#Tribes of Benjamin & Judah

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Civil War in Israel

18 The children of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of God. They asked, “Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin?”

Yahweh said, “Judah first.”

19 The children of Israel rose up in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. 20 The men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel set the battle in array against them at Gibeah. 21 The children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day destroyed twenty-two thousand of the Israelite men down to the ground. 22 The people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves, and set the battle again in array in the place where they set themselves in array the first day. 23 The children of Israel went up and wept before Yahweh until evening; and they asked of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I again draw near to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother?”

Yahweh said, “Go up against him.”

24 The children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day. 25 Benjamin went out against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men. All these drew the sword.

26 Then all the children of Israel and all the people went up, and came to Bethel, and wept, and sat there before Yahweh, and fasted that day until evening; then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh. 27 The children of Israel asked Yahweh (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease?”

Yahweh said, “Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand.” — Judges 20:18-28 | World English Bible (WEB) The World English Bible is in the public domain. Cross References: Numbers 27:21; Joshua 7:6-7; Judges 7:9; Judges 19:16; Judges 21:2; 1 Samuel 11:4; Psalm 78:62; Jeremiah 36:9

[chloeworships]

God showed me STD and JAMAICA 🇯🇲

My Jamaican family… my tribe… my warrior clan… the rates of these diseases and infections are going up.

I’m always going to advocate for celibacy and abstinence but if you are going to have sex please do it SAFELY.

I want you all the know that the Holy Spirit is revealing there are wicked people out there who are INTENTIONALLY SPREADING these sicknesses and not all of these illnesses are being passed on via sex alone. This could be through used needles 💉 blood transfusions etc.

I’m sorry if someone finds out they have caught something incurable🥺💔

The Holy Spirit said this is also something the Jamaican Government needs to be aware of. I’m not sure why exactly but please pray about it. I hope it won’t become a public health crises.

[kdmiller55]

Sons and Daughters of God

1 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four. 2 The sons of Tola: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their fathers’ houses, namely of Tola, mighty warriors of their generations, their number in the days of David being 22,600. 3 The son of Uzzi: Izrahiah. And the sons of Izrahiah: Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Isshiah, all five of them were chief men. 4 And…

[lordgodjehovahsway]

Joshua 18: God Divides The Rest Of The Promise Land Amongst The Remaining Seven Israelite Tribes

1 The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The country was brought under their control, 

2 but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had not yet received their inheritance.

3 So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you? 

4 Appoint three men from each tribe. I will send them out to make a survey of the land and to write a description of it, according to the inheritance of each. Then they will return to me. 

5 You are to divide the land into seven parts. Judah is to remain in its territory on the south and the tribes of Joseph in their territory on the north. 

6 After you have written descriptions of the seven parts of the land, bring them here to me and I will cast lots for you in the presence of the Lord our God. 

7 The Levites, however, do not get a portion among you, because the priestly service of the Lord is their inheritance. And Gad, Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan. Moses the servant of the Lord gave it to them.”

8 As the men started on their way to map out the land, Joshua instructed them, “Go and make a survey of the land and write a description of it. Then return to me, and I will cast lots for you here at Shiloh in the presence of the Lord.” 

9 So the men left and went through the land. They wrote its description on a scroll, town by town, in seven parts, and returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. 

10 Joshua then cast lots for them in Shiloh in the presence of the Lord, and there he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their tribal divisions.

Allotment for Benjamin

11 The first lot came up for the tribe of Benjamin according to its clans. Their allotted territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph:

12 On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan, passed the northern slope of Jericho and headed west into the hill country, coming out at the wilderness of Beth Aven. 

13 From there it crossed to the south slope of Luz (that is, Bethel) and went down to Ataroth Addar on the hill south of Lower Beth Horon.

14 From the hill facing Beth Horon on the south the boundary turned south along the western side and came out at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a town of the people of Judah. This was the western side.

15 The southern side began at the outskirts of Kiriath Jearim on the west, and the boundary came out at the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 

16 The boundary went down to the foot of the hill facing the Valley of Ben Hinnom, north of the Valley of Rephaim. It continued down the Hinnom Valley along the southern slope of the Jebusite city and so to En Rogel. 

17 It then curved north, went to En Shemesh, continued to Geliloth, which faces the Pass of Adummim, and ran down to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben. 

18 It continued to the northern slope of Beth Arabah and on down into the Arabah. 

19 It then went to the northern slope of Beth Hoglah and came out at the northern bay of the Dead Sea, at the mouth of the Jordan in the south. This was the southern boundary.

20 The Jordan formed the boundary on the eastern side.

These were the boundaries that marked out the inheritance of the clans of Benjamin on all sides.

21 The tribe of Benjamin, according to its clans, had the following towns:

Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, 

22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 

23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 

24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni and Geba—twelve towns and their villages.

25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 

26 Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, 

27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 

28 Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah and Kiriath—fourteen towns and their villages.

This was the inheritance of Benjamin for its clans.

[whencyclopedia]

The Twelve Tribes of Israel

The Twelve Tribes of Israel refer to the sons of the Jewish Patriarch Jacob and are important for the tribal lineages of those who constituted the nation of Israel. In the ancient world, all ethnic groups developed stories of their ancestors in what are known as foundation myths as bloodlines were important in maintaining ancestral lineage and provided status as identity markers.

The twelve sons of Jacob, in order of their birth, are:

Reuben

Simeon

Levi

Judah

Dan

Naphtali

Gad

Asher

Issachar

Zebulun

Joseph (Manasseh, Ephraim)

Benjamin

Birth order was important in the practice of primogeniture, or the eldest son inheriting most of his father’s resources, and then distribution following the rank of the others. In the biblical narrative, after the death of Joseph in Egypt, his portion was given to his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Each son’s status was later coordinated in the tribal territories they received in Canaan. Jacob undoubtedly had other daughters, but only one is mentioned, Dinah (see below).

Jacob

Jacob was the younger son of Isaac and Rebecca. Isaac was the child of the promise given by the God of Israel, to Abraham, the traditional founder of the nation. Jacob stole his brother’s birthright (as the eldest) and had to flee East to Haran (Northern Iraq), where some of Abraham’s relatives still lived. There he met Rachel at the well and asked her father Laban for her hand. Laban required that Jacob work for him for seven years first. He did so, but the night of the wedding revealed that it was the older sister, Leah, who was given. Jacob protested, but Laban told him to work another seven years and he could have Rachel as well.

The narrative then goes into quite elaborate detail concerning Jacob’s children. At first, Leah gave birth to some sons, while Rachel was barren. Rachel then offered Jacob her servant (an ancient form of surrogate motherhood in the case of infertility). Leah then became barren for a while and offered her servant as well. All this activity reflected the later traditions as to where and why the sons inherited certain tribal areas in the land of Canaan. It was tied to the identity of their mothers, Leah and Rachel, and the two servant women, Bilhah and Zilpah.

Leah Rachel Bilhah Zilpah Reuben Joseph Dan Gad Simeon Benjamin Naphtali Asher Levi Judah Issachar Zebulun

Wanting to go home and reconcile himself with his brother, on the way back Jacob was accosted at night by a being with whom he wrestled. Various retellings describe a man, God, or an angel. Jacob demanded a blessing, and he now received a new name: "Israel" or "one that struggled with the divine angel or with God and lived". Hence, all his descendants became Israelites.

Continue reading...

[hiseyeisonthesparrow]

Okay apologies for the slight sacrilege here! I'd like to know how these things relate. Try not to vote that you don't know about your heritage unless you REALLY don't know -- everyone's got at least a little bit, but I'm asking if it's a significant portion of your heritage!

Joseph's sons: Ephraim or Manasseh Not Joseph's sons: Asher, Benjamin, Dan, Gad, Issachar, Judah, Levi, Naphtali, Reuben, Simeon, or Zebulun.

[bobemajses]

Do the Pashtun people of Afghanistan and Pakistan have Jewish ancestry?

The Pashtuns, now Afghanistan’s majority ethnic group and heavily involved in the establishment of the Taliban, sometimes call themselves "Bani Israel" and have a tribal legend which states that a Jewish group settled near the modern town of Herat and later converted to Islam after their leader met with Prophet Mohammed. Jewish Virtual Library writes that some Pashtuns have Jewish sounding names such as Asheri, Binyamin and Naftali, and that they practice Jewish customs such as marrying under a chuppah, lighting candles on fridays and circumcising their sons eight days after birth. This could also be explained through the Pashtuns’ connection with Jewish warriors, merchants, and administrative officers who traveled and settled on the Silk Road and left their influence on the local residents — but it is certainly intriguing.

The Assyrians conquered the kingdom of Israel some 2,730 years ago, scattering 10 of the 12 tribes into exile, supposedly beyond the mythical Sambation river. The two remaining tribes, Benjamin and Judah, became the modern-day Jewish people, and the search for the lost tribes has continued ever since. Some have claimed to have found traces of them in modern day China, Burma, Nigeria, India, Central Asia and Ethiopia. But it is believed that the tribes were dispersed in an area around modern-day northern Iraq and Afghanistan, which makes the Pashtun connection the strongest.

However, an Israeli government-funded DNA test found no genetic link between Jews and Pashtuns. They seem to share a greater affinity with Central Asian populations such as Tajiks or Turkmens, as well as with some Iranian and Caucasian groups. Whatever might be true, most Pashtuns today are strict Muslims with their own language and culture and have no interest in reconnecting with these assumed Jewish roots.

[magnetothemagnificent]

sorry f its obvious, goy here, could you go into what all the colors represent? :D

The twelve stripes on the queer Jewish pride flag represent the 12 stones of the 12 Tribes of Israel on the High Priest's Choshen (breastplate):

Onyx: Levi

Garnet: Yehudah (Judah)

Ruby: Reuven (Reuben)

Peridot: Asher

Malachite: Yosef (Joseph)

Emerald: Dan

Prase: Shimon (Simeon)

Torquise: Naftali

Sapphire: Yissachar (Issachar)

Jasper: Binyamin (Benjamin)

Pearl: Zevulun (Zebulun)

Crystal: Gad

There's no consensus as to which stones exactly were on the breastplate, so I synthesized different interpretations.

Sources used were:

The High Priest’s Breastplate (Choshen)

The Stones, Symbols, and Flags of the Twelve Tribes of Israel

Exodus Tetzaveh 28:17-20 JPS translation

Onkelos Tetzaveh 28-17-20 Metsudah translation

Translating Gemstones

I colour-picked from each stone and ordered them to resemble a rainbow, representing the unity and diversity of the Jewish people and the inclusion of LGBTQ Jews in our history.

[promptuarium]

ELEAZAR, son of Aaron, was made High Priest upon the death of his father, in the 2491st year of the world and the 1471st before Christ was born.

He and Joshua gained the land of Canaan, which they called Judea. It was divided among the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, whose names were the Tribe of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulon, Gad, Asher, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Manasseh.

Eleazar died in the same year as Joshua. See Exodus ch. 6, also Joshua ch. 24.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

God's Judgment on Israel and Judah

1 Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

2 And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all.

3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.

4 They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord.

5 And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity: Judah also shall fall with them.

6 They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.

7 They have dealt treacherously against the Lord: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.

8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.

9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.

10 The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

11 Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.

12 Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.

14 For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him.

15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. — Hosea 5 | King James Version (KJV) The King James Version Bible is in the public domain. Cross References: Genesis 42:21; Leviticus 26:40; Deuteronomy 19:14; Deuteronomy 27:17; Deuteronomy 28:33; Judges 5:14; Psalm 7:2; Psalm 39:11; Psalm 50:22; Proverbs 1:28; Isaiah 1:14-15; Isaiah 3:7; Isaiah 5:24; Isaiah 7:16; Isaiah 28:1; Isaiah 29:15; Isaiah 37:3; Isaiah 48:8; Isaiah 59:12; Jeremiah 2:19; Jeremiah 30:12; Ezekiel 23:7; Hosea 4:1-2; Hosea 4:6; Hosea 4:12; Hosea 8:1; Hosea 9:8-9; Hosea 9:16

[a-witch-in-endor]

Hiii witch of endor, I got a question on Jewish lineage. I'm half east Asian/ Jewish but the Jewish part I'm not so sure of since going through your blog. My dad comes from a long line of rabbis on both sides ( maternal and paternal) and his sister has been able to track our family's bloodline to the tribe of Issachar. My dad isn't religiously Jewish and neither am I, but I've been told all my life that we (my father and I) are Jewish. Is that correct? I'm proud of my Jewish heritage but I don't wanna go around accidently proclaiming to be someone I'm not.

Hi! Thanks for reaching out, and do feel free to un-anon and message directly.

That's cool about your rabbinic lineage - do you know anything more about that?

As to tribal lineage - it would be really impressive, and almost unheard of, if you could actually trace your tribal lineage to Issachar. The tribes that weren't lost with the destruction of the North (when Israel was the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and the Northern Kingdom fell to the Assyrians in 722BCE) are mainly just Judah and Levi. (That's why we're now called Jews - because Judah is the main surviving tribe.) Those are still maintained, and there were some Benjaminites hanging around about 2000 years ago, but... I would double-check where that info on Issachar is coming from, because it's an extremely rare thing to be able to do. For context, I basically only spend time with Jews IRL, and I don't think I've met anyone who's not either Judah or Levi.

The other piece you're asking about is matrilineal descent. So. In biblical times, the idea of tracing being an Israelite by either matrilineal or patrilineal descent wasn't really heard of. You can write off anything before Sinai (so, the time of Moses) because it wasn't really solidified at all by then. Tribal lineage (as in, whether an Israelite belonged to the tribe of Levi or Benjamin, etc) was certainly through patrilineal descent, but questions of being an Israelite were murkier. Most likely, it came down to either parent as long as one lived in Israel, because Biblical Judaism was really all about relationship with the land itself.

By the time of rabbinic Judaism (so, Judaism in a post-biblical world), Jews were counting Jewishness by matrilineal descent. At this point, we'd lived through one short-lived exile (Babylonian Exile, or the First Exile) and multiple occupations, and were getting into the Second Exile (the one that stretches from 70CE to the modern day, arguably ending with the Third Jewish Commonwealth, i.e. the establishment of the State of Israel). At this point, questions of mixed parentage were getting a lot more traction, and rabbis, being legal nerds, were trying to sort out the implications. The law was settled on matrilineal descent. This is probably due to multiple factors: unclear paternality, where a baby goes when parents don't form a marital unit, how external law works. Either way, that's how the law fell.

There was another category for those who were born of Jewish fathers and non-Jewish mothers, for what it's worth: zera Yisra'el, or "seed of Israel". This would refer to someone who's of Jewish stock, but not technically a Jew.

Now, into the modern era, some areas of progressive Judaism have decided to count things a little differently. This is for multiple reasons: a lack of adherence to traditional law (the Reform Movement likes to say "the tradition gets a vote, but not a veto", which I think is very cute) mixed with living in a world with intermarriage without anyone converting, being more certain of paternality, etc. Some progressive Jewish instutitons say that as long as a child was raised Jewish and with no other religion, they count as Jews. Some have all kids go through the conversion rituals before becoming Bar/Bat Mitzvah as a way to handle unclear cases. Some just accept paternal descent.

All that is to say, according to the areas of Judaism that understand Jewish law to be binding, you're what we would call zera Yisra'el. That is to say, you're family, but not obligated under the law (which is a pretty cool spot to be in, I personally think). According to some Jews who don't ascribe to the idea that law is binding, you might be considered to be a plain ol' regular Jew.

(BTW, full disclosure, I am very much not a progressive Jew. 100% Jewish law gets a veto in my opinion, which is why pork will never be kosher. I hope I haven't misrepresented anything about progressive Judaism here, but you should know my biases!)

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_of_Hinnom_(Gehenna)

The Valley of Hinnom is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as part of the border between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (Joshua 15:8). During the late First Temple period, it was the site of the Tophet, where some of the kings of Judah had sacrificed their children by fire (Jeremiah 7:31). Thereafter, it was cursed by the biblical prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 19:2–6). In later Jewish rabbinic literature, Gehinnom became associated with divine punishment in Jewish Apocalypticism as the destination of the wicked. It is different from the more neutral term Sheol, the abode of the dead. The King James Version of the Bible translates both with the Anglo-Saxon word hell.

The Valley of Hinnom is the Modern Hebrew name for the valley surrounding the Old City of Jerusalem and the adjacent Mount Zion from the west and south. It meets and merges with the Kidron Valley, the other principal valley around the Old City, near the Pool of Siloam which lie to the southeastern corner of Ancient Jerusalem.

[labbaik-ya-hussain-as]

The Israelites named in the Bible are NOT Israel of today.

(This short article will really annoy the Zionists as they are not as elect as they falsely believe. There is nothing special or superior about them. There never was and there never will be.)

There are a lot of Christian Zionists still defending Israel as God’s “chosen people” and say the Bible proves and states all Israel will be saved. They wrongly identify the Jewish nation as all of Israel. First off, very few of Jews today can prove that they are from the Tribe of Judah. That is where the term Jew comes from. Jews only represent 2 of Israel’s ancient 12 Tribes, Judah, and Benjamin. None of the other 10 Tribes were ever referred to as Jews.

Israel as a single Kingdom was only ever unified during the rules of two kings, David and his son, Solomon. This was from 1003 B.C. to 930 B.C. After this the nation was separated in two, The Northern Kingdom, and Judea, The Southern Kingdom as depicted in the attached map.

The 10 Tribes, Israel were captured by the vast Assyrian Empire in 722 B.C. and dispersed among the nations throughout the world. They were never and will never be Jews. They have different identities and nationalities now as Gentiles. Before the 10 Tribes were conquered by Assyria in 722 B.C. they were known as the Northern Kingdom, Israel, Ephraim, and Samaria. The Northern Kingdom of Israel, the Ten, and The Southern Kingdom, the Two were in constant unrest and even civil war.

The Southern Kingdom was known as Judea and Jerusalem. That is where the term Jew was established. After they were taken captive by Babylon in 597 B.C. Judea returned to Jerusalem as a small nation in 536 B.C. after Cyrus’s edict in 538 B.C.

The Jews/Judeans rejected Jesus Christ as Messiah. They had Him crucified. The Bible foretold this would happen through the Prophets. Christianity spread throughout gentile nations and up until today Christ is still rejected by the Jews and in extreme cases they blaspheme Him in their religious writings.

People, please if you want to make the argument that the Jews alone are God’s “chosen people” please go and read your Bibles.

Also, God’s promises to Abraham were to all of his descendants, that includes his firstborn son Ishmael, who is the forefather of the Arab nations. They have just as much, if not more validity to live on the lands God promised to Abraham, because they can prove that they are Semites, and also Hebrews. The modern-day Jews who are Ashkenazi and Khazars, have trouble showing their lineage. They are imposters.

Does anyone ask what happened to Esau’s descendants, the Edomites? Jacob pretended to be Esau, his brother, to receive the firstborn birthright from their father Isaac. Maybe Esau’s descendants are now trying to pretend they are Jacob. Just a thought to ponder over.

My last point is that none of this matters, regardless of what race, ethnic group, etc. you are. We are all equals before God. He shows no favor, and there is no such thing as God’s chosen people. We are all His people, even if there are people who believe in a God or not.

Zionist indoctrination over the past 100 years have blinded Christians to excuse the State of Israel of any and all wrongdoings, including this current genocide on Palestinians who were robbed of their homeland. The Scofield Study Bible played a major part by distorting Scripture, and modern-day Pastors with enormous followings like John Hagee serve their Zionist masters, not their congregations.

Gaza as can be seen on the map was never part of any Israelite or Judean kingdom. Biblical Israel and the State of Israel are not the same. You can take the position that all I just mentioned is fiction. The reason I share this though is just to prove that the current validation by some for the State of Israel's abhorrent behavior has no basis. Not in ancient writings or anywhere else.

There are some extremists who believe that the rightful heir to the throne of David is the British King, king Charles, who believes they are the direct lineage of David's offspring. Look up the Stone of Scone to see that myth. People around the world will make ridiculous claims for the sake of power. If you lie, lie big.

Modern day Israel has as much claim to the land as Micronesians have.

In the times we are living in this rhetoric of “God’s chosen people” sounds similar to “The Master Race” and we all know how that turned out.

Thank you for reading and please research my work and hold it up to scrutiny. I also ask kindly if you would share my work which will help get the truth out during these times. My gratitude to all my readers.

[icysalubre]

ISRAEL V.S PALESTINE

Let's find out what exactly is going on between Israel and Palestine...

ISRAEL

Israel (ĭzˈrēəl, ĭzˈrāəl) [as understood by Hebrews,=he strives with God], according to the book of Genesis, name given to Jacob as ancestor of the Hebrews, the chosen people of God. In the story, Jacob finds himself struggling with a being who, by the end of the narrative, is sometimes taken to be revealed as God. The story highlights the theme of Jacob's conflict and alienation from people (Isaac, Laban, and Esau) and God. The struggle marks a critical stage in the psychological development of Jacob. The 12 tribes of Israel were named for 10 sons of Jacob (Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, and Benjamin) and the two sons of Jacob's son Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh); the 13th tribe, Levi (the third of Jacob's sons), was set apart and had no one portion of land of its own. A break in the Hebrew kingdom was precipitated by Rehoboam, a son of Solomon. An independent southern kingdom, consisting of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin as well as a portion of the Levites, was called Judah; the northern kingdom, which consisted of the rest of what had been the larger Hebrew nation, was called Israel. Israel proper is made up of about 76% Jews, about 18% Arabs, and the rest Druze and others

Israel: https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/israel

RELIGION

Because of our differences, we also have different beliefs in life, our religions are also different. According to the country's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) classification system (2020 data), approximately 73 percent of the population is Jewish, 18 percent Muslim, 2 percent Christian, and 1.6 percent Druze. The history of Judaism predates the period to which the term itself actually refers, in that Judaism formally applies to the post-Second Temple period, while its antecedents are to be found in the biblical “religion of Israel.” Judaism (jo͞oˈdəĭzˌəm, jo͞oˈdē–), the religious beliefs and practices and the way of life of the Jews. The term itself was first used by Hellenized Jews to describe their religious practice, but it is of predominantly modern usage; it is not used in the Bible or in Rabbinic literature and only rarely in the literature of the medieval period. Jewish people believe there's only one God who has established a covenant—or special agreement—with them. Their God communicates to believers through prophets and rewards good deeds while also punishing evil. Most Jews (with the exception of a few groups) believe that their Messiah hasn't yet come—but will one day.

BORDER

Israel, Arabic Isrāʾīl, officially State of Israel or Hebrew Medinat Yisraʾel, country in the Middle East, located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bounded to the north by Lebanon, to the northeast by Syria, to the east and southeast by Jordan, to the southwest by Egypt, and to the west by the Mediterranean Sea. Jerusalem is the seat of government and the proclaimed capital, although the latter status has not received wide international recognition. Despite its small size, about 290 miles (470 km) north-to-south and 85 miles (135 km) east-to-west at its widest point, Israel has four geographic regions—the Mediterranean coastal plain, the hill regions of northern and central Israel, the Great Rift Valley, and the Negev—and a wide range of unique physical features and microclimates.

TERRITORY

Palestinian territory – encompassing the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem – has been illegally occupied by Israel since 1967. Since then, the Israeli government has established a two-tiered legal and political system that provides comprehensive rights for Jewish Israeli settlers while imposing military rule and control on Palestinians without any basic protections or rights under international law. The Israeli government has also engaged in a regular practice of inhumane acts, as well as extrajudicial killings, torture, denial of fundamental human rights, arbitrary detention and collective punishment. The UN Human Rights Council-mandated Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem, and Israel concluded in June 2022 that continued occupation, as well as discrimination against Palestinians, are the key causes of recurrent instability and protraction of conflict in the region.

NATURAL RESOURCES

We know that Israel is one of the richest countries in the world because they are known for making missiles. Historic Palestine has long had an abundance of natural resources, ranging from fresh and ground water, arable land and, more recently, oil and natural gas. In the seven decades since the establishment of the state of Israel, these resources have been compromised and exploited through a variety of measures. These include widespread Palestinian dispossession of land in the ongoing Nakba, exploitation of water through failed negotiations, and a finders-keepers approach to gas and oil found in or under occupied land. Mineral resources include potash, bromine, and magnesium, the last two deriving from the waters of the Dead Sea. Copper ore is located in the ʿArava, phosphates and small amounts of gypsum in the Negev, and some marble in Galilee. Israel began limited petroleum exploitation in the 1950s, and small oil deposits have been found in the northern Negev and south of Tel Aviv. The country also has reserves of natural gas in the northern Negev northeast of Beersheba and offshore in the Mediterranean. The power industry is nationalized, and electricity is generated principally from coal- and oil-burning thermal stations. The government has encouraged intensive rural electrification and has provided electricity for agriculture and industry at favourable rates. The Israel Atomic Energy Commission was established in 1952 and has undertaken a comprehensive survey of the country’s natural resources and trained scientific and technical personnel. A small atomic reactor for nuclear research was constructed with American assistance south of Tel Aviv. A second reactor, built in the Negev with French help, is used for military weapons research. Early Israeli society was strongly committed to expanding and intensifying agriculture. As a result, a rural Jewish agrarian sector emerged that included two unique forms of farming communities, the kibbutz and the moshav. Although the rural sector makes up less than one-tenth of the total Jewish population, such a large rural populace represents something almost unknown in the Diaspora. The amount of irrigated land has increased dramatically and, along with extensive farm mechanization, has been a major factor in raising the value of Israel’s agricultural production. These improvements have contributed to a great expansion in cultivating citrus and such industrial crops as peanuts (groundnuts), sugar beets, and cotton, as well as vegetables and flowers. Dairying has also increased considerably in importance. Israel produces the major portion of its food supply and must import the remainder. The main problem facing agriculture is the scarcity of water. Water is diverted through pipelines from the Jordan and Yarqon rivers and from Lake Tiberias to arid areas in the south. Because almost all the country’s current water resources have been fully exploited, further agricultural development involves increasing yields from land already irrigated, obtaining more water by cloud seeding, reducing the amount of evaporation, desalinizing seawater, and expanding desert farming in the Negev by drawing on brackish water found underground. Israel has perfected drip-irrigation methods that conserve water and optimize fertilizer use. The large influx of well-trained and Western-educated European and North American immigrants contributed greatly to a rapid rise in Israel’s gross national product (GNP) after 1948. Although most of them had to change occupations, a nucleus of highly skilled labour, in combination with the country’s rapid founding of universities and research institutes, facilitated economic expansion. The country obtained large amounts of capital, which included gifts from world Jewry, reparations from the Federal Republic of Germany for Nazi crimes, grants-in-aid from the U.S. government, and capital brought in by immigrants. Israel has supplemented these forms of revenue with loans, commercial credits, and foreign investment.

The goals of Israel’s economic policy are continued growth and the further integration of the country’s economy into world markets. Israel has made progress toward these goals under difficult conditions, such as a rapid population increase, a boycott by most Arab countries, heavy expenditure on defense, a scarcity of natural resources, high rates of inflation, and a small domestic market that limits the economic savings of mass production. Despite these obstacles, Israel has achieved a high standard of living for most of its residents, the growth of substantial industrial export and tourism sectors, and world-class excellence in advanced technologies and science-based industry. However, this economic progress has not been uniform. Israeli Arabs are generally at the lower rungs of the economic ladder, and there are substantial economic divisions among Israeli Jews, mainly between the Sephardim and Ashkenazim.

Large influxes of capital have passed through government channels and public organizations and enlarged that sector of the economy that engages in enterprises between the government and private concerns. Government policy dating from the late 1970s, however, has been directed toward privatization. The private, governmental, and, to a limited extent, cooperative sectors all coexist in an economy that supports both the broad objectives of state policy and individual enterprise.

Tax rates in Israel are among the highest in the world, with income, value-added, customs and excise, land, and luxury taxes being the main sources of revenue. The government has gradually raised the proportion of indirect taxes since the late 1950s. Tax reforms in 1985 included a new corporate tax levied on previously untaxed business sectors while slightly reducing direct taxes on individuals. Taxation approaches two-fifths of the value of GNP and is about one-fourth of average household income.

The General Federation of Labour in Israel (Histadrut) is the largest labour union and voluntary organization in the country. It once was also one of the largest employers in Israel and owner or joint owner of a wide range of industries, but by the mid-1990s it had sold most of its holdings to private investors. Since 1960 Arab workers have been admitted to the organization with full membership rights. The Manufacturers’ Association of Israel and the Farmers’ Union represent a large number of the country’s employers.

Resources

Mineral resources

Mineral resources include potash, bromine, and magnesium, the last two deriving from the waters of the Dead Sea. Copper ore is located in the ʿArava, phosphates and small amounts of gypsum in the Negev, and some marble in Galilee. Israel began limited petroleum exploitation in the 1950s, and small oil deposits have been found in the northern Negev and south of Tel Aviv. The country also has reserves of natural gas in the northern Negev northeast of Beersheba and offshore in the Mediterranean.

Power

The power industry is nationalized, and electricity is generated principally from coal- and oil-burning thermal stations. The government has encouraged intensive rural electrification and has provided electricity for agriculture and industry at favourable rates.

The Israel Atomic Energy Commission was established in 1952 and has undertaken a comprehensive survey of the country’s natural resources and trained scientific and technical personnel. A small atomic reactor for nuclear research was constructed with American assistance south of Tel Aviv. A second reactor, built in the Negev with French help, is used for military weapons research.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

Early Israeli society was strongly committed to expanding and intensifying agriculture. As a result, a rural Jewish agrarian sector emerged that included two unique forms of farming communities, the kibbutz and the moshav. Although the rural sector makes up less than one-tenth of the total Jewish population, such a large rural populace represents something almost unknown in the Diaspora.

The amount of irrigated land has increased dramatically and, along with extensive farm mechanization, has been a major factor in raising the value of Israel’s agricultural production. These improvements have contributed to a great expansion in cultivating citrus and such industrial crops as peanuts (groundnuts), sugar beets, and cotton, as well as vegetables and flowers. Dairying has also increased considerably in importance. Israel produces the major portion of its food supply and must import the remainder.

The main problem facing agriculture is the scarcity of water. Water is diverted through pipelines from the Jordan and Yarqon rivers and from Lake Tiberias to arid areas in the south. Because almost all the country’s current water resources have been fully exploited, further agricultural development involves increasing yields from land already irrigated, obtaining more water by cloud seeding, reducing the amount of evaporation, desalinizing seawater, and expanding desert farming in the Negev by drawing on brackish water found underground. Israel has perfected drip-irrigation methods that conserve water and optimize fertilizer use.

Only a limited quantity of fish is available off Israel’s Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts, and Israeli trawlers sail to the rich fishing grounds in the Indian Ocean and engage in deep-sea fishing in the Atlantic Ocean. Inland, fishpond production meets much of the domestic demand.

Industry of Israel

For more than 40 years local demand fueled Israeli industrial expansion, as the country’s population grew rapidly and the standard of living rose. More recently, world demand for Israeli advanced technologies, software, electronics, and other sophisticated equipment has stimulated industrial growth. Israel’s high status in new technologies is the result of its emphasis on higher education and research and development. The government also assists industrial growth by providing low-rate loans from its development budget. The main limitations experienced by industry are the scarcity of domestic raw materials and sources of energy and the restricted size of the local market. The country’s mining industry supplies local demands for fertilizers, detergents, and drugs and also produces some exports. A plant in Haifa produces potassium nitrate and phosphoric acid for both local consumption and export. Products of the oil refineries at Haifa include polyethylene and carbon black, which are used by the local tire and plastic industries. The electrochemical industry also produces food chemicals and a variety of other commodities. Oil pipelines run from the port of Elat to the Mediterranean. Israel has some producing oil wells but continues to import most of its petroleum.

ORIGIN OF THE PEOPLE

The people of Israel (also called the "Jewish People") trace their origin to Abraham, who established the belief that there is only one God, the creator of the universe (see Torah). Abraham, his son Yitshak (Isaac), and grandson Jacob (Israel) are referred to as the patriarchs of the Israelites. God commanded Abraham to go to the promised land which is the Canaan. The Palestinians lived in Canaan but were driven out because God gave that land to the Israelites. Israel formerly Jacob son of Isaac son of Abraham.

Jews: https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/jews

NOVA MUSIC FESTIVAL IN ISRAEL

The Nova Festival in a rural farmland area near the Gaza-Israel border. The nova music festival in Israel was attended by thousands of people to unite with the Jews on the holiday of Sukkot. This party was supposed to be fun all night but an unexpected tragedy occurred.

A group of festival-goers smiling at the Nova music festival in Israel. Young people danced to electronic music all night, before Hamas militants attacked. A photographer captured moments of joy and revelry at the Nova Music Festival in Israel. At least 260 people were killed at the festival, and many more have died across Israel and Gaza. This nova music festival was held to raise money for the Palestinians living in Gaza. The nova music festival was held near the border called the Gaza strip where Hamas resides. Hamas are Palestinian terrorists whose goal is to wipe Israel off the map. But in an unexpected event, in the middle of the fun there was tragedy at the same time because the Hamas suddenly attacked them and they were shot, some bodies were missing a part and some bodies were stripped and paraded on the road.

ARE YOU A PRO ISRAEL OR PRO PALESTINE?

I am Pro Israel because Israel was given by God to the Jewish people to be a home. God gave them the land of Israel. Israel will never be erased from the map because God himself founded it and gave its title to the Jewish people. I am pro Israel because they really have the right and not the Palestinians. Palestinians have no right to claim Israel because it is not theirs. In the current war between Israel and Palestine, I believe that God will not let Israel fall and lose, God is with Israel. In the current war between them, we cannot call what Israel is doing now a crime because they were not the first intruder but Hamas. "He who is the cause is the cause of the evil cause". Israel is just defending the country God gave them. What they do will not be called a crime as long as the war exists.

[knife-responsibility]

Revelation of Tumblr pt. 3

Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,

from the tribe of Gad 12,000,

from the tribe of Asher 12,000,

from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,

from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,

from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,

from the tribe of Levi 12,000,

from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,

from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,

from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,

 from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

And from the tribe of Spiders Georg 10,000,000,000, but he was an outlier adn should not have been counted.

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Wednesday, August 2, 2023

orthodox peace fellowship

august 2_july 20

THE HOLY  PROPHET ELIAS/ELIJAH ( 9th. c B.C)

Saint Elijah, one who saw God, a miracle worker and a zealot for faith in God, was born of the tribe of Aaron from the town Tishba for which he was called the Tishbite. When St. Elijah was born, his father Savah saw an angel of God hovering around the child, wrapping the child in fire and giving him a flame to eat. That foreshadowed Elijah's fiery character and his God-given fiery power. He spent his entire youth in godly thoughts and prayers, withdrawing frequently into the wilderness to contemplate and to pray in solitude. At that time, the Jewish kingdom was divided into two unequal parts: the kingdom of Judah, consisting of only two tribes, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with their capital in Jerusalem, and the kingdom of Israel, consisting of the remaining ten tribes with their money in Samaria. The first kingdom was governed by the descendants of Solomon, and the second kingdom was ruled by the descendants of Jeroboam, the servants of Solomon. The most significant confrontation the prophet Elijah had was with the Israelite King Ahab and his evil wife, Jezebel. For they, Ahab and Jezebel worshipped idols and turned the people away from serving the One and Living God. Before this, Syrian Jezebel persuaded her husband to erect a temple to the Syrian god Baal and ordered many priests to serve this false god. Through great miracles, Elijah displayed the power and authority of God: he closed up the heavens so that there was not any rain for three years and six months; he lowered a fire from heaven and burned the sacrifice to his God, which the pagan priests of Baal were unable to do; he brought down rain from heaven by his prayer; miraculously multiplied flour and oil in the home of the widow in Zerepath, and resurrected her son; he prophesied to Ahab that the dogs will lick up his blood and to Jezebel that the dogs will consume her flesh, all of which happened as well as many other miracles did he perform and prophesy. On Mount Horeb, he spoke with God and heard the voice of God in the calm of a gentle breeze. Before his death, he took Elisha and designated him as his successor in the prophetic calling; by his mantle, he divided the waters of the Jordan River; finally, he was taken up into the heavens in a fiery chariot by flaming horses. He appeared on Mount Tabor to our Lord Jesus Christ together with Moses. Before the world's end, St. Elijah will appear again to end the anti-Christ's power (Revelation, Chapter 11).

ST. ALEXIS MEDVEDKOV, ARCHPRIEST OF UGINE (1934), ELIAS FONDAMINSKII (1942), PRIEST DEMETRIUS KLEPININE (1944), YURI SKOBTSOV (1944), AND NUN MARIA (SKOBTSOVA) (1945), OF PARIS

St Alexis Medvedkov, archpriest of Ugine (1934)

St Alexis of Ugine was born in Russia in 1867. Afterward, he went to seminary and became a reader and choir director at a St Petersburg parish. He felt unworthy of the priesthood but finally accepted ordination, encouraged by St John of Kronstadt. He was sent to serve a village 60 miles from the capital. As was the case for many priests, his meager salary was not enough. Side by side with his neighbors, he worked the land. Yet he also lived a life of mind and spirit, saving money to buy the writings of the Church Fathers. He was also a parent -- he and his wife had two daughters. His pastoral zeal was recognized -- in 1916, at age 49, he was made an archpriest. Then the following year, in the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution, he was arrested, tortured, and sentenced to death. Remarkably, his eldest daughter freed her father by offering herself as a hostage in his place. The effects of torture remained with him for the rest of his life. Because of nerve damage, his right eye was always wider than his left.

In 1919 the entire family managed to escape to Estonia, where Fr Alexis worked in a mine and then as a night watchman. In 1923 he became an assistant priest at a local parish, also helping in the parish school. In 1929, following prolonged illness, his wife died.

After this heavy blow, he was invited by Metropolitan Evlogy in Paris to come to France. He was sent to the town Ugine, near Grenoble, to serve as rector of St Nicholas Russian Orthodox church. A local factory employed 600 Russian immigrants.

He often celebrated the Liturgy on weekdays, Sundays, and feast days. He was known for how carefully he intoned each word when he stood in the sanctuary. After services, he would stay on to do memorial services and meet whatever other needs were brought to him by his parishioners, never charging money.

His congregation proved difficult. The parish council was dominated by secular-minded lay people of a military background, men used to giving orders, whose primary interest was politics. Some harassed Fr Alexis during services. Some were abusive. When insulted, he replied with silence. He patiently endured the criticism of those who regarded the services as too long or criticized him for not dressing better.

His health declined -- doctors diagnosed cancer of the intestines. In July 1934, he was taken to hospital. He died on the 22nd of August. On the advice of a physician who warned that Fr Alexis' cancer-ridden body would rapidly decompose, he was buried in a double coffin.

His parishioners, even those who had been hostile, came to remember him as an exceptionally modest man, shy, full of gratitude, prayerful, outgoing, compassionate, slow to criticize, eager to forgive, generous with what little he had, who never turned his back on anyone in need.

A friend who visited him during those final weeks of his life recalled him saying: "In my parish, the true parishioners are the children, the children of my parishioners ... and if those children live and grow up, they will form the inner Church. And we, too, belong to that Church as long as we live according to our conscience and fulfill the commandments ... Do you understand what I mean? In the visible Church, there is an invisible Church, a secret Church. In it are found the humble who live by grace and walk in the will of God. They can be found in every parish and every jurisdiction. The emigration lives through them and by the grace of God."

It was a life of ordinary sanctity -- small deeds of holiness performed daily that were either taken for granted or ridiculed. He might have been entirely forgotten had it not been for a decision by the Ugine town council in 1953 to build flats on the site of the cemetery. The remains of those buried in the old cemetery were moved. On the 22nd of August, 1956, precisely 22 years after Fr Alexis's death, workmen came to his grave and found that his double coffin had entirely disintegrated. Still, his body, priestly vestments, and the Gospel book buried with him had not decayed.

I have left out many details of his life. Still, you see the main lines: great suffering, endurance, patient service to impatient people, belief in the face of disbelief, an uprooted life, the early death of his wife, his own brutal death, a love of prayer, a constant witness to God's love -- and then a sign after death that served to resurrect his memory and inspired the decision that this humble priest ought to be remembered by the Church. The memory of the Church is the calendar of the saints.

St Eli Fondemensky of Paris ( 1942)

Born in February 17, 1880, in Moscow, Russia — November 19, 1942, in Auschwitz, Nazi-occupied Poland), 

He was a Russian author (writing under the pseudonym I. Bunakov) and political activist in the 1910s, one of the leaders of the Esers party, in 1917, a senior member of Alexander Kerensky's Provisional government

In 1918, Fondaminsky took part in the Iași Conference. In Paris, where he has been living since 1919, Fondaminsky veered off from the left and became an influential newspaper editor (Sovremennye Zapisky, among others), author of philosophical essays, and in the later years — much-admired philanthropist, supporting Christian magazines and charity funds. In his biography of Mother Maria Skobtsova, Pearl of Great Price, Father Serge Hackel wrote that Fondaminsky gave occasional lectures at the Sunday afternoon gatherings at the house on the Rue de Lourmel.

Facing the Nazi occupation, Fondaminsky refused to leave Paris, saying he would accept his destiny, whatever it would be. Arrested in July 1941 as a Jew and sent to the concentration camp, he adopted Christianity and was received into the Russian Orthodox Church not long before being sent to Auschwitz. Ilya Fondaminsky died there on November 19, 1942, aged 62. 

Priest Dimitry Klepinine (1944)

Father Dimitri Klepinin was born in 1904 in Russia to an educated, cultivated, devout Orthodox family.  His mother, Sophia, helped establish Orthodox schools in Odessa, where they lived, and became active in providing help and support to the city’s poor.  The Klepinin family fled Russia after the Communist Revolution, first residing in Constantinople, then Yugoslavia, and finally in Paris, France.  A turning point in Dimitri’s life occurred in 1923 when his beloved mother died.  He described this experience in a letter to a friend:

“…the first time I understood the significance of suffering…But joy returned to me when I remembered the Savior’s words:  ‘Come to Me, all who labor and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. I had come to my mother’s grave with the heavy burden of worldly worries.  Everything seemed confused and unsolvable when suddenly I found the light yoke of Christ.  I’ve never known a day more joyful than that day, and I thank God for all He’s given me to bear.  After that experience, I reoriented my life, and it became easier to resolve certain problems."

In 1925, Dimitri enrolled in the St. Sergius Theological Institute in Paris, and after graduating in 1929, he received a scholarship to study in America at the New York Protestant Theological Seminary.  Returning to Paris, he worked various jobs while remaining active in the Church, directing the parish choir.  Dimitri married Tamara Baimakova in 1937 and was ordained by Metropolitan Evlogy.  A daughter Helen was born in 1939, and a son Paul in 1942.  Father Dimitri’s life was forever changed in 1939.   He was assigned as the parish priest at the shelter for the poor operated by an Orthodox nun, Mother Maria Skobtsova. Significantly for his life and that of Mother Maria, that same year France was invaded and conquered by the German Nazis.  Mother Maria (now St. Maria of Paris) had opened a home and shelter to minister to the poor of Paris.  As the Nazis began the mass arrests of French Jews in 1942, many sought help and refuge at Mother Maria’s shelter.  As a shield against deportation to a concentration camp, many Jews sought to obtain baptismal certificates from Father Dimitri.  While initially troubled by engaging in such deception, he realized his Christian Faith and priesthood demanded that he act.  He placed a small mark on the false certificates to remember which were authentic and which were not.  

Christ would give me that paper if I were in their place.  So I must do it… …If a man surprised by a storm takes shelter in a church, do I have the right to close the door?

During war, suffering, and mass arrests, one of Father Dimitri’s parishioners wrote of the experience of celebrating Pascha with him in 1942.  It was to be his final Pascha at his parish:

Outside there were restrictions, anguish, and war.  Here in the church, lit up by our candles, was our priest, all vested in white, as if borne on the wings of the winds.  With his face radiant, he proclaimed, “Christ is risen!”.  And we responded, “Truly He is risen!” causing the shadows to scatter.

In February, 1943, the Gestapo arrived at Mother Maria’s shelter and arrested Mother Maria, her son Yuri and several others.  In Yuri’s pocket, they discovered a letter from a Jewish family to Father Dimitri requesting a baptismal certificate.  Father Dmitri was absent during the raid, but the following day, he calmly celebrated a final Divine Liturgy in the church and went to face the Gestapo. 

Two months later, Father Dimitri and Mother Maria's son Yuri were sent to a prison camp. In the camp, Father Dimitri continued to function as a priest.  The Orthodox prisoners were permitted to set up a chapel where the Divine Liturgy was served daily.  Father Dimitri could sketch the chapel, which he smuggled out to his wife.  In letters he wrote to his family, he encouraged his wife to remain strong:

Make the morose thoughts go away with the Jesus Prayer, take Communion as often as possible…Don’t let despondency or irritation take root in you, and dash and confess to a priest.

Of his own life he wrote:

I am fully aware that the will of God is being carried out and that a new obedience in the Church is beginning for me.

After a year, Father Dimitri was sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany and then to the camp at Dora.   His health was broken; suffering from pneumonia, he died on February 9, 1944, and his body was burned in the Buchenwald crematorium.   When word reached his family that Father Dmitri had died, Metropolitan Evlogy officiated at a solemn funeral service in the Paris Cathedral.  On January 16, 2004, Father Dimitri, Mother Maria, her son Yuri and associate Elia Fondaminski were all glorified as martyrs/saints of the Orthodox Church by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.  Their memory is kept each year on their feast day of July 20

Saint Marie of Paris (1945)

Mother Maria was born in Latvia in 1891. Like many of the pre-Revolutionary Russian intelligenstia, she was an atheist and a political radical in her youth but gradually came to accept the truths of the Faith. After the Revolution, she became part of Paris's large Russian emigre population. There she was tonsured as a nun by Metropolitan Evlogy, and devoted herself to a life of service to the poor. With a small community of fellow believers, she established 'houses of hospitality' for the poor, the homeless, the alcoholic and visited Russian emigres in mental hospitals. In 1939 Metropolitan Evlogy sent the young priest Fr Dimitry to serve Mother Maria's community; he proved to be a partner, committed even unto death, in the community's work among the poor. When the Nazis took Paris in 1940, Mother Maria, Fr Dimitry, and others of the community chose to remain in the city to care for those who had come to count on them. As Nazi persecution of Jews in France increased, the Orthodox community's work naturally expanded to include protection and care of these most helpless ones. Father Dimitri was asked to provide forged certificates of baptism to preserve the lives of Jews and always complied. Eventually, this work led to the arrest of Mother Maria, Fr Dimitri, and their associates. A fragment survives of the Gestapo's interrogation of Fr Dimitri:

  Hoffman: If we release you, will you give your word never again to aid Jews?   Klepinin: I can say no such thing. I am a Christian and must act as I must. (Hoffman struck Klepinin across the face.)   Hoffman: Jew lover! How dare you talk of helping those swine as being a Christian duty! (Klepinin, recovering his balance, held up the cross from his cassock.)   Klepinin: Do you know this Jew? (For this, Father Dimitri was knocked to the floor.)   "Your priest did himself in," Hoffman said afterward to Sophia Pilenko. "He insists that if he were to be freed, he would act exactly as before."   Mother Maria, Fr Dimitri, and several of their colleagues were sent to the Nazi concentration camps (Mother Maria to Ravensbruck, Fr Dimitri to Buchenwald) where, after great suffering, they perished. It is believed that Mother Maria's last act was to take the place of a Jew being sent to death, voluntarily dying in his place.

JAMES 5:10-20

10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. 11 Indeed, we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord-that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. 12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No," lest you fall into judgment. 13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the church's elders, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 He prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. 19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover many sins.

LUKE 4:22-30

22 So all bore witness to Him and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, "Is this not Joseph's son?" 23 He told them, "You will surely say this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.' " 24 Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; 26 but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And many lepers were in Israel during Elisha the prophet's time, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian. 28 So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29 and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. 30 Then, passing through the midst of them, He went His way.