On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

... is a time to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war.

Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.

n the United Kingdom, although two minutes of silence are observed on 11 November itself, the main observance is on the second Sunday of November, Remembrance Sunday. Ceremonies are held at local war memorials, usually organised by local branches of the Royal British Legion – an association for ex-servicemen. Typically, poppy wreaths are laid by representatives of the Crown, the armed forces, and local civic leaders, as well as by local organisations including ex-servicemen organisations, cadet forces, the Scouts, Guides, Boys' Brigade, St John Ambulance and the Salvation Army.

The start and end of the silence is often also marked by the firing of a cannon. A minute's or two minutes' silence is also frequently incorporated into church services, and even everyday locations such as supermarkets and banks may invite their customers and staff to fall silent at 11:00 am.

Why do we wear a poppy? .... because of Flanders

...... and because of Joe's friend who took Joe's place and was killed on patrol in a distant land ..... it is a time to remember that today, even after the War to End all Wars is a dim and distant memory - war and bloodshed and killing still go on around the world and our young people are still dying.

It is a time to pray for peace - that all men might live as equals.



Source:

Wikipedia

Poppy and Remembrance Day

Discipline proving to be an unexpected treasure house

One of the greatest joys that I had when I worked as the PA to a blue chip director was that each morning I would pick up a whole host of news sheets, including the Financials (excluding the 'rags') - read through them and then write up a summary page of the main items of news in each of the sheets.

The least benefit that I gained from this exercise was it honed my skills as a writer but more importantly - from this daily exercise I gained a broad understanding of the 'goings on' of the world around me.

This daily exercise is still with me today. I have set up a bookmark that contains all the relevant broad sheets - plus a couple of extras, The Jerusalem News being just one.

Now then of late I was 'prompted' (take that as 'given a good prod') to sort out my scripture daily reading schedule. As a result - Ahavah Emunah - came into being. And I have to say setting up the RSS feed into my email has proved useful in making sure I sit down with a portion of the Scripture each day.

What I had not allowed for was these two separate tasks to actually have any relevance to each other.

Take the other day for instance: the daily reading was taken from Jeremiah 5 - 9

"For among my people there are wicked men, who like fowlers, lie in wait and set traps to catch their fellow human beings. Their houses are as full of fraud as a cage full of birds. The grow rich and great, sleek and bloated; they excel in acts of wickedness but do not plead on behalf of the orphan, thus enabling his cause to succeed; nor do they judge in favor of the poor. (Jer 5:26-27)

This is from the daily news sheets:

• FSA (Financial Services Authority writes to UK Bank bosses demanding details of their pay and bonus policies: (more here) "Society can't expect us to damp down the overall level of pay" (we can't?)

• RBNS (Royal Bank of Scotland, the bank rescued by the taxpayer, is to cut 3,700 jobs (more here) (really! Maybe if you took a little less than a couple of million GBP - little people would still be in a job?)

But this one really takes the biscuit:

• Extra £30bn for bailed out banks

(click here for more) - (guess they need the extra £30 BILLION to pay for their bonus payments?)

And you know what I find even more insidious?

• Every family in the country is now facing a tax liability of £4,350 to prop up Britain’s banking system after Alistair Darling announced the biggest bail-out in history. (click here for more)
  

Yes, that's right - no vote, no referendum, NO DISCUSSION; news kept to the minimum on the tv... this is a fait acomple, passed quietly in the night. So far the Government has put £74 billion of taxpayers’ money into the banks. And they say this will not be enough.

The money being poured down the drain - was for the banks to pass onto and support small businesses in the economy. Not to help themselves to money that was never intended to them in the first place.

For among my people there are wicked men....

Links:

Ahavah Emunah: Exploring the Scriptures from a Judaic, Netzarim and Messianic Viewpoint

Telegraph.co.uk

Photo:

The Government is injecting a further £30bn into Lloyds and RBS: Telegraph.co.uk

George - with beard or without?

If I could make the 'vote' thing work on eblogger - I would have to have a little survey on this very important topic.

To my mind George Clooney looks totally delicious with or without (compare the deliciousness) - so would that mess up my voting stats? Not being an analyst and also known to drive her accountant to 'leave suddenly and go out for hours' (according to his frustrated parent)... I am merely guessing here.

Humm actually sitting here, I've just realised that my own dodi is probably the spit-double of Gorgeous George....ohhh how blessed am I? Anyways, I digress.....

According to Askmen.com

While facial hair is a natural phenomenon for men, it's a part of the body that can be considered an art form in itself. Who would have thought that hair could actually become a way to decorate a man's face? Consider it a free accessory, that can complete your appearance and transform your look from night to day. There's a fine line between what is considered in and out of style in terms of facial hair. Any style is acceptable as long as it suits a man's face and his personality.

Apparently though having a beard in ancient times could be a source of great pain:

Before the advent of razors,

hair was sometimes removed using two shells to pull the hair out.

Later, around 3,000 BC, when copper tools were developed, copper razors were invented. The idea of an aesthetic approach to personal hygiene may have begun at this time, though Egyptian priests may have practiced something similar to this earlier.

Alexander the Great strongly promoted shaving during his reign in the 4th century BCE to avoid

"dangerous beard-grabbing in combat",

and because he believed it looked tidier.

Source: Wikipedia

As with just about every other topic I have delved into the issue of 'to beard or not to beard' within Judaism is the subject of debate and scrutiny.

So as this is a new topic to me, this is where I am so far:

a) Shaving with a razor is strictly forbidden by Jewish Law

b) The book of Leviticus in the Bible appears to completely forbid the shaving of the corners of the head and prohibits the marring of the corners of the beard


Humm I can see this topic is going to fascinate for some time to come. So a quick interim vote then...

Do you prefer:


a) Men with beards? Why?

b) Men without beards? Why

Is there a difference between Biblical and Rabbinical Kosher?

Messianic believers and Torah-observant Christians often use the phrase "biblically kosher" to differentiate between the laws that are explicitly commanded in Scripture and later rabbinic supplements and additions to these laws. And although there are certainly rabbinic supplements to biblical kosher laws, there is more of a basis for traditional kosher standards than many people realize.

Source: Biblical Kosher

Perhaps one of the more complex areas that I struggled with as I began my journey to a more torah observance' lifestyle was the idea of clean (kosher/kasher - fit or proper) and unclean (trief - forbidden) foods.

The basis for these laws are found in Leviticus 11 (clean / unclean); Leviticus 3:17 (animal fat) and Leviticus 17: 12-14 (not eating blood).

As a newbie, the question I was faced with was how did I work out quickly the best way to remember these laws. I developed a few simple questions to help me remember:


Does it chew cud AND have a clefted (divided) foot? - Yes? CAN EAT - disregard ANYTHING ELSE!

Does it have fins and scales? Yes? CAN EAT - disregard ANYTHING ELSE!


Does it have paws? - Yes? CAN'T EAT THIS GROUP!

Is the bird a predator? - Yes? CAN'T EAT THIS GROUP!

Does it 'creep'? - Yes? CAN'T EAT THIS GROUP!

These base line questions helped me greatly in the beginning - but obviously there is always much more to understand in this field.

Two excellent and highly recommended sources that will help your understanding are:

Biblical Kosher (I've added this excellent site to the side bar)

Biblical Holidays (for a comprehensive list of kosher and unclean foods)

The Dietary Challenge .....

I am a vegetarian – by choice. It was a decision I made on the spot some 10 years ago after being presented with a ‘flyer’ on how lambs bred in the UK were shipped to the continent with no water, food nor rest until they arrived at their destination. For now it doesn’t matter too much where they were going. But the graphic pictures of their suffering touched my heart.

Think of it as a one woman protest against the inhumanity of man.

Today, we have the likes 'real food' campaigners Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fernly-whatzizname bringing awareness to the general public of not only what goes into our food but the latest ‘news’ just how badly we keep our livestock. Their latest efforts are slowly but surely bring to the public at large attention – the plight of the battery hens.

As I watched the latest news this evening about an undercover reporter investing the RSPCA egg label – which assures the public that the birds are kept in ‘free range conditions’, I wonder if we have become ‘hardened’ to the cruel conditions we see reflected on our television sets or on the web. And yet I for one sincerely hope that these people and people like them never give up.

For a long time now I have been following the adventures of Sea Shepherd Captain Alex Cornelissen (who was fined recently $11,607 for '“crime” of witnessing and documenting the slaughter of seal pups (click here to read more.)

I wonder who in their right mind would actually eat ‘baby seal meat’ or worse - wear a coat made of baby seal fur? The Canadian Government still seems to think there is a market for their trade.

Sadly, all the crew of the Sea Shepherd can do is stand on their ships and watch at a distance as the ‘hunters’ leap from their ships and bludgeon the babies to death.

But you know what, I hold the purse strings in my own hands. It is my choice where I buy the food for my family.

Starting today, I refuse to buy my meat from the supermarkets and that includes eggs. I have heard that you can join a veg co-op – where they will bring you a box of different vegetables each week or month to your door.

So what if it costs a few pounds extra? Then we will have one less take away each week, or one new dress less each year. If my family choose to eat meat – then I will ensure that they are only eating animal produce that has come from an animal raised in as natural a state as possible.

Related links

• Hillside Animal Sanctuary
• United Poultry Concerns
• Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall Campaigns Tesco
• Campaign to give up Cheap Chicken
• Telegraph

Photos:

Battery Hens: visit United Poultry Concerns

Hook through Seal Head: visit Sea Shepherd News