"Brit-Am Now"-190
February 8, 2003
Contents:
1. Uncle Sam = "Samaria"?
2. A Briton's rise to samurai in Japan of 1600s
3. Books and payment for books
4. Message from Esther:
5. Received Books.
1. Uncle Sam = "Samaria"?
From: Craig & Karen Blackwood
Subject: Uncle Sam
Shalom Yair
As YANK is a derivative of Jack - Jacob
and the English called themselves "JOHN BULL" - Jacob's Bull - the Bull of Ephraim.
Could it be that Uncle Sam comes from SAMARIA? - Samaria being the capital of Israel.
AMERICA - SAMARIA?
Gen 48:16 May the angel, who has rescued me from all harm, bless them!
May my name and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac live on through
these boys! May they have many children, many descendants!".
Comment by Yair Davidiy: Some people have objected that "Samaria" in
Hebrew is "Shomron". Nevertheless the Phoenician and North Israelite
pronunciation was evidently "Samaria" and it was this pronunciation that the
translators adopted via the Greeks. Many settlements in the Khazar regions of
southern Russia were also named after Samaria. The Khazars had a tradition that
they were descended from the tribes of Manasseh and Simeon. The USA is also
dominated by Manasseh and Samaria (as well as representing all of the northern kingdom) was
in the terriitory of Manasseh and is especially representative of
Manasseh. The USA before adopting "Uncle Sam" as its representative figure used
another figure known as "Brother Jonathan".
Any ideas concerning the possible symbolic significance of "Brother Jonathan"?
Regards
Craig Blackwood
2. A Briton's rise to samurai in Japan of 1600s
Book Review | A Briton's rise to samurai in Japan of 1600s
Samurai William
The Englishman Who Opened Japan
By Giles Milton
Like Mike Dash's excellent Batavia's Graveyard, published this time
last year, Giles Milton's equally excellent Samurai William raises this
fascinating question:
Why would anyone in his right mind in early 17th-century Europe risk
disease, danger and death a thousand times over to make the bloody
awful sea journey to the other side of the world?
One answer, found in both books, is as appalling as the conditions of
such journeys: It was better than the alternative at home. Another is that
there were fortunes to be made by those with pluck and luck. William Adams,
the central figure of Milton's book (and the inspiration for James
Clavell's Shogun), possessed both.
Born into an impoverished Kentish family in 1564, Adams managed to
train as a pilot and shipwright and make several trips with African traders
before the opportunity arose in 1598 to sail with a Dutch fleet in a voyage
that 19 months later landed him in Japan.
The voyage was unutterably awful, rife with fever, starvation,
dysentery, drowning, pirate attacks and more. Of five ships, only one made it. Of
a crew of about 100, only 24 were alive, and six of those were close to death.
They weren't the first Europeans to reach Japan, but Adams was the
first Englishman to penetrate the mysterious country. He rose so high - to
the rank of samurai - and became so influential that he could influence the
fortunes there not only of his fellow Englishmen, but of competing
European interests as well, primarily Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese merchants
and Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries.
Adams owed his rise to the powerful shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, who became
both his benefactor and his captor. Ieyasu, valuing and rewarding Adams'
skills and knowledge, did not grant him permission to leave Japan until 13
years after his arrival. The Englishman, consequently, went native, becoming
fluent in Japanese, marrying a Japanese woman, and raising a family.
Despite the biographical implications of the title, Samurai William
does not entirely focus on or revolve around Adams. It is at least as much a
compact general history of 16th- and 17th-century Europe's contacts
with Japan, and with the East in general, replete with weird sexual customs,
threats of cannibalism (most, but not all, false) and sightings of
strange creatures, not a few of them human.
It is also a study of Japanese society, in which "wanton brutality was
a way of life." The author, who previously brought to life another area
of the East in Nathaniel's Nutmeg: The True and Incredible Adventures of
the Spice Trader Who Changed the Course of History, is a dab hand at
selecting the detail that will shock as well as illustrate.
Rest at
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/entertainment/books/5061511.htm
3. Books and payment for books
All book orders have been sent out. Anyone who has made an order and
does not receive the book in the next 14 days or so should contact us.
Our books may be purchased by ordinary US checks. We prefer this
means of payment and it is probably the easiest means for most of our customers.
4. Message from Esther:
Shalom!
PS We pray for REAL peace for you, your organization, your land and
your people. We pray for this every day. We grieve with your country on
the loss of Ilan Ramon.
We wonder if the G_d of Israel was sending a message by fire to the
lost sheep of the House of Israel (Joseph) regarding the Torah - that we are
to take the Torah seriously.
It would not be the first time that the Torah was delivered by fire.
Did you know that the first piece of debris landed in a town in Texas named "Palestine" ????
Texas - Pres Bush's home state. Palestine - The land never to be parted.
The fallout hits Palestine
In a symbolic kind of way, Ilan was a messenger to the Lost Sheep of the
House of Isreal, but the sad thing is, no one over here has ears to
hear. The press over here only told of the sketch he took with him into
space. No mention of the Torah scroll or the other sacred items.
We are scared for our nation. We are going to experience what your nation
has had to deal with your entire history. Again, our prayers are with you every day.
Shalom!!
5. Received Books.
Greetings Yair, I received the books Origin and Biblical Truth. The
covers are very attractive. I have started Biblical Truth and am so pleased
with the book. It is easy to read and very informative. I am only a few
pages into the book and found a perspective on Scripture that I had not
considered before. It is difficult to put it down! Thanks so much for
all your work in providing these much needed tools for others to study and
learn from. Sally
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