I would love to be able to do this.
Watch it all.
Netanyahu on Iran
My friend Josh mentions a recent speech by Benjamin Netanyahu in which he says, “It’s 1938 and Iran is Germany.” He also shares a lesson learned from a Holocaust survivor and the Single Bomb Theory. The former prime minister of Israel makes a good case that Israel is facing its gravest threat ever. JerusalemOnline.com has some highlights of the speech here.
Most Popular Names in Israel
Todd is not a good Israeli name. They usually think I’m saying “Tal” or “Ted.” My colleague Bill had problems with people understanding his name in Israel until the prominence of Bill Clinton and Bill Gates. I don’t see any famous Todds on the horizon to solve my problem. If you think your kids might live in Israel, here are some names that will fit right in.
Uri, Noam, Itai, Ido and David were the most popular given boy’s names in 2005, while Noa, Shira, Agam, Maya and Tamar topped the charts for girls.
The next most popular girl’s names last year were Roni, Yael, Adi, Sarah, Yovel, Hila and Michal. The next most popular boy’s names last year were Ro’i, Amit, Yosef, Moshe and Yehonatan. Daniel, the most popular boy’s name two years ago, dropped last year to 13th place.
Three percent of the Jewish girls who were born in 2005 were given the name Noa, while 2.1% of the boys were named Uri.
It has become increasingly popular to “share” names between boys and girls. Among the names given to both genders are Noam, Lior, Or, Shachar, Tal, Osher, and more.
Other numbers published this week by the Central Bureau of Statistics in honor of the upcoming International Children’s Day include:
- One-third of Israel’s population in 2005 was children under age 17 – a total of 2,326,400.
- The highest proportion of children – 63% – lives in the hareidi-religious Yesha town of Beitar Illit. Some Bedouin villages have similar numbers.
- 51.4% of the babies born last year were boys.
- 92% of children live with both their parents.
- Just over 69% of the children are Jewish, while just under 24% are Moslems.
- 143,900 babies were born, including 70% Jews and 23.7% Moslems – thus that the proportion of Jewish births increased slightly.
Source: Arutz-7.
Both Directions
Our two sons each live two lives. By day, they study in Israeli schools and speak, read, and write only Hebrew. By night, they live at home where only English is spoken, read, and written. They’ve been doing this for a couple of years now, and both are in second grade. Mark turns 7 tomorrow and tonight he read the first chapter of Genesis in both Hebrew and English. We videotaped some of it and I’m posting the first minute of each, for your inspiration.
Hebrew (or right click, save to your computer, then open)
English (or right click, save to your computer, then open)
The Race
Paul: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” (1 Cor 9:24)
How are you running in the race of faith? Are you running to win, or just out to “have fun”? Does it matter if you finish the race? How important is it? How would a spectator perceive your efforts? Are you on the path and going the right direction?
Piper on Marriage
The preachers that I respect the most usually do not talk about their personal lives in their sermons or writings. John Piper is no exception. But if you want more of an inside look into his marriage than I’ve come across anywhere else, you’ll find it in his sermon last month on “Marriage Lived to the Glory of God” at the SEMBEQ conference. If you prefer to retain an idealized picture, don’t listen. Or read C. J. Mahaney instead.
Success or Accident?
Last week Israel killed 20 Arabs in the Gaza Strip when an artillery round hit a residential building. Israel said it was an accident and apologized. The U.N. tried to issue a condemnation of Israel for the action, but it was vetoed by the U.S. Many criticized the U.S. for aiding Israel in its terrorism of the Palestinian people.
In Israel’s parliament on Monday, there was an exchange about the incident between some Arab ministers and a Jewish minister, Ephraim Sneh (of Labor, a leftist party). I think it’s all worth reading, for insights on several levels. Keep in mind that this exchange happened during an official meeting of the congress. One excerpt.
Sneh: You think that if you interrupt me, I won’t say what I want to say? … I can promise you one thing: You won’t like 90% of what I have to say… Why did we start the military offensive in Beit Hanoun? To protect the citizens of Israel, to attack those who fire Kassams and who store up war material to use it against us. This was the objective; there is nothing more legitimate than that.
Arab MK Muhammed Barakeh: Little children [who were killed] are terrorists?! [screaming wildly] It’s a shame and a disgrace! [continues to scream out at Sneh]
MK Moshe Sharoni [Pensioners Party]: You just want to get your picture in Al Jazeera.
Barakeh: Shut your mouth, stupid!
[more screaming, Barakeh is finally ordered to leave by Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik]…
Deputy Minister Sneh resumes speaking: “On Nov. 7, from an orchard on the outskirts of Beit Hanoun, rockets were fired towards Ashkelon. On the next morning, we received warning that it would happen again, and therefore two artillery volleys were fired [by the IDF] to that spot. As a result of a technical fault in the second volley, tens of innocent people were hit. We see this as a grave issue, a catastrophe, and a failure. I assume that those who fired the rocket on Ashkelon, if they would have hit dozens of innocent people, they would have seen it as a success.
MK Tibi screams: You’re just clearing yourself! [unintelligible]
Sneh: No, no, Tibi – that’s the difference of our cultures; that’s the whole thing; that’s the difference in our values.
[Tibi and other Arab MKs start yelling wildly]
Sneh: I promised you that you wouldn’t like what I had to say. … You cannot evade the point that when we hit civilians, we see it as a failure, but those who shoot at us see it as a success; that’s the difference, you cannot evade that! [more screaming] I came to speak here in order to respond [to the charges of slaughter] and there is a limit to what we are willing to hear. [Tibi and others keep screaming]
Sneh: …After the extent of the catastrophe became known, we enacted a series of urgent humanitarian measures. The worst of the injured were taken to hospitals in Israel, and even though it was a battle zone, we allowed in trucks of medical supplies, we opened the Rafah crossing, and we did whatever possible to alleviate the unjustified suffering of these people.
Another thing. Can you imagine an Arab democracy where Jews are elected to parliament and have full privileges? (No, you can’t.)
Serious, Sad and Funny
Three things I’ve come across recently in other blogs seem worth repeating. Each evokes its own emotion, which makes me consider which order is best to list them here. I think I want to end with the serious one, because I hope that you think about that the longest. I’ll start with the funny one because I don’t think it would follow the sad one so well. And the sad isn’t truly, deeply sad, but it’s not happy for one who has devoted his life (so far) to the very opposite notion.
Funny: My friend Geoff links to this video on youtube called “Baptism Cannonball.” 1.5 minutes long.
Sad: My friend Micah has posted a audio clip in which John Piper says (in 1999) that he has no desire to visit Israel. I’m not afraid to wrestle in the meta.
Serious: Justin Taylor points to this article on the consistently repugnant behavior of Christians at restaurants. Read, be convicted, and stop doing it. If only as many Christians would read this story as read about Mr. Haggard. And my guess is that this sort of thing has done more harm to Christian testimony than Mr. Haggard ever could.
New Hanukkah Book
Former IBEX students will especially be interested to hear that Ariel and D’vorah Berkowitz have just released a book on Hanukkah. The book is entitled, Hanukkah in the Home of the Redeemed: The Story of the Battle Against Assimilation and includes:
– A historical summary of the events of the first Hanukkah
– A practical guide for celebrating Hanukkah
– An insightful 8-day study guide for individuals, families, or groups
– Music, games, recipes
If you want to really celebrate Hanukkah this year (instead of just seeing it listed on your calendar), this book will help you do that. You can find out more about the book and order it at Shoreshim Publishing. The cost is $13.
Three Myths about Heaven
Do you long for heaven? If not, it’s probably because either 1) your desires are skewed or 2) your knowledge is inaccurate. Here are three myths about heaven that bug me:
1. It will be boring. This is a strange notion. Is earth boring? Are the sites and smells and activities of earth boring? And as I read the Bible, it took God 6 days to make this earth and he’s been working on heaven now for about 2000 years (John 14:1-3). I don’t think God knows the meaning of the word. Hell, by contrast, will be boring.
2. We will play harps. The problem with this idea is that the Bible never says it. It mentions elders with harps, not the church. The mention of the harps is during the tribulation period, not the millennial kingdom nor the eternal state. And they’re never said to play the harps. Other than that, I don’t have any problems with the idea.
3. Heaven will be made of all gold. I doubt it. All one color would be boring. And John describes heaven as being built of jasper, sapphire, calcedony, emerald, sardonyx, carnelian, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth, amethyst, and pearls. One other reflection that the glory of earth will pale in comparison to the glory of heaven: the sun will be ashamed (Isa 24:23).
“The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams. But God is the ocean” (Jonathan Edwards).