Hanukkah dreidel

According to legend, when Antiochus outlawed study of Torah, Jews studied with a dreidel next to them so that if they had to hide what they were doing, they could pretend they were playing a harmless spinning game.

The dreidel is marked with four Hebrew letters: Nun, Gimel, Hei and Shin. These letters stand for the Hebrew phrase "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham", a great miracle happened there, referring to the miracle of the oil when rededicating the Temple which led to instituting Hanukkah. And so the dreidel has become one of the symbols of Hanukkah.

Before each spin, each player places one token (or however many you decide) into the pot. For tokens, you can use beans, raisins, candy, pretzel sticks. The first player spins and then must do whatever the letter indicates.

NUN - nothing happens - next player spins the dreidel
GIMEL - player takes all tokens in the pot
HEY - player takes half of the pot
SHIN - player must put one token into the pot

The Hebrew language is amazingly simple and complex (much like God, incidentally). Hebrew letters have numerical equivalents that lend to Biblical understanding and interpretation. The letters are the dreidel when summed equal 358 which is the same numerical value for the word, Mashiach or Messiah, a descendent of the tribe of Judah. As the dreidel "saved" the Jewish people, the Messiah, Yeshua Ha'Mashiach lived and died to save all.

More information
A New Spin on the Dreidel

The World is Like a Dreidel

The Dreidel Letters and their Numerical Value

Shabbat Shalom!

Hanukkah: lighting the menorah

The menorah or Hanukkiah has 8 candles in a row and one candle usually above the 8, called the shamash (also called servant candle), which is lit first every night and used to light the others. Candles are lit at nightfall, preferably after everyone arrives home so all can celebrate. On the first night (this year: 5768, 25 Kislev/Dec 4, 2007), place a candle in the shamash holder and one in the far right holder. Light the shamash first, then with the shamash, light the far right one; the second night replace the first right candle, add a candle to the left of that, light the shamash, then the light other two. Begin lighting from the left-most one and proceed to the right. Repeat through Day 8. The tradition is to let the candles burn for at least 30 minutes (most Hanukkah candles burn for about an hour).

ehow: How to light the Menorah

Candle-lighting blessings:

Judaism 101: Chanukkah Candle Lighting Blessings

Chanukkah Blessings with a Messianic perspective

After the candles are lit and blessings are recited or sung, it is common to sing: Haneirot-Halalus song which means "These Lights We Light." The song in English:
We kindle these lights [to commemorate] the saving acts, miracles and wonders which You have performed for our forefathers, in those days at this time, through Your holy priests. Throughout the eight days of Chanukah, these lights are sacred, and we are not permitted to make use of them, but only to look at them, in order to offer thanks and praise to Your great Name for Your miracles, for Your wonders and for Your salvations.

More audio files of Chanukah songs and blessings

Hanukkah menorah

In Exodus, God commands that a 6 branch candelabrum be constructed. The Priest or Kohein lit the menorah every evening then cleaned it in the morning, replaced wicks and refilled the cups with olive oil.

Exodus 25:31-40
"Make a lampstand of pure gold and hammer it out, base and shaft; its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms shall be of one piece with it. Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. And on the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. The buds and branches shall all be of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.

"Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it. Its wick trimmers and trays are to be of pure gold. A talent of pure gold is to be used for the lampstand and all these accessories. See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain" (NIV).

The original 6 branch menorah is part of the Israeli Emblem created in 1949 shortly after Israel gained statehood. The 8 branch Hanukkah menorah was created to commemorate the miracle of the one day's worth of oil that lasted 8 days when rededicating the Temple.

Isaiah 42:6-7 “I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house" (NKJV).

God appoints the Jews to be the "light to the Gentiles" or the "light of the world" to direct us all to the road that leads to salvation. After all, "salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22) and the menorah is one visible representation and reminder of His plan and call to the Jewish people.

Then of course there is THE Light of the World (John 8:12), Yeshua, the Messiah. Hmmmm...He was a Jew, wasn't He? Isn't He?

Annapolis Conference: what in the world are we doing???

The talks are underway in Annapolis, Maryland, to further divide the land of Israel, in the guise of creating peace. Peace sounds nice, but no peace will be found in dividing Israel.

God made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants to give them this land:

Genesis 15:17-18 "When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, 'To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates'" (NIV).

God promised judgment on those who would come against and seek to divide Israel:

Joel 3:2 "I will gather all nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I will enter into judgment against them
concerning my inheritance, my people Israel,
for they scattered my people among the nations
and divided up my land" (NIV).

Is the United States among those nations who God will bring down for leading in this roadmap to division?

God keeps His promises: Romans 11:29 "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (NKJV).

Continuously updating google news: Annapolis Conference

Rabbis warn Bush: Annapolis will bring destruction to US

photo above: Jerusalem Temple Western Wailing Wall On Passover

Vayeshev - And he dwelt

Torah Reading for December 1 / 20 Kislev:

Parashat Vayeshev –
וישב

And he dwelt--read the amazing of Joseph and the pit and the coat and God's grace . . . Parshah in a Nutshell

Torah : Genesis 37:1–40:23
Haftarah : Amos 2:6–3:8

Apostolic Scriptures: Matthew 1:1-6, 16-25

Hanukkah hammerer

A priest named Mattathias in the village of Modi'in, led revolt against Antiochus' persecution of the Jews. He refused to offer sacrifice to idols and killed the officer who told him the king's orders. It was his and his supporters strict obedience to the Torah that led them to victory. Mattathais' son Judas Maccabaeus, "the hammerer," led this revolt, defeated the Greeks, and gave us Hanukkah.

The Hanukkah story is not in the Bible but is alluded to in the book of Daniel and the Gospels--more on that later. We can find the story in the Book of Maccabees, which is not a book of the Hebrew Bible nor most Bibles, but is considered reliable history.

More about the Maccabees

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maccabees
http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/sower/pr/Mac71.htm

Hanukkah: pigs in the Temple

Since Hanukkah, also spelled Chanukkah, begins at sundown December 4 or 25 Kislev, I figured I should try to understand it better. So here's what I've learned:

Hanukkah was not a festival appointed by God like Sukkot, Passover, and the other appointed times. The origin: Antiochus IV a successor of Alexander the Great, oppressed and killed Jews; he banned Jews from celebrating the Sabbath and festivals, reading the Torah, circumcising their sons, and other Jewish practices. Antiochus also desecrated the Temple, requiring the sacrifice of pigs (a non-kosher animal) on the altar. With much determination, the Jewish people led by Mattathias the Hasmonean and his son Judah Maccabee, revolted and succeeded to overthrow the government on 25 Kislev, 164 BCE.

Now the Temple needed to be rededicated. For centuries, the menorah (candelabrum) was lit in the Temple every day and was supposed to burn throughout the night, every night. Because the Jews were had won this battle, they could now rededicate the Temple, resume daily practice, and once again light the menorah, but there was very little oil left that had not been defiled by the Greeks.

The Hanukkah miracle: there was only enough oil to burn for one day, but it burned for eight days. The eight day Hanukkah festival, also called Festival of Lights, was declared to commemorate this miracle.

Important note: the holiday commemorates the rededication of the Temple and the the miracle of the oil, not the military victory: Jews do not glorify war.

More information:
http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday7.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah

Am I thankful?

Here's the test: do I follow these 3 short verses not just on the day Americans have labeled Thanksgiving, but EVERY day?

1 Thessalonains 5:16-18 "16^(AJ)Rejoice always; ^(AK)pray without ceasing; in everything ^(AL)give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus " (NASB).

My continual thankfulness for EVERYTHING, of which some I may perceive as good and some bad, is my indicator of my love for and trust in God.

More than that, GOD's WILL for me is that I: rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything. Hmmm seems I've just given myself a lot to think about . . .

Happy Thanksgiving!

Vayishlach--and he sent

Torah Reading for Week of November 18-24, 2007 - Kislev 8-14 5768

Parshah Vayishlach

Genesis 32:3-36:43
Obadiah 1:1-21
Heb 11:11-20, Matt 26:36-46

Blessing before Torah study: Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has made us holy through His commandments, and commanded us to actively study Torah.

kiss, love--kislev

This is the ninth month, the month of Kislev and this is the month that Yeshua was conceived by the Holy Spirit in Miriam. Kislev usually coincides with December and hence the confusion with Christmas, "Jesus' Christian birthday."

There are historical reasons that prove that Yeshua was conceived during Kislev, more specifically during Chanukkah, and born during Sukkot, which falls in September/October each year.

It's all based on the cycle of priestly service, which was very strict and precise. The abbreviated version: (1) Zacharias' time of temple service was the 2nd month, which is Sivan or May/June. (2) He is the father of John the Baptist; Elizabeth is John's mother and Miriam's cousin. (3) John the Baptist is conceived shortly after Zacharias' service. (4) In the 6th month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, Miriam conceives Yeshua. (4) Yeshua is born 9 months later.

Complete story-very interesting.

One Rabbi's paraphrase: Kislev is the month that the Lord kissed and loved Mary and blessed her with the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Savior of the World. Yeshua means salvation.

Have you seen Evan Almighty?

Evan Almighty is one of my top 5 movies now that I've scene it twice--funny, silly, ok-a little hokey (but in a cute way), and it's a pretty Biblically accurate depiction of a modern day Noah and his family--absolutely worth seeing! Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman make this movie very fun.

Evan Almighty is a sequel to Bruce Almighty starring Jim Carrey and Morgan Freeman, another funny, feel-goodish movie.

I am Sam, completely unrelated to Noah, is also in my top 5 movies: Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dakota Fanning--so much of the acting seems improvisational and I believe some of it is.

Freedom in Shabbat?

Shabbat Shalom means Sabbath peace, peaceful Sabbath, good Sabbath. Shabbos is another word for Sabbath. Shabbat comes from the Hebrew word rest.

God set the Sabbath apart and clearly stated it was the last day of the week, which was discussed in a previous post.

Exodus 20:11 - "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy" (NIV).

First of all, keeping the Sabbath cannot be viewed as a means to salvation. Yeshua is our Salvation. When we do what God commanded and what Yeshua did when He walked this earth, we do so to be made more like Him. So the idea of the Sabbath is to cease from work, as God did, and spend time in His presence--studying His Word, worshipping Him, fellowshipping with family and friends in the Lord, and if the need arises, going out and finding that lost sheep, healing the sick.

We can misinterpret what God instructs us to do as bondage or see His Word as Truth and realize it as freedom. The Sabbath is a day of refreshing, renewal and it's one of those things, that you won't know if it "works" until you try it. Can we accept that the Creator actually knows what's good for us? Or do we know better?

Exodus 20:8 - "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy" (NIV).

It is customary to light two candles no later than 18 minutes before sunset on Friday evening because Shabbat begins at sunset. This week's time is 4:07 pm (EST) today--find the time in your area. The two candles symbolize the two commands God gives in the 4th commandment: to remember and keep or guard this day as holy unto Him.

For believers in Yeshua, the candles also represent Yeshua as the Light of the world. And there is a blessing that incorporates Yeshua in the traditional Hebrew custom, which is said after you light the candles: "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to be a light to the nations and who gave us Jesus, our Messiah, the Light of the world." - from Lighting the Sabbath Candles

Restful Sabbath, in the name of Jesus, the Messiah!
Shabbat Shalom, BaShem Yeshua HaMashiach!

EXTRA EXTRA Jewish news

If you know anything about prophecy in the Bible--not the kooky prophecies that the world will end on "this day in this year" . . . but the prophecies of Israel, the Jewish people, their enemies, then you will be fascinated by current happenings in Israel and anything related to the Jewish people around the world. And if you aren't familiar with trustworthy prophecy or don't buy into it yet, the news is still interesting. So here are a few sites to keep up on current events:

Arutz Sheva - IsraelNationalNews: subscribe to a daily news headlines email
Arutz Sheva Radio
The Jerusalem Post
Israeli News Now
Haaretz

If you are interested in news and its relation to the Bible, in a non-kooky way:
Israel Today
Messianic Jewish Alliance of America
Joel Rosenberg's Blog
Moaz Israel Ministry

Parashat Vayetzei (“and he went out”)

Torah Portion for November 17, 2007 -- 7 Kislev 5768

Vayetzei


Genesis 28:10-32:3
Hosea 12:13-14:10
John 1:19-51

Jews all over the world are reading this Torah portion this week--and it will be read in synagogue on Shabbat. I began the Torah cycle in July and the understanding I have received is amazing. The Torah is truly alive, as alive as the Gospels.

Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

if it feels funny, post it

The Power of Prayer
During Sabbath services the Rabbi kneels and puts his forehead to the floor and says, "Before you oh Lord, I am nothing."

The Cantor looks at him, thinks it couldn't hurt, and kneels, puts his forehead to the floor, and says, "Before you oh Lord, I am nothing."

Ben Shapiro in the fifth row is watching this and thinking that it was a pretty good idea, so he goes in the middle of the aisle, kneels and puts his forehead to the floor and says, "Before you oh Lord, I am nothing."

The Rabbi nudges the Cantor. "Look who thinks he's nothing!"

"Power from Prayer" Jewhoo

Good Night, Moon

All God-appointed feast days are on a specific day of the month and just like we use our paper calendar, computer, watch, PDA, cell phone ... to figure out when an important date is, the Hebrew people used the moon and only the moon.

The New Moon might seem like an odd feast--more pagan than Godly. But God's call to celebrate the New Moon each month is to honor Him as Creator of time and as Maintainer of all things for the month to come.

I Samuel 20:1-29 proves that New Moons were celebrated in King David's day. David avoided a New Moon feast with King Saul because he feared Saul would kill him.

I Sam 24-27: "So David hid in the field; and when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. The king sat on his seat as usual, the seat by the wall; then Jonathan rose up and Abner sat down by Saul's side, but ^(U)David's place was empty. Nevertheless Saul did not speak anything that day, for he thought, 'It is an accident, ^(V)he is not clean, surely he is not clean.' It came about the next day, the second day of the new moon, that David's place was empty; so Saul said to Jonathan his son, 'Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?'" (NASB)

One day we will all worship on these days--in fact we will worship on all God's appointed times--whether we like it or not.

Isaiah 66:23 "'And it shall be from ^(BG)new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to ^(BH)bow down before Me,' says the LORD" (NASB).

Current moon phase

Bark at the moon?

On the fourth day God said, "'Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years'" (Genesis1:14 NIV).

God set up our moon-driven calendar system on the fourth day of Creation, which Jewish history deduces was approximately 5768 years ago, as that is the current Jewish year. So the Jewish people have maintained the Hebrew calendar system, while the world saw fit to revise this method--in order of development: Roman Calendar, Julian Calendar, and the now widely used, Gregorian Calendar.

While the Gregorian calendar is ruled by time alone, the Hebrew month is calculated by the phases of the moon.

So the beginning of each month (there are 12 months, 13 during leap year) is a new moon or Rosh Chodesh. The appointed holidays, for example, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, fall on the same day of the month every year as calculated by the moon. Yom Kippur, for instance, falls on the 10th day of Tishri (the 7th month) every year and Passover occurs on the 15th day of Nissan (the 1st month). But that has nothing to do with our secular calendar and so Yom Kippur can occur in September or October and Passover or Pesach can occur in March or April.

If you celebrate Easter, did you ever wonder why it could be early March one year and late April another? As Christian holidays are uncannily related to Jewish holidays, so their dates often coincide, as Christianity is really based on Judaism, right?

Wikipedia: Lunar Phase
Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary-Calendar

In the northern hemisphere, the crescent moon is visible on the right side of the moon on the 1st or 2nd day of the Hebrew month, then waxes to the left as the month progresses; in the southern hemisphere, the crescent is on the left, then waxes to the right. View the Current Moon phase--northern hemisphere.

The full moon is the middle of the month which is the 15th of the month. God appointed certain festivals where His people were to travel to Jerusalem to be on the 15th--Passover and the 1st day of Sukkot--so that the full moon would remind them it was time and the light would guide their pilgrimage.

So bark at the moon if you like--but don't sneeze at it (sorry, pathetically poor pun). God may have called it the "lesser light"(Genesis 1:16) but He gave it incredible power: to light the night, guide the time, determine His appointed times, control the tides. Non-sequitur alert: that reminds me that our bodies are 50-70% water.

Rosh Chodesh Kislev

November 11, 2007 or according to the Hebrew calendar 1st Kislev, the year 5768, is the New Moon, Rosh Chodesh. According to the Bible, days begin in the evening (repeated 6 times in Genesis 1 for instance: "So the evening and the morning were the first day" NKJV). And so the New Moon Festival begins at sunset November 10. There will be no moon visible until the moonrise of November 11 or 12 and that will be a tiny crescent.

New Moon in the Bible
Numbers 10:10 "Also at your times of rejoicing—your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals—you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, ^[a] and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the LORD your God"(NIV).

Isaiah 66:22 "'As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,' declares the LORD, "so will your name and descendants endure" (NIV).

Psalm 81:3-5 "'Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, At the full moon, on our solemn feast day. For this is a statute for Israel, A law of the God of Jacob. This He established in Joseph as a testimony, When He went throughout the land of Egypt, Where I heard a language I did not understand'" (NKJV).

Psalm 104:19 "He appointed the moon for seasons; The sun knows its going down"(NKJV).

And it all began here:
Genesis 1:14-15 "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 seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth'; and it was so" (NKJV).

Rosh Chodesh Blessing

Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov!
Sabbath Peace and Good Month!

water, water everywhere

I was thinking about the importance of water: the earth and our bodies are composed of 50-80% of water; a baby in a womb is surrounded by water; we can live for over 40 days without food--but less than a week without water. With water, we are baptized, cleansed, cooled, quenched, hydrated. Dehydration can kill you--obvious, I know, but still profound when you think of water Biblically-speaking.

Yeshua calls Himself the "living water" when He spoke to the woman at the well:

John 4: 10-14 - Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (NKJV)

and in the Tanakh Isaiah 55 from the (Jewish Publication Society Tanakh 1917)
1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye for water, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your gain for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

3 Incline your ear, and come unto Me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

There are many more "water" references throughout the Bible. Here are a few others: Yeshua turns water into wine at a wedding; tells blind man to wash in Pool of Siloam after making mud and applying it to his eyes; water and blood flow from His side on the cross.

And of course water can damage and even kill--previous posts about Noah & the flood.

How many times is water mentioned in the Bible? According to this article: 722.

Interesting to note that water in Israel is precious because there is so little of it as Israel is largely desert.

Water Bible Study

So when Yeshua says He is the Living Water, what is He saying to His followers? Simply put, He seems to be saying "Drink Me," perhaps meaning drink in His character, His direction, His example, His Word--as He is the Word. I guess this question follows: What percentage of our spirit is Living Water?

Where did that New Testament come from?

Answer: the Old Testament, which as mentioned in the previous post, was preserved by the Jewish people. If we cross out every direct quote and allusion to books of the Old Testament in the New Testament, we wouldn't have much of a New Testament left.

image: Khaburis Manuscript, copy of a 2nd century New Testament (source)

The following findings and quote are from New Testament use of the Old Testament by Roger Nicole

Researchers' findings in New Testament
C. H. Toy lists 613 O.T. references.
Wilhelm Dittmar lists O.T. 1640 reference.
Eugen Huehn indicates 4105 passages in New Testament reminiscent of Old Testament Scripture.

"If we limit ourselves to the specific quotations and direct allusions which form the basis of our previous reckoning, we shall note that 278 different Old Testament verses are cited in the New Testament: 94 from the Pentateuch, 99 from the Prophets, and 85 from the Writings. Out of the 22 books in the Hebrew reckoning of the Canon only six (Judges-Ruth, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Ezra-Nehemlah, Chronicles) are not explicitly referred to. The more extensive lists of Dittmar and Huehn show passages reminiscent of all Old Testament books without exception." << source

Table of Old Testament Quotes in the New Testament
The Importance of the Old Testament to New Testament Christians
Old Testament God vs. New Testament God

Toldot - Generations

Torah Portion for Nov 10, 2007
Cheshvan 29, 5768

Toldot


Gen 25:19-28:9
Malachi 1:1-2:7
Rom 9:1-31


image called: "Isaac blesses Jacob" from Congregation B’nai Jeshurun

who preserved the "Christian" Bible?

Answer: the Jewish people.

Roughly 2/3 of the Bible is the Hebrew Scriptures (aka Old Testament or in Hebrew: TANAKH) which was meticulously maintained by the Jewish people, namely the scribes. Plus the people who protected it by hiding it, burying, and in so doing, often risking their lives. Read more below.

Photo: torah scroll saved in nazi germany | more information


Links
Process of copying the Old Testament by Jewish Scribes
How was the Old Testament Preserved

The Truth's Out: I killed Jesus

Anti-semitism is active all over the world and there are many ignorant, and frankly, evil reasons for it. Here is one ignorance that should be easy to clear up: Apparently, 27 percent of Americans believe Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus (source). Consider these verses.

Jesus died for the sins of ALL.
II Corinthians 5:14-15 - "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf" (NASB).

Jesus' blood had to be shed.
Hebrews 9:22 - "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (NIV)

Believers in Christ are cleansed by that blood, by His death, and will receive eternal life.
Romans 5:8-9 - "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!" (NIV)

So if the Jews killed Jesus, thank God for that! If His crucifixion had been prevented, we would not have a Savior, we would not be redeemed, we would be in the palm of Satan's hand instead of God's.

And so yes, Jews are responsible for Yeshua's death. And so are His followers who allowed it to happen. But more importantly, so are we. He died for my sins. He died for yours. And those sins are past, present, and future. He saw the sins I would commit before I was born and yet around 2000 years ago He willingly, sacrificially, lovingly offered His body to save mine. And each time I, as a believer, sin, it's like I am inflicting more wounds on His beaten, tattered, bloody body. Those wounds should not seem foreign to me, as if someone else is responsible.

Isaiah 53:5-6 - "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (NIV).

So Praise God that Satan did not prevent Yeshua's crucifixion. Praise God for those that allowed it to happen: Jews and others. And Praise God that He died for the sins of us all.

Torah semantics: Let's get rid of the word and just do it!

Maybe it's the word Law or Torah that is keeping people from following God's instructions. Or maybe it's those capital letters. Maybe we need a new word so that God's Word is palatable--not "passed away," "current," new." No, make it splashy, window-dress it. Call it something snappy, maybe then people will embrace it, something like . . . "God's loving manual for a blessed, holy, pleasing life." Ok not snappy but accurate. I have decided to forget about the word choice and embrace Him and do as He did because I love Him.

Who are people trying to impress with "the law has been done away with" declaration? God? Because He is the only person we are here to impress and sadly or on second thought, thankfully, we can never impress Him (who knows what we'd be like if we could, worse than we are I am sure). And even if we could impress him, renouncing His very Word would infuriate Him, not impress.

And so . . . consider these verses from the Bible:

Hebrew Scriptures
Leviticus 18:5 - 'So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.' (NASB)

Jeremiah 31:33 - "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."(NIV).

Apostolic Writings (New Testament)
Hebrews 8:10 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people" (NIV).

It's amazing to realize that God has written His "loving manual for a blessed, holy, pleasing life" on OUR HEARTS. WOW! And that is not only found in the Tanakh, but it's also in the Apostolic Scriptures.

And in Ecclesiastes 3:11 we have: "He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end" (NKJV).

Eternity and His instructions are both on our hearts. Could that be the stirring that we have inside when we look at a sunset, read His Word, struggle to make a decision, contemplate our purpose? Could it be the anger we feel when we do any of these things as well because we are in rebellion of He who breathed life into our lungs, sustains our bodies, and wrote on our hearts?