tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1473289335992622562024-03-12T22:52:34.242-04:00Return 2 TorahStephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.comBlogger108125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-42855603271579566232011-04-25T07:15:00.011-04:002011-04-25T07:54:41.265-04:00Spirit not Mechanics<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtHOIm8aa9ywALkmsJWIrb3zyj4urJnGHooLADafQv_B2sKz8xRLu78lmJwikPgWMdChWizERrJnPLBGtPOVJfsvkd-sAwpHShpMvY9yydAzGUp2Qpm_VwHdt0S0vdjYvln8agj-d34_Pb/s1600/alephbet+box.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 252px; height: 313px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtHOIm8aa9ywALkmsJWIrb3zyj4urJnGHooLADafQv_B2sKz8xRLu78lmJwikPgWMdChWizERrJnPLBGtPOVJfsvkd-sAwpHShpMvY9yydAzGUp2Qpm_VwHdt0S0vdjYvln8agj-d34_Pb/s320/alephbet+box.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599488125203607970" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; ">'Learning' Hebrew is not like learning any other language and it's NOT memorization. It's truly immersing your spirit in this heavenly language - awakening the Holy language within your spirit. So it is spirit not mechanics.<br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "><br />Gen 1:1-3 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, 'Let there be Light' and there was Light."<br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "><br />Hebrew is the language Adonai spoke when He created the heavens and the earth…powerfully displaying the creative power of the Word. Hebrew is the language He spoke to Adam – who partnered in naming animals, spoke to Eve (Chavah, referred to as mother of all living, lifegiver), Noah and others in those generations… unlike any other ‘religion’ the Torah alone shows that every Jewish man, woman, and child alive in 1312 B.C.E. — about three million people, according to the Torah — heard God speak at Mount Sinai and survived to teach their descendants about the event. As Yeshua is the Word (Torah) made flesh...we are becoming the same and so immersing in Torah, in Hebrew, is the L-rd transforming our physical flesh into Torah flesh.</span><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; ">A great site to glean from: <a href="http://www.hebrew4christians.com/">http://www.hebrew4christians.com/</a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "><a href="http://www.hebrew4christians.com/"></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; ">Print this: <a href="http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/Alphabet.pdf">http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/Alphabet.pdf</a></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "><div><div>then these: <a href="http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Alphabet_Practice.pdf">http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Alphabet_Practice.pdf</a></div><div><a href="http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Alphabet_Practice.pdf"></a>and write each letter over and over...that is part of how you can flesh out those Holy letters that are <a href="http://return2torah.blogspot.com/2008/11/flame-carved-commandments.html">written on your heart</a> - hand, heart, eyes all being involved in the process.</div><div><a href="http://return2torah.blogspot.com/search/label/hebrew">All Hebrew posts</a></div></div><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Oer0PeA2_s&feature=related">Learn Alephbet video</a></div></span></div></div></div>stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14188379494614692575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-75569078586656751582011-01-24T07:41:00.013-05:002011-01-24T16:48:31.047-05:00Immersing in Hebrew: deep calls unto deep, Psalm 42<div style="font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; "><div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Psalm 42: 8-9<br />"Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me. The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me—A prayer to the God of my life."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">The word translated here as 'waterfalls' is actually <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 26px; ">צִנּוֹרֶיךָ</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">tzinoreeka </span> which means 'cataracts' : a descent of water over a steep surface; a waterfall, esp.one of considerable size; any furious rush or downpour of water; deluge.</span></div></div></div></div><div style="font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />deep to deep calls</span></div><div style="font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 26px; ">תְּהוֹם-אֶל-תְּהוֹם קוֹרֵא</span></div></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; "><div><span style="font-size: 26px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; ">tehome el tehome koreh</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">of the sound Your cataracts</span></span></div></div><div><div style="font-size: small; border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-size: 26px; ">לְקוֹל צִנּוֹרֶיךָ</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span">l'kole tzinoreeka</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; "><br /></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; "><span class="Apple-style-span">The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song <i>shall be</i> with me— A prayer to the God of my life.</span><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 26px; ">יוֹמָם, יְצַוֶּה יְהוָה חַסְדּוֹ, וּבַלַּיְלָה, שִׁירֹה עִמִּי</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 26px; ">תְּפִלָּה, לְאֵל חַיָּי</span><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(0, 19, 32); line-height: 22px; "><span class="Apple-style-span">yo·v·mam ye·tzav·veh ha·shem chas·dov u·val·lay·lah ch shi·rah k shi·rov im·mi te·fil·lah le·'el chai·yai.</span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; border-collapse: collapse; "><span><span style="font-size: 26px; "><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "></span></span></span></div>stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14188379494614692575noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-34955355552750384222011-01-22T10:12:00.002-05:002011-01-22T10:16:29.147-05:00Immersing in Hebrew...Parshah Yitro: Shabbat<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" >Even if you 'know' only a few words in the passage below...with the English/Hebrew and transliteration, you will probably be able to figure out word meanings and that is one of the best ways to awaken Hebrew in your spirit...just dive in.<br /></span><br /><b style="font-size: 14pt; ">Exodus 20:8-11 from Parashah Yitro (Torah Portion Jethro)<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><sup id="en-NKJV-2060"><span style="font-size:8.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">8</span></sup></b></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">“ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><sup id="en-NKJV-2061"><span style="font-size:8.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">9</span></sup></b></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">Six days you shall labor and do all your work,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><sup id="en-NKJV-2062"><span style="font-size:8.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">10</span></sup></b></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">but the seventh day</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">is</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">the Sabbath of the LORD your God.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black">In it</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black">you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black">is</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black">within your gates.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><sup id="en-NKJV-2063"><span style="font-size:8.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">11</span></sup></b></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">For</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">in</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">is</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:14.5pt; line-height:115%;mso-bidi-font-family:David;color:black">8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.</span><br /></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:24.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Adobe Hebrew","serif";color:black"> <span lang="AR-SA" dir="RTL">זָכוֹר אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת, לְקַדְּשׁוֹ</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#001320">za·cho·vr et-yo·vm ha·shab·bat le·kad·de·shov</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:14.5pt;line-height:115%; mso-bidi-font-family:David;color:black"><br /><br /></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black">9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#001320"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="AR-SA" dir="RTL" style="font-size:24.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Adobe Hebrew","serif"; color:black">שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תַּעֲבֹד, וְעָשִׂיתָ כָּל-מְלַאכְתֶּךָ</span></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:24.0pt; line-height:115%;mso-bidi-font-family:David;color:black"><span dir="LTR"></span>.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#001320">she·shet ya·mim ta·'a·vod ve·'a·si·ta kol-me·lach·te·cha.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#001320"><br /></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"><br />10. but the seventh day</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black">is</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black">the Sabbath of the LORD your God.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">In it</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">is</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">within your gates.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#001320"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:24.0pt; line-height:115%;mso-bidi-font-family:David;color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="AR-SA" dir="RTL" style="font-size:24.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Adobe Hebrew","serif";color:black">וְיוֹם, הַשְּׁבִיעִי--שַׁבָּת, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ: לֹא-תַעֲשֶׂה כָל-מְלָאכָה אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ וּבִתֶּךָ, עַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתְךָ וּבְהֶמְתֶּךָ, וְגֵרְךָ, אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ</span></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:24.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Adobe Hebrew","serif"; color:black"><span dir="LTR"></span>.</span></span><span class="reftext"><span style="font-size:24.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#001320"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#001320">ve·yo·vm ha·she·vi·'i shab·bat la·shem e·lo·hei·cha lo-ta·'a·seh chol-me·la·chah at·tah u·vin·cha-u·vit·te·cha av·de·cha* va·'a·ma·te·cha* u·ve·hem·te·cha ve·ge·re·cha a·sher bish·'a·rei·cha.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#001320"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black">11. For</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black">in</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black">six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black">is</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; color:black">in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#001320"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:19.5pt; line-height:115%;mso-bidi-font-family:David;color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="AR-SA" dir="RTL" style="font-size:19.5pt; line-height:115%;font-family:David;color:black">כ</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="AR-SA" dir="RTL" style="font-size:22.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Adobe Hebrew","serif";color:black">י שֵׁשֶׁת-יָמִים עָשָׂה יְהוָה אֶת-הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת-הָאָרֶץ, אֶת-הַיָּם וְאֶת-כָּל-אֲשֶׁר-בָּם, וַיָּנַח, בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי; עַל-כֵּן, בֵּרַךְ יְהוָה אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת--וַיְקַדְּשֵׁהוּ</span></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:22.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Adobe Hebrew","serif";color:black"><span dir="LTR"></span>. </span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#001320"><br /></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#001320">ki she·shet-ya·mim a·sah ha·shem et-ha·sha·ma·yim ve·'et-ha·'a·retz et-hai·yam ve·'et-kol-a·sher-bam vai·ya·nach bai·yo·vm ha·she·vi·'i al-ken be·rach ha·shem et-yo·vm ha·shab·bat vay·kad·de·she·hu.</span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#001320"><o:p></o:p></span></p>stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14188379494614692575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-20664674856735949712011-01-18T17:20:00.007-05:002011-01-19T09:13:54.805-05:00immersing in Hebrew: Yitro - 2 versesThis week's Torah portion: Yitro<br /><br />Here are the first two verses - If you are learning Hebrew, a beautiful way to learn is sound out the Hebrew words, compare to the transliteration and then often figuring out the meaning is easy. Meaning or not...the language itself will course through your soul.<br /><br />Exodus 18: 1<br />And Yitro, the priest of Midyan, Moshe's father-in-law, heard of all that G-d had done for Moshe and for Yisrael His people--that HASHEM had brought Yisrael out of Egypt.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><span style="font-size:180%;">א וַיִּשְׁמַע יִתְרוֹ כֹהֵן מִדְיָן, חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה, אֵת כָּל-אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה אֱלֹהִים לְמֹשֶׁה, וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵל עַמּוֹ: כִּי-הוֹצִיא יְהוָה אֶת-יִשְׂרָאֵל, מִמִּצְרָיִם.</span><br /></span><br />Vayishma Yitro chohen Midyan choten Moshe et kol-asher asah Elokim le-Moshe ule-Yisrael amo ki-hotzi HASHEM et-Yisrael miMitzrayim.<br /><br />2. Moshe's father-in-law, Yitro took Moshe's wife, Tziporah, after he had sent her back [home],<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">ב וַיִּקַּח, יִתְרוֹ חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה, אֶת-צִפֹּרָה, אֵשֶׁת מֹשֶׁה--אַחַר, שִׁלּוּחֶיהָ.</span><br /><br />Vayikach Yitro choten Moshe et-Tziporah eshet Moshe achar shilucheiha.Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-59061427250605470482010-12-23T05:41:00.030-05:002010-12-23T06:43:46.321-05:00Aaronic Benediction & Spock's Vulcan Salute<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://vialogue.wordpress.com/2008/06/05/the-lord-bless-you-and-keep-you-reflections-from-jonathan-sacks/"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 151px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RBg-F5-M9NA8AdgCcxvcI6laMwYoVJSxtp7zwUfSv4HhYdhiEt7MFltRZ6xdCRtDXXOiU7PQOpdCIVOx06OAD8Xhu_w126oHEImm8eezSPGzXv9jIaC3g3roszcPyI4ZY9sB8mCX15SZ/s200/priestly-blessing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553837042022453410" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;">Numbers 6: 22-27<br /></span></b></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>HE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> 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Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;">22</span></b><span style="font-size:14pt;"> An</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:14pt;">d the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:</span></span></p><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" ><b><span style="font-size:14pt;">23</span></b><span style="font-size:130%;"> 'Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons,</span></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-size:130%;"> saying: On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel; ye shall say unto them:</span><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:14pt;"> <b>24</b> The LORD bless thee, and keep thee;</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a name="24"></a><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-size:24pt;"> יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה, וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ. </span><span style="font-size:14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:14pt;">Y’-varechec</span></span><span 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mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.pinenet.com/%7Erooster/v-salute.html"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMtyxGBY308Xfj-gHDsCVxrF998XbIiohKW5ySIQjhweMohddsuSCAUyVvNuPK2d9Jt7ieLFiGHcBtLPDZ-GCcbhtJ-sfB8KxEYoxtSN_1XenEkDLm_SHJCN8MWMl8NcCPdSfi3lqwCG5v/s200/spock.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553839268277053634" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:14pt;">27</span></b><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" > <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:130%;">So shall they put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.'</span><br /></span></span><b style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:14pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Synagogue_Blessings/Priestly_Blessing/priestly_blessing.html">audio and more details about the blessing</a></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" face="trebuchet ms" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRXQmYncwh8"><b><span style="">Ted Pearce, Aaronic Benediction</span></b></a></span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >a great song to learn the blessing - <a href="http://www.tedpearce.com/default.aspx?">visit Ted's site</a><br /><br />So yes Spock got his <a href="http://www.pinenet.com/%7Erooster/v-salute.html">vulcan salute</a> from the priestly blessing<br /><br /></span></span>Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-33610296263202448642010-12-15T09:50:00.008-05:002010-12-16T10:04:31.026-05:00Hebrew Links<div>To help to awaken Hebrew within your heart...<a href="http://return2torah.blogspot.com/search/label/hebrew">Hebrew posts on this blog</a></div><div><br /><a href="http://hebrew4christians.com/">Hebrew4Christians<br /></a><br /><a href="http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/aleph-bet.html">Printable alephbet flash cards & for ipod</a><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://translate.google.com/">http://translate.google.com/</a><span style=""> actually a pretty good, basic translator, if accuracy is importance, don't rely on this however<br /></span><br /><a href="http://www.interlinearbible.org/">www.interlinearbible.org/</a><span style=""> an ok English/Hebrew/transliterated Bible - </span>for vav uses ‘w’ sound instead of ‘v’<br /><br />Hebrew words are based on 2 or 3 letter root words<br />Hebrew Word Roots: <a href="http://www.jewfaq.org/root.htm">http://www.jewfaq.org/root.htm</a></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">More roots:<span> </span><a href="http://www.hebrewatmilah.org/maskilon1/index.htm">http://www.hebrewatmilah.org/maskilon1/index.htm</a></p></div><div>find out your <a href="http://www.chabad.org/calendar/birthday_cdo/aid/6228/jewish/Jewish-Birthday.htm">Hebrew day of birth and Torah portion</a><br /></div>Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-135397807466498482009-11-18T08:57:00.049-05:002009-11-18T20:08:28.429-05:00News Alert!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyh-0F7CrZN6Cd6DlyBI_i5z6IHFFiezsWo9K2eJKa219Gv-muUzXWyMY7VA_YDmM8bb9WjuuMeEIJuu-aMy6jvjXZ6i6j_Geep9cmqBEJ7FD_KBYOrlS0rIw7BJeHiJKL7T6bQTR8snDa/s1600/shaniya.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 300px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 190px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405462176374893730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyh-0F7CrZN6Cd6DlyBI_i5z6IHFFiezsWo9K2eJKa219Gv-muUzXWyMY7VA_YDmM8bb9WjuuMeEIJuu-aMy6jvjXZ6i6j_Geep9cmqBEJ7FD_KBYOrlS0rIw7BJeHiJKL7T6bQTR8snDa/s320/shaniya.jpg" /></a>I know horrific murders, suicides, beatings & rapes have continuously plagued the world since humans first wandered the earth...Maybe it's because I have gotten in the habit of reading google compiled news stories a few times a day but violence seems so disturbingly elevated right now, kind of like one of the many wake up calls that are sounding. Have you heard them? And even if such crimes aren't actually increasing, have you heard the wake up call that's been sounding since Cain's brother's blood cried out from the ground?<br /><br />the beautiful 5 year old, Shaniya, killed...her mother arrested for sex trafficing...<br /><br />a 35 year old man kills his wife, their two teenage boys and himself...<br /><br />a woman, who just an hour or so after being brought home by police after filing a domestic complaint against her boyfriend, stabbed to death by him while cops were posted outside her apartment building...he was shot and killed as police came in on the stabbing...too late...<br /><br />an army major & psychatrist murders 14 innocent men & women at Fort Hood...<br /><br />the 16 year old Richmond High School girl repeatedly raped and viciously beaten by at least 4 young males while up to 20 others looked on...for over 2 hours...there are no words...<br /><br />and the list goes on and on and on...<br /><br />What causes people to lash out at someone they love? Or to rape and beat a 4 year old girl, a 16 year old sophomore, a 70 year old grandmother they know nothing about? A husband to shoot his family while they are sleeping?<br /><br />Hopelessness? Maybe. Many are without hope or they hope in things that are hopeless, evil. Consumed by the wrong things? With stuff of the world, addictions, twisted ideologies, themselves. They are full of stuff and empty at the same time. Tormented by their own hurt? They seek to hurt others as a perverted way to avenge those who have damaged them. And that is the truth. They, themselves, are damaged people. They were not born killers, abusers, rapists...they were once innocent newborns, blank slates, full of the potential to love and be loved. Lies are planted. Then...walls are erected. Many are self-built. Walls to protect, to numb, to confuse, to distract, to blame, to excuse, to hide behind. With those walls in tact, any human being is capable of despicable things, things no one would have thought that newborn, reaching for his first cookie, would ever do.<br /><br />And how desensitized are 'we' to tragedies that happen minute by minute? Do we look away from truths that hurt us? Is it too hard to read about a little girl being sold into sex trade, being raped, dismembered? A woman raped, fingernails ripped from her hands, then burned to death? If it were a movie: much easier. Sadly so, even entertaining to some degree. But in real life isn't it just easier to turn the other way? And try to convince ourselves that we aren't ignorant, callous, self-absorbed?<br /><br />Why is there so little rage when violence like this happens? Not outward rage but an inward crying out from those not personally related to the tragedy, a renewed sobering revelation that we live in a lost, sad, sick, hopeless world...And yet it seems that there is more rage, inner and outer, about how long she had to wait at the registry. If he stepped in something while walking the dog. If they hit a pothole and damaged rim and tire. If traffic is heavy on the way to work then later find out there was a car accident that killed 3 people as they were on the their way to school and work...<br /><br />Are <strong>we</strong> so damaged, so walled off by our own hurts and fears, that we turn away from others' hurts much like those 20 who allowed the rape and beating of a 16 year old girl to go on and on and on...watching yet walled off, desensitized from what really matters: loving another human being? "I have my own pain, I don't need to deal with others' pain." Or worse yet, is our wall: "I am ok and that's what matters." Someone behind that wall might even say "Thank God this isn't happening to me or my family..." Others behind their wall of denial will say, "The world's always been a mess. Sad but that's just the way it is." And what they don't say (or maybe they do) is "so I will keep at a distance from all that bad news. I need to hear the good news."<br /><br />Hours before they found Shaniya's little body, the TV news kept replaying a security camera video of a guy holding her, waiting for the elevator in a Comfort Inn...carrying her to her death & she was just resting in his arms, alert yet unaware...seems unreal but true and so completely heartbreaking...<br /><br />Our hearts need to break. And as crazy as it seems, when that happens, we will truly have hope. And others will see that hope in us.<br /><br />Don't miss the news...sadly, there's more every day...<br /><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h00xc9pigMisvuJ08uARa2FR8gQgD9C1VPOO0">Richmond Highschool gang rape</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.detnews.com/article/20091116/METRO/911160389/Man-shot-wife--2-sons-in-beds--then-turned-gun-on-self--police-say">Husband kills sons, wife, himself </a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/17/north.carolina.girl.dead/">Police: Body is that of North Carolina girl, Shaniya</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.thegrio.com/2009/11/no-one-can-imagine-what.php">Shaniya's story reveals widespread sex trafficking in black community</a><br /><br /><a class="usg-AFQjCNHRg3QG2tIh6mHB0j7PXxn7quTHRg sig2-FRK3FnIU52ppNOpACARdag _tracked" href="http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=336604" target="_self">Hundreds say goodbye to Bolingbrook soldier killed at Ft. Hood </a><br /><br /><a href="http://news.google.com/news?pz=0&hl=en&ned=us">Google News Top Stories</a>Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-12160062285798012772009-04-08T09:03:00.014-04:002009-04-08T15:22:52.034-04:00Passover...a day early<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxGwI1cLzMHq0_7DRw9aYFqVOwj7_0x1Vh9L3kWggMuyYTrjnbPPFhcNhHAng4c2LQ5P5-guY40qeDIYfvJ4ppNgAuYi-D_EEaWK0EYDCz9kBJhs_omdc8pzYSshFokQJQdTW2Rl3JgnU_/s1600-h/seder040709.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxGwI1cLzMHq0_7DRw9aYFqVOwj7_0x1Vh9L3kWggMuyYTrjnbPPFhcNhHAng4c2LQ5P5-guY40qeDIYfvJ4ppNgAuYi-D_EEaWK0EYDCz9kBJhs_omdc8pzYSshFokQJQdTW2Rl3JgnU_/s320/seder040709.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322317285765028130" border="0" /></a>I celebrated the first evening of Passover last night, which technically is a day early since Passover begins tonight, Nisan 14 (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=lev%2023&version=50">Lev 23</a>). So why a day early?<br /><br />The first Passover night (Nisan 14) preceded the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exodus">Exodus from Egypt</a>, the Red Sea crossing, the Cloud that led the people by day & the Fire at night...<br /><br />In <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ex%2012;&version=50;">Exodus 12</a>, G-d instructs the people to select a lamb on Nisan 10, tend to that lamb til Nisan 14 when they were to: slaughter it & place its blood on their doorposts so that the L-rd would pass over their homes; then roast the lambs and eat the meat with unleavened bread, sharing within families and within the community. The very next morning they were led out of Egypt.<br /><br />So in the Hebrew mindset Passover is celebrated to commemorate the going out of Egypt and the great miracles which the L-rd used to free the people. All of this beautiful and beyond understanding.<br /><br />But there is so much more: G-d instructed His people to offer daily sacrifices of various kinds and for various purposes and much of those sacrifices were animals and that is because according to <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=lev%2017;&version=50;">Leviticus 17</a>:11 - "For the life of the flesh <i>is</i> in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it <i>is</i> the blood <i>that</i> makes atonement for the soul."<br /><br />Yeshua is THE sacrificial Lamb, only His Blood is pure, holy, able to make atonement for ALL. And so He had to be crucified on Passover. But He also wanted to gather with His friends to celebrate Passover, commonly known as the <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2022;&version=50;">Lord's Supper</a> or the Last Supper. And during that Passover seder, it was after He washed their feet, told them to eat His Flesh & drink His Blood, and the prayers in the garden, that He was arrested and then <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=49&chapter=23&version=50">beaten & crucified</a> on the same day that the Passover lambs were to be slaughtered for Passover. Not incidentally, G-d instructed the people that they had to eat the entire lamb, NONE of it could be left over. All of this preparing the people, looking forward to when Yeshua would say:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%206&version=50">John 6</a>:53-58 "Then Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.'"</span><br /><br />So that is why it's a beautiful thing to have a seder an evening earlier.<br /><br />And <a href="http://return2torah.blogspot.com/2009/04/mark-on-hand-forehead.html">that mark</a> which those who celebrate Passover are marked with...is the Blood of the Messiah, Yeshua, which literally means God Saves.Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-80700565306647471482009-04-07T08:59:00.009-04:002009-04-16T16:37:51.469-04:00a mark on hand & foreheadI was always familiar with the mark of the beast, aka 666. There are a number of movies that make allusion to this--probably most famously the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Omen">Omen</a>. And the idea of this mark comes from...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=rev%2013;&version=50;">Rev 13</a>:16-17 "He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, <span style="font-weight: bold;">to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads</span>, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."<br /><br />And of course the mark of the beast refers to anti-christ, an anti-messiah. Christ & Messiah simply mean <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anointing">anointed</a> of G-d as if dedicated to G-d, a servant. So anti-christ is anything that is anti-G-d, unanointed.<br /><br />Now what's interesting about this is the mark of the beast is a sign on a right hand or forehead...and Passover (which begins April 8, 2009) is referred to the same way, as a mark...on your hand and forehead:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%2013;&version=50;">Exodus 13</a>:7-10 "Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘<i>This is done</i> because of what the LORD did for me when I came up from Egypt.’ <span style="font-weight: bold;">It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in your mouth</span>; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year."<br /><br />Since in the past, I only read Exodus like a history book and history was my worst subject in high school, I never saw this before: Passover is the true mark of G-d. Why? Because Yeshua who IS the anointed became the Passover Lamb. Each year that the Israelites celebrated Passover before His death, was simply a foreshadow of His ultimate sacrifice. They sacrificed lambs, He was the Lamb.<br /><br />And then I was reminded of <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deut%206;&version=50;">Deuternomy 6</a>:8...where it says of G-d's Word: "You shall bind them (His commandments) <span style="font-weight: bold;">as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.</span>"<br /><br />This speaks of the same concept: He is telling His people to so love the Word and live the Word, that it shall be like a mark on their hand and forehead, always present with and within them.<br /><br />And so I just thought it was pretty neat how all these "marks" point to Yeshua and each reference is just a different way of saying the same thing: He is the Word that became flesh...and as believers we are marked by Him and so Passover, being that He became THE sacrifice, is THE MARK of the L-rd.<br /><br />Chag Sameach!Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-55548368659416890892009-01-08T19:06:00.019-05:002009-04-16T16:36:54.045-04:00stimulus for porn...pernicious pun<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28549145/%22">Bad puns</a> abound over Joe Francis and Larry Flynt's request for a $5 billion bailout for the "Adult Entertainment" industry. I probably shouldn't even waste my words on this topic but couldn't resist. <a href="http://www.garyolsen.com/cartoons/index.htm"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289086549771960802" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right; width: 250px; height: 307px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidrKTqyBtNRUnJNjRUnhUBRDfxdY2Ssz4sTjhEIxLyAt-SzWtNwhJzt-zsVwgEXZA5Nume6YPUu3J2tbzDvyZ5zOScIhMae8FVcco6gSv87iGxRH__-62MY8d6iSJk57kTsWZ6cvsTI9cl/s320/FlintstoneCar350.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The have a plan: <em>With the $5 billion, they would "invest in building new means of distribution, and shoring up our distribution right now to prevent further erosion from factors like Youporn and other Internet content that has seriously affected our business over the past few years," Francis said in an interview with FOX Business. "We will use the money wisely, and we will create more jobs."</em> <span style="font-size:78%;">(from the article below)</span><br /><br />So to the many that are currently laid off, fear not, plenty of jobs on the way...I am glad they will use the money <em>wisely</em> and with others' interests & well-being in mind because as they say, <em>"People are too depressed to be sexually active," Flynt said in the press release. "This is very unhealthy as a nation. Americans can do without cars and such but they cannot do without sex."</em> <span style="font-size:78%;">(from the above article)</span><br /><br />Interesting that Mr. Flynt suggests that to not participate in adult entertainment, porn, whatever you want to call it, is unhealthy. Maybe this is all a publicity stunt to <em>stimulate</em> their business. But even if it is a stunt, just the fact that these guys decided to give this a try makes an interesting commentary on our culture. I will leave it at that.<br /><br />So let's see if they drive in their hybrid to DC as they promise...to show how much more upstanding they are than those raunchy car makers.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/economy/adult-entertainment-industry-wants-bailout/">http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/economy/adult-entertainment-industry-wants-bailout/</a>Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-67036369163979424732008-12-24T21:44:00.003-05:002008-12-24T21:49:25.655-05:00just funnyA 6 year old foster son of good friends of ours had this to say to his foster mom (our rabbi's wife):<br /><br />"Lisa, I know Santa doesn't come to this house, but if he did, you would save a lot of money."Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-13424026244905090352008-12-16T16:39:00.018-05:002008-12-17T08:57:31.163-05:00matters of quirkiness & faithMy father died in 1995. He was 48, a mere 9 years older than I am right now. (Don't worry this is not a downer post, though I do have a mild fascination with death. ;) So I woke up at midnight last night after a short time of sleep and though I so wanted to sleep, my mind took over. And I was thinking about some nonsensical interjection I said in someone's office the previous afternoon. I can't recall what I said, but whatever it was there was a tiny logistic connective tendril. Tiny. I call it controlled ADD. Is that offensive to anyone? Unintended if so. I define someone with that condition as: when in conversation, he or she makes loose to very loose connections to whatever is being discussed, sometimes in song. But most always, eventually gets back to the original topic, albeit circuitously but usually humorously, at least for the loose connection maker.<br /><br />The particular instance I was thinking of didn't amuse anyone but me so I returned to the original topic. Selfishly, often times, I am not thinking that my odd rambling, lyric embedding, or word inserting will entertain anyone but me. (I used to do it when I taught college comp courses all the time. I definitely needed to self-entertain during class.) So all this to say that at midnight I remembered that my father used to come out with things that made no sense in the conversation. Or at times, no one was saying a word and he'd say something that had no connection to anything recently said. I used to think, "how odd you are!" And so for the first time, last night, I realized where my little oddity comes from, at least one oddity anyway. And it made me laugh because what annoyed me in him is in me and I actually enjoy it! I thought that was great.<br /><br />An even bigger thing used to annoy me: his faith. One thing I did know was: he was <span style="font-style: italic;">different</span>. Watching my father die of cancer over the course of a month with such a peace, such an unwavering faith in G-d, is what caused me to really see what the heck was so <span style="font-style: italic;">different</span> about him. And then after he died I began exploring what he was talking about: I tried to read the Bible and I remembered things he'd try to tell me about his faith, always beaming as he shared whatever it was. And then later I remembered that when he'd get home from work each night, often after 14 hours, he'd kneel in a spare room and pray. He'd close the door but I could see him through the small opening. I wouldn't be really looking; I would just catch a glimpse of him as I passed by. Obviously I made an unconscious mental note because at the time, I didn't think much of it. Until he was gone...I know cliche...but sadly some cliches are just that, sad, and sad that we persist in living them out...<br /><br />So to make a slightly longer story wind down, watching his faith in action at such a difficult time and then remembering all these details that I unknowingly stored away, led me to find the peace, joy, and love that only G-d can offer us. (If that sounds cliche, so be it, at least it led to a good result.) All that's pretty big.<br /><br />And now I've discovered this little thing too. Discoveries are good. So look around to the people that you've known for years or even a week and thank G-d for how He has used them to shape you in matters of faith and quirkiness. Oh and be aware: sometimes the shaping process doesn't always feel good, but it's the end result that matters.<br /><br />A cool side note: I've since realized that during a lot of that kneeling, he was praying for me. You never really know who is praying for you. And you may be very surprised if you found out.Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-68679028310684256152008-12-11T21:48:00.023-05:002008-12-12T13:13:01.374-05:00Jesus at the bar?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIny1MJV2N1vi1HGDvVFYOnuxEq-1Ie6vttH8-428LuTcJ5dOKlrm3Pf-UpitGl1bmwvCQIPLFTH3tx6w507t6OS9MkCSJ5vyIDLq4PDxMyEPPUYCOHQcal61xRy-Os125ih5SiYlKb0N_/s1600-h/eddiessaves.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIny1MJV2N1vi1HGDvVFYOnuxEq-1Ie6vttH8-428LuTcJ5dOKlrm3Pf-UpitGl1bmwvCQIPLFTH3tx6w507t6OS9MkCSJ5vyIDLq4PDxMyEPPUYCOHQcal61xRy-Os125ih5SiYlKb0N_/s320/eddiessaves.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278730799262431074" border="0" /></a>I drive up and down Warwick Avenue usually twice per day. Driving home Sunday night I saw a sign on Eddie's Bar that I absolutely loved...here it is>><br /><br />In the window on the right is one of those Sam Adams light-ups and on the main Eddie's sign: "JESUS SAVES." I did a double-take and lots of knee slaps. I thought it was great. Usually the letters spell what band is playing or what the day's beer special is...<br /><br />So on the way to work Monday morning I had to pull over and take some pictures. Here's what was on the other side:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiIRl4FlhbcAgLNTm877jMU28eSwa22oL_LnZyJZt9tCL9gcMoEITaRnIiX6u9mx57bZz0Atka6xcBw_41kpXzsVdiBsZvGBTvA-_tTwPCYAq0l1w9zoOAzIv-CaQoXc-QSZX90jD4fRIa/s1600-h/eddieshocropped.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiIRl4FlhbcAgLNTm877jMU28eSwa22oL_LnZyJZt9tCL9gcMoEITaRnIiX6u9mx57bZz0Atka6xcBw_41kpXzsVdiBsZvGBTvA-_tTwPCYAq0l1w9zoOAzIv-CaQoXc-QSZX90jD4fRIa/s320/eddieshocropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278732539592674322" border="0" /></a> HO HO HO WHERE DID THE SUMMER GO<br /><br />Some people might say HO HO HO makes more sense on a bar sign: Santa's battle-cry along with a lament that summer is gone. Enter winter: the season of depression. And a bar often caters to the depressed, at least stereotypically in tv land. Makes some odd sense.<br /><br />But then you see the flip-side...JESUS SAVES. I have no idea why they put either slogan on this sign or both at the same time. But though the dichotomy is quite interesting, what I find more interesting is that JESUS SAVES on this bar sign reminds me that G-d is EVERYWHERE, waiting to be seen, heard, spoken to, smiled at, bought a drink...loved. If He can be in the church, the synagogue, the football field, He can also be in a bar.<br /><br />So if you're in Eddie's, will you look around, I mean really look and <span style="font-style: italic;">when</span> you see Jesus, will you buy Him a drink? I will. Thanks Eddie's!Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-50838262512243768262008-12-02T11:11:00.017-05:002008-12-04T19:43:02.659-05:00Learnin' from Bruce Almighty<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO1F3jkiYqNc4qfD4JVQ_R91MOM0ZH5mj4vmAYfgsAHxAoYrM5LPaM4Ik4BW1NLjrRv7_ld-4cFGhFBIzjR1X0sWrq6YOrSJdSksksKIywJd8aTMDFd6eUMVWAdU7aYmjYK0tT-RRiTh4Z/s1600-h/brucealmighty.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO1F3jkiYqNc4qfD4JVQ_R91MOM0ZH5mj4vmAYfgsAHxAoYrM5LPaM4Ik4BW1NLjrRv7_ld-4cFGhFBIzjR1X0sWrq6YOrSJdSksksKIywJd8aTMDFd6eUMVWAdU7aYmjYK0tT-RRiTh4Z/s320/brucealmighty.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275238321591402962" border="0" /></a>Two days ago, I watched <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0315327/">Bruce Almighty</a> again. It's one of my favorite movies.<br /><br />But what struck me most this last time I watched it was the ending. The homeless guy to the right is holding a sign that says something like "Amageddon outta here" and he slowly morphs into Morgan Freeman who is playing G-d. Such a simple scene, such a beautiful truth: <a href="http://return2torah.blogspot.com/2007/10/is-that-you-yeshua.html">we should see G-d in everyone we encounter</a>. I know this but I have a hard time remembering...<br /><br />So yesterday morning, I was talking to a guy at work that had been out with an injury for two weeks...and I wasn't thinking about Bruce Almighty but my mind did that morph thing and I knew that for that second, I was looking into the eyes of G-d and it rattled me. It's good to be rattled!<br /><br />G-d speaks through the craziest things. Actually He really speaks through EVERYTHING, if we listen...<br /><br />This is the funniest scene in the movie...<br /><embed id="VideoPlayback" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=8846352250492533269&hl=en&fs=true" style="width: 300px; height: 246px;" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed>Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-17553583398506048242008-12-01T11:12:00.012-05:002008-12-02T18:17:10.995-05:00what's with thanksgiving?I am thankful. I want to be thankful daily--moment by moment. How did you feel on Thanksgiving? Was it a peaceful day in whatever house you were in, with whomever you were with, were you relaxed and calm, did thankfulness come up? If so, Baruch Hashem! I was peaceful but not because I find the day lends to that, but because I have chosen to view it differently than I used to.<br /><br />I never had much expectation for holidays. I think that's because too many people around me did and were so depressed particularly from Thanksgiving to Christmas that I resisted expectations, expectations that are never met. Or to be fair I should say often not met. I am sure there are families where the expectations are more reasonable, are met, and depression is avoided. There are some of those right? But largely I think people want something from these holidays that is unreasonable and impossible to achieve. And those of us without expectations assume the "destined to fail and only cause stress" role of frenzied expectation fairy peacemaker, constantly thinking "Is this person ok?" "Is that one depressed?" "Did he have too much to drink?" "Did I have a piece of her pie because if I didn't she'll be depressed?"<br /><br />This morning a co-worker said she was exhausted when she got home Thursday night and she didn't know why. She didn't have much to cook, she didn't travel but a few minutes, she got home early enough...and then she admitted it was that she feels she has to make sure "everyone is ok..." That is exhausting!<br /><br />Another friend said her son and family got to her house at 4:30 after eating at the in-laws at 2 and her son hardly said a word. The next day he apologized and said he was just tired. She realized it was too much, expecting them to go to both houses. She said she was selfish to feel that he had to come to her house. She said she won't do that again. Baruch Hashem! That's quite a revelation she had with all the emphasis that this culture and our families have put on these special days.<br /><br />In some families, one parental side owns a holiday and are damned and determined they will have people over to eat their food at their table in their house or else...they own the day after all! What? Is that what celebrating being thankful is about? Come to my house or I will hold a grudge and make every holiday stressful...<br /><br />My friend with the son and I started talking about the odd comfort people find in these holidays that really is just deception. But it's something they hang onto like it will save them...hmmmm...sounds a little like worship. The emphasis we have placed on these days, the completely unrealistic expectations are a by-product of our lack of reverence for G-d and lack of following <a href="http://return2torah.blogspot.com/2007/09/holidays-or-holy-days.html">His holidays</a>...the true holidays that are holy and set apart because He created them.<br /><br />I love the line: "Christmas is about the kids after all..." Really? Last time I checked, it was supposed to be about G-d. But it's not. Never was. As hard as you try to cram Him in there, and I used to try to do just that, He's not there...at least not in the way we expect Him to be.Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-6056321574464265372008-11-30T08:17:00.024-05:002008-11-30T11:28:34.073-05:00flame-carved commandments<span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Disclaimer: I apologize for the meandering nature of this post. But as G-d is so uncontainable, I found it difficult to condense and contain these ideas into a neat package but hope this wandering is thought-provoking...<br /><br />I know the verse:</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deut%209;&version=50;">Deuteronomy 9:10</a> Then the LORD delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them <i>were</i> all the words which the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. (NKJV)</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">and so I assumed that literally the 10 Commandments were "written by the finger of G-d." But Ad-nai is a consuming Fire...</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deut%205;&version=50;">Deuteronomy 5:24-25</a> And you said: ‘Surely the LORD our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he <i>still</i> lives. Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the LORD our God anymore, then we shall die. (NKJV)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews%2012;&version=50;">Hebrews 12:28-29</a> Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God <i>is</i> a consuming fire. (NKJV)<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">and the Hebrews literally saw that fire many times:</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://bible.cc/exodus/20-18.htm"><br />Exodus 20:18-19</a> And all the people are seeing the voices, and the flames, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mount smoking; and the people see, and move, and stand afar off, and say unto Moses, 'Speak thou with us, and we hear, and let not God speak with us, lest we die.'(JPS)</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">Did you ever notice that the people are "</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">seeing</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> voices"? Here's a more literal translation:</span><br /></span><p><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.htmlbible.com/sacrednamebiblecom/kjvstrongs/index2.htm">Exodus 20:18-19</a> And all the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/FRMSTRHEB59.htm#S5971">people</a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/FRMSTRHEB71.htm#S7200">saw</a><sup><a href="http://www.blogger.com/STRHEBVB.htm#V6">6</a></sup> the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/FRMSTRHEB69.htm#S6963">thunderings,</a> and the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/FRMSTRHEB39.htm#S3940">lightnings,</a> and the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/FRMSTRHEB69.htm#S6963">noise</a> of the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/FRMSTRHEB77.htm#S7782">trumpet,</a> and the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/FRMSTRHEB20.htm#S2022">mountain</a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/FRMSTRHEB62.htm#S6226">smoking:</a> and when the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/FRMSTRHEB59.htm#S5971">people</a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/FRMSTRHEB71.htm#S7200">saw</a><sup><a href="http://www.blogger.com/STRHEBVB.htm#V4">4</a></sup> [it], they <a href="http://www.blogger.com/FRMSTRHEB51.htm#S5128">removed,</a><sup><a href="http://www.blogger.com/STRHEBVB.htm#V4">4</a></sup> and <a href="http://www.blogger.com/FRMSTRHEB59.htm#S5975">stood</a><sup><a href="http://www.blogger.com/STRHEBVB.htm#V4">4</a></sup> afar <a href="http://www.blogger.com/FRMSTRHEB73.htm#S7350">off.</a> (KJV with links to Hebrew words and meaning)</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Thunderings = voices; lightning= flames. If we read this account as merely words talking about some historic event or even worse, if we question that this event actually happened, we are missing the awesomeness of G-d. If the Bible is Truth, the details of this event Truly happened, as impossible as they may seem. But back to fire...this verse amazed me:</span></span><br /></p><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2029;&version=50;">Psalms 29:7</a> The voice of the LORD divides the flames of fire. (NKJV)</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">or a more closer translation...</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2629.htm"><br />Psalm 29:7</a> The voice of HaShem heweth out flames of fire. (JPS)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">The word hew in Hebrew is chatsab </span></span><span style="font-size:180%;">חֹצֵב</span> <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">which means to cut, carve, hew...divide, which the KJV uses. Jewish tradition teaches that, one by one, the commandments were written by flame as the people said "yes we will obey." So could it be that Ad-nai wrote the Commandments with flames of fire, carving His Word into stone, preparing to lovingly sear His Word in our hearts (Jer 31:33),and He does so as we receive what He gives us? Makes G-d-sense to me!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jer%2031;&version=31;">Jeremiah 31</a>:<span id="en-NIV-19725" class="sup">33 "'This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,' declares the LORD. 'I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.'"<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">I wonder if the word <span style="font-style: italic;">division</span> in Hebrews 4:12, had it been written in Hebrew, would be chatsab?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews%204;&version=50;"><br />Hebrews 4:12</a> For the word of God <i>is</i> living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (NKJV)<br /></span><br /><a href="http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/docs/13_GinsburgHebrewNT.pdf">This Hebrew translation of the Brit Chadashah uses chatsab in Hebrews 4:12.</a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">By the way, the 10 Commandments are just a shortened version of the </span><a style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);" href="http://return2torah.blogspot.com/search/label/torah">Torah</a><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> and the Torah is the Word and the Word is Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah. So to really encapsulate the ideas in this post: Yeshua is a consuming fire that dwells in our hearts causing us to be like Him to show His Glory.</span></span>Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-64329886219931058222008-11-28T08:25:00.000-05:002008-11-28T08:25:42.546-05:00Empty Me<p>This is the prayer of my heart and it's a beautiful song. I don't recall Chris Sligh on American Idol Season 6 but I thought that was pretty cool. He has a great voice. Baruch Hashem!</p><br /><object width="250" height="200"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XnycyGi7bTg&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XnycyGi7bTg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="250" height="200"></embed></object><br /><p><a href="http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/c/chris_sligh/empty_me_tab.htm">Guitar Tabs for Empty Me</a>--only one worth trying that I could find.</p><p><a href="http://www.chrissligh.com/Music/Lyrics/tabid/517/Default.aspx">Chris' site, lyrics</a><br /></p>Chodesh Tov!Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-482830297295373392008-11-27T07:37:00.002-05:002008-11-27T07:38:48.188-05:00G-d's appointed times: lost in translationBecause the meanings within the Hebrew language are multi-layered, familiarity with even a little Hebrew can deepen our understanding of G-d’s Word. Since we’ve just walked through a number of Ad-nai’s festivals, here’s a perfect example of G-d’s love, beauty and Truth inherent in the language that gets lost in English translation: “Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and <i>seasons</i>, and for days and years’” (Genesis 1:14 NKJV).<br />The Hebrew word for <i>seasons</i> is <i>Moadim</i> <span style="font-size:180%;">מוֹעֲדִים</span> which means <i>appointed </i>or <i>set times</i>, as in “let us celebrate the <i>moadim</i>,” “let us celebrate the <a href="http://return2torah.blogspot.com/search/label/appointed%20times"><i>appointed times</i></a>.” What’s the big deal? “Seasons” are equated with 12 months broken into 4 parts (summer, winter, spring, and fall), not specifically “set times,” which Ad-nai details in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=lev%2023&version=50">Leviticus 23</a> and all throughout Scripture.<br /><br />In the beginning, G-d said…everything we need to know, but unfortunately so much Truth has been forgotten, hidden, or twisted by the world. But Ad-nai is revealing what has been hidden for so long that we would be prepared for this: “The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God <i>is</i> Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24, NJKV).<br /><br />Like the Torah, the Living Word, the Hebrew language is a living language, the only truly living language. And though Hebrew lay dormant for centuries when it was only spoken by a small number of religious Jews, it has re-emerged as a vibrant, breathing, powerful language that Ad-nai is drawing out from within His people to glorify Himself. Learning Hebrew is not just about words and letters. Like everything else Ad-nai has created, it’s really about His Amazing love and the little gifts He graces us with, some wrapped in <i>jots & tittles</i> (Matthew 5:18), gifts of Himself.<br /><br />Here's a <a href="http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0.htm">side by side Hebrew/Engish Bible site</a>.Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-75439439783063465752008-11-26T08:32:00.008-05:002008-11-26T08:47:53.368-05:00the Hebrew alephbet<span style="color:black;">The Hebrew Alephbet consists of <a href="http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/aleph-bet.html">22 letters</a>, all consonants.<span style=""> </span>Most of these letters sound like the letter name. <span style=""> </span>For example, the letter <i>Mem</i></span> <span style="font-size:180%;">מ</span> is pronounced like an <i>M,</i> as in <i>Moadim</i>, which means appointed times. Of these 22 consonants, there are 2 silent letters that can take on different sounds, mainly for vowels. Vowel markers, small symbols near a letter, are also added for clarity in some Hebrew writing. Hebrew is read from right to left, which takes a little time to get used to. But when thinking about learning Hebrew, realize just like Torah, we are not in a race to acquire head knowledge; we are in a process of spiritual growth, allowing Ad-nai to birth within us what He has for each of us, each part of the body.<br /><p>The name AlephBet comes from the first two letters of Hebrew: <i>Aleph</i> and <i>Beit</i>, similar to the English AlphaBet based on the first two Latin letters, <i>Alpha</i> and <i>Beta</i>. But that is one of the very few similarities to English because Hebrew has so many more levels of meaning compared to the English language. To some degree we can describe Hebrew much like we describe Ad-nai: simple yet amazingly and beautifully complex. For example, our letter <i>B</i> has no meaning aside from the fact that it sounds like “bee.” In Hebrew every letter has its own meaning(s), which then combines with other letters to make up the meaning of a word or phrase. Confusing? Here’s an example: <i>El</i> is a simple name for G-d. In Hebrew it is spelled <span style="font-size:180%;">אל </span>- the letters <i>Aleph</i> <i>Lamed</i>. <a href="http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/docs/28_chart.pdf">Ancient Hebrew letters</a> were written as pictures based on the meaning of the letter. <i>Aleph</i> looks like the head of a bull <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMyjTDi-VaRH9q0Xqd2g_2PwjTjl8p-SsOXxq6FDp0z0ycBW0YtR5rShUuk1vsEa4A9AstKsLSRuLeM5PkvwRnC_C8ARH2ojIW2kF1SNqKk3P3HIjgr2Zw4mCSMMQfm8OKrZcOPt_LqZGY/s1600-h/aleph.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 36px; height: 37px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMyjTDi-VaRH9q0Xqd2g_2PwjTjl8p-SsOXxq6FDp0z0ycBW0YtR5rShUuk1vsEa4A9AstKsLSRuLeM5PkvwRnC_C8ARH2ojIW2kF1SNqKk3P3HIjgr2Zw4mCSMMQfm8OKrZcOPt_LqZGY/s320/aleph.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272959369909298706" border="0" /></a> - representing strength, and is often said to represent G-d. <i>Lamed </i> looks like a staff <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1VFPG02z0_1Byuv3ho4kftniKcHQZnWPTJz6FfqhG4G8EviCW-TcBfx4jheZXRFwPaFTNT9Cz48KDH3xdu5c7WtwONOrZU53jDX7JCG_pRQOUV7ODSgpPIMjtaqGg0cHCsp0lBRgTHWFK/s1600-h/lamed.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 27px; height: 30px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1VFPG02z0_1Byuv3ho4kftniKcHQZnWPTJz6FfqhG4G8EviCW-TcBfx4jheZXRFwPaFTNT9Cz48KDH3xdu5c7WtwONOrZU53jDX7JCG_pRQOUV7ODSgpPIMjtaqGg0cHCsp0lBRgTHWFK/s320/lamed.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272959895747346994" border="0" /></a> . And so when you say the “little” word <i>El</i>, realize you are saying something very “big” - <i>The L-rd is my Shepherd!<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></i></p><p><a href="http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/grammar.html">Hebrew4Christians</a> is a great site to begin to learn Hebrew.<br /><i><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></i></p>Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-34169914022441771422008-11-25T12:01:00.007-05:002008-11-26T08:45:01.235-05:00Hebrew: the language within<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I began to <a href="http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/grammar.html">learn Hebrew</a> around October 2007 and have been shocked at how much I've gotten out of the time I've spent. If Hebrew, (hearing it, speaking it or just seeing it in print) somehow stirs your spirit, give it a try. </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I truly believe that as we expectantly enter into this holy language, it’s not so much that we are “putting in” something new, but that which our spirit already knows is “rising up,” reviving that heavenly language from dormancy.<span style=""> </span>Just as the Torah is being written on our hearts, (has already been written on our hearts in G-d’s time), this ancient language has been written on our hearts as well. So as the Torah, the written Word, becomes Flesh...the Hebrew letters of that Word can become Flesh within us and begin to enter our spiritual understanding.<br /><br />Here's one example of the benefit of beginning to understand Hebrew: <span style="font-style: italic;">adam</span> (</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >א</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:180%;">דָם</span> - read from right to left) means man or mankind. It is spelled <span style="font-size:180%;">א</span> (Ah) represents G-d and <span style="font-size:180%;">דָם</span> (<span style="font-style: italic;">dam</span>) means blood. So <span style="font-style: italic;">adam</span> means G-d's blood...there's so much more to this but that's just a little taste of the treasures you will find if you begin to study this Holy language.<br /><o:p></o:p></span>Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-16595862077942321622008-11-21T08:46:00.007-05:002008-11-21T08:58:36.875-05:00Sleeping unawaresI woke up at 5 am--which would be a fine time to get up if I hadn't been so tired lately--and instead of telling myself to fall back to sleep for an hour, I allowed my mind to wander...big mistake since I just laid there wandering through situations and plans...And that got me thinking that the only time we turn our thinking completely off is when we are asleep. In sleep, we are finally as G-d wants us to be: resting, at peace, trusting that He will awaken us and allow us to live another day. During sleep we are completely unaware of ourselves--just as He desires us to be.<br /><br />So if we can rest and be unware of ourselves while sleeping, in our waking hours we should strive for that same unwareness of self: not caring what people think, but only caring about what He thinks; not worrying about what we need to do, but trusting in Him to provide; not planning every move we will make, but listening to Him to direct our every step.<br /><br />The more unaware of the self that we become, the more aware we will be of the awesomeness of Ad-nai and maybe we will be in a position to hear and obey what He is saying.Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-12948745849529255782008-11-13T10:14:00.009-05:002008-11-20T19:09:11.911-05:00To be like G-dWhen the serpent (which I doubt was a talking snake, which probably was an angelic being of some sort) said to Eve in Genesis 3:4-5: “You will not surely die. For G-d knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like G-d, knowing good and evil” (NKJV).<br /><br />What convinced Eve to eat? The thought that she would be "like G-d." Somehow the serpent made the prospect to be "like G-d" more appealing to her than choosing to obey G-d's only command to not eat of that tree. Basically He said: I am giving you EVERYTHING: all the animals are under your control; the Garden is peaceful; I will walk with you and talk with you. But obey this ONE thing: do not eat the fruit of this one tree. He never told them not to touch it, as Eve tells the serpent; He simply says don't eat it...<br /><br />Gen 1: 26-28 - Then G-d said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So G-d created man in His <i>own</i> image; in the image of G-d He created him; male and female He created them. Then G-d blessed them, and G-d said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (NKJV). <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen%201-3;&version=50;">Read Genesis 1-3</a><br /><br />But in Eve's pursuit, and then Adam's, to be like G-d ~ they ate. The irony is they were already like G-d; He created them in His image...but He created them to be close to Him, to choose Him instead of the only thing He forbade.<br /><br />That idea is hummmmmmmmmmmming in my head: that we choose to want to be "like G-d" by trying to be in control, run our own lives, run other people's lives, fix people, fix situations, insanely trying to make things fit when they don't...all to our own liking, thinking we know better than G-d because we are "like Him" after all--not that we consciously think "I am like G-d so there"--but it's built-in to our thinking. But instead His desire is that we realize He is in control, He knows exactly what needs to be done and we don't always know best because our minds are clouded with what we "think" is best...and all He ever wants is for us to choose to be close to Him...Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-6631882815116853282008-11-06T08:53:00.022-05:002008-11-11T08:10:39.455-05:00All Hail King Obama<p align="left"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=C4&Dato=20081105&Kategori=NEWS15&Lopenr=811050816&Ref=PH"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265548329513374770" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10pt 10px 0px; WIDTH: 241px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFTSUymxPQPg9tPWKsg0X6CvVLYStgB2-Vm0eB68ffkuNAPLNj_7wggCEseXFeaN7q0vR4ws-tL_DSH0mrZeouoKlE5Fz3lgvJnWwVpJqVizJfHjZV8uue13RuFbI8ZR5hwx6QGC3mhhX/s320/kingobamawithcap.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><span style="font-size:100%;">If you doubt that Obama is being deified how do you explain the celebrations about his "victory" around the world?</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />Iran: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday congratulated Barack Obama on his election win — the first time an Iranian leader has offered such wishes to a U.S. president-elect since the 1979 Islamic Revolution...(<a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jVPq_niez7THUHLUXdl7rtCM0FoQD949K2TO2">full AP article</a>)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Belgium: "An Obama win would mean the rebirth of the American dream," Belgian senate president Armand De Decker.</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />France: <i>Le Monde</i> proclaims "Obama’s victory ushers in a new American Dream..."<br /><br />Kenya: </span>President Kibaki has announced a public holiday tomorrow for Kenyans to celebrate the victory of Barack Obama as the new President elect of the United States of America.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Germany: "Good morning, Mr President! Make the world better," requests Germany’s <i>Bild-Zeitung</i> tabloid.<br /><br />Syria: <i>Ath Thawra, </i>the official daily, opines: "If Obama wins, it would be a historic event and the signal for an extraordinary development for United States politics and society."<br /><br />The photo to the right is from an excellent slide show: <a href="http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=C4&Dato=20081105&Kategori=NEWS15&Lopenr=811050816&Ref=PH">World reaction to Obama win</a></span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/11/05/do0515.xml">Barack Obama, come to save the world</a>, Telegraph, UK<br /><br /><a href="http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1143998660&cid=159">Kenya to take day off to celebrate Obama victory</a>, The Standard<br /><br /><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122588551940101355.html?mod=googlenews_wsj">Europeans Cheer Obama Victory</a>, Wall Street Journal<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-fg-worldreax6-2008nov06,0,3267776.story">World reaction to Obama victory: Elation</a>, Los Angeles Times</span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal"><a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article5089550.ece">World press reaction to Barack Obama's victory</a>, TimesOnline, UK</span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/presidentialrace/2008357530_obamaworld06.html">Many around the world cheer Obama victory</a>, Seattle Times<br />The ending of this article is very interesting...</span><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-size:100%;" >"Saudi journalist Samir Saadi said that Obama's election means "'the U.S. has won the war on terror.'"</span><br /><br /><p style="FONT-STYLE: italic"><span style="font-size:100%;">"'Given Obama's name, his background, the doubts about his religion, Americans still voted for him and this proved that America is a democracy,'" he said. "'People here are starting to believe in the U.S. again.'"</span></p><span style="font-size:100%;">I have no idea why Obama's win = the US has won the war on terror...but what struck me more was the assertion that over the years people have lost faith in the US and now they are "starting to believe in the US again"...do you see anything strange about that? A renewed Faith in the US...</span><br /><br />Now here's a comment about Obama's victory from Israel about their <em>reality</em> with a potential nuclear Iran: "Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni attacked U.S. president-elect Barack Obama on Thursday for declaring a willingness to talk with Iran about its nuclear program..." (<a href="http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=060dd72c-c876-4e0d-b39f-c835c26b256c">full article</a>)Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-92231087974351322662008-11-05T08:36:00.024-05:002008-11-06T13:08:55.566-05:00I votedI voted yesterday. For president I wrote in "Yeshua, the only King." A wasted vote? No. I live in RI and this state always chooses a democrat, so the winner here was certain in my mind. But even if that weren't the case, I would have voted the same way. The short answer: G-d is in control.<br /><br />The longer answer: G-d wants to be our only King--the King of our hearts. When we give such power to anything but Him, the world will be shaken...as it is right now. G-d allowed Israel to have a king because they said "we need a king; we must have a king!" They always had one, the Only One, but they wanted a man, so G-d gave them one...Here's part of that story:<br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153);font-size:85%;" ><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">2 Samuel 8: "Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; </span><i style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">they were</i><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)"> judges in Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”</span><br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who asked him for a king. </span><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint </span><i style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">them</i><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)"> for his own chariots and </span><i style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">to be</i><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)"> his horsemen, and </span><i style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">some</i><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)"> will run before his chariots. </span><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, </span><i style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">will set some</i><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)"> to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and </span><i style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">some</i><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)"> to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. </span><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">He will take your daughters </span><i style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">to be</i><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)"> perfumers, cooks, and bakers. </span><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give </span><i style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">them</i><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)"> to his servants. </span><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. </span><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put </span><i style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">them</i><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)"> to his work. </span><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. </span><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day.” </span><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us,</span><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)"> that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” </span><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the LORD. </span><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">So the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed their voice, and make them a king.” And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.” (NKJV)</span></span><br /><br />The world is falling apart, which is evident most obviously by the failing economy. The failure we are reaping is because we relied on systems of the world instead of G-d for so many centuries. Whether you see it or not, all things are now stacking up seemingly against G-d and against Israel...and that's just where He is allowing the world system to get to: at the end of its frazzled rope but still thinking it can control its future. The United States has been such a huge player on the world stage with way too much control for way too long and the end is near...sound crazy? Remember: Truth is stranger than fiction.<br /><br />There was no doubt in my mind that Obama would win this election. The person who will run this country is the exact person that G-d needs to fulfill His perfect plan, a plan that is very different from what the majority in this country or in the world expects and wants to happen next. And now many are de-ifying this president-elect, like he is THE savior on a white horse who is going to make everything better.<br /><br />Fortunately there is <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=rev%2019:%2011-13;&version=50;">ONE Savior who will return on a white horse</a> and He truly will save the world and all will worship Him as their King: <span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">Revelation 13:8 "All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (NKJV)</span><br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">Zechariah 14:</span><span class="sup" id="en-NKJV-23079" style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">16</span><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)"> "And it shall come to pass </span><i style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)">that</i><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)"> everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles." (NKJV)<br /></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">Baruch Hashem</span>! </div>Stephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147328933599262256.post-47632788719375261932008-02-28T21:35:00.002-05:002008-02-29T06:50:39.346-05:00The NAMEIn <a href="http://return2torah.blogspot.com/2008/02/parashat-ki-tisa-when-you-take.html">Ki Tisa</a>, God says His Name, as His <a href="http://return2torah.blogspot.com/2008/02/shekinah.html">Shekhinah</a> passes by Moses, which many translations write as LORD or ADONAI (note all caps). That name is <a href="http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/YHVH/yhvh.html">Yahweh</a> or as it would be written with just consonants in Hebrew <a href="http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/YHVH/yhvh.html">YHVH</a> (pronounced Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey) also translated as "I am who I am." The LORD having shown Moses His Glory and having said His personal name (second time for Moses-the first time <a href="http://www.mbible.com/jps/exodus/6.htm">Exodus 6</a>:2-3) was more amazing than most of us can realize.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.mechon-mamre.org/e/et/et0234.htm">Exodus 34</a>:5</b> And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. <a name="6"> </a> <b>6</b> And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed: 'The LORD, the LORD, God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth'" (JPS).<br /><br />God also refers to His Name as His memorial:<br /><a href="http://bible.cc/exodus/3-15.htm"></a><a href="http://www.mechon-mamre.org/e/et/et0203.htm"><br /></a><b><a href="http://www.mechon-mamre.org/e/et/et0203.htm">Exodus 3</a>:15</b> "And God said moreover unto Moses: 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this is My name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations'" (JPS).<br /><br />The special and sacred way in which God revealed His Name is one reason why God is sometimes spelled G-D, primarily in Jewish writing, because the name of the LORD is to be treated with utmost care because it is holy. This thinking goes along specifically with the third commandment, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2020;&version=31;">Exodus 20</a>:7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." All things of God and things used in relation to God are sacred, holy, set apart--His Name being one of those sacred things.<br /><br />Some Christians might be offended or at the least annoyed at the G-D spelling. "We are to go to the throne of God with boldness." "God was Abraham's friend, the Bible says. He's my friend too." It's almost like a young child who treats his parents as his friends, and so shows little to no respect for his mother and father. A parent should become something of a friend to a child (particularly in adulthood), but not at the expense of losing the respectful, love-in-discipline relationship. Likewise and even moreso with God, the creator of the universe and author of our lives. Understanding what is sacred and why and how to handle sacred things will dramatically transform our relationship to God. I have a lot to learn.<br /><br />Baruch Hashem / Blessed be the Name of the LORDStephanie Chaussehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17673514009928256933noreply@blogger.com3