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Post by alon on Nov 25, 2022 12:21:07 GMT -8
"As long as we remain Jews and call the Bible our own, the Tongue in which it is written must be inestimably sacred to us." Morris Joseph, 1907
"There is no future in this country (the US, ed.) for a Judaism that resists either English or the Hebrew language." S. Schechter, 1904
There is a vast storehouse filled with treasures. The key, the Hebrew language, is in our guardianship." Henrieta Szold, 1896
Hebrew has always been the holy language, set apart by God to reveal Himself to the world. Jews love and respect their own language, which is timeless- existing as the sacred language even to the dawn of the last century. This is another reason I am Hebrew primacy, believing the entire Bible to have been written in one language: Hebrew.
Romans 3:1-2 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.
The language of the Jews is and always has been Hebrew.
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Post by alon on Nov 29, 2022 10:22:44 GMT -8
"Think of the meaning of that simple ceremony in our service when the Minister makes his stand before the Ark, and clasping the sacred scrolls in his arms, proclaims the שמע [Shema, ed.], belief of One Eternal, Almighty God. This rite symbolizes the mission of Israel to the world: With the Law of God folded in his arms, and the words engraved upon his heart, he has gone up and down the earth proclaiming his belief in the One Supreme Being- a Being whose spirit fills all time and space, a Being never embodied, but made manifest to man in the glory of creation and in His all wise behests, which teach mercy, love, and justice ..." Herman Adler, 1895
We believe HaMoshiach, Yeshua was such a manifestation of Almighty God:
~ STATEMENT OF FAITH: …
*We believe in one God, who manifests Himself in three forms: The Father, The Messiah (The Son), and The Holy Spirit. Because Yeshua The Messiah is HaDavar, the very word of God (see Yochanan/John chapter1), we consider him to be a part of the God of Yisra'el. Thus, we consider The Messiah to be a manifestation of God in the flesh.
theloveofgod.proboards.com/thread/4696/3-primary-manifestations-god
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Post by jimmie on Dec 5, 2022 10:13:40 GMT -8
A simple humanly example of these manifestations would be"
I am a father.
I am a son.
I am a husband.
I act radically different in each manifestation/role, but I am only ONE person.
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Post by alon on Dec 6, 2022 6:55:53 GMT -8
"Salvation is attained not by subscription to metaphysical dogmas, but solely by love of God that fulfills itself in action. This is a cardinal truth in Judaism." Chasdai Crescas, 1410.
Kind of poignant, if not timely. Last Shabbat the congregational leader was absent due to illness. One person who attends sporadically took advantage of the chance to stand up and teach from Kaballah. He said he prefered not to state the source, but I recognized the teaching and so challenged him on it. He admitted it was Kaballah, which is pure Jewish mysticism.
After the avalanche of truths that seem to come continually in the first year or two slows down, we have to start to work, to dig out the truths and deeper meanings. Too many Messianics at this time seem to want to find other sources of "truth" than our Bible. Keep the easy learning coming with other books they think should be added. Or some want to buy in to the "truth" that since Paul is so difficult his books should be removed. Others look to different movements, like Sacred Names or the search for the "Ten Lost Tribes." Yet others turn to the Talmud and things like Kaballah in an effort to not only find different material to feed their need for easy "truth." At the same time they think to out Jew the Jews. All these efforts are doomed to lead one into false doctrine and, all too often what everyone else recognizes as idiocy.
We had someone in the congregation who was relatively new to MJ. She was thoroughly confused by his teaching, but trying desperately to understand what she saw as just flat out crazy being taught in our service. Fortunately someone who knew her well set her straight, and after I challenged the one who stood up and spoke she saw what was going on. But this is the true tragedy; that these kinds of things can either drive people away, or if they do get sucked in take them down the wide path to destruction. And they are not "out-Jewing" anyone. Furthermore, not only will they never find the truths they seek, the truth will be hidden from them.
Sorry for the rant, but this kind of thing really bothers me. And when I read this right after the incident, it just kinda got to me.
"Love of God that fulfills itself in action"- "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what [benefit] is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." James 2:14-17.
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Post by alon on Dec 8, 2022 16:59:29 GMT -8
צדקה tzedakah- righteousness, justice, charity (as an obligation).
"The dispensing of charity according to one's means is a positive precept, which demands greater care and diligence in its fulfillment than all the other positive precepts of the Law. For its neglect can lead to the taking of life, inasmuch as the denial of timely aid may compass the death of the poor man who needs our immediate help. ... Charity is greater than all sacrifices, says Rabbi Eleazar, even as it is written "To do tzedakah and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice." (Proverbs 21:3) ... Let man therefore be exceedingly dilligentin the right bestowal of charity." Jacob Ben Asher, 1320
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Post by alon on Dec 10, 2022 10:24:00 GMT -8
I just acquired a book on Jewish sayings, as some have probably figured out. As I read through them I am sort of picking out the ones that speak to me in some way and sharing them here. For example, the one above on charity: I've been acutely more aware of the needs of the homeless in my own community and the poor in Israel. I can't give much, however we are not asked to give beyond our means. But we are required to give, however meager our contribution may be.
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Post by alon on Dec 15, 2022 13:08:51 GMT -8
"The Jews are not hated because they have evil qalities; evil qualities are sought for in them because they are hated." Max Nordau.
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Post by alon on Dec 17, 2022 5:41:36 GMT -8
"There is an old tradition that the day on which, for the first time, the Pentateuch was translated into a foreign language- into Greek- was considered by Jews as a day of great national calamity. It was feared that the translation, being incorrect, might become the source of error instead of being the fountain of divine truths. The fear felt and expressed about two thousand years ago has been fully justified by the history of the several versions that have since been undertaken, and by the large number of false doctrines, supposed to be founded on the authority of Holy Writ, whilst really originating in mistakes made by translators." M. Friedlander, 1886.
Michael Friedlander was a principal of Jews' College, London; best known for his English translation of Maimonides 'Guide to the Perplexed.' There is much truth to what he says here, however he is missing an important point. Those translations, while certainly some propagated the abuse of the Jewish people were not the cause of it. While there are many unintentional errors in all translations, as will inevitably be the case, many other errors were intentional; at least in their inception. Almost all the early church fathers hated the Jews. Their interpretations of scripture, which were handed down as teachings over the centuries are responsible for many of those errors. However he is speaking here of only Torah.
The real travesty lies in the New Testament- not a covenant which could not be changed, only added to- but a new Greek legal document (as in a 'Last Will and Testament). Legal documents may be changed by the principle parties. Or they can be changed or declared invalid by an authority such as a court, king, or most insidiously a church council or leader. This is what happened. Those churches existed prior to Yeshua as well as after. They were entirely pagan, even though some accepted Yeshua in some form or another. They did not even begin to coalesce into one catholic (universal) church until the Council of Nicea, mid 4th cen CE. They were seen by Constantine as a way to unify the disparate lands he had conquered. I think it likely this would have happened whether or not Torah had been translated into Greek or any other language.
He does make one valid point though, even if it is not directly stated in his quote: whenever possible, and whenever there is any doubt, go back to the Hebrew to gain a better understanding. If from the NT, take it back to the TNK and especially Torah. It cannot contradict hat has gone before; and what came before will help in understanding the latter.
I am Hebrew primacy, which means I think the entire Bible, including the NT was written in Hebrew. As we can see in this quote the Jews love their language and think it especially their duty to guard it as the language of Torah:
Romans 3:1-2,9:4-5 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. ... They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
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Post by alon on Dec 20, 2022 11:59:14 GMT -8
The Feast of Lights(חֲנֻכָּה Chanukkah)Kindle the taper like the steadfast star,Ablaze on evening's forehead o'er the earth,And add each night a lustre till afarAn eightfold splendor shine above thy hearth,Clash, Israel, the cymbals, touch the lyre,Blow the brass trumpet and the harsh tongued horn;Chant psalms of victory till the heart takes fire, The Maccabean spirit leap newborn.Elma LazarusHappy Chanukkah!
Dan |
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Post by garrett on Dec 20, 2022 18:39:30 GMT -8
The Feast of Lights(חֲנֻכָּה Chanukkah)Kindle the taper like the steadfast star,Ablaze on evening's forehead o'er the earth,And add each night a lustre till afarAn eightfold splendor shine above thy hearth,Clash, Israel, the cymbals, touch the lyre,Blow the brass trumpet and the harsh tongued horn;Chant psalms of victory till the heart takes fire, The Maccabean spirit leap newborn.Elma LazarusHappy Chanukkah!
Dan Happy Hanukkah Dan... Still keeping you in my prayers, garrett |
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Post by alon on Dec 21, 2022 13:50:57 GMT -8
Happy Hanukkah Dan... Still keeping you in my prayers, garrett
Happy Chanukkah to you and yours!
Dan |
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Post by alon on Jan 3, 2023 15:26:02 GMT -8
There is a midrash in the Talmud which says "When the Egyptian hosts were drowning in the Red Sea, the angels in heaven were about to break forth in songs of jubilation. But the Holy One, blessed be He, silenced them with the words: 'My creatues are perishing, and ye are ready to sing!'"
I recall a message by an Assemblies pastor, a good friend Rev Keith Schafer; one that has stuck with me. He said "Too many think when the wicked are judged and thrown into the pit, there will be shouts of joy and celebration. But the only sound to be heard on that day will be the sobs of God Himself as He passes judgement and carries out the sentence."
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Post by jimmie on Jan 5, 2023 12:18:04 GMT -8
So were Moses, Miriam and the nation of Israel wrong to sing songs of jubilation about the overthrow of the Egyptians?
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Post by alon on Jan 6, 2023 9:26:25 GMT -8
So were Moses, Miriam and the nation of Israel wrong to sing songs of jubilation about the overthrow of the Egyptians?
Genesis 9:6 ESV “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image."
If we are to be obedient, we must support it; and give thanks to God when it occurs. We must also be diligent to make our legal system accountable so they (and we) are sure. |
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Post by alon on Feb 13, 2023 2:09:58 GMT -8
17th cen German Poet H. Heine wrote "How small Sinai appears when Moses stands upon it! This monument is only the pedestal for the feet of the man whose head reaches up to the heavens, where he speaks with God ... Formerly I could not pardon the legislator of the Jews his hatred against the plastic arts. I could not see that, notwithstanding his hostility to art, Moses was a great artist, and possessed the true artistic spirit. But this spirit was directed by him, as by his Egyptian compatriots, to colossal and indestructible undertakings. He built human pyramids, carved human obelisks; he took a poor shepherd family and carved a nation from it- a great, eternal, holy people; A people of God, destined to outlive the centuries, and to serve as a pattern to all other nations, even as a prototype to the whole of mankind. He created Israel.
As of the master builder, so of his work- the Hebrew people- I did not speak with sufficient reverence. I see now that the Greeks were only handsome youths- whilst the Jews were always men- powerful, indomitable men- who have fought and suffered on every battlefield of human thought."
Heine uses Moses as a metaphor for both God and His Torah here. God took one man, Avraham and from him built a people; a peculiar people, His people. God picked one man, Moses and groomed and prepared him to lead this people out of bondage in Egypt and into a land He had prepared for them. Throughout this epic story and even to today it is Gods' miracles which not only created the Jewish people, but which has sustained and preserved them! But why deny them the privilege of creating statues or busts of themselves?
The answer is in the statement "He built human pyramids, carved human obelisks; he took a poor shepherd family and carved a nation from it- a great, eternal, holy people; A people of God, destined to outlive the centuries, and to serve as a pattern to all other nations, even as a prototype to the whole of mankind." Kings erected monuments to themselves, to proclaim their glory. They erected statues to tell the world as well as remind their own subjects under whose protection lands were. But God made human statues who were to proclaim His glory; to lives lives in whom His character is reflected. He built a nation intended as perpetual statues in which His character is continually shown. A nation and a people in whose continued existence His miraculous protection could not be denied. And a people to guard His Torah.
We as Meshiachim may feel we are ourselves wandering in the desert, as we are relatively few; feared and often hated by Christian and Jew alike. But we are grafted onto the rootstalk of Israel; adopted by the God of Israel. We are charged with this same calling.
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- there are 70 faces to 
