Sunday, April 27, 2008
Please Come Home
On Tuesday morning, I will be leaving for a very emotional two week trip to Poland and Israel. As I reflect upon the terrible fires that engulfed our nation 60 years ago, it brings tears to my eyes to consider that we are in the midst of a very dangerous spiritual genocide. Consider that in the United States, there is a 50% intermarriage rate, with rampant assimilation and Torah-ignorance, with ritual observance at an all time low. Approximately 600 000 American Jews identity with some form of Christianity. Imagine, the descendants of good, strong Russian Jews from the Pale of Settlement who resisted the Czar's armies with all their might, getting baptized. Jewish children accepting Jesus! Sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob going to church, praying to the Virgin, to the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. What a tragedy! In Israel, many, following their service in the army, search out spirituality in India and move to ashrams. The travesty of Jews in Israel, the world capital of spirituality, forced to drink impure water from foreign wells of avodah zara in the far-flung East!
My Jewish brothers, lost sons and daughters of Israel, I plead with you to return home. Judaism is one of the world's most ancient faiths, which has outlasted nations, empires and ideologies. Whether you have found your true calling as a monk in Tibet, accepted the sweetness of Allah's deen, worship Jesus christ as your Lord and Saviour or are just lost amidst the aggressive secularism of today's soceity, please do not abandon your heritage. For you to be alive today as a Jew is the greatest of miracles. Do not accomplish yourself what so many tyrants, dictators and despots have tried to do to the Jewish people. Israel stands for Yesh Shishim Ribot Otiot La'Torah- there are 600 000 letters in the Torah. There is one letter for every Jew. Just as a Torah scroll in invalidated if even one letter is missing, our nation is defficient as long as one Jew is away from home. I love you with all my heart and I plead with you to reconsider your Jewish identity, to reconnect with your past and to strengthen your Judaism.
There is a story of, following the terrible Nazi Shoah, that R. Yosef Kahaneman zt'l, the Ponevezhe Rav began looking for Jewish children who had survived the war. It was known that some of the children had ended up in churches and were being raised as Christians. The church denied vigorously such a phenomenon. R. Kahaneman took it upon himself to travel Europe and search in monasteries and convents. When he got there, he would recite out loud: "Shemah Yisrael, HaShem Elokeinu, HaShem echad"- Hear O Israel, HaShem is our G-d, HaShem is One. Immediately, the Jewish children would raise their hands and cry out 'mama, mama'. They had come home. Brothers and sisters, listen to the words of the Shemah. They are engraved upon your hearts and souls. We have been burnt by scorching fire, drowned in cruel waters, starved, beaten and oppressed but we have never forgotten the Shemah. No matter how far you've strayed, you can always come back. Do not turn your back on your people.
May HaShem merit that all the lost Jewish children return home.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
30 comments:
Shalom BK:
This is a beautiful post.
G-d has many names. In Islam, we believe that He has at least 99 of them that we know of. The name "Allah" is not the name of a G-d different than Who the Jews believe in. He is the same One! Without partners, the One who needs no one but we need Him. The One who has no children. "Allah" is simply His name is the Arabic language. The One G-d!!!
Ah, praise G-d for the Shema! In Islam and the Arabic language, it is: La ilaha illa Allah.
Same thing, brother. A declaration of the Oneness of Him.
Have a safe trip; I would love to go to Poland some day. My family is from there. Take pictures and post them, OK!
Peace
Safiyyah
Safiyyah, I am glad that you like the post and am very happy that you responded. I am hoping that we can be friends although we stand at the opposite sides of the political and religious spectrum.
We certainly worship the same G-d but I wonder why you choose to express your belief in Him in a faith other than Judaism. In the Torah, Allah promised that the Seed of Israel would never cease to be a nation before Him. Therefore, it is impossible that Allah should desire that all Jews convert to Islam as the Jewish nation as a whole would cease.
"Return, O backsliding children," says the Lord, "for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion." (Jeremiah 3:14)
Israel is eternal and we are G-d's witnesses to His Unity and Uniqueness.
I hope you have a wonderful trip. It really sounds like a once in a lifetime experience! Say a prayer for me and my family when you are at the temple wall if God brings us to your mind. I sure hope to fall to my knees in Israel one day and worship God on the soil of the Promise Land. It's going to be awesome!!! Safe travels, friend.
This post brought tears to my eyes, BK.
Your love is apparent.
G-d can do great things through you.
Have a wonderful, safe trip.
they will not listen
As safiyyah said, it is a beautiful post and the video is well worth downloading.
You wrote “Sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob going to church, praying to the Virgin, to the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. What a tragedy!”
And it is a tragedy. A tragedy in that many educated people see the Roman church, and the “religion” of its derivatives, as representing Christianity. They do not, by a long shot. Praying to dead people and ‘ghosts’, is such futility.
In reality, apart from the sons of Judah, ie. the Jews, and the other tribes, just who else are the sons of Abraham? A closer examination reveals an answer from the New Testament – it is true Christians as in:- “Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
And being Abraham’s seed, true Christians are subject to Torah, though so many will not accept that, do not want to accept that.
Too many who call themselves Christians also overlook this:- “Rom 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”
Check out the meaning of ‘establish’.
The law, Torah, has not been done away as so many ‘Christians’ want to believe, for as Jesus of Nazareth confirms in:-
“Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
So, who can confirm that all has been fulfilled? Heaven and earth are still here, just as we yet are.
But I guess it’s all been said before.
So much for your new endeavor, BK. Usurped as a platform to disseminate the words of the NT.
devash -- you mean the WORD of the LORD?
Devash said – “Usurped as a platform to disseminate the words of the NT.”
Some of which words were spoken by a devout and orthodox Jew, a Pharisee or Rabbi if you will, named Paul. A man who, maintaining his faith, 20 years after understanding came to him made this claim:- “Act 23:6 But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am (not was) a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.”
and
“Act 22:3 I am verily a man which am (not was) a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.”
Could he have been a Jew and a Christian at the same time? Obviously the answer is yes.
Ralph, Paul was not one of the Perushim, in actuality he and the other Church fathers despised the Tzaddikim as they believed, as Notsrim believe to this day, that the Chachamim stood between the jews and accepting the dead one.
BK, very nice story but I believe you are mistaken it was Rabbi Silver as representative of the Agudat Yisrel rescue committee who visited the church's and sang Shema to rescue the children from the Notsri clutches. Tragically because France was not occupied the wicked Pope(may he rot in hell forever) ordered the French church;s not to cooperate and to hide the Jewish children so they couldnt be rescued. Though Rav Silver saved thousands in countries that were occupied by the Allies.
Thank you kahaneloyalist for your comment. My knowledge of Hebrew is virtually non existent so your response took some ‘working out’, as the saying goes.
In basic (ie.King James) English is this what you are saying? :-
Paul was not one of the “Pharisees”, in actuality he and the other Church fathers despised the “Righteous Ones” as they believed , as “Followers of Jesus” believe to this day, that the “Wise Men”, or, “Torah Scholars” stood between the jews and accepting the dead one. I assume, rightly or wrongly that by “the dead one” you are referring to Jesus of Nazareth”
(Thanks to Wikipedia and Judaism 101 glossary)
Although I’m not too sure as to your reference to “Perashim” as ‘Wikipedia” gives this as:-
“The Perushim (Hebrew: פרושים ) were disciples of Rabbi Elijah ben Solomon Zalman (known as the Vilna Gaon), who left Lithuania to settle in the Land of Israel, then a province of the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the nineteenth century.”
Far removed from Paul whose time was in the first century of the Common Era.
While Judaism 101 glossary has this to say:-
"Perushim" - the opponents of the Tzedukim; basically, they represented the traditional belief of the Sages of the Talmud; namely, in the validity of both the Written and the Oral Law.
So, if my above understanding is correct what prompts you to suggest that Paul was not a Pharisee, when he claimed that he was? Also, to which “Church Fathers” do you refer? The “Fathers” who continued to observe Torah, or the Romans who ‘hijacked’ Christianity?
in the Gospels Paul says he was one of the Perushim, but then had a "revelation" while on the road and accepted Yeshu. By his own admission at that moment he ceased to accept the yoke of Torah and became a Notsri.
As for the Church father's the Gospels are all viciously hostile to Judaism, I am not a big fan of quote wars, but even on this blog BK has brought dozens of examples of Gospels hatred of Judaism.
Furthermore the works of Saint Chrysantheum alone are indicitive of the hatred felt by Notsrim for Judaism.
KL -- Paul was not spoken of in the gospels and his claims of being a pharisee and following the law were all spoken after his conversion on the road to Damascus. He was a follower of Christ AND a Jew.
It's a sorry shame you unbelievably obnoxious people chose to hijack this blog while you knew the owner was away and couldn't monitor it. But then we all know that's just the kind of people xians are. Nasty!
devash....
With respect, I ask why you seem to be so disappointed that some have chosen to accept the invitation to "Post a Comment On: The Truth About Moshiac"? Do you suppose that there is anyone who has a handle on the complete truth, and that life itself is not one continuous learning curve?
devash -- which of these comments here would not have been said if BK were here? You are the only one that is accusing anyone of anything. You are the obnoxious one here. All others have been respectful.
Ralph---"Do you suppose that there is anyone who has a handle on the complete truth,...."
Devash---Absolutely, Judaism as it has been handed down since Sinai, holds the "complete" Truth.
Judaism does not hold the complete truth but rather it is the Torah that holds the complete truth.
Jason, Torah and Judaism are synonymous. It is arrogant for Christians, who know no Hebrew, presume to teach Jews the real meaning of the Torah, when Jews have entire books devoted to the exact pronounciation of every single word in the Torah. We learnt the Torah from HaShem on Sinai, while Christianity's basis was decided by a vote in Nicea.
"Devash---Absolutely, Judaism as it has been handed down since Sinai, holds the "complete" Truth."
So, as one who embraces Judaism, are you suggesting that YOU have a hanndle on the 'complete' truth?
Judaism and Torah are by no means synonymous. If they were then there would only be one sect of Judaism.
BK...
"We learnt the Torah from HaShem on Sinai, while Christianity's basis was decided by a vote in Nicea."
With respect, I think you have 'learnt the Tora' from the Rabbinical system.
I have read this 'blessing':- "Blessed art thou Lord, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us to wash the hands." but cannot find such a commandment in the Torah, or, as I think of it, the first five books of Old Testament.
That is, except for ritual uncleanness as in Lev.15:11 and murder as in Deu.21:6.
Welcome back BK. Will you be posting pictures soon?
Also, you said, in part:
"Christianity's basis was decided by a vote in Nicea."
Are you talking about the deification of Jesus? Because not all Christians believe that Jesus is God. Like not all Jews believe in Zionism.
safiyyah said...
"Because not all Christians believe that Jesus is God."
Which reminds me, in the first book of Torah, which I understand to be 'Genesis"; who is the "us" and the "our" referred to in the KJ Gen.1:26? Also Gen.1:27 refers to "Elohim", a referrence in the plural.
So, does the 'Shema' really say from:-"Deu 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our G-d is one LORD:(but not in the numeric sense)"?
Jason, there has been but one branch of Judaism since Sinai until the 18th century when German Jews created the Reform movement to be more similar to Protestants. It is not based on a new understanding of the Torah but on a rejecting of it. There is no equivalent in Judaism to all of Christianity's branches and divisions. Every Jews from Sinai until 200 years ago, believed in the exact same core principles.
Ralph, the Torah was given in its Oral and Written forms. It is impossible to understand the Torah without the Oral law. How does one tie fringes to the corners of their garments? From Deuteronomy 6:8, what are 'totaphot' and how do you make them a sign in between your eyes and bind them onto your hands? In the Book of Ezra, we find that Jewish men had violated the prohibition of marrying gentile women, which is a written prohibition we find in Deuteronomy 7:3. However, how the Torah rectifies this crime is rather extreme, and is something that we find in Ezra:
Ezra 10:3 Now therefore let us make a covenant with our G-d to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our G-d; and let it be done according to the law. (KJV)
So, the Torah had it that the means of rectifying the situation of a Jew intermarrying is to not only cut off the gentile wife, but also cut off the children as well. The Written Torah is but only the beginning. The Oral Torah completes it. They are inseparable companions.
Jeremiah 17:21 Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring [it] in by the gates of Jerusalem; [22] Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. (KJV)
The prohibitions on the Sabbath in the Torah are rather vague. We are told to "do no work," we are told that the punishment for working on the Sabbath is death, but the Torah doesn't tell us what work is! The oral law, however, go into detail explaining what work is. One of the prohibitions is against carry items with you (wallets, pocket change, keys, writing impliments, etc.). This verse from Jeremiah shows the prohibition in Scripture. Had this not been part of the law and Jeremiah was adding to it, he would have instantly become a false prophet. However, the people knew that these laws predated Jeremiah.
Also, any allusion to the Trinity that you find in Genesis is complete stupidity and born out of desperation. I will give you the answer from Jews for Judaism since shabbat is fast approaching and I am short on time:
Trinitarian Christians maintain that Genesis 1:26 and Genesis 11:7 are prooftexts of an alleged tri-unity god, but this claim is erroneous. The inference that "Let us make man in our image" (Genesis 1:26) refers to the plurality of God is refuted by the subsequent verse, which relates the creation of man to a singular God, "And God created man in His image" (Genesis 1:27). In this verse the Hebrew verb "created" appears in the singular form. If "let us make man" indicates a numerical plurality, it would be followed in the next verse by, "And they created man in their image." Obviously, the plural form is used in the same way as in the divine appellation 'Elohim, to indicate the all- inclusiveness of God's attributes of authority and power, the plurality of majesty. It is customary for one in authority to speak of himself as if he were a plurality. Hence, Absalom said to Ahithophel, "Give your counsel what we shall do" (2 Samuel 16:20). The context shows that he was seeking advice for himself' yet he refers to himself as "we" (see also Ezra 4:16-19).
There is another possible reason for the use of the plural on the part of God, and that is to manifest His humility. God addresses Himself to the angels and says to them, "Let us make man in our image." It is not that He invites their help, but as a matter of modesty and courtesy, God associates them with the creation of man. This teaches us that a great man should act humbly and consult with those lower than him. It is not unusual for God to refer to His heavenly court (angels) as "us," as we see in Isaiah 6:8, "And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?'" Although God often acts without assistance, He makes His intentions known to His servants. Thus, we find "Shall I conceal from Abraham that which I am doing" (Genesis 18:17); "He made known His ways to Moses, His doings to the children of Israel" (Psalms 103:7); "For the Lord God will do nothing without revealing His counsel to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7).
A misconception similar to that concerning Genesis 1:27 is held by trinitarian Christians with reference to the verse, "Come, let us go down, and there confound their language" (Genesis 11:7). Here, too, the confounding of the language is related in verse 9 to God alone, ". . . because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth." In this verse the Hebrew verb "did" appears in the singular form. Also, the descent is credited in verse 5 to the Lord alone, "And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower." In this verse the Hebrew verb "came down" appears in the singular form. If a doctrine of plurality of persons is to be based on the grammatical form of words, the frequent interchanging of the singular and the plural should vitiate such an attempt as being without foundation or merit. We may safely conclude that the Bible refutes most emphatically every opinion, which deviates from the concept of an indivisible unity of God.
Chapter 45 of Isaiah, using the Tetragrammaton, unequivocally asserts that the Lord alone is the creator and ruler of all things in the universe. The six uses of 'Elohim in this chapter (verses 3, 5, 14, 15, 18, 21) show that the term 'Elohim is synonymous with the Tetragrammaton, and that both epithets refer to the absolute one-and-only God. The singularity of God, expressed in the first-person singular in verse 12, clearly shows who is meant by the phrase, "Let us create man in our image": "I, even I, have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded."
As for the Messiah, of him God says, "And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even My servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David prince among them; I the Lord have spoken" (Ezekiel 34:23-24). The Lord alone will be worshipped as God, while the Messiah, as the servant of God, lives with the people. God and the Messiah are not and cannot be equals, for it is God alone who gives the Messiah power to rule in the capacity of His appointed servant.
As Christianity is a religion started entirely by Jews it would seem that not all Jews believed the same up until 200 years ago. I am friends with many Jews here online as well as throughout my life. I can say that most of them have differed from one another on their day to day belief systems while all of them sought to follow the Torah. Their "Judaism" was/is very different while their Torah is/was the same.
Ralph: I didn't say it, I was responding to one of the other commenters.
The KJ "version" of Genesis is not a valid translation. The KJ is not accept but Jews or Muslims. If you read the Shema in the Hebrew, from Jewish scripture, a valid Torah, it DOES refer to the Lord being One in the literal numerical sense. This is the whole essence of Judaism and Islam. That the Lord is One, Supreme, The Only, with no partners, none other like Him. One, not three as in the Trinity. The Trinity is a concept that the early Christians did not even accept. The early Christians rioted when the Council of Nicea deified Jesus. They recognized this as blasphemy. Christianity, as practiced by the majority of Christians today, is nothing like that practiced by the early follows of Jesus. It also was not the message of Jesus.
The Arabic of the Quran breaks it down into "La ilaha illa Allah". In other words, there is no other god (as opposed to idols, etc.) except Allah (Arabic words for G-d). In Arabic, the word transliterates to Ahad, i.e, "the One". In a numerical sense. In Hebrew, it is similar, the transliteration is Echad (sorry for the bad transliteration spelling, but the words are the same).
There is only ONE G-d, Ralph!
correction: the KJ is not accepted by Jews or Muslims ... sorry!
Jason, I did not say that Jews never diverged from authentic Torah belief. There were always heretical sects that threatened the spiritual health of the whole, such as the Sadducees, Essenes, early Christians, Boethusians, Karaites, Sabateans, etc. Its is because of these (especially the early Christians) that Rabban Gamliel instituted the 19th benediction of the Amidah asking G-d to uproot evil and destroy heresy. (As I say the prayer 3 times a day, I concentrate on the Messianics and J4Js. May G-d wipe them out soon.) But these groups always left the mainstream.
I doubt very much that your Orthodox Jewish friends disagreed with the 13 Principles. In many minor aspects, Jews disagree. The Torah has 70 facets.
I find it slightly amusing and pretty obnoxious for a goy to be teaching Jews Torah. Spend some time in a yeshivah or at least a Jewish day school and then we'll talk.
" I find it slightly amusing and pretty obnoxious for a goy to be teaching Jews Torah. Spend some time in a yeshivah or at least a Jewish day school and then we'll talk."
Do you really want to bring the discussion down to statements like this?
Post a Comment