Discussing Biblical Quotes from "Killing Jesus" From the Eyes of a Jewish Bubba

Nadene Goldfoot   
                                                                                         

                           Zechariah, the king of Israel, died in 744 BCE.  He was the son of Jeroboam II and the last king of the house of Jehu.   His reign only lasted 6 months and he was assassinated by Shallum (743 BCE) who succeeded him.
                          The other Zechariah was the Prophet and priest who lived in the first half of the 6th century BCE when Jews returned from the Babylonian Exile. His prophecies are concerned with his own contemporary events.

Political situations that Jews found themselves in way back in "Old Testament" (in Hebrew, Tanakh,)  days are not much different than situations we find ourselves in today.   Writers of the gospel certainly used them.  I see that Bill O'Reilly also uses them to prove his novel, "Killing Jesus," on page 177, where he is listing Zechariah's ( 6th century BCE) predictions of a coming Messiah.

He is quoted by Bill Reilly to have said, "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!  Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!  See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  He will proclaim peace to the nations.   His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth."  

The Zechariah reference given below does not speak of this.  I found it listed in Zechariah 9:9-10.  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem!  For behold, your king will come to you, righteous and victorious is he, a humble man riding upon a donkey, upon a foal, a calf of she-donkeys. I will eliminate any battle-chariot from Ephraim and any war horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of warfare will be eliminated;  and he will speak peace to the nations.  His dominion will be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth.  
This was a prophecy by Zechariah against enemy cities for when the Messiah comes to Zion (Jerusalem).  He's saying that the Messiah will be a humble man riding a donkey rather than an ostentatious horse.  It goes on to say that not only the Messiah, but all Jews will be protected and snatched from the waterless pit of exile by merit of the blood of circumcision covenant and the blood of the covenant of Sinai which is spoken of in Exodus 24:8. {This is referring to the covenant the 600,000 took with Moses to follow the laws). We were chosen to follow the laws and to be the light of the world because we were so stiff-necked; a people who when giving a promise would stick by it.  It did not mean we were special in any other way.  This started as Isaac was the son of Abraham and is based on the covenant Abraham had with G-d and this same covenant was renewed in the Sinai.  It is conditional and depends on us following the Torah.  Israel was to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  Isaiah describes the image of Israel as the chosen servant of mankind whose suffering will bring salvation to the world and Israel is just an instrument.

 What happened for Jews  is that in 70 CE,  Rome, who was occupying Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple and took  Jews as prisoners to Rome.  Many escaped and became the Sephardis, Mizrachis and Ashkenazis who have been in exile for the past 2,000 years until May 14, 1948.  Jews are still waiting for the Messiah. Christians use it to prove that Jesus, who was crucified in 29 CE,  was the Messiah. Many scholars ascribe the chapters from 9 to 14, in which this was found, to another author or authors, possibly of the First Temple Period, on the basis of their language and content.  King Solomon had the Temple built and he reigned from 961 to 920 BCE.

 Zechariah was a prophet who lived during the time of the return from the Babylonian Exile.  He most likely was a priest and his prophecies were concerned with his contemporary events and foretold about material prosperity, the ingathering of the exiles, liberation from foreign yoke, and the expansion of Jerusalem.  His prophecies got the people to rebuild the Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE by Nebuchadnezzar.

Bill writes of all the things that will happen to Jesus(c8 BCE -29 CE, died at the age of 37);  like riding into town on a donkey, being falsely accused of crimes not committed, being beaten, spat upon, stripped, soldiers rolling dice for his clothing, and of course, crucified.  He ends this section with "and those who love him will look on in mourning, unable to do anything to stop the agony.  Then he lists the 12 quotes this all comes from in order.  I had to look these up and read what they were about.

                                                                  

      King David of Israel, b: Bethlehem, youngest son of Jesse, armour-bearer of King Saul at age 25, married Saul's daughter, Michal.  The Tanakh tells of his virtues and vices.  

1. Psalms 27:12:  "Deliver me not to the wishes of my tormentors, for there have arisen against me false witnesses who breathe out violence."  This was written by King David (1010 BCE-970 BCE)  who fought against the Philistines of which the giant, Goliath was one.  The Philistines, who were not native to Canaan,  were eventually routed and the Israelites became a nation among men.  They were not even Semites.  These invaders had been one of the European Sea Peoples who migrated south from the Greek Island to crush empires and occupy much of the Middle East.  Egypt survived their onslaught but was greatly reduced in size.  When Moses had  Joshua and the Israelites enter Canaan  c 1271 BCE,  the Philistines were not there.  It was after their defeat in 1191 BCE by Ramses III, heir of the Ramses II who is thought to have been the Pharaoh in the Exodus story who relented and freed the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, that the Philistines were constructing their 5 cities in Philistia along the south coast of today's Israel.  Gaza was the southernmost of the cities.  Actually, coming from Greece, the Philistines can then be said to be European.

Bill has it on page 14 that the northern portion of the Jewish Homeland, Israel, fell to the Philistines.  Wrong, Bill.  It fell to the Assyrians in 722 BCE.  By 721 BCE they were leading off the best of Israelites into captivity.  Then the Babylonians came along in 597 BCE and again in 586 BCE and did the same thing.

 Today's Arab Palestinians got their name from the Romans in 135 CE after fighting for 3 years against the Jewish General, Bar Kokhba, and were so angry at being involved in a war with him for so long that after killing him, they named Judah and Israel   Palestine after the Jewish enemy, the Philistines, just to be antagonizing.   Israelis today have certainly been suffering from a lot of false witnesses breathing out violence from these very same people, who call themselves "Palestinians."  Actually, before May 14, 1948 when Israel became a legal state being the mandate England held was up, both Jews and Arabs were listed as Palestinians being the land was called Palestine.

2. Psalms 35:11:  "False witnesses rise up, for that of which I know nothing they call me to account."  Here we see that King David was describing the machinations of his enemies.  He had been appealing for help against friends that had turned into traitors.  So too, Israel in exile appealed against nations that repayed Israel's contributions with oppression.  They're repeating the past today.  Israel stands alone but for a few friends, and today's attitude of the USA today has been the worst in many respects since 1948.
How many times has this applied to Jews in the Middle Ages who were accused by the Christians of a blood libel?  If they knew anything about Judaism, they would have known that Jews do not eat blood of any creature at all.  Part of the laws concerning food, (Kashrut) go to great lengths telling about how to not eat blood when eating from cows, sheep, those certain animals allowed.

3. Micah 5:1:  "Bethlehem--Ephratah--you are too small to be among the thousands of Judah, but from you someone will emerge for ME to be a ruler over Israel;  and his origins will be from early times, from days of old."  Ephratah was another name for Bethlehem of Judah as found in Genesis 48:7.  As the city of Ruth, a convert from Moab, Bethlehem was an unlikely source of leadership, but it produced David, the ancestor of the Messiah.  (To Jews, the Messiah is yet to come.)  Christians take this for being Jesus.  This is when Jewish rulers start to emerge.  Judah was created out of southern Israel when King Solomon died in 920 BCE.  He had charged too much in taxes and a rebellion ensued causing the split.  The king following Solomon in Judah was Rehoboam (933-917 BCE).  It was made up mostly of the descendants of Judah-the tribe of Judah, and most of the tribe of Benjamin and presumably absorbed the tribe of Simeon which was isolated in the extreme south.  It was a poor kingdom and did not have access to the sea.  Micah was born in the latter part of the 8th century BCE and was a prophet of Judah.  His future monarch he sees from the House of David would bring peace to the world.  This prophecy was already familiar in the reign of King Jehoiakim (608-598 BCE).  One reason Jews do not accept Jesus as the Messiah is that there hasn't been any peace in the world.  Instead, Jews have suffered more than ever.  It took them 1,878 years to regain their own land and finally have a country of their own again.

4. Isaiah 50:6: "I submitted my body to those who smite and my cheeks to those who pluck;  I did not hide my face from humiliation and spit."  Here Isaiah, a prophet in Jerusalem, Judah,  who started prophesying from the death of Uzziah until the middle of Hezekiah's reign (740- 701 BCE). speaks of both his own readiness to be God's spokesman and God"s readiness to inspire him.  Every morning, God inspires him anew with teachings and prophecies, and does it in such a way that he can understand them clearly.  This is part of the prophet's sacrifice.  Christians use a lot of quotes from Isaiah to prove that Jesus is the Messiah but the writing at that time was actually about the Jewish people.  Prophecies of redemption and comfort have been of supreme importance both in Judaism and Christianity.  No doubt Jesus knew many of them by heart himself.

5. Psalms 22:18: "I can count all my bones;  they look on and gloat over me."  David meant this speaking as an individual and as the king.   Frenzied mobs were comprised of the base people.  He's thinking that the mob wishes to take his mantle of royalty for themselves.  Later,  Jews prayed for a final end to Israel's long exile from its land and its Temple.  (The first exile happened in 721 BCE when the Assyrians attacked and took away 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel  to their own lands.)  Quotes 22: 18 and 16 would have been relevant.

6. Psalms 22:16: "My strength is dried up like baked clay, and my tongue cleaves to my palate;  in the dust of  death You set me down."  David had started 21 with not rejoicing in his own strength, but in Yours (God).  He goes on to say that even if the chain of Jewish sovereignty is interrupted, the monarchy will be restored to the seed of David.  People will bless each other with the wish, "May God make you like him (David)."  He knows more than anyone else, kings and powerful people must set an example by acknowledging God's kindness.

7. Zechariah 12:10: "I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitant of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplications.  They will look toward Me because of those whom they have stabbed;  they will mourn over him as one mourns over an only children and be embittered over him like the embitterment over a deceased firstborn." This is a prophecy of the world of G-d concerning Israel.  The salvation will be so complete that people will be astonished if even one man is killed by the enemy.  The Judeans will be compelled to fight their brethren and see that they were miraculously spared, and they will turn against their enemies who forced them to join their ranks.  It is then that Jerusalem will be restored to its former status. The prophet lived in the 500's BCE.   According to 2 sources, the Targum and the Talmud, 2 events are alluded to here;  the mourning over King Ahab (876-853 BCE) , son of Omri, king of Israel, who was killed in battle by Hadadrimmon, son of Tabrimmon;  and the mourning for King  Josiah(637-608 BCE) , King of Judah, who was slain in the Valley Megiddon/Megiddo.

8. Deuteronomy 21:23: "His body shall not remain for the night on the gallows, rather you shall surely bury him on that day, for a hanging person is a curse of G-d, and you shall not contaminate your Land, which Hashem, your G-d, gives you as an inheritance.  This is part of the 613 laws Moses handed down to the Israelites.  It concerns hanging and burial.  Jews follow this today in that a corpse must be buried within 24 hours.  Bill wrote about Lazaras being dead for 4 days and Jesus raising him from the dead to show a miracle had happened.  .

9. Numbers 9:12: "For Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon.  For the children of Joseph-for Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud;  for Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.  For Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni.  for Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai."  This is part of a list of the tribal leaders.  It's from a census taken in the wilderness of the Sinai Desert by Moses and Aaron.They counted men from age 20 and older.  Joseph is represented by his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh as tribes. What is Bill using this for to prove?  I don't know.

10.  Psalms 34:20: "Many are the mishaps of the righteous, but from them all Hashem rescues him." No one becomes truly righteous and great without his share of mishaps.  David conquered despair by composing 34 which is an alphabetical hymn, to show that our every faculty, from aleph to tav (a to z) should be dedicated to G-d.    

11. Exodus 12:46:"In one house shall it be eaten, you shall not remove any of the meat from the house to the outside, and you shall not break a bone in it. "  This is part of the laws of the Pesach offering. and that no alienated person may eat from it.   The Exodus had been discussed in 12:37 previously.   It was saying that the Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years before Moses came along and took them out.
12:  Zechariah 12:10: (repeated reference).  Incorrect.

As I look at all 12 references, only one, that of Zechariah which I found to be from 9:9-10, actually referred to a Messiah.  The rest were comments from contemporary events in the life of the prophets.  Those from Psalms, of course, seem to fit any occasion and are used as comfort for everyone.  As Bill wrote on page 176, "Jesus had led a life that was a continual fulfillment of Jewish prophecy" if taken out of context.  Only the donkey was a reference legitimate to use, and that was a well known reference.  So everybody in Jerusalem could have known it, and certainly Jesus would have known it.  In order to make his point, he could copy this reference to the Messiah.

It was a cruel and horrible punishment to crucify people that the Romans practiced.  It was done by the ancient Greeks and Romans and was derived from Persia (Iran today) but not known to Jewish law.  The custom was introduced into Judah by the Romans and was the usual punishment inflicted by them for rebels. Thousands of Jews suffered this fate under Roman rule.  The New Testament description of the crucifixion of Jesus clearly shows that the Roman procedure was followed.  Jews did not crucify people but were crucified.

 73 BCE-4 BCE Herod I, the Great, king of Judea appointed by Rome.  When he died, there were uprisings by the people so Roman General Publius Quinctilius Varus crucified 2,000 Jews to quell the uprisings.   
30 BCE  Herod the Great by Julius Ceasar, crucifixions; 25,000 Jews till 70 CE.  when Romans burned down the Temple. 
 
Resource: Novel, Bill Reilly's "Killing Jesus"
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
http://israel-nadene.blogspot.com/2014/08/jews-living-in-judea-samaria-and-other.html
The Northwest Connection Volume 8 #92,  The Eternal War Between Israel and the Palestinians:  Part I in series by Jim Wagner.  About Philistines.
http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2012/01/bringing-in-mashiach-messiah.html

History of Jerusalem's Western or Wailing Wall-The Kotel

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                    

Still standing in the Old City of Jerusalem is the Western or Wailing Wall (Kotel maaravi in Hebrew)  built by Herod I.  What is there are the remains of a wall that enclosed Herod's Temple (Solomon's Temple (961-920 BCE) which was rebuilt into the 2nd Temple and then rebuilt again by Herod). The Temple had been destroyed in 586 BCE by Nebuchadnezzar and rebuilt in 538-515 BCE  as the 2nd Temple. Details of building the temple are found in I Kings 6, and II Chronicles 3:1.   Major reconstructions were done in the periods of Simon the Just, Judah the Maccabee, Simon the Hasmonean, and Herod.  This Herodian wall surrounding the Temple hill measured  913 x 1,515 x 1,586 x 1,050 feet and the extensive area enclosed was party obtained by leveling and filling between the Tyropoeion and Kidron valleys.  This means that if one walked completely around the 4 walls, they would have walked 1,543.507 meters or 0.959091 miles.  That's just a little bit short of a full mile.

The 1st Temple that King Solomon built was built for G-d (Hashem).  It was 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide and stood 30 cubits in height.  Quarried stone was used to build it.  It is written in Kings that hammers, chisels, or any iron utensils were not heard in the Temple when it was being built.  Now, a cubit probably was a measurement from Egypt as far back as 3,000 BCE.  It was the distance from your elbow to the tip of your middle finger.  So it could be about 45.72 centimeters or 17 to 21 inches.

 Herod I., who became known as 'the Great" even though he was a murderer,  was born in 73 BCE and died in 4 BCE.  He had been appointed as King of Judea by the Romans because he captured it in 37 BCE with Roman forces.  His father was Antipater, an Idumean (people, descendants of Esau, had been converted to Judaism,  from the Mt. Seir area once called Edom), and his mother was a Nabatean (also Arabs  who occupied Edom in 6th century BCE), lived in Petra), by the name of Cypros. He married Mariamne, a granddaughter of the high priest, Hyreanus, a Hashmonean, which gave him a free hand in internal affairs but still could not conduct an independent foreign policy. (Hashmoneans were a priestly family and dynasty founded by Mattathias of Modiin.    It was Mattathias and his 5 sons, Judah the Maccabee being one who was the hero in our Chanukah story).    Herod was ruthless.  He murdered his own brother-in-law- Aristobulus, the last Hasmonean high priest, and his own wife, Mariamne, their 2 sons, Alexander and   Aristobulus and Antipater, his first son.   He is guilty of many things but he was quite the businessman by enhancing the wealth of Judea through his commercial operations.  Then he rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem on a magnificent scale and erected the 2 new cities of Sebaste and Caesarea.  He was known outside of Judea as a spokesman and protector of the Jews.  When he died he left a will partitioning his kingdom among his 3 remaining sons:  Archelaus, Herod Antipas, and Philip.

  The wall  is made up of 5 lower courses, each over 3 feet high.  It continues over 60 feet underground.  The Temple's Holy of Holies (inner sanctum) stood at the western end of the Temple so this part of the wall was considered as sacred in our history as far back as the Talmudic Period because at least the 10th century regular services were held before it.  The original Temple was built by King Solomon as a shrine for the Ark, sacred vessels and offerings with a court for worshippers.  It had a hall, shrine and the inner sanctum.  We know that the holy of holies was 32.5 X 32.5.cubits and went from east to west.  In this room was kept the Ark, and had a raised floor and was windowless.  A small cedar altar overlaid with gold stood at the entrance to the holy of holies.
                                                                       

Problems surround the Wall.  The area in front of the Kotel  was Muslim property.  A serious argument broke out between Jews and Muslims in 1929 and again in 1931.  A special commission of the League of Nations regulated the rights of the parties.

What had happened was that during the Roman war, the Temple served as a center of military activity, and was destroyed by the conquering Romans in 70 CE.  A Roman temple was later built on the site.  Since the Moslem Period, a mosque has stood there called the Mosque of Omar, established in 1193.  .

From Israel's birth again May 14, 1948, Jews were cut off from the Wailing Wall which was under Jordanian control even though there was a paragraph in the Israel-Jordan 1949 Armistice Agreement affirming  Jewish right of access.
     

Jews could not go to the Wailing Wall until the miracle happened when in June 1967 Israel won a war of an attack from  all surrounding states but mostly by Syria, Jordan and Egypt  in which Israel  surprised everyone by winning.  The war lasted from June 5th to June 10th.  The Wall now came under Jewish sovereignty for the first time since the 2nd Temple period.  Soldiers rushed to the Wall to pray.
                                                                         

 It was on Shavuot of 1967 ( Sivan) 6 when people could visit the Wall.  200,000 went there and danced and said prayers.  What became the custom was to write a prayer on a piece of paper and insert it between the stones.

Jewish tourists coming to Jerusalem usually go there first. One has to realize that the remaining wall which once went around the Temple area built first by King Solomon  is over 2,000 years old.  That's where   our ancestors had prayed.  It's where the High Priest entered the holy of holies on Yom Kippur, our Day of Atonement.  The Priests, which would have been the Cohens, descendants of Aaron, brother of Moses, Levites and certain Nethinim  performed services there. (The Nethinim were Temple servants, originally conquered Canaanites who were given the jobs by King David to assist the Levites in the Temple.  These people were exiled to Babylon along with the Jews and returned with them under Zerubbabel and Ezra.  They were given a special quarter of Jerusalem.  They had accepted Ezra's covenant but were still debarred from the Jewish community.  They kept their identity down to amoraic times.  )  Amoraic times covered from 200 to 500 CE when the oral Torah was being discussed.  

 Israel has done a considerable amount of landscaping the area.   The area around the western and southern walls of the Herodian Temple compound was extensively excavated  starting in  1968  directed by B Mazar, of which  many remains dating from Temple times were uncovered.

Resource:  The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
Tanach, The Stone Edition; Kings 6.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/six_day_war_1967.htm
http://www.bonayich.com/Portals/102/tichon_pic_stuff/Series%204%20Unit%201%20-%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Amoraic%20Period%20-%20English.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoraim
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosque_of_Omar_(Jerusalem)

Proving King Solomon of Israel Existed

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                        

The world must be coming to an end because so many young intelligent people of today think that whatever is in the "Old Testament", which we Jews call the Tanach and is a slightly different order and sometimes translation, is just a bunch of myths.  They refuse to understand that it is a conglomeration of our history of all kinds; genealogy, geography, history of battles, families, politics and rulers, sociological as well as other kinds of information, poetry, literature,  and of course, beliefs.  It is not to be compared to the New Testament.  If in today's world, each would be in a separate category in the publishing business.  Even the first 5 books, called the Five books of Moses, hold various types of knowledge, all very sacred to us and has always been so revered.  The rules regulating the writing of this was so explicit that if one error occurred, the whole roll had to be thrown away.  One had to be an expert and successful scribe to get anything written to be kept for all time.

The first thing I have discovered is that the well known King Solomon is thought of in several circles as a myth.  This is a basic fact of history to us Jews which is very pertinent in our Judaism.  Is it in today's college classes that young people are taught to be so snide in their understandings of some point of history because it comes from a "Bible"?  Especially the "Old Bible?"  No wonder we're getting static from Obama, Kerry and others about the rights of Israel, which is based on our religious history and our origins?  What?  Do people think we just appeared and are making all our history up?

Thank goodness that Israel is spending time in archaeological digs proving our history to these uppity dissers. {To diss is  to show disrespect to, often by insult or criticism}:  That's what happened to me in the discussion about King Solomon being a factual person today.   
                                                                         

Most people have heard of his wisdom in the story of the 2 mothers who claimed a baby, and he said to cut the baby in half and give half to each woman.  The real mother of course could not allow this to happen so said to give the baby to the other woman instead, and he saw she was the true mother that way.  Don't we all wish that our rulers were as wise?  Well, he was, but then again he was also known for building too much and not paying the laborers enough which resulted in the split after he died of the southern part of Israel which left the union to form themselves into Judah.  Our writings differ from Egyptian writings in that we're known to write down the errors of our ways as well as our proud moments.  Egypt just scraped off the distasteful parts of their history and wrote over it, more of like billboard writing advertising how good and wonderful they were.  Our history tells about David and his loves and how he deceived Bathsheba's husband in order to marry her, and all that sort of soap opera history that makes it so wonderful to read.  We are human!!  King Solomon is revered and loved by Jews.  

Information was brought to light on January 27th of this year that helps to prove King Solomon's existence.  Found in July in Israel is the earliest alphabetical writing ever found in Jerusalem, and is called the  Ophel inscription.  Gershon Galil, a professor of ancient history and biblical studies at the University of Haifa said that it proves the real basis behind the parables and stories found in the Bible.                        

" We are dealing here with real kings, and the kingdom of David and Solomon was a real fact," Galil said to the newscasters on a phone call from Israel.  
Galil feels the existence of the text is as important as its meaning, and he offered the only reasonable translation.  Galil felt it was most important that this discovery tells us that someone knew how to write this.  

What did this say on a piece of pottery?  The first half of the text indicates it was written in the 20th or 30th year of King Solomon's reign.  This was evidently a label for a jug telling what was in it, and it had held wine.  Three letters of the inscription were incomplete, but Galil was able to translate it anyway and identified the letters and read it in Hebrew, being "Yah-yin chah-lak"  This means "Inferior wine."  I love it!!  Maybe it's their way of saying; cheap wine.  

Galil said that it was written in an early form of southern Hebrew, the only language of the time to use 2 yuds (aleph-bet-gimel-daled -hay-vuv, yud)   to spell the word, wine (Yahyin).  This wine of course must have been given to laborers who were busy building the city of Jerusalem.  Our history is that Solomon wasn't paying them, or at least not well, so we see they were given the cheap wine.  

This shows that Solomon's administration were collecting taxes, preparing storage jars and doing all these things as early as the 2nd half of the 10th century BCE.  My Jewish encyclopedia places Solomon's birth as 961 BCE which would be in the middle of the 10th century, and his death being 920 BCE.  My research uncovered writing happening in Canaan as early as the 18th century BCE.  

Information about King Solomon is abundant, and found in our Tanach under Kings I and  and Chronicles I and II.  There we read about Solomon building the first Temple that was then destroyed later. He also enlarged Jerusalem with a lot of building projects.  In fact, he had too many, and many rebelled and when he died, broke away from the body of Israel to form the southern state of Judah out of Israel.  We read and see that he was the one to build the temple and not his father, David, who was a warrior.  Solomon was a king of peace, thus was the one designated to build the temple where the Israelites worshiped.  Where it stood is where the Dome of the Rock is standing on top of it today.  

There are so many political reasons why there are groups teaching that the Jewish history is all a bunch of hogwash, that I can't count that far, and I've taught math to many people.  This act works to justify their stand in life.  There are those that say that they may recognize Solomon's existence but then can't bring themselves to see that Solomon and not his descendant, Hezekiah (720-692 BCE)  built the temple.  In fact, it was Assyria in 721 BCE that attacked Israel and carried away 10 of the 12 tribes, which we call the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel.  Today, we are finding them again through the help of DNA testing, and find they were keeping enough of the culture and practice to think of themselves as one of the tribal members.  To them, they weren't lost.  They knew just where they were.  Many have returned to live in Israel. 

Writing was an old skill by now.  Galil said that somebody then had the ability to write a little later, the book of Samuel and Judges.  

Like Galil said, "The evidence that we have today -- and each year we have so much more,  that David and Solomon were real and important kings and not just tales of the Bible.  

To Jewish people today, Kings David and Solomon are as real as are George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  We know that Moses wrote and was educated in writing as a prince of Egypt, and he lived c1391-1271 BCE.  Historical facts are gleaned from Egypt in hieroglyphics and they are accepted as parts of history.  Why is there a vendetta against Hebraic writings?  

 So if our history of that event is to be believed by historians, perhaps someday they will join us with all the evidence collected to understand that these historic figures of Kings David and Solomon did indeed exist.  You don't have to be a religious zealot to understand this.  

Re: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/01/27/message-decoded-again-3000-year-old-text-may-prove-biblical-tale-king-solomon/
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

Who Were the Samaritans of the "West Bank?"

Nablus, 2007 in the shuk and its candy display

Whatever Happened to Israel=Kingdom of Samaria?

Nadene Goldfoot
We know that the West Bank is really the ancient site of Judea and Samaria.  What were they?
Israel was the first and only state created by King Saul in the 11th century BCE, and after him governed by King David and then his son, King Solomon.

The empire of Judah split off from the empire of Israel and was the southerly of the two kingdoms in 933 BCE. after the death of King Solomon.  It was made up of the tribe of Judah, most of Benjamin and it is thought to also had absorbed the tribe of Simeon which was isolated in the extreme south.  Judah was the poor state as they had no access to the sea which was the trade route.  It never got involved with international problems and people there led a more tranquil life.  It included the city of Jerusalem and the Temple, so preserved Mosaic monotheism in a purer form.

Israel, the northern state,  was sometimes called the kingdom of Samaria after the city which became its capital in about 890 BCE.  The tribes left there were from Manasseh, Issachar, Zebulun, Naphtali, Asser, Dan, and living in what is now known as Transjordan were the tribes of Reuben, Gad and part of Manasseh.  Israel was much larger than Judah.  In its 210 years it had 19 kings of 9 dynasties.  10 died in violence and 7 ruled for less than 2 years.

When Israel and Judah separated, the ancient city of Shechem, today renamed Nablus,  which was connected to Israel, became the religious center of the Northern Kingdom.  The political capital was transferred by King Omri to his newly built city of Samaria about 883 BCE.  The Israelite kingdom continued to exist until it fell before Assyria.

Samaria, the former Israel and also the city,  was attacked by the Assyrians in 722 BCE.  The King of Assyria, Shalmaneser besieged it and at the end of 3 years they were able to take it. He died one year before it was taken in 723 BCE, so the city actually fell to Sargon who carried away 27,290 people.  The people taken away were the more prominent and dangerous, the rich, the priests, and the ruling class.   The people were deported to various parts of Assyria and to the cities of the Medes.  Colonists, which were Cutheans (a member of a group of people of ancient Babylonia who were sent as colonists to Samaria),  were sent to take their place.  The colonists were soon troubled by lions in the district which they thought were divine visitations due to their ignorance of the manner of the god of the land.  They sent for an Israelite priest and settled at Beth-el, with the result that a mixed form of religion was established, partly Israeli (Jewish) and partly idolatrous brought in by the colonists.  In 720 Syria again united against the common enemy and a fresh campaign began.  The political existence of Samaria came to an end.  Only Hosea and Amos, biblical prophets, worked in the Northern kingdom of Samaria.  Elijah and Elisha tried to check idolatry and social injustice when they saw it.

Today, the name only refers to a small group of people living in Nablus (Shechem) and they called themselves “Bene Ysirael” or “Shomreem.”  The people of Samaria were thought of as the remnant of Israel.

A man named Josiah kept the people away from high places and collected money to repair the Temple from the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim and of the remnant of Israel.  Later, their claim to participate in the building of the Temple was rejected by Zerubbabel because of their mixed origin.

Sargon sent colonists to Samaria from many cities of Babylonia as a precautionary measure.  There happened to be 3 importations of foreigners by Sargon, Esar-haddon, and by Assurbanipal.  They occupied the site of the defunet kingdom of Israel, then called Samaritan, consisting of the poorer Israelites and other aliens ruled over by an Assyrian governor.  It was deprived of its priestly caste so had to ask for the services of a priest.

Samaria later found itself governed by a Persian strap.  It became the natural refuge for all who were dissatisfied with the reforms taking place in Jerusalem.  The priest, Manasseh, was a malcontent.  the governor of Samaria under Darius was Sanballat.  His daughter was married to Manasseh, the son of the high priest at Jerusalem.  Because he had married a foreigner, Manasseh was expelled by Nehemiah and so settled in Samaria in about 430 BCE.  It must have been Manasseh who fixed the Israelite character of the Samaritan's religion.

A century later in 332 BCE, Alexander the Great gave permission to build a Temple on the holy hill of Gerizim, near Shechem.  This became the center of Samaritan worship.  The Temple was in existence for about 200 years when it was destroyed.  Samaria was then occupied by John Hyrcanus.  Mt. Gerizim was sacred to the Samaritans because the idols of Laban were buried there.  The Samaritans used to light beacon-fires to deceive the Jews as to the appearance of the new moon.  Usually they sided against the Jews and with their enemies.  The country passed into the hands of the Romans around 135 BCE and Samaria was rebuilt and embellished by Herod.  His wife, Mariamne was a Samaritan.  The city of Shechem was occupied by the Romans, who called it Flavia Neapolis, where the name of Nablus comes from.

Judea of the south, the newer state, and Samaria , the older state, in reality, Israel of the north, were the Jewish homeland.  This is where Jacob's 12 sons, who created the 12 tribes of Israel had lived.  This is where Moses had led the 600,000  Jews on the exodus.  This is what the Arabs are depriving us of, our own homeland in their zeal to create their  Palestine that they have talked about for the past 65 years. Israel or Samaria had Shechem/Nablus and Judea had Jerusalem as their religious centers.  The Samaritans were not considered true Jews as they had created such a mixed religion.

Http:///.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=110&letter=S     From 2009
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

When The Third Temple Will Be Built

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                    

                              Cornerstone for the 3rd Temple: 1999 with Temple in the Middle

The 3rd Temple, following the destruction of the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans, is to be built no later that the year 2,240.  That gives us 227 more years to start building.  The very first Temple was built by King Solomon (961-920 BCE) and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE.

The stipulations are many.  When the 2nd Temple fell in 70 CE, most all the Jews of Judah were dispersed.  Some were scattered into the Middle Eastern lands while others left it completely and were taken to Rome, and then later to Germany and points in eastern Europe.  Synagogues were created as a house of learning and prayer.  The 3rd Temple or Ezekiel's Temple  called the Beit haMikdah is described and prophesied in the Book of Ezekiel.  It is to be a house of prayer for all people and is to be an eternal edifice and permanent dwelling place of the G-d of Israel on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The organization in Jerusalem called the Temple Mount get their plans that they already started working on in the 1980's from the Book of Ezekiel, chapters 40-47.  The Temple Scroll also has descriptions of the 3rd Temple.

Orthodox scholars and rabbinic authorities believe that rebuilding the Temple should happen when our Moshiach is at the hand of divine Providence and that Jews should try to rebuild the temple themselves.  Jews believe that the Moshiach is due anytime from now to about 200 some more years.  Christians are anxious for Jesus and his 2nd coming so are also anxious to have Jews rebuild the 3rd Temple.  The question of sacrifices which took place in the 1st and 2nd Temples are to become part of the 3rd Temple agenda, and there is mixed thought on that.  Orthodox feel that this will be resumed, but Maimonides wrote in his "A guide for the Perplexed" that "G-d deliberately has moved Jews away from sacrifices towards prayer, as prayer is a higher form of worship"  Then again, in his book, "Mishneh Torah", thought to be the final authority in Jewish law, says that animal sacrifices will resume in the 3rd temple and details how they will be carried out."  It could be that only grain offerings will be offered.
                                                                     

                                              Model of the 3rd Temple As Seen in Jerusalem

In an orthodox synagogue, one would hear prayers for the reconstruction of the 3rd Temple.  The morning prayer service includes a study session of the daily Temple ritual and offerings as a reminder.  They would also hear the daily and special-occasion psalms that the Levites used to sing in the Temple.  After the Torah reading is a prayer to "restore the House of our lives and to cause the Shekhinah (Divine Presence) to dwell among us.  The Amidah includes prayers for acceptance of the "fire-offerings of Israel."  It ends with meditation for the restoration of the 3rd Temple.

The Temple had rules of ritual purity before entering.  The laws of "family purity" are based on these Temple rules that are followed today at home.  Other rules come from the Temple days such as immersing in the mikveh before Yom Kippur, washing hands in the morning and before meals and after attending a funeral.  If ever the Israeli authorities permit Jews to ascend the Temple Mount, one has to observe certain ritual purity rules first..  Going to the mikvah is going to be expected.

Rabbi Shlomo Goren, Chief Rabbi of the IDF in August 1967, organized public prayer for Jews on the Temple Mount.  This was after winning the Six Day War which was a miracle in itself.  Jews had not been allowed there since 1948 by the Muslim Jordanians.  Rabbi Goren was all for Jewish sovereignty over the Temple Mount even though our 2nd Temple had been destroyed there and replaced with a Muslim mosque. The site was holy.  They had to fight off Muslim guards and Israeli police, but held a prayer service.  Rabbi Goren continued to pray in the Makhkame building overlooking the Temple Mount and conducted yearly High Holiday services there.  He called for the establishment of a synagogue on the Temple Mount and this call has been picked up by his brother-in-law, Chief Rabbi of Haifa, She'ar Yashuv Cohen.

This was despite the fact that Moshe Dayan had given the keys to the Temple Mount to the Muslim Waqf, so Goren was criticized by the Israeli Defense Ministry for doing this.  The Chief Rabbis have since restated that no Jews were allowed on the mount due to the issues of ritual and impurity.  The secular people went along with this as it kept the peace with the worried Muslims.  Goren continued to say that Jews were not only permitted but commanded to ascend and pray on the mount.  He did support building the 3rd Temple on the Temple Mount and was involved in projects involving the site, possibly such as the Temple Mount group.

Opposing this were the Chief Rabbis of Israel; Isser Yehuda Unterman and Yitzhak Nissim, along with others saying that they had warned for generations against entering any part of the Temple Mount.  This could have been prompted by the government's pressure in preventing Muslim-Jewish friction over the Mount.  The rule remains.  It is forbidden for Jews to enter any part of the Temple Mount.  In January 2005 a declaration was signed confirming the 1967 decision of Moshe Dayan who single-handedly made this decision on his own without consulting anyone.  The Jewish state of Israel controls everything in Jerusalem except the Temple Mount, which many people are frustrated about.  They feel the need to pray there as well.  Non Muslims are allowed to enter mosques in other places.  For the waqf to have this ruling here in Jerusalem is unfair, they state.  It happens to also be a big tourist attraction, and Christians have been allowed to visit.  Only the Jews are kept away.  This is the only discrimination going on in Israel and it comes from the Muslims against the Jews over the most precious holy site in Jerusalem.

Right now the biggest problem is the creation of Palestine in which the Arabs are insisting on taking over east Jerusalem which includes many sites such as the Western Wall that Herod built around the Temple area where all Jews come to pray today.  Israel has been legally unified as one city again, making life much better for all.  Thoughts about the 3rd Temple are causing the Muslims to react most fearfully with rioting.  If they were really smart, they'd open it to all people for prayers, fullfilling the desire of Levi Eshkol, who was Prime Minister in 1967 and died in 1969.  Then there would be no cause to riot.  All would be happy.

However, what is happening today is that the Al Aqsa Mosque site on the Temple Mount has been closed by the Jerusalem police to Jews and non Muslim visitors today as the police are afraid of riots from the Muslims.  It is open every day except Friday in the morning and afternoon but one cannot pray.  It is forbidden unless one is Muslim.  The police in Jerusalem are carrying shields that are about 10 feet high and look like they are made of pexiglass as they are transparent.  That's to protect them from things that are thrown;  chairs, food, rocks, etc.  Religious segregation causing violence practiced by rules issued from the Waqf is the worst type of apartheid!    Oh, but Moshe Dayan certainly didn't know what he was doing when he tried to calm the Muslims down by handing their waqf the keys to the Mount.  He gave us back all of Jerusalem, but deleted the most special of all sites.

Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Temple
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
http://www.templemount.org/recent.html
http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Temple-Mount-closed-over-security-concerns-313440

Cistern Dating to King Solomon Uncovered

Nadene Goldfoot
King Solomon was King David's son and lived from 961 to 920 BCE (10th century BCE)  .  He was responsible for a cistern or water reservoir  which could hold 66,000 gallons of water built that was just uncovered in a dig near the Western Wall.  It was destroyed 400 years later and then became part of the 2nd temple's water cistern.  .

It was most likely used by pilgrims coming to the first temple (Temple Mount).

Jerusalem was built by King David.  He wasn't allowed to build the temple as he was a war-like king, but his son, Solomon was given that responsibility.

The main water supply in King Solomon's day was the Gihon Spring, but they also needed reservoirs like this one found as well.  One wonders what tools they had that could cut through rock, a skill needed to build such reservoirs.

It seems like every day that history is uncovered showing life of the Jewish people in Jerusalem in ancient days.

Resource: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48951691/ns/technology_and_science-science/
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

The 10 Lost Tribes and What Happened to Them

Nadene Goldfoot

Israel was the northern Kingdom formed in 933 BCE in the north when King Solomon died. It was from here that the 10 tribes lived. The Assyrians had attacked in 721-715 BCE and had taken most of them captive. Then the Assyrian kings, Tiglath-Pileser III (732 BCE) and Sargon (721 BCE) exiled the northern tribes of Israel to Assyria, Media and land adjacent to Aram-Naharaim. Some most likely remained in and around their homeland. Some of their descendants preserved their identity among the Jewish population and others were assimilated.

Some were absorbed by the last Judean exiles who in 597 BCE-586 BCE were deported to areas adjacent to the place of exile of the 10 Tribes such as to Media, Assyria and Mesopotamia. A large section of people of the southern kingdom, Judah,were also exiled by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon in 586 BCE.

Many have claimed to be descendants of the 10 tribes. They’ve been said to be in the mountains of Africa by Eldad Ha-Dani. Benjamin of Tudela heard they were in Central Asia. David Reuveni said he was the brother of one of their rulers in Arabia. Antonio de Montezinos said he found them in South America.

One story connected them to the Japanese while others put them in Anglo-Saxon countries, like claiming England’s kings were descendants. The Pashtuns in Afghanistan claimed descendency. At least today we have dna to check out claims.

Originally there were 12 tribes. The sons of Jacob were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. Moses designated the tribe of Levi with a priestly office, and they got no land, but Moses wanted to keep the tribal number at 12, a sacred number, so divided Joseph’s tribe into Ephraim and Manasseh.

Under Joshua, who was elected to follow in Moses’s footsteps when he died, the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh received land in what became Transjordan. Naphtali and Asher were sent to the Sidonian frontier in the Galilee. Issachar and Zebulun were to live in the Valley of Jezreel area. Ephraim and the other half of Manasseh went to the mountains of Samaria. Benjamin was to their south and Judah further south. Dan was to be along the seacoast around Jaffa and Simeon was to live in the Negev.

The Danites were expelled from their original inheritance by the Amorites and moved to the sources of the Jordan River. The men of Simeon took more land than their allotment by seizing land in Seir and the land of the Amalekites.

Things were working under the Judges but Solomon created a differnet administrative division of the country. When he died, the country then split into two with the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and most of Benjamin making the southern Kingdom which was then called Judah.

Today with the birth of Israel, many people are claiming descent from the Lost 10 tribes.

Resource: New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

Getting Ready for the 3rd Temple

Nadene Goldfoot

                                                                         First Temple

The very first temple was built by Solomon and was on Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem. It was a shrine for the Ark, the sacred vessels and offerings, and had a court for worshippers. Its plan had a hall, shrine and inner sanctum (holy of holies). King Solomon, the son of King David and Bathsheba, lived from 961 BCE to 920 BCE. It was completely destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylonia (today’s Iraq) in 586 BCE.. He was the conquerer of all the lands from the Euphrates to the Egyptian frontier, including Judah, whose capital was Jerusalem in 597 BCE..

Nebuchadnezzar had been victorious over an Assyrian-Egyptian alliance in 605. He had replaced Judah’s young king Jehoiachin with his own choice of Zedekiah, and took as captives, 8,000 of the best of Judah to Babylon. Eight years later, Zedekiah rebelled. The soldiers of Nebuchadnezzar again invded Judah, captured Jerusalem in 586 and destroyed the Temple, laid waste the cities and exiled the population. The king was taken to Riblah and killed.

                                                      Second Temple

The 2nd Temple was rebuilt from 538 BCE to 515 BCE.. When the Romans sieged Jerusalem, it was a center of military activity and was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. The Romans then built a Roman temple on the site, and afterwards the Moslems built a mosque (Mosque of Omar). over it.

 Israel was again reborn May 14, 1948. A 3rd Temple is being planned. Stanley Goldfoot, an investment adviser and one-time publisher and former Lehi member, originally from South Africa, was a member of the 3rd Temple group (the Faithful of the temple Mount (Ne’emanei Har Habayit). They are known for their attemps to pray on the Temple Mount.

Goldfoot has spoken in football stadiums in the states to many Christian fundamentalists about the rebuilding of the Temple. They see in Israel the fulfillment of biblical prophecy and are the real zionists, he felt. By helping Jews to fulfill prophecies they feel they are hastening the 2nd coming of the Messiah. They believe that before any redemption occurs, Jews must hold all the Land of Israel.

Goldfoot can’t accept their views and knows they can’t accept his, but they are working together. His group not only tries to pray, but would like to see the day they have a synagogue there as well. At this time, the Temple Mount is an “Arab autonomous state,” ruled over by the Moslem wakf, or religious trust.

                                                      Third Temple

In talking about the 3rd Temple, Goldfoot didn’t know where or when it would happen. Many rabbis have forbidden Jews to set foot on the Temple Mount, but many others permit it and even think of it as an obligation. The group is in the planning stage for the Temple. Jerusalem is the center of Jewish life. Since Israel liberated the Old city in June 1967, there is more interest.

Moshe Dayan set policies when he was the Defense Minister. He said that Jews hold the keys to the Moghrabi Gate, while the Moslems hold the keys to the other gates. This means that the site is still held by the Moslems, but is open to those who wish to visit it.

Stanley Goldfoot died November 24, 2006 in Jerusalem. He didn’t get to see the 3rd Temple built, but did his share in trying to bring it about by speaking to many groups all over the world.

Resource: Jerusalem Post March 6, 1983 article: Planning the Third Temple by Haim Shapiro
e New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

Terrific Lebanon Flash Mob Dancing

Nadene Goldfoot
Now I know why King Solomon was friendly with his northern neighbor, Lebanon, land of Cedar trees.  They also must have had wonderful dancers for entertainment.  I just watched the youtube presentation listed below of their dancing in an airport in flash mob dancing and was really enjoying it.  I loved the tempo and the steps of the dancers.  It was terrific!  King Solomon was known for his wisdom.  He had a good deal going with Lebanon.  He bought cedar wood and they had an income.  It was a great trade.  They also enjoyed peace! 

It's just so sad that terrorists have taken over so much of Lebanon and are threatening Israel all the time.  Gone are the days of Major Sa'd Haddad who used to patrol the border and help keep Israel safe.  He and his Christian Maronite Phalange militia were remarkable.  That is a tiny country where the ruling party had been Christian but were in the minority, and it didn't work out. Bachir Gemayel, 35 year old good looking member of the Christian Phalange Party  and  newly elected president on August 23, 1982 was assassinated  on September 14, 1982 in a bomb attack that also took out others in Beirut.  The PLO had taken over southern Lebanon and used it as they are Gaza today, a staging ground for attacks.  At the time I was living in Safed, very close to the border and saw some of his group in our restaurants on the R&R time and was so grateful to them for their protection.  I was there in 1982 when Israel went in to stop the PLO, but the job had been turned over to Haddad and it was botched and turned into something unworthy of them. 

We even used to have ancient Jewish communities living in Lebanon.  Beirut was a center, and even longer ago there were communities in Tripoli, Tyre and Sidon.  Their occupations were in commerce, as most of our past ancestors were engaged in this. 

In 1948 Lebanese forces invaded Israel and Jews living in Lebanon had some discriminatory regulations put on them which were later removed. after the fighting stopped.  In 1944 there were 6,261 Jews living in Lebanon.  In 1948 Jews fled to Lebanon from Syria and by 1964 there were 5 to 7,000 Jews there.  After 1967 the communities became almost extinct.  By 1975 there were 1,000 Jews there during their Civil War and by 1990 there were less than 100 remaining.  I'd be surprised if any lived there today. 

We can't forget that terrorism in Lebanon took the lives of 241 marines in Beirut on October 23, 2008, either.  They weren't there to assist Israel in any way, but the USA had a base there.  The Islamic Jihad terrorists, the same ones who attack Israel, were responsible for this attack.  Today's Lebanese terrorists are Hezbollah, supported financially and politically by Iran and Syria.  They took over Lebanon. after 1982.   

Gosh, it would be so nice if Lebanon and Israel would make peace.  I could see dance programs being shared between the two states.  Israel has been involved in the European Music Festival where all the countries compete for the best song, etc.  I'd love to see something like that in dancing where the Middle East could strut their stuff. 

There's so much culture being wasted.  I grew up practicing on the piano and remember one of my favorite pieces, 'In a Persian Market".  Persia, or Iran today has a lot to offer other than a madman at the helm who wants to destroy Israel and the United States.  This brings to mind the news today of another Atomic scientist being the object of a hit.  Israel is being blamed, but Ahmadinejad is forgetting that there were a lot of Iranians demonstrating outside against his regime.  Perhaps they don't want to be involved in an atomic battle.  Israel is only one of several that want to stop this madman from getting atomic weapons. 

Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEp29GS1VXI&feature=share  WATCH THIS ONE
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/terror.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Beirut_barracks_bombing
http://www.meforum.org/352/israels-south-lebanon-imbroglio  excellent
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachir_Gemayel
Nathan Fendrich for heads up on the dance video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2lANtTxKYw  In a Persian Market-beautiful !