Tim Hegg in Manila

Tim Hegg in the Yeshiva by Sir Levi Yu

Catch Tim Hegg in the
6th Asia Pacific Messianic Conference
"What's so New About the New Testament"
&
"My Big Fat Greek Mindset"
December 25-28, 2007

What the Hanukah Candles Teach US

The Hanukah candles should be placed in the doorway of the house leading to the street. In time of peril, however, it is sufficient to place them on a table inside the home(Sabbath, 21)

When Antiochus Epiphanes (the Illustrious, or as some called him, Epimanes (the Mad), ascended the Greek Seleucid throne in 175 B.C.E., the Jewish situation in Eretz Israel became unbearable. His government was deep in debt and he exacted every last possible measure of tribute from the small nations under his domination.

In addition, he made it his life mission to Hellenize the world; to spread Greek culture among all the nations under his sway. Everywhere he sought to implant Greek nationalism. He demanded of all that they renounce their religions, their time-honored customs, and become assimilated into the Greek people. His kingdom termed in Jewish tradition as "the wicked Greek kingdom," not only sought to conquer the land of Judea, but wanted very much to destroy the Jewish religion. To tear Jewish youth away from the will of God was the main object of his onslaught against the Jewish people.

Antiochus understood well that so long as Jews adhered to their Torah fulfilled its precept, he knew it would be impossible to Hellenize them. In his mad undertaking he was assisted by wealthy Jews and some members of the Priestly caste who had been captivated by the false glitter of Greek culture. To implement his plan he sent a strong military contingent to Judea under the command of one Appolonius.

The first thing the soldiers did upon entering Jerusalem was to carry out a pogrom against its Jewish inhabitants. It was Saturday when they slaughtered every man in sight, arrested women and children and looted their homes. The Jewish populace fled the city in panic, and the Greeks and Syrians occupied their homes.

This pogrom was was the beginning of terrible suffering for the Jewish people. Immediately Appolonius issued a proclamation declaring that the Jewish Torah no longer existed and that adherence to it was forbidden. Above all circumcision, kashrut and Shabbat observance were banned. The death penalty was decreed for the observance of any of these three.

The Jews were also ordered to observe the Greek religion in every aspect of Greek idolatry. Temples and altars were set up in every Jewish town, at which the Jews were forced to offer sacrifices to the Greek gods. Antiochus appointed special officials to see to it that his commands were scrupulously carried out. He also ordered all Torah scrolls burned.

The people bore this terrible oppression for quite some time, ever hoping that things would change. Finally their patience burst and they began organizing active resistance against the tyranny and revenge in the name of their martyrs for the desecration of all Jewish sanctities.

Particularly eager for battle were the Hasideans. The members of this party and their sympathizers left the big cities where the enemy, aided by some Jewish renegades, was strong, and hid in woods and caves in the mountains and wilderness. From time to time they left their hideaways to agitate among the Jews for revolt, to stir them to rise up in a holy war against the idolatrous assassins. Their agitation bore fruit, culminating in the great victory of Judaism over Hellenism.

With the Hanukah light we demonstrate the great victory we won over external foes who had sought to sunder us from our Torah. Therefore the true fulfillment of the precept of lighting Hanukah candles is in placing them in the front doorway of the house, to show the world that we are God's people and that we will not exchange our Torah for alien cultures. In time of peril, however, when the enemies of Judaism are within, among our own ranks, the Hanukah candles are to be placed on our own tables and we are to impart to our children the great ideals of our Torah.

Links to eternity: Jewish holidays and festivals; homiletical essays by Harris L Selig (pp 183-185)

Hanukah: The Great Victory of the Jewish Spirit

Whoever holds a Hanukah candle in his hands and merely stands there, has done nothing (Orah Hayim).

All the holidays celebrated by the Jewish people are related to great historical events which helped secure Jewish existence. In addition to the festivals mentioned in the Torah, which were appointed for all eternity, the Jews in various lands have, in the course of their history, proclaimed festivals celebrating the salvation God sent them at various times and places.

The "Scroll of Taanit" alone lists thirty five such festivals, about which it is said: It is forbidden to fast or to mourn on these days. Our sages, however, did away with all of these festivals but Hanukah and Purim. About these two festivals it is said: If all new festivals will be done away with, Hanukah and Purim will not be done away with( Yerushalmi, Taanit, II).

The chief reason our lawmakers have given for retaining Hanukah and Purim as permanent national holidays is that both followed such crises in our national existence as have repeated themselves innumerable times in our long, remarkable history.

Both the miracle of Purim, which prevented the physical annihilation of the Jewsih people, and the miracle of Hanukah, which saved it from cultural and spiritual annihilation, have been repeated many times in Jewsih History. The celebration of these holidays is crucial to the maintenance of Jewish morale. They teach Jews never to despaur in times of peril, because at the right moment their salvation is sure to come.

Purim is entirely a product of exile. The terrible crisis the Jews went through at that time could not have come upon a people living on its own soil. The terrible decree that Haman issued against the Jewish people, "to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate all Jews," has never been issued against a people living in its own land. Only a "people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples" can be placed in such a predicament as were the Jews of Persia at that time.

Defense is not even possible away from home. The Jews were saved by a Jewish girl with whom the king had fallen in love and made his queen. Queen Esther, together with her uncle, Mordecai, who had once saved the King from assassination, upset Haman's evil plans. The decree could not be annulled but another decree was issued giving the Jews the right to "gather themselves together and to stand for their life."

Our Sages did not do away with the festival of Purim, because the tragic history of that period is recalled and repeated in every generation. When we study the events of theat dark era and we compare it to our own day, we find many similarities to it in the vicissitudes of our people, except that at that time, all the provinces in which the Jews lived were under the rule of a foolish despot who permitted himself to be convinced that the Jews should be enabled to defend themselves. Today's great powers, however are ostensibly constitutional, and their rulers fervent advocates of democracy. They can not be easily swayed...

Having decided to ignore the decree of Hitler whose purpose was the same as Haman's "to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish all Jews," thereby making the world Judenrein, they did not reverse this "democratic" decision. The free, democratic nations in the United Nations decided to overlook the murderous acts committed in the lands of oil and wild savages against their Jewish inhabitants, and they have not altered this decision. There is only the shedding of crocodile tears over the plight of the Arab refugees, which these nations do not really want to improve, but to use as a means of exerting pressure on the fledgling State of Israel.

As we see, the terrible story of Purim has not changed. It keeps on repeating itself. The Talmud tells us: The story of Esther was told by the Holy Spirit, that is, by prophecy which foresaw that it would be long before the story of Purim would vanish from among the Jews and its sad memory from among their descendants. So long as Jews are dispersed among the nations, their fate remains a tragic one and Purim tragedy may be repeated at any time.

Hanukah, on the other hand, celebrated a great historical event which occurred when our people was in its own land. The story of Hanukah has as its locale Eretz Israel, and it tells of a severe spiritual crisis which our people went through at that time, one that threatened to destroy the Jewish Torah, the Jewsih religion. Were it not for the miracle of Hanukah, we would have vanished as a people in our own land.

Concerning the above-quoted passage from the Shulchan Aruch, that "Whoever holds a Hanukah candle in his hands and merely stands there, has done nothing," a renowned Hassidic Rabbi said: "He who has merely lit the Hanukah candles, and having fulfilled this precept merely stands there unmoved by the profound significance of the miracle of Hanukah, has accomplished nothing. The precept does not conssit merely in the lighting of a candle..."


Links to eternity: Jewish holidays and festivals; homiletical essays by Harris L Selig (pp 179-182)

Happy Hanukah!

Blessing the candles



Baruch ata Adonai, Elohenu melech ha-olam
asher kideshanu be-mitzvotav, ve-tzivanu le-hadlik
ner shel Hanukah.

Blessed are you, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe, Who sanctified us by his commandments, and has commanded us to kindle the lights of Hanukah.



Baruch ata Adonai, Elohenu melech ha-olam
she-asa nisim la-avotenu ba-yamim ha-hem
ba-zeman ha-zeh.

Blessed are you, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe,
Who wrought miracles for our fathers in days of old, at this season.


Additional Blessing





Baruch ata Adonai, Elohenu melech ha-olam
she-hecheyanu, ve-kiyemanu, ve-higiyanu la-zeman ha-zeh.

Blessed are you, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe,
Who has kept us alive, and has preserved us,
and enabled us to reach this season.

What blessing is recited over the Hanukah candle? We thank God for having sanctified us with His commandments and for having commanded us to kindle the Hanukah lights. But where has He so commanded us? Rabbi Nehemiah said: This precept is implied in the verse, "Ask your father and he will declare it to you, your elders and they will tell you"(Sabbath, 23a)

The essence of the miracle of Hanukah is that the Jewish masses were not deceived by the false glitter of Greek culture, which Antiochus sought to foist upon them. As we see in the Jewish history at that time, the Greek overlords of Judea were not so much after political and economic domination as they were intert upon sundering the Jews from their faith. They felt intuitively that, if the Jews adhered to their Torah, they would never be conquered. In their program the Greeks were aided by their Jewish assimilationists, who had been blinded by the surface glitter of Greek philosophy and wanted to Hellenize Judaism.

These assimilationists, these willful reformers, were mostly of the wealthy class, who did profitable business with Greeks and who thought that if the Jews Hellenized themselves completely, they would become part of the mighty Greek Empire and thus live in political and economic security. And so frequently happens, these plutocrats gained the leadership of the Jewish community and became the policy makers in Jewish communal life. They appointed their own (High Priests," who were no better than they, and openly urged assimilation with the Greeks. Seeing that the masses were apathetic and allowed them full control of communal affairs, they became bolder and dared to speak in the name of the entire Jewish people. The Greek rulers really thought they were the leaders of the Jews and took their views seriously.

Under the leadership of the assimilationists, the "High Priesthood" became a political job that could be bought. First Menelaus, then Lysimachus paid King Antiochus large bribes ti be appointed High Priests. Under their leadership Greek practices were introduced into the sacred service in the Holy Temple. Instead of institutions of Jewish learning, they built sports arenas for the Jewish youth, and Torah study was neglected completely. But they erred in thinking they had popular support. To be sure, the faithful Jews at first apathetically accepted their leadership, but they never supported or followed it. This was the essence of the miracle of Jewish existence then, and still is today. To the question, - What is Hanukah? On what miracle is this festival based? - Our Sages reply that, when the Hellenists backed by the Greek power, entered the Temple, they defiled all the consecrated oil used in kindling the Temple lights. Only one cruse of oil was found intact, with the seal of the former legitimate High Priest. Though this cruse contained but a little oil, enough to burn one day, a miracle occurred it burned fully eight days.

In this explanation of the Talmud, we believe, is implied the mystical force latent within the Jewish people that guards it against decline. Deep in the holy of holies of every Jewish heart is a small cruse of consecrated oil that is never used up. At times it will lie dormant for a long while - under the seal of the High Priests of yore, its flame casting but a dim light that shows only once a year, on Yom Kippur, or at the anniversary of the death of deceased parents. If anyone seeks to extinguish it completely, however it rises to a tall flame and shines again in all its glory.

After the lighting of the candles it is customary to recite the last verses of Psalm 90 and all of Psalm 91. This prayer begins - and let the graciousness of God be upon us; establish Thou also upon us the work of our hands yea, the work of our hands establish. Rabbi Isaac Jacob Reines, of blessed memory, explains why this prayer was chosen for recitation at this time. Said he: "upon all other historical events in which miracles are involved, such as Passover and Purim, the miracle was of God's own doing, without any effort on the part of the Jews. The miracle of Hanukah, however came to pass partly through their own effort, through the heroic deeds of the Hasmoneans and the spirit of self-sacrifice of the Hasideans, the faithful zealots who participated in the struggle against the Greeks. Therefore we recite"..the work of our hands establish," to show that this time we did not rely entirely on miracles, but also performed outstanding deeds.

Links to eternity: Jewish holidays and festivals; homiletical essays by Harris L Selig (pp 192-194)

Abbas, Olmert Reach Peace Agreement In Annapolis

Kiddie Show in PLO

Ever wonder how it is like to be a kid in Palestinian territory?

Israeli and Palestinian leaders at the Annapolis peace conference pledged to negotiate a peace treaty by the end of 2008 but looks like peace would be elusive in this generation when kids are reared by a culture of hatred and death.

Dry Bones Classic

The Impossible Takes Longer

If Franklin D. Roosevelt will have it his way, he will "do nothing to assist the Jews against the Arabs and would make no move hostile to the Arab people." This promise of the American President to King Abdulaziz of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy in Egypt's Great Bitter Lake was even made in writing on April 5, 1945. However, a week later, Roosevelt died with cerebral hemorrhage and Vice President Harry S. Truman succeeded as President. This milestone would greatly change the course of American policy on the partition of Palestine which facilitated the creation of the State of Israel.

Vera Weizmann, widow of the first President of Israel, in her memoirs "The Impossible Takes Longer" opined that President Harry Truman will always be remembered as one of our 'founding fathers'.

Before the drama over partition was played to a finish in the General Assembly of the U.N., Chaim, who suspected that the French delegation was wavering in its support, cabled our old friend Leon Blum, asking him, 'Does France really wish to be absent from a moment unfading in the memory of man?' On 29 November, when the vote was taken in the Assembly, thirty-three nations voted for partition, thirteen against, ten abstained, and there was one absentee, the last somewhat unaccountably, being Siam. Among those who abstained was the United Kingdom. France, the United States, and the U.S.S.R. were among those who voted in favour. It was a rare spectacle, rarely repeated, to see the two great rival powers, the Unites States of America and Russia, voting together, for motives, of course, which were entirely different. I promptly left the Assembly room to be the first to inform my husband of the decision.

Chaim had decided not to attend this fateful meeting of the U.N. Assembly. He was too tired and too overwrought. Just before the Jewish Agency repressentatives, Sharett, Sprinzak, and Shazar, left our suite in our New York hotel for Lake Sucess, Chaim had broken down in a fit of uncontrollable sobbing. By the time they returned with the great news, he had recovered completely. The emotional storm which had swept through him so unexpectedly had spent itself in the moment of victory which he himself shared.

The news of the UN resolution spread like wildfire throughout New York, and tens of thousands gathered spontaneously at the St. Nicholas Skating Rink, the only place avaiable for assembly at a few hours' notice. Chaim was prevailed upon by his friends to go to this meeting, and when he finally arrived, tired, sick and exhausted, he was carried forward on the shoulders of the masses. There had never been such pandemomonium, such enthusiasm and exhilaration as that moment when Chaim made his appearance on the shoulders of the surging crowd. The Hatikvah was sung with a fervour never before or since repeated.


Vera Weizmann. The Impossible Takes Longer. 1967. (pp 220-221)

Super Size Me 2

Philippines is making waves around the globe, not because of the series of storms criss-crossing the country nor the tremors last Tuesday, but for unfurling a record breaking Israeli Flag after weeks of anticipation. Side by side the flag is a slightly lesser-sized Philippine Flag which curiously is displayed in a state of war with its red field displayed on top . Hopefully, this is not even remotely prophetic.

Probably, so as not to dampen all the efforts and preparations, the Israeli Government sanctioned its display despite its illegal size which is not in the ratio prescribed by the Israel Flag Law. I also wonder what happened to the long held tradition that prohibits the Flags to touch the ground?

A canned press release explained how it all started for the Filipina patron. "God spoke to me in thunder and lightning. The Lord said, 'Make the flag of Israel, the standard of my people."

Someone to Run With

Last week, I invited myself to an exclusive screening of this year's Israeli Film Festival with the help of Gladys from the Embassy who we have known since her days in PIBA(Phil-Israel Business Assoc.) This is a rather low-key Festival as compared to the previous years. What used to be an all week cinephile treat of around a dozen of films and short-films is now just a shadow of its past. Only two films are up for viewing, the one that is open for public is "Paper Dolls", this is about Filipino metapelets doing the quintessential Pinoy "lagare" or sideline work, this time as transvestite entertainers in Tel-aviv. Despite the odd theme that the film maker took, (who btw was brought by the Embassy in the country) the issue on foreign workers in Israel took center-stage and was treated intelligently.


The other film was shown only once in an exclusive screening in Greenbelt and was such a pleasant surprise for me. Often times, I come out of an Israeli Film Fest having an unsettling feeling of despair, subtly reflecting the pessimism that this generation is sadly afflicted. Thus, it was quite a relief to watch this years’ main feature “Someone to Run With” and not be found scampering out the cinema trying to recapture the spirit of “Hatikva”.

The new Ambassador was too quick to say that this feature will allow us to see the other side of Israel beyond the usual fare we get from the CNN or BBC. Indeed, we get to see Jerusalem intimately as we weave through the alleys, parks and squares. This is made more exciting when it is a golden retriever named “Dinka” and her leash who pulls the plot of the adventure story. The film I learnt is an adaptation of a novel by David Grossman which was a 2001 bestseller which they made for the big screen in 2006.



For those interested to have a review of the book. I got the following from Mark Sorkin in www.januarymagazine.com entitled A Dovish Dream, an interesting background of the author and his film.

David Grossman, the author of six novels and three works of nonfiction, is considered one of Israel's finest and most contentious writers. In his dispatches on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, most notably 1988's The Yellow Wind, he comes across as a humanist who is highly attuned to the suffering on both sides and tirelessly engaged in the search for an equitable solution.

Grossman's fiction, on the other hand, steers clear of those affairs. He is a masterful narrator of adolescent solipsism, and his protagonists, typically awkward or overgrown boys, are more concerned with their personal dramas than the historical backdrops against which they unfold. For Grossman, writing fiction is not exactly a form of escapism but rather a means toward transcendence. "It is so exhilarating and rejuvenating to have a story help extricate me from the dispassion that life in this disaster zone dooms me to," he wrote in Death As a Way of Life, a collection of essays published last spring. "When I write, or imagine, or create even one new phrase, it is as if I have succeeded in overcoming, for a brief time, the arbitrariness and tyranny of circumstance."

The English translation of Grossman's latest novel, Someone to Run With, is welcome, indeed. Written in the late 1990s, the book is set during the waning days of the Oslo era, shortly before Grossman's hopes for peace were dashed by the outbreak of the second intifada. In keeping with the author's reluctance to mix fiction with political commentary, there's hardly a Palestinian to be found in these pages, and only passing reference to cross-cultural anxieties. The story follows two Israeli teenagers -- Assaf, a lanky errand boy in Jerusalem's City Hall, and Tamar, a runaway with "eyes that saw too much" -- and Dinka, the golden Labrador that eventually brings them together. Grossman's fluid prose translates well into English and carries the reader smoothly from scene to scene, navigating from Assaf's flights of fancy to Tamar's streetwise schemes.

Grossman has sprinkled a good deal of destiny into this story, such that by the time the two puppy lovers meet, their otherwise implausible romance seems inexorable. When the story begins, Assaf is poised on the brink of independence. He is spending his summer estranged from his parents, who are tending to his sister in America. He is also estranged from his childhood friends, who have coupled off and left him alone with his computer games. Assaf has plenty of free time on his hands and a head filled with fantasies, which is to say that the potential for self-invented adventure is high. "Sometimes it is so easy to determine the exact moment when something -- Assaf's life, for instance -- starts to change, irreversibly, forever," Grossman writes.

Enter Dinka, the plot incarnate. When the stray dog turns up at City Hall, Assaf is tasked with finding her owner. But Dinka immediately takes charge, dragging Assaf at breakneck speed through the streets of Jerusalem in search of Tamar. Assaf knows nothing about the girl or her whereabouts, but Dinka draws him into her world by leading him to her favorite haunts. As he meets Tamar's eccentric band of acquaintances, he gathers clues and begins to sense that Tamar is in some sort of trouble. In the meantime, he develops a healthy-sized crush on her and casts himself in an elaborate daydream as her savior. Carrying her overstuffed backpack, for example, "he tried to forget his pain by pretending that she had fainted, and fallen, without knowing it, into his care." Tamar has embarked on a heroic quest of her own, and she has, indeed, placed herself in harm's way. Disappearing from family and friends, she has slipped into the city's seedy underground in search of her brother, Shai, a heroin junkie she hopes to rescue. She finds him holed up in a sort of halfway house for street performers and discovers that he's indentured to the thugs running the racket. In order to get close, she impersonates a wayward chanteuse and subjects herself to the gang's abuses, waiting for the perfect moment to escape with Shai in tow.

Actually, there are quite a few perfect moments in this story. Grossman thrusts the narrative forward according to an unambiguous moral scheme in which fate intervenes exactly when called upon to reward noble intentions and punish malicious ones. Similarly, characters are drawn to each other as if by forces beyond their control. Assaf imagines that "a huge magnet was pulling" him toward Tamar. For her part, Tamar sends mental telegrams to Shai and drifts rather effortlessly toward his hideout, as if he has responded by providing directions. Assaf and Tamar communicate in silence, as well. "When her eyes met Assaf's," Grossman writes, "she knew he was now seeing the same picture, in exactly the same way, perhaps even in the same words."

The accumulation of all this wish fulfillment skews the reality that's presented, inflecting it with magic. For that reason, these teenage heroes may find their best audience among young-adult readers. Assaf and Tamar are both driven by sentimental, chivalric ideals, and their aspirations are strengthened rather than checked as they make their first, tentative steps toward adulthood. But their story isn't simply an adventure in which good triumphs over evil, nor could it be summed up as a romance in which true love prevails. Someone to Run With is a willfully, perhaps defiantly, naive fantasy in which two unlikely partners overcome a series of dangerous obstacles before joining hands -- and then find themselves fulfilled in each other's company. Coming from such a relentless advocate for peace between Israel and Palestine, that sounds like the stuff of political allegory. At the very least, it's a pleasant, dovish dream.

Gifts of Yaakov

Parashat Vayishlach contains a very intriguing detail of the gifts that Yaakov presented to his brother Esav. What could be thought of as one of those unremarkable numbers that seem to intrude into our narrative turns out to be a fascinating detail that only mathematicians could have taken notice. The following excerpt would briefly explain to us the concept of "amicable pairs" which the author calls the "friendly pairs". The mystery lies whether Yaakov actually knows the mathematical properties of the number of flocks in each set of gifts he presented to his brother. But what is clear is the mathematical evidence of God's fingerprint in a very ancient text that Moses compiled for us.

In what unexpectedly turns out to be a successful effort to regain Esau's friendship, Jacob sends Esau a gift of 220 goats. Of all conceivable numbers, this is the most symbolically important he could have given. This quantity is the smaller half of what mathematicians call a "friendly pair" of numbers, the larger part is 284. The properties of friendly and perfect numbers are almost identical. If the sum of the divisors of one quantity equals another, and vice versa, then the two are called a friendly pair.

1, 2, 4, 5,10, 11, 20, 22, 44, 55, 110 all divide 220
1+2+4+5+10+11+20+22+44+55+110 equals 284

1, 2, 4, 71, 142 all divide 284
1+2+4+71+142 equals 220

THE FIRST GIFT: 220 GOATS

Now let's realize this is approximately 2000 B.C.E. and Jacob is a semi-nomadic herdsman. Such traveling flock-keepers lived a life of severe hardship, carrying with them everything they owned. There was only enough time to learn what was necessary for survival. For these reasons, it is totally impossible for Jacob could have known the properties of friendly numbers without help. So the angels of God must have told him.

In the early centuries, it was a common practice for two people to each wear one of these number (1.e. 220 or 284), signifying their friendship. Outside the bible these quantities were first mentioned by the Greek mathematician Pythagoras around 550 BC -- 1500 years after Jacob.

The scripture pointedly emphasize this quantity by a second gift of 220 sheep (Genesis 32:14). Still, Esau probably never counted any of these animals. Even if he had the exact numbers would have meant nothing to him. God alone knows the past and the future; therefore, the numbers are for our benefit not Esau's. This implies the Lord must have softened the heart of Jacob's brother. And the Holy Spirit depicted that softening by using what would be called friendly numbers. ..

Jacob's peace offerings hold still more surprises! In the verse following 14, a third gift is prepared consisting of 140 animals. This quantity is the smaller half of what mathematicians call a semi-friendly pair of numbers, the larger part is 195. These quantities differ very slightly from the former by not including 1 in the sum of their divisors. As before, 140 and 195 are the smallest possible such pair.

2, 4, 5, 7, 10, 14, 20, 28, 35, 70 all divide 140
2+4+5+7+10+14+20+28+35+70 equals 195

3, 5, 13, 15, 39, 65, all divide 195
3+5+13+15+39+65 equals 140

THE THIRD GIFT: 140 ANIMALS

James Harrison. The Pattern & The Prophecy. 1994. (pp 27- 30)

The Number 12

During the study of our weekly parashah "vayetze" last shabbat, question arose regarding the significance of the Number Twelve. These are what I gathered from the book The Pattern & the Prophecy:

What does this quantity symbolize in Holy Scripture? A moment reflection will tell you how widely the authors used it. Yes, widely used, and always in a context indicating power and purpose. Consider the following examples:

• 
  

• From Seth to Noah there were 12 patriarchs.
• Israel had 12 tribes from Jacob's 12 sons.
• When Joshua crossed the Jordan River he took 12 stones to commemorate the event.
• The temple of Solomon had 12 as a factor in all its measurement.
• The huge bronze ablution tank rested on 12 oxen.
• On the 12th night, the magi arrived to recognize Jesus' power.
• When we next hear of Jesus, He is 12 and in the temple.
• Jesus chose 12 apostles.
• The new Jerusalem is set on 12 foundations.
• This ruling city is to be a perfect cube, 12,000 stadia in length, width and height.
• Walls 144(12x12) cubits thick
• It will have 12 gates, with 12 pearls, guarded by 12 chosen angels.

Conclusion: the number 12 signifies power given to people, events, or objects chosen for special purpose. The nature of that power is judicial.

This one is from James Strong in his book The Tabernacle of Israel.

The number twelve is only employed in the Scripture conventionally, and derives its whole significance from that of the tribes of Israel, whence it was transferred to the apostles as the representatives of the Early Church. It is, therefore, purely national and ecclesiastical.

Super Size Me

An Israeli flag the size of two football fields on its way to Israel from Philippines is making a buzz this past days. This is supposedly part of the "50 years of Philippines-Israel Friendship" activities. This is the second crack by the organizers to make it to the Guinness Book of World record,the first attempt ended up vying for the biggest rip after strong winds tore the 200 x 100 meter Philippine flag. We recall that even before the failed bid, the National Historical Institute and the University of the Philippines denied the organizers the permission to unfurl the flag citing Philippine Laws which require construction of an 800 meter high flagpole to it.

Now we wonder if they can pass the Flag and Emblem Regulations of Israel which constrains that it should be done as described in the proclamation about the flag of the State of Israel, and in the dimensions specified in it, or in other dimensions but in the same ratio which is 220 cm. long and 160 cm. wide. Obviously, the dimension of the flag mentioned does not fit in the ratio. Moreover, it is prohibited to hoist the flag on a pole unless the pole is approximately three times as high as the width of the flag. This literally is a tall order.

We hope that the organizers would seriously study the Israeli Flag Laws in order to save them from embarrassment of ending up as an oddity. Attempting to unfurl the world's largest flag is in itself commendable, but if it is done in violation of existing laws then the organizers must be ready to face penalties. They should be aware that they are being carefully monitored by some Government Agencies ever since it tried to make an illegal banner which combined the emblems of Israel and the Philippines. Several times we are asked if we are part of such activity, which they call "lunacy". We can only always deny association but the damage done to pro-Zionist groups is already there. Clearly, if there is no diligence and caution, best intentions would not suffice .

In his book Jerusalem Curiosities, Abraham Millgram compiled several observations from writers who visited the Holy Land. Considering the attachment of Biblical Zionists to Israel, it is not far-fetch that people would attribute these behaviors as "Jerusalem Syndrome".

... Many religious fanatics and cranks of different mental derangement seemed drawn as by magnet to the Holy City. Each one coming to Eretz Israel with a particular idee fixe and spent their lives pursuing their obsessions. They were absorbed in their compelling goals with singular dedication and admirable piety. They usually harmed no one and often performed deeds of kindness with selflessness and generosity. (p. 254)

As Biblical Zionists, we have to be really mindful that we get across our best intentions without being labeled as another "Jerusalem Crank".

Not So Open Door

The highlight and culmination of this year’s celebration of "50 Years of Philippine-Israel Friendship" is the unveiling of the Open Door Monument in the city of Rishon Lezion this December. The story behind this holocaust memorial started a score of years before Israel and the Philippines commenced diplomatic ties. Then President Manuel L. Quezon, lobbied by American-Jewish Community in Manila, opened our country to thirty Jewish families fleeing Sino-Japanese War in Shanghai in 1937, a rescue that would be a precedent of the saving of 1,000 Jews escaping Nazi Europe. This heroic feat would merit a posthumous title of "Righteous Person" to President Manuel Quezon.

The great honor for Quezon, however, just obscures the shadow of an adverse Philippine National Assembly that resulted to a delay of absorbing more Jews to a proposed Mindanao Resettlement Program in the plateaus of Bukidnon. The plan that could have saved 50,000 Jews ended up saving none.

Bonnie Harris in her dissertation paper "From Zbaszyn to Manila", regarded Mindanao as the last hope for the tens of thousands of Jewish refugees persecuted under Nazi Germany, only to be thwarted by anti-Jewish National Assembly. She wrote:

At the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, Hitler’s plan for massive Jewish deportation mutated into one of extermination, which was executed over the next three years. With the failure of the West to provide a successful mass rescue operation for Europe’s Jewish population, "thousands of Jews entered the cattle cars bound for Auschwitz, under the impression that they were being resettled in the East." The irony of the "Final Solution" lies in its mimic of the Western World’s failed attempt to rescue through resettlement. "The decision to murder followed directly from the failure to resettle." Mindanao ended a long list of resettlement schemes considered at one time by the international community that failed to rescue.

In the book "None is Too Many", we get detailed accounts of the apathy of Canada towards the Jews. Although not as thoroughly documented, the same indifference in our legislative assembly make us partly responsible for the holocaust.

Had the democratic world tried to rescue the innocent - and failed - we might find solace in the nobility of a lost cause, of a gallant crusade; but there were no rescue attempts. The nations of the world were put to the test and were found wanting; their failure was not a failure of tactics, but of will, of the human spirit.

One fact transcends all others. The Jews of Europe were not so much trapped in a whirlwind of systematic mass murder as they were abandoned to it. The Nazis planned and executed the holocaust, but it was made possible by an indifference to the suffering of the victims which sometimes bordered on contempt. Not one nation showed generosity of heart to those who are doomed, not one made the Jewish plight a national priority and not one willingly opened its doors after the war to the surviving remnant of the once thriving Jewish community. Rescue required sanctuary, and there was none. (Preface)

Measured against the millions seeking refuge who were refused, the thousand that found haven in our islands is already plenty; but set against the millions who were murdered, we did very little.

Reluctant Midwife

Filipinim is synonymous to caregiver in Israel. For the past decade the Filipino OFWs in Israel, majority of whom are metapelets, sets the tone for the Philippine-Israel relations which is commemorating its Golden Year since the establishment of their respective embassies in August of 1957. But even a decade before that, the Philippines is already in her element - reluctantly midwifing the birth of Israel.

Abba Eban, a liaison officer then to the UN Special Committee on Palestine, in his Autobiography, gives us a glimpse of that day in November 29, 1947, where he successfully attained approval for the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab segments. Also, an interesting footnote on Carlos P. Romulo to once and for all douse our much touted tie-breaker role in the historic vote. He wrote:

When the General Assembly came together on November 27, we were plunged into gloom. There was every reason to fear that if the vote was taken, we would fall short of the two-thirds majority. The day before, the odds had seemed to be in our favor. But at precisely that moment the French delegate, Alexandre Parodi, had called for a postponement of the session. In the twenty-four hours since then, we had lost ground. The representative of Uruguay, Professor Rodriguez Fabregat, embarked on a long discourse that could not uncharitably be regarded as a filibuster. As the minutes ticked away, all hope seemed to be receding. It was then that the chairman, Ambassador Aranha, revived our hopes. He discovered that the hour was late, that the decision to be made was important and that the following day was an American national holiday, Thanksgiving Day. With a firm hand, oblivious of Arab protest, he adjourned the session. It was clear we would know our fate on November 29, and that November 28 would be a day of unremitting toil...

(Forward to November 29)

...I made for the United Nations General Assembly headquarters, which was in ferment of tension. Newspapermen, television and radio correspondents from all over the world were concentrated in the lobbies, while the delegates’ seats and visitor’s gallery were crowded as they had never been before The United Nations was facing a momentous opportunity at a very early stage of its career. On the podium, pale and solemn were the President of the Assembly, Oswaldo Aranha, Trygve Lie and the equally well nourished Assistant Secretary-General Andrew Cordier. Aranha called the meeting to order and invited the representative of Iceland to the rostrum. Thors, to my relief, was magnificent. He stated with firm conviction that despite every examination or all avenues, he and his committee were convinced that an agreement in advance was impossible. The only hope of conciliation lay in an act of judgment and decision. If the world community was firm in support of partition, then partition would come into existence and those who opposed it now would have no course but to acquiesce.

From that moment on, the debate went inexorably our way. An attempt by Chamoun to secure a postponement in order to discuss the federal proposal was firmly ruled out of order by Aranha and opposed with impressive unity by Gromyko and Hershel Johnson. By this time the United States and the Soviet Union were becoming irritated by the delaying tactics imposed on the General Assembly by the Arab and the British delegations. Here, for the first time since the end of the war, two Great Powers were reaching agreement on a major international issue, and countries of lesser responsibility were preventing their accord from coming into effect. General Carlos Romulo of the Philippines, who had spoken against partition two days before, had now disappeared, and a new Filipino delegate spoke as ardently for the partition plan as Romulo had spoken against. Liberia also had swung around in our favor. To my relief, my own “clients” – the Benelux countries – now recorded their firm intention to support the partition plan. There was still the fear that a French abstention might upset this prospect.

Finally the speechmaking came to an end, and a solemn hush descended on the hall. Aranha announced his intention to call for a vote in alphabetical order. Some of us who were present still retain a memory of the tone in which Cordier recited the votes. “Argentina?” “Abstain.” “Afghanistan?” “No.” “Australia?” “Yes.” “Belgium?” “Yes.” “Bolivia?” “Yes.” “Byelorussia?” “Yes.” And so it went on. When France loudly said “Oui,” there was an outbreak of applause in the hall, which Aranha sternly suppressed. By the time we had gone half way through the alphabet, we knew that we were safely home. Finally, after the announcement of Yugoslavia’s “abstention,” we heard the historic words: “Thirty three in favor, thirteen against, ten abstentions, one absent. The resolution is adopted.”...

Excerpts From: Abba Eban, An Autobiography, pages 97-99

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This November will mark 60 years since the famous and fateful UN partition vote that paved the way for Israel's creation. The Knesset plans to reenact the vote with fanfare.

Read Article Here

Fiddler on the Roof

Almost everyone has heard of Fiddler on the Roof. This musical first came to Broadway stage in the 1960's, and rapidly became a phenomenal box-office hit. Since its debut in Manila 30 years ago, it became the most beloved musical of the Repertory Philippines who will restage it again at Onstage Theatre in Greenbelt One, Makati City.

“It will be nostalgia for many and there is a whole generation that hasn’t seen this musical theater classic. Besides, the music is some of the most memorable written for the stage and deserves to be heard again – sung, live, by the warm and funny characters of the story." says director Baby Barredo

Fiddler on the Roof provides a delightfully entertaining story, illustrative of many traditional values of the Jewish Family. Author Marvin R. Wilson in his pioneering book Our Father Abraham urges all Christians to see Fiddler and then to discuss it.

"This artistic drama will enable Christians of all backgrounds to become aware of many Jewish values and customs, rooted in Scripture and rabbinic tradition, which have brought stability and meaning to the family."

Some of the most important lesson for the family from the fiddler are discussed in his book Our Father Abraham. The topic is also part of the film lecture series "Understanding Hebraic Thoughts" by the Arkansas Institute of Holy Land Studies which is ongoing this month in the Center.


Unfortunately, our sister Enchang Kaimo (very much part of the Messianic Movement) won't be part of the musical that she has anticipated for so long. She is still in the US. But catch the dulcet and plaintive strain of the violin, it's Isi playing with the Manila Symphony Orchestra.

So catch the play, grab the book and join us in the film lecture series.

For ticket information, prices, and show dates call 8870710 or visit www.repertory-philippines.com. Tickets are also available at Ticketworld – Tel No. 891-9999.

Messianic Conference in Manila

The 2nd Asia Pacific Messianic Fellowship Yeshiva &

6th Asia Pacific Messianic Conference

Yeshiva : "Christology", December 20-24, 2007
Conference : "What's so New About the New Testament" &
"My Big Fat Greek Mindset", December 25-28, 2007

Baruch Haba!

Welcome to Mount Zion Center Library and Bookstore!

ABOUT THE LIBRARY

Mount Zion Center Library is a one-stop electronic resource center with its facility based in Quezon City in Metro Manila. We provide access to the wealth of Judaica and Christian books and multi-media devoted to the study of classic and modern texts, culture, history and heritage. The Mount Zion Center Library is an affiliate of the Asia-Pacific Messianic Fellowship(APMF).

OUR HISTORY

The Mount Zion Center Library began with a donation of books and other materials from its founders and President, Helmut & Erika Loeffler, who are now based in Jerusalem. The recent donation also of books from American missionaries, Roger & Naomi Walkwitz, founders of APMF, marked a new milestone in the Library's commitment to become a Judeo-Christian resource network in the Philippines.


OUR MISSION

Our mission is to ensure a library that reaches and serve individuals and communities seeking to rediscover their Hebraic roots. The vision is to create a place where we can have an access to a repository of knowledge and wisdom making it possible to share our joy in the Torah, Israel and the Messiah and preserving them even to the next generation.



A library is one of the foundation upon which a community that seeks its Hebraic roots can build for the future. Through private support from individuals and organizations we can realize our desire of equipping believers of the Messiah to identify with Israel and the Jewish people. This is our commitment with you