| What is Shabbat Shalom? 
Jews all over the world read a portion of the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, in the synagogue every Shabbat morning. The cycle begins right after the Feast of Tabernacles and concludes the following year at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles. Traditionally, Jewish families discuss the Torah portion at their Shabbat Table, bringing new insights, each year, to the same inspirational words and stories that they have been reading for years. In this weekly column, Sondra Oster Baras, CFOIC Heartland's Israel Director, shares her personal reflections on the weekly Torah portion. If you received this email from a friend and want Shabbat Shalom sent directly to your inbox, please use the link below to join our email list.
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Lech Lecha (Go Forth)
Genesis 12:1 - 17:27
"And G-d said to Abram go forth from your country and from your birth place and from your father's house to the land that I will show you." (Genesis 12:1) So begins this week's Torah reading. And what a reading it is. If there was ever a "Zionist" Torah reading it's this one. And each year, we are reminded that G-d chose Abraham out of all the people of the earth, and made him the father of our nation and the recipient of G-d's promises for the Jewish people.
"And Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem to the Oak of Moreh, and the Canaanite was then in the land." (Gen. 12:6) This marks Abram's entry into the Land of Israel and immediately afterwards, G-d appears to Abraham and makes an amazing promise: "I will give this land to your children." (Gen. 12:7)
Imagine the scene. Abraham is 75 years old, he is married to Sarah, he is traveling with Lot and his entire family, but he has no children. He has spent his entire life in Ur of the Chaldees and a few years in Haran and then G-d speaks to him and tells him to leave it all behind and go to a different land. In fact, when G-d first tells Abraham to leave, he doesn't even tell him where he will end up. He just says "to the land that I will show you." And Abraham is totally obedient to G-d and goes forward, not knowing what he will find when he gets there.
But the first thing he does see is the mountains of Samaria. Up on top of those mountains outside of Shechem he is promised "this land." And, let me assure you, from the mountains outside Shechem you can see just about all of "this land." I believe that this is the reason that G-d does not delineate the borders of Israel at this point -- G-d points out the land to Abraham and he can see it with his own eyes. He can see it and I'm sure he falls in love with it.
But he makes no attempt to conquer the land. G- d has said very clearly that this land would be given to his children. And, Scripture emphasizes this idea with the statement -- the Canaanite was then in the land.
Many of you have heard me discuss these verses in my talks about the Land of Israel. Everything we are doing today in Israel, the essence of the connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel, is established in these few verses in the Bible, back in the time of Abraham. Without understanding and accepting the truth of these verses, the Jewish right to the Land cannot be understood.
But today I want to add one more thought. G-d made many promises to the Jewish people, but not all of the promises were to be fulfilled at once. As with this promise to Abraham, which would ultimately be fulfilled hundreds of years later, the ultimate possession by the Jewish people of the Land, in any generation, depends on G-d's timing.
But at the same time, we, as human beings, must be attuned to G-d's timing. Abraham did not conquer the land during his generation because it was clear to him that the right time would come later. And it did, when Joshua led the Children of Israel into the land.
So too, when the Jewish people began returning to the Land, they did so slowly, purchasing land whenever possible, working the land that was available to them. In 1948, the State of Israel was established by vote of the United Nations. Clearly, this was a signal that G-d's time had begun. What was left to us was to be attuned to that timing -- for Jews to make aliyah (immigrate to Israel) and for non- Jews to support our efforts to do so. In 1967, in a war that we did not ask to fight, the rest of Israel was given to us. Again, G-d made it clear that the timing was right. What was left to us was to follow His lead and settle the land.
That is what we have been doing for more than 100 years, since the beginning of modern Zionism. That is what we have been doing intensively since 1948, when the State of Israel was born. And that is what we, the people of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, have been doing since 1967, when the center of Biblical Israel became ours again.
May we all have the strength and the courage to follow G-d's timing and do what He has in mind for us.
Shabbat Shalom from Samaria, Sondra Sondra Baras Director, Israel Office
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May 23 - June 2, 2011 Israel Tour
 With Pastor Gary Cristofaro,
First Assembly of God, Melbourne, FL
May 23rd - June 2nd, 2011
Eilat Extension
June 3rd- June 6th
Israel Host for the Tour: Sondra Oster Baras, Director,
CFOIC Heartland - IsraelOnly CFOIC Heartland gives you the inside story of Israel!Meet the people who are settling the Land of Israel. Listen to stories of faith and courage. Experience the Heartland of Biblical Israel like never before!
Click here for details!Request your brochure today! today! |
| The Choosing of a Chosen People A 5 part series on Genesis by Sondra Oster Baras 
Watch the trailer here! Sondra Oster Baras, director of CFOIC Heartland's Israel office, takes you on a journey through the Book of Genesis, which lays the foundation for the creation of God's chosen people.
Order the DVD set... Each purchase of this DVD series goes 100% to support the Israel Office! |
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