This is my second year of celebrating Sukkot however, it is the first time I have actually built a sukkah. What a great experience. We went through several revisions to the original plan and learned some valuable lessons along the way (our first attempt was about as sturdy as a jellyfish).

sukkah

Even now there are changes I plan on incorporating in next year’s model but I have to admit I’m quite proud of our first attempt I would have liked to close in the sides with lattice but the budget for this year was already maxed out. Also, next year I will be adding more roof trusses to support all the branches (4 is just not enough).

The bronze bowls on the black stakes in front of the sukkah are filled with citronella oil in order to help ward off the swarm of mosquitoes that fill the night air. We also added some blue string lights for a little extra ambiance.  (Sorry the last pic is so blurry)

Already we have been able to enjoy a couple of meals under the moon and stars. How awesome it is to look up though the branches and admire YAH’s beautiful work! I hope your Sukkot is filled with happiness and great rejoicing!

sukkah

night sukkah

I’ve got a question that I’m hoping someone out there in the wide web will be able to answer for me. I’ve seen a breakdown of the word tallit that purports that the first half (tal) is the Hebrew word for tent and the second half comes from the word (ith) meaning little. The problem is when I look up these words in a Hebrew dictionary: tal doesn’t mean tent and ith doesn’t mean little?

So, I’m confused. Does anyone have a source that would show this breakdown to be accurate? It does seem to make sense to me but I can’t find a source that proves it to be correct. I’ve seen a lot of sites that all state the same thing but none of them list where they’re getting this from

Just in case I don’t post again before Yom Teruah:

Chag Sameach & L’shana tovah!

On a serious note, here’s the prayer in case you were wondering:

Modeh  ani  l’faneikha,  Melek  chai  v’kayom,  shehechezarta  bi  nish’mati  bechem’lah -  rabah  emunatekha

I give thanks before you, Sovereign living and eternal, for You have returned within me my soul with compassion – abundant is Your faithfulness!

The truly cool thing is my wife decided to come with me! Once she found out there wasn’t any tests to take she agreed to go I think it’s great that the College of Charleston allows you to take two semesters of Hebrew for free, even the workbooks are free.

I’ve been trying to teach myself to read Hebrew but it’s always easier when you can learn directly from someone that speaks the language fluently. I’m looking forward to no longer sounding like a small child when I read from my siddur.

I love this blessing and thought you might like to see the Hebrew for this powerful prayer. Moshe was instructed by YHWH to have Aharon and his sons bless the children of Yisra’el with this in order that YHWH Himself could bless them. Personally, I find this to be a beautiful way to begin our Shabbat and bless my wife and children every erev Shabbat. The Birkat Kohanim is found in B’midbar (Numbers) 6:22-27

Y’varekhekha YHWH v’yishmerekha

YHWH bless you and guard you;

Yaer YHWH panaiv eleikha vichunneka

YHWH make His face shine upon you, and show favor to you;

Yissa YHWH panaiv eleikha v’yasem l’kha shalom

YHWH lift up His face upon you, and give you peace.

Already it is Elul. Tonight we begin the sixth month knowing that the Fall Festivals are almost upon us. Yom Teruah is merely one short month away. I wonder what this year’s Yom Kippur will be like. Most of all, I look forward to the rejoicing at Sukkot.

This year my son and I are planing on building a sukkah in our backyard. We neglected to do this last year and I feel like we missed out on a special opportunity. If you have any tips or suggestions for a first-timer I’d love to hear them, I have a feeling we are going to need all the help we can get

Let’s see, air my dirty laundry? Hmmmm, next question

Where do I begin? I guess the best place would be a little background. I grew up an only child in a loving home. I often tease my parents and tell them they had it easy, if something was broken or missing they knew who did it! My mother and father worked far too many hours for the pay they received. We weren’t wealthy but we definitely weren’t poor. I was raised Christian, attended a Lutheran school, and at one point wanted to go into the ministry.

Eventually I decided on a career in the military where I met and married my wife of now 19 years. We married at a young age and even started our family early. For most of my life I considered myself to be a “non-practicing Christian” and raised my children as such. I brought them up with all the man made traditions of christmas trees, easter bunnies, trick-or-treating, etc.

Then I began my walk back home, back to Avinu YHWH. I began to question where all these things came from. I started researching and was dismayed at the truth. My whole life I considered myself to be a good person and yet I was living contrary to what YHWH wanted and expected of me. It’s my opinion that we were given the ultimate owner’s manual (The Scriptures) for a reason. Sure you don’t have to ever change the oil in your car but if you do change it according to the recommendations that engine is going to last a whole lot longer!

I read and study the TaNaKh and the B’rit Chadasha. I believe the Father, YHWH, and the Son, Yahushuah, are echad (one, unified). I obey the Torah to the best of my abilities. I observe YHWH’s feasts and Set Apart days. I do not work on the Shabbat, in fact I don’t work at all right now. I know the Sh’ma and look forward to praying it everyday. I believe in using the Hebrew names (Yahushuah, Yisra’el, Yirmeyahu, Moshe, etc.) because, let’s face it they are Hebrew. I have davened at the Kotel (Western Wall) and been overcome with tears in Synagogue.

So, does this mean that I am better than or look down upon others? Absolutely not! In fact, it wasn’t but a short time ago that I was on a very different path. However, I do feel compelled to speak the truth about man made traditions that have no basis in Scripture. My one hope is that as people read about my experiences they will decide to do their own research. We have to crack open the books and study for ourselves. No longer can we just take for granted that what someone speaks is truth, including what I’m saying right now! When my dad and I discuss Scriptures we are not afraid to ask each other for a citation to the source and then we will go and actually read what the source has to say.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I feel like that prodigal son that wasted his inheritance and wound up face down in the mud. I’ve made many mistakes in the past and I’m sure will make more in the future. The difference is: now I know that I’m on the road back to our Father’s home.

I have a hard time trying to understand why someone that has held the truth in their hands, that did not grow up in the pagan-filled world could possibly say “Hey, I want to go play in the mud for awhile.” It wasn’t until I came out of the mud pit (pagan filled religion, Babylon, etc.) that I finally began to feel good. Sadly, now more and more people are doing just the opposite.

So here’s your chance. If you disagree with me, sound-off. Or if you agree with me, sound-off. I’d love to know how you feel.

Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) is a difficult subject for me to speak about. As a newcomer to the Yahudim, I oftentimes feel guilty for not having had to endure the constant pain and suffering that the others before me have felt. I wonder, even now, am I qualified to raise my voice? I cannot remain silent. In fact, I will not remain silent. Over six million men, women, and children were helplessly slaughtered while the world stood by and did nothing!

Tragically, even now as the last of the survivors pass away there are people denying what happened. I find it interesting that General Eisenhower spoke about just such a thing when he communicated the following to General Marshall:

The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty and bestiality were so overpowering as to leave me a bit sick. In one room, where they [there] were piled up twenty or thirty naked men, killed by starvation, George Patton would not even enter. He said that he would get sick if he did so. I made the visit deliberately, in order to be in a position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to “propaganda.”

As painful as it is to watch and speak about we must not remain silent. We must teach our children, family, friends, everyone. This must never happen again and with YHWH’s protection this never will happen again.

Sh’ma kolenu, hear our voice…

Two loaves of challah

While doing some reading/studying this erev Shabbat I was made aware of just how amazing our Elohim really is and why it is so important to learn the Hebraic roots of our faith. As with most things I learn about Hebrew, the simple word lechem is not quite so simple. Sure lechem means bread but it also conveys the meaning of Torah or the Word of YAH. When we ask YAH to provide for us our lechem continually we are not merely asking to have bread to eat but also that He would feed our soul with His Torah, His Word. Just as eating food refreshes our body, consuming the Torah refreshes our soul!

With this understanding of the significance of the word lechem we can begin to understand the significance of why the Meshiach was born in Beit Lechem (Bethlehem). Beit Lechem literally means: House of Bread. The Meshiach, Yahushuah, is the living Torah, the living Word of YAH. Yahushuah is that lechem that refreshes our soul. Therefore the House of Bread is the House of Torah, the House of the Living Word. How awesome is Avinu (Our Father) to give us such beautiful poetry in our simple lives? All we have to do is open our eyes and look around to see His amazing creations surrounding us.

I’ll leave you with this to meditate on: it’s not that Yahushuah had to be born in Beit Lechem but rather, Beit Lechem had to be so named because this would be the birthplace of our Meshiach! HalleluYAH!

Shabbat Shalom.