Nugget 239: The Seer Who Could Not See
Walking Against God's Will. As we saw last week, Israel had begun the final leg of the journey to Canaan land. Traveling northward along the King's highway, they would pass directly through the land of Moab. Balak, the king of Moab, felt threatened by Israel so he...
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Nugget #238: Take the King’s Highway Home
Esau's Inheritance. The book of Numbers is partly a narrative of Israel's desert wanderings interspersed with the laws and requirements of the offerings and also, rules for dividing the land of Canaan. Deuteronomy recounts (and summarizes) the events of the desert...
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Nugget #237: Happy Father’s Day
Honoring Our Fathers When God gave the Ten Commandments, He was establishing the foundation for society and truly "western civilization" and esp. the laws of the United States are built upon them. Their importance cannot be denied (although many people try to do so...
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Nugget #236: Teachers and their Students
Teachers and Their Students There is a strong logical connection between teaching and learning. We cannot teach without learning and the best teachers are those who are lifelong students. Also, we can learn a new subject better if we also simultaneously teach someone...
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Nugget #235: Shavu’ot and Pentecost
The Hebrew word שָׁבֻעֹת֙ - Shavuot (sha-vu-ote) literally means 'weeks'. The word 'week' in Modern Hebrew is שבוע - shavuah. Exodus 34:22 says, "And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest." The phrase 'feast of weeks' is from the...
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Nugget #234: Jerusalem! Jerusalem!
Jerusalem: The City of Peace Jerusalem Day (Hebrew: יום ירושלים, Yom Yerushalayim) is an Israeli national holiday commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem and the establishment of Israeli control over the Old City in June 1967. When Israel declared its...
read more Nugget #233: The Miracle Nation
The Most Crowded Hours in History At 4:00 pm on Friday, Iyar 5th, 5708 (May 15th, 1948), David Ben Gurion Listen to David Ben Gurion reading the Declaration of Independence (English Subtitles) (who would be the first Prime Minister of the new state) stood in the Tel...
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Nugget #232: Remember the Six Million
Remember the Six Million Yom HaShoah (Heb: יום השואה ) begins tonite at sundown. The official name is [Heb: יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה ] - Yom HaZikaron laShoah v'laG'vurah. Let us examine these words etymologically. The Hebrew word Yom (יום) means 'day'...
read moreNugget #231: L’Chaim! To Life!
L'Chaim! To Life! God is a God of order and He does everything in an orderly fashion. To maintain order in the universe, He built into it a timekeeping system when He created the sun ( שמש) she-mesh, moon (ירח ) ye-rey-ach and stars ( כוכבים) ko-kah-vim: "And God...
read moreNugget #230: When God Leads Along a Desert Way
When God Leads Along a Desert Way This is Passover week and so we are considering the original Exodus from Egypt as recorded in Exodus chapter 13. "And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the...
read moreNugget #229: The Power of the Truth
The Power of the Truth I will never forget many years ago as a beginning Hebrew student when my Hebrew teacher made a copy of Psalm 121 from the T'nakh and we sat on a park bench on campus and she taught me to read this Psalm. (I still have that piece of paper and...
read moreNugget #228: Fulfill Your Calling
Fulfill Your Calling! This week's Torah portion is the final one from the book of Exodus and details the building of the Tabernacle (Heb: הַמִּשְׁכָּ֔ן - HaMishkan) The root of this word (שכנ ) is also present in the word שכינה (Shekinah) - which refers to the...
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