#and psalm for the wild-built's line about how you do not need a purpose because you are just an animal. your purpose is to exist

[waitineedaname]

i feel like my two top video games to recommend if you ever want an emotional experience that changes you forever are Night In The Woods and Outer Wilds

Night In The Woods is easier to recommend to people because it's shorter and less game-y (number one on my list of games that could be made into a tv show or movie) but hoo boy does that game hit in a very real way. the way it captures the feeling of being lost in your twenties, the feeling of dying small towns, issues of poverty and capitalism and mental illness and addiction and grief and being queer.... not to mention its realistically written (and often extremely funny) dialogue, charming aesthetics, and excellent soundtrack. chef's kiss.

Outer Wilds is harder to recommend because there is a significant learning curve with the gameplay (you will crash your ship over and over. this is okay. it's kind of the point.) and it's so impossible to describe because every person's experience is utterly unique by design and the whole point is to discover things for yourself, but good lord, does that game rewire your brain chemistry. it's a game about the vastness of space and the even greater vastness of time, and the fact that despite this vastness, you can still connect with people, even if you will never meet, even if they died long before you were ever born, you can still touch other people's lives

both games are the type to make you question your existence, but still be comforted after the fact. both games say you don't have some cosmic purpose, the universe does not care about you, but people do, and you can find meaning even in uncaring world

[lisagintexas]

September 3, 2019

The last few days have been full of great opportunities to serve our brothers here in the holy land. Sunday morning was harvesting on the mountain around us. The afternoon was free and in the evening Avraham Hermon, a rabbi from Har Bracha came and spoke about the Torah portion we read yesterday.

Monday morning we harvested again and in the afternoon we went to our host community on the next hilltop of Har Bracha, and the lead rabbi spoke to us in the synagogue about the branches of authority in Judaism- the king, the high priests and priests and the judges. Neither have authority over the other, they all have their own purposes. Then he opened the discussion to questions of which we had many. It was informational and inspirational.

In the evening we had another Jewish couple, the husband, Eleazar, spoke to us about the history of the Jews, the current day happenings, the prophesies that are being fulfilled and the prophesies we are waiting to see.

One of the prophesies that has many intrigued is that God says he will gather not only the house of Judah (the Jews) from all corners of the earth and bring them back to His land (which has been occurring for 100 years now), but He also says He will gather the house of Israel and return them to the land from where they have been scattered all over the earth. So, we’ve all known who the Jews are for the last 2000 years, and it’s a miracle they have survived as a people and continued to keep their faith and continued to pray for 2000 years to return to Jerusalem, and God has been gathering them back. Never in the history of mankind has this happened. Many peoples and nations have become extinct, never before has a people and nation been exiled from their home and returned. The other ten tribes of Israel, the house of Israel has been scattered since 722 BC when the Assyrians invaded Samaria and took them all captive. They have been scattered and no one knows who they are. But obviously God does since he says he will regather them. How exciting it will be to see how He fulfills his promise. May it come soon and in our days!!

Eleazar’s wife, Ellen, spoke to us about her gift and artwork. She makes pictures from micro calligraphy. She uses the Hebrew letters to make incredible works of biblical art.

Tuesday we had a tour to Hebron, where the cave of Machpelah is the biggest attraction. It is the tomb of the “fathers and mothers”...Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. King Herod built a castle like structure around it in 30 BC or so. But this was the cave that Abraham bought to bury Sarah (Gen. 23), and all the other patriarchs and matriarchs were bury there. The tour also included a very old synagogue and viewing the city from one of the high points in Hebron, the top of an apartment complex where Jews live. Hebron is 97% Arab and 3% Jews. Today is the 90th anniversary of when 69 Jews were massacred by Arabs. It was part of the 1929 Palestinian riots in which 133 Jews were killed, and the Jews were no long allowed to live in Hebron until the Six Day War in 1967 when they started to return.

I, however, did not go on this tour as I have been on it five times already. We were given the opportunity to go work in the chocolate factory nearby called Holy Cacao. This was my third visit there and I was thrilled with the opportunity to go and help. Of course, God’s timing is always perfect as we were really needed. They were backed up on getting the chocolate packaged and ready to go out. Thirteen of us packaged 8000 bars of chocolate...everything that was needing to be done. We also helped with running machines that crush the cacao, make the chocolate into bars, and put the wrapping on. It was so much fun to work together with others, organizing ourselves into assembly lines and just getting so much done in a couple of hours. They gave our group a tour of the factory when the others joined us and taught all about the process of making chocolate and gave us lots to taste and sold us as much as we wanted. Yum!! I ate my fair share!

After lunch, we went to Aragon Farms, Ari and Jeremy’s farm, where my sheep reside, and we made a rock pathway from one of the roads to one of the buildings through the rocky hillside thorns. There were about 25 of us working together and we made a beautiful path in about 45 minutes using picks and shovels and carrying lots of rocks to make the border. This is the third path HaYovel volunteers have made for them. Ari says they call our paths the Paths of the Righteous Gentiles. I like it! So much fun to work on the farm and help some of our favorite Jewish families. What God is doing in this southern most part of the Judean mountains is truly miraculous!!

These families sold their homes and put all that they have into this place and because it is government land it no longer belongs to them. They have already had law suits against them from organizations like “Peace Now”, a secular Jewish group backed by the EU (European Union) who are anti-Semitic and want to give the land to the Palestinians. But so far, the Israeli courts have supported them and nothing has been taken away or destroyed. Jeremy asked Mike Huckabee when he was visiting the farm recently to give a message to President Trump that he has a suggestion for a peace plan. You see, all the Arabs that surround Israel, and the ones in the land, fight each other, have a very poor quality of life, and do not have peace. Jeremy suggested “land for peace”. All the Arabs give Israel their land, at least up to the Euphrates River (which is where God said the borders of Israel were to be) and Israel would give them peace in the land. With Israel’s sovereignty there would be peace, because the Jewish way is one of blessing others, serving others, making life better for others and living a life led by the Torah which is instructions for a way of life that brings peace. Brilliant!!

After finishing our path we sat in the shade and listened to Rabbi Jeremy speak to us. Here are some of the things he talked about. He said the Bible is a story that is not finished. We are part of the story in a very exciting time! The world is full of lies and the truth weaves it’s way through it. He quoted Deuteronomy 11:12 which says this is a “land which God cares for; the eyes of YHVH your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.” It’s not that God doesn’t know what is going on in other parts of the world, but He is always focused on this land, his holy land. In other parts of the world the desert is growing, and forests are being destroyed, yet in Israel the forests are growing and the desert is beginning to blossom like a rose. Jeremy spoke of his grandfather who walked for a year and a half from Russia to come live in this land. The Hebrew language was miraculously revived in one generation! We all have our differences whether we are Jews or Christians but we all want to walk in the light. We are meant to come together and be one beautiful tree. (Although Jeremy is not familiar with the writings of Paul in Romans 11, Paul says we, the Gentiles, are grafted into the root (Israel) as wild olive branches. This was what his comment reminded me of.) Jeremy said the Jews are meant to be priests and to teach and to bless the nations. We are to learn Torah together. He continued, the Bible is three dimensional and we are inside the wonders of God in this place. A house of prayer for all nations is built here on the farm. It is prophesied to be in Jerusalem but is not there yet. He also introduced us to a young man named Elad who’s mother recently died of cancer. The Jews believe they should care for the orphan and widow, and even though he is not completely orphaned as he has his father, they want to help care for him as he lives in the settlement adjoining the farm. So they have taken him on as a helper on the farm in a few ways, one being the shepherd of the sheep. So he takes them out to graze in the morning and the evening. I loved meeting the shepherd of my sheep!

We then walked up to the house of prayer and Jeremy played and we all sang together the song Hallelujah. He said David, who wrote the Psalms, was so brilliant in using “Hallelujah” which most people know means “praise God”. This word is universal in meaning. It doesn’t matter what part of the world people live in, they all sing “Hallelujah”. Below is the house of prayer.

Wednesday morning we harvested here on the mountain. The grapevines are very full this year. Sometimes they have us thin the vines by just taking 6-10 clusters off per vine so that the rest will develop better. Vineyards that normally produce 7 tons are producing 10 tons this year!

Blessings from the heartland of Israel!