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WhY the LargE LetterS? Wine is produced from the material within the grape. It comes from a place that is hidden within, and exemplifies that which is hidden and needs to be brought forth. Likewise, spirituality is hidden in our physical world and needs to be brought forth. For this reason, the numerical value of the Hebrew word for wine, Yayin, is the same as the numerical value of the Hebrew word for secret, Sod. Wine exemplifies the "secret" of the physical – i.e. the spiritual. Therefore, at any spiritual time or event, Judaism attaches wine in order to bring...

Tags: jesus, liturgy, new testament, prayer, shema When Jesus Said The Shema So you’ve heard of the Shema, right? The most important prayer in Judaism? Traditionally recited twice a day, upon waking and going to sleep? Today, when we say “the Shema,” we’re talking about the verse Deuteronomy 6:4 as well as three other paragraphs (two from Deuteronomy and one from Numbers), but the prayer has been through a number of iterations. Several hundred years ago, the Shema contained the entire text of the Ten Commandments. At one point, early rabbis proposed that the Shema should contain the entirety of...

Armed with loudspeakers, they blasted the “Shema” incantation (from the 'Hear O Israel' prayer) in the direction of the Muslim Arab neighborhood of Tzur Baher. They reportedly did so at about 2:30 a.m. Video of the Jewish counterattack garnered enthusiastic reactions on Facebook. Jews all over Israel find themselves routinely harassed by noise pollution from Muslim neighborhoods in recent years. This less-known “intifada” by Arabs involves fitting loudspeakers on minarets in mosques – which for centuries made do with unamplified muezzin calls for prayer. The Jerusalem Municipality reportedly embarked on a process to investigate and limit the noise pollution by...

The Internet says the ruins of the First Temple are in the South Pacific. Matthew Fishbane went to find them.A little over a year ago, Tablet Magazine’s Matthew Fishbane was emailed a grainy video of Papua New Guinea’s Gogodala people—in grass skirts, their bodies decorated with body paint and feathers—singing the Shema, the holiest of Hebrew prayers. A few Google searches later, he’d uncovered claims that the Lost Temple of Israel is hidden someplace in the South Pacific. And so he went to investigate…

Pray For The Peace Of Jerusalem~Shavuot 5770~The First Fruits Although there are some questions as to when on the Lunar Calendar Shavuot should be celebrated,The Holiday is being observed in Israel Today and Tomorrow.It celebrates the Spring Harvest, The First Fruits,But Most Importantly, the Giving of the Torah , Thus the beginning of the Jewish Nation.The Following Scripture is the Essential Prayer, Heart and Soul Of The Jewish Faith.It is Prayed daily, bound onto the head and arm, attached to the doorframes, and whispered as last words.It Affirms The Faith in One True God.Please Read this Scripture in the...