More than 25 prominent rabbis from Israel and abroad recently issued a statement calling for a renewed look at Jesus, Christians and the New Testament faith. Quoting from their own sages, these outstanding Orthodox rabbis are not ashamed to exalt the name of Jesus, welcoming the carpenter from Nazareth back into the Jewish fold.
Read the whole article by David Lazarus at Israel Today.
Dear Family and Precious Friends,
Merry Christmas and a blessed anointed, healthy and prosperous New Year.
I had so much fun & frustration- ;-) making this collage. Josh came to my rescue.
Coming up 48 years of marriage, Jay and l have grown to include:
David, Adi, Amitai 15, studying film making in the Jerusalem Art school and Liyah 11, visiting family in Helsinki for Christmas.
Chris, Terhi, Noam 16, singing in Cantores Minores, the national Finnish boys choir, Youni & Liam 9 year old twins – packets of endless energy.
Joshua, and daughters Maya 15, Sophia 12 and Cecilie 10. They have moved to London. :-(
Maya will complete her school year here in Israel. Then she is one of only 20 applicants accepted, out of 100’s,
into a “prestigious art school in London for September 2016. To quote Maya, “My Dad is my hero.”
Daniel, continues to make TV shows and helps us to “get up to speed” here in Jerusalem.
Nepal. Jan 10th 2016, Jay, Daniel and I (DV) fly to Kathmandu Nepal to complete work on our film expose on child trafficking. Seeing is believing. We work and pray to make a difference! Please join us. Thanks.
That’s our story and its all for His glory!
Love one another into the most exciting year of your lives for 2016!!
Hugs,
Meridel and Men.
I wrote this letter in 2014 and it was very very popular and got a great response. It was not on my website, so here it is: download it here.
Please download the newsletter here.
“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24)
In the long history of Jews in Russia, the government has rarely been an ally, and often been the source of persecution. Current Russian president Vladimir Putin, however, is a powerful exception, with Jews playing a significant role in his personal history and his inner circle. With the Russian army a major player in the potentially explosive multi-national puzzle unfolding in Syria, this personal element could become an important, perhaps decisive, factor in how the conflict unfolds.
Read the whole article by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz on Breaking Israel News.
We celebrate Hanukka in commemoration of the Macabee revolt against the hated Syrian overlords and recapture of the Temple Mount from Syrian Greeks in around 167 BCE. It is the only time in ancient history that the Greeks were defeated and this time by a handful of priests and farmers.
The Greek leader Antiochus 1V Epiphanes built a ‘Akra’ (Citadel) which provided oversight onto the Temple Mount. His soldiers spied to spy and keep watch over our rebellious Maccabean ancestors. The Akra was a thorn in their flesh: it was a constant threat with the Syrian Greeks watching all they were doing on the Temple Mont. But where was the Akra, and how could it overlook the Temple Mount, which was higher than all the surrounding areas?
In 141BCE Simon Maccabees captured the Syrian Aka and expelled its evil foreign soldiers. The early Jewish historian Josephus also mentions the event. He says that Simon took the Akra by siege, razing it to the ground that it might not serve his Simon’s foes, s a base to occupy and do mischief.¹
Just recently archeologists f rom the Israel Antiquities Authority exposed the massive foundations of a large tower. They claim the tower could have risen to a great height, and probably built to overlook the Temple site, located to the north and not far away. From here the Syrian Greeks were able to keep their rebellious Jewish subjects on the Temple Mont under constant surveillance, and at the same time under the likely threat of retaliation. They claim they have found the ‘Akra’, or at least its foundations.
Other finds around the base of the foundations included heavy lead slingshot projectiles and ballista sling stones.Remnants of many metal arrow heads were also found, some in bronze and marked with a small symbolic trident, which was the insignia of Antiochus 1V
Epiphanes, leader of the Syrian Greeks. Numerous foreign coins and extensive clay sherds from large wine jars gave them the probable dates of the finds, as well as indicating that the tower’s inhabitants were non-Jewish.
The Maccabees could not tolerate the presence of this overbearing and threatening tower, and on 23rd Iyar of the year 241 BCE, they captured it, “to a chorus of praise and the waving of palm branches, with lutes, cymbals and zithers, lyres and songs.” And so they celebrated the final riddance of a formidable enemy. The Syrians troubled them for war for 74 years.
We Israelis, look to history and to scripture, which have a cyclical aspect. Jesus kept Hanukkah. “Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the Temple in Solomon’s porch.” He responded to taunts with: “The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
We take heart, and see through these dark days of terror, now trying to clutch the globe in its death grip. We know the end of the story. Hag Samach, Happy Hanukkah!
¹ Jewish Antiquities X111:215.
“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love.” Romans 12:10
We are half way through this year’s Hanukkah Feast. Darkness falls by 5 p.m. and the wind is cold. How comforting it is after a demanding day for Jay, our two sons Josh and Daniel and I warm ourselves around a little wood stove in the family room. Yes, someone died because of terror today. No, here is no good news of the TV channels. The world is frightened and Europe is becoming defensive in the face of so many immigrants. Terror stalks us all one way or another. Our hearts are heavy, very heavy. We read this little piece and it touched us all. There ARE little things that each one of us can do, when the troubles seem so overwhelming.
“There is a story of an old man who carried a little can of oil with him everywhere he went, and if he passed through a door that squeaked,he poured a little oil on the hinges. If a gate was hard to open, he oiled the latch. And thus he passed through life lubricating all hard places and making it easier for those who came after him.
People called him eccentric, queer, and cranky; but the old man went steadily on refilling his can of oil when it became empty, and oiled the hard places he found.
There are many lives that creak and grate harshly as they live day by day. Nothing goes right with them. They need lubricating with the oil of gladness, gentleness or thoughtfulness. Have you your own can of oil with you? Be ready with your oil of helpfulness in the early morning to the one nearest you. It may lubricate the whole day for him. The oil of good cheer to the downhearted one – Oh, how much it may mean! The word of courage to the despairing. Speak it!
Our lives touch others but once, perhaps, on the road of life; and then, our ways diverge, never to meet again. The oil of kindness has worn the sharp hard edges off of many a sin-hardened life and left it soft and pliable and ready for the redeeming grace of the Saviour.
A word spoken pleasantly is a large spot of sunshine on a sad heart. Therefore, “Give other the sunshine tell Jesus the rest.” Unknown
I find this piece not only appropriate during this Festival of Lights, when our lamps are lit every night with oil or candles, which ever we choose. I have both. Jesus told the parable of the wise who had their lamps filled with oil. It is just that time in our lives is it not!
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” Matthew 25:13
This video is not professional and Hebrew is spoken.
Only the first portion has English subtitles, Nathan a 15 year old Israeli who had a near death experience in the Shara Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem.
It was on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles in October 2015.
Nathan comes from a secular background and knew nothing of the prophets scriptures written by his own prophets. Here are the main points:
A war of words is what it is. Take a look at how we are living in Israel, Jews, Arabas, Druze and Christians. Then compare what you see here with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Syria and Europe!
Surprise!
Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven;
Lammentaions 41:3a
Exploits for the Kingdom of God is what our lives are all about. I am thanking you ahead of time for standing with me in in Nepal this coming January 2016. Please take some Christmas money for a gift for our children in Nepal.
Nepal is waiting for us. I am in need of two airfares and our hotel and food costs. I will be working with children rescued from brothels. Our prayer is to complete the filming for the documentary project we are making to help children everywhere! Pray for Daniel, Maya and myself. Also in Kathmandu pray for Indira and her coworkers who care for the children.
New Delhi India will be on my route, and I will do TV work there in the field of sexual abuse. This is a new open door and may the LORD add His blessing.
Cost of airfare and accommodation, salary for Daniel and gift to Indira’s work: $10,000.00 Your gifts to this work are not income tax deductible.
Hearts are heavy world wide with the terrible reality of terrorism. Can you begin to imagine that it has always been a part of Israeli lives? The only way any of us will survive is through prayer and obedience to the Still Small Voice. Prayer is the answer. We have the keys of the Kingdom but do we use them?
By popular demand, I am republishing a powerful little booket I wrote ten years ago. “The Art of Healing”. I will send this edition to anyone who responds to this call. Our world is wounded, we hold the keys to the healing of the nations! Together we will bring hope and healing.
This is a MUST lesson on how to pray with understanding, power and authority. I explain very carefully how to work with the Keys of the Kingdom given by Jesus see Matthew 16: 16-19. These are “keys” to success. Every individual life I have worked with is changed. I have taught them to use the keys. Miracles of change is our call. Now is the time to stand up and be counted. Any personal checks are fine, even Canadian. You can send cash, but wrap it in tin foil. I look forward to your response. Hallelujah for your faithfulness to this work. When I receive your gift, I will respond.
Dr. Meridel Rawlings
