Post by alon on Jan 25, 2015 3:05:30 GMT -8
The actual term is tevilah when one immerses oneself completely in a clean water source of adequate size and with an inlet and outlet. The mikveh is a specially constructed pool used only for tevilah. Today the terms are used interchangeably, with mikveh being the more familiar term. The term baptism is from the Greek baptitzo, and both the term and all its immagry and teachings are false; the exception being that of the death, burial and resurrection of Yeshua. However it is not a one time thing, as we were taught in "church". There are instructions throughout the book of Leviticus for undergoing tevilah.
There are three types of ritual washing mentioned in Biblical and Talmudic literature:
1. complete immersion (tevilah) for women when they are nidah following menstruation or after childbirth, for men after a discharge, and for proselytes (gerim) on being accepted into Judaism;
2 washing of the feet and hands for the priests in the Temple service
3 washing of the hands (n'tilat yadayim) before meals, before prayer, upon rising from sleep, after the elimination of body wastes, and after being in proximity to a dead human body.
Tevilah isn’t always about uncleanliness or being "born again." Yeshua underwent tevilah and He wasn't unclean or in need of being reborn! He did it as a sign that He was to begin His ministry as an adult. So there are many reasons for tevilah.
Paintings and drawings through the 3rd and 4th centuries CE show that the modern "baptism" is done wrong. The rabbi should stand outside the mikvah and read from
or the prophets. Christians get the pastor entering the water from Acts 8 when Phillip went into the water with the Ethiopian official. But they were on thr road from Yerushala'yim to Damascus, and the only body of water suitable for tevilah on this road is where it intersects with the Mediteranian. There is a rock shelf extending far out into the water there, and for the Ethiopian to hear the scriptures read Phillip had to wade out with him to where the shelf drops off.
Tevilah was not done in mixed company, as it was typically done in the nude. We can guess that in wealthier homes where they had a mikvah the husband and wife may have read for each other.
Halacha at Beit Aveinu (where I attend) is that since we don't have access to a mikvah, we undergo tevilah whenever we get the chance. Meantime we practice n'tilat yadiyim. And we do wear clothing. Rabbi reads for the men, and the Rebbetzin reads for the women.
Originally baptized in the Baptist Church, I was privileged to have R Reuel perform tevilah for me in Lake Roosevelt the first time since becoming Messianic. I publically declared myself as Messianic at that time, although I'd been practicing Messianism for some time by then.
This is one topic where there is a huge amount of disinformation taught and ingrained into us in "church." It is a topic of study in itself, and this just scratches the tip of the iceberg (and mixes a metaphor as well!).
Dan C
There are three types of ritual washing mentioned in Biblical and Talmudic literature:
1. complete immersion (tevilah) for women when they are nidah following menstruation or after childbirth, for men after a discharge, and for proselytes (gerim) on being accepted into Judaism;
2 washing of the feet and hands for the priests in the Temple service
3 washing of the hands (n'tilat yadayim) before meals, before prayer, upon rising from sleep, after the elimination of body wastes, and after being in proximity to a dead human body.
Tevilah isn’t always about uncleanliness or being "born again." Yeshua underwent tevilah and He wasn't unclean or in need of being reborn! He did it as a sign that He was to begin His ministry as an adult. So there are many reasons for tevilah.
Paintings and drawings through the 3rd and 4th centuries CE show that the modern "baptism" is done wrong. The rabbi should stand outside the mikvah and read from
or the prophets. Christians get the pastor entering the water from Acts 8 when Phillip went into the water with the Ethiopian official. But they were on thr road from Yerushala'yim to Damascus, and the only body of water suitable for tevilah on this road is where it intersects with the Mediteranian. There is a rock shelf extending far out into the water there, and for the Ethiopian to hear the scriptures read Phillip had to wade out with him to where the shelf drops off. Tevilah was not done in mixed company, as it was typically done in the nude. We can guess that in wealthier homes where they had a mikvah the husband and wife may have read for each other.
Halacha at Beit Aveinu (where I attend) is that since we don't have access to a mikvah, we undergo tevilah whenever we get the chance. Meantime we practice n'tilat yadiyim. And we do wear clothing. Rabbi reads for the men, and the Rebbetzin reads for the women.
Originally baptized in the Baptist Church, I was privileged to have R Reuel perform tevilah for me in Lake Roosevelt the first time since becoming Messianic. I publically declared myself as Messianic at that time, although I'd been practicing Messianism for some time by then.
This is one topic where there is a huge amount of disinformation taught and ingrained into us in "church." It is a topic of study in itself, and this just scratches the tip of the iceberg (and mixes a metaphor as well!).
Dan C
