Shabbat Shalom-Reading the Torah in Hebrew

Shabbat linky

Every week I read the Torah portion straight through in Hebrew on my own. My favorite Bible, my baby is my Hebew-English Interlinear which contains the entire Tanakh Brit Chadashah.

 
Sometimes I read it aloud as my sons Hebrew is not good enough yet to read that much of the Word. Other times we listen to it read outloud on Shabbat while readining along Using John Parsons website Hebrew4christians as he provides a link for the audio and Hebrew written text. (Disclaimer: I do not suppport all the beliefs of this website, but his Hebrew education is excellent.) We do not get to hear it chanted this way but we still get to hear the Parshah in Hebrew read and thus increase our Hebrew knowledge and are blessed by the Lashon Kadosh, Holy Tongue.

Leonids Meteor Shower ...SCAREY......Animals? and Shabbat Preparation

Preparation day link up #1

Leonids Meteor Shower as seen from Joshua Tree National Park in 2001. Image Credit: Wally Pacholka / AstroPics.com.

Shalom all,
well last night at the last minute my son and I took the two little dogs and went out and attempted to sleep in the RV so that after 2:00 am we could drive off away from the city lights and view the Leonid meteor shower. This was not a huge meteor shower this year but we love watching anyway. Leonids is visible every year at about this point in November. It happens as the earth passes through the dust left by the comet Temple-Tuttle, the meteors are actually pieces of this dust which show up to us as shooting stars. ( my simplistic explanation) this year was a year that they only expected 15-20 meteors an hour, where as some years you can have thousands. We drove out to a dirt road in the Arizona desert and put on our coats, and the doggies coats, set up our chairs.

Erev Shabbat In Israel

Shabbat linky 11/6

Sea of Galilee at Sunset

This morning I went to Erev Shabbat in Israel. Oh what a Blessed time with Hashem and the Brethren there. OK no I did not physically go to Israel, (in His time =) ). Yet my spirit went in prayer for our brothers and sisters in Messiah there. What a beautiful way to prepare and sanctify Shabbat, to pray for Hashem's land, and His people! Prayer, a true rest in Him, and nourishment for our souls! I am continuing to pray today and this evening for the dear believers there. This is my Shabbat preparation today. I was thinking that a Shabbat preparation would not be complete without a Tzedakah box...so on the right side of my blog I will start a Tzedakah box with links to worthy ministries, many in Israel. The believers in Israel face many trials, and battles, physical and spiritual that we probably can not fully grasp. Most have little money and have many needs that are not met. Should we sit with beautiful Shabbat tables while others have little food to grace their own tables? We are blessed in the spiritual things by Israel and thus we should bless them as we can in the physical things. I feel that we should direct most of our giving to believers in Israel as they are physically able to better discern where it is most needed and of most benefit. I believe our money is best gifted directly to the Messianic congregations or those they minister to, because they know best where the need in Israel is. We don't have to agree completely with the ministry's doctrine, we just have to check that they are righteous and truly use the gifts for His Glory. Please check the history and beliefs of ministries you give to as there are ministries out there who donot use monies appropriately. The ministries I post whether in Israel or elsewhere are ones that I have seen to be righteous in their actions and faith for ministry. So let's not forget to bless our tzedakah boxes for Israel before we sanctify Shabbat in candle lighting.

Shabbat Shalom

For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.  It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.

(Rom 15:26-27)

First Sabbath in B'racha

This is a picture of the first Sabbath we were able to have in the RV back in August. We were actually still parked in my brothers yard yet wanted to Bless our B'racha by honoring Shabbat in it. This shows anyone how simple Shabbat can be. We have no tablecloth, we were not able to make or purchase challah but we were blessed with homemade bread from the small family health food store. Our meal was very simple served with grape juice and the bread for the blessing. We have no candle holders and thus use a plate to mount our candles on. Yet to me this is one of the most beautiful tables because it, in all it's simplicity, is in honor of Hashem and His ways. In honor of him in obedience, the obedience to keep Shabbat, the obedience to follow Him across America or across oceans..in a 20 ft. RV or a boat, plane, train, or even our feet that He so blessed us with. Throughout the ages Jewish people have kept the Shabbat whether they had a banquet, a potato, a leek, or a lump of bread, or even if all they had was their hearts lifted up to Him in blessing. Shabbat can be as simple or as intricate as you desire, but it is always beautiful when we turn our life over to him in obedience. We are still at my brothers and have on most weeks been having Shabbat indoors so that we will be blessed to have my brother and his grandson join us in our meal (they are not keepers). This week the table will again be simple, as will the meal but simple, and modest is to me the most beautiful way to walk. On that note, it is time for me to go off and start my Shabbat preparations with the help of my son, to start our meal and do some last minute cleaning, make sure our Shabbat clothes are clean and that we can have quick showers before sundown.

I pray your Shabbat is a delight dedicated to our Mashiach and our future rest with Him!

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

(Isa 58:13-14)
Shabbat link up 10/30/10