December 2006

   Merry Christmas everyone! This is indeed the Christmas Season, beginning at sundown on 24 December and ending at sundown on 5 January. It’s a time of “Holly Jolly Christmas“, eggnog, and gift giving too. But it is also the time of The Incarnation. In fact, this IS the reason for the season, the “invasion” by God as a man, into our world.

So what and why is it important? Well, in his excellent and very scholarly article, “The Importance of the Incarnation”, Bob Deffinbaugh , Th.M., writes:

In the past, God had revealed Himself through His works (as recorded in the Scriptures), His world (Psalm 19:1-6), and His word (Ps. 19:7-14). In the coming of Christ, God was revealed in the person of Jesus Christ:

• God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power (Heb. 1:1-3a).

• For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him (John 1:17-18).

• In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness did not comprehend it . . . . There was a true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him (John 1:4-5, 9-10).

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The Incarnation is the real reason for this Christmas Season. So with your holiday mocha-cappucino in one hand and Christmas cookie in the other, I invite you to read more of Mr. Deffinbaugh’s full article at Bible.Org by clicking to it at this link HERE.

(stained glass photo courtesy of St. Hilary’s Episcopal Church)

I had almost forgotten that this is not just the season of the celebration of the birth of Christ, it’s also the Festival of Light for the Jews! If your like me, you know that there’s a bunch of candles in there someplace, a top called a dreidel and, well, that’s about it. But there’s much more to this holiday than meets the eye! According to an article in Judaism 101, Chanukkah:

Chanukkah, the Jewish festival of rededication, also known as the festival of lights, is an eight day festival beginning on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev.

Chanukkah is probably one of the best known Jewish holidays, not because of any great religious significance, but because of its proximity to Christmas. Many non-Jews (and even many assimilated Jews!) think of this holiday as the Jewish Christmas, adopting many of the Christmas customs, such as elaborate gift-giving and decoration. It is bitterly ironic that this holiday, which has its roots in a revolution against assimilation and the suppression of Jewish religion, has become the most assimilated, secular holiday on our calendar.

The Story

The story of Chanukkah begins in the reign of Alexander the Great. Alexander conquered Syria, Egypt and Palestine, but allowed the lands under his control to continue observing their own religions and retain a certain degree of autonomy. Under this relatively benevolent rule, many Jews assimilated much of Hellenistic culture, adopting the language, the customs and the dress of the Greeks, in much the same way that Jews in America today blend into the secular American society.

More than a century later, a successor of Alexander, Antiochus IV was in control of the region. He began to oppress the Jews severely, placing a Hellenistic priest in the Temple, massacring Jews, prohibiting the practice of the Jewish religion, and desecrating the Temple by requiring the sacrifice of pigs (a non-kosher animal) on the altar. Two groups opposed Antiochus: a basically nationalistic group led by Mattathias the Hasmonean and his son Judah Maccabee, and a religious traditionalist group known as the Chasidim, the forerunners of the Pharisees (no direct connection to the modern movement known as Chasidism). They joined forces in a revolt against both the assimilation of the Hellenistic Jews and oppression by the Selucid Greek government. The revolution succeeded and the Temple was rededicated.

According to tradition as recorded in the Talmud, at the time of the rededication, there was very little oil left that had not been defiled by the Greeks. Oil was needed for the menorah (candelabrum) in the Temple, which was supposed to burn throughout the night every night. There was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight day festival was declared to commemorate this miracle. Note that the holiday commemorates the miracle of the oil, not the military victory: Jews do not glorify war.

You can read more about Chanukkah at the full article on Judaism 101 at this link HERE.

AND for a family taste tested Kugelly good treat during Chanukkah, click to our article, Kugelly-goodness, from our test kitchens!

(photo courtesy of Brew*Crew’s Photos, used under Creative Commons license)

If your going to First Event 2007 and haven’t signed up yet you should! The discounted early registration deadline ENDS Sunday 12/10/06. So sign up for registration at the Official First Event Web Site this by clicking to this link HERE.

Beck’s Cafe has a bevy of coffee swillers, ne’er-do-wells, vagabonds, glam girls and handsome men as patrons, one of our fav’s is a genteman from down South. He sent along what is probably the most unusual, but certainly memorable business card promoting a photography business that I’ve seen in a long time, “Brides to Bitches”.

Now, how can the name of a photo studio called “Brides to Bitches” NOT stick in your memory? What ideas can you think of to make your business memorable?

Think AIDs is only an issue if you shoot up? Or maybe if your a gay male cruising three or four times a night for sex? Think again, and read about Regan Hoffman. You might be surprised:

Regan Hofmann grew up in the tony suburbs of Princeton, N.J. When she went to high school in the 80s, she was terrified of AIDS.

“By the mid-90s, I had never heard of a woman — a heterosexual woman who was not an IV-drug user — having HIV,” Hofmann says. “I perceived myself to be literally at no risk for HIV.”

But in 1996, Regan contracted HIV from her first and only boyfriend after her divorce. She was so embarrassed that she kept it a secret. And because she had health care, she could keep it a secret from her friends. For about eight years, she only told her immediate family.

You can - and should - read the rest of her story at the National Public Radio web site. You can reach Ms. Hofmann’s important story by clicking to it at this link at NPR HERE.

(photo courtesy of ElektraCute’s Photos, used under Creative Commons License)

Today is World’s Aid Day. The facts on this scourge are pretty telling:

• 38.6 Million people are living with HIV worldwide
• At the end of 2003, an estimated 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 persons in the United States were living with HIV/AIDS
• 2.8 Million people died of AIDs in 2005
• Over 15 million children have been orphaned by AIDs worldwide
• Nationwide, AIDS is the leading cause of death for African-American adults aged 25-34
• The younger women are, the more vulnerable they are to HIV infection. Across the country, among teens (13-19) who are infected with HIV, girls accounted for more than half (57%) of new HIV infections in 2001.