Tag: Jerusalem

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70,000 Hindus in India rally for Israel under Hindu Samhati banner

Kolkata, India: Israel surrounded by hostile allies has become synonymous to survival, creativity and economic boom.  This is despite envious enemies trying to undermine the tiny Jewish state.  While Islamists and communists around the world regularly rally to wipe out the Jewish state, the ability of the Jewish people to survive despite all odds has found  strong resonance in India. To show solidarity with the Jewish people and the state of Israel, Hindu Samhati a organization based in India came out with a massive rally in support of Israel as part of its foundation day on February 14th.
70,000 Hindus Rallying for Partnership with Israel
In 2014, when terrorism against Israel was on the rise and rockets were being thrown at Israel by Hamas with women and children being used as human shields, Israel was forced to strike back in self-defense. While the world urged Israel to be tolerant towards the intolerant, it was Hindu Samhati who had staged the biggest pro-Israel rally outside Israel with 20,000 people in show of solidarity. The founder of Hindu Samhati , Sri Tapan Ghosh had then urged the entire Hindu world to stand strongly with Israel.
Even in present times, when a movement urging the Indian government to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is on in India and many world governments including the United States have agreed to move their embassy to Jerusalem – the eternal capital of the Jewish people, it is Hindu Samhati which made a statement today by rallying 70,000 Hindus behind this cause.
“Moving our Embassy to Jerusalem will honor Israel’s long-standing commitment to peace, and strengthen the bond between our two ancient peoples,” said said Mr. Tapan Ghosh, the founder of Hindu Samhati. He therefore urged the Indian government to formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish State. A resolution to this effect was passed by a voice vote. 
Mr. Devdutta Maji, the Vice-President of Hindu Samhati, mentioned the first Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion at the occasion, citing the founding father of the modern Jewish State as a role model for today’s Hindu leadership along with Mr. Tapan Ghosh. He also spoke in favor of relocating the Indian Embassy to Jerusalem.
The meeting was attended by Gen. GD Bakshi, noted pro-Israel journalist Vijeta Uniyal and host of other speakers. The crowd rallied with placards saying,  “Israel -India partners for peace”, “India – Israel . Ancient Cultures . Modern Miracles”,”India – Israel . Friendship Forever”,”India – Israel represents —- honoring women’s rights, freedom of speech, respect for human rights, liberty and equality for all, Democracy.” India stands with Israel and Hindus Love Israel resonated in the air.
Vijeta Uniyal mentioned that in today’s world when anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe , millions of Hindus in India and in the diaspora are ready to stand with the Jews as brothers and sisters and speak out against the anti-Semitism. Zionism the movement of Jewish Liberation is an inspiration for the Hindus as we unite our country and the community.

Sri Tapan Ghosh also urged the crowd to bless the alliance. He pointed out that Jews for the last 2000 years like the Hindus are fighting a battle for existence in West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand , in the villages of Deganga, Bardman, Kaliachak , Medinipur, Baduria similarly Jews are fighting for their existence in little Israel, surrounded by a sea of Islamist neighbors. This struggle for survival, shared cherished values of reverence for education, mutual respect, women’s’ rights, unites Hindus and Jews apart from the 2500 years of glorious history that binds both the communities.

Hindu Samhati which was founded 10 years back to serve the poorest of poor Hindus in rural heartland of Eastern Bharat plagued by Islamist violence, insecurity and thereby poverty, has today emerged as a force to recon with. The rally was attended by Hindus and Buddhists from the states of Bengal, Assam and Jharkhand. The gigantic crowd of 70,000 volunteers, and may thousands others prevented from attending by nefarious forces against the Hindu -Jewish global alliance, is testimony of the fact that Hindus believe in this alliance despite attempts to create divide. Such a huge turnout in a non-political rally, shows the deep trust of the Hindus from the Eastern part of Bharat in the Hindu Samhati leadership. Their influence on ground will impact very positively India-Israel relations in times to come.
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Treasures from the First Temple Period Unearthed Near Jerusalem

 

Ein Hanniya park was dedicated this morning at a planting ceremony with the participation of Minister of Environmental Protection, Jerusalem and Heritage Ze’ev Elkin,  The Grand Sacristan of the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate of Jerusalem, His Eminence Archbishop Sevan Gharibian, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Jerusalem Development Authority Director General Eyal Haimovsky, Israel Nature and Parks Authority Director General Shaul Goldstein and Israel Antiquities Authority Director General Israel Hasson.

According to Irina Zilberbod, the excavation director for the Israel Antiquities Authority: “The most significant finding in the excavation is a large and impressive pool from the Byzantine period. This pool was built in the center of a spacious complex at the foot of a church that once stood here. Roofed colonnades were built around the pool that gave access to residential wings.” According to Zilberbod: “It’s difficult to know what the pool was used for – whether for irrigation, washing, landscaping or perhaps as part of baptismal ceremonies at the site.” The pool’s water drained through a network of channels to a magnificent and very special structure, the first of its kind known in Israel – a fountain (nymphaeon).”

Settlement in the area of Ein Hanniya apparently began at the time of the First Temple and perhaps even earlier. The most outstanding find from this period uncovered in the excavation is a fragment of a proto-Ionic capital – an artistic element typical of structures and estates of the kings of the First Temple period. The image of such a capital appears on the Israeli 5-shekel coin. Similar capitals have been found in the City of David in Jerusalem, which was the capital of the Kingdom of Judah, and at Ramat Rahel, where one of the palaces of the kings of Judah was found. Such capitals were also found in Samaria, Megiddo and Hazor, which were major cities in the Kingdom of Israel. According to the archaeologists, the site at Ein Hanniya may have been a royal estate at the time of the First Temple. After the destruction of the First Temple, settlement was renewed at the site in the form of an estate house that was inhabited by Jews.

The most significant find from this period is a rare silver coin, one of the most ancient so far discovered in the Jerusalem area – a drachma, minted in Ashdod by Greek rulers between 420 and 390 BCE.

The coins, pottery, glass, roof tiles and multicolored mosaic tesserae from the Byzantine period unearthed in the excavation attest to the fact that it was during this period (4th–6th centuries CE) that the site reached its zenith. According to Jerusalem District Archaeologist Dr. Yuval Baruch: “We believe that some early Christian commentators identified Ein Hanniya as the site where the Ethiopian eunuch was baptized, as described in Acts 8:26–40. The baptism of the eunuch by St. Philip was one of the key events in the spread of Christianity. Therefore, identifying the place where it occurred occupied scholars for many generations and became a common motif in Christian art. It’s no wonder that part of the site is still owned by Christians and is a focus of religious ceremonies, both for the Armenian Church (which owns the property) and the Ethiopian Church.”

Rare silver coin from the 4th century BCE, one of the most ancient ever discovered in the Jerusalem area. Photo: Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority.

The Jerusalem Development Authority, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Israel Antiquities Authority undertook conservation and development work at the site over the past few years. The result is an extraordinarily beautiful site incorporating archaeology, an ancient landscape and a unique visitor experience. The conservation work was carried out by a team from the Israel Antiquities Authority Conservation Administration. The team was headed by conservator Fuad Abu Ta’a, with architectural planning by architects Avi Mashiah and Yehonatan Tzahor. The work included restoration of the ancient water systems, which are now functioning once again. The original spring that fed the pool discovered in the excavation had dried up over the years, and major efforts were invested in channeling water from the existing spring to replenish the pools. The work revealed additional water sources under an impressive stone arch whose surroundings have been restored as a shallow wading spot.

A great deal of attention was paid to restoring the imposing fountain structure (nymphaeon), including cleaning and replacing stones in its façade based on historic photographs and paintings.

Content provided by the Israel Antiquity Authority

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Praising Pence: An Israeli View

Yesterday concluded Vice President Mike Pence’s first official visit to the Holy Land. After his previous planned Middle East trip was delayed by the all-important Congressional Tax Reform, using his Vice Presidential tie-breaking vote to pass it, he has kept his promise to make an official visit. After two months have passed since President Trump confirmed what the Jewish people have known for over 3,000 years, that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the State of Israel; now his Vice President has met with Egyptian, Jordanian, and Israeli officials at a vital turning point in the Middle East.

Since the Trump Administration’s announcement, there has been some push back, which was generally accepted to happen. Though, the push-back on recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel 20 years ago could have started a major conflict against Israel. Today, we have seen a sharp change in the region, with the Sunni Arab states inching closer to normalisation with Israel, the push-back has only come from the misguided Palestinian Authority.

Over his trip, Vice President Pence gave his address to the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament in Jerusalem. He spoke on the recognition of Jerusalem, Iran’s destructive actions in the region, the strength of the US-Israel relationship, and on bringing about a final peace agreement between Israel and their Arab neighbors. He also met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Rivlin, another great opportunity for these world leaders to speak on the challenges facing Israel and region. Not to mention the Vice President’s solidification that the United States is keeping their promise to move their embassy to Jerusalem by 2019!

On the Vice President’s scheduled to visit Yad VaShem, Israel’s memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, he was able to pay his respects. A visit that many world leaders make, understanding the lessons of the Holocaust is of global importance. As a proud Jew, I thank the Vice President for taking the time to learn about the atrocities that in the modern era has heavily impacted the decisions of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

Since President Trump’s historic decision to give full American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s eternal capital, there has been tension and much banter between the Trump Administration and the Palestinian Authority. Now the Vice President has finished his first state visit to Israel. As the Israeli people embraced the decision, we welcomed the Vice President with open arms. I praise Vice President Pence on keeping his trip, especially when he has had many opportunities to cancel, mostly due to Congressional votes and backlash from the Palestinian Authority. I hope the Vice President has had an enjoyable and productive trip, I know that there will be another visit here, where he will be able to complete his tour with a trip to Bethlehem and much more of the Land of Israel!

Originally Published in Times of Israel

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Mike Pence, Israel, and the Final Redemption

There are moments when we recognize that the world is shifting and that something momentous is happening. We all have our view of the future and what it will be.  Those of us who are believers tend to have varied accounts of the End of Days.  Despite the many interpretations of Biblical passages dealing with the final Redemption all agree on the main points.  These involve a return of the people of Israel to their ancestral homeland within the borders of their ancient Kingdom.  This return appears to occur after millenia of years wandering in exile.  The Land which lay fallow suddenly sprouts again and more than that the People of Israel become a leading force for good throughout the whoe world.  Of course there are prophecies and accounts of trepidation as envisioned in multiple chapters in Zecharia and Ezekiel, but there is not saying to what extent these prophecies must occur because each prophet spoke in generalities.

Most of the prophecies detailing the return of the Jewish people to their Divinely ordained homeland have occurred.  The miraculous wars fought against all odds and the continuing ingathering of the exiles and now the next stage which appears to be about locating and integrating the lost tribes back into Israel is already well under way.

The 70th Year Marks a Crossing Point

The number 70 in Judaism is a critical number.  Our sages recognize it as an end of one stage and a beginning of the next.  70 played an important role at the end of the first exile when it was clear that King Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to Israel after 70 years just as the prophets said he would.

We are now at an important inflection point in world history.  This is the 70th year since Israel’s founding and we have a President and Vice President in America that not only won the election last year in miraculous fashion, but seem to understand that they are meant to play a pivotal role in history.

Mike Pence knows the Bible and with this knowledge it is no surprise that when he spoke at the Knesset yesterday he mentioned the number 70 and its connection to the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s eternal capital.

Mike Pence spoke on this fact with the following words:

“Seventy years ago, the United States was proud to be the first nation in the world to recognize the State of Israel.  But as you well know, the work we began on that day was left unfinished, for while the United States recognized your nation, one administration after another refused to recognize your capital.

But just last month, President Donald Trump made history.  He righted a 70-year wrong; he kept his word to the American people when he announced that the United States of America will finally acknowledge Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. 

The Jewish people’s unbreakable bond to this sacred city reaches back more than 3,000 years.  It was here, in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, that Abraham offered his son, Isaac, and was credited with righteousness for his faith in God.

It was here, in Jerusalem, that King David consecrated the capital of the Kingdom of Israel.  And since its rebirth, the modern State of Israel has called this city the seat of its government.”

The Vilna Gaon said that the final redemption will occur in a similar fashion as the redemption during the Second Temple period. That is up until the very end.  Pence paid homage to the very fact that the people of Israel are the descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  He made a clear connection to the miraculous rise of the Nation of Israel in its historic homeland to the final redemption.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslev clearly states that the end will not begin on Pesach, but rather Purim.  He is not talking about actual dates, but concepts. Purim is about the miraculous wrapped within the guise of the mundane.  So too now.  What seems like simple politics is the Redemption literally unfolding in front of our eyes.

Esav’s Head Can Be Rectified While Its Body Dies

Our sages teach us that the Roman Empire and the subsequent Catholic Church and now the decadent morality of the Western World are the outgrowth of Esav, Jacob’s brother.  Yet there is a curious midrash, which details the burial of Jacob and the subsequent decapitation of Esav (who tried to stop it).  Esav’s head mysteriously rolled into the Cave of the Patriarchs along with Jacob’s body.

We know from extra biblical sources that Esav knew and believed in Torah and the Creator, but his body’s lusts and drives overtook his reasoning and drove his decisions.  The midrash I detailed above indicates that at the end Esav’s head can be and will be redeemed and come to Jacob’s aid.

There is no question about it. America is far different from any other nation aside from Israel.  In the cosmic archetype structure of the universe, the European drive to destroy Israel as well as individual freedom appears to be analogous to Esav’s body.  Juxtaposed to this is America, which sought out to redeem and return Christianity to its original source.

Pence said the following in regards to America’s special reverence to the Bible and Christianity’s Hebrew roots:

“My country’s very first settlers also saw themselves as pilgrims, sent by Providence, to build a new Promised Land.  The songs and stories of the people of Israel were their anthems, and they faithfully taught them to their children, and do to this day.  And our founders, as others have said, turned to the wisdom of the Hebrew Bible for direction, guidance, and inspiration.

America’s first President, George Washington, wrote with favor to “the children of the stock of Abraham.”  Our second President, John Adams, declared that the Jews, in his words, “have done more to civilize man than any other nation.”

And your story inspired my forebears to create what our 16th President called a “new birth of freedom.”  And down through the generations, the American people became fierce advocates of the Jewish people’s aspiration to return to the land of your forefathers to claim your own new birth of freedom in your beloved homeland.” 

With Esav’s cosmic head now severed from its decadent European body, the American ideal can be restored to its true roots.  While European leaders deny the miraculous return of the Jewish people to their homeland, Americans do the opposite.  Mike Pence said as much with the following:

“The Jewish people held fast to a promise through all the ages, written so long ago, that “even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens,” from there He would gather and bring you back to the land which your fathers possessed.

Through a 2,000-year exile, the longest of any people, anywhere, through conquests and expulsions, inquisitions and pogroms, the Jewish people held on to this promise, and they held on to it through the longest and darkest of nights.  A night that Elie Wiesel proclaimed “seven times sealed.”  A night that transformed the small faces of children into smoke under a silent sky.  A night that consumed the faith of so many and that challenges the faith of so many still.

And tomorrow, when I stand with my wife at Yad Vashem to honor the 6 million Jewish martyrs of the Holocaust, we will marvel at the faith and resilience of your people, who just three years after walking beneath the shadow of death, rose up from the ashes to resurrect yourselves, to reclaim a Jewish future, and to rebuild the Jewish state.  

And this April, we will mark the day when the Jewish people answered that ancient question — can a country be born in a day, can a nation be born in a moment? — as the State of Israel celebrates the 70th anniversary of its birth.  

As you prepare to commemorate this historic milestone, I say, along with the good people of Israel, here and around the world: Shehecheyanu, v’kiyimanu, v’higiyanu la’z’man ha’zeh.” 

Never during exile have we the Jewish people, the Children of Israel received such praise and admiration and offers of true partnership to fulfill the Creator’s will.  It is precisely this that seems to indicate that we may not be in exile anymore.  The 70 years since the creation of the State of Israel is almost up.  It is this 70 years that was a transition between exile and redemption.

We have been so busy building our nation that it takes rightous gentiles yearning to be part of G-D’s grand plan to tell us what is happening before us.  The Nation of Israel is meant to be a light to the world; a magnet for others to come and join us for the work ahead.  The next stage of the Redemption is this work.

 

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Trump’s Jerusalem Declaration has Moved an Entire Nation

Trump , The Seed that will help transition a whole Nation.”
Trump , The ring bearer to the marriage of Jerusalem and Israel!

The declaring of Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel ; a historical event yes indeed but also a piece of boldness that will redefine how Jerusalem is looked upon for generations to come. Palestine ! Oh Palestine has been the Goliath, the one who has held Jerusalem in its hands for far too long . Jerusalem has been stagnant because of their unableness to see past the giants.

The questions we ask are:

1)Why has this great moment of making Jerusalem the Capital of Israel been concreted for this time ?
2)Why has no other President heard the inner voice to want to bring peace to a Holy Nation whom has not rested in peace in decades?

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My observance to the matter is that President Trump has been mandated for a time as this to not beg the bread of the adversary but to go and boldly claim back what the enemy has stolen. Trump has given the people of Israel the “First Fruit Blessing ” on Dec 6th 2017. On that historical day that Jerusalem  was declared the Capital of Israel; it’s purpose and meaning that day meant that everything that was stolen from the people of Israel would now have to be returned . It amazes me how one word from Trump blasted over every Media House that day and delivered into the realm of Israel  that it would shake the Nation’s and scatter every enemy.

“We are indeed set and ready to see great change among the Nations.”

A farmer who plants seed among his soil isn’t bothered by watching to see if the seed will grow, he knows he can leave the seed to grow and he will come back to redeem his  crop without doubt in harvest time. Trumps voice to the Nations was an establishment to create boundaries for all Nations. He sees that a time of desolate and famine is over in his  eyes.

Why must we salt the food that has already been seasoned and ready for consumption? It is a time of Jubilee and restitution upon every enemy camp. In closing; Jerusalem the “Great” will be like the donkey that was said not to be sufficient to stand alone but in the donkey it bore witness to welcome in a King and a kingdom.