The Gates Newsletter – April 12, 2011 |

It has been a long time since we have sent out an update and this is a long one. Please take time to read the whole newsletter, or at least scan the topics, as there are a lot of  opportunities for learning included. Shalom and Toda Raba!
Passover Guide and Journal – 2011

This is the first year in a long time that Hatikva Ministries will not be hosting a community Passover Seder. While deliberating the decision, it was determined that we wanted our local participants to be enriched during the season and we wanted to encourage them to broaden their Passover celebrations. With that in mind, we produced a small booklet, “Passover 2011 Guide –A Journal and Handbook” for our local group. It includes some suggestions for preparation, menus, craft ideas, and a few recipes. We liked the idea so much that we decided to offer the book to the greater Hatikva audience as a low-cost e-book. Keep in mind that this handbook is a work in progress, so if you have some ideas generated from this booklet, or if you try something that works well, perhaps you could share it with us and it might appear in a future representation!

In addition, recently Joe taught a Chavurah session on the role of the ‘sent one’ in the first and second redemption, comparing Exodus 3 and John 6-7. Darryl, our friend and former employee, told us that it was like sitting in the company of rabbis discussing the intricacies of Passover. We would also like to make this available to you in an MP3 audio format.

Both the Guide and audio file (2 hours of Joe teaching) are available for download for a $10.00 donation.

These items are not listed in our normal on-line store. We are experimenting with a totally new system, where you can purchase, and immediately download the materials. Please check out our web site to purchase these items at http://hatikva.org/passover-materials.html (Please respect our copyrights)

Barak DVD

Exciting News From the David Fund

For years, Hatikva Ministries has actively raised funds to support the armored forces in the Golan Heights. While support has not been limited to the tank units, most of the donations to the David Fund have gone to help with morale, comfort, and entertainment of these gallant young men and women who daily place their lives on the line to protect Israel’s borders.

Several years ago we began a campaign to raise funds to translate a DVD (video) about the history of the Barak Brigade and some of the fiercest battles into English. Funds generated from the original DVD (in Hebrew) were going to maintain a memorial to the soldiers who died in battle. We felt that it was an honorable cause and pledged to help raise funds in the US to support this effort. We were successful in reaching our goal to finance the English translation. Recently, on our last tour to Israel, we were successful in obtaining several copies which were placed into our hands. It has been a long time coming, but at last, we have an English copy of a tremendously moving video of the soldiers of the Barak Brigade. Over the years the ministry has recounted the stories of heroes such as Tvika, who appears in the DVD.

Now you have the opportunity to see this video and continue to support these fine soldiers. We ask $35.00, plus $2.00 for postage, and you will receive your own copy. All funds generated through the sale of this DVD will continue to support these soldiers via the David Fund. Remember, it is through their valiant efforts that Israel remains safe for tourists. These soldiers who protect Israel make it possible for Americans to visit the Holy Land. Let’s let them know we appreciate them. Just as David brought supplies to his brothers, so the David Fund brings comfort and support to our brothers overseas.

Israel Tour 2011

We have just added a new feature to our web site where several photos from our recent tour can be viewed. The photo album, this first of what we hope will be many, can be viewed at http://hatikva.org/photos

I would like to give you a report on our last tour. I have to say that it was one of the most enjoyable for me personally.  The tour theme was the 1948 War of Independence; however, it was really a mixture of ancient and new, 1948 and Messiah. It made for an interesting journey. We arrived in Israel on March 7th and spent an afternoon at the hotel getting over jet lag. The beach at Tel Aviv was beautiful but windy. That evening Yonaton Bufti from Arutz Sheva joined us for dinner and briefly spoke and answered questions. The next morning we were off to the Irgun Museum where we met a veteran of the  Irgun fighters. From there we went to the Palmach museum where modern technological theatrics enabled us to become participants in a Palmach action to blow up a bridge. We left Tel Aviv to journey north along the coast to Caesarea. Due to a very cold and windy rain we took a quick look at the Theater and stood in the King’s box where Agrippa I spoke to the people (Acts 12) and they labeled him a god. We went into Herod’s palace and were in the room where Paul addressed Festus and Felix. We saw Herod’s hippodrome where chariot races entertained the crowds and saw the only known Mithraeum in the Middle East. We spent the night in Ariel in Judea Samaria. There we heard from the owners of the hotel who had stopped terrorists’ bombs from doing more damage than what was done.

We journeyed south to Shiloh and visited David Rubin, past mayor and key member of the community. We visited a school and heard a second grade class participate in their religious education. They enthusiastically sang the Ten Commandments. Next we went to a children’s trauma center that gives therapy to children who have experienced the horrors of terrorism. David led us from there to the ancient site of Shilo. We viewed the location of the Tabernacle, which stood for hundreds of years at this site, as well as an adjoining building that really excited me. From there we went to Mount Gerizim and  the Samaritan Museum and Cultural Center. The son of the High Priest of the Samaritans spoke to us for several hours.

The next day we visited Atlit Detention Camp where the British imprisoned Jewish immigrants coming from Europe. There we met a nurse who worked in the camp. On to Kibbutz Lavi where we attended Shabbat Services at the Orthodox Synagogue, followed by a huge Sabbath meal. The next morning we were back off to the Synagogue for Shacharit Service. Then we were divided into small groups to visit in people’s homes and have the afternoon Kiddush. That evening, following Havdalah, we went into Tiberias and saw a light show over the Sea of Galilee. On Sunday we went on the Golan Heights to a Tank base of the Barak Brigade. The Commanding Colonel of the Brigade met with our group telling of the conditions of the soldiers and the role of the Barak Brigade. (See the Barak DVD in this newsletter). While in the north we visited beautiful Rosh Hanikrah and went into the caves where the waves of the Mediterranean Sea make a tremendous water display. This was also where a train bridge was blown up during the War of Independence, keeping the Arabs from receiving supplies and reinforcements from Beirut.

On Tuesday we began our journey to Jerusalem. We stopped at Kibbutz Deganya at the southern end of the Galilee and viewed where the defenders of the Kibbutz stopped a Syrian tank column with little more than home made weapons. Down the Jordan Valley we stopped at a Kibbutz where a major battle was fought against Jordanian troops and three bridges were blown by the defenders.

In Jerusalem we had an emotional entry into the city as the group sang Yerushalyim Shel Zahav as the Temple Mount and Holy City came into view. We stopped on the Mount Scopus and recited Shehekeyanu. We arrived at the Dan Panorama Hotel for our Jerusalem stay. The following day we started out with me leading our group on the Temple Mount. From there we visited the Schick model of the Temple Mount. We spent the rest of the day in the Jewish Quarter of the old city. Moshe Kempinski of Shorashim spoke to the group and then everyone scattered to shop. On Thursday we returned to the Temple Mount where archaeologist Dan Bahat led the group on a tour from his perspective and vast knowledge. We visited the Kotel and returned to the Jewish Quarter. That evening Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum spoke to the group about Purim. It was wonderful. On Friday we split into two groups with several going to the Israel Museum while others visited Yad Vashem, the holocaust memorial. On Shabbat we studied the Parshah and talked about the role of non-Jews and Torah. On Sunday we took a four wheel drive trip over the Burma Road which was built to make a way into besieged Jerusalem in the 1948 War. This exciting trip is one we will always remember. The last day of the trip was indescribable as it was Purim in Jerusalem. Hope you can join us on our next trip.

Temple Research Report to the Rabbis

As most of you know I have been involved in extensive research on the layout of the Temple and its courtyards. This research has not only sought to discover the location of the various buildings but also the arrangement of the chambers within each building. Over the last twenty years I have had several meetings with the Rabbis of the Temple Institute discussing various points of discovery.

In the course of these studies, I put together a team or people who aided our research efforts. The primary team consisted of me, my wife Debbie, and Nolan Armstrong. While Debbie and I wrote the reports and findings of the research, Nolan illustrated it with computer graphics. More than that, we put the information we found into a virtual reality model of the Temple. In fact, a program on History Channel International, “The Naked Archaeologist” hosted by Simcha Jacobivici, features our research and our virtual reality model and is being broadcast in the current season. (Please see our web site for a special opportunity to help this program be seen by a wider audience).

In November of 2006 we had a formal meeting with Rabbi Chaim Richman and Rabbi Yisrael Ariel in Jerusalem to present key points of the research concerning the Inner Courtyard of the Temple. This meeting went extremely well. Several key features of the location of different structures had been located using various documented tunnels, cisterns and underground structures. We were successful in presenting the location of the Cheil, which was a ten cubit platform that surrounded the Inner Courtyards (the Azarah and the Ezrat Nashim – the Court of the Women). We were also able to confirm that the location of the Holy of Holies was the rock beneath the Dome of the Rock. This presented radical changes to how the courtyards were laid out as the Cheil, which defined the boundaries of these courtyards, was found to be much further out than previously thought. We presented in this meeting that there were three different cubits that were used in the Temple Compound. We were not successful in convincing Rabbi Ariel of this point. The validity of everything above also hinged upon the measurements of these three cubits. We left this meeting with the task of returning with additional support for the cubit sizes at a later date.

We returned to the US and I put together a second report covering this point as well as the exact location and layout of the Court of the Women and the location of toilets and mikvaot (Immersion Chambers) south of the Inner Courtyards. This meeting was held in August 2008 and went very well with the Rabbis agreeing with all of the points we made. Again, the information we presented was different from what had previously been perceived about these areas and points of the Temple.

Due to the location of the Cheil, now understood to have been much further to the south and the north than previously thought, the size of the cubit had been defined and presented a large area between the Cheil and the Azarah. Several years ago I discovered a text in Josephus that described four large corner buildings between the Cheil and the Azarah. Once the text was discovered in Josephus, other supporting passages were found in the Tanach, Mishnah, Tosefta, and in both editions of the Talmud. These four corner buildings had never before been presented in any layout of the Temple by anyone. The Rabbis asked me to prepare a report on these buildings.

We returned home with the idea of returning to Israel in the Spring of 2009 to present that report. However, immediately on our return to Texas our community was hit with Hurricane Ike. This delayed the work on this very detailed report for several months. As Spring approached, my mother’s health took a turn for the worse requiring both Debbie and me to totally change our working and traveling schedules. In December of 2009 we had to hospitalize my mother with the end result that she had to be placed in a home where they could adequately care for her. Of course, we were daily at the home with her and unable to travel to Israel. In the meantime the research continued revealing more evidence.

One of the most significant finds involved piecing together how the interiors of these massive corner buildings were laid out. The various sources list multitudes of different chambers, but until now these had remained a mystery as to where they were located and what part they played in the various ceremonies. It might be compared to the overlays science classes use of the human body. First you have a skeleton, then the next sheet puts in the organs while the last lays on the muscles and skin. The Temple was emerging as a functioning unit.

In February of 2010 my mother passed away. The next several months were spent in getting things put in order, expecting to return to Jerusalem during the summer to meet with the Rabbis. During this time contact with Nolan, who lived in Georgia, began to slow down. In June of last year Rabbi Richman came to the United States. I planned on seeing him and finalizing plans for a meeting in Jerusalem later in the summer. The day before we were to meet, my office was broken into and my computer as well as backup copies of the research were stolen.

A friend had a copy of one of my older hard disks from a few years back.  Most things from the last two years were lost. The next several months I worked at trying to get back what was lost and adding the new information I had learned. The report almost doubled in size.

By this point Nolan’s immediate focus had moved away from our research. Although we do have some agreements in place for images to this date, I do not have access to the current model or new images that are required. I am still attempting to talk to Nolan and see what we can work out.

Out of necessity at this time, I am putting together a new team to work on the computer models and graphics. In the future, we hope to work out the situation where Hatikva will own all illustrations as well as the models. We are researching the various options as to the best software for the basic tasks of modeling and collaboration, which will also be compatible for high resolution rendering in the future.

Last month, during our tour to Israel, I had a scheduled a meeting with the Rabbis. I had a written report of almost two hundred pages. Three days before we arrived in Jerusalem, there was a terrible murder in Itamar in Judea-Samaria. Rabbi Richman’s brother-in-law is the mayor of this city. The murder of this family, where the parents and children had their throats slit (including a three month old baby) was upsetting to all of Israel and especially so to Rabbi Richman and his family who are involved with the community. Even though Rabbi Richman said he would continue with the meeting, I chose to postpone it to mid-summer under these circumstances.

Making this trip, as well as what we need to do for the new graphics, will require a considerable amount of additional funds for the ministry. As a special project to help raise these funds, I would like to offer my report to those of you that can help with these expenses. I am asking $50.00 with one catch: I need to present the report to the Rabbis first. On our return we will mail out the report to all who have ordered it. Of course, any donations towards this effort will greatly be appreciated.

Ministry Finances

Last summer we wrote a heartbreaking letter about the financial status of the ministry. There was an enormous response, enabling us to continue with the work and pay our employees. However, we clearly recognized that, while the large spontaneous donations were necessary to pull us out of a deep hole, it was the smaller continual offerings that sustain the ministry. We are very grateful for the response last summer, as well as the faithful gifts and sometime overwhelming support we have had since then. We are facing the reality regarding the ongoing real world recession and inflation that is hurting everyone. Your continual support is what keeps us going. If this ministry has blessed you, then please remember us in your faithful giving, no matter what the gift. We appreciate and are thankful for your support.

Israel Tour 2012

We are now planning a tour to Israel in April 2012. Let us know as soon as possible if you might be interested in this tour. Dates, itinerary, and pricing have not been finalized yet.

Comments are closed.


The Gates Newsletter – April 12, 2011

General Hatikva NewsNewslettersContact UsEmail ListSupportOn-Line StoreWebsites Divine


Scroll to Top