Spiritual Reflections and Torah-Based Writing

Mi Casa, Es Su Casa The house on North Van Pelt Street would never be considered a ‘High-Value’property; the surrounding neighborhood alone assured any wary visitor of that. No matter how hard you tried, you could not dress it up without throwing good money after bad. It possessed none of the desirable attributes that are described on real estate websites; such as curb appeal, an expansive backyard, or even a garage. It wasn’t located in a great school district, or near the h

‘Wednesday’s child is full of woe....’ Adjusting to college life after aging out of the foster care system, required a system of strategies no teenager, in my opinion, should ever have to employ. I spent four years navigating a space without the benefit of a map, or emotional support. I learned to adapt, always keeping a Plan B simmering on the back burner. Indeed, there were many irons in the fire; and not all were of my own choosing. In the 70’s Widener’s campus life was t

Things To Remember About the Biblical Calendar It is the 8th Month of the biblical Calendar. The 1st Day of the Monthly Count begins the count to the next Full Moon. The Lunar Cycle duration for this month will be exactly 30 days, and the month shall be complete. Then, the 9th month, or Rosh Chodesh (Head) of the 9th month will begin exactly at sunrise. The Conjunction Lunar phase (the Dark Moon), occurs in the middle of the month; it is not 'new,' as it occurs at the midpoin

'Wednesday's child is full of woe....' I question if foster parents, counselors, social workers, directors of placement agencies, or legislators, are truly aware of the damage inflicted upon a child who is repeatedly moved from one foster home to another. I'm guessing they would say they are; however, the fact that nothing appears to have changed in the 55 years since I was ‘in the system;’ forces me to say they are not being entirely truthful. Or, they slept through a few Ch

‘Wednesday’s child is full of woe’ In the winter of January 1971, I was a senior at West Philadelphia High School learning about the social and political environments of the time, and how to navigate them. I was discovering music, and my tastes leaned towards Pharoah Saunders, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane. I was into The Last Poets, a spoken-word group noted for political activism, heavily sauced with jazz percussion and Afro-Beats. Facing Mt. Kenya (Jomo Kenyatta), Invisib

‘Wednesday’s child is full of woe....’ When people discover that I am a former foster child, and that I graduated college in spite of it, at the time I did, they tend to form a lot of conclusions. They assume my choices were driven by deep academic aspirations, clear career goals, or an unquenchable thirst to experience the world outside of my West Philadelphia neighborhood. Nothing could be further from the truth. My reasons were never as noble as that. If asked, I always

The 12th Hour: 3pm to 6pm Allow me to begin by saying: I am, without the influence of any religious denomination, Sola Scriptura by nature. I do not ‘spin’ the Word of Yahuah. I share what is written, verbatim, as is; and I do not debate. I trust that Yahuah in spite of human transcribers, translations, transliterations, and the passage of time; in His omniscience, has foreseen the present-day circumstances and preserved His Truth intact, for those with eyes to see. The follo

9th Hour: 12Noon - 3pm The Bible has many incidences of spiritual attacks against those who had the את Seal of the Covenant, whether by birth and the Torah, or as Branches of the Vine via the Besorah of Yahusha, HaMashiach. These incursions by the unrighteous upon the body, mind, and territory of the righteous; along with the types of entities and their methods of attack, have been covered in the two previous ‘Hours of the Day’ and also the 'Watches of the Night' essays. Desp

The 6th Hour: 9am to 12 Noon The first order of business, as it relates to the 6th hour, is to identify the enemy and the method of attack it uses against us. In Psalms 91:1-16, David identifies three adversaries and describes their character and modus operandi. He would’ve been familiar with the ancient near eastern pantheon of gods, as he often found himself surrounded by heathen nations. During the years David was pursued by King Saul, he hid in caves, camped in deserts,

3rd Hour: Sunrise to 9am The Night Watches were all about establishing a defensive line against the emissaries of HaShatan. We learned to ‘close the gates’ against the influences of the Wicked One at sunset, how to employ strategies to keep his emissaries from over-running the city, and how to ‘hold the line’ against the ‘terror by night,’ and the ‘pestilence that stalks in darkness’. Finally, we covered how to neutralize the schemes of the devil before the sun rises. This mo

The 6th Month There was a time when the biblical calendar looked exactly like this. This is the Time keeping method of Yahuah, and it was/is a full-moon oriented lunisolar calendar. That is until Constantine, The Great, Hillel II Nasi of the Sanhedrin, and Pope Gregory XIII got their hands on it. It was all downhill from there. Now untwist your underwear; the following is biblical and historical truth, whether you want to accept it or not.Either way, that’s between you and

The 4th Watch: 3am to 6am/Sunrise In the 3rd Watch, aka, the Cock Crowing Watch, we saw how King David stood in the breach to combat HaShatan and his emissaries, for the glorification of Yahuah, Tseva’ot(Lord of Hosts). His tactic was the establishment of a system of continuous praise and worship in the Tabernacle. In the 4th Watch, we will consider the spiritual strategy of Yahusha, HaMashiach for combating the dark forces roaming all four of the Night Watches. Entering You

The 3rd Watch: 12Am to 3 am The bible warns us that there are indeed things that ‘go bump in the night.’ We have at our disposal, scriptural evidence when these ‘things’ (or their works), are most likely to be encountered, and it is predominately during the Watches of the Night. Fortunately, the bible also gives us examples on how to combat these malevolent forces; which are unrighteous, murderous, and capable of all manner of deceit, in order to achieve their objective: whi

The 2nd Watch (Midnight Watch): 9pm - 12am ‘Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out your heart like water before the face of Yahuah: lift up your hands toward Him for the life of your young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.’ Lamentations 2:19 When I began studying the Watches of the Night, and the Hours of the Day, I started with the night watches, because of Genesis 1:5; ‘....And the evening and the morning were the fi

The 1st Watch (Evening Watch): 6pm - 9pm One of the first things I learned regarding the 4 Watches of the Night is that if we consider ourselves ‘In the truth,’ then we should take to heart 1 Thessalonians 5:16, which says: ‘Pray without ceasing.’ I’ve heard some people say: ‘How can I pray without ceasing? I have things to do. I have to work.’ That scripture does not mean that Yahuah expects us to be on our knees continually praying 24/7. Even Daniel could not do that

I propose a paradigm shift, and it is simply this: The world has miscalculated the timing for the Counting of the Omer, and subsequently, the timing of Shavu'ot. It is not 50 Days after the Pesach, as is traditionally taught; but rather it is 50 Days added to the Seventh Shabbat, and then we are to offer a new meat (grain) offering unto Yahuah. Yahuah gave us explicit instructions. All we have to do is follow them to the letter (or the number) of the law. Where we err is thin

‘My soul waits for you O Yah, more than the watchman who waits for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.’ Tehilliym (Psalms) 130:6 We have come to understand that the time keeping measures we utilize today did not exist in antiquity. Just as the Gregorian calendar we use today was not a factor for timekeeping in the bible; so too were other measures used for marking the hourly passage of time in Abraham’s day, but later modified in Yahusha’s time. Th

‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, you shall not covet your neighbor’s woman, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.’ Exodus 20:17, Cepher Bible The 10th Commandment If you believe that Yahuah Elohayka has known you before He formed you in the womb; why would it be difficult for you to believe that having done so, He would also have everything set up for you to fulfill your legacy, receive your inherit

‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.’ 4 Exodus 20:16, Cepher Bible The 9th Commandment The transgression of this Commandment has been the downfall of many biblical characters. Allow me to list a few: Yezebel reported to her husband, King Ahab, that Naboth had cursed Yah and Ahab. Naboth had not. As a result, Naboth was dragged outside the city, and stoned to death. This was done so that Ahab could acquire Naboth’s vineyard. 1 Kings 21:1-16 Doeg, a servant