fighting and God created the man- they are learning from the last verse of chapter 1 with the grade that God gave to his creation

(Very good) the Hebrew world for man – those are the same letters- Mem, Aleph and Dalet as written:

“וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת-כָּל-אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה, וְהִנֵּה-טוֹב מְאֹד;..”

“And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good…”

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

If you are looking for a psalm that will tell you the power of God, his control all over the world and the futility of man against the eminence of God, you should read psalm 8.

This psalm starts with music; the psalm of David is being played in the temple with the instrument called gittith and you can imagine yourself in the temple along with other people saying those words, in repetition as written:

“יְהוָה אֲדֹנֵינוּ-מָה-אַדִּיר שִׁמְךָ, בְּכָל-הָאָרֶץ; אֲשֶׁר תְּנָה הוֹדְךָ,עַל-הַשָּׁמָיִם.”

“O LORD, our Lord, how glorious is Thy name in all the earth! {N}

Whose majesty is rehearsed above the heavens”

When a man looks at the world he is being like a baby impressed and amazed from the act of God, no one can hide from it, no one can say that his creation failed or not exist at all; the fingers of God started the creation after the profound thoughts on what ,when and how to create.

What a man can feel in this planet, being mortal, like a small grain of sand, like tiny planet in the galaxy, living for a scene in the great movie of God, the story that never ends. The next verse has been chosen among pupils as one of the most depressing that a man can find in The Scriptures as written in psalm 8:5

“מָה-אֱנוֹשׁ כִּי-תִזְכְּרֶנּוּ;    וּבֶן-אָדָם, כִּי תִפְקְדֶנּוּ”

We all need to remember our place in the world, rulers that are being controlled by the fingers of The Almighty!

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

What is unique and important with Mount Carmel?

The great miracle of fire falling down from the skies, burning all the water, the entire altar, is a mark for the magical and mysterious power of the place as written in 1 kings 18: 38-39-

“  וַתִּפֹּל אֵשׁ-יְהוָה, וַתֹּאכַל אֶת-הָעֹלָה וְאֶת-הָעֵצִים, וְאֶת-הָאֲבָנִים, וְאֶת-הֶעָפָר; וְאֶת-הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר-בַּתְּעָלָה, לִחֵכָה וַיַּרְא, כָּל-הָעָם, וַיִּפְּלוּ, עַל-פְּנֵיהֶם; וַיֹּאמְרוּ–יְהוָה הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים, יְהוָה הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים.

“Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench and when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said: ‘The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God.’

Yet this is not the only thing that is happening there; in the book of Isaiah 16:10 the place described in those words: from this mountain, because of the sins of the people of Israel, the gladness and the joy will be taken; in other words this place symbolize the happiness in the good days, when the fruit is growing without ant rotten warms that exterminate them.

Also in the book of Amos this place has a good meaning until the sin is coming and The Lord is angry as written in Amos 1:2

“וַיֹּאמַר–יְהוָה מִצִּיּוֹן יִשְׁאָג, וּמִירוּשָׁלִַם יִתֵּן קוֹלוֹ; וְאָבְלוּ נְאוֹת הָרֹעִים, וְיָבֵשׁ רֹאשׁ הַכַּרְמֶל”

“And he said: the LORD roareth from Zion, and uttereth His voice from Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.”

It is a shame that the sins need to tell us what is good and beauty!

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

When we are being told about a name of a place in the bible, we usually don’t ask why this place was chosen and not other; we usually ask what happened there.

Today we will speak about a place that symbols the beauty character of the promise land and also the place when the belief in God was so clear, significant and profound.

In 1 Kings 18 there is one of the most important tests to the people of Israel, after the passing by between The Lord and the Baal – this is the time to decide who is the real God, who is the one top believe in or as the song sais – who stopped the rain?

The place that was chosen is mount Carmel, where the sea is close to be seen, where the height is as close as it can be for the 2 gods that are fighting with the representation of 1 prophet against 450 prophets.

When The Lord sent Jeremiah to speak about what happened in the desert, about the nostalgia of all being so good, he notes for us one special place to show his belief in the people of Israel and the treason of the people in him as written in Jeremiah 2: 7

“וָאָבִיא אֶתְכֶם אֶל-אֶרֶץ הַכַּרְמֶל, לֶאֱכֹל פִּרְיָהּ וְטוּבָהּ; וַתָּבֹאוּ וַתְּטַמְּאוּ אֶת-אַרְצִי, וְנַחֲלָתִי שַׂמְתֶּם לְתוֹעֵבָה.”

“And I brought you into a land of fruitful fields, to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled My land, and made My heritage an abomination.”

Next time we will see what happened in the place when the fruits of belief became rotten!

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com