SHABBAT SHALOM AND THANK YOU FOR VISITING!

You are seeing this message because, somewhere in the world right now, it is between Friday after sunset but before sunset on Saturday evening.  In other words, it is Torah-mandated time that our Creator YHWH has given us to rest.  Now, I do not know where you are viewing my page from obviously, but I wanted to tell you how utterly important it is for me to do everything I can to not have you break Shabbat by ordering any of my materials until the sun sets on Saturday evening, your time or mine, whichever is the latest.

In order to accomplish this noble goal, I asked my webmaster to generate this message whenever anyone logs on to www.aramaicnttruth.org or www.ruachqadim.com anytime after 9:00 AM on Friday but before 3:00 AM Sunday morning, Eastern Standard Time.  In this way, regardless of seasonality or where a person is from, they can all be properly informed about the significance of this appointed time, of which the prophet Nehemiah writes:

At that time I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath. They were also bringing in stores of grain and loading [them] on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned [them] against selling food on that day. The Tyrians living there were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem.

I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them: "What is this evil you are doing-profaning the Sabbath day? Didn't your ancestors do the same, so that our Elohim brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling [His] anger against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!"

When shadows began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem just before the Sabbath, I gave orders that the gates be closed and not opened until after the Sabbath. I posted some of my men at the gates, so that no goods could enter during the Sabbath day. Once or twice the merchants and those who sell all kinds of goods camped outside Jerusalem, but I warned them, "Why are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it again, I'll use force against you." After that they did not come again on the Sabbath. Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.

Remember me for this also, my Elohim, and look on me with compassion in keeping with Your abundant, faithful love.

Nehemiah 13:15-22

And if you think this is just a Tanakh thing, I can assure you this is not the case:

But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the Torah to drop out.

Luke 16:17

For there remains for the people of Elohim a Sabbath rest.

Hebrews 4:8

Now, there are many more verses I could put up here, but I am trying to keep this concise, especially since you are supposed to be resting!  Seriously though, if you wish to study my writings, please feel free, as this is one of the best uses of Shabbat that you could engage in.  On the other hand, I need to make this point of Torah crystal clear so that no one thinks I condone commerce on a set-apart day. 

The fact is, having some kind of rolling shut down and re-upping process that somehow tracks IP addresses and lets some people in but not others is unworkable.  And even if no one was able to get in to my websites I, like many other authors, have my books featured on E-Bay, Amazon and other places that do NOT shut down…ever.  The reality is also that I can’t control the re-selling of my books, or the buying orders that come in from book wholesalers from around the globe. It is simply the reality of the world wide web.

Having said that, I CAN control the expansion of my domain, as Torah requires, from those activities.  Both Xlibris and Tushiyah Press may have their servers take orders that wait in queue, but they are not processed on the Shabbat, and certainly proceeds are not being put into my account at time.  Xlibris sends quarterly checks in the mail that I can control not depositing on Shabbat and Tushiyah will NEVER process or send to me a royalty payment at that time either.  As a result, payments, regardless as to where they are from, do not post nor are physical orders shipped out at this appointed time.  It is basically akin halachically to my having a store that is shut down on Shabbat and the door is locked.  Now, if over the weekend, someone leaves me a message on the store answering machine that says, “This is John Smith.  I know you are closed but I wanted to order this product. Please take my credit card number, bill me and ship it out to me when you get back in”, then I have not broken Shabbat law by processing that order later. Nor was my kingdom expanded because the intent of the customer was not actualized.  And this idea, of course, holds true regardless as to if the customer was keeping Shabbat or not or was calling when it was Shabbat for them or not. 

Now, all this stuff works fine for me in eastern United States, but my concern is that you, my dear reader, even if you are buying my books when it is not Shabbat for me, may nevertheless buy them when it is Shabbat for you!  In that instance, Torah declares that I have also transgressed, because I caused another person to work or do business on the set-apart day, as it is designated by YHWH for where they are from.  By the same token, if you are able to buy from me when it is not Shabbat for you, but it is for me, then I have transgressed my Shabbat!  See the problem?

In the end then, all I can do is have an honor system, and I humbly ask that whether you agree with me about Torah not passing away or not, that you respect my deeply held faith principles. 

Please, please, please, if you are seeing this page, and it is between Friday after sunset but before Saturday at sunset at EITHER your location OR  the Eastern Time Zone of the United States, I beg you do not purchase any of my books!  Thank you in advance for your understanding.

Shlama w’’burkate (Peace and blessings)

Andrew Gabriel Roth