Jewish, Jewish, Everywhere, & not a drop to drink
Monday, October 27, 2003
Tongue in Cheek: "Ruling the World"....
by Jeffrey Dunetz
http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/jewishsociety/Ruling_the_World.asp
....It's high time to fess up and tell the world the truth: We Jews do run the world! ....
When I first heard about Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir's comments at the Organization of the Islamic Conference, an uneasy chill ran down my spine. He called for Muslims "to unite against Jews towards a final victory," saying "the Jews rule the world by proxy... They have now gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power. 1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews."
The media reported that "his words were greeted with a standing ovation from the kings, presidents, sheiks and emirs -- including key U.S. allies -- gathered at Malaysia's sparkling new capital, Putrajaya."
In editorials across the Arab world the Prime Minister's comments were either praised as accurate or explained as intended to be anti-Israel, not anti Jewish. French President Jacques Chirac blocked the EU from ending its summit with a harshly worded statement condemning Mahathir's speech.
Although this rapid-fire news initially horrified me, I now realize that the time be horrified is over. It is high time to fess up and tell the world the truth: We Jews do run the world. And we've been running things for a very long time, manipulating world events for our own needs.
It's time to reveal the truth that many famous people throughout history were actually Jewish -- part of the plot to perpetuate the myth and keep us in charge. Martin Luther - yep, a Jew! But that one was pretty obvious. After all, he is famous for quitting his church to form a new one, a regular practice in synagogues around the world today.
Napoleon was a Jew -- no wonder he wanted to reconvene the Sanhedrin.Napoleon had this nervous habit of playing with the Chai around his neck all the time. But he would do it by putting his hand in shirt.
Alexander Graham Bell, another closet Jew, invented the telephone... so that he could call his mother.
The Untold Story
Now that Mahathir has brought things out in the open, let's be totally honest and start telling the world everything.
The media? Yep, Jewish controlled. We have this guy Lenny (a Levite) who lives in Cleveland with his wife and two kids. All the news media in the world report to Lenny. As a news director, he is the best we've had for centuries. It was Lenny who thought up the idea that most news media should slant their coverage against Israel. He figured that if reporters give the impression that Jewish blood is cheap, no one would figure out that we were actually running things. Last year Lenny won a UJA (Underground Jewish Action) award for coming up with the idea that media should not use the word "terrorist" when a Jew was killed.
Lenny inherited the media-control job from his father, who in 1942 was able to convince The New York Times and other western newspapers to bury coverage of the Holocaust on page 27.
The banks? No one believes that silly thing about Jewish bankers in New York controlling all the money. Sure, they're all Jewish, but they come from the Netherlands, not New York.
We run the world's monetary system from the EU central office. Our man there is named Harvey Cohn. Harvey runs a tight ship. He's the guy who keeps funneling tens of millions of dollars to Arafat's PA.
Harvey is also the person who came up with using Gretta Duisenberg as a decoy. Gretta is the wife of the non-Jewish figurehead of European bank, the folks who control the Euro dollar. Harvey's brilliant idea was setting up Mrs. Duisenberg as an anti-Semite. He directed her famous appearance on a radio show in support of Stop the Occupation. This is an organization that calls for the imposition of economic sanctions on Israel. When the Dutch radio interviewer asked Mrs. Duisenberg how many signatures she hoped to collect on a petition of support for the group, she replied, "Six million," chuckling heartily at her own joke.
I spoke to Harvey today; he agrees that it's time to let the cat out of the bag. But there is one thing he would like to do first. You see, much of the world's "anti-Semitism" is part of the plot to perpetuate the myth that we do not run the world. The French government isn't involved at all. They really do hate the Jews. Harvey says that before the word gets out, he wants to use his vast financial powers to cancel every credit card own by a member of the French government.
The Downside
One thing that may surprise people is that George Bush is actually Jewish. He converted five years ago. (It's the only way we would let him run for president.) I was honored by being invited to his bris. My wife made a cheesecake.
Oh, and that war against Iraq? Well, Pat Buchanan was right -- our idea. But it had nothing to do with Israel, and everything to with chic peas. You see, one thing that we don't control is the falafel market, and that is going to change very, very soon.
And by the way, the Saudis were right, Barbie dolls are just a Jewish plot to destroy the minds of Muslim children.
Protocols of the Elders of Zion? Can you believe that some people still think that's a forgery?!
Coming out with the truth may lift a terrible burden from our shoulders. No more hiding, no more plotting. Just going about the business of ruling the world.
There is, however, a downside. What if people don't believe us? What if people were to hate us so much that they start to think we have little control over world events? What if they were to think that the Jews are an ancient people who survived only through love of God and His Torah? What if people were to look at us, not as world dominators, but as the teachers of how to love God and each other?
What am I saying? No one could believe that!
Author Biography:
Jeff Dunetz is a 20-year marketing veteran, and a freelance writer. He is married and the father of two kids who ask lots of questions about being Jewish that he can't answer. Jeff has been active in Jewish organizations since his USY days. Presently he is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Dix Hills Jewish Center.
Sunday, October 26, 2003
The Secular Haaretz Newspaper in Israel sounds the alarm about Ultra-Orthodox Judaism (Haredi) inroads into mainstream Israeli life...
"What did you learn in school today
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/353114.html
Uri Zohar's missionary project has a new twist: A cassette issued by Lev l'Ahim, an association that induces secular children to attend ultra-Orthodox schools, combines interviews with famous secular figures (who are unaware of the use being made of them) with an uninhibited assault on the state education system.
By Aviv Lavie
Summer is the hot season for Uri Zohar. It's the time when hundreds of thousands of Israelis try to decide in which school to register their children for the coming school year - and someone has to help them make the right decision. This past summer, for instance, the phone rang in many homes around the country, and a familiar voice came over the receiver: "Hello, this is Uri Zohar. This is a recorded announcement. If you have children of school age and you aren't so pleased with the level of their schooling or their education, I have a unique proposal. Interested in hearing what it is? Press 2."
If you pressed 2, you got to hear a precis of Zohar's lethal opinion of the state education system, followed by a warm recommendation to send the kids to the Torah institutions of the Lev l'Ahim (a heart for brothers) association. Zohar, who in the 1960s and 1970s was a highly regarded film director, actor, entertainer and one of Israel's biggest television stars, as well as the king of the country's bohemian scene, became religious about 20 years ago, along with his family. Since then he has been a public activist, with the declared aim of making the entire nation of Israel religious.
The telemarketing ploy is only the tip of the iceberg of the effort that Zohar and his colleagues in the association are making to persuade parents to place their children in the tent of the Torah. The real drive is being conducted in the streets.
During the last week of the school year, the action in the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) town of Modi'in Illit reached a peak. A letter signed by two leading Torah sages, Rabbis Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and Aharon Leib Steinman, was circulated throughout the town, calling on yeshiva students to come and help out on registration day for the association's schools.
In the early evening of June 30, buses were waiting for hundreds of yeshiva students outside their institutions of Torah learning. The students were sent to four cities: Tel Aviv, Or Yehuda, Ramle and Lod. The goal: to make contact with every secular or traditionalist home with children and apprise the parents of the wonders of Torah education. "Past experience shows that every activity generates a fruitful blessing and all talk creates an impression," the Haredi daily Hamodia wrote at the time.
Indeed, the work of the Lev l'Ahim activists appears not to be in vain. Although the organization does not publish statistics, an estimated 5,000 parents a year are believed to transfer their children from the state system to the Haredi system. The network of schools established by the association, founded in 1991, is growing at an impressive pace. In the first two years of this decade, for example, 42 schools and 27 kindergartens belonging to the Netivot Moshe and Shuvu networks were established by Lev l'A * *him. Not surprisingly, the official statistics show a large decline in the percentage of children attending schools of the state education system and a rise in the number of children in Haredi schools. In 1990, 71.1 percent of elementary school students attended schools in the state track and only 7.6 percent were in Haredi educational frameworks; whereas in 2000, only 60.4 percent of the country's Jewish children were in schools of the state education system, compared to 20.4 percent in Haredi institutions.
In its first years of existence, Lev l'Ahim, which is part of the Lithuanian (non-Hasidic) stream of Judaism and is identified with the Degel Hatorah political party, was engaged mainly in a struggle against Christian missionaries and intermarriage. Toward the end of the 1990s, the spiritual fathers of the association identified the crisis in the state education system and the public's disappointment in the system. Rabbi Elyashiv, the spiritual mentor of Degel Hatorah, and Rabbi Steinman, the second most important person in the movement, urged their followers to take advantage of the propitious moment and persuade parents to transfer their children to the Haredi educational fold.
Rabbi Steinman views this as the restoration of a lost son to his father: "we are obligated to restore a loss to our father in heaven, and with every child and with every soul we restore to the Holy One, how great is the satisfaction we give the Creator." The Haredi newspaper Yeted Ne'eman explained the reason for the focus on children: "A child. How pure. Still without prejudices. Everything falls on fertile ground. The soul has not yet been filled with garbage." A more practical stance is taken by Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetsky, a member of the Council of Torah Sages of Agudat Israel in the United States: In Israel, he explained, one can acquire souls for Torah education "for pennies, in return for lunch."
To allay the fears of parents, the association describes their institutions as "Torah schools," even though the teachers are Haredi, as is the spirit of education that pervades them. The association now has 19 branches around the country. Its greatest successes are in disadvantaged neighborhoods; it is hard for parents there to refuse benefits such as free transportation and hot meals for their children.
Over the years, the methods of persuasion used by the association have become increasingly aggressive. The style derives in large measure from the personality of the individual who heads the marketing drive: Uri Zohar. A frequent co-star with Zohar is Aryeh Deri, the former chairman of the Sephardi party Shas. In the past, Deri was chastised by some in Shas for giving his services to Lithuanian educational institutions. Deri did not flinch: in the mass rallies that were held in the first phase of his incarceration (for bribe taking) outside Ramle Prison, a jingle containing the association's phone number was played repeatedly. The switchboard operators ask callers a few preliminary questions and then transfer them to an association activist in his area. In the next call, a few hours later, the caller receives "initial educational advice."
Asupportiveministry
A hefty portion of the Lev l'Ahim campaign takes place on Uri Zohar's radio programs. Zohar takes calls about educational affairs in a program called "Father, Mother, Child," which is broadcast on six Haredi pirate radio stations, including Radio 10, Radio Voice of Truth, Radio 2000 and Radio Voice of the Soul. As summer approaches, the programs become a platform for vigorous propaganda on behalf of the association's educational projects. Some of the broadcasts are devoted to fund-raising, in which listeners are asked to contribute monthly payments of "hai dollars" ($18, with the number 18 standing for "life" in numerology). The response is gratifying to the association. "This is a campaign to make the people of Israel religious," Zohar declared in one of the fund-raising drives. "The children change the homes totally."
With the passage of time, Zohar has constantly radicalized his attacks on the state education system, to the point where he is very close to incitement. His method of persuasion is simple: he reads his listeners a series of news reports about negative events and incidents of violence in schools, and then adds his own brand of fire and brimstone: "Maliciously, wickedly, with an insensitivity that is beyond description, they have overturned the height of human culture, the center of civilization ... Thus they uprooted [what was most precious] maliciously, wickedly, and you, dear parents, are continuing this by sending your children, those pure souls of yours, by uprooting them from the concept of Jews, uprooting them from the Jewish people ... It's a spiritual holocaust. Thirty or forty years ago, people used to talk about denying the Holocaust; the whole media is a horrific holocaust, a dreadful holocaust that descends on the Jewish children in the Land of Israel, an insane spiritual wasteland ... They take your money, NIS 27 billion, and with your money they turn your children into dyslexics."
In another program, Zohar minced no words in explaining what he thinks about sex education in the schools: "The greatest disaster of all is not AIDS, but the teacher who tells about how not to get AIDS. Do you understand what's going on? ... Is it possible that the Creator will leave the Jewish people in the hands of so-called ministers of education and female ministers of education and psychologists and Ph.Ds like these and professors like these? Is it possible that the Creator will leave your children in the hands of such soul twisters?"
None of this has stopped the government of Israel from providing Lev l'Ahim with solid economic support to the tune of millions of shekels over the years, largely through the "supports budget" of the Education Ministry. In 2000, the association submitted a request to the ministry for support in the amount of NIS 2.5 million. The amount that was approved, NIS 848,252, was transferred under the rubric of "cultural activities for Haredim." The association did not make do with the Education Ministry. In the same year it applied to the Health Ministry for support of NIS 500,000. The ministry authorized NIS 120,000 under the clause of "psychological first aid for the Haredi sector." The association also received NIS 10,000 that year from the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption and NIS 25,000 from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. All told, state support to Lev l'Ahim in 2000 totaled just over NIS 1 million.
What is the connection between the association and the budget of the Health Ministry? The ministry's spokesman says that the money was allocated "for operating `Lev Shome'a' [listening heart] centers - mental first aid for the Haredi sector by telephone." He adds that "the organization's last request for financial support was in 2000." That information is not consistent with the data that appear on the Web site of the Finance Ministry, which details the list of requests for budgetary assistance. According to the Treasury, in 2002 Lev l'Ahim asked for support in the amount of half a million shekels from the Health Ministry and received NIS 142,000.
The bulk of the aid, though, came from the Education Ministry. In 2001, under the rubric "dissemination of Torah and Jewish heritage," the Education Ministry transferred NIS 746,642 to the association, followed by NIS 571,100 in 2002.
These generous grants incensed the Israel Religious Action Center of the Movement for Progressive Judaism (the Reform movement), which has been monitoring the association's activity with much concern. On July 9, 2002, the center's officials urgently contacted the legal adviser of the Education Ministry and showed her selected passages from the abusive remarks of Uri Zohar. They asked the legal adviser to examine the comments for possible incitement and demanded to know whether it was proper for the Education Ministry to support a group whose goal is to empty the state education system of its students. In reply, the legal adviser stated: "A harsh picture of incitement does in fact arise from a reading of the material, and this would appear to contradict the goals of the support from which the [association] benefits. A thorough review concerning the Education Ministry's support of the said association will be carried out in the coming days."
However, the review lasted well beyond the "coming days." The first excuse for the foot-dragging was that the intern who had been assigned to the case left and the file was transferred to someone else. Next, the Religious Action Center was dumbfounded to hear that the tape with the relevant quotations it had sent to the Education Ministry the previous summer had been lost.
A spokesman for the Education Ministry said this week that the director-general, Ronit Tirosh, had recently decided to stop all support for Lev l'Ahim. After listening to cassettes put out by the association, Tirosh sent a sharply worded letter to the director-general, Eliezer Sorotzkin, demanding that he "cease to stand behind content of this kind and stop making use of or disseminating the cassettes" as a condition to continue receiving support from the ministry. In the absence of a positive response, she decided to cut off the funding for the association.
The Religious Action Center has welcomed the decision, but says the Education Ministry should consider demanding that the money it transferred to the association in the past be returned, since the use that was made of it is not consistent with the goals for which it was given. An attorney for the center, Gilad Kariv, is convinced that the ministry's handling of the matter was influenced by the fact that Minister Limor Livnat is thinking about the next government, in which Haredim may again be key figures - in contrast to the present government - and is therefore in no hurry to clash with them.
If it turns out that the texts of Lev l'Ahim are within the law, I asked attorney Kariv, why shouldn't the Ministry of Education support a body that is sharply critical of the system - isn't that the essence of pluralism? "There is a big difference between criticizing and inciting," he replied. "Beyond this, can you imagine the opposite situation, in which the Education Ministry gives large-scale support to an association whose members go from door to door in Haredi neighborhoods and try to persuade children to stop being religious? And besides, on the assumption that the Education Ministry believes in the system it administers, what tools has it given school principals to cope with the phenomenon of children dropping out of the state system and attending Haredi institutions? While the ministry is financing those who are trying to tempt parents to remove their children from the education system, it is not making available budgets to its own officials to lure the children back. It is simply abandoning them."
Recruitingcelebrities
The latest innovation in the marketing tactics of Lev l'Ahim is the use of celebrities from the secular world. Last year, Uri Zohar recorded conversations with actors Yehuda Barkan and Aki Avni and with the singer Ariel Zilber. This is what Avni, who was the anchor of this summer's hit television show, "Take Me, Sharon" - a "reality program" in which a woman chose a partner from a group of men - had to say about the role of the media in corrupting the souls of the country's children: "I think the media today is playing an important part in the fact that culture is so poor and meager and contemptible. ...I think that above all the media has to take responsibility as a body that shapes the national mood and the national resilience and the national culture. It's out of the question to legitimize the sensational and the gossipy, and it's out of the question to legitimize [these things] in order to sell another paper and make another million shekels and another million dollars."
The latest version of the tapes, which have been distributed in the past few months, feature a few new celebrities: entertainer and mimic Tuvia Tsafir, actor Haim Topol, radio personality Jojo Aboutbul and singer Shlomo Bar. In the light of the fact that Tsafir was one of the signatories to a newspaper ad in support of the Meretz list (headed by former MK Yael Dayan) for the Tel Aviv City Council, and that Aboutbul was the anchor for the Shabbat radio program "Shirim ve'Sha'arim," which covered the day's soccer games, it's legitimate to ask what in the world they are doing on the Lev l'Ahim tapes.
Tuvia Tsafir was astounded to hear, this week, that he is the star of a cassette that tries to persuade secular parents to transfer their children to the Haredi educational system. "This is the first time I've heard about it," he said.
Does it bother you?
"Yes. I have been close to Uri [Zohar] for years. He asked me to talk with him on the program. As far as I remember, I told him that the majority of the religious audience is better educated and therefore responds to things more intelligently. I stand behind what I said, but under no circumstances did I intend to take part in any missionary campaign of getting people to become religious or anything like that. I don't want any part of that."
Have you ever heard of the Lev l'Ahim association?
"Lev l'Ahim? No, I've never heard of it, and certainly no one told me I was being recorded for a tape of theirs. I have to digest what you told me."
It turns out that the conversations with the celebrities were not recorded especially for the tapes but took place on Zohar's radio program. In some cases, those involved had no idea what the topic of the conversation would be, but simply accepted Zohar's invitation to be interviewed. Some of them also had no idea that the conversation would afterward be presented to secular parents as a recommendation to place their children in Lev l'Ahim institutions. This gap in intentions is apparent in some of the tapes. Zohar tries to talk about education, while the celebrities generally make do with Yiddishkeit. Due to space considerations, the transcripts that follow are abridged.
AtalkwithTopol
Zohar: the last time we met, do you remember where it was?
Topol: Where?
Zohar: In very unpleasant circumstances, at the funeral of `Gandhi' [assassinated tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi], of blessed memory. Haim, I'm sure that if `Gandhi' were alive I would have him here to talk about the subject that I also want to talk to you about, so first ...
Topol: And that subject is?
Zohar: The education of children. The nation of Israel - Reb Haim, how would you define the nation of Israel today in spiritual terms?
Topol: Far be it from me to define the nation of Israel, I can barely define myself, that's too big a subject for me.
Zohar: I'll tell you what I'm driving at. We live in this country, and I'm talking now about 35-40 years ago, when you had the Palmach [pre-state commandos] ideals for the Land of Israel, settling the land, the young people were filled with ideals, if we saw a kid wearing gabardines we shouted, `golden boys, go down to the Negev,' we were all imbued [with spirit], but today the situation is very bad from this point of view."
Topol: I also think we are making progress.
Zohar: Progress, Haim? Excuse me, but do you know what's happening in the schools, do you know what's happening with the country's youth, do you know what's going on in terms of violence? What are you talking about? Excuse me, you studied Torah, you learned the values of the Jewish people."
Topol: I studied Torah, I studied Talmud, I studied mishnayot.
Zohar: And I know you are still learning today, I know that you take Torah lessons. And I know that you have a very close and sympathetic and warm approach to the Torah and to the Jewish tradition. When I became religious, you were the only one of all my friends who congratulated me. I want to tell you this: no one in my life congratulated me with such joy and such warmth, and I haven't forgotten that to this day.
Topol: That's right. I also want to remind you what I told you. I told you - you remember, Uri - that until now you were in [the left-wing movement] Hashomer Hatza'ir, involved in communism, which is a passing doctrine that has vanished from the world, you were in citizens for Hershko, citizens for Rabin, and I told you that these were all passing doctrines. I want you to remember, Uri, that the tzizit [fringes or tassels on a ritual garment worn under one's clothes by male Jews] you wear and the tefillin [phylacteries] that you put on in the morning and the small tallit [the ritual garment to which the fringes are attached] that you wear - this is something that has been going on for 3,000 years already, and it has serious plans to exist for at least another 3,000 years.
Zohar: And it's succeeding, and this is exactly what I want to talk to you about. Maybe I'll read you a couple of headlines from today's papers: "Kids getting high by sniffing gas of air onditioners."
Topol: Yes, I read about that.
Zohar: More - Marijuana growers attending fourth grade in Upper Nazareth. A group of kids aged 9 to 11 with marijuana! Fifty percent of the children complain about beatings they received, vicious beatings in the schools, a party with Jesus - I'm reading you things - the police are examining a complaint that a music bar in the center of the city is trying to get minors to convert and setting dates for baptism ... I will tell you a basic assumption that I have ...
Topol: Yes.
Zohar: I'm not talking about Haredim now, I'm not talking about kippas of one color or another, I am talking about a certain foundation. The Jewish people, as you say, has survived for 3,000 years around the Torah culture, yet this is today something that is not seen and not heard in the state school system in Israel. This is what is causing the deterioration. We have to return to the values of Judaism. I want to talk about this point. Am I saying something real or not real, what do you say?
Topol: Look, I of course knew that we had to, I think it's important to study what you call the values of Judaism, it's important to study our basic books, [which show] why we are here, but I think that in addition we have to learn not to neglect the other things, I think it's important to study mathematics and I think it's important to study geography.
Zohar: Obviously. I am talking here, on this program, not about Torah studies or about Haredim, what I am saying is that today, thank God, there is a network of Torah culture, the whole regular education system plus the values of Judaism, that's what I'm asking you.
Topol: Terrific.
Zohar: That's what I want to talk to parents about. I say to them that if you don't give your children these values, which have been thrown into the wastebasket, there is no chance of raising these children in any sort of moral level, and you can see this in practice. Here's another headline: kids burning cats, principals don't survive, hatred of mathematics, no one learns anything because the schools have become a place of - I don't want to tell you - drugs, violence, boys and girls together, their head is somewhere else, in short it's a jungle. I tell you that if we don't inject into that system the values of Judaism that I am talking to you about, we don't have a chance. Do you agree on this point? Do you agree that we have to restore these values to the nation of Israel?
Topol: I told you from the outset that I think that these values don't have to be restored, we have to be sure that they exist, the illnesses are there and we all know it. Unfortunately, we all read about it in the paper."
Zohar: Haim, I agree with you. I'm not talking about illnesses here, I'm talking about whether there is a solution. What interests me is a solution, and we are here offering a practical solution, we have a system that combines regular education - the whole regular school - with the values of Judaism for the entire public.
Topol: I can only congratulate you for this, and I hope that other systems, too, will find the way to integrate values and moral messages for their students, because in the end it really is to our benefit.
Zohar: All the best, Haim, thanks from the bottom of my heart, shalom aleichem, so we have agreed, there's a consensus between Haim Topol and me, at least, that we have to return to the values of Judaism. Ladies and gentlemen, without this we don't have a chance - call 1-800-550-300.
Haim Topol wasn't entirely surprised this week to hear from this writer that he is the star of a cassette of the Lev l'Ahim association. He said that "someone already asked me about that not long ago."
Did you see the cassette?
"No."
Do you know anything about the activity of the Lev l'Ahim association?
"I have no idea what it is."
It's an association that encourages parents to transfer their children from the state education system to Haredi institutions. What do you say?
"I don't know. What I know is that half a year ago Uri Zohar, who is a good friend of mine, asked me to talk with him on a program that he presents, and I agreed. I usually say what I think, and that's what I did then, too, and as far as I remember there were some things I said that he wasn't necessarily happy to hear."
What do you think about the fact that this conversation is today part of a cassette that preaches to parents to make their children religious?
"The point is whether I said the things the way they appear on the cassette and whether what I said is being used as it was said. If so, I can't complain. I will not interfere with my friend Uri Zohar using what I said."
AtalkwithJojo
Uri Zohar concluded his talk with Jojo Aboutbul by stating: "Want to find freedom? Call 1-800-550-300." Like others, Aboutbul knew nothing about the use that would be made of the light conversation he held with Zohar about education matters and love of Israel. Aboutbul, this week: "I am popular in the Haredi and religious world, so occasionally I am invited to appear [there]. I was on with Aryeh Deri, Uri Zohar. They want to hear my angle - period, without any connection to anything, and I agree and come to the conversation out of respect."
Did you know that the conversation was being recorded and would be used on a cassette?
"No way. That's news to me. Now that you're talking with me, I connect it with a listener on one of my Israel Radio programs who started to ask me whether I'm not ashamed, why I am preaching to people to get religion, when I smoke and drive on Shabbat. I thought he was some weirdo, but now I understand what happened."
And what do you think about it?
"Look, I respect every person as a person, but what they're doing here is unfair. The appropriate term is false pretenses. I have no problem with them getting people to become religious, and if he had said he wanted to make use of the conversation with me, I might have agreed, but to use it without first talking to me is unfair. It doesn't jive with the Torah that they represent. You can try to persuade me tomorrow to become a Muslim or a Buddhist, terrific, but don't cheat me. And what they did here is a fraud."
Reachingthepublic
Haim Fuchs, the spokesman of Lev l'Ahim, says that the association has no connection with the cassettes in question: "We don't produce or deal with these cassettes. There are all kinds of private bodies that deal with things like that. It's the initiative of other people."
What do you say to the fact that the association's phone number is embossed on the cassettes, that the director-general of the association participates in them and that a broadcaster states over and over that the material is being presented in the name of Lev l'Ahim?
"I'll tell you the truth, I haven't even heard the cassettes you're talking about. Since when is it ours? I suggest that you talk to whoever produced it."
Who is that?
"I don't have a clue."
Do you have a clue about how to get a hold of Rabbi Uri Zohar? He's not replying to messages.
"I don't know. He's a private individual. Maybe he's busy. Maybe he's abroad."
Is he connected with Lev l'Ahim?
"He is one of our volunteers and he definitely has a special importance. It's certainly true that we did broadcasts on the radio with his participation. We have to reach the public - after all, Haaretz won't publish ads about our educational institutions. We are determined to save the people of Israel. Our mission is to fight against what is going on in the [state] education system and to bring the people of Israel back to Jewish and Torah education."
Thursday, October 23, 2003
ADAM AND EVE "NAKED" IN GENESIS
By: Simshalom
(This week's Torah portion for Saturday October 25th, 2003)
Shana Tova, a Happy New Year, to you and yours. May this year be a year of Peace and Happiness for everyone.
I just wanted to share a couple of thoughts I had as I was reviewing the time we are in,on the Jewish calendar.
Have you ever thought about the origins of our mixed feelings about being naked and being dressed?
In all synagogues we start reading the Torah portion of Breishit at the very beginning of Genesis this coming Saturday morning, the Shabbat day.
We are told the wondrous story of how God created Adam and Eve and placed them in a Garden of Eden. The Book of Genesis states that Adam and Eve were naked in the Garden of Eden and were not ashamed at all. It was very natural and in harmony with nature.
Today, many people try to re-experience this in summers when they go down to the beach or pool and take their clothes off. It's a kind of "back to nature" action.
But the lingering question remains , what happened that to go naked in public is considered the wrong thing to do in most societies?
The answer , according to the Genesis narrative is that a crucial event happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. There was another mysterious character that shows up there , a Serpent that literally seduces Eve.
According to some Torah commentaries the Serpent actually raped Eve when he convinced her to "eat" the "Forbidden Fruit". He used his powers of persuasion to make her receptive to his plan of action. When she "ate" , she was actually being "impregnated" with his "evil seed" , and thus doomed herself and Adam when she convinced him to "eat of the Forbidden Fruit".
At that point the narrative says that they became aware of their nakedness and were ashamed. The commentaries say that they had become aware of their sexual organs, and thus ran to get some cover for themselves from the large fig leafs.
This "stain" on humanity which is descended from Adam and Eve is the core of human shame that prevents people from going naked 24/7 .
So what was to be done then?
It says that when God kicked out Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden he made for them Garments of Leather. In Hebrew it is "kotnot ohr". Phonetically in Hebrew, "ohr" is the word for both "leather" and for "light"...meaning that God gave them shining "skins" of leather denoting a spiritual "halo" around them to cover-up their nakedness.
...Yes, there really is something to those shiny leather jackets and pants!!! :-)
When dressed in the right stuff we as humans can actually transcend our own nakedness that lies beneath the surface.
'"Clothes maketh the man (and woman)" and being naked is for those times when we are faced with our most fundamental natural needs relating to either getting rid of our wastes, or sexually when we go beyond nakedness and towards a fusion with someone that actually transcends time and place and takes us back to a "Heavenly Place" of "Unity" and "Harmony".
So we struggle on with our unique human condition of deciding when is it best to cover ourselves up and when is it not.
Just some thoughts from this week's Torah portion...Let me know what you think.
Best wishes to you and have a great Shabbat and Weekend.
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
----- Original Message -----
From: Beliefnet Religious Jokes
To: simshalom@ATT.NET
Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2003 4:18 AM
Subject: Chinese Jews
Sid and Al were sitting in a Chinese restaurant.
"Sid," asked Al, "Are there any Jews in China?"
"I don't know," Sid replied. "Why don't we ask the waiter?"
When the waiter came by, Al said, "Are there any Chinese Jews?"
"I don't know sir, let me ask," the waiter replied and he went into the kitchen.
He quickly returned and said, "No, sir. No Chinese Jews."
"Are you sure?" Al asked.
"I will check again, sir." the waiter replied and went back to the kitchen.
While he was still gone, Sid said, "I cannot believe there are no Jews in China. Our people are scattered everywhere."
When the waiter returned he said, "Sir, no Chinese Jews."
"Are you really sure?" Al asked again. "I cannot believe there are no Chinese Jews."
"Sir, I ask everyone," the waiter replied exasperated. "We have orange jews, prune jews, tomato jews and grape jews, but no one ever hear of Chinese jews!"
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Malaysia's unrepentant PM maintains Jews rule the world
By The Associated Press
www.haaretzdaily.com
BANGKOK, Thailand -
Despite a barrage of international criticism over his allegedly anti-Semitic remarks, an unrepentant Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad maintains that Jews are arrogant and insists they do control the world.
Among an array of world leaders, U.S. President George W. Bush personally condemned Mahathir's statements and pulled him aside at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting to say the remarks were "wrong and divisive," a White House spokesman said.
But Mahathir, who retires at month's end after 22 years as the leader of mainly Muslim Malaysia, said the global reaction "shows that (Jews) do control the world," the Bangkok Post Tuesday quoted him as saying.
"Israel is a small country. There are not many Jews in the world. But they are so arrogant that they defy the whole world. Even if the United Nations say no, they go ahead. Why? Because they have the backing of all these people," said Mahathir, who often makes acerbic speeches against globalization and U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Mahathir triggered an uproar last week at a summit of Islamic countries by stating that "Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them."
The issue trailed him to the APEC summit, which was to close Tuesday, where leaders ranging from Australia to the United States continued to criticize Asia's senior statesman.
Shortly before Bush and Mahathir sat down together in the same room with 19 other APEC leaders Monday, U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice said the American president "thinks those remarks were reprehensible. I do not think they are emblematic of the Muslim world."
Later White House press secretary Scott McClellan quoted Bush as telling the Malaysian leader face to face that , "It stands squarely against what I believe in."
The thrust of Mahathir's address, made at the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Kuala Lumpur, was that the world's 1.3 billion Muslims had been outmaneuvered by "a few million Jews" and needed to give up violence and think hard about greater unity and improved education to defend their interests peacefully.
Mahathir said in the Bangkok Post interview that his remarks had been taken out of context, noting that in his speech he had urged Israelis and Arabs to stop killing one another.
"In my speech I condemned all violence, even the suicide bombings and I told the Muslims it's about time we stopped all these things and paused to think and do something that is much more productive," he said. "That was the whole tone of my speech, but they picked up one sentence where I said that the Jews control the world."
Confessions of an SJF ("Single Jewish Female")
"Yes, I'm not married, and I'd like to be. I'd like to be somebody's wife and someone's mother. I still believe that I am somebody's dream girl! But in the meantime, I sure hope I'm not anybody's nightmare. "
by Diane Faber
http://www.aish.com/societyWork/women/Confessions_of_an_SJF.asp
In the August 25, 2003 issue of Newsweek magazine, a 42-year-old single Jewish woman declared that her unmarried state was her "Jewish Mother's Worst Nightmare." She wrote that her marital prospects are considered a lost cause by the Jewish world, and that her parents have given up on her. A Jewish single woman responds.
In my school years, I never wanted to marry. Growing up, the girls who married young were either without any better idea of what to do with their time, or pregnant. When I informed a college boy friend that I planned to spend a year in Europe after graduation, he stopped me cold when he asked how he fit into my plans -- I truly hadn't given him any thought as I planned my future. The relationship was over within the week, and I spent my precious year abroad.
At my college graduation, as honors were being bestowed, I remember remarking scornfully to my father that for some girls, getting married would be their biggest achievement. In law school, female students who married fellow male students and never practiced were seen as having betrayed all women, even the whole generation, by having taken the place of a student who could have really used the education. We had to persuade interviewers that we really intended to have careers, not just work until we got married -- that big dead end to the lives of less educated women. To stop working after marrying would again be selling out the women's movement, and betraying ourselves, and we never considered it.
Marriage itself was an unappealing prospect. As Katharine Graham of the Washington Post described the early years of her marriage in her autobiography Personal History, "I was expected to perform all the pulling and hauling... Gradually I became the drudge and, what's more, accepted my role as a kind of second-class citizen. I think this definition of roles deepened as time went on and I became increasingly unsure of myself."
The next crop of women was determined that this would never happen to us, and we ensured our safety by avoiding marriage until we were sure we could still be fully ourselves in a marriage. Marriage was not in itself a goal. I remember coming home for a holiday visit to an argument between my parents. I took my mother, then married about 24 years, into the bathroom and coolly advised her, "Just divorce him, it's a community property state." (Happily, she ignored me, and is now married 47 years.)
I know I am not alone in having harbored this view of marriage -- and particularly the inevitably imperfect marriage -- as some kind of failure. At my recent college reunion, one woman declared her biggest accomplishment had been "not marrying the wrong man." The sheer volume of older Jewish singles proves that marriage has been at best a lower priority. Moreover, the practical pressures to marry did not exist for us -- we could easily support ourselves, and we gained identities and status from work. In our 20s, "I'm a lawyer" gained one far more status than "I'm a housewife." When I once cried to a girl friend about being single in my 20s, she reassured me by saying that with my profession, education, and financial freedom, "Every woman in America wants to be you."
This broad cultural phenomenon has had consequences. Marriage became one of a menu of options, to be chosen only if it was the most inviting choice for the moment. Some women chose not to marry. Many others did not make this choice knowingly, but made decisions which led inevitably to prolonged singlehood. When at 30 I variously turned down the opportunity to work in Hong Kong, and to travel as a standup comic, I did so thinking that I would have trouble meeting Jewish men in these venues -- but I kept my reason secret.
The Newsweek author says Jewish people act like getting married is a greater accomplishment than developing the polio vaccine. Perhaps it has become so. My college friends used to say, "Anybody can get married." Ironically, for a very accomplished generation, getting married and staying married have proved more elusive than many other achievements.
Not getting married is an enormous loss to us. It's not just skipping a party -- a wedding is a "simcha," a joyful occasion, a door which then opens doors to more joyful events in the future, including the birth of children and grandchildren. In the moment of nuptials, the couple's future generations are anticipated. There are few moments in a Jewish person's life that contain more possibility. Of course, such moments are celebrated by an entire community, as everyone anticipates the happiness and new worlds ahead.
One popular single woman television character recently observed that she had spent a small fortune on shower, wedding, housewarming, and baby gifts for a friend, with nothing flowing the other way. If single life has milestones, they are harder to identify, and not so openly celebrated.
Despite understanding the cultural phenomenon and its effects, I nevertheless find myself facing older singlehood head on. Regardless of how I felt in my 20s, I now very much want to marry and have a family. Quietly, we all assumed we would marry eventually, that an appropriate, smart, industrious and kind man would appear, be devoted to us, and beg us to marry, and we would acquiesce. In that regard, there are already things I mourn. I am sad that my husband will never know me as a young woman. I watch my young neighbor's energy with her little ones and wonder if I will have her strength when, God willing, I have my own little ones to raise. But I also recognize that the joys of married life and family may still be ahead for me, and understand that my job is to be happy with what I have now, and to become prepared for what lies ahead.
When things at work are slow, and then pick up, one often wishes one had used the "down" time to catch up on life projects. I think of being single this way -- "down time" to invest in myself, my family, my community and the rest of my life. From a hopeful perspective, I exercise regularly, viewing myself as "in training" for the likely project of having children in my 40s, just as marathoners train to improve their stamina. I am learning the things I'll need to run a household. I am devoted to my community; hopefully, when it's my turn to chase children, I'll have friends to lean on.
The Newsweek author does not feel she is appreciated for who she is or what she does. But, I wonder if she is perhaps, in the end, living her own worst nightmare, rather than her parents'.
I am not my own mother's worst nightmare, nor the Jewish world's. The vast sea of older singles is a community problem, a challenge which requires more attention, more compassion, and more optimism than it receives; it disturbs many people, and of course it affects me personally. But the Jewish world has many problems, and the Almighty has the power to solve them. I want to be part of the solution.
My own mother's worst nightmare would be somewhat different. It would involve me being an evildoer, an angry person, an unhappy person, fiscally or socially irresponsible, self-destructive, isolated. If I were a wife and mother, but sat around the house watching TV all day, she would not consider me a great success as a person.
My parents have two daughters, one who married at 23 and one who is yet single. We give our parents nachas in different ways. When my sister had her first son (and my parents' first grandson), I often joked that I had become invisible, transformed from their accomplished daughter into "the baby's aunt." But then I meet someone my father has golfed with, and learn that he has spent 18 holes and lunch thereafter bragging about me and my many accomplishments. My parents are proud that I spend time with quality people and that I have a generous spirit. Married or not, we live most of our lives on our own merits, not our marital status. And unless you have ten children, simply "having kids" is not really an accomplishment unless you suffered infertility first.
Yes, there are moments when one is most aware of what one does not have -- in my case, a husband and children. This lack can lead to self-pity. I recall years ago I had a household accident that required stitches. In family lore, this incident is laughingly referred to as "the day the house bit me." A single career woman, I elevated my bleeding leg wound, dressed it myself, and had my secretary drive me to the urgent care facility. Being single added another layer of anxiety to the injury -- but that anxiety was added by me, and a dear friend set me straight. When I suggested to a friend that had I been married, my husband would have taken care of everything, or my children could have helped me, she laughed out loud. "On the contrary," she chortled, "on top of being injured and having a mess, I would have also been angry that I could not track my husband down, or that he could not leave work, or that my children tracked the blood all over the house and doubled the mess!" As far as Jewish mothers, my own Jewish mother was proud that I remembered my basic first aid training and that I kept a cool head in an emergency. There was no tsk-ing about poor Diane, all alone -- from anyone but me. I too fall victim to self-pity, but unlike the Newsweek writer, I won't blame my family for the pain I inflict on myself.
In a lecture I attended on great Jewish women through history, a student commented that there were plenty of Biblical women who demonstrated greatness, but few role models today. The teacher responded that any woman who is actively involved in the Jewish world without finding her husband, and who chooses not to be bitter, demonstrates greatness. I think of this often when I'm tempted to feel sorry for myself. It is a big test to be single, but it is one we should strive to pass, not lament.
My mother recently inherited the grand sum of $1700 from a childless aunt. To this news, I responded cheerfully to my father, "You can start my marriage fund!"
"There's already money for that," he smiled. They are on my side, in this. The person I most need on my side is me, it turns out.
I'm holding out hope for God's blessing. In the prayer I say, along with traditional women of every age who are looking for a spouse, written by the Shla HaKadosh, I ask God to please find "the right husband for me at the right time."
I have many friends who are older than I am, who married in their 40s and have multiple healthy children, some born even into their early 50s. I wouldn't recommend this as a strategy, but it sure looks like a joyful fallback plan! Many of our forefathers married late in life, and many of our foremothers bore children late in life.
Yes, I'm not married, and I'd like to be. I'd like to be somebody's wife and someone's mother. I still believe that I am somebody's dream girl! But in the meantime, I sure hope I'm not anybody's nightmare.
Author Biography:
Diane Faber is a graduate of Yale and Harvard, and has specialized in entertainment litigation for the past 15 years.
Monday, October 20, 2003
From: Beliefnet Religious Jokes BeliefnetReligiousJokes@partner.beliefnet.com
To: simshalom@ATT.NET
Subject: Always With the Jewish Jokes! Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 03:08:02 -0400
Always With the Jewish Jokes!
David is telling a new joke to Yossi.
"Yitzhak and Hymie were talking one day..."
Right away, Yossi interrupts him. "Always with the Jewish jokes! Give it a rest! Why do your jokes always have to be about Jews? Just change the names to another ethnic group for once will you David!"
So David starts again, "Hashimoto and Suzuki were talking one day at their nephew's Bar Mitzvah..."
Beliefnet Religious Jokes
Subject: Rabbi in the Catholic Hospital
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 04:03:41 -0400
Rabbi in the Catholic Hospital
Rabbi Levy had to spend time in a Catholic hospital. He became friends with the Sister who was a nurse there. One day, she came into his room and noticed that the crucifix on the wall was missing.
She asked him good-naturedly, "Rabbi, what have you done with the crucifix?"
"Oh, sister," chuckled Rabbi Levy, "I just figured one suffering Jew in this room was enough."
A Sukkah On Saddam's Palace Grounds
From: http://lubavitch.org/
BAGHDAD, IRAQ--
In an interview early this
morning with Lubavitch.com, Col. Jacob Goldstein, Chief of Chaplains for New York State Army National Guard, said, "Yesterday ate in a Sukkah we put up on the grounds of the Palace."
Sukkot in Baghdad
Baghdad, Iraq--
When Chabad-Lubavitch
Rabbi Jacob Goldstein went to Afghanistan two weeks ago, he took
100 prayer shawls, four Torah scrolls, and 100 prayer books with
him. Goldstein, who is Chief of Chaplains for New York State Army
National Guard, reported that there were 49 soldiers participating
at the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services.
From: Torah Online list-torah@ohrtmimim.org
Subject: Torah Online - Simchat Torah
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 08:04:53 +0100
SIMCHAT TORAH:
(Why We Dance, and Why We Read The Torah In An Unusual Order)
Every Simchat Torah we dance with the Torah and read the last portion in the
Torah, 'Zot HaBracha' in the Synagogue.
This is unusual;
Firstly, the Torah is a serious and complicated book, and it seems a bit
disgraceful to just dance with it the entire holiday! Why don't we sit down
and learn it on such an auspicious occasion?
Secondly, because we read 'Zot HaBracha' on Simchat Torah, it becomes the
ONLY Torah portion that is not read on a Sabbath. (Unless Simchat Torah
happens to fall on Shabbat).
Why don't we read a special holiday portion as in all the other holidays?
What is the special connection between Zot HaBracha and Simchat Torah?
To understand this here is a short story told by the third Rebbe of Chabad;
the Tzemach Tzedik (1789 - 1866)
The Rabbi of a certain city was a great Talmudic Scholar. Because, however,
the funding of the local Yeshiva (Talmudic academy) was also upon him he had
to travel several times a year to collect money from local businessmen.
But he never had any trouble. Exactly the opposite; his reputation went
before him and wherever he visited he was treated with great honor and given
handsome donations.
But it so happened that on one of his journeys he lost his way and just one
hour before the Holy Shabbat he found himself in an isolated village where
not one Jew was to be found.
How he cursed his miserable luck! He would have no opportunity to pray with
a group of Jews or even hear the Torah reading. He headed for the nearest
inn, paid for a room and asked for two candles to light to fulfill the
commandment of lighting Shabbat Candles. Before he lit them he went into a
corner and prayed the afternoon 'Mincha' prayer with weeping and a broken
heart.
His only consolation was that he had brought along a book of the Talmud and
would at least be able to uninterruptedly sink himself into it for the
entire Shabbat.
Then, just as he was about to light the candles a fine carriage pulled up in
front of the inn, a well-dressed man came out of it, entered the inn and sat
down in one of the chairs to rest.
Meanwhile our Rabbi lit the candles and when he noticed that the visitor was
staring at the flames he began a conversation.
The visitor turned out to be a Jew that, like so many of his brethren, had
left the practices of his fore-fathers and was now on the way to some
business meeting.
Our Rabbi suggested that he remain for the Shabbat and when he refused, he
began explaining the greatness of the Shabbat, the severity of transgressing
it and the wonders of Judaism in general.
He had never really met anyone quite so confused as this fellow and to his
amazement he listened to his speech and agreed to stay!
The entire Shabbat the Rabbi forgot about his Talmud and occupied himself
only with this stranger; telling him stories, listening to his problems etc.
etc. and his work bore fruit. The stranger decided to return to Judaism.
When the Rabbi saw that he had such an effect on another Jew it aroused him
to the essence of his heart; it was the first time he had ever done such a
thing and it stirred him to a new sort of devotion to HaShem and His Torah.
He revealed that a Jew can be higher than the Torah itself.
And that is what this holiday stresses; that the JEWS are HAPPY with the
Torah because we have the ability to RAISE the Torah and even make it dance!
And that is why it is so important to read Zot HaBracha. Because it ends
with the breaking of the tablets (see the last Rashi)!
Now, it is unusual for any Torah portion to end on such a bad note, how much
more so the ENTIRE Torah!
But in reality it is not bad at all. Moses broke the Holy Tablets in order
to save the Jewish people after they sinned with the Golden Calf. So he was
showing the same point; the Jews (even the worst sinners) are essentially
higher than the Torah. The Jews and G-d are ONE.
The real purpose of the Torah is only to enhance and stress this ONEness and
bring it into revelation.. and that will occur only with the arrival of
Moshiach and the Raising of the dead.
Which is also indicated in 'Zot HaBracha' as Rashi explains on sentence
34:2; "G-d showed Moses everything that would happen to ISRAEL until the
Raising of the Dead."
May this Simchat Torah give us the power, joy and Bracha (blessing) to
really reveal Moshiach who will strengthen the Jewish people and fill the
world with the awareness of G-d like water fills the ocean!!!
Moshiach NOW!!!
Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad, Israel
Torah Online site:
http://www.ohrtmimim.org/torah
From: serenity@solvency.org
!
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 04:06:32 -0700
Presbyterians Now Trying To Convert Jews
http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=8565
I was shocked and upset when I read this article. Before I became Jewish, I had
briefly served as a Deacon in the Presbyterian Church (USA) -- the church in
which I grew up. NEVER had I ever seen anyone in that denomination try to target
Jews for conversion to Christianity -- and if a Jew would have walked in, asking
to convert, there would never have been an attempt to deceive through this kind
of fraud.
If anyone knows of anyone who is doing counter-missionary work to fight this,
please pass on the information to me.
I thought you would find this to be of interest.
Charlie
Presbyterians Now Trying To Convert Jews
A new congregation started last month in the Philadelphia area, just in time for
the High Holy Days. The service featured a menorah, a Torah and references to
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not to mention Moses.
It also featured references to Jesus and salvation.
While there have been no shortage of attempts by Christian groups like Jews for
Jesus and Hebrew Christians to sponsor religious events blending two clashing
theologies in the attempt to attract unaffiliated and intermarried Jews, this
congregation, called Avodat Yisrael (Servant of Israel), is unique.
That’s because it is believed to be the first “messianic” church ever endorsed
and funded by leaders of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the stately but
struggling mainline Protestant denomination with about 2.5 million members
nationwide. So-called mainline Protestant groups have not been known to target
Jews for conversion, as opposed to the larger evangelical Southern Baptist
Church.
The launching of Congregation Avodat Yisrael in the Philadelphia suburb of
Plymouth Meeting has provoked outrage from some Jewish leaders and Presbyterian
ministers, who are criticizing the congregation’s founders for using deceptive
tactics to lure Jews for conversion.
But its creation may be only the beginning of a national effort by some
Presbyterians to convert Jews, The Jewish Week has learned. And the swelling
controversy over Avodat Yisrael is shedding light on a heretofore unknown, and
deep, rift within the Presbyterian Church over proselytizing Jews.
A group called The Outreach Foundation, which is affiliated with Presbyterian
Church USA and financially supports the minister who started Avodat Yisrael,
says it is seeking to expand its evangelism to Jews in America and around the
world.
According to the Outreach Foundation’s Web site, “many Presbyterians are
interested in Jewish evangelism, and the aim of this project is not only to
support this Philadelphia-based ministry, but to assist in the development of an
emerging network of Presbyterians interested in, praying for, supporting, and
participating in evangelistic ministry among Jewish people in the USA and around
the world.”
Burt Siegel, executive director of Philadelphia’s Jewish Community Relations
Council, who has been battling with Avodat Yisrael supporters for weeks, said
Tuesday he was not surprised when informed by The Jewish Week of the Outreach
Foundation’s national plans to proselytize Jews.
“I always had the feeling that if they succeeded here in Philadelphia in
creating this amalgam of Jewish and Presbyterian worship, and had the support of
the church, that we would see others popping up around the country,” he said.
Dr. Jefferson Ritchie, associate director of the Outreach Foundation, based in
Franklin, Tenn., confirmed that the end goal of the Jewish outreach is to
convert Jews.
“We believe in a future where Jews and non-Jews are following Jesus as Lord. The
question is how do you do that in the present time,” he said during a telephone
interview Tuesday.
His group has given $5,000 to Messiah Now Ministries, the Philadelphia-based
group that sponsors Avodat Yisrael.
The director of Messiah Now Ministries is Andrew Sparks, raised as a
Conservative Jew, who became an ordained Presbyterian minister and is the
founder and pastor of Avodat Yisrael.
Critics of Avodat Yisrael accuse Rev. Sparks of using deceptive tactics — hiding
the fact he is a minister, and that his “messianic congregation” is really a
disguised Presbyterian church.
Rev. Sparks, 33, says he is not targeting Jews to leave Judaism, but is
providing a positive atmosphere for Christian-Jewish couples and secular Jews to
explore Jesus.
According to Edward Gehres Jr., Philadelphia’s executive presbyter, Rev. Sparks
and his congregation “are a part of and accountable to the Presbytery of
Philadelphia, the regional governing body of the Presbyterian Church USA.”
Avodat Yisrael is also being financed by several levels of official Presbyterian
bodies, an unprecedented move, according to both Christian and Jewish
participants. It is the only funded messianic project of 11,142 Presbyterian
churches in America.
The Presbytery of Philadelphia pledged $145,000 to support the congregation for
five years. The regional Pennsylvania Synod pledged $75,000 and the General
Assembly of Presbyterian Church USA, the national governing body, has pledged
$125,000.
“It’s a huge cause for concern,” said Rev. Cynthia Jarvis, pastor of the
Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, who is leading an ad hoc group of
ministers to oppose Rev. Sparks and church actions endorsing Jewish
evangelizing.
Rev. Jarvis has spearheaded a petition drive, which has garnered 150 signatures,
declaring that Avodat Yisrael’s promotion of “messianic Judaism” is “misleading
both to the Jews and to the Christian and to be contrary to our own theological
tradition.” An ad containing the petition was published in a Philadelphia Jewish
newspaper.
But several parliamentary attempts she made in recent months to overturn
official church funding of Avodat Yisrael were defeated.
“Is the bottom line to convert? Of course it is,” Rev. Jarvis told The Jewish
Week.
She contends that the Presbyterian Church, which suffers from dwindling revenue
and membership — losing 4.5 percent, or 154,000, members between 1998 and 2001 —
should not pour $345,000 into a church in Philadelphia to convert Jews.
“Presbyterians would do well to spend their evangelical time and money on all
those gentiles having coffee at Starbucks on Sunday morning and leave God’s
relationship with the Jews to God,” she said.
“Or better yet, we would do well to enter a conversation with our Jewish
brothers and sisters whose hearing of the biblical story we share just might
open our minds and hearts to an understanding of God’s purposes we could never
know without them.”
In the past week, Rev. Jarvis has been meeting with other like-minded
Presbyterian ministers and Rabbi Daniel Brenner, director of the Center for
Multifaith Education at Auburn Theological Seminary on the Upper West Side in
Manhattan, to mobilize support.
Rabbi Brenner, 34, who is critical of Avodat Yisrael, was stunned Tuesday when
informed of a plan to proselytize Jews by pro-missionary Presbyterian forces.
“I had no idea how they were attempting to work their way into the mainline
Presbyterian Church, and I think that’s what really needs to be questioned,” he
said.
“It confirms that there is not just one person who is working in Philadelphia
but that there are supporters trying to push for more of this type of Jewish
messianic congregations within the Presbyterian Church.”
Rabbi Brenner said as a result of the controversy, the Auburn seminary is
planning a spring conference with Rev. Jarvis to “discuss the serious
theological and social implications of this new development.”
Also set to discuss the controversy this week in a special phone conference was
Susan Andrews, the church’s top lay leader, and other leading clergy and
officials. Andrews could not be reached for comment.
“There’s a lot of concern about this,” said Jay Rock, the church’s new
coordinator for interfaith relations, speaking from Presbyterian headquarters in
Louisville, Ky.
Speaking about Avodat Yisrael and its alleged deceptions, Rock said the project
“concerns me in terms of the integrity of our mission — taking the good news of
Jesus Christ into the world. How that is done and the integrity of it is very
important.”
Several Presbyterian officials confirmed there are sharp divisions within the
movement about how Christians should fulfill their sacred mission to “witness”
their faith to the non-Christian world.
“There are conflicting opinions about what constitutes good mission practice and
what constitutes bad, deceptive mission practice, and that’s what were in the
middle of,” Rock said.
But Rock sought to distance the national church from the Outreach Foundation.
“They are not part of the formal church structure,” he said Tuesday. “They make
their own decisions, they have their own board. They’re totally separate and
independent.”
According to the Presbyterian Church USA’s Web site, the Outreach Foundation is
an “important partner” with the church’s Office of International Evangelism.
It is one of three such groups listed as a “validated mission support groups
which are in covenant relationships with the General Assembly.”
The Outreach Foundation’s Ritchie called his organization “a subgroup within the
wider Presbyterian USA church family” that raises funds from leadership to
support outreach and missions of the Presbyterian Church.
“We try to support those projects which have been requested,” by Presbyterian
USA, he said. “Occasionally we approve our own projects and inform them.”
Ritchie defended his group’s Jewish evangelical initiative as consistent with
church policy, citing a 1991 policy document approved by Presbyterian Church
USA’s General Assembly, or governing body, that says: “Christians owe the
message of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ to every person and every people.”
Ritchie says like-minded Presbyterians make no exception to evangelism for the
Jewish people.
This is in opposition to other Presbyterians like Rev. William Harter of
Chambersburg, Pa. He told The Jewish Week Monday that based on the history of
Jews as the original people in covenant with God, and the centuries of brutal
religious persecution and forced conversions of Jews by Christian, that Jews
should not be proselytized like other ethnic groups that the church is
missionizing.
Ritchie calls this “a difference of opinion on how to interpret the discipleship
to Jesus that goes back 2,000 years. In principle there is always to call to
bear witness. The only question is how. People can disagree about that.”
But veteran interfaith expert Rabbi James Rudin called the church’s funding of
Avodat Yisrael “an act of institutional and theological condescension” and a
huge step backwards in its relations with the Jewish people.”
Chirac personally condemns Malaysian PM's remarks on Jews
By The Associated Press
from: http://www.haaretz.com/
Sunday, October 19, 2003 Tishrei 23, 5764
PARIS - French President Jacques Chirac sent an unusually frank letter Sunday to Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad personally condemning his comments last week that Jews "rule the world by proxy."
"Your remarks on the rule of Jews gave rise to very strong disapproval in France and in the world," said the letter. It added that "these remarks can only be condemned by all who preserve the memory of the Holocaust."
Numerous nations and the European Union have condemned the remarks Thursday by Mahathir who said that Jews "rule the world by proxy" and suggested that Jews get "others to fight and die for them."
However, France came back with force Sunday after reports in Malaysian newspapers that Mahathir had expressed his gratitude to the French president for his "understanding" of Mahathir's speech, given at the opening of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference.
"I never thought the Europeans would be against me," the New Sunday Times quoted Mahathir as saying. "I can't understand them. I'm glad that Chirac at least understands. I would like to thank him publicly."
"You have certainly learned of the October 17 declaration of the [Italian] presidency of the European Union," Chirac said in his letter to underscore the condemnation by the EU, of which France is a leading member.
Friday's statement by the Italian presidency said that Mahathir's remarks have "no place in a tolerant world." However, that formal condemnation was not included in a final text of an EU summit Friday on the recommendation of Chirac, Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis and some other leaders, reportedly because it was not part of the summit agenda.
Chirac's letter was made public hours after his office reiterated French condemnation of Mahathir's remarks. "France condemns such comments that it considers as totally unacceptable," said the spokeswoman for the presidential palace, Catherine Colonna. Mahathir, in turn, has said that his remarks were misunderstood and that his speech was critical of Muslims.
Chirac's letter noted that the Malaysian prime minister's speech condemned suicide attacks and contained "lucid and courageous thoughts" directed at the Muslim world. It added, however, that for that reason French authorities have called for respect between the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which is the largest Muslim grouping, and other religions.
Monday, October 13, 2003
From: Beliefnet Religious Jokes
To: simshalom@ATT.NET
Subject: Lost at Sea?
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2003 02:15:28 -0400
Lost at Sea?
Yossi and Janine, an elderly Jewish couple, are sitting together on an aeroplane flying to the Far East.
Suddenly, over the public address system, the Captain announces, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am afraid I have some very bad news. Our engines have ceased functioning, and this plane will be going down in a few minutes time.
The good news is that I can see an island below us that should be able to accommodate our landing. The bad news is that this island appears to be uncharted - I am unable to find it on our maps.
So the odds are that we will never be rescued and will have to live on the island for a very long time, if not for the rest of our lives."
Yossi turns to Janine and asks, "Janine, dear, did we turn off the oven?" and Janine replies, "Of course."
"Janine, are our life insurance policies paid up?"
"Of course."
"Janine, did we pay our pledge for the synagogue appeal?"
"Oh my God, I forgot to send off the cheque."
"Thank Heaven! They'll find us for sure!"
Thursday, October 09, 2003
WARMING UP FOR THE WINTER: "PARTY" LESSONS OF THE JEWISH HOLIDAYS
The Jewish calendar has an oddity: From Passover to Tabernacles - six months - there are five major holidays prescribed by the Bible: Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashana. Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. From Sukkot to Passover - again, six months - there are none, except for two rabbinically ordained festivals: Hannukkah and Purim.
Why is it that one set of six months is jam-packed with holy days, whereas another set has none ? Maybe there 's a lesson here, and more specifically, what does it mean to you as a (LONELY ?) Jewish person..?
Do you ever feel lonely in the winter and have that feeling that you might have missed out on something that could make it all a little more bearable?
If you really think about it, you'll admit that it's not easy making it through a long, dark, cold winter on your own. There are various remedies for the situation, one of which is to throw a few parties (now, we're talking!). But, are there any uniquely Jewish views on how to provide the pick-me-up and get-up and-go of a party within Jewish observance?
There are in fact, several. One could of course, get married (always a desirable thing to do in Judaism) and have a wedding party. Or, turn to the joy of celebrations associated with circumcisions, bar and bat-mitzvahs, birthdays, and engagements. All these things can be celebrated joyfully and merrily throughout the winter.
But there is one major lesson that is frequently missed or not even realized, and that is derived from the major holidays we have just concluded.
You must have noticed how after you go jogging on a chilly evening you stay warm, long after your run, no matter how cold your surroundings. Or, how a few drinks (hopefully of hot cocoa) keep you warm for a while. Or, when you prepare well for a test of any kind, you feel comfortable facing up to the challenge.
Well, these are analogous to some of the moral lessons we are supposed to have learned from the holidays. The crescendo of the festivals is Simchat Torah - rejoicing with G-d's Law as we swirl and curl around like Jewish dervishes because we are...well...what? And the answer is: We celebrate our successful "loading up" of spiritual bounties that are to sustain us through the long, lonely haul of the winter's nights. The Torah Sages teach us something interesting :On Sukkot there were seventy offerings that were brought as symbols of the seventy nations representing all of humanity (a modestly sized General Assembly). On the last day of Sukkot, actually a separate festival called Shmini Atzeret (Eighth Day of Assembly), only one offering was brought as a symbol of the Jewish people (always the exception). It is as if G-d says to the Jews: "I have spent time with the entire world. Spend one day alone with Me. It is hard for Me to take leave of you."
And so, what do the Jews do? They take this day and make it into a party of Torah. It is when we culminate the annual cycle of the weekly Torah portion. And what do we do at the culmination? We go right on to start the cycle all over again - from Genesis. It is the perfect circle, having no beginning or end, because one can never take leave of the Torah. It's as if the Jews "tricked" G-d by turning what should have been a one-day party into an ongoing affair. The "party" continues all winter as Jews rejoice with their Torah all winter.
All the energy of the festivals has therefore been focused into a frenzied crescendo. A party for that indestructible trio: Israel, Torah, and the Holy One, who really are one and the same (a mind-boggling thought!).
We all love a good party, and part of the reason is because it gives us that extra 'zing' to make it through the few days till the next good one. The unique feature of the Simchat Torah party is that it is supposed to carry us through 180 days.
If for some reason you missed out on this unique party recently, and you realize that 180 days is a little too long to wait for another one, don't worry. The rabbis took care of the problem. They've arranged a Hanukkah party, followed by a Purim party as a prelude to the big Passover extravaganza! You're all invited. Have a happy winter!
How crazy can the "Jews for Nothing get..?" read on:
US Jews renounce right of return to Israel
From:
To:
Subject: [Kumah] Arab media is scared of Aliyah and is starting to go after it!
Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2003 08:39:11 -0500 (EST)
US Jews renounce right of return to Israel
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=7247
100 San Francisco Jews protest Israel's refusal to extend same right to
Palestinians expelled from their land.
SAN FRANCISCO - About 100 San Francisco Jews renounced on Thursday their
right to immigrate to Israel to protest the country's refusal to extend
the same right to Palestinians expelled from their land.
Chanting "Palestine will be free," protesters handed in a petition to
the Jewish Community Federation in San Francisco declaring their
renunciation of Israeli citizenship rights, know as Aliyah.
The group, which included 30 marchers carrying a petition of 100 names,
called the act a ritual atonement in honor of the looming Jewish holy
day of Yom Kippur on October 5.
The protesters claim that Israel's offering automatic citizenship to
overseas Jews while denying the same right to Palestinians forced off
their homeland in Israel and the occupied territories amounted to
"apartheid."
"This is hypocritical," said Eric Romain, one of the protest's
organizers. "It is a betrayal of our legacy as Jews."
Aliyah, the automatic right for Jews around the world to immigrate to
Israel, was established in 1950 following the World War II Holocaust and
the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948.
But, the protestors said, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were
forced off their land and into refugee camps at that time and in
subsequent wars, the protestors said.
Since then most have been denied the right to return, and the issue has
long been a key sticking point in peace negotiations between Israel and
Palestinian officials.
The group claimed to represent the sentiments of a large portion of the
San Francisco area's estimated 225,000 Jews.
However, Sam Salkin, head of the Jewish Community Federation, a leading
San Francisco Jewish charity group, called the protestors "a small group
of fringy young people".
"I don't think they are representative of the Jewish community."
---------------------------------------
ON THE OTHER HAND ...
KUMAH, which is Hebrew for ARISE, is an organization dedicated to encouraging
and facilitating mass Aliya to Israel by all Jews of the exile. Kumah believes
that the time is ripe for Neo-Zionism, a Biblical dream being realized today.
Through an array of projects, Kumah seeks to invigorate the Jews of the Diaspora
- particularly young people - with a new vision of Israel and innovative plans
for Aliya. We at Kumah believe that the reunification of the Jewish people
destiny of the Jewish people in Israel is the task set before our generation.
Let us rise up and go Home to Zion.
To learn more visit www.Kumah.org
To Contact us email Arise@Kumah.org
To hear about, and dicuss Kumah events in the Holy Land, including the creation
of Kumah settlements, send an email to
KumahYisrael-Subcribe@yahoogroups.com
To dicuss promoting Kumah's message on your campus and in your community, send
an email to
KumahArise-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
COUNTERING CHRISTIAN "PROOFS" ABOUT JESUS' BIRTH AND MISSION
Isaiah (Yeshayahu)
http://chelm.freeyellow.com/page13.html
Email: JewishCo1@aol.com
* Isaiah 7.14
"Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign, behold, the young woman shall conceive and bare a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
Christian Claim: This verse was a prophecy of Jesus' birth through the virgin Mary. Instead of translating the Hebrew word "almah" as young woman, they translate it as "virgin."
Jewish Refutation: The word "almah" in biblical Hebrew means "young woman." The Hebrew word for virgin is "betulah." This is supported by Isaiah 37.22, where the word betulah is used to denote a virgin.
There are several other reasons why Isaiah 7.14 could not have been referring to Jesus:
1 - The event spoken of in Isaiah 7 is that of the king Ahaz seeking comfort due to the alliance of Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of the king of Israel, against him. It makes no sense whatsoever that the sign of comfort G-d gives Ahaz would be the birth of Jesus some 700 years later.
2 - In Isaiah 7.14, the woman who bore the child was supposed to call him "Immanuel," not "Jesus."
3 - Isaiah 7.15 says "Curd and honey shall he eat when he knoweth to refuse the evil and choose the good." Would the messiah/god need to "choose" good and refuse evil? Does such a choice occur to the Christian god?
4 - Immanuel was born in Isaiah 8.8.
In addition to these reasons, knowing that Jesus did not do in the world what the Jewish messiah is supposed to do when he comes, fitting Jesus into Isaiah 7.14 becomes all the more impossible. (For a more comprehensive explanation of why Jesus could not have been the Messiah, see the section "The Messiah" in Part II of this FAQ.)
* Isaiah 11.1
"And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall be fruitful."
Christian Claim: The branch and the root refer to Jesus, who was both the supposed son of god (hence the "root"), and the offspring of king David (hence the "branch"). This prophecy was supposedly fulfilled in Mathew 1.6 and Luke 3.23-32.
Jewish Refutation: Anyone who reads Isaiah 11 (especially verse 4) will notice that the "branch" is to judge the poor, reprove the meek, smite the earth, and slay the wicked. The Christian Bible makes no mention of Jesus doing any of these things.
In addition, a few verses later, we see that the wolves were to lie in peace with the lambs, the people of Israel and Judah would be gathered from the four corners of the earth, and the world was to be "filled with knowledge of the Lord." None of this was fulfilled since the time Jesus supposedly came to the earth.
Christians claim that the things that were supposed to happen in accordance with Isaiah 11, will indeed happen upon Jesus' "second coming." Besides the fact that this second coming is not mentioned in any Christian holy scripture, and that Jesus himself said everything would happen in his lifetime (see "The Messiah" in Part II of this FAQ), a glance at this chapter will reveal the forced nature of this assertion. When Christians claim that verses 1 to 5 definitely do refer to Jesus' first coming, but verses 6 to 9 (containing the prophecy about the wolf living in peace with the lamb) refer to his second coming, they are choosing to ignore verses 9 and 10, which both include the words "in that day", meaning that those prophecies were to be fulfilled during the messiah's life on earth.
The true messiah will be the root of a new era of redemption, and a branch from the line of king David. We Jews await him each and every moment of our lives. All nations will indeed follow him, and the Jews will lead the world to know the true G-d:
Zechariah 8.23: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts: In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that G-d is with you."
* Isaiah 11.10
"And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, standing as a banner of the peoples: the nations shall seek it; and his resting-place shall be glory."
Christian Claim: The branch and the root refer to Jesus, who was both the supposed son of god (hence the "root"), and the offspring of king David (hence the "branch"). This prophecy was supposedly fulfilled in Mathew 1.6 and Luke 3.23-32.
Jewish Refutation: Anyone who reads Isaiah 11 (especially verse 4) will notice that the "branch" is to judge the poor, reprove the meek, smite the earth, and slay the wicked. The Christian Bible makes no mention of Jesus doing any of these things.
In addition, a few verses later, we see that the wolves were to lie in peace with the lambs, the people of Israel and Judah would be gathered from the four corners of the earth, and the world was to be "filled with knowledge of the Lord." None of this was fulfilled since the time Jesus supposedly came to the earth.
Christians claim that the things that were supposed to happen in accordance with Isaiah 11, will indeed happen upon Jesus' "second coming." Besides the fact that this second coming is not mentioned in any Christian holy scripture, and that Jesus himself said everything would happen in his lifetime (see "The Messiah" in Part II of this FAQ), a glance at this chapter will reveal the forced nature of this assertion. When Christians claim that verses 1 to 5 definitely do refer to Jesus' first coming, but verses 6 to 9 (containing the prophecy about the wolf living in peace with the lamb) refer to his second coming, they are choosing to ignore verses 9 and 10, which both include the words "in that day", meaning that those prophecies were to be fulfilled during the messiah's life on earth.
The true messiah will be the root of a new era of redemption, and a branch from the line of king David. We Jews await him each and every moment of our lives. All nations will indeed follow him, and the Jews will lead the world to know the true G-d:
Zechariah 8.23: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts: In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that G-d is with you."
* Isaiah 28.16
"Therefore, thus saith the Lord G-d, behold I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a costly corner-stone of sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste."
Christian Claim: In 1 Peter 2.6 the author claims that this verse means that anyone who trusts and believes in Jesus will obtain salvation and glory from G-d. 1 Peter 2.6 translates the last part of Isaiah 28.16 as: "And the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
Jewish Refutation: The hebrew of the last part of the verse is "hama'amin lo yochish," which means "the believer will not make haste," not "the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
This passage is referring to king Chizkiyahu who reigned after Ahaz. In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah, there were many Jewish leaders and advisors who lost their faith in G-d and ridiculed the heritage they received from Him. G-d said that He would bring a righteous king to set Judah straight, but before that He would judge the Judeans harshly for their faithlessness:
Isaiah 28.17: "Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place."
The words "the believer will not make haste" in Isaiah 28.16 were meant to convey that those who believe in G-d's word were not to think that the new era to be inaugurated by king Chizkiyahu would come about immediately, for He intended to punish the sinning Judeans first.
* Isaiah 29.13
"And the Lord said: Forasmuch as this people draw near, and with their mouth and with their lips do honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear of Me is a commandment learned by rote."
Christian Claim: Mark 7.7 translates the same verse as follows: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain, their teachings are but rules taught by men."
Jesus supposedly cites this passage in opposition to the pharisees, after being asked why his disciples do not observe Jewish traditions.
Jewish Refutation: The verse was simply mistranslated in the Christian Bible in order to provide the Christian savior (Jesus) with a more convincing argument against the rabbis, who were responsible for preserving the Judaism all of Israel was taught by Moses in his generation.
In Isaiah 29.13, the Hebrew words "yirosam osi mitzvas enoshim melumodoh" mean that the fear of G-d to some insincere Jews became a mere commandment devised by man, lacking proper Jewish devotion.
There is no mention anywhere in that verse, or even before or after it, of G-d rebuking the Jewish leaders for their traditional teachings. The Talmud and other Jewish sources of traditional teachings are filled with utmost praise of G-d and the holiness of Jewish life. G-d did not rebuke Jewish leaders at any time for continuing to teach the Torah we received at Sinai to the Jewish people, both its oral and written parts.
* Isaiah 40.3
"A voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him."
Christian Claim: Matthew 3.3 says this verse in Isaiah represents John the Baptist, who as he says "In those days, John the baptist came preaching in the desert of Judea" (Matthew 3.1).
Jewish Refutation: In Isaiah 40.5, we read the following: "And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all these shall see it together."
This could not have been what John the Baptist had in mind, because Jesus was not seen or heard by most of the world when he allegedly lived. Even today, a very large portion of the world's population are ignorant of his alleged importance.
In addition, in Isaiah 40.10, we find: "The Lord G-d will come as a mighty one ..." If John the Baptist was the one who proclaimed this in the wilderness, he certainly erred, for Jesus came as a lonely, rejected one.
In 40.3 Isaiah was comforting the Jews due to the pending exile of the ten tribes of Israel. He was saying that G-d will yet restore them. Isaiah 41.8-13 is the culmination of the comforting and a promise by G-d that all will be restored. The voice in the wilderness is G-d's voice accompanying the ten tribes in the wilderness and comforting them.
* Isaiah 53
Christian Claim: The Christian Bible mentions Isaiah 53 in three places:
- Luke 22.37
- Acts 8.32-33
- 1 Peter 2.22
This chapter in Isaiah has been established by Christians as the "suffering servant" chapter. To Christians, it is an explicit prophecy of Jesus, who suffered for the sins of others on the cross. It allegedly contains several key indicators that leave no doubt in Christian minds as to its reference to Jesus.
Jewish Refutation: While Christians believe their case for Isaiah 53 representing Jesus is absolutely supported by the verses, a more careful and serious reading of Isaiah 53 will inevitably support no such belief.
Isaiah 53 in the broader scope of the Tanach tells us of a nation that suffered at the hands of others for many years. It tells of a people stricken by G-d with famine and disease, and a people who continued on and on without ever abandoning its heritage completely. It is the story of how the nations bruised and scarred that people, for they thought it was right to do so. Yet they were astonished in the end to find out how wrong they were. Only in the era of Israel's final redemption did the nations begin to understand how all of Israel's suffering was on their behalf. Israel represented the peoples of the world before G-d and was punished in their stead, for their sins. It was Israel's job to see to it that the world became a place where G-d was welcomed among all. They were to be a light unto the gentiles (Isaiah 42.6, Isaiah 60.3), and when they failed to be that, they were held responsible for the nations' failures.
The Jewish view of Isaiah 53 is supported extensively in several ways. The following paragraphs contain some of the more outstanding reasons why the Jewish view of Isaiah 53 is in complete harmony with the Jewish scriptures. There are more reasons for such, but a more complete examination of this issue is beyond the scope of this FAQ. For a more comprehensive presentation of the Jewish view of Isaiah 53 in accordance with the Jewish scriptures, you are invited to read Michoel Drazin's book "Their Hollow Inheritance: A Comprehensive Refutation of Christian Missionaries" at his website.
1 - For one thing, the "servant" spoken of in Isaiah 53 was already identified throughout the book of Isaiah. Would G-d suddenly change his subject for one chapter within the book of Isaiah? The rational individual would answer in the negative.
Isaiah 41.8: "But thou, Israel, art My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham My friend."
Isaiah 41.9: "Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art My servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away."
Isaiah 43.10: "You are My witnesses, says the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen ..."
Isaiah 44.1: "But now hear, O Jacob, My servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen."
Isaiah 44.21: "Remember these things, O Jacob and Israel, for you are My servant. I formed you, you are My servant, O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me."
Isaiah 45.4: "For the sake of My servant, Jacob, and My chosen, Israel, I call you by your name ..."
Isaiah 48.20: "Go forth from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it forth to the end of the earth, say: 'The Lord has redeemed His servant, Jacob'."
Isaiah 49.3: "And He said to me: 'You are My servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified'."
2 - The following verse eliminates Jesus as the subject of Isaiah 53:
Isaiah 42.19: "Who is blind but My servant, or deaf as My messenger, whom I send? Who is blind as My dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the Lord?"
If we accept that the chapters leading up to Isaiah 53 are consistent in their message, Isaiah 42.19 poses a dilemma for any Christian who wants to call Jesus the servant of G-d in reference to Isaiah's prophecies.
3 - Chapter 53 in Isaiah contains an abundance of indicators that incontrovertibly invalidate Jesus as the subject. Here follow some such indicators:
(a) Isaiah 53.3: "A man of pains and acquainted with disease ..."
In the Christian Bible, Jesus was not said to have been afflicted with any disease, and the only time he could have felt any pain was on the cross. Isaiah 53.3 is referring to pain that is continuous and which spans a lifetime, for the entire chapter speaks of a matter that took place over time, and not an isolated event.
(b) Isaiah 53.7: "And opened not his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter ... yea, he opened not his mouth."
This could not have been referring to Jesus due to the following Christian Bible verses:
Matthew 27.46: "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani'? that is to say, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me'?"
Matthew 26.39: "And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed saying, 'O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt'."
According to these verses, the Christian Bible recorded that Jesus did not go so willingly to his death, and did speak out in protest against it.
(c) Isaiah 53.9: "Although he had done no violence ..."
In the Christian Bible, it is recorded that Jesus was indeed violent:
Matthew 21.12: "And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves."
(d) Isaiah 53.10: "To see if his soul would offer itself in restitution ..."
Was it possible that the Christian god would not offer itself for the good of all of mankind? Was the Christian god testing the Christian god?
(e) Isaiah 53.10: "That he might see his seed, prolong his days ..."
Even though the Christian Bible claims that Jesus did offer his soul for restitution, Jesus had no offspring, and his days were not prolonged.
(f) Isaiah 53.12: "Therefore, I will divide him a portion among the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the mighty ..."
Would the Christian god's reward for offering himself to himself be a mere portion among the great? Who were the other "greats" who were to share the reward with him? Were they equal to him? And if he receievd a portion, then wasn't the one distributing it greater than he?
Thus, it is clear from the proofs presented above that Isaiah 53 has nothing to do with Jesus. It makes far better sense when the subject of that chapter is Israel, who as a nation watched its seed carrying on from generation to generation despite attempts by the nations to destroy it. Israel suffered the sins of all, for they were G-d's model people affected by every wrong that occurred in the world. Israel is and always has been G-d's chosen servant, and there is no other.
Deuteronomy 7.6: "For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy G-d; the Lord thy G-d hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Him, above all people that are upon the face of the earth."
* Isaiah 55.3
"Incline your ear and come unto Me, hear and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David."
Christian Claim: Acts 13.34 translates the last part of that verse as follows: "I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David." The author of Acts claims that that verse speaks of Jesus, who was allegedly raised from the dead by G-d and was not left to decay.
Jewish Refutation: The Hebrew for that verse indicates no such thing. It says: "ve'echresoh lochem bris" ("and I will make a covenant with you"), whereby "lochem" is "you" in the plural form. G-d was not speaking to the messiah, but to those of Israel, who will obey His word. He tells them that He has appointed one from David's lineage as their future king.
Isaiah 55.3 makes no mention of anything having to do with the avoidance of decay in a grave.
of Judaism_Section (PALTALK)
