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Tisha B'Av: Mourning Destruction, Awaiting Redemption
Jul 30th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Hillel Fendel
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Church

The fast of Tisha B'Av, the "saddest" day in the Jewish calendar, begins Wednesday evening at sundown, and ends Thursday evening.

Its name literally means "the ninth day of [the Jewish month o Av," the date of some of the gravest tragedies to have befallen the Jewish People.  Most notably, both Holy Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed on Tisha B'Av, but the list of calamities on this date includes also the following: G-d decreed, following the Sin of the Spies as recounted in Numbers 13-14, that the Children of Israel would not be allowed to enter the Land of Israel until the entire generation had died out.  The fall of Beitar, the last fortress to hold out during the Bar Kochba revolt in the year 135 C.E., to the Romans. A year later, the Temple area was plowed over, marking the last milestone of national Jewish presence in our homeland until the modern era. The Jews of Spain were expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1492. World War I erupted in 1914, setting the stage for World War II and the Holocaust. Mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka death camp began on Tisha B'Av eve of 1942. The Jews of Gush Katif spent their last legal day in their homes in Tisha B'Av of 2005, and were expelled three days later.

Despite the sadness of the day, the saddest part of the regular daily prayers - tachanun - is not recited, in the anticipation of the final joyous Redemption that will render Tisha B'Av a day of joy.

Many tens of thousands of people spend Tisha B’Av, or parts of it, at the Western Wall – which, together with the Temple Mount, is the sole remnant of the Second Temple. Visitors spend hours mourning the destruction, the Exile of the Divine Presence and the unredeemed state of the Nation of Israel by reciting and studying the traditional Tisha B’Av lamentations and the Scroll of Eichah (Lamentations).

March Around the Old City

The traditional Women in Green Tisha B'Av March around the Old City will begin at 8 PM with evening prayers and the reading of Eichah, followed at 9:30 by the march towards the New Gate, Damascus Gate, a short ceremony at Lions' Gate, and culminating at Dung Gate near the Western Wall around 11 PM. Thousands of people generally participate in the march.

The Egged bus cooperative will be adding bus lines on Wednesday and Thursday to the Wall. Buses will leave the Wall as late as 2 AM Thursday morning, and resume again four hours later. In addition, an Egged shuttle service will take passengers every ten minutes on Wednesday night and Thursday from the Carta parking lot outside Jaffa Gate to the Wall.

Bus service to Rachel’s Tomb, south of Jerusalem, and to the Machpelah Cave in Hevron, will also be reinforced.

Israeli law forbids the opening of restaurants, clubs and theaters on Tisha B’Av. However, various events, organized by both religious and secular, will be held to discuss the contemporary and traditional significance of the day. In Haifa, Mayor Yona Yahav, Science Minister Rabbi Prof. Daniel Herskovitz, and author A. B. Yehoshua will hold a panel discussion on Wednesday night on “Spiritual Needs and Tisha B’Av.” In Tel Aviv’s Beit Daniel, a session on Exile and Jewish Wandering will be held Wednesday evening, while in the Tzavta Theater, Eichah and modern will be read aloud.

On Thursday in Jerusalem’s Beit Avichai, the roots of hatred in human society will be discussed in the context of movie-making in Israel.

The Sages enacted Yom Kippur-like restrictions on Tisha B'Av, including no eating, drinking, washing, or marital relations. Leather shoes are not worn, and even Torah study -- a major source of Jewish joy -- is restricted to topics connected with the Destruction of the Temples, prophecies of rebuke, Tisha B’Av, and the like. Sitting on chairs is not permitted until the afternoon.  

The hour before the onset of Tisha B'Av is marked by a “mourning meal,” consisting only of a hard-boiled egg dipped in ashes, bread, and water. It should be eaten while sitting on low stools or on the floor, with each person sitting alone in a different corner of the room.

The regular evening prayer service is followed by the reading aloud, in a traditional mournful melody, of Eichah.

THE FULL-GROWN MAN. (Ephesians 4:13)
Jul 30th, 2009
Morning MeditationF. B. Meyer
Categories: Meditation;Inspirational;Book Study

From the hands of the Ascended Saviour, gifts are distributed to his Church. He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers. But to every member of the Church, the weakest and obscurest, some special grace was given, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Every joint in the body has some function to perform to all the rest, and to the growth and perfectness of the whole.

But alas! too many of the saints are unaware of the possession of gift or gifts, or they leave them buried in a napkin in the earth, or they are out of joint, and so unable to do their specific work. The special function of the officers of the Church--the apostles, the prophets, the pastors--is to stir the saints to discover their gifts; and, if needs be, to put them into articulated union with the Lord, so that they may take up the work of ministering to the rest of the body.

This thought, which is somewhat obscured in the older version, is made abundantly clear in the Revised. "For the perfecting (the setting in joint) of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ"

As the piccolo may be missed out of a great orchestra; as each single joint is indispensable to the body's health and vigour; so each believer has a part to do, by thought or speech, by suffering or action, in building up the great mystical body of the Lord. Some vision of his beauty received and passed on--some deep sweet word, some trait caught from fellowship with Him and reflected from the pallid brow of sickness, some unselfish act of which the world knows nothing--such are the contributions that we make to the upbuilding of the body. We may seem to do nothing else than minister to the particles just against us, but this re-acts on the whole.

And presently--it may be nearer than we suppose--the body will have reached its full growth, will have attained to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and be worthy of its Head. All the saints with Jesus shall make together a full-grown perfect man, which shall realize in completeness the Divine ideal.

Survey: 64% want Temple rebuilt
Jul 30th, 2009
Daily NewsYnet News
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Almost two thirds of Israelis, including half of seculars would like to see Temple rebuilt, believe it is important to commemorate Tisha B'Av
About two thirds of the public want the Temple rebuilt, including about half of secular Israelis, a new survey conducted for Ynet and the Gesher organization revealed

The survey was held by the Panels Institute among 516 respondents that are a representative sample of the adult Jewish population. The margin of error was 4.3%.

Initially, the respondents were asked what happened on Tisha B'Av (Ninth of Av), and showed impressive knowledge. Ninety-seven percent responded that the Temple was destroyed, while only 2% said they did not know.

The second question was whether respondents wanted to see the Temple rebuilt. Sixty-four percent responded favorably, while 36% said no. An analysis of the answers showed that not only the ultra-Orthodox and the religious look forward to the rebuilding of the Temple (100% and 97% respectively), but also the traditional public (91%) and many seculars – 47%.

When asked whether it was at all justified to mark something that had happened 2,000 years ago, 80% said that it was, while 13% said only events related to the State of Israel should be commemorated.

Another 7% categorically replied with a "no."

Here too an analysis of the answers revealed that the positions on Tisha B'Av transcended religious divisions – 74% of seculars and 100% of ultra-Orthodox responded that dates like Tisha B'Av should be commemorated.

 

Gesher Director General Rabbi Danny Tropper told Ynet in response to the survey results: "We are a nation with a remarkable historic affinity. The Temple was destroyed 1,942 years ago, and almost two thirds of the population want to see it rebuilt, including 47% of seculars.

"I don't think this is a practical proposal, but it seems that Tisha B'Av really does constitute a day of meaningful memory to most of the people."

Stone Vessel with 'Priestly Inscription' Uncovered In Jerusalem
Jul 30th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Hana Levi Julian and Gil Ronen
Categories: Today's Headlines;Archaeology

 
A rare 2,000-year-old ritual earthenware vessel inscribed with 10 lines of text has been discovered in an excavation near the Zion Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is an unprecedented find, according to Dr. Shimon Gibson, the archaeologist who heads the University of North Carolina team conducting the dig.



Inscription found on Mt. Zion. Israel news photo: UNC

"Such stone vessels were used in connection with maintaining ritual purity related to Temple worship, and they are found in abundance in areas where the priests lived," Gibson reported. "We have found a dozen or more on our site over the past three years. However, to have ten lines of text is unprecedented. One normally might find a single name inscribed, or a line or two, but this is the first text of this length ever found on such a vessel," he said.

Although the letters are clearly visible it will take some time before their meaning can be discerned due to the style of the writing. Gibson estimated in his preliminary report that it could take up to six months to translate the inscription. "It is written in a very informal cursive hand and is quite difficult to read," he explained.

Initially, Gibson thought the inscription was written solely in Aramaic. However, a group of experts consulting on the matter was not convinced; they say there is a possibility that the text contains the sacred name of G-d and is deliberately cryptic.



Ancient mikveh. Israel news photo: UNC

"Stephen Pfann, of the University of the Holy Land, is leaving open the possibility that it is Hebrew. He has also suggested that the text might have had meaning within a closed circle of priests, similar to texts at Qumran," said Dr. James D. Tabor, co-director of the dig.

The excavations, which lasted several months, were carried out under the auspices of the Jerusalem branch of the Nature and Parks Authority.

At least 30 people per week "sacrificed their own money, time, and hard labor to advance this important effort," according to Gibson, who said the results "have been simply astounding, the finds quite spectacular, and the whole area has been transformed."

He added that the excavation site was in ancient times "precisely at the center of Herodian/2nd Temple Jerusalem...we have extraordinarily well preserved ruins from the 2nd Temple period, culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE."

It is that terrible holocaust that is commemorated, as well as the destruction of the First Temple, on the Fast of Tisha B'Av.



Room with two ovens. Israel news photo: UNC

Excavations began on June 14, in the same site where previous archaeologists had probed the earth searching for clues to Israel's history in the 1970s.

This time around, structures from the First and Second Temple periods were discovered, including a mikvah (ritual pool) left almost completely intact, a vault, and a room with two ovens. Buildings from the Byzantine and early Islamic periods were also uncovered, as well multiple coins, intact lamps, ceramic and glass vessels, bits of jewelry and similar items.

Tekhelet snails found?

Also uncovered were at least half a dozen Murex snail shells with holes drilled through them. "Prior to our excavation one or two such shells had been found in all of Jerusalem," Gibson said. "That so many would be found at our site further supports our supposition that we are in a priestly residential area."



Murex snail. Israel news photo: UNC

Murex snails were cultivated in ancient times at sites along the Mediterranean Sea, and a royal blue dye was extracted from them. "According to some experts this blue color was used for the priestly garments, as well as the tzitzit or threaded tassels worn by all pious Jews of the period," he explained in his report, referring to the Biblical tekhelet -- the thread of blue that G-d commanded male Jews to include in the ritual fringes on the corners of their garments. 

"Speak to the Children of Israel and bid them that they make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of each corner a thread of blue (tekhelet). And it shall be for you as a fringe, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of G-d, and do them..." (Numbers 15:38-15:39)

Such fringes are worn by observant Jews to this day, although the thread of blue is no longer included, since the precise technology for making the dye has been lost.

Report: Netanyahu freezes Jerusalem construction after meeting Mitchell
Jul 30th, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Peace Process

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a halt to the construction of 900 new apartments in the eastern Jerusalem Jewish neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev following his meeting with special US envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell on Tuesday.

That according to a report on Israel's Channel 10 news on Wednesday night.

Pisgat Zeev is a large neighborhood that is already home to tens of thousands of Israeli Jews. But Netanyahu has been under tremendous pressure from Washington to stop building there and in all other Jewish neighborhoods and towns in areas claimed by the Palestinians.

Up until now, Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials have responded that they will not halt the natural growth of Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, and that they totally rejected any demands that suggested Jerusalem was not entirely under Israel's sovereignty.

But recent reports have suggested that Netanyahu may have been setting the stage to compromise on the hardline position if the Obama Administration made significant moves to help prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Obama’s ‘beer summit’ draws near
Jul 30th, 2009
Daily NewsAP
Categories: Today's Headlines

Cambridge cop, Harvard professor to join Obama for brews at White House

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama must once again hit the pause button in his drive to overhaul health care to revisit the racially charged issue that stole the spotlight from his top legislative priority — the arrest of his Harvard professor friend.

Obama, Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley and Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., will meet at the White House on Thursday, each one drinking his favorite beer, in a public attempt to move past the emotional event.

Obama convened the "beer summit" after calling both men last week in an attempt to defuse the political fallout from his comment at a news conference that police had "acted stupidly" in arresting Gates at his home after responding to a call from a passer-by about a possible break-in

He invited both men over for beer, to be served at a picnic table near his Oval Office if thunderstorms forecast for Thursday hold off.

Gates, who is black, was taken into custody by Crowley, who is white, after Crowley accused him of disorderly conduct for protesting the policeman's actions. The charges were later dropped.

The comments by Obama, the nation's first black president, inflamed matters further, and the subsequent outcry and constant commentary reached such a pitch that he was forced to acknowledge that he could have been more diplomatic with his words.

"Over the last two days as we've discussed this issue, I don't know if you've noticed, but nobody has been paying much attention to health care," Obama lamented to reporters last Friday.

Crowley is looking forward to the meeting, according to a spokeswoman for Cambridge and Massachusetts police unions that support him. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Crowley is bringing family members with him.

Andy Meyer, one of Crowley's softball teammates, said, "He's aware it's a big opportunity to meet the president, but my friend Jim is a charming guy and I won't be surprised if the president and Professor Gates find him to be as pleasant as he is."

Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, an attorney for Gates, said late Wednesday: "This will be an important opportunity for the moment to settle their dispute, but also create a springboard for a larger discussion about how law enforcement interacts with minority communities and how we can figure out a way to both enforce the law but also protect civil liberties and civil rights of our citizens."

Gates will be accompanied by his father, fiancee, two daughters, brother, Ogletree and one of his close friends, Glen Hutchinson.

"No apologies will be expected or conveyed tomorrow," Ogletree said. "The idea is to extend an opportunity for people to meet others that they didn't know and they only met in the most tense of circumstances."

But the nation did hear for the first time from Lucia Whalen, the passer-by who placed the 911 call to report a possible break-in at Gates' home. In a trembling voice, Whalen said she was pained to be wrongly labeled a racist based on words she never said. Police said the caller had reported a possible break-in by two black men.

Jews in Jerusalem and around the world today are praying for another temple to be built in Jerusalem
Jul 30th, 2009
News UpdateJimmy DeYoung
Categories: Jimmy DeYoung News

Today Tish B'Av, the 9th day of the Jewish month Av, is the day on the calendar in 586 BC and 70AD that both the first and second temples were destroyed. The first temple being destroyed by the Babylonian army led by Nebuchadnezzar and the second temple devastated by General Titus and the Roman army.

Jews on this day gather near the area where these temples once stood at the Western Wall and during the 25 hour fast they read the book of Lamentations and pray for the temple to be rebuilt by next Tish B'Av, a prayer that has been prayed every day for over 1900 years.

This Tish B'Av hundreds and thousands of Jews marched to the Temple Mount led by Gershon Solomon, head of the Temple Mount Faithful, to not only read Lamentations and pray for the rebuilding of the next temple, but to also protest American pressure to even give up the Temple Mount to the Palestinians for a Palestinian state.

Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News

Even as America applies pressure on the Israeli government to give up the Temple Mount, there are Jews preparing to follow through on their prayers for a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount. They have everything ready to build the next temple and fulfill Bible prophecy.

On Tish B'Av hundreds and thousands of Jews gather at the Western Wall in Jerusalem and at the seven gates that lead up onto the Temple Mount to read the book of Lamentations and to pray for the temple to be rebuilt by next Tish B'Av.

US pressure on Israel to give up the Temple Mount is in the face of God's plan for this sacred piece of real estate. 2500 years ago the ancient Jewish prophet Zechariah that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would come back and build His temple, the kingdom temple, on the Temple Mount (Zechariah 6:12). I must remind you, however, that before Jesus builds His temple, there will be a temple in the seven year Tribulation period (Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15, II Thessalonians 2:4, and Revelation 11:1.) This next temple will be desecrated by the false messiah, the Antichrist. All preparations have been made for that temple, the tribulation temple, to be rebuilt and they could start construction today.

On Tish B'Av remember - Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.

India plans biometric IDs for all its 1.16 billion citizens
Jul 30th, 2009
Daily NewsIndia
Categories: Today's Headlines;Prophecy

India is undertaking an ambitious plan to provide identification cards to all its citizens to tackle poverty and fight terrorism. Given India's population, the ID plan will be one of the world's biggest IT projects.

The plan, which is being called "humongous" and "mind-boggling" by even those closely involved, aims to give each of India's 1.16 billion people a biometric ID card - this in a country where many rural and poor people have no documentation whatsoever to prove their identities.

But government officials say within three years, Indian citizens will each carry a plastic card with a computer chip containing personal data and proof of identity, such as a fingerprint or iris scan.

Others say four or more years is more realistic, but most agree that the ID could improve the lives of many, especially India's disadvantaged, by cutting down on the fraud that often steers cash meant for the poor and rural communities into the pockets of corrupt officials.

"Then every individual, like in any developed country, becomes part of a national registry and the data is available to authorities whether he goes to apply for a job or apply for subsidized food assistance," said Naimur Rahman, director of One World, a Delhi-based NGO that works on rural and poverty issues.

The issue of identification in India is a tangled one. There are some 20 forms of ID, ranging from food ration cards to birth certificates to tax documents, and not every ID is accepted by every office or agency.

To untangle it all, the new ID would be accepted everywhere.

Poverty and terror fight

One aim is to bring down fraud, especially when it comes to poverty-reduction programs, which are looked upon with skepticism by many since much of the money earmarked for the poor never makes it to them. It's estimated that corruption siphons off as much as 80 percent of anti-poverty funds.

"It will have some impact," said Sharad Magajan of Oxfam India. "Identification is a big problem."

The new plastic card could also help beef up national security and intelligence gathering, high on Indians' minds after last November's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, which killed 179 people. The attacks were carried out by militants from Pakistan.  

"One major goal (of the ID project) is about terrorists because the other kinds of ID were easy to forge," said Kamal Chenoy, professor of international studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. "This would be a more computerized card and would not be so easy to forge."

 The big guns

 India has called out the big guns to pull off this huge task, tapping Nandan Nilekani, the 54-year-old founder and former CEO of India's biggest computer services company, Infosys, to head up the effort. Last year, he published a book, "Imagining India: Ideas for the New Century," that looks at a range of issues confronting the country.

"We have the opportunity to give every Indian citizen, for the first time, a unique identity," he said in an interview with the UK daily The Times. "We can transform the country."

Nilekani stepped down from his CEO position at Infosys two years ago and it is hoped by many that he can bring some of the skills and efficiency of India's private sector into a public sector best known for its slow-moving bureaucracy. Former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates has indicated he would like to be involved in the project as it develops.