November 17, 2002
Contents:
1. George Washington and Genesis 49
& 50
2. "Fan" mail
3.Roy Garland: Tara in Ireland
4. Question on population:
5. Holland bans Shechitah
1. George Washington and Genesis 49
& 50
From: Rich Griffiths <RGriff9243@aol.com>
Subject: George Washington and Genesis
49 & 50
Greetings Yair,
I came across the following account
of Washington's inauguration in "An
American Bible: A History of the Good
Book in the United States 1777-1880" by
Paul Gutjahr. Washington during the
ceremony opened the Bible and kissed
chapters Genesis 49 & 50. Just
a coincidence or the hand of God?
pages 39-41
"Among the thousands who flooded New
York City in the spring of 1789 to catch
a glimpse of George Washington's presidential
inauguration was the
fifteen-year-old Eliza Morton...Eliza
writes: Chancellor Livingston read the
form of oath prescribed by the Constitution;
Washington repeated it, resting
his hand upon the Bible. Mr Otis, the
secretary of the Senate, then took the
Bible to raise it to the lips of Washington
who stooped to kiss the book.
Jacob Morton, an attendant on the balcony,
then stepped forward to mark the
place Washington had kissed."
Physically and symbolically at the
center of this momentuous event stood a
"large and elegant Bible" that lay
on a "table, with a rich covering of red
velvet; and upon this, on a crimson
velvet cushion." The centrality of the
bible is all the more striking when
one realizes that the Constitution does
not require a Bible for administering
the oath of office..."
"Jacob Morton's action, however, of
noting the pages Washington had kissed
points beyond the Bible's role in oath
taking. For centuries, men and women
had randomly opened revered cultural
texts such as the Iliad or the Aenid as
oracles of wisdom. In many Christian
countries, including the United States,
this practice of haphazardly opening
a book came to center primarily on the
Bible, revealing yet again its central
importance in early American culture.
Such randomly chosen passages were
believed to have an almost magical power
to reveal the future and answer difficult
questions. Washington had kissed
Genesis, chapters 49 and 50, passages
that include Joseph's dying reminder
that God had promised the Israelites
a new land."
Rich Griffiths
2. "Fan" mail
Recently a group of dissatisfied people
have been attacking Brit-Am.
They have also been sending me hate
mail.
Most of the attacks are based on outright
lies or distortions of the truth.
There may well be points on which valid
criticisms and pertinent queries
could be levelled
against us, but our enemies are too
obtuse to realize them.
Our critics so far give the impression
of having the mental framework of
overgrown juvenile delinquents.
3.Roy Garland: Tara in Ireland
Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2002 13:12:04 +0000
From: Roy Garland
Subject: Article for the Irish News
Monday Column for Monday 17th November
2002.
Tara and the Ark by Roy Garland 18 November
2002.
No more to chiefs and ladies bright
The harp of Tara swells;
The chord alone, that breaks at night,
Its tale of ruin tells.
Thus freedom now so seldom wakes.
The only throb she gives,
Is when some heart indignant breaks,
To show that still she lives.
(Thomas Moore 1779-1852)
Archaeologist Conor Newman describes
the Hill of Tara in County Meath, as
having been a "sacred mountain" that
is now amongst "the most important and
famous archaeological complexes IN
THE WORLD". Yet a motorway endangers
this international treasure - that
stretches back 6,000 years.
Archaeologists are outraged. Eighty
monuments including a prehistoric
temple have been uncovered and Professor
George Eogan referred to these as
"a truly astonishing archaeological
array". Yet the authorities remain
determined that the M3 will pass this
way.
The story of Tara stretches back into
the mists of time long before the
arrival of the Celts. It was a central
pagan religious site for centuries
inspiring different traditions. It
was residence to High Kings to whom
disputes were passed for adjudication.
Legend tells us that Patrick
confronted and defeated the pagan forces
of Tara at nearby Slane. King
Loegaire, whose seat was at Tara, commanded
that no fires be ignited until
his own was ablaze but Patrick lit
his Pascal fire in defiance. The flames
were seen at Tara and a confrontation
followed reminiscent of Elijah's
dispute with the prophets of Baal and
resulting finally in Loegaire's
conversion.
About 100 years later, during a convention
near Derry, Columcille
successfully intervened against Tara's
demands for tribute from Dalriada.
The Danes were defeated here in 980
AD and a monument commemorates local
people who died during the 1798 rising.
In 1843 Daniel O'Connell held a
mass rally here demanding repeal of
the Union and from 1969 to the 1980s a
loyalist paramilitary grouping took
the name Tara to reflect their Royalist
credentials.
It is claimed that the High Kings at
Tara were crowned on the Lia Fail
(Stone of Destiny). A pillar stone
of this name remains there but the
original Lia Fail has, it seems, long
gone. According to a souvenir book
presented to schoolchildren here marking
the Coronation of Elizabeth II in
1953, legend has it that the stone
was taken to Scotland where it became
known as the Stone of Scone. It was
then taken by the English and placed
under the Coronation Chair in Westminister
Abbey. In the 1960s it was
retrieved by the Scots and returned
to Westminister but recently it was
officially restored to Scotland.
Tara has fascinated unionists as well
as nationalists. British Israelites,
like John Bryans Grand Master of the
Orange Order in the 1960s, believed the
Lia Fail was the original Jacob's Pillar
brought to Ireland by Jeremiah.
The story tells how Jeremiah brought
with him a daughter of the Israelite
King Zedekiah - Tea Tephi. She married
the son of an Irish King and British
monarchs are believed to descend from
this union making the Israelite King
David an ancestor of Queen Elizabeth
II.
British Israelites who also believe
the people of these islands are the lost
tribes of Israel were convinced in
the 19th century that Tara was a kind of
resuscitated Jerusalem, the spiritual
and cultural centre of the British
Empire and a basis for world conquest.
They also believed that the Ark of
the Covenant was buried there and in
1899 they commenced an unauthorised
dig. Archaeologist Mairead Carew speaking
in County Meath last February,
told how the dig attracted the attention
of Arthur Griffith of Sinn Fein and
Maud Gonne mother of prominent Irish
republican Sean McBride (1904-88).
Maud Gonne, who was also a friend of
WB Yeats, had a mystical vision at
Tara, which was her imagined mythical
capital of a future Ireland. Griffith
then campaigned to save Tara from the
"foreigners" who were described in The
United Irishman as "The Anglo-Israelite
Destroyer of Tara".
Tara is steeped in myths and legends
that have appealed to many British and
Irish people suggestive of the interlinking
nature of these islands. Some
years ago I stood at Newgrange, a 5,000
year old site across the Boyne
Valley, while an archaeologist spoke
of those who built this edifice as
pre-Celtic people living on western
seaboard of Britain and Europe. I
gained an insight that day of a new
relationship between these islands
looking back to ancient times and forward
to a new future. What a tragedy
if today the Hill of Tara is seriously
damaged in the name of progress
instead of protected as a monument
to a shared cultural inheritance.
Mairead Carew's , "Tara and the Ark
of the Covenant" to be published by the
Royal Irish Academy for the Discovery
Programme in December 2002 will be
available in Waterstones and Easons.
Email: roy@irishnews.com
4. Question on population:
"Brit-Am Now"-150: "Biblical Truth"
you said:
[Genesis 24:60] AND THEY BLESSED
REBEKAH, AND SAID UNTO HER, THOU ART OUR
SISTER, BE THOU THE MOTHER OF THOUSANDS
OF MILLIONS, AND LET THY SEED
POSSESS THE GATE OF THOSE WHICH HATE
THEM.
<<THOUSANDS OF MILLIONS>>: Deuteronomy
(1:11) indicates that the Israelites
would eventually number 600 million
(or more) adult males plus their
families. In Hebrew the expression
used here is "alfei revavah" or
"thousands of ten thousands" i.e. tens
of millions according to the simple
understanding of the language as now
employed BUT it could also be
construed as meaning many many more
as the KJ has done. Other blessings
speak of the seed of Israel becoming
"as the sand of the sea" and as the
stars in heaven for multitude.
<<THOUSANDS OF MILLIONS>>: Deuteronomy
(1:11) indicates that the Israelites
would eventually number 600 million
(or more) adult males plus their families.
This sounds exaggerated, Please expound:
Answer:
[Deuteronomy 1:11] THE LORD
GOD OF YOUR FATHERS MAKE YOU A THOUSAND TIMES
SO MANY MORE AS YE ARE, AND BLESS YOU,
AS HE HATH PROMISED YOU!
A thousand times 600,000 makes 600
million males on to which must be added
females and children under the age
of twenty and men over the age of 60.
{This point was first brought to our
attention by Brit-Am supporter Colbert
Bryan of Florida}.
Biblical Prophecy indicates over and
over again that the Israelites would
eventually become extremely numerous.
In its full sense this may occur only
in the Messianic Era. Our studies
indicate that descendants of Israel
became the dominant
factor in several European nations
as well as those of Britain and her
daughters and North America. We do
not know if, in every case, those of
Hebrew descent are the majority of
the population or just an important segment.
Nevertheless the possibility that great
numbers are involved is consistent
with the Bible.
It is also demographically possible.
There are historical precedents of
large numbers of people emerging
from few ancestors over
a relatively short period of time, examples
include the French in Canada, and the
Boers
in South Africa.
5. Holland bans Shechitah
----Original Message-----
From: Neil J Mintz
Sent: Tuesday, November 12,
2002 4:02 PM
Subject: Holland bans Shechitah
Holland Bans Shechitah
The government
of Holland has banned kosher slaughter, becoming the
sixth European country to do so. The
local Agriculture Ministry informed
Jewish community
leaders there that they would no longer be permitted
to slaughter cows in a kosher manner
[shechitah] because of its cruelty
to the animals. Deputy Foreign Minister
Rabbi Michael Melchior,
the former Chief
Rabbi of Norway, says he is not convinced that
concern for the animals is the real
motivation behind the new regulation:
They simply don ' t want foreigners
and they don ' t want Jews. I won ' t
say that this is
the only motivation, but it ' s certainly no
coincidence that one of the first things
Nazi Germany forbade was kosher
slaughter. I also know
that during the original debate on this issue
in Norway, where shechitah has
been banned since 1930, one of
the parliamentarians said
straight out, ' if they don ' t like it, let
them go live somewhere else.
Melchior also says the cruelty accusations
against shechitah are simply
untrue: The Torah forbids cruelty to
animals, and the shechitah process
ensures that the animal loses
consciousness immediately. We have
been dealing with this issue for
many years, and there
are many scientific studies that back us up.
M.E., a religious Jew from Holland,
does not appear worried: The main
concern is whether there is kosher
meat in the store or not... Of
course the principle of the matter
worries me. But I have heard on the
inside that it was not done as a matter
of policy, but rather just a few
individuals who were able
to convince the government to make this
decision... Rabbi
Melchior plans to organize a Foreign Ministry campaign
to respond to the European lies being
disseminated about the so-called
cruelty involved in shechitah.
He will also have to respond to such
accusations here at home; MK
Avraham Poraz of the anti-religious Shinui
party has congratulated
Holland on its decision, saying that shechitah
is cruel. Melchior
said, It is certainly infuriating to see a respected
Knesset Member plays into
the hands of Jewish enemies and thus cause harm
to the Jewish community
in Europe. The lie that ritual slaughter is
cruel simply shows a hatred
for Jewish life. PLEASE PASS THIS IS ON TO
AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE, THIS MUST
NOT GO UNNOTICED!
**********************
Rabbinical
Council of America
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Avenue New York, New York 10001
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212-727-8452
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