Peshat - the plain and simple meaning

President Obama Addresses the UN General Assembly

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Karaite Korner, and the people and organizations quoted on http://www.karaite-korner.org, are in no way associated with peshat.com and views expressed here.

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This year, both Rabbinical and Karaite Jews held Passover on the same day. It was truly an incredible coincidence, since the rabbinical calendar is normally off by two days from the new moon calendar described in the Torah. Anyhow, It is quite unfortunate that Rabbinical Jews will be holding Shavout starting on Tuesday evening, June 7, 2011. Based on the following verses, Shavout should always occur the day after Sabbath, a Sunday -- this year, June 12, 2011.

More discussion is here: Counting the Omer 2009

	Leviticus Chapter 23 9 And YHWH spoke unto Moses saying: 10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When ye are come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest. 11 And he shall wave the sheaf before YHWH, to be accepted for you; on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And in the day when ye wave the sheaf, ye shall offer a he-lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt-offering unto YHWH. 13 And the meal-offering thereof shall be two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto YHWH for a sweet savour; and the drink-offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. 14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor fresh ears, until this selfsame day, until ye have brought the offering of your God; it is a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the day of rest, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the waving; seven weeks shall there be complete; 16 even unto the morrow after the seventh week shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall present a new meal-offering unto YHWH. 17 Ye shall bring out of your dwellings two wave-loaves of two tenth parts of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baked with leaven, for first-fruits unto YHWH. 18 And ye shall present with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams; they shall be a burnt-offering unto YHWH, with their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto YHWH. 19 And ye shall offer one he-goat for a sin-offering, and two he-lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace-offerings. 20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first-fruits for a wave-offering before YHWH, with the two lambs; they shall be holy to YHWH for the priest. 21 And ye shall make proclamation on the selfsame day; there shall be a holy convocation unto you; ye shall do no manner of servile work; it is a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. 22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corner of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest; thou shalt leave them for the poor, and for the stranger: I am YHWH your God.

http://www.karaite-korner.org/omer.shtml:

June 11, 2011:
Today is the 7th day of the 7th week of seven weeks. Today is the 49th day of the counting of fifty days from the day of the waving of the Omer on the morrow after the Sabbath. Today is Sabbath, the 7th Sabbath of seven Sabbaths. Today completes the 7th week of seven weeks.

11 יוני 2011:
הַיּוֹם יוֹם שְׁבִיעִי לַשָּׁבוּעַ שְׁבִיעִי מִשִׁבְעָה שָׁבֻעוֹת. הַיּוֹם אַרְבָּעִים וְתִשְׁעָה יוֹם מִסְפִירַת חֲמִשִּׁים יוֹם מֵהֲנָפַת הָעֹמֶר מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת. ‏הַיּוֹם שַׁבָּת, שַׁבָּת שְׁבִיעִית מִשֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת. הַיּוֹם נִשְׁלַם שָׁבוּעַ שְׁבִיעִי מִשִׁבְעָה שָׁבֻעוֹת.

Not sure if Reform Judaism believes anything beyond the Jewish traditions several of which are misplaced at best. Conservative Judaism does not believe in the covenant. One conservative rabbi once told me that if he were to enter Rabbi school with the belief that the Torah was divine, he would have been kicked out. Could this be the result of following the Talmud rather than the Torah? Orthodox Judaism is dedicated to the Talmud which mostly follows Torah; but discrepancies exist...

The Torah is the contract between YHWH and the children of Israel. While you have the ability to choose to accept or deny the contract, you must recognize the consequences should you choose to deny it. What is left?

Since I have seen many Jewish people seemingly taking the covenant for granted, I decided to look into the signs YHWH has appointed in effort to determine whether or not you are part of YHWH's chosen people. The effort will begin from Exodus Chapter 31 Verse 17 where the Torah says Shabbat will be a sign between Himself and the Children of Israel. The word used for sign in this verse is the hebrew word אוֹת.

	The noun אוֹת ('owth) means sign, signal, token, standard, or proof taken from the root word אוֹת ('uwth), a verb meaning to consent or agree. Rather fitting for the subject at hand. Exodus Chapter 31 15 Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to YHWH; whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign (אוֹת) between Me and the children of Israel for ever; for in six days YHWH made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and rested.'

Don't ignore the signs!

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GIL SHEFLER, and the people and organizations quoted on http://www.jpost.com, are in no way associated with peshat.com and views expressed here.

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Karaite Jews prepare for Succot with a lemon twist
By GIL SHEFLER
09/22/2010 05:13

300 people are expected to attend holiday services at the ancient Karaite synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Pop quiz: The Four Species of Succot, which starts Wednesday night, are lulav (palm branch), hadass (myrtle), aravah (willow) and etrog (citron) – correct or incorrect?

According to mainstream or rabbinical Judaism the answer is correct. But if you ask Karaite Jews, members of an ancient Jewish movement which strictly adheres to the Bible and ignores the Talmud and rabbinical law, the answer is more complicated.

	The new moon sighting (from Israel) resulted in Sukkot beginning on Friday night at sunset, two days after the mathematically calculated rabbinical calender had predicted. A reference to the making of the rabbinical calendar is posted below. This method of determining the new month via a mathematically calculated calendar occurred after the Jews were sent into exile... the rabbinic court -- the Sanhedrin -- had already been disbanded. Rabbinical Stories - The New Month and the Authority of the Patriarch The Jewish calendar was not fixed until the fifth century CE. Each month began with the appearance of the new moon and had twenty-nine or thirty days. If the new moon appeared on the thirtieth day of the previous month, then that day became the first of the new month. If the new moon failed to appear, then that month had thirty days and the new month automatically began the next day. To ensure that no mistakes were made, the Mishna prescribes that witnesses testify before a rabbinic court, which would assess their testimony and proclaim the new month.

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chabad.org and organizations quoted on chabad.org are in no way associated with peshat.com and views expressed here.

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"Echoes of a Shofar" recounts the amazing story of Jewish pride at the Western Wall during the years 1930-1947 when British law made it illegal to blow the shofar at the Kotel, pray loudly there, or even bring Torah scrolls, so as not to offend the hostile Arab population.

Despite this restriction, for the final seventeen years of the British Mandate, the shofar was sounded at the Wall at the conclusion of every Yom Kippur, in defiance of the ban.

Avram Yehoshua and the people and organizations quoted on seedofabraham.net are in no way associated with peshat.com and views expressed here.

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To abstain from all unclean animals (food), is Torah (the first five books of the Bible: Genesis through Deuteronomy). To 'keep kosher' the Jewish way, is both Torah and rabbinic. There is a big difference. God requires that we eat only clean meat (Torah: Lev. 11 and Deut. 14), and so do the Rabbis. But the Rabbis go further. Keeping kosher means that one doesn't eat any dairy products with meat. The Rabbis say that one cannot have cheese with clean meat, or even use a plate for meat, that once had cheese on it.

The separation of dairy and meat, with the rabbinic injunction that it's sin if one violates it, is based on the Scripture about not boiling a kid in its mother's milk. The rabbinic view is that one should not eat meat and dairy together thereby avoiding the possibility of breaking the Commandment.¹ Of course, God never says in this Commandment that one can't eat meat and dairy together, but this is how the Rabbis have interpreted it.

	Exodus Chapter 23 19 The choicest first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of YHWH thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk. Exodus Chapter 34 26 The choicest first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of YHWH thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk.' Deuteronomy Chapter 14 21 Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself; thou mayest give it unto the stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto a foreigner; for thou art a holy people unto YHWH thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk.

This rabbinic rule came about through a perverse interpretation of Exodus 23:19 (the same verse being repeated in Ex. 34:26 and Deut. 14:21). The proper understanding of this verse deals with the ancient Egyptian and Canaanite idolatrous fertility rite.² The liquid (milk), was sprinkled over the fields by the pagans, after the fall harvest, 'to ensure' a bountiful harvest from their god or goddess, for next year. Exodus 23:19 reads:

'The first of the first fruits of your Land you must bring into the House of Yahveh your God. You must not boil a kid in his mother's milk.'

	From Manners and Customs of the Bible As this injunction is put in connection with sacrifices and festivals, it seems to have referred to some idolatrous practices of the heathen. Cudworth says, on the authority of an ancient Karaite Comment on the Pentateuch, that it was an ancient heathen custom to boil a kid in the dam's milk, and then besprinkle with it all the trees, fields, gardens, and orchards. This was done at the close of their harvests for the purpose of making trees and fields more fruitful the following year. It will be noticed that the injunction of the text is given in connection with the feast of harvest.

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