Previously posted ...
Shabbat Shalom - Parasha Vayeshev - Favor, Inheritance and a Grand Destiny !!!
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It is Our Time to CELEBRATE - 12/25/19
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Happy Merry Everything !!!
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Baruch Hashem Adonai
#ShabbatShalom - Welcome to Parasha Miketz (At the End), this week’s Torah Portion. Because this Shabbat (Sabbath) falls during the eight-day holiday of Hanukkah, it is called Shabbat Hanukkah. We know you will be blessed as you study with us the portion of the Torah that will be read in synagogues around the world during this week’s Shabbat (Saturday) service.
In last week’s study Vayeshev, Joseph’s brothers became jealous of him, plotting against him because his father favored him above his other sons and because his prophetic dreams revealed his own grand destiny. So they threw Joseph into a pit and then sold him into slavery. While serving honorably as a slave, Joseph was falsely accused and sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. In this week’s reading, Joseph is finally about to come to the end of his many trials and enter into his grand destiny. In fact, the name of the Parasha, Miketz, found in the opening verse of this week’s Torah reading, hints at this since this Hebrew word means at the end of.
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Miketz and Shabbat Hanukkah: The Great Light and the Grand Menorah
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Parasha Reading Schedule 5780
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Jewish and Israeli holidays 2000–2050
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Special Shabbatot
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Is Grace Enough?
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The Controversy Over the Name of Yeshua
The proper Hebrew name for Jesus is Yeshua יֵשׁוּעַ which means salvation.
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Holy, Holy, Holy Is the Lord of Hosts – YHVH Sabaoth
The name YHVH Sabaoth is used 235 times in the Bible.
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God Is Not God's Name - http://www.yhwh.com/gingn.html
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21 Major Messianic Prophecies
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The Joy of Tabernacles when Jesus was Born
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How Yeshua was born on the Feast of Tabernacles by Rabbi Isaac
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What others have said concerning Yeshua's birth ...
Jesus was born on the first day of the Jewish New Year, known as Nissan 1, in 6 B.C
Rabbi Jonathan Cahn> https://youtu.be/ptlsXtTf6n0 (27:20) .
Dr. Michael Heiser - Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) - Tishri 1, 3759 / September 10, 3 B.C.
> https://youtu.be/zYW7EgLcxc4 (40:33) http://www.cgsf.org/dbeattie/
Holy Hebrew Arithmetic: What Age was Jesus when he became Teacher-Priest?
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The Book of Revelation In Words of Understanding - Sermon Series (96 page pdf)
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Parshat Miketz
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#10 Torah Parashah Mikketz
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Todah Rabah - beloved Rabbi Chaim Richman ...
Producing Pure Olive Oil for the Holy Temple Menorah
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In 2014 the Temple Institute produced Temple-ready pure olive oil for the
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The Hidden Light Of Chanukah
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Rabbi Chaim Richman delivered this talk at the South Plains
Hebraic Center in Lubbock, Texas, on December 15, 2019.
Weekly Torah Portion: Miketz
The story of the betrayal of Yosef by his brothers and their ultimate reconciliation is one filled with pathos and pain. While the sin of the brothers who sold Yosef into slavery has long term ramifications which have reverberated throughout Jewish history for 1000's of years, their crime, ironically, by leading to Yosef's ascent in Egypt, saved humanity from deadly famine.
Miketz (Genesis 41:1 - 44:17) Parashat Miketz is read on Shabbat: Kislev 30, 5780 / December 28, 2019
vid> https://youtu.be/Phfdho7VxlU (28:44) 12/25/19
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The Chanukah Miracle & the Validation of Creation
Chanukah: Understanding the Eternal Struggle between Light and Darkness
After many weeks, Yitzchak Reuven and Rabbi Chaim Richman are reunited in Jerusalem for an exciting Chanukah special edition of Temple Talk! Our hosts engage in a fascinating discussion of the spiritual underpinnings and dimensions of this special holiday. What is the universal appeal of Chanukah? This week's Temple Talk provides amazing insights and sheds the light of Torah wisdom on the beloved Festival of Light. Temple Talks wishes a Happy Chanukah to all our listeners, to all of Israel, and to the whole world!
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End-Time Prophecy: Why is the Third Temple so Important?
These phenomenal end-time events are unfolding before our very eyes!
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Hillel Richman: The True Location of the Temple Mount: Fully Illustrated
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Rabbi Chaim Richman: The Dedication of the Third Temple
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Special ... Rabbanit Rena Richman: On Suffering
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Update On 3rd Temple In Jerusalem
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The Coming Temple - Full Documentary
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Todah Rabah - beloved Rabbi Naphtali “Tuly” Weisz ...
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The Portion of Mikeitz
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Netanyahu Wins Landslide Victory in Likud Primaries
by JNS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scored a landslide victory on Friday in the Likud leadership race against his rival Gideon Sa’ar. The prime minister won 72.5 percent of the vote, compared to 27.5 percent for Sa’ar, according to the Likud spokesperson. He will now continue to lead Likud into the March 2 general election, Israel’s third general elections within a year.
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Six Anti-Semitic Attacks in New York In Four Days of Hanukkah
by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz
It’s only the fifth night of Chanukah, but we’ve just had our sixth hate crime of the holiday.
This afternoon, a female physically assaulted another woman in Sheepshead Bay, while referring to her as a “f*****g Jew”.
TY @NYPD61Pct & @NYPDHateCrimes for the quick arrest.
— Councilman Deutsch (@ChaimDeutsch) December 26, 2019
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THERE IS NO DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION
America’s Failed Jewish Leadership Must Resign
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It’s becoming obvious to most Jews that we are living in a state of siege. Practically every Jewish institution in America now needs significant security. College campuses have become hostile territory for Jewish students. Jews are murdered in Pittsburgh, San Diego, and Jersey City, beaten on the streets of Brooklyn, bullied and harassed in the universities, defamed by The New York Times and CNN, and now maligned in the US Congress. There are many reasons for the current situation. Many are not within our control, but one thing truly ought to be: Jewish leadership.
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INTO THE FRAY: In Israel & America – Choreographed coups with the law as a prop
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Who Are the Tribes of Judah?
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Who are the “Lost Tribes of Israel” w map
The “Lost Tribes of Israel” are the physical descendants of Israel (Jacob) who – through expulsion,
captivity or – have become disassociated from the generally recognized worldwide Jewish community.
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> https://www.jewishvoice.org/
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12 Tribes of Israel: The Shevatim
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Jewish Internal Distinctions
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Types of Jews: Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi and More
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In the 22nd Dec 19 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
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Shabbat Menus
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42 Cooking Tips Because You Asked For Them
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The Most Popular Recipe - Year 2017
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And it came to pass at the end of [miketz] two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed a dream: and, behold, he stood by the river. Genesis 41:1
Shabbat Hanukkah ííííÎìììì Parasha Miketz - The Great Light and the Grand Menorah !!!
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Hanukkah !
Welcome to Parasha Miketz (At the End), this week’s Torah Portion.
Because this Shabbat (Sabbath) falls during the eight-day holiday of Hanukkah, it is called Shabbat Hanukkah.
We know you will be blessed as you study with us the portion of the Torah that will be read in synagogues around the world during this week’s Shabbat (Saturday) service.
Family lights a Hanukkah Menorah (Hanukkiah).
Miketz (At the End)
Genesis 41:1–44:17; Zechariah 2:10 (verse 14 in Hebrew Bibles)–4:7; Numbers 28:9-15; Maftir: Numbers 7:42-47; John 1:1–18
“And it came to pass at the end of [miketz] two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed a dream: and, behold, he stood by the river.” (Genesis 41:1)
In last week’s study, Joseph’s brothers became jealous of him, plotting against him because his father favored him above his other sons and because his prophetic dreams revealed his own grand destiny.
So they threw Joseph into a pit and then sold him into slavery. While serving honorably as a slave, Joseph was falsely accused and sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit.
In this week’s reading, Joseph is finally about to come to the end of his many trials and enter into his grand destiny. In fact, the name of the Parasha, Miketz, found in the opening verse of this week’s Torah reading, hints at this since this Hebrew word means at the end of.
Joseph is brought out of the darkness of an Egyptian dungeon to interpret the strange dreams of the Pharaoh. In just one day, Joseph is promoted from prison to palace, and his life was suddenly transformed from darkness to light.
Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dream, by James Tissot
A Light in the Darkness
Because Miketz coincides with Hanukkah or the Festival of Lights this year, this week’s portion includes a special Haftarah (prophetic reading) about the prophet Zechariah’s vision of a grand Menorah. He says,
“He asked me, 'What do you see?' I answered, 'I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.'” (Zechariah 4:2–3)
Two olive trees feed this grand Menorah with oil. The trees are often considered to refer to Joshua the High Priest and Zerubbabel, religious and political figures.
But since prophecy usually reveals the present and future, and since trees in Scripture often represent people, these two trees are seen by some to represent Jewish Believers and Gentile Believers, anointed sons who have been shining light into the darkness for over 2,000 years.
Others think the two trees represent the Messiah (the Lord's Righteous Branch) and Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) who are “anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.” (Zechariah 4:14)
Worship in the Tabernacle, by Willem Goeree (1635–1711), depicting a priest
worshiping before a Menorah fueled by two olive trees. (Image provided
courtesy of the Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology,
Emory University).
worshiping before a Menorah fueled by two olive trees. (Image provided
courtesy of the Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology,
Emory University).
Zechariah promises that the darkness that comes from our sin, which separates us from God, will be supernaturally lifted in a single day by His Righteous Branch.
“I am going to bring My servant, the Branch. … and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.” (Zechariah 3:8–9)
We saw this prophecy fulfilled when in a single day, the sacrifice of Yeshua took away the sins of the world:
"We have an advocate with the Father, Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) the righteous; and He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." (John 2:1–2)
God also speaks of the supernatural working of the Ruach (Holy Spirit) to accomplish the Lord's plans, such as the building of the Second Temple by Zerubbabel:
“This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.'" (Zechariah 4:6)
The food of Hanukkah fried in oil, which includes donuts (sufganiyot),
represents the miracle of a one-day supply of holy oil for the Temple
Menorah lasting the eight days required to purify more oil.
In the Holy Sanctuary, the light of the Menorah became a symbol of God’s Divine Presence.
During this time of year, when the winter nights are the longest, we sense our need for light more intensely.
Some people even experience what has been termed S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder)—a particular depression brought about by a deficiency of sunlight. Likewise, when we are going through our “long, dark night of the soul,” we feel more intensely our desire to see even a glimmer of light.
The Hebrew prophet Isaiah wrote of a “Great Light” that would one day come to lift people out of the gloomy darkness:
“Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed …
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.”
(Isaiah 9:1–2)
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.”
(Isaiah 9:1–2)
Jewish children bask in the glow of the hanukkiah
(Hanukkah menorah). (Go Israel photo by Dana
Friedlander)
Who is this “great light” of which Isaiah prophesied?
The Light would come in the form of a child, who would eventually rule the nations in righteousness and justice, seated on the throne of His father, David, for all eternity.
The Light would come in the form of a child, who would eventually rule the nations in righteousness and justice, seated on the throne of His father, David, for all eternity.
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice, from that time forward, even forever.” (Isaiah 9:6–7)
Yeshua HaMashiach (the Messiah—the Anointed One) said,
“I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
“I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Enjoying the light of the hanukkiah (Go Israel photo by Dana Friedlander)
Light of the World
Hanukkah is a celebration of light.
This joyous festival commemorated the salvation of the Jewish people from the oppression of the Greeks who ruled the Jewish people from 332–164 BC.
It was both a physical salvation and a spiritual one, since the Jews were not only rescued from persecution, but also liberated from an enforced Hellenized (Greek) religious system and culture.
They fought for freedom to worship the One True God, to keep His commandments, and to observe the festivals as written in the Torah.
Though not commanded in the Torah, the Jewish People honor the liberation of the Holy Temple and its rededication to God by celebrating the Festival of Dedication / Hanukkah.
Did Yeshua celebrate Hanukkah? The only reference in Scripture to Hanukkah is found in the Brit Chadashah (New Testament), and it indicates that He more than likely kept the festival.
The Gospel of John reveals that Yeshua walked in the courts of the Temple during Hanukkah:
“Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Yeshua walked in the Temple, in Solomon’s porch.” (John 10:22–23)
While He was there, some asked Him directly if He were the Messiah.
Yeshua pointed to the works He had done as proof, but explained that they did not believe in Him because they were not His sheep.
In this week’s Brit Chadashah portion,
Yeshua the Messiah proclaimed His mission as one of healing the brokenhearted and setting captives free.
Yeshua the Messiah proclaimed His mission as one of healing the brokenhearted and setting captives free.
The verses He cited came directly
out of the book of the Hebrew prophet Isaiah.
out of the book of the Hebrew prophet Isaiah.
“So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted; To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD”
(Luke 4:16–19; see also Isaiah 61:1)
(Luke 4:16–19; see also Isaiah 61:1)
Yeshua Teaches in the Synagogue,
by James Tissot
Yeshua and Yosef (Jesus and Joseph)
Many parallels can be drawn between Yeshua and Joseph.
At the time of Joseph’s release from prison into the service of Pharaoh he was 30 years old, just as Yeshua was 30 when he began His public ministry in the service of the King.
Also, Joseph's appearance and personality had been so changed during his time in Egypt that his brothers no longer recognized him.
They stood right in front of Joseph, seeking the salvation from their famine that only he could provide, and yet they had no idea he was their brother.
Likewise, Yeshua’s Jewish brothers and sisters today hold in front of them the Scriptures that reveal who He is, and yet they are unable to recognize Him as their Jewish Messiah.
One reason for this modern-day blindness is the way Yeshua has been portrayed by Christians over the centuries: He seems to have ceased being the observant Jew who faithfully kept the commandments of God in the Torah and has, instead, been labeled as the Gentiles’ “god.”
A 13-year-old Jewish boy reads from the Torah
for the first time publicly.
Yeshua's identity has been so changed that the great majority of Jewish people cannot fathom that this “Jesus” could possibly be the Jewish Mashiach (Messiah) for whom they have been waiting, longing and praying for over 3,000 years.
Nevertheless, the Prophet Zechariah told us that one day, all the Jewish people will recognize Him:
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on Me, on Him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over Him, as one weeps over a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10)
Today, thousands of Yeshua’s brothers and sisters are coming to understand who He truly is; they are known as Messianic Jews and their search for the Messiah of the Scriptures has ended.
These “restored Jews,” as some call them (restored back into the olive tree of Romans 11), are steadily gaining recognition as a legitimate sect of Judaism in Israel and around the world.
Please pray that the rest of the Jewish People will recognize Yeshua (Jesus) in Zechariah's Messianic prophecy as they hear about the Righteous Branch this Shabbat and the promise that sin will be removed in a single day.
On this Festival of Dedication, please also consider sending a special gift to help set the captives free from sin. Your gift shines a light in the darkness by helping us explain the Messianic prophecies to the Jewish People.
"In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind." (John 1:4)
Happy Hanukkah
and Shabbat Shalom
and Shabbat Shalom
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