Christmakah

This year I’m celebrating Christmakah.

 ‘What on earth is that,’ you ask? Well, let me enlighten you. It’s a mixture of Christmas and Chanukah.😁

 And if I were to guess right, just about now, some of my Jewish readers will feel the need to tear open their clothes in mourning for witnessing such ‘blasphemy’, and some of my Christian readers will want to either close the browser that hosts such a foul message, or be intrigued and think ‘oh, how liberal, I might try some of that too!’

Keep reading so that you make an informed decision before you either applaud my liberalism or shun me for blasphemy. 

This year Chanukah falls on the same day as the Christmas Eve and lasts until the 1^st of January 2017. Having observed Chanukah for most of my life, I want to keep doing that. Having a sister possessed with the ‘Christmas spirit’, I don’t want to go all ‘the power of Christ compels you!’ on her. So I decided to do both.

 Some might think that’s wrong, and you are right. Some might think that’s good and you’re also right. And for those of you Jewish enough to know both instances can’t be right, you are right too. (hahaha, see what I did there? (for the confused: see ‘Fiddler on the roof’))

Concerning Christmas, both Christians and Jews know that it is about the birth of Jesus. Now, regardless of how Jews might argue Him being HaMashiach or not, and regardless if Christians agree on the date of His birth – people know that Christmas is about celebrating Yeshua’s birth so I will not go into details about what Christmas is. 

Jews might know a great deal about Chanukah, having to listen to Megillat Antiochus (The Scroll of Antiochus, referring to the Chanukah story) once a year, every year. But for those that don’t know much about it, here’s the shortest version I can come up with:

Chanukah is the Hebrew word for “dedication.” The eight-day Jewish celebration bearing that name — it is also called the Festival of Lights — remembers the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem after it had been recovered by the Jewish forces of Yehuda HaMacabi in 164 BC. The Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, seeking to coerce the Jews into abandoning their religion and culture for that of Greece, had issued edicts forbidding circumcision, observance of Jewish Sabbaths and feast-days. He had defiled the Holy Temple by offering a sow on the altar and raising up in the sanctuary a statue to Zeus.

As depicted in the First Book of Maccabees (an account of Jewish history found in the Apocrypha), a revolt was launched by the priest Matisyahu and later led by his son Yehuda (Judas) HaMacabi. It led to the defeat of the Syrian forces, and the defiled Temple was cleansed and re-dedicated. Another account relates how during this cleansing there was only enough sanctified oil left to burn in the menorah for one night—yet a miracle occurred, and it continued burning for eight days. The victorious warrior Yehuda ordained “that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their season from year to year by the space of eight days, from the five and twentieth day of the month of Kislev, with mirth and gladness” (I Maccabees 4:59). Today, part of the celebration includes the use of a special eight-branched menorah (Chanukiah) upon which a new oil lamp or candle is lit each evening. Each light is ignited from the flame of a separate “branch” called shamash—“servant”- that sits in the middle and usually above the rest but not necessarily.

The entire point of Chanukah is to celebrate people who died rather than practice any religion other than Judaism and thus me even suggesting to a Jew to consider Christmas is outrageous to say the least. And then I even have the chutzpah to mix the two together as if desecrating everything Chanukah stands for. 

I know I sound crazy but bear with me. 

I don’t wish to go into a debate with believers in Yeshua of whether it’s OK to celebrate Christmas or not, if it’s pagan or whatever – I really hope that a believer’s greatest sin will be that they have had a Christmas tree and have remembered the birth of Jesus. On that note I don’t wish to be asked even one more time if it’s OK to do it. I find it pointless and ridiculous. If you believe that Christmas is pagan, may God help you if you do anything related to it because you’ve already decided it’s against God and my advice would be: just stop. If you believe it’s a chance to celebrate Jesus, good for you! I hope you celebrate with everything you’ve got! But regardless of what Christians believe concerning Christmas I don’t care, and using the immortal words of Shaul (Paul) this is all I have to say:

“Therefore, let’s no longer criticize each other. Instead, make up your mind not to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know—and have been persuaded by the Lord Jesus—that nothing is unclean in and of itself, but it is unclean to a person who thinks it is unclean.

 For if your brother is being hurt by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not destroy the person for whom the Messiah died by what you eat. Do not allow what seems good to you to be spoken of as evil.” (Romans 14:13-16)

For the Jews that are confused about why I am intent to defile their precious celebration with bringing up Yeshua’s birth, well … because I believe with all my heart that Yeshua is the entire point of Chanukah. (Put. Down. Your. Stone 😇😁)

Deep breaths. There you go.

I do not wish to disrespect in any way anything that has to do with Am HaKodesh, chas v’shalom! 

I will not go into every prophecy that Yeshua fulfilled to prove He is HaMashiach. This article is not about that. You already know what you believe and I don’t care to change your mind, one way or another. This article is about me explaining why I personally celebrate Christmakah, this being MY blog and all that. 

Christmas (be it wrong or right) reminds me of the birth of Yeshua. I don’t care if they got the dates right or wrong; I don’t care if the Christmas tree was used by pagans in their silly rituals; I don’t care what anyone’s argument is when they refute Christmas. To me, it’s a reminder that He came to make me His.  He didn’t come into this world in the best of circumstances. He’s humble like that. You see, my Savior… Yeshua, “had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not." (Yeshayahu 53:2-3)

He was no Yehuda HaMacabi. He didn’t come to lead a revolt against an empire. He didn’t come waving a sword. He came under the most vulnerable conditions. Yet, I and millions like me call Him Savior … as much as that boggles a Jew’s mind. 

Yehuda HaMacabi led the people to victory and re-dedicated Beit HaMikdash (The Temple). The true miracle of Chanukah was not that Jews rebelled against an empire and won. It’s a fact that since the golden Menorah had been stolen by the Syrians, the Maccabees had to make one of cheaper metal. When they wanted to light it, they found only a small cruse of pure olive oil bearing the seal of the High Priest Yochanan. It was sufficient to light only for one day. But by a miracle of Adonai, it continued to burn for eight days, till new oil was made available.

Yehuda HaMacabi is honored for re-dedicating The Temple. 

I honor Yeshua because He dedicated this temple that is me, to Adonai for all eternity. 

He didn’t wage war against the Seleucid Empire, He waged war against the darkness itself and won. He became my menorah, raising its arms to Adonai in my place, pleading for grace… He became my oil that would sanctify me… He became my shamash, above me but serving me to light my darkness, knowing I have no light if He’s not my Light. And by His grace and for His glory I shine my light. 

My Christmakah is about a birth. Yeshua’s birth. 

It’s about how one day Ben HaElohim (The Son of God) broke me. 

Piece by piece and cell by cell, He took form inside my heart, until one day He broke free from the shell I was, full to brimming with Him inside. My biggest hope.

 He broke my expectations: I thought I knew what was coming. I thought I’d bend and stretch to fit the changes seamlessly without shaking, without crying. Instead, I lay there, split down the middle, my own heart His and beating outside my body.

I didn’t say some magical words that changed my life forever. There was no: “today, I receive you in my heart”. No. I didn’t even know He snuck into my heart when I first heard the words of Malachi HaNavi (the prophet Malachi), “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” (Malachi 1:2). And word by word He grew inside me until I had to give Him my all. 

He cleaved me into two parts: one part mine, and the other His. He split my heart open, and it’s still open and I don’t think it will ever close. But that is good, because otherwise I’d selfishly hide Him away and keep Him just for me. Now people can see Him through my open heart… And He shines. And my goodness, sometimes He’s blinding me with all that Light. With everything He is and I can’t even begin to grasp. 

He is my Light and my Salvation. 

And that is why this year I’ll celebrate a Christmakah. So deal with it!

Bat Melech בת מלך

 Cristina כריסטינה

You and I

By STANLEY MOSS 

You are HaShem, and I am a wanderer. Who should have mercy 

on a wanderer if not HaShem? 

 

You create and I decay. Who should have mercy 

on the decayed if not the Creator?

 

 You are the Judge and I the guilty. Who should have mercy

on the guilty if not the Judge?

 

 You are All and I am a particle. Who should have mercy

on a particle if not the All? 

You are the Living One and I am dead. Who should have mercy 

on the dead if not the Living One?

 

 You are the Painter and Potter and I am clay. Who should have mercy 

on clay if not the Painter and Potter? 

 

You are the Fire and I am straw Who should have mercy 

on straw if not the Fire? 

 

You are the Listener and I am the reader. Who should have mercy

on the reader if not the Listener? 

 

You are the Beginning and I am what follows. Who should have mercy

 on what follows if not the Beginning?

 

 You are the End and I am what follows. Who should have mercy

on what follows if not the End?

Notes:
(after an anonymous 13th-century Hebrew poem) 

 Stanley Moss, “You and I” from A History of Color: New and Collected Poems.

Redemption

And it came to pass in process of time, that Melech Mitzrayim (King of Egypt) died; and the Bnei Yisroel (children of Israel) groaned by reason of haAvodah (the Bondage), and they cried out, and their cry came up unto HaElohim (The Most High) by reason of haAvodah.

And Elohim heard their groaning, and Elohim remembered His brit (covenant) with Avraham, with Yitzchak, and with Ya’akov.

 And Elohim looked upon the Bnei Yisroel, and Elohim had da’at (knowledge / aknowledge) of them. Shemot / Exodus 2:23-25 (OJB)

For two weeks now I keep saying good-bye to everybody I know. I am moving to another country for God knows how long.

I prayed for a long time for this change. I longed for it and saw it as my own personal redemption. And now that it’s here it’s scary…

I thought a lot about that passage in Shemot (Exodus) in the last couple of weeks. Jews were slaves in Mitzrayim for a long time. Their conditions were so bad that they were crying and didn’t even know to whom and if that someone even cares anymore. Their pain was beyond reason or faith… it was just raw suffering. But that cry made its way into Elohim’s heart. And Elohim listened. In Hebrew it says ‘v’yishma Elohim’… He didn’t just hear, He had listened. It’s the same word that is used when Israel is told to listen to the commandments of the Torah, and every Jew that recites Shema Israel twice a day knows this. It’s a way to listen in order to do something about it. And Elohim LISTENED to the cries of the Jewish people. Elohim looked at them and didn’t just see their conditions. He knew. The verse says in Hebrew “v’yar Elohim, et bnei Yisrael v’yeda Elohim” – God looked at the children of Israel and God knew. He didn’t just see… He knew. Knew their pain and their tears and their faults and their shortcomings. He saw it all and He knew. Not just another bit of trivia or mundane fact. He knew and He was moved. And He decided to help them. And He chose Moshe to go and command on His behalf to the one that kept them slaves ‘Shlach et ami!’ (Let my people go). It’s like ordering someone to let go, or hands off. And pharaoh refuses. And Elohim insists. And Jews got to see just how much He insisted on their behalf. And Jews have been freed and began their journey towards their promised land.

It’s an amazing story of God’s goodness. Of how He will stop at nothing to get that which is His to safety. You would think that His people would have been exited and exhilarated. They were free! This was redemption! But redemption doesn’t always feel like you expect it to.

You know you need it. You pray for it. You beg and bargain and think that’s all it takes for you to feel complete. An open door. Even a window will do. And then it’s yours. And you don’t know what to do with yourself anymore. You try to assimilate that concept and it’s totally lost on you. You reach out to open that door and you don’t know why your hand is shaking and your feet are so slow. Wasn’t this what you wanted? And things get blurry and you don’t know why your stupid eyes won’t clear because it’s your redemption and you want to see it clearly. Whatever is beyond that door has to be better than everything you leave behind!

I sound crazy don’t I? 

Redemption is good. Awesome even. 

Jews moved into a better future but still had to deal with the pain of everything they left behind. Their redemption was not all tambourines and dancing.

And neither is mine.

Bat Melech בת מלך

 Cristina כריסטינה

Stay in The Water

^"Love the Lord your God, obey his voice, and cling to him, because he is your life—even your long life—so that you may live in the land that the Lord promised to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." - Devarim/ Deuteronomy (ISV) 30:20

 A well-known tale from the Talmud (B'rachot 61b) tells the story of the great Rabbi Akiva (circa 40-137 CE) who in defiance of the Romans continued to teach and practice Torah.

One day Pappus bar Judah found Rabbi Akiva sitting in a public place teaching and studying Torah to a group of students. Fearing for Rabbi Akiva’s life, Pappas asked the master, “Are you not afraid of the Roman government?”
Rabbi Akiva replied with a parable:
'Once, a fox was walking hungrily alongside a river looking for his next meal when he saw a group of beautiful fish swimming in schools just out of his reach.
The fox called out to the fish, 'What are you fleeing from?'
The fish answered, 'We’re trying to avoid the nets that fishermen cast out to catch us.'
Slyly, the fox said, 'I know of another stream across the woods where there are no fishermen, and I would gladly carry you there so you can continue safely on your way.'
The fish weren’t fooled by the sly fox and replied, 'Aren’t you the one known as the cleverest of all the animals? You aren’t so clever after all! If we’re in danger here in the water, which is our home, how much more so would be in danger on your back and out of the water!'
'So it is with us,' Rabbi Akiva explained. 'If we’re in danger when we sit and learn, teach and practice Torah, of which it is written "For that is your life and the length of your days," (Deuteronomy 30:20), how much worse off we will be if we neglect the Torah!'
Rabbi Akiva returned to his studies and teaching.

Disclaimer: Why am I mentioning this parable of Rabbi Akiva? Because I think there is wisdom in it. For followers of Yeshua, it is a known fact that Yeshua preached in parables, so it shouldn't feel like a foreign concept me bringing up a parable. Many Rabbis before Yeshua and after Him, used parables to teach. - Disclaimer over 😎😁

I know it's tough sometimes to follow Adonai. It would be awesome if the prosperity teaching would work and with only a few words you would get to make everything be right in the name of Jesus. But this walk is not about magic. It's no abracadabra and things become the way we will them. And because of teachings like that, believers are confused when bad things happen to good people and they end up questioning Adonai... as if there's a glitch in the matrix. But He didn't lie to us. He didn't promise the world and fails to deliver it.
"I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right." - Isaiah 45:19
Yeshua said, "I have told you this so that through me you may have peace. In the world you’ll have trouble, but be courageous—I’ve overcome the world!” - John 16:33
Things happen. Situations come seemingly out of nowhere and hit us with the force of a truck. Things that knock the very breath out of you and you're left helpless and confused and doubting yourself, doubting your faith and even doubting Adonai...
We're like the fish in the parable that Rabbi Akiva gave. We try to escape whatever we feel is after us and we sometimes are offered help from the wrong source. But if you're in Yeshua, if you love Him, and cling to Him, you're gonna be OK. 
I heard someone say the other day that life is sometimes like a roller coaster with no breaks and you're so helpless you can't even scream during the ride. That might be so. I'm not here to say it's all in your imagination. But when that happens, you cling to Him with all your might and close your eyes if you must and hang on tight until it's over. I've been on rides like that, that lasted years not days or months. And I looked at Him with questioning eyes, imploring Him to make it stop and even wanted to let go because He seemed to refuse to listen to my prayers. But I've learned something during those rides. I did not initiate this covenant, this relationship and I don't get to let go without a fight. I understood that this relationship doesn't exist because of me. That yes, I may be clinging to Him, but my goodness, He's clinging on to me! 
I might have felt sometimes that the only reason I was still walking on His way was because I knew the option is hell, but I have come to understand that for Him to lose me would mean a little personal hell as well. He loves us that much!
Yeshua said, "I give them eternal life, they’ll never be lost, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." - John 10:28
"Who will separate us from the Messiah’s love? Can trouble, distress, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or a violent death do this?
As it is written,

“For your sake we are being put to death all day long.
    We are thought of as sheep headed for slaughter.”

In all these things we are triumphantly victorious due to the one who loved us.
 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,  nor anything above, nor anything below, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is ours in union with the Messiah Jesus, our Lord." - Romans 8:35-39

Like the fish in the parable, you might feel in danger even if you're in Yeshua, but if you let the deceiver convince you you'd be better out, just know that he's a liar. If you're in danger where you can breathe (in Yeshua, the One who gave you breath of Life), how much more will you be in a place where you can't even breathe? 
"If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied." - 1 Corinthians 15:19 
Do you know why? Because you'll feel like a fish that struggles to breathe. This relationship has ruined you for the world forever. You'll never be unable to unlearn everything you know about The Truth. And the Truth is that He came to give us life. Everything else is a bonus.
Am I saying that everything has to be a struggle? Not at all. But If it happens to be so, stay in the water!

Bat Melech בת מלך

 Cristina כריסטינה