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The following is a link to Israel’s Yediot news website in English: http://www.ynetnews.com/home/0,7340,L-3083,00.html

Please pray for protection of the residents in the burning areas, Jews, Arabs, Druze and other minorities. So far, praise God, there has been not bodily harm or loss of life. Let’s pray that will continue to be the case!

Above all pray that God will use this to touch the hearts of those involved – those who had to evacuate and leave all their belongings behind, those who lost everything they had to the fires, and those who came to their rescue. That He would touch their hearts and cause them to turn to lean on the strength He alone can offer them.

The Mekudeshet festival is over. Seemingly, nothing exceptional has happened, nothing out of the ordinary. This festival has been held in Jerusalem annually for a few years now, but in previous years it only lasted over a short weekend, and focused mainly on religious music. This year it went on for three long weeks, and had introduced new aspects, that had nothing to do with its previous definition.

The name “Mekudeshet” hinted towards holiness, but in reality, what took place was a feast of emptying sacred terms from their true meaning, and contributing to the numbness of the Israeli people to God’s mind.

On a different matter, or maybe not… This coming Sunday the Jewish world will celebrate Yom Truah (Day of Trumpet) – “And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no regular work: it is unto you a day of blowing the trumpets” (Num. 29:1).

During the years spent in the diaspora this feast has somehow turned into the Jewish New Year’s (Rosh Hashana). Truth be told, it is not the new year, for God’s calendar begins with Passover (April). Something very sad and complex has happened to the Jewish calendar over the years. But I’ll write about that in another post.

Travelling to the US

Shortly after I will be boarding a plane on my way to the US. The only ticket I could find within my budget is taking me to Atlanta through Istanbul, Turkey. The Israeli foreign ministry had recently published a travel caution alert to Israelis, warning against traveling through Turkey, and especially getting around airports. I appreciate your prayer covering during my travels, for my safety and for all the opportunities awaiting me during this trip to share about the widowhood of Israel, to recruit her lovers to stand by her side, to comfort broken hearts and to bring forth what God will lay on my heart.

Locations and Times Where I Will Be Speaking

October 8th. 6pm. Elizabeth and Wendell Sheffield, 204 Windchase Dr., Birmingham, AL 35242. Contact Elizabeth 205-835-8313

October 12th. 6pm. The Well Family Worship Center, 3509 S. Broad St. Scottsboro, AL 35769. Contact: 256-259-4225

October 14th. 7pm. Grace Church of Avondale, 3519 Herschel Street, Jacksonville, FL 32205, Jacksonville, FL 32244. Contact: Mary Ann 904-612-4442

October 19th. 6.30pm. New Life Church, 5800 Tamiami Trail, Venice, FL 34293. Contact: David Basham 941-993-1716

October 20-21. Yeshua’s Love Biblical Fellowship, 8894 Fruitville Rd., Sarasota, FL 34240. Contact: David Basham 941-993-1716; 941-266-4171. This is a 2-days′ Tabernacle Seminar, with two sessions each day: 2-5 pm and 7-9pm

October 23rd, 10:30am. Liberty Baptist Church, 5199 Lakeland DR, Flowood, MS 39232. Contact: 601-992-0345

October 30th, 10:30am. Cowboy Church of Lafayette, 196
County Line Rd, Rock Spring, GA 30739. Contact: Sandy Harden 423-596-7227

October 30th, 6:30pm. Fellowship Bible Church, 2044 Dug Gap Road Dalton, GA 30720. Contact: Ramona Paluszcyk 706-278-6269

November 5th, 10am. Center City Church, 2225 Freedom Dr., Charlotte, NC 28208. Contact: David Docusen 704-303-0543

November 6th, 9am, 11am. Covenant Life Worship Center, 7001 Lafayette Rd, Chickamauga, GA 30707. Contact: 706-375-5286

November 6th, 6pm. Second Baptist Church, 500 W Main St, LaFayette, GA 30728. Contact: 706-638-2732

As some of the information might still change, please contact the number provided or my assistant Adi (706-591-5887) before arriving to any of the meetings. If you are anywhere nearby, please do come join us.

A wedding ring with the script Mekudeshet in Hebrew

Mekudeshet is a Hebrew word, used during the betrothal ceremony. At the peak of a Jewish wedding the groom slides the ring on the index finger of his bride, and cites, “By accepting this ring you become my exclusive [Mekudeshet] spouse according to the religion [or customs] of Moses and Israel.” The word Kadosh (holy) is derived from the same root, and so this blessing literally means: you are exclusively mine, holy and separated unto me.

Strangely enough, a demonic festival started this week in Jerusalem, which is using this word as its title.  This festival is called, “Mekudeshet”, and will go on for three weeks. The festival brings together Israeli and international artists, in a shuddering presentation of terms and activities that mix Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and witchcraft. One of the main events is advertised as an experiment in alternative realities, called “Seven ways to dissolve boundaries.” The organizers do not give too much information about these seven ways, and boldly declare that the details will remain a secret, until the event gets on its way.

The formal goal of the festival: to convey the message that Jerusalem is, even if only for a brief moment, the capital of a united voice calling for tolerance, endurance and collaboration. Here is the link to the English website of the festival:

http://en.mekudeshet.com/

Allegedly, this is all about music and art. However, one of the international artists performing is described as a “Prophet,” with the added promise that he will bewitch the location [David’s tower in this case] with his best music. Another artist is called a “High Priest.” One of the bands is promoted as a collaboration of a “Priest” and a “goddess.” Some of the events are called “Confessions” and “Forgiveness.” The festival will take place in 12 locations around Jerusalem, and one of them will be a common Prayer House, called “Amen.” This is clearly a sacramental festival, with liturgy and clergymen, not just a celebration of arts and drama.

“How do you want us to pray for your lost widow during this festival?” I asked God this morning, as I kept reading about it.

I was thinking about Israel, being so tired of her isolation and loneliness, having to always take care of herself by her herself. She so much wants to be loved and embraced, which is why we are so easily lured into false relationships. For three weeks Jerusalem is going to enjoy music and tours and lights and arts, thinking she is being Mekudeshet again, not realizing someone is covering her eyes with a thick veil. Once more we are building a relationship with the surrounding foreign gods.

We know that soon God will reveal the Jewish Face of the Messiah to His Jewish bride, but prior to that she will willingly give her very heart, her Capital, to a foreign groom, who is about to set a foreign ring on her finger and toss her around. She will allow that false groom, who will pretend to love her, to empty the content of ancient holy words, such as prophet, high priest and forgiveness, and fill them with a hollow and petrifying meaning.

A Widow Or a Bride?

I am praying…

For a spirit of discernment to be poured upon our nation, especially upon our leaders and artists. We are now in the month of Elul, known also as the month of Compassion and Selihoth (repentance and forgiveness), or “the Days of Awe.” The nation usually prepares her heart during this month towards the sacred day of Atonement (October 11). During this month we should turn our faces towards heaven, but instead we are numbing our souls with a colorful celebration, though fascinating and energetic. Instead of seeking the Face of our High Priest, we devote ourselves willingly (and even pay high entrance fees) to foreign rhythms.

That we will understand the difference between true and false prophets and priests. That we will seek the Truth, and will have a deep assurance that our true Groom is not the one Islam or other religions worship.

For a deep yearning in our hearts for a living relationship with our God. That we will be able to see behind that thick veil which is blinding our eyes.

That we will not harlot ourselves in exchange for free love, and will not become anybody else′s Mekudeshet, but will yearn only for the hands of the one who has been pierced on our behalf.

Homeland, You are Mekudeshet / a song by Avraham Stern*

Homeland, You are Mekudeshet unto me
[meaning: you will become my exclusive spouse]
according to the customs of Moses and Israel.

A bending handmaiden, collapsing and lost,
I am your Husband and Redeemer.
And those who devoured and swallowed you up will be far away
[quoting Isa. 49:19]
in my life, and in my death.

I will lodge my head among your mountains;
You will forever live in my blood.
My heart is anxious for you now – a queen,
my mouth speaks your glory.

Homeland, You are Mekudeshet unto me
according to the customs of Moses and Israel.

* Avraham Stern (alias Yair, 1907–1942) founded in 1940 a militant Zionist group named Lehi, a Hebrew acronym that means Fighters for the Freedom of Israel. He rejected collaboration with the British, who were the rulers here at that time, and claimed that only a continuing struggle against them would lead eventually to an independent Jewish state and resolve the Jewish situation in the Diaspora.

He took a radical position against their imperialism. His actions were controversial, which caused him to go underground. He was eventually found hiding in Tel Aviv, and was shot to death. Left behind a wife, who was pregnant with their only child.

Stern was a poet, and wrote many songs. The one above, written in 1933, describes in almost a  manner what is happening right now in Jerusalem.

You can listen to the song in Hebrew: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeCW2hLWty4

This week we commemorated Tisha B’Av. The ninth day of the month of Av. The worst date of the year In Judaism throughout our history.

Here are some of the horrific events that happened on the 9th day of Av (some of these dates are considered traditionally to have happened on Tisha B’Av, though there is no actual way of proving it):

∴  Circa 1312 BC: God declares that the Israelites will wonder in the desert for 40 years, because they chose to believe the report of the 10 spies, and not His promises

∴  586 BC: First temple destroyed by the Babyloneans

∴  70 AD: Second temple was destroyed by Titus the Greek

∴  135 AD: The city of Beitar conquored by the Romans, representing the end of the Bar Kochva revolt

∴  135 AD: Jerusalem plowed by the Romans, to symbolize its total destruction

∴  1290 AD: Edward, King of England, ordered to expel all Jews from England, and kill all that remained

∴  1492 AD: The infamous deportation of the Spanish Jews

∴  1942: A mass deportation of the Jews of Warsa to the Treblinka extermination camp

∴  2005: The coerced evacuation of Gush Katif, former group of Jewish settlements which bordered the southwestern edge of Gaza

Orthodox Jews flood their local synagogues and the Western Wall during the ninth day of Av. They sit on the floor, read the book of lamentations and fast for more than 24 hours. This is the fast of the 5th month of which God speaks in the Bible.

Soldiers from the Golani Brigade
fasting and praying at the Western Wall

I recently learned something really interesting about this fast. Never heard it before. Apparently, at the end of the fast, orthodox women (mostly Sephardic Jews) return home from synagogue, and start cleaning their homes diligently, polishing it, even painting the walls afresh. Why? Because in the face of destruction, the nation is always looking for some hope. And what is the hope of these women? “The coming of the Messiah,” they say. They clean their homes in preparation for Him, in case He will show up. There is even a Talmudic tradition (tract Berachot) that speaks about the Messiah being born on that day.

The prophet Zechariah prophesied that this fast will turn one day into a joyful event (8:19). We do not know when exactly, but we do see the widow Israel, who mourned this week the destruction of her holiest sites – a destruction that led to the exile of her children, that marked the beginning of her physical widowhood (being desolate, without anyone to take care of her, with her Husband turning His face away from her) – starting to get it, to search for Him (see more about it in my article Israel, a widow?).

Multitudes of Jews mourned that widowhood (though they don’t use that term), and ended it with a ray of hope for the coming of a Messiah, not realizing He is already in our midst.

If Israel is on your heart, and you are looking to enrich your prayers on her behalf, you are welcome to join us as we pray:

∴  That the widow will desire to see her Husband.

∴  That our nation will pursue righteousness, and worship Him alone. The disasters that came upon our nation were not a coincidence. God warned us again and again that this will happen if we neglect to act justly and righteously, and if we worship others besides Him. We turned a deaf ear, He turned His face and His protective Hand away from us.

∴  That the physical restoration of the widow Israel will lead to her spiritual restoration, meaning that the widow will finally realize she does have a Husband, and that she can lean on Him for provision and safety.

A restored bride, who suffered many losses

∴  That the nation will forget the shame of our youth and not remember the reproach of her widowhood anymore, but call on the name of her Husband and Maker – the Lord of Hosts, her Redeemer (Isa. 54: 4-8).

In my previous post I shared about Michael, and the immediate freedom he experienced once he chose to forgive. A major part of our ministry is dedicated exactly to that: equipping people with powerful tools, that can transform their lives. We constantly witness immediate changes. It has to do with listening to God′s Hand knocking on various doors in our hearts, mostly through our pain, struggles and suffering.

Most of us tend to look at hardships as a punishment, as a proof that God is hiding His Face from us, or the fault of someone else who misbehaved and thus causing us to pay the price. So in face of suffering, we usually try to find a way out.

But after ministering to many people through the years, many of them with devastating stories, and based on what I find in the Bible, I can say that the main reason for our suffering is connected to something inside us God wants to touch and change, and not to something external.

Hardships can either destroy us or transform us. The key is to find out which door God is knocking on, and than open and invite Him in (see Rev. 3:19-20). You can read more about how to utilize this amazing tool of forgiveness in my booklet Who is knocking on your door?

In the past year we offered this kind of training in Israel and abroad; to small groups, and to large audiences; one on one, and mostly – applied it ourselves. For us on the team, these tools are our routine, our immediate reaction to anything that goes wrong, to any hardship. I cannot even begin to tell you how this simplifies life in the complicated and sinful world we live in.

Forgiveness group from Jerusalem

Teaching forgiveness in Moldova

When will Israel forgive?

I am reading the book of Jeremiah these days, and sometimes just want to weep with Him. From the beginning God was so clear with my people. We had no reason to question Him, or look for comfort and adrenaline rushes elsewhere. But we sure did. And so He brought some drought, and than hunger, and a plague, and small enemies, and eventually bigger ones, and than took us out of the land He gave us, and no need to even mention all the suffering inflicted upon us in the diaspora.

Did we finally get it? Did we turn to Him? Not yet, but we are getting there.

Forgiveness session as part of Libech (brides weekend)

Another small group I led this year, focusing on forgiveness

While we minister to groups and individuals through their suffering, teaching them to listen to God specifically when it hurts, we are praying for our beloved nation: that the hardships and battles we go through will soften her heart, and cause us all to turn back into His outstretched arms. Will you join us in this prayer?

 

“I have so much hatred inside me. I do not belong here. I hate the German perfectionism with all that I have within me. I don′t even want German friends, as I cannot stand their mentality. And I don′t want to live here, but I have to.”

Michael is Jew who lives in Germany. This was his reaction after I suggested he may need to start forgiving the culture and people he lives in their midst.

“What should I forgive? And whom? Is it wrong to not like a specific mentality? And how can I forgive a system? I don′t know anyone in the system that I can approach and say: I forgive you.”

I suggested he reads my booklet, that talks about this issue (Who is knocking on your door?). Eventually he consented to give it a try.

“Baruch Ata Adonai Yeshua HaMashiach,” he emailed me his prayer. You died for our sins and the sins of the world. I forgive Germany and the Germans for abusing the gift you gave them – the love of perfection – and for making it a satanic weapon that destroyed the life of my family, as well as my own life. I invite you to come into this place in my soul where I am lost in loneliness, fear, fighting and distancing myself from Germans. Please forgive me for my negative reactions. It is forgiven. Amen.”

On the next line in the email Michael started thanking me for taking the time to read about his struggle, and than had to pause since the phone rang.

What he emailed me next was so cool!!!

“Wow, I was going to send the email when the phone rang. On the line was a representative of our health insurance company. Her first words were: ‘We need to ask your forgiveness’. Apparently they made a mistake last year with their calculations, and now they are going to send us some money….

Can you believe it? A German woman, working for the system, just asked me to forgive a mistake that the system has made long time ago. And that happened within 10 seconds after I declared in the name of Yeshua that I have forgiven! 

It feels so good! I solemnly told her that I forgive her. And in my heart I was thinking of all the pain I carried inside me because of the way the German system is built to perfection. This was so cool. And God is so great!!!”

Yes, indeed, and so is the power of forgiveness! I like to compare forgiveness to a nuclear bomb. You throw it into a pain stricken area in your heart, and it transforms its DNA for good, to the point no bitter root can grow there. Unlike a bomb, forgiveness enables us to start fresh and allow a lot of good stuff to grow.

There is much talking about forgiveness. “But why doesn’t it always work? And why does it involve so much pain? I prefer to suppress my pain,” people tell me, “rather than let it surface, just to find out my forgiveness didn’t really work.”

More about this in my next post.

In my previous post I shared about my experience in Wittenberg, and especially the Judensau – that obscene embossment found on Luther’s church.

Dr. Richard Harvey is a Messianic Jewish historian and theologian. He attended that conference, and is now leading a petition, calling for the removal of that embossment.

I would like to offer you to join us in this petition. We hope that by October of next year, when Wittenberg celebrates 500 years of Reformation, this profanity will be removed.

Please sign the petition!

My Next Speaking Tour in the US

We are finalizing the dates for my US fall tour. Here are the general locations I will be speaking at:

October 8-12              Alabama
October 13-14            Chattanooga, TN
October 15-22            Sarasota, FL
October 23                 Mississippi
October 24-27            Back to Chattanooga, TN
October 28-29            Nashville, TN
October 30-Nov 6      North GA

I will send a list with specific locations and times closer to date. If you are interested in having me come and speak to your church or group, please contact my assistant, Adi, at 706-591-5887, or send me an email to otoomofet@gmail.com.

 

A week ago I was in Wittenberg, Germany. I joined a conference which I found to be absolutely intriguing. Nearly 499 years ago, Martin Luther set out from this picturesque town on what in time will be known as the Reformation. Next October will mark 500 years to the event, and this conference was a part of the preparation towards this event.

The streets were adorned with memorabilia, all related to Luther. He is the number one brand sold here – from aprons sporting his image to tennis racquets. I even found Luther spaghetti…

The conference focused on repentance for the initial split from the Catholic church, a split which led to countless more afterwards. There were key figures from the Catholic, Lutheran and Protestant churches. Nuns, together with European royalty, all agreed to do something (as symbolic as it may be) regarding the initial split.

On The Positive Side…

…Luther’s reformation completely changed Christian history. He was the one who made clear that we are saved and justified by grace, and do not need to pay penance to obtain our forgiveness. Prior to his reformation, there was an entire industry of indulgences – forgiveness purchased by price from the priests. Luther put an end to that.

On The Negative Side…

…Luther was extremely anti-Semite. He wrote a myriad of writings against us, and some were even used later by Hitler and his cronies.

On one of the walls of the church Luther preached from is found an obscene embossment showing a sow, with her piglets suckling. Among them there is a Jew nursing on her as well. Behind her stands a Rabbi, lifting the sow′s tail sand digging inside her. Underneath he is attempting to read a page from the Gmara. The message: This is your origin, Jews! Above it reads an inscription: “Rabini Shem hamphoras,” gibberish which presumably is a word play on the explicit name of God.

Strange that with all the political correctness around us, this embossment still hasn’t been removed.

One afternoon, during the conference, we all marched there and prayed right under the embossment. Marianna, my Israeli colleague, chose to forgive in specific details: to the artist that created the embossment, the original priest who had put it up, and the current priest that maintains and keeps it on.

Some of the gentiles in the group got on their knees, and expressed a sincere remorse.

I was emotionally numb at that point. I did not expect the Jewish point to become so prominent in a conference that was meant to focus on Lutherans and Catholics. The truth is I wasn’t even sure I should be there, but something struck my curiosity when I first heard about it. It made me wonder if down the road, the repentance will not stop only at the division from Rome, but will go further to the original division from Jerusalem. With the widowhood of Israel capturing my heart in such intensity, I wanted to be there and taste what real reconciliation feels and tastes like. And it was real.

Anyway, while everyone was repenting and forgiving under that horrific image, I stood by the wayside and tried to think of a Jewess, my age, that lived in that town about 500 years ago, and was passing this obscenity every day.

How would she have felt? What thoughts would have gone through her mind? I wondered how long would it take for someone to believe in what people say about him or her. And so I forgave as well!

A German nobleman who attended the conference asked a Messianic Jew from England, “What can be done to compensate for this abhorring embossment? What would be the right thing to do?”

I was deeply impressed. Here is someone with obvious influence and the ability to change things, not only asking for forgiveness, but also wishing to know what can be done about it. Sometimes, activism can be a good thing!

 

 

On Saturday we celebrated the eve of Shavuot (Pentecost). Traditionally, the Jewish people world wide read the book of Ruth during this feast, as the story described there takes place during this season.

Teaching about Shavuot at my congregation

The book of Ruth is my favorite one in the Bible. I believe we are living in the prophetic fulfillment of this story. I have been digging into it for a couple of years now, and I keep gleaning more and more truths each time I teach it. The one that touches me the most is the relevance it has to the modern history of Israel.

You see, just like Naomi, who comes back to the “House of Bread” (Beth Lehem) from a few decades of living in the diaspora of Moab, so is Israel coming back now from a few millenniums of living in the diaspora world wide.

The Jewish people could not have done it on their own. We needed various Ruths along the way in order to make it. I love the way Isaiah describes parts of it:

Thus saith the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the Gentiles, and set up My standard to the people. And they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me” (Isa. 49:22-23).

This picture of Ruth and Naomi was painted by Michael Washer,
and sent to me by a modern “Ruth” from GA

Throughout the entire book of Ruth, the redeemer knows Naomi is back in town. She also knows he is there. But there is no direct communication between them. When he wants to send her something, he does it through the Gentile. When she needs something from him, she sends the gentile to him. Why is the significance of it? Read more about it in my article titled Ruth and Naomi.

There is another widow in the story – Orpah. While Ruth means Friendship, Orpah means a Neck. Orpah also loves Naomi, but is willing to walk with her only a certain distance. She than gets tired and walks back to her comfort zone, and out of the narrative.

What will you choose when it comes to Israel? Will you be a faithful Ruth, or a neck turning Orpah?

This week we celebrated the 49th anniversary of the unification of Jerusalem, the number one achievement of the Six Days’ war in 1967. There is probably no other subject that divides the people of Israel as this one. Many Israelis believe that the return of Jerusalem and of the mountains of Samaria to Israeli hands is the core for most of our problems. And so do many nations. They all say that if we give away a part of Jerusalem, we shall reap peace with our neighbors. Is that so?

Celebrations launched on Sunday in Jerusalem, and will continue throughout this whole year, as this is the 50th year, the Jubilee. Yes, on June 6 next year Jerusalem will celebrate 50 years of being back under a Jewish sovereignty, after nearly 2,000 years of being trampled under the feet of many nations.

A few months ago I took a short vacation in Jerusalem, with a dear friend. So in this post I would like to share with you a little of my Jerusalem. The way I experienced it recently, with much joy.

At the entrance to Jaffa gate we came upon this harpist. If you toured Jerusalem, you might have seen her there too, playing beautiful hymns, based on Old Testament scriptures, to the delight of those who pass by.

So many cultural events are taking place in Jerusalem. Constantly. There is always a parade or a festival or a good show to see. Even a car race. Look at this whimsical display of umbrellas in one of the old alleys. It can get so hot in Jerusalem during the summer, so why not create a little shade for the pedestrians?

Shoshi and I are bibliophiles. Give us a book, as old as you can find, one that has that special aroma and is written in old Hebrew, and we are on cloud nine. We walked up and down the streets, and all of a sudden found this refreshing sight: a bus station turned into a neighborhood library. People bring the books they don’t use, and take what others left. No need to control it. No fees. And it is well kept and maintained.

Some street art: huge billboards, promoting a new national project (called 929), that deserves its own post. These posters refer to Gen. 2:18 at the top – “It is not good for man to be alone”; and at the bottom – Ex. 32:4: “He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf”) in a comical way (the art criticizes using cellular phones excessively).

We were looking for a nice coffee shop for a much needed rest, and found ourselves in the midst of a wedding. “Thus says the Lord, yet again there will be heard in this place… in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem… the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride…” (Jer. 33:10-11). So many years this voice was not allowed to be heard in Jerusalem.

Did you know that under the Huppah (the canopy), every groom says during the ceremony: “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill, may my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy” (Ps. 137:5-6)? No matter how joyful you are in the most exciting day of your life, Jerusalem should be above it. Does any other religion put Jerusalem above all joy?

Derek Prince is burried in a small Christian cemetery in the midst of the German colony in Jerusalem. Whenever I pass by and the gate is open, I enter in. I have my little “Derek” story, as he was one of the main people God used to instill into me the calling to establish Ot OoMofet.

I met him in Jerusalem, a few years before he died, in order to discuss the publishing of his books in Hebrew (back than I had a publishing business). But we ended up talking about God’s heart towards the needy, and especially widows and orphans. He was so passionate about it. We continued to meet on a regular basis, and this was always the main topic he wanted to discuss.

The walls of that cemetery are decorated with fabulous art, of huge scenes taken from the Bible.

Mount Zion hotel overlooks the Judean desert and the old city. Its garden is a masterpiece, and provided us many spots to pose a little.

She Is Alive

You may be hearing a lot about terror in Jerusalem and how dangerous it is to be there. But Jerusalem is alive, alive and kicking, and creative, and searching for its trues identity. And the most important thing – she is being restored (though as of now, it is mostly in the physical realm).

Centuries have passed since Jerusalem has been in Jewish hands. All this time she was neglected, filthy, stricken with diseases and poverty. She was not special at all to those who ruled her, so they didn’t care to invest in her development or even worship their gods there. That issue rose up only after Israel started investing in this city and restoring it.

So typical to all of us. Don’t we all tend to overlook the broken and needy? Well, maybe we do have compassion and are extending some humanitarian help, but how much hope do we have that they can deeply be transformed? And restored? Do we see them through God’s eyes? Do we know what He promises to do with them and for them, and how much glory He ascribes to them? Read for instance 1 Cor. 12:22-24. But when someone rises up, full of hope and faith for a broken heart, and starts investing in him or her, at some point we are all amazed and attracted to it, and even desire to have a part in his or her life. This is human nature, but when it comes to the restoration of Israel and Jerusalem, it is also prophetic.