The Flowering of Redemption

Today The 2 Spies would like to share with you from the Israel365 website. Thier posting is so appropriate to the theme of redemption that we have been focusing on... we felt we must share with you their thoughts. Also... while on their site be sure to sign up to have beautiful photos and inspiring words delivered to your email daily... 365 days! (You can also sponser a day's posting! What a neat thing to be part of) Enjoy....

“Your servants cherish her stones and favor her dust”

PSALMS (102:15)

כִּי רָצוּ עֲבָדֶיךָ אֶת אֲבָנֶיהָ וְאֶת עֲפָרָהּ יְחֹנֵנוּ

תהילים ק’’ב:ט’’ו

Hebrew Lesson

kee RAH-tzoo ah-vah-DE-kha et ah-vah-NE-ha ve-et ah-fah-RAH ye-kho-NAY-noo

Today’s Bible Lesson: Special Guest Writer

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin,

Chancellor and Founder of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation.


While the Bible is full of God’s promise to redeem the Jewish people, many have asked what the Jewish people have done to deserve His redemption. After all, too many Jews are far from a Torah lifestyle. Today’s verse demonstrates that our redemption will begin through our commitment to the Land of Israel. Even if the Jewish people demonstrate an insufficient commitment to Torah and acts of loving kindness, as long as they love the “dust and stones” of Israel, it will be considered sufficient by God to allow for the redemption. The Torah would like us to begin with commitment to our Land and then to progress to commitment to loving kindness and eventually to total involvement in Torah. Many of the early twentieth-century Zionists may not have been observant, but nevertheless, it was their love of the land which paved the way for our period of the beginning of the flowering of our redemption.

Photograph of the Negev Desert by Galit Trager.

Thank You

Today’s Israel365 Scenes and Inspiration is sponsored by Wendy Finch McCusker of Columbus, Ohio.
For sponsorship information Click here.