Jewish patriot's battle hymn

Yasher koach!!

Jerusalem:The Building Of The Third Temple

May it be rebuilt speedily in our days, amen.

Messianic Jews worshipping Yeshua (Jesus)

This is one of the most beautiful videos I've seen...

Happy Earth Day!

Since today is Earth Day, I thought it appropriate to discuss a foundational tenet in Judaism, referred to as "tikkun olam" (literally, "world repair"), and has come to connote social action and the pursuit of social justice. The phrase has origins in classical rabbinic literature and in Lurianic kabbalah, a major strand of Jewish mysticism originating with the work of the 16th-century kabbalist Isaac Luria. I have heard it used many times to also promote repairing the physical world around us as well as ensuring social equality and justice.

The term "mipnei tikkun ha-olam" (perhaps best translated in this context as "in the interest of public policy") is used in the Mishnah (the body of classical rabbinic teachings codified circa 200 C.E.). There, it refers to social policy legislation providing extra protection to those potentially at a disadvantage--governing, for example, just conditions for the writing of divorce decrees and for the freeing of slaves.

In reference to individual acts of repair, the phrase "tikkun olam" figures prominently in the Lurianic account of creation and its implications: G-d contracted the divine self to make room for creation. Divine light became contained in special vessels, or kelim, some of which shattered and scattered. While most of the light returned to its divine source, some light attached itself to the broken shards. These shards constitute evil and are the basis for the material world; their trapped sparks of light give them power.

The first man, Adam, was intended to restore the divine sparks through mystical exercises, but his sin interfered. As a result, good and evil remained thoroughly mixed in the created world, and human souls (previously contained within Adam's) also became imprisoned within the shards.

The "repair," that is needed, therefore, is two-fold: the gathering of light and of souls, to be achieved by human beings through the contemplative performance of religious acts. The goal of such repair, which can only be effected by humans, is to separate what is holy from the created world, thus depriving the physical world of its very existence—and causing all things return to a world before disaster within the G-dhead and before human sin, thus ending history.

While contemporary activists also use the term "tikkun olam" to refer to acts of repair by human beings, they do not necessarily believe in or have a familiarity with the term’s cosmological associations. Their emphasis is on acts of social responsibility, not the larger realm of sacred acts--and on fixing, not undoing, the world as we know it.

The phrase "tikkun olam" was first used to refer to social action work in the 1950s. In subsequent decades, many other organizations and thinkers have used the term to refer to social action programs; tzedakah (charitable giving) and gemilut hasadim (acts of kindness); and progressive Jewish approaches to social and environmental issues. It eventually became re-associated with kabbalah, and thus for some with deeper theological meaning.

Thus, over time tikkun olam went from being part of the religious technology of medieval mystics to a standard part of the vocabulary of contemporary North American Jews. Its goal shifted from dissolving history to advancing it.

But the phrase “tikkun olam” remains connected with human responsibility for fixing what is wrong with the world. It also appears to respond to a profound sense of deep rupture in the universe, which speaks as much to the post-Holocaust era as it did in the wake of the expulsion from Spain and other medieval Jewish disasters.

Contemporary usage of the phrase shares with the rabbinic concept of "mipnei tikkun ha-olam" a concern with public policy and societal change, and with the kabbalistic notion of "tikkun" the idea that the world is profoundly broken and can be fixed only by human activity.
However, except within traditionalist Hasidic communities, the use of "tikkun olam" rarely reflects the belief that acts outside the realm of social responsibility (for example, making a blessing before eating) effect cosmic repair; that tikkun repairs the Divine self; or that the goal of "tikkun" is the complete undoing of the created world itself.

Tikkun olam, once associated with a mystical approach to all mitzvot, now is most often used to refer to a specific category of mitzvot involving work for the improvement of society—a usage perhaps closer to the term’s classical rabbinic origins than to its longstanding mystical connotations. Regardless of whether you view this tenet through mystical perspectives, or you hold more conservative views, the fact remains that it is our responsibility as humans...citizens of the world...to do our part to repair all that is broken around us. So tomorrow as you're walking to or from your car and you see a piece of trash on the ground....stop and pick it up. And then feel great because you just repaired a small piece of G-d's creation.

Happy Earth Day!

My Love Of Judaism

Imagine the sea, not white caps on blue water, not wine-dark but black, with roiling waves crashing and falling. The tiny ship, its sails shredded, tosses like a child's broken toy. All cargo, all deck furniture, has been jettisoned. In despair, the captain casts lots to identify the human cause of the catastrophe – and the lot falls upon the passenger, now sleeping, who had scrambled aboard as the ship was about to sail from the port of Jaffa, buying a ticket to Tarshish. The captain rouses him.

And they said to him, "Tell us now, because of whom has this evil befallen us? What is your work and whence do you come? What is your land, and from what people are you?"

The traveller's reply, in verse 9 of the first chapter of the Book which bears his name, is simple and direct.

And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the L-rd G-d of heaven, Who made the sea and the dry land."

I adopt Jonah’s answer. I’m a Jew, and I stand in awe of the one G-d, the maker of heaven and earth. I stand as an inheritor of an invaluable heritage. I also believe that I’m part of the Jewish people – a community of fate. I share the joys and the sorrows of the Jewish people.

If one asks Jews today what that fate has encompassed this century – whether they lived through all or most of it or not – their answer will be that the principal episodes in it are the HaShoah of 1939-1945 and the creation of the State of Israel, three years after the end of the Second World War.

During the HaShoah, there was a song that, it was reported by survivors, was sung, or its words said, by many of those who waited to be gassed, or shot, or even buried or burned alive. These were its lyrics:

Ani ma’amin bemunah sh’leimah b’viat hamashiach, v’af al pi sheyitmahmeyah, im kol zeh, achakkeh lo b’chol yom sheyavo.

I believe, with perfect faith, in the coming of the Messiah, and though he may tarry, I wait, through each and every day, for his coming.

This is the twelfth of the Thirteen Principles of Faith. They were penned, more than eight hundred years ago, by Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, usually referred to by Jews by the acronym made up of the initials of his name – the Rambam. In English and indeed in Latin and Greek writings, he is called by his Greek patronymic Maimonides. So influential was his enunciation that about two hundred years after its publication an Italian Jewish sage, Daniel ben Yehudah of Rome, composed a beautiful poem incorporating the thirteen Principles. Called Yigdal, from its first word, it is sung in many synagogues to end the Eve of Sabbath Service. Here are the thirteen Ikkarim, or Principles of Faith, as Maimonicles expressed them:

1) There is a Creator.
2) He is One.
3) He is incorporeal.
4) He is eternal.
5) He alone must be worshipped.
6) The prophets are true.
7) Moses was the greatest of prophets.
8) The entire Torah was given to Moses by G-d.
9) The Torah is immutable.
10) G-d knows all the acts and thoughts of mankind.
11) G-d rewards and punishes.
12) The Messiah will come.
13) There will be a resurrection of the dead.

The thirteen Principles of Faith came late in the life of the Jewish people – some twelve centuries after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the dispersion, resulting in what is called the Diaspora. The central event in our history is the Exodus from Egyptian bondage and the giving of the Torah – G-d's law – on Mount Sinai to the Children of Israel, His chosen people.

His Torah – the subject of Maimonides's eighth Principle – consists of the Written Law and the Oral Law.

The Written Law has as its core the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue, which fall into two segments, each occupying one of the two tablets on which they were engraved. It is convenient, though not entirely accurate, to describe the first segment as affecting the relationship ben adam laMakom, between human beings and G-d, and the second as ben adam l'Adam, between one person and another. The Torah, including the Oral Law, which was ultimately published under the editorship of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, the Prince, around the year 200 CE, constitutes the framework of rule within which a Jew is to live her or his life. The rule framework is commonly referred to as Halakha, which literally means ‘process’ or ‘progression’.

The history of the Jews during the last two millennia is intimately intertwined with the history of the two faith communities which are Judaism’s daughters – Christianity and Islam. In some ways, it is a history of daughters not only rejecting but reviling the mother from whom they sprang. Inevitably, however, each has affected, and continues to affect, the other.

Judaism’s emphasis has been almost entirely on living and doing in this world, though there have been, at times, and not surprisingly in periods of physical and religious repression, much concern with ha’olam haba – the world to come. That is why some sang Ani ma’amin at the gates of hell on earth.

The heritage of which I spoke must be won. It is won by practice and by learning – the two are inextricably intertwined. Jewish practice is day-long, week-long, year-long, and life-long. The day begins with prayer, and ends with the recitation of Shema Yisrael – Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our G-d, the Lord is One. That fundamental declaration is often the last sentence to leave the lips of a Jew about to die. The week begins with the Havdalah service, farewelling the Sabbath and inaugurating a week which will culminate in the Shabbat, the day of rest. The year begins with Rosh Hashanah, the day of judgement, and begins ten days of penitence for past misdeeds, culminating in the most awesome day in the Jewish calendar, the fast of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The year is divided by the three Pilgrim Festivals: Pesach, or Passover, the Festival of our Freedom, marking the Exodus from Egypt; Shavuot, or Pentecost, marking the giving of the Torah on Sinai; and Sukkot, or Tabernacles, called the season of joyfulness, which sees the end of the annual cycle of weekly Torah readings and its immediate recommencement. Each of those Festivals, falling in Spring, Summer and Autumn, also remind the Jewish people of the agricultural episodes in the year in the land of Israel, where first the Sanctuary, and then the Temple, was the central place for public service to the Almighty.

The year also includes the fast-days which commemorate the tragedies which have marked the history of the Jewish people, the principal disaster being the destruction of the First and the Second Temples, on the ninth day of the month of Av, which falls sometime between mid-July and mid-August. It is also, however, enlivened by days of joy and gladness – Channukah, the Feast of Lights, which celebrates the victory of the Maccabean-led battle against the Syrian Seleucid oppression and the rededication of the Temple; and Purim, the Feast of Lots, which celebrates the defeat of the Persian vizier Haman, who plotted the destruction of the Jewish people in every part of that Empire.

To that list there has been added, in our own day, Yom Ha’atzmaut, the anniversary of Israel’s independence, which was proclaimed on 14 May 1948, and Yom Yerushalayim, the anniversary of Jerusalem’s unification in 1967, after nineteen years of division. Yom HaShoah, the 27th day of Nissan, which falls between mid and late April, on which we remember and mourn the six million Jewish women, men and children who were murdered by the Nazis; and Yom Hazikaron, the day before Yom Haatzmaut, the day of remembrance for those who died in the establishment or in the defence of the State of Israel.

Life begins, for a boy, with Brit Milah – circumcision, the entry into the brit or covenant with G-d which Abraham, the first of the Patriarchs, inaugurated. For a girl, her entry is marked by a naming ceremony in the synagogue in the first public reading of the Torah when her father is present. A boy’s name is pronounced as part of the brit. Maturity is said to be achieved when a girl is twelve and when a boy reaches the age of thirteen. The Bat-Mitzvah and Bar-Mitzvah ceremonies mark the assumption of Ol Mitzvot, the personal onus of fulfilling G-d's commandments.

Marriage is a sanctification, where bride and groom stand beneath a canopy and seal their life-partnership. Divorce, if sadly it must be effected, has its solemn ceremony too, where the compact of marriage is sundered and the couple freed to marry others, if they choose to do so.
Life ends in death and Kever Yisrael, Jewish burial. A dead person deserves special respect and reverent attention, since she or he cannot return thanks for what is done for them.

Jewish learning is life-long. There is a famous episode in the Talmud, relating the different responses of two of the most eminent teachers of their and all time – Shammai and Hillel. A non-Jew came to Shammai and said that he would convert to Judaism if Shammai would teach him all of Judaism, its law and practice, while he stood on one foot. Shammai picked up his builder’s measuring-stick and chased the questioner away. When he posed the same question to Hillel: “Teach me the Torah while I stand on one foot,” this was what happened: Hillel converted him and said:

“What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour: this is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary; now go and study.”

The significance of this episode is not only in its so-called negative enunciation of the central tenet of Judaism, first stated in Leviticus 19:19 in positive form: “But thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the L-rd.” It is also in its last words – the Law must be studied so that the whole significance of that first part of Hillel’s response becomes manifest.

Today that study has been made easier through the publication of vast numbers of books, periodicals, papers and pamphlets, on all facets of Judaism. Our classical sources and the whole corpus of scholarship which derives therefrom have been made accessible. Of course, today, CD-Roms and Internet sites convey Jewish knowledge to people at home, at school, anywhere, wherever a PC or a laptop computer may be used.

I begin and end with Jonah. The Book of Jonah is read in the Afternoon Service on Yom Kippur. It is called affectionately Maftir Yonah, the Prophetic Lesson of that part of the Day of Atonement. The reasons why this selection was made, from all of the rich and remarkable array of offerings in the canon of prophetic writing, are several. There is the patent theme of repentance and of divine mercy and grace to those who do repent, no matter how egregious, how awful their sins are.

However, there is more. At the end of his book, Jonah, angry because G-d has forgiven Nineveh after its King and people fasted and repented, relates how he stomps out of the city and squats outside its walls, in a booth – a Sukkah – that he built. G-d makes a large gourd spring up to shade the booth, and “Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd”. Then G-d sends a worm to gnaw at the gourd, which withers away. The sun and the east wind, beat down on the unsheltered prophet, who wishes himself dead.

G-d then interrogates his reluctant messenger and elicits from him the response that, yes, he pities the gourd and wishes it was still there, luxuriant in its provision of shade. Then there are these two sentences, with which this remarkable book finishes:

“You had pity on the gourd, for which you did nothing, nothing to make it grow. It sprang up in one night, and perished in another. Should I not spare Nineveh, that great city, with its more than 120,000 persons that cannot distinguish between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle?”

What is G-d telling Jonah – and through him, us all? A modern Jewish commentator has provided this answer. Jonah is a Hebrew, who fears the true G-d, and the people of Nineveh are gentiles. We must not grudge our neighbours G-d’s love and forgiveness. Like us, they are G-d’s creation and like us, they are made in the image of the Divine. That is also a vital part of what I believe.

If Messiah has already come, why isn't there peace?

The story goes something like this:
A person considering whether Yeshua (the Jewish way of saying Jesus) is the Messiah, asks his Rabbi, "Could it be that Messiah has come and that Yeshua is His name?" The Rabbi walks over to the window, looks around, shakes his head and with a sigh exclaims: “He can't be the true Messiah. There's still no peace. We know that when Messiah comes there will be peace everywhere.”

Is it true that Messiah is to bring peace? And if Yeshua is the Messiah, then where's the peace?

The Promise of Peace

The desire for peace is universal among the sane nations of this world. The idea of peace means much more than merely the end of political hostilities. The Hebrew word ‘Shalom’ has in it the idea of ‘completeness’ or ‘wholeness’. Because of sin we're all ‘incomplete’. The scriptures tell us that sin separates us from G-d, from each other, and from even ourselves. The Shalom of G-d fulfills us perfectly and completely.

This is also the very desire of G-d, who in Aaron's blessing states, “May the Lord give you peace” (Numbers 6:26); the Psalmist writes “The Lord will bless His people with peace” (Psalm 29:11); and in the Prophets, Messiah is even called “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). In fact, when Messiah reigns peace will be His Kingdom's theme (Isaiah 2:1-4; 9:4-5, 7; Zechariah. 9:9-10; etc.).

The universal peace of Messiah is based on everyone first having personal peace through a right relationship with G-d:

"You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You" (Isaiah 26:3).

Thus when each person receives peace from G-d, then each one can share and live in that peace within their family, community, country and world. Peace is like having a million dollars to give to a friend: if you don't have it, of course, you can’t give it.

The Rejection of PeaceThe Scriptures prophesy that G-d's peace would actually be rejected when it would be offered. Isaiah the Prophet wrote that Messiah, the Prince of Peace, would come to make peace between God and His people, and that Messiah would be rejected. When Messiah would be rejected the peace He brings would be rejected with Him. Why would Messiah be rejected?

1) “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should be attracted to Him.” (Isaiah 53:2)

For people attracted to externals, Messiah would be too ordinary looking. There was nothing about His appearance to command our attention. It was His internal character that made Him "stand out"- for those who were looking.

2) “He was a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Surely, He took upon Himself our griefs and sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by G-d and afflicted by Him.” (Isaiah 53:3-4)
For people desirous of comfort and convenience, this one suffered too much. How could one suffer so much at the hands of religious people and the government, and not be judged by G-d? In any case, no decent person wants to associate with someone who attracts trouble the way this “Messiah” did! But He suffered for our sins and not His own: “The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

3) “He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before the shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)

He was too compliant, too passive. He wasn't exactly the “John Wayne” type of warrior King. Many wanted a Messiah who would come to vanquish the enemies of Israel and thus have a forced peace. His humility was despised and rejected, for He came not to protect His own life, but to be an offering for our sins: “the Lord makes His life a guilt offering.” (Isaiah 53:10)

Now suppose I came to your house with a beautiful cake (my Dad always taught me not to visit empty handed), but as soon as you saw me you slammed the door in my face! Would you expect to get the cake? Of course not! Reject me, and you reject all that I bring with me. So, why isn't there “peace”? Reject the ‘Prince of Peace’ and you reject the very peace that He brings.

The Provision of Peace

The New Covenant Scriptures repeat the promise of Isaiah 26:3 (see above). All who will trust in Messiah and the atonement that He made for sins, receives...

1) peace with G-d, 2) peace of mind and heart, and 3) peace with one another:

1) “Therefore, since we're made right with G-d by faith, we have peace with G-d through Yeshua HaMashiach Adoneinu [our Lord Yeshua the Messiah].” (Romans 5:1).
2) “The peace of G-d, which is beyond all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Messiah Yeshua.” (Philippians 4:7)
3) “Messiah is our peace, who has made the two (Jews and Gentiles) one…one new person, thus making peace.” (Ephesians 2:14-15)

The Scriptures also teach that one day our people, Israel, will acknowledge the Messiah and receive His salvation and peace “The stone which the builders rejected shall become the capstone!” (Psalms 118:22-26). In light of that event, we are commanded to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalms 122:6). In that day, peace will be worldwide, even as the Scriptures promised.

An illustration of that coming day was seen in Israel: An Israeli soldier, who believes in Yeshua, was on patrol one night in Gaza. The others in his squad had him, the "believer", investigate a suspiciously parked van. The driver turned out to be a Palestinian pastor, a believer in Yeshua, visiting some of his congregants. To the amazement of the on-looking squad, here was an Israeli Jew and a Palestinian rejoicing in fellowship in the Gaza moonlight. Yeshua is Israel's hope for peace.

Until that coming day, each one of us can right now have peace with G-d in our own hearts, and with each other by ‘trusting’ in Israel's Messiah Yeshua. “Trusting” the Lord begins by recognizing that the world's peace plans nor our own strategies for personal peace have not worked, nor will they work. Messiah Yeshua is G-d's way to have peace in your life and “peace on earth, goodwill to all people.”

The Christian View Of "The Law" vs the Torah, Conclusion

Is This All Really That Big a Deal?

Problems within the Church

Sadly, issues such as divorce, teenage pregnancy and illicit drug usage in "the Church" mirror those of secular society. "Church hopping" is common among Christians. How many adults today are still part of the same denomination they grew up in? Many are leaving the ranks of "evangelical Christianity" altogether.

The Mormon church is experiencing continued growth at the expense of these traditional churches, the majority of their converts in the United States in recent years being former Baptists. Then there are doctrinal problems such as the issue of homosexuality "still being sin." No longer are homosexuals staying away from Christianity. Rather, they are challenging Christianity's hypocrisy regarding the "Law of G-d," using the Christian argument that the Law is done away with, and that we are now under a "law of love."

These "symptoms" are recognized and preached about from the pulpit in Christian churches. However, the problem has not been properly diagnosed. All of the above can be attributed to one thing -- the Christian church is not built on the rock of Torah, but on the shifting sands of anti-Torah doctrines. (Matthew 7:24-27 -- the concluding verses of Yeshua's teaching on following the Torah. (See the section below, "Did Yeshua Consider a Relationship to Torah to be Important?")

Problems with Jewish Evangelism

Let us first return to the Christian view of the Jews previously raised in the first section:

*The Jews "missed Jesus" 2000 Years Ago

*The Jewish leadership (mostly Pharisees) were so "caught up in the Law" that they missed their own Messiah
*The Church was created and given the job of spreading the "Gospel of Jesus"
*The church has an obligation to bring the "Gospel of Jesus" to the Jews
*Christian churches rededicating themselves to "Jewish evangelism"

The typical experience today, of a Jew "saved" by "accepting Jesus," is to become a "Jewish-Christian." This person is welcomed to the world/culture of Christianity, including; Sunday church services, Christmas and Easter. Regarding "the Law," Jewish-Christians are taught that they no longer have to keep doing things like keeping Sabbath and eating kosher, as "Jesus freed them from this bondage," and they now have "Christian liberty" regarding such things. Many new Jewish believers will be offered unkosher food to eat so that they can "show their faith."
Jews who come to Christianity eventually, if not immediately, abandon their Judaism. By the time they have grandchildren (especially if they marry Gentiles), these little ones don't identify themselves as Jews or with Judaism at all. They are now Christians -- fully assimilated.

Unfortunately, this new lifestyle offered to Jews is in direct contradiction to the Word of G-d. Assimilation is a curse promised to the Jews, by G-d, should they go against His Torah. Assimilation is a sign to them that they are not following the one true G-d.
Scripturally, any Jew who abandons the Torah of G-d and identifies with any anti-Torah deity, is an idolater. This applies to any (false) "messiah" who does not teach the Torah remains in place. Conversely, any Jew who rejects an anti-Torah Messiah, is not rejecting the true Messiah of Israel. Thus, a Jew who rejects a "salvation message" which has at its heart an anti-Torah "Jesus," has not rejected the true Messiah of Israel, any more than if they rejected the "Mormon Jesus," which Christianity itself says is a false-messiah.

As mentioned at the beginning of this series, many Christian groups are launching new evangelism campaigns to convert Jews, training their people to use "Jewish terminology" when witnessing. The result of this has been a backlash from the Jewish community, who accuse churches of using deceitful means to lead Jews away from Judaism to Christianity.

They have a valid point. Why put a Jewish veneer on what is truly a Gentile faith? The first group to successfully do this in an organized fashion was Jews for Jesus, which was essentially a Baptist outreach. Jesus was presented in a more "Jewish light," but the goal and result was always the same -- "convert Jews," and get them into a church. Of late, Jews for Jesus has opened up to the idea of pointing Jews to Messianic congregations, as well as churches. This is a step in the right direction, but as long as the group maintains the name of "Jesus" in its title, and continues to offer "the Church" as a valid option for Jews, it stands in opposition to Torah.

Did Yeshua Consider a Relationship to Torah to be Important?

Christianity would say, "No - we are saved by faith only - so all of this 'Torah is for believers' doctrine is not important." As already mentioned however, there is a problem here with the definition of "faith." The modern Christian definition of "faith" is not the same as that of the Jewish Messiah and His first century Jewish contemporaries and Jewish writers of the "New Testament." The Christian definition is concerned with what you believe, whereas in Judaism, the focus is on a relationship grounded in trust and obedience to Torah.

Yeshua Himself clearly upholds the Jewish view. Matthew 5:17-7:28 is a long dissertation by the Messiah on following the Torah correctly. He begins by establishing two facts:

If you think any of the Torah is done away with, you are mistaken. (Matthew 5:17-18)
If you teach people that they do not have to regard the Torah, you will answer to Him. (Matthew 5:19-20)

After a number of verses where he explains and expounds upon the Torah, he concludes His teaching (Matthew 7:21-23) by speaking of a future time, when certain people will not be allowed into heaven. Does he rebuke these people for "not believing He is the Messiah?" Or, "not having invited Him into their hearts?" Or, "not having said the 'sinner's prayer?'"

No. Rather, Yeshua clearly states that those who practice lawlessness (Greek: anomia) will not enter into His kingdom. What "law" are these people violating with their "lawlessness?"
The context of Matthew 7:21-23 is that of "religious law," as Yeshua has been talking non-stop about the Torah. His warning concludes His lecture on the principles of Torah that He began by saying that none of the Torah is abolished (Matthew 5:17-21).

Take note that these are not pagans or atheists that He is talking to. These people are shocked when He rebukes them. They claim to be believers, calling Him "Lord."

This raises a serious question:
Is there a religion made up of people who say they are followers of the Messiah, but claim they no longer have a relationship to Torah that meets the description of Matthew 7:23?

Doesn't "the Church" fit this description?
Some may be offended by this statement (and much of the rest of this document.) The idea that "Christ's own Church" could be in such grievous error regarding the Word of G-d and what true faith in G-d entails, is simply impossible to believe. However, as mentioned, the very concept of "the Church" is a product of the anti-Torah (anti-G-d) replacement theology, and willful Bible mistranslation.

Did Paul Consider a Relationship to Torah to be Important?

There is a misconception held by many, including some in modern Jewry, that Yeshua may have supported Torah, but the apostle Paul -- well, he started the Christian religion by taking a stance against Law.

For example, as Christian author Daniel Fuller states in his book, The Unity of the Bible:
But the historian must also explain how a person so involved with Judaism could then act in completely non-Jewish ways, rejecting circumcision as the sign of the covenant for believing Jews and Gentiles (Gal. 2:3-5) and willingly eating nonkosher food as he maintained table fellowship with the Gentiles (vv. 11-14). Nothing in his background as one totally immersed in the traditions of Judaism can explain such a profound reversal of conduct. The only alternative for explaining how Paul came to eat pork is to accept his own explanation: this profound change resulted from his being confronted by the risen Jesus as he journeyed to Damascus to destroy the Christian church there.

Paul's rebuke of Peter, in the second chapter of Galatians, is traditionally viewed by Christianity as a proof that "the Law" had ended for Jews who now followed the Messiah. The problem here is that the text shows that the issue is not one of the food being eaten. Peter was indeed eating with Gentile believers, however this is not "different" in that he was now eating non-kosher food. Rather, it was "different" because Jews generally did not sit and eat with Gentiles at that time. However, Peter was told by G-d that Gentiles were to be considered "clean." (This was the meaning of of his dream in Acts chapter 10, which had nothing to do with eating unkosher food as seen by Peter's responses in Acts 10:17, 28, 34, 11:3-17; 15:7-10.)

Peter was rebuked by Paul because of his hypocrisy, as when he saw Jewish brethren approaching, he walked away from the Gentiles, treating them as if they were spiritual inferiors. When Paul says to Peter that they "live" in the same way, he is not talking about their eating habits. Rather, he is saying they are "saved" in the same way. This is consistent with the theme of the rest of the letter, that Jews and Gentiles are saved ("live") in the same way, by faith, not "works of Law."

For Fuller to arrive at the conclusion that "Paul now eats pork," and is telling Peter he should as well, he has to:

*Assume Paul is anti-Torah and teaches this way
*Assume what Paul is talking about in these verses is "no longer following the kosher laws"
*Ignore the immediate and overall context, which is salvation by faith for both Jew and Gentile

As mentioned, this practice of injecting anti-Torah dogma into the text of Scrtipture stems from hundreds of years of Scripture twisting, first done willfully by those in power who held anti-Jewish opinions, and perhaps inadvertantly today. This is even done, in the latter fashion, by Jews who are more than happy to distance Judaism from Christianity, especially with the resurgence of Messianic Judaism.

However, this is not the case regarding Paul, who taught that Torah was indeed for Gentiles -- not for salvation, but as the direction they should be encouraged to follow subsequent to coming to faith. This is part of G-d's plan for the restoration of His unity (through the faith of Israel), as although "G-d is One" (Deuteronomy 6:4), He is not yet One, as this will occur at the end of days with the coming of Messiah (Zechariah 14:9).

As an Orthodox Rabbi, this was Paul's view of G-d being "one," (echad) and is at the foundation of all his writings. This belief says that there is one G-d, here on earth, for the Jew and the Gentile (i.e., Romans 1:16). There is one G-d in heaven, with but one revelation (Torah) from Him for all mankind (Exodus 12:48-49, Leviticus 24:22, Isaiah 56). There is one G-d through history (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8). The path He has provided for us, is leading to the restoration of the unity of God and His creation, which will be brought together through Messiah, in the Millennium and the ensuing "World to Come" (Olam Haba), a concept that is foundational to Judaism.

The book of Romans has within it a significant teaching (a midrash) regarding the Torah, which is overlooked due to poor translation and anti-Torah theology. Although Paul aggressively condemned the teaching that a Gentile had to take on the Torah in order to be saved (Acts, Galatians), he retained the view that subsequent to salvation, Torah was the desired goal for the lifestyle of all believers, as Torah observance brings closer the unification of the Name of G-d (shema).

Beginning at verse 6:1 and going through 8:14, Rav Sha'ul the Pharisee (Paul), provides the following teaching, directed primarily (if not exclusively) to the Gentiles in the Roman congregation:

Romans 6:1-16 -- Now that we are following Yeshua, and "of the Spirit," we are not free to break Torah and sin
Romans 6:17-23 -- As believers we are now to follow/serve the righteousness of His Torah as we learn it.
Romans 7:1-6 -- We no longer follow the Torah in the flesh, apart from trusting God (and thus condemned by its curse), but are now to follow it in the Spirit.
Romans 7:7-21 -- Although the Torah; a) served the purpose of condemning us, b) stirs up sin in us, and c) cannot be followed in the flesh, the Torah in itself is the holy, just, good and spiritual lamp that is to light the path of lives (Psalm 119:105).
Romans 7:22-8:14 -- The Torah is our delight and duty to follow in faith. A desire to follow the Torah is the real "blessed assurance" a believer has that God's Spirit in them.

A key section near the end of this midrash, is Romans 8:5-8, where Paul says people fall into one of two classes before G-d. They are either; a) of the flesh, or, b) of the Spirit. Paul says if you are "of the flesh," you cannot please G-d. Why is that? Because, Paul says, those in the flesh are not subject to the Law (Torah) of G-d.

Conversely, Paul is saying that those of the Spirit ("having been saved") ARE subject to Torah. God has not changed -- it has always been this way.

Christianity teaches that if someone claims to "be saved," but never stops blatantly sinning, then they probably did not truly repent and weren't really born again (i.e., often said of homosexuals). It also teaches that even if you "sincerely" follow incorrect doctrine regarding salvation, you aren't saved (i.e., often said of Mormons).

Yeshua warned that we will be judged by the same measure we judge by. Therefore, when a Christian judges a Mormon, or a homosexual, or anyone for that matter, using the unified Word of G-d (the Torah), he had better be ready to be judged by the same Torah.

Keeping this Biblical principle in mind, The Torah shows that G-d's position on the Sabbath is clear. It is Friday evening to Saturday evening and we are to set it aside for Him as a Holy Day. History shows that man changed this out of disrespect for Judaism and Torah. Christians don't bother to learn this history (or don't care) accepting the lie that G-d changed this. As a result, they violate G-d's Sabbath every weekend, while carrying His Torah in their Bibles on their way into "Sunday church services" that preach "freedom FROM the Torah."

According to Paul in Romans 8:5-8, if you consider yourself to be "of the Spirit," you ARE subject to the Torah of G-d. Are you? Or are you of the flesh and "not subject to the Law of G-d?"