Wednesday, June 08, 2016

IN REMOTE MADAGASCAR, A NEW COMMUNITY CHOOSES TO BE JEWISH.

JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)

LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)

JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE

Police hold Women of the Wall leader for ‘smuggling Torah’-Amid impasse over deal for mixed-gender section at Western Wall, group says executive director detained for bringing scroll into prayer plaza-By Raoul Wootliff June 7, 2016, 11:01 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

A leader of a group campaigning for equal prayer rights for women at the Western Wall was detained by police Tuesday morning for smuggling a Torah scroll into the prayer plaza, in contravention of Orthodox regulations imposed at the site.Women of the Wall Executive Director Leslie Sachs was “detained by police while exiting the Western Wall,” the group said Tuesday.Sachs was held along with a Torah scroll that had been loaned to the group from a congregation in the US, following a monthly Rosh Hodesh service marking the beginning of the Jewish month.The incident came as a deal to create a new egalitarian space at the Western Wall seemed to stall in the face of ultra-Orthodox pressure within the government.“Sachs was detained for ‘disturbing the public order’ despite a relatively quiet and uneventful prayer service with 80 Women of the Wall,” a statement released by Women of the Wall read. “The reason given for the police action was: smuggling a Torah scroll into the women’s section.”The scroll, donated by Sacramento’s Congregation B’nai Israel, was in police custody with Lesley Sachs, the group said.A police spokesperson said Sachs was detained for questioning and not arrested.Police have largely stopped arresting Women of the Wall members for their monthly services at the Western Wall, as a High Court petition on the use of Torah scrolls by women waits to be decided.-BREAKING: Lesley Sachs, Executive Director of Women of the Wall has been detained by police while exiting the Western Wall, reasons unknown.— Women of the Wall (@Womenofthewall) June 7, 2016-In Orthodox Judaism, only men traditionally carry Torah scrolls. Women of the Wall runs gender egalitarian services at the Western Wall in defiance of the state-imposed regulations.“Though we believe that the Torah was handed down to women and men equally at Mt. Sinai, and though women and men both sacrificed their lives and loved ones for the reunification of Jerusalem, in 2016 Women of the Wall struggle for access to Torah scrolls at the Kotel,” the group said in a statement Monday.Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, the chief rabbi of the Western Wall and an outspoken opponent of the Women of the Wall said the incident desecrated the holy site.“Being responsible for the holiness of the Western Wall, I plan to fast to atone for the disgrace caused to the Torah,” he said.A January deal to designate a section of the site for non-Orthodox prayer services has been stalled by ultra-Orthodox leaders who oppose the proposal. A high-level meeting last week between Diaspora leaders and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials failed to produce a breakthrough, with some warning that failure to resolve the issue could put a strain on Diaspora ties with the Jewish state.The Western Wall compromise, passed in a January 31 cabinet decision that reflected the work of years of negotiations, called for a permanent prayer platform to be built along the southern end of the Western Wall in an area of the Davidson Archaeological park, otherwise known as Robinson’s Arch. There is currently a temporary prayer platform set up there in two distinct areas of the park.The plan was heralded as a symbol of Jewish unity throughout much of the Jewish Diaspora. But within days of its jubilant announcement — a headline which splashed across international media — the cabinet decision drew the ire of the ultra-Orthodox parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s tenuous coalition who view the Western Wall pavilion as an open-air Orthodox synagogue. Its implementation has been stymied for the past four months.Last week, at the end of the latest 60-day extension for the beginning of the implementation of the plan, American Jewish religious leaders met with Netanyahu to try and find a way to resolve the impasse.Netanyahu’s office issued a statement after the meeting saying that he continues to work on the issue and is committed to resolving the matter. Netanyahu attended about a third of the 90-minute meeting.However, some warned a crisis could be in the offing.“There’s is no parallel to the level of crisis with the Jewish Diaspora if a quick and respectable solution to this crisis is not found,” said Yizhar Hess, head of the Conservative Movement in Israel.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Shas threatens coalition crisis if new Channel 10 head not fired-Netanyahu associate Rami Sadan denies making racist comments, calling Deri a thief; politicians see move as attempt to give PM newsroom influence-By Sue Surkes June 7, 2016, 2:15 pm-the times of israel

The Shas party on Tuesday threatened to impose coalition sanctions unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately fires the newly appointed head of Channel 10 News over racist comments he is alleged to have made against Shas and its head, Aryeh Deri.Rami Sadan, a close associate of the Netanyahu family, was quoted by the Haaretz newspaper Tuesday morning calling Deri a thief a day earlier and making a stereotyped reference to the party’s base of Mizrahi Jews of African and Middle Eastern descent.“For as long as this is not carried out [the firing], the movement’s lawmakers will vote in the Knesset plenum as they see fit” instead of obeying coalition discipline, a Shas statement said. “The Mizrahi population has stopped being silent.”Haaretz reported that Sadan, a former public relations executive and lobbyist who was appointed to his new post on Monday, told the Channel 10 News board of directors: “Let’s admit the truth: I, like you, part of the elite, hate the Shas movement and that thief Aryeh Deri. But we, as the elite, have to broaden the channel’s circles and appeal to the audience of Shas, to Massouda from Sderot.”“Massouda from Sderot” is a stereotype referring to a person of Mizrahi descent living on Israel’s periphery. It was originally coined by Alex Giladi, the first director of the Keshet TV franchise, who once said Keshet would supply programming to everyone in Israel, “to Massouda Cohen from Sderot and also to Moshe Rabinowitch from Yavne’el.”The reference to Deri as a thief relates to the Shas leader’s conviction for bribery, for which he served a 22-month prison sentence.Sadan’s comments were relayed to Haaretz by one of those present at the board meeting, who described the statements as “shameful and infuriating.” The source said “the smell of authoritarianism, arrogance and racism wafted” through the room.An associate of Sadan denied he made the statement and attributed the report to an attempt to sow discord among ultra-Orthodox factions. “The quotes attributed to me are lies,” he told the ultra-Orthodox news site Kikar Hashabat.The report on the comments set off a firestorm of criticism in the political world, with the Communications Ministry, headed by Netanyahu, ordering the Second Authority for Television and Radio, which oversees broadcasting licenses, to look into the remarks.Responding to Sadan’s comments, Deri said the party’s voters were not “excess baggage,” rather “hundreds of thousands of Mizrahis who decided to come together and lift up their heads in order to defeat cases like Rami Sadan in the world. We are here to stay and will not ignore remarks like that.”Slamming Sadan as a “pathetic racist,” MK Shelly Yachimovich (Zionist Union) described the Channel 10 chairman on her Twitter page as “the silencing arm of Balfour” – a reference to the official residence of the prime minster on Jerusalem’s Balfour Street. She added: “Woe to the fingers that approved this appointment.”Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid issued a statement condemning Sadan’s “racist, inciting and hateful” statements.Sadan was appointed by the Channel 10 board in a vote Monday night, receiving the support of controlling shareholders and the CEO of the Nana10 website, according to Haaretz. His appointment was seen as an attempt to give Netanyahu influence over the channel’s news decisions.Referring to Sadan as “a kind of long arm in the newsroom,” Matan Hodorov, who represents the journalists on Channel 10 News, said there were many people at the board meeting who heard his comments.Hodorov told Army Radio on Tuesday: “We will not tolerate any smell of racism.” He said it was not appropriate for the channel’s chairman to be a “publicist, an associate of politicians and an expressed racist,” and apologized to Mizrahi listeners, whom he said made up an important part of the channel’s audience. “We are not an elite, Shas voters make up an important part of our audience and are among those working on the news team,” he said.Hodorov said Sadan was not the leading candidate for the position but was nevertheless appointed in a lightning decision by the board.

In remote Madagascar, a new community chooses to be Jewish-After years of self-study and correspondence with rabbis in Israel, 121 Malagasies converted to Judaism, pray in Sephardic-accented Hebrew and strictly observe Sabbath and holidays-By Deborah Josefson June 6, 2016, 2:25 am-the times of israel

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (JTA) — A nascent Jewish community was officially born in Madagascar last month when 121 men, women and children underwent Orthodox conversions on the remote Indian Ocean island nation better known for lemurs, chameleons, dense rain forests and vanilla.The conversions, which took place over a 10-day period, were the climax of a process that arose organically five to six years ago when followers of various messianic Christian sects became disillusioned with their churches and began to study Torah.Through self-study and with guidance from Jewish internet sources and correspondence with rabbis in Israel, they now pray in Sephardic-accented Hebrew and strictly observe the Sabbath and holidays.The conversions were facilitated by Kulanu, a New York-based nonprofit that specializes in supporting isolated and emerging Jewish communities, but were initiated by the residents.“Now that we’ve re-established the State of Israel, it is time to re-establish the Jewish people, especially in the Diaspora,” said Bonita Nathan Sussman, vice president of Kulanu.Her husband, Rabbi Gerald Sussman of Temple Emanuel on Staten Island in New York, added: “We are in the process of reconstituting the Jewish people, which would have been more numerous had it not been decimated by the Holocaust and had we not lost millions of Jews in Arab lands.”Beginning on May 9, members of the community came before a beit din, or rabbinical court, convened for the occasion at the Le Pave Hotel here, the Madagascar capital. The court comprised three rabbis with Orthodox ordinations: Rabbi Oizer Neumann of Brooklyn, Rabbi Achiya Delouya of Montreal and Rabbi Pinchas Klein of Philadelphia. All three belong to a group of rabbis who serve far-flung Jewish communities and support converting emergent Jewish groups.Delouya, whose background is Moroccan, spoke with the converts in their second official language, French, and also provided Sephardic influences for which the Madagascar community feel an affinity.The conversion process included periods of intensive Torah study, interviews by the beit din and full body immersions in a river located a 90-minute drive from Antananarivo. A privacy tent was hastily erected beside the river for the occasion, and a festive atmosphere ensued as men, women and children, ranging in age from 3 to 85, lined up to take the ritual plunge.Additionally, the Madagascar men, who are already circumcised, underwent “hatafat dam brit,” or ritual penile bloodletting, to affirm their new faith.The 10-day period concluded with 12 Jewish weddings and a symposium on Madagascar’s Israelite connections featuring a keynote address by Tudor Parfitt, a British scholar and expert on the Lost Tribes of Israel.Indeed, many Malagasies, as the islanders are known, believe they are of Jewish or Israelite descent, and that their founders were seafaring members of the ten Lost Tribes. Belief in the “Malagasy secret” persists despite evidence that most Malagasies are of Indonesian and African origin.According to local lore, Madagascar is the biblical land of Ophir and played a pivotal role in providing construction materials to King Solomon’s temple. Many also believe that the Ark of the Covenant and other ritualistic temple items are buried on the island.Even Prince Ndriana Rabarioelina, a descendant of the Merina monarchy of Madagascar, proudly asserts Jewish ancestry. He told JTA that up to 80 percent of Malagasies can claim Jewish roots. He asserts that portions of the tablets, Moses’s rod and a copy of the Book of Daniel are safeguarded by descendants of Levites in the Vatamasina-Vohipeno region of Madagascar.Additionally, several Merina tombs, including those of his family, bear Hebrew symbols or letters, he said.Nevertheless, evidence of a historic Judaic presence in Madagascar is scarce, and what signs can be found could date from the seventh century, when traders from Arab lands sailed to the island, or the 1500s, when conversos may have been among the Portuguese sailors who established trading posts.Madagascar, a country of 20 million people, is awash with missionaries. Some 50 percent of the population practices some form of Christianity, while most of the other half practices an indigenous animist faith in which ancestor worship features prominently. Approximately 7 percent of the population is Muslim.While many Malagasies were brought to Judaism through study of the Old Testament and a sincere effort to get closer to God, some see the practice of Judaism as a return to their roots and an overthrowing of the last vestiges of colonialism.“I was a victim of the colonizers, as you know we had the French here, and then the communists and then the socialists … so I didn’t have any roots anymore,” said Mija Rasolo, an actor who hosts his own late night talk show on Madagascar TV and took the Hebrew name David Mazal. “So I told myself for now I am going to be Jewish, because that works for me. I found Judaism. I found my roots, baruch Hashem … Am Yisrael Chai” – the people of Israel live.As residents of Antananarivo began to explore Judaism, three leaders emerged to guide the nascent community: Andrianarisao Asarery, known as Ashrey Dayves; Andre Jacque Rabisisoa, known as Peteola, and Ferdinand Jean Andriatovomanana, known as Touvya.Ashrey is a dynamic former pastor and singer who works as a pastry chef by day and is famous throughout Madagascar for his television cooking show. His father is also a famous Malagasy singer. He favors a more liberal and welcoming version of Judaism, leads a congregation of about 25, and conducts radio broadcasts on Jewish topics and religious practices.Peteola, a computer programmer, conducts Hebrew language lessons and religious radio broadcasts. He has a following of about 30 and favors a mystical and kabbalistic approach to Judaism. He teaches Torah concepts with Gematria, through which meaning is derived from the numeric values of Hebrew letters.Touvya, a self-taught cantor, davens devoutly and sports peyot, the traditional sidelocks mentioned in Leviticus. He leads his congregation of 40 in strict observance of the Torah.All three have set up makeshift synagogues in their living rooms, while some prayer services are also held in a space provided by the English Language Institute. Services are generally held at Touvya’s house, which is large enough to accommodate most community members. Getting there can sometimes be problematic because not everyone lives within commuting distance of the home. Most Malagasies do not have cars and rely on their feet or bush taxi (taxi brousse) for transportation.Inevitable congregational differences have also arisen.The move toward conversion was spearheaded by Ashrey, who functions as president of the Jewish Community of Madagascar, which is also known as Sefarad Madagascar. Ashrey thought conversions would bring legitimacy to the group as well as greater ties to world Jewry.Touvya and Petoula were reluctant at first to accept conversion. Touvya in particular felt that conversion was unnecessary because he believed that he was already Jewish, and did not want or need the validation of an outsider to confirm it.Community members dress modestly and strive to keep kosher in a land lacking the proper infrastructure to do so. Without a kosher butcher, most will eat only fish, dairy and vegetable products.Many observe the practice of niddah, avoiding marital relations or even touching while a woman is menstruating.Only 30 people were originally scheduled to convert when Kulanu arrived on the scene last month, but the number ultimately swelled to 121 as family members and Touvya’s congregation joined in. Kulanu estimates that at least 100 more potential converts live among the community.The conversions are an ironic twist of fate, occurring around the 76th anniversary of the Madagascar Plan. Launched by Nazi Germany on June 3, 1941, it was conceived as an alternative method to achieve the Final Solution by deporting European Jewry to Vichy-controlled Madagascar. Most were expected to die en route, succumb to disease or be massacred without international oversight. The plan was never implemented.Instead, decades after the Holocaust took the lives of 6 million European Jews, one pocket of the African nation has become a place of Jewish rebirth.

Israel-China affair blooms even as culture gap weighs on rapport-The Chinese seek a long-term relationship but Israelis ‘don’t want to spend time on you,’ says Chinese entrepreneur in Israel, ruefully-By Shoshanna Solomon June 7, 2016, 10:32 am Updated: June 7, 2016, 2:52 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

In the past four years the romance between Israel and China has blossomed. More than 500 Chinese delegations visited Israel in 2015 and Chinese investment in Israeli companies and venture capital funds has surged to record highs.As the world’s second-largest economy shifts its focus from being a manufacturing and labor intensive economy to becoming a high-end innovative force, Asian giants including Alibaba Group, Hutchison Water Ltd., and Huawei have set up R&D centers, invested in funds and snapped up Israeli start-ups and companies.And more interest may be on its way, as earlier this month China’s president Xi Jinping called for his country to establish itself as one of the most innovative countries in the world by 2020. And as long as China lacks home-grown technology, the nation is out on a shopping spree.Even so, says Edwards You Lyu — the CEO of Israel Vadi Ventures Ltd., which claims to be the first wholly Chinese-owned company established in Israel — the romance is just at the beginning, and Chinese investment in Israel is still tiny compared to what it could be once diffidence and language barriers are overcome.“There are cultural differences, the way of thinking and working is different,” said You Lyu in an interview in Vadi’s offices in Tel Aviv. “Israelis are not patient, they want quick answers, they don’t want to spend time on you. The Chinese have a slow decision making process, they first want to know you and then do business with you. They are looking for a long-term relationship.”Total capital invested in deals with some Chinese participation is expected to rise to $500 million this year compared to $118 million in 2012 and $467 million in 2014, according to data compiled by IVC Research Center, which tracks investment in Israel’s high-tech industry. IVC expects “the vast majority” of Israeli venture capital funds to have at least one Chinese investor in their financing rounds in 2016.“We see Chinese investors operating in a number of parallel fields – via direct investments, through the setting up of research and development centers, via acquisitions or via investment in funds,” Koby Simana, the CEO of IVC, said in an interview.Israeli companies see the Chinese companies as an opportunity to access a massive market but also as a source of funding, he said. “There is a huge interest for both sides. It is just a matter of finding the right formula” so that more investments will happen.Israel’s Ministry of Economy and Industry will add a commercial attache to its Chinese team this summer, bringing the number to six from five, more than those allocated to the US, said Ziva Eger, chief executive of foreign investments and industrial cooperation at the ministry. “China is a target,” Eger said. “It is a country that has opened up to us in the past two years, and once you open the door to China you get an immense market.”The ministry’s message to Chinese firms is that they must set up R&D centers in Israel, Eger said. “If they want to ‘live’ research and development then they must set up research and development centers here in Israel,” she said. “Technology gets old very quickly. They must be on the ground.”Chinese overseas investments globally reached a historic high of $118 billion in 2015, according You Lyu, based on data compiled by the China Statistical Database. Investments have shifted from the mining, manufacturing and construction industries to healthcare, entertainment and the high tech sectors.Israel is getting just a fraction of this investment, You Lyu said, because of the language barriers, lack of information regarding Israeli innovation trends, lack of channels to manage investments afterwards and lack of resources for due diligence. “There is a lot of enthusiasm, but when you get down to the nitty gritty there are a lot of differences,” he said.You Lyu, a former worker in the Nanjing Municipal Government in China, in charge of China-Israel cooperation, first visited Israel as part of a delegation sent to get training in Tel Aviv University. He later enlisted for a MBA in Tel Aviv and at the end of last year set up Vadi Ventures, with the aim of helping promote joint ventures between the two countries. Vadi has a sister company operating in California’s Silicon Valley.Vadi is holding the China-Israel High-tech Investment Forum in Tel Aviv this week in which Israeli entrepreneurs will pitch their companies to more than 100 visiting Chinese investors and firms, with a focus on mobile internet, virtual reality and artificial intelligence, medical devices, digital health and clean tech.“We are here to help them overcome these differences,” You Lyu said. “We still have to find out how to bridge these differences. They are just getting to know each other. You just need to find the right mechanism.”

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