A prayer and Comfort for those who mourn in Zion

Besorah for the Brokenhearted

The Ruach of Adonai Elohim is on me,
because Adonai has anointed me
    to proclaim Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of Adonai’s favor
    and the day of our God’s vengeance,

 

to comfort all who mourn to console those who mourn in Zion,
to give them beauty for ashes,
    the oil of joy for mourning,
    the garment of praise
        for the spirit of heaviness,
    that they might be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of Adonai,
    that He may be glorified.

Isaiah 61:1~3

Dear Father,

It was on Shabbat.  It was on International Holocaust Remebrance Day.  It was on the Shabbat of reading about the night that You set your people free and started the Exodus from Egypt.  We join our hearts with Israel and remember the 7 victims of the terrorist attack that took place on that night outside a synagogue in Jerusalem on that Friday night, even there was a boy only 14 years old, the all too young Asher was among the victims that night who was heinously killed.  We pray for your comfort to all who mourn and thank You that You are the One who consoles those who mourn in Zion.  

We pray for comfort for all the families of the 7 victims, complete healing for any that survived the attacks, and protection from any more attacks and cessation of these acts of terror.

We pray for both Jew and Arab, Christian and Moslem,   for a healing of the hatred and the pulling out of the root of evil that would cause a young 21 year old in the prime of life, a life that was given by You dear Father, to use this precious gift of life and carry out such a horrendous act to go out and intentionally kill, to intentionally destroy, and to have such a hate that was taught through generations even specifically against the Jewish people. 

We repent, LORD, that we have seen many years of such hate growing and perhaps could be doing much more.  Especially to pray for Israel as your word says, may we take no rest until you make Jerusalem a praise in all the earth.  You are the God who is `Zealous for Zion` and to restore your people to the land.   Could it be that this is a wake up to the Body of Messiah as well.  We ask you open our spiritual eyes towards Jerusalem and  help us to know how to pray so we can act ahead of the evil and close doors which have been open to allow such rampant acts of hate.  May our forgiveness and reconciliation between one another bring about a greater release of forgiveness and reconcilliation and healing amongst all peoples, and hasten the return of Messiah to put Your feet on Zion once more, speedliy and in our day.

We also ask for a breaking down of and a total getting rid of the teachings and education system where youths are taught by adults to kill and to hate.  We pray for a softening of all hearts to forgive and to reconcile and to put down the guns and the knives and that soon they will indeed be changed to plowshares as all will call upon the Name of the LORD.

Father we give you thanks for your Mercy and loving kindness, and for your grace in the name of Your Beloved Son Yeshua. 

Amen.

And now continuing in the verse, as this is the week of Shabbat of Song, we proclaim Victory in Yeshua.  We also pray for a hastening of turning of mourning into joy and may Israel come into the next Shabbat , we ask you to give them beauty for ashes,
    the oil of joy for mourning,
    the garment of praise
        for the spirit of heaviness.  After the days of the Shiva (first 7 days of mourning), may there be singing the song of Salvation, singing the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb as this will be the Shabbat of Song.  May no plan of the enemy come against the breaking forth in song by all Israel as we are reading this very week in the splitting of the sea.  Breakforth oh LORD with Your Deliverance!!!  

Save us O Lord and we shall be saved! Heal us and we shall be healed.  The LORD is our Strength and our Song.  He has also become our Yeshua! 

Blessings and Love,

Shayndel

 Instead of your shame, double portion.
instead of disgrace they will sing for joy.
Therefore in their land they will inherit a double portion;
    they will have everlasting joy.

Isaiah 61:7

  💛

 

 

Mount of Olives, in memory of Asher.  I just read that the precious son was buried on the Mt. of Olives.  Even as we are coming up on Tu B`Shevat, may we plant trees in the beloved memory of the victims and as a prayer for the prophetic return of the Jewish people , may we be more active in the restoration of Zion, to build and to plant!!

 

Ninth of Av and Breakthrough after the Fast

Thus said the LORD:
Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom;
Let not the strong man glory in his strength;
Let not the rich man glory in his riches.

But only in this should one glory:
In his earnest devotion to Me.
For I the LORD act with kindness,
Justice, and equity in the world;
For in these I delight
            --- declares the LORD.          Jeremiah 9:22~23

 

Today is (was, here as its night Japan) an important day of mourning and fasting, remembrance and repentance, for the Jewish people, and marks the end of a three week mourning period.   These are some reflections from what I am learning about this day.  

The name of this day in Hebrew is Tisha B`Av, which means the 9th day of the month of Av.
Do you recognize this meaning of the name of this  month ?  

 אב  =  `Father`!

Av (אב) is the fifth month counting from the first month of Nisan on the Hebrew Calendar, and yes, `Av` means Father.  The month of the `Father`!! (of course all months are, but this has the word Father as its name!).  The full name is Menachem Av.  Menachem is `Consoler` reminding us that God the Father comforts us in times of tragedy and all times. 

This day, the 9th of Av,  commemorates the destruction of the Holy Temple --both first and second---in Jerusalem, as well as many other tragic events that happened on this same day throughout the history of the Jewish people.  It is said to be the saddest day of the Jewish calendar.  

It is customary to read the book of Lamentations on Tisha B`Av,  in which  the prophet Jeremiah saw the destruction of the Temple would be on the 9th of Av, and prophesized the events.  It is a time of mourning today,  a collectinve and individual time to mourn and remember.  As it is a fast day, it is also a time to reflect, to repent, draw nearer and return to God.

But in the sadness there is also the transformative joy to come on the day in which the sadness will be no more, it  is said by the Jewish sages that Tisha B`Av will become a `Yom Tov` or holiday and celebration day when the Temple is built again and at the revelation of Messiah to the Jewish people (or, as those who are believers in Yeshua would say, the second coming), this day will be celebrated fully as a great Yom Tov, a day of great joy at the Redemption of all Israel!!  

The Jewish sages say that there is blessing for those who weep for Jerusalem, as this tuning in to God`s heart for His beloved city and the city where He puts His name.  We know Yeshua wept over Jerusalem.  When I visited Israel last spring we stood on the Mt. of Olives where He will again set his feet upon His return.  May we too look toward Jerusalem and unite our hearts with God as one, all of the body of Messiah, with the Jewish people, and today may we see all baseless hatred in all forms, and all anti-Semitism be eradicated.   May we see more and more of baseless love!! (Love which knows know bounds!!)  I think how it must grieve the Holy Spirit when God is separated from His people (of course even in the separation there is deep connecting and coming closer, a little hard to explain but trying to write this out as there is so much depth and love in the longing), and when we His children are separated from one another. 

 Yeshua tells us He will not return until we say,
Baruch Haba Bashem ADONAI.
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD.

At the end of the day,  my soul yearns for Jerusalem.

As long as within our hearts
The Jewish soul sings,
As long as forward to the East
To Zion, looks the eye –
Our hope is not yet lost,
It is two thousand years old,
To be a free people in our land
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.  --Lyrics from Israel`s National Anthem, Hatikvah

After today the coming days on the Hebrew calendar are days of Comfort beginning with this Shabbat for 7 Shabbatot, and the days leading up to the Fall Feasts!! This Shabbat is the Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of Comfort, from the reading in the Book of Isaiah from Chapter 40:1~.

Comfort, oh comfort My people, 
Says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
And declare to her
That her term of service is over, 
That her iniquity is expiated; 
For she has received at the hand of the LORD
Double for all her sins.

Isaiah 40:1~2

 I could even feel a breakthrough at the end of today when I sat and read some of the evening prayers, and as God brings on the night with His Word, I saw the moon outside very bright, a telling of the day we are in, and almost the way it filled with light in its `half` state, moving into fullness, reminding us that after the mourning there is gladness!!!  May we experience in the coming days an expression of that joy and breakthrough!!

Much Love, ♡

Shayndel

(Jerusalem pictures in this post I took on my trip to Israel in 2019,   L`dor v`dor trip-)

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem--

may those who love you be at peace!

May there be shalom within your walls--quietness within your palaces."

Psalm 122:6~7

For those who would like to know more about this day and how it is important for everyone in the body of Messiah, and for one worship-full perspective on this day,   I recommend that you might watch this video from Messianic Worship Leader Paul Wilbur`s Worship Wednesday this week, HERE.

There are also many videos at TORAH ANYTIME which are amazing and give so many teachings on the days we are in on the Jewish Calendar as well as if you are interested in learning from the weekly Torah Readings and Jewish understanding.  The teachings on Tisha B`Av will probably just be up for another day or so, as its always updated.

PS I didn`t know that There is also a day in the month of Av this Tuesday considered on the Jewish calendar to be a day of  Love,  The 15th of Av!!  With some joyous significance.   I just came across it but don`t know much about it.... If you care to know more, let me know what you find out....it is called Tu b`Av!!!

Because of the LORD`s great love we are not consumed,

for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  
I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;  therefore I will wait for Him."

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

 Lamentations 3:22~26

POST NOTE July 17, 2021, 9th of AV 5781, from the Author, I am reading this post on Tisha B`AV one year later, and I realize from reading this post, when I wrote it I must not yet have known the verse in Zecharaiah 8:19 where the Bible states that this fast day as well as the fasts of the fourth, seventh and tenth, will become cheerful moedim and days of gladness!! I will leave the post without editing it but Please see Zecharaiah 8:19, to see that it is stated in the scripture about the fasts being turned into feast days of celebration, may it be so even starting now, and may we see Messiah`s return speedily and in our day!

The Shema

The Shema is contained in the book of Deuteronomy.  The Shema is also "contained" in the mezuzah (see below)

You shall speak of them when you walkest by the way

Pointer at the start of the Ten Commandments, you can also see the left side of the scroll winding down

The grass withers, the flower fades.  
But the word of God stands forever.

--Isaiah 40:8, from this week`s Haftarah 

In this week`s Torah Portion, we are drawing nearer to the end of the Torah cycle.
Its like a crescendo right now, everything from the beginning is coming together in the fifth book of Torah as Moses speaks the words (Devarim) to the Children of Israel.  Can you feel it even now, as the left side of the scroll shortens, and we are coming into the last month of the Hebrew year.

At the same time closer to the beginning.  The Day of Atonement, the Fall Feasts that mark the end of one cycle and beginning of the next, as well as the New Year on the Hebrew calendar are approaching.  God`s cycle of time is eternal and it is also clearly marked with Shabbatot and `Chagim` (Feasts).

This past Shabbat is also called the Shabbat of Comfort, from the first words in the Haftarah from Isaiah, that is read in the same week.
It follows a series of Shabbatot that marked some of the sad and bitter times in Jewish history.

But now is a time of `Comfort`.

"Comfort, comfort My people,"

says your God.   ---Isaiah 40:1

Reading this portion,  it is indeed `comforting` as there is both the Ten Commandments and the `Shema` in this week's reading.
Do you know what the Shema refers to?
It is the scriptures in Deuteronomy 6:4 , which start, Hear O Israel.
In Hebrew, Shema Y`Israel.

 I grew up knowing these words as the Shema, and that they are  "the watchword of our faith." 
I am amazed when I look at my childhood, that my parents  obediently followed the command to "teach these words diligently to your children."  I don`t remember `learning` them, but I don`t remember ever not knowing them.  Its like they were always there... and they were! And they are!!

Even my years as a runaway from the God of Israel (you may know that part of my story from elsewhere on the blog!), I still said these words as a prayer before bedtime, it was almost automatic, and I never really thought that I was keeping my connection by saying them, I just said them.  Its like a piece of me wasn't rebelling and knew that they were a treasure to keep.  So when I returned to the God of Israel, and said these words, it was like they really were a lifeline and felt soo....well... to use a word from this week...comforting!!

   As I reflect on them in reading in this week cycle, their eternal place in our lives  and the way they are a direct connect to the God of Israel just spoke to me in a new way.  I don't know if you were brought up saying them every day as maybe it is something that just Jewish parents teach, I am not sure, but if you don`t say them each day, I would just like to invite you to!!  Like a parent teaching them diligently to a child, I would leave these words here,  and if someone is reading this and inspired to begin to incorporate them into your daily prayer times, then I will have done my `mitzvot` for today.

These are the words of the Shema Israel.

Shema Israel ADONAI Eloheinu

ADONAI Echad

Hear O Israel

The Lord our God

the Lord is One.

שְׁמַע, יִשְׂרָאֵל:  יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ, יְהוָה אֶחָד. 

וְאָהַבְתָּ, אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, בְּכָל-לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל-נַפְשְׁךָ, וּבְכָל-מְאֹדֶךָ
וְהָיוּ הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה, אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם--עַל-לְבָבֶךָ
 וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ, וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם, בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ, וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ
וּבְקוּמֶךָ
 וּקְשַׁרְתָּם לְאוֹת, עַל-יָדֶךָ; וְהָיוּ לְטֹטָפֹת, בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ
 וּכְתַבְתָּם עַל-מְזֻזוֹת בֵּיתֶךָ, וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ

V'ahavta et ADONAI Elohecha b'chol-l'vav'cha oovchol-nafsh'cha oovchol-m'odecha.
V'hayu had'varim ha'elleh asher anochi m'tzav'cha hayom al-l'vavecha
Oovlecht'cha vaderech oov'shochb'cha oovkumecha.
ookshartam l'ot al-yadecha v'hayu l'totafot bein einecha.
oochtavtam al-m'zuzot beitecha oovisharecha.

Love ADONAI your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These words, which I am commanding you today, are to be on your heart.  You are to teach them diligently to your children, and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.  Bind them as a sign on your hand, they are to be as frontlets between your eyes, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:4~9

 Amen.

♡

Note:  A  `Mezuzah`is pictured (a little exaggerated so you can see it!) in the picture.   
The Mezuzah is a box that contains a scroll which has written on it the words of the Shema.  The letter `Shin` that you see drawn on it is the Hebrew letter with the sound `Sh` that starts the Shema.   When you come in to the house it is customary to kiss the mezuzah by kissing your hand and touching the `Sh` thus acknowledging the words contained in the Shema!!

Hebrew notes if you would like to read on!
1.  Something I noticed as I was writing the transliteration, the word Devarim, which I have used in a few posts recently.  This word is the name of the Fifth book of the bible in Hebrew and means "Words".  In English we call this book, Deuteronomy.   Of course the Parsha is always named after the first words in the reading, but I find it also interesting how often Devarim, or words is used throughout the book!!

Other note'  You can see the word "Mezuzot" in the last line in the Hebrew and it is the plural of "Mezuzah" and means doorpost.

this post's Hebrew lesson!

Shema=hear, listen
Ha devarim=these words
al m'zuzot=on the doorposts

Nachamu= Comfort
Shabbat Nachamu=Sabbath of Comfort

and one bonus word
Ahava =  Love
(as in Ve ahavta et Adonai Elohecha, you shall love the Lord thy God)