Why we should celebrate  Hanukkah  (Chanukah) We should probably start with the question of what in the world is Hanukkah anyway? Hanukkah, also known as Chanukah, is an eight-day Jewish winter festival often called the "Festival of Lights." It is celebrated with the nightly lighting of the menorah, special prayers, and traditional fried foods. The name Chanukah means "dedication" in Hebrew, commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, as detailed in the story of this holiday. While often spelled Hanukkah or other variations, the Hebrew pronunciation features a guttural "kh" sound: kha-nu-kah, rather than tcha-new-kah. Chanukah begins on the evening of Kislev 25 on the Hebrew calendar and lasts for eight days. On the civil calendar, it typically falls in the month of December. In 2024, Chanukah will be observed from the evening of December 25 through January 2. In the next few years it will change on the civil (Gregorian) calendar as f...

 In the past couple of months I have been given reason to ponder the question of excommunication, I mean, "removal of membership" as it pertains to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For a bit of history, I recommend reading my post "A Court of Love... it may not be what you think..." From September 29, 2024, as a prerequisite to this blog post. In it, I briefly highlight the process of the church disciplinary councils for people that it deems as somehow not living up to the standards of the Church in such a manner as to make them worthy of no longer being welcome to participate in full membership in the Church or its activities. Since that time, I have wondered, just who exactly would Jesus Christ excommunicate IF He were really at the head of the Church as the leaders claim. We should, of course, begin with an overview of Jesus, Yeshua's roots as a member of Judaism. Yes, Yeshua was an Israelite, a Jew (if you will). As such, he would have been ...

I’ll be honest – for most of my life, I skimmed through the early chapters of the Book of Genesis – the stories about talking snakes and the “sons of gods” who saw beautiful women and took them as wives. These stories are so strange and describe a world so unlike our own that they appear more like Greek myths than classic biblical stories meant to guide and instruct us. But the truth is, these strange stories have far more to teach us than I ever realized. Beneath the strangeness lie profound truths as relevant today as they were at the very creation of the world. וְהַנָּחָשׁ הָיָה עָרוּם מִכֹּל חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהִים וַ יֹּאמֶר אֶל־הָאִשָּׁה אַף כִּי־אָמַר אֱלֹהִים לֹא תֹאכְלוּ מִכֹּל עֵץ הַגָּן׃ Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild beasts that Hashem had made. He said to the woman, “Did Hashem really say: You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?” - Genesis 3:1 We are told almost nothing about the serpent whose evil shrewdness changed the enti...

 Shalom and Good Morning! I am blessed! Every day, we should begin our day thanking our Adonai that we are blessed by His great Love and Grace. Perhaps, even if we do not have time for a morning prayer, or forget the importance of saying Shema every single day - actually, most followers of Yeshua are lacking in their education on the importance or even understanding of what Shema is at all. Do you know about Shema? No? That is OK, I think that this explanation will help a little: Shema Yisrael (Shema Israel or Sh'ma Yisrael; Hebrew: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל Šəmaʿ Yīsrāʾēl, "Hear, O Israel") is a Jewish prayer (known as the Shema) that serves as a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services. Its first verse encapsulates the monotheistic essence of Judaism: "Hear, O Israel: YHVH our God, YHVH is one" (Hebrew: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד׃), found in Deuteronomy 6:4. The first part can be translated as either "The LORD our God...

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have all been hit with the question of whether or not we are “full tithe payers.” I guess, if you are like me, you might have asked yourself what that even means anyways. There is the primary answer of it being 10% of our increase. Noone however seems to want to discuss what that means, and since I have been a member of the church, I have heard a variety of opinions on the topic ranging from, “gross income,” and “net income,” to “Tithe how you want to be blessed brother, if you want more blessing tithe more money.” While these answers seem to appease many members they are far from sufficient to satisfy my voracious attitude towards learning and my desire to follow the spirit of the laws that the Savior and our Father have given us to help us. For, “All things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any man, nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom...

Opening Ceremony at Sundown Yom Teru’ah, the Feast of Trumpets, has been practiced by the House of Israel since ancient times.  Teru’ah means a loud noise made by a shofar (a ram’s horn, Lev.25:9), a trumpet (Num. 10:5-6), or a shout (Psalm 100:1). The Feast of Trumpets was commanded by God as one of the 7 Holy Days His people were to keep. Of these special holidays the Lord said, “The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts…. which you shall proclaim at their appointed times," and, "It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations,” (Leviticus 23 NKJV). Yom Teru’ah was changed by Jewish leaders during Talmudic times to include the celebration of a new year, and was subsequently called Rosh Hashanah, meaning “The Head of the Year.” We strive in our observance to remain as close to the way God commanded as our understanding allows. The Torah teaches: “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, speak to...