WHO IS THE CHOSEN PEOPLE AND WHAT IS THE HOLY TONGUE? When reading the Bible one cannot overlook the significance of Israel for the well being of the world. The early books of the Torah reveal the importance of the nation chosen and destined by God to deliver the word of the Lord, his laws, his morals and his plan for the world. Accepting, and later proliferating the belief in one God was the major task of the people of Israel. "For from Zion Torah will come forth and the word of the Lord - from Jerusalem" is, therefore, a mission as well as a destiny. While the early books unfold the history, the latter books, namely all the prophets, relate and project to the future. The role of Israel for the world has not ended yet. Nor was Israel replaced by another chosen people. Despite God's repeated promise to never abandon Israel, many groups of otherwise pure hearted believers, err by thinking that they are now the chosen "Israel". This is indeed a sweet thought, but it sharply contradicts God's greatest promise to his original chosen Israel. But whether the term Israel has been broadened or extended, anyone agrees that God's plan for Israel and for the world is not that simple and clear. Attesting to this obscurity are the mountains of books written throughout history, attempting to understand and explain this great plan. In the past, no serious attempt was made to discern the secrets of the Bible without possessing a good command of its language - Hebrew. TO KNOW THE HEBREW LANGUAGE AND ITS HISTORY IS TO UNDERSTAND ISRAEL AND HER PEOPLE Any modern time lawyer or judge is frequently concerned and always aware of the difficulties entailing second-hand stories. In fact, we all know that we are closer to the truth when we hear it first-hand from the people involved, or in other words, directly from the source. All that, when we still speak the same common language. Distortion of words and ideas is one of many inevitable human shortcomings. It is much more apparent when translating from one language to another. Added to the normal human distortion is the factor of a foreign language with all its implication. Cultural, grammatical and contextual differences make the task of translating any writing a very difficult and risky issue. This is especially evident when translating the Bible, its secrets and its complexity to another language, let it be English, French or Greek. This is why learning the culture of a nation, visiting its sites, meeting its people and learning its language is essential for understanding it. Israel and the Bible are one interwoven living and ever existing entity. The people of modern Israel are the only people in the world that speak the Holy tongue, very much the same as the people of ancient Israel. The language that God has chosen for His Bible is the language of Israel, and therefore, the essence of the Torah is the essence of Israel and visa versa. One cannot fully learn the Bible without learning Israel, and Israel is incomprehensible without understanding the Bible. The tool to a better understanding of both is one - Hebrew.
	What's the connection between the ancient Hebrew Alphabet and a bull, a camel and "the Cross?"

 

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