Pharaoh, Moses, And The Exodus

As the Egyptian Pharaoh oppressed the people of Israel,
so the Russian Czar oppresses the people of the Ukraine.

As Moses turned Egypt's rivers into blood,
so Russian invaders make rivers of blood flow in the Ukraine.

As the Jews left Egypt during the Exodus,
so Ukrainians are fleeing their homeland.

Easter And Passover

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

Exodus 12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. 27 That ye shall say: It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. 29 ¶And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. 33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said: We be all dead men.

Jesus Christ Is The Greatest Hero, According To The Talmud

The greatest hero is he who turns his worst enemy into a friend.

Babylonian Talmud, Tract Aboth, Fourth Chapter,
Tosephtha: Aboth of Rabbi Nathan

On the Sixth Day of Fasting, the Rabbis Said to Me:

The greatest hero is he who turns his worst enemy into a friend.

Babylonian Talmud, Tract Aboth, Fourth Chapter,
Tosephtha: Aboth of Rabbi Nathan

Christmas Is NOT the Christian Hanukkah !

Today's Feast is !

When Orthodoxy Meets "The Matrix"

Agent Smith on the Closing of the Church Year:

Everything that has a beginning has an end.

Agent Smith on the Beheading of John the Baptist:

The purpose of life is to end.

The Church Year begins with the Birth of the Mother of God on September 8 and the Conception of Saint John the Baptist on September 23, and ends with the Repose of the Holy Virgin Mary on August 15 and the Beheading of John the Baptist on August 29.

This is inherited from Judaism, where the Ecclesial New Year began on the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, the equivalent of September-October, as it does until today in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Talmudic Trinity

"I was looking down until chairs were set down, and the Ancient of days seated himself" (Daniel 7:9)

"The chairs": Why are they in plural? One for Him and one for David. So Rabbi Aqiba in a Boraitha.

Said Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah to him: "Aqiba, how do you dare to make the Shekhina common? It means one chair for judgment and one for mercy".

Did Aqiba accept this, or not? Come and hear the following Boraitha: "One for judgment and one for mercy". So Rabbi Aqiba.

Said Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah to him: "Aqiba, what hast thou to do with Haggada? It means one for a chair to sit upon and one for a footstool".

Babylonian Talmud, Tract Sanhedrin, Haggadah

Now:
Is it only me, or does the imagery of God standing between His enthroned attributes of Justice and Mercy not help his case?...

As for the two thrones being one for sitting down and one for resting one's feet upon, then -according to the Holy Prophet Isaiah- these are Heaven and earth: which would support the Incarnation, especially in the light of Psalms 99:5 and 132:7, where His footstool, the earth (from which Man / Adam was taken), is being worshipped.

As for the second throne belonging to King David, whose son was the Messiah supposed to be?

Catch-22

Is it any surprise to anyone that the oldest Christian New Testament Canon (that of the Syriac Peshitta) had exactly the same number of books as that of the Jewish Old Testament Canon, especially given their common Semitic background? Or that the current New Testament Canon has 27 books, according to the same Jewish reckoning? (Since five of these 22 books are "doubled": 1^st & 2^nd Samuel, 1^st & 2^nd Kings, 1^st & 2^nd Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Jeremiah-Lamentations).

Copyright Infringements

On the 25th day of the ninth month, Orthodox Jews celebrate the Feast of the Purification of the Temple in Jerusalem by Judah Maccabee.

On the 21st day of the ninth month, Orthodox Christians celebrate the Entrance of the Holy Mother of God into the Temple, herself being the fleshly Temple whose womb, just like the Holy of Holies, housed the incarnated Lord of Glory (which is made abundantly clear in the hymns of the Feast).

Biblical Old Testament Icons

From the Torah:
Exodus 25:18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. 22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

Exodus 26:1 ¶Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.

Exodus 26:31 ¶And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made.

Exodus 36:8 ¶And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work made he them.

Exodus 36:35 ¶And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.

Exodus 37:7 And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat; 8 One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 9 And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.

Numbers 7:89 And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.


From the Prophets:
1 Kings 6:23 And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high. 24 And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. 25 And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one measure and one size. 26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub. 27 And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. 28 And he overlaid the cherubims with gold. 29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without. 32 The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees. 35 And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.

1 Kings 7:29 And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubims: and upon the ledges there was a base above: and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work. 36 For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about.

1 Kings 8:6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims. 7 For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.


From the Writings:
1 Chronicles 28:18 And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 3:7 He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls. 10 ¶And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with gold. 11 And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. 12 And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward. 14 And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.

2 Chronicles 5:7 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims: 8 For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

The Jewish Trinity

The one in the middle is the Father of the Universe, who in the Sacred Scriptures is called by his proper name, I am that I am ; and the Beings on each side are those most ancient Powers which are always close to the living God, one of which is called his Creative Power, and the other his Royal Power. And the Creative Power is God, for it is by this that he made and arranged the Universe; and the Royal Power is the Lord, for it is fitting that the Creator should lord it over and govern the creature.

Philo of Alexandria, On Abraham,
chapter 24, paragraph 121.

The Number 23

After serving at the Temple in Jerusalem for the Day of Atonement, offering up incense and prayers for the people of Israel, the righteous Zechariah remained there for the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles as well, continuing to execute the function of his priestly office before God on behalf of the people, and then, seven days later, on the twenty-second day of the seventh month, when the Feast was over, returned home to his wife, Elizabeth, and -by their bodily union- conceived Saint John the Baptist, the Holy Prophet and Forerunner of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ.

Orthodox Christianity: Copycatting Orthodox Judaism Since 33 AD

On the first day of the seventh month, Orthodox Jews celebrate the Jewish New Year; on the first day of the seventh month, Orthodox Christians celebrate the Ecclesiastical New Year.

On the tenth day of the seventh month, Orthodox Jews celebrate the Day of Atonement, by observing a very strict fast; on the fourteenth day of the seventh month, Orthodox Christians celebrate the Uplifting of the Holy Cross, also by fasting, commemorating Christ's atoning sacrifice on Golgotha.

Talmudic Icons

Not much later, at about the time the Dura Synagogue came into being, the Palestinian Talmud records the grudging recognition of Jewish art ( Abodah Zarah 48d ): “In the days of Rabbi Jochanan, men began to paint pictures on the walls, and he did not hinder them”, and “In the days of Rabbi Abun, men began to make designs of mosaics and he did not hinder them.” ( Abodah Zarah 42b ). To the above passages, we add still another, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Leviticus 26:1. This Aramaic translation first paraphrases the prohibition against making idols and graven images and such figures in stone as men bow down to. Then the text makes an exception: “But a stone column carved with images and likeness you may make upon the premises of your sanctuaries, but not to worship them.” At last we hear the correct application of the second commandment.

Jacob Milgrom, “The Dura Synagogue and Visual Midrash,”

Scriptures for the Modern World, ed. Paul R. Cheesman and C. Wilfred Griggs
(Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1984), 29–60.