The Missionary Vaccine

In Israel and the United States, missionary attempts on Jews are reaching a fever-pitch. Evangelical Christians are using every technique they possess, including converting the elderly in nursing homes, in order to lure Jews to the Cross. Scandalously, missionaries are preparing to inaugurate a new Christian Russian-language TV network will be inaugurated next month in Israel. This station is aimed at the Russian Jewish public, many of whom are painfully ignorant of their Jewish heritage following decades of Soviet oppression, as well as content aimed at children.

Incredibly, many young Jews are tragically falling for this Messianic deception, trading their heritage for a pot of lentils. Why is it that unprecedented numbers of Jews are crossing a line that their grandparents would have never dared to cross, whereas in previous generations, despite oppression and force, few Jews accepted the Christian faith? Even under the harshest conditions, which could almost complete disappear upon baptism, most Jews clung tightly to their faith. Forced conversionist sermons, decreed by the Church to be held in synagogues on shabbat, had little effect on Jews. What went wrong?

The answer is simple: today's generation of Jews prefers a strong, passionate Christianity to a watered-down, diluted Judaism. Most Jews have no exposure to authentic Jewish practice and belief, and have at best memories of bubbeh and zaideh, or resentment at being forced to attend afternoon school or "temple". An entire generation of Jews has grown up simply having no idea what Judaism is- and they have no idea what Judaism is not. To understand why the "Judaism" of the "temple rabbis" has no appeal to young people, one need only read this interview. The empty, vapid cultural Judaism has nothing to offer, complete with all its trappings of "bar mitzvah", trying to be accepted, and "Christmukkah".

It is essential to comprehend what Judaism is not before learning what it is. Judaism is not a culture, and eating gefilte fish or watching Fiddler on the Roof will not keep Jews Jewish. Cultural Judaism is a dead-end which leads to the travesties of trying to incorporate Jewish rituals at mixed-marriages, or of lighting the Chanukiyah next to the Christmas tree. Judaism is not secular Israeli nationalism, and Jews unfounded in Jewish concepts and ideals will find it increasingly difficult to accept the idea of a Jewish state. Not rooted in Jewish thought, many young Jews in the Diaspora are becoming uncomfortable with the Zionist dream. The secularization of Judaism, through "culture" as well as Zionism unfounded in Torah, is a goat-path to nowhere, a nihilistic road to assimilation and intermarriage. The millions of Jews who gave up their lives throughout history screaming the Shemah did not die for kugel or knishes.

Judaism is a covenant with G-d, established when G-d appeared before the entire nation of Israel at Sinai and presented them with His Torah. It has been, and continues to be, the way of life for the religious Jew. It is an all-encompassing system that pertains to all aspects of life, infusing them with G-dliness and holiness. When a Jew is committed to his G-d and his Torah, missionary arguments with fall on deaf ears. A Jew has no need for an intermediary between him and G-d because he knows that by keeping the mitzvot, he creates a personal relationship with G-d. He has no need for foreign waters from impure wells because he drink from the Torah, the source of living waters. Only by returning to the faith of our forefathers will our children be immune to conversion attempts.

To any Jew who is considering converting to the Messianic religious, I ask you: say Shemah, lay tefillin, keep kosher and observe Shabbat. Learn Torah with a rabbi or a study-partner. Immerse yourselves in the healing waters of the Torah and drink deeply from it. Experience true Jewish spirituality. This is the best and most sure vaccine against missionaries.

Problems with Jesus's Zionists

The Jerusalem Post describes Aryeh Bar-David as what would seem like a typical religious Zionist.

Like most religious Zionists, Aryeh Bar-David sees the hand of God in the establishment of the Jewish state and the Jewish people's repeated victories against its enemies. Yom Ha'atzmaut has religious meaning as a tangible sign that God is fulfilling his biblical promises to the Jewish people. "God's intervention in the course of history is so clear that, for me, it is absurd that people think we are just another secular democratic country," said Bar-David, who met me on Remembrance Day outside the Old City's Damascus Gate.

"This," said Bar-David, gesturing toward the outer wall of the Old City, "is the manifestation of God's prophecies as stated in Ezekiel, Jeremiah and other places in the Bible," referring to the victory in the Six Day War which gave Israel control of east Jerusalem, including the Old City.

Also similar to many religious Zionists, Bar-David, a veteran of four wars, is convinced that his religious faith helped him cope with life-and-death situations in combat. Under Ariel Sharon, he took part in some of the bloodiest battles for control of the Suez Canal during the Yom Kippur War. As platoon sergeant, Bar-David was forced to take over command when the platoon commander was killed in an ambush. "No matter how dangerous things got, I never feared anything. In a way I had a longing to be in heaven, closer to God. So I was not ever scared by the prospect of dying."

But, unlike most Jewish religious Zionists - who see the establishment of the state as a precursor to the yet-to be-revealed messiah - Bar-David has a radically different eschatology. That's because Bar-David is a Messianic Jew.

The Jerusalem Post falls into the same fallacious logic which Messianic and missionaries use. They argue that since they use Hebrew, support Israel, practice and incorporate Jewish ritual and traditions and were born of Jewish mothers, therefore, their faith is Jewish. The article goes on to mention that there are 200-300 Messianics serving in the IDF, how they love and support Israel and how 2000 Messianics showed up in Geneva to protest the Durban II conference.

It bears repeating over and over and over again that the essence of Judaism is not keeping kosher or lighting Chanukkah candles, or even love of Israel. The outward trappings are only reflections of the inner meaning. The essence of Judaism is predicated on the Absolute Oneness of G-d. On Mount Sinai, as millions of the Children of Israel stood ready to receive the Torah, HaShem said clearly to them: "I am the L-rd your G-d who took you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me." By taking us out of Egypt, G-d claimed our eternal allegiance. This is the definition of true Judaism as opposed to idolatry. Idolatry is not necessarily praying to sticks and stones or building images of the divine. Idolatry, and spiritual adultery, is worshipping anything other than the G-d who took us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage, anything other than the deity than revealed Himself to us at Sinai. G-d instructed the Jewish people with absolute clarity as to what was appropriate form of worship and what was not. Certainly, the name of Jesus was never mentioned. He was not at Sinai, and is therefore not worth worshipping. G-d warns us to remember well, and to take to heart, the mass revelation at Sinai. "And you shall watch yourselves very well, for you did not see any image on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire. Lest you become corrupt and make for yourselves a graven image, the representation of any form, the likeness of male or female..." (Devarim 4:15-16)

The power and strength of this admonition stood by the Jewish people during their long centuries of exile. The clever and thoughtful arguments of Pope or bishops, neither Crusading swords or the racks of the Inquisitions, could sway the Jew. Despite any attempt to convince him otherwise, the Jew knew that only HaShem, the G-d of Israel, and not Jesus, or Allah, or Buddha, or Zeus or Krishna, gave him the Torah at Sinai, and only He deserved worship. The concept of a Jew accepting a human being as divine, as the son of G-d, and of adoring him, is so absurd and so repugnant to the essence of Judaism. While it may be possible for a less than perfect Jew to ignore some commandments while keeping others, nothing can erase the sin of idolatry. By serving in the IDF, or laying tefillin, an apostate Jew only makes his service all the more abhorrent. In the times of the First Temple, many Israelites for Baal or Astarte served in the army. Many of them were loyal citizens who loved their country. Yet this could not make up for turning from the G-d of Israel.

On Wednesday, it was Yom HaAtzmaut, the celebration of the 61st anniversary of Israel's independence. Complete independence means more than no longer being under foreign rule or sovereignty. Jewish independence is much more significant than no longer being controlled by the British. The true and ultimate independence that we hope for is a spiritual independence, of being independent and free from foreign and gentile influences. We hope that the Jewish nation in Israel will not be subject to strange philosophies, beliefs and cults. Being subject to repeated proselytization attempts within our own country is a form of enslavement. That there are people serving in the army of G-d, the Israel Defense Force, identifying with a foreign faith and trying to woo Jews to it shows how our independence is far from perfect.

May we merit the Final Redemption speedily in our days, and a complete independence, from all our foes, both physical and spiritual.

Attacking the Weak

In their quest for Jewish souls, missionaries will stop at nothing. There is no limit to the deception and trickery that they will use in order to convert ignorant and alienated Jews from Judaism.

(IsraelNN.com) A Jewish outreach organization has called on mainstream booksellers, including Barnes & Noble and Amazon, to remove a Christian missionary version of the traditional Passover Hagaddah from the Judaism sections of online and conventional bookstores.

Rabbi Tovia Singer, director of Outreach Judaism, warned, "Despite the innocent-sounding title 'Passover Family Pack: Everything You Need to Enjoy a Passover Seder Dinner,' the guide quickly departs from the traditional holiday message once it is opened."

Jewish families seeking to celebrate the ancient exodus of the Jewish People from Egyptian slavery find once they open the package that they are encouraged to express their faith in the Christian deity, "Yeshua the Messiah."

Outreach Judaism has started a petition demanding that Amazon reclassify this Hagaddah accurately as Christian, rather than Jewish. Passover is one of the most fundamental celebrations of the Jewish faith, a holiday which even the most assimilated Jews still celebrate or commemorate. To use the celebration of Jewish nationhood, liberation and renewal to woo Jews away from their faith is beyond disgusting.

In a similar story, Jewish religious groups turned down a sizable donation from missionary sources:

(IsraelNN.com) Two Jewish religious groups turned down a missionary donation of thousands of dollars – and received the same sum from a Venezuelan philanthropist instead.

The story began several months ago, when a group of families from Disengagement-destroyed Netzarim - formerly of northern Gush Katif - received a donation of 21,502 shekels, worth some $6,000 at the time. The families had reason to believe that their benefactors had ulterior motives, and upon further investigation, found that the money came from a missionary organization.

They asked Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, Dean of Yeshivat Ateret Cohanim in the Old City of Jerusalem, for his opinion, and he recommended that they not use the money. He said they should send the full sum to the anti-missionary Yad L’Achim organization, where it would be used in the fight against those who try to convert Jews to any form of Christianity or belief in Jesus.

However, Yad L’Achim, too, did not wish to use the money, by express instruction of organization founder and chairman Rabbi Shalom Dov Lifshitz. “This, despite the various dispensations that can be found for situations like this, and despite the dwindling contributions in recent months,” said sources in Yad L’Achim.

Following the publication of this story earlier this month, at least one person, a Jew from Venezuela, was particularly moved by the groups’ self-sacrifice – and decided to donate the identical sum.

The unidentified philanthropist called the central Yad L’Achim office in Bnei Brak one day last week, and asked to speak to Rabbi Lifshitz “The moment I heard about the large donation that the people of Netzarim sent you because they didn’t want to use missionary money," the caller said, "and how you also refused to use it, despite the difficult financial situation everyone is going through – I was very moved. I could not remain apathetic, and I would like to give you a donation in the same sum.”

'Accepting Money From Missionaries Strengthens Them'
Rabbi Lifshitz said afterwards, “This very emotional donation proves the words of our holy Torah, ‘Is G-d’s hand too short [to provide]?’ Anyone with eyes can see clearly that G-d finds the way to help whoever needs, without having to rely on non-kosher sources… The very acceptance of money from missionary organizations strengthens them, Heaven forbid.”

It was not reported if the donor made a similar offer to Netzarim.

Netzarim Families Continue Farming
Some 45 uprooted families of Netzarim are currently living in the Halutza Sands town of Yevul, southeast of Gaza. Many of them are engaged in the same type of organic agriculture in which they worked in Gush Katif, raising organic lettuce, peppers, and more.

Together with another 35 families who have since joined them, they are planning to move to Bnei Netzarim, a community whose construction has just begun. They hope that the first families will be able to begin moving to their new homes, some five kilometers to the south, within a year.

May we all have the courage and strength to reject those who wish to turn us away from Judaism. May HaShem foil the plans of the enemies of His people and of His Torah.

The Right to Smash Idols

Posted by Ellen W. Horowitz for JewishIsrael

"Do not bow down to their gods and do not serve them. Do not follow their practices. You must tear them down and you must utterly shatter their monuments." (Parashat Mishpatim 23:24)

The above was from last week’s Torah portion. G-d with His infinite sense of humor handed that one down to a people who don’t have much of a hankering for violently pulverizing pagan ideas, altars and places of worship.

How does one reduce idols to mere dust in a civil society, in a modern Jewish state?

Ideally, we Jews should counter idolatry by using our intellect to enable compassionate and just laws which are both considerate of human dignity and in keeping with Jewish tradition. But with Western democracies cramming the mantras of tolerance, political correctness, and freedom of religious expression down our Israeli gullets, we sometimes find ourselves preserving and protecting that which we were commanded to uproot. What’s a Jew to do?

Well, there’s always humor… and it’s been a funny week.

Headlines reported that the results of a survey on Israeli attitudes toward Christianity indicate a sharp division between religious and secular Jews on topics ranging from missionary activity, to accepting funds from evangelical sources, to visiting churches. Despite the sharp divide, both secular and religious Israelis did find some common ground, as only 50% of Israeli Jews agreed that Jerusalem was central to the Christian faith; and 75% believe the state should not allow Christian groups to buy land to build new churches in Jerusalem.

Meanwhile secular Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit of Kadima saw fit to set up a special committee to discuss amending Israel's Law of Return. Sheetrit feels the law has been abused by non-Jews with no connection to Judaism as a way to obtain Israeli citizenship. "In a few years Israel will no longer be the state of the Jews, and I do not want that," Sheetrit said.

But by far the most bizarre interfaith clash of this past week was over a skit, broadcast on Israeli Channel 10, which the Vatican claimed had "ridiculed -- with blasphemous words and images -- the Lord Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary."

C’mon Mr. Pope, Lior Shlein is just a secular Jewish entertainer - it’s not like he is one of your devout and disciplined Catholic bishops. Israel should be the place where Jews can express themselves fully as Jews; and a late night Hebrew program televised on a private channel in Israel should surely be a safe haven for satirists - and out of the sights and clutches of the “Holy See”.

A virgin birthing a deity who can walk on water is – for the Jew – absurd to the point of being hysterically funny. For the Jew, there is simply nothing reverent about it.

Besides, satire by nature is irreverent, and it’s a given that unconventional artists and entertainers are prone to going over-the-top and dabbling in the tactless, tasteless and insulting. Monty Python, Mel Brooks and Mr. Bean have all pushed the religious humor envelope to the outer limits. Alternatively, politically conservative comedienne Jackie Mason took his rants in defense of Christmas, Christianity and Mel Gibson to the brink, too ( but drew the line in the form of a law suit when Jews for Jesus put out a broadside entitled: "Jackie Mason… A Jew for Jesus?!”)

Were Shlein’s antics heresy? Were they tanamount to “denying Christianity” as Palestinian-Arab-Catholic and Israeli Arab newspaper CEO, Zohir Andreus, claims? Well, Mr. Andreus, we have a dilemma because to acknowledge Christian belief is to deny Judaism.

What is sacred for the devout Christian is oft-times blasphemous for the Jew. Even the currently in-vogue fascination many Christians are having with “messianic hebraic roots” movements and Jewish rituals cannot mask, nor bridge, the very fundamental differences between faiths.

If we adhere to the philosophy of the late and very great Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, then it seems the secular Mr. Shlein did us all a favor with his “blasphemy”. Rav Kook found a holy spark in Jewish heretics and atheists. In their denial of a Creator, they refuse to ascribe form to G-d or define His attributes and character in limited human terms. The heretic does not fall into the trap of creating a false image. This attitude intellectually and spiritually challenges the religious community and compels it to strive for a more profound knowledge and perception of G-d. The Pope should thank Lior Shlein for expanding his horizons, and for giving him the opportunity to grow beyond the confines and imagery of the Sistine Chapel.

We have to remember that it was the patriarch Abraham who, according to Jewish (and Islamic) tradition used common sense and a sense of humor when, as a young boy, he smashed all of his father’s idols except for one, and when asked what transpired replied, “The idols all got into a fight and the biggest idol won." At the time, little Avram must have appeared as a very disrespectful and rebellious blasphemer.

They just don’t make Jewish leaders like they used to. I bristled as Ehud Olmert submitted to Vatican demands and confessed and repented with a public apology, It is so in character for our outgoing Prime Minister to take his final bow facing Rome.

These are dark times and disputes with the Vatican and other Christian denominations over property rights, rights to proselytize, and the right to freedom of Christian expression, appear to be on the increase. Christian influence is growing in Israel exponentially and we Jews had better find our voice and assert our rights to laugh, legislate, smash idols, and bloodlessly slaughter sacred cows.

Cross-posted from Shiloh Musings

He's in there?

"Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." -John 5:39

When Christians read the Bible, they see Jesus in every verse and every portion. In their minds, Jesus is literally bouncing off every page. They make the claim that Jesus's messiah-hood and divinity is apparent from a cursory reading of Scripture and that if a person would only honestly examine the texts, they could not possibly deny his truth.

A favorite missionary claim is that the early Christians were Jewish, proof of the compatibility of the two faiths. Yet their very own argument works against them. If the Scriptures clearly and unequivocally point to Jesus's coming, one would expect that the people who would be the first to recognize him would be the very people who spent their lives studying the Torah. It would make sense that the Sanhedrin, the great rabbis and leaders of the people would have recognized Jesus's coming, clearly foretold in the Torah. One could imagine, if the Gospel tale is to be believed, Jesus coming before the Sanhedrin and arguing that he was divine, sent by G-d to redeem the world. The rabbis, who should have known from the Torah about such a person, refuted and rejected all of Jesus's arguments and reasoning. Obviously, the idea of a human saviour-god, son of a virgin and the divine, dying for the sins of humanity was not a Jewish concept based on the Torah, but rather a pagan one. While the learned men did not accept Jesus, his disciples were tradesmen, common folk and Torah students. Peter and John were Galilean fishermen, while Paul was a Roman tax collector. Mary Magdelene was a prostitute- certainly not a paragon of Torah scholarship and learning. Far from having the Scriptures clearly testify of Jesus, those who were familiar with the Scriptures were the first to reject him!

Similarly, one would expect that missionaries would have the most ease persuading Jews who have studied in yeshiva. Coming out of the synagogue and beit midrash, with a holy book tucked under their arms, they should be easy prey for the missionary sharing "the good news". It is then quite odd that missionaries rarely are sent to Crown Heights, to Monsey, Meah Shearim, Bnei Brak or Hebron. They would have little luck there as Jews well-versed in their faith and Torah are insusceptible to Christian missionizing. On the contrary, missionaries often concentrate their efforts on college students alienated from their Jewish heritage, lonely seniors, new Russian or Ethiopian olim, segments of the Jewish population that do not possess a strong Jewish heritage. A quick glance at testimonies on missionary sites such as 'Jews for Jesus' and the like show that most were raised in homes devoid of Jewish spirituality and whose only Jewish connection was gefilte fish and matzoh balls. That is why the Christian Bible places great emphasis on faith, rather than knowledge. This is because belief in Jesus cannot stand up to a true Jewish examination, based on traditional Jewish teaching and practice.

The classic Christian response to this is that Jews have been blinded by Satan. If the Devil had not caused them not to see, they would quickly accept the Cross. The Pope recently restored mass prayers calling for "the veil of blindness" to be "lifted" from the "eyes of the perfidious Jews". This arrogant and condescending claim ignores the many arguments and oppositions that Jews have with Christian theology. The Jewish rejection of Jesus as the messiah is based on study of the requirements of the messiah, which Jesus did not fulfill. The Torah records that in the End of Days, it will be the gentile nations, and not the Jews, who have been mistaken.

"O LORD, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge, in the day of affliction, unto Thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and shall say: 'Our fathers have inherited nought but lies, vanity and things wherein there is no profit.' Shall a man make unto himself gods, and they are no gods?" (Jeremiah 16:19)

"[In the Messianic Era] nations shall walk at thy [the Jewish people's] light, and kings at the brightness of thy rising." (Isaiah 60:3)

"I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and have taken hold of thy hand, and kept thee, and set thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the nations; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house." (Isaiah 42:6-7)

May we merit speedily the day in which all mankind will recognize that HaShem is One and His Name is One. Amen!

Liar, Lunatic or Lord?

A Christian polemicist once argued famously that Jesus was either "a liar, a lunatic or lord". This circular argument has been repeated endlessly by missionaries in their obsessive drive to convert Jews. As such, it is necessary to take a look at who Jesus actually was, and who he most certainly was not.

1) Was Jesus a Prophet?

The Christian Bible refers to Jesus as a prophet (Matt. 14:5, John 4:44). However, from a Jewish perspective, this claim is problematic. Therefore, it is necessary to compare Jesus's claims with the qualifications set down by a prophet in the Torah, contained in Deuteronomy 13 and 18.

According to these sources, a prophet is a man sent by G-d to bring revelations. if a prophet predicts something that does not come to pass, or commands something contrary to the Torah, he is considered a false prophet and must be put to death. It is hard to square the idea that Jesus was a prophet with the claim that he was G-d, since that would make G-d His own prophet. We must examine whether all of Jesus' prophecies came true. Jesus prophesied that he would return during the generation and lifetime of his disciples.

"Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place." (Mark 13:30)

"Truly, I say to you, there are some standing among you here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in the Kingdom." (Matt. 16:28, 24:38)

Jesus's disciples most assuredly see the second coming in their lifetime. Therefore, Jesus was a false prophet.

The final verses of the Torah testify that Moses was the greatest and most authoritative of the prophets. It is a cardinal Jewish principle that never will a prophet arise who will be greatest than Moses and be able to cancel that which he commanded in the Torah. The Torah tells us how to recognize false prophets:

Deuteronomy 13:1 The entire word that I command you, that shall you observe to do; you shall not add to it and you shall not subtract from it. [2] If there should stand up in your midst a prophet or a dreamer of a dream, and he will produce to you a sign or a wonder, [3] and the sign or the wonder comes about, of which he spoke to you, saying "Let us follow gods of others that you did not know and we shall worship them!; [4] do not hearken to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of a dream, for HASHEM, your G-d, is testing you to know whether you love HASHEM, your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul. [5] HASHEM, your G-d, shall you follow and Him shall you fear; His commandments shall you observe and to His voice shall you hearken; Him shall you serve and to Him shall you cleave. [6] And that prophet and that dreamer of a dream shall be put to death, for he had spoken perversion against HASHEM, your G-d Who takes you out of the land of Egypt, and Who redeems you from the house of slavery to make you stray from the path on which HASHEM, you G-d, has commanded you to go; and you shall destroy the evil from your midst. (Artscroll)

Just about everything that Jesus and Paul preached violated this clause. Paul opposed and condemned ritual observance of the Torah. Jesus dealt with many laws with a curious ambiguity. In Mark 7:18, Jesus declared all foods to be "clean", thus violating the laws of kashrut. Jesus limited or opposed divorce and remarriage in Matt. 19:9 and Mark 10:3-4, although this is permissible by the Torah. We see that Jesus tried to change the Torah, although no one has the authority to "add or subtract" to G-d's perfect Laws.

More importantly, it must be remembered that any prophet succeeding Moses must preach a message keeping in line with that of Moses.

FACT: No Jew prayed to Jesus prior to two thousand years ago.

FACT: Jews would have been unfamiliar with the concept of G-d in human form.

FACT: Jesus was, in essence, something that the Jews had not known.

FACT: Deuteronomy 13 specifically warns us that G-d will grant the power of miracles to people who would lead us astray from Judaism.

FACT: Deuteronomy 13 specifically says that Jews must not worship anything they had not previously known, no matter how many miracles the prophet performs, or how many events he predicts correctly.

This brings us to our next point, which will determine if Jesus's message was idolatrous.

2) Was Jesus divine?

Christianity teaches that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine. That is contradictory to G-d's explicit statement that He is not a man.

"God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent..." (Numbers 23:19)

"And also the Glory of Israel will not lie nor repent; for He is not a man, that He should repent.'" (I Samuel 15:29)

"..for I am God, and not man, the Holy One in the midst of thee; and I will not come in fury." (Hosea 11:9)

If Jesus is a deity, then G-d is not alone because Jesus is a discrete physical being. The Torah and the prophets are filled with statements hat G-d is alone and that there is no other. Claiming that G-d has a physical form and is a Triune being is contradictory to the teachings and spirit of the Torah.

"You are the ones who have been shown, so that you will know that God is the Supreme Being, and there is none other besides Him!" (Deuteronomy 4:35)

"Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other!" (Deuteronomy 4:39)

"To whom then will you liken Me, that I should be his equal?" says the Holy One. (Isaiah 40:25)

"I am the Lord, that is My name, and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images!" (Isaiah 42:8)

"To whom shall you liken Me and make Me equal and compare Me that we may be alike?" (Isaiah 46:5)

"Remember the first things of old, that I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me." (Isaiah 46:9)

Isaiah 11:3 states that the Messiah will fear G-d. Logically, G-d cannot fear Himself. As such, it is illogical to claim that Jesus was G-d. It is important to note that Judaism never considered the Messiah divine but rather a very righteous human being. The early Christian made no claims about the divinity of Jesus. Jesus was actually elected divine at the Nicean Council in 325 CE, by former pagans who worshipped various saviour demigods similar to Jesus.

3) Was Jesus perfect?

Christian claim that Jesus was a perfect being, yet a careful review of the Christian Bible reveals a far from perfect view of him. One incidence where Jesus sinned was the incident recorded in Matthew 21:18-19 in which Jesus destroyed a fruit tree which did not bear fruits. Mark informs us that it was not in the fruit-bearing season. This is in direct violation of the Torah's commandment of bal tashchit, prohibiting even the destruction of enemy fruit trees in times of war (Deut.20:19) If Jesus was "the son of god", certainly he could have caused the tree to blossom rather than vindictively destroying it. (Interestingly, the Talmud describes a story where Rabbi Yossi's son wanted to feed his workers and the fig tree had no fruit. Rabbi Yossi cried out and the fig tree produced fruit.)

Jesus also sinned when he ordered his disciple to violate the commandments to honour ones parents and to promptly bury the dead. "And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him." (Matt.8:21-23) By ordering his disciple not to bury his parents, Jesus violated the Ten Commandments and was guilty of a major sin under Jewish law.

Despite being portrayed as a "prince of peace", Jesus was actually quite harsh to those who opposed him and certainly did not practice what he preached. Jesus taught other to turn the other cheek (Matt. 5:38-39) yet when he was struck by the officers, he answered them back (John 18:22-23).

Instead of forgiveness and tolerance, Jesus cursed those who opposed him. "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned." (John 15:6) In Luke 19:27, Jesus commanded that his disciples bring his Jewish enemies before him and slaughter them before him, a role that the Church was all to happy to play throughout history. Similarly, Jesus cursed the cities that did not believe in him (Matt.11:20-24).

The Jewish people revere our holy and righteous sages, who rose to unparalleled levels of holiness and sanctity. One such individual was Rabbi Akivah, who was martyred around the time when Jesus supposedly lived. The Romans punished him for teaching Torah and skinned him alive with a hot metal comb.

According to Mark and Matthew, Jesus' last words on the cross were a complaint: "My G-d, my G-d, why have you forsaken me?". In contrast, Rabbi Akivah's last words were the Shemah, in which he proclaimed G-d's Unity and Oneness. Arguably, Jesus, who was supposedly the son of G-d, did not measure up to the exaltedness of Rabbi Akivah.

4) Was Jesus the messiah?

The Jewish tradition of "The Messiah" has its foundation in numerous biblical references, and understands "The Messiah" to be a human being - without any overtone of deity or divinity - who will bring about certain changes in the world and fulfill certain criteria before he can be acknowledged as "The Messiah".

First of all, he must be Jewish - "...you may appoint a king over you, whom the L-rd your G-d shall choose: one from among your brethren shall you set as king over you." (Deuteronomy 17:15)

He must be a member of the tribe of Judah - "The staff shall not depart from Judah, nor the sceptre from between his feet..." (Genesis 49:10)

To be a member of the tribe of Judah, the person must have a biological father who is a member of the tribe of Judah.

He must be a direct male descendant of King David and King Solomon, his son - "And when your days (David) are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall issue from your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will make firm the throne of his kingdom forever..." (2 Samuel 7:12 - 13)

The genealogy of the New Testament is inconsistent. While it gives two accounts of the genealogy of Joseph, it states clearly that he is not the biological father of Jesus. One of the genealogies is through Nathan and not Solomon altogether!

He must gather the Jewish people from exile and return them to Israel -"And he shall set up a banner for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." (Isaiah 11:12)

Are all Jews living in Israel? Have all Jews EVER lived in Israel since the time of Jesus?

He must rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem - "...and I will set my sanctuary in their midst forever and my tabernacle shall be with them.." (Ezekiel 37:26 - 27)

At last check, there is NO Temple in Jerusalem. And worse, it was shortly after Jesus died that the Temple was DESTROYED! Just the opposite of this prophecy!

He will rule at a time of world-wide peace - "...they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." (Micah 4:3)

Have you seen a newspaper lately? Are we living in a state of complete world peace? Has there ever been peace since the time of Jesus?

He will rule at a time when the Jewish people will observe G-d's commandments - "My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow My ordinances and be careful to observe My statutes." (Ezekiel 37:24)

The Torah is the Jewish guide to life, and its commandments are the ones referred to here. Do all Jews observe all the commandments? Christianity, in fact, often discourages observance of the commandments in Torah, in complete opposition to this prophecy.

He will rule at a time when all people will come to acknowledge and serve one G-d - "And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, says the L-rd" (Isaiah 66:23)

There are still millions if not billions of people in the world today who adhere to paganistic and polytheistic religions. It is clear that we have not yet seen this period of human history unfold.

All of these criteria are best stated in the book of Ezekiel Chapter 37 verses 24-28:

And David my servant shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. they shall also follow My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Yaakov my servant, in which your fathers have dwelt and they shall dwell there, they and their children, and their children's children forever; and my servant David shall be their prince forever. Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them, it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, which I will give them; and I will multiply them and I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. And my tabernacle shall be with them: and I will be their G-d and they will be my people. Then the nations shall know that I am the L-rd who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary will be in the midst of them forevermore.

If an individual fails to fulfill even one of these conditions, then he cannot be "The Messiah." A careful analysis of these criteria shows us that to date, no one has fulfilled every condition.

Jesus is illegitimate on all counts. He did not possess the proper genealogy to be eligible for the throne of Israel, nor did he fulfill ANY of the basic requirements of the messiah. There is no more reason to believe that he was the messiah than Shimon Bar Kochba, Shabbtai Tzvi or my uncle!

In summary, the response to the missionary question of "who was Jesus" is "who cares?" The Torah commands us to venerate G-d and G-d alone. It is immaterial to a Jew who Jesus, Muhammad or Hare Krishna was. Their worship must be avoided at all cost.

Chutzpah and Heaven

The head of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants has announced that he is called off talks with the Mormon Church over posthumous baptisms performed by the sect for Holocaust victims. Survivors are upset that names of Holocaust victims have been added to a list of baptisms- including thousands lifted from Yizkor books of Jews massacred at Berdichev in Ukraine. Over 380 000 Holocaust victims, including Ann Frank, have already been baptized by the Mormon Church.

The Mormons believe that by baptizing the dead, they give them an opportunity to go to heaven. It is anti-semitic in the extreme to suppose that the murdered victims of the Holocaust need any help from a 150-year old cult in getting to heaven. However, such a belief is not unique to the Mormon Church. Many Evangelical missionary movements which target Jews threaten eternal hellfire and brimstone if Jews do not accept Jesus.

Before Adolph Eichmann, may his name be accursed, was to be executed, Israel permitted him to meet with a Christian minister. After he was executed, reporters asked the minister whether or not Eichmann had accept Jesus. The minister explained that having accepted Jesus, Eichmann would surely be forgiven of all of his sins and go to heaven. And as for the poor Jewish boy gassed at Auschwitz, disbelieving in his "saviour", hell would surely be his eternal reward. According to this perverted belief system, the evil architect of the Final Solution would be welcomed at the Pearly Gates simply for accepting Jesus while the 6 million victims of the Holocaust would be condemned to hell for being Jews.

This story goes to show the perverseness of exclusivity on heaven. For a cult less than two centuries old to presuppose that it has the key to the eternal salvation of the martyrs of the Holocaust is the ultimate in chutzpah. Even more than that, for anyone to claim that his is the only path to heaven and salvation invites hatred, persecution and intolerance. Such a belief only propagates the reasoning behind burning Jews at the stake, and other such atrocities, in order to "save their souls". Surely, the inquisitors and Church officials reasoned, that whatever they did to the Jews was nothing in comparison with eternal salvation. They believed that they were saving them from a far worse fate.

So let's get this straight, for every single Christian or any other cultist who is concerned about my soul: Jews don't need you to be saved!. For a Jew to be saved, he must observe G-d's commandments, follow the Torah and serve HaShem with his entire heart and soul. G-d gave us 613 commandments with which to perfect and refine ourselves so that we may enjoy the World to Come. No cult or sect can offer us anything of value in terms of salvation. As for non-Jews, the sacrifice of Jesus is worthless as well. G-d demands of non-Jews that they renounced man-made idolatry, worship HaShem and lead moral lives. No man can atone for another. Only by keeping G-d's Torah, the 613 mitzvot for Jews and the 7 mitzvot for non-Jews, can we be holy in HaShem's eyes.

The Mishna (Sanhedrin 90a) teaches that " all of Israel has a share in the World to Come, as it says: 'And your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever. They are the branch of My planting, My Handiwork, in which to take pride.'" (Isaiah 60:21) So just a head's-up to anyone who wants to save us: we Jews don't need any help in that department.

Onward Christian Missionaries

Posted by Ellen W. Horowitz

In the mad pre-Rosh Hashanah rush, I neglected to send out a missionary update. So below is the last update on evangelical missionary activity for the year 5768 - and it's a long one.

Let's hope that this New Year brings shorter and sweeter news, as we make progress in our efforts to upset the designs of those who are determined to take the Jewish people away from
their faith.

With the U'netaneh Tokef prayer being such an integral part of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur service, we might as well begin in Germany where more than 800 years ago the martyred Rabbi Amnon of Mainz left us a very painful and eternal lesson on an interfaith friendship gone awry.

The WEA issues the 2008 Berlin
Declaration: a decree to convert European Jewry:

YNET reports that the World Evangelical Alliance ended their conference in Berlin with a statement calling for the mass conversion of Jews (in the spirit of friendship, of course)

The statement issued by the WEA Theological Commission entitled "The Berlin Declaration on the Uniqueness of Christ and Jewish Evangelism in Europe Today" was developed by a
task force at a consultation in Berlin, Germany which took place on August 18-22, 2008.

The ADL was quick to denounce the World Evangelical Alliance for targeting European Jews for conversion. It was not unlike Foxman's statement issued at the end of March which censured the very same WEA for launching a campaign targeting Jews for conversion via full page ads in the New York Times and other major papers.

The WEA is no fringe group. It " is a network of churches in 128 nations that have each formed an evangelical alliance and over 100 international organizations joining together to give a worldwide identity, voice and platform to more than 420 million evangelical Christians."
And it enjoys the endorsement of some heavy hitters among so-called "Christian Zionists". As you may recall CUFI regional director and publisher Stephen Strang was among the endorsers of that WEA statement, as was radio-show host Janet Parshall - who was instrumental in
launching and establishing the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus.

[It should be noted that the "prophetic" Parshall withdrew from the Caucus as she sensed a
time when Israel would soon essentially say, "We'll take your aid, your
support and your tourist dollars, but we won't take your Jesus."]
Damn straight, Janet !

Ironically it was Abe Foxman of the ADL who played a role in preventing Israel from passing badly needed anti-missionary legislation back in 1998. Something about "the
bill's implications on civil liberties and religious freedom in Israel"..
What goes around comes around, Abe.

Messianic Jews Promote Ethiopian Aliya:

The Jerusalem Post is reporting that Messianic Jewish missionaries from the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA) are busy convincing 50,000-70,000 Ethiopian Christians from far-flung villages in Ethiopia that they are really Jewish believers in Jesus and entitled to aliyah.

The following are excerpts from the article:

"Operation Tikva is contravening the Israeli government's attempts over

the last year to wind down official aliya operations in Ethiopia, and the

project is being viewed in Jerusalem with alarm."

...."These people are clearly not Jewish and they are working in areas

where none of the people are Jews either; everything they are telling these

people are lies," said Rabbi Menachem Waldman, a member of the Public

Council for Ethiopian Jews, which has successfully persuaded the Israeli

government to continue checking the eligibility for immigration of a further

3,000 Falash Mura (Ethiopian Jews whose ancestors converted to Christianity

more than a century ago) from the same region of Ethiopia...

Aveje Manhanei, who runs an Israeli-based Web community dedicated to

preserving the traditions and culture of Ethiopian Jewry, told the Post, "If

Israel does not put a stop to this activity as soon as possible then there

will eventually be another 75 million Ethiopians demanding to make aliya."

Kidnapping the Kotel:

Missionaries continue their "love affair" with Jewish symbols with the
intent of drawing Jews closer. Well here's one kotel we Jews won't
be kissing.

Every Home for Christ located in Colorado Springs, will be spending $2.3 million on a replica of the Western Wall which will be housed in the Jericho Center for Global Evangelism - a
missionary training center

The replica will fill 2,500 square feet of an 8,000-square-foot, 300-seat auditorium. About 50 tons of stone will be used to construct the mini two-story wall and auditorium. Stones will be cut from an ancient mine outside of Jerusalem. The wall will be free and open to the public 24 hours
a day. The hope is to have Christians and Jews praying together.

1 Million Christians to Claim Inheritance of Eretz Yisrael.

.if Joel Bell gets his way. The Israeli citizen and Christian missionary (how did he make aliyah?)
who sends out Hannukah greetings praising Jesus, has unveiled ambitious building designs in Israel, as well as plans to bring 1,000,000 Christians on aliyah. Joel figures that the time has come for Christians to claim their eternal inheritance to Israel - and he's got Likud
cooperation.

Joel, knows how to put a slick presentation together for his Christian brethren, and WORLDWIDE BIBLICAL ZIONISTS "actively develop opportunities through partnership for your participation here in Israel. Investments, jobs, housing, education, military training, community, and tools you'll need to make Israel your home. "

Joel Bell has his eyes set on Judea and Shomron, and he will be
bringing a large group to Israel in November to seek out opportunities - so
heads up, Jews.

IDF Officers "hook-up"with Southern Baptist Missionaries:

According to a series of letters sent to 11,000 Christian clergy, Southern Baptist Pastor Jim Vineyard "hooked up" with 80 IDF officers at a "War College" in France in late September. Vineyard stayed at the same hotel with "these 80 Hebrews to study primarily, the Normandy Invasion".

One of the sponsors of the program is Colonel J. Tyler Ryberg, USMC (Retired). Ryberg is the Director of the missionary agency and local church ministry of Faith Baptist Church, Belleville, IL , where his mission is to "evangelize and disciple military men and women around the world through Worldwide Military Baptist Missions".

In all fairness, Colonel Ryberg has a wealth of battle experience and appears to have great admiration for Pastor Vineyard and his efforts. But he is first and foremost a missionary with a vision for U.S. military men and women " to be saved, baptized, discipled and serving the Lord Jesus Christ." So one wonders why our IDF officers need this kind of program which appears to have been - to a large extent - coordinated and sponsored by Baptist pastors like Vineyard and Ryberg.

According to one of Vineyard's letters, packages were distributed to the IDF officers. "when we put that package of books and DVDs into their hands. They would ask, "For Me?" Then they would walk away amazed."According to the letter, most of the material was related to the
subject matter at hand (the Normandy Invasion). But you gotta wonder.

The State Department has an Orthodox Jewish Problem:

The International Religious Freedom Report of 2008 was recently released, and the State Department leveled some unwarranted charges against the Jews. Seems we've been persecuting the church here in Israel and denying Christians their right to pretend to be Jews.

The Jerusalem Post reports that the State Depatment "put blame for the "tensions" on "certain Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities."

But except in one case, the report, which noted numerous incidents of discrimination or violence against Christian or Messianic Jewish communities or individuals, failed to prove that the perpetrators were Orthodox or ultra-Orthodox.

The biased and shoddy State Department reporting seemed to rely heavily on the spin given by CBN (the Christian Broadcasting Network) and the ACLJ (The American Center for Law and Justice) - both Pat Robertson productions. As expected they covered items like the Ariel Purim explosion ("bombing"), the Narkiss Church fire ("arson"), and the incineration of missionary materials ("bible burnings"). Of course Pastor/Lawyer Calev Myer's Jerusalem Institute of Justice was one of the messianic sources which the State Department used in their hatchet job.

Pat Boone "sings" at Eckstein's anniversary Bash

Pat Roberston was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for support of Israel at Yechiel Eckstein's 25th anniversary banquet for the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ).

As already pointed out, Robertson's institutions like CBN and ACLJ are giving Israel a messianic migraine. But it was Pat Boone who MC'd the Eckstein event, and Pat "sang" about his hopes for the Jews onChicago's news station WBBM 780. You can hear that clip here or just read it:

".one of the early leaders of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, 74-year-old singer Pat Boone, who is Christian but says, with a smile, that he represents the Messianic branch of Judaism.

"The time will come when Jews themselves will say, 'What do you know? The messiah has been here all this time.' So that's what we believe, and we long for. Not that we try to force it on anybody. And we understand why they don't see that yet. Maybe some never will."

The Israeli daily Ma'ariv reported that Eckstein's organization (IFCJ) gave $10,000 in 2007 to an evangelical group in Jerusalem that proselytizes Israeli Jews. " That organization would be Kings of Kings Assemblies in Jerusalem.

"King of Kings Community is called to be a compelling, Messiah-centered, Spirit-empowered, disciple-making community that reveals the true face of Yeshua (Jesus) to Israel and to the nations. "

Yep. That sounds pretty missionary to me.

Is There a Rabbi in the House?

While Rabbi Eckstein may have distributed funds to missionaries, it appears that Rabbi Riskin has accepted missionary related funds.

A CUFI sponsored event at the Harvest Training Center - a missionary organization - raised $12,600 for Rabbi Riskin's Ohr Torah Loving Kindness Fund in Efrat.

The Calvary Tabernacle Harvest Training Center of Cranford New Jersey is affiliated with Dugit Messianic Outreach Center in Tel Aviv ( a very active missionary organization)

ICEJ Crowns Jesus as the Lion King and Ruler of Jerusalem:

Once again the annual ICEJ (International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem) Feast of the Tabernacles pilgrimage will soon descend upon Jerusalem. As you may recall, last year the Chief Rabbinate proscribed Jewish participation in the Feast events, as well the Jerusalem March due to a missionary presence and activity. As I pointed out in a recent report, the rabbinic decision was more than vindicated.

The Lion of Judah is the theme of this year's Feast and this is what Chuck King has this to say about this year's feast:

From the tribe of Judah came King David, and from the House of David the true "Lion King" - Jesus - appeared. Jesus' identity as the triumphal Lion of Judah is revealed in Revelation 5, where He is described as the only one worthy to open Heaven's scroll.

This year's Feast of Tabernacles celebration raises a banner bearing the symbol of the Lion of Judah. By lifting up His tribal ensign, we proclaim in this 60th year anniversary of Israel's national rebirth, that the coming Lion of the Tribe of Judah will soon establish His rightful inheritance and establish His throne to rule over His city and the nations.

The lion of Jesus theme is prominently featured throughout the week long pilgrimage with events proclaiming THE INHERITANCE OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH, THE ROAR OF THE LION OF JUDAH, THE LION OF JUDAH AS JUDGE, THE TRIUMPHANT LION OF JUDAH, etc.

Some people will simply dismiss this as a Christian event about Christian beliefs. But as Jews living in Eretz Yisrael, we do have the following issues:
a) The event - the largest tourist event of the year in Israel - is fully endorsed by the government of a Jewish state.
b) the Prime Minister as well as Knesset members and "rabbis" and Jewish/Israeli diplomats and dignitaries attend the events of Feast pilgrimage and/or give it their blessing.
c) A Jewish convention center that enjoys a kashrut certificate hosts the pilgrimage
d) there is a heavy messianic and missionary presence at the Feast (it is essentially an evangelical/missionary event)
e) The Jerusalem March will certainly feature large banners of the Lion of Judah - symbolic of their Jesus, and Jewish bystanders and participants will inadvertently be paying homage to and acknowledging the Christian participants and their symbols (this may pose a serious halachic issue)

Honestly I haven't been so disgusted since Jerusalem's emblem of the lion of Judah was morphed into two lions mating to promote a gay pride parade in the streets of Jerusalem .

So if I could be so bold as to momentarily reclaim the Lion King from the Christian Embassy, and borrow a line from Walt Disney..

"Remember who you are"

As we Jews stand before Hashem during these awesome days, we should try and remember just who we are and where we are standing.

And I think we can and should restore the symbol of the lion of Judah to its proper place by politely, but firmly, telling the Christian Embassy where they can put their jesus.

Shana Tova and G'mar Chatima Tova.

Cross-posted from Shiloh Musings

Callers try to convert Rabbi Singer

In a powerful 2 hour radio show, Rabbi Singer refutes the claims of Christian missionaries. Click here and here to hear this amazing segment. Provocative callers try to get Rabbi Singer to exchange his Magen David for the Cross.

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner on accepting Xian money

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, chief rabbi of Beit El and founder of yeshivat Ateret Kohanim, answer questions regarding accepting Christian donations.

Question: I don’t understand why the Rabbis have forbidden accepting money from Christian institutions such as the Christian “Friendship Fund”. After all, that’s a Christian organization that loves Israel and I don’t feel like the money I received influences me the least bit in the direction of Christianity.

Answer: First of all, I am puzzled by your great enthusiasm about living off the money of others. Have you suddenly become a beggar, what in Yiddish is called a “schnorrer”? Even to be a schnorrer from Jewish money is a shame, but to be one from non-Jewish money is already a disgrace, a profanation of G-d’s name.

Observe what our sages wrote: “Those who eat ‘something else’ are disqualified as witnesses” (Sanhedrin 26b). Generally speaking, in the Talmud ‘something else’ [davar acher] connotes pork. Here, however, Tosafot proves that it should not be interpreted that way (s.v. “Ochlei”). Rather, Rashi explains that here it is referring to “People who accept charity from non-Jews, this being a profanation of G-d’s name for the same of monetary gain. Such people are classed as ‘rasha dechamas’ – avaricious evildoers.”

If we were a poor country it would be one thing. I would yet understand this enthusiasm. I wouldn’t justify one’s being an “avaricious evildoer”, but I would understand it. Yet we are a wealthy country, amongst the wealthiest on earth, and all of this money is a tiny percentage of the national budget. And for the sake of this you degrade yourself? Shame on you! And the worst is that it is non-Jewish money.

Let me explain. The Evangelical Protestant missionary institutions try to infiltrate anywhere they can by whatever means possible. Now they have found the golden pathway – financial support. The sums they contribute are for them nothing. They just make a big impression on us and arouse our craving for more. In the United States there are fifty million Fundamentalists. If every one of them contributes ten dollars every year, you’ve got half a billion dollars right there, which looks like an enormous sum.

Financial support is their present method of slowly infiltrating us. It doesn’t happen all at once. Not everyone who accepts their money immediately becomes a Christian. Yet their influence involves a seepage process that can spread over years. Those people are very patient and gradually they make inroads.

When a simple Jew hears the word “Christianity”, he is filled with abhorrence. He immediately thinks of the blood of millions of Jews tortured to death by the Christians. He recalls the Inquisition. He remembers everything. Therefore, he will never want to listen to them.

Faced with that, what do we find in the internal memos of those organizations that hunt souls? “We have to break down the barriers between ourselves and the Jews. We have to rehabilitate their trust, which has been totally destroyed. We have to operate slowly and patiently. We have to show that we are friendly, and who is more friendly than He that distributes money to those who crave money?!”

They use data to infiltrate every community. For example, in order to penetrate the Charedim they dress up like Charedim and keep tabs on their poor. If someone falls ill or passes away, they come to visit, help out, provide money, offer an encouraging word – without a single word about Christianity, obviously. They come again and again until a connection is formed. They talk from the heart. When they see that the time is ripe, they say, seemingly as a side comment, “Certainly Christianity is something bad, but Yeshu the Christian was all-in-all a good person.” In the first stage, that one sentence is enough. Later on comes another sentence, and then another sentence, via the slow-seepage approach.

In one place, a missionary dressed as a Lubavitcher gave some Chabad women a series of lectures on Tanach [the Bible] in a style that was totally Chabad. The series went on for two years without one word about Christianity, until one day he mentioned that “That Man” wasn’t so bad.

Everywhere there are missionaries sporting knitted yarmulkes. The missionary’s son learns in a yeshiva high school, and he is a little missionary. His daughter studies at a girls’ Torah high school, and she is as well. They’re all very nice. They don’t give themselves away. The main thing is to slowly build a connection, to foster trust.

That is their approach. We know them and we know exactly how they operate. There’s a story about a man who picked up a hitchhiker, an officer, a lieutenant colonel, with a knitted yarmulke, who lived in Gush Katif. Certainly, all the elements of a fine person. They conversed at length, yet that same lieutenant colonel let slip a comment about “That Man”. Since the driver was personally involved in combating missionaries, he immediately sensed who this was and he reported it to the army. The army investigated and threw him out, because they don’t want missionaries there. The officer turned to the Supreme Court, but lost in court. The army has enough headaches without that.

That’s their secret. They wait until we say, “All in all, the Christians are fine people. They give us money. We doff our hats!” That’s how they break down the barriers. Some time later, we say, “Maybe we’ll meet with them. Maybe we’ll talk with them.”

Dear friend, you are no expert in the strategies employed by the Christians. Were the donor an individual Christian, there would be room to deliberate from a halachic standpoint on whether one could accept his gift. At the same time, it is no great honor to be a schnorrer, as noted above. If, however, the donor is a Christian organization, then under no circumstances is one allowed to accept even one cent!

It’s true that if you, as a private individual, accept their gift, one can hope that you won’t be influenced towards Christianity. Yet we are talking about the public agenda of the Jewish nation, that it is forbidden for us to develop a dependency on them.

Here is a terrible case in point. Unfortunately, there are tens of thousands of Christian missionaries working in Israel. Already a number of times a new Knesset law has been recommended: “One is not allowed to persuade someone to convert. Jews cannot persuade Christians or Muslims, Christians cannot persuade Jews or Muslims, etc.” Yet this law fails every time, because those same Christian organizations that support Eretz Yisrael and distribute funds to the settlements and to the poor threatened, “If you enact this law we will cease our financial support. We will also consider ceasing our political support.” Money demands something in exchange. It ensnares you.

Don’t mistakenly say, “They’re Christians, not missionaries.” Every Evangelist Protestant is a missionary, even if he hides it. Also, we haven’t learned Greek, so we don’t realize that the word “evangelist” means “missionary”. At all the pro-Israel Christian marches and demonstrations, the Christian Lovers of Israel walk hand-in-hand with the missionaries. It turns out that because of the money that you receive, Jews become Christians! For the missionaries, hundreds of millions are a pittance, but to us it looks like a lot. To refuse to accept millions is a temptation that you can, indeed withstand. Yet once you start to accept it, it’s hard to stop.

About twenty-six years ago, such a Christian approached me, declaring that he greatly loved my yeshiva, because we were building the Temple. I told him that we’re not building the Temple. “But you want to build it, right?” “Certainly we long to build it,” I replied. “And what are you doing on that score?” he asked. I answered, “We learn Torah and strive to improve our character.” “Great! Very good!” he said. “We are fifty million fundamentalist Christians in the U.S.A. Every one of them will give one dollar a year, and you will have fifty million dollars a year, and that will be our contribution towards building the Temple.”

And what did I answer to his generous offer? “No!”

Since, then, I reckon that I have lost out on a billion three hundred million dollars. No big deal. Small change.

There’s a settlement in Judea and Samaria that received a million dollars from them. Now, in that settlement there’s a Christian worship service in their Town Council building! A prayer service of Christian missionaries and Jews for J. – right there in the Town Council building! Nowhere is it written that the one was in exchange for the other, but that is precisely the result. Let’s not be naïve.

How fortunate you are, through G-d’s grace, to have been born in Eretz Yisrael, such that you don’t know what Christians are, how they operate and how sophisticated they are. You should bone up on your history.

By the way, there are two other types of Christians. First, there are liberal Protestants. They are against the State of Israel, because we, allegedly, committed an injustice against the Arabs. Second, there are Catholics, who presently are not engaged in missionizing. Yet, they, too are against the State of Israel, because they think that they are the true Israel, and it was they who were supposed to have established the State.

Yet presently we are talking about the Fundamentalist Protestants who love the State of Israel and who are associated with the missionaries. The common denominator is that we suffer fusillades from all of them, and not just today but throughout history.

Let us be strong and courageous. Let us not accept from them even a penny. Let us not run awry after their dollar crusade.

We Let Them In

US Evangelicals have a nasty habit of sticking their shtick where it just doesn't belong. They've used their influence to "persuade" Israel's lawmakers not to ban missionizing. They've descended on the Jews of Israel like vultures, ready to pounce on every Jew who will give them a moment of their time. Billions of dollars are spent every year to denigrate and mock Judaism and get Jews to convert.

If a person brings a dangerous animal into their house and it bits them, who is to blame? Certainly a rabid dog or wolf cannot be held responsible for acting in a way that is dictated by their nature. The person who brought this danger in is at fault for negligence. Similarly, US Evangelicals can't really be held guilty for seeking to convert Jews. Their bible speaks of the "Great Commission" in which they are ordered to "go baptize all the nations" into their faith. Evangelicals define their religion by evangelizing and "spreading the good word". Those who must be held accountable for this grievous sin of shmad, spiritual apostasy and destruction, are those Jews who brought the Evangelicals into our homes. Churches and baptisms popping up all over Israel are simply the price of courting "a Judeo-Christian alliance". In many ways, armies of missionaries and tens of thousands of missionary pamphlets and Christian bibles are our just reward. We have courted a hornet and now it has stung us.

So desperate for friends, Israeli politicians, religious and secular alike, have flirted with Evangelicals. In 2004, Minister of Tourism, Benny Ellon, gave Pat Robertson an award for "saving Israel from bankruptcy". Later that year, Robertson used his endorsement by Ellon to advocate Messianic "Judaism" (Christianity) at the ICEJ Feast of the Tabernacles. John Hagee's own CUFI (Christians United for Israel) which Israeli politicians believe to be so fundamental in providing support for Israel, is guilt of proselytization as well. Every single Christian leader whom Israel has depended on or considered a friend has supported and advanced the proliferation of missionary activity in Israel.

Nobody is more guilty than the rabbis and their followers of the Religious Zionist group. They have welcomed Evangelicals with open arms. Their claim is "we are comfortable in our faith and have no reason to fear from Evangelicals. We know who we are and we don't have to worry about becoming Christian." How very now for them. And how very callous. They seem to have forgotten that despite the fact that they have a good knowledge of Torah and Jewish spirituality, many Jews tragically do not. Ironically, in Israel today, many Jews have no idea of what Judaism entails, are unfamiliar with the traditions and customs and are completely lost in Judaism. The rabbis who invited the Evangelicals are are guilty of violating the Torah prohibition of not placing a stumbling-block before the blind. They will certainly no convert but there are no such assurances for the secular and disenfranchised Jews in Israel. Missionaries have already reaped their devastating harvest of Jewish souls among the poor and less-fortunate, new Russian and Ethiopian immigrants and the elderly and troubled teens. The Torah repeatedly warns us "you shall exterminate evil from your midst." We are forbidden to tolerate idolatry among us for fear that it will lead many Jews astray. The Torah sets down guidelines for the destruction of an entire city that turns to idol worship, an ir nidachat. Such a city cannot be allowed to continue to exist in Israel. If a center of avodah zarah is allowed to fester, it will attract many Jews. How these rabbis have forgotten these teachings!

Many "rabbis" and leaders are men of little faith. When they put their trust in flesh-and-blood Christians, even at the cost of their souls, they show contempt for HaShem and His Torah. G-d says to us: Do not fear, My servant Jacob. We have nothing to fear as HaShem is with us. By placing our trust on the wobbly reed of Evangelicals, we are pushing away the Redemption. The great "Judeo-Christian alliance" has brought us nothing but bitterness, apostasy and spiritual destruction. We have been so desensitized to idolatry that we do not regard Messianic "Judaism" as exactly what it is: foreign worship. The sight of Christians dancing around wearing talleisim and praising J*sus, freely mixing Judaism and Christianity, does not affect us anymore. Business as usual. The Talmud Yerushalmi tells us the following teaching: Rabbi Acha says in the name of Rabbi Huna: In the End of Days, the evil Esau will don his tallis and go sit among the righteous in Gan Eden, and G-d will drag him out of there." There is no need to wait for the End of Days. Let's give G-d a hand and drag Esau out there ourselves.

Our Two-Pronged War

Its open season on Jews in Paris. Saturday, as they were walking home from Mincha prayers, three counselors of the Bnei Akivah youth group were brutally attacked by a gang of Muslims. The counselors were walking when they had chestnuts thrown at them. When they protested, anti-semitic slurs were hurled. 10-12 gang members then joined in and beat them with brass knuckles.

This was the second attack near the Bnei Akivah branch in two months. In June, another 17 year-old Jew wearing a kippah was beaten up by a Muslim gang. And a few months ago, a neighbourhood store was caught selling shirts that read, in German and Polish, "Jews forbidden in the parks". Anti-semitic attacks are very common in France. The radical Muslim population is growing exponentially, veiled women from head-to-toe are a very common sight, and mosques are popping up all over the place. The same pattern is repeating itself in the UK, in Germany and all over Europe. This Islamic fundamentalist Jew-hatred combined with "the new-anti-semitism" of the anti-Zionist Left is lethal to Europe's remaining Jews. Many Jews no longer feel comfortable enough to wear kippot in public or to identify themselves as Jews. Entire communities are under siege as going to synagogue literally becomes an ordeal amidst intense security, guards and routine checks. Synagogues, monuments and Holocaust memorials are routinely vandalized. A few weeks ago, a video was placed on YouTube (and subsequently banned) showing a group of Greek students in Rhodes urinating on a Holocaust memorial with violent rock and anti-semitic lyrics in the background. The Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin was defaced for the tenth or so time.

Europe's tragic history is repeating itself. It feels eerily like 1938 for Europe as attacks on Jews reach a fever pitch. Not only are Jews violently attacked by Muslim anti-semites but the Jewish State is regularly demonized, delegitimized and condemned. The writing is on the walls for the Jews of Europe as Muslim sonei yisrael as well as Leftist anti-semites work tirelessly to make Jewish lives miserable. The Jews of Europe face an existential threat as the radical Muslim influence is growing. In mosques all over Europe (and the world), Jews are dehumanized, compared to insects and diseases and threatened with extermination. Millions of young Muslims are indoctrinated with Jew-hatred and the terrible fruits of this preaching are being reaped in Europe, as well as against Israel. Esau soneh et Yaakov. Once again, the Jewish nation finds itself in dire straights as the world sits silently by and allows anti-semitism to take hold and grow.


We Jews are in between a rock and a hard place. As Yishmael plans to destroy our bodies, Esau deceives us into giving up our souls. The World Evangelical Alliance, "Israel's best friends", have restated their goal to convert the Jewish nation to Christianity. Coming from the city in which the Final Solution of 6 million Jews was orchestrated, the Berlin Declaration calls for the evangelization of the Jews of Europe. "Everyone needs to hear this message including the Jewish people. Proclamation to Israel was Jesus’ priority. It also reflects the apostles’ practice of going to the Jew first. Nothing has occurred since Jesus came that changes the need for Israel and the nations. "

It is astonishing that hundreds of years after the public disputation at the order of the Church in which Jews were threatened with expulsion, death or forced conversion, Jews are again called upon to defend the validity and integrity of their faith. The Jews of Europe, when not being beaten up by anti-semitic mobs, will be swamped with pamphlets and missionaries urging them to convert. The Berlin Declaration in essence says that Judaism has no value and offers no salvation. The Jew who follows authentic Judaism is worthless and is condemned to the fires of hell unless he becomes a Christian. Jews are forced to explain themselves to Christians and to stand up for their faith. Evangelicals claim to be motivate by love for the Jewish people but in reality, they only reject anti-semitism as a means to further their hold on the Jewish soul. Hardly no strings attached! A real love for the Jewish people would be accompanied by a respect for Judaism's validity and choseneness, and the recognition of the legitimacy of Jewish tradition and belief. To issue this declaration of apostasy from the Nazi capital in which Hitler's henchmen orchestrated and planned the annihilation of the Jewish people is the height of insensitivity and callousness. By teaching that Judaism is incomplete and misguided, Evangelicals offer a surefire recipe of hatred and mistrust for the Jewish people.

With barely 15 million Jews in the world today, growing anti-semitism in Europe and North America, an existential threat against the State of Israel, rampant assimilation in the United States and an obsessive drive by Evangelicals to convert Jews, the Jewish future is difficult. We are caught between those who wish to kill us physically, to rob us of life, and those who wish to destroy our unique spiritual heritage by baptizing us. Whether by gas chambers and pogroms or by missionizing and assimilation, the ultimate goal is the same: the eradication of the Jewish people from the face of the Earth. We must take heart G-d's promise in the Torah that the seed of Abraham shall never cease to be a nation. The end chapter has been written. All that remains for us to decide is how many of us will make it to the finish line. The Jewish nation will outlive all of its tormenters and oppressors, the assimilationists and peddlers of foreign faiths. G-d will surely vindicate His people.

Cross-posted from For Zion's Sake

Liar Exposed

Many Christian believe that whoever does not accept J*sus will "burn in hell" for all of eternity. To this extent, they are willing to do almost anything to win converts to their faith and thus "save souls". Paul, a founding father of the church and one of the most successful missionaries to have ever lived, admitted to employing deception in order to attract people to his new religion. He confessed to using lies and fraud to win converts:

- Corinthians 9:20-22: To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews; to those under the law I became as one under the law -- though not being myself under the law -- that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law -- not being without law toward God but under the law of Christ -- that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak.

- Romans 3:7: If through my lies God’s truth abounds to His glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?

- Philippians 1:18: In every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Jesus is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

Some of his followers have taken a page from Paul's play book. A new and frightening phenomenon which has infiltrated many Jewish institutions are "Jewish-Christians", a group which worships J*sus and accepts all of the basic tenets of Christianity but incorporates many Jewish rituals in order to mislead Jews. They claim that they are "completed Jews", insulting the millions of Jews who remain faithful to the religion of their fathers. They give J*sus Jewish garbs, dress him up as a Chassidic Rebbe and imagine him to be a Gadol. These wicked heretics call their churches "synagogues" and their leaders "rabbis". According to them, the New Testament- I mean Brit HaChadasha- is just as Jewish as gefilte fish. Messianics throw around Hebrew and Yiddish terms, copy Jewish practices and pretend to be Jews in order to persuade the ignorant to give up Judaism. They prey on the unaffiliated, often Torah-ignorant college students or the elderly, and the weak, new olim and the poor. "To the Jews, I became a Jew, in order to win Jews". While condemning the Oral Law as the work of man, they freely misappropriate rabbinic literature in support of their idolatrous creed despite the fact that none of the codifiers of the Law believed in J*sus for even a second. They know no shame in their wicked obsession with destroying through missionizing and distributing pamphlets, what could not be destroyed through auto-da-fes and death camps.

Enter "Daniel". As we all recall, he was an normal Orthodox, mitzvah observant, Torah-keeping Jew married to a Jewess for Jesus (red flag). He surrounded himself with Christian friends, even accepting gifts from missionaries, under the guise of a halacha-bound Jew. He would constantly promote Judeo-Christian dialogue and friendship. Even his arguments against Christianity were half-hearted and conciliatory. He would have us believe that he suddenly had a revelation and realized the truth of J*sus. This set off a warning in my mind as Orthodox Jews who have even the tiniest knowledge of Torah do not suddenly become Christians (or "completed Jews"). What prompted this epiphany? He never let us know. Silence was our answer.

Last year, I go into a debate with a Messianic missionary by the screen name of Big Daddy Jew. He claimed to have lived in Teveriah (where Daniel planned to make aliyah to). A few months ago, he suddenly disappeared. I had a feeling that Daniel, Yehudi01 and BDJ might be one and the same. I traced their IP addresses with their e-mails to the same city in California, having identical IP addresses. I recall that whenever BDJ showed up, Daniel would be very apologetic. It seems that our Daniel is a wolf in sheep's clothing. He is certainly no Orthodox Jew but was a secret missionary all along. He probably is not even a Jew to begin with, but a skilled Christian missionary who learned the basics of Judaism and passes himself off as a Jew.

On a site linked to his blog, Daniel shows his true colours. He writes:

Daniel // Mar 28, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Being trained as a missionary, I always felt that peoples souls were at stake. Specially meeting secular Jews that have little interest in the things of G-d. Once I learned more about Judaism I realized that lack of engagement has much to do with persecution as well as lack of understanding of G-d’s character and purposes. I feel that many people have nowhere to go to, where G-d’s principles are clearly communicated. The many religious groups out there are more interested in numbers than true change in people’s hearts and the Message of Moshiach and Hashem is hidden in a huge pile of garbage that is fed to people.

Religious Jew? Sudden epiphany? Bah! It seems like we've been had all along. Far from being a religious Jew, Daniel has been playing us for fools. He has been sowing doubt in our hearts as to the veracity of the Torah and persuading us to accept his false deity. Now he wants us to believe that his eyes were opened to "the truth of c*rist" while this was his plan all along.

In the early centuries of the Common Era, the Jews of Judea were beset by many heretical sects such as the Sadducees, Essenes, Boethusians and early Christians, groups which tried to lead Jews astray with their corrupt doctrines. The great Sage Rabban Gamliel instituted the 19th blessing of the Amidah prayer at Yavneh. This prayer against minim curses the sectarians and asks G-d to protect His nation from the scourge of this cancer. "Let there be no hope for slanderers, and let all wickedness perish in an instant. May all your enemies quickly be cut down, and may you soon in our day uproot, crush, cast down and humble the dominion of arrogance. Blessed are you, Oh L-rd, who smashes enemies and humbles the arrogant." So dangerous are these heretics that the Torah admonishes us to "exterminate evil from our midsts".

The Torah says in Devarim, chapter 13:

7. If your brother, the son of your mother, tempts you in secret or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your embrace, or your friend, who is as your own soul saying, "Let us go and worship other gods, which neither you, nor your forefathers have known."

8. Of the gods of the peoples around you, [whether] near to you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth;

9. You shall not desire him, and you shall not hearken to him; neither shall you pity him, have mercy upon him, nor shield him.

10. But you shall surely kill him, your hand shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

11. And you shall stone him with stones so that he dies, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

12. And all Israel shall listen and fear, and they shall no longer do any evil such as this in your midst.

Daniel, consider yourself virtually executed for the capital crime of leading Jews into idolatry. You are a choteh u'machti, a sinner who leads others to sin, and as such the gates of teshuvah are closed to you. The Torah orders us to remove the abominations from among us so you are no longer welcome here or at any Torah-observant site. You lied to us, pretended to be something that you are not, all with the hope of getting us to forsake our faith and accept your idolatrous beliefs. You should be ashamed of yourself. You are now a persona non grata here for your despicable acts. "Daniel", know that despite your best attempts, the Jewish people will survive from now until eternity while you and your wicked missionary friends will be relegated to the ashes. The Jewish people must be whole-hearted with HaShem their G-d. We cannot allow spiritual enemies like you to steal our souls and lead us into idolatry. HaShem will repay you a thousand-fold for your evil to His people.

May all the humanity reject their man-made idols and accept the ultimate Kingship of HaShem, speedily in our days. May the King, King of Kings, send us the day when He will be One and His name One. May He crush the wicked and lift up the pride of His beloved people. Amen, amen, amen!