Newsletter: Purim 2017
Dear friends,
Soon it will be Purim and our newsletter is all about this important feast. Israel has been saved by a woman, Esther, working together with her uncle Mordechai. Queen Vashti, wife of king Ahasuerus, did not want to bow to theorizer of the king to show herself on an important feast, in order for the king to steal the show wot her.Queen Vashti was dethroned because of her disobedience; and the king started looking for a new spouse.
The people of Israel have been trained – by keeping Torah – to be obedient to the Lord and is successful in it, at least partially. The willingness of our hearts to obeying G-d and serving Him is a step further. In serving we learn to to listen to His voice in our lives. Esther immediately knew deep in her heart that it was the Lord who called her to participate in the beauty contest organized by king Ahasuerus, risking she could become the new queen.
With all consequences regarding the worldly life awaiting her in a seraglio, a harem. She had a deeper understanding of urgency of participation, because the existence of her people was at stake. At the time there was much anti-semitism, just like nowadays. We the increase of it in many countries which is always startling. Israel will have to live with it, like we did in Persia, where it has been encouraged by the figure of Haman who awaited his opportunity to strike. As long Israel exists there have been people like Haman.
die het lot van Israël omkeerde ten goede! Dat Hij steeds weer zal doen.
Our newsletter shows the gladness of Purim stemming from the liberation of the people of G-d. Also the seriousness and fear are expressed in it, when a fresh wave of anti-semitism forces its way into countries like right now. It’s frightening for Jews. Esther fulfilled her task at the right moment at the time. But it has been a miracle of the Lord who turned the fate of Israel for the good. May He do this time and again!
WoV editor in chief
New articles on www.womanofvalor.org:
Weekly studies on YouTube channel Beth Yeshua Amsterdam
Watch here live each Shabbat at 4 p.m. for our Bible studies in English. On our own YouTube channel: Beth Yeshua Amsterdam. Click here for the weekly Bible readings texts (used in our live stream studies). Choose to subscribe and
(Continue reading)
Four blood red moons and Sukkot
By Sonja Haisma For some time there is talk on YouTubefilms about the next four total lunar eclipses , which look like blood red moons. They occur at dates of some Biblical Jewish High Holydays: Passover and Sukkot (Tabernacles).The last one, a
(Continue reading)
Sukkot
On the fifteenth day of the seventh biblical month Tishri we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. It is a feast of rejoicing and gratefulness to God. For seven days we live in a sukkah, a hut, which we build ourselves and decorate. The roof of the
(Continue reading)
Women and Pesach
In the Talmud it is written that the women have saved the life of Moses. The women that played a role in his life. Because of this it was possible that Israël was being saved from the slavery in Egypt according to the rabbis. When the oppression
(Continue reading)
Hanukkah: victory over old and new darkness
Celebration of Hanukkah The biblical month of Kislev is the month in which the festival of Hanukkah is always celebrated. During the period of the Second Temple, which had been rebuilt by Ezra and Nehemiah, the Greeks, under the gründliche
(Continue reading)
Winks from the Eternal
In this time of increasing chaos and fear, it is an encouragement for those who put their trust in the Lord to realize that He is enthroned forever and cares for His children and Land. A wink from heaven seems to be the next fact. Neville Teller
(Continue reading)
Eshet Chayil (Woman of Valor) and Hanukkah
Incentive The text in Proverbs 31: 10-31 is the song Eshet Chayil, a song to the Strong Woman of Valor of the home, which in Jewish tradition is sung at the celebration of Shabbat on Friday evening. It has inspired me endlessly. The mystical side
(Continue reading)
Shofar, Rosh Hashanah and Hanukkah in Auschwitz
In the year 1944 a group of ragged Jewish prisoners gathered for yet another very tiring work assignment in concentration camp Auschwitz. Jews were starved, tortured and murdered everywhere. The least expression of Jewish faith was strictly
(Continue reading)