Thursday, September 25, 2014

DAY 2 OF ROSH-HASHANA AND THE SHAMETAH YEAR STARTS

JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER

SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGE (NOT THE WORLD) THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER.

GENESIS 1:5,14
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:(ISRAELS HOLY DAYS AND SABBATH STARTS AT 6PM) And for SIGNS (PROPHECY SIGNS TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, OUR DAY)

Shana Tova from Arutz Sheva-Updates will end for a three-day period starting from Wednesday evening and will resume on Saturday night with the end of Shabbat-First Publish: 9/25/2014, 12:56 AM-ISRAELNATIONALNEWS

As the Jewish people usher in a new year, Arutz Sheva's team wishes all of our readers a sweet and happy new year.Updates to our website will end for a three-day period - two days of Rosh Hashana followed by Shabbat - starting from Wednesday evening.Our regular news updates will resume on Saturday night with the end of Shabbat.May this year be full of blessings and peace for all our readers, and for Israel.Shana Tova,The Arutz Sheva team.

Chief Rabbi Lau Asks Rabbis: Don't Fight over Shemittah-Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi speaks at conference of 400 rabbis about upcoming shemittah sabbatical year, which raises controversial issues.By Ari Yashar-First Publish: 1/23/2014, 8:27 PM-ISRAELNATIONALNEWS

Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau spoke before 400 rabbis on Thursday, in a conference at the Ministry of Religious Services in Jerusalem. His speech centered on the topic of the shemittah sabbatical year in which Jewish law forbids agricultural work, letting the land of Israel rest.The next shemittah year will begin this coming Rosh Hashana (Jewish new year) in September. Rabbi Lau urged the rabbis to consult with farmers to clarify Jewish law regarding the special seven year cycle.The somewhat complex issues of shemita were thoroughly explained in Arutz Sheva articles in 2007, ahead of the previous shemittah year.The Torah commandment to leave fields fallow for one year every seven years involves many complicated Halakhic (Jewish legal) issues, and opinions differ on how best to adhere to the laws without unduly harming farmers' livelihood."We prefer that as many farmers as possible will completely refrain from their work according to the commandment of the Torah, and we must offer them 'otzar beit din (public treasury),'" stated Rabbi Lau, referring to one such opinion, preferred by many rabbis. But he added that those who choose to follow alternative methods, such as the "heter mechira", "must do so in accordance with Halakha (Jewish law) and by the precise instructions about the four forbidden types of work."The two methods mentioned by the Chief Rabbi are ways of accommodating the near-impossible financial hardship of not working one year out of seven.By 'public treasury,' harvest and distribution is conducted since produce is forbidden to be sold but not to be eaten. Therefore fields are maintained, not for commercial profit, but by a body representing the wider public. In 'heter mechira,' the land is temporarily sold to non-Jews, thereby circumventing the ban on cultivating Jewish land and exempting it from shemittah."I suggest that instead of rabbis talking against each other and presenting a dispute in their positions on shemittah every seven years, each one should act according to their rabbis and respect each other," emphasized Rabbi Lau.In the context of mutual respect, the Chief Rabbi remarked that as soon as he took his position he suggested meeting with his Sephardic counterpart Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef weekly."I told the Rishon Letzion (Rabbi Yosef) that unfortunately there are rabbis who will try to make controversy between us, but in our positions we will sit together G-d willing ten full years without 'please part from me' (Genesis 13:9)," remarked the rabbi, emphasizing cooperation. (His Biblical reference was the the episode when Avraham and his nephew Lot parted ways due to irreconcilable differences in lifestyle).Rabbi Lau noted that debates between rabbis are "today unfortunately portrayed as a desecration of G-d's name and as disputes. Every word out of place said by a rabbi can cause of desecration of G-d's name, contempt for rabbis and all people."The rabbi concluded "we must guard the holiness of the land, but no less the holiness of man and of each other."

After Rosh Hashana, Countdown to Yom Kippur-No unusual events were registered during the long holiday weekend. Ten Days of Teshuva begin.By Arutz Sheva-First Publish: 9/24/2014, 8:27 PM- ISRAEL NATIONALNEWS

Jews from all streams streamed to the nation's synagogues – including the Kotel (Western Wall) – on Rosh Hashana to attend the holiday prayers over the long holiday weekend which began Wednesday evening. The holiday passed without any unusual events at prayer centers, as security forces provided protection for the worshippers.Numerous events are expected at the Kotel during the next ten days. Selichot prayers will be recited until Yom Kippur, which is the last of the "ten days of teshuva (repentance)" and the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.The Military Rabbinate is conducting "selichot tours" for hundreds of soldiers, which pass through various synagogues and end up at the Kotel.Sunday is the Fast of Gedalyah, one of the four fasts in the Jewish calendar that are related to the destruction of the Temples. The other three are Tevet 10, Tamuz 17 and the Ninth of Av, or Tisha B'av. These fasts were all instated after the destruction of the First Temple. The Fast of Gedalyah marked a dark chapter in Jewish history, when the last Jews who still remained in the Land of Israel following the sacking of the Temple, left the land following the assassination of Gedalyahu Ben Ahikam, the Babylonian-appointed leader of the Jewish community in Israel.

Synagogue Attendance for Rosh Hashana Expected to Grow-Far more Israelis will be in synagogue than at national parks over the three-day Rosh Hashana holiday, says an expert.By Yaakov Levi-First Publish: 9/14/2014, 10:44 PM-ISRAELNATIONALNEWS

The media in Israel tends to treat Rosh Hashana as a long weekend, and this year, with the New Year festival falling adjacent to Shabbat, observant Israelis who will not have turned on the radio or television for three days straight are likely to hear all about how many people had picnics in national parks over the long weekend when they turn on their televisions on Saturday night, Sept. 27, after the Shabbat following the festival has concluded.But in truth, far more Israelis will be in synagogue than at the park over those three days, according to the chairman of the Association of Synagogues in Israel, Eliezer Sheffer. In an interview with Arutz Sheva on how synagogues were preparing for the “High Holiday rush,” Sheffer said that a total of 1.5 million worshippers will attend services at 10,500 synagogues, managed by over 30,000 gabbaim (managers of the synagogues).Those numbers are higher than they have been in years, said Sheffer. As a result of the kidnapping of three Israeli teens and the subsequent Operation Protective Edge, there has been an awakening among Israelis, bringing many of them back to the syngoguge. “Israel demonstrated unity over the summer, and that feeling is continuing on,” he said.The situation is similar to that which occurred some 50 years ago, in the year before the Six Day War, when Sheffer said there was a huge increase in the number of people attending synagogue on the High Holy Days. Sheffer further urged those responsible for synagogue to ensure that all those who to attend are made to feel welcome. 

Qatar emir urges world to shun Israeli leaders-Associated Press-SEPT 24,14-YAHOONEWS

NEW YORK (AP) — The Qatari emir has accused Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during this summer's 50-day war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani used his speech at the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday to urged world leaders not to receive Israeli leaders in their "diplomatic salons."More than 2,100 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, many of them children, were killed, while 66 soldiers and six civilians were killed on the Israeli side.The Qatari leader also called on the Security Council to pass a resolution forcing Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian lands according to a clear time table.