Just a few short weeks ago, we celebrated the Chag (חג pronounced "haag", and meaning festival, holiday) of Purim. As many of you know, this is a celebration of the salvation of the Jewish people in the Persian Kingdom through Queen Esther, also known by her Hebrew name - Hadassah. Because of her bravery to go before the king and plead for not only her own life, but that of her people, the Jewish people were not only saved from annihilation, but able to defend themselves from their aggressors. If you've never watched the movie "One Night With the King" it is an excellent telling of the book of Esther. Here's a link to watch it in it's entirety (2 parts):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RnnNK9yuyw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W74IA2Lw754
The Jewish people around the world remember this protection from God each and every year by reading the book of Esther and dressing up as the characters in the book (and nowadays many other characters as well). It is popular to eat triangle-shaped cookies called Haman's ears, named after the evil Haman who plotted to destroy all the Jews in the Kingdom.
Also common is to give gifts to friends, neighbors and the poor & needy. Our neighbor next door took his children to deliver goodies to the neighbors on Purim, and we received this gift of tea and cookies (well, the cookies got eaten before I could take the picture...) along with a note written by one of the children.
We were off that day, so we decided to wander into town to see all that was going on. There were many festivities planned, especially for the children. After passing the King David Hotel (where President Obama will be staying soon) we saw this interesting looking couple.
Everywhere we looked we saw little Queen Esthers....
At the municipality (city hall) there was a stage set up and people in special costumes.
Here's a few videos from the afternoon.
Ben Yehuda Street
Jaffa Road
We even saw a few dogs dressed up.
Stopping into the store on the way home, we could see they were already preparing for Pesach (Passover) with pallets of Matza. Starting at Pesach, for an entire week - Feast of Unleavened Bread or Feast of Matza, bread or any leavened products are not eaten. What makes it VERY easy to keep this Biblical Feast in Israel, is that the grocery stores will not let you purchase any products that are not "kosher for Pesach", meaning it has any kind of leaven. So there is no guessing what can be eaten - if you can buy it at the store, it can be eaten.
Exodus 12:14 ‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. 17 So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’”
The scripture from Ecclesiastes 1:9 always comes to mind when we celebrate Purim and Pesach: "That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun." As we've mentioned in blogs before, the Persian Empire, where Haman tried to kill all the Jews, is the same land that is now called Iran - who continually makes claims that they want to push the Zionist regime (Jews) into the sea. The name was just changed in 1935 from Persia to Iran.
Just as in the days of Queen Esther, the Jewish people are defending themselves from their aggressors. And just as in the days of Haman, Persia/Iran is desiring to annihilate the Jews. Why? Esther 3:8 explains perfectly:
"Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from every other people, neither do they keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not for the king’s profit to tolerate them."
Ever since the first Pesach in Egypt, the Jewish people have been persecuted for trying to keep God's laws instead of man's laws. And we have seen time and time again what happens when they won't conform.
One of the many projects of the organization we volunteer with is to the IDF (Israel Defense Force). We consider these young men and women who serve directly out of high school to be an extension of King David's army - fighting to protect and preserve this Nation as did their ancestors.
Although we both work in administration for the organization, we are also invited to go on outreach visits with the different projects as well. One of our favorites is to visit the soldiers and the bases where they live and work. We bring the units different items they are in need of throughout the year - whether to help with the cold or heat - socks, undershirts, fleece jackets, duffle bags, water bags and much more. We also help individuals known as "lone soldiers" who are Jews from around the world that come to serve in the IDF to protect the homeland, even though they are from another country. These young men and women are in Israel without their families, and we try to help provide assistance as a family would.
Here's our van being packed full with fleece jackets for a delivery.
And the soldiers unloading.
The help we are able to provide to the soldiers is very much appreciated. They are always so very grateful, and many times asking why we want to help. We explain that there are Christians around the world that give money because they want to help support these young men and women protect this Nation that God has chosen as the Apple of His eye. We may not be able to do the physical fighting, but we can pray for them and provide for them in practical ways. We are able to encourage them, and let them know we are on there side - that not EVERYONE is against them - they DO have friends in us, and we won't turn our back on them, not in times of peace OR war.
We found the following pictures during the time last November when we had the short war with Gaza. It's a blessing to know many of those defending this Nation we love are men and women of prayer.
On one trip up North to deliver jackets, Linda and the project coordinator got to spend time having coffee with the soldier they were meeting for the delivery. As they sat in the coffee shop catching up and talking, he told Linda about his family and showed her pictures of his wife and kids. She also did the same, showing pictures of our daughter and her husband. As relationships were formed, he invited us (Linda and Jim) to come visit him and his family sometime in the future at their home.
Not long after that, we were both invited to a Friday evening conference for some of the soldiers. This was a special evening for us to attend, being the erev Shabbat meal (the night before Shabbat meal is spent with friends and family). Before we ate the blessings were said over the bread and the wine. Then these young men and women began to sing some traditional Shabbat songs and we joined in. We must say, considering most of the IDF consists of young adults just out of high school, we felt kind of old...but it was an honor to spend this time with them at this conference, seeing them laugh and joke and pray and sing. They have to be "at the ready" so much of the time, it was nice to spend an evening relaxing with them.
A few weeks later, one of the gentleman that put the event together, came to the office to meet with Jim and had lunch with us. This is another relationship formed, and we shall see where it will take us. We'd like to help these soldiers even more, and maybe we can find out new ways.
Jim also went on an IDF delivery visit not long ago where he was able to spend time learning more about the unit and the people we are helping. It was a great opportunity to meet more people and show them our commitment to support them.
As we continue to watch the "nations rage" around us, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iran, etc, we know our true protection only comes from God above. He has always protected this nation, and He will continue to protect her. If you have not yet seen the series or the movie Against All Odds - Israel Survives, The Search For Miracles, here's a link to watch it on YouTube in it's entirety (1 hr 41 min).
Please be in prayer for Israel and her leaders as they need to continually make important decisions each day for the safety of the people and state. Also, please be in prayer concerning President Obama's visit to Israel March 20th. We also pray Israel will receive only positive media coverage in America during his visit.
LORD GOD
~WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR FAITHFUL PROMISES ~
~WE TRUST YOU TO ALWAYS KEEP YOUR WORD ~
YOU ARE THE GREAT I AM!
