Jewish Bubba: Eli

Showing posts with label Eli. Show all posts

Friday, June 23, 2023

Samaria: Coveted and Given to Palestinians By World Opinion?

Nadene Goldfoot

Aerial photograph of Evyatar in June 2021, being fought over today

The land of King David and Solomon's and Omri's Empire, Israel, was made up of Judea and Samaria and other states, and is being held for the Arab Palestinians by world opinion and its interpretation of International Law; but not according to the Old Testament that tells all of this history. It's holy Jewish land that is being given to Arab Muslim Palestinians as the Orthodox Jewish builders see it. Second reasoning is that Israel per se is so small, there is no room for the Jews. They need the land. Most all must live in high-rise apartment buildings.

Before 1948, both Jews and Arabs were both called Palestinians because they lived in Palestine-land that had been held by the Ottoman Empire for the past 400 years and which they had lost due to siding with the Axis in WWI. Now they're being rewarded for why? There never was a country called Palestine. It was the Roman name for Israel, showing their strength to the world.

After the Six Day War of June 1967 and until December 1972, Israel had established 6 settlements or villages in Judaea and Samaria. There were 3 different types; Nahal villages by the Israel Defense Forces that combined military training with farm work; villages intrinsically civilian-places hoping to sign peace treaties and Communities-whatever, allowed to continue. These were all established in Israel's Administered Area; result of 67 War.

Judea and Samaria have been renamed as West Bank-to erase it's Jewish heritage by Jordan and the rest of the world has followed right in line without complaint. The Jewish Homeland was divided by the givers almost as soon as it was promised.

Kingdoms that became part of Israel like Moab. David had defeated Edom. They became vassals of Assyria in 8th century BCE. Amnon (Transjordan) David annexed Amnon, who's king later murdered Gedalia.

Samaria (Shomron) was land of Northern Israel. It had become the capital in 880 BCE of King Omri, king of Israel 887-876 BCE, founder of a family dynasty. The site was 25 acres of land sitting 7 miles NW of Shechem (Nablus) on an isolated elevation dominating a wide countryside. Today Samaria is viewed as: territory largely corresponding to the biblical allotments of the tribe of Ephraim and the western half of Manasseh. It includes most of the region of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, which was north of the Kingdom of Judah. The border between Samaria and Judea is set at the latitude of Ramallah.

Samaria had withstood the siege of the Syrians but fell in 721 BCE to Sargon II of Assyria who resettled it with Cutheans who of course intermingled with the remnants of the Jewish population left behind the kidnapping of the best of the Jewish population and taken away as slaves. Samaria remained through the Persian (Iran) period. and then became a Macedonian colony in 331 BCE. John Hyrcanus , son of Simon the Hasmonean who ruled from 135-104 BCE, rescued it as he was also holding Jerusalem. John and the Pharisees broke off of their friendship as he abolished several Pharisaic regulations and suppressed the uprising following. He calmed the country and his last years were peaceful.

Omri had been a general under King Elah of Israel, directing operations against the Philistine city of Gibbethon. The army itself proclaimed him king after the murder of Elah-king of Israel and son of Baasha who ruled for 2 years from 886-885 BCE. The murderer was Zimri; the captain of Elah's chariots, when the Israelite army was besieging Gibbethon.

Omri's kingship was totally recognized after a 6 year struggle with Tibni who tried to take the throne. Tibni (Hebrew: תִּבְנִי was a claimant to the throne of Israel and the son of Ginath. Albright has dated his reign to 876–871 BC, while Thiele offers the dates 885–880 BC. It was Tibni who had partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. (I Kings, 16:16-27).

Omri had subdued Moab. He had been a strong king. The Assyrians even called the kingdom of Israel by his name for the rest of its existence. (Israel=The Land of Omri).

It is as if the Philistines have been replaced by the Palestinians these days, trying to take over Samaria which was left out of the original divide at the end of WWI. What did those men know about the Old Testament and the history of King David's territory? What did anyone know or care, for that matter when they were offered an acre of holy land that they had waited 2,000 years for? What did they know about the struggle it was to create Israel that the Jews held for over 1,000 years?

Emotions run high for Jews who see what they feel and know from reading history is that Samaria is their land. The most religious Jews have dared to try and live in this holy land when being attacked by Arab terrorists.

In Eli, Samaria, 4 Jews were killed and 4 wounded in a Palestinian attack at the Eli gas station. The four Israelis killed in the attack have been identified as 18-year-old Elisha Antman of Eli, 21-year-old Harel Masoud of Yad Binyamin, 17-year-old Nachman Mordof of Ahiya and 63-year-old Ofer Feierman from Eli.

Top R-L: Ofer Feierman, Nachman Mordof, Down L-R: Harel Masoud, Elisha Antman

Though Israel had its problems, no other country compares with its 1,000+ year reign. The USA is only 247 years old since its birth in 1776. England was birthed in the 927, already 1,096 years old. Saul created Israel in some years before 1010 BCE- well over 3,000 years ago and it lives. The emotional and historical connection its descendants have is more than any feeling for one's country that any other people can conjure up. To top it off, Samaria is becoming a hot-bed of terrorism against the Jews who are trying to settle in, illegally by others but legal in their own mind. So far, there's no meeting of the minds between the Jews and the Palestinians as Abbas has lost control. This isn't just a struggle between 2 lands; its a struggle of Jews versus Muslims and their history as well as religious belief.

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evyatar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaria

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_(Israeli_settlement)

Sunday, March 19, 2023

Beware Of Israel's First Civil War of North and South and It's Consequences

Nadene Goldfoot

When at present, it was announced on the news today that Israel is close to a Civil War, but the president, Hertzog, said he would not allow that to happen. People have been rioting for the past 11 weeks and it looks like it will continue until Passover over the new governmental policies in the judicial area.

Israel and the kingdom of Judah allowed things to get out of hand and had their First and Only Civil War with dire consequences. King Solomon died in 920 BCE, and that was the start of it. A divided kingdom falls, and in this case, Assyria was just waiting for this to happen as they stepped in and took the land AND the people.

Solomon, born in 961 BCE, had taken on the task of building the Temple that Moses had planned for. He got rid of his brother, Adonijah, and other potentially dangerous individuals and put his money and his laborers with architects and builders sent to him by King Hiram of Tyre. The work was completed in the 11th year of Solomon's reign and ensured the central position of Jerusalem in the kingdom.

Abiathar, son of Ahimelech, chief priest at Nob, a priestly city probably situated near Jerusalem on Mt. Scopus. After the destruction of the tabernacle or temporary Temple (According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle, also known as the Tent of the Congregation, was the portable earthly dwelling place of Yahweh used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan.) at Shiloh, the priests of the sons of Eli built a high-place in Nob where they officiated. As a punishment for the assistance given to the fugitive David, Saul slew all the priests of the place because they were like false priests.

Eli with Samuel

Eli became the high priest at age 58 at the shrine of Shiloh and one of the last Judges in the 11th century BCE. He was the mentor of Samuel. He had died 40 years after becoming high priest by falling from his chair on hearing of the Philistine capture of the Ark.

Zadok was a Cohen, a priest, not a high one, though. He may have officiated at the altar in Gibeon but after Saul's death, went to David at Hebron and--together with Abiathar---was David's chief priest. He remained loyal during Absalom's rebellion and on David's command, anointed Solomon as king. Solomon appointed Zadok's son a high priest in the Temple and from that time the high priesthood remained in the Zadokite family until the period of the Hasmonean rising.

Adonijah buttering up David as he lay dying. Adonijah was the 4th son of David. After his brother, Absalom's death, who was the 3rd son, he claimed the succession to the throne, with the support of Joab and Abiathar, but was unsuccessful. Adonijah later sought to marry Abishag, David's young concubine, but Solomon regarded this as an adct of rebellion and had him killed. (Kings 1-2).

Supporting Adonijah were the "old guard"--General Joab and the priest, Abiathar; and supporting Solomon were the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and the captain of David's bodyguard, Benaiah.

Solomon ruled his country. The Sanhedrin wasn't born until much later. The earliest record of a Sanhedrin of the 71 male rabbinical judges is by Josephus who wrote of a olitical Sanhedrin convened by the Romans in 57 BCE. Hellenistic sources generally depict the Sanhedrin as a political and judicial council headed by the country's ruler.

The biggest problem with Solomon's unwise governmental decisions were taxing the people too much to complete the Temple and not paying his laborers. Solomon must have paid his superintendant, though, Jeroboam I, of the tribe of Ephraim, who supervised forced laborers' work. It was he who later led the revolt after Solomon had died because his son, Rehoboam, did not revise these problematic areas that the people were rebelling against. He kept taxes that high, and kept forcing the laborers to work which was too much like slave standards.

Jeroboam's revolutionary movement was at first suppressed, and he had to take refuge in Egypt. Later, he led a delegation to speak with King Rehoboam representing the fated northern Israelite tribes which met him at Shechem, demanding changes in the system of taxation and forced labor.

When that request was refused, the northern tribes declared their independence and anointed Jeroboam as their king. Jeroboam's capital was first at Shechem, but was later removed to Penuiel in Transjordan and finally to Tirzah.

Five years after his accession, 60 towns of his territory were ravaged by an Egyptian invasion.

To combat the influence of the Jerusalem Temple (for he's now going against Moses's plan and making this more of an economical competition of businesses, he had the audacity to set up new shrines at Bethel and Dan with a similar cult but centering around the symbols of golden calves--a horrid idea since Moses had gone up the mountain to receive the 10 Commandments and when he was out of sight, the Israelites threw a Rave; a party of dancing and drinking around a golden calf they had made.

Golden Calf: (Exodus 32:4, Exodus 32:8; Deuteronomy 9:16; Nehemiah 9:18). This was a molten image of a calf which the idolatrous Israelites formed at Sinai. This symbol was borrowed from the custom of the Egyptians. It was destroyed at the command of Moses (Exodus 32:20).

The Bible and talmudic sources are violently hostile to Jeroboam I who "sinned and caused Israel to sin." Jeroboam was not a student of Moses' writings but a great worker and leader of men. He had missed the whole idea of what Solomon had in mind with the Temple and where Judaism was going to be. That was the beginning of their end.

By being divided, they were like chickens out of the coop about to be plucked by the lion nearby. The Assyrians saw their weakness and attacked, taking most of the best of the people away with them to be used in another land in 721 BCE. Shalmaneser V's had laid siege of Samaria and its capture by Sargon, his successor who annexed the country and then deported 27,290 of the Israelites to Assyria and Media, and then replaced them with people they wanted to rid themselves of, Syrian and Babylonian prisoners. Judah itself was taken by them by 700 BCE.

The only thing that stopped Sennacherib was a plague in his army and they returned home. King Manasseh of Judah was exiled to Assyria in 652 BCE as a result of complicity in a plot against Ashurbanipal (669-626 BCE). He was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BCE to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria.

After this time, Assyria declined rapidly and was succeeded by Babylon.

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

Tanakh, Stone Edition

ILTV on riots today in Israel

Saturday, March 6, 2021

Before Kings Were Rulers, Israelites Had Judges, and One Was a Prophet: Samuel

Nadene Goldfoot

A prophet was a very special person who could see into the future. We no longer have prophets in our Judaism. Where did they get such capabilities? Was it genetic? How did it develop? Moses was a prophet. So was Samuel, who played a very important part in Jewish life by choosing both Saul and then David to be their king.

The question asked today is who said that a person was a prophet or a judge? The first answer would be that it was someone who was a Cohen first, or a Levite for sure. They were the ones originally deemed to be holding leadership as decided by Moses. As for the kingdom of Judah, when kingship was established by David, we have his descendants as kings. He had created a dynasty of leaders.

A prophet is designated by G-d to convey His message to men and to give guidance for the future. Prophecy is an ancient institution originating in primitive times. it appears among early Semitic peoples from Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, and Canaan, but in Israel took on a distinctive form. The Hebrews implicitly believe that they had been chosen by G-d who had sent them prophets to point out the right path to follow. The prophet was primarily the protagonist of monotheism and morality, and fulfilled a decisive role in Jewish religious life and development alongside the Priest (Cohens) and the sage. Samuel was both a Cohen and a prophet who became a judge.

Samuel was the son of Elkanah who was probably an Ephraimite (younger son of Joseph) and who lived in Ramathaim Zophim. His mother was Hannah. When barren, she vowed that if she became the mother of a son, he would be consecrated to the service of G-d. Her prayer was answered, so she brought Samuel to serve Eli, the priest (Cohen). Hannah's prayer (I Sam.2:1-10) is regarded by some scholars as being of late origin.

Tomb of Samuel's mother, Hannah.

Er Ram remains

The judge, Samuel, was not only a Cohen, but also a prophet of his people of the 11th century BCE. He was born into the tribe of Levi who lived on Mt. Ephraim and at Ramah, in the land of Zuph. Ramah was a city in ancient Israel in the land allocated to the tribe of Benjamin, whose names means "height". It was located near Gibeon and Mizpah to the West, Gibeah to the South, and Geba to the East. It has been identified with modern Er-Ram, about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) north of Jerusalem. Al-Ram, A-Ram, Er Ram or al-Ramm is a Palestinian town which lies northeast of Jerusalem, just outside the city's municipal border. The village is part of the built-up urban area of Jerusalem, the Atarot industrial zone and Beit Hanina lie to the west, and Neve Ya'akov borders it on the south. Out of our ancient Judean towns have grown Palestinian ones.

Jews came from Abraham's grandson, Jacob, the twin whose brother was Esau, who had 12 sons by 2 sister and their 2 handmaids that became 12 tribes. They were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Dan, Naphtali, Joseph and Benjamin. Dinah was the only girl.

Moses was a descendant of Levi and had a brother, Aaron. He led the Jews out of Egyptian slavery and took 40 years to arrive in Canaan with the 601,730 population. Moses was a prophet.

According to the Books of Chronicles, Zuph was a Kohathite Levite, a fact not mentioned in the books of Samuel. The Kohathites were one of the four main divisions among the Levites in biblical times, the other three being the Gershonites, the Merarites, and the Aaronites (more commonly known as Kohen or Cohen).

The Bible claims that the Kohathites were all descended from the eponymous Kohath, a son of Levi. Kohath was the second son of Levi and grandfather of *Moses, *Aaron, and *Miriam (Num. 26:58–59). Descendants of Kohath should all be bearing the Ydna of the Cohen gene like Moses and Aaron.

Samuel was also called a Zophai of the Land of Zuph, a district in which lay Samuel's city, Ramathaim-Zophim. It was probably so named after Zuph. His mother consecrated him before his birth as a Nazirite who would serve the sanctuary at Shiloh. Zuph meant honeycomb in Hebrew.

Samson was a judge from the tribe of Dan. He was a Nazirite from birth. Samson's vow of keeping long hair as a reminder of his duty to G-d, after his hair grew long again, regained his strength. Delilah had cut his hair in order to weaken him. She worked for the Philistines and he didn't realize it.

Nazirites were a religious devotee who vowed not to drink any intoxicating liquor, nor to have his hair cut, and to avoid ritual uncleanness through proximity to corpses (Num. 6:2) Special sacrifices were stipulated in cases of pollution and on concluding the period of Nazirite-ship. The undertaking was generally for a limited period not less than 30 days, but could also be for life. Parents could dedicate their children as Nazirites before birth as in Samson and Samuel. The Nazirite vow was common in ancient times and during the 2nd Temple Period after which---with rare exception---it disappeared. (It seems to have all the ramifications of the Essenes and their way of life and altered Judaism).

Ramah, the home of Elkanah, Samuel's father (1 Samuel 1:19; 2:11), the birthplace of Samuel and the seat of his authority (1 Sam. 2:11; 7:17), the town is frequently mentioned in the history of that prophet and of David (1 Sam. 15:34; 16:13; 19:18-23). Here Samuel died and was buried (1 Sam. 25:1).

The historian Josephus distinguishes between Ramathaim, "a city of the tribe of Ephraim," and Ramah, the burial place of Samuel the prophet.

Samuel lived in Ramah and judged the Israelites in the sacred towns of Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpeh, preparing the way for national unity. Apparently on his initiative, groups of prophets were formed to guide the people.

In his old age, when external pressure grew acute, he reluctantly acceded to the popular demand for a king and selected Saul. However, tension between Samuel and Saul eventually reached an open break. Later, Samuel went to Bethlehem where he anointed David as Saul's successor.

Ramathaim-Zophim has been tentatively identified with one of two sites. One of them is the modern Palestinian village of Nabi Samwil, the other the former village, now town, of er-Ram. (The fact remains that many Palestinian villages were originally from ancient Jews who were there first. Arabs, mainly from Syria, nomads, meandered south to Israel when looking for food, etc. during times of less population in Israel-like the Assyrian attack or the Babylonian attack.)

Eli and his student, Samuel

Eli was the high priest (Cohen) at the shrine of Shiloh and one of the last Judges, the mentor of Samuel. He succeeded to the high priesthood at the age of 58 and died 40 ears later as a result of falling from his chair on hearing of the Philistine capture of the Ark (I Sam. 4:13). His family was subsequently deprived of the high priesthood. (I Kings 2:26-7). The Bible ascribed this to the immoral conduct of his sons Hophni and Phinchas (I Sam. 2:11-36; 3:11-14).

Shiloh was the first religious center of the Israelite religion after the conquest of Palestine under Joshua. it was situated 25 miles north of Jerusalem in the Mountains of Ephraim. The Ark and Tabernacle were kept there during the period of the Judges, serving as the central national shrine and object of pilgrimage, especially during the long priesthood of Eli.

Samuel was a special judge. He had be the one to choose 2 very special kings. It is said that he received a Divine call when just a child and later foretold the destruction of the House of Eli. After the death of Eli and his sons and the decisive defeat of the Israelites by the Philistines at the battle of Aphek, Samuel endeavored to restore the traditional religious worship.

The town and the Tabernacle were destroyed by the Philistines after the battle of Aphek in about 1050 BCE when the Ark was captured.

The 1st Israelites had already heard the rules of behavior in the Mosaic Laws right from Moses, himself. Moses and then Joshua had actually acted like a king to the Israelites. When they were gone, every man did what was proper in his own eyes. While on the Exodus, the elders of the group acted as judges. People felt that they were worthy leaders. After that, Judges developed to help people keep those expectations. They were born leaders of Israel in the period from the death of Joshua until before the time of Eli and Samuel from about 1220 to 1050 BCE.

Deborah was a judge and prophet. Here she is with Barak. She lived in about 1150 BCE and was the wife of Lapidoth. She roused the Israelite tribes to revolt under Barak, son of Abinoam, against the Canaanite king, Jabin of Hazor and Sisera, his ally and commander. (Judg. 4). The song of victory attributed to her in Judg 5 is regarded as one of the oldest compositions preserved in Hebrew.

The soldier- leader, priest or prophet assumed in addition to his chief function, that of judge. The prophet, Samuel, traveled from place to place to administer justice. (I Sam.7:15-17). After kings were established, the king would act in the capacity of final law.

The people expected their judge to rally them to repent and deserve G-d's help once again in times of stress. Then the judge would conquer and expel the oppressor and the nation would enjoy a long period of tranquility--until it slid downward again.

Joshua's greatest contemporaries were Deborah or Othniel. Gideon was a young man of enormous but unknown potential. At a time when the nation didn't merit a great leader, Jephthah became their judge. One time they didn't deserve to conquer their enemies, so they got Samson, whose individual exploits kept the brutal Philistines at bay.

These judges had been chosen by G-d., and they responded when called upon. The Israelite nation had shortcomings, but it was essentially righteous and true to the Torah and its Giver, Moses.

There were 6 judges we know about in great detail: Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, lgideon, Jephthah and Samson, and another 6 who were just mentioned in passing: Shamgar, Tola, Jair, Iabzan, Elon, and Abdon. These judges were generally the heads of their own tribe or head of an alliance of tribes. The Hebrew term used for a judge is a dayyan,

King David appointed 6,000 Levites as officers and judges (I Chron. 23-4). Jehoshaphat set up a court in Jerusalem, of which the judges were taken from among the priests (Cohens) the Levites, and heads of fathers' houses. (II Chron. 19:8-11). This corresponds to the Great Sanhedrin of 71 judges in the time of the 2nd Temple, from then they were told to do so, assumed from Deut. 17:8-11). It's functions were to judge disputes from all parts of the country. In addition to the Great Sanhedrin sitting at Jerusalem, lesser Sanhedrins of 23 judges sat in towns with a certain minimum population (Sanhedrin 1:4-6). The judges of these were appointed by the Great Sanhedrin. Courts of These (Bet Din) for the adjustment of civil disputes existed in all towns, appointments being made by the president of the Sanhedrin , called a Nasi. The Great Sanhedrin lost its authority to decide on capital cases in about 30 CE. At the time the Romans were occupiers.

After the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE, even cases involving fines or corporal punishment could not be heard, for Roman law prohibited the ordaining of judges.

Prophets of high esteem besides Samuel were Moses, Joshua,, the Judges, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. 12 lesser prophets were Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum,, Habakkuk, Zephaniah Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. Their dates range between the 8th and 5th centuries BCE.

The Dead Sea Scrolls include commentaries on some of the books, endeavoring to discover in them allusions to contemporary events. They are traditionally termed TERE ASAR.

Resource:

Tanakh, the Stone Edition (Old Testament)

The New Standard Jewish encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramathaim-Zophim

Jewish Bubba

Friday, June 23, 2023

Samaria: Coveted and Given to Palestinians By World Opinion?

The rally, including far-right ministers Ben Gvir and Smotrich, goes to Evyatar settlement in campaign to legalize the outpost, stretching already strained security forces.

Sunday, March 19, 2023

Beware Of Israel's First Civil War of North and South and It's Consequences

Saturday, March 6, 2021

Before Kings Were Rulers, Israelites Had Judges, and One Was a Prophet: Samuel

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