The Feasts of YHVH“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
ב ין הערב ים
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• As we look at Passover in the Scriptures, we need to take a closer look at various Hebrew terms and how they are translated into the English.
• The reason we need to do this is because our English translations can be misleading.
• This is not necessarily intentional.
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Eczebulun [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• In this presentation, we will briefly explore an example of this.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• First, we’ll look at Exodus 12:1-11, which is a familiar passage concerning the Passover.
• We will look at the English translations of certain Hebrew terms found in this passage, and we’ll eventually settle on a particular phrase to explore further.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Exodus 12:1-11:
• Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
• 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb (ש ה, seh), according to the house of his father, a lamb (ש ה, seh) for a household.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Exodus 12:1-11 (continued):
• 4 And if the household is too small for the lamb (ש ה, seh), let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb .(ha-seh ,הש ה)
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By Sarah N. Mckennon
“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• The Hebrew word “seh” ( חש ) is often translated as “lamb,” but it can also refer to the kid of a goat.
• The animals for the Passover are taken from flocks of sheep or goats.
• The Scriptures specifically tell us this in the next verse.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Exodus 12:1-11 (continued):
• 5 Your lamb ( חש , seh) shall be without blemish, a male of the first year.
• You may take it from the sheep or from the goats ( הכ בש יםhak-kevasim ,ו מן־העז ים uminha-izzim).
8By Sarah N. Mckennon
“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• It’s this kind of thing that makes me want to learn Biblical languages.
• The more things like this that I find, the more often I wonder what else am I missing.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Let’s continue reading our passage...
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Exodus 12:1-11 (continued):
• 6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight ( ים ב ין הערב , beyn ha-arbayim).
• 7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Beyn ha-arbayim ( ים ב ין הערב ) literally means “between the evenings.”
• We’re going to explore this phrase some more, but let’s finish reading the passage for completeness sake.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Exodus 12:1-11 (continued):
• 8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night (ב ל ילה, ba-lailah); roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
• 9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire —its head with its legs and its entrails. 10 You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. 11 And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• The timing of beyn ha-arbayim is an important concept that we need to understand.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• There are other places in Scripture where this phrase is used.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Beyn arbayim is/was the time:• To slay the Passover sacrifice on Nisan 14.
• (Exodus 12:6; Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 9:3, 5, 11)
• The people would eat quail. • (Exodus 16:12)
• Of the evening sacrifice. • (Exodus 29:39, 41; Numbers 28:4, 8)
• When Aaron would light the lamps. • (Exodus 30:8)
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• None of these things were done in the middle of the night.
• If this were the case, the text would say “between erev and boker,” not “between ha-arbayim .”
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• For now, let’s read Exodus 12:6 like this:
• Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at
ים ב ין הערב (beyn ha-arbayim).
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Moses spoke to the generation that was about to enter the promised land in Deuteronomy 16:5-8 saying,
• "You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you;
• 6 but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at twilight, at the going down of the sun ( ב ב ע וא הכ בר ש מש , ba-arev kevo hash-shemesh),at the time (moed ,מועד) you came out of Egypt.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• The animals of the first Passover were killed by the head of each household.
• However, based on this verse, the animals were brought to the tabernacle or the temple in later Passovers.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Twilight is “the soft glowing light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon; caused by the refraction and scattering of the sun’s rays from the atmosphere.”
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Note that some of our English translations say the animals were to be slain at “twilight.”
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• The average time of twilight is only 20-30 minutes.
• It would have been extremely difficult to slaughter an enormous number of animals at twilight at the tabernacle or temple.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Therefore, let’s see if the word from our last phrase, בב ע ר (ba-arev), means something other than “at twilight.”
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Ba-arev kevo hash-shemesh ( ב ב ע וא הכ בר ש מש ) literally means:
• “at evening, at the going down of the sun.”
• Moed (מועד) is referring specifically to the appointed time they came out of Egypt and not to the actual hour they came out of Egypt.
• Therefore, our verse should read:
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Deuteronomy 16:5-8:
• "You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you;
• 6 but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at evening, at the going down of the sun ( ב ב ע וא הכ בר ש מ ש ), at the appointed time (מועד)you came out of Egypt.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• The English word “evening” means:
• The period of time at the end of the day, usually from about 6 PM to bedtime.
• This is the time we consider the sun to be going down.
• But this definition is useless to us; that’s just not what “erev” means.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• So, when is “between the evenings” and “at evening, at the going down of the sun,”
• and where does the English translation “twilight” come from?
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Before we can answer these questions, we’ll need to understand halachic time.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
Halachic Time for Jerusalem
Day(Genesis 1:5)
Morning Hours Evening Hours
Genesis 1:5: God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.
So the evening and the morning were the first day (Light Period).30
“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Based on Genesis 1:5, the evening is part of the light hours of the day.
• It is NOT part of the dark hours of the day, which is night.
• Night is between the 2nd erev and boker.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• According to CHABAD: Jewish Hours, an hour in halacha is calculated by taking the total time of daylight of a particular day, from sunrise until sunset, and dividing it into twelve equal parts.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
Halachic Time for Jerusalem
Day(Genesis 1:5)
Morning Hours Evening Hours
Hour of the Day 1 3 6 9 12
Recall John 11:9:
Yeshua answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
Halachic Time for Jerusalem
Day(Genesis 1:5)
Morning Hours Evening Hours
Hour of the Day 1 3 6 9 12
Standard Time 6 AMSTART
9 AM 12 NOON(Solar Noon)
3 PM 6 PMEND
We attempt to standardize these 12 hours of the day as 6 AM to 6 PM.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• This standardization of the hours of the day is why people say that:• Yeshua died at 3 PM.
• Aaron lit the lamps at 3 PM.
• The evening sacrifice was at 3 PM.
• But that’s not exactly true.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Matthew 27:45:
• Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Based on our chart, we can see that the time between the 6th and the 9th hour is not the normal time of day for it to be dark outside.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Now, we are going to add the times of the equinoxes and solstices for 2019 to our chart.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• "Equinox" literally means "equal night."
• This gives us the impression that the times of the night and day on the equinoxes are exactly the same length; 12 hours each.
• But, as we’ll see in our chart, this is not entirely accurate.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
Halachic Time for Jerusalem
Day(Genesis 1:5)
Morning Hours Evening Hours
Hour of the Day 1 3 6 9 12
Standard Time 6 AMSTART
9 AM 12 NOON(Solar Noon)
3 PM 6 PMEND
Spring Equinox 0543 IST 0844 1146 1448 1750
June Solstice 0534 IDT 0837 1240 1544 1947
September Equinox 0627 IDT 0929 1231 1835 1835
December Solstice 0635 IST 0906 1137 1408 1639
The length of the day period depends on the time of year and location on earth. The days of the equinoxes are not exactly 12 hours long.
TIMES ARE BASED ON SUNRISE AND SUNSET TIMES FOR 2019.40
“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• The solstice is when the sun reaches its highest or lowest position in the sky at noon. • June: The sun is in its highest position in the northern hemisphere
(longest day).
• December: The sun is in its lowest position in the northern hemisphere (shortest day).
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
Halachic Time for Jerusalem
Day(Genesis 1:5)
Morning Hours Evening Hours
Hour of the Day 1 3 6 9 12
Standard Time 6 AMSTART
9 AM 12 NOON(Solar Noon)
3 PM 6 PMEND
Spring Equinox 0543 IST 0844 1146 1448 1750
June Solstice 0534 IDT 0837 1240 1544 1947
September Equinox 0627 IDT 0929 1231 1835 1835
December Solstice 0635 IST 0906 1137 1408 1639
The length of the day period depends on the time of year and location on earth. In the northern hemisphere, specifically in Israel, the June solstice, the longest day, of the year
is 14 hours and 46 minutes, and the December solstice, the shortest day, is 9 hours and 33 minutes.42
“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• The opposite is true for the southern hemisphere:• The June solstice is the shortest day.
• The December solstice is the longest day.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• “Boker” begins at the break of day, sunrise, or the beginning of the 1st
hour of the day.
• The morning ends at solar noon when the sun is the highest it will be for the day.
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1st hour
“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• The 3rd hour is between the 1st and 6th hour (solar noon) of the day.
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3rd hour
“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• The first “erev” is the beginning of the decline of the day.
• It begins at the 6th hour (solar noon) when the sun is at its highest point in the sky.
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6th hour
“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• The narrow definition of BETWEEN THE EVENINGSwould be the equivalent of the 9th hour of the day.
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9TH hour
“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• The second “erev” is at sunset, which is the 12th
hour of the day.
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12th hour
“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• The BROAD definition of ב ין הערב ים (beyn arbayim) should be:
• “The time of the declining sun BETWEEN the beginning and the end of the evening hours.”
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6th hour12th hour
“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• So, where does the TRANSLATION “twilight” come from?
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Alfred Edersheim, in The Temple, Its Ministries and Services:
• The lamb was to be killed on the eve of the 14th, or rather, as the phrase is, 'between the two evenings' (Exodus 12:6; Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 9:3,5).
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Alfred Edersheim, in The Temple, Its Ministries and Services (cont.):
• According to the Samaritans, the Karaite Jews, and many modern interpreters, this means between actual sunset and complete darkness (or, say, between six and seven p.m.);
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Alfred Edersheim, in The Temple, Its Ministries and Services (cont.):
• but from the contemporary testimony of Josephus (Jew. Wars, vi. 9 , 3), and from Talmudical authorities, there cannot be a doubt that, at the time of our Lord, it was regarded as the interval between the sun's commencing to decline and his actual disappearance.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• Alfred Edersheim, in The Temple, Its Ministries and Services (cont.):
• This allows a sufficient period for the numerous lambs which had to be killed, and agrees with the traditional account that on the eve of the Passover the daily evening sacrifice was offered an hour, or, if it fell on a Friday, two hours, before the usual time.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• As you can see, it makes much more sense for us to ignore our English translations of “twilight,” as well as that of the Karaites and Samaritans, and go with the Talmudic authorities for the definition for
ב כ בב ע וא הר ש מש (beyn ha-arbayim, “between the evenings”).
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• APPENDIX:
• The following slides show the times of the 1st, 6th, 12th hours, and day length for the March equinox 2019 in places around the world.
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”Hours Around the Globe
Location March
Equinox
1st Hour
Sunrise
6th Hour
Solar Noon
12th Hour
Sunset
Day Length Comments
Qaanaaq,
Greenland
3/20/19
1858
0732
WGT
1344 1959 12:27:26 North
Richmond,
VA USA
3/20/19
1758
0713
EDT
1317 1921 12:07:45
Jerusalem,
Israel
3/20/19
2348
0543
IST
1146 1750 12:06:40
Nairobi,
Kenya
3/21/19
0058
0636
EAT
1240 1843 12:06:28 Equator
Darwin,
Australia
3/21/19
0728
0650
ACST
1253 1857 12:06:30
Punta
Areanas,
Chile
3/20/19
1858
0744
CLST
1351 1956 12:11:50 South
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”Hours Around the Globe
Location March
Equinox
1st Hour
Sunrise
6th Hour
Solar Noon
12th Hour
Sunset
Day Length Comments
Qaanaaq,
Greenland
6/21/19
1354
Sun Up
All Day
1438 Sun Up
All Day
North
Richmond,
VA USA
6/21/19
1154
0548
EDT
1311 2034 14:45:26
Jerusalem,
Israel
6/21/19
1854
0534
IDT
1240 1947 14:13:33
Nairobi,
Kenya
6/21/19
1854
0633
EAT
1234 1835 12:02:51 Equator
Darwin,
Australia
6/22/19
0124
0706
ACST
1248 1830 11:23:31
Punta
Areanas,
Chile
6/21/19
1254
0959
CLST
1345 1731 7:31:50 South
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”Hours Around the Globe
Location March
Equinox
1st Hour
Sunrise
6th Hour
Solar Noon
12th Hour
Sunset
Day Length Comments
Qaanaaq,
Greenland
9/23/19
0550
0814
WGST
1429 2040 12:25:22 North
Richmond,
VA USA
9/23/19
0350
0658
EDT
1302 1905 12:07:16
Jerusalem,
Israel
9/23/19
1050
0627
IDT
1231 1835 12:07:29
Nairobi,
Kenya
9/23/19
1050
0621
EAT
1225 1828 12:06:7 Equator
Darwin,
Australia
9/23/19
1720
0636
ACST
1239 1842 12:06:28
Punta
Areanas,
Chile
9/23/19
0450
0730
CLST
1336 1942 12:12:24 South
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”Hours Around the Globe
Location March
Equinox
1st Hour
Sunrise
6th Hour
Solar Noon
12th Hour
Sunset
Day Length Comments
Qaanaaq,
Greenland
12/22/19
0119
Sundown
All Day
1335
WGT
Sundown
All Day
Sundown
All Day
North
Richmond,
VA USA
12/21/19
2319
0720
EST
1207 1654 9:34:15
Jerusalem,
Israel
12/22/19
0619
0635
IST
1137 1639 10:04:27
Nairobi,
Kenya
12/22/19
0719
0625
EAT
1231 1837 12:11:59 Equator
Darwin,
Australia
12/22/19
1349
0618
ACST
1244 1910 12:51:44
Punta
Areanas,
Chile
12/22/19
0119
0513
CLST
1342 2211 16:58:11 South
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• REFERENCES:• CHABAD: Jewish Hours.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/526872/jewish/Hours.htm• Jewish Encyclopedia: NIGHT.
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11539-night• Solstices and Equinoxes for...
https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/seasons.html• Sunrise and Sunset Calculator https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• REFERENCES (continued):• The Temple, its Ministry and Services, Chapter 11, The Passover, by Alfred
Edersheim, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 1999, 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.
• Twilight - https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&ei=fr67XOX2CaW5ggeG65foDA&q=twilight+define&oq=twilight+define&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l2j0i22i30l8.3744.4738..4941...0.0..0.99.619.7......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j0i67j0i131.U3BKXLsWKUk
• What’s the Difference Between A Solstice And An Equinox? They’re Incredibly Different https://www.bustle.com/p/whats-the-difference-between-a-solstice-equinox-theyre-incredibly-different-44720
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“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
• PHOTOS:
• Attributions are located normally under the photos on each slide.
• Photos for the hours of the day are from Stellarium 0.18.2, which can be downloaded at Stellarium.org.
•
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The Feasts of YHVH
“Twilight” Versus “Between the Evenings”
ב ין הערב ים
Compiled by: Beth C. Mehaffeyhttps://holyhiway.wordpress.comContact: betmeh2 at gmail.com
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