September 18, 2020
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dead at 87
(CNN) - Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday due to complications of metastatic pancreas cancer, the court announced. She was 87.
Ginsburg was appointed in 1993 by President Bill Clinton and in recent years served as the most senior member of the court's liberal wing, consistently delivering progressive votes on the most divisive social issues of the day, including abortion rights, same-sex marriage, voting rights, immigration, health care and affirmative action.
Her death -- less than seven weeks before Election Day -- opens up a political fight over the future of the court. Addressing the liberal justice's death, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday evening, "President Trump's nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate."
But Ginsburg told her granddaughter she wanted her replacement to be appointed by the next president, NPR reported. "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed," she dictated to granddaughter Clara Spera days before her death.
"She led an amazing life. What else can you say?" President Donald Trump said Friday evening upon hearing about her death. "She was an amazing woman whether you agree or not she was an amazing woman who led an amazing life."
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden praised Ginsburg as a "giant in the legal profession" and a "beloved figure," saying in brief on-camera remarks Friday evening that people "should focus on the loss of the justice and her enduring legacy."
"But there is no doubt, let me be clear that the voters should pick the president and the president should pick the justice for the Senate to consider," he added, saying that was the position of Republicans who refused to vote on then-President Barack Obama's nominee in 2016.
Obama, in a statement mourning Ginsburg, also called for Senate Republicans to uphold the standard they set in 2016 when they blocked his nominee.
"Over a long career on both sides of the bench -- as a relentless litigator and an incisive jurist -- Justice Ginsburg helped us see that discrimination on the basis of sex isn't about an abstract ideal of equality; that it doesn't only harm women; that it has real consequences for all of us. It's about who we are -- and who we can be," Obama said in a statement.
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on September 18, 2020. On the Jewish calendar, that day was Elul 29 - the last day of their civic year. On their religious calender, Elul 29 has many names: it is a day of Judgement, nullification, and also a day of repentance in preparation for the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
I find this connection to be of the utmost biblical irony that she should pass away on this exact day, considering that she spent her whole career as a Supreme Court Judge with very worldly beliefs to put it mildly. To put it plainly, she upheld and championed things that we know are extremely sinful, things that are against Heavenly Father's commandments (which are world-wide commandments, not just members of the Church.) *Please note that this is not to say that she was necessarily a horrible person, never did anything good, or that she is beyond God's love or forgiveness.* She is in His judgement now.
Here is more fascinating information on Elul 29 and its symbolism:
"Several customs during the month of Elul are designed to remind us of the liturgical season and help us prepare ourselves and our souls for the upcoming High Holidays.
1. Blowing the shofar
Traditionally, the shofar is blown each morning (except on Shabbat) from the first day of Elul until the day before Rosh HaShanah. Its sound is intended to awaken the soul and kick start the spiritual accounting that happens throughout the month. In some congregations the shofar is sounded at the opening of each Kabbalat Shabbat service during Elul.
2. Saying special prayers
Selichot (special penitential prayers) are recited during the month of Elul. A special Selichot service is conducted late in the evening – often by candlelight – on the Saturday night a week before Rosh HaShanah.
3. Visiting loved ones' graves
Elul is also a time of year during which Jews traditionally visit the graves of loved ones. This custom not only reminds us of the individuals on whose shoulders we now stand and helps us honor their memories, but also prompts us to think about our own lives and the legacies we will leave to others – kind words spoken, comfort offered, love given and received – which take on added meaning as we enter the High Holiday season. Rabbi Daniel B. Syme explains more about this custom.
4. Reading Psalm 27
It is customary to read Psalm 27 each day from the beginning of Elul through Hoshana Rabbah, which is the last day of Sukkot.
5. Reflecting
It also is a month during which we are encouraged to study and take time for personal reflection around our actions of the past year and to seek forgiveness from those we have wronged or with whom we otherwise have “missed the mark” in our interactions and behaviors. Many readily available resources can help you make this process interactive."
September 18, 2020
Israel Moving Members Of Possible Ancient Lost Tribe Back From India
Thousands of years ago, the Bible spoke of the “ingathering of the exiles,” a time in the future when the Jews exiled from the ancient land of Israel would return to their native homeland. Roughly 2,700 years ago, after the Biblical land of Israel, which was comprised of 12 tribes, had become two kingdoms, Israel with 10 tribes in the north and Judah with two in the south, the Assyrian Empire exiled the ten tribes of the nation of Israel, known thereafter as the Ten Lost Tribes.
Now, the Israeli government is helping a group of hundreds of more people from Northern India who describe themselves as “Bnei Menashe,” meaning sons of Menashe (the tribe of Menashe was one of the ten lost tribes), to return to Israel.
“Israel’s Minister of Aliyah and Absorption Knesset member Penina Tamanu-Shata announced this month that in cooperation with the Interior Ministry, she is moving ahead with plans for the aliyah of 722 members of the Bnei Menashe community of northeastern India. The first group is anticipated to arrive in Israel after the Jewish High Holidays, which end in mid-October,” the Jewish News Syndicate reported.
The group Shavei Israel and their founder Michael Freund have already moved over 4,000 members of Bnei Menashe to Israel. Freund said there were another 6,500 Bnei Menashe Jews in India waiting to come to Israel, adding, “with G-d’s help in the coming years, we will bring all those who wish to come back home to Zion.” Freund said of the group:
For centuries, they practiced a Biblical form of Judaism, observing the Sabbath, keeping kosher, celebrating the festivals, and following the laws of family purity. They were still performing the sacrificial rites too when they were discovered by the British over a century ago. Interestingly, they were not aware of either Purim or Chanukah, both of which commemorate events that took place centuries after their ancestors were exiled.
JNS writes of Bnei Menashe, “Their ancestors wandered through Central Asia and the Far East for centuries before settling in what is now northeastern India, along the border with Burma and Bangladesh.”
As the Woodside Park Synagogue in London, England, has noted, in Deuteronomy it is written:
And it will be, when all these things come upon you the blessing and the curse which I have set before you that you will consider in your heart, among all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you, and you will return to the Lord, your God, then, the Lord, your God, will bring back your exiles, and He will have mercy upon you. He will once again gather you from all the nations, where the Lord, your God, had dispersed you, even if your exiles are at the end of the heavens, the Lord, your God, will gather you from there. And the Lord, your God, will bring you to the land which your forefathers possessed, and you will take possession of it.
The prophet Isaiah stated, “And He shall raise a banner to the nations, and He shall gather the lost of Israel, and the scattered ones of Judah He shall gather from the four corners of the earth.” He was echoed by the prophet Jeremiah, who asserted, “And I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will return your captivity and gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will return you to the place whence I exiled you.” The prophet Ezekiel added, “With a pleasing savor I shall accept you when I take you out of the nations, and I shall gather you from the lands in which you were scattered, and I shall be hallowed through you before the eyes of the nations.”
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How incredible is this?! It's not everyday you hear about some of the Lost Ten Tribes being found. This is yet another piece of prophecy on its way to fulfillment.
For us in America, while the New Jerusalem is in construction, there will be a very large caravan of "the Lamanites" or Native American's that will join us and help us build. Following that, when most of the destruction has happened in America, when there aren't many people left, an even greater group (in numbers), the Lost Ten Tribes, will cross the ocean on an "ice highway", "follow the Rocky Mountains" down (Rockies extend way up into Alaska) to the New Jerusalem. Does this mean they will be crossing the Bering Strait?
They will be greatly unhindered in their journey (by violence, etc) and will be led by their own Prophet, with their own scriptures. There, in the New Jerusalem, will we all be reunited in a big celebration as all three groups complete the construction of the greatest city.
Chapter 9, "The Coming of the Lord."