Night delight: 'supermoon' to grace Earth's skies

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - The largest, brightest full moon in nearly seven decades will be on display in the coming days, promising Earth-bound sky-watchers a celestial "supermoon" spectacle. The full moon will come nearer to Earth than at any time since 1948, astronomers said. At closest approach, which occurs at 6:23 a.m. EST on Monday, the moon will pass within 216,486 miles (348,400 km) of Earth's surface, about 22,000 miles (35,400 km) closer than average, they added. The moon's distance from Earth varies because it is in an egg-shaped, not circular, orbit around the planet. If skies are clear, the upcoming full moon will appear up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than usual, making it what is called a supermoon, according to NASA. A supermoon occurs when the timing of a full moon overlaps with the point in the moon's 28-day orbit that is closest to Earth. About every 14th full moon is a supermoon, said University of Wisconsin astronomer Jim Lattis. The next time a full moon comes as close to Earth will be in 2034.

There is something real spiritual going on here, with the Donald Trump presidential victory and now this. Just saying.

With grandpa in the White House, Ivanka and kiddos can come on over to celebrate. First up, Purim. The story of the flipped over story. Just like this election.

They'll have to pick up some Israeli dreidels for Chanukah, the ones that say

A Great Miracle Happened Here.

And yet people ask, "Where is America in Bible prophecy?"

Joseph could be running around the White House in his jammies, but who would catch on.

Lighting Up Chanukah
By Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)

Clip:

Chanukah celebrates two miracles: The victory of the Jews over their Syrian-Greek persecutors and the ability of one small flask of oil to remain lit in the Menorah in the Temple for eight days.

Chanukah is the only feast, which runs for over a week; the only other feast, which comes close, is Succoth, the Feast of Tabernacles. In fact, the celebration of Chanukah was a belated celebration of Succoth, the Feast of Tabernacles, which the Maccabees had missed due to their fight with the Syrians. It is also the only feast to span two different months. It seems to need to draw influence from two zodiac signs to make itself happen. These anomalies serve to highlight a basic distinction between Chanukah and all other holidays.

On Pesach, the Feast of Passover, we are not celebrating miracles, even as we relate them; the holiday commemorates freedom. Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, commemorates the giving of the Torah, Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets, is the Day of Judgment and HaShem‘s kingship, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and Succoth celebrates the presence of HaShem and His providence. The miracles associated with those events served as means to achieve a goal, but the holiday celebrates the goal itself, the spiritual state, which is a permanent and necessary component of the existence of HaShem’s people. The Torah defines for us the crucial stages of HaShem‘s people: you must experience freedom, you must experience Torah, you must experience majesty, judgment and repentance, and you must experience HaShem‘s presence.

Chanukah, as the Sages define it, celebrates the event of the miracle itself, the bare fact that a small cruse of oil kept burning. As various commentators have pointed out, the net result of this miracle was not particularly significant, the menorah could have been lit with impure oil if no pure oil were available, and, in any event, after eight days, the menorah would have been lit, one way or another. In other words, this holiday celebrates the process, the means, the fact that HaShem performs miracles and that that is the background to the existence of HaShem‘s people, rather than a particular state or result. The eighth day forces us to concentrate on that point, forces us to continue Chanukah beyond a natural cycle.

http://www.betemunah.org/chanukah.html

http://www.betemunah.org/

Chanukah celebrates three miracles
A Great Miracle Happened Here, Yeshua's conception

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