Youth Sabbath

What are your plans for next week’s Sabbath?

Some youth around the country are planning a coordinated Sabbath with the theme “Balance between the Word and Worship” and everyone’s invited to participate! Join in wherever you are, interpreting the theme as best suits your congregation and post your experience over on the Youth for YHWH facebook page!

Send pictures and even videos. And don’t forget to check out what others have posted as well! This is a great way to get us more connected as youth in the Body of the Messiah! Have a blessed Sabbath all!

Well Done

While walking on this narrow road
I want to serve You, oh Yah
And at the end of this journey
I want to hear You say "well done"

 I want to be a light to the world
A light that doesn't go out
I want to show the lost ones who You are

And when this path ends,
I want to finish strong
Yah, I want to hear You say
"Well done"

Matthew 25:21—His master said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy master.

                               May you all have a blessed Sabbath
                                                           ~Jenna


 

*Song originally by Moriah Peters*

Yah Will Protect Us - Jenna Comfort

Though the storm arises,

Yah will protect us.

When the thunder roars,

And when the wind passes,

Yah will protect us.

And when the floods rage,

And when the winds roar,

There’s no need to be afraid.

‘Cause Yah will be there,

To guide you through.

Thunder crashes in the distance,

Lightning shatters in the North.

The winds pick up their power,

But Yah, He’ll lead you through.

And when the floods rage,

And when the winds roar

There’s no need to be afraid.

‘Cause Yah is there,

To see you through.

The waters rage,

The winds roar,

The rain begins to fall.

But don’t worry,

Yah’s arm is holding you.

And when the floods rage,

And when the winds roar,

There’s no need to be afraid.

‘Cause Yah is there,

Yah is there,

To see you through.

Though the storm arises,

Yah will protect us.

When the thunder roars,

And when the wind passes,

Yah will protect us.

"Seeing Death" by Liza du Preez

What did the rabbi mean? Reuven thought to himself, shaking his head, while his mind combed through the thoughts about this morning's lesson in the Shul. He climbed into the bus which was heading over the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco, where he was going to work, heavily burdened with reasoning and contemplation.

The meaning of life, he seriously pondered this thought. He recalled that the rabbi talked about life – about chai; the meaning and the reason for one's own life. Chai in Hebrew meant to be alive. Reuven sat back in his bus seat and sighed while confusion spun around in his brain. He watched the untamed sea through the red metal barriers; slide by slide it passed by.

Slide by slide, frame by frame just like life passed by, he thought. Reuven started to think about chai. He thought about his family, his grandparents, and about his parents. He thought about what they had endured to keep their emunah – their faith and their chai. He could remember the tattooed numbers on his grandfather's and grandmother's arms, which they were forced to get in the concentration camps of World War II.

These thoughts about the torturing his grandparents had to suffer were too painful to recall. Reuven knew and remembered that the rabbi at his Shul said everything in life is a test that had to be passed to form one's character, one's faith and one's life. He looked down at his small leather Siddur – Jewish prayer book and at his leather Chumash – the first five books of Moses.

Yo'ma ytz'veha Ha'shem chasdo ova'ha'lailah shiroh imi t'filah l'El chai'ya. He recited the verse from memory. This verse is the verse in Psalm 42:8 the rabbi used. What a beautiful verse, he thought, when translated to English it means – Yet HaShem will command his loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the G-d of my life.

Reuven sat back in the bus seat and sighed again. He looked around in the bus, which contained only a handful of people. He turned back and looked at the sea again through his window. They were in the lane closest to the sea and the barrier. The weather outside was dull, gray clouds and a gray sky framed the stormy sea. Barely visible mist droplets softly tapped against the window and slowly ran down. He watched the Bridge barriers pass by, again slide by slide, alternating the shadows in the bus.

Then something out of the ordinary caught Reuven's eye and a sudden uneasy feeling filled the pit of his stomach. The bus slowed a little because of the morning traffic. Reuven looked back out of his misty window. His worst fear was realised although it felt like it was all happening very slowly frame by frame.

The wind started blowing and a cold chill filled the air. A few meters back he could see a person standing on the edge of the bridge, on the outside of the barrier; ready to jump.
Reuven felt useless, but he and the man shared a short moment as the pale man's eyes looked right into Reuven's soul through his eyes. Sad eyes which masked a torn heart behind his pale face. Reuven's lips and cheeks felt stiff like stone. An icy cold feeling ran down his spine to his legs, his heart aching in his chest. He felt numb throughout his whole body.

It all seemed surreal to Reuven. Then the man jumped; free falling from the bridge down into the wild sea. As the person fell from the bridge, Reuven's heart felt like falling with him. Nothing could be heard; everything could be seen. Flashing in his brain, over and over, were the vivid pictures of death, frame by frame and moment by moment. His heart pounded in his throat, its beating echoed in his ears. Quickly a shiver ran throughout his whole body, accompanied by his trembling hands. He looked around at the cars, but no one seemed to notice it.

Chai, he uttered, "lost," he shuddered, letting out a cold breath, "just like that." It was gone in that one moment and for that one person who jumped. He knew that the Golden Gate Bridge had the highest suicide rate, but he never vaguely imagined he would witness one. Almost immediately he started earnestly reciting Kaddish – the Prayer after a death - in Hebrew.

And protect him from the tribulations of the grave... Forgive and pardon him for all his sins, for there is no person so righteous on earth who does only good and never sins... Praying the words of the Kaddish made him realise the rabbi's message, which now made more sense each time he thought about it.

"Chai without emunah-faith and without emet-truth is without life, a person is then without soul. If a person knows the Almighty, then a life is worth living, with emet-truth in emunah-faith. Then, if a person is living a life worth living, he needs boundaries, teachings, laws - the Torah - first five books of Moses." He spoke these words out loud with the Rabbi's melodious voice and donated wisdom accompanying Reuven's Kaddish.

End.

A Written Goodbye - Felecia Buck

You stare and the white screen stares back

Fingers hovering of the keys.

You know this must be done,

But how can you make this move.

You had never met, though friends you were;

Cherishing the time you got to know one another.

Now it’s times to part ways,

But all you can do is stare.

I don’t know the whole story,

But I know the feeling of loss.

You may think that I don’t understand

And you’d be right.

Your feelings are yours to keep,

No one else can feel like you.

There is only one that knows how you feel

Who understands your sorrow.

It is the Heavenly Father

The one that made you.

This poem is for the ones that have ever lost a friend. Though it may seem like no one knows the pain that you go through, you can always look to the Father that formed you, who knows the number of hairs on your head. He is the one that you can trust with all your hopes, dreams and sorrows. You may have gone and/or go through times that the people you know will hurt you, betray your trust and maybe even leave you, but He is always watching over you and is waiting to be a part of your life.

   So I pray this prayer over whoever reads this:

  Dear Father,

I pray that whoever reads this that whatever pain or sorrow they have, they will give it up to You. You are the one that they need no matter the trouble that they are in. A relationship with you is what this needs. Please Father, soften their hearts to you.

Your Will be done.

Music and Photos

Greetings, everyone! We finally have for you the featured content we have been metioning for the past month and a half, or so.

First, we have a playlist of music by Micaela Avalos, a talented young artist who is using her gifts to praise YHWH. You can also find and download the following songs on the Music page.


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The next thing we have to feature are the photos of Jenna Comfort. She has been a regular contributor to the website, as far as photography goes, and so we thought we would share some of her great photography skills here. You can also check out some of her pictures on the Photos section of the website.

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I hope you enjoyed these two short features. Please comment and let us know if you would like to see more brief features like this. There is a lot of great content on this site which we would love to share with everyone.

Until next time, Yah bless!
Jared
Youth for YHWH Editor

Judgment - Andrew Leach

Andrew shares some thoughts about the idea of judgment in the scriptures.

Here is the link to Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQIR1GWiGAI