What about those OTHER Golden Calves?  

               

        Everyone knows the story about the Golden Calf, right?  Moshe is up on Har (Mt) Sinai, and the children of Israel have a Golden Calf built for them...boy, talk about an ungrateful group, right?  But there was another time in the history of the people of Israel, where the Golden Calf thing happened, and we even know the exact date it occurred.  AND, we even know the disastrous results, which affect us to this very day.

        We have to go back to the death of Shlomo HaMelech King Solomon and the split in the United Kingdom that he had ruled.  Go to Sefer Melachim, the Book of Kings - the whole story's there.  Rechovam (Rehoboam) remained King of Yehuda (Judah), which essentially was from Jerusalem, South.  Yerovam (Jeroboam) became King of Yisrael - Israel - the Northern Kingdom.  Just as a note, in the Tanach (Hebrew Bible), the (Northern) Kingdom of Yisrael (Israel) is ALSO referred to Ephraim, Yosef (Joseph) and Shomorn (Samaria).  

             Having our one people being split between two Kingdoms would have been bad enough - but Yerovam wanted to have total control over the people in his particular Kingdom. He was concerned that his citizens would travel to Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) to the Bet HaMikdash (Holy Temple) over the pilgrimage festivals (to offer sacrifices) and that they would retain their loyalties to the place that HaShem (God) decided to have His presence on Earth as well as to King Rechovam.

              So, he decided that he would need to changes things - MANY things...he actually built two Golden Calves, placing them at either ends of his Kingdom - Dan in the North and Bet El in the South.  Sefer Melachim (1) Book of Kings tells us that he told his citizens: "You have been going up to Yerushalayim long enough.  This is your God O Yisrael, who brought you up from the Land of Egypt!"

Melachim (1) 12:28

            Yerovam also changed the calendar, creating his OWN holiday!  Moving Sukkot to the 8th month, instead of the 7th month.  But worshipping the Golden Calves? Wow...you could not get MORE distant from the way the people of Israel were supposed to live.           

         This occurred on the 15th day of the 8th month....BTW, that's Cheshvan, the month that just ended.  This is a date where everyone who views themselves as PART of Israel (along with their Jewish brothers and sisters) should use to repent for the actions of their ancestors.   For 26 years, I have been meeting people who have identified themselves as belonging to the people of Israel - through descent from those of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. But, I have YET to meet people who acknowledge this date and use it to educate themselves and their congregations and fellowships.  

          I have always felt you cannot simply claim to be part of the 'Tribes of Israel' if you do not own up to what sent your side of the family into galut (exile) for over 2,700+ years.      

This initiation of IDOL WORSHIP was what is referred to as, "The Sin of Jeroboam" - changing the mode of worship that the People of Israel had been commanded to follow...which was what led to the ultimate destruction of the Kingdom of Yisrael/Ephraim.  That destruction by Assyria led to the dispersal and punishment of the citizens of the Kingdom of Israel.  Being led to Assyria and from there to the very corners of the Earth.  

And now, in 2020, after barely 30+ years of people being woken to the concept that they too may be part of Israel - that process of Restoration and Reconciliation has actually begun to happen!  May we approach each other with love, caring and Mutual Respect - knowing that it is ONLY HaShem who can change us into whatever He feels we need to be.  May ALL of Israel be reunited once again and may we work together to cause it to happen speedily and in OUR days.  

                                 With love & hugs from Modi'in, Home of the Maccabees,

                                                                 Hanoch

                       

           

                                    

What's the deal with Avraham?

                                                      What's the deal with Avraham?

    

           In last weeks Parsha (Torah portion) - Lech Lecha,  we began to read the story of Avraham Avinu, Abraham our father.  Now, before even thinking about the dramatic story of the Akeda - the 'sacrifice' of Yitzhak (Issac) we have to deal with the whole, "Gotta leave home, make a fresh new start" kind of thing.  And besides, the Akeda happens in a later Parsha!  😉

         So really, what's the BIG DEAL?  Avraham is told to go out on his own, right?  Like most of us need to do as we grow into adulthood, to go find his own place and start his own life.  Well...kind of, but not really...He is actually told to leave ("go forth" as most translations like to say) his father's home "...to the land that I will show you."  Bereshit (Genesis) 12:1.  WHY did he HAVE to leave his father's 'house' and go to some land that wasn't even on his GPS - that he wasn't even aware that it existed.  

         We quickly learn that Avraham was to be a 'blessing' and that he would have a 'great nation' made from him.  Avraham was to introduce the knowledge of HaShem (God) into the world.  But, he needed to go to a special, unique place in order to fulfill his destiny.  That place of course, we now know of as Israel, or Eretz Yisrael.  But WHY?  Why couldn't Avraham have simply worshipped HaShem from where he was?  After all, just about everyone reading this lives (currently...) OUTSIDE of the Land of Israel and is forced to worship HaShem and His holy days as best they can, where they are.  So, what's the lesson for all of us that we can apply to our lives TODAY?  

              It wasn't just that this was to serve as a lesson to teach us the uniqueness and centrality of Israel - the very Land from which blessing emanates.  It was to show us WHAT he had to leave behind and more importantly - WHY he had to leave it. 

             In order to properly be an 'Eved (servant of ) HaShem'  - Avraham had to leave everything he was familiar with - his family and what his father had taught him, his culture, his frame of reference (for ALL knowledge) and the very essence of all of the values of the society that he had been raised in.  

            He didn't merely change how he referred to things (giving familiar cultural or religious ideas new 'Hebrew names') but it was a TOTAL remake of every single thing about him and how he would perceive everything from that time onward.  

            No, he wasn't simply encouraged to 'think with a Hebraic mindset' or told to refer to all of his Facebook friends from that moment on as 'achi' (my brother) or 'achoti' (my sister).  He was to truly start fresh - with no preconceived notions.  He wasn't allowed to practice syncretism - he wasn't given the option of seeing what 'worked' or 'fit' within his new 'Hebraic mindset.'  How many of US, would have been, or even ARE willing to do the same?  

             I come across people all the time who are striving in their approaches to understanding HaShem and are trying to reclaim their 'lost' religious beliefs and understanding.  But, how many of them are willing to even consider what some of their brothers and sisters are doing (and how they understand things) in order for them to make the right choices in their personal religious lives?  Yes, even when those brothers and sisters have been doing it for the last few thousand years?  

          Where would we ALL be now, if Avraham had taken the approach of simply doing what he wanted to do, assuring himself that after all, HaShem knew his heart?  Something for us ALL to consider as we ALL struggle to leave behind the baggage we no longer need.  

(in front of Ma'arat HaMachpela - the Cave of the Patriarchs (where Avraham was buried) in Hevron)

                                        With love & hugs from Modi'in - home of the Maccabees, 

                                                                          Hanoch