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Tuesday, April 3, 2018

An Easter Message to Our Christian Friends



Ari Bussel is a frequent contributor to this blog. I have never met Ari in person, even so he has been a special Internet friend to me. Ari is Jewish and I am Christian and he is fully aware of my religious affiliation. In saying all this, Ari sent an Easter message to me as one of his list he addressed as “friends”.

Yeah, I know, it’s April 3 and a bit late for an Easter message. Christians should always keep the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the call for eternal Salvation for arising bodily leaving the tomb empty. AND Christians must realize this Salvation is of the Jews and respect the Chosen People knowing God’s plan still interwoven with all Jewish people even if Christian and Jews have no clear understanding of this intersecting path.

Without further ado, here is Ari Easter message sent on Easter Day 2018.

JRH 4/3/18
**************************
An Easter Message to Our Christian Friends

By Ari Bussel
Sent 4/1/2018 5:20 PM

Dear Friends,

The Story of Easter originates with Passover, and the Story of Passover can be found in the Bible (the Book of Exodus).

Read it, for not only is it interesting, it was true in ancient times and it is happening in these very times, at present, as well.

As you celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus, we remember Jesus, a descendant of King David, was a Jewish Rabbi.

We further remember that King David’s great grandmother was Ruth, a Gentile (non-Jewish) Moabite woman [Let us read the Scroll of Ruth, for there are many lessons there too, values that should be emulated yet are so uncommon today.]

Jesus of Nazareth taught at a synagogue along the northwestern shores of the Sea of Galilee, and the remains of this synagogue can be visited till today.

Jesus celebrated Passover, in exactly the same manner that all Jewish people celebrate it to this very day and the Seder - the opening meal of the seven-day festival - is what has become known as The Last Supper.

One without the other cannot exist for they are intertwined, they are one Judaism and Christianity celebrating and worshipping one and the very same God the Almighty, Lord of Hosts.

It is our God who brought us from slavery to freedom and from that time forward we are commanded to tell our children and they to their children of this Deliverance with a strong hand “and he who tells more of the story of the deliverance from Egypt, it is praiseworthy.”


Crucifixion

Crucifixion was a usual form of punishment-by-death by the Romans.  Below is the only archeological remain of an actual crucifixion (iron nail in the heel bone) of a Jewish person [Yehochanan son of Hagkol] in the first century A.D.  Displayed in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Israel.

1st century AD Crucifixion iron nail in the heel bone of Jewish victim Yehochanan son of Hagkol



Museum Display of Crucifixion Nail

The Story of Passover

After 430 years in Egypt, God delivers the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to freedom.

“And it came to pass at midnight” (Exodus 12:29), that the Tenth Plague was inflicted upon the Egyptians, from the first born of Pharaoh who sat on the throne, unto the first born of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the first born of the livestock in the field.  Only the first borns of the Israelites, who marked their houses with the blood of a year old male sheep or goat that afternoon, were spared.

The Passover Haggadah [Reference link is by the Editor thus the text may differ a bit from Ari’s below] (narrative booklet) explains the following verse, to emphasize it was God Himself who was present, He and not an angel:

“And the Lord brought us forth from Egypt with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror, and with signs and wonders.”

“And the Lord brought us forth from Egypt” - not by a ministering angel, not by a fiery angel, and not by a messenger, but by Himself, in His glory, did the Holy One, blessed be He, do so, as it is written:  “And I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and I will smite all the first born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgement.  I am the Lord.”

“And I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night” - I, and not a ministering angel; “and I will smite all the first born in the land of Egypt” - I, and not a fiery angel; “and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment” - I and not a messenger; “I am the Lord” - It is I, and no other.

It is this momentous event that has become a memorial for eternity, and we are celebrating it as a feast to the Lord for all generations.  Passover is celebrated for seven days, of which the first and the last are holy-days, no manner of work shall be done in them.  It starts in the middle of the first month of the Hebrew calendar in Biblical times (the month of Nissan), which is also the month that Spring arrives.

Knowing that future generations will be curious or even skeptical about observing the holiday, the Torah tells us (ibid:26):

כו  וְהָיָה, כִּי-יֹאמְרוּ אֲלֵיכֶם בְּנֵיכֶם:  מָה הָעֲבֹדָה הַזֹּאת, לָכֶם.
26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you: What mean ye by this service?

כז  וַאֲמַרְתֶּם זֶבַח-פֶּסַח הוּא לַיהוָה, אֲשֶׁר פָּסַח עַל-בָּתֵּי בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּמִצְרַיִם, בְּנָגְפּוֹ אֶת-מִצְרַיִם, וְאֶת-בָּתֵּינוּ הִצִּיל; וַיִּקֹּד הָעָם, וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ.
27 that ye shall say: It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, for that He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.' And the people bowed the head and worshipped.

Why?  For it is “in this very day, that God has bought the Israelites from the land of Egypt.”

Except the Egyptians quickly recuperated from the loss of their first borns and set out to pursue the Israelites.  The Pharaoh, leading the strongest military of the time soon caught up with the Israelites who were standing in front of the Red Sea, trapped between the chaser and the impenetrable sea.  

What is about to happen is utterly miraculous, as the God obliterates the entire Egyptian army.  The entire army drowns, not a single person survived.

יט  וַיִּסַּע מַלְאַךְ הָאֱלֹהִים, הַהֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵי מַחֲנֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל, וַיֵּלֶךְ, מֵאַחֲרֵיהֶם; וַיִּסַּע עַמּוּד הֶעָנָן, מִפְּנֵיהֶם, וַיַּעֲמֹד, מֵאַחֲרֵיהֶם.
19 And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud removed from before them, and stood behind them;
כ  וַיָּבֹא בֵּין מַחֲנֵה מִצְרַיִם, וּבֵין מַחֲנֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל, וַיְהִי הֶעָנָן וְהַחֹשֶׁךְ, וַיָּאֶר אֶת-הַלָּיְלָה; וְלֹא-קָרַב זֶה אֶל-זֶה, כָּל-הַלָּיְלָה.
20 and it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud and the darkness here, yet gave it light by night there; and the one came not near the other all the night.
כא  וַיֵּט מֹשֶׁה אֶת-יָדוֹ, עַל-הַיָּם, וַיּוֹלֶךְ יְהוָה אֶת-הַיָּם בְּרוּחַ קָדִים עַזָּה כָּל-הַלַּיְלָה, וַיָּשֶׂם אֶת-הַיָּם לֶחָרָבָה; וַיִּבָּקְעוּ, הַמָּיִם.
21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
כב  וַיָּבֹאוּ בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּתוֹךְ הַיָּם, בַּיַּבָּשָׁה; וְהַמַּיִם לָהֶם חוֹמָה, מִימִינָם וּמִשְּׂמֹאלָם.
22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

Moses, the leader of the Israelites, and his people then sang the following to God (ibid, 15:11, 18):

יא  מִי-כָמֹכָה בָּאֵלִם יְהוָה,  {ס}  מִי  {ר}  כָּמֹכָה נֶאְדָּר בַּקֹּדֶשׁ;  {ס}  נוֹרָא תְהִלֹּת, עֹשֵׂה  {ר}  פֶלֶא.  {ס}
11 Who is like unto Thee, O LORD, among the mighty? who is like unto Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

יח  יְהוָה יִמְלֹךְ, לְעֹלָם וָעֶד.  {ס}
18 The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.

Forty more years will be required until the Israelites will reach the promised land.  It was not the physical distance, rather the time required for an entire generation to pass.


Jesus in Israel

And here, in Israel, many years later, a Jewish Rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth, a descendant of King David, himself the great-grandson of Ruth, was celebrating Passover.  That Seder night, of Jesus and the 12 apostles, is what we know as the Last Supper.  Followed was the betrayal, arrest, Crucifixion and Resurrection.

In Jerusalem, Israel’s capital, one can retrace each and every one of these steps.  And throughout the Land of Israel, one can walk in the footsteps of Jesus.


Overlooking the Sea of Galilee:

Overlooking the Sea of Galilee - Jesus & Apostles Sculpture

Overlooking the Sea of Galilee - Jesus & Apostles Sculpture Close-up

Now, let us get closer to the water:



closer to the water

We can actually touch the water, immerse ourselves in it, walk on water:



actually touch the water

And this is me several years ago standing in the very same synagogue where Jesus of Nazareth taught some two millennia earlier, wishing you in 2018 a Happy and Meaningful Easter!

Ari Bussel standing in same synagogue where Jesus of Nazareth taught

Always,

Ari Bussel
bussel@me.com
________________________
Minor editing by John R. Houk
Any text embraced by bold brackets are by the Editor.

Ari Bussel Bio via BeverlyHills.org

Ari Bussel is Vice President of Operations at Saybrex International, a privately held family business specializing in the distribution of fine wines and spirits. He is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company and has held various positions in the company since 1993.

Prior to joining Saybrex, Mr. Bussel served as First Lieutenant in the Center for Systems Analysis at General Headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces, where he led the implementation of the Logistics War Doctrine in the Computerized Wargame Program.

Mr. Bussel is involved in a variety of philanthropic and civic activities. Mr. Bussel completed the Team Beverly Hills Leadership Program and served on the Environmental Sustainability Topic Committee of the City of Beverly Hills. He was a member of the Steering Committees of former Beverly Hills Mayor MeraLee Goldman and the current Beverly Hills City Treasurer, the Hon. Eliot Finkel. Mr. Bussel also completed and participated in the Community Emergency Response Training Program of the City of Beverly Hills as well as the Crisis Response Team of the Maple Counseling Center.

Mr. Bussel was among the founding members and served on the boards of Gen. Shimon Erem’s Israel Christian Nexus, the Western Region of Friends of Israel Firefighters and the Israel Institute for Alternative Energy Advancement. He completed the Salvin Leadership Program of the Anti-Defamation League.

Mr. Bussel writes regularly. For the past decade, his weekly columns appeared in print in Israel Jewish Life, Shalom LA, Muslim World Today and Israeli Week. Mr. Bussel’s articles appear on numerous websites, including Canada Free Press, Free Republic, NewsBlaze, SlantRight and OpEdNews. He is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club.

Mr. Bussel received a Master of Science in Operations Research from Stanford University and Bachelor’s degrees from UCLA in Applied Mathematics and in Economics with a specialization in Computing.

Mr. Bussel was an avid runner who completed the 2005 and 2006 Los Angeles Marathon.

Mr. Bussel divides his time between Israel and the United States, writing about the social, political, military and foreign policy fabrics of the two countries. Mr. Bussel is a member of the foreign press corps in Israel. Since 2008, Mr. Bussel has cooperated with award winning investigative journalist and author in a series of essays “Postcards from America – Postcards from Israel,” and since 2011 in a series of radio broadcasts “Conversations Eye to Eye.”


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