THE ROLE OF THE TWO WITNESSES THAT BEAR WITNESS OF THE BRIDEGROOM

Interesting.  We are on the cusp of meeting the two witnesses that precede the coming of the Bridegroom:

The Witnesses

By Naftali Silberberg

Their Function
The Sages extrapolated from the words of the Scriptures1 that all matters pertaining to the transacting of marriage and divorce must be effected in the presence of two witnesses. These witnesses will be able to testify regarding the marital status of the couple, if doubt in this area ever arises; but more importantly, they actually effect the marriage (or divorce). According to Jewish law, the two witnesses play the most pivotal role in the marriage ceremony.
The involvement of witnesses is needed several times during the course of the wedding ceremony. The same two witnesses can perform all the different functions,2 or different sets of witnesses can be used -- which is traditionally the case, due to the desire to bestow honors on as many individuals as possible.
The following parts of the ceremony require witnesses:

• According to Jewish law, the witnesses play the most pivotal role in the marriage ceremonyThe tena'im (engagement contract) must be signed by two witnesses.3
• The ketubah (marriage contract) must also be signed by witnesses.
• The witnesses who actually effect the marriage are the ones who stand beneath the chupah and witness the kiddushin (betrothal) -- which occurs when the groom places the ring on the bride's finger -- and hear the betrothal words which he utters at that moment.
  After the chupah, these two witnesses follow the bride and groom to the Yichud Room, where they ascertain that there is no one in the room besides the bride and groom, and observe the door being shut and locked. They then wait outside the room for the amount of time halachically necessary for the couple to remain secluded.

Qualifications
For all the aforementioned functions, male, Torah-observant adults over the age of bar mitzvah are required.
Relatives of the bride or groom cannot serve as witnesses. The following relatives of either the bride or groom are disqualified from being witnesses: a father or step-father; grandfather or step-grandfather; great-grandfather, etc.; sons and sons-in-law; grandsons and grand-sons-in-law; brothers and brothers-in-law; uncles and great-uncles (by blood or marriage); cousins (by blood or marriage); and nephews or great-nephews (by blood or marriage).
By the same token, the two witnesses cannot be related to each other.
Because the wedding ceremony is attended by family members and others who are not qualified to be witnesses, the officiating rabbi or master of ceremonies customarily announces the names of the two selected witnesses; while emphasizing that only these two are serving as witnesses, to the exclusion of all others in attendance.

Footnotes
1.	Talmud Sotah 3b, based on Deuteronomy 24:1; 19:15.
2.	According to certain halachic opinions, the kiddushin (betrothal) witnesses should not be the same ones who sign the ketubah (wedding contract).
3.	In many communities, this document is completed and signed before the wedding, sometime during the engagement period. Click here for more information on this topic.

By Naftali Silberberg

Rabbi Naftali Silberberg is a writer, editor and director of the curriculum department at the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute. Rabbi Silberberg resides in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, Chaya Mushka, and their three children.

EXCELLENT TESTIMONY BY A BAPTIST MINISTER ABOUT THE BOOK OF MORMON

I have bashed with the best.  From Ed Decker to Tal Bachman to my share of Baptists and  a few Baptist ministers.  This guy seems to have a good spirit about him and may need some water sometime in the near future.....

Great testimony:

https://youtu.be/p8X8a7DtwUI

 

Enjoy!

A LATE TRIBUTE TO JOSEPH SMITH - ONE AMAZING MAN

Praise to that man......

I have a lead at work and many, many loved ones who would rather spit on him than say anything positive of him.  All will have to one day answer for the sullen attitudes towards him.  I find my heart and soul resonating with everything he said.  I stand in awe of his life - though I have 8 years on him, I could NEVER have held a candle to his accomplishments.  Though many may have tossed him to the side as something of naught, they will still be responsible for what he brought forth in the judgment.  Ignorance or turning a blind eye, once truth has been delivered into ones' life, does not absolve one of the responsibility of that truth once it has been found.  Knowledge is a delight - and a burden.  Once you find truth, you cannot run from it - you cannot shirk it.  For every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.  It truly is hard to watch loved ones kick against the pricks.  Agency is a difficult thing - but a necessary thing.

This tribute was put together by a FB pal.  I second this:

Happy Birthday to a man with a staggering list of accomplishments for his relatively short lifetime. He was a candidate for the presidency of the United States, proposing a remarkable platform that offered solutions to “the slave problem,” championed the elimination of imprisonment for debt, made recommendations for a national bank, and suggested the annexation of Texas, Mexico, and Canada to the United States. He founded the city of Nauvoo, IL, helping to author its charter and supervise its growth in the early 1840s into one of the largest cities in Illinois. He served as one of Nauvoo’s mayors, judges, and aldermen. He commanded its armed militia, the Nauvoo Legion, that at its peak was a force of about 3,000 men, and, in addition to all this, he oversaw the construction of two major temples. He was the preeminent American linguist, translator, economic theorist, city planner, and anthropologist of his time. He understood theoretical physics a generation prior to the birth of Einstein and Rosen, advocated for racial equality, women's rights, and prison reform. Happy Birthday Joseph Smith Jr.

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS!

They have discovered the hormone integral in turning off the sweet tooth!  Woohoo!

That is what I would like for Christmas:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12068531/Anti-sweet-tooth-hormone-discovered-by-scientists.html

Every dentist's nightmare.....

PRESENTING THE FIRST THAT OPENS THE WOMB TO THE LORD

Our family tradition is to read Luke 2 on Christmas Eve.  In reading tonight, I could not help but notice the parallels of the loss of our son to SIDS and these passages of scripture:

22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;

 23 (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)

There were so many things surrounding the birth of Jesus that were not coincidental and truly caused his parents to ponder and know that His mission was to be monumental.

The child that I lost to SIDS was the first to open my wife's womb, though we had the first two by C-section, the third was born by VBAC and truly opened the womb.  The first male that was born that opened the womb.  And who was taken on special assignment to help accomplish works on the other side.  This little guy also played the baby Jesus in the Christmas play about four months before he passed.  As I had uncannily predicted, the death happened in the "middle of my 33rd year, about the age that Jesus was when He died".  In fact, running the Passover calendar back to the age that Jesus was when He died, it was off by a day - not counting for time zone differences.

So, though it has been fourteen years since the event, I cannot help but think of him this night.

There are many who are dealing with loss, far more fresh than mine is - but may we have peace in knowing that Christ overcame all death and pain and He stands as the great Redeemer of mankind.

RUSSIA RISING - AND A MERRY CHRISTMAS

This article encapsulates EXACTLY what Cleon Skousen pointed to in his final writings; the rise of Russia from the ashes of the Soviet Union so that they could fulfill their destiny/role in the middle east and also in broaching Ephraim's fortress, as prophesied in Isaiah 17:1.

Here is the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/24/world/asia/russia-arming.html?_r=0

While I am at it, may you all have wonderful and joy-filled Christmas and may there be peace in your homes, your marriages, your families.  The world is too chaotic and filled with strife brought on by the evil one, to not strive for peace and harmony.

God bless!  The Wood Zone management team.

THE BIRTH OF JOSEPH SMITH - TIMING AS LIGHT BURST UPON THE FACE OF THE EARTH

This single event heralded great goodness in this earth.

Interesting - from FB:

The day before Joseph Smith was born was the twenty-second of December. That day is called the “Winter Solstice” otherwise known as the “shortest day” of the year. Out of 365 days, that day gives the least amount of light to the world making it the “darkest of days.”
The dawning of the next day, which is December 23rd, marks the beginning of “brighter days!” That day is a symbol of new beginnings and greater light to be coming soon.

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THE SYSTEM OF THE ADVERSARY - COMPLETE FORCED COMPLIANCE

According to this article - possibly coming to a country near you:

http://www.infowars.com/coming-to-america-china-introduces-credit-score-for-obedient-citizens/

Do you fight this?  Or do you just roll over and die?

DAMASCUS HAS BECOME A RUINOUS HEAP

Not entirely - but entire sectors of the city.  Ephraim is about to lose her fortress.  Isaiah has spoken:

https://youtu.be/V7E-oz54f2k

 

No one can argue with facts.

ISAIAH PROPHESIED OF THE MAGII - GOLD AND INCENSE

The Magii were prophesied of in the Old Testament.  Great are the words of Isaiah:

 6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord.

 The previous post by Rabbi Cahn contains all of this.