18 February 2018

Wine Season Is Upon Us

3 Adar 5778

I recently heard from Rav Richter the following which he brought from the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, if I am not mistaken...

There are two issurim regarding Jews, gentiles and the drinking of wine: 1) Jews may not drink wine together with gentiles; and, 2) Jews may not drink wine served by gentiles.  [See further here and here.]

The resulting separation that this brings about between Jews and gentiles is what saved us during this season of time on two different occasions.

The two "Peh" holidays - Purim and Pesach - feature the drinking of wine prominently in their narratives. 

In Egypt, we kept our language, our Hebrew names and our distinct mode of dress, remaining separate and apart from the Egyptians, hence we merited to drink the four cups of wine at the Pesach seder.

On the other hand, in exile in the Persian Empire, the Jews sat and ate and drank wine in the presence of King Achashverosh and his nation at a grand banquet and were nearly destroyed as a result. Now, every Purim, when we sit and drink wine in holiness with our fellow Jews at the Purim seudah, we are making a tikun for that sin of mixing with the gentiles and drinking wine with them.

With this in mind, it is no mystery why the ovdei avodah zarah of Hayovel attached themselves davka to the wineries of Eretz Yisrael. Their stated goal from the very beginning was to eliminate the separation between Jews and gentiles.  As admitted and even admired by one Jewish writer: "As a group of Christian Zionists, Hayovel acts as a bridge between the two religions in a totally unprecedented manner,...."

Further to the wine, their idolatrous worship of the man-god Yeshu is indivisible from their volunteer work davka in Israel's vineyards!
HaYovel Ministries has designated "worship leaders" to guarantee that "praise and worship" is ongoing continuously in the vineyards during the working period. 
Volunteer Nate Taylor: "A group of worship leaders who have taken different times throughout the day to make sure that there's continuous praise/worship and prayer throughout the vineyards. These vineyards belong to our Abba (God, the Father) in that our praise and worship is an important part of that cycle to recognize who Ha-Shem is. I believe it does motivate and encourage others, not only to work harder and faster, but they're not even thinking about that, they're thinking about how we praise Ha-Shem throughout the day, not only with our words and our lips, but with our actions."  
An affiliate of HaYovel encouraging their followers to volunteer writes:
I have drunk the wine from the hills of Samaria. That is the wine that, one day, the Messiah will drink at the great reunion in Jerusalem for all His Believers!!
...What if you were among the workers, who picked the grapes, of the winery from which the Messiah picks that big bottle of wine??!! 
HaYovel writes in a newsletter:
At HaYovel we absolutely love weddings! .....and because we believe the vineyards have been and are being prophetically planted, pruned and harvested on the mountains of Israel specifically for the wine served at the great wedding feast in Jerusalem .....we feel it is important for us to do anything and everything we can to help.    [See further here.]
The WINE is a running theme with them in their end times vision, right up to the present day.


 More about wine and avodah zarah here...



May all the true Jews merit to do teshuvah and present themselves a pure and holy, completely separate nation to HKB"H, especially at this season which mirrors our redemption.