Even Israel's Kibbutzim are Becoming Religious Traditionally socialist and secular Israel's Kibbutzim find religion.

While the Western world is turning away from God and religion, it is surprising to read a headline on Israel's left wing Ha'aretz news site saying: "Once bastions of secularism, Israel's kibbutzim find God". While the Western world has began to have the "Atheist Church", why would Israel's bastions of secularism rediscover God?

The Kibbutz was the original collective community, based on ideals of Zionism and socialism. They played a very important role in the building of the modern state of Israel. Kibbutzim worked on a basis of communal living and the vast majority were entirely secular. The oft heard phrase that Israel is a secular nation, finds its roots in the Kibbutz and the secular state that came in many ways from the Kibbutz movement. The famous Israeli general Moshe Dayan was the second child born on the first Kibbutz called Degania. The early state of Israel and the Kibbutz were in a way synonymous. Today the communal, socialist Kibbutz is a thing of the past. Nevertheless the secular kibbutz has continued to exist.

Israel has been becoming more religious over the years and to use the old phrase that "Israel is a secular nation", is completely out of date and out of touch with reality. Almost exactly 4 years ago, I did the Bible in the News on an opinion piece in Ha'aretz which had the title, "Let's face the facts, Israel is a semi-theocracy". The writer argued that Israel was already a semi-theocracy based on the facts that:

1. Only 44 percent of Israelis define themselves as secular and many of these are 'traditional', which means, in his words, "religious, but just a little".
2. Eighty-five percent of Israelis hold a Passover seder.
3. Sixty-seven percent fast on Yom Kippur, known to many as the day of atonement.
4. Almost every boy in Israel today has a bar-mitzvah.
5. In Israel there are no civil marriages or divorces, and there are almost no secular funerals.
6. The Western Wall is holy to almost all Israelis and the fact that Israel won't give up "holy" East Jerusalem is also based on religious faith.

In that Bible in the News I wrote that: "Many people are stuck back in the early days of the state of Israel, the days of the socialist secular kibbutz." So when I read this week that even the Kibbutzim are becoming religious I took notice.

Here is how the Ha'aretz article on Kibbutzim finding God describes the change:

"Two relatively recent developments may explain the change of heart among many kibbutzim and their willingness to reexamine their fraught relationship with Judaism. One is the collapse of the socialist model that dominated kibbutz life until the 1980s, and the other is the changing demographic of these communities, as more and more city dwellers seeking a better quality of life, many of them from more traditional backgrounds, have built homes in new neighborhoods established on kibbutz land.

"Beit Hashita is a case in point. “Until about 10 years ago, I had no connection to religion or tradition,” recalls Yonish. “But then the kibbutz was privatized and new people started moving in. After socialism collapsed, it seemed to me there was no glue to bind us together the way there used to be. I began to ask myself what do we have in common with the 200 new residents who’ve moved here, and the one thing I could come up with was Jewish tradition.”

"But it was something very personal, he acknowledges, that initially triggered his change of heart. “When my daughter got married and moved to England, I understood that just being an Israeli is not enough to tie us to this place,” he says. “That’s when I started going around the kibbutz and telling people, ‘Friends, we’ve run too far away from our roots.’”"

The fact is that either the land of Israel attracts you or repels you. You cannot separate the land from it's Hebrew language, literature. history and culture. When the Jews returned to the land it brought them back to the Hebrew language and with the language the literature - which first and foremost is the Hebrew Bible. The history of the Jewish people is inseparable from the land, in the ancient ruins, cities, valleys and mountains. Archeology is everywhere speaking of the great events in Israel's history; the forefathers of the nation, Abraham, Issac and Jacob; the great kings like David and Hezekiah; battles fought and lost and even yielding ancient copies of Hebrew literature like the Dead Sea Scrolls. When you come to Israel, you come to the Bible - you can't help it.

As the Jews have returned to the land and shook off the dust of the exile, they have inevitably become reconnected to their language, literature and history, which all lead in some way to the Hebrew Bible.

Eliezer Ben-Yehudah, the man who is called the father of modern Hebrew, the one who revived the language, was a secular man. In the book, "Hebrew Reborn" by Shalom Spiegel, he wrote of Ben-Yehudah:

"In his bent toward, extremes, Ben Jehuda became a non-religous Jew. He did not even hesitate to state that he, his wife, and his children belonged to no creed, and championed the idea that Judaism was to be built up on the purely mundane idea of folk, language, and homeland. Indeed, he saw a holy war against religion and tradition as a duty of the Hebrew renaissance. A very grave error on his part, balanced by the dark fanaticism of the rigidly pious, who excommunicated him repeatedly, refused to bury his wife and child, and even had him thrown into jail by slandering him to the Turkish government. Bitter strife, such as is possible only between brethren! He never divined, in the defiant obstinacy of the zealots, constructive forces from which his own life work was nurtured. Just as they could hardly have surmised that this heretic, through his unwearying service to the Hebrew word, unconsciously aroused the religious forces latent within it. For there is no such thing as creedless Hebrew. He who conjures up Hebrew at the same time involuntarily opens sluices for the obstructed springs of an ancient religious civilization. Though he may not welcome them, neither can he rid himself of the spirits he has called up.

"So, too, against his own will and intention, will the life work of Ben Jehuda, who thought to command the destinies of the Hebrew language, succumb to the ineffaceable runes of religion within the language. Which will do his life work no harm, but rather give it deeper significance. Unwittingly, he has become more than the mere renewer of spoken Hebrew."

Like Ben-Yehudah the Kibbutz tried to come to Israel and disregard religion and the God of Israel. But they are being forced in that direction, which the language, literature and history inevitably lead toward. The Hebrew Bible itself predicted that it would be this way, when the Jews returned to the land of their forefathers, Hosea 3:4,5.

"For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days."

Israel today may be a nation that is being drawn to the Hebrew scriptures and to their ancient historical roots, but this is not to the pure truth of the word of God. Today there are many forms of Judaism - none of them the truth - with everyman doing that which is right in his own eyes. Instruction in the things of God is required. This is spoken of in Jeremiah 3:14,15.

" Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: and I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding."

Israel needs teachers to show them the way of truth. Isaiah the prophet speaks of these teachers in chapter 30 - a prophecy for the latter day. Isaiah 30:19-21

"For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."

Today we see a searching and yearning for truth and for the God of Israel developing in the nation. A teachable disposition is a prerequisite for hearing the truth. Open ears and hearts are required. Seeing the nation of Israel turn away from Godlessness and secularism is a notable sign of the times and we should rejoice in it. Israel will of course become much more religious than it is today. The prophet Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 31:34,

"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

If Israel is being prepared for the return of Jesus Christ to be their King, are we prepared? That is the question for us to consider! Come back next week God willing as we continue to watch the Bible as it determines the course of world events in relation to the kingdom of God. This has been David Billington with you.

Report: Hamas and the Palestinian Authority in talks to form unity government

Jerusalem Post 17-Dec-13 [Here we go again!]
PA President Mahmoud Abbas is in talks with Hamas head Khaled Mashaal and Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to form unity government ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections, reported Palestinian news agency Ma’an Tuesday.
Abbas received phone calls from Mashaal and Haniyeh confirming their decision to join Hamas with Fatah, according to Ma’an sources.
This was not the first time that the two parties had announced an agreement to end their differences. Over the past few years, Fatah and Hamas have reached a number of such agreements that were never implemented.
Hamas leaders allegedly requested that the national unity government serve for six months instead of three as agreed in the 2012 Doha Agreement, one of many attempts at reconciliation between the rival Palestinian factions.
Ma’an sources suggested that Abbas would choose Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah to lead the unity government.
The two rival parties have been distant since 2006, when Hamas won the Palestinian democratic elections.
Clashes erupted between Fatah and Hamas the following year, leaving Hamas in control of the Gaza Strip and Fatah in control of the West Bank.

Iran proposes deep water gas pipeline for India

UPI. 17-Dec-13
A manager at the National Iranian Gas Exports Co. said negotiations were under way with Indian companies to deliver natural gas through a deep water pipeline.
Ali Amirani, marketing manager for the company, said the deep water natural gas pipeline would run through the Sea of Oman for Indian energy needs, Iran's semiofficial Fars News Agency reports.
"Negotiations were held with three Indian companies for [their] purchase of gas from Iran, and general agreements have been reached," he was quoted as saying Monday.
The official said the planned 870-mile pipeline would cost more than $4 billion and deliver at least 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas to India per day.
Iran has proposed Asian and European routes for natural gas deliveries. India was once considered the terminal end of an overland pipeline through Pakistan. Iran's land option has faded, however, because of the ramifications of Western economic sanctions on Iran's energy sector.
Fars News states Iran and India are historic energy partners. A joint commission on energy matters was set up in the 1990s.

Vatican continues to block audit of holocaust looted assets – Dr Jonathan Levy

InSerbia 16-Dec-13
The Vatican Authority for Financial Information tasked with monitoring the scandal plagued Vatican Bank continues to dodge requests to audit Vatican Bank accounts alleged to contain Holocaust era assets looted from the Balkans, says Dr Jonathan Levy from Brimstone & Co. in Washington.

Apparently, about 30 current and former Vatican Bank accounts have been identified as suspect including accounts controlled by the Franciscan Order and various Croatian Dioceses.
On December 4, 2013, the Vatican Financial Authority reached a bilateral agreement with the German Federal Criminal Police Office pledging cooperation on anti money laundering following a previous agreement with the Dutch Financial Intelligence Unit. Ironically, Germany and Holland have taken significant measures to deal with assets looted during the Second World War which continue to surface as in the recent case of over a billion dollars of Nazi looted artworks recovered in Munich last year.
Dr. Jonathan Levy, the attorney for several thousand claimants, Holocaust victims, their heirs, and organizations, has criticized the Vatican Financial Authority and its Director Rene Bruelhart: “Mr. Bruelhart and his immediate superior Cardinal Nicora are the ultimate insiders. They claim to be auditing accounts at the Vatican Bank but do not have the decency to respond to our repeated requests. From my point of view, they are continuing the ongoing Vatican cover up.”
Dr. Levy also noted that his firm’s investigations and ensuing litigation which commenced in 1998 has uncovered a Vatican Bank connection to looted assets from other countries including Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. Levy explained, “After World War Two, there was a pressing need to move assets from Soviet occupied lands as the Iron Curtain descended on eastern Europe; changing these assets into Church property and depositing it at the Vatican Bank was an effective method however these assets often were commingled with property looted by the Nazis and Axis regimes in Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Croatia.”
The funds at stake were derived from the Ustasha Treasury, consisting of gold and valuables looted from Yugoslavia during the Second World War and deposited at the Vatican Bank in 1946 and never accounted for, according to the statement from Brimstone & Co.
This week Levy has lodged a complaint with both the Dutch Financial Intelligence Unit and German Bundeskriminalamt following an unsuccessful three year effort to move the European Commission to investigate the Vatican Bank.
However, the EU concluded that anti money laundering treaties with the Vatican do not apply to the Vatican Bank and only the Vatican Financial Authority can call for an audit.

Noble Energy unveils offshore Israel expansion plans

Offshore-mag.com 17-Dec-13
Noble Energy says the onshore gas compression project at the Ashdod reception terminal on the Israeli coast is progressing. The facility is receiving supplies from the deepwater Tamar field in the Levantine basin.
By mid 2015, Noble aims to enhance deliverability at the plant to 1.2 bcf/d (34 MMcm/d), and increase to 1.5 bcf/d (42 MMcm/d) in 2016. Development of the recent Tamar Southwest discovery is to play a part in the expansion.
Noble’s next major deepwater Israeli development will be the 19-tcf (538-bcm) Leviathan field. It plans multiple phases of development with initial production in 2017.
The company sees further strong exploration potential on its acreage in the Eastern Mediterranean offshore, with around 3 Bbbl of gross unrisked oil potential in the deep Mesozoic play off both Cyprus and Israel, and 4 tcf (113 bcm) of natural gas potential off Cyprus.
Noble expects to resume exploration drilling in the region in late 2014 or early 2015.

Noble reports 3bln barrel oil potential between Cyprus and Israel

Cyprus Mail 17-Dec-13
Some 3 billion barrels of oil may lie in deepwater strata between Cypriot and Israeli offshore fields, US-based Noble Energy disclosed on Monday.
“Significant exploration potential remains on the Company’s acreage position in the Eastern Mediterranean, with approximately 3 billion barrels of gross unrisked oil potential in the deep Mesozoic play in both Cyprus and Israel and four trillion cubic feet gross of natural gas potential in Cyprus. Current plans are to resume exploration drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean in late 2014 or early 2015,” Noble said during a conference it hosted in Houston, Texas.
‘Unrisked’ is industry jargon for a crude estimate of reserves that does not factor in probabilities. It is a preliminary assessment derived from geological data from seismic surveys.
The news from Houston coincided with reports in the press here that Cyprus’ Block 12 may hold estimated oil reserves of between 1.2 and 1.4 billion barrels.
Phileleftheros reports that the reserves would translate into revenues of approximately €60bn for Cyprus.
Israeli news site Globes reported last month that updated estimates at Israel’s Leviathan field gave a 25 per cent probability of finding 1.5 billion barrels of oil beneath gas-bearing strata.
The Leviathan and Tamar fields in Israel, and Aphrodite in Cyprus, are the largest projects in which Noble Energy is involved in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Assuming 1.5 billion barrels are in Leviathan, the bulk of the remainder might presumably lie in Aphrodite.
In April 2010 the US Geological Survey estimated a mean of 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and a mean of 122 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas in the Levant Basin using a geology-based assessment methodology.

The Geopolitical Realities Behind the Ukraine-Russia Natural Gas Deal

Stratfor 17-Dec-13
After years of Ukrainian efforts to get lower natural gas prices from Russia, an agreement was reached Tuesday that has major geopolitical consequences. Following a meeting in Moscow between Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, it was revealed that Ukraine would receive a 33 percent discount on its natural gas supplies starting Jan. 1, from $400 to $268 per thousand cubic meters. Moscow also agreed to buy $15 billion worth of Ukrainian debt through Russia's National Welfare Fund.
The deal will allow Ukraine to boost its ailing finances, both by addressing its short-term need for cash and its longer-term need to cut monthly expenditures via lower natural gas prices. More important, the deal sends a strong political message that Kiev is inextricably tied to Moscow, not Brussels or Berlin. And whatever the cost of maintaining this relationship, Russia is willing to pay it.
Two recent developments made the long-sought natural gas agreement a reality. The first was Ukraine's request for billions in financial assistance from the European Union -- and the bloc's denial of the request -- several weeks ago. The second was Ukraine's subsequent rejection of the EU association and free trade agreements, which led to large protests on the streets of Kiev but also opened the door for Ukraine and Russia to finally make a deal.
Financial matters were key to Kiev's decision not to sign the landmark agreements with the European Union. Ukraine has a current account deficit of approximately $17 billion, much of it caused by an $11 billion annual natural gas bill from Russia. Moreover, in an effort to dissuade Ukraine from signing the agreements, Russia began to restrict trade and threatened further such restrictions if Ukraine were to follow through with the EU pacts. It was no coincidence that Kiev reached out to the European Union and asked for billions in financial assistance before the deal was signed. When the bloc made it clear that no such aid was forthcoming, Ukraine opted out of the deals, and now the country has turned to Russia for aid.
The European Union and Russia have long fought for influence over Ukraine, but with this deal Moscow proved its willingness to pay a steep price to keep Ukraine in its orbit. While Ukraine is a matter of interest for the European Union's neighborhood policy, it is vital to Russia's geopolitical existence. Therefore, Moscow was willing to put up billions of dollars if that is what it took to guarantee Kiev's orientation away from the West.

This is not to say that the European Union has completely lost out in the ongoing geopolitical tug of war over Ukraine. Yanukovich's moves have created dismay among EU officials and led to the eruption of protests in Kiev. The Europeans have supported these protests, and emerging opposition leaders such as Vitali Klitschko have backing from the likes of Germany. It is not clear whether Yanukovich will be able to manage the political opposition indefinitely, as he will face a significant challenge in the upcoming presidential election in 2015, if not sooner.
Regardless, Yanukovich ultimately saw no way around the deal with Russia. While the European Union offered political and economic integration into a bloc with potential benefits in the long term, Ukraine simply could not choose such a relationship at the expense of losing economic, energy and political ties with Russia. Russia made its demands on Ukraine known, and once those demands were met, Moscow was prepared to offer key financial incentives to assist Kiev.
The deal therefore highlighted several issues regarding Ukraine. One is that both sides wanted Ukraine in their bloc, but only Russia was willing to pay for it. It also showed the durability of the Russo-Ukrainian relationship, especially during a crisis. The deal also illustrated that when it comes to wooing Ukraine, the European Union simply does not have the same fundamental interests or resources as Russia, especially since Europe is struggling with its own financial crisis.
There are still many unknowns, particularly concerning Ukraine's domestic political situation and whether Yanukovich will be able to ride out the protests. However, any political or personnel changes in Ukraine cannot overcome the country's geopolitical realities, of which Russia plays a crucial part. Any leader in Kiev would face the same political and economic constraints as Yanukovich in trying to get closer to Europe. The events of the past few weeks, especially this natural gas deal, serve as important reminders of those limitations.