THE YOREH

The Yoreh (pronounced yor-ay) is the Hebrew word for the Early Rain, or the first rain of the winter rainy season. On Thursday night the eagerly-awaited Yoreh arrived here in Israel. After 6-8 months during which no rain falls in Israel, all its inhabitants, human, animal and plant, long for the thirst-quenching, cleansing rain. In an earlier, less sophisticated time, Israelis used to go out in the streets and dance for joy when the Yoreh arrived. Today I didn't dance but instead I took a walk in the forest and rejoiced in breathing the freshly scrubbed air, the blue, truly blue sky, and the green, really green trees. I don't know if trees have feelings but if they did, I can imagine how happy they would be to have all the dust washed from their leaves and fresh rainwater to drink. 

From Har Hauniversita - my forest walk today

The Yoreh also breaks the back of the summer heat. In Israel there are really only two seasons, the 6-8 month long summer and the short winter rainy season. I have lived nearly 40 years in Israel and every year I am still amazed afresh by how the seasons can switch in just a day, especially when the Yoreh comes. On Thursday the temperature here was still around 30 degrees Celsius but on Friday it was only 13 degrees. It won't stay that cool of course, and we will still get some very hot days, but the main heat of summer is now broken and from this point it will grow cooler and cooler.  

In the Bible, the timely arrival of the Yoreh and the Malkosh (the latter or spring rains) is linked with the blessing of God. We see it first spoken of in the Book of Deuteronomy where it is described as the provision given by God, for agricultural abundance in the Promised Land, conditional upon the keeping of his commandments by the people of Israel,

 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’

Deuteronomy 11: 13-15

The prophet Joel also spoke of the early (or former) and latter rains, saying 

Be glad then, you children of Zion,And rejoice in the Lord your God;For He has given you the former rain faithfully,And He will cause the rain to come down for you—The former rain,And the latter rain in the first month.

Joel 2:23 

This passage is difficult to translate and interpret for in Hebrew the word here translated in the version quoted (NKJV), as former rain is not 'yoreh'  but 'moreh' in Hebrew. 'Moreh' comes from the same root but in this form it actually means 'teacher'  and it could be translated as " for He has given you the teacher of  (or for) righteousness, and he will cause the rain to come down for you, the teacher and the latter rain in the first month ". Some see this as speaking prophetically of the coming of the Messiah, the Teacher of Righteousness"  at the time of the latter rain or Malkosh. 

The coming of the Yoreh is a time of blessing but it can also be a time of danger. The first rains can be very heavy and the ground, baked like concrete over the summer, is impermeable leading to rapid runoff and often flooding, especially in the mountain and desert areas. On Thursday a 4-year-old Bedouin boy was swept away and drowned by a flash flood near Arad in the Negev, and 9 hikers had to be rescued when floods cut them off. On the other side of the Dead Sea, in Jordan, some 44 people, mostly middle school children on a school trip, were swept away by a flash flood. The death toll stands at 18 but this may yet rise as some are still missing. Jordan called upon Israel to help and our elite military rescue unit flew in and helped with the search during the night. 

In the South, in and around the Gaza Strip, there has also been a different kind of rain this weekend. The word 'Yoreh' has a second meaning in Hebrew, namely the verb 'to shoot'. The southern Israeli towns around the Strip were hit with 34 rockets over the last 24 hours, and the IDF responded by striking some 87 Hamas and 8 Islamic Jihad military targets in the Gaza Strip, including the building used by Hamas as its Security Headquarters. In this volley of rockets, seven Israelis were lightly injured, mostly suffering from shock. There has been no rocket fire from Gaza now for about 8 hours but we are still on high alert and residents in the south are under Rear Command orders to remain close to their bomb shelters. 

Yesterday, Friday, there were reports that Israel and Hamas had with the help of Egyptian intervention reached a ceasefire agreement. As part of this agreement Hamas had undertaken to stop the weekly border protests and the incendiary attacks completely in return for the reopening of the border crossings and other concessions by Israel.  In spite of these reports,  some 16,000 'demonstrators' gathered at the border fence yesterday, burning tires, throwing grenades, Molotov cocktails and rocks at IDF positions, attempting to break through the border fence and releasing incendiary balloons.  As a result, 3 Palestinians were killed as Israeli troops fired on them. Two others were killed during riots in the West Bank. 

Islamic Jihad is saying that last night's rocket attacks were in retaliation for these deaths. If this represents a new policy on both sides then the situation is bound to continue to escalate over the coming weeks. Here in Israel there is growing anger and frustration about the situation, especially amongst residents of the south. It seems clear that life in the south is becoming intolerable that this situation cannot continue much longer, but the alternative, all-out war against Hamas and Islamic Jihad, also seems unthinkable. Such a war would cause many casualties and much suffering on both sides of the fence, and it is unclear what would be the end result. Would it trigger a wider conflict involving Hezbollah, Syria and Iran? Even if that did not happen and Israel conquers Gaza again, there is no way we want to occupy the Strip or have the responsibility of ruling the population there. 

As I write news is coming in of another incident of 'yoreh' (shooting), this time in a synagogue in Pittsburgh, USA. The shooter (yoreh) shouted 'All  the Jews must die' as he opened fire in the synagogue during Shabbat prayers, killing 11 people, including 3 police responders, and injuring many others.

I am reminded of the passage in Jeremiah 16 which speaks of the time when God will send hunters to hunt out the children of Israel and cause them to flee to the Land.  

"Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that it shall no more be said, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’  but, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’ For I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers. “Behold, I will send for many fishermen,” says the Lord, “and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. 

Jeremiah 16: 14-16

In recent years we have seen an upsurge in immigration, especially from the USA and Europe, motivated by fear of the increasing AntiSemitism worldwide. In former years many 'fishermen' went out around the world to convince Jews to return to the Land and many responded, but many did not, especially those Jews living comfortably in the Americas and Europe.  With the rise of AntiSemitism and the 'hunters' becoming active, more and more are fearing for their safety and seeking to come to Israel. 

When I wrote my last blog update I spoke about the missile strike which destroyed a house in Beer Sheva (Beersheba). Another missile was also fired at the same time but it fell in the sea. At that time it was believed that Islamic Jihad had been responsible for firing those rockets, but both Hamas and the IJ denied any responsibility. Later they claimed that lightning had set off the missiles. It seemed a bit far-fetched but there were several lightning strikes in the area at the time,  and eventually the IDF came to accept this explanation. It however begs the question, why were the two missiles primed and aimed at Israel in the first place? Lightning could not trigger a firing if the missiles were not already armed and primed. No one is asking that question, it seems. 

Earlier this week, on Wednesday night, three rockets were fired into Israel from the Gaza strip. It was a little harder to blame lightning in that case, although no one claimed responsibility. In contrast, after just the first volley of rockets on Friday night, Islamic Jihad quickly claimed responsibility. IDF sources believe that Hamas was against this rocket fire and that Islamic Jihad had been instructed to carry out this attack by Iran and Syria, in order to sabotage the ceasefire. In spite of this, Israel holds Hamas, as the reigning entity, responsible for all attacks emanating from the Strip.

Prayer points:

1. Pray for the recovery of the wounded in the synagogue attack in the USA and for those who have lost loved ones. 
2. Pray for the people of southern Israel who are living under intolerable conditions with the constant threat of rocket fire and incendiary balloons. Pray especially for the children, almost all of whom suffer from trauma symptoms. 
3. Pray for the people of Gaza who are suffering greatly because their leaders do not care about their welfare. Pray for the revelation of Truth and Yeshua (Jesus) in their midst. 
4. Pray for wisdom for our leaders and that they will act according to God's will.
5. Pray too for the local elections coming up this week, on Tuesday, especially for the crucial appointment of a new mayor in Jerusalem. 
6. Pray that the people of Israel will love the LORD their God with all their hearts and serve Him, so that we will all enjoy an abundance of rain this winter, ending the 5-year drought.  

FEAST OF TABERNACLES

It is the sixth day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Succot, the last of the annual cycle of appointed feasts in the Bible. This feast is intended to remind us of how God took us out of slavery in Egypt and led us for 40 years in the desert until we came into the Promised Land. It is a feast of solemn rejoicing before the Lord. That is not a contradiction in terms, it is a feast of joy but also a recognition of the pain of our rebellion which leads to suffering along the journey of life. This is a feast not only for those descendants of the People of Israel who came out of Egypt but for all the peoples of the nations who have been saved through Yeshua (Jesus). We have all been rescued by the sovereign act of God and we all have to go through the 'desert' of life, in this world, before we will finally reach the promised land.  In the desert, we have to rely totally on the Lord for his provision and to remind us of this, we dwell in succot (booths) during this Feast. This year our congregation will literally go down to the desert on a retreat this coming weekend. We see it as a call to 'go back to the desert', not as a regression to the past,  but as a reminder of from whence we have come, and of the necessity of our total dependence on God in this life, something we easily forget in our comfortable modern lives.

A typical booth (succa) in Israel
https://www.ou.org/holidays/files/Sukkah-4.jpg

Like all the Biblical Feasts, Succot is linked to the agricultural calendar and falls at the time of the end of the summer harvest. 

So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest.

Leviticus 23:39

It is also the time when traditionally we begin to pray for the arrival of the winter rains. This year our prayers have been answered. Yesterday most of the country received its first rain - the yoreh. As always many of us, myself included, were caught out unprepared. I was in town and got soaked in my summer clothes and sandals. It is always a shock to rediscover how cold and uncomfortable rain can be - we tend to forget that during our 8 month-long rainless summer period. This year, as usual too, many streets flooded, and sadly some homes as well, because the drains get blocked with debris as the streets get their first wash. There is usually a spate of car accidents too as the rain turns the greasy, oily streets into a 'skating rink'. It is, for all that, a joyful time and many will run out onto the streets to dance and revel in the rain.  Plentiful winter rain means survival in this arid part of the world. 

Floods in Nahariya (Photo: Bentzi Beniashvili)https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5026325,00.html

It is traditional to decorate succot with tinsel and other decorations. This year one of the Muslim Arab bus drivers even decorated his bus to look like a succa.  This heartwarming act of goodwill stands starkly in contrast to the image of Jerusalem so often perpetrated in the media. Although there is often tension and violence in this city, the fact is that most of the time the Jewish, Arab and gentile inhabitants manage to cohabit quite happily. 

The festive Sukkot bus (Photo: Amit Shabi)
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5026839,00.html

In my last blog update I mentioned that I had attended a worship gathering called Panei el Adonai (my face to my LORD), a quote from Daniel 9. This gathering included Jewish, Arab and Gentiles from all over Israel and as we worship God together all barriers of nationality, identity, language and culture are transcended.  You can read more about this gathering, and get a preview of the new CD that will soon be released if you go to this link: 
http://kehilanews.com/2017/10/06/messianic-concert-draws-believers-and-nonbelievers-from-around-israel/

Sometimes when one reads the news all appears so terrible and hopeless. How can we ever find peace and reconciliation? This week I saw a glimmer of hope. Dozens of Syrians wrote letters to the IDF and Israel expressing their gratitude for the help they had received in Israeli field hospitals since the outbreak of civil war in their country. With the breakdown of medical services in Syria the only place those injured or ill could seek help was from their 'enemy' Israel. Israeli field hospitals were set up near the border and Israeli soldiers, often at great risk to themselves, helped the wounded and sick to cross the border for treatment. Many have been treated in Israeli hospitals at our expense.Yeshua (Jesus) taught us to pray for our enemies and love them. That is the only way to break down animosity. It works. 
One man, who had had to have his hand amputated, wrote, "We, the nation of Syria, want peace with the State of Israel because it provided us with many services during this troubled period. To all Syrians who say Israel is the enemy, I say that you are liars. Peace to Syria and to Israel". https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5014499,00.html?utm_source=Taboola_internal&utm_medium=organic

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you

Matthew 5: 43-44

Tomorrow the annual Feast of Tabernacles, organized by the  International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), will conclude with a closing prayer meeting "Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem". According to Bat-el Leonard of "Kehila News", 
The event, according to Israel’s Ministry of Tourism, is the largest annual event in Israel, drawing some 5,000 “Christian pilgrims” from roughly 100 countries to Jerusalem each fall, an activity which ICEJ claims brings between $15 to 18 million into Israel’s economy each year.
This year some 6,000 people attended, the largest number ever in the 38 year history of the celebration.  
http://kehilanews.com/2017/10/08/icej-kicks-off-feast-tabernacles-celebration-jerusalem/

During the Succot Week  Israeli school children have a vacation. This year a disturbing new phenomenon has hit our streets. Some teenagers are dressing as creepy and scary clowns and arming themselves with knives, clubs and irons, which they brandish to frighten younger children. They film and post their antics on the social media. As a result, many other children are afraid to go out on the streets and are arming themselves with weapons to protect themselves. Police have confiscated baseball bats, knives, slingshots and other dangerous weapons.  It is only a matter of time before this activity escalates to violence with potentially deadly results. Those 'clowns' apprehended by police claim they are doing it out of boredom. It is tragic that this generation, which has more entertainment options available than any other, cannot find healthier ways to amuse themselves.  I hope that once schools reopen next week this 'clown epidemic' will fade away.
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5026555,00.html

Yesterday high-level talks began in Cairo between the two ruling Palestinian organizations, Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip and Fatah which controls the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. In 2007 Hamas violently ousted Fatah from the Gaza Strip, resulting in a division of Palestinian territories, but three weeks ago Hamas announced that it wished to hand the government of the Gaza Strip over to the Palestinian Authority, currently controlled by Fatah. http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Palestinian-rivals-Hamas-Fatah-start-unity-talks-in-Cairo-507132

What has caused this reversal of policy by Hamas? In a nutshell, I suspect that Hamas is tired of trying to govern the Strip, and is ready to admit defeat as the humanitarian situation there is approaching boiling point. Hamas is essentially a terror organization more interested in destroying Israel than the day-to-day running of a country. Another possibility is that Hamas is intending to become a legitimate player in West Bank politics so that it can eventually take control there as well?  Whatever the motivation, can there be reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas? It seems doubtful, given that Hamas is based on an extremist Muslim ideology focussed on the concept of a military defeat of Israel, while the Fatah organization is more secular and is determined to prevent Hamas having any military presence in the Palestinian areas.  The situation is very complex and if you are interested you can read this article which I think gives a balanced analysis:
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2017/1009/Palestinian-reconciliation-What-s-driving-Hamas-and-Fatah-this-time

It is late now and I want to finish with this thought:

Be silent in the presence of the Lord God;
For the day of the Lord is at hand...

The great day of the Lord is near;
It is near and hastens quickly.
The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter;
There the mighty men shall cry out.

That day is a day of wrath,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of devastation and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
 A day of trumpet and alarm
Against the fortified cities
And against the high towers.

Zephaniah 1: 7, 14-16