Archive for the ‘Current Events’ Category
James Tabor’s interview with Tovia Singer on May 7th over Israel National Radio is now archived on the Web site for one week. You can download or listen over the Internet.
Tabor discusses the Pope’s visit to Israel next week, the Vatican claim on the holy places on Mt Zion, as well as his work on the historical Jesus and his latest book, Restoring Abrahamic Faith.
Here is the Internet link:
The 66th annual meeting of UIWU will be held next week in Charlotte, NC at the Doubletree Guest Suites at Southpark, April 24-26th. The meeting is open to the public and there is no registration charge. Below is the tentative program:
Friday, April 24th
5:00pm Registration and Welcome
7:00pm Welcoming Shabbat: Candle Lighting and Kiddush
7:30pm Celebrating 65 Years of UIWU: James Tabor
Sabbath, April 25th
9:00am The Three Greatest Chapters of the Hebrew Bible: James Tabor
10:30am Our Incredible American Hebrew Heritage: Ralph Buntyn
Noon Break and Open Time
1:30pm Amazing Treasures of the Mishnah: Joseph Good
3:30pm Open House at the UIWU Offices: Archive Display & Reception
7:00pm After Hours: Musical Program with David & Patty Tyler, their band, and our talented musical performers at the Hampton Inn nearby
Sunday, April 26th
9:00am UIWU 66th Annual Business Meeting
Presidential Address by James Tabor: Presiding: Ralph Buntyn
10:00am The Three Greatest Chapters of the Hebrew Bible: Ross Nichols
Noon Break and Open Time
2:30pm ‘Let Him Go Up’: Connecting to Israel in our Time: Hanoch Young with John and Carin Carlson
4:00pm A Surprise Announcement: James Tabor
We wanted to update everyone with more details regarding our April 24-26, 2009 annual meeting of United Israel World Union in Charlotte, NC, which is less than a month away.
We are extremely excited about our plans and program and we hope everyone will make every possible effort to attend this year. This is an event you will not want to miss. We will hold our meeting at the Doubletree Guest Suites in South Park, just as we did last year. This location in a prime area of the city, with shops and restaurants conveniently located within walking distance. There is no registration fee to attend this meeting and all are welcome. We were also able to get an exceptionally reasonable rate for rooms, see details below.
Here are the program highlights:
This year marks the end of 65 years of UIWU history and as part of our celebration we will have a special Open House and Reception at our UIWU offices here in Charlotte with many of the priceless and historic archives on display for the first time. These are materials related to the life and career of David Horowitz, our founder, as well as the history of UIWU itself.
James Tabor will conduct an in-depth class titled “The Three Greatest Chapters of the Hebrew Bible”
Ross Nichols will conduct an in-depth class titled “The Three Greatest Chapters of the Hebrew Bible”
Ralph Buntyn will present an illustrated lecture on “Our Incredible American Hebrew Heritage”
Joseph Good will teach a class titled “Amazing Treasures from the Mishnah”
Hanoch Young will lead a session on “Let Him Go Up: Connecting to Israel in our Time,” that will include input from John Carlson and a stunning special media production by artist Carin Carlson
A musical program hosted by David and Patty Tyler, including an “sneak peek” at the forthcoming “Ephramite” CD that is being produced by musicians in our movement
A special “Surprise Announcement” by James Tabor
Our formal program begins Friday evening at 5pm and concludes at 5pm on Sunday, however, we encourage any who can to stay over Sunday night so we can continue to spend informal time together through the evening in the lovely hotel setting. We have also planned more break time and leisure time this year to allow for socializing and informal meetings and discussions.
For those flying in we will try to arrange airport pickups. Please let Timothy Thompson (twt@embarqmail.com) know your schedule and he will be in touch with you about arrangements.
Hotel Details: We have blocked off a limited number of rooms (one bedroom suites with kitchen) for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights at the special low rate of $99.00 per night. You can get single, double, triple, or quad all at the same low price. If you want Thursday night before, or Monday night after you can ask the booking person and perhaps be able to work out the same rate as well but the three nights are guaranteed. Call the Doubletree at 704-364-2400, ask for reservations, tell them you are with the group “United Israel.” Be sure you get this special rate. Our agent, if you have any problems, is Cameron Hall, but you don’t need to speak to her to make reservations.
The Doubletree Guest Suites is located at:
6300 Morrison Boulevard
Charlotte, NC 28211
Web site:
A personal message from Ross Nichols:
I am pleased to announce that beginning March 8th, 2009 at 6:00 P.M. Central, I will begin a new and informative series of teaching that you can listen to live or download for later listening via the Internet here.
Content
The weekly classes in my new series will focus on the Annual cycle of readings followed faithfully by traditional Jews around the world. Each week, according to this cycle of readings, a section of the Torah and the prophets will be highlighted.
Options – Make the experience personal!
You will have the option of listening in live on Sunday night, or if your schedule does not allow you to listen in live, you will have an entire week to download our podcast for study at your own leasure. Some may wish to wait until the Sabbath to listen.
I have also determined through feedback from many of my faithful listeners (and from other sources) that the length of the most effective teachings are under an hour and razor sharp! My goal will be to organize the teaching in such a way to effectively cover the main points of the weekly parsha (Torah section) in a class that is much closer to 30 minutes. This way, most people can download the class and listen to it during an average commute to work or while you run errands, go to the gym, etc.
My main goal as a teacher is to encourage you to study the Torah and to learn to apply its principles to your life in a modern world – thus inspiring you to live a more biblically authentic lifestyle. I am trying to make this is convenient for you as possible. I want you to learn!
Over the course of the year we will cover the entire Torah! Your life will be transformed as you drink of the refreshing waters of the God-inspired teaching of Moses.
Why focus on the Torah?
As David said in Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes and I will look for wonderful things from your Torah”. We will do just that! We will open our eyes and take a fresh look at the Torah.
The final prophetic word in the Hebrew Bible, recorded in Malachi says, “Remember the torah of my servant Moses” (Malachi 4:4 – English Bible). And yet, humanity has drifted far from “the teaching”. The nearly 6.5 billion inhabitants of our planet need to hear the words of this eternal teaching delivered once and for all to the ancient people of Israel. After all, the intent of this teaching was that it would go forth to all nations (Isaiah 2 and Micah 4), and ultimately, in what the Bible calls the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34), the Torah will be written upon the heart.
Despite what people believe Jesus the Jew taught, it is recorded that he claimed that did not come to abolish the Torah or the prophets but to fulfill – adding further that until heaven and earth passed – not a single letter…not even a stroke of a letter would pass from the torah until all was fulfilled (Matthew 5:17-20)!
I can think of no greater subject matter to devote my time to learning and to helping others learn than the Torah of Moses.
Who Would Benefit from these classes?
I believe that these classes will be helpful for Jews and Christians as my style is unique. I am a bit tough to label as I tend to resist such categories, opting for the simple designation of “biblical”. I will at times draw upon Jewish wisdom, much of which is organized around these very weekly readings from the Torah and Prophets, but I am not Jewish. I will often draw upon texts from the Christian Scriptures, much of which clearly points people to a Torah way of living, though I no longer associate myself with the label of Christian. “Christianity” in its modern sense has long ago abandoned the religion of Jesus for a religion about him.
I hope that you will listen in and that you will encourage others to listen in as well. In addition to the weekly class I will post a blog for download. The intent will be to publish a handsome document for download and printing each week with my own notes on the weekly parsha. You can put them in a 3-ring binder and at the end of the year you will have a complete reference work for your further studies. I hope to expand this as time goes on into a full course, complete with on-line tests and a certificate of completion for those who stick with us.
I am more and more planning to spend my energy developing, with the help of my faithful friend Brian Jones, a virtual community on the web where you can experience fellowship with others who are seeking to live according to the principles of the Hebrew Bible. This “Synagogue Without Walls” is catching on. People from literally around the world are joining up. I encourage you to check it out.
And finally, there is no greater reward than to lead people to a better understanding of God and His ways. As Hillel said, “Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and bringing them closer to the Torah”.
We are all disciples and this saying has inspired me in the current direction of Roots of Faith and our ongoing effort to bring people closer to the Torah. I hope that you can join us.
The new series will be called A Parsha Study with Roots of Faith. I believe that you will be greatly blessed by this series.
Shalom, Ross
Roots of Faith
Ross Nichols, founder and director of Roots of Faith introduces something new to his podcast audience this week. Nichols, having just completed an intensive 11 week series of studies on Dr. Tabor’s latest book, Restoring Abrahamic Faith, conducted a half-hour interview with Dr. Tabor about the book, how he came to write it, its essential message, and what how he envisions it contributing to an understanding of biblical truths. Toward the end of the interview Nichols also has Dr. Tabor talk a bit about his forthcoming book on the apostle Paul, scheduled to appear in Spring, 2010 with Simon & Schuster.
You can listen to or download this interview at the Roots of Faith Web site here.
http://rootsoffaith.org/blog-and-podcasts/2009/02/27/ross-nichols-interviews-dr-james-tabor.htm
More details about the book, Restoring Abrahamic Faith, including readers responses and reviews can be found at the publisher’s Web site: genesis2000.org.
You will not want to miss this exciting interview with Dr. James D. Tabor.
United Israel Staff
This weekend marked the 65th anniversary of the initial organizational meeting of United Israel World Union, held over the weekend of Dec 30, 1943-January 1, 1944, in Waterville, NY. Ironically, the Torah reading that weekend was VaYigash (Genesis 44:18-47:27), coupled with the Haftarah reading from Ezekiel 37:15-28. In this section of the Torah “Judah draws near to Joseph,” who was taken to be dead and forgotten, and the aging Jacob is told “Joseph yet lives!” The Rabbis, in coupling the reading from Ezekiel 37 with this Torah portion clearly wanted to signal a deeper symbolic historical cast to the Joseph story–namely that the “lost tribes’ of Joseph, that is, the “stick of Ephraim,” would emerge from their “valley of dry bones” and join with the “stick of Judah,” in inaugurating the Messianic era.
As it happens, January 3, 2009, this past Shabbath, was the occasion for the annual UIWU executive officers meeting in Charlotte, NC, held each January, and those present were quite aware of the correspondence both in dates (both Gregorian and Hebrew calendars), but also the same Torah/Prophets reading, precisely 65 years from that founding meeting.
United Israel World Union remains, to our knowledge, the oldest Jewish organization focused on the so-called “Lost Tribes,” and their past and future relationship with the Jewish people. In the very first issue of the United Israel Bulletin, Vol 1, Number 1, published in June, 1944, founder David Horowitz published an account of the founding of the organization that is worth reproducing here. UIWU, born 65 years ago this past weekend, was truly “birthed” in the critical days of WWII when the Allies were beginning to turn the tide with the Axis powers. Hitler’s armies had been defeated at Stalingrad and in Egypt in 1943 and D-Day and the invasion of Europe was on the horizon. Here is the 1944 account verbatim:
After many years of Biblical “journeyings” in connection with a United Israel, and after having gone “through the dark valley of human abuse,” YHVH inspirited David Howowitz, while in prayer and in supplication, to continue labors already commenced, namely, to stand with YHVH’s people Israel as their friend, teacher and intermediary, to the end that the scattered sheep of Israel may once again become reunited in true brotherhood and love via YHVH’s glorious and eternal Law.
Thus, following many strange and fantastic episodes occurring in these Biblical days in which we are now living, giving further testimony to the dynamic truth of the ever-functioning and eternal Word of YHVH, three brethren of the house of Joseph, namely, Clayton E. Burlingame, of Waterville. N.Y.; Huel L. Crockett, of New York City; and Robert Bruce, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., were inspirited, individually, to unite with their brother David of the House of Judah in New York City.As a result thereof, Providence so guided that several meetings were arranged and held in up-state New York, at Bethaleph, home of the Burlingames, during December 30 and 31, 1943, and January 1, 1944, in connection with the actual formation of the Body United Israel.At these meetings it was decided to hold a Founders’ Assembly on Saturday evening, February 5th, it being the eleventh day of the eleventh month, Shevat, 5704.
The following is an abridged record of that gathering:
By YHVH’s grace, David opened the meeting with words of welcome and explanation of the significance of the occasion—further stressing that the Israel gathering here at Bethaleph unites many loving souls in various parts of the country who would be with us in spirit and prayer but could not attend by reason of distance.Most of these brethren and sisters had communicated and their letters would be read to the assembly.David then spoke of the glorious spirit of unity and love existing among all who have unified themselves in UNITED ISRAEL, indicating further “how glorious indeed are the doings of YHVH God, Greater of heaven and earth,” who had thus blessed the birth of UNITED ISRAEL after more than two thousand years of lost identity amidst Baal worship. . .
Continuing the introductory remarks, David explained how YHVH, the God of Israel, the Rock of all Ages, has always worked through man and nations in the fulfillment of His glorious Plan. . .
The spirit reigning over Bethaleph through out the Assembly was serene and solemn, and all present were imbued with love and thanksgiving to our Father, YHVH the King of Israel, who alone doth wondrous things.
Then David spoke of the many communications which had been sent in by our beloved brethren and sisters in Israel from the far reaches of the land. . .
At the conclusion of the reading of correspondence, David spoke briefly on the proposed UNITED ISRAEL BULLETIN which would become the organ and medium through which scattered brethren and sisters in UNITED ISRAEL could know of each other’s activities in the different parts of the country. It would also serve as a guide to all true servants of YHVH in that it would constantly touch upon original Biblical facts and explain them. Moreover, the bulletin would touch upon current events as well, in connection with their Biblical significance.David indicated that as soon as funds permitted, he would commence with publication of the bulletin. . .
David then stated that on the basis of decisions concluded at the December 30-31, 1943, and January 1, 1944, meetings, he had contacted an attorney-at-law in New York City, and engaged him to assist in the incorporation proceedings, and that, on the further basis of the data furnished the attorney by David, he had worked out a tentative draft of a Certificate of Incorporation and a Constitution and By-laws. . . (which was filed with the Secretary of State, State of New York, April 17, 1944) declare:
I.That the original Bible is the word of YHVH the Father, the Creator, and is the only basis for our daily conduct and life which must be modeled basically in accordance with the laws of Moses as instituted at Mount Sinai.
II.That the Ten Tribes of Israel are still in existence; . . . a great number of whom live in the United States of America.
III.That said United States of America was originally conceived on the principles of the Bible, as is evidenced by the acts and writings of the Founding Fathers and that it has therefore been destined by YHVH the Father, the Creator, to play a leading part in world affairs.
FIRST ANNUAL MEETING
The First Annual Meeting of United Israel was held at Bethaleph, home of Clayton and Erminie Burlingame at Waterville, New York, on Saturday evening, April 8th, 1944, the 15th day of Nisan.The assembly coincided with the Passover.David stated that “it was glorious to note that at this gathering of United Israel, members of the house of Joseph had joined brethren in Judah for the commemoration of this great redemption festival.There are others in the far reaches of the land who are with us in spirit at this moment,” David continued. . . To them we must add scores of sons and daughters of Israel scattered all over this Zion-land.”
The Constitution and By-laws of United Israel as well as the Certificate of Incorporation were read by Brother Crockett and then unanimously approved and accepted.All officers were re-elected for another year.
In a time when Web sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and hundreds of others with similar formats are drawing millions together for exchange and dialog, “meeting in Cyperspace” has become one of the main trends of our new globally oriented 21st century. In this regard, there is a new site hosted by Roots of Faith leader Ross Nichols called “The Synagogue without Walls.” You can take a look at A Synagogue Without Walls where you can browse and get an idea of what is offered.
Ross, who is an ordained teacher of United Israel, intends it to be a “meeting place” for those who are scattered by distance, many outside the United States, but who are connected by a common desire to connect with others involved in the quest for our Hebrew Roots of Faith. It is a new site, just beginning, but already quite lively with exchanges, photos, music, messages, and dialog. You are welcome to join if you think this is a group that might fit your needs. The atmosphere is open and friendly, with a spirit of commonality in the Quest.
You can also catch Ross Nichols each Sunday night live on the Web, via either audio or video, teaching from the Hebrew Bible. He is right now in a series titled “Restoring Abrahamic Faith.” If you can’t listen live you can download the lessons and play them later. Go to RootsofFaith Webcast to connect and learn more. Ross will be teaching tonight at 6pm CST/7pm EST on “Keeping the Commandments.” Tune in if you can. I have found him to be one of the most insightful and biblically learned teachers of our day.
65th Anniversary Annual Meeting
April 11-13, 2008
Doubletree Guest Suites/SouthPark
Charlotte, North Carolina
The 65th Annual Meeting of United Israel World Union will be held in Charlotte, NC, April 11-13th. We will gather at the lovely Doubletree Hotel in Southpark with our Sunday night program at the Jewish Community Center. There is no conference fee for attending our meetings.
Annapolis – 60 years to the day after Partition -
By Stan Goodenough – www.jnewswire.com
On Jewish calendar date 17 Kislev 5708 (the evening of November 29, 1947 in Israel), 46 countries voted on United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 – the proposal to partition the Land of Israel (known then as Palestine) into two states, one Jewish, the other Arab.
Thirty-three voted in favor, 13 voted against. The Arabs rejected the outcome, immediately initiating hostilities that erupted into the War of Independence after Israel was established and recognized internationally six months later.
Next week, on 17 Kislev 5768, 60 years to the day after that UN vote, nearly 50 nations have been invited to Annapolis for the US-hosted International Conference on the Creation of Palestine – an Arab state the international community wants to see erected on the biblical heartland of the Jewish people.
Of these nations, only 15 are Arab states. Included among the rest are France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Canada, Poland, Sweden, Norway, South Africa and India.
Observers have noted that this will indeed be a gathering of the nations of the world in a united stand against the rights of the Jews to their sacred soil.
The international community is virtually single-minded on this issue: the theft of Jewish lands for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Not a single invited national representative nor journalist is expected to challenge this position at Annapolis on Tuesday.
“And I will bless those who bless you, and treat lightly those who treat you lightly, and in you shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”
Israel the 100th smallest country (size of San Bernadino County), with less than 1/1000th of the world’s population, can lay claim to the following:
• The Middle East has been growing date palms for millennia. The average tree is about 18-20 feet tall and yields about 38 pounds of dates a year. Israeli date trees are now yielding 400 pounds/year and are short enough to be harvested from the ground or a short ladder.
• The cell phone was developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel.
• Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel.
• The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel. Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel.
• The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel. Voice mail technology was developed in Israel.
• Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel.
• The technology for the AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.
• Israel has the fourth largest air force in the world (after the U.S, Russia and China). In addition to a large variety of other aircraft, Israel’s air force has an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16’s. This is the largest fleet of F-16 aircraft outside of the U. S.
• Israel’s $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined.
• Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita. According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry’s most impenetrable flight security. US officials now look (finally) to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats.
• Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world. Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin – 109 per 10,000 people — as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.
• In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the U.S. (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech). With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world — apart from the Silicon Valley, U.S.
• Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the U.S. Outside the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies.
• Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East. The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK. On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech startups.
• Twenty-four per cent of Israel’s workforce holds university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees. Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.
• Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship — and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 – in the world.
• When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world’s second elected female leader in modern times.
• In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews (Operation Solomon) at Risk in Ethiopia, to safety in Israel.
• When the U. S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day — and saved three victims from the rubble.
• Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity. (Hundreds of thousands from the former Soviet Union)
• Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as “conflict free.”
• Israel has the world’s second highest per capita of new books.
• Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.
• Israel has more museums per capita than any other country.
• Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.
• An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment. Every year in U. S. hospitals 7,000 patients die from treatment mistakes.
• Israel’s Given Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine from the inside, cancer and digestive disorders.
• Researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with heart failure. The new device, synchronized with the camera helps doctors diagnose a heart’s mechanical operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.
• Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the work force, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U. S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category as well.
• A new acne treatment developed in Israel, the Clear Light device, produces a high-intensity, ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light that causes acne bacteria to self-destruct — all without damaging surrounding skin or tissue.
• An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern California’s Mojave desert.
• All the above while engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other county on earth