Free Republic

CARDINAL KOCH & RABBI ROSEN Catholics should not try to convert Jews and should work with them to fight anti-Semitism, the Vatican said on Thursday in a major document drawing the Church further away from the strained relations of the past. It was the latest move on a host of issues, such as gay rights and re-marriage, that the Vatican or Pope Francis have made showing a desire to be more compassionate and open and to move further away from entrenched traditions. In the past, for example, Catholic prayers have denounced Jews for not believing in Jesus. Jews have also...

It’s Hanukkah and I am in hiding. I don't want to see Facebook posts and news items about weird creative Hanukkah candelabras in which each flame stands for some new-fangled liberal cause. I don't want to see the significance of potato pancakes explained to senators or read that Obama is Jewish in his soul. I want to keep Hanukkah close to my heart, away from those who would tamper with its true meaning which is this: The Jews fought a war against assimilation and won. Those flickering Hanukkah lights have nothing to do with equality, integration, and multiculturalism. They have...

A fine thread running through many of our columns is that the legitimacy of Islam’s religious claims to Jerusalem is in inverse proportion to the volume and frequency with which they are made. Now comes along a renowned Muslim Egyptian scholar, of all people, to corroborate our point. Prof. Youssef Ziedan, a specialist in Arabic and Islamic studies and a prolific author, has given a series of interviews to Egyptian television stations in recent days, in all of which he emphasizes one issue: There is actually no connection between Jerusalem and ancient Islam. When Islam was founded during the 7th...

The chief rabbis of Finland and Serbia have joined 23 other rabbis in Europe, Israel, and the United States in issuing an Orthodox rabbinic statement on Christianity. "As did Maimonides and Yehudah Halevi, we acknowledge that Christianity is neither an accident nor an error, but the willed divine outcome and gift to the nations," the rabbis said in their statement. "In separating Judaism and Christianity, G-d willed a separation between partners with significant theological differences, not a separation between enemies."

BEIT SHEMESH, Israel — The carved stone block is about the size of an occasional table. It has held its secrets for two millenniums. Whoever engraved its enigmatic symbols was apparently depicting the ancient Jewish temples. But what makes the stone such a rare find in biblical archaeology, according to scholars, is that when it was carved, the Second Temple still stood in Jerusalem for the carver to see. The stone is a kind of ancient snapshot. And it is upending some long-held scholarly assumptions about ancient synagogues and their relationship with the Temple, a center of Jewish pilgrimage and...

First part: President Obama: “Tonight, Jews in America, Israel, and around the world come together to light the first candle of the Festival of Lights. At its heart, Hanukkah is about the struggle for justice in the face of overwhelming obstacles.” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.): “Today Heidi and I wish the Jewish Community a very Happy Chanukah. On this holiday, we remember the miracle that enabled a freedom-loving people – led by the heroic Maccabees – to defeat the oppressive dictator Antiochus so that they could once again freely worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For the eight...

Hanukkah is the festival when Jews celebrate their victory in the fight for religious freedom more than 2,000 years ago. Tragically, that fight is no less important today, and not only for Jews, but for people of all faiths. The Jewish story is simple enough. In about 165 B.C., Antiochus IV, ruler of the Syrian branch of the Alexandrian empire, began to impose Greek culture on the Jews of the land of Israel. Funds were diverted from the Temple to public games and drama competitions. A statue of Zeus was erected in Jerusalem. Jewish religious rituals such as circumcision and...

In leaked recording of Likud faction meeting, prime minister also questions how New York would cope with wave of violence similar to one faced by Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel could destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem if it wanted to – but doing so "would be contrary to everything we represent." Netanyahu was speaking during a meeting of the Likud Knesset faction on Thursday. A recording of his words was published by Army Radio. Responding to what he said was Palestinian incitement regarding Israel's supposed interest in getting rid of...

"Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the Universe, Who forms light and creates darkness, makes peace and creates all." (Shacharis prayer) Like anything written by Chazal, these words are filled with eternal significance. What do they have to do with Chanukah? Plenty. What is darkness? Is it simply the absence of light or does it have substance in itself? Darkness is associated with suffering. "In the evening one lies down weeping, but with dawn . . . a cry of joy" (Tehillim 30). In Mitzrayim, during the ninth plague, the darkness was so thick it prevented the Egyptians...

Please pray for my brother tonight as he checks himself into the hospital for alcohol abuse. He recently lost his job while at the same time celebrating the birth of his third child. He feels lost and inadequate.

Have you ever been in a discussion with a skeptic about God and morality? Perhaps you've admirably made the case that God's good character is the basis for human dignity and worth. Maybe you've shown how objective moral values and duties can't be explained naturalistically. Then someone takes the wind out of your sails by asking, "Well, if God is so good, why would He command Israel to engage in ethnic cleansing and genocidal warfare against the Canaanites? After all, doesn't Deuteronomy 20:16-17 plainly state this? 'Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving...

Dëvar Torah – Parashath Va-Yétzé' (Genesis XXVII, 10 -- XXXII, 3)Our parasha tells the story of Ya'aqov's ("Jacob's") sojourn with his uncle and father-in-law, Lavan. As we read at the end of last week's parasha (XXVII, 42 -- XXVIII, 9), Rivqa ("Rebecca") persuaded Ya'aqov to flee to her brother in Charan both to escape from the wrath of his brother 'Esav and to find himself a proper wife. Just as Avraham had opposed the marriage of Yitzchaq to any daughter of the depraved Canaanites (XXIV, 3), so too did Rivqa consider any such prospect repugnant.When Ya'aqov arrived in Charan,...

Your substantiality will always be found in me for I will part the waters for you in all you come against! So never let something appear as impossible but "speak grace to your mountains" proudly for as My Blood was shed for you it is I that Rend the Heavens to aid you with My healing Balm of Grace. (( ( Declare ) )) My Children everything "into substance and Being" for I AM your Sword as you speak your needs into LIFE! Step up from faith into the "KNOWING" you CAN Trust , Lean on and Rest in the...

Your days are not ending they are merely flowing into Me.So don't worry in trying to catch up for you have already arrived, Just be seated in my righteousness and dwell in my glory with the understanding that the fullness of my spirit is with you as I AM your heartbeat and breathe so I own you for you have given your life to me. So now just rest in me as I complete my agenda for I AM your daily bread, counselor and King . . . Matthew 11:27-30 27 All things have been entrusted and delivered to Me...

AP - The largest movement of Judaism in the U.S. passed the most far-reaching resolution in support of transgender rights of any major religious organization, saying Thursday that it's a continuation of a tradition of inclusion in the Reform Jewish movement.

On Monday afternoon, the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) sent a newsbrief to reporters in Jerusalem, calling for a press conference the following day to announce the “solution to one of the greatest questions in the history of Jerusalem.” Tuesday’s announcement did not disappoint: On site, in Jerusalem’s City of David, archaeologist Doron Ben-Ami announced that the famed Akra (citadel) of Antiochus Epiphanes had been discovered. Up until that announcement, little had been found testifying to the massive Hellenistic intrusion into the city early in the second century B.C. Yet here, at the northwestern portion of the City of David, a...

The "JOY" of The LORD is much more than just a depth or width for truly its Harmony has a frequency all its own . My Joy IN YOU is as a ( ((Gusher)) ) rising up into the eternity that you ARE in Me and Hallelujahs are the piercing arrows of righteousness that not only penetrate darkness with light but overtake it and explodes a Chorus of worship from Your heart that IS The WellSpring of life I have placed in you. So "rise up WellSpring for The Voice of Many Waters is calling to you for His Glory....

My love for you is endless as a waterfall, There is nothing that can stop it, nothing all, Soft as a rose pedal and sweet as a pea, Truly there is nothing that loves like me, For I AM the substance of this living oil, I fill the lampstands of gladness with it and it never spoils, For My love for you is pure, eternal, and true, I burn perpetually for you, A love so strong there is no weapon made, That can tear its canopy your eternal shade, A love eternally blossoming as Aaron's Rod for you, My Bride,...

In Jewish tradition, the vision which the Prophet Ezekiel has in the first chapter of his book is called by the Hebrew word “merkabah – a chariot”, even though this word does not occur in the text itself. The ancient rabbis placed the study and interpretation of this chapter, which is difficult to understand in any language, under a special restriction; St Jerome knew of this, as he writes in the prologue of his commentary on Ezekiel: I shall undertake (a commentary on) the prophet Ezekiel, whose difficulty the Hebrew tradition proves. For among them, unless one has completed the...

"This ring shall not be shaken , These keys shall never fall , I've given you my fullness , I've given you my all", Here are The Keys To The Kingdom ,seek me first in all you do , NOT just the big things BUT IN EVERY MATTER OF YOUR HEART , if you do this the Other KEYS will reveal themselves to you !