Ancient Stone Tablet Suggests The Bible Got Something Right

.iflscience

Archaeologists have recently noted an inscribed tablet dating from the 9th century BCE, known as the Mesha Stele, might contain the name of Balak. The stone, which has been heavily chipped and cracked over the centuries, is written in the ancient language of Moabite. Dating back to 840 BCE, the black basalt stone was unearthed around the ruins of the biblical town of Dibon in present-day Jordan in the 1800s. It’s now held in the Louvre art museum in Paris, although Jordan has demanded its return.

Its 34 surviving lines tell the story of how King Mesha of Moab triumphed over the Kingdom of Israel. In fact, it is also one of four known contemporary inscriptions containing the name of Israel. Reporting in Tel Aviv: The Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University, archaeologists are now unsure about whether conventional interpretations may have mistranslated the name of a monarch in Line 31. Previously it was assumed to read “House of David,” but the researchers now cautiously argue it could actually read “Balak.”

The confusion is largely due to the crumbling condition of the Mesha Stele. So, the researchers used new high-resolution photographs of the stone that better highlight the original lettering. The new images appear to show that the name on Line 31 has three consonants, the first of which is the Hebrew letter "beth," which sounds like "B." The team can't be too certain this correspondents to Balek, however, this king was mentioned as being a rival of Mesha.

If their hypothesis is on the money, this would be the first reference to Balak outside of the Bible, suggesting he was a real historical figure.

AS MEASLES CASES CLIMB, OUR MISSION IS CLEAR: TAKE DOWN THE THREE-HEADED ANTI-VAX MONSTER | OPINION

https://www.newsweek.com/measles-anti-vaccination-anti-vaxxers-misinformation-monster-1420977

Finally, there is a new and scary element to the anti-vaccine movement in which some of its national leaders or organizations appear to have targeted specific ethnic groups to flood them with misinformation through pamphlets, teleconferences and hotlines.  This development may explain the recent measles outbreak in New York among the Orthodox Jewish community, resulting in many hospitalizations and sending at least six patients to intensive care.

Taking down the triple-headed American antivax monster will be a formidable task. To begin, I’ve written a book, Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism, to counter the misinformation. Unfortunately, even with measles returning, as a nation we’ve not shown much appetite for standing up to the antivaccine movement or its leadership. The media empire is still mostly intact and the PACs are as active as ever.

Trump ‘Quote’ Originated as Satire

https://www.factcheck.org/2019/05/trump-quote-originated-as-satire/

Quick Take

President Donald Trump didn’t call for the “death penalty” for “suicide bombers,” as social media posts say. That’s a made-up quote from a satirical story published in 2017.

Israel's 71st Independence Day: 'We Love Israel'

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/262915

Judge Andrew Napolitano: Did Attorney General William Barr deceive Congress?

foxnews

William Barr, the attorney general of the United States, now faces a likely contempt citation for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena and for misleading Congress. This is about the Mueller investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Isn't the investigation now complete? How did the attorney general's veracity become an issue and thereby extend the life of the investigation?

Barr knows the DOJ is not in the business of exonerating the people it investigates. Yet he proclaimed in his letter that Trump had been exonerated. When the report revealed 127 communications between Russian agents and Trump campaign officials in a 16-month period, and the expectations of those officials of the release of Hillary Clinton's hacked emails, that is hardly an exoneration.

Was Barr's testimony before Congress deceptive? In a word: Yes.

Guest Post -Who Will Daven Here

One of the Shuls in this community put out a letter on the vaccination issue.

The letter said that unvaccinated children may not enter the Shul building. The letter was signed by both the rabbi and president of the Shul.

A friend with a young family confided his concern over this policy. He felt the policy to ban unvaccinated childten was detrimental to his family.

The issue is not whether his kids are vaccinated or not. The man is not concerned per se that anyone's kids can or can't attend services at the Shul.

The concern is this: say a family has unvaccinated kids. Say a friend of the family is getting married. There may be a Kiddush or two in honor of the marriage at the Shul. The wedding may be at the Shul.

Kids in an unvaccinated family would not be able to attend those events.

In summary, every Shul has the right and obligation to set hygienic standards. But in the process of banning unvaccinated kids, the kids are essentially banned not only from the Shul but from the Jewish community.

Now, if the case for vaccinating all kids was a slam dunk, we'd have nothing more to discuss on the subject. But the situation is more nuanced than that. Not every argument the anti-vaxers make is right; but neither are their concerns all unfounded.

I've coined a term for places that ban the unvaccinated. "Unvaxenrein" (oon-VAX-in-ryn) means free, pure, cleansed of the unvaccinated.

I note that not one case of measles has been reported to my knowledge in the Greater Washington DC area.

People with colds and the flu are not banned. People diagnosed with HIV are not banned. People who speak Lashon Hara are not banned. Yet there is more evidence of the ability of these things to infect people than there is from any illness someone unvaccinated is likely to contract at this time and place.

trump and demoxracy

As democracy is perfected, the office of President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.

-H.L. Mencken,1920

Divine Providence and a Big Question: If God Was Behind the Election of Donald Trump, Is He a Cyrus (Deliverer) or Nebuchadnezzar (Agent of Judgment)?

charismanews

Another interesting thing about Trump and unlikely agents who lead wise men to Bethlehem is the mysterious and metaphysical logic some currently share involving God's possible providence in the arrival of Trump as a "savior" figure. Nowhere is this language more pronounced than in the Holy Land itself, where several respected rabbis and kabbalists have insinuated that America's new president is a forerunner of Messiah and the final redemption.

"Donald Trump (424) is the Gematria of 'Messiah for the House of David' (משיח בן דוד)," wrote Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz for Breaking Israel News on May 16, 2016. "That is not to say that Donald Trump is the Messiah, but that his presidency will usher in the Messianic era."

Others, including Rabbi Matityahu Glazerson, who accurately predicted the Trump victory before the election using Bible Codes, have chimed in. He found various connections between Trump and "moshiach" (Messiah) in the codes, which in Hebrew means "anointed" and led Glazerson to conclude his election is connected to the coming of Messiah.

Rabbi Hillel Weiss is a Trump-Messiah-connection believer too, and he also sees in the president the agent of God's favor for building the third temple, another Cyrus linking.

And then there is the Sanhedrin in Israel, the nascent tribunal who has styled itself after the Second Temple-era Jewish court. This body has sent letters to Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, asking them to join forces to build the third temple for Messiah.

Professor Weiss is a spokesman for the Sanhedrin and notes how Donald Trump made support for Israel and recognition of Jerusalem as their capital part of public discourse during 2016. Combining that with Putin's expressed opinion that the third temple ought to be built caused him to say that both men should do what King Cyrus did 2,500 years ago and build the religious complex for the benefit of all Jews and the world. "We are poised to rebuild the temple," Weiss said, and "the leaders of Russia and America can lead the nations of the world to global peace through building the temple, the source of peace."

Rabbi Yosef Berger, who oversees King David's tomb in Jerusalem, takes it a step farther. He believes Trump actually won the election through "the power of Moshiach [Messiah], which gave him the boost he needed" and is "connected to the Messianic process which is happening right now."

NY Times reporter responds to Trump's story denial

HAMAS, ISLAMIC JIHAD AGAIN CELEBRATE ‘VICTORY’ - ANALYSIS

jpost

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad officials see the ceasefire agreement that was reached with Israel early on Monday as a “big achievement.”

In their view, the latest round of fighting – during which the two groups fired some 700 missiles toward Israel – has “deterred” Israel and forced it to commit to the implementation of previous Egyptian-sponsored understandings, which include easing restrictions imposed on the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave.

The Law of War Permits Israel to Destroy Hamas

nationalreview

As of this moment, a fragile truce holds in southern Israel. After Hamas volleyed 600 missiles at Israeli civilian targets on Saturday and Sunday, prompting Israel to attack hundreds of targets in Gaza, the air-raid sirens have fallen silent, for now.

But over the weekend, when the rockets fell, we saw all the old arguments against Israel’s acts of self-defense crop up. The air raids were “disproportionate,” we were told. There were arguments over individual civilian casualties, as if it would somehow discredit Israel if its precision strikes killed more than a handful of noncombatants. Yes, there were rote condemnations of Hamas’s efforts to kill as many civilians as it could, but once again all too many voices on the left rose at once, demanding that the nation under attack — the nation defending its schools, hospitals, and homes from an indiscriminate rocket barrage — exercise restraint.

Trump Would Have Been Charged With Obstruction If He Weren't President, 370 Former Prosecutors Say

time

Nearly 400 former federal prosecutors say in a new letter that President Donald Trump would have been charged with obstruction of justice for his acts if he were anyone other than president.

The letter was signed by more than 370 ex-prosecutors who served under both Democratic and Republican administrations. It was released by Protect Democracy, a nonprofit organization critical of the Trump administration.