Two books on the Hebrew language.

Chaim Bentorah is a teacher of biblical Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic from the Chicago area. We review two of his books below.

Chris Foster reviews ‘Hebrew Word Study’ by Chaim Bentorah (Whitaker House, 2016)

On walking into any Christian bookshop, one will come across numerous devotional books with all sorts of slants. When I first saw the Hebrew Word Study, I was sceptical that this would be any different from or better than others. The size of it, and the cost (I bought my copy for just under £20 from Amazon), would normally be enough to put me off. But it had been recommended to me by someone who had spoken about the joys of the Hebrew language, and I was intrigued by the thought that delving into it could “reveal the heart of God”.

Indeed, Bentorah believes that “If we take the time to study the Hebrew language, we can see the true beauty of God’s word and come to know God and His heart in a much deeper way.”

So I bought the book and started reading. Within a few pages I knew that the title was justified in claiming to reveal at least a little of the heart of God - and I was engrossed.

Exploring Roots and Meanings

In each of the 90 studies, the author starts with a verse from the Bible, takes a key word or phrase, and looks at the original Hebrew word that has been translated into English. He then explores the root and various meanings of the Hebrew word, which often don’t make it through into the English translation. He looks at other passages where this word is used in the scriptures to compare and contrast. Then, finally, he revisits the passage he started with, illuminating it further using some of the meanings he has drawn out of the Hebrew.

If you are looking for a book that will take you into the riches of the scriptures without you having to learn Hebrew, this is a good place to start.

As an example, in one study (p145) we read Psalm 27:5: “For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion”. We find that the word translated ‘trouble’ (ra’) is related to the word which David used for 'shepherd' (ra’ah) in Psalm 23:1 when he wrote “The Lord is my shepherd”. How can this be? Bentorah goes on to explore this in some detail, relating it to the trouble one feels when one’s shepherds let one down.

Positive and Uplifting

In each chapter, the author draws out meanings that are positive and uplifting. The studies are not set out in any particular order, so the book could be read every day as a three-month devotional series, or more sporadically. There is a Hebrew-English and English-Hebrew index at the back, as well as a glossary of terms.

One doesn’t need to have learnt Hebrew to read this book (though it may possibly deepen one’s understanding to have a grasp of Hebrew letters). The author takes the reader through step by step, so it is not at all difficult to read. If you are looking for a book that will take you into the riches of the scriptures without you having to learn Hebrew, this is a good place to start.

‘Hebrew Word Study: Revealing the Heart of God’ (448pp, hardback) is available from Amazon for £19.34. Also on Kindle.

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘Learning God’s Love Language’ (True Potential Inc, 2018).

This book is described as a guide to personal Hebrew word study and can be seen as a companion to Bentorah’s previous Hebrew Word Study devotional.

The complexity of the Hebrew language means that each word can have a wide range of meanings; any book which can help us to navigate through this variety of renderings is to be welcomed, especially if, as the author claims, he has written for individuals “regardless of his or her educational background, cultural experience or level of spiritual maturity” (p11).

Warning: Esoteric Influence

However, a warning should be sounded here as Bentorah states his intention to take us beyond the words and into the “ancient rabbinical esoteric meanings behind each letter of the Hebrew alphabet” (p12). Indeed, the bulk of the book is dedicated to a letter-by-letter exploration in which the author stretches each Hebrew letter into the realm of the enigmatic and cryptic. These rather dubious extensions at times seem fanciful and even rather worrying.

Bentorah explains that he draws from numerous ancient Jewish sources, admitting that “Some information does come from the mystical books of the Kabbalah” (p39). He adds that he does not embrace Kabbalistic teachings and has studied them only as “a reference to develop my skills with the Aramaic and not to gain any spiritual insights” (p39), but this nevertheless may still be off-putting for some, and may rather contradict his claim to appeal to readers regardless of spiritual maturity. Certainly discernment is needed here.

Bentorah’s esoteric leanings rather contradict his claim to appeal to readers regardless of spiritual maturity – certainly discernment is needed here.

His foray into the murky numerical world of Gematria must also be read with caution. While this topic is certainly worth exploring, the author insists that “words with the same numerical value are in some way related” and could be the basis for fruitful meditation. Again, he is wanting to draw as much as he can from what he sees as a legitimate practice by the Jewish people who are the guardians of the ancient Hebrew language. He states that Gematria “has evolved over many generations of Jewish mysticism” but considers “their insights to be of great value” (p111). However, some of his examples left me floundering.

Some Valuable Information

Having said all that, there are some other sections outside of these central pages that are worthy of consideration: for instance, those on Jewish literature, the history of the Hebrew alphabet, and issues involved in translating from Semitic languages. The book provides very useful information in these areas.

The author, a Gentile who adopted a Jewish pseudonym, clearly enjoys exploring the delights and intricacies of what he calls ‘God’s love language’. Once you understand where his studies have led him then it is possible to make use of his ideas and decide how far to follow him.

‘Learning God’s Love Language: A Guide to Personal Hebrew Word Study’ (160pp, paperback) is available from Amazon for £11.54. Also on Kindle.

The real reason for leaving the EU – come what may.

On Ari Fuld’s loss and Palestinian incitement to kill.

Last Sunday, 16 September, a 17-year old Palestinian high-school student stabbed to death a 45-year old father of four who was shopping for groceries at Gush Etzion, south of Bethlehem.

The father was Ari Fuld, an American Jew who had immigrated to Israel in 1994 and held dual nationality, living in the nearby settlement of Efrat.

In spite of his fatal wound, he prevented his assailant from then attacking the female shop assistant, saving her life by shooting and wounding the youth.

The young attacker, Khalil Jabarin, is from the village of Yatta, some five miles south of Hebron and is receiving treatment in Israel’s Hadassah hospital in Ein Kerem. His father had informed Palestinian authorities that he was missing following an argument about skipping school, whilst his mother had notified Israeli authorities of her fears that he was intent on making an attack somewhere.¹

The Fulds and the Jabarins. Just two of many devastated families in the ‘Land of Promise’.

Incitement with Money and Lies

Such attacks are encouraged by the long-term policy of the ‘cash-strapped’ Palestinian Authority of rewarding families of injured or killed perpetrators of violence (otherwise known as ‘martyrs’) with substantial sums. In this case, the Jabarin family is eligible for some £2,500.²

But the situation is also made far worse by incitement to violence from Palestinian leaders and media, wielding claims about Palestinian ‘heritage’ and Israeli ‘occupation’ that are blatant lies. Let’s consider this in more depth.

Such attacks are encouraged not only by the ‘pay-to-slay’ policy of the PA – but also by inciteful lies from Palestinian leaders and media.

‘Al-Aqsa Intifada’

Shortly after Sunday’s attack, Palestinian media claimed that it had been carried out in defence of Al-Aqsa. According to the news agency Donia al-Watan, Ari Fuld’s murder “is a response to warnings regarding the danger of what the occupation is currently doing, and what it intends to do at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”³ What, you may ask, was the connection with Al-Aqsa?

To understand this, we need some background. The so-called ‘Al-Aqsa Intifada’ began in 2015. Between 1 October and 31 December of that year there were 88 stabbings, 32 shootings and 14 car-ramming attacks. Allegedly ‘spontaneous’, it was accompanied by vicious incitement. In early October a Palestinian Member of the Knesset, Haneen Zoabi, had written in the Hamas-affiliated newspaper al-Resalah,

Hundreds of thousands of worshippers should go up to al-Aqsa in order to face down an Israeli plot for the blood of East Jerusalem residents. Today there are actions only by individuals, and what is needed is popular support. If only individual attacks continue without popular support, they will sputter out within a few days. Therefore the outpouring of thousands of our people will make these events a real intifada.⁴

On 9 October, in a sermon at Friday prayers in Rafah (Gaza) which was streamed online, imam Sheikh Muhammad Sallah called on Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank to “attack in threes and fours…cut them into body parts…stab the myths about the Temple in their hearts!”⁵

Around the same time, a slew of posts appeared on social media praising attacks and providing advice for how to make them effective. One Gazan, using the hashtag #Stab, posted an anatomical chart on Facebook showing which parts of the body to aim for. Using the hashtag #SlaughteringtheJews, another user posted a message addressed to "our brethren in the West Bank and all of Palestine" who wish to kill "pigs" (an Islamic epithet for Jews) in the quickest possible manner, including graphic advice.⁶

The official PA daily al-Hayat al-Jadida has acknowledged that in the first year alone of that intifada “250 [Palestinian] civilians died as Shahids [martyrs], 161 of them while carrying out stabbing operations against the occupation's soldiers and its settlers” (my emphasis).⁷

The allegedly ‘spontaneous’ Al-Aqsa Intifada has been accompanied by vicious incitement since it began in 2015.

False Claims of Excavation

This year, although the casualty rate is much lower, the Islamic rhetoric has been ramping up again.

In July a member of the Islamic Waqf in Jerusalem said on the Palestinian Authority’s official TV channel, "The blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque has no foundations now...Al-Aqsa is now empty of the rocks and that which supports it, due to the Israeli machine that is excavating under it, as rats burrow under the ground only for evil and destruction."⁸

This is pure fabrication – the only excavators of the Temple Mount since 1967 have been Muslims! Yet, a few days later, this was broadcast on PA TV:

The Fatah Movement emphasized that Israel has prepared a plan - and began carrying it out a while ago - to destroy the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque through the ongoing excavations underneath the mosque…[and] that the Al-Aqsa Mosque – above ground, under it, and around it - is a completely Islamic site to which the Jews have no right.⁹

Muslim worshippers during Ramadan, earlier this year. See Photo Credits.The provocative nature of these and many more such statements is recognised by Samir Awad, a political scientist at Bir Zeit University north of Ramallah:

Al-Aksa is a place heavily charged with emotions, people are willing to die for it and become martyrs going to heaven. A lot of Palestinians feel they are defending al-Aksa on behalf of all Muslims. Palestinians consider al-Aksa the gem of their future state. It signifies Palestine itself.¹⁰

Denying History

Denial of the existence of a Jewish Temple is an essential part of the ‘Palestinian narrative’. For example, Mahmoud Abbas said in 2000:

[The Jews] demand that we forget what happened 50 years ago to the refugees – and I speak as a living, breathing refugee – while at the same time they claim that 2000 years ago they had a temple. I challenge the assertion that this is so. But even if it is so, we do not accept it, because it is not logical for someone who wants a practical peace.¹¹

Denial of the existence of a Jewish Temple is an essential part of the ‘Palestinian narrative’.

So much for ‘logic’! Speaking to a journalist at Die Welt in 2001, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri (then Grand Mufti of Jerusalem), said,

There is not the smallest indication of the existence of a Jewish Temple on this place in the past. In the whole city, there is not even a single stone indicating Jewish history…¹²

To make such statements is not only a denial of Jewish history and archaeology, but of Islamic history! The Brief Guide to the Al-Haram Al-Sharif, published in 1924 by the Supreme Muslim Council of Jerusalem, freely states, “Its identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute”, even quoting 2 Samuel 24:25. Much longer ago, Islamic historians and writers such as Abu Jafar Muhammad al-Tabari (9^th Century),¹³ Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din al-Muqaddasi (10^th Century)¹⁴ and Nasir-I Khusraw (11^th Century)¹⁵ all acknowledged the same.

Western Perspective Change

In the West, there is still no official recognition of the ongoing anti-historical brainwashing and anti-Semitic incitement in the disputed territories, especially of young Palestinians, deceiving them into committing atrocities against ordinary Jewish people such as Ari Fuld.

Whether or not Jabarin was acting out of genuine concern for Al-Aqsa, as Palestinian media claim, the claim itself should not go unnoticed as yet another instance of incitement.

When 28-year-old American Taylor Force was stabbed to death in Tel Aviv in 2016, also as part of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, the issue of ‘martyrdom’ payments gained widespread media and political exposure in the US, with direct consequences for US-Palestinian diplomatic relations and for PA funding.

In this extraordinary window in international politics, is it too much to pray that blind eyes in Western politics and Church life would also be opened regarding the vicious incitement to violence coming from Palestinian leaders and media? At root it is all part of an intense spiritual battle against God, his covenant People and Land, but if ever there was a time when a change of perspective in the West was possible, it is now.

In the West Bank, the best hope for Palestinian youths is that Almighty God would grant them access to the truth before they reach for a knife. Surely our prayers for “the peace of Jerusalem” should be oriented in these ways.

Postscript: As the latest example of the perversion of truth in Palestinian youth, readers are advised to read about Ahed Tamimi's media tour and compare it with an interview broadcast on Russian TV, translated by Palestinian Media Watch here.

Also recommended:

• This 2-minute video from Boomerang on Palestinian indoctrination of children.
• Melanie Phillips’ recent article for the Jewish News Syndicate about the Western media’s excusal of Ari’s murder and general complicity in Palestinian violence.

References

1 Terrorist’s parents say they alerted PA, Israel before deadly stabbing of Fuld. Times of Israel, 16 September 2018.

2 PA hasn’t yet paid family of terrorist who killed Fuld, but they’ll be eligible. Times of Israel, 19 September 2018.

3 Translation by Palestinian Media Watch.

4 Eldar, S. Bibi blames everyone but himself for recent violence. Al-Monitor, 12 October 2015.

5 Gaza cleric calls on Palestinians to stab Jews, ‘cut them into body parts’. Times of Israel, 12 October 2015.

6 Social Media As A Platform For Palestinian Incitement – Part II: Video Tutorials, Tips For Achieving More 'Effective' Attacks. MEMRI Special Dispatch No.6186, 14 October 2015.

7 Marcus, I and Zilberdik, NJ. Official PA daily admits 161 Palestinians did carry out stabbing attacks during Palestinian terror wave 2015-2016. PMW Bulletin, 6 February 2018.

8 See note 3.

9 Ibid.

10 Lynfield, B. Is the ‘stabbing intifada’ back? Jerusalem Post, 23 July 2018.

11 In Kul Al-Arab on 2 August. Hollander, R. The Battle Over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. CAMERA, 26 March 2010.

12 Ibid.

13 Friedmann, Y, 1992. The History of al-Tabari: Volume XII, The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah and the Conquest of Syria and Palestine. NY: State University of New York Press, p195.

14 Jerusalem mufti: Temple Mount never housed Jewish Temple. Times of Israel, 25 October 2015.

15 Nasir i-Khusrau, Diary of a Journey Through Syria and Palestine. Translated and prefaced by Guy Le Strange. London: Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, 1893.

It’s time to take back territory from the enemy