Judeo-Christian Values~Will They Survive ?

On a daily basis Christians are tortured and murdered and Churches are being burned. Christians are arrested for declaring their faith in public. The Ten Commandments are no longer allowed in public places. Gideon bibles are no longer allowed to be placed in hotel night tables. A nurse is banned from wearing her tiny gold cross. The owners of a tiny bed and breakfast are taken to court for opining that Islam is a violent religion. A cartoonist lives under heavy security because of a cartoon, while an animated TV program is removed due to death threats. Jews are kidnapped, tortured and murdered, yet the world remains silent. The tiny state of Israel is blamed for every ill the world suffers. 

Will Judeo Christian Values Survive this onslaught?

New Terror for Hevron

 The Cave of the Patriarchs is Judaism's second holiest site and has been designated a National Heritage Site by the Israeli government. From the Travels of Reb Benjamin of Tudelah (1173):"And in the valley is the Cave of Machpela, if a Jew should pay the Ishmaelite watchman, he will open for him an iron gate. From there one descends stairs with a candle in hand. Upon reaching the third cave one will find six graves. These are the graves of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and opposite them, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah, And inside the cave are many barrels, filled with bones of Israelites who would bring the bones of their dead to the Cave in the age of Israel.

The area around Hevron has always been a hot spot and now the temperatures have been upped. Arutz 7 has reported that the Palestinian Authority is building a "new" neighborhood next to the resting place of our forefathers and mothers in an area that is under "Full Israeli Control".  As if this isn't bad enough, the "New Neighbours" are going to be freed terrorists and their families brought in from other cities and towns of Judea and Samaria!

Security people say they are aware of the risk but attempts to bring the issue up have been blocked "out of political considerations" ...

To read the full article follow the link to Arutz 7

Weekly Scripture Study~Genesis 23:1 to 25:18

Every week in Jewish synagogues around the world a section of the Torah (the five books of Moses) is read. This week the "weekly reading" is found in Genesis, chapters 23:1 to 25:18 and is called Chayei Sarah.

Tomb of the Patriarchs (Machpeilah) in Hevron

We begin by learning that Sarah lived 127 years and died in Kiriath arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan (now Israel). Avraham negotiates with Ephron the Hitite to purchase Machpeilah "the double cave" or "the cave of the couples",  which is at the end of his field; for a full price saying to the people of Het "let him give it to me in your midst for burial property".  Although Ephron offered to give the land as a gift, Abraham insists on purchasing it, paying 400 premium silver coins. This is one of the three places which the nations of the world cannot accuse Israel and say, "You have stolen them." The three places are: the Cave of Machpeilah, the site of the Holy Temple, and the tomb of Joseph at Shechem.

After Sarah is buried, Avraham summons his servant and charges him with the mission of finding a suitable wife for his son Isaac. Abraham has his servant swear that he will not take a wife for Isaac from the local Canaanite women, rather, he sends him to Charan, his native land, to search for Isaac's wife.

Abraham's servant, Eliezer, is sent laden with gifts to Charan. At the village well, Eliezer asks G-d for a sign and decides that; when the maidens come to the well, he will ask for some water to drink; the woman who will offer to give his camels to drink as well, shall be the one destined for his master's son. Rebecca, the daughter of Abraham's nephew Bethuel, appears at the well and passes the "test". 

Eliezer is invited to their home, where he repeats the story of the day's events. Rebecca's family agrees that the match was divinely ordained, and consents to the marriage. Rebecca's family celebrates the engagement with Eliezer. Next morning,  he insists on immediately returning to his master, and after Rebecca agrees, the two set out for Canaan. There they encounter Isaac praying in the field. Isaac sees Rebecca, takes her into the tent  of his mother Sarah. And she  became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted for the loss his mother.

Avraham Avinu~Hebron

Abraham takes a new wife, Keturah (Hagar) and fathers six additional sons, but Isaac is designated as his only heir. Abraham dies at age 175 (2123-1638 BCE) and is buried beside Sarah by his two eldest sons, Isaac and Ishmael.

In the final verses Ishmael's progeny are detailed. Ishmael passes away at the age of 137.

Next week we will read how Rebecca finally conceives, her difficult pregnancy, and the discovery that she has "two nations in her womb"