Why the Name
“Shaar |
“And it shall come to pass in
that day, that the 'remnant' of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of
Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon
the L-RD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even
the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.”
— Isa. 10:20-21, (KJV, JPS)
The present day beginning of the “return of the remnant of Jacob,
to the Mighty G-d” from among the exiled Ten Tribes is the focus of this
website. It is to serve as one instrument to network the members of this growing
grassroots movement, whose founding and development was not engendered by any
human individual or organization but by the G-d of
“Then I shall scatter you among the nations and disperse you
among the lands and remove all your contamination from you. Then you shall be
caused to
re-inherit
yourself
in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am HaShem.”
The name “Sha'ar Israel” is derived from the two variant spellings
of two similar sounding words. The
first one, shaar / שער
is
spelled with an ayin,
meaning “gate.”
This meaning of shaar
refers to a whole gate complex and the open areas on either side of it. In ancient times
it was the means of controlled access to a walled city.
The root idea of the cognates of this word in Ugaritic, Arabic and
Phoenician is “to split open,”
or as in Ethiopic, “to break through.”
It was extremely important in the life of
the city dwellers and
people about, for social, administrative and business transactions took place
there. Kings and city elders sat
there to administer justice, (Deut: 21:19, Josh. 20:4).
Its square was often doubling as a threshing floor, and was a natural
congregating place, where prophets frequently spoke to the people, (Kings 7:1,
II Kings 22:10, Jer. 17:19-20, 36:10).
The place of administering justice
was “at the gate,” (Prov. 22:22, Amos
5:15). The term also represented the
whole city, (Gen. 22:17, 24:60), e.g. where Abraham's seed was to “possess the
gate of his enemies.” It is an
overall symbol of means of access and entrance, e.g. “gate of the
Lord,” (Psalm 118:20), and “the gate of heaven,” (Gen 28:10).
According to the late Ephraim Avigdor
Speiser, eminent Assyriologist and professor of Hebrew and Semitic languages,
the phrase “those who enter the gate,” (Gen. 23:10), refers
to those who have a voice in the community, while “those who
go out the gate,” refers to those capable to bear arms” (Gen.34:24).
—Harris, Archer & Waltke,
Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Article #2437, Sha'ar /Gate, p. 945.
The second variant, Sh'ar spelled with an aleph,
שאר, provides a more specific dimension
of the name Sha'ar Israel.” It seems to be used almost exclusively to indicate
the static action of surviving after an elimination process.
Whether the elimination was a natural process, e.g. when Naomi's husband
died, (Ruth 1:3), humanly caused (I
Sam. 9:24), or Divinely caused (Ex. 10:19), it always points to that which
remains or has survived, e.g.
“Samuel said, ‘Are these all the boys?’
And he said, ‘The youngest one is still
left /
A derivative, “sh'ar,” used 26 times, is also translated as the
rest, remnant, residue,
e.g. Isa. 10:19-22, 11:11,16, Zeph.
1:4. It refers to that which has survived after elimination, a judgment, a
catastrophe. It is used to refer to
a historic remnant, as in Neh. 10:28, or the prophesied
final remnant of
Sh'ar is used as the name of one of Isaiah's children, “Sh'ar
Yashuv,” literally “A-Remnant shall-return.”
This name testified to wicked King Ahaz,
and all Israel, that they were to be driven from the Land due to their sins, but
that some day “a remnant” would return, (Isa. 7:3).
“Thus G-d has sent me ahead of you to insure your sh'arit /
survival in the land and to sustain you for a momentous deliverance.”
— Gen 45:7
In the vast majority of cases the context shows that the remnant is
that which has come or will come out from the House of Israel.
This meaning and connotation is most significant for our concerns, for
sh'arit refers to the final future remnant of
We can find subtle hints to a subject matter in the Tanakh, when we
study the first use of its associated terms. As such, all the terms
translated as “remnant” have very important relevance to the
modern day remnant that G-d is calling out now to do His assignments in His
end-time Work of Eli-Yah.
Sh'ar /
שאר is the most often used word in the Tanakh for “remnant.” It
simply means, “the remainder”
that is left or is set aside from a larger group. The returning Israelites
gathering in this group could be characterized as such.
It is notable that the first place this word is used is in the setting
of Josiah's
restoration of the worship of G-d
from amidst gross idolatry,
and total loss of Torah
knowledge. He does this with the assistance of funds from the then
“remnant” of
“They went to Hilkiah, the Cohen Gadol, and delivered the
money that had been brought for the Temple of God — which the gatekeepers had
collected from Manasseh and Ephraim and from the rest of the remnant of Israel,
and from Judah and Benjamin, and then returned to Jerusalem.”
— II Chron. 34:9 (Artscroll Tanach)
The context of this event parallels and foretells the context of
similar apostasy, loss of Torah knowledge and manifold idolatries among the
Tribes of the “latter days.” Interestingly, in this historical record,
perhaps some from the the tribes of Ephraim, Menashe, Benyamin, and Yehudah are
prophetically foreshadowed here as being instrumental in the future in providing
the funds and work force to the initial
“end-time” revival among the Tribes of Israel.
Another most relevant word
translated as “remnant,” is
p’leitah /
פליתה.
It designates “an
escaped portion,”
i.e. a company of fugitives /
survivors. The first occurrence is in
Ezra 9:8. The setting is where the small contingent of returnees from the
Babylonian captivity have confessed their sins and the sins of their fathers.
They viewed themselves as
recipients of G-d's mercy reviving them. They covenanted among themselves to
return fully to the ways of G-d that they abandoned as a people. In
Ez. 6:8, “the remnant” / p’leitei,
are escapees
who are saved from the sword,
that they may remember G-d in their captivity which their idolatry has brought
upon them. In Ez. 14:22, another remnant / p’leitah is
showcased. They are witnesses who testify of G-d's mercies by
their doings. The prophetic portent of this historical event, may
imply that given the calamitous circumstances that are to come upon Israel in
the last days, they may be accounted for mercy and escape the harsh wake-up
calls and punishments to come upon the world.
The difficult to read and translate word
sheritecha
/
שרותך rendered as “remnant,” in the KJV and Artscroll Chumash, is
used only once in the Bible, Jer. 15:11. Those who will have been delivered, are
promised as with an oath, that it shall “remain for well” for
them, in times of evil, affliction and near total destruction. An implication
of this meaning comes down to us into modern usage, meaning “services” like a
taxi, or any kind of helping service of a humble nature.
It gives us, the remnant of “proud”
Ephraim a clue as to how we are to behave and serve as this “prophetic notation
and hint” says.
Yeter /
יתר
also translated as “remnant.” In
the KJV means the rest.
It is also the root word for yoter,
meaning more.
This carries the connotation of
leaving, causing to abound. It is
not necessarily a small group.
“Therefore
For the purposes of this website, the
name “Sha'ar Israel” refers to the prophesied “remnant / שאר of
By the mercies and Guidance of the G-d of
“Then they that feared the L-RD, spake of the one to another,
and the L-RD hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written
before Him for them that feared the L-RD, and that thought upon His name.”
—Malachi 3:16
Isaiah speaks to us of the significance of
gates
in the latter days:
"Go through, go through the gates; clean the people’s way;
beat down, beat down the highway, clear it of stone, raise a banner over the
people.”
The Targum renders the rest of the passage in an expanded way to transmit to us the full intent of this verse:
"The prophet proclaims: Pass through and return
through
the gates and turn the heart of the people to the path of
righteousness.
Announce
good news and consolations to the tzaddikim [righteous ones] who have removed
from themselves the negative thoughts produced by the evil inclination, which is
like a stone that causes people to stumble…"
Behold the L-RD has proclaimed to the end of the world, Say
ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold Thy salvation cometh, behold His reward is
with Him, and His work before Him….”
It is time. Let us work
together diligently toward the day when we shall see the fulfillment of the
Redemption of all
“And they shall call them “The Holy People, the redeemed of HaShem,
and you shall be called “Sought after, the city not forsaken."
—Isa. 62:10-11, (Artscroll Tanach)