Rabbi Akiva and Rachel- one of the greatest love story – part 1

Posted by Eli Dahan on May 28, 2009 under Jewish Folklore, Personal stories | Be the First to Comment

The love today

Today if you want to ask people what is a love story ,they can easily answer and say that a love story is when two persons meets , fall in love, have a relationship and maybe they will live together for the rest of their life. In the ancient times the love wasn’t easy like today – the communication was quite bad, the internet was just a vision or a miracle, the father was the ruler and the wife had to do two main things: feeding and bringing descendents to the world.

Rabbi Akiva

A very different love story from this time is the story of Rabbi Akiva and his wife Rachel .Akiva ben Yosef ben Avraham , who lived in the roman time after they destroyed the Second Temple and the Jews were exiled from Jerusalem, was the son of a convert who was ignorant and a shepherd. So ignorant was akiva that his boss (Kalba Savua) didn’t pay attention to him.

When akiva and racel met…

One day Rachel, the daughter of kalba savua went out into the field to inspect her father’s sheep. Akiva fell in love with Rachel instantly. Rachel returned to the field the next day, and then again the day after that , because she had fallen in love as well.

After that they fell in love , akiva wanted to marry Rachel , but she decided that she will agree to the proposal only if akiva will go to learn Torah and get a Jewish education. This made Akiva very sad. He was 40 years old, he didn’t even know how to read and write.Another thing is the opinion of rachel’s father about the love between them – he didn’t accept akiva

What shall they do?

To be continued…

main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones

Posted by Eli Dahan on May 26, 2009 under Bible, Biblical Hebrew, Jewish Folklore | Be the First to Comment

Who was Ezekiel?

The book of Ezekiel is one of the books of the Old Testament known as the Prophets.

Ezekiel, (“God will strengthen”), was a prophet living with the Jewish exiles in Babylon after the taking of Judah and Jerusalem by Babylon, around 580-600 B.C. Ezekiel has visions of God appearing like a man, glowing and dazzling with fire and also of angelic beings with four faces, wings, hands, and wheels that contained all-seeing eyes (See Book of Ezekiel 1,8,10).

The first part of the book of Ezekiel consists of reproaches for Israel’s past and present sins and the confident prediction of yet a further devastation of the land of promise and a more general exile. After the first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. l Ezekiel’s prophecies changed and he became the prophet of salvation and comfort.

The vision of the dry bones

One of the most famous prophecies of Ezekiel is the vision of the dry bones.

In this vision God’s wind is leading Ezekiel to a vally which contains lots of dry bones.

Then God asked Ezeikel if the bones can live and Ezeikel replied that only God can answer this question.Ezekiel was given power by God to say that the dry bones would live again. And as Ezekiel watched, the bones came together with muscles and skin. Then breath came into them, and they stood up as living people.God commanded Ezekiel to tell the people of Israel that they were like the dry bones dead and dried up and their strength and energy were gone.                                  

However , the dry bones vision is a prediction and a promise from God that he would deliver Israel out of captivity and return them to their home.

main phrases of the post + transcription + translation 

Eli@eteachergroup.com

Havdalah ( separation and distinction between holiness and secular time)

Posted by Eli Dahan on May 24, 2009 under Biblical Hebrew, Jewish Folklore | Be the First to Comment

The name havdalah comes from the Hebrew word l’havdeel, which means to distinguish or separate.The Havdalah service marks the end of Shabbat, which is the seventh day of the week , according to the jewish calendar. It should be performed no earlier than nightfall on Saturday night. Nightfall is the time when three stars can be seen in the sky .it is also performed at the end of other festivals and holy days.

The ceremony

Three things are needed for the havdalah ceremony: glass of kosher wine or grape juice , some fragrant spices (cloves, cinnamon or bay leaves are commonly used) and a special Havdalah candle. Every one of them represent a symbol – the wine represent joy, the spices represents the sweetness of the holy day and the fire is the unity of the time and the life the goes on.

while the blessing of this three elements, some biblical verses are from the bible especially from two books ,Isaiah and Psalms. The verse from Isaiah is praising the trust in the lord salvation, as written in Isaiah 12:2-3-

הִנֵּה אֵל יְשׁוּעָתִי אֶבְטַח, וְלֹא אֶפְחָד:  כִּי-עָזִּי וְזִמְרָת יָהּ יְהוָה, וַיְהִי-לִי לִישׁוּעָה. “

 וּשְׁאַבְתֶּם-מַיִם, בְּשָׂשׂוֹן, מִמַּעַיְנֵי, הַיְשׁוּעָה” 

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation”

Havdalah to me- what is my candle? (metaphorically )

After the reading of the verses, the blessing of the 3 elements, it is customary to sing songs about the week that is going to come. Then the holiness becomes a secular. From my point of view ,the separation and the distinction should be in the times , but not in the way that we are acting, the holiness of doing good things need to be permanent- havdalah is not needed in that point of view!.

main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

The chair of Elijah- the Hebrew godfather that says: welcome to the world

Posted by Eli Dahan on May 20, 2009 under Bible, Biblical Hebrew, Jewish Folklore | Be the First to Comment

Circumcision in Judaism

The first religious commandment, that a jewish child is participating as an active , is the circumcision. The Circumcision is the removal of the foreskin of the penis. The rite of circumcision (brit milah ) is one of the most ancient practices of Judaism. The commandment to circumcise male children was given to Abraham in the Torah, in genesis 17:10-12-

“זֹאת בְּרִיתִי אֲשֶׁר תִּשְׁמְרוּ, בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיכֶם, וּבֵין זַרְעֲךָ, אַחֲרֶיךָ: 

 הִמּוֹל לָכֶם, כָּל-זָכָר.  וּנְמַלְתֶּם, אֵת בְּשַׂר עָרְלַתְכֶם; וְהָיָה לְאוֹת בְּרִית, בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיכֶם. 

וּבֶן-שְׁמֹנַת יָמִים, יִמּוֹל לָכֶם כָּל-זָכָר—לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם”

“This is My covenant which ye shall keep between Me and you and thy seed after thee: every manchild among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant between Me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you..”

Today, while doing the circumcision , there is a special chair, symbolically meant for Elijah the prophet. At every circumcision Elijah, “the angel of the covenant,” as he is called in Malachi 3:1, is supposed to be seated at the right hand of the godfather, upon a chair richly carved and ornamented with embroideries. This special chair called the chair of Elijah (“kisse shel Eliyahu”).

Why eliajah ?

Midrashic literature links the custom to Elijah’s plaint to God that “the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant” (I Kings 19:10, 14). According to the homiletic interpretations of this verse, Elijah had complained that the Jewish people had disregarded the commandment of circumcision and God is said to have replied: “Because of excessive zeal for Me you have brought charges against Israel that they have forsaken My covenant; therefore you shall have to be present at every circumcision ceremony”

The Shulhan Arukh , which is the jewish law book written by rabbe Yosef karo in the 16^th century in the city of zefat, prescribes the reservation of a special chair or seat for Elijah, and the mohel (circumciser) refers to it in the opening prayer preceding the circumcision: “This is the chair of Elijah, blessed be his memory”. The godfather of the child is sitting after the circumcision in that chair and bless all the people that are celebrating the circumcision of the child.

The chair in the nature

If you travel today in Israel near the city of Zefat you can find a special place, made up of stones, that called the Chair of Elijha. When the child is born we are saying in Hebrew – בָּרוּךְ הַבָּא! – Welcome . Some religious people are taking their child to the place of the stones and making another welcoming to him there.

main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com