Search Results

< Back Arabic Language Programs Card Previous Next

< Back RABBI SAM STERN Testimony RABBI SAM STERN Testimony RABBI SAM STERN Early Background. I was born at a time when the whole world lay in turmoil caused by World War I. People suffered hunger and starvation. I came into a strict orthodox Jewish rabbinic and Chasidic home. Although my parents were poor at that time, they sent us boys to an expensive orthodox religious school. I had 3 brothers and a sister. My father's only desire was to make rabbis of us 4 boys. At five I was already going to cheder for first grade pupils and when seven I was able to read Hebrew. At nine I was introduced to the Five Books of Moses and the Bible commentator “Rashi,” and also to the ancient now obsolete Jewish books of jurisprudence called "Talmud". When I was 10-11 years old, the Talmud eclipsed all the other books and became the main textbook for the next 10 years of my life. At thirteen I started my independent religious life. I was told that we children are under our father's jurisdiction until 13; at that age we become free from our father's supervision; we alone are responsible for our sins. Therefore, after I became thirteen I was taken to a synagogue where my father thanked God that he had got rid of my sins. The Gentiles and I. The home of my parents was very strict Orthodox. My father was a rabbi. He went to the synagogue to pray three times a day. We observed the Jewish laws according to the Talmud, for our parents desired that their children, too, should follow in their father's footsteps and remain strict Orthodox Jews. My family stayed in a little town in Congress-Poland near Warsaw. 5OO Jewish and 800 Polish families lived there, but the Polish and the Jewish people were separated by these four “Chinese Walls": * Clothing - Jews wore long black coats called "Kaftan" and a black hat called “Yiddishe Hutel.“ The. Polish people wore European clothing. It was considered a great sin for a Jew to wear European clothing. * Language - Jews spoke Yiddish while the Poles spoke Polish. Yiddish is a Germanic language mixed with Hebrew and Slavic words. * Religion - Jews worshiped in the synagogues which were also used as places of social gathering and Bible and Talmudic study classes.. Polish people were almost 100% Catholic. * Occupation - Jews were mainly blacksmiths, tailors, shoemakers and small businessmen, owners of small hardware stores and grocery stores, while the poles were mainly farmers and government employees. The Jews were not granted the privilege of working for the municipal and federal government, nor in factories or agriculture. There were a thousand other differences between the Jews and the Poles - differences in customs, way of life, behavior, temperament, and outlook. Their interests, hopes and wishes were also different. It is hard to put into words the things that separated us. We were two peoples living in one territory, under the same wonderful Polish sky. We ate the same healthy Polish bread and breathed the same clean air. Yet we were as strange to each other as the east is from the west. My first acquaintance with Gentiles. When I was six years old I tried to go for a walk outside the Jewish "Ghetto." Suddenly a Gentile boy threw a stone at me while shouting: "Jew, Jew!” I, as a child, did not know that a Jew is hated by non-Jews. Therefore I was surprised and scared. I ran back home to mother and told her that a boy threw a stone at me, calling me "Jew , Jew!”. “Why is the boy throwing stones at me? Why is he calling me 'Jew'? I never saw this boy before. Why does he hate me whom he had never seen before?” "He is a Christian and Christians are Jew-haters. Even if he does not know you, he is your enemy." "But why is he my enemy?" I kept on asking. "He believes what he is being taught. His priest, his teacher, his parents tell him to hate the Jews. Therefore he hates you even without a cause. But when our Messiah comes, we shall be the head and not the tail. Then we will go back to Palestine and no one will persecute us anymore. ” "But when will the Messiah come?" I kept on asking. "We don't know the exact time, but He will come some day. Then our sufferings from the hands of the Christians will come to an end." The hope of the coming of the Messiah accompanied me all my life. It gave me power to endure suffering and humiliation from my Gentile neighbors. My Education. After my "Bar Mitzvah" I was sent to a higher rabbinical school with the sole purpose of becoming a rabbi. I spent the years from 13 to 22 in different schools where the main subject was the Talmud, which consists of 60 books dealing with everyday life. The main problems with which they deal are: damages, Holidays, marriage and divorce, prayer and farming problems. The main style of the books is “the argument”. For example, one rabbi said that if an egg is laid on a Holiday, it is kosher to eat, and the other rabbi said that the egg is not kosher, but “trefa.” The Talmud is a work of arguments and scholastic pilpulistic sayings. It deals also with mysticism, metaphysics and folklore. I, as a student of the Talmud, had to know by heart the name of every rabbi who expressed his opinion in the matters of damage, Holidays, etc. The Talmud was written in the time of the Tanriaim and Amoraim, l800 years ago. Since then thousands of books of comments on the Talmud have been written. The most famous books, which are as important and binding to the Talmudists as the Talmud itself, are: The Rambam, the "Rosh," The Tosafot and Rashi, who is the greatest Talmudic commentator. I had to know all these different opinions and sayings. Since there were so many to study, we did not have time for even the most elementary secular subjects, I was ignorant in matters of arithmetic, geography, etc., but at the age of twenty-two I was considered a "lamdan" which means a man who is learned in the Talmud. World War II broke out. On September 1, 1939, World War II broke out. I had just received my rabbinical diploma called "Smicha', that past summer. I planned to marry and to become a !religious leader of Israel, and to use my acquired knowledge to lead my fellow-Jews in the ways of the Talmudic, rabbinic traditions. An alternate plan was to leave Poland, perhaps to immigrate to a country in Latin America, because there was a great need for rabbis. The war destroyed all my plans. My very life was in danger, as was that of all my fellow-Jews In Europe. The Nazis And The Polish People. On September 4, 1939, the German soldiers came into our town. Life became unbelievable for the Polish Jews. Every Jew was condemned to die. If all the skies were parchment, all men writers, and all trees pens, even then it would not be possible to describe what the Nazis in co-operation with the Polish people did to the Jews in Poland. During 6 years of such anti-Jewish activities, 6 million Jews, among them 1 million children, lost their lives. One third of the world's Jewish population was annihilated. The fields of Europe are still wet with the innocent blood that was shed. Yes, here and there a conscientious Polish family rescued a Jew, hiding him and feeding him, but the number of these good people was very small. In May, 1945, World War II was over. The result: Nazi "murderers were destroyed, Israel rose to become a nation- and I had lost my entire family. In search for a friend and for an answer to the question: Why? After the war I came out of the concentration camp with the hope of seeing and being united with my relatives. I put advertisements in newspapers. I went to different institutions to find out about my relatives. To my great sorrow I learned that all my loved ones had perished with the six million Jews who were victims of the greatest demon In the history of mankind - Nazi Ideology. I came to realize the bitter fact that I was alone in the world - without a friend, not belonging to anybody, nobody belonging to me. I could ~hardly believe that I would never see my parents, my sister, .my brothers or my uncles again. I was now in a strange world, in a world without a friend and without a relative. I started to look for a human friend, but no one could satisfy my longing for a true mother-heart or father-love. Nobody could substitute the love of a sister, the faithfulness of a brother, I was disappointed and desperate. I lifted my eyes up to heaven and asked the old Jewish question: Why? Why was one third of the nation of God put to death by the Nazis? Where was God when a little innocent Jewish child cried for help when the Nazi murderers raised their/brutal hands to kill it? Why was God silent in these terrible times for His chosen people? From D.P. camp to the United States Of America. Since I had no one in Poland, I decided to go to America. I thought that perhaps in a new land I would forget the dreadful past and start a new life. In order to go to America I had to go first to Germany where the American Army occupied the Western German territory. I became a member of a Zionist group whose sole work was to take the Jews out of Poland and bring them to Germany and Italy in order to enable them to emigrate to Israel or America. In April 1946 I came to a Jewish D.P. Camp near the Austrian border of Germany. I registered there as a rabbi and started to work as such in the D.P. Camp. I also edited the D.P. Newspaper. In 1952 I came to Rhode Island, U.S.A., where I worked as an assistant rabbi in a synagogue. Unbelief and doubt. Although I worked in the capacity of a Talmudic teacher in the synagogue, there was a great conflict in my heart. The question: "Why did God allow 6 million Jews to die?" bothered me. I taught things that I was not sure were true. I told my congregation and students: "If we Jews want to exist and to overcome our enemies we have to keep the Sabbath day holy." In my heart I knew that 99% of the Hitler-victims had kept the Sabbath-day holy, yet it did not protect them from being killed. I did not have any proof or assurance that what I taught was true. I also lost my belief in the Talmudic legends, laws, and arguments pro and con. I was looking for the truth, but could not find it. Confession alone is not enough. Each Holiday we Jews go to the synagogue and pray to God, confessing our sins, and asking for forgiveness. We say: "Because of our sins. we were driven from our land." Confession of sins is a very important part of our prayers. The Jewish prayer book cites different kinds of sins which a Jew must confess in his daily prayers. The most solemn day of prayer is Yom Kippur, and on Yom Kippur Eve, every Jew over 13 years of age must recite 45 confessions called "Al Chets”. After the confession, the "Slach Lanu" (Forgive Us) is chanted by the congregation. When I prayed these prayers I felt. unhappy and dissatisfied because I knew that according to the Bible, confession alone does not forgive sin. I knew that in order for sin to be forgiven, a sacrifice called "korban"' must be offered. Leviticus deals with the "korban" many times, especially Lev. 5:17-19. I was not sure that the Yom. Kippur prayers have any significance in the sight of God, because I knew that right after the confessions and prayers we went back to the same old pattern of a life of sin. It seemed to me that as we were confessing our sins in the synagogue, we were mocking God. We spoke with our lips about repentance but did not really mean it. I knew that we are sinners and need a real, more valid approach to God. Longing for the Truth. I felt very unhappy with my spiritual state of mind. I lost faith in mankind and in the rabbinical legends and teachings. I felt miserable knowing that I, as a rabbi, was teaching the people things that I did not believe. I knew that the Talmudic teachings, sayings, pilpulistic arguments, scholastic debates, hair-splitting comments about obsolete damages, laws, rules and regulations regarding Sabbath, Holidays, clothing and washings, are of very little significance to us. I realized that we need some real solid spiritual truth by which to live, walk and exist as Jews. What Is the truth? What is the true way for us and for me individually? I did not know. I looked on my people as on sheep without a shepherd. I saw that 2000 years of Talmudic, Chasidic, cabbalistic and worldly teachings could not save one Jewish child from destruction. I knew that we Jews suffer for our sin, as we read in our prayers on the Holidays, but I did nor know what our sin is. First contact with Light. One spring evening I walked somewhere in Rhode Island. I looked here and there without a goal, just breathing in some fresh spring air. While I strolled, I noticed some young people standing near a store handing out little printed papers. They caught my attention and handed me a pamphlet too. As I could not read English, I decided to go into the store to find out what kind of sale they were having. When I came inside, I was surprised to see that there was no merchandise. To my astonishment, I noticed everyone sitting with eyes closed and head bowed. “What is going on here?" I thought. I did not know that this is the manner in which Christians pray. It was in contrast to the way Jews pray - with eyes open and shaking on all sides. I waited a while till everybody had finished praying and opened their eyes. A boy came and talked to me, but I did not understand him. I had been in the United States only a few weeks and did not know the English language. Finally, I said that I speak only German and Yiddish. Through the use of sign language, I made a date to come back the next Wednesday, when a German-speaking person would come and explain to me what the organization was. Love. The next Wednesday the German gentleman was waiting for me when I came. He shook my hand in a friendly manner and said to me in German: "This is a mission to the Jews." "What is a mission?" I asked. "The Lord sent us to the Jews to let them know that God loves them and wants them to be saved." "What do you mean “saved'? How can you speak about love after the cataclysm that came over the European Jews?" I asked. He smiled and said, "I know how you feel; but Christians, followers of Christ, love the Jews, and all those who harm them are not Christians. The Alpha and Omega of Christianity is love to mankind, Israel included. The Lord told us to go to the Jew first. "Weren't all those who carried crosses and had pictures of saints in their homes - yet organized pogroms against the Jews of Europe, weren't they Christians? Weren't the churches in Poland and Ukraine the main source of anti-Semitism. Didn't the priests incite their people against the Jews?" He looked at me and said, "The Lord teaches us to love our enemies, to show love to those who hate us. All those who do not obey the teachings of the Lord are not His followers." Then he gave me a Yiddish New Testament and said, "Read it and you will find the true teaching of Christ". I took the New Testament, put it into my pocket and said, "Yes, sir, 1 will read it, I want to see what the New Testament is really like. I don't know anything at all about it. " In the next few nights I had much to read. Every line, each page, was a great revelation to me as I read with great interest. Opening the Book of Matthew, I was surprised to read that Jesus is of the lineage of Abraham and David, I also noticed that on every page it says "As it is written," which means that it was written in our Jewish Bible. For example, in the first chapter I read that He will be born of a virgin because it is written: Behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel... (Isaiah 7:14). In the 2nd chapter I read that He was born in Bethlehem as it is written: Thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come forth a governor that shall rule my people Israel (Micah 5:2). Also I saw that He shall come out of Egypt, for it is written: Out of Egypt have I called my son (Hosea 11:1) Thus reading I noticed on each page and in every chapter constant references to the Old Testament. It became clear to me that this book called New Testament is actually the fulfillment of the Old Testament. I realized that we rabbis were too much occupied with the Talmud and paid little or no attention to our Holy Bible. Then and there I became a Bible believing Jew. I thanked God for leading me to that little mission and decided to dedicate my life to Messiah. My acquaintance with a Jewish Missionary. It was a few weeks before Passover. The missionary in Rhode Island gave me the address of a Jewish believer in Jesus who lived in New York, and l went there because I had never before seen a Jewish believer in Jesus. As soon as I contacted him, he invited me to his home. He welcomed me with the greeting, "Shalom Aleichem." We read together from the New Testament in Yiddish! After a while he told me he had written a poem called "The Sufferer," and started to read it. But this was only a pretense, as it was in reality the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. Then he asked me, "Who is the subject of this poem? Who suffered for our sins? By Whose stripes are we healed?" I answered, "It probably refers to Jesus Christ." Then he said, "I just copied out and read to you the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. He was the one who wrote about the Messiah." Imagine my surprise and shock. I did not know the contents of Isaiah 53! The next day I showed the same "'poem" to a friend, a rabbi in New York. He did not know either that Isaiah had written the chapter. The only conclusion I could reach was that the main reason so many rabbis and other Jews don't know the Messiah the Savior of the Old and New Testament, is that they don't know the Bible. I decided to do everything in my power to bring the Jewish Bible to them. The same evening, I came to the New York missionary and told him that I believe in the Bible and in the Lord Jesus. Then and there we knelt and prayed for sin-forgiveness and for salvation. I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior. What a change came over me! I was very happy. I felt a peace, joy, and happiness that I had never known before. My whole being turned into a happy life. I was a new creature. God forgives Sin. When I came home, I took the Bible and read the 53rd chapter of Isaiah over and over again. As I read I wondered why I had not heard of Isaiah 53 before. Why didn't the rabbis tell me of this chapter? It was obvious to me that we Jews could not be considered Bible-believers if we deny Isaiah 53. As I read more, it became clear to me that Isaiah's prophecy in chapter 53 expresses God's glorious plan of forgiveness, reconciliation with God and salvation. My new education. I went to Los Angeles and started my American education in the second grade of elementary school. After finishing 8 grades I graduated from high school. Later I went to Los Angeles City College, and finally to Biola College, where I received a B.A. degree. I was baptized, and ordained a minister of the Gospel. Now my deepest interest is to bring the Gospel to my people, the Jews, that they, too, may accept their Messiah and inherit eternal life. Messiah said, I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the father except by me (John 14:6). The goal. After I was saved, I felt that it is not enough that I know the Light, but had the desire that all the Jewish people should believe in the Messiah of Israel. I saw that this would not be easy. The ones who do not believe, bitterly oppose the preaching of the glorious Gospel to my brethren in the flesh. I knew their prejudice against the Gospel and their worldly views of life. Yet, knowing that the struggle would not be easy, I decided to go on with the work of God. I became more and more interested in spreading the truth among the innocent Jews who were being misled by their "shepherds". They were blind leaders of the blind who were interested in their own welfare but cared little for the people. God called me to His service, and I was sure that He would protect me and help me to spread the light among those who never heard the true story of Christ. A great force from within pushed me to do the work - and this great force was the Holy Spirit Himself. This power of the Holy Spirit told me day and night, "feed my sheep." And I answered, "Here I am. I am willing to go to the House of Israel whom the Father loves so much, and to tell them the simple but sure plan of His salvation." I saw tired and unhappy Jews who were groping in darkness, looking for the truth, and there was nobody to help them. Therefore, I was the more determined to go and proclaim the Gospel to the weary and heart-broken ones. Jesus said: Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Reason. I appeal to all rabbis, leaders of the Jewish people, and Jewish laymen: Come back to our prophets, to our God and His Anointed One. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they" be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isaiah 1:18 - Copyright. For further information regarding this testimony write to: Hebrew Witness, Inc., P.O. Box 132, Brooklyn, N. Y. 11229 For further information contact: hebrew menorah4.jpg To Return To: Salvation Testimonies Page To Return To: L'Chaim -To Life! Page. To Return To: MENORAH'S HOME PAGE Previous Next

< Back This is a Title 03 This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. You can create as many collections as you need. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own, or import content from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, videos and more. You can also collect and store information from your site visitors using input elements like custom forms and fields. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. Preview your site to check that all your elements are displaying content from the right collection fields. Previous Next

< Back ~God's Grace Is Sufficient...... Betty Schoenfeld Smith's Testimony God’s Grace Is Sufficient A handwashing scene should appear here.. Betty Schoenfeld Smith IN THE BEGINNING My father was born in Hungary. He came to America when he was about 20 years old. My mother was born in Poland and was just a young child when she arrived in this country. Both came from strict Orthodox-Jewish families. They met, married and had three daughters. My father was the dominant character in our lives. Over the years he formed iron-clad opinions about the roles of men and women. He was our protector, our provider and our authority. Our father was also deeply religious. He adhered to the Orthodox interpretation of the law. His household laws were consistent with his understanding of God's law and European customs. As a result. there were strict confines within where we were expected to behave and think. I While my father was reserved and deliberate, my mother was warm and easy-going. Although she was submissive to her husband's rules and expectations, she was also our relief from his strictness. I grew up within this nucleus of strictness and warmth. We were a close-knit, self-contained family, alive and well in Charleston, West Virginia. We attended a synagogue on most Friday nights and we always attended the High Holidays. My sisters and I went to Sunday School. In Charleston, West Virginia I first learned that we were only allowed to associate with other Jewish people. At a very early age I started to question why. We had neighbors who were not Jewish. Were we so different just because they believed in Jesus and we did not? When I was eleven years old we moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My father purchased a building in an Italian neighborhood. It had an apartment upstairs and we lived there while our new home was being prepared. There were no Jews in this neighborhood and I met a lot of "different" people. My father still wanted to keep us apart from non-Jews. But since there were no Jews in this neighborhood, my acquaintances and friends were Italian. When, in fact, some became my very best friends, my rebellion against my parental wishes became pronounced. My father was diligent about imparting his theology to us. He read us the blessings and the curses. He convinced us that God must punish us for our wrongdoings. He faithfully took us to religious services, that I never comprehended, and assured us our salvation in God lay in our Jewishness. As I grew older, my religion and the pressures of my family became more burdensome. I liked the life I saw around me and was drawn to the "freedom" outside our house. I resented that I was born destined to a peculiar life, subjected to the hand and law of a wrathful God. I wanted freedom! My father and I were not of one mind. It scared him! He saw me slipping away. The more he tried to keep hold of me the more I tried to escape. ESCAPE At the age of fourteen I met a young Italian Catholic boy and fell in love! I thought that all my problems would be solved if we could run away and elope. He tried to convince me that it would be crazy for us to marry. But after meeting secretly for about a year, I finally persuaded him and we married. My parents were outraged. They tried their hardest to convince me to leave my husband and return home. I was very stubborn and determined to make this marriage work and chose to remain with my husband rather than return to the wrath of my father. My husband, Frank, became my sanctuary and my salvation. Since my own father had disowned me, I believed that my heavenly father had also turned his back on me. Frank was my god. We had four children - three sons and one daughter. We raised our sons and daughter in Frank's Catholic faith. I never considered rearing my children Jewish. That way of life held only bitter memories for me. My father had instilled in me that I would burn in hell for what I had done. I reasoned that in Catholicism my children would be outside the wrath of God, free from the restraints and responsibilities of Judaism. But I was a Jew! I asked my husband to pray that the God of Abraham would have mercy on me! My life was my husband and my children. I lived and breathed with them and for them. Nonetheless, I experienced a gnawing anxiety about God. I had breached God's contract with His people. What would I do now to appease him? First of all I decided to remain Jewish. I would not deny the Jewish God by converting to another religion. Then I concentrated on doing good works. How I longed for forgiveness. DISASTER Life was status quo. Frank had been financially successful. We lived in a nice house in a good neighborhood. The kids were great. Our friends were pleasant. Yet somewhere out of the continuity of our status quo, after twenty three years of marriage, Frank wanted out. I was shocked! Frank was more than my husband. He was my savior, my hope, my strength and security. Now he was gone. It was all over! I was rejected and abandoned, totally alone and empty. One shattering event seemed to follow another. Our youngest son became an addict, caught up in the pattern of hard core drug usage. He was in trouble physically and legally. I began to dread phone calls. Was my son sick, dead or in jail? I was frantic! Life and confusion were synonymous. REMARRIAGE My solace during this time was a man named Bruce. I met him through some friends and soon Bruce and I became friends. Two months after my divorce from Frank, Bruce and I were married. My motivation for marriage was mixed. Part of it was spite against Frank, but Bruce was supportive and kind. He offered security. But there were problems. Soon after our marriage, Bruce was transferred to Columbus, Ohio. I refused to follow. A year later I gave in and my daughter and I moved to Columbus. After only six weeks in Columbus I missed Pittsburgh so much that my daughter and I left Bruce and moved back to Pittsburgh. Alone again, I was confused when a "nightmare" occurred. My son was arrested. His addiction had worsened and he had broken the law to maintain his habit. The world caved in around me. I was at my wits end, backed into a corner with nowhere to turn. I did not know how to help my son anymore, nor what to do about my own marriage. There were so many problems. There was no answer. SALVATION On April 5, 1977, a friend called to tell me about Jesus! She told me that He was God's Son -- that He loved me and died for me. I listened. I had no source of hope. When we hung up, I sat down and talked to God. I told him that I did not believe in Jesus, or that God and Jesus were even related. However, I asked God to rescue my son. If he could do this, then I would believe in Jesus as His Son. If he would help my son I would serve Him and witness about His Son all the rest of my life. But I was a Jew I repeated to myself. Would not my Jewishness be sufficient to bring me salvation rather than a Christian interpretation of God? That morning I really wanted to believe. I longed to have hope in this Messiah. But I could not deny the faith of Abraham. God did a strange thing. He quieted me. He let me know that it was okay to remain a Jew and accept Jesus as Lord. I gave my life to Him that morning. My son, instead of going to jail, was released to me by the judge. He sought help with his drug problem. I received the peace of mind for which I asked. Never in years had I felt so tranquil. I started to read the Bible and began to fall in love with Jesus! My life and family began to come into order. One month later, after sharing the Lord with Bruce, he too accepted Jesus. God gently brought Bruce and me back together in Columbus. RESTORATION We struggled. God's ways are not our ways. But His ways are good and kind and right. He blanketed us with love as we experienced the painful process of change and conformity to His likeness. Also, to my delight, he brought us to a place to worship with other Jewish believers. They knew what God had revealed to me -- it was not inconsistent or treasonous to remain Jewish and accept Jesus as Messiah. In fact, Jesus was a Jew. The Lord has blessed me greatly. He gave Bruce and me a beautiful daughter, Amy. All but one of my other children have accepted Jesus as Lord and Messiah. I also have healthy, wonderful grandchildren. I am not, however, immune from tragedy. My sister and brother-law were killed in an automobile accident leaving two children. Brian, the youngest, had been placed with us. God gave Bruce and me the strength and wisdom to raise him up in the Lord. When I consider my life, I think of all the years of searching, of trying to fit the pieces together that would not mesh. Finally, I have peace and an unwavering love that I had always hoped was out there somewhere. I can attest to the goodness of God, and the merciful hand of His Son, Jesus, all the days of my life. When you receive Jesus who died in your place for your sins you too will proclaim that His Grace is Sufficient. Reprinted with permission of The Messianic Literature Outreach www.messianicliterature.org How about you? Have you received your Redeemer, the Stone whom the builders rejected? In Him is life, light and joy and in His sacrifice is forgiveness of sin. For further information contact: hebrew menorah4.jpg To Return To: Salvation Testimonies Page To Return To: L'Chaim -To Life! Page To Return To: MENORAH'S HOME PAGE Previous Next

< Back Full Doctrinal Statement Full Doctrinal Statement This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. You can create as many collections as you need. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own, or import content from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, videos and more. You can also collect and store information from your site visitors using input elements like custom forms and fields. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. Preview your site to check that all your elements are displaying content from the right collection fields. Previous Next

< Back Prayer Sheet Prayer Sheet Prayer Sheet Previous Next

I N D E X of T A N A K H P A S S A G E S C I T E D in the B ' R I T H A D A S H A H Index of Old Testament-Covenant Passages Cited in the New Testament-Covenant To Return To Menorah's Web Page

Salvation testimony for Rabbi Asher Levy and brief history Rabbi Asher Levy I was a Jewish Rabbi for 35 years. Born in Yugoslavia, I was brought up in a very orthodox Jewish home. I was taught to say formal prayers and wear phylacteries as prescribed for every pious Jew (Deuteronomy 6: 8; 11: 18). At the age of 15 I went to the theological school for Rabbis where I studied the Old Testament and Talmudic commentaries and six years later I was ordained as Rabbi in Romania. Afterwards I served in Belgium, England and California. Outwardly I was happy and successful in my ministry but in my heart I was restless and discontented because I suffered much as a result of the emptiness of life in general. Six years ago I met a Jewish man with whom I discussed this matter. I did not know that he was a believer in Jesus Christ. His advice was: "Read Isaiah 53." I then read this well-known chapter concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which says that He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities. I felt urged further to examine the Hebrew Scriptures and found these words written by the same prophet: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this (Isaiah 9:6, 7). I also read: Hear ye now, O House of David; is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. and shall call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7 :13, 14). "Immanuel" means "God with us”. This proved to me that Jesus was and is the Messiah in Whom all the prophecies were fulfilled. Meanwhile I had found a clear portrait of the Messiah in a small book which I had the privilege of getting into my hands. It was my first introduction to the New Testament. I started reading it like any other book, from the beginning: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David son of Abraham," and found to my amazement that I was reading a Jewish book about a Jew. By reading it carefully I came to the conclusion that Jesus Christ was a Jew of the race of Abraham and David; that He was born of a Jewish virgin in the Jewish town of Bethlehem; of a Jewish tribe, the tribe of Judah. Because He knew the Law and the Prophets I followed Him on His journeys through the Holy Land, listened to His beautiful sayings and teaching, observed and admired His compassion and healings. It became my spiritual food. His promise of forgiveness of sins and eternal life lo those who believe in Him. drew me till I trusted Him as my Messiah and my personal savior. I want to confirm the fact that my heart does not condemn me for my new belief, because I feel that I am still a Jew and shall always be a Jew. I have not renounced our inheritance of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Like Paul I can say after my acceptance of Christ as my Savior: Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. (I Corinthians 11:22) Thus I repeat with pride the word of Romans 1:16: For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first. and also to the Greek. The brilliant example of the great apostle Paul influenced me very much and gave me the courage to accept the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior. Paul first was a zealous persecutor of Christ and then became His most faithful follower. He was a disciple of that great doctor of the Law, Raban Gamaliel, at whose feet he sat. It is believed that Raban Gamaliel became a follower of Christ before Paul did. The Bible tells us that some wanted to kill Peter and the other apostles because they were preaching Christ so boldly. Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the Law, had a reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space; and said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do as touching these men. . . And now I say unto you, refrain from these men and let them alone, for if this counsel or this work be of men it will come to naught, but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even to fight against God (Acts 5:34, 35, 38, 39). It is two thousand years since the lowly Galilean, Jesus, traversed the hills and dales of Palestine, and He is still Master of the world. His Gospel is still preached. and Christ's name as Messiah of Israel is still proclaimed. And His message is still repeated everywhere: For God so loved. the world, that He gave his only begotten Son. that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life John 3:16. Hear, O Israel! For further information contact: To Return To Dr. Rabbi Max Wertheimer Testimony Page To Return To: Salvation Testimonies Page To Return To: L'Chaim -To Life! Page To Return To: Menorah's Web Page

Eternal life is only by personal faith in Jesus, not by any other means, a free gift. God loves you... Truth. Find Eternal Life free by faith alone for all Jewish and all people. God Loves You! __ T R U T H __ For God so loved the world ... that He gave His only and unique Son, that everyone who trusts in Him may have eternal life. Instead of being utterly destroyed. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but rather … so that through him, the world might be saved. Yochanan/John 3:16-17 …and, He will .... redeem your(my) soul from the power of the grave. Tehillah/Psalm 49:15 David says of Him, Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore . Tehillah/Psalm 16:11 L'Chaim..... To Life! How To Be Born Again… gain Eternal Life With God Do you know for Sure that you are going to be with God eternally in heaven??! How a Catholic may KNOW that He will go to Heaven when He dies CÓMO UN CATÓLICO PUEDE SABER QUE VA A IR AL CIELO DESPUÉS DE MORIR ( How a Catholic may KNOW that He will go to Heaven when He dies in Spanish) Questions on just what the Bible has to say about something? Read a small booklet in over 40 languages Also many Bible Studies in these languages can be found here ! Did You Get Your Get Out of Jail Hell FREE Card? Click Here M e r e C h r i s t i a n i t y by C. S. Lewis 1898-1963 He was a professor of Medieval and Renaissance literature at Cambridge University who became a Christian at a late age. He is the most popular Christian theologian and master lucid apologist. Audio files of this book which contain 4 separate books: Book 1 . Right and wrong as a clue to the meaning of the universe Book 2. What Christians Believe Book 3. Christian Behavior Book 4. Beyond personality: or first steps in the doctrine of the Trinity Part 1 Part 2 For further information contact To Return To Jews Gentiles and The Churc h Web Page To Return To This is The Answer Web Page To return to Menorah's Web Page 00:00 / 1:09:43 00:00 / 1:11:50 00:00 / 1:11:57 00:00 / 1:12:05 00:00 / 1:09:31 To Life in Hebrew Victory Over Death is possible!

Biblical and world history of Messiah Jesus' birth linage from Israeli heritage Return To The Real Jesus Page Messiah's Geneological Chart Return To Menorah's Web Page

Prior to The Cross Jewish people could be considered righteous by Faith.   The Biblical way, which is seen as only possible through acceptance of the Messiah's way by all people, Jew and Gentile (non-Jewish).  I believe such way to 'eternal life' with God, in the world-to-come, is only by faith in the Messiah Jesus. On the basis of Jewish Scripture (the Bible) and historical facts, Yeshua (Jesus) is this expected anointed one from God, the " ONLY " Messiah, Redeemer, Savior.     Romans 1:16-17 Ask Re’uben How did (do) non-Jewish people become "righteous" before G od in Biblical times and today, according to Jewish Law? S H A L O M ! ________ A MESSIANIC JEWISH SCRIPTURAL VIEW _______ Biblical Question: How did (do) non-Jewish people become "righteous" before God in Biblical times and today, according to Jewish Law? Rick from Colorado asks: Dear Pastor Reuben, I have been told by some Jewish people that I as a Gentile can become righteous to and before God without keeping the Jewish Law (613 Commandments). What really are they talking about? How can a Gentile become righteous before God? Is Jewish Law seen as the way or is there another according to Jewish Law? I appreciate your help. Pastor Reuben's Answer: Dear Rick, shalom, The Seven Noahide Laws According to rabbinic tradition, non-Jews are obligated to abide by seven basic laws, called Noahide Laws, which are based on chapter nine of Genesis. Judaism never expected anyone but Jews to abide by all the laws of the Torah (5 books of Moses), but it did expect all human beings to live by elementary moral precepts. The 7 Laws are: 1. To behave equitably in all relationships, & to establish courts of justice. 2. To refrain from blaspheming God's name. 3. To refrain from practicing idolatry. 4. To avoid immoral practices, specifically incest. 5. To avoid shedding the blood of one's fellow man. 6. To refrain from robbing one's fellow man. 7. To refrain from eating a limb torn from a live animal. A Gentile who observes these is considered a righteous person (Chassid), & as such is assured a place in the world- to-come, just as any observant Jew who abides by all 613 precepts of the Torah . Gentiles can become righteous. Of course this is not t he Biblical way, which is seen as only possible through acceptance of the Messiah's way by all people, Jew and Gentile (non-Jewish). I believe such way to 'eternal life' with God, in the world-to-come, is only by faith in the Messiah Jesus. On the basis of Jewish Scripture (the Bible) and historical facts, Yeshua (Jesus) is this expected anointed one from God, the " ONLY " Messiah, Redeemer, Savior. Romans 1:16-17 What is born from the flesh is flesh, and what is born from the Spirit is spirit. Stop being amazed at my telling you that you must be born again from above! The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it’s going. That’s how it is with everyone who has been born from the Spirit.” Nakdimon replied, “How can this happen?” Yeshua answered him, “You hold the office of teacher in Isra’el, and you don’t know this? Yes, indeed! I tell you that what we speak about, we know; and what we give evidence of, we have seen; but you people don’t accept our evidence! If you people don’t believe me when I tell you about the things of the world, how will you believe me when I tell you about the things of heaven? No one has gone up into heaven; there is only the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. Just as Moshe lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but rather so that through him, the world might be saved. John 3:6-17 God bless you, Reuben Questions are welcome from ALL readers at ALL levels and Forums, from everyone. Questions of general interest will be considered for inclusions in this column. Those of a more personal nature will be keep confidential and we will answer via e-mail; always state your name, email address and your comment/question in as brief & precise manner as possible. To submit a question, etc. please address it to reuben@menorah.org ask.....ask......ask.....ask.....ask.....ask......ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask To Return To Jews, Genti les, & The Church To return to ..... Ask Pastor ReubenBiblical Answers To Asked Questions..... To return to To Life L'Chaim Find Eternal Life Page To return to Menorah's Web Page

Since the whole concept of a dying Messiah is so foreign to modern Judaism, although it was once part of Judaism, there is a question that must be answered: Why did the Messiah have to die? In the course of answering this question, a second one arises: What is the means of redemption?      If there is one theme that seems to go throughout all of the Scriptures, it is the theme of redemption by blood. Since the whole concept of a dying Messiah is so foreign to modern Judaism, although it was once part of Judaism, there is a question that must be answered: Why did the Messiah have to die? In the course of answering this question, a second one arises: What is the means of redemption? If there is one theme that seems to go throughout all of the Scriptures, it is the theme of redemption by blood. According to the Old Testament Redemption became necessary when sin entered the human sphere and separated man from God. When Adam and Eve committed that first act of disobedience, sin entered and separated them from God. From that point on, the means of bridging the separation of man from God was the means of blood. In the history of God's dealing with His people, the means of redemption was always by blood. The redemptive element of blood begins to come into the theme of Scripture at the same time that sin does, for until sin came, no blood was necessary. We read that just as soon as man was expelled from the Garden of Eden: "Jehovah God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins, and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21). The skins were animal skins. The nakedness, that the element of sin now revealed, needed to be covered. But the covering required the death of several animals and so, for the first time in history, blood was shed. This provides the root meaning of the Hebrew word for atonement, which is "a covering." As biblical history develops in the Book of Genesis, we find that all those with whom God was pleased came to Him by means of blood. Noah immediately offered up blood sacrifices when he left the ark. He was followed by other great men in Jewish history -Abraham, Isaac, Jacob - all of whom were careful to approach God by means of blood. The redemptive element of blood ran through the entire Law with its 613 commandments. A great summary statement for the entire Law was to be found in the third book of Moses, Leviticus 17:11: For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life. (ASV) It can easily be said that all of the Law revolves around this one statement. There are commandments which God gave in the Law that were to be obeyed. Disobedience was sin. If disobedience did take place, the means of atonement for the sin was blood. The principle stood throughout the remainder of Old Testament history, but it was a burden to the individual. These blood sacrifices had to be repeated year in, and year out, and they had to be done in the Temple at Jerusalem. It was Isaiah the Prophet who first provided the hope that the day would come when the burden would be lifted. In Isaiah 53, God declared that the Suffering Servant, the Messiah, would be the sacrifice for sin (Isaiah 53:10-11). The point of Isaiah 53 is basically this: The animal sacrifices under the Mosaic Law were intended to be of temporary duration, a temporary measure only. God's intent was for there to be one final blood sacrifice, and that would be the sacrifice of the Messiah Himself. This, then, was the reason Messiah had to die: to provide the blood sacrifice for sin once and for all. No longer would the Jews be burdened with the yearly sacrifices. All a person would need to do is to accept the Messiah's death on his behalf and his sins would be forgiven. Messiah had to die to prove that atonement for blood was the means of redemption. According to the New Testament The Book of Hebrews was written by a Messianic Jew to a group of Jewish Messianic assemblies in Israel. It picks up the theme of Leviticus and the prophecy of Isaiah to show the superiority of the sacrifice of the Messiah. A number of passages bring these things out. Notice carefully how the author definitely has two things in the back of his mind: 1. The Book of Leviticus with animal sacrifices. 2. Isaiah 53 with the Messiah being the final sacrifice. In Hebrews 2:16-18 we read as follows: For verily not to angels doth he give help, but he giveth help to the seed of Abraham. Wherefore it behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. (ASV) This passage makes the point that Messiah came as a Jew and underwent all the problems that a Jew had to go through in order that He might become a merciful and sympathetic high priest. The reason Messiah came as a Jew was so that He, too, would live under the Law and take upon Himself the burden of the Law. He could clearly sympathize with the Jewish state under the Law. There are many advantages in the priesthood that we have through Messiah Yeshua. First, since Jesus by virtue of His resurrection now lives forever, we never have an interrupted priesthood. Second, since this is Messiah's blood - innocent blood - this was a one-time shedding. So another clear advantage over the Mosaic Law is that the sacrifice of the Messiah does not need to be repeated - it was "once and for all." The third advantage lies in the fact that whereas in the Old Testament system the earthly priest had to atone for his own sins, this was not the case with our Messiah - since our Messiah is a sinless Messiah. Unlike the animal sacrifices, the sacrifice of Jesus was to bring eternal redemption rather than temporary atonement. This is the fourth distinction between the two priesthood systems. Furthermore, even after the animal sacrifice, the Jew was still conscious of his sins. Faith in the sacrifice of Jesus, however, brings a complete cleansing of the conscience of sins. This is the fifth contrast. But the sacrifice of Jesus was once and for all and it never needed to be repeated. Acceptance of the sacrifice of Jesus does not bring temporary atonement but permanent forgiveness. By accepting the substitutionary death of Jesus for his sins, one is not continually reminded of those sins, but one receives a complete cleansing. By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." And every priest indeed standeth day by day ministering and offering often times the same sacrifices, for which can never take away sins: but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; henceforth electing till his enemies be made the footstool of his feet. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. (ASV-Hebrews 10:10-14) This passage again points out how the high priest had to sacrifice day in and day out, and his work was never done. The high priest is viewed as standing to indicate this unfinished ministry. But Jesus, who offered Himself as a sacrifice "once and for all," is viewed as sitting at "the right hand of God," thus showing that His work is complete. Furthermore, the animal sacrifices provided a yearly atonement but never permanently took away sins. But those who accept the sacrifice of Jesus are perfected forever; their sins are permanently removed. As to the question, "Why did the Messiah have to die?" according to the new Testament, the reason is twofold: 1. To fulfill all Old Testament prophecies and requirements. 2. To bring in a permanent atonement rather than a temporary one. Conclusion The conclusion of both the Old and New Testaments is that the means of redemption was by blood, and the permanent blood sacrifice was to be the Messiah Himself. That is why the Messiah had to die according to the Old Testament. That is why Jesus did die according to the New Testament. Who killed Jesus was never the issue as far as the New Testament was concerned, for the Messiah had to die. It only became an issue years later because of anti-Semites seeking excuses to persecute the Jews. The only issue of the new Testament itself is whether one will accept the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus for himself or not. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:11 (ASV) To Return To Who Is Jesus-Yeshus Web Page To Return To Menorah's Web Page

About Jewish outreach of God's salvation and eternal life only in Jesus. L ‘chaim To Life! There are some people who really care about you! Shalom ! Some people feel THAT A SATISFYING, WORTHWHILE LIFE CONSISTS OF: A good education Close friends A good marriage and healthy children Success in a business or profession Helping those in need Involvement with Israel and the Jewish community These are important . . . . . yet we all know people who have or do these things but who aren't satisfied. Why? Because there is something even more important than all these, the Holy Scriptures* tell us five vital facts we need to know. *All quotations from the Tanakh, both English and Hebrew, are taken from the Jewish Bible. 1 God is the source of a satisfying, worthwhile life You make me know the path of life; in your presence is unbounded joy, in your right hand eternal delight. Tehillah/Psalm 16.11 This kind of life is the result of a close relationship with God. But you, Isra'el, my servant; Ya'akov/Jacob, whom I have chosen, speaks of a personal re lationship which can be as intimate as the one between Abraham and God: descendants of Avraham/Abraham my friend… Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 41:8 DEEP DOWN, JUST ABOUT EVERYONE WANTS A LIFE AND RELATIONSHIP LIKE THIS. AS A JEWISH SCIENTIST PUT IT: "The Jewish nature and soul needs to know God. This is its purpose on earth. Our souls are looking for God and we are trying to know God." Why, then, aren't most people experiencing this life and relationship? 2 Man has separated himself from God. GOD'S CHARACTER IS THE STANDARD BY WHICH MAN IS TO LIVE. Speak to the entire community of Isra'el; tell them, 'You people are to be holy because I, ADONAI your God, am holy Vayikra/Leviticus 19:2 and this is called sin. Obviously, then, all of us have sinned. For there isn't a righteous person on earth who does [only] good and never sins. Kohelet/Ecclesiastes 7:20 Since God is holy and just, He will not establish a personal relationship with anyone until his sin is dealt with because He cannot allow sin in His presence. Your eyes are too pure to see evil, you cannot countenance oppression. So why do you countenance traitors? Why are you silent when evil people swallow up those more righteous than they? Havakuk/Habakkuk 1:13 Because sin is a violation of His standard and character, God must judge man's sin and reject it. This is why sin causes spiritual death and results in separation from God . Rather, each will die for his own sin; every one who eats sour grapes, his own teeth will be set on edge. Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 31:30 Rather, it is your own crimes that separate you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he doesn't hear. Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 59:2 As long as sin separates us from God, we can't enjoy the life and relationship God wants us to have. But can't man solve the problem by living properly, by prayer, repentance and good deeds! No, man cannot remove the sin barrier by his own effort. Don't bring your servant to trial, since in your sight no one alive would be considered righteous. Tehillah/Psalm 143:2 (cf. Ezekiel 33:13) Human effort is not adequate because, in God's sight, All of us are like someone unclean, all our righteous deeds like menstrual rags; we wither, all of us, like leaves; and our misdeeds blow us away like the wind. Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 64:5(6) Human effort is not adequate because man cannot do enough to solve the problem. No one can ever redeem his brother or give God a ransom for him, because the price for him is too high (leave the idea co mpletely alone!) Tehillah/Psalm 49:8-9(7-8) But, then how can this problem of spiritual death and separation from God be solved? GOD MUST TAKE THE INITIATIVE; HE MUST PROVIDE THE SOLUTION. But God will redeem me from Sh'ol's control, because he will receive me. (Selah) Tehillah/Psalm 49:15 3 The sin barrier can be removed by believing God's Word (faith) and by having the blood of the atonement. Abraham was an example of how the sin barrier can be removed. He believed in ADONAI, and he credited it to him as righteousness. B’resheet/Genesis 15:6 We must follow the same pattern. A person whose desire rests on you you preserve in perfect peace, because he trusts in you. Trust in ADONAI forever, because in Yah ADONAI, is a Rock of Ages. Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 26:3-4 (cf. Havakuk/Habakkuk 2:4) But Moses said that one more thing is essential, the blood of the atonement. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for yourselves; for it is the blood that makes atonement because of the life. Vayikra/Leviticus 17:11 (cf. Vayikra/Leviticus 10:17;4:35) But why would God want man to go through the awful procedure of killing an animal? When the offerer saw the sacrifice suffering and bleeding for the sins which he had committed, he was impressed with the awfulness of sin and the penalty of death (Yechezk’l/Ezekiel 18:4, 20) the sinner deserved. THE SACRIFICE SHOWED HIM GOD'S: * HOLINESS because of His hatred of all evil, * JUSTICE because He does not leave sin unpunished, * MERCY because of His readiness to pardon the truly repentant and believing by providing a substitute for him. THE ANIMAL SACRIFICE THUS PROVIDED THE BLOOD OF ATONEMENT AND WAS AN ACT OF FAITH ACCEPTABLE TO GOD. But without priesthood and without a temple, there can be no sacrifices. How can we have the blood of atonement today? 4 God has provided the blood of the atonement for today. We all, like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to his own way; yet ADONAI laid on him the guilt of all of us. Or: and in fellowship with him Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 53.6 After forcible arrest and sentencing, he was taken away; and none of his generation protested his being cut off from the land of the living for the crimes of my people, who deserved the punishment themselves. Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 53:8 Therefore I will assign him a share with the great, he will divide the spoil with the mighty, for having exposed himself to death and being counted among the sinners, while actually bearing the sin of many and interceding for the offenders Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 53:12 IN THE PROLOGUE TO YESHA’YAHU/ISAIAH 53 (YESHA’YAHU/ISAIAH 52:13-15) THE AUTHOR IDENTIFIES THE "HE" OF THESE PASSAGES. He is described as God's servant who will be exalted. In other parts of his work, Yesha’yahu/Isaiah equates this servant of God with Messiah. e.g. Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 42:1 God's provision of the blood of atonement through the Messiah follows the same principles God set up in the sacrifice system. SIN-OFFERING: Atonement for a man by means of a sacrifice. PESACH: Atonement for a family by means of a sacrifice. YOM KIPPUR: Atonement for a nation by means of a sacrifice. MESSIAH: Atonement for all by means of a sacrifice. As we have seen, under the sacrifice system personal faith was necessary along with the blood of atonement. So also faith is necessary with the sacrifice of Messiah. He should be the object of our faith today. But how can we know who Messiah is? God made sure we could recognize Messiah by certain specific identifying marks. These are described by the prophets of Israel. His ancestry was from the family of David Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 23:5-6) The city of his birth was Bethlehem. Mikhah/Micah 5:1 He had a supernatural nature. Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 23:5-6 Mikhah/Micah 5:1 Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 9:5-6 The manner of his execution was crucifixion. Tehillah/Psalm 22:14-17 He rose from the dead. Tehillah/Psalm 16:10 Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 53:10 The time of his coming was before the destruction of Herod's Temple in 70 CE. Dani’el/Daniel 9:26 Do you have any idea if anyone has fulfilled these prophecies, or has even come close? HISTORY TELLS US THAT JESUS OF NAZARETH FULFILLED THESE AND MANY OTHER PROPHECIES. There are at least 54 specific prophecies concerning Messiah which Jesus fulfilled. The probability that one person could fulfill all 54 prophecies is 1 out of 10 with 157 zeros after it! During his lifetime many people called him Messiah ("Christ" is the Greek translation) and believed in him. Mattityahu/Matthew 16:16 Yochanan/John 1:45-51 Acts 6:7 Many people since that time, both Jews and Gentiles, have had their sins forgiven and have gained a personal relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through Messiah Jesus. Through him one becomes a completed person; e.g., a Jewish person becomes a completed Jew. Since the blood of atonement has been provided through Messiah Jesus, there is only one thing left for you to do. 5 You must by faith receive Messiah Jesus into your life in order to have a personal relationship with God and a satisfying, worthwhile life. But to as many as did receive him, to those who put their trust in his person and power, he gave the right to become children of God, Yochanan/John 1:12. Receiving Messiah Jesus involves a moral decision to turn to God's way and from your own, to trust Messiah Jesus to forgive your sins and bring you into a right relationship with God. When you receive Messiah Jesus by faith (trusting what he has done for you), he comes into your life and gives you the power to live a satisfying, worth-while life. Yeshua says: Here, I'm standing at the door, knocking. If someone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he will eat with me. Revelation 3:20 Some people think that receiving Messiah Jesus by faith means you are no longer Jewish. THAT'S NOT TRUE. AS YESHUA/JESUS PUT IT: Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete… Mattityahu/Matthew 5:17 THE APOSTLE SHA’UL/PAUL FELT THE SAME WAY This is why I have asked to see you and speak with you, for it is because of the hope of Isra'el that I have this chain around me (in jail). Acts 28:20 Are you still here? Don't let anything hold you back- why not invite Messiah Jesus to give you a right relationship with God right now? Remember, God is the source of a worthwhile life. Your sin has separated you from God. God's provision through Messiah Yeshua/Jesus is the solution to the sin barrier. The only thing God asks you to do is to trust Messiah Jesus to forgive your sins and give you a right relationship with God. YOU can receive Messiah Yeshua/Jesus by faith right now through prayer. Prayer is talking to God and is a good way to express your faith. You may want to use this prayer to express your decision to trust Messiah Jesus. Messiah Jesus, I admit that I have sinned. I believe that you have provided the blood of atonement for me. I receive you as my Messiah. Thank you for forgiving my sins and coming into my life as you promised. Messiah Yeshua/Jesus always keeps his promises. DID YOU RECEIVE HIM BY FAITH JUST NOW? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS? It means that the following promises are now true in your life: Messiah Yeshua/Jesus came into your life, and he's there permanently. Revelation 3:20 Messianic Jews/Hebrews 13:5 All your sins are forgiven. Colossians 2:13 You have a brand new relationship with God - you're his child! Yochanan/John 1:12 You've become a completely new person inside, and you've got a great new life! 2 Corinthians 5:17 1 Yochanan/John 5:11-13 You've been set free from yourself to help others. Yochanan/John 8:31-35 Galatians 5:13 So, what now? CONTINUE TO TRUST MESSIAH JESUS. The way you began is the way to keep going Colossians 4:2-6 Messianic Jews/Hebrews 11:6 If you keep trusting him, you'll grow in your new relationship. Here are a few suggestions: Let him communicate to you, read his words 1 Kefa/1 Peter 2:2 Talk to him about everything Philippians 4:6-7 1 Kefa/1 Peter 5:7 Get together with others who have received him Messianic Jews/Hebrews 10:24-25 Tell other people about him Acts 1:8 Remember to be tactful and kind. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit inside you; I will take the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit inside you and cause you to live by my laws, respect my rulings and obey them. Yechezk’el/Ezekiel 36:25-27 Don't forget, keep trusting him! For further information please contact: Return to: L'Ch aim - To Life! Page To return to Menorah's Web Page L'Chaim tract used with permission of: AMF International P.O. Box 5470, Lansing, IL 60438-5470 (708) 418-0020 Copyright 1974, 1990

Means of making a donationto Menorah Ministries on the web page menorah.org Thank you, Partner, for your prayer support and financial support God bless and keep you. To Make a Donation by Bank Account or Credit Card To Make a Donation by Mail: Menorah Ministries 393 South Ivy Street Denver, Colorado 80224 To Make a Donation through your estate planning. To Return To Menorah Ministries Web Pag e

Provides Biblical understanding of Jesus's Hebrew name and pronunciation. Yeshua-Jesus Name Study To Return To Menorah's Web Page To Return To The Real Jesus Web Page

Asks for a person to check out if they are a Christian Biblically. Do You Know For Sure..... ........that you are going to be with God in heaven? If God were to ask you, WHY SHOULD I LET YOU INTO MY HEAVEN? What would you say? If you are uncertain or hesitate for a moment to answer that question, this booklet has the ... BEST NEWS you could ever hear! The few minutes it will take you to read the following pages may be the most important time you will ever spend! Did you know that the Bible tells how you can KNOW FOR SURE that you have eternal life and will go to be with God in heaven? These things I have written to you ... that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13 Here's how you can KNOW FOR SURE... 1. HEAVEN (Eternal Life with God) IS A FREE GIFT. The Bible says, . . . th e GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 And because heaven is a gift like any other genuine gift...... IT IS NOT EARNED or DESERVED Therefore, no amount of personal effort, good works, or religious deeds can earn a place in heaven for you. By grace you have been saved through faith, and that NOT OF YOURSELVES. it is the gift of God, NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8.9 WHY is it that no one can earn his way to heaven? Because ... 2. MAN IS A SINNER. All have sinned and fall short of the glory, of God. Romans 3:23 Sin is transgressing God's law and includes such things as lying, lust, cheating, deceit, anger, evil thoughts. immoral behavior and more. And because of this ..... MAN CANNOT SAVE HIMSELF. If you wanted to save yourself by good deeds, do you know how good you would have to be? The Bible says you would have to be perfect. Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:48 With such a high standard, no one can save himself for God also says, Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. James 2:10 In spite of our sin, however ... 3. GOD IS MERCIFUL, and therefore DOESN'T WANT TO PUNISH US. This is because ... God is love. . . I John 4:8 and He says, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3 But the same Bible that tells us that God loves us also tells us that . . . GOD IS JUST, and therefore MUST PUNISH SIN. He says ... I will by no means clear the guilty Exodus 34:7 The soul who sins shall die. Ezekiel 18:4 We have a problem; we have all sinned. The penalty for sin is death. We need forgiveness so that we can have a right relationship with God. God solved this problem for us in the Person of ... 4 . JESUS CHRIST Who exactly would you say Jesus Christ is? The Bible tells us clearly that He is the infinite GOD-MAN. In the beginning was the Word (Jesus) ... and the Word (Jesus) was with God ... and the Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us. . John 1:1,14 Jesus Christ came to earth and lived a sinless life, but while on earth ... WHAT DID HE DO? He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and rose from the grave to purchase a place for us in heaven. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned, every, one, to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6 God hates our sins but because of His love for us, He has placed them all on His Son. Christ bore our sin in His body on the cross. Now Jesus Christ offers you eternal life (heaven) as a free gift. This gift is received by ... 5. FAITH Faith is the key that opens the door to heaven. Many people mistake two things for saving faith: 1. Mere INTELLECTUAL ASSENT, that is, believing certain historical facts. The Bible says the devil believes in God, so believing in God is not saving faith. 2. Mere TEMPORAL FAITH, that is, trusting God for temporary crises such as fnancial, family, or physical needs. Now these are good, and you should trust Christ for these, but they are not saving faith! SAVING FAITH is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. It means resting upon Christ alone and what He has done rather than upon what you or I have done to get us into heaven. Believe (trust) on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. . . Acts 16:31 Faith is like the hand of a beggar receiving the gift of a King. We don't deserve the gift of eternal life. But we can have it, if we will receive it by faith. You have just read the greatest story ever told about the greatest offer ever made by the greatest Person who ever lived - Jesus Christ. The question that God is asking you now is ... WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE? Because this is such an important matter ... LET'S CLARIFY just what this involves. It means, first of all, that you TRANSFER YOUR TRUST from what you have been doing to what Christ has done for you on the cross. It means, next, that you RECEIVE THE RESURRECTED, LIVING CHRIST into your life as SAVIOR. He says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock [at the door of your life]. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him. Revelation 3:20 It means further that you RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST INTO YOUR LIFE AS LORD . He comes as Master and King. There is a throne room in your heart, and that throne is rightly His. He made you. He bought you and He wants to take His rightful place on the throne of your life. It means, finally, that you REPENT OF YOUR SINS. That means that you are willing to turn from anything you have been doing that is not pleasing to Him and to follow Him as He reveals His will to you in His Word. Now, if this is what you really want ... YOU CAN G0 TO GOD IN PRAYER right where you are. You can receive His gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ right now. ...with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation ... for whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10: 10, 13 If you want to receive the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ , then call on Him, asking Him for this gift right now. HERE IS A SUGGESTED PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, I know I am a sinner and do not deserve eternal life. But, I believe You died and rose from the grave to purchase a place in heaven for me. Lord Jesus, come into my life; take control of my life; forgive my sins and save me. I repent of my sins and now place my trust in you for my salvation. I accept the free gift of eternal life. If this prayer is the sincere desire of your heart, look at what Jesus promises to those who believe in Him. Most assuredly, I say to you ... he who believes in Me has everlasting life. John 6:47 WELCOME to God's Family! If you have truly repented (forsaken, turned away) from your sins, placed your trust in Jesus Christ's sacrificial death, and received the gift of eternal life, you are now a child of God! Forever! Welcome to the Family of God! But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. John 1:12 TODAY is your SPIRITUAL BIRTHDAY a day that you will always want to remember! Who were born, not of blood, nor of the Will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:13 When you were physically born, the day of your birth was attested by a birth certificate. And so today, to help you recall what God had done in your life on this important day, we invite you to sign and keep the following SPIRITUAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:13 Knowing that I have sinned and that I need the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. I now turn from my sins and trust Jesus for my eternal life. I ask Jesus Christ to forgive me and to deliver me from sin's power and give me eternal life. I _________________________________ now give Jesus Christ control of my life From this time forward, as He gives me strength, I will seek to serve Him and obey Him in all areas of my life. Date _____________________ Signature: __________________________ WHAT'S NEXT? Just as a newborn baby grows physically, so you will grow spiritually by taking the following steps: 1Read. one chapter of the Book of John in the BIBLE each day. As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word (of God), that you may grow thereby. I Peter 2:2 2. Spend time each day in PRAYER conversing with God. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. ... Philippians 4:6 3. WORSHIP regularly in a church that teaches you the Bible and honors Jesus Christ. I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the Lord Psalm 122:1 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24 4. FELLOWSHIP with Christians who will help you grow in faith. Those who gladly received his, word ... continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Acts 2:41,42 5. Be a WITNESS by telling others what Jesus Christ means to you! J esus said, Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me be- fore men, him I will also deny before My Father Who is in heaven. Matthew 10:32,33 Remember to attend regularly a Bible-teaching CHURCH where Jesus Ch rist is honored. Confess your faith in Christ to them and join it. Not forsaking th e assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some... Hebrews 10:25 If you have appreciated the GOOD NEWS you have just read, please let us know. We want to rejoice in what God has done in your life and help you grow spiritually. Please call or write us. Used with permission of EVANGELISM EXPLOSION III INTERNATIONAL P. O. Box 23820 FT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA 33307 1989 Evangelism Explosion III International All rights reserved including translations. Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version, copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishers. For further information contact: Return to: L'Chaim - To Life! Page To Return To: Menorah's Web Page

The refugee problem started with Arab infiltration yo Israel illegally in 1948. REFUGEE ISSUES In The Palestinian—Israeli Conf lict Not Changed Since B'resheet/Genesis 16:12 and 25:23 See 11 Sections Below: - Understanding The Roots Of The Problem - The Birth Of Israel - An Arab Voice - A Global Issue -The loophole in 1948 - Restitution vs Resettlement - The Penalty Of Aggression - Is Israel Guilty Of Ethnic Cleansing? - Transfer Not A Solution - URWA Caring For Refugees For Years And Still Counting - Legal Aspects Of The Palestinian Refugee Question __Understanding The Roots Of The Problem__ Refugees Forever Wars produce refugees. The humanitarian imperative is obviously to settle refugees as quickly and as safely as possible. And yet, in the case of the 650,000 Palestinian Arabs who left Israel before and during the War of independence in 1948, the international community has colluded with the Arab world in doing the exact opposite: For the past half century, there has been a deliberate refusal to resettle Palestinian refugees within the Arab world. Instead, the Palestinian and Arab leadership have condemned these people and their descendants to poverty and misery in the UNRWA-run camps that offer little hope of a better life. This sore and tragic problem can and must be solved, because the longer it takes to arrive at a solution, the more its alarming dimensions will multiply. In this booklet, compiled and written by Eliyahu Tal, the facts—as opposed to the myths - behind the creation of the Palestinian refugee question; the fate of the Arab world's Jewish communities following Israel's creation; and comparisons with other world conflicts that spawned refugee problems, are presented in a clear and concise manner. There is a consensus, spreading from the Israeli Right to the Left, that there can be no right of return to their 1948 homes for Palestinian refugees, even in the context of a full peace accord between Israel and the Arab world. First and foremost, such a return would threaten the existence of Israel as a Jewish state, as within the space of one generation, the Jewish majority within Israel would be lost. As Tal points out, Israel has changed over the last half century. The villages to which these refugees demand to return no longer exist. In the present war in which we find ourselves against the Palestinians, brought about in no small part by their refusal to accept that there can be no right of return, it is important for all to understand the roots of this issue and the justness of Israel's stance. We at The Jerusalem Post consider the publication of this supplement our contribution towards finding a solution. DAVID RADLER __The Birth Of Israel__ In order to understand the roots of the Arab-Israeli conflict, it is necessary to review the events that led up to it. The concept of a homeland for the Jews was advocated by the Zionist Movement in the 19th century - although the return to the Promised Land was a 2000-year-old dream. Dr. Theodor Herzl translated the Zionist Movement's concept into a political program, namely a Jewish State. This was supported by the famous Balfour Declaration of 1917. International recognition was assured by the League of Nations in the Treaty of San Remo in 1920. Following the defeat of Germany and her allies in WWI, Turkey lost her empire. Its vast domains were divided in order to create the new states of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Palestine, on both sides of the Jordan, was entrusted to Britain for the establishment of the Jewish National Home. Although the original area designated National Home was considerably reduced by the British in 1922 in order to provide for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan - the Jews nevertheless succeeded in developing the small area left to them into a flourishing enterprise, literally causing the desert to bloom. With the benefit of hindsight, it is instructive to compare Arab gains from the Allied victory in WWI with those of the Jews. On the one hand, five independent newly- born states on an enormous area, as against the promise of a National Home on a very small area. The growth of the Jewish population in Palestine was resented by the Arabs who expressed their hostility by fomenting bloody riots in 1920, 1929, 1933 and 1936-39. The most tragic was the massacre of the ancient Jewish community of Hebron in 1929. In order to resolve the conflict, on November 29, 1947 the UN voted in favor of a Partition Plan which provided for two independent states, one Jewish, one Arab, while Jerusalem would be internationalized. Although there was hesitation among the Jewish public, it was decided to accept the Plan, notwithstanding that the area allotted to the Jewish State was, once again, considerably reduced. The Arabs rejected the plan outright. Contemptuous of the will of the world, bands of Palestinian Arabs, aided by irregular volunteers from neighboring countries, attacked Jewish communities and clashed with the Hagana defense force. With the termination of the UN Mandate on May 14, 1948 the British forces had withdrawn from Palestine. Regular troops of the armies of Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, Syria, and Lebanon invaded the country, along with volunteer detachments from Saudi Arabia, Libya, and Yemen. "The Arabs intend to conduct a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacre and the Crusades," declared Azzam Pasha, secretary-general of the Arab League, on the BBC, May 15, 1948. Despite the fierce resistance of the nascent Israel Defense Force, the Arabs made significant headway in their assault. Egyptian troops reached the Jerusalem suburb of Talpiot, and, advancing along the coast, were stopped 40 km. short of Tel Aviv. In the North, the Syrians took Kibbutz Mishmar Hayarden, only 25 km. from Tiberias. Jordan captured the Old City of Jerusalem and destroyed its 58 synagogues. They also took Gush Etzion, the resort hotel of Kalia (and the kibbutz next to it on the Dead Sea) and the Monastery of Latrun on the Tel Aviv- Jerusalem road. The Latrun stronghold - as well as the bitter fighting at the nearby Castel fort and Arab villages - frustrated Israeli attempts to break the six month siege on Jerusalem. The Jewish casualty toll in the 1948 war was far greater than that of the Arabs. Estimated at 3.2%, it is among the highest casualty rate of any recorded conflict. Israel and the Axis of Evil One and a half million Jews fought with the Allies against Germany, Italy and Japan in WWII. Among them were over 30,000 Jewish volunteers from tiny Palestine. In the cemeteries of Normandy, Stalingrad and El-Alamein, one can see tombs engraved with the Magen David but none with the Islamic Crescent. The Arab world stood aloof. Moreover, leaders like the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the ruler of Iraq sided with the Nazis. Some Western democracies, while misjudging Israel's present struggle, seem to have forgotten these facts. This article appeared in the Jerusalem Post 1-15-2003 approximately, and is reproduced solely for educational purposes. _An Arab Voice_ Edward Sa'id, an eminent Arabist at Columbia University and one of the outstanding spokesmen for the Palestinian cause, expresses his views. "The by now notorious peace process has finally come down to the one issue that has been at the core of Palestinian depredations since 1948: the fate of the refugees. That the Palestinians have endured decades of dispossession and raw agonies rarely endured by other peoples -particularly because these agonies have either been ignored or denied, and even more poignantly, because the perpetrators of this tragedy are celebrated for social and political achievements that make no mention at all of where those achievements actually began - is of course the locus of "the Palestinian problem," but it has been pushed very far down the agenda of negotiations until finally now, it has popped up to the surface. "Along with [the original displacement of the 1948 war] went the scandalously poor treatment of the refugees themselves. It is still the case, for example, that the 40,000-50,000 Palestinian refugees resident in Egypt must report to a local police station every month; vocational, educational, and social opportunities are curtailed; and a general sense of not belonging adheres to them, despite their Arab nationality and language. "In Lebanon the situation is even more dire. Almost 400,000 Palestinian refugees have had to endure not only the massacres of Sabra, Shatila, Tel al-Za'atar, Dbayyeh, and elsewhere, but have remained confined in hideous quarantine for almost two generations. They have no legal right to work in at least 60 occupations; they are not adequately covered by medical insurance; they cannot travel and return; they are the objects of suspicion and dislike. In part, they have inherited the mantle of opprobrium draped round them by the PLO's presence (and since 1982 its unlamented absence) there, and thus they remain in the eyes of many ordinary Lebanese a sort of house enemy to be warded off and/or punished from time to time. "A similar situation exists in kind, if not in degree, in Syria. As for Jordan, although it was - to its credit - the only country where Palestinians were given naturalized status, a visible fault line exists between the disadvantaged majority of that very large community and the Jordanian establishment for reasons that scarcely need to be spelled out. I might add, however, that for most of these situations where Palestinian refugees exist in large groups within one or another Arab country - all of them the direct consequence of 1948 - no simple, much less elegant or just, solution exists in the foreseeable future. It is also worth mentioning, or rather asking, why it is that a destiny of confinement and isolation has been imposed on a people who quite naturally fled to neighboring countries when driven from their own, countries that everyone believed would welcome and sustain them. More or less the opposite occurred: except in Jordan, no welcome was given them - another unpleasant consequence of the original dispossession. What of Yasser Arafat's leadership? "Arafat survives inside the Palestinian territories today for two main reasons: one, he is needed by the international supporters of the peace process, Israel, the US and the EU chief among them. He is needed to sign, and that, after all, is what he is good for. The second reason is that because he is a master at corrupting even the best of his people, he has bought off or threatened all organized opposition (there are always individuals who cannot be co-opted) and therefore removed them as a threat. The rest of the population is too uncertain and discouraged to do much. The Authority employs about 140,000 people; multiply that by five or six (the number of dependents of each employee) and you get close to a million people whose livelihood hangs by the string offered by Yasser Arafat. Much as he is disliked, disrespected, and feared, he will remain so long as he has this leverage over an enormous number of people, who will not jeopardize their future just because they are ruled by a corrupt, inefficient, and stupid dictatorship which cannot even deliver the essential services for daily civil life like water, health, electricity, food, etc. "That leaves the Palestinian Diaspora, which produced Arafat in the first place: It was from Kuwait and Cairo that he emerged to challenge Shukairy and Haj Amin. A new leadership will almost certainly appear from the Palestinians who live elsewhere: they are a majority, none of them feels that Arafat represents them, all of them regard the Authority as without real legitimacy, and they are the ones with the most to gain from the right of return, on which Arafat and his men are going to be forced to back down. "Palestinian leadership has selfishly put its own self-interest, overinflated squadrons of security guards, commercial monopolies, unseemly persistence in power, lawless despotism, anti-democratic greed and cruelty, before the collective Palestinian good. Until now, it has connived with Israel to let the refugee issue slither down the pole; but now that the final status era is upon us all, there's no more room down there. And so, as I said above, we're back to the basic, the irreconcilable, the irremediably interlocked contradiction between Palestinian and Israeli nationalism." (From the introduction to Palestinian Refugees: The Right of Return, Pluto Press, London, 2001) Award-winning Columbia University professor Edward Sa'id has published several books on the Palestinians and the Middle East. The Difference Between Yasser Arafat Now and Anwar Sadat Then After losing three wars, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt came to the painful conclusion that Israel could not be beaten on the battlefield. He therefore made the courageous and historic trip to Jerusalem. Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, after intensive negotiations, reached the first peace agreement between Israel and an Arab state, known as the Camp David Accord. This was brokered by US President Jimmy Carter in 1979. Another US President, Bill Clinton, made even greater efforts to bring about peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but to no avail. Arafat spurned the far- reaching concessions offered by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, choosing instead the path of terrorism and initiating the latest intifada in August 2000. Had Arafat inherited only a part of Sadat's wisdom and vision, there would probably have been a viable and flourishing Palestinian state today. Instead, there are thousands of bereaved families and no end in sight for a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem. This article appeared in the Jerusalem Post 1-15-2003 approximately, and is reproduced solely for educational purposes. __A Global Issue__ The Palestinians are neither the first nor the last population to become refugees. This condition is the inevitable outcome of tragic conflict - and the 20th century alone saw refugees on an epic scale due to its numerous conflicts. Tribal feuds, ethnic and religious clashes and full-scale wars have always resulted in the forced displacement of populations, usually as the only alternative to violent death. The more bitter and drawn out the fighting, the more numerous and scarred the refugees left amid the ruins. Unique about the Palestinian refugee problem is that it has been allowed - even forced - to continue and to grow. Every other major refugee group has been resettled within a generation. Of the approximately 135 million refugees created over the last century, only the Palestinians have retained this dismal, nation less status. Thus, while a few decades ago they constituted less than 5% of the total number of refugees, they are today the biggest refugee group, at 17% of some 24 million worldwide. International attempts to solve refugee crises have met with mixed results. To a limited degree, international intervention forces in the Balkans and Rwanda have restored refugees to their place of origin. In most cases, however, they have successfully settled elsewhere in their homelands, or found haven in other countries. After World War II, for example, the US stepped in to contain Europe's economic tailspin, its Marshal Aid Plan resurrecting Germany's industry and allowing for the absorption of German refugees. German towns which had been conquered were renamed (Danzig became Gdansk, Konigsberg became Kaliningrad, etc.) to ensure that those who had left accepted their new reality. As Pakistan broke off from India, Muslims crossed to the latter and Hindus to the former in a voluntary population transfer which, with the exception of Kashmir, proved largely successful. This method was first tested in 1922, when the League of Nations - predecessor to the UN -decreed that a territorial war between Turkey and Greece in Asia Minor be settled by having the sides exchange nationals and finalize their border. Israel - tiny, arid, and practically devoid of natural resources - has done its utmost to take in and rehabilitate refugees, multiplying its population by eight between 1948 and 2000. Many of these new arrivals were Jews who had survived the horrors of the Holocaust. Another 800,000 had fled anti-Israel hostility in their native Arab countries, where their property, valued at tens of billions of dollars, was confiscated. How can it be, then, that the Palestinian refugees have been denied resettlement? Is this a tragic oversight, or devious design? And who is to blame? In 1947, while Britain was disengaging from Palestine, it was also withdrawing from India, leading to the birth of independent Pakistani and Indian states. Whereas the Arab- Israeli conflict created hundreds of thousands of refugees, the Indians and Pakistanis wisely agreed to transfer millions of their people across the border in order to defuse ethnic and religious tensions. India sent Muslims to Pakistan, which in turn sent Hindus to India. Both states granted citizenship to these refugees. The much smaller - and perhaps even more easily solvable - problem of Arab refugees is a sad paradox, in that it has cost the Western world so many billions of dollars in humanitarian aid that only perpetuates the refugees' plight, and has monopolized its media attention for over half a century, when alternatives in refugee transfers such as the one between India and Pakistan have proven effective. Excerpted from The Arabs in History (Oxford University Press) - Prof. Bernard Lewis, leading expert on Islamic and Middle Eastern history. This article appeared in the Jerusalem Post 1-15-2003 approximately, and is reproduced solely for educational purposes. __ The Loopholes in 1948__ When Claiming the right of return, the Arabs consistently wave UN General Assembly Resolution 194 of December 1948 as their banner. The major issues: "Who is a refugee? What are refugees entitled to? Where may they return to and under what conditions?" require clarification before the true meaning of 194 is defined. Let's hear what international jurists have to say Ruth Lapidoth is Professor of International Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. She was also a fellow at the US Institute of Peace in 1990-1991. "Certainly many of those who fled their homes during the 1948 war are refugees. But the greater Palestinian refugee problem must be viewed from the perspective of international law. "The 1951-1967 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees makes no mention of descendants - so the status is not inherited. Moreover, the convention ceases to apply to a person who, inter alia, has acquired a new nationality, and enjoys the protection of the country of his new nationality." By this definition, the number of Palestinians who qualify for refugee status would be well below 500,000 - considerably diminishing the dimensions of the issue. Moreover, the right of return in the 1966 International Covenant "is intended to apply to individuals asserting an individual right. There was no intention here to address the claims of masses of people who have been displaced as a byproduct of war or by political transfers of territory or population..." One also has to observe that humanitarian law conventions (such as the 1949 Geneva Conventions for the protection of Victims of War) do not recognize the right of return. First rejected, later reclaimed It should be noted that at the UN General Assembly of 11 December 1948 - Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen - voted against 194, but later decided to embrace the resolution as recognition of a wholesale inalienable right of repatriation. But there is no recognition of any "right," rather a suggestion that refugees "should" be "permitted" to return. Moreover, that permission is subject to two conditions: that the refugee wishes to return; and that he/she wishes to live in peace with his neighbors. The Palestinians have linked their demand for return to a claim for self-determination. A situation where returning Palestinian refugees have the right to external self-determination would mean the end of the very existence of the State of Israel. It should also be noted that the UN General Assembly has suggested resettlement as an alternative to repatriation. Prof. Efraim Karsh, head of Mediterranean Studies at King's College, University of London, maintains that: "It was in the late 1960s that the Arabs began to transform it [194] into the cornerstone of a spurious legal claim to a 'right of return.' But 194 in no way establishes any such right. Additionally, the very notion of such a 'right' contradicts the essence of international law and behavior." 242, 338, 194: confusing numbers Since these often-quoted numbers confuse the layman we see fit to briefly dwell on them. "The foremost document used by the Palestinians to substantiate their call for Israel's complete withdrawal from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is [UN] Security Council Resolution 242 of 22 November 1967 (echoed six years later by Resolution 338). This resolution does not demand Israel's complete evacuation of these territories but rather its withdrawal 'from territories occupied in the recent conflict.' "The absence of the definite article 'the' from the text is anything but accidental. Issued a mere six months after Israel's astounding triumph over the concerted pan- Arab attempt to obliterate it, the resolution reflected the keen international awareness of the existential threat posed by the pre-1967 borders, memorably described by the then-Israeli foreign minister, Abba Eban, as 'Auschwitz borders.' "Nor does the resolution make any mention of the creation of a Palestinian state. To the contrary, since the Palestinians were widely viewed at the time as refugees rather than a cohesive nation deserving its own state, it was assumed that those territories that would be evacuated by Israel would return to their pre-1967 Arab occupiers; Gaza to Egypt, and the West Bank to Jordan. All the resolution had to say about the Palestinians was to affirm the necessity 'for achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem.' "All this, of course, is water under the bridge. Egypt and Jordan have long washed their hands of these territories." These territories are generally termed "occupied" by harsh Israeli rule. They are, in fact, "disputed" territories - the final say and borders of which will be drawn following peaceful negotiations. This unorthodox view has been recently voiced by US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld and others. No right, no return Major-General (ret.) Shlomo Gazit, former head of IDF Intelligence, and member of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University. explains: "Regardless of the conditions that led Palestinians to uproot or flee their homes in 1948 and 1967, and regardless of the parties who were responsible for the creation of that tragedy, one cannot help but feel deep empathy for their suffering. "Moreover, there is no choice - the only way to guarantee calm and stability in our region is to resolve the refugee problem and do so as soon as possible. However, that empathy, which most citizens of Israel share, is not enough to warrant the return of the refugees to Israeli "Israel's position on that matter has to be clear: It does not recognize a 'right,' it does not recognize 'responsibility' and it will not allow the return of refugees into its territory. "Even more importantly, it does not establish a 'right' at all, let alone an eternal and unconditional one. As opposed to UN Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions have no binding international standing. They are merely recommendations. "Placing the blame for creating the problem on Israel has no international basis and the mere Palestinian request that Israel recognize such responsibility is Palestinian insolence. The 1948 war was a result of a clear Palestinian initiative to prevent the establishment of a sovereign Jewish state with the goal of annihilating the Jewish community. That thrust was joined in May 1948 by Arab armies who invaded Palestine. "All the Jewish settlements occupied by Arabs, without exception, were destroyed, and their residents - including women, elderly people, and children - were murdered or taken prisoner. What is Israel requested to take responsibility for - defending itself, winning the battle?" David Ben-Gurion, who agreed to the 1947 Partition Plan despite the significant territorial loss involved, declared "We won't accept the refugees. Not one refugee - just as our men who were killed in the Arab war against us will not rise up from the dead." What Resolution 1948 really means Resolution 194 was originally destined to be the cornerstone of a peace process. It consists of 15 paragraphs, the first of which calls for the establishment of a reconciliation committee composed of representatives from the US, Britain and Turkey. The Jews accepted it, the Arabs rejected it. Years later the Arabs drew out paragraph 11 of Resolution 194, the one dealing with the subject of refugees. This was a ploy of diplomacy, picking the cherry from the cake, as it were. Tragically, even Palestinian infants suckle, together with their mothers' milk, a poisonous hatred against Israel. Thus, the stipulation in 194 that the right of return is confined only to refugees "wishing to live in peace with their neighbors" appears far-fetched when the abyss of hatred and suspicion between the two peoples is widening. When Sari Nusseiba and other moderates, as a gesture, agree to "relinquish the right of return," while naturally they expect compensation, what needs to be absolutely clear is that in fact they relinquish nothing because there is no right of return. This article appeared in the Jerusalem Post 1-15-2003 approximately, and is reproduced solely for educational purposes. __Restitution vs. Resettlement__ The Palestinians have an excellent case for suing for reparations - that is, if they were suing the Arab states whose advancing armies created the vast majority of Palestinian refugees in 1948. Instead, they are claiming exorbitant sums from Israel. Payment for pain the sky is the limit McMaster University economics Professor Atif Kubursi, for example, claims that Israel is directly responsible for compensation for Arab losses in real estate, moveable property, lost opportunities, and psychological damage stemming from the 1948 war. In a lengthy study supported by charts he arrives at the astronomic sum of $281 billion. To lend credence to his study Kubursi adds detailed lists of lost Arab livestock and crops. Should he wish to weigh these small losses against the Palestinian systematic pilfering and plunder of Israeli farmers, Kubursi would soon find his fledgling state well in the red. So, too, if he were to put the 1,284 Palestinian vehicles he claims were lost in 1948 against the 30,000 Israeli vehicles stolen by Palestinians in each of the past several years. Fellow Arab academics, Yusuf Massad and Rashid Khalidi, use similar tactics in drawing up wildly imaginative figures for Israel's "debt" in terms of today's dollars. Not only is this preposterous, it is as if Japan were demanding compensation from the US and the countries it had attacked early in WWII. Massad, assistant professor at Columbia proposes the "German model" of restitution and speaks of $253 billion (at the rate of 1994) to be paid by Israel. Khalidi maintains "that the refugee issue is so central to the national narrative of the Palestinians that any approach which tries to sweep history under the rug will fail entirely." He calls on the Israeli government to pay reparations rather than compensation - because the former assumes responsibility. Khalidi's solution covers reparation payments for all those not allowed to return, and compensation for those who lost property in 1948. These sums, for property losses alone, range from $92 billion to $147 billion at 1948 prices. In addition to the above, he comes up with a reparation figure of $20,000 per person for an arbitrary 2 million refugees, totaling $40 billion. When it comes to Arab claims, the sky appears to be the limit. These Arab claims are disproportionate when compared with the reparation payments for the devastation of a continent and the toll of millions of lives, levied by the Allies on Germany and its partners in the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. Germany had to pay 132 billion gold Deutsch Marks; and sums varying from 125 million pounds sterling to $360 million were imposed on Finland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy and Romania for being on the side of the aggressor. Return of the Sheikh? Certainly there was Palestinian property appropriated, destroyed, lost, or unclaimed. But, in negotiating this thorny issue, both sides will have to face a reality much changed since the events of 1948. Implementing the "right of return" today would mean dismantling and destroying the elaborate infrastructure built over the past 50 years, which includes housing for millions of Jews - as well as hospitals, universities, and industrial areas that have benefitted Jew and Arab alike. Anyone expecting Israel to undo all that is asking the state to start all over again. Take, for example, the return to Sheikh Munis, a village within the boundaries of Tel Aviv. The campus of the Tel Aviv University now occupies this site. To raze this institution of higher learning and make the land available to the families of the refugees of that village who demand the "right of return" would be unthinkable today. That is merely one of innumerable instances throughout Israel. Most Palestinians recognize that this is not feasible and suggest that Israel swap land for those locations that were abandoned in 1948. This is obviously an attempt to use demographic pressure to destroy Israel. The essence of the Zionist idea was to establish a Jewish state, in which a clear Jewish majority was guaranteed. The influx of Palestinian refugees, and the high natural growth of that population, would guarantee the loss of Israel's Jewish majority within the space of two generations, at most. A study by Professor Arnon Soffer of Haifa University estimates that by 2020 the population covering the area between the Jordan and the Mediterranean will comprise 42% Jews and 58% Moslems and others. Professor Sergio de la Pergula of the Hebrew University forecasts an Arab majority as early as 2010. Because of the enmity for Israel on which the Palestinians have been raised, their entry into Israel en masse would create an immediate terrorist threat - it would be an act of national suicide. Some argue that all the refugees do not really mean to realize "the right of return" in practice, they just want the Israeli recognition of it. But the moment Israel recognizes this "right," it will lose control of its borders, because the Palestinian refugee will be the one who decides today or in the future whether to actualize that "right." Besides the political motive, the economic incentive is enough to inspire Palestinian refugees - or other Arabs claiming to be Palestinian refugees—to flood into Israel. After all, who wouldn't prefer to live in a country where the per capita income is 15 times higher than in the Arab states? Arab demands - how far and how much But even such arbitrary use of economic factors and creative assumptions regarding Arab wealth in Palestine before Israel's establishment cannot top the gumption of the Arab states. When, after the breakdown of the Camp David talks in July 2000, US President Bill Clinton floated the idea of establishing a reparations fund to be supported by the US, Europe, and Japan, several Arab states hurried to demand compensation for the years they have "hosted" Palestinian refugees. Lebanon's claim is said to amount to $7 billion. Jordan's formula is based on an annual payment of $2 billion for "hosting" the largest number of refugees since 1947. Syria is sure to follow suit. These claims are an ugly exercise, nothing short of extortion. Going from the ridiculous to the grotesque and malicious, Palestinian leaders and academics have used the Holocaust - when not denying it—as a model for the reparations they hope to receive from Israel. To put hundreds of thousands of refugees, most of whom fled from their homes because of the exhortations of their fellow Arabs, on the scale opposite 6 million slaughtered European Jews is downright atrocious. Who owned the land? Before the termination of the British Mandate in 1948, 8.6% was owned by Jews and 3.3% by Arabs within the Green Line. Another 16.9% was owned by those Arabs termed refugees. Plus 71.2% was State-owned land, mostly barren state owned land. -Kubursi, Yussuf Massad Palestinian Refugees and the Right of Return, Plato Press, London, 2001 Arab states hold the key At the negotiations held in Taba on January 22, 2001, it was stipulated by the Palestinians that Israel is solely to blame for the creation of the refugee problem. They advocated that the "right of return" be implemented under the supervision of a special international committee including representatives of Arab states. (The Palestinians, mindful of the disproportionate sway of the Arab-Islamic bloc in the UN, have always held to a strategy of internationalizing the Arab-Israeli conflict.) There is an alternative - settlement and freedom in Arab lands. Before the Palestinians initiated hostilities in September 2000, they had attained a reasonable standard of living that approached or even exceeded that of many sovereign Arab states, thanks to the Israeli policy of allowing them freedom of movement and the opportunity to work in Israel - rights that most Arab states have withheld from their homeless brethren. The Palestinians would be best served by absorption into surrounding Arab countries. They share the same language, religion and culture. In fact, seventy percent of Palestinians are third generation offspring of immigration from these countries due to economic considerations. However, not only do the 22 Arab countries have no interest in aiding the Palestinians, they prefer to wield them as a political weapon against Israel. This article appeared in the Jerusalem Post 1-15-2003 approximately, and is reproduced solely for educational purposes. __The Penalty of Aggression__ The Arab lobby has always blamed Israel for the Palestinian problem. The blame game The Palestinian refugees are victims, yes - but not of Israel. Rather, they are the victims of wars launched - ostensibly for them - by the Arab states, but for which they pay the price. They are the victims, effectively, of Arab aggression against Israel. "Had the Palestinians accepted the UN [partition] resolution instead of waging an aggressive war, there would have been no refugees.... The initial refugee problem of 1948 was exacerbated when Egypt and Syria launched the Six Day War.... Never before in history have those who lost wars of aggression been deemed equal partners in the negotiation, and for good reason," writes legal expert Prof. Alan Dershowitz of Harvard University. The "good reason," of course, is that aggressors should not have incentives for perpetrating acts of aggression. Dershowitz notes the unabated hostility toward Israel demonstrated by Palestinians over the years, as exemplified by their conspicuous support for Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War. "Over the course of the conflict the Palestinians ... continue to play the violence card as part of their negotiating strategy. Indeed, the major bargaining chip they bring to the table is the threat of renewed violence if they don't get their way. Another chip has been the one- sided refusal of the UN to condemn them for their aggression and terrorism. "There must be a price paid for starting and losing wars... Aggressors should be made to absorb refugees created by their aggression." Prelude to World War II: The Sudetenland In the ill-fated Munich Pact signed with Hitler in 1938, Britain's Chamberlain surrendered to Germany's demand to annex the Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia, inhabited by Germans for centuries. The Nazis soon occupied the whole country, and then invaded Poland. Liberated by the Allies in 1945, the Czechs regained the Sudetenland, expelling 2.5 million of its ethnic Germans to Germany as authorized at the Potsdam Conference. There is a parallel between the German Sudets and the Palestinian refugees - except that the latter refuse to accept the universal code that aggressors must pay for their acts. A final agreement between the Germans and the Czechs was signed in December 1946, recognizing that the German Sudets were expelled on the understanding that they were pro-Nazi and, as such, enemies of the Czechs. Both sides agreed that the German Sudets would receive neither compensation nor apology. During the ensuing Cold War, the descendants of these Germans demanded to return to their "ancestral homeland" - but in vain. Another example of international justice following WWII is the decision arrived at by Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill at the Potsdam Conference. The three agreed that Germany should compensate Poland for attacking and ravaging the country, by ceding sizable territory to it. A "cooperation and good neighborhood" agreement was signed by the Republic of Poland and the Federal Government of Germany, denying the right of return to the millions of German refugees who had fled with the retreating Nazi army. It was also agreed that no restitution would be paid for abandoned properties. Where is the German PLO? The line between past and present was drawn, and Stettin, once the proud capital of Teutonic Pomerania, became the major Polish city of the region. And of course, there has never been a Teutonic PLO, or "Pomeranian Liberation Organization." The only existing PLO is the Palestinian Liberation Organization, founded in Cairo in 1964 with pan-Arab support. The code of penalty for aggression has been applied not only to mighty Germany but also to smaller countries who had gotten on the wrong bandwagon, such as Finland and Hungary. Finland - In 1939 the Soviet Union invaded the small Finnish democracy. Despite courageous resistance, the Finns were defeated and forced to cede the Isthmus of Karelia to the Russians. In an attempt to recover lost territory, the Finns joined with the Germans, who invaded Russia in 1941. Joint Finnish/German forces recaptured the isthmus. However, at the Paris Conference in 1947, Finland was forced to relinquish Karelia (which comprised one-eighth of its total area) and to pay the Russians a considerable war indemnity. Moreover, 400,000 refugees were reabsorbed into Finland, without any international financial aid. Hungary - The principle of penalty for aggression was also applied to Hungary who, during part of World War I fought on the side of Germany as a member of the dual Austro- Hungarian Monarchy. The war lost, sizeable Hungarian territories were ceded to Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia. In World War II, Hungary once again chose the wrong side and fought with the Axis Powers. She was ultimately overrun by the Russians, and at the Treaty of Paris, was ordered to pay $3 billion in reparations to the Soviet Union. This article appeared in the Jerusalem Post 1-15-2003 approximately, and is reproduced solely for educational purposes. __Is Israel Guilty of Ethnic Cleansing?__ Arab spokesmen, fluent in the use of standard cliches, attribute the refugee problem to a program of 'ethnic cleansing' by the Jewish leadership. This is palpably false. It was first and foremost at the urging of their leaders that the largest number of Arab refugees fled, with the promise of a swift victory over the weak Zionist enemy and an imminent return to their homes. Rumors of atrocities, highlighted by the tragic Deir Yassin episode, fanned a country-wide panic. Many Arabs did not heed the warnings to flee andstayed on, a wise decision they never regretted. There is peace between the Arab and Jewish communities in downtown Haifa today because of this choice, as is the case in nearby Acre. In Jaffa, a considerable number of Arabs remained to live under the joint Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality. Although the Hassan Beq mosque was used asa sniper's nest against Jewish passersby in 1948, it still stands as a Muslim landmark in Tel Aviv. Many of these Arab villages have developed into thriving townships. This applies even more dramatically to East Jerusalem, where the Arab population had increased from some 50,000 in 1948 to over 230,000 by the year 2000. It is true that some villages, mainly those who laid siege to Jerusalem, were destroyed and their inhabitants expelled. Their number was grossly inflated to a count of 400, according to Benny Morris, a forerunner of the school of "new historians" of Zionism. There is substantial evidence to corroborate these facts in the following citations: Citations from Arab leaders: "We will smash the country with our guns and obliterate every place the Jews seek shelter in. The Arabs should conduct their wives and children to safe areas until the fighting has died down." Iraqi prime minister Nuri Said, Sir Am Nakbah (The Secret Behind the Disaster) by Nimr el-Hawari, Nazareth, 1952 "Azzam Pasha assured the Arab peoples that the occupation of Palestine and of Tel Aviv would be as simple as a military promenade ... and that all the millions the Jews had spent on land and economic development would be easy booty, for it would be a simple matter to throw Jews into the Mediterranean ... " - Habib Issa, secretary-general of the Arab League (Azzam Pasha's successor), Al Hoda, June 8, 1951 It is of summary importance to point out that while Jordan's British trained, fully equipped Arab legion was able to pummel Jewish Jerusalem with in excess of 10,000 artillery shells, the Hagana had to make do with scant and often makeshift weapons. "As early as the first months of 1948, the Arab League issued orders exhorting the people to seek a temporary refuge in neighboring countries, later to return to their abodes … and obtain their share of abandoned Jewish property." - Bulletin of The Research Group for European Migration Problems, 1957 "The Arab states succeeded in scattering the Palestinian people and in destroying their unity. They did not recognize them as a unified people until the states of the world did so, and this is regrettable." - Abu Mazen from the official journal of the PLO, Falastin el-Thawra (What We Have Learned and What We Should Do), Beirut, March 1976 Leading American and British sources confirm the real cause of the flight: Citations from the international media: "The mass evacuation, prompted partly by fear, partly by order of Arab leaders, left the Arab quarter of Haifa a ghost city.... By withdrawing Arab workers their leaders hoped to paralyze Haifa." - Time Magazine, May 3, 1948, page 25 "[The Arabs of Haifa] fled in spite of the fact that the Jewish authorities guaranteed their safety and rights as citizens of Israel." - Monsignor George Hakim, Greek Catholic Bishop of Galilee, New York Herald Tribune, June 30, 1949 "Israelis argue that the Arab states encouraged the Palestinians to flee. And, in fact, Arabs still living in Israel recall being urged to evacuate Haifa by Arab military commanders who wanted to bomb the city." Newsweek, January 20, 1963 Citations from British military sources: Highly credible are the comments of the British commander of the Arab Legion, who, having bombarded Jewish Jerusalem and destroyed the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, cannot be suspected of a pro-Zionist attitude: "The Arab civilians panicked and fled ignominiously. Villages were frequently abandoned before they were threatened by the progress of war." - General John Glubb "Pasha," The London Daily Mail, August 12, 1948 "Every effort is being made by the Jews to persuade the Arab populace to stay and carry on with their normal lives, to get their shops and businesses open and to be assured that their lives and interests will be safe." - Haifa District HQ of the British Police, April 26, 1948, (quoted in Battleground by Samuel Katz). For decades, April 6, 1948 has been commemorated in the Arab world as "Deir Yassin Day," through sermons in mosques and lessons in schools, on stamps and posters, in books and songs. On that day, Deir Yassin, an Arab village at the entrance to Jerusalem, was captured by the Irgun Tzva'i Le'umi (known as the Irgun), defending the besieged Holy City. Arab leaders spread word that Jewish terrorists had stormed the peaceful village, raping the women and ultimately killing over 500 residents. There was even talk of aerial bombardment and tanks. The effect was double- edged. Actually, it was a standard battle that took a tragic turn. The village harbored Arab guerrillas who had long exploited their strategic position, attacking Jewish mountain convoys trying to break the three-month siege of Jerusalem. Iraqi irregulars dressed as women During the house-to-house fighting women and children were mistakenly killed. Among the Arab fighters were Iraqi irregulars who were dressed as women. Years later, Palestinian researchers at Bir-Zeit University found that the death toll was 107. Murder and rape have always been an athema to Israel's military. Israel has never denied its role in the Deir Yassin massacre nor reserved remorse. Nonetheless, the Arab world refused to accept that what happened on April 6, 1948 was the exception, not the rule, and Deir Yassin became a crucial factor in creating, and a tool in fanning, anti-Israeli hatred for generations. An Arab revenge attack was quick to follow. Four days after Deir Yassin, the Jewish convoy on its way to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus was ambushed. Seventy-seven people were killed, including doctors, nurses, patients, and the hospital director. Another 23 medical personnel were wounded. This article appeared in the Jerusalem Post 1-15-2003 approximately, and is reproduced solely for educational purposes. __Transfer: Not a Solution__ There is a difference between voluntary and involuntary transfer. A number of historic precedents point to transfer as a viable solution to territorial dispute, provided it is carried out by mutual consent. In an effort to end the Balkan Wars at the beginning of the 19th century, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey agreed to exchange their minority populations in the Treaties of San Stephano (1878), Constantinople (1913) and Neuilly (1919). However, the major exchange of population (transfer) took place between Greece and Turkey in order that a permanent border could be set between the longtime enemies. Endorsed by the Treaty of Lausanne (1922) and drawn up by the League of Nations, the transfer agreement fixed the terms by which the international community could restore ties with Turkey, which had been defeated in WWI. One of the major signatories was Elefterios Venizelos, Greece's elder statesman, six times the country's prime minister. Altogether 1.25 million Greeks from Asia Minor and Eastern Thrace were transferred to Greece, and nearly 500,000 Turks, primarily from Macedonia and Epirus, were transferred to Turkey. This project was organized and supervised by the celebrated Norwegian Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen, winner of the 1922 Nobel Prize for his humanitarian activities. Grasimos Apostolatos, former minister in the Greek government, presently head of The Society for the Study of Greek History, admits in his Annual Report (Athens, 2001) that the project of transferring some 1.25 million Greeks to their ancestral homeland was a painful one, but only such a radical solution could end the conflict. It took a few years for the integration of the displaced persons into the local economy, but the ultimate result was positive, and Greece emerged from the experience stronger and more prosperous. Henry Morgenthau, the first president of the Refugee Settlement Committee, described the arrival in Salonica of a boatload of Greek refugees from Turkey. "I saw 7000 people crowded in a ship that would have been taxed with a normal capacity of 2000. They were packed like sardines upon the deck - a squirming, writhing mass of human misery." (This has an eerie parallel with the arrival of ships to Israel, bearing waves of Holocaust survivors, including the famous "Exodus," prevented from docking by the British.) The India-Pakistan venture The largest population transfer yet was effected when Pakistan split from India on August 15, 1947. Eight million Hindus and six million Muslims were involved, and perhaps a million died in a painful but necessary operation that had broad international support. Despite the enormous number of refugees and the relative poverty of both nations, no international relief organizations were established to aid in the resettlement. (It was a grave historical error that the area of Kashmir, in dispute today, was overlooked, thus leaving a festering wound in the relations between the two countries.) The refugees resettled, and a new generation grew up considering itself native to its new home - both Indians and Pakistanis having made the pragmatic decision to start afresh. Pakistan's President, Gen. Pervez Musharaf, was one such refugee, having been born in New Delhi and transferred to Pakistan at the age of four, along with his family. The idea of "transfer" had been nurtured by leading statesmen even before 1942. Many Western and Arab leaders alike favored transferring the Arab population of Palestine to neighboring states. In 1927, Iraq's King Faisal I spoke of "Muslim Arab peasants from Syria and Palestine" coming to cultivate the vast expanses of unoccupied Iraqi land. By 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt told his Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau Jr., "I would provide land for the Arabs in some other part of the Middle East... There are lots of places to which you could move the Arabs." In 1945, Herbert Hoover proposed the recovery of some 3 million acres of land in Iraq for the resettlement of the Arabs of Mandatory Western Palestine. "Palestine itself," he wrote, "could be turned over to Jewish immigrants in search of a homeland." In 1947, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Sa'id suggested exchanging the Jewish population of Baghdad for an equal number of Israeli Arabs. Not a viable solution In view of the conditions presently prevailing in the region, voluntary transfer by mutual consent is not a viable solution in the foreseeable future for several reasons: 􀁺 The Arab states categorically oppose the idea of absorbing the refugees despite the wide spaces of their domain. 􀁺 A considerable number of refugees insist on returning to their ancestral homes, be it in Jaffa, Haifa, Safed or Tiberias. 􀁺 The term "transfer" has acquired a negative connotation and the international community will not support it. 􀁺 It has absolutely no chance of UN support, unlike the Greek-Turkish project which was endorsed by the League of Nations. 􀁺 A vast majority of Israelis reject the idea. - The Jerusalem Post, November 20, 2001, Moshe Kohn, quoting International Proposals to transfer Arabs from Palestine 1895/1947, Ktav 1988 - Valuing Palestinian Losses in Today's Dollars, Atif Kubursi - Palestine Refugees and The Right of Return (Pluto Press, London, 2001) __UNRWA: Caring for Refugees for Years and Still Counting__ UNRWA, the UN Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East was created in 1949 to help individuals (along with their spouses and dependants) whose homes were in Palestine from June 1, 1946 to May 15, 1948 and who lost both their homes and their livelihoods as a result of the conflict. According to UNRWA figures, at the time of its inception the refugees numbered some 726,000. Later, those displaced as a result of the Six Day War and their dependants were also declared eligible for UNRWA aid, as were inhabitants of "frontier villages" in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes affected by the war. In UNRWA camps, refugees seldom die Because no one wants to lose UNRWA benefits, deaths often go unreported in their camps. In 1961, UNRWA director, Dr. John H. Davis, admitted that his statistical report of the number of refugees was inaccurate, due to the many unreported deaths and the growing number of forged cards granting access to UNRWA benefits and services. UNRWA Commissioner- General Peter Hansen has recently acknowledged that deaths in the camps may not be reported as assiduously as births. In 1960, US Congressmen visiting Jordan cited official estimates of forged UNRWA cards at over 150,000. Furthermore, the more refugees, the more justification there is for the work of the 22,000 Palestinian UNRWA employees. It is one of the ironies of the problem that as the number of "refugees" has increased through falsehood, their plight has become all the more real. Just how many refugees are there? The first serious assessment of the number of refugees based on demographic data was carried out by Dr. Walter Pinner. (How Many Arab Refugees?, London, 1960). Out of 1,282,000 - the total Arab population of Mandatory Palestine in April 1948, 548,600 were counted as refugees. At UN sessions the Arabs repeatedly inflated the figures. Lebanon spoke of over a million, (UN DOC/ASP/SA). Morocco gave a more "accurate" figure of 1,120,000. Swept up by an Oriental imagination, the Palestinian Emil Houry came up with 2 million. Palestinian sources, with an obvious interest in increasing the potential benefits of a future settlement and increasing Israel's supposed responsibility for the refugee problem, have consistently inflated their figures. The highest figure was that quoted in 1998, when Salman Abu Sitta—the most vaunted of Palestinian researchers - attempted to add credence to a grossly exaggerated study by claiming that there were exactly 7,778,186 Palestinians, an amazing 5,325,000 of whom he called refugees. Figures on this scale are commonly bandied about when discussing the need for a just solution to the Palestinian problem, but they are false: UNRWA - while admitting that its own figures are inflated - recognizes some 3.8 million Palestinians today. Not far off is the day when the number of refugees claimed will be the same as the number of Palestinians. According to their definition, nearly every Palestinian can be considered a refugee in one way or another. So there will be no escape from the need to negotiate who is a refugee, and who was uprooted from his home, yet still lives in his homeland. For example, those who fled the West Jerusalem neighborhood of Talbieh and now live in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Abu Dis have been counted twice. So, too, have the Palestinians living in Detroit or in the Persian Gulf states. UNRWA's budget is almost a third of that of the UN High Commission for Refugees, which is the global relief agency. And this is the situation despite the fact that Palestinians constitute only 17% of the world's 24 million refugees. Somehow, the efforts of UN workers to aid displaced Palestinians have mushroomed into a $330 million-a-year project that actually perpetuates the refugee problem. UNRWA services UNRWA has provided the Palestinians with benefits exceeding those of all other refugees. These include medical and educational training, community centers for women, youth clubs and other social benefits. However, the term "camps" is misleading. Palestinian refugees do not live in tents as the term implies, but in houses in neighborhoods where conditions are superior to those of the poor neighborhoods of modern metropolis. A good idea gone bad Dependence on benefits that encourage unprecedented population growth, combined with a dearth of jobs, has created a restless and unruly young populace. The camps are infested with gangs, violence and drug trafficking. Even Palestinian police are afraid to enter them, whether Jenin or Ein al-Hilweh in Lebanon. The New York Times has described the refugee camps as paramilitary training grounds where 25,000 children from 8 to 16 years old are taught to make fire bombs. The camps serve as arms depots, factories for the manufacture of mortars, missiles and bombs, and asylum for fleeing terrorists. The shocking images of jubilant Palestinians celebrating the disaster on September 11, 2001 in the refugee camps are symptomatic of the violent society that, due to its refugee status, is becoming increasingly more desperate. Who foots the bill? Who funds these refugee villages? Most of UNRWA's work is covered by voluntary contributions from donor states. UNRWA's biggest donors are the US, the European Commission, the UK, Sweden and Canada. Not surprisingly, the contributions of Arab states make up only a tiny percentage of the UNRWA budget. Although it provides important humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, UNRWA ultimately serves as a fig leaf for an Arab world that has deliberately ignored or exploited the plight of these refugees. - The Face of Defeat (Quartet Books, London) Report to the Senate, April 20, 1960 - Alexander Safian, PhD, CAMERA (The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) - The New York Times, August 2, 2000 This article appeared in the Jerusalem Post 1-15-2003 approximately, and is reproduced solely for educational purposes. Understanding the Roots of the Problemss The Birth of Israel The Loopholes in 1948 An Arab Voice Restitution vs. Resettlement The Global Issue The Penalty of Agression Is Israel Guilty of Ethnic Cleansing? Transfer: Not a Solution UNRWA: Caring for Refugees for Years and Still Counting Legal Aspects of the Palestinian Question Legal Aspects Of The Palestinian Refugee Question Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Jerusalem Letter / Viewpoints No. 485 24 Elul 5762/ 1 September 2002 Ruth Lapidoth The Beginning of the Refugee Problem / Who is a Refugee? / Do Refugees Have a Right to Return to Israel? / The Impact of UN General Assembly Resolution 194/ After 1967/ The Refugee Question in Arab-Israeli Agreements / A Right to Compensation? Until September 2000, hopes were high that soon an agreement on the final status of the West Bank and Gaza would pave the way for peaceful coexistence between Israel and the Palestinians. These hopes have unfortunately been shattered, as Palestinians violently attacked Israelis in both the administered territories and in Israel proper, provoking violent reactions by Israel. One could wonder what purpose there is in analyzing legal issues related to a peaceful settlement when violence is the order of the day. If we nevertheless examine some of the legal issues, it is because we have not yet lost hope that sooner or later the guns will be silenced and the parties will return to the negotiating table. The underlying conflict is mainly of a political nature. However, for several reasons it should also be analyzed from a legal perspective. First, some of the questions involved are overwhelmingly of a legal nature. Second, the parties base their claims on legal arguments. And, third, if and when a compromise is reached, it will be drafted in legal terms and be included in a legal text. This is also true of the question of Palestinian refugees. The Beginning of the Refugee Problem The plight of the refugees is a serious human problem. During the 1947-48 period, many Arabs "left, ran away, or were expelled."1 At the same time, Jews escaped from Arab countries. While the Jews were integrated into the countries to which they fled, the Arabs were on purpose denied integration in most Arab countries (except Jordan) in order to prevent any possible accommodation with Israel. The refugees have been receiving support and assistance from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), established by the UN General Assembly in 1949. 2 According to various estimates, the number of refugees in 1949 was between 538,000 (Israeli sources), 720,000 (UN estimates), and 850,000 (Palestinian sources). By 2001, the number of refugees registered with and supported by UNRWA had grown to about 3.5 million, since also children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are registered. Another reason for this increase is the fact that UNRWA does not systematically delete all deceased persons from its registry. According to UNRWA, in 2000 there were about 550,000 refugees in the West Bank, some 800,000 in the Gaza Strip, 1,500,000 in Jordan, 350,000 in Lebanon, and 350,000 as well in Syria. Only part of them have lived in refugee camps. The situation of the refugees has been particularly severe in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon.3 The plight of the refugees raises at least three legal questions: 1. Who should be considered to be a refugee? 2. Do the Palestinian refugees have a right to return to Israel? 3. Do they have a right to compensation? Who is a Refugee? The question arises whether all those registered with UNRWA should be considered as refugees. The 1951-1967 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees4 has adopted the following definition: ...[A]ny person who: (2) owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it… There is no mention in this definition of descendents. Moreover, the convention ceases to apply to a person who, inter alia, "has acquired a new nationality, and enjoys the protection of the country of his new nationality.” 5 Under this definition, the number of Palestinians qualifying for refugee status would be well below half a million. However, the Arab states managed to exclude the Palestinians from that definition, by introducing the following provision into the 1951-1967 Refugees Convention: This Convention shall not apply to persons who are at present receiving from organs or agencies of the United Nations other than the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees protection and assistance...6 In no official document have the Palestinian refugees been defined, and UNRWA has been adopting varying definitions, such as: A Palestinian refugee is a person whose normal residence was Palestine for a minimum of two years preceding the conflict in 1948, and who, as a result of this conflict, lost both his home and his means of livelihood and took refuge in one of the countries where UNRWA provides relief. Refugees within this definition and the direct descendants of such refugees are eligible for Agency assistance if they are: registered with UNRWA; living in the area of UNRWA operations; and in need.7 This is a very broad definition under which the number of refugees constantly increases. It may be appropriate for UNRWA purposes in order to decide who qualifies for assistance, but it is hardly suitable for other purposes. It follows that the parties should agree on a more suitable definition. Do Refugees Have a Right to Return to Israel? Another legal controversy concerns the question whether the refugees, whatever their definition, have a right to return to Israel. We will discuss this subject from three points of view: general international law, the most relevant UN resolutions, and various agreements between Israel and its neighbors. Several international human rights treaties deal with freedom of movement, including the right of return.8 The most universal provision is included in the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which says: "No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country."9 The question arises, who has the right of return, or: what kind of relationship must exist between the state and the person who wishes to return? A comparison of the various texts and a look at the discussions which took place before the a dop tion of these texts lead to the conclusion that the right of return is probably reserved only for nationals of the state. 10 Even the right of nationals is not an absolute one, but it may be limited on condition that the reasons for the denial or limitation are not arbitrary. Moreover, according to Stig Jagerskiold, the right of return or the right to enter one's country in the 1966 International Covenant is intended to apply to individuals asserting an individual right. There was no intention here to address the claims of masses of people who have been displaced as a by-product of war or by political transfers of territory or population, such as the relocation of ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe during and after the Second World War, the flight of the Palestinians from what became Israel, or the movement of Jews from the Arab countries. 11 In the context of general international law one also has to observe that humanitarian law conventions (such as the 1949 Geneva Conventions for the Protection of Victims of War) do not recognize a right of return. The Impact of UN General Assembly Resolution 1948 The first major UN resolution that refers to the Palestinian refugees is Resolution 194 (III) of 11 December 1948, adopted by the General Assembly.12 This resolution established a Conciliation Commission for Palestine and instructed it to "take steps to assist the Governments and authorities concerned to achieve a final settlement of all questions outstanding between them." Paragraph 11 deals with the refugees: The General Assembly...resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.. . Though the Arab states originally rejected the resolution, they later relied on it heavily and have considered it as recognition of a wholesale right of repatriation. This interpretation, however, does not seem warranted: the paragraph does not recognize any "right," but recommends that the refugees "should" be "permitted" to return. Moreover, that permission is subject to two conditions - that the refugee wishes to return, and that he wishes to live at peace with his neighbors. The violence that erupted in September 2000 forecloses any hope for a peaceful co-existence between Israelis and masses of returning refugees. Moreover, the Palestinians have linked the request for return to a claim for self-determination. If returning refugees had a right to external self-determination, this would mean the end of the very existence of the State of Israel. Under the 1948 resolution, the return should take place only "at the earliest practicable date." The use of the term "should" with regard to the permission to return underlines that this is only a recommendation - it is hortatory.13 One should also remember that under the UN Charter the General Assembly is not authorized to adopt binding resolutions, except in budgetary matters and with regard to its own internal rules and regulations. Finally, the reference to principles of international law or equity refers only to compensation for property and does not seem to refer to permission to return. It should also be borne in mind that the provision concerning the refugees is but one element of the resolution that foresaw "a final settlement of all questions outstanding between" the parties, whereas the Arab states have always insisted on its implementation (in accordance with the interpretation favorable to them) independently of all other matters. In this context one should bear in mind that the General Assembly has also recommended the "reintegration of the refugees into the economic life of the Near East, either by repatriation or resettlement' (emphasis added, R.L.).14 After 1967 As a result of the Six-Day War in 1967, there were about 200,000 Palestinian displaced persons (i.e., persons who had to leave their home and move to another place in the same state). These were dealt with by Security Council Resolution 237 of 4 June 1967,15 which called upon the government of Israel "to facilitate the return of those inhabitants [of the areas where military operations have taken place] who have fled the areas since the outbreak of hostilities." The resolution does not speak of a "right" of return and, like most Security Council resolutions, it is in the nature of a recommendation. Nevertheless, Israel has agreed to their return in various agreements, to be studied later. Some 30 percent of the displaced persons of 1967 had already been counted as refugees of 1948.16 Of great importance in the Arab-Israel peace process is Security Council Resolution 242 of 22 November 1967.17 In its second paragraph, the Council "Affirms further the necessity...(b) for achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem." The Council did not propose a specific solution, nor did it limit the provision to Arab refugees, probably because the right to compensation of Jewish refugees from Arab lands also deserves a "just settlement." There is no basis for the Arab claim that Resolution 242 incorporates the solution recommended by General Assembly Resolution 194 of 1948 analyzed above. The Refugee Question in Arab-Israeli Agreements Turning now to agreements between Israel and its neighbors, we find that already in the Framework for Peace in the Middle East agreed at Camp David in 1978 by Egypt and Israel,18 the refugee problem was tackled: It was agreed that a "continuing committee" including representatives of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinians should "decide by agreement on the modalities of admission of persons displaced from the West Bank and Gaza in 1967" (Article A, 3). Similarly, it was agreed that "Egypt and Israel will work with each other and with other interested parties to establish agreed procedures for a prompt, just and permanent implementation of the resolution of the refugee problem" (Article A, 4). In the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements of 1993 between Israel and the Palestinians, 19 again it was agreed that the modalities of admission of persons displaced in 1967 should be decided by agreement in a "continuing committee" (Article XII). The issue of refugees should be negotiated in the framework of the permanent status negotiations (Article V, 3). The 1995 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip20 adopted similar provisions (Articles XXXVII, 2 and XXXI, 5). Somewhat more detailed is the relevant provision (Article 8) in the Treaty of Peace between Israel and Jordan of 1994.21 As to the displaced persons, they are the object of a text similar to the above ones. As to the refugees, the peace treaty mentions the need to solve their problem both in the framework of the Multilateral Working Group on Refugees established after the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference, and in conjunction with the permanent status negotiations. The treaty also mentions "United Nations programs and other agreed international economic programs concerning refugees and displaced persons, including assistance to their settlement. "22 None of the agreements between Israel and Egypt, the Palestinians, and Jordan, respectively, has granted the refugees a right of return into Israel. This short survey has shown that neither under the general international conventions, nor under the major UN resolutions, nor under the relevant agreements between the parties, do the Palestinian refugees have a right to return to Israel. In 2000 there were about 3.8 million Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA. If Israel were to allow all of them to return to its territory, this would be an act of suicide on its part, and no state can be expected to destroy itself. On the other hand, at least some of the refugees would object to and try to delegitimize any agreement that did not grant a wholesale right of return.23 Moreover, they threaten those who would like to settle for a different solution. It seems to be a vicious circle. The solution may include a right to return to the new Palestinian homeland, settlement and integration in various other states (Arab and non-Arab), and possible return to Israel if compelling humanitarian reasons are involved, such as family unification.24 A Right to Compensation? The third legal problem pertaining to refugees is the question of whether they have a right to compensation for their lost property, and to a subsidy for their rehabilitation, i.e., integration or resettlement or return, respectively.25 General international law recognizes the obligation to pay compensation in case of confiscation of property belonging to foreigners. There is, however, disagreement about the amount that should be paid. In this case, two experts have suggested a standard of "adequate compensation," taking into account the value of the property and the specific needs of the respective refugee.26 If a definitive solution to the problem is sought, one should consider paying - either by law or ex gratia - not only compensation for lost property but also a reasonable subsidy for rehabilitation, and perhaps also compensation to the host country, where the refugee has lived and where he should settle. Since Israel had not started the 1947-48 war but was attacked by the Arabs, it is not responsible for the creation of the refugee problem. Hence it is not under an obligation to recruit the necessary sums. Preferably an international fund should be established for that purpose, to which other countries as well as Israel would contribute. The difficulty is the enormous sums which would be needed .27 It is advisable to resort to a lump sum arrangement which would settle all financial claims between the parties and preclude any further claims. A way would have to be found in order that the arrangement would bind not only Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but also all the refugees. To conclude our discussion of the refugee problem, it is recommended that the parties agree on a reasonable definition of the refugees and not automatically adopt the one used by UNRWA. The refugees do not have a right of return to Israel, neither under general nor special international law; the adequate solution seems to be return to the Palestinian homeland, resettlement and absorption in other countries (preferably according to the wishes of each refugee), and some may be allowed to return to Israel. A prompt and adequate solution will also involve the payment of compensation for lost property and a subsidy for rehabilitation. * * * Notes 1. Eyal Benvenisti and Eyal Zamir, "Private Claims to Property Rights in the Future Israeli-Palestinian Settlement," American Journal of International Law 89 (1995):297. 2. UN General Assembly Resolution 302 (IV) of 8 December 1949, adopted at the 273rd plenary meeting. 3. Yitzhak Ravid, The Palestinian Refugees (Ramat Gan, 2001), pp. 1-12 (Hebrew). 4. UN Treaty Series, vol. 189, no. 2545 (1954), pp. 152-156, article 1A (2). 5. Ibid., Article 1 C (3). 6. Ibid., Article 1 D. 7. Don Peretz, Palestinians, Refugees, and the Middle East Peace Process (Washington, D.C., 1993), pp.11-12. 8. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 13 (2); the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 12 (4); the 1963 Protocol IV to the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 3 (2); the 1969 American Convention of Human Rights, Article 22 (5); the 1981 9. Banjul Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, Article 12 (2) - see Basic Documents on Human Rights, Sir Ian Brownlie, ed., 3rd ed. (Oxford, 1992), pp. 21, 125, 347, 495, 551; for additional examples, see Paul Sieghart, The International Law of Human Rights (Oxford, 1985), pp. 174-178. 10. Paul Sieghart, The International Law of Human Rights, p. 179; Geoffrey R. Watson, The Oslo Accords: International Law and the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Agreements (Oxford, 2000), p. 283; Ruth Lapidoth, "The Right of Return in International Law, with Special Reference to the Palestinian Refugees," Israel Yearbook on Human Rights 16 (1986), pp. 107-108. Some experts are of the opinion that the right of return applies also to "permanent legal residents" - see, e.g., the discussion that took place in the sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, as reported in the Report by Chairman-Rapporteur Mr. Asbjorn Eide, UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1991/45, of 28 August 1991, p. 5. The Human Rights Committee established under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has adopted an interpretation according to which the right of return belongs also to a person who has "close and enduring connections" to a certain country - UN Doc. CCPR/C/21/Rev. 1/Add. 9, 2 November 1999, pp. 5-6. 11. Stig Jagerskiold, "The Freedom of Movement," The International Bill of Rights, Louis Henkin, ed. (New York, 1981), p. 180. For a different opinion, see Geoffrey Watson, Oslo Accords, p.283. 12. GAOR, 3rd session, part 1,1948, Resolutions, pp. 21-24. 13. Geoffrey Watson, Oslo Accords, p. 281. 14. UN General Assembly Resolution 393 (V) , 2 December 1950, adopted at the 315th plenary meeting. See also the second paragraph of UN General Assembly Resolution 194 (III), 11 December 1948, and Resolution 513 (VI), 26 January 1952, adopted at the 365th plenary meeting: 15. SCOR, 22nd year, Resolutions and Decisions, 1967, p. 5. 16. Salim Tamari, 'The Future of Palestinian Refugees in the Peace Negotiations," Palestine-Israel Journal 2 (1995):12. 17. SCOR, 22nd year, Resolutions and Decisions, pp. 8-9. For its legislative history, see, e.g., Arthur Lall, The U.N. and the Middle East Crisis 1967 (New York, 1968). For an analysis, see, e.g., Adnan Abu Odeh, Nabil Elaraby, Meir Rosenne, Dennis Ross, Eugene Rostow, Vernon Turner, articles in UN Security Council Resolution 242: The Building Block of Peacemaking (Washington, D.C., 1993); Ruth Lapidoth, "Security Council Resolution 242 at Twenty Five," Israel Law Review 26 (1992):295-318. 18. UN Treaty Series, vol. 1138 (1987), no. 17853, pp. 39-45. 19. International Legal Materials 32 (1993), pp. 1525-1544. On this declaration, see, e.g., Joel Singer, "The Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements," Justice (Tel Aviv), no. 1 (1994):4-21; Eyal Benvenisti, "The Israel-Palestinian Declaration of Principles: A Framework for Future Settlement," European Journal of International Law 4 (1993):542-554; Antonio Cassese, "The Israel-PLO Agreement and Self-Determination," ibid., pp. 564-571; Raja Shihadeh, "Can the Declaration of Principles Bring About a 'Just and Lasting Peace'?" ibid., pp. 555-563; Karin Calvo-Goller, "Le regime d'autonomie prevu par la declaration de principles du 13 Septembre 1993," Annuaire Francais de Droit International 39 (1993):435; K.W. Meighan, 'The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles: Prelude to a Peace?" Virginia Journal of International Law 34 (1994):435-468. 20. Articles 1, 3, 4, 7, 13 and Annex I of the Declaration of Principles. Excerpts of the 1995 agreement were published in International Legal Materials 36 (1997), p. 551. For the full text, see Kitvei Amana (Israel's publication of treaties), vol. 33, no. 1071, pp. 1-400. For commentaries, see Joel Singer, "The West Bank and Gaza Strip: Phase Two," Justice, no. 7 (1995):1-12; Rotem M. Giladi, "The Practice and Case Law of Israel tn Matters Related to International Law," Israel Law Review 29 (1995):506-534; Raja Shihadeh, From Occupation to Interim Accords: Israel and the Palestinian Territories (London, 1997), pp. 31-72; Geoffrey Watson, Oslo Accords. 21. International Legal Materials 34 (1995), pp. 43-66. 22. Article 8, para. 2 (c), pp. 49-50. 23. Salim Tamari, "The Future of Palestinian Refugees," pp. 11-12. 24. For possible solutions, see Geoffrey Watson, Oslo Accords, pp. 286-290; Donna E. Arzt, Refugees Into Citizens: Palestinians and the End of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (New York, 1997); Joseph Alpher and Khalil Shikaki, The Palestinian Refugee Problem and the Right of Return, Harvard University, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs; Working Paper no. 98-7 (Cambridge, MA, 1998). 25. Geoffrey Watson, Oslo Accords, pp. 286-290; Eyal Benvenisti and Eyal Zamir, "Private Claims." 26. Ibid., pp. 331 and 338. However, Resolution 194 (III) spoke only of compensation for property. 27. Yltzhak Ravid, The Palestinian Refugees, pp. 36-40. * * * Ruth Lapidoth is a Fellow of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and Professor at the Law School of the College of Management as well as Greenblatt Professor Emeritus of International Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Professor Lapidoth's areas of expertise include Public International Law, Law of the Sea, the Arab-Israeli conflict and its resolution, and specifically the juridical status of Jerusalem, and autonomy. Her books include The Arab-Israel Conflict and Its Resolution: Selected Documents (1992), The Jerusalem Question and Its Resolution: Selected Documents (1994), Autonomy: Flexible Solutions to Ethnic Conflicts (1997), and The Old City of Jerusalem (2002). This Jerusalem Viewpoints is based on a more comprehensive study, "Israel and the Palestinians: Some Legal Issues," that originally appeared in Die Friedens-Warte (Journal of International Peace and Organization), 76:2-3 (2001 ):211-240. The Jerusalem Letter and Jerusalem Letter/Viewpoints are published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 13 Tel-Hai St., Jerusalem, Israel; Tel. 972-2-5619281, Fax. 972-2-5619112, Internet: jcpa@netvision.net.il . In U.S.A.: Center for Jewish Community Studies,1515 Locust St., Suite 703, Philadelphia, PA 19102; Tel. (215) 772-0564, Fax. (215) 772-0566. ©Copyright. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0792-7304. The opinions expressed by the authors of Viewpoints do not necessarily reflect those of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. To return to Menorah's Web Page To return to ISRAEL The Land-Nation-People-God’s Plan Web Page

Biblically discusses and shows God's created Sabbath plus meanings The Sabbath The first three verses in Leviticus 23, which precede the list of appointed feasts, show the importance of what can be called the most important day of the sacred calendar, the Sabbath. Contrary to popular notions, the Sabbath was a day of delight. If you take the Sabbath from a Jew, you are robbing him of a precious jewel. The Sabbath was one of God's most precious gifts to Israel. It refers back to God's act of creation before man sinned. "God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done". Genesis 2:3 Leviticus 23:1-44 That rest was the Lord's own refreshing rest, made known to man, to be shared in by man newly created. The eye of God rested on His holy creation, and was refreshed. (It is a Jewish remark that "whoever does any work on the Sabbath denies the work of creation."! Hebrew Sabbath , day of holiness and rest observed by Jew from sunset on Friday to nightfall of the following day. The time division follows the biblical story of creation: “And there was evening and there was morning, one day” (Genesis 1:5). Weekly observance begins with candle lighting Friday evening before sunset & ends Saturday at nightfall. In Jewish homes the woman of the house lights white Sabbath candles before sunset on Friday evening and pronounces a benediction. The Sabbath meal that follows is preceded by the Kiddush (blessing of sanctification). Shabbat Shalom! How about you? Have you received your Redeemer, the Stone whom the builders rejected? In Him is life, light and joy and in His sacrifice is forgiveness of sin. He, the Messiah is the way to Eternal Shabbath, Yom Shekulo Shabbat! Reprinted for educational purposes from: ISRAEL’S Holy Days, In type and Prophecy, Daniel Fuchs, introduction Chosen People Ministries www.chosenpeople.com and from other Jewish Sources. For More Information: Return to L'Chaim - To Life! Page. Return to Biblical Feasts Page. To return to MENORAH'S HOME PAGE

Discusses God's desire to understand, know, find, trust in Him. B I B L E..... T O R A H Phophecy God's Instruction s THE NEW TESTAMENT B’RIT HADASHAH 40-100 B. C. E. (B.C.)./C. E. (A.D.) : How We Got The New Testament / B’rit Hadashah Was The New Testament Written In Hebrew? P R O P H E C Y and E N D - T I M E S E V E N T S Yeshua-Jesus In Bible Prophecy Understanding_Bible_Prophecy T H E B I B L E The Authenticity of the Bible I N D E X of T A N A K H - O L D C O V E N A N T P A S S A G E S C I T E D in the B ' R I T H A D A S H A H - N E W C O VE N ANT Index of Old Testament-Covenant Passages Cited in the New Testament-Covenant To return to How Catholics May Know They Go To Heaven page To return to Menorah's Web Page

Presents the Biblical reality of Who Jesus really is. Father & Holy Spirit =Jesus The Messiah in the Prophets The Messiah in the Prophets The Messiah in the Prophets Christ–Center of the O.T. The Messiah in the Prophets The Messiah in the Prophets The Messiah in the Prophets The Messiah in the Prophets The Messiah in the Prophets The Messiah in the Prophets The Messiah in the Prophets The Messiah in the Prophets 54 Reasons Jesus = Messiah Virgin-Birth of Jesus Messiah's Geneological Chart Messiah's Geneological Chart Messiah's Geneological Chart Resurrection of Jesus He is the visible image of the invisible God He is supreme over all creation, because in connection with him were created all things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities they have all been created through him and for him. He existed before all things, and he holds everything together. Colossians 1:15-17 Jesus the Soul Sheperd Video Yeshua Jesus Is The Messiah Jesus Was A Jew Isaiah 53 Jesus Name Study Messiah is God-Divine Father-Holy Spirit-Jesus Biblical Jesus Is God Virgin-Birth of Jesus The Sign of the Virgin When Was Jesus Born? Jesus Claim To Be God God Taking Human Form Who Is The Jewish Messiah Resurrection of Jesus 54 Reasons = Messiah Messiah's Geneology Jesus in the Prophets Messiah proclaimed to Israel The Trinity Jesus is in all of the Bible Jesus–Center of O.T. Jesus' Return for the Church Messiah to = Last Sacrifice Yeshua-Jesus in Torah Talmud Midrash Biblical Discussion Return to To Life L'Chaim Eternal Life Web Page Return To How Catholics May Know They Go To Heaven page Return to Menorahs Web Page Return To Israel Tours Detail page

Personnel salvation testimony of Jeff Swank in Jesus Salvation Testimony of Jeff Swank It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I may learn your statutes. Psalms 119:71 Born in a small town with 2 brothers and a sister I spent my growing up totally involved with athletics. At age 15 my then focus shifted to alcohol, promiscuity and all that accompanies that lifestyle. Although still active in sports throughout high school there was a large void in my life that I kept trying to fill. B y the time I was 20 years old, getting drunk, into trouble and a promiscuous lifestyle was my world. (There is a way that seems right to man but, in the end, leads to death) A move to Colorado would surely change my "luck". In 1984 I did this and God put me on a collision course with Jesus Christ! After being hired by a Christian man in the business of property management, I worked hard and moved up the responsibility ladder quickly in a little over two years. But my alcohol addiction and sinful lifestyle continued. On August 17, 1987 I suffered a Cerebral Hematoma. Only by God's grace did I survive this and the emergency brain operation. While recovering in the hospital a phone call from a Christian uncle about Jesus Christ, an odd visit from a Christian lady I barely knew (who prayed fervently for me in my room), and a Bible from my boss, set the stage for God's amazing grace once again. Upon release from the hospital, I had some physical disabilities that reminded me of my brush with death. Then, on October 29th, 1987 my boss presented the Gospel to me And lead me in a prayer of forgiveness and acceptance of Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior!! At the moment I prayed I knew something dramatic had just occurred. My life changed drastically soon after this and my new life as a "new creation" started to sweep to the sin of alcohol abuse, promiscuity out of my life. My hunger was now God's word. In fact, the Lord has seen fit to allow me to work full-time as a missionary for a wonderful ministry named MENORAH -Menorah Ministries- from 1994-2005. He has shown me that He can radically change a person through Jesus Christ! To Him be all the praise. I am also very thankful for a Christian grandmother who faithfully prayed for me and a boss who prayed and showed this love for me by being bold enough to share the Good News of Jesus with me. God used these people and others to carry out His divine plan. To Return To: Salvation Testimonies Page To Return To: L'Chaim -To Life! Page To Return To: MENORAH' S HOME PAGE

Song about Praying for the peace of Jerusalem and so be blessed of God. Psalm 122:6 Song Pray for the peace of Jerusalem… May they prosper who love you! Psalms 122:6 Aaronic Blessing Song Numbers 6:24-26 Web Page Psalm 122:6 Song Go aaoronic

The fact of us Believers having the promise of living with Him (Jesus as God and the whole God-head) where His is, is in Heaven, is clear. For Heaven is where the Lord God is. He is the maker of such by His presence. It is not that Heaven quote: is a place separate from Him. No, the opposite. When we translate the Bible into our languages we translate the fullness of His meaning and intent. Ask Pastor Reuben Where in the scriptures does it say that the saints of God are going to live with Him/God forever and ever in heaven? S H A L O M ! ______ A MESSIANIC JEWISH SCRIPTURAL VIEW ______ Biblical Question: Dear Pastor Reuben, I had someone to ask me "where in the scriptures does it say that the saints of God are going to live with Him/God forever and ever in heaven? Thanks, V M Pastor Reuben's Answer: Shalom V, Sometimes pointed questions are not as pointedly answered. All the scriptures plus as follows point to the clear message of God and the eternal placement of true Christians. The fact of us Believers having the promise of living with Him (Jesus as God and the whole God-head) where His is, is in Heaven, is clear. For Heaven is where the Lord God is. He is the maker of such by His presence. It is not that Heaven quote: is a place separate from Him. No, the opposite. When we translate the Bible into our languages we translate the fullness of His meaning and intent. If one wants to not see the clearness of being with Him in Heaven, then that is not Gods nor anyone’s fault but of the one not looking at the fullness of scripture. We are confident, then, and would much prefer to leave our home in the body and come to our home with the Lord . 2 Cor. 5:8 Complete Jewish Bible “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a ]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. John 14:1-3 That is, God raised us up with the Messiah Yeshua and seated us with him in heaven, Ephesians 2:6 Complete Jewish Bible May the Lord Yeshua keep you, Pastor Re’uben Questions are welcome from ALL readers at ALL levels and Forums, from everyone. Questions of general interest will be considered for inclusions in this column. Those of a more personal nature will be keep confidential and we will answer via e-mail; always state your name, email address and your comment/question in as brief & precise manner as possible. To submit a question, etc. please address it to reuben@menorah.org ask.....ask......ask.....ask.....ask.....ask......ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask To return to ..... Ask Pastor Reuben Biblical Answers To Asked Questions..... To return to To Life L'Chaim Find Eternal Life Page To return to Menorah's Web Page To Go To Jeff's Salvation Web Page

There are over 1,000,000 people who believe that  one of our people who lived in Eretz Yisrael  (land of Israel) was unique,  that he was the Messiah,  the Ben Elohim (Son of God) . They believe in the Brit Hadasha (N. T.) and in the Tanakh (O.T.), in Moses, and the Jewish Prophets, teaching the heathen faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and in His Messiah.  All this they did and do because they believe in a Jew, born of flesh and bone, that He is the Messiah of Jew and Gentile. Israel One Billion Pe ople-This Is The Answer by Rachmiel Frydland There are over 1,000,000 people who believe that one of our people who lived in Eretz Yisrael (land of Israel) was unique, that he was the Messiah, the Ben Elohim (Son of God) . They believe in the Brit Hadasha (New Testament) which was written by Jews. They also believe in the Tanakh (Old Testament), in Moses, and the Jewish Prophets. As a result many of them have gone to distant parts of the earth. They have spent their lives teaching the heathen faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and in His Messiah, and translating for them our Bible. All this they did and do because they believe in a Jew, born of flesh and bone, that He is the Messiah of Jew and Gentile. Does it mean that they are all meshuga (crazy)? Or could it be that we have made a mistake in relation to Him? The Prophets Agree Our Prophets agree that our Messiah will also come to redeem the Gentiles. Ya'acov Avinu (Jacob our Patriarch) says in Bereshit (Genesis 49:10) that: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between His feet until Shiloh comes, and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." (Hebrew: "Velo Yikhat Amim" = Him shall the nations obey). Yeshayah Hanovee (Isaiah the Prophet) says: "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign to the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and His rest shall be glorious." (11:10) Further it is written: And He (the Lord) said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up Israel. I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth. (The "Servant" raises and restores Israel but is not identical with Israel). The Prophet Haggai (2:7) speaks of the desire of all nations (Hebrew: Goyim) who shall come. Will you then agree that at least part of these prophecies have been fulfilled in the Jewish Messiah whom the nations worship, namely Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth? Modern Rabbinical Thought Some of our Orthodox Rabbis told us the worst stories about Jesus. They said that He performed the miracles by stealing away the Shem Hamphorash (Sacred Name of Jehovah) and sewing it into the calf of His foot. Now does it stand to reason that God Himself would permit such a horrible impostor, as these Rabbis picture Him, to use God's Holy Name to perform miracles, and that millions of people should be misled to this very day? Modern Jewish Rabbis and scholars have a lofty opinion about Jesus. He is considered by some a great prophet, a great ethical teacher, the best of men and even the Messiah of the Gentiles. (Eg., Graetz, Montefiore, Joseph Klausner, Sholem Asch) Now if He was such a good man, he surely would not have told a lie when He continually claimed to be the Messiah. This Is The Answer We Jews who believe that He is the Messiah say with Yeshayah Hanovee (Isaiah 53:4-6): Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way, & the Lord(Jehovah) hath laid on Him the iniquities of us all. For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Father of Eternity, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 The time will come when Zechariah's prophecy will be fulfilled: They (the Jewish people) shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. (12:10) Reprinted by permission of Messianic Literature Outreach For further information contact: To Return To Jews Gentiles and the Church Web Page To return to The Real Jesus Page To return To Salvation Testimonies Page To return to Torah, Talmud, Midrash, Biblical Discussion Articles To return to Menorah's Web Page

Provides Biblical proof of the Messiah in the prophets of the Bible. The Messiah In The Prophets From 780—516 B.C.E. there are an estimated 243 prophecies in the Prophets which the rabbis in particular see the Messianic motif. The most distinctive feature of the prophetic books is that their Messianic predictions generally have eschatological (concern with the final events in the history of the world or mankind) overtones: “in that day”, “behold the days will come”, “at the end of the days”, “in the day of the Lord”,“in these days”, or “in the last days”. Eusebius, the father of church history I. The Prophets of the Northern Kingdom, Israel Amos 780-740 Proclaimed the “coming day of the Lord”. 5:18-20; 8:9: 9:7-15 When that day comes”, I will raise up the fallen sukkah of David. I will close up its gaps, raise up its ruins and rebuild it as it used to be, so that Isra'el can possess what is left of Edom and of all the nations bearing my name," says ADONAI, who is doing this."The days will come," says ADONAI, "when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the one treading grapes the one sowing seed. Sweet wine will drip down the mountains, and all the hills will flow with it. vs 9:11-13 Jonah 782-753 Proclaimed overall the “love of one’s enemies” . Death, resurrection and Life after. Hosea 760-720 Proclaimed a “return to the Lord”. 3:4-5, “Messianic Covenant” . 2:18-20 and the “power of the resurrection” . 13:14; His branches will spread out, his beauty be like an olive tree and his fragrance like the L'vanon… 14:6 II. The Prophets of the Southern Kingdom, Judah Joel 860-850 Proclaimed as a “teacher of the way of righteousness” . 2:23-4:3 Isaiah 740-698 Proclaimed as the Old Testaments evangelist the Messiah’s “high priestly office, birth, majesty, humiliation, glorious exaltation, resurrection hope, the new Heaven and earth and the last judgment”. 7:14; 9:1-6; 11:1-4; 25:7-9; 26:19; 30:19-20; 42:1-3; 53; 66:22-24 The Targum (Torah translation) sees these Isaiah verses as particularly referring to the Messiah: -On that day, ADONAI's plant will be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the land will be the pride and splendor of Isra'el's survivors 4:2 -For all the boots of soldiers marching and every cloak rolled in blood is destined for burning, fuel for the fire. 9:5 -For in but a little while, my fury will end; and my anger will have destroyed them. 10:27 -But a branch will emerge from the trunk of Yishai, a shoot will grow from his roots. 11:1 -The wolf will live with the lamb; the leopard lie down with the kid; calf, young lion and fattened lamb together, with a little child to lead them. 6 -Do not rejoice, P'leshet, any of you, that the rod which struck you is broken; for out of the snake's root will come a viper, and his offspring will be a flying fiery serpent. 14:29 -Send lambs for the ruler of the land from the crags toward the desert to the mountain of the daughter of Tziyon. 16;1 -On that day, ADONAI-Tzva'ot will be a glorious crown, a brilliant diadem for the remnant of his people. 28:5 -Here is my servant, whom I support, my chosen one, in whom I take pleasure. I have put my Spirit on him; he will bring justice to the Goyim. 42:1 -You are my witnesses," says ADONAI, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you can know and trust me and understand that I am he no god was produced before me, nor will any be after me. 43:10 -See how my servant will succeed! He will be raised up, exalted, highly honored! 52:13 -Arise, shine [Yerushalayim], for your light has come, the glory of ADONAI has risen over you. 60:1 Micah 737-690 Proclaimed more of the “Messianic hope” . This is the word of ADONAI that came to Mikhah the Morashti during the days of Yotam, Achaz and Y'chizkiyah, kings of Y'hudah, which he saw concerning Shomron and Yerushalayim: Listen, peoples, all of you! Pay attention, earth, and everything in it! Adonai ELOHIM will witness against you, Adonai, from his holy temple. For - look! - ADONAI is coming out of his place, coming down to tread on the high places of the land. 1:2-3, 4:1-8, 5:1; 7:7-9, 18-19 Habakkuk 640-608 Proclaimed “the righteous will live through faith effected by God; from His faithfulness”. 2:4; 3:18-19 Zephaniah 641-610 Proclaimed “the approaching Day of the Lord and of revival”. 2:3; 3:9, 11-20 On that day, it will be said to Yerushalayim, "Do not fear, Tziyon! don't let your hands droop down. ADONAI your God is right there with you, as a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you and be glad, he will be silent in his love, he will shout over you with joy. 3:16-17 Jeremiah 627-586 Proclaimed as “the prophet of the nations”. "The days are coming," says ADONAI when I will raise a righteous Branch for David. He will reign as king and succeed, he will do what is just and right in the land. 6 In his days Y'hudah will be saved, Isra'el will live in safety, and the name given to him will be ADONAI Tzidkenu [ADONAI our righteousness]. 23:5-6 chapters 30-34 Obadiah 605-586 Proclaimed the “deliverance associated with Tzion-Zion” . chapter 1, particularly: Then the victorious will ascend Mount Tziyon to rule over Mount 'Esav, but the kingship will belong to ADONAI. vs. 21. III. The Prophets Who Were Active During The Exile Daniel 602-537 Proclaimed eschatological expectation of the Last Days. 2:22, 34-36, 44-45; 7:9, 13-14; chapter 9 Ezekiel 593-573 Proclaimed as the “priestly prophet” . 11:17-24; chapters 33-39; 44:1-3 IV. The Prophets Who Appeared After The Exile Haggai 520 for 4 months Proclaimed “encouragement and salvation” . 2:4-6, 9, 19, 20-23 Zechariah 520 after Haggai-518 Proclaimed “Holiness of God.” Listen, cohen gadol Y'hoshua, both you and your colleagues seated here before you, because these men are a sign that I am going to bring my servant Tzemach [Sprout]. 3:8 6:12; 10:4; 12:9-10; 13:6-7 Malachi 516 Proclaimed calling the people “back to the Lord God.” chapter 3 "Look! I am sending my messenger to clear the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple. Yes, the messenger of the covenant, in whom you take such delight - look! Here he comes," says ADONAI-Tzva'ot. 3:1 Jewish Messianic expectation is often closely bound up with the End Times last days but particularly with how we are to understand death, resurrection, and the reality of life after death—all of which are “ultimate issues”. The Days of Messiah! Note: all Scripture unless otherwise stated is from the Complete Jewish Bible. References from The Messiah in the Old Testament, Risto Santala, p. 146-189 How about you? Have you received your Redeemer, the Stone whom the builders rejected? In Him is life, light and joy and in His sacrifice is forgiveness of sin. For More Information: Return to Who Is Yeshua-Jesus Page . Return to Biblical Traditional Jewish Feasts Page . To return to MENORAH'S HOME PAGE

Yes Jesus claimed to be God at multiple times and ways. Does Jesus Claim T o Be God? For Jesus to say that he was God without qualification would have meant that he was claiming to be the same Person commonly referred to by Jews as the Father. Yet Jesus was not the same Person as the Father, but was personally distinct from him, although sharing the same essence and nature with him. As a matter of fact the question was never asked of him; at most he was asked about his relationship to God . The Bible never records Jesus saying the precise words, “I am God.” That does not mean, however, that He did not proclaim that He is God. Take for example Jesus’ words in John 10:30 , “I and the Father are one.” We need only to look at the Jews’ reaction to His statement to know He was claiming to be God. They tried to stone Him for this very reason: “You, a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10:33 ). The Jews understood exactly what Jesus was claiming—deity. When Jesus declared, “I and the Father are one,” He was saying that He and the Father are of one nature and essence. John 8:58 is another example. Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth … before Abraham was born, I am!” Jews who heard this statement responded by taking up stones to kill Him for blasphemy, as the Mosaic Law commanded (Leviticus 24:16 ). Did Jesus ever say the exact words "I am God?" No, Jesus never said the exact three words, "I am God." But Jesus also never said the exact four words, "I am a prophet," or the exact four words "I am a man," but we know he was both a prophet and a man. It is not necessary for Jesus to say the exact phrase "I am a man," for us to know that he was a man. Likewise, it is not necessary for Jesus to utter the exact three words "I am God," in order for us to determine whether or not he is divine. Jesus may not have said the exact sentence "I am God," but he did claim the divine name for himself (Exo. 3:14 with John 8:58), and he also received worship (Matt. 2:2; 14:33; 28:9; John 9:35-38).When Moses was up at the Mount speaking to God, Moses asked God what his name was. God said, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, 'Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel,' 'I AM has sent me to you.' (Exodus 3:14). In John 8:58 Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." Right after this the Jews picked up stones to throw at him. Later, in John 10:30-33 Jesus claimed to be one with the Father; and the Jews wanted to stone him again because they said to Jesus, "You, being a man, make yourself out to be God." Jesus had claimed the divine name for his own, and the Jews wanted to kill him for it. Therefore, from Jesus' own mouth we see that he was claiming to be God. The words "I am" Now please understand that anyone can say the words "I am," and it does not mean that he is claiming to be God. Someone could say, "I am over here." That is not claiming the divine name. Likewise, someone could say, "I am hungry," or "I am sick." Neither example is claiming divinity because the use of the term "I am" in context clearly shows us that is not what is occurring. But, in John 8:58 when Jesus said "before Abraham was born, I am," the Jews knew exactly what he was saying. Notice that he says before Abraham was born (using the past tense), and then he switches to the present tense when he says "I am." Jesus switches tenses of the verbs on purpose, so that when he does so in the context of referencing Abraham, Jesus is clearly drawing the Jews' attention to the Old Testament Scriptures and then using a present tense form of the verb "to be" by saying "I AM." Someone who says "I am hungry" is not drawing attention to the Old Testament Scriptures for context. Jesus was clearly causing the Jews to reflect upon the divine name "I am" that Jesus used for himself. We know that they understood this because as is said above, they said, "You, being a man, make yourself out to be God." (John 10:33). The Muslims agree with the Jews But what is noteworthy is that the Jews, like the Muslims, deny that Jesus is God in flesh. Therefore, the Muslims are united with the Jewish people in denying who Jesus claimed to be, the "I am." Conclusion It is not necessary that Jesus say a certain phrase in order for the truth of who he is to be made clear. The issue is not if he speaks a certain sentence that we construct in present terms in order to satisfy our theological demands. The issue is what did Jesus say in the context and culture of the time in which he spoke. Finally, we know that Jesus is God in flesh because the Bible tells us so. John 1:1,14, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." Hebrews 1:8, "But of the Son He says, 'Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.'" Who does the Bible claim Jesus is: Revelation 1:7-8 says that Jesus Christ is the Almighty. But Genesis 17:1 says that the Almighty is God. John 8:58 says that Jesus Christ is the "I Am" But Exodus 3:14 says that the "I Am" is God Acts 3:14 says that Jesus Christ is the "HOLY ONE" But Isaiah 43:15 says that the "HOLY ONE" is God John 8:24 says that Jesus Christ is the "I Am He" But Isaiah 43:10 says that the "I Am He" is God Revelation 22:13 says that Jesus Christ is the "First and the Last" But Isaiah 44:6 says that the "First and the Last" is God I Corinthians 10:4 says that Jesus Christ is "The Rock" But Psalm 18:31 says that "The Rock" is God John 5:21 says that Jesus Christ raises the dead. But 1 Sam 2:6 says that God raises the dead John 8:12 says that Jesus Christ is the Light But Isaiah 60:19-20 says that God is the Light. Matt 25:31-46 says that Jesus Christ is the Judge But in Joel 3:12 it says that God is the Judge Colossians 1:16 says that Jesus Christ is the Creator of angels: But Psalms 148:5 says that the Creator of angels is God Hebrews 1:6 says that angles worship Jesus Christ But in Psalm 148:2 it says that angles worship God II Corinthians 11:2 says that Jesus Christ is the "One HUSBAND" But Jeremiah 31:32 says that the "One HUSBAND" is God Matthew 23:8 says that Jesus Christ is the "ONE MASTER" But Malachi 1:6 says that the "ONE MASTER" is God John 10:16 says that Jesus Christ is the "One SHEPHERD" But Isaiah 40:11 says that the "ONE SHEPHERD" is God Acts 4:12 says that Jesus Christ is the "ONE SAVIOR" But Isaiah 45:21 says that the "ONE SAVIOR" is God Luke 1:68 says that Jesus Christ is the "ONE REDEEMER" But Isaiah 41:14 says that the "ONE REDEEMER" is God Revelation 19:16 says that Jesus Christ is "LORD OF LORDS Deuteronomy 10:17 says that the "LORD OF LORDS" is God Philippians 2:10 says that Every Knee must bow to Jesus Christ But Isaiah 45:23 says that Every Knee must bow to God John 1:3-10 says that Jesus Christ is the "ONE CREATOR" But Genesis 1:1 says that the "ONE CREATOR" is God John 1:49 says that Jesus Christ is "KING OF ISRAEL" But Isaiah 44:6 says that the "KING OF ISRAEL" is God 1 John 4:15 says that Jesus Christ is "GOD’S SON" But Proverbs 30:4 says that God has a SON Does Jesus claim to be God: John 4:24-25 The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah comes," (he who is called Christ). "When he has come, he will declare to us all things." Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who speaks to you." John 5:18 For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God. John 10:30-33 “I and the Father are one." Therefore Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?" The Jews answered him, "We don't stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself God." John 14:8-9 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, 'Show us the Father?' Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; John 20:28-29 "Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." Revelation 1:8, 12-18 “ I am the ‘A’ and the ‘Z,’” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. ... I turned around to see who was speaking to me; and when I had turned, I saw seven gold menorahs; and among the menorahs was someone like a Son of Man, wearing a robe down to his feet and a gold band around his chest. His head and hair were as white as snow-white wool, his eyes like a fiery flame, his feet like burnished brass refined in a furnace, and his voice like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, out of his mouth went a sharp double-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand upon me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last, 18 the Living One. I was dead, but look! — I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys to Death and Sh’ol. Why Did Jesus Not Openly Reveal His Full Identity? Is Jesus God? Did Jesus ever claim to be God? Did Jesus really say He was God? Was Jesus the image of God? If you want to receive the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, then call on Him, asking Him for this gift right now. HERE IS A SUGGESTED PRAYER : Lord Jesus Christ, I know I am a sinner and do not deserve eternal life. But, I believe You died and rose from the grave to purchase a place in heaven for me. Lord Jesus, come into my life; take control of my life; forgive my sins and save me. I repent of my sins and now place my trust in you for my salvation. I accept the free gift of eternal life. If this prayer is the sincere desire of your heart, look at what Jesus promises to those who believe in Him. Most assuredly, I say to you ... he who believes in Me has everlasting life. John 6:47 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. John 1:12 If you sincerely from your heart prayed this prayer, WELCOME to God's Family! To Return To The Real Yeshua-Jesus To return to MENORAH'S HOME PAGE

What is the Star of David and historicalness for Israel. Ask Pastor Reuben Was the "Star of David" really something King David or his son King Solomon used on their shields? S H A L O M ! _______ A MESSIANIC JEWISH SCRIPTURAL VIEW _______ Biblical Question: Dear Pastor Reuben, Was the "Star of David" really something David or his son King Solomon used on their shields? I have been told that. Thanks, Robert Pastor Reuben's Answer: Shalom Robert, Although it is now the most common and universally recognized sign of Judaism and Jewish identity, both within and outside the Jewish community, it has only achieved this status in the last two hundred years. Before that it was chiefly associated with magic or with the insignia of individual families or communities. While many legends state it was used by David and Solomon, no real historical proof exists. Rather all evidence suggests that early use of it, the hexagram was limited to "practical Kabbalah", that is, Jewish magic, probably dating back to the 6th century. When the Zionist movement looked for a symbol they chose the "Star of David" because it was so well accepted as a Jewish symbol. Then when Israel became a state, it became the state symbol of its own national redemption. The "Star of David" is not in the Bible. For more information on the history please see our below article on such, Hope this helps. THE STAR OF DAVID Magen David The evolution of the six-pointed Jewish star, the Magen David," literally the "Shield of David, also known as the hexagram, or more rarely, *Solomon's Seal, is long and complex. Although it is now the most common and universally recognized sign of Judaism and Jewish identity, both within and outside of the Jewish community, it has only achieved this status in the last two hundred years. Before that it was chiefly associated with magic or with the insignia of individual families or communities. Yet despite its equivocal history, Jews have long been attracted to this design and have sought to ascribe to it venerable origins. In our own day, its universal Jewish popularity, especially as the symbol of the State of Israel, has made the question of its origins moot. Because of its geometric symmetry, the hexagram has been a popular symbol in many cultures from earliest times. Anthropologists claim that the triangle pointing downward represents female sexuality, and the triangle pointing upward, male sexuality; thus, their combination symbolizes unity and harmony. In alchemy, the two triangles symbolize *"fire" and *"water"; together, they represent the reconciliation of opposites. Some medieval alchemists even borrowed the talmudic punish mayim, fiery water, and shamayim , heaven - to demonstrate the interpenetration of the two realms. 1 Because if this symbolism, the hexagram was even used occasionally as the emblem displayed above a brandy shop. The earliest known Jewish use of the hexagram was as a seal in ancient Israel (6th century B.C.E.) and then eight centuries later in a *synagogue frieze in Capernaum. But these early hexagrams may have been only ornamental designs; ironically, a swastika, another popular ancient motif, appears alongside the hexagram on the Capernaum synagogue wall. In the Middle Ages, hexagrams appear frequently on churches, but rarely in synagogues or on Jewish ritual objects. It was the *menorah that served as the primary Jewish symbol from antiquity until the post-Renaissance period, not the " Jewish star." Although scholars have attempted to trace the Star of David back to King David himself; to Rabbi Akiva and the Bar Kokhba ("son of the star") rebellion (135 C.E.); or to *kabbalists, especially Rabbi Isaac Luria (16th century), no Jewish literature or artifacts document this claim. Rather, all evidence suggests that the early use of the hexagram was limited to "practical Kabbalah," that is, Jewish magic, probably dating back to the 6th century C.E. Legends connect this symbol with the "Seal of Solomon," the magical signet signet *ring used by King Solomon to control demons and spirits. 2 Although the original ring was inscribed with the Tetragrammaton, the sacred Four-Letter *Name of God, medieval *amulets imitating this ring substituted the hexagram or pentagram (five-pointed star), often accompanied by rampant *lions, for the sacred Name. The star inscribed on these rings was usually called the "Seal of Solomon." In addition to such legends about Solomon's ring, medieval Jewish magical texts spoke of a magic shield possessed by King David which protected him from his enemies. According to these texts, the shield was inscribed with the seventy-two letter name of God, or with Shaddai (Almighty) or *angelic names, and was eventually passed down to *Judah Maccabee. The 15th-century kabbalist, Isaac Arama, claimed that Psalm 67, later known as the "Menorah Psalm" because of its *seven verses (plus an introductory verse), was engraved on David's shield in the form of a menorah. Another tradition suggests that Isaiah 11:2, enumerating the six aspects of the divine spirit, was inscribed on the shield in the outer six triangles of the hexagram. 3 In time, the hexagram replaced this menorah in popular legends about David's shield, while the five-pointed pentagram became identified with the Seal of Solomon. The hexagram was also widely regarded as a messianic symbol, because of its legendary connection with David, ancestor of the *Messiah. On Sabbath eve, German Jews would light a star-shaped brass *oil *lamp called a Judenstern (Jewish star), emblematic of the idea that Shabbat was a foretaste of the Messianic Age. The hexagram was also popular among the followers of Shabbatai Tzevi, the false messiah of the 17th century, because of its messianic associations. Among Jewish mystics and wonderworkers, the hexagram was most commonly used as a magical protection against demons, often inscribed on the outside of *mezuzot and on amulets. Another use of the hexagram in medieval times was as a Jewish printer's mark or heraldic emblem, especially in Prague and among members of the Jewish Foa family, who lived in Italy and Holland. In 1354, Emperor Charles IV of Prague granted the Jews of his city the privilege of displaying their own *flag on state occasions. Their flag displayed a large six-pointed star in its center. A similar flag remains to this day in the Altneuschul, the oldest synagogue in Prague. From Prague, the "Magen David" spread to the Jewish communities of Moravia and Bohemia, and then eventually to Eastern Europe. In 17th-century Vienna, the Jewish quarter was separated from the Christian quarter by a boundary stone inscribed with a hexagram on one side and a cross on the other, the first instance of the six-pointed star being used to represent Judaism as a whole, rather than an individual community. With Jewish emancipation following the French Revolution, Jews began to look for a symbol to represent themselves comparable to the cross used by their Christian neighbors. They settled upon the six-pointed star, principally because of its heraldic associations. Its geometric design and architectural features greatly appealed to synagogue architects, most of whom were non-Jews. Ironically, the religious Jews of Europe and the Orient, already accustomed to seeing hexagrams on kabbalistic amulets, accepted this secularized emblem of the enlightened Jews as a legitimate Jewish symbol, even though it had no religious content or scriptural basis. When Theodor Herzl looked for a symbol for the new Zionist movement, he chose the Star of David because it was so well known and also because it had no religious associations. In time, it appeared in the center of the flag of the new Jewish state of Israel and has become associated with national redemption. During the Holocaust, the Nazis chose the *yellow star as an identifying badge required on the garments of all Jews. After the war, Jews turned this symbol of humiliation and death into a badge of honor. Today, the Star of David is the most popular and universally recognized symbol of the Jewish People. In his seminal work entitled the Star of Redemption (1912), Franz Rosenzweig framed his philosophy of Judaism around the image of the Jewish star, composed of two conceptual "triads," which together form the basis of Jewish belief: Creation, Revelation, and Redemption; God, Israel, and World. On the popular level, Jews continue to use the Jewish star as it was used for centuries: as a magical amulet of good luck and as a secularized symbol of Jewish identity. References: 1 Scholem, "The Star of David; History of a Symbol," in The Messianic Idea in Judaism, 271; 2 Gittin 68a; 3 Eder, the Star of David, 73 Signifies: CONTINUITY, GOOD LUCK, HONOR, JEWISH IDENTITY, JEWISH PEOPLE, JUDAISM, REDEMPTION, SURVIVAL, ZIONISM. I pray the Lord will increase His will and purpose in your lives. In Messiah, Pastor Reuben Questions are welcome from ALL readers at ALL levels and Forums, from everyone. Questions of general interest will be considered for inclusions in this column. Those of a more personal nature will be keep confidential and we will answer via e-mail; always state your name, email address and your comment/question in as brief & precise manner as possible. To submit a question, etc. please address it to reuben@menorah.org ask.....ask......ask.....ask.....ask.....ask......ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask To return to ..... Ask Pastor Reuben Biblical Answers To Asked Questions..... To return to To Life L'Chaim Find life Eternal Page To return to Menorah's Web Page

Presentation Biblically of Messiah to be God Divine Messiah To Be God-Divine The LORD our Righteousness Jeremiah 23:5-6 Shows That the Messiah Was to be God Himself Buried within the pages of the book of Jeremiah lies one of the most precious and revealing prophecies of the Messiah (see Vocabulary p.6) to be found within the bounds of the Hebrew scriptures. In it, we see revealed that the Messiah, the Branch whom God was going to raise to fill the throne of David, would be given the name of the LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, YHWH Tsidkenu ( hÛfwhºy Un×"q:dic ) As we will see below, this phraseology points us to the divine nature of the Messiah, specifically that He was to be YHWH- hÛfwhy Himself. Below, this shall be briefly explored, and some of the more common Jewish objections to this proposition will be examined. Let us look at the passage in question , “The days are coming,” says Adonai (Lord God) when I will raise a righteous Branch for David. He will reign as king and succeed, he will do what is just and right in the land. In his days Y’hudah (Judah) will be saved, Isra’el will live in safety, and the name given to him will be Adonai Tzidkenu [Adonai our righteousness]. Jeremiah 23:5-6 CJB From what is said in this passage, we see that this portion is specifically Messianic in content. This is seen both from the term "Branch" (tsemach - xamØec ), and from the Davidic ancestry of the King who was to be raised up. The name "Branch" is almost universally accepted as Messianic, both by Jews and Christians alike. This term is a metaphor, literally meaning "shoot" or "sprout", and signifies the new life that Messiah was to bring to the Davidic monarchy, which was presumed dead. Further, the implications of the name were that Messiah would bring new life to all mankind, not just to His people Israel. This description as "Branch" appears several times in the Hebrew scriptures. It appears in Isaiah 4:2, where the Messiah's presence in the coming Kingdom is described as "beautiful" and "glorious". In Isaiah 11:1, the Branch is said to come from the "stem of Jesse" and is filled with the Spirit of God. In Jeremiah 33:15, the Branch again is said to come from the royal line of David. Yet, this same Branch from the royal line is termed God's servant in Zechariah 3:8 and is described as a man who will carry out God's work in Zechariah 6:12. The rabbis recognized that Branch was a name for the Messiah. R. Y'hoshu'a notes this as a name for Messiah from Zechariah 6:121. Rav Huna also refers to this as a Messianic name 2, with Buber concurring in his commentary notes on that statement 3. Likewise, the instances in Jewish rabbinical literature in which the Messiah is explicitly understood to be descended from David are too numerous to list more than a sampling here. Moses Maimonides pointed to the statements of Numbers 24:17 when he wrote, "And there he says: 'I see him but not now', this refers to David; 'I behold him but not nigh', this refers to King Messiah; 'A star shall step forth out of Jacob', this refers to David; 'and a scepter shall rise out of Israel', this refers to King Messiah."4 Rav Y'huda taught that the Messiah would be "another David", and that the Messiah and the first David would rule as King and viceroy, respectively5. The Aramaic Targum of Jonathan b. Uzziel likewise interprets Jeremiah 23:5 specifically in the sense of the Messiah's descent from David, even translating "branch" as "Messiah"6. Levey notes that in his Targum, Jonathan expands the name "LORD our righteousness" to read "may vindication be accomplished for us by the Lord in His day", a paraphrastically explanation of "YHWH Tsidkenu— hÛfwhºy Un×"q:dic " which the commentator felt impelled to explain because of the Messianic idea contained in the verse7. Thus, the interpretation of Jeremiah 23:5-6 as Messianic would seem to rest on a solid Biblical foundation and is also supported by the understanding of Jewish traditional theology. Most interesting to our point here is that many of the rabbis recognized that the Messiah would be God. R. Abba bar Kahana explicitly stated that the Messiah's name would be "LORD-God (Adonai)", and quotes Jeremiah 23:6 as evidence 8. Smith remarks that the Jewish teachers frequently interpreted this name in Jeremiah 23:6 as a personal name of the Messiah (rather than as a title for Israel or Jerusalem) in the Targumim, Midrashim, and Talmud 9. In the Peshikta Rabbah, we find the statement, "You find that at the beginning of the creation of the world King Messiah was born [and] that he emerged in the thought [of God] even before the world was created..."10 The sentiment that the Messiah, or His name, was pre-existent as a thought or word of God is found widely across the rabbinical literature. In many cases, the statements imply a pre-existence of the Messiah, which, if one understands the Hebrew scriptures correctly, therefore implies the deity of the Messiah, as the Tanakh is quite explicit in stating that before God created the world, nothing else existed with Him. The Genesis Rabbah explains the Messiah as being one of six things preceding the creation of the world, with the Messiah being cast as one of these which arose in the thought of God11. In this same work, R. Shim'on ben Laqish explicitly states that the "spirit of God" mentioned in Genesis 1:2 as hovering over the face of the waters is the spirit of King Messiah and appeals to Isaiah 11:2 ("And the spirit of the Lord will rest upon him") for support12. The Babylonian Talmud likewise records that it was taught that the name of the Messiah was one of seven things created before the world, and that his name would endure forever, relying upon Psalm 72:17 for support13. The First Book of Enoch reiterates that the Messiah (there called the "Son of Man") was hidden in God from the beginning, before the creation, and even that the kings and rulers of the earth worship the Son of Man, setting their hopes in him and petitioning for mercy at his hands14, something directed appropriately only to God. Perhaps most explicitly of all is the statement found in R. Simeon b. Yochai's comments on the Zohar, "There is a perfect Man, who is an Angel. This Angel is Metatron, the Keeper of Israel; He is a man in the image of the Holy One, blessed be He, who is an Emanation from Him; yea, He is Jehovah; of Him cannot be said, He is created, formed or made; but He is the Emanation from God. This agrees exactly with what is written, Jeremiah 23:5-6, Of xamØec dÙiwfd:l , David's Branch, that though He shall be a perfect man, yet He is ‘The Lord our Righteousness.’"15 Throughout the Targumim, we see the Lord and His name being referred to with the term Memra" (Aramaic for "word"), which has been attributed to the discomfort of the Targumists with the many places where the Lord appears to be dealing with Himself in a uniplural sense (ex. Exodus 17:16) or where there seemed to be anthropomorphic references to God (ex. Deuteronomy 30:8, Jeremiah 30:11). In Ezekiel 34:24, as in other passages, where the prophet says, "...I the LORD have spoken it", Jonathan renders, "I, the Lord, have decreed this by my Memra". Elsewhere, the Memra which appears in the Targumic commentaries appears to take on distinct functions itself. For example, in Genesis 19:24, the Hebrew text says, "The LORD rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven." Grammatically, the Hebrew here seems to indicate that two separate Jehovah's are fulfilling two distinct roles. The Targum of Jonathan at this verse substitutes "The Memra of the LORD" for the first of the two Jehovah's in the verse, indicating the Targumist's understanding that the two actors described with the name "YHWH" were distinct in person from each other, yet intimately connected in essence, hence his use of the Memra, or Word. In many other places, the Memra of the LORD in the Targumim takes on personality and characteristics of God Himself, indicating the understanding of the Targumists that the Memra could be equated WITH God, while yet dealt with as a separate personality. At various points, the Memra is praised and prayed to as God16, it speaks to men17, it is to be trusted in with the same sense as trusting in God Himself 18, it is an active agent in creation19, and is even said to be God20. This all would seem to indicate a view of the Memra of the Lord as an hypostatic agent of the Lord, whereby the Lord's word takes on separate and distinct function while yet retaining the essential character and being of the Lord Himself21. From this, we can see in the literature both that the Messiah was pre-existent before creation as a thought or word of God, and that the idea of hypostasis of aspects of the Lord's personality was a known quantity in Judaism. This concept seems to be explored by Baron in his analysis of Zechariah. He notes, "Perhaps in no other single book in the Old Testament is Messiah's Divinity so clearly taught as in Zechariah. In the second chapter (8-11) the prophet calls Him Who is to come and dwell in the midst of Zion, Whom the Jews always understood to be the Messiah, by the name Jehovah. This passage must be a very difficult one to the Jew or Unitarian, for here the prophet represents two Persons, both of Whom he calls by the Divine title Jehovah, though One is sent by the Other to accomplish some mission on the earth."22. We note, of course, that there are several other portions of the Hebrew scriptures where God appears to have a uniplural nature, with multiple persons yet each with the same revealed essence. The angel of the LORD which appears to Hagar is a distinct personality from the invisible LORD yet is identified with Him and addressed as the LORD (Genesis 16:7-13). Manoah, the father of Samson, dealt with the angel of the LORD, and stated that he had seen God (Judges 13:22). Both of these would be impossible in light of the narrative in Exodus 33:18-23 (where it is said that no man can see God and live) unless what they were seeing was the hypostasis of God's Word, manifested in the flesh as a theophany. Further, we see in Isaiah 48:12-16 that the LORD is speaking, yet says that "the Lord GOD, and his Spirit" had sent him, which implies three different personalities of God in action in this passage. Also, in Zechariah 3:1-5, the angel of the LORD commands that Joshua the high priest be clothed with clean garments, saying "Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee...." (v.4), which is forgiveness and cleansing from sin which only God can give. Thus, the uniplurality of God appears on numerous occasions in the Hebrew Scriptures, and is often intimately connected with the manifestation of divine hypostasis in the form of the angel of the LORD, who is from God and yet is God, a messenger who yet is of the essence of the author of the message, treated as God Himself. It is in Jeremiah 23:5-6 that we see these two concepts, pre-existent Messiah and divine hypostasis, united into one person who was to be God incarnated into the flesh, a physical manifestation of the Word of God, just as is taught in the Brit Chadassah-New Testament in John 1:1,14. In this passage, we see the King being raised up, the Branch identified by both Jew and Christian as the Messiah, given the name "Jehovah our Righteousness, hÛfwhºy Un×"q:dic ", a name which firmly teaches that the Messiah would manifest the divine trait of righteousness, both in His actions as ruler and in His own intrinsic character. Yet, because of the understanding derived from Hebrew scriptures themselves (and recognized on numerous occasions by the rabbis as well as by Christian theologians) that the name and character of the Messiah would be pre-existent and divine, we can understand that Jeremiah 23:5-6 is teaching that the name of the Messiah was to be "YHWH Tsidkenu, hÛfwhºy Un×"q:dic ". As Laetsch has stated, the name given is itself a statement of the Messiah's nature and essence23. Rabbinical Objection #1 - Is a divine title applied to Jerusalem in Jeremiah 33:16, and why shouldn't Jeremiah 23:6 be understood as referring to Jerusalem, in parallel with 33:16? This objection refers to the fact that, in Jeremiah 33:16, Jerusalem will be called "the LORD our righteousness, hÛfwhºy Un×"q:dic ", in language that roughly parallels that of Jeremiah 23:6. Because of this, it is supposed either that Jerusalem is also being spoken of in 23:6, or else that the Christian understanding of 23:6 as predicting a divine Messiah is incorrect since the parallel would suggest that Jerusalem also be a divine Messiah, an obvious illogic. Dealing with the first objection, we see that the reason for viewing the name given in 23:6 as not speaking of Jerusalem but rather the Messiah, and 33:16 as what Jerusalem will be called, has to do with the simple grammar of the verses. In the Hebrew of 23:5-6, the emphasis of these verses centers upon the Branch introduced in v. 5. The "days" mentioned in v. 6 are "in his days wyfmæy:B , a masculine possessive construction, and "he" is the one being called "YHWH tsidkenu hÛfwhºy Un×"q:dic . Yet, in 33:16, the emphasis upon reaching that verse moves from the Branch and to Jerusalem, with "she" being the one called "YHWH hÛfwhºy “ and instead of "in his days", we find the more neutral "in those days" {yÜimæYaB , which again shifts emphasis away from the Branch. The other angle of this argument, that the Christian argument taken to its logical conclusion would propose a literal divine Jerusalem, fails to take an important consideration into account. While both the Messiah in 23:6 and Jerusalem 33:16 are referred to with "YHWH tsidkenu hÛfwhºy Un× " q:dic " .“ , we see that there is a very important difference. In 23:6, the Branch is said to be called “by the name yÙim:$-håzºw ” of the Lord our Righteousness. This word, "name", is a translation of the Hebrew word "shem" ( {"$ ). Shem has a much more full and complex meaning than the simple word "name" in English implies. Shem refers to the very character and essence of the one bearing the name. As Kaiser tells us, "This noun appears 864 times, but less that 90 times in the plural. No certain etymology has been established for this root. Two earlier conjectures are now rejected: Redslob (Zeit. deut. morgenlandische Gesellschaft 1872: 751-56) sought to derive it from the root for shem {"$ "to be high" and thus "monument" (Genesis 11:4), "excellence" or "majesty" (Psalm 54:1 [H3]), while others have regarded it as a shortened form of shema' ( Ùam:$ . ……. "The concept of personal names in the OT often include existence, character, and reputation (I Samuel 25:25). Often the plural form of shem tOêm"$ is rendered as "persons," (e.g. Numbers 1:2,18,20; 3:40,43; 26:55). Further "to cut off the name" was equal to liquidating the person himself (Deuteronomy 7:24, 9:14; I Samuel 24:21 [H 22] etc.). the name chosen for a child was often descriptive of the parents' wishes or expectations for the personality that was to mature. This is particularly evident in the renaming process, e.g. Jacob becoming Israel (Genesis 35:10)..... "In some passages shem Yahweh y Ùim:$-hÛfwhºy , Name of God, is so inextricably bound up with the being of God, that it functions almost like an appearance of Yahweh (Exodus 23:20-21; Isaiah 30:27). Cf. the tabernacling of the Name at various spots almost like a Christophany (Exodus 20:24; Deuteronomy 12:5; II Samuel 7:13, etc.). "The name of God also signifies the whole self-disclosure of God in His holiness and truth (Psalm 22:22 [H 23]). This Name can be "walked in," i.e. people are to live according to its teachings (Micah 4:5)."24 Shem {"$ engenders the whole gamut of reputation and renown which a person or thing being "named" has, it's character, what is known of it, it's essential being. The fact that in Jeremiah 23:6 it is said of the Branch that "this is his name whereby he shall be called..." is very enlightening. What is essentially being said here is that this Branch, this Messiah who was to be raised up, was going to be invested with the full body of God's revealed character and reputation. This contrasts with the statement in 33:16 about Jerusalem, where (despite the italicized added word in the KJV) the word shem {"$ is NOT used. Jerusalem, unlike the Branch in 23:6, would not be invested with the essential reputation and character of God Almighty, though it would still be called after God, and would bask in His care and concern. Rabbinical Objection #2 - Many names for Israelites in the Hebrew scriptures contain the name Jehovah, so this means that Christians consider these people to be the Messiah too, or perhaps deity as well, right? This objection relies upon the modern sense of the term "name", which in most Western societies today means little more than just the word used to distinguish one person from another. Thus, it is assumed that when speaking of the theological importance of "name" (shem, {"$ ), that the importance rests upon whether the word used as the name contains the same letters as the word used to refer to Jehovah, hÛfwhºy . This ignores the theological emphasis on "renown" or "reputation" which is engendered in shem, {"$ . Further, we should note that none of these Israelites or others in the Hebrew scriptures whose names contain the word Jehovah, hÛfwhºy , are specifically said to be given the name, shem, {"$of Jehovah, hÛfwhºy . They are not invested with his repute and renown the way the Branch is in Jeremiah 23:6. Further, it should be noted that when a person in the Hebrew Scriptures has a name which contains the word Jehovah, the full tetragrammaton is never included in the name. Most often, the name takes the shorted form "Jah/Yah", such as appears in names like "Isaiah" or "Zechariah", or some other shortened form of the name, such as in "Joshua" or "Jehoshaphat". Nowhere, however, are all four letters of the tetragrammaton (YHWH, hÛfwhºy ) found together in that form in a name given to a human being or other created creature. Rabbinical Objection #3 - At various places in the Tanakh/|anaT, Old Testament, objects such as altars, etc. are "named", using the word shem/ {"$ . Does this mean that Christians believe these object to be divine, because they are named using the Divine name? This objection ignores now the other pertinent reason as to why Christians interpret Jeremiah 23:5-6 in a divinely Messianic sense. This is because of the fact that in v.5, the person of the Branch, the Messiah, had been specifically introduced. Because the Messiah is elsewhere alluded to in the Hebrew Scriptures, Tanakh/ |anaT , as "the LORD" (Psalm 110:1) and as the "son of God" (Psalm 2:7,12; Proverbs 30:4), there is a fundamental difference between a Messiah who is given the shem/ {"$ name of Jehovah and an inanimate object which is given the same. This is not to say, however, that objects given the shem/ {"$ , name of Jehovah are not imparted at least vicariously with the renown and reputation of God, at least in the sense of their symbolizing His character, etc. A good example of this would be in Exodus 17:15, where after the defeat of the Amalekites, Moses builds an altar and "names" (with shem) it Jehovah-nissi Sén úhÛfwhºy , meaning "Jehovah is my banner". The altar was meant to symbolize the great victory wrought by God for Israel, and thus both His great power and saving ability. However, the full implications of shem, {"$ go beyond (but will still yet include) this sort of symbolic attribution when the term is applied to a figure which is elsewhere in the Tanakh imbued with traits fitting to God Himself. Further, as a personality, the Messiah would be able to manifest in a very real and concrete way the full meaning of the shem of Jehovah as our righteousness, whereas the naming of an altar would be unable to extend to that level. Also, the names of the altars and other inanimate objects such as Jehovah-nissi, Sén úhÛfwhºy , Jehovah-yireh, hÕe):réy úhØfwhºy (Genesis 22:14, meaning "Jehovah will provide"), and so forth all depict the objects named (and thus, their builders) as passive. God is acting upon the builders of those altars for a visible testimony of God's activity. God is providing, God is the banner acting as a shield and rallying point. Yet, in Jeremiah 23:6, the Branch is given the name "Jehovah our righteousness", which is not an activity of God, but an essential trait. God is completely holy and righteous (see I Samuel 2:2, Isaiah 6:1-6, etc.), and the Messiah He sent with the shem, {"$ , name of "Jehovah our righteousness" would fulfill this true and complete righteousness. Thus, one set of "names" depict the one named as a passive agent, while the other depicts an active, personal being. In conclusion , we can see that Jeremiah 23:5-6 shows us a messianic Branch who was to be a divine hypostasis of God Himself, and who was to manifest to His people the full account of righteousness, a trait inherent to God alone. This is seen in the systematic theological construct built up involving the Biblical teaching of the messianic nature of the Branch, and the appearance of divine theophanies and uniplurality in the Hebrew scriptures which imply the incarnation of God in the likeness of man to fulfill this messianic role. This view is supported from the teachings of the Tanakh, |anaT , Jewish Scriptures and in its parts, was recognized at various times in the Jewish theological writings of 2nd Temple and post-2nd Temple Judaism. End Notes (1) - Lam. Rab.. 1:51; Y. Ber. 5a (2) - Midrash Mishle, ed. S. Buber, p.87 (3) - Midrash Mishle, ed. S. Buber, p.87 (4) - Maimonides, Yad haHazaqa, Shoftim, Kilkhot M'lakhim 11 (5) - B. Sanh. 98b (6) - Targum Jonathan on the Prophets, Jer. 23:5 (7) - S.H. Levey, The Messiah: An Aramaic Interpretation, n. #82, p. 156 (8) - Lam. Rab. 1:51 (9) - J.E. Smith, What The Bible Says About The Promised Messiah, p. 347, n. 18 (10) - Pes. Rab., ed. M. Friedmann, p. 152b (11) - Gen. Rab. 1:4 (12) - Gen. Rab. 2:4 (13) - B. Pes. 54a; B. Ned. 39a (14) - I Enoch 62:7-9 (15) - The Propositions of the Zohar, cap. xxxviii, Amsterdam ed. - emphasis mine (16) - Jerusalem Targum, Genesis 16:13, "And Hagar praised and prayed in the name of the Memra Of YHWH who had revealed Himself to her..." (17) - Jerusalem Targum, Exodus 3:14, "And the Memra of YHWH said to Moses: "I am He who said unto the world 'Be!' and it was: and who in the future shall say to it 'Be!' and it shall be." And He said: "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'I Am' has sent me to you." (18) - Targum on Psalm 62:8 [H 9], "Trust in the Memra of Yah at all times, O people of the house of Israel! Pour out before Him the sighings of your heart; Say, God is our trust forever." (19) - Targum Jonathan, Genesis 1:27, "And the Memra of YHWH created man in his likeness, in the likeness of YHWH, YHWH created, male and female created He them." (20) - Targum Onkelos, Genesis 28:20-21, "And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, "If the Memra of YHWH will be my support, and will keep me in the way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Memra of YHWH be my God." (21) - Similar to the orthodox Christian principle of the Trinity, with its three distinct personalities of God which yet share the one, united, divine nature and essence. (22) - D. Baron, Rays of Messiah's Glory: Christ in the Old Testament, p. 77ff, n.1 (23) - T. Laetsch, Bible Commentary: Jeremiah, p. 195 (24) - W.C. Kaiser, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, eds. R.L. Harris, G.L. Archer, and B.K. Waltke, Vol. II, pp. 934-935 Vocabulary: Brit Hadashah—New Testament 27 books Messiah— xyÙi$fm ; means "Anointed One," the name given to the promised Deliverer who would someday come to the people of Israel as their great Savior and Redeemer, “anointed” as Prophet, Priest, and King by God Himself. Midrashim— ancient Rabbinical expositions of Holy Writ. The term Midrash (of which Midrashim is the plural form) occurs twice in the He brew Bible (2 Chron. Xiii. 22, and xxiv. 27); and in both passages it is represented in the Anglican version by the word "story," while the more correct translation, "commentary," is relegated to the margin. "Legendary exposition" best expresses the full meaning of the word Midrash. The Midrashim, for the most part, originated in a praiseworthy desire to familiarize the people with Holy Writ, which had, in consequence of changes in the vernacular, become to them, in the course of time, almost a dead letter. These Midrashim have little or nothing to do with the Halachoth or legal decisions of the Talmud, except in aim, which is that of illustration and explanation. They are not literal interpretations, but figurative and allegorical, and as such enigmatic. They are, however, to be received as utterances of the sages, and some even regard them of as binding obligation as the law of Moses itself. The following are fairly representative extracts. Moses Maimonides—Name at birth: Moshe ben Maimon; regarded by many as the greatest Jewish philosopher ever. As a doctor, rabbi, religious scholar, mathematician, astronomer, and commentator on the art of medicine, his influence has spanned centuries and cultures. He was born in Spain and educated by his father, a Jewish judge. Eventually settling in Cairo, he became court physician to two viziers of Egypt, Saladin and el Fadil, and chief rabbi of the city’s Jewish community. His Guide of the Perplexed (1190) used philosophical reasoning to argue that the Bible and Jewish faith did not conflict with Aristotle's popular system of thought. Today, Maimonides’ “Thirteen Principles of Faith” are still recited in synagogues. His works continue to be studied by Jewish scholars, including Commentary on the Mishnah (1168), nicknamed “The Luminary,” and Mishneh Torah (1180), 14 volumes of biblical and rabbinic law, coded and compiled. His nickname, Rambam, is an acronym for Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon… Scholars disagree on his birth year. Recent research points to 1138, not the more frequently cited 1135… He was multilingual and wrote most of his works in Arabic… Hospitals in such cities as Brooklyn, N.Y., San Francisco and Montreal bear his name… His tomb in the Galilean city of Tiberias has attracted tourists for centuries… Paraphrasical—rewritten in the reader's own words. Righteousness — be in the right, be right, have a just case , what is right, just, normal; rightness, justness, of weights and measures. Talmud—normally refers to the collection of writings named specifically the Babylonian Talmud, although there is also an earlier collection known as the Jerusalem Talmud , or Palestinian Talmud. When referring to post-biblical periods, namely those of the creation of the Talmud, the Talmudic academies and the Babylonian exilarchate ( head of the Jewish community in Babylonia in talmudic and medieval times), Jewish sources use the term "Babylonia" from a strictly Jewish point of view, [1] still using this name after it had become obsolete in geopolitical terms. The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah (Hebrew: 200 CE), a written compendium of Rabbinic Judaism's Oral Torah (Talmud translates literally as "instruction" in Hebrew); and the Gemara (500 CE), an elucidation of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic (the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah , from approximately 10-220 CE.) writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on the Hebrew Bible . The term "Talmud" may refer to either the Gemara (the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah ) alone, or the Mishnah and Gemara together. The entire Talmud consists of 63 tractates, and in standard print is over 6,200 pages long. It is written in Tannaitic Hebrew and Aramaic , and contains the teachings and opinions of thousands of pre- Christian Era rabbis on a variety of subjects, including Halakha (law), Jewish ethics , philosophy, customs, history, lore and many other topics. The Talmud is the basis for all codes of Jewish law , and is widely quoted in rabbinic literature . Targumim—spoken paraphrases, explanations and expansions of the Jewish scriptures that a Rabbi would give in the common language of the listeners, which during the time of this practice was commonly, but not exclusively, Aramaic . This had become necessary near the end of the last century before the Christian era, as the common language was in transition and Hebrew was used for little more than schooling and worship. Tanakh—Old Testament 39 books Uniplural—A uniplural noun can be used to indicate an object in the singular or plural sense. Example: The word sheep can be used to describe one sheep or many sheep. This article is drawn upon: -The LORD our Righteousness —Jeremiah 23:5-6 Shows That the Messiah Was to be God Himself and used by permission of the author Timothy W. Dunkin. -Multiple general Jewish texts and resources -Experience of Menorah’s staff For Further Information: Return to The Real Jesus Page Return To Menorah's Web Page

54 reasons why Jesus equals Messiah from the Bible and prophets, Writings. To return to The Real Jesus Web Page To return to Menorah's Web Page

THE CONTROVERSY Isaiah 7:13-14 is a prophecy concerning the virgin conception and the birth of the Messiah. This is perhaps the most controversial of the messianic prophecies and therefore requires a closer textual analysis than others. The exact meaning of this passage is disputed by rabbis, liberal theologians and even by some evangelical theologians. The passage talks of "a sign: The virgin will be with child..." There are two areas of controversy here". THE SIGN OF THE VIRGIN The Controversy Isaiah 7:13-14 is a prophecy concerning the virgin conception and the birth of the Messiah. This is perhaps the most controversial of the messianic prophecies and therefore requires a closer textual analysis than others. The exact meaning of this passage is disputed by rabbis, liberal theologians and even by some evangelical theologians. The passage talks of "a sign: The virgin will be with child..." There are two areas of controversy here: 1. The sign: Since the context of the chapter requires a short range prophecy - giving a sign to King Ahaz - how can this be applied to the birth of a child some 700 years later, as claimed in Matthew 1:22-23? 2. The Hebrew word "Almah": Does it really mean a virgin, or simply a young unmarried woman? We will deal with both of these contentious issues before proceeding to discuss the passage itself. Hermeneutics Since Isaiah 7:13-14 requires an immediate sign to King Ahaz, many Evangelicals have taken this verse to be an example of "double fulfillment." This principle states that a prophecy may have more than one fulfillment. This verse may, accordingly, be both a sign for King Ahaz and the sign in Matthew 1:22-23 for the birth of Jesus. We do not accept the principle of double fulfillment either here or in any other place in the Bible. If this principle were true, there would be no real need for the virgin birth at all. There is another, better principle of biblical interpretation which is "double reference." This principle states that one block of Scripture dealing with one person, one event, one time, may be followed by another block of Scripture dealing with a different person, place and time, without making any clear distinction between the two blocks or indicating that there is a gap of time between the two blocks. The act of a gap of time is known only from other Scriptures. There are, therefore, two separate prophecies side-by-side each having their own fulfillment, but with only one fulfillment per prophecy. "Double Fulfillment" states that one prophecy can have two fulfillments. "Double Reference" states that the one piece of Scripture actually contains two prophecies, each having its own fulfillment. Isaiah 7:13-17 contains two quite separate prophecies with different purposes, and having different fulfillments at different times. The Hebrew Word Almah The major debate, of course, is over the exact meaning of the Hebrew word almah, translated here as virgin. In describing a young woman, there are three Hebrew words which Isaiah could have used: 1. Na'a'rah Na'a'rah means "damsel" and can refer to either a virgin (as in I Kings 1:2), or a non-virgin (as in Ruth 2:6). 2. Betulah This is commonly considered to mean a virgin, exclusively. It is argued that if Isaiah had really meant to say a virgin, then he would have used this word. It is true that this word is often used to mean virgin, but not always. For example: a. In Joel 1:8 it is used in reference to a widow. b. In Genesis 24:16, because the word does not exclusively mean "virgin" the writer adds the phrase "had never known a man" in order to clarify what he means. c. Again in Judges 21:12 the phrase "had not known a man" has to be added to give the precise meaning. 3. Almah Almah means "a virgin," "a young virgin," a "virgin of marriageable age." This word is used seven times in the Hebrew Scriptures and not once is it used to describe a married woman; this point is not debated. a. Genesis 24:43. In contrast to 24:16 mentioned above, verse 43 requires no additional qualifying remarks since the one word alone is sufficient to mean "virgin." Furthermore, it is used of Rebekah who was obviously a virgin at the time of her marriage to Isaac. b. Exodus 2:8. Used in reference to Moses' sister Miriam, who was a virgin. c. Psalm 68:25. Used in reference to the royal procession of virgins. Since the King in this context is God Himself, absolute virginity is required; it is unthinkable that God would allow unchaste, unmarried women in His procession. d. Song of Songs 1:3. The context here is purity in marriage. e. Song of Songs 6:8. The word is used here in contrast to wives and concubines who would obviously be non-virgins. f. Proverbs 30:18-19. The word is used in verse 19 in contrast to an adulteress in verse 20. g. Isaiah 7:14. Since all of the above six verses mean "a virgin," what reason is there for making Isaiah 7:14 the only exception? Since everyone agrees that almah means an unmarried woman, if the woman in Isaiah 7:14 were a non-virgin, then God would be promising a sign involving fornication and illegitimacy. It is unthinkable that God would sanction sin, and in any case, what would be so unusual about an illegitimate baby that could possibly constitute a sign? As far as ancient Jewish writers were concerned, there was no argument about Isaiah 7:14 predicting a virgin birth. The Septuagint is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures made about 200 B.C., 200 years before the issue of Jesus' Messiahship ever arose. The Jews who made this translation, living much closer to the times of Isaiah than we do today, translated Isaiah 7:14 using the Greek word parthenos which very clearly and exclusively means a virgin. There can therefore be no doubt that the unique event which God is promising as a sign is the miraculous conception of a son by a girl who is still a virgin. Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14 (NASB) To Return To Menorah's Web Page To Return To To Life - L'Chaim Find Eternal Life Web Page To Return To Who Is Yeshua Jesus Web Page

Biblical presentation of the three members of the Godhead Is Jesus the Father and the Holy Spirit? “Jesus Only-Jesus is the Father and the Holy Spirit” ????? Modalism first surfaced in the third century in the writings of Sabella's and Paul of Samosata. This heretical view denies there are three distinct persons in God, claiming instead there is only one being who manifests Himself in three different modes. Modern Oneness Pentecostals garner support for their modalistic view by interpreting Matthew28:19 in conjunction with Acts 2:38. In Matthew 28:19 Jesus instructed the disciples: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (emphasis added).1 In Acts 2:38, however, Peter instructed his listeners: “Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (emphasis added). Oneness Pentecostals2 conclude that Jesus Himself must be the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, because they claim that “Jesus” is the “one name that refers to three titles of one God.”3 They then assert that the apostles correctly fulfilled Christ’s command to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19) by baptizing converts in the name of Jesus only (Acts 2:38;8:16;10:48); hence, a Trinitarian baptism is invalid. The phrase “in the name of Jesus” must be pronounced over the person being baptized. It is difficult to know where to begin in evaluating Oneness Pentecostal hermeneutics. It is certainly not like looking through a telescope at a single hermeneutic problem, but more like looking into a kaleidoscope, for there are many interrelated hermeneutic problems that, when combined, only serve to distort biblical Christianity (2 Pet.3:16). In what follows, I demonstrate that Oneness Pentecostals are “serial offenders” where it concerns violating some of the fundamental rules of hermeneutics. Holding Illegitimate Preunderstandings. A theological “preunderstanding” is a doctrinal opinion one has previously formed. The danger for Bible interpreters is that their interpretations easily can be biased by their theological preunderstandings. Oneness Pentecostals unfortunately approach the whole of Scripture with the preunderstanding of the Oneness doctrine, and it distorts their view of many Scripture verses, including Matthew 28:19 and Acts 2:38. The International Council on Biblical Inerrancy provides this helpful corrective: “We affirm that any preunderstandings which the interpreter brings to Scripture should be in harmony with scriptural teaching and subject to correction by it. We deny that Scripture should be required to fit alien preunderstandings, inconsistent with itself.”4 The point of this affirmation is to avoid interpreting Scripture through an alien grid or filter that obscures or negates its true message. To avoid misinterpreting Scripture, interpreters must be careful to examine their presuppositions in the light of Scripture. Only those preunderstandings that are compatible with Scripture are legitimate. Inappropriately Cross-Referencing Verses. It is inappropriate to draw theological conclusions from cross-referenced verses without giving due consideration to what other explicit and clear verses reveal on the matter. For example, Isaiah 14:12 identifies Lucifer as the “morning star.” Revelation 22:16 identifies Jesus as the “morning star.” Ignoring other relevant verses, one inappropriately could conclude that Jesus is the Devil. Oneness Pentecostals are guilty of inappropriate cross-referencing in their treatment of Matthew 28:19 and Acts 2:38. One must recognize that the theological inferences one draws from comparing cross references are legitimate only to the extent that they reflect the teachings of explicit and clear Scripture verses on the matter.5 This is precisely where Oneness Pentecostals go wrong. Not Interpreting Difficult Verses in Light of Clear Verses. It is common sense that one must interpret difficult verses in light of the clear verses of Scripture. Martin Luther expressed this principle with the words, Scriptura sui ipsius interpres—Latin for “Scripture is its own expositor.” The Westminster Confession of Faith perhaps put it best: “When there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture… it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly.”6 Contrary to the Oneness preunderstanding of modalism, many clear Scripture verses indicate that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct persons. We know the Father is a person because He engages in I-Thou (direct, interpersonal, mutual, reciprocal, and loving)7 relations with the other persons in the Trinity (John 3:35), and has the attributes of personality: intellect (Matt. 6:8), emotions (Gen. 6:6; Ps. 86:15), and will (Matt. 12:50). The Son likewise engages in I-Thou relations (John 11:41-42), and possesses intellect (John 2:24–25), emotions (Matt. 9:36; John 11:35), and will (Luke 22:42). The Holy Spirit also engages in I-Thou relations (Acts 8:29), and possesses intellect (Rom. 8:27; 1Cor. 2:10–11), emotions (Isa. 63:10; Eph. 4:30), and will (1Cor. 12:11). Scripture, moreover, affirms that these persons are distinct from each other. We know Jesus is not the Father because the Father sent the Son (John 3:16–17). The Father and Son love each other (John 3:35) and speak to each other (John 11:41–42). The Father knows the Son and the Son knows the Father (Matt. 11:27). Jesus is our advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1). They are two distinct witnesses (John 5:31,32,37). We also know Jesus is not the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is another comforter (John 14:16). Jesus sent the Holy Spirit (John 15:26). The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus (Luke 3:22) and seeks to glorify Jesus (John 16:13–14). What all this means is that however one reconciles Matthew 28:19 with Acts 2:38, it is not an option to say Jesus is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for clear verses in Scripture render such a view impossible. As the Reformers put it in their principle, analogia scriptura, if an interpretation of a particular verse contradicts a truth taught elsewhere in Scripture, the interpretation of that verse cannot be correct. Ignoring Context. In the broader context of the New Testament, Jesus considers the Father as someone other than Himself hundreds of times. In fact, the New Testament describes the Father and Son as distinct from each other within the very same verse dozens of times (e.g., Rom. 15:6; 2 Cor. 1:4; Gal. 1:2, 3).8 This broad context alone sets the interpretive parameters beyond which one is not free to go, effectively prohibiting anyone from claiming that Jesus is the Father. In terms of immediate context, Matthew’s gospel is solidly Trinitarian. There is one God (Matt. 4:10;16:16;22:32,37). The Father is God (6:6,9,14–15;10:32–33;11:25), Jesus is God (1:23;9:6;11:27;12:8;16:27;19:28;25:31;26:64), and the Holy Spirit is God (1:18,20;10:20;12:18,28,32). Within the unity of the one God are three persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (28:19). All three persons of the Trinity, moreover, were present (and distinct from each other) at Jesus’ baptism (3:16–17). In view of this, it makes good sense that Jesus, before ascending into heaven, would instruct the disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for each played a pivotal role in human salvation. The context of Acts 2 is different. Here, baptism “in the name of Jesus” makes good sense because the Jews—“men of Judea” (v.14), “men of Israel” (v.22)—to whom Peter was preaching had rejected Christ as the Messiah. It is logical that Peter would call on them to repent of their rejection of Jesus the Messiah (vv.22–37) then invite them to identify with Him publicly via baptism (v.38). Using Faulty Exegesis. Proper exegesis of Matthew 28:19 reveals two pivotal facts about the nature of God: (1) The singular form of “name” indicates that God is one, and that His nature is singular (one divine essence); and (2) Within the unity of this one God are three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, something given strong emphasis in the original Greek with the three recurring definite articles before Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.9 Word studies also reveal that the phrase “in the name of” often meant “by the authority of” in biblical times. Acts2:38 thus indicates that the Jews to whom Peter was speaking were to be baptized according to the authority of Jesus. The verse does not mean that the words “in the name of Jesus” must be pronounced liturgically over each person being baptized. If Acts 2:38 were intended to be a precise baptismal formula, one must ask why this formula is never repeated in exactly the same way throughout the rest of Acts or the New Testament. In different verses, people are exhorted to be baptized “on [Greek: epi] the name of…” (Acts2 :38), “into [Greek: eis] the name of…” (Acts 8:16), or “in [Greek: en] the name of…” Jesus Christ (Acts 10:48). Such variations militate against an unbending baptismal formula. It is entirely possible that being baptized in the authority of Jesus essentially amounts to being baptized by the baptism authorized by Jesus—one in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). A.T. Robertson comments: “In Acts the full name of the Trinity does not occur in baptism as in Matthew 28:19, but this does not show that it was not used. The name of Jesus Christ is the distinctive one in Christian baptism and really involves the Father and the Spirit.”10 In keeping with this, some scholars have suggested that Acts 2:38 may contain what is called asynecdoche of the part—a figure of speech in which the part stands for the whole. Such figures of speech were common in biblical times. For example, the term face can refer to a whole person (1 Kings 10:24; Job 11:19), field can represent a whole country (1 Sam. 27:7), and day can refer to an indefinite time period (Ps. 18:18).11 It may be, then, that “the apostles indeed did use the full formula [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit], but simply referred to the act of baptism by the shorter phrase ‘in the name of Jesus Christ’…in common with the wider practice of that day of being baptized ‘in the name’ of one’s spiritual teacher, as John’s disciples were ([Acts] 19:3).”12 Whether or not this is so, the hermeneutic principles summarized above decisively debunk the Oneness view that Jesus is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Scripture consistently testifies that Jesus is the second person of the blessed Trinity, the eternal Son of the eternal Father, and the blessed One who came to earth to reveal the Father to humankind (John 1:1,14,18; cf.14:9–14). — Ron Rhodes NOTES 1. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible. 2. Oneness Pentecostalism, distinct from mainstream Pentecostalism, is similar to other cults in its denial of the Trinity. It is different from other cults, however, in its strong insistence on the absolute deity of Jesus Christ, holding that Jesus is the one true God who manifests himself in three modes. 3. Brent Graves, The God of Two Testaments (Hazelwood, MO: Word Aflame Press, 2000), 297. 4. Norman Geisler, Explaining Hermeneutics (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 14–15. 5. Gregory Boyd, Oneness Pentecostals and the Trinity (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992), 85. Note that while Boyd offers sound arguments against Oneness Pentecostalism in this book, he elsewhere expresses belief in open theism, an unorthodox view. 6. Westminster Confession of Faith, 1:9. 7. Jewish existentialist Martin Buber (1878–1965), in his book I and Thou (1923), made the phrase “I-Thou” famous, distinguishing this type of relationship from an “I-It” relationship. In this article, I use the term in a simple, nonformal sense to speak of direct, interpersonal, mutual, reciprocal, and loving relationships between persons. 8. Boyd, 68. 9. Daniel Wallace, The Basics of New Testament Syntax (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 94. 10. A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Logos Software, emphasis added. 11. See original Hebrew. 12. Jerome Smith, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, Logos Software, insert added This article first appeared in the Practical Hermeneutics column of the Christian Research Journal, volume31, number 2 (2008). For further information: http://www.equip.org Dating of Matthew 28:19 and the Trinity www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/q_mt28_19.htm To return to The Real Jesus Page To return to Menorah's Home Page

The Messianic Jewish movement started when Messiah Jesus came. Four article presenty its meaning, why is exists, Messianic Gentiles, and the beginnings of the movement with Messiah Jesus-Yeshus. THE MESSIANIC JEWISH MOVEMENT 4 Articles W h a t - I s - I t ??? an explanation by a Jewish Christian, Messianic Pastor Burt Yellin Hudson Taylor was the first successful missionary from Europe to bring the Gospel to the people of China. Why did he succeed when others failed? Because he realized that it wasn't necessary to force European culture upon the Chinese as a part of the Gospel. He even adapted Chinese culture into his own life-style. Despite his success, he was despised by the other missionaries for "compromising" the Gospel for not making Western culture part and parcel of the "Gospel." There is much "alien" culture that surrounds Gentile Christianity, which makes it unpalatable to most Jewish people. Jews will nearly always reject the Gentile Jesus as being the Messiah, but will much more readily accept the Jewish Yeshua(Jesus) as being their Messiah. Most Messianic Jews are much more "zealous for the Law (Torah)" than their Gentile Christian counterparts. In this, they are following the example of the first century Messianic Jew, who were also "zealous for Torah" (Acts 15:19-21; 21:17-27). Most Messianic Jews refrain from calling themselves Christians. which is Greek terminology? They prefer more hebraic terms, such as Messianic Jews. The first use of the term Christian was in Antioch, among the Gentile believers (Acts 11:26). Rav Shaul (Paul), as a Jew, simply preferred to say. "I am a Jew." The sect of Jewish believers in Yeshua was also called "the Way," not to be confused with the modern cult of the same name (Acts 24:14;22). The Jewish believers were also called Nazarenes, not to be confused with the modern Christian denomination of the same name. Messianic Jews recognize the seventh day--Saturday--as being the Sabbath (Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:8- 11; 32:12-17). The Sabbath is even mentioned more in the New Testament than all the other days of the week combined. There is no mention in the Scripture of the Sabbath being changed to any other day of the week---a fact recognized by the Catholic Church. Although there are various levels of observance of the Shabbat (Sabbath) among Messianic Jews, the Shabbat is still the day of choice for worshipping the Most High. lt is also seen as the perpetual sign spoken of in Exodus. (31:13-16)--pointing back to the original state of the creation---and forward to the time spoken of by the author of Hebrews (4:3) when, ...we who have believed do enter into a Sabbath rest (Shabbat Shabbaton). Messianic Jews still observe the rite of circumcision. This is part of the Abrahamic covenant for all the physical descendants of Abraham (Genesis 17:9-14). This practice is not forced upon Gentiles (1 Corinthians 7: 17-20). Messianic Jews observe the Jewish (and Biblical) High Holy Days prescribed in Leviticus 23, which were ordained to be celebrated as a perpetual statute throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places...forever Leviticus 23:14; 21; 31; 41 Messianic Jews tend to observe Biblical Kashrut (laws of clean and unclean meals---Leviticus 11; Deuteronomy 14). Messianic Jews tend to observe a New Covenant lifestyle----I will put My Law (Torah) within them and on their heart I will write it… Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:8-10. Torah is eternal and not abolished, per Yeshua (Matthew. 5:17-19). Sin is defined as the transgression of that Law (1 John 3:4). In addition, Messianic Jews follow, and have found great value in many of the traditions of our people. Ours is a heritage rich and full, and our history is indeed, the history of God's people. Yeshua did not condemn these traditions. but rather commanded that they not be exalted above the commandments of God (Mark 7:6-8). We are careful to follow what our Lord commanded. Lastly, it must be understood that we are saved by faith in the blood atonement provided by Yeshua, and not on the basis of our own righteousness or good deeds (which as a means of atonement falls far short Isaiah 64:5-6; Ecclesiastics 7:20). It is wrong and unscriptural to force Gentile church culture upon the Jewish people as a requirement for believing in their own Messiah. While it is right and proper for other cultures to be allowed to practice their culture after coming to faith in Yeshua, much of Jewish culture comes directly from the Scriptures, and has a firm Biblical foundation lacking in other cultures. The situation was very different in the First century. Then the question was, "How can a Gentile believe in the Jewish Messiah? Shouldn't he convert to Judaism first?" Some Messianic Jews were saying to the Gentiles, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." others said, "It is necessary to circumcise them, and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses" (Acts 15:1, 5). The Council at Jerusalem decided that the Gentiles did not have to convert to Judaism to believe in the Jewish Messiah (Acts 15:19-21; 28-19). Properly observed, Messianic Judaism has no middle wall of partition (Ephesians 2:14) separating Jewish believers from Gentile believers. Most Messianic assemblies have a large percentage of Gentiles. Most of these Gentiles love Israel and the Jewish people, and have adopted a Jewish expression of their faith in Messiah Yeshua. lt is in Messianic Judaism that we find a most wonderful fulfillment of Scripture---in that all, Jew and Gentile, male and female. bond and free---are seen worshiping the Holy One Of Israel in Spirit and in Truth. To return to Messianic Jewish Movement Page To return to Menorah's Video Page To return to MENORAH'S HOME PAGE WHY MESSIANIC JEWS? Rachmiel Frydiand To ask why we are Jews is to ask why a bagel is a bagel. A bagel tastes like a bagel and not like a doughnut, although one bagel hater defined a bagel as a doughnut dipped in cement. Now a Jew is a Jew, because he was born a Jew and because he wants to be a Jew. In most cases even if he does not want to be one, he will be compelled to admit it; otherwise, others will point a finger at him, asking, "Aren't you Jewish?" The term Jew is related to Judah, Jacob’s fourth son from Leah. Judah (Yehuda in Hebrew) means praise to the Lord. His mother Leah wanted thus to express her gratitude to the Lord for giving her this fourth son. The descendants of Judah were aware of this derivation, and sometimes were reminded of it by descendants of other tribes challenging them to live up to their name. We have to admit that some Jews succeeded in assimilating with their Gentile neighbors through intermarriage, change of name, and denial of their identity. Usually it was a long ardent process and took several generations to achieve. On the other hand, there were groups and individuals who, though not descendants of Judah or from any of the other tribes of Israel, succeeded in their efforts at being absorbed into the people called Jews. This was not easy. The people of Shechem wanted to do it and even went through the full rite of circumcision of every male, yet were slaughtered and never succeeded to penetrate the hermetically sealed tribes of Israel (Genesis 34). Sometimes those attempting to join them gave them trouble, like the "mixed multitude" of Exodus 12:38, and the Gibeonites of Joshua 9. However, in most other cases these nonJewish groups seem to have been gradually absorbed and assimilated into the Jewish body by intermarriage. Large influxes took place in the Persian period, as reported in the book of Esther in the Bible, and in the Maccabean period, when whole tribes under threat of extermination, preferred circumcision. The most prominent are the Khazar tribes of the present central Russia who accepted Judaism. The story of their conversion was described and popularized by the famous philosopher/poet Yehuda Halevi. Today, both in Israel and in the Diaspora, Rabbis are working hard at teaching and preparing prospective converts to Judaism. In some cases, at least, these converts are absorbed into the Jewish mainstream by intermarriage. Messianic Jews Among the 14 million Jewish people there is a group of perhaps twenty or thirty thousand people, born Jews, who believe in the Torah and the rest of the Tanakh and practice Jewish customs and religion. They also believe in Jesus. Some, if not most of them, prefer to call Him by His Jewish name, Yeshua. Although small in number, they are a vocal group, constantly challenging the Jewish spiritual and secular authorities with their presence, demanding recognition as Jews. It would be easiest for these Jewish believers, among whom is also the writer of these lines, to accept the advice of rabbinic leaders and put aside our belief in Jesus. The Jewish authorities work very hard to achieve it. Organizations and individuals spend their time and hundreds and thousands of dollars towards this end. Among the best known are the Peilim, Karen Yeladdenu, supported by the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Israel, and many more who do it as a full or part time job. Why do Messianic Jews resist? What lies behind their obstinacy, not only continuing to believe themselves but also spreading their faith to others? The answer as we see it is spiritual. This spiritual aspect can be summarized as follows: Prophecies Demand It We believe in Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah because He alone gives sense to the words of our Jewish prophets. There is Isaiah 53 with its minute description of the suffering servant who was despised and rejected, afflicted with pain and stripes, by whose "stripes we are healed." He then dies, is buried, yet is revived and suffers all this "for the affliction of my (Isaiah the prophet's) people." All this can best be applied to one person only - Yeshua of Nazareth. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 98) teaches that this chapter refers to Messiah. The Targum of Jonathan begins the passage with the words Ha yatslakh avdee Mashikha, "Behold my servant the Messiah shall prosper. ..” Common sense says it must refer to Jesus. The same goes for many other prophecies which speak of the time of His birth, like Daniel 9:26: And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself; and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary ... (The city and sanctuary were destroyed A.D. 70. Messiah had to come and be cut off before then.) The manner of His birth in a supernatural way is recorded in Isaiah 7:14: Behold the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 9:6 (5 in Heb.) says: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. The place of his birth is foretold by Micah, the prophet in verse 5:2 (5:1 in Hebrew): But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. The manner of His death is found both in Psalm 2 2:17, "they pierced my hands and my feet" (Masoretic text - "Like a lion they are at my hands and my feet"), and in Zechariah 12:10, "They shall look unto me whom they have pierced," which the Talmud in Sukkah 52 applies to Messiah ben Joseph. We have heard arguments against His Messianic claims by the fact that some prophecies like Isaiah 2 (breaking swords into plowshares) and Isaiah 11 Lamb and lion dwelling together) have not been fulfilled as yet and that our explanations for a future fulfillment by His second coming creates too long a hiatus (of close to 2,000 years). But what is 2,000 years in the sight of God, waiting patiently for His people to respond and accept His Anointed One - Yeshua, ben Elohim? PERSONAGE SPOTLESS We hold on to our faith because of the spotless Person He was. His contemporaries testified of Him that "He doeth all things well" (Mark 7:37). He could challenge his contemporaries saying to them, which of you convicteth me of sin? and they held their peace. Some modern Jewish and non-Jewish scholars point out His lack of originality in many of His sayings. Would it have been better if He had contradicted the words of the prophets? Others assert that His teaching is too idealistic (e.g., the turning of the other cheek), and therefore impractical. But who can find fault in a Man who constantly goes from the South to the North of Israel, then Judea and Samaria, doing good, healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, opening the eyes of the blind, unstopping the ears of the deaf, making the lame to walk again and preaching the Good News of salvation to the poor, the needy, and the outcast? Rejected by the leading Pharisees and by the High Priests, He died a martyr's death by crucifixion at the hands of the cruel Roman soldiers. But this is not the end of the story, for His 12 disciples plus a number of others see Him alive after He died and proclaim Him the risen Savior. For this assertion nearly all of them had to pay with their lives, dying like their master a cruel death from the hands of pagans and of unbelieving Jewish leaders. Yet these believing Jews never flinched. They knew for sure that He is alive. PERSONALITIES OF HIS FOLLOWERS We are convinced that He is Messiah because of the transformation in the personalities of His followers. Who could transform Simon Bar Yonah, the fisherman on the shores of Galilee, to become the leader of Messianic Jews in Israel and abroad, and finally to be acknowledged the first bishop and highest authority next to Jesus by millions of people of the whole world? What about Saul of Tarsus, convinced that he, with the letters he had from the High Priest, would completely knock out all belief in Jesus? He met the risen Yeshua on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus (Acts 9) and from a persecutor of the Gospel he became a proclaimer of the Good News. He himself was greatly persecuted by unbelieving people everywhere until he finally died a martyr's death at the hands of the Romans in the time of Nero. PEOPLE WHO ACCEPTED HIM From the first book, Bereshit, to the last prophet in the Tonach, Malachi, the Messiah's activity involves "the people" or the nations. Yaacov Aveenoo foresees it and says: The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be. Genesis 49:10 Isaiah the prophet sees Him as the root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to Him shall the Gentiles see. (Isaiah 11:10 In Isaiah 49:6 Messiah is proclaimed with these words: It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob,and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. Malachi says of Him (1:11): For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles. PEACE THAT MESSIAH GIVES Jewish believers in Messiah Yeshua found that only in Him they have rest, peace, and satisfaction. They heard Messiah's invitation, Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest Matthew 11:28. They verified it in their own lives. They read the record of His promise, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27. They found Messiah to be the Great Gentleman who always keeps His promise. The result is that we can say together with one of the first hosidim of Messiah Yeshua, Simon bar Jonah, called Simon Peter: Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art the Messiah, the Ben Elohim. John 6:68-69 How about you? Have you received your Redeemer, the Stone whom the builders rejected? In Him is life, light and joy and in His sacrifice is forgiveness of sin. Reprinted from The American Messianic Jewish Quarterly Reprinted with permission of The Messianic Literature Outreach To return to Messianic Jewish Movement Page To return to MENORAH'S HOME PAGE A M e s s i a n i c G e n t i l e In A Messianic Jewish Congregation by Don Dal y What is a Messianic Gentile?!! That seems like such a strange term. Perhaps the meaning of the term will become clearer as we attempt to clarify the meaning of "Messianic Jewish". It is generally understood that being Jewish means being a descendent of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and it implies being a follower of Judaism and its practices. In another sense, it is applied to anyone who has joined himself to the people of Israel through ritual conversion, including circumcision for men. The term "Messianic" (i.e. "of Messiah or Christ") refers to anyone, Jew or gentile, who has chosen to follow the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). Scripturally, the term "gentile' refers to someone who was born of non-Jewish parents and who did not a dentify himself with Israel through ritual conversion and circumcision. Thus, a "Messianic gentile" could be applied to anyone who was born of non-Jewish parents and who is a follower of Yeshua. Most Messianic gentiles have chosen to worship the Lord in a setting that is largely devoid of any Jewish [culture]- - - -the traditional church. There is, however a small but growing group of gentiles who have left the gentilized form of Christianity to join with their Jewish brothers who worship the Messiah of Israel in an original Jewish way. They have found that in returning to the Jewish roots of their faith they have achieved a deeper understanding and a more fulfilling expression of their faith. Many of these gentiles live out their faith in a Jewish context, celebrating in their own homes the Jewish holidays as fulfilled by Yeshua. They often keep Biblical kashrut (Kosher laws) and other customs freely and without legalism, as a way to worship the Lord. We see in the New Covenant that Messianic gentiles have met every requirement to be accepted as full spiritual partners with their Jewish brethren in the Messianic faith. "Do not lose sight of the fact that you were born 'gentiles'..., utter strangers to God's chosen community, Israel; and you had no knowledge of, or right to, the promised agreements [covenants] ... But now, through the blood of the Messiah, you are with us inside the circle of God's love ...... (Ephesians 2:11-13, Phillips). Furthermore, Acts 15:23-29 makes it clear that in order to become a child of God, a gentile does not need to undergo conversion rites to Judaism. In fact, Rav Shaul (Paul) takes it one step further - - - - Messianic gentiles should remain as they are and not seek to become part of Israel in the flesh. (I Corinthians 7:18-24) We who are gentile participants in the Messianic Jewish faith are not second class citizens, but are equal partners with our Jewish brethren. As equal partners, however, we must share the vision of a culturally Jewish expression of faith and an outreach that reaches the Jew first, as well as the unsaved gentile. After all, there is an abundance of places of worship where the faith is expressed in a culturally gentile context. Those who are uncomfortable in a Messianic Jewish context can fellowship there. In summary , although it is improper and inaccurate to claim a Jewish lineage if we are gentiles, it is good to share how we too have come to faith because of our relationship with the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua. When unbelieving Jewish people hear of our zealousness for the Jewishness of our faith, and our excitement over the Jewish Messiah, it can provoke them to jealousy. We trust that they will see that Yeshua is not the "gentile god," but the "Redeemer of Israel." B e g i n n i n g s When the early ministry of Jesus was finished there remained as the fruits of his teaching a number of Jews who were convinced that he was their expected Messiah. Between these Jewish believers distributed among the towns and villages of Israel, little or no connection at first existed. Their life remained unaltered; they worshipped in the synagogues with their fellow Jews, and were distinguished only by their adherence to the Galilean Wonder-Worker, whose claims they no doubt pressed as occasion offered. The driving force of the future Nazarene sect was concentrated in a small body of the Messiah's most intimate friends and some members of his family, who, according to the account in Acts, took up residence in Jerusalem in anticipation of his speedy and glorious return. This was the fundamental and the inspiration of their teaching--the resurrection and ascension of the Messiah and his coming again in due season to re-establish the kingdom of God and of Israel. This was their belief, and the power of it, that invested the original community of humble persons with dignity and confidence of the Gospel, the Good News! Selected notes from The History of Jewish Christianity, Hugh Schonfield 5 out of 5 stars AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT HISTORICAL WORK ON THE EARLY "MESSIANIC" MOVEMENT These days, if Hugh Schonfield is remembered, it's as the author of The Passover Plot: Special 40th Anniversary Edi-tion (1965), a somewhat lurid tale of Jesus deliberately attempting to fulfill the Messianic prophecies and convince people he was the Messiah; only the "plot" failed, when a soldier stuck a spear into his side while on the cross. But believe it or not, in his earlier days, Schonfield (1901-1988)---who was Jewish---was a "Jewish Christian"; what would nowadays be termed a "Messianic Jew" (or formerly, a "Hebrew Christian"). All of Schonfield's earlier works re-flect this orientation (e.g., The Authentic New Testament, The Bible Was Right: New Light on the New Testament, An Old Hebrew Text of St. Matthew's GospelSaints Against Caesar: The Rise and Reactions of the First Christian Communi-ty, The Jew of Tarsus,: An unorthodox portrait of Paul, etc.). Much of Schonfield's earlier work (such as the book on Paul) are forgettable, nowadays; but his "History of Jewish Christianity" is a real diamond, and it's wonderful to see it back in print, in ANY form. The importance of this book is even recognized by modern evangelical Messianic Jews (who are utterly repulsed by Schonfield's later books). Schon-field notes that "A few Christian scholars who have been at pains to study the subject have deplored the lack of any text book to which the student could turn ... Clearly, then, the gap is there to be filled." Schonfield's book fills this gap admirably---at least, through the 1936 date of its publication. The book begins with a survey of Jesus' disciples themselves (Schonfield notes, for example, that "Paul himself re-mained an observant Jew to the end of his life"), and continues through the New Testament period, as well as the later writings professing to be Biblical, but not included in any Biblical canon, the Bible, and Talmudic works (the collection of ancient Jewish writings that forms the basis of Jewish religious law, consisting of the early scriptural interpretations). However, with the rise of the Roman Empire, Schonfield notes that "Jewish Christianity never regained its position of authority in the affairs of the Church." He notes that from this point, the Christian Church's position towards Jews in Europe "was less by reason and charity and more by compulsion, intimidation and active violence." Many Jews (such as the Marranos in Spain) were "forcibly" converted. Nevertheless, Schonfield notes that "sincere Jewish Christians ... must always be distinguished from Christianized Jews." There were even Jewish mystics such as Jacob Frank (Schonfield says that "Undoubtedly there is a place in the Christian Church for the Jewish mystic") and the Chassidic movement, whom he treats sympathetically. Most modern readers, however, will be most interested in his account of the earliest "missions to the Jews" among Protestants ("The debt of Jewish Christianity to the modern Protestant missions is indeed an overwhelming one"), as well as the rise of voluntary Jewish conversions beginning in the 19th century, and the later formation of associations such as the "Beni Abraham association," the "Hebrew Christian Prayer Union," and the "Israelites of the New Cove-nant," as well as the formation of worshipping congregations under men like Joseph Rabinowitz. For persons interested in Messianic Judaism, the history of the Christian Church, or even the history of Jews, this book---though old---is fascinating reading, and very helpful. Highly recommended! Steven H Propp To return to Messianic Jewish Movement Page To return to MENORAH'S HOME PAGE

Historical and Biblical discussion if God has forsaken His people Israel Has God Forsaken His People? _ Replacement Theology_ by Dr. Michael Brown— Some things are non-negotiable. God’s covenant with Israel is one of them. How could He have made Himself more clear? He gave His oath to Abram, and reiterated it six more times to Abraham, to his son Isaac and to his grandson Jacob. On one occasion, “When God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself” (Hebrews 6:13). Why did God speak so decisively? It was because He “wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, [so] He confirmed it with an oath’ (Hebrews 6:17). God Who cannot lie bound Himself by an oath! His covenant with Israel was reiterated through Moses, repeated by the prophets and rehearsed by the psalmists. Jesus Himself affirmed it (Matthew 19:28), Paul articulated it (Romans 9-11) and the gates of the New Jerusalem announce it forever (Revelation 21:11-12). God has chosen Israel as His covenant people. What if Israel broke the covenant? What would then happen to them? Listen to these unmistakably clear truths: “Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished” (Jeremiah 30:11). God will completely destroy other nations, but He will not completely destroy Israel! He treats His people differently from other people; they are judged more strictly, but they will never be wiped out. No matter what Israel does, God will never forsake them as a distinct people. In Jeremiah 31:31-34, the Lord declares that He will make a new covenant with Israel and Judah. But He doesn’t stop there. It’s as if He’s saying, “Now, don’t get me wrong! Don’t think that this new covenant means that I’m abandoning My people. No!” This is what the LORD says, He who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar – the LORD Almighty is His name: “Only if these decrees vanish from My sight,” declares the LORD, “will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before Me.” This is what the LORD says: “Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,” declares the LORD (Jeremiah. 31:35-37). As long as there is a sun, moon, stars, earth, and sea, there will be a distinct people of Israel – no matter what they do. It’s God’s promise! It’s true! “Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I shall remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him, I have great compassion for him, ” declares the Lord (Jeremiah 31:20) Look at how relevant God’s prophetic word is to our day and age. For centuries the Church, in arrogance, because of ignorance, claimed that she alone was the true Israel, that she had replaced the ancient covenant people. The Church taught that it was the Christians alone who were the true Jews. (How strange that these Christians were not claiming to be Jewish during the Holocaust!) The Church taught emphatically that the physical people of Israel (those who were ethnically Jewish and those who joined the nation through conversion to Judaism) were eternally rejected. This is not some worn-out old doctrine. It is on the increase again in our day. Yet the Lord is not surprised. Twenty-five hundred years ago, He already addressed this issue: The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: Have you not noticed that these people are saying, ‘The LORD has rejected the two kingdoms He chose?’ So they despise My people and no longer regard them as a nation. This is what the LORD says: ‘If I have not established My covenant with day and night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth, then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them’ Jeremiah 33:23-26 People are still murmuring against Israel and despising the people and the nation. God’s answer is still the same: “I will never reject them!” What exactly did God promise Abraham and his descendants? How long are His promises good? Psalm 105 has the answer for us. He remembers His covenant forever, the word He commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the oath He swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit” (Psalm 105:8-11). Did God make himself clear? The Scriptures speak of God’s covenant, the word He commanded, His oath which He confirmed as a decree forever, for a thousand generations, as an everlasting covenant. The Lord is trying to make a point! Not only did He promise to bless Abraham and make him into a great nation; not only did He promise to multiply his seed; not only did He promise to make him the father of many nations; not only did He promise to bless those who blessed him and curse those who cursed him; He also promised Abraham the land of Canaan, with clearly defined borders, as an everlasting inheritance to his natural descendants – until this earth is no more. Amazingly, some teachers have tried to get out of this perpetual land promise to Israel. They claim that in the New Testament, neither Jesus nor the apostles ever reiterate this particular aspect of the covenant. But why should they reiterate it? When almost all of the New Testament was being written, about one million Jews were living in the Land, Jerusalem was the spiritual and national capitol and the Temple was still standing. And Jesus made it clear that, despite Jerusalem’s soon-coming destruction – a destruction that would last “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” – He would come back to a Jewish Jerusalem (Luke 21:24; Matthew 23:37-39). Obviously Jews would be in the Land! But there is another reason why Jesus and the apostles did not explicitly stress the land promise to their people. The specifics of God’s covenant with the patriarchs were so clearly stated in the Scriptures that it would have been a waste of words to repeat them all! David Brown, the respected nineteenth century Bible commentator, was correct when he said: “What is permanent in the kingdom of God under the Old Testament is PRESUMED in the New.” And let all believers who question Israel’s rights to the Land, based on the New Testament, take note of this: The New Testament doesn’t state that Israel would be exiled from the Land either! Both of these Old Testament truths, Israel’s scattering and Israel’s regathering, are presumed in the New. The covenant God made with Israel is just like the covenant He made with David. The Lord declared to David that He would establish a lasting dynasty for him. He gave this promise to David’s son who would succeed him on the throne: When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. But My love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before Me; your throne will be established forever (2 Samuel 7:14-16) What a wonderful word! In spite of David’s terrible sin and Solomon’s tragic backsliding, in spite of the godlessness of Davidic kings like Ahaz and Manasseh, the kingdom would never be taken from his physical descendants. When the kingdom was divided and God gave Jeroboam the ten northern tribes, He did so to humble David’s descendants, “but not forever” (1 Kings 11:39). He still left one tribe with the sons of David, “so that David My servant may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put My Name” (1 Kings 11:36). The King of kings and Lord of lords is a direct descendant of David! God was faithful to keep His word to David, and He is just as faithful to keep His word to Israel. His covenant with Abraham is just as unconditional and everlasting as His covenant with David. Read Genesis 15 carefully. In ancient days, that is how covenants were made. Sacrificial animals were cut in two and their severed bodies placed in two lines. Both parties entering into the covenant would then walk between the carcasses. By doing so they were symbolically saying, “If I break this binding agreement, if I fail to uphold my side of the pact, then let me suffer the same fate that these animals have suffered.” But something was different in Genesis 15. Only God passed through the pieces! This was a one-way deal (see Genesis 15:17-21) The Land belonged to other nations. But at the proper time it would be given to Abraham’s seed. If they violated the terms of the covenant – especially as expressed through Moses – then they would be punished and even driven temporarily from the Land. But just as God’s word to David stands firm, His word to Abraham endures, no matter what Israel does. This is what He said through Moses. When the Israelites are…in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking My covenant with them. I am the LORD their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the LORD (Leviticus 26:44-45; see also Deuteronomy 4:27, 30-31) Even today, when “As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on [our] account; [yet] as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28-29). Could anything be more plain? Right now the great majority of the Jewish people are our “enemies” as far as the gospel is concerned. They reject our message (the Orthodox Jews reject it most strongly), and some even actively oppose it. As individuals, they forfeit their covenant blessings when they turn from Jesus the Messiah. But as a people, they are still elect and loved “on account of the patriarchs.” Otherwise, God’s promises have no meaning and election has no significance. “Abraham, I’m swearing by Myself, I’m putting My reputation on the line. I will bless your offspring always – no matter what. (But I may replace them with someone else one day!)” That is not the Lord that we serve. God’s covenant with Abraham is just as unconditional and everlasting as His covenant with the Church. The Lord “saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy” (Titus 3:5). Praise God, we were chosen by grace! But we are not the only recipients of the Lord’s unmerited favor. To Israel, Moses said: The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt (Deuteronomy 7:7-8). Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? God’s covenants with Israel and with the Church are based on His promise, not our performance. Old Testament Israel and the New Testament Church both stood, and still stand, by grace. Both received God’s eternal promises. Together we make up the family of God: The faithful ones of Israel and the chosen ones from every nation become one new man out of the two, one body, one people. “For through Him [Jesus!] we both have access to the Father by one Spirit” (Ephesians 2:18). Great is the wisdom of God. This is not what the Muslims believe. It is a fundamental tenet of the Koran that both Israel and the Church failed. Moses was a prophet. Jesus was a prophet. But Muhammad was the seal of the prophets, the messenger of the final revelation. The Jews are not the people of God – they failed! The Christians are not the people of God – they failed! It is Muslims who are the people of God. Of course, this is preposterous. But, in the event that you are still uncertain about the calling of Israel, consider this simple truth: If God could forsake Israel, in spite of His unconditional, everlasting promises, then He could forsake the Church! If God could replace Israel, in spite of His unconditional, everlasting promises, then He could replace the Church! So, if you hold to a theology that says, “God has forsaken physical Israel,” or “The Church has replaced Israel,” you had better be extremely careful. Maybe the Koran is right! Excerpted from Michael L. Brown, Our Hands are Stained with Blood, chapter 12 www.askdrbrown.org To Return To Bible…… Torah God’s Instructions Page To Return To Israel God's Plan Page To Return To Menorah’s Web Page

God does hear all prayers but especially those of Believers in Jesus. But it is clear God hears all prayers, though He only answers according to His will. This is true whether the person is a devout believer, a "sinning" believer, or not a believer. First John 5:14-15 tells us that God answers prayers based on whether they are asked according to His will. This principle, perhaps, applies to unbelievers. If an unbeliever asks a prayer of God that is according to His will, no Ask Pastor Reuben Does God hear/answer the prayers of a sinner/unbeliever? S H A L O M ! ______ A MESSIANIC JEWISH SCRIPTURAL VIEW ______ Biblical Question: Dear Pastor Reuben, Does God hear/answer the prayers of a sinner/unbeliever? I appreciate your thoughts on this. Blessings, Daniel Pastor Reuben's Answer: Shalom Daniel Answer: John 9:31 declares, “We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.” It has also been said that “the only prayer that God hears from a sinner is the prayer for salvation.” As a result, some believe that God does not hear and/or will never answer the prayers of an unbeliever. In context, though, John 9:31 is saying that God does not perform miracles through an unbeliever. Some have interpreted this passage to mean that God does not hear the prayers of unbelievers excepting one for salvation. Others argue that believers who pray while living in sin are not heard by God until they repent. But it is clear God hears all prayers , though He only answers according to His will. This is true whether the person is a devout believer, a "sinning" believer, or not a believer. First John 5:14-15 tells us that God answers prayers based on whether they are asked according to His will. This principle, perhaps, applies to unbelievers. If an unbeliever asks a prayer of God that is according to His will, nothing prevents God from answering such a prayer—according to His will. Some Scriptures describe God hearing and answering the prayers of unbelievers. In most of these cases, prayer was involved. In one or two, God responded to the cry of the heart (it is not stated whether that cry was directed toward God). In some of these cases, the prayer seems to be combined with repentance. But in other cases, the prayer was simply for an earthly need or blessing, and God responded either out of compassion or in response to the genuine seeking or the faith of the person. Here are some passages dealing with prayer by an unbeliever: The people of Nineveh prayed that Nineveh might be spared (Jonah 3:5-10 ). God answered this prayer and did not destroy the city of Nineveh as He had threatened. Hagar asked God to protect her son Ishmael (Genesis 21:14-19 ). God not only protected Ishmael, God blessed him exceedingly. In 1 Kings 21:17-29 , especially verses 27-29, Ahab fasts and mourns over Elijah's prophecy concerning his posterity . God responds by not bringing about the calamity in Ahab's time. The Gentile woman from the Tyre and Sidon area prayed that Jesus would deliver her daughter from a demon (Mark 7:24-30 ). Jesus cast the demon out of the woman’s daughter. Cornelius , the Roman centurion in Acts 10 , had the apostle Peter sent to him in response to Cornelius being a righteous man. Acts 10:2 tells us that Cornelius “prayed to God regularly.” God does make promises that are applicable to all (saved and unsaved alike) such as Jeremiah 29:13 : “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” This was the case for Cornelius in Acts 10:1-6 . But there are many promises that, according to the context of the passages, are for Christians alone. Because Christians have received Jesus as the Savior, they are encouraged to come boldly to the throne of grace to find help in time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16 ). We are told that when we ask for anything according to God's will, He hears and gives us what we ask for (1 John 5:14-15 ). There are many other promises for Christians concerning prayer (Matthew 21:22 ; John 14:13 , 15:7 ). So, yes, there are instances in which God does not answer the prayers of an unbeliever. At the same time, in His grace and mercy, God can intervene in the lives of unbelievers in response to their prayers. Conclusion: While many of the teachings regarding prayer in the Bible are written to believers, God hears the prayers of all, responds to those who seek Him with all their heart, and calls believers especially to boldly come to Him with their prayers. He promises to both hear and answer according to His perfect will. Hope I have been of some help. www.menorah.org/false.html God bless you, Pastor Reuben Drebenstedt, director Menorah-Menorah Ministries - www.menorah.org Questions are welcome from ALL readers at ALL levels and Forums, from everyone. Questions of general interest will be considered for inclusions in this column. Those of a more personal nature will be keep confidential and we will answer via e-mail; always state your name, email address and your comment/question in as brief & precise manner as possible. To submit a question, etc. please address it to reuben@menorah.org ask.....ask......ask.....ask.....ask.....ask......ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask To return to ..... Ask Pastor Reuben Biblical Answers To Asked Questions..... To return to To Life L'Chaim Find Life Page To return to Menorah's Web Page

Is confession in the Bible? Discussion, theology and food for thought. Ask Pastor Reuben Confession in the Bible: Verses About Confessing Your Sins S H A L O M ! ______ A MESSIANIC JEWISH SCRIPTURAL VIEW ______ Biblical Question: Dear Pastor Reuben, Please help me understand about confessing sins as a believer, are we to or not? I appreciate your thoughts on this. Blessings, Daniel Pastor Reuben's Answer: Shalom Daniel When many people hear ‘confessing your sin’, they think it reserved for monks in a monastery or of paying penance to God by entering a church confessional. But Scripture teaches us it is an important practice for the life of every Christian. The answers to these questions about confession in the Bible may surprise you. What does the Bible say about confession? What will happen if you don’t confess your sins? Psalm 32 offers us several powerful reasons to confess our sins and shows us the consequences of unconfessed sin. David felt weak and was miserable when he did not confess. Verses 3-4 says, “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.” Before confessing his sin, David was exhausted. Why? The life was being drained out of him by sin. If you do not weaken sin, it saps your spiritual strength, it weakens you. When I see a sin forming in my life, I must say, “If I’m to serve Christ, I dare not let this grow! It’ll drain the life out of me…” Why should you confess your sins? In addition to avoiding the negative effects of unconfessed sin, biblical confession is a way to experience more of God’s grace. Biblical confession should be in some ways a joy due to the rich benefits God gives us through it. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” John also recognized that believing involved admitting our sins and seeking God's forgiveness. Depending on God for cleansing from guilt, along with admitting our wrongs against others and making amends, was another important part of getting to know God. This does not mean that God will only forgive a sin only if it has been specifically confessed. When a Christian repents and believes the Gospel of Jesus Christ, all of their sins, past, present, and future are immediately forgiven! Confessing is part of the sanctification process and aids Christians in dealing with sin and healing from it. James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” Why confess your sin if God already knows your sin? Christians confess their sins to God to practice humbleness before him and to fess up to the bad things they have done. It takes a humble person to admit their mistakes! Humility is a vital part of confession and aids the restoration of Christians who have quenched the Spirit of God. Peter in 1 Peter 5:6 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” A True Confession is Done in Humility with an Attitude of Repentance Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you. 1 Peter 5:6 “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6 “…you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God… For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation…” 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 List of Bible Verses About Confession Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah Psalm 32:1-5 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Proverbs 28:13 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. James 5:16 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 What about the Christian who continues to sin? There is a difference between continuing to sin and continuing to live in sin. No one reaches sinless perfection in this life, but the redeemed Christian is being sanctified (made holy) day by day, sinning less and hating it more each time he fails. The Bible teaches that, while we are in the flesh, we will always struggle with a sin nature (see Romans 7:14-24 ). No one will be “perfect” (sinless) until we reach heaven. Yes, we still sin, but unwillingly and less and less frequently as we mature. Our new self hates the sin that still has a hold on us. The difference is that the new creation is no longer a slave to sin, as we formerly were. We are now freed from sin and it no longer has power over us (Romans 6:6-7 ). Now we are empowered by and for righteousness. We now have the choice to “let sin reign” or to count ourselves “dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11-12 ). Best of all, now we have the power to choose the latter. Hope I have been of some help. God bless you, Pastor Reuben Drebenstedt director Menorah-Menorah Ministries- Questions are welcome from ALL readers at ALL levels and Forums, from everyone. Questions of general interest will be considered for inclusions in this column. Those of a more personal nature will be keep confidential and we will answer via e-mail; always state your name, email address and your comment/question in as brief & precise manner as possible. To submit a question, etc. please address it to reuben@menorah.org ask.....ask......ask.....ask.....ask.....ask......ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask To return to ..... Ask Pastor Reuben Biblical Answers To Asked Questions..... To return to To Life L'Chaim Find Eternal Life Page To return to Menorah's Web Page

Real Love - Respect - Boldness A. Be a real friend. Be yourself! There are many spiritual scalp hunters who want to win a Jewish/Gentile soul for Christ, but are completely unaware of the person who is that soul. Have a well-rounded relationship with your friend before you attempt to witness on a personal basis. It is the continuing person-to-person witness through which most people have been won to their Messiah. Y o u r J e w i s h / G e n t i l e W i t n e s s i n g ~ Proclaiming ~ For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of salvation to all who believe .... first to the Jew then to all nations. Romans 1:16 Suggestions ...Whoever will call upon the Name of the Lord will be saved. How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher(proclaimer)? Romans 10:13 , 14 Real Love - Respect - Boldness A . Be a real friend. Be yourself! There are many spiritual scalp hunters who want to win a Jewish/Gentile soul for Christ, but are completely unaware of the person who is that soul. Have a well-rounded relationship with your friend before you attempt to witness on a personal basis. It is the continuing person-to-person witness through which most people have been won to their Messiah. B. Do not be afraid of discussion on life issues. They can give you insight on how your friend perceives and understands things. Listen when he talks about the things which concern him, and discuss what his Jewishness or other ethnic/cultural background means to him. In no way let him come to the misunderstanding that you only care for him "in order to convert him." C. In some way give testimony to the Gospel. A good place to begin is to tell specifically how God has answered prayer in your life. Avoid testimonies that talk about the peace and joy that you have in the Lord....remember, those who follow Eastern religions or any number of the "new" cults give such testimonies, as well as those who are made happy by the Jewish religion. D. Answer questions or objections from Scripture. But remember, you do not have to answer a question when it is asked. You can say, "I don't know the answer to that, but I'll find out." or "Let me think about it a little more and I'll give you an answer the next time I see you." E. See if your friend will study the Bible with you. Do not concentrate only on the Messianic prophecies - - there is valuable truth in all Scripture. A good beginning point is Genesis 12 through Exodus 20....the story of the major covenants. However, if your friend is willing to study the Scriptures on a person-to-person basis, you may want to consult with your pastor. He will be able to recommend an appropriate study plan. F. Offer to pray for your friend's needs. While our prophetic or teaching ministry is not always acceptable, most people appreciate prayer; and God seems to be particularly pleased to honor prayers as evidence of His existence. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13 G. Encourage your friend to communicate with Jewish & other Christians. Such a meeting might be painful, but it does bring persons to the place where they realize that Jesus is for Jewish and all other people too! H. Emphasize that Christ is the sin-bearer for Jew and Gentile alike, and that a person does not have to relinquish his Jewishness or ethnic/cultural to accept Jesus. Invite him to come to your church, special Christian activity, and/or offer to go with him to a local Messianic Jewish Congregation. Remember that your friend may have been taught that they will be committing spiritual treason even to consider the claims of Messiah Jesus. It is up to you to show him that is not true. I. Ask for a decision. As a general rule, it is not good to press for a decision, but you will know the timing on the matter. Do not forget to ask the person for a decision. Used by permission: Jews For Jesus and Other sources So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Messiah(Jesus). Romans 10:17 Yeshua - Jesus means Salvation ! For further information contact: email Menorah Ministries To Return to L'Chaim To Life Web Page To Return to Menorah' Web Page

How and why Catholics may know they can go to Heaven when they die. My wife Jane died in 1978. She was born a Roman Catholic and died one. A few months before her death something happened in her life that assured her that when she left this world she would go immediately into the welcoming presence of Jesus. As a result, she departed in great peace. And I was just as certain as she of her destination. It is hoped that in reading this episode, the reader will be moved to profit from Jane's experience. A few years ago, a Catholic bishop was dying of terminal cancer. Each day for a number of months, his chauffeur would drive him about his diocese. After the bishop's death, a statement by that chauffeur appeared in the press which seemed quite significant. He said that the bishop during his illness was constantly worrying about what would happen to him upon his death. He hoped that God would remember that he had devoted his whole life to His service. The bishop, obviously, was not at all sure of his eternal destination. I recall a statement made to me one day by a Catholic priest. He said that he would be satisfied to squeeze into purgatory when he died, and work his way up from there to heaven, presumably by suffering. I wonder how surprised that priest might be one day to discover that there is no purgatory except in man-made tradition. There is no mention of one in the Bible. What the Bible does say in this connection is this: And it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment {Hebrews 9:27). It will then be either victory or defeat. No "overtime" period as in basketball. The term "purgatory" was coined on March 6, 1254 by Pope Innocent IV in a letter to the apostolic delegate in Greece, twelve centuries after the death of Jesus and His apostles. There is nothing in the Bible, the Word of God, that says that a man can improve his spiritual status after death either by suffering in another place, by the prayers and intercession of others or by any other means. We can believe that if these things were possible the Bible would not be so thunderously silent regarding them. The Bible is, after all, the inspired Word of God written for our instruction, admonition and comfort. It is the plenary record of God's dealings with mankind, and we may be quite sure that it does not omit anything important. Indeed, any precept not set forth in the Bible, especially if not even mentioned, is nothing more than a man-made regulation or tradition. And Jesus took a very negative view of man-made regulations and traditions. (See Matthew 15:7,9; Mark 7:13 and Colossians 2:8) It is noteworthy that the news item mentioned above appeared in the bishop's own diocesan newspaper. This would seem to indicate a prevalence of fear and uncertainty regarding death. This should not be! The Bible speaks often and clearly on salvation and eternal life, and how it may be secured here on earth. One can depart this life knowing that he is heaven-bound. Holy Scripture is the voice of God reduced to writing, and the Catholic Church fully recognizes that. Thus, in 1965, when all of the bishops were assembled together at the Vatican II Council, they issued a Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation which contained the following: "Sacred Scripture is the Word of God" and stated that all parts of the Bible, "have God as their author." In 1943, Pope Pius XII in his Encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu, speaking of the Bible, said that "the faithful.. .have a serious duty to make continual and holy use of this treasure." The church was saying that Catholics are obliged to read the Word of God, as the Bible is commonly called. Earlier Pope Benedict XV had said, "The responsibility of our apostolic office impels me ... to promote the study of Holy Scripture ... We shall ... never desist from urging the faithful to read daily the Gospels, the Acts and the Epistles so as to gather thence food for their souls ... Ignorance of the Bible means ignorance of Christ." The Living Bible paraphrases the Gospel of St. Luke, chapter 11, verse 52, in the following pungent, Significant language: Woe to you experts in religion! For you hide the truth from the people. You won't accept it for yourselves, and you prevent others from having a chance to believe it. Why, then, do such Papal exhortations to read the Bible fail to reach down to the rank and file and evidently go unheeded in seminaries? They apparently do not travel below the bishop. When I became interested in the Bible in 1976 and went to my pastor for counsel, he threw up his hands and said, "I can't help you. They didn't teach us the Bible in seminary." It was quite a surprise. The shepherd of the flock was not taught the Word of God. Yet Jesus said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God Luke 4:4. A few years ago while speaking to a patient in a Fort Lauderdale nursing home, I got into conversation with a woman visiting at the next bed. She was an intelligent-looking woman of about 40. I found myself asking her if she read the Bible. Instant indignation ensued. With a touch of anger in her voice she said, "I am a Catholic! I don't read the Bible!" It grieved my spirit. With my Catholic background I was sure that the woman was speaking for many millions of Catholics. But let me get back to our personal history. In 1969, I retired from a New York City law firm, and we moved to Florida to begin a life of leisure and relaxation. A year later, while we were visiting in Washington, D.C., I felt that my life was in need of new direction and that without significant change I was on course to hell. So moved was I that I immediately went to confession to square myself with God. And on that occasion, as best I knew how, I tried to turn my life over to Him with a real commitment of the heart. Indeed I promised God that I would go to Mass and receive communion every day the rest of my life. And for about six years I did just that, faithfully, seven days a week, usually serving the Mass as an acolyte. In the years following this renewed commitment I spent much of my time studying Catholic theology, liturgy, the lives of saints, etc., guided by reading lists obtained from seminaries. But these led me no closer to knowing God. In fact the study only frustrated my search for the real significance of what was needed to change my life. In 1976, I became interested in the Bible for the first time. My initial study of the Bible began to open my eyes. I started to understand what Jesus meant when He told Nicodemus that we have to be born again, and That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the (Holy) Spirit is spirit (John 3:6). It was at this time, having understood the truth of God for the first time, that I turned my life over to Him. The Bible told me that in doing this I would be made a new creature in Christ...all things become new(II Corinthians 5:17). I acknowledged God as my Father. I became heaven-bound according to Scripture. I also discovered how very simple and certain it is to achieve eternal life while still on earth, and that it is a free gift from God. Jesus purchased it for us when He died on the cross, The Bible states this truth in Ephesians 2:8,9: For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. John L. McKenzie, S.J., perhaps one of American Catholicism's ablest biblical scholars, in his Dictionary of the Bible, says it this way: "It is a principle of New Testament theology that the works of man are totally ineffective to achieve the righteousness which saves" (page 942). What the Word of God and Father McKenzie are telling us is that the things we do (going to church, confession, communion, prayer) are works, and that our works were never meant to bring us to God, or get us to heaven. Perhaps my most exciting discovery was that the Bible assures us of our salvation, here and now. As the Apostle John said in his first epistle: These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life I John 5: 13. This verse clearly gives us that assurance. Jane had always been a meticulously loyal Catholic. She never missed a Mass on Sundays or on holy days of obligation, she confessed and communicated often, she read out of her prayer book each day for deceased friends and relatives. She never doubted what she learned from the cradle: that hers was the true church. In the last three years of her life, Jane was partially paralyzed and bedridden. Frequently in the morning we would watch the "700 Club" together on television, and on several occasions we recited the salvation prayer with Pat Robertson, the host. The Bible tells us that if anyone prays such a prayer, from his heart, and confesses that he believes and has accepted Jesus as Lord, he becomes spiritually reborn. He is "born again." The experience is commonly referred to as the new birth. Up to that point, one cannot be considered a Christian by biblical standards no matter how much church-going, or how many so called good works he does. Jane repeated the salvation prayer, but seemed reluctant or unable to declare that she had accepted Jesus as her Lord. God gives the faith to believe but He also requires each of us to make a positive response to His offer and that is done by declaring Jesus as our Lord. Presumably she feared that she might be taking herself out of the Catholic Church. One day she volunteered to make the declaration to her son the next time he called. To help her, I wrote out a simple statement of faith and when her son called, I placed the paper on her lap. With no prior explanation, she blurted out, "I have accepted Jesus in my heart as my Lord." And immediately she began to cry. After a few minutes she said, "I can't talk any longer, I'm crying" and hung up. That simple statement of her new faith had so moved her to tears that she was unable to continue her conversation. Most Catholics believe that they merit salvation or God's favor when they receive baptism or confirmation. Like other Catholic children Jane was baptized and confirmed but it obviously did not work a regeneration of her heart. She had to follow the biblical way to salvation, and when she did, she knew that she had experienced the new birth. It was the Word of God, witnessed to by the Holy Spirit, that assured her of God's acceptance through Jesus Christ and that as a result she would go to heaven. The absolute necessity of the new birth is beyond doubt. Jesus said in Chapter 3 verses 3-7 of the Gospel of John: Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ... except a man be born of water and of the Spirit (the Holy Spirit) he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit (Holy Spirit) is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you, you must be born again. Jesus' statement is clear. It is unconditional. It admits of no exception or modification. To interpose an alternative is to signify that Jesus didn't mean what He said and it was necessary for men to correct Him. Any church which does not teach the new birth (considered so vital in the New Testament) may well be leading its unsuspecting people into eternal damnation. Jesus warned against ..... making the word of God of none effect through your tradition (church-made laws and regulations) (Mark 7: 13). He also said that those who were teaching for doctrines the commandments of men were hypocrites and they worshiped Him in vain Matthew 15:7,9. How absurd it is to tamper with the Word of God. In Isaiah 40:8 the Holy Spirit moved the prophet to say that the Word of our God shall stand forever. And Jesus said that Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away (Matthew 24:35). How lacking in wisdom, how foolish, how tragic, to reject God's sure way when eternal life is at stake! The salvation method is set forth in Romans 10:9-10: .. .if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. (Catholic edition of the Revised -Standard Version). How simple and easy God has made salvation for us. How tragic that so few are being taught to avail themselves of it. How do we obtain this eternal life? By believing in Christ. God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life John 3:16. But what does the New Testament mean by "believing?" It means more than mere mental assent, more than lip service. One must believe in one's heart and without doubt, and one must act upon such-belief by trusting God for salvation. Faith is acting on one's intellectual belief and trusting Christ as one's Savior. As the late Bible teacher E. W. Kenyon put it: "Believing demands action, creates action. Mental assent admires, admits, but does not act." If the airline schedule says your flight goes to Tulsa, you have no doubt about it. You believe it in your heart, you have faith in the schedule, and you act upon that faith by boarding the plane. Thus, one has to do more than just believe in his head. He must trust Christ. Jesus said (John 16:7-9) that after His death the Holy Spirit would convict or convince the world of three things, and one of them was "sin." What sin? The sin of not believing in Jesus. According to the Word of God, it is the sin of unbelief in Christ that sends man to hell. No matter how good and exemplary a life a man may lead, he will still miss heaven if he does not make Jesus the Lord of his life. Let us always remember one vital, all-important truth: Christianity is a belief in and commitment to Christ. It is not a church, it is not a creed, it is not in a religion. Religion is concerned with the outward acts and forms of worship. Christianity is a way of life. It is knowing Jesus and having a personal encounter and relationship with Him. He· is the only way to heaven. The Bible says that He is the only mediator between God and man(I Timothy 2:5). No one else, not even a saint, can fill this role. Jesus made it clear when He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father but by me (John 14::6). If your church doesn't teach the new birth enunciated by Jesus Himself, then it would seem to be incumbent upon you as a rational human being to examine the Scriptures for yourself. It is very clear that baptism and confirmation by themselves do not constitute spiritual rebirth. If you have not committed your life to Christ by believing in Him and confessing Him as Lord, the rituals are meaningless. What a difference it makes when Jesus enters one's life, as so many can testify. In some cases, a wife or husband has observed a change in the other and wants to have what the other has. Empty lives have been filled. Many have discovered that alcohol; drugs, striving for worldly success provide no lasting satisfaction. Jesus has been called the answer to all problems. Indeed one could safely venture to say that there is no man or woman living who has not experienced a void that only Jesus can fill. Are you tempted to think that you are not bad enough to go to hell? That is one of the cleverest and most deceptive thoughts ever planted in the human mind by the devil. But the Bible supplies the correct answer. For Jesus said it will not be He who will judge us on the last day but His Word. In short, if we disobey His precept that we must be born again, there will be no need for Him to judge us. His Word will do the judging and the judgment will of course be automatic. We would be sending ourselves to hell. See John 12:48. And let us remember the warning from Jesus that strait (narrow) is the gate and narrow is the way which leads to life, and few there be that find it (Matthew 7.:14). Should one not be concerned to find that one's own church is not teaching the salvation doctrine which Jesus Christ Himself said was an absolute necessity? And that in the face of warnings in the Word of God such as this one: ... how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first to us by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles .. Hebrews 2:3,4 Can there be any doubt that we are flirting with eternal death when we refuse to prefer the Word of God over the word of men, especially on so important a doctrine as the Gospel message itself which Jesus Christ taught. When God directs us so clearly, dare we follow any other? The foregoing Scriptures are not the words of a man or of a church. The author is God. Incidentally, the reading of this booklet is ample warning to you, if any were needed. You cannot be considered to be in ignorance. The pertinent scriptures have been set before you. Surely you will not let unscriptural, anti-scriptural, tradition take you to hell. In any event, what does one stand to lose by heeding God's Word and making Jesus Lord of one's life? Let me pause here to ask you two important questions: No. 1. Have you come to the place in your spiritual life where you can say you know for certain that if you were to die today you would go to heaven? No. 2. Suppose that you were to die today and stand before God and He were to say to you, 'Why should I let you into my heaven?" What would you say? How did you answer these questions? Especially the second one? What would you say if God asked you that question? If you are not sure of your answer or would like to make a sincere confession of your own sin, stop what you are doing, ask the Lord to forgive you and grant you His gift of eternal life. I invite you to pray to God with these words: God. your Word (Romans 10:13) says that whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Accordingly, I now call upon You in Jesus' name as my Lord and Savior. Your Word states: if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified. and he confesses with his lips and so is saved Romans 10:9,10. I believe in my heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for my sins and was buried. I believe in my heart that on the third day God raised Him from the dead for my justification. Dear God, I repent of all my sins, and I ask your forgiveness in Jesus' name. And, here and now, I receive and acknowledge Jesus as my personal Savior, and I ask you to come into my heart and be the Lord of my life. Amen. If you have just prayed to the Lord and were sincere in your confession of your sin and desire that Jesus be your Savior and Lord, you have just taken the most important step in your life. However, this first step needs to be followed by other steps. God wants you to grow in your walk with Him. What you have just done means that you have been born again, an event never to be repeated. Your spiritual growth however is a process - the process of becoming the person God has designed you to be. Your spiritual maturity continues until you are fully formed in Jesus Christ. Paul wrote (Philippians 2:12) that we are to continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling . He was not talking about entering the Kingdom of God by good works. The Bible never tells us that by good works we can work our way into the good graces of God. He does talk about the process through which each of us moves as we grow in Christ. There are several basic steps which you must take to grow as a Christian. 1) Pray daily and pray regularly. This is to be the most basic expression of your life, a conversation with your Heavenly Father. It might not be natural at first, but will become so as you make it a part of your life. 2) Bible reading. This goes hand in hand with your times of personal prayer. Bible reading is absolutely central to our lives. Inasmuch as it is the Word of God, we know that by reading God's Word our faith in Him will grow and, in time, establish the standard for our lives. You can only know of God's desire for your life by reading His Word. 3) Steps one and two will have no meaning unless you begin to put into effect those things about which the Lord speaks to you. The term "in Christ" is used His times in the New Testament. Why so often? The writers of the Bible are telling us that to be in Christ means essentially to "be" with Him, to walk with Him, and perhaps more importantly, to "obey" Him. Living a life of obedience to Him insures our growth as a Christian. Jesus said so in so many words, If you love me, you will obey what I command John 14:15. 4) The three steps outlined above will begin to produce something more. If you are at all faithful in praying, reading your Bible and obeying the words of our Lord, your life will begin to reflect the life of Jesus, your Savior and Lord. In John 15:1 Jesus refers to Himself as the vine and those who follow Him as the branches. If we stay attached we will bear fruit and our lives will be a testimony to those who see and know us. Another word must be added here. As important as it is for you to give witness to your Lord through your actions and behavior, you also need to back up that witness with your conversation. Actions can too easily be misinterpreted. Speaking about Jesus should come as naturally as telling others about a person you love. God will give you the right words and will direct you to the right people as you commit yourself to Him. F i n a l l y, if you are serious about believing in God and identifying yourself as His follower, you will need to begin one of the most difficult parts of a Christian life: trusting God for every detail of your life. This will take some doing because until now you have trusted almost everyone else, including yourself, but not the Lord. The Bible is full of illustrations of people who trusted (or failed to trust) God with their lives. This does not mean that you put your mind into neutral and never think for yourself. It means that since you have placed your life in the hands of your creator, you need to live out that commitment daily by trusting Him with your life and all its details. The Bible contains many examples of how God blesses and helps those who put their trust in Him and who obey His commandments. While we do not earn eternal life through obedience, we please and honor. God by living according to His Word. Growth and obedience are perfect partners in the spiritual maturing experience. These are the basic steps you need to take to begin to grow as a Christian. There is much to learn, and much to enjoy as you start your new life in Christ. Your growth, however, almost presupposes other Christians will help you grow. We're talking about those who know and love Jesus Christ, and are themselves growing. God has made it clear that we need other believers to help us mature. If you are not in such a relationship with other believers, you need to find one. If you have no such friends, ask the Lord to help you and start looking. God answers prayer. May God richly bless you. THE PROLOGUE TO THE GOSPEL OF JOHN In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. . He came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which Iighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. About the author: Mr. Monacelli practiced law in New York City until 1969 when he retired and moved to Florida. He now lives in New Jersey. He holds degrees from the University of Norte Dame and from the Georgetown University Law School. He served two terms as president of the Norte Dame Association. Evangelism Explosion International, Inc. P.O. Box 23820 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33307 Return to Jesus The Center of the Old Testament page Return to Messiah to Be Final Sacrifice page Return to L'Chaim - To Life! Page To return to Menorah's Web Page

Examines question is there no God Biblically and historically. The issue isn’t the existence of God. *If the atheist is wrong and there is a Creator, then he was wrong.  He gambled and he lost. No big deal. The real gamble is that there’s no hell. That’s what makes the player sweat just a little. “What if?” is the deep and nagging doubt.  He believes it’s worth the excitement of the game. Yet atheism isn’t a mind game; it is intellectual suicide. Is There No God? Atheism The issue isn’t the existence of God. * If the atheist is wrong and there is a Creator, then he was wrong. He gambled and he lost. No big deal. The real gamble is that there’s no hell. That’s what makes the player sweat just a little. “What if?” is the deep and nagging doubt. He believes it’s worth the excitement of the game. Yet atheism isn’t a mind game; it is intellectual suicide. We know that there are six bullets that aim right into the brain of humanity To be an atheist is to play Russian roulette with all barrels loaded. An atheist can’t win. Of course, he feels and acts like a big player, until the trigger is pulled: 1. Creation. Could you believe that the book you are holding came into being without an author? There was nothing. No paper, no ink. No cardboard. No editor. No author. There was nothing, and then a Big Bang changed everything. Time (the magic ingredient) produced a book with a cover, binding, coherent words, page numbers, and chapters, all in perfect order. Such thoughts are truly insane. You cannot have order without intelligence creating order. And there cannot be an ordered creation without an intelligent Creator. 2. The God-given conscience. All sane people have a conscience. It comes with the package. It is an inbuilt judge in the courtroom of the mind. It makes moral judgments, even when its voice is not wanted, and its voice only addresses that which is moral. It doesn’t speak when my tie doesn’t match my shirt. But it does speak when I steal a tie from a store. Why is that? Where did the conscience come from? Why do all civilizations have the knowledge that it’s wrong to lie, kill, steal, etc.? Our social surroundings may shape the conscience, but they don’t create it. It is the inner light that God has given to every one of us, and it leaves us without excuse for our sin. 3. The unchanging testimony of Holy Scripture. Do what they will to the testimony of Scripture—paint it as an ancient and archaic book, say it is full of mistakes, that it has been changed down through the ages, that it says that the earth is flat—but it remains the unchanging Word of the Living God. It is His Book, and it is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Refuse its wisdom, and you walk in darkness at your own peril. 4. The true and faithful testimony of the genuine Christian. These are not people who believe in God. Rather, they are sinners who have come to know Him. The Christian is called to testify as a witness to the truth. As in a court of law, the judge doesn’t want poetic or flowery speech. He simply wants to hear what the witness has seen and heard. It is then up to the jury to believe or not believe his testimony. The atheist chooses not to believe the testimony of the Christian, and in doing so, accuses him of bearing false witness. But why would a Christian lie? Why would he want to be found a liar, when the Book in which he sincerely believes warns that all liars will be cast into the lake of fire? 5. The witness of Jesus Christ. The True and Faithful Witness, before Whom every knee shall bow. The challenge to any atheist is to read the testimony of Scripture. Any honest skeptic will have no choice but to come to the conclusion that “never a man spoke like this Man.” He claimed to be God in human form. He claimed to have the power to raise all of humanity at the resurrection of the dead, with His lone voice. He claimed to be pre-existent, and that He came down to this earth to do the will of God. To make such claims, He could only have been a simpleton (that doesn’t match His matchless words), a liar (that doesn’t match His impeccable moral teaching), insane (then billions down through the ages have followed the teachings of a madman), or He was who He said He was. 6. The Spirit of Almighty God God watches every thought and every deed and will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it is good or evil. No one will get away with a thing. No murderer will go unpunished. No rapist will get away with rape. Perfect justice will be done. But the justice of Almighty God is so thorough He will see to it that thieves, liars, fornicators, blasphemers, adulterers, and all who have transgressed the moral Law (the Ten Commandments) will get equity—that which is due to them. * 1st page from Ray Comfort’s book, You Can Lead An Atheist to Evidence, But You Can’t Make Him Think. To Return To Atheism Web Page To Return To Menorah's Evangelism Tracts To Return To Menorah's Web Page To Go To God Taking Human Form Web Page

There are plenty of reasons to study the Bible. Here is a list of eight of the main reasons why reading and studying the Bible is not wasted time. Bible Page The Accuracy of the Bible video Menorah Ministries does not at this time have an on-line Bible. We did for about 25 years. Hopefully you will find a good Bible and regularly stu dy it. May God bless and keep you! Please feel free to contact us and use our Ask Pastor Reuben Question and Answer section. There are plenty of reasons to study the Bible. Here is a list of eight of the main reasons why reading and studying the Bible is not wasted time. While not an exhaustive list, below are eight reasons for studying the Bible: Cultural literacy To learn what it says firsthand Personal edification To help others Jesus Because it is God’s Word to us To know God better Avoiding error We do suggest checking out www.biblehub.com www.blueletterbible.com www.youversion.org www.bible.org www.biblegateway.org

Historical truth regarding genocide against the Jewish people largely by Hitler and Nazi Party. Witness and testimonies. SHOAH ....HOLOCAUST AWARENESS AND TESTIMONIES - 2 Articles - I Escaped Fro m The Nazis by Rachmiel Frydland It was on the 28th of August 1939 that I came to know the possibility of war. I decided to stay in Warsaw. Supplies soon ran low and from September lst there was nothing to buy. Other young Hebrew Christians and myself lived on what little we had for ten days. Then we were called up to help defend Warsaw. Three of us went and were accepted. As I did not want to shoot, I asked for physical work and received it. They were hard days. Though we were near the front and were being bombarded day and night, we all survived. One of us was seriously injured, but recovered after a few weeks in the hospital. THE GERMANS ARRIVE The Germans entered Warsaw toward the end of September, and soon there was famine in the city. One of the Hebrew Christians stood in the line to receive some hot soup which the German Army was distributing to the hungry Polish population in Warsaw, but he was recognized to be Jewish, was beaten up and thrown out of the line hungry. I decided to leave for a village near Plock, which meant 75 miles on foot. Jews were not permitted to use any public conveyances. As I was leaving Warsaw the Germans stopped me. One looked me straight in the face and said with a rough voice: "Are you a Jew?" I did not answer him. Upon this he hit me and pushed me to the other side of the road, where I was handed a spade and had to work with all my strength, though I had nothing to eat all day. Toward the evening they took us to a camp where I sat down and wept. I do not really know why. Some Jews tried to comfort me, so I wiped my tears away and told them of my faith. A little later I felt moved to leave the camp and in the sight of all I did so. No one challenged me. I went on my way and slept in the open. The next day I found something to buy; great was my joy when I went into a shop and found that there was bread on sale there. How fresh and appetizing it was! After three days I reached Plock and was received by the brethren with open arms. TRIUMPHANT FAITH In the summer of 1940,er of 1940 I was going from our village to Chelm. On the way some drunken German soldiers fell on me and beat me with a stick until I fell senseless. They left me, and with my last powers I dragged myself, bleeding, to Chelm. The doctor said he did not know whether I would recover, as my wounds were probably infected and I might die of blood-poisoning. To his great surprise I recovered after a week, though I suffered a lot and could not eat for some time, for when I did, I vomited blood. I earned my living by working from time to time for farmers. At first I had not much work, but soon I became known as an honest worker. Then, except on Sundays, I was kept working hard at every kind of farm work from sunrise to sunset and had no time for spiritual things. Oh! if I could only have foreseen what would happen, surely I would not have eaten or worked but would have done something to help those that were to pass through such misery. GOD STRONGER THAN MAN In the winter of 1941-42 there was not much work on the farms. The bigger cities had Ghettoes where a certain slum district in the town was given up to the Jews and surrounded by a wall and barbed wire. We in the villages were forbidden to leave the village on pain of death. However, many times I risked my life for my parents to go to the nearby town and bring home the necessities for our lives. Being so faithful to them, my mother first got interested and began to read my Yiddish New Testament secretly. The Jews in the surrounding villages respected my faith and witness. THE GAS CHAMBERS It was the time when train load after train load of Jews were being taken to the gas chambers and crematoria only about twelve miles from our village. We knew what awaited us. In danger of death I went from time to time on Sundays to Chelm to have communion with the brethren there. I spent a few months in a slave labor camp working hard, but this gave me a chance to witness to Jews there. On August 30th, 1942, I received the order to go to the gas chambers. I did not go, but stayed at home and awaited the mercy of the Lord. On September 24th the village mayor came and told me, while I was at work (helping one of the peasants cutting wood), that he had received orders to hand me over to the Gestapo. He gave me permission to say good-bye to my parents who were in tears, especially my mother. The man who led me had pity on me and hinted that I should escape. I did so and fled to the woods. My sister was in hiding in the village, but my parents went when they were called to go. At this time two Jewesses joined us; they had escaped from the train that was taking them to a death camp. Then three young Jews joined us in the woods. They shared with us in the reading of the Bible, in song and praise. SNOW AND DEATH On November 24th our fortunes changed. My sister, who was in the village, was killed. We hid ourselves in the high grass that grew in the wood. They discovered and took away all our food, but our lives were spared. That night heavy snow fell some three feet deep. We had to go and get some food. Alas! when we reached the road leading to the village, the police were there. What were we to do? There were shouts of "Stop! stop!" and shots. For quite a time I did not know what I was doing and where I was running, nor what was happening. I did not think; I just ran and ran as shots whistled over my head and around my ears. At last there was silence; no one was pursuing me any longer. I flopped on to a tree trunk; I could neither speak or pray. My sweat chilled me. I gathered some sticks, made a fire and gradually recovered my senses. No one was near to comfort me; only the flame of my little fire broke the darkness around. My whole being seemed to cry aloud, "Why are we so persecuted?" The coming of morning brought no news, but I was convinced that my companions lived no more. What was there left for me? I would have sought the police that they might kill me too, but I had not yet recovered enough strength to go and find them. But there still remained the Lord, the same yesterday and today. He began to speak to me with His soft voice. "You have enough of My grace. Had not job enough; had not Paul enough?" I became silent to hear what the Lord had to say to me, and He said much. For a time I continued to weep, but then the victory! I stayed where I was and decided to live as long as the Lord would allow me to live and work for Him. I said, "If I am not necessary to God, surely He would have taken me away; but if God wants me to live for Him, should I not bow to His almighty will?" I bowed my knees and was cured. There I was, alone in this cruel world, alone in those woods with the wild goats and swine. I could no longer stay there. but there or elsewhere I was not alone, for He had promised to be with me always; how true this became to me, especially in those days when it seemed that no one remained. LIFE SPARED I started on my way to Warsaw but was caught. I was not killed but put into a camp where there were some 5,000 Jews. I was there eight days but not in vain. Some believed my testimony and I soon had a circle of sympathizers. At the end of the eight days the camp was surrounded by black uniformed S.S. guards armed with machine guns, but God led me out, for I jumped over the well from which both the peasants and the Camp drew water. Once again I tried to go to Warsaw. This time I got to Chelm safely; here brethren helped me to get a railway ticket for Warsaw. I arrived there on December 20th, 1942. I returned to Chelm for Christmas, but was caught again on Christmas Day as I was going from our village to Chelm. Approaching the town, I stopped and told my captor that I was not going to move until I prayed. His protests and threats had no effect on me as I knew that only a few hundred yards further were the Gestapo quarters. I knelt and prayed, yielding my life to God. When I arose my captor began to talk to me softly and finally let me go free. I returned to Warsaw, where I stayed awaiting the Grace of God. THE WARSAW GHETTO From time to time I went around the walls of the ghetto thinking of the possibility of getting inside. One of the places where I was permitted to spend a night or two in hiding was in the shop of a Christian undertaker. With another Jewish Christian boy we put chips in one of the unfinished coffins and thus spent the night. (Alas, this boy, too, was later caught and killed). Here in the spring of 1943 1 became acquainted with Jews who worked outside the Ghetto for a German firm adjacent to this Christian undertaker. As they had a special permit for ten to leave and enter the Ghetto, one Friday they took me in with them instead of the tenth who did not leave the Ghetto on that day. Thus a week before the liquidation of the Ghetto I was able to get inside for the weekend. I met some of our precious Jewish believers. They told me their miraculous stories. Some had already died of starvation or were imprison- ed and tortured to death. Stasiek Eizenberg, a young man who accepted his Messiah immediately before the war, had received special permission for a Polish Pastor, Mr. Krakiewiczm, to enter the Ghetto and baptize him there. He was later imprisoned for being late to work and as he was awaiting death, he wrote a verse of his favorite hymn on the wall. It so happened that the German officer came in on that day and asked his Polish interpreter to translate all the inscriptions of the victims. When they came to his hymn and the officer heard the words (it was a Polish hymn translated from the German) he stopped and demanded that the one who wrote it should confess, otherwise all would be guilty. Stasiek confessed. The officer went away, but in a few hours Stasiek Eizenberg was released. As the Jewish believers were now awaiting definite extermination, I tried to comfort them as best as I could. They insisted that I leave the Ghetto, for God who preserved me until now would keep me to the end of the war, and then I would be able to tell the Christians of those woes. I left the Ghetto and was probably one of the last to leave before the liquidation began. Time dragged on slowly. I had to learn to trust the Lord for each minute. Whether spending the night with a Christian family who risked their lives to take in a Jew for the night, or in a coffin in the shop of a Christian undertaker, or in some barn, there was the same assurance that the Lord wanted me to live and as long as He wanted it, I was ready. FREEDOM ALAS! Finally the hour came, and I was no more hunted and condemned to die just because I was a Jew. However my heart longed for freedom and fellowship with others who believed that Jesus was their own personal Messiah and Saviour. God granted me the desire of my heart and helped me to leave Poland and get to England. Later God opened for me the way into the USA and afterwards I went to Israel and spent four years there among my own brethren. There I married a Jewish believer in the Messiah. She also suffered under the Nazi occupation, in France. We have four children, two girls and two boys, whom we have brought up in the faith of God and the Messiah. We trust that you, too, know sins forgiven and peace in all circumstances through the Messiah of Israel, the Lord Jesus (Read Isaiah 53 and Romans 8-1 1). Reprinted with permission of The Messianic Literature Outreach How about you? Have you received your Redeemer, the Stone whom the builders rejected? In Him is life, light and joy and in His sacrifice is forgiveness of sin. To return to MENORAH'S HOME PAGE 6 Million Tragedy by Rachmiel Frydland MORE THAN FORTY years have passed since the perversity of men contrived to kill, murder, and exterminate God's chosen people, the Jews. Hitler and his associates, like Haman of old, devised a way to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women. Esther 3:13 Haman's design failed completely. Haman and his ten sons were hanged on the very day when all the Jews were to have been exterminated. Hitler had a similar end to that of Haman, except that he committed suicide along with the cohorts who were close to him. Jewish people could have established a festival in memory of the victory over Hitler. They would only have to decide what delicacy to eat. Potato latkes are eaten on Hanukah in memory of the victory over Antiochus Epiphanes, and hamentashen on Purim in memory of Haman's downfall. Yet, there are no joyful celebrations over Hitler's defeat. On the eve of Israel's independence celebrations, there is a memorial service commemorating the six million Jews who were exterminated under the Hitler regime. There are no joyous celebrations over Hitler's defeat because about one third of the Jewish population was wiped out in the course of World War II! THE GREATNESS OF THE TRAGEDY There is a Jewish saying based on the Talmud: "Whosoever destroys one life in Israel is as he would destroy the whole world, and whosoever preserves one life in Israel is as he would preserve the whole world" (Talmud, Sanhedrin 38a). Since Jewish people consider tradition and Talmud to be inspired, the next step is to blame God Himself for this tragedy. This feeling is expressed in strong words by Richard L. Rubinstein in his book entitled, After Auschwitz: How can Jews believe in an omnipotent, beneficent God after Auschwitz? Traditional Jewish theology maintains that God is the ultimate; omnipotent actor in the historical drama. It has interpreted every major catastrophe in Jewish history as God's punishment of a sinful Israel. I fail to see how this position can be maintained without regarding Hitler and the SS as instruments of God's will. The agony of European Jewry cannot be likened to the testing of Job. To see any purpose in the death camps, the traditional believer is forced to regard the most demonic, antihuman explosion in all history as a meaningful expression, of God's purposes. The idea is simply too obscene to me to accept. THE DOUBLE TRAGEDY Thus, the tragedy is double. First, there is the physical and mental damage that was done to those who perished and those who survived the horrible death camps. Then, there is the mental and spiritual pain of those who identify themselves with the perishing Jews of World War II. Many of our people have failed to look into God's Word to find out what God wants to say through these fearful events. From the Hebrew Scriptures we present some of the things God says: 1. The Deceitful Heart Here is the first thing we could learn from this tragedy. The prophet Jeremiah records in God's Word: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9. Similar words are found in the Brit Hadasha (New Testament): From whence come wars and fighting's among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? James 4:1 The liberal world, of which our people are prominent spokesmen, maintained that the world is getting better and better and soon liberal men would be able to bring about a happy world. But, they ignored God's Word which states that man's heart is wicked, deceitful, and capable of every crime and cruelty. Have we learned our lesson? 2. The Neglect of God's Word We know that great honor belongs to the Jewish people. From them God raised lawgivers, wise men, psalmists, and prophets who presented God's Word to the world by the inspiration and power of the Holy Spirit. The Brit Hadasha (New Testament) expresses it so beautifully: What advantage then hath the Jew? ... Much every way; chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. (Romans 3:1-2 While due honor is given to the Jewish people, the prophets also place upon them special responsibility as recorded in God's words through the prophet Amos: "You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities" (Amos 3:2). Instead of heeding God's Word to instruct our sons and daughters in the living Word of God, the very Book which justifies our existence as a people and a nation, we sent them to colleges and universities to instruct them in secular topics. Our religious Jewish people send their children to the Yeshivot. There, too, they are taught the words of men, the Talmud, because it is maintained that the study of the Talmud is more important than the study of the Tanakh (Old Covenant Scriptures). As a result Christians have been translating the Hebrew Bible into hundreds of languages, while we who gave the Bible to the world are standing on the sidelines. 3. The Rejected Redeemer In this respect also great glory belongs to the Jewish people. The following is a quotation from the writing of the great Jew, the Apostle Saul of Tarsus, later called Paul, in which he says of the Jewish people: I say the truth in Messiah, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Messiah for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites: to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Messiah came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen Romans 9:1-5 Jesus the Messiah and Redeemer is ours; He is of our flesh and blood. We should join the Apostle in celebrating not only a simhat-torah (rejoicing of the Law) but also a continuous celebration of simhat-moshiach, as he admonishes believers in the city of Philippi: "Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, rejoice" (Philippians 4:4). Instead we are still looking for someone else. Many times we thought that "someone else" had come and we were ready to follow him, but we paid dearly for our mistakes. From the time of the false messiah Bar Kosiba, killed in 135 A.D., to Sabbatai Zvi (died 1676) and his followers, large crowds of Jewish people, sometimes even the majority, would commit their lives to encourage these so-called "messiah-heroes" who brought woe and destruction to our people. Jesus Himself foreseeing that this would happen, expressed these words: I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not; if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. John 5:43 The rabbis, writing in the Talmud, knew that Messiah was to be rejected, would suffer, and die. However, instead of applying these prophecies to Jesus, they posited two Messiahs: Messiah ben Joseph to suffer, be rejected and be pierced through in accordance with the prophecies of Isaiah 53 and Zechariah 12:10, and, Messiah ben David to fight God's wars, defeat the pagans, and restore Israel. But God's Word speaks of one Messiah to be despised and rejected and then exalted. Other Jewish people, after disappointments with false messiahs, put forth a hypothesis that Messiah is not to be a person but an ideal. For many years our people hoped that social changes in the East and the promise of full quality was the redemption of which the prophets spoke. What a great disappointment! God's Word speaks of the only person Who can claim messiahship - a man of the household of David, born in Bethlehem in a supernatural way. THE ANSWER TO MEN’S' TRAGEDY If the Jewish people had a prophet today or if we would heed the words of God's prophets of old, we would cry out as did Hosea: "Come, and let us return unto the Lord; for he hath torn and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up" (Hosea 6:1). God has already started to heal us. He is beginning to bind up our wounds. With these acts of mercy and restoration, God wants to woo us again to Himself. At the same time God's Word extends to us a warning in the words of the Apostle Paul: Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? Romans 2:4 Here is the answer for us as a special people of God and for you and me as individuals. What has happened cannot be changed. God's Word says that we have failed - not God. Herein are set forth some of the mistakes we have made. Are we ready to correct them? If so, then we should acknowledge before God that we, too, have sinned, and being God's chosen people, a greater responsibility rests on us than on others. We must return to the Holy Scripture and seek the answer there. If we will sincerely seek, then it will become clear that our greatest mistake was and is that we have not accepted our own Messiah and Redeemer who still calls to us. Are you willing to receive Him? 0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem ... how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth,till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. (Brit Hadasha, Matthew 23:37-39) WRITE M.L.O. below for the booklet "Messiah in the TENACH." It will be sent to you free. Reprinted with permission of The Messianic Literature Outreach How about you? Have you received your Redeemer, the Stone whom the builders rejected? In Him is life, light and joy and in His sacrifice is forgiveness of sin. To return to MENORAH'S HOME PAGE

Discusses if Biblically a Christian can become a Jew. To Convert or Not To Convert, That Is The Question by Chaim Urbach DEFINING THE ISSUES: The question "Should Gentile believers convert to Judaism?" sounds at first blush, well, so academic. You might picture a roomful of Messianic mavens, arguing over finer points of Messianic Halachah. Conversion of Gentile believers to Judaism is by no means an ivory-tower issue— it often comes connected with tremendous emotional and spiritual freight. All of us know Gentile believers who have struggled with this issue. Much rides on a balanced understanding of Scripture, which will steer us through this potential minefield. Let us define the issues. In this article I take for granted two basic assumptions: 1. Conversion of Gentile believers cannot be mandatory, either for the sake of relationship with the Lord or fellowship with fellow believers. Acts 15 (1, 20) and the rest of the New Testament (e.g. Gal. 5:4) clearly base our spiritual life on Yeshua's atonement alone. 2. A Gentile believer should not convert to rabbinic tradition. According to tradition, a bona fide conversion demands that potential converts renounce their previous faith completely. Maurice Lamm, a distinguished professor of rabbinics at Yeshivah University, describes the convert as "a newborn child, not only in spiritual-emotional terms, but also in legal and technical terms." Can a believer, invalidate his new birth, and renounce his Messiah by submitting to such a conversion? Even in the rare cases where the converting rabbi did not require a renunciation, the conversion is no more justified. Whether or not this is acknowledged, a believer adopts a belief system that defines itself by the rejection of Yeshua. The issue under the microscope in this article is this, "Should it be possible for willing Gentile believers to identify more closely with the Jewish people by voluntarily converting to Messianic Judaism." 2 CONVERSIONS TO JUDAISM ARE UNNECESSARY FOR FELLOWSHIP… Acts 15:1-28 I Corinthians 9:19-23: The ruling of the council in Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-28) made it clear that Gentile believers were excused from taking on the entire yoke of Torah (i.e., conversion) but instead were prohibited from four things: food offered to idols, fornication, meat strangled and blood (Acts 15:20, 29). Yet, it has been argued that the ruling actually encouraged Gentile believers towards a more Torah-observant lifestyle and left room for voluntary conversion. For instance, Patrice Fischer states that the majority of Gentile believers at this point were Jews in all but name. 3 "These G-d fearers were every bit as Jewishly observant as their Jewish friends.... Their lifestyle already identified them as Jews, even if the final ritual of formal conversion had not yet taken place....." The purpose of the four prohibitions according to Fischer was "to delineate more fully their [the Gentile believers'] already fully Jewish commitment". 4 There are two major problems with this reconstruction. The Gentile believers in the new congregations, even at this early date (Acts 13-14) came from diverse backgrounds. Some were indeed Torah-observant God-fearers--participating in the local synagogues (Acts 13:26, 50; 17:14, 17), praying during traditional prayer times (e.g. Cornelius praying at 3 p.m., Acts 10:3) and keeping many of the commandments of Torah. Yet, many (even a majority) of the other new Gentile believers were saved out of rank paganism (Acts 14:13; 17:34; 18:11; 19:19). The ruling of the council at Jerusalem had to be directed to meet the needs of the entire spectrum of new Gentile believers, not just the minority who were more observant God-fearers. Secondly, the context of Acts 10-15 defines the ruling in Acts 15 as strongly related to the social interaction between Jews and Gentiles--both fellowship and outreach--not one of greater identification. The four prohibitions mentioned in Acts 15 certainly point us in that direction. 5 The first pair of prohibitions--avoiding food offered to idols and fornication--was associated with festivals (often orgies), held in honor of the gods (e.g. I Corinthians 8:7, 10; Numbers 25:1-3). The second pair--the prohibitions against eating flesh from animals that were killed by strangulation and drinking blood--was based on laws of Kashrut spelled out in the Torah (in this case Leviticus 17:10-14). An observant Jew would be repulsed by and consider unclean anyone who transgressed all of these prohibitions-- those dealing with Kashrut as well as idolatry/fornication. For instance, Peter had to overcome his deeply-ingrained squeamishness towards coming into Cornelius' house, thereby putting himself at the risk of becoming (tameh) ritually unclean (Acts 10:28; 11:3). Outside the book of Acts, only the prohibition against fornication (Acts 15:20, 29), is repeated again (Romans 13:13; I Corinthians 6:18; 7:2; 10:8; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:13; Colossians 3:5 etc.). Where ritual matters are mentioned (I Corinthians 10; 27-30; Romans 14:1-6, 10-14; Colossians 2:16), they are presented as matters where the believer has freedom of choice. For instance, eating food offered to idols is spiritually neutral unless it takes place as part of idol worship, or unless they significantly undermine the faith of another believer. 6 One has to conclude that the other requirements were not (are not) absolute requirements for Gentile believers. Rather, they were issued to remove potential hindrances to fellowship between Jewish and Gentile believers. While Acts 15 did not explicitly forbid Gentiles from converting to Judaism, discouraging conversions certainly was a given at the council. CONVERSIONS TO JUDAISM ARE UNNECESSARY FOR IDENTIFICATION… I Corinthians 9:19-23: Does identifying with someone require our changing our identity through conversion? Arnold Fruchtenbaum argues that Scripture provides a different kind of a model for identification. (I Corinthians 9:19-23). 7 The biblical means of identification is by acculturation [i.e. adopting cultural norms]. To become as [italic his] one is not to become one. This little word is forgotten or ignored by the adherents of conversion to Judaism, who use this very same text to prove that their way of identification is by conversion. Fruchtenbaum goes on to show that using this logic, Jewish believers should convert and become Gentiles in order to more effectively share Yeshua with Gentile friends. This is the farthest thing from Paul's mind in this passage. The underlying principle is our need to restrict our freedom for the sake of others by adopting their cultural norms. For instance, we find Paul's approach to sharing Yeshua varied as his audience changed. In the synagogue of Psidian Antioch, he shared Yeshua through the Tanakh (Acts 13:15); in Lystra, he began by referring to the true God versus Zeus and Hermes (Acts 14:15) and in Athens, he referred to their customs (altar to the unknown God) and their poets (Acts 17:23, 28). The same principle was applied sharing meals with Gentiles. From his instructions to the Corinthian believers we see that he was willing to temporarily lay aside his convictions about kashrut in order to share a meal with Gentiles (I Corinthians 10:27; Galatians 2:11-14). Paul identified with his Gentile audiences but remained a Torah-observant Jew (Acts 21:21). Finally, when we see individuals in Scripture who underwent conversions, they are not presented as "Jews" but retain their former identify (e.g. Ruth the Moabitess, Rahab the prostitute, Nicholas the proselyte etc.). DOES SCRIPTURE PERMIT VOLUNTARY CONVERSIONS… I Corinthians 7:18-24? Does the New Covenant speak to those who wish to convert voluntarily? David Stern, in his Jewish New Testament Commentary affirms that it does. 8: .... if a Gentile Christian wants to identify fully with the Jewish people, the New Testament in principle would permit him to become a Jew. Stern, then states that practical considerations would make these conversations difficult at best. Does in fact the New Testament permit a Gentile believer to do so? Unlike Acts 15 where the issue is dealt with implicitly, in I Corinthians 7 it is addressed explicitly and forcefully. This chapter discusses different aspects of marriage for believers. Flowing out of this discussion about marriage, Paul lays down a basic principle (1 Corinthians 7:17), which is then repeated twice (7:20, 24). 1 Corinthians 7:17 .....each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This principle is illustrated by two examples-- circumcision and slavery. What did Paul mean by the principle and how does circumcision fits into it? The believers in Corinth did not understand that their relationship to Messiah was compatible with whatever social position or occupation they were in at the time they came to faith. 9 Much of what he tells them is colored by his conviction that the Lord's coming is imminent and the then-raging persecution of believers (7:26, 26, 31). In view of that reality, believers' attention needs to be more sharply focused on furthering the Kingdom of Heaven. As Stern points out, his concern is that Gentile believers at Corinth should not waste precious resources in the effort to change their circumstances". 10 Remaining in our assignment is the appropriate response in view of the Lord's imminent coming. Paul uses two different words "called" and "assigned", to define believers' relationship to the Lord. Our call refers to our salvation, whereas the second term refers to our assigned task within the kingdom of God. Grammatically, the terms "called" and "assigned" are the same type of clause (Hosea meaning "as") governed by the same subject-- the Lord. 11 The thought is the same in both-- our salvation and our place of service were given to us by the Lord and are under His control. There are times when believers feel that the only way they can serve the Lord effectively is in a role other that the one they are in. His message to all of us is clear but often challenging-- "Remain faithful in the role assigned to you." The Lord may lead a believer into a different assignment, but until there is a re-assignment, he or she must remain and serve faithfully. Paul illustrates the principle, by referring to circumcision. For the Gentile majority in the Corinthian congregation, circumcision probably meant little. 12 But for a Jew, Paul's statement that "circumcision is nothing" would have provoked outrage. Circumcision was a sign of the covenant and the relationship with God. The fact that Paul, a Torah-observant Jew, would make such an extreme statement puts his case in neon lights. For a believer, circumcision, uncircumcision, one's marital status, or whether one is free or enslaved-- none of those matter as far as our salvation is concerned. Yet, while circumcision (i.e. conversion) is irrelevant as far as salvation is concerned, that does not mean that it is a matter of personal discretion. 3 It is true that Paul does not condemn circumcision of Gentile believers with the same degree of passion as he did with the Galatian believers. The stakes were far higher there but that does not mean that he makes allowance for it here. When we view this verse (7:18), we most often focus on part b, "was a man uncircumcised," yet this verse comprises a couplet. It forbids Gentile men from becoming circumcised and Jewish men from seeking to become "uncircumcised." Becoming uncircumcised is not as far fetched as it sounds. From the time of the Maccabees on, there were Jews who underwent a surgical procedure called “epipasm” that made them appear to be uncircumcised. 14 Paul would have viewed either branch of the pair (7:18a or 7:18b) as equally unacceptable. Just as a Jewish believer should not undergo epipasm, neither should a Gentile believer undergo circumcision. For the second illustration, slavery, Paul adds an exception--a believer in bondage may become free if the Lord gives him or her the means to do so. The same applies to the question of marriage, where a believer has some measure of individual freedom. Yet, there is no such exception given in the case of conversion because of what it represents, regardless of an individual's inner motivation, or whether this is a "deep longing." 15 A Gentile believer who wants to convert for the "right reasons" is not free to do so. Conversion of a Gentile believer makes a clear public statement-- Yeshua's sacrifice is not sufficient (Gal. 5:2-6; 6:15).16 Stern argues that Paul's words should not be construed as an absolute prohibition, but rather offered in the vein of a rabbi discouraging a Gentile from converting out of convenience or based on transitory emotion. 17 There are two basic observations to make on this score. There is no clear consensus on just when rabbinic tradition began to discourage potential converts. If anything, the evidence favors the view that during the first century the rabbis welcomed proselytes wholeheartedly......it is obvious that proselytism was widespread among the ordinary people....the near pride in which the rabbis took in the claim that some of their greatest figures weredescended from proselytes point to an openhanded policy toward their acceptance.... 18 The more germane issue is the fact that Paul applies his apostolic authority in this case, as he does later in the epistle (I Corinthians 14:33, 37) and elsewhere. What he is saying is not a suggestion, to be followed or ignored. Rather, it is a principle to be followed universally. In the letter to the Galatian believers (5:6; 6:15), the circumcision of Gentiles is clearly forbidden. There is no reason to assume that prohibition has been modified, despite the fact that Paul's tone here is not polemical (I Corinthians 7:19-20). SCRIPTURE HAS NO MODELS FOR THE CONVERSION OF GENTILE BELIEVERS: The Tanakh makes provision for Gentiles to convert to Judaism-- Rahab, Ruth, and foreigners who were circumcised as a prerequisite for celebrating the Passover (Exodus 12:48). These, examples cannot be applied to Gentile believers who are fellow-heirs of salvation (Ephesians 3:16). In the New Testament, we find the example of Timothy being circumcised (Acts 16:1-3). Can that be used as a valid model for conversion of Gentile believers as John Fischer claims? 19 In the first century, since receiving circumcision indicated one's obligation and intention to keep the Law of Moses, Rav Shaul's circumcision of Timothy may be regarded as the conversion of the non-Jew to Judaism. Thus we may have a precedent in the B'rit Hadasha for such a modern-day practice. In considering Timothy's example, two issues present themselves: was Timothy considered a Gentile in the eyes of the Jewish community? Directly connected is another question-- why was he circumcised? In this narrative, Luke attached an explanatory note suggesting that Paul had Timothy circumcised "because of the Jews....[who] knew that his father was a Greek," (Acts 16:3). What precisely did Luke mean by this comment? If Timothy was considered a Gentile like his father, circumcision would have been a non-issue. Timothy would have been welcomed as another God-fearing Gentile (Acts 13:26; 13:50; 17:14, 17) wherever he and Paul traveled. The fact that it was an issue at all reflects the sentiment among the Jewish people that Timothy should have been circumcised but had not been because of his Greek father. Timothy was considered to be a Jew, albeit a "bad Jew" because he had not been circumcised in compliance with the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis. 17:10) and the Torah (Leviticus 12:2-3).20 Circumcising Timothy was done to facilitate the spread of the Gospel, based on Paul's stated principle that we should do everything possible to eliminate barriers to the Gospel (I Corinthians 9:20-22). The Message of the Gospel should be the only stumbling block presented (I Corinthians 1:23). Yet, this action was not undertaken merely for the sake of expedience. Longenecker explains the relationship between expedience (for the sake of sharing the Gospel) and principle (living a Torah-observant lifestyle). But while Paul stoutly resisted any imposition of circumcision and the [Torah] upon his Gentile converts, he himself continued to live as an observant Jew and urged his converts to express their [faith] through the cultural forms they had inherited.... Therefore, it was both proper and [italics mine] expedient for Paul to circumcise him.....21 The false teachers who dogged Paul's trail attempted to spread rumors that he had taught Jewish believers to discontinue their adherence to the Torah (including circumcision of their sons). The leadership at Jerusalem encouraged Paul to squelch publicly those rumors (Acts 21:21). Unlike Timothy, Titus provides us with a clear model of how circumcision impacted a Gentile believer in the New Covenant. Titus was unambiguously a Gentile ("a Greek," Galatians 2:3). Paul took him to Jerusalem as part of a trip to meet with the pillars of the congregation (i.e. apostles). As we read between the lines, a battle had been brewing between Paul and the "false brethren" who insisted that Gentiles should be circumcised. 22 Titus was a very visible point man around which the battle swirled-- if he would be compelled to be circumcised, then all Gentile believers should be pressured to do the same. For Paul, giving in on this issue was tantamount to his declaring that the message of the Gospel was insufficient to save, and for that reason, he dug in his heels-- Titus would not be circumcised (Galatians 2:3-5). 23 PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS: 1. Part of the underlying message Scripture conveys to Gentile believers and indeed to all of us is this-- "Learn to be content with who you are (Psalms 139:13-14), regardless of “deep longings” to the contrary." The Lord's choosing us and selecting an assignment for us is a choice blessing (I Corinthians 7:18). 2. Conversion of Gentile believers conveys the wrong message to Gentile believers in a Messianic Jewish congregation-- "You are a second-class citizen unless you become Jewish," (i.e. convert). It makes a mockery of the principle of unity in diversity (Ephesians 2:12-19). 3. Conversion of Gentile believers to Messianic Judaism is unacceptable (invalid) among Jewish people here and abroad (especially in Israel). It is strictly an "in-house" exercise and what's worse, it re-enforces the perception in the Jewish community that we as a movement are "na-arish"-- we cannot be taken seriously. While rejection by the Jewish community is part of our cost of discipleship, our rejection should be for Yeshua's sake only. 4. The nuances of the conversion of Gentile believers would be lost on the rest of the Body of Messiah, who would view this as a re-occurrence of the Galatian heresy. We cannot delineate theology on the basis of whether it is understood by other believers. Yet alienating fellow believers elsewhere for the sake of a practice that is questionable at best, unnecessarily squanders precious goodwill we have earned among other believers. CONCLUSIONS: 1. Conversion of Gentile believers is not necessary for the sake of fellowship with Jewish believers or more effective sharing of Yeshua with the Jewish community (Acts 1:1-28; I Corinthians 9:19-23). 2. Conversion of Gentile believers violates the scriptural principle of accepting our God-given identity (I Corinthians 7:18-20). 3. There are no scriptural examples that can be applied to believers today (Acts 16:1-3). 4. Conversion of Gentile believers works against the principle of unity in diversity among believers in and out of Messianic Jewish congregations (Ephesians 2:12-19). It also promotes confusion in how the Jewish community and the church view who we are. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Chaim Urbach was born in Israel and has been a believer since age 13. He has considerable experience in Jewish evangelism and the Messianic Jewish movement. Chaim and his family reside in Denver, Colorado and he is the Messianic leader of Congregation Yeshuat Tsion, P.O. Box 22272 Denver, CO 80222-0272 Mr. Urbach can also be reached via e-mail: galach@aol.com ENDNOTES: (NOTE THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN KESHER ) A Journal of Messianic Judaism, ISSUE 6, 1998.) 1 Becoming a Jew, (Middle Village, NY: Jonathan David Publishers, 1991), pp. 73-74. 2 Kesher: A Journal of Messianic Judaism, Summer 1997, "Halachah in Action," the editors, pp. 91-95. 3 "Modern-Day G-d-Fearers: A Biblical Role Model For Gentile Participation in Messianic Congregations," a paper available through Menorah Ministries, Clearwater, FL, no date, p. 7, 8. 4 "Modern-Day G-d-Fearers," p. 7. 5 It is possible that the four prohibitions were an abbreviated form of the Noahide laws-- seven rules for Gentiles expanded the covenant with Noah in Gen. 9:1-17-- practicing justice, avoiding blasphemy, idolatry, adultery, bloodshed, robbery, flesh and blood from a live animal (Sanh. 56a) 6 See Craig Blomberg, I Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994, p. 193 on vv. 14-22. 7 Hebrew Christianity: Its theology, history & philosophy (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 1992), p.113. 8 Clarksville, MF: JNP, 1992, p. 562. 9 Simon J. Kistemaker, I Corinthians, NTC, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1993), pp. 230; (7:5)see Gordon D. Fee's discussion in The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NICNT, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987, pp. 280-283. 10 JNTC, p. 456. 11 I Corinthians, Hans Conzelman, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975), p. 125. 12 Fee p. 313. 13 Conzelman, p. 126. 14 Blomberg, pp. 145-146. 15 Fischer, "Halacha in action," p. 93. 16 Fee, p. 311-312. 17 NTC, pp. 562. 18 Encyc. Jud. 13:1183. Also see Ben Zion Bokser, "Witness and Mission in Judaism," in Issues in Jewish-Christian Dialogue: Jewish Perspectives on Covenant, Mission and Witness (New York: Paulist Press, 1979), p. 134; Lawrence H. Schiffman, Who was a Jew: Rabbinic and Halachic Perspectives on the Jewish Christian Schism, (Hoboken, NJ: Ktav, 1985), pp. 20-21. 19 John Fischer, "Halacha in Action," p. 93. 20 While Scripture traces a person's line through the father, rabbinic tradition early on (e.g. M Kiddushin 3:12) ruled in favor of matrilineal descent. For an overview of the issue as it related to Timothy refer to Stern, pp. 281-282. 21 Longenecker, Acts, EBC, Zondervan, 1995, p. 25. 22 This seems to be an earlier occasion that the one described in Acts 15. 23 The view that Titus was not compelled but underwent circumcision voluntarily does violence to the grammatical context. Richard N. Longenecker, in Galatians, (Waco: Word, 1990), p. 50 points out that Paul went out of his way to emphasize that he would not give the legalists any quarter. To have Titus circumcised forany reason would have defeated his purpose. For More Information: Return to Convert? .... Can A Gentile Christian Become A Jew? ...... Really?! To return to MENORAH'S HOME PAGE

Get out from jailed controlled by the Devil via trusting faith in Jesus. Your loving Creator, God, the one that gives you each breath, did not create you for Hell but to live eternally in Heaven! This is the best news a human heart can hear! God himself came to earth to purchase a place in heaven for you… it cost Him his life! ‘The wages of our sin is death (eternal separation from God) but the FREE GIFT from God is eternal life, ‘paid in full’ by Jesus Himself! Romans 6:22-23; 5:8-10; Acts 3:19! Adam and Eve had to leave God’s presence in the Garden of Eden for only one sin. God takes sin very seriously. He gave the 10 Commandments. If you have ever told one lie, the 9th Commandment makes you a liar. Ever stolen one thing, the 8th Commandment makes you a thief. You then have broken two out of ten. Our sin leaves us guilty before a Holy and Righteous God. By repenting of our sin and trusting what HE Jesus did on the Cross to rescue us, we can receive His Free Gift! It is like using your ‘Get out of Hell Free card’, except it was extremely costly for God! Receive God’s Free Gift of Love today, don’t put it off because tomorrow is never guaranteed. Need more information Return to menorah.org/savior Return To Menorah's Web Page

Through the Prophets of Israel the Messiah was repeatedly proclaimed The Jewish Messiah Was Proclaimed To Israel Yeshua-Jesus Was He Dr. Michael Brown’s Paper on John Hagee’s “In Defense of Israel” By Dr. Michael L. Brown Pastor John Hagee’s new book, In Defense of Israel: The Bible’s Mandate for Supporting the Jewish State (Lake Mary, Florida: Front Line, 2007), was publicized by announcements stating that the book would “shake Christian theology.” The following positions are explicitly laid out in the book: 1. The Jewish people, as a whole, did not reject Jesus as Messiah. 2. Jesus did not come to earth to be the Messiah. 3. Jesus refused by word and deed to be the Messiah. 4. The Jews cannot be blamed for not accepting what was never offered. Statements like this must be evaluated in light of 1 John 2:22: “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ [i.e., Messiah]. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.” As commentator Stephen S. Smalley explained, “The true believer is the one who accepts the Christhood of Jesus, whereas those who deny his messianic identity declare themselves to be on the side of the antichrist” (Word Biblical Commentary). What could possibly be the motivation for teaching such error? First, In Defense of Israel desires to dispel once and for all the notion that all Jews are Christ-killers, a terrible lie that has fueled anti-Semitism in the Church for more than 1,500 years. Second, the book wants to refute the false teaching of replacement theology, explaining that, “Replacement theologians have said that ‘the covenant with Israel was broken because she would not accept Jesus Christ whom God sent.’” (See p. 132 of In Defense of Israel.) Tragically, in the attempt to fight against these serious errors, a more serious error has now been introduced. Yet some believers – and even leaders! – are buying into this error hook, line, and sinker, and some have begun to teach and preach it as well. Since the publication of the book, Pastor Hagee issued some clarifying remarks, but the clarifications only complicate the issues and fail to renounce and remove the error. Here are three fundamental statements that all believers should be able to affirm without hesitation: 1) Jesus came to be the Messiah. This is the fundamental message of the New Testament, which is why we call him “Christ” (meaning, “Messiah”). And it is a fundamental message of the Scriptures that the Messiah had to suffer and die if he was one day to rule and reign (see, e.g., Luke 24:25-27, 44-47), a biblical truth that most of the Jewish people of Yeshua’s day missed, a biblical truth that most Jews through the ages have continued to miss, and a biblical truth that In Defense of Israel has now fed into as well. In the clarifying statements that made since the publication of his book, it was explained that Jesus came to be the suffering Messiah but not the reigning Messiah – something, of course, that we all knew, and something that would hardly “shake Christian theology” – but these statements have simply introduced another nuance to the error, since nowhere in the New Testament is such a distinction made. In other words, God did not say to Israel, “It’s fine that you rejected Jesus as Messiah because he did not come in the political way you expected. He had to die in order to be the Savior of the world, so you are not guilty.” There is not a hint of such a message in the Scriptures, which simply proclaim him as the Messiah, period. That’s why Jesus explicitly identified himself as the Messiah in the Gospels (see, e.g., Matt 16:16-17; Mark 14:61-62; Luke 7:20-23; John 4:25-26; 5:39, 45-47; 10:24-25) – not as the suffering Messiah, whom his people were supposed to reject so that he could die, as opposed to the reigning Messiah, whom they would one day receive, but simply as the Messiah – and that’s why the Gospel authors frequently announced him as the Messiah (in Greek, the Christ; see, e.g., Luke 2:11, 26; John 1:41; 3:28; 11:27; 20:31). And that’s why the apostles proclaimed him as the Messiah in Acts (see, e.g., Acts 2:31, 36; 3:18, 20; 4:26; 5:42; 8:5; 9:22; 17:2-3; 18:5, 28; 26:23). I would encourage you to look up every reference cited here. It is all quite simple, forthright, and easy to understand, and nowhere is any distinction made between the suffering and reigning Messiah. To repeat: Jesus is proclaimed as the Messiah of Israel, period, and because he is the Messiah of Israel, he is the Savior of the world. 2) The Jewish people rejected their Messiah. Although all Jews are not Christ-killers (God forbid!), and although the entire Jewish nation did not play a role in the crucifixion of Jesus, God held the Jewish people in Jesus’ day responsible for his death and, more significantly, he held them responsible for rejecting Jesus the Messiah after his resurrection. The New Testament witness is explicit and consistent on this. That’s why the apostles preached to “the people of Israel” that they were guilty of rejecting the Messiah (Acts 2:22-23, 36; 3:13-15, 17, 19; 4:10-11; 5:30; 7:52; 13:27-28; see also John 1:12), and that’s why Paul spoke of Israel’s hardening, breaking off, stumbling, transgression, and rejection (see Rom 9:31; 10:3; 11:7, 11-12, 15, 20 – although with the full expectation of Israel’s future redemption; see Rom 11:11-15, 25-26). Again, I encourage you to take a moment to look up these passages. They are striking in their force and consistency. Because of this rejection, severe judgment came on the Jewish people in the first century, as prophesied by Yeshua with tears (see Luke 19:41-44; see also Matt 23:29-37) and as taught in his parables (see, e.g., Matt 21:33-46; 22:1-14). As painful as this witness is, it cannot be rewritten, nor can anyone lessen Israel’s guilt because it was God’s will that Jesus died on the cross. To the contrary, just as it was God’s will that Joseph be sold into Egyptian slavery and yet at the same time his brothers were guilty of sinning against him (Gen 44:16-45:5; 50:14-20), so also it was God’s will that Yeshua die for our sins while at the same time the Jewish people, along with Herod and Pilate and the Romans, were guilty of having him crucified (see Acts 2:22-24; 4:27-28). It is scripturally impossible to claim that “the Jews cannot be blamed for not accepting what was never offered.” A glorious offer was made and refused, and that’s why Paul’s heart was broken (see Rom 9:1-5). 3) Jesus remains the Jewish Messiah, and there is no salvation for the Jewish people outside of faith in him. Although Pastor Hagee has consistently stated that he does not teach “dual covenant” theology, referring to the false concept that Jews can be saved outside of faith in Jesus, his new teaching certainly aids and abets that error. After all, if “The Jews Did Not Reject Jesus as Messiah” (as stated in bold print in his book), and if “Jesus refused by word and deed to be the Messiah” (be it the “reigning Messiah” or not), then, not only can it be said that “the Jews [in Jesus’ day] cannot be blamed for not accepting what was never offered” but that the Jews in any day cannot be blamed for not accepting Yeshua. This again is a fundamental denial of the Word of God, and although In Defense of Israel claims that the “message of the gospel was from Israel, not to Israel,” Jesus, Peter, and Paul declared that the message of the gospel was to Israel first, and then from Israel to the nations (see Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8; 3:26; 13:32-39; Rom 1:16; in Paul’s words to the Jewish leaders in Rome, it was “for the sake of the hope of Israel” that he was bound in chains; Acts 28:20). To be sure, there are a number of other errors found in the critical section of In Defense of Israel (including the myth that there was a so-called cup of the Messiah, the alleged fourth cup of the Passover meal that Yeshua supposedly refused to drink), but this is not the place to address those concerns, and to focus on the smaller problems would detract from the larger picture. If you are not currently on our e-list, I would encourage you to sign up. www.askdrbrown.org To Return To The Real Yeshua-Jesus To Return To MENORAH -Menorah Ministries- ...Home Page

Prayerful asking God to direct donating assets to Menorah upon your death. We appreciate your consideration in planning your giving through your estate planning, gifting to the Lord’s Gospel work beyond your earthly life. God bless and keep you! Please consult your legal and tax professionals and call us at any time. 303-355-2009 menorah@menorah.org www.menorah.org Giving Through Securities What are the Advantages of Making a Gift of Securities? · You avoid all capital gains tax when you contribute long-term appreciated securities to Menorah Ministries. · You receive a charitable income tax deduction equal to the fair market value of the securities if they have been held longer than one year. The fair market value can be deducted against up to 30% of your adjusted gross income and any excess deductions can be carried forward into as many as five additional tax years. Giving Through Real Estate By using real estate to fund a gift, you may be able to make a gift to Chosen People Ministries of a size which would otherwise not have been possible. Whether it is a house, farm, vacation home, office building or plot of undeveloped land, your property can be a very helpful gift for you and for Menorah Ministries. A real estate gift can provide you with a combination of advantages and tax savings. Some of the benefits of a real estate gift accepted by Menorah Ministries include: · An immediate charitable income tax deduction in the year you make the gift. · Avoiding capital gains taxes at the time of the transfer. · The opportunity to live in your home or use the property for the rest of your life. · Knowing that the property will be excluded from any estate and inheritance taxes. Because each property and gift plan is unique, any real estate gift will require careful consideration by your legal and tax advisers. They can explain how advantageous a real estate gift can be. Giving Through Life Insurance, Retirement and Savings Accounts How to Give When Your Needs Change Life insurance, pension plans, individual retirement accounts, certificates of deposit, and savings accounts are convenient gift options that people often overlook. Giving Memorial Gifts Endowments and Memorials: The Gifts that Endure Menorah Ministries is an organization dedicated to bringing the Gospel to Jewish people. What better way to pay tribute to someone that has touched your life and who loved the Lord and the Jewish people than through a memorial gift to Menorah Ministries? Memorial gifts are very flexible. Every gift outlined in this web site can be made in memory of a loved one. Giving Through Wills and Bequests A bequest is one of the most meaningful legacies you can provide for your family, friends, and Menorah Ministries. Your bequest helps ensure that your wishes for the future of Jewish evangelism will be honored. We have been able to sustain many of today's outreach programs due to the generosity and vision of our former supporters. If you are planning to write your will, or if you already have one, you may want to consider these common ways to make a bequest: Specific Dollar Amount "I give, devise and bequeath to Menorah Ministries, 393 S. Ivy St. Denver CO 80224, $____________ ." Percentage of Your Estate "I give, devise and bequeath to Menorah Ministries, 393 S. Ivy St. Denver CO 80224, ___________% of my estate." Residue of Your Estate A residuary bequest to Menorah Ministries directs that all the residue, or a percentage of the residue, of your estate be paid to the ministry after all debts, taxes, expenses, and all other bequests have been paid. "All the residue of my estate, including, without limitation, real and personal property, I give, devise and bequeath to Menorah Ministries, 393 S. Ivy St. Denver CO 80224." Specific Asset from your Estate "I give, devise and bequeath _______ (insert a description of the asset here, such as stocks, bonds, mutual fund shares, real estate, works of art or antiques) to Menorah Ministries, 393 S. Ivy St. Denver CO 80224." Contingent Bequests You can name Menorah Ministries to receive all or some of your estate if your primary heirs predecease you. You might do this to protect your estate from expensive litigation or from ultimate distribution to the state or unintended beneficiaries. "If _____________ (insert the name of your heir) predecease me or disclaims any interest in ____________ (describe the asset or portion of your estate here), I give such property to Menorah Ministries, 393 S. Ivy St. Denver CO 80224." Giving Through Trusts Trusts are formal legal arrangements designating a trustee to receive and hold legal title to property and administer the property according to your instructions. Trusts can arrange for any financial or administrative function. Trusts can be very simple, or they can be as complex as necessary to meet your various financial, charitable and personal goals. Retirement account assets , if left to anyone other than a spouse, may be subject to very high taxation. By designating Menorah Ministries as recipient of any remaining in your retirement plan, or by using them during your lifetime to be used in the Lord’s work is important to think about, as a saving tax benefit. Thank you for your prayerful and kind consideration, may the Lord Bless you and keep you. Numbers 24:4-6 To return to Be Involved Support Page To return to Menorah's Web Page

Comparison of some world faiths positions to that given in Bible Scripture. Truth vs Error 7 Biblical Fundamentals Compared to 13 False World Faith Religions Truth vs. Error 7 Biblical Fundamentals Compared to 13 False World Faith Religions TRUTH.... "They received the Wor d with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so." Acts 17:11 Armstrongism vs. The Bible Christian Science vs. The Bible Eastern Mystism vs. The Bible Freemasonry vs The Bible Islam vs The Bible Jehovah Witness vs. The Bible Mormonism vs. The Bible - Mormon brother letter from a brother -Mormon Rebuttal and Response to Such -The Bible vs Joseph Smith Video -The Bible vs the Book of Morman New Apostolic Church vs. The Bible Roman Catholic vs Biblical Christianity Spiritualism vs. The Bible The Way International vs. The Bible Unification Church vs. The Bible Unity vs. The Bible World Mission Society Church of God - Biblical Answers To the World Mission Society Church of God - Encountering the Cult of Ahnsahnghong Other Information: False and 'Near Christian' Religions Islam and Why All Religions Cannot Be True Suggested(recommended) Reading The Bible! The Real Yeshua/Jesus Biblical--Historical! To return to Menorah's Web Page

  The word “Zionism” is very common today thanks to the United Nations’ condemnation of it during their General Assembly debate on November 10, 1975. Because of this, there is much confusion among believers as to the nature of Zionism and whether or not they should support it or stand against it. There is a lot of propaganda going on concerning Zionism; much of it is guilty of distortion and misinformation. In fact, anti-Zionism has become merely a new term for old fashioned “anti- Semitism.” Zionism What it is and what it is not Arnold Fruchtenbaum Ariel Ministries The word “Zionism” is very common today thanks to the United Nations’ condemnation of it during their General Assembly debate on November 10, 1975. Because of this, there is much confusion among believers as to the nature of Zionism and whether or not they should support it or stand against it. We, at Ariel Ministries, get many letters asking us to explain what Zionism is. There is a lot of propaganda going on concerning Zionism; much of it is guilty of distortion and misinformation. In fact, anti-Zionism has become merely a new term for old fashioned “anti- Semitism.” Some circles are claiming that Zionism is a world-wide Jewish conspiracy aimed at the undermining of Western culture in order to allow for a communist takeover. In these circles, Zionism is equated with communism. Much literature is being published propounding this by anti-Semitic groups, and this writer has had the ugly experience of having to see and read much of this hate literature. One of the most famous works that gives this view of Zionism is known as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. This was actually a Russian forgery by a group of anti- Semites who were attempting to propagate the theory of a world-wide Jewish conspiracy. It purports to be the record or “protocols” of Jewish elders who came together to develop a program for world domination, but has been proven to be a Russian forgery by Czarists who were trying to propagandize the masses against the communists. From this came the popular view that communism was a Jewish conspiracy. On four occasions, when the Arab states failed to defeat Israel with the force of arms, they began a propaganda campaign to equate Zionism with racism. Thanks to Arab oil’s power to bribe and to intimidate the nations, the victims of racism are now accused of being racists themselves. The United Nations has ceased to be an organization seeking justice and peace for the world. It has become a tool for the destruction of existing nations. By condemning Zionism’s right to exist, they have condemned Israel’s right to exist. It is impossible to separate Zionism from Israel. By this one stroke, then, the United Nations legalized the destruction of Israel by her enemies. The United Nations is indeed guilty of playing into the hands of Satan who will, during the Great Tribulation, organize a world-wide invasion of Israel (Zechariah 12:1-3; 14:1-2). Although this verdict was repealed 17 years later, the damage was already done. But if Zionism is neither a world-wide Jewish conspiracy nor a Jewish form of racism, then what is it? The root of Zionism is the word “Zion.” Although the word “Zion” originally referred to the mount upon which the Jewish Temple stood, it eventually became equivalent to the name “Jerusalem.” Zionism is concerned with the Land of Zion and with its capital, Jerusalem. Zionism describes a feeling. It is an expression of the longing and yearning that the Jewish people have had in the past and still have for their homeland. Zionism existed during the Egyptian bondage. It existed during the Babylonian Captivity. It exists in these days of the Dispersion which began in A.D. 70. As soon as any Jew expressed a desire to go back to his Land – regardless of his reason – he was expressing Zionism. Any Jew who looked toward and identified himself with the Promised Land, whether he knew it or not, whether he admitted it or not, was a Zionist. Zionism is neither a conspiracy nor racism. It is an expression of a yearning placed into every Jewish heart by God Himself. Unfulfilled Zionism is being outside the Land of Israel. Fulfilled Zionism is being in and living in the Land. But what most believers want to know is this: Is Zionism biblical? To this question, every believer who takes the Bible literally and seriously must say “yes.” A typical Zionist passage of Scripture is found in Psalm 137:1-6: An Experience of the Captivity 1 By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down and wept, When we remembered Zion. 2 Upon the willows in the midst of it We hung our harps. 3 For there our captors demanded of us songs, And our tormentors mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.” 4 How can we sing the Lord’s song In a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, May my right hand forget her skill. 6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember you, If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy. NASV The longing to go back to Israel by the Jewish captives in Babylon is an expression of Zionism. The word Zion is used twice as is its equivalent, Jerusalem. Zion is to be remembered (v. 1), and so are its songs (v. 3). Jerusalem must not be forgotten (v.5), but preferred above all joys (v.6). It is impossible to be more Zionistic than the author of Psalm 137. Return to Israel God's Plan Web Page Return to Menorah's Web Page

Russia Turkey Libya Sudan Iran will invade Israel Exodus 38. Ezekiel's vision concerning an attack upon Israel by a violent enemy, Gog and Magog, occupies two chapters (38-39).  The prophet foretells the utter destruction of Gog, whose weapons will provide Israel with fuel for seven years and whose corpses will require seven months to bury; then the entire world will acknowledge the power and majesty of the true God. Ask Re’uben What is this Gog and Magog stuff.... who & why?? S H A L O M ! _______________ A MESSIANIC JEWISH SCRIPTURAL VIEW _______________ Biblical Question: What is this Gog and Magog stuff.... who & why?? Our Question: Frank. from Savannah, GA asks: Dear Pastor Reuben, I am really getting confused. What and/or should I say is Ezekiel talking about in chapter 38, 39. Just what does it mean? Is Russia really the invaders of my home land Israel in the last days? Many of my friends tell me I am not to read these "mysterious" scriptures nor try to figure them out. Why? Are these important to understand and if so why? Your help and recommendations of further reading would be appreciated. Frank B. Pastor Reuben's Answer: Dear Frank, shalom, YES, these Scriptures are important to us and it is good to seek understanding. While many, especially in the Jewish community, would say to not read or seek to understand, I do believe God gave the Scriptures for our edification, peace, direction, help, understanding of His plan and love. And, most of all, to assure us and the world of His redemption/salvation plan in His Messiah. G O G and M A G O G ---- Ezekiel's vision concerning an attack upon Israel by a violent enemy, Gog and Magog, occupies two chapters (38-39). The prophet foretells the utter destruction of Gog, whose weapons will provide Israel with fuel for seven years and whose corpses will require seven months to bury; then the entire world will acknowledge the power and majesty of the true God. "On that day, when Gog invades the land of Israel....mountains shall be torn apart, and cliffs shall topple over....I will overwhelm him with utter panic...O Gog, I will strike your bow from your left hand and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand. You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and your hordes....I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel..." Traditionally interpreted, this vision refers to a distant future, at the end of days, in which God will eventually defeat the enemies of Israel in the land of Israel. Gog and Magog are spoken of in connection with the Messianic Era: "Then Gog & Magog will hear about the descendant of David & the excellence of his people and country & the abundance of their wealth... He will gather people from various nations...notorious sinners marked for perdition...On that day four types of misfortune will descend upon them. Then the spirit of prophecy will descend upon all Israel, young and old. This blessed period will last until the end of time....." Recommended further reading: The Footsteps of the Messiah, Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum. May the Lord bless and keep you Frank. Thank you for your sincere question. (Yeshua = Salvation = Jesus) Questions are welcome from ALL readers at ALL levels and Forums, from everyone. Questions of general interest will be considered for inclusions in this column. Those of a more personal nature will be keep confidential and we will answer via e-mail; always state your name, email address and your comment/question in as brief & precise manner as possible. To submit a question, etc. please address it to reuben@menorah.org ask.....ask......ask.....ask.....ask.....ask......ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask.....ask To return to ..... Ask Pastor Reuben Biblica l Answers To Asked Questions..... To return to To Life L'Chaim Find Eternal Life Page To return to Menorah's Web Page

irst let us understand that people are born by the flesh into one cultural ethnic group or another due to no choice of their own. Second, a spiritual faith system is something a person chooses for themselves. A Jew does not give up their Jewish Heritage, culture and identity when they accept the Messiah Jesus. Rather, they gain important Jewish values; atonement as described by Moses, Israel's promised Messiah, and a personal relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.nJesus Ask Re’uben Does a Jew stop being Jewish when they believe in Jesus? S H A L O M ! _______ A MESSIANIC JEWISH SCRIPTURAL VIEW _______ Biblical Question: T. H. from Denver asks: Dear Pastor Reuben, Recently I was told by a rabbi and several other people that I was no longer a Jew because of my having accepted Yeshua (Jesus) as Lord & Savior. As a Believer in Jesus as Messiah I know they are wrong but, can you help me? Pastor Reuben's Answer: Dear T.H., shalom, First let us understand that people are born by the flesh into one cultural ethnic group or another due to no choice of their own. Second, a spiritual faith system is something a person chooses for themselves. A Jew does not give up their Jewish Heritage, culture and identity when they accept the Messiah Jesus. Rather, they gain important Jewish values; atonement as described by Moses, Israel's promised Messiah, and a personal relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So they do not give up; they gain. They do not lose their Jewishness, they intensify it in a Biblical way. They become a Messianic Jew, a Jewish follower of the Jewish Messiah promised by the Jewish Scriptures. Remember the Jewishness of the Biblical faith. (see John 4:22; Romans 9:4-5; and 11:11-27; Acts 26:6-7) The authors of Scripture were Jewish, as were Jesus and the apostles. And they all, including the "Jew of Jews" Paul, retained their Jewishness. (Acts 2:26, 3:1, 21:21-26, 22:3; 28:17; I Cor. 7:18) This does not mean that a Gentile becomes a Jew when he believes in Jesus, but neither does a Jew stop being Jewish when he accepts the Messiah. Source and reference: The Bible (Old & New Covenants) The Olive Tree Connection by Dr. John Fischer. Jews & Jesus by Zola Levitt In His service, Pastor Reuben Questions are welcome from ALL readers at ALL levels and Forums, from everyone. Questions of general interest will be considered for inclusions in this column. Those of a more personal nature will be keep confidential and we will answer via e-mail; always state your name, email address and your comment/question in as brief & precise manner as possible. To submit a question, etc. please address it to reuben@menorah.org ask.....ask......ask To return to ..... Ask Pastor ReubenBiblical Answers To Asked Questions..... To return to To Life L'Chaim Find Eternal Life Main Page To return to Menorah's Web Page

Biblical proof that Jesus is God, how, why, what it means. Jesus Christ is God There is only one God Sh'ma, Yisra'el! ADONAI Eloheinu, ADONAI echad [Hear, Isra'el! ADONAI our God, ADONAI is one] D'varim/Deuteronomy 6:4 -Old Testament Passages (Adonai=Ahdohni/Lord God) -Yesha'yahu/Isaiah 7:14 - Therefore Adonai himself will give you people a sign: the young woman will become pregnant, bear a son and name him 'Immanu El [God is with us]. . -Yesha'yahu/Isaiah 9:6 - For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; dominion will rest on his shoulders, and he will be given the name Pele-Yo'etz El Gibbor Avi-'Ad Sar-Shalom [Wonder of a Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace], -Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 23:5-6 - "The days are coming," says ADONAI when I will raise a righteous Branch for David. He will reign as king and succeed, he will do what is just and right in the land. In his days Y'hudah will be saved, Isra'el will live in safety, and the name given to him will be ADONAI Tzidkenu [ADONAI our righteousness]. -Mikhah/Micah 5:2 - But you, Beit-Lechem near Efrat, so small among the clans of Y'hudah, out of you will come forth to me the future ruler of Isra'el, whose origins are far in the past, back in ancient times. -Mal'akhi/Malachi 3:1-2 - "Look! I am sending my messenger to clear the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple. Yes, the messenger of the covenant, in whom you take such delight - look! -----Here he comes," says ADONAI-Tzva'ot. But who can endure the day when he comes? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire, like the soap maker’s lye. -Tehillah/Psalm 2:11-12- Serve ADONAI with fear; rejoice, but with trembling. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish along the way, when suddenly his anger blazes. How blessed are all who take refuge in him. -Tehillah/Psalm 45:1, 6-7 - For the leader. Set to "Lilies." By the descendants of Korach. A maskil. A lovesong: My heart is stirred by a noble theme; I address my verses to the king; My tongue is the pen of an expert scribe. ...Your throne, God, will last forever and ever; you rule your kingdom with a scepter of equity. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy in preference to your companions. -Tehillah/Psalm 110:1-3 - A psalm of David: ADONAI says to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." ADONAI will send your powerful scepter out from Tziyon, so that you will rule over your enemies around you. On the day your forces mobilize, your people willingly offer themselves in holy splendors from the womb of the dawn; the dew of your youth is yours. New Testament Passages -Mattityahu/Matthew 1:23- "The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him `Immanu El."a (The name means, "God is with us.") -Mark 2:5-11- Seeing their trust, Yeshua said to the paralyzed man, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Some Torah-teachers sitting there thought to themselves, "How can this fellow say such a thing? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins except God?" But immediately Yeshua, perceiving in his spirit what they were thinking, said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier to say to the paralyzed man? `Your sins are forgiven'? or `Get up, pick up your stretcher and walk'? But look! I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." He then said to the paralytic, "I say to you: get up, pick up your stretcher and go home!" -Luke 5:20-24- When Yeshua saw their trust, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you." The Torah-teachers and the P'rushim began thinking, "Who is this fellow that speaks such blasphemies? Who can forgive sin except God?" But Yeshua, knowing what they were think ing, answered, "Why are you turning over such thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier to say? `Your sins are forgiven you'? or `Get up and walk'? But look! I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." He then said to the paralytic, "I say to you: get up, pick up your mattress and go home!" -Yochanan/John 1:1-3, 14 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing made had being. -Yochanan/John 1:18- No one has ever seen God; but the only and unique Son, who is identical with God and is at the Father's side -- he has made him known. -Yochanan/John 5:17-26- But he answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I too am working." This answer made the Judeans all the more intent on killing him -- not only was he breaking Shabbat; but also, by saying that God was his own Father, he was claiming equality with God. Therefore, Yeshua said this to them: "Yes, indeed! I tell you that the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; whatever the Father does, the Son does too. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does; and he will show him even greater things than these, so that you will be amazed. Just as the Father raises the dead and makes them alive, so too the Son makes alive anyone he wants. The Father does not judge anyone but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever fails to honor the Son is not honoring the Father who sent him. Yes, indeed! I tell you that whoever hears what I am saying and trusts the One who sent me has eternal life -- that is, he will not come up for judgment but has already crossed over from death to life! Yes, indeed! I tell you that there is coming a time -- in fact, it's already here -- when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen will come to life. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has given the Son life to have in himself. -Yochanan/John 8:57-59- "Why, you're not yet fifty years old," the Judeans replied, "and you have seen Avraham?" Yeshua said to them, "Yes, indeed! Before Avraham came into being, I AM!" At this, they picked up stones to throw at him; but Yeshua was hidden and left the Temple grounds. -Yochanan/John 10:28-39- and I give them eternal life. They will absolutely never be destroyed, and no one will snatch them from my hands. My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all; and no one can snatch them from the Father's hands. I and the Father are one." Once again the Judeans picked up rocks in order to stone him. Yeshua answered them, "You have seen me do many good deeds that reflect the Father's power; for which one of these deeds are you stoning me?" The Judeans replied, "We are not stoning you for any good deed, but for blasphemy -- because you, who are only a man, are making yourself out to be God [Hebrew: Elohim]." Yeshua answered them, "Isn't it written in your Torah, `I have said, "You people are Elohim' "?h If he called `elohim' the people to whom the word of Elohim was addressed (and the Tanakh cannot be broken), then are you telling the one whom the Father set apart as holy and sent into the world, `You are committing blasphemy,' just because I said, `I am a son of Elohim'? "If I am not doing deeds that reflect my Father's power, don't trust me. But if I am, then, even if you don't trust me, trust the deeds; so that you may understand once and for all that the Father is united with me, and I am united with the Father." One more time they tried to arrest him, but he slipped out of their hands. -Yochanan/John 20:27-28- "Then he said to T'oma, "Put your finger here, look at my hands, take your hand and put it into my side. Don't be lacking in trust, but have trust!" T'oma answered him, "My Lord and my God!" -Romans 9:5- "...the Patriarchs are theirs; and from them, as far as his physical descent is concerned, came the Messiah, who is over all. Praised be ADONAI forever! Amen. Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen" -Philippians 2:5-8- Let your attitude toward one another be governed by your being in union with the Messiah Yeshua: Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God something to be possessed by force. On the contrary, he emptied himself, in that he took the form of a slave by becoming like human beings are. And when he appeared as a human being, he humbled himself still more by becoming obedient even to death - death on a stake as a criminal! -Colossians 1:15-16- He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is supreme over all creation, because in connection with him were created all things - in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities - they have all been created through him and for him. -Colossians 2:8-10- Watch out, so that no one will take you captive by means of philosophy and empty deceit, following human tradition which accords with the elemental spirits of the world but does not accord with the Messiah. For in him, bodily, lives the fullness of all that God is. And it is in union with him that you have been made full - he is the head of every rule and authority. -1 Timothy 1:16-17- But this is precisely why I received mercy - so that in me, as the number one sinner, Yeshua the Messiah might demonstrate how very patient he is, as an example to those who would later come to trust in him and thereby have eternal life. So to the King - eternal, imperishable and invisible, the only God there is - let there be honor and glory for ever and ever! Amen. -1 Timothy 2:3-4- This is what God, our Deliverer, regards as good; this is what meets his approval. He wants all humanity to be delivered and come to full knowledge of the truth. -1 Timothy 3:16- Great beyond all question is the formerly hidden truth underlying our faith: He was manifested physically and proved righteous spiritually, seen by angels and proclaimed among the nations, trusted throughout the world and raised up in glory to heaven. -1 Timothy 6:14-16- to obey your commission spotlessly and irreproachably until our Lord Yeshua the Messiah appears. His appearing will be brought about in its own time by the blessed and sole Sovereign, who is King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal, who dwells in unapproachable light that no human being has ever seen or can see - to him be honor and eternal power. Amen. -Titus 1:3- but made public this word of his in its own season through a proclamation with which I have been entrusted by order of God, our Deliverer. -Titus 2:10- or pilfering. On the contrary, they should demonstrate complete faithfulness always, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Deliverer more attractive. -Titus 2:13- while continuing to expect the blessed fulfillment of our certain hope, which is the appearing of the Sh'khinah of our great God and the appearing of our Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah. -Messianic Jews/Hebrews 1:1-3- In days gone by, God spoke in many and varied ways to the Fathers through the prophets. But now, in the acharit-hayamim, he has spoken to us through his Son, to whom he has given ownership of everything and through whom he created the universe. This Son is the radiance of the Sh'khinah, the very expression of God's essence, upholding all that exists by his powerful word; and after he had, through himself, made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of HaG'dulah BaM'romim. -Messianic Jews/Hebrews 1:8- but to the Son, he says, "Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever; you rule your Kingdom with a scepter of equity; -Y'hudah/Jude 24-25- Now, to the one who can keep you from falling and set you without defect and full of joy in the presence of his Sh'khinah to God alone, our Deliverer, through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord be glory, majesty, power and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen -Revelation 21:6-7- And he said to me, "It is done! I am the 'A' and the 'Z,' the Beginning and the End. To anyone who is thirsty I myself will give water free of charge from the Fountain of Life. He who wins the victory will receive these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. To Return To: Flag Of Palestine-Israel page To Return To: Understanding Bible Prophecy page To Return To: Israel Tours Detail page To Return To: THE REAL YESHUA/JESUS PAGE To Return To: MENORAH'S HOME PAGE

Biblically discusses if a Christian can actually become a Jew. C O N V E R T ? .... CAN A GENTILE CHRISTIAN BECOME A JEW? ...... R E A L L Y ?! To return To Jews Gentiles and the Church Web Site To return to MENORAH'S HOME PAGE Can A Gentile Christian 'Convert' (become a Jew) To Judaism & Remain A Christian To Convert or Not to Concert, That is the Question The Messianic Movement and A Messianic Gentile In A Messianic Jewish Congregation