Learn To Read Biblical Hebrew

Learn to Read Biblical Hebrew
In the Modern Hebrew Script Part One - The Alphabet

Introduction Introduction The Alephbet Lesson 1 Lesson 1 (Aleph, Beyt) Lesson 2 Lesson 2 (Mem, Yud) Lesson 3 Lesson 3 (Nun, Hey) Lesson 4 (Lamed, Vav) Lesson 5 (Resh, Shin) Lesson 6 (Ayin, Tet) Lesson 7 (Tav, Dalet) Lesson 8 (Tsade, Quph) Lesson 9 (Chet, Kaph) Lesson 10 (Zayin, Pey) Lesson 11 (Gimel, Samech) Lesson 12
Part Two - Basic Sentence Structure Structure
Part Three - Biblical Hebrew Word and Sentence Construction

Introduction Prefixes, suffixes and infixes Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5

Introduction WHY LEARN HEBREW?
There are many reasons to learn Hebrew such as to read the Tenach (the Old Testament of the Bible written in Hebrew) in its original language or simply to learn how to pronounce Hebrew words such as those in Strong's Concordance without having to use the transliterations. Probably the most advantageous reason to learn Hebrew is the ability to understand the original author's words, rather than through the translators opionion of the author's words. Learning the Hebrew language can be both fun and exciting. By simply studying the pages to follow for just a few minutes a day you will soon be reading Hebrew and be building a small vocabulary of Hebrew words and phrases.
THE HEBREW ALEPHBET

English uses the word "Alphabet" which is the first two letters of the Greek Alphabet; Alpha and Beta. Hebrew on the other hand uses "Alephbet" as they are the first two letters of the Hebrew Alephbet; Aleph and Bet. The Hebrew alephbet consists of 22 consonants and no vowels. The vowels are dots and dashes added above and below the consonants. One advantage to Hebrew is that the sound for each letter remains the same unlike English where one has to memorize many variations such as the word circus where one "c" is pronounced like an "S" and the other like a "K".
DIRECTION OF READING
Unlike English which is read from left to right, Hebrew is read from right to left just as many other semitic languages such as Arabic. This may sound difficult but in a very short time you will get used to it. When sounding out a word it will be easier if you remember the Consonant (C) and Vowel (V) patterns. In English the consonants and vowels may be arranged in any order such as in the word "circle" which has the following pattern; C-V-C-C-C-V. Hebrew on the other hand is very consistent in that a vowel always follows a consonant (except the final consonant which may or may not be followed by a vowel), such as in the following words "Melek" (king) C-V-C-V-C; "Meleko" (his king) C-V-C-V-C-V and "Hamelek" (the king) C-V-C-V-C-V-C. The Yud (Y) is another exception to this as it can be a consonant acting as a vowel, just as our English "Y".
MODERN AND ANCIENT HEBREW

The pronunciation of some of the consonants and vowels have changed over the centuries but this does not affect the meaning of words so we will learn to pronounce them according to the modern Hebrew. Modern Hebrew pronunciation is also divided into two parts, Ashkenazie and Sephardic. Since Sephardic is the pronunciation adopted by the State of Israel, we will also use this pronunciation.
THE LESSONS
Each lesson includes new consonants, vowels, a practice section, new vocabulary words and sentences. The practice session will allow you to practice the new letters and vowels and refresh yourself on old ones. The vocabulary section will consist of a few words using the new letters and vowels to begin building your Hebrew vocabulary. The Sentences will allow you to begin using your new words in sentences. To assist you in learning the letters and words, I recommend that you put the letters and words you are learning on flashcards so that you can study them at any time.

Alephbet
Some common confusions between letters
The alephbet in handwritten form
Biblical Learn to Read Biblical Hebrew

Lesson 1
Consonants
The "aleph" is the first letter of the Hebrew alephbet. This consonant is silent.
The "beyt" is pronounced two ways, a "b" as in ball, and as "v" as in visit. A dagesh (a dot in the middle of the letter) indicates that the letter will have the "b" sound, while the abscence of the dagesh indicates the "v" sound. When the beyt is prefixed to a word it means "in".
Vowels
This vowel, which is placed under the consonant, is pronounced "a" as in father. Since the aleph is silent, this consonant/vowel combination would be pronounced as "a". (Note: The aleph here is not part of the vowel, it is simply used here to show the placement of the vowel only)
This vowel is also pronounced "a" as in father.
Practice .1 .2
Vocabulary Came Father .1 .2
Sentences Father Came. .1

Lesson 2
Consonants
The "mem" is pronounced "m" as in mother.
The "final mem" is the form of the letter used when at the end of a word. The pronunciation does not change.
The yud is pronounced "y" as in yes. When the yud is added at the end of a word it means "of me" or "my".
Vowels
This vowel is pronounced "i" as in machine.
This vowel is pronounced "e" as in grey.
Practice .1 .2
Vocabulary Mother Who My mother My father .1 .2 .3 .4
Sentences Who came? My father came. .1 .2

Lesson 3
Consonants
The "nun" is pronounced "n" as in no.
The "final nun" is the form of the letter used when at the end of a word. The pronunciation does not change.
The "hey" is pronounced "h" as in hello. When the "hey" is suffixed to the end of a word it makes the word feminine. When it is prefixed to the front of a word it is the definite article meaning "the".
Notes
1. The English verb "to be" and its various tenses such as "am", "is" and "are" do not exist in Hebrew and need to be added in the translation. 2. English has two indefinite articles, "a" and "an" which also do not exist in Hebrew and must be added in the translation. 3. The vocabulary word below "ba'ah" is the feminine form of the masculine verb "ba'" (came) which was introduced in lesson 1. 4. The final syllable of most Hebrew words is accented by pronouncing the final Consonant-Vowel-Consonant as a syllable. For instance, the word for "I", in the vocabulary list below, is pronounced "a-niy" rather than an-iy.
Practice .1
.2 .3
Vocabulary I Where Son She Prophet Came (f) What The .1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8
Sentences Where is my father? I am a father. Who is she? The prophet came. .1 .2 .3 .4
What is a prophet? My son came.
.5 .6
Learn Learn to Read Biblical Hebrew

Lesson 4
Consonants
The "lamed" is pronounced "l" as in long. When the lamed is prefixed to a word it means "to" or "for".
The "vav" is pronounced "v" as in visit. When the vav is prefixed to a word it means "and".
Vowels
When this vowel is placed under the first letter of a word it is pronounced as a soft "e" as in help. When it appears in the middle of a word it is used as a syllable break and is not pronounced.
This vowel is pronounced "e" as in elephant.
Notes
1. When one of the "a" vowels are followed by the consonant "yud", the pronunciation is "ah-y", which, when said quickly sounds like "i" as in bike. 2. In some languages, such as Spanish, nouns are masculine, feminine or neuter . Hebrew is much the same, all nouns are either masculine or feminine (there is no neuter). 3. The "yud-mem" combination is the masculine plural ending, similar to the the "s" ending for English plural nouns. 4. When the dagesh (the dot in the middle of a letter) is placed within some letters, such as in the nun in the word for "Here [am] I" in the vocabulary list below, it doubles the letter. Therefore, this letter would be pronounced "hin-ney-niy" rather than "hi-ney-niy".
Practice .1 .2 .3
Vocabulary Night God Water Amen Here Sea Here am I To me .1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8
Sentences Night came. .1
My son came to me. Mother came in the night. My father and my mother are here. Water is in the sea.
.2 .3 .4 .5

Lesson 5
Consonants
The "resh" is pronounced "r" as in rain.
The "shin" is pronounced two ways, "sh" as in sharp, and "s" as in sign. When a dot is placed on the top right corner of the letter it takes the "sh" sound and when the dot is placed on the top left corner of the letter it takes the "s" sound.
Vowels
The dot above the "vav" is pronounced "o" as in open. The "vav" becomes silent. When this "vav" is suffixed to a word it means "to him" or "his".
Notes
1. In Hebrew, the verb usually appears before the subject of the verb, such as in sentence #5 below.
Practice .1 .2 .3
Vocabulary Peace Skies Said (m) Created (m) Said (f) Ruler Day Light Rabbi Name .1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .9 .10
Sentences My name is Levi. What is his name? His name is Abraham. Ruler of Peace. .1 .2 .3 .4
God created skies.
.5

Lesson 6
Consonants
The "Ayin" is silent.
The "Tet" is pronounced "t" as in tune.
Vowels
The dot in the "vav" is pronounced "u" as in tune. The "vav" is silent. When this vav is suffixed to a word, it means "of them" or "they".
Notes
1. In Hebrew the adjectives come after the noun, such as tov (good) in sentence #1 below.
Practice .1 .2 .3
Vocabulary Evening Good Israel Over, On She He Keeping, Guarding .1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7
Sentences Good Evening. Who came in the evening? She came in the evening. He came in the evening. Peace over Israel. What is his name? His name is Israel. .1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7

Lesson 7
Consonants
The "Tav" is pronounced "t" as in tune. A dagesh may appear in the letter but will not change the sound of the letter.
The "dalet" is pronounced "d" as in dig.
Vowels
This vowel is pronounced "eh" as in elephant, but it is pronounced very softly.
This vowel is a dot which appears at the top and just to the left of the letter instead of beneath it and is pronounced "o" as in open.
Notes
1. The Hebrew word for Moses (Vocabulary word #1) appears to be missing a vowel after the "mem". Since Hebrew requires a vowel after each consonant, the vowel is the "o" placed above the letter "Shin". The dot over the right leg of the letter "Shin" and the vowel "o" are in the same place. 2. The "et" (Vocabulary word #3) precedes a direct object of the verb and is rarely translated into English. For example, if I said "I made the dinner", the direct object is "the dinner" because "the" comes before "dinner". In this case the Hebrew word "et" would precede "the dinner" in Hebrew. If I said "I made a dinner", the "et" would not precede it since "dinner" in this sentence is not a direct object. 3. An exception to the rule requiring the C-V-C-V pattern is the word "reshiyt" (Vocabulary word #8). The aleph does not always require a vowel after it.
Practice .1 .2 .3
Vocabulary Moses God, gods

Precedes the direct object of the verb
.1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .9 .10 .11
Gave (m) Sabbath Teaching To us Beginning Student (m) Student (f) Study (m)
Study (f)
.12
Sentences Peaceful Sabbath. And they will keep the Sabbath. Moses gave to us the Torah. In [the] beginning God created. A student studies the Torah. A student studies Torah. .1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6

Lesson 8
Consonants
The "tsade" is pronounced "ts" as in pots.
The final "tsade" is the form used when the letter appears at the end of a word and is also pronounced "ts".
The "quph" is pronounced "q" as in quiet.
Vowels
This vowel is a combination of the "sheva" vowel and the "a" vowel learned previously. The vowel works the same as the "sheva" with a pronunciation of "a" as in father, when placed under the first consonant of the word.
Practice .1 .2 .3
Vocabulary
Exist (m) Land
.1 .2
Sentences Genesis 1:14

Lesson 9
Consonants
The "chet" is pronounced "ch" as in the German name Bach.
When a dagesh appears in the "Kaph", it is pronounced "k" as in kick. When a dagesh does not appear in the letter it is pronounced "ck" as in the German name Bach.
The final "kaph" has the same pronunciations as the "kaph". While most words end with a consonant, the final "kaph" will usually be followed by a vowel.
Vowels
This vowel is pronounced "u" as in tune.
Notes
1. When the "ah" vowel appears under the letter "chet", the two sounds trade places. The second word in line 2 of the practice section is pronounced "ko'ach" not "kocha". This is unique only to this letter and vowel combination when it appears at the end of a word.
Practice .1 .2
.3
Vocabulary Yes, So Grass, Herb Tree, Wood .1 .2 .3

Lesson 10
Consonants
The "zayin" is pronounced "z" as in zebra.
When a dagesh appears in the "pey", it is pronounced "p" as in pet. When a dagesh does not appear in the letter it is pronounced "ph" as in phone.
The pronunciation of the final "pey" is the same as the "pey".
Vowels
This vowel is a combination of the "sheva" vowel and the "a" vowel learned previously. The vowel works the same as the "sheva" with a pronunciation of "a" as in father, when placed under the first consonant of the word.
Practice .1 .2 .3
Vocabulary
Which, Who Make, Do (m) Face
.1 .2 .3

Lesson 11
Consonants
The "gimel" is pronounced "g" as in game.
The "samech" is pronounced "s" as in sand.
Notes
1. Vocabulary word #1 is pronounced "Kol" (coal), not "Kal" as it appears. The "a" vowel is pronounced "o" in this word only.
Practice .1 .2 .3
Vocabulary All Man .1 .2
Bird Fish
.3 .4
Hebrew Learn to Read Biblical Hebrew

Lesson 12
Now that you have completed the previous lessons, you may begin putting what you have learned to use. Below are the first five verses of Genesis chapter one for your reading practice.
Genesis 1:1-5
Congratulations
You have completed all twelve lessons. At this point you have the ability to read the Bible in its original language. Your next step is to practice your reading skill, build your vocabulary and begin learning word and sentence structure. We recommend four books;
Hebrew Bible: With a Bible in the Hebrew language you can practice your reading and take the first steps to reading the Bible in its original language.
Prayer Book Hebrew The Easy Way: While this book is written to aid the Jewish student in learning to read the Sidur (Prayerbook), it is an excellent book for the non-Jew as well because of its ability to teach word and sentence structure.
Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon: This lexicon will greatly assist the Hebrew student learn Hebrew prefixes, suffixes, roots and vocabulary.
Learn Biblical Hebrew: Includes a revised version of the Hebrew lessons on this site as well as charts and dictionaries to assist the new Hebrew student in Biblical Reading.
The Ancient Hebrew Research Center Web Site has some resources that will assist you with your continued reading practices and vocabulary including an online Hebrew Bible (no vowel pointings) and a Dictionary which lists all the Hebrew words used twenty five times or more in the Bible. Let us also recommend these sites for additional Hebrew studies; 1. Hebrew vocabulary Lessons 2. Hebrew vocabulary games 3. Hebrew for me activities 4. Downloadable Hebrew Bible 5. Bible Readings in Hebrew 6. Hebrew Dictionary 7. Hebrew Picture Dictionary 8. Mechon Mamre Hebrew Bible 9. Allon Ministries 10. Audio Scriptures International It would help us greatly if you would E-Mail us to let us know what you think of the lessons. Did you find them easy to follow? Did you have any problems with the lessons? Do you have any suggestions that would make the lessons better for others? May we also invite you to sign our guestbook. Thank-you very much for your continued interest in the Hebrew language and allowing us to be a part of your studies. We hope that you will continue your Hebrew studies with enjoyment and satisfaction. If we can be of service to you now or in the future, please let us know.
Learn Hebrew Part 2

Introduction
In these lessons we will begin to learn Hebrew sentence structure and vocabulary. These lessons are adapted from "beyt siyphrenu" (our schoolhouse) by the Hebrew Publishing Company, New York. copyright 1939. The writing of these lessons will take time and we hope to add an additional lesson every few weeks. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions for these lessons please Email us, thank you.
About the Lessons
Hebrew Fonts
The "BSThebrew" font, designed by Crosswalk.Com, is required to be installed in your fonts folder to view the Hebrew letters.
Vocabulary
Hebrew words are gender sensitive as are some English words such as "boy" and "girl". Many English words are not gender sensitive such as "child". In order to convey the gender of the Hebrew, the symbols (m.) for masculine words and (f.) for feminine words will be placed after the English words. Those entries in the vocabulary section which are prefixes will be followed by a dash (-).
Transliteration
The vowels in the transliteration will be pronounced as follows; a - father; e edge; i - king; o - old; u - tune; ay - fly; ey - play; iy - king. A dash within the English transliterations indicate a syllable break.
Translation
Words required in the translation that are not in the Hebrew, that are added into the translation are in italics.
Learn Hebrew Part 2

Lesson 1
Vocabulary
Translation Transliteration Hebrew Translation Transliteration Hebrew
name child (m.) child (f.)
sheym ye-led yal-dah
children (m.) ye-le-diym children (f.) ye-le-dot man woman men women Mr. Mrs. iysh ish-shah a-na-shiym na-shiym mar ma-rat
~ev d,l,y h'D.l;y ~yid,l.y tAd,l.y vyia h'Via ~yiv:n]a ~yiv"n r;m t;r'm
this (m.) zeh this (f.) zot these ey-leh
one (m.) e-chad one (f.) a-chat
two (m.) she-na-yim two (f.) she-ta-yim or the what book o hamah sey-pher
h,z taoz h,Lea d'x,a t;x;a ~iy;n.v ~iy;T.v Aa -'h -;h h'm h;m r,pes
Sentences
Translation The name of the boy is David. The name of the girl is Dinah. Transliteration sheym hay-ye-led david sheym hay-yal-dah diynah Hebrew
`diw'D d,l,Y;h ~ev `h'nyiD h'D.l;Y;h ~ev
The name of the man is Mr. Levin. The name of the woman is Mrs. Levin. This is a boy. This is a girl. This is a man. This is a woman. One man. Two men. One woman. Two women.
sheym ha-iysh mar leviyn sheym ha-ish-shah marat le-viyn zeh ye-led zot yal-dah zeh iysh zot ish-shah iysh e-chad. she-na-yim a-na-shiym. ish-shah a-chat. she-tayim na-shiym.
`!yiw,l r;m vyia'h ~ev `!yiw,l t;r''m h'Via'h ~ev `d,l,y h,z `h'D.l;y taOz `vyia h,z `h'Via taOz `~yiv"n]a ~iy:n.v `d'x,a vyia `~yiv"n ~iy;T.v `t;x;a h'Via
Learn Hebrew Part 2

Lesson 2
Vocabulary
Translation Transliteration Hebrew Translation Transliteration Hebrew
here/behold hin-neyh taliyt tephiliyn praying ta-liyt te-philiyn mit-paleyl
heNih tyiL;j !yiLip.T leL;P.tim vey -.w
big, great (m.) big, great (f.) small (m.) small (f.) to (belongs to) to the (belongs to the)
ga-dol ge-do-lah qa-tan qa-tannah lela-
lAd'G h'lAd.G !'j'q h'N;j.q -.l -'l
there is/are yeysh and ve-
Sentences
Translation Here is one man. The name of the man is Mr. Kahen. To Mr. Kahen there is a taliyt. To Mr. Kahen there is tephiliyn. To Mr. Kahen there are tephiliyn and Transliteration hin-neyh iysh e-chad. sheym ha-iysh mar kahen. le-mar ka-hen yeysh taliyt. le-mar ka-hen yeysh tephi-liyn. le-mar ka-hen yeysh tephi-liyn ve-ta-liyt. Hebrew
`d'x,a vyia heNih `!,h'K r;m vyia'h ~ev `tyiL;j vey !,h'K r;m.l `!yiLip.T vey !,h'K r;m.l `tyiL;j.w !yiLip.T
taliyt. Mr. Kahen is praying. Here are two men. To the men there are tephiliyn To the men there are taliytot. To the men there are tephiliyn and taliytot. Two of the men are praying. The man is big and the boy is small. mar ka-hen mit-pa-leyl. hin-neyh she-ney a-nashiym. la-a-na-shiym yeysh tephi-liyn. la-a-na-shiym yeysh taliy-tot. la-a-na-shiym yeysh tephi-liyn ve-ta-liy-tot. she-ney ha-a-na-shiym mit-pal-liym ha-iysh ga-dol ve-ha-yeled qa-tan.
The woman is big and the girl is small.
ha-ish-shah ge-do-lah ve-ha-yal-dah qe-ta-nah.
The man and the woman are big. The boy and the girl are small.
ha-iysh ve-ha-ish-shah ge-do-liym. hay-ye-led ve-hay-yaldah qe-ta-niym.
vey !,h'K r;m.l `leL;P.tim !,h'K r;m `~yiv"n]a yen.v heNih `!yiLip.T vey ~yiv"n]a'l `tAtyiL;j vey ~yiv"n]a'l `tAtyiL;j.w !yiLip.T vey ~yiv"n]a'l `~yil.L;P.tim ~yiv"n]a'h yen.v `!'j'q d,l,Y;h.w lAd'G vyia'h `h"N;j.q h'D.l:Y;h.w h'lAd.G h'Via'h `~yilAd.G h'Via'h.w vyia'h `~yIN;j.q h'D.l:Y;h.w d,l,Y;h
Notes
1. A taliyt is a four cornered garment with the fringes tied at each corner (Numbers 15:37-41), often called a prayer shawl.
2. Tephiliyn, often called by the Greek name phylacteries, are leather boxes tied to the forehead and hand when praying (Deuteronomy 6:8). Inside the boxes are parchment with specific Biblical passages written on them. 3. Many feminine words end with "h'-". 4. Masculine plural words are idenitified with a "~yi-" suffix. Feminine plural words are identified with a "tA-" suffix. 5. The participle verbs such as "leL;P.tim" (praying) use the same plural suffix when more than one are performing the action of the verb. When a group composed of both masculine and feminine are the subjects of the verb, the masculine suffix is used for the participle. 6. Adjectives normally follow the noun.
Learn Hebrew Part 2

Lesson 3
Vocabulary
Trans- Translation literation Hebrew Translation Transliteration Hebrew
boy hand
na-ar yad
where ay-yeyh chair ki-sey
r;[;n d"y hEY;a aeSiK
table on, over
shul-chan al
standing (m.) o-meyd standing (f.) o-me-det
!'x.luv l;[ demA[ t,d,mA[
Participle Verb Conjugations of dm[ (standing) Gender Masculine Feminine Singular Plural
demA[ ~yid.mA[ t,d,mA[ tAd.mA[

Participle Verb
Conjugations of bvy (sitting) Gender Masculine Feminine Singular Plural
bevAy ~yib.vAy t,b,vAy tAb.vAy
Sentences
Translation Here is a boy. A boy is a large child. The name of the boy is Joseph. What is on the table? A book. What is in the hand? A book. Where are the books?
Transliteration hin-neyh na-ar. na-ar ye-led ga-dol. sheym ha-na-ar yoseyph. mah al ha-shul-chan? sey-pher. mah bay-yad? sey-pher. ay-yeyh ha-se-phariym? e-chad ba-yad ve-echad al ha-shul-chan. hi-neyh ye-led e-chad sheym hay-ye-led avra-ham. ay-yeyh av-ra-ham? av-ra-ham al ki-sey. av-ra-ham o-meyd al ha-ki-sey. hin-neyh yal-dah achat. sheym hay-yal-dah sarah. a-yeyh sa-rah? sa-rah al ki-sey. sa-rah o-me-det al ha-
Hebrew
`r;[;n heNih `lAd'G d,l,y r;;[;n `@esAy r;[;N;h ~ev `r,pes ?!'x.luV;h l;[ h'm `r,pes ?d"Y;B h;m ?~yir'p.S;h hEY;a `!'x.luV;h l;[ d'x,a.w d"Y;B d'x,a `d'x,a d,l,y hENih `~'h'r.b;a d,l,Y;h ~ev ?~'h'r.b;a hEY;a àeSiK l;[ ~'h'r.b;a àeSiK;h l;[ demA[ ~'h'r.b;a `t;x;a h'D.l:y hENih `h'r'f h'D.l:Y;h ~ev ?h'r'f hEY;a àeSiK l;[ h'r'f àeSiK;h l;[
One is in the hand and one is on the table. Here is one boy. The name of the boy is Abraham. Where is Abraham? Abraham is on a chair. Abraham is standing on the chair. Here is one girl. The name of the girl is Sarah. Where is Sarah? Sarah is on a chair. Sarah is standing on
the chair. Abraham and Sarah are standing on the chairs.
ki-sey.
av-ra-ham ve-sa-rah om-diym al ha-ki-sot
t,d,mA[ h'r'f `tAa.siK;h l;[ ~yid.mA[ h'r'f.w ~'h'r.b;a
Notes
1. Remember that the "a" vowels are pronounced like the "a" in father. In the above sentence is the word "d"Y;B". The transliteration for this word is bay-yad. The first syllable "bay" is pronounced "bahee" (as in good "bye") not "bay" as in a bay of water.
Learn Biblical Hebrew - Part 3 Introduction
If you know the Hebrew alephbet, your next step in Biblical Hebrew studies is to learn sentence and word structure. The following is the first few verses of Genesis chapter one where we will examine each word, one at a time, explaining their construction and relationship within the sentence. The final lesson is Genesis chapter one for you to practice your translation on. You will need the BST Hebrew Font to view the Hebrew text in these lessons. Below are a couple resources to assist you in your Biblical Reading. We are including a singular link below to these but do not make any specific links at each occurence within the lesson as you will learn quicker when you search for the word, prefix or suffix within the resources. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions on these lessons please e-mail us. Study Resources Hebrew/English dictionary of common Hebrew words Prefixes, suffixes and infixes added to Hebrew roots Hebrew Alphabet
Learn Biblical Hebrew - Part 3 Hebrew Prefixes, Suffixes and Infixes
Prefixes The -In -To Like ---
And --
Which --
Noun Derivatives ----- ----------- -----
Pronoun Suffixes - Masculine Singular My hand Your hand His hand Plural Our hand Your hand Their hand
Pronoun Suffixes - Feminine Singular My hand Your hand Plural Our hand Your hand
Her hand
Their hand
Perfect Tense - Masculine Singular I said You said He said Plural We said You said They said
Perfect Tense - Feminine Singular I said You said She said Plural We said You said They said
Imperfect Tense - Masculine Singular I say You say He says Plural We say You say They say
Imperfect Tense - Feminine Singular I say You say She says We say You say They say Plural
Learn Biblical Hebrew - Part 3 Lesson 1
Genesis 1:1
The is a prefix meaning "inside". This letter is an abbreviated form of the Hebrew word " " (beyt) meaning "house". The house is where the family resides "inside". The root word is " " meaning "head".
Words related in meaning to the root are commonly formed by adding certain letters to the root and all of the words derived from the same root will be related in meaning. The letters " --" are added to the root to form a new noun, , meaning "beginning" (The head of a time or space as in the beginning of an event or a river.) By being able to recognize the prefixes and letters added to a root to form noun derivatives, one can easily see the root word within the word. There are approximately 8,000 different words in the Bible, all of which are derived from only about 1,500 root words. Of these 1,500, about half are used very infrequently in the Bible. This means that with a good understanding of about 750 root words one can easily read the Biblical text without memorizing all 8,000 words used within it.
This is a verb (word denoting action). While this word is usually translated as "create" a better Hebraic translation would be "fatten" or "filled" as what is fattened is filled up. The Hebrews thought and communicated in concrete terms rather than abstracts as we do. The word create is an abstract word while the word fatten or filled are concrete. Each verb identifies gender (masculine or feminine), number (singular or plural) and tense (perfect or imperfect). This verb would literally be translated as "he did fatten/fill". The "he" is masculine singular and the word "did" indicates perfect tense.
Perfect tense is completed action and is similar to our past tense. Imperfect tense is incomplete action and is similar to our present or future tense. Notice the difference of tenses between Hebrew and English. English tenses are related to time while Hebrew is related to action.
This word is the subject of the verb, the "he" in "he did fatten". Generally the subject of the verb will follow the verb rather than precede it as in English. In English we say "John ran fast." but in Hebrew this would be written as "ran John fast". The root word for this noun is " " meaning "power". This word is used for anyone or anything which, has "power" and is often translated as "God". The suffix " --" denotes a plural for masculine nouns. While English plurals denote quantity (more than one), Hebrew plurals can also denote quality (very large or great). The word " " can be translated as "gods" (quantity) or "a great god" (quality). The idea of "a great god" is generally written as "God". Only through context can it be determined if the plural noun is identifying quantity or quality. This can be the context within the passage or the sentence structure itself. In this verse the context of the sentence structure requires this word to be understood as qualitative since the verb was preceding it states "he (singular) did fatten" and not "they (plural) did fatten".
This word literally a plow point which creates the furrows in the field and is guided by the driver of the plow. In order to keep the furrow straight, the driver heads for a mark in the distance. Therefore, this word is literally "the moving toward a mark". The word " " is used over 11,000 times (and never translated into English as there is no equivelent) to point to the direct object of the verb. Some examples of a direct object are; "Bible", "the book" and "his book" where the "book" is specically identified". Conversely, an example of an indirect object would be; "a book" where the book is not specifically identified.
The first letter, " ", is another prefix and is usually translated as "the". This prefix is the short form of the word " " meaning, "to look at something". The root word is " " and while usually translated as "name" is more literally "breath". In Hebraic thought your breath is your character, who you are. In the
Hebraic culture one's name was to reflect their character, or "breath". Again we find the suffix " --" indicating a plural - "breaths" or "winds" of the sky and best translated as "skies". Because the " " (the) precedes the word " " (skies), this word is a direct object, hence, the reason for the word " " before it.
Another very common prefix is the letter " ", usually translated as "and". This is the abbreviated form of the word " " meaning, peg or nail. As a nail attaches two items together, this prefix attaches two or more things together in a sentence, in this case "the skies and the land". Added to this prefix is the word " " which was previously discussed. Because of this word we know that the word which follows is also a definite object of the verb " ".
The letter " " is the prefix meaning "the". The word " meaning "land".
" is a common word
Genesis 1:2
As previously discussed the prefix " " is used to attach two parts of a sentence together but is also used to attach two or more sentences together, in other words bringing all of the words of one story together. In fact, the entire chapter of Genesis chapter one is one long story as each sentence begins with a " ". The letter " " is the prefix meaning "the" and the word " discussed means "land". ", as previously
The root word of this verb is " ", a very common root literally meaning "to exist" or "breath" as one who exists breathes but, is usually translated with a form of the English verb "to be". This verb is made feminine, singular, and perfect tense because the " " is added at the end of the root. When a " " is added to a root which ends with a " ", the " " is changed to a " ". This verb would be literally translated as "she did exist" where the "she" is the "land" from the previous word.
The root word here is " " meaning "empty". By adding the letter " " to the root, a noun derivative is formed meaning, "empty" or "void".
The first letter, " ", is the prefix meaning "and" and is used to connect the word
following it with the previous word. The root word is " " meaning, "to fill a void". A common Hebrew word also derived from this root is " " (bo') and is usually translated as "come" or "go". The English translations of this word imply movement in a certain direction but the Hebrew meaning of the word is to "fill a void" and can be either here (come) or there (go). The " " added after the root forms a noun derivative meaning "void". There are two styles of poetry seen in the passages we have looked at thus far. The first is the use of similar sounding words together such as we see with this word and the previous word - "tohu v'vohu". The other is called parallelism where one idea is expressed in two separate ways. The first sentence we looked at said that "God filled the sky and the land" while this sentence says that "the land was unfilled (a void)". (Hebrew does not write sentences in chronological order as we do.)
The first letter is the prefix meaning "and". The word " "darkness".
" means "dark" or
This word is very common and means "over" or "on".
The root for this word is " " meaning, face. This word is always used in the plural form " ". This word is in the construct state "faces OF....". When a masculine plural noun is used in the construct state, the letter " " is always dropped. Also, when the masculine plural is added to a word that ends with the letter " ", the " " is dropped.
A noun derived from the root " " meaning "sea". This derivative, formed by adding the letter " ", has the more specific meaning of "deep sea".
The first letter " " is the prefix meaning "and". The word " " is another Hebrew word meaning "wind". This word is often translated as "spirit" but again, this is an abstract word whereas, "wind" is a more concrete word and closer to the meaning of the Hebrew.
This is the same word discussed previously. When two nouns appear together they are in the construct state. This word and the word " " would be translated as "wind OF powers".
The root to this verb is " " meaning, "hover over" such as a bird does over the nest. The letter " " indicates this verb is feminine singular (she) perfect tense. The letter " " is a type of verb conjugation to be discussed later. This verb can literally be translated as "she did hover". The "she" of this word is the " " which is a feminine word. While most consider the "Spirit" a "he", Biblically, it is a "she".
This is the same word previously discussed meaning "over" or "on".
This word was also previously discussed meaning "faces" and is in the construct state with the following word.
The first letter " " is the prefix meaning "the". The root word is " " with the masculine plural suffix " ". When a word ends with the letter " " as in this root word and the masculine plural suffix is added, the " " is dropped. The word " " means "unknown" and is commonly translated as "what" a word used to discover an unknown. Another form of this word is " " and is usually translated as "who", another word used to discover an unknown.
When this word appears in the plural form it always refers to "water". The sea (a place of large water) is seen as an unknown place, hence, the relationship between water and an unknown. Note that the previous sentence contains no verb, a common occurrence in Biblical Hebrew.
Genesis 1:3
The first letter " " is the prefix meaning "and". The root word is "
".
Hebrew root words can be used as a noun or a verb. As a noun this root would be "a word" while as a verb it is "to say". We see a similar occurrence in English as in the sentence; "He will play Moses in the play". The first use of the word "play" is a verb while the second is a noun. The context of the sentence as well as the type of prefixes and suffixes added to the word will tell you if the word is a verb or a noun. When the letter " " is added to the root " ", the word is identified as a verb and can literally be translated as "he will say" (masculine singular perfect tense). But, since the letter " " is the prefixed the tense is reversed and becomes "and he did say".
This word has been discussed previously and is the subject of the previous verb.
The root of this word is " " as discussed previously meaning "to exist". The " " identifies the verb as masculine singular imperfect tense, "he will exist". When a verb ends with a " ", it is often dropped when conjugated. The same is true for a verb that begins with a " " which is also dropped when the verb is conjugted. All verbs are three-letter words. If you come across a verb and remove the prefixes and suffixes and find only two letters remaining, most likely the verb has dropped the final " " or the beginning " ".
A root word meaning "light". This word is the subject of the previous verb.
This is the same verb with the same conjugation as the previous verb but includes the " " which reverses the tense to perfect and becomes "and he did exist".
The same word meaning, light, and again the subject of the previous verb.
Genesis 1:4,5
At this point you should be able to translate verses 4 and 5. Most of the words as well as the prefixes and suffixes have been covered above with the exception of those listed below. Once you have translated the verses you can use a translation to check your work.
To see To separate Between Night Evening One
To call Good That it is Day Morning To (prefix)
One of the best resources to assist with Biblical reading in Hebrew is a lexicon that lists every word in the text. With type of lexicon you can look up any word found in the Bible, including all its prefixes and suffixes, such as the word " ". The lexicon will tell you that the letter " " is a prefix, and that the root for this word is " ". The lexicon will also define the word itself. You can also look up the root and see all of the other words derived from this root. One of the best lexicons is "Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon" by Benjamin Davidson.

Below are links to the Hebrew text of Genesis chapter one and the book of Ruth in MicroSoft Word Format and Rich Text Format. Under each line of Hebrew text is a blank line for you to enter your translation for Hebrew translation practice. You will also need to download the appropriate Hebrew font to view the Hebrew text of the document.
Genesis Chapter One - Word The Book of Ruth - Word
Genesis Chapter One
#,r'a'h tea.w ~Iy;m'V;h tea ~yih{l/a a'r'B tyivaer.B 1 ____________________________________________ ~Ah.t yen.P-l;[ .$,v{x.w Wh{b'w Wh{t h't.y'h #,r'a'h.w 2 ____________________________________________ ~Iy'M;h yen.P-l;[ t,p,x;r.m ~yih{l/a ;xWr.w ____________________________________________ rAa-yih.y;w rAa yih.y ~yih{l/a r,ma{Y;w 3 ____________________________________________ leD.b;Y;w bAj-yiK rAa'h-t,a ~yih{l/a a.r;Y;w 4 ____________________________________________ .$,v{x;h !yebW rAa'h !yeB ~yih{l/a ____________________________________________ a'r'q .$,v{x;l.w ~Ay rAa'l ~yih{l/a a'r.qiY;w 5 ____________________________________________ d'x,a ~Ay r,q{b-yih.y;w b,r,[-yih.y;w h'l.y'l ____________________________________________ yihyiw ~Iy'M;h .$At.B ;[yiq'r yih.y ~yih{l/a r,ma{Y;w 6 ____________________________________________ ~Iy'm'l ~Iy;m !yeB lyiD.b;m ____________________________________________ ~Iy;M;h !yeB leD.b;Y;w ;[yiq'r'h-t,a ~yih{l/a f;[;Y;w 7 ____________________________________________ r,v]a ~Iy;M;h !yebW ;[yiq'r'l t;x;Tim r,v]a ____________________________________________ !ek-yih.y;w ;[yiq'r'l l;[em ____________________________________________ b,r,[-yih.y;w ~Iy'm'v ;[yiq'r'l ~yih{l/a a'r.qiY;w 8 ____________________________________________ yinev ~Ay r,q{b-yih.y;w
____________________________________________ ~Iy;m'V;h t;x;Tim ~Iy;M;h Ww'QIy ~yih{l/a r,ma{Y;w 9 ____________________________________________ !ek-yih.y;w h'v'B;Y;h h,a'ret.w d'x,a ~Aq'm-l,a ____________________________________________ ~Iy;M;h hew.qim.lW #,r,a h'v'B;Y;l ~yih{l/a a'r.qiY;w 10 ____________________________________________ bAj-yiK ~yih{l/a a.r;Y;w ~yiM;y a'r'q ____________________________________________ b,fe[ a,v,D #,r'a'h aev.d;T ~yih{l/a r,ma{Y;w 11 ____________________________________________ r,v]a Anyim.l yir.P h,f{[ yir.P #e[ [;r,z ;[yir.z;m ____________________________________________ !ek-yih.y;w #,r'a'h-l;[ Ab-A[.r;z ____________________________________________ [;r,z ;[yir.z;m b,fe[ a,v,D #,r'a'h aecAT;w 12 ____________________________________________ Ab-A[.r;z r,v]a yir.P-h,f{[ #e[.w Whenyim.l ____________________________________________ bAj-yiK ~yih{l/a a.r;Y;w Whenyim.l ____________________________________________ yivyil.v ~Ay r,q{b-yih.y;w b,r,[-yih.y;w 13 ____________________________________________ ~Iy;m'V;h ;[yiq.riB t{r{a.m yih.y ~yih{l/a r,ma{Y;w 14 ____________________________________________ t{t{a.l Wy'h.w h'l.y'L;h !yebW ~AY;h !yeB lyiD.b;h.l ____________________________________________ ~yin'v.w ~yim'y.lW ~yid][A{m.lW ____________________________________________ -l;[ ryia'h.l ~Iy;m'V;h ;[yiq.riB t{rAa.mil Wy'h.w 15 ____________________________________________
!ek-yih.y;w #,r'a'h ____________________________________________ -t,a ~yil{d.G;h t{r{a.M;h yen.v-t,a ~yih{l/a f;[;Y;w 16 ____________________________________________ rAa'M;h-t,a.w ~AY;h t,l,v.m,m.l l{d'G;h rAa'M;h ____________________________________________ ~yib'kAK;h tea.w h'l.y;L;h t,l,v.m,m.l !{j'Q;h ____________________________________________ ryia'h.l ~Iy'm'V;h ;[yiq.riB ~yih{l/a ~'t{a !eTiY;w 17 ____________________________________________ #,r'a'h-l;[ ____________________________________________ rAa'h !yeB lyiD.b;h]lW h'l.y;L;bW ~AY;B l{v.mil.w 18 ____________________________________________ bAj-yiK ~yih{l/a a.r;Y;w .$,v{x;h !yebW ____________________________________________ yi[yib.r ~Ay r,q{b-yih.y;w b,r,[-yih.y;w 19 ____________________________________________ h'Y;x v,p,n #,r,v ~Iy;M;h Wc.r.vIy ~yih{l/a r,ma{Y;w 20 ____________________________________________ ~Iy'm'V;h ;[yiq.r yen.P-l;[ #,r'a'h-l;[ @epA[.y @A[.w ____________________________________________ -l'K tea.w ~yil{d.G;h ~inyiN;T;h-t,a ~yih{l/a a'r.biY;w 21 ____________________________________________ ~,henyim.l ~Iy;M;h Wc.r'v r,v]a t,f,m{r'h h'Y;x;h v,p,n ____________________________________________ bAj-yiK ~yih{l/a a.r;Y;w Whenyim.l @'n'K @A[-l'K tea.w ____________________________________________ Wa.limW Wb.rW Wr.P r{mael ~yih{l/a ~'t{a .$,r'b.y;w 22
____________________________________________ #,r'a'B b,rIy @A['h.w ~yiM;Y;B ~Iy;M;h-t,a ____________________________________________ yivyim]x ~Ay r,q{b-yih.y;w b,r,[-yih.y;w 23 ____________________________________________ H'nyim.l h'Y;x v,p,n #,r'a'h aecAT ~yih{l/a r,ma{Y;w 24 ____________________________________________ !ek-yih.y;w H'nyim.l #,r,a-At.y;x.w f,m,r'w h'meh.B ____________________________________________ -t,a.w H'nyim.l #,r'a'h t;Y;x-t,a ~yih{l/a f;[;Y;w 25 ____________________________________________ Whenyim.l h'm'd]a'h f,m,r-l'K tea.w H'nyim.l h'meh.B;h ____________________________________________ bAj-yiK ~yih{l/a a.r;Y;w ____________________________________________ Wnem.l;c.B ~'d'a h,f][;n ~yih{l/a r,ma{Y;w 26 ____________________________________________ ~Iy;m'V;h @A[.bW ~'Y;h t;g.dib WD.rIy.w WnetWm.diK ____________________________________________ fem{r'h f,m,r'h-l'k.bW #,r'a'h-l'k.bW h'meh.B;bW ____________________________________________ #,r'a'h-l;[ ____________________________________________ ~,l,c.B Am.l;c.B ~'d'a'h-t,a ~yih{l/a a'r.biY;w 27 ____________________________________________ ~'t{a a'r'B h'beq.nW r'k'z At{a a'r'B ~yih{l/a ____________________________________________ ~yih{l/a ~,h'l r,ma{Y;w ~yih{l/a ~'t{a .$,r'b.y;w 28 ____________________________________________
t;g.diB Wd.rW 'hUv.bik.w #,r'a'h-t,a Wa.limW Wb.rW Wr.P ____________________________________________ t,f,m{r'h h'Y;x-l'k.bW ~Iy;m'V;h @A[.bW ~'Y;h ____________________________________________ #,r'a'h-l;[ ____________________________________________ b,fe[-l'K-t,a ~,k'l yiT;t'n heNih ~yih{l/a r,ma{Y;w 29 ____________________________________________ #e['h-l'K-t,a.w #,r'a'h-l'k yen.P-l;[ r,v]a [;r,z ;[er{z ____________________________________________ h'l.k'a.l h,y.hIy ~,k'l [;r'z ;[er{z #e[-yir.p AB-r,v]a ____________________________________________ l{k.lW ~Iy;m'V;h @A[-l'k.lW #,r'a'h t;Y;x-l'k.lW 30 ____________________________________________ q,r,y-l'K-t,a h'Y;x v,p,n AB-r,v]a #,r'a'h-l;[ femAr ____________________________________________ !ek-yih.y;w h'l.k'a.l b,fe[ ____________________________________________ bAj-heNih.w h'f'[ r,v]a-l'K-t,a ~yih{l/a a.r;Y;w 31 ____________________________________________ yiViV;h ~Ay r,q{b-yih.y;w b,r,[-yih.y;w d{a.m
____________________________________________
Ruth Chapter One
tyBemi vyai %l,YEw: #r,a'B' b['r' yhiy>w: ~yjip.Voh; jpov. ymeyBi yhiy>w:
1
________________________________________________ `wyn"b' ynEv.W ATv.aiw> aWh ba'Am ydef.B rWgl' hd'Why> ~x,l,i ________________________________________________ !Alx.m; wyn"b'-ynEv. ~vew> ymi[\n" ATv.ai ~vew> %l,m,ylia/ vyaih' ~vew> 2 ________________________________________________ `~v'-Wyh.YIw: ba'Am-ydef. WaboY"w: hd'Why> ~x,l,tyBemi ~ytir'p.a, !Ayl.kiw> ________________________________________________ `h'yn<b' ynEv.W ayhi raeV'Tiw: ymi[\n" vyai %l,m,ylia/ tm'Y"w: 3 ________________________________________________ tWr tynIVeh; ~vew> hP'r>[' tx;a;h' ~ve tAYbia]mo ~yvin" ~h,l' Waf.YIw: 4 ________________________________________________ `~ynIv' rf,[,K. ~v' Wbv.YEw: ________________________________________________ h'yd,l'y> ynEV.mi hV'aih' raeV'Tiw: !Ayl.kiw> !Alx.m; ~h,ynEv.-~g: WtWmY"w:
5
________________________________________________ `Hv'yaimeW ________________________________________________ ba'Am hdef.Bi h['m.v' yKi ba'Am ydeF.mi bv'T'w: h'yt,L{k;w> ayhi ~q'T'w: 6
________________________________________________ `~x,l' ~h,l' ttel' AM[;-ta, hw"hy> dq;p'-yKi ________________________________________________ hn"k.l;Tew: HM'[i h'yt,L{k; yTev.W hM'v'-ht'y>h' rv,a] ~AqM'h;-!mi aceTew:
7
________________________________________________ `hd'Why> #r,a,-la, bWvl' %r,D,b; ________________________________________________ HM'ai tybel. hV'ai hn"b.Vo hn"k.le h'yt,L{k; yTev.li ymi[\n" rm,aTow: 8 ________________________________________________ `ydIM'[iw> ~ytiMeh;-~[i ~t,yfi[] rv,a]K ds,x, ~k,M'[i hw"hy> f[;y: hf,[]y:; ________________________________________________ !h,l' qV;Tiw: Hv'yai tyBe hV'ai hx'Wnm. !"ac,m.W ~k,l' hw"hy> !TeyI 9 ________________________________________________ `hn"yK,b.Tiw: !l'Aq hn"aF,Tiw: ________________________________________________ `%Me[;l. bWvn" %T'ai-yKi HL'hn"r>m;aTow: 10 ________________________________________________ ~ynIb' yli-dA[h; yMi[i hn"k.l;te hM'l' yt;nOb. hn"b.vo ymi[\n" rm,aTow: 11 ________________________________________________ `~yvin"a]l; ~k,l' Wyh'w> y[;meB. ________________________________________________ yli-vy< yTir>m;a' yKi vyail. tAyh.mi yTin>q;z" yKi !"k.le yt;nOb. hn"b.vo 12
________________________________________________ `~ynIb' yTid>l;y" ~g:w> vyail hl'y>L;h; ytiyyIh' ~G: hw"q.ti. ________________________________________________ tAyh/ yTil.bil. hn"gE['Te !hel'h] WlD'g>yI rv,a] d[; hn"r>Bef;T. !hel'h] 13 ________________________________________________ `hw"hy>-dy: ybi ha'c.y"-yKi ~K,mi daom yli-rm;-yKi yt;nOB. la; vyail.. ________________________________________________ tWrw> Ht'Amx]l; hP'r>[' qV;Tiw: dA[ hn"yK,b.Tiw: !l'Aq hn"F,Tiw: 14 ________________________________________________ `HB' hq'b.D' ________________________________________________ yrex]a; ybiWv h'yh,l{a/-la,w> HM'[;-la, %Tem.biy> hb'v' hNEhi rm,aTow: 15 ________________________________________________ `%Tem.biy> ________________________________________________ yKi %yIr'x]a;me bWvl' %bez>['l. ybiy[iG>p.Ti-la; tWr rm,aTow: 16 ________________________________________________ %yIh;l{awE yMi[; %Me[; !ylia' ynIyliT' rv,a]b;W %leae ykil.Te rv,a]-la, ________________________________________________ `yh'l{a/ ________________________________________________ hkow> yli hw"hy> hf,[]y: hKo rbeQ'a, ~v'w> tWma' ytiWmT' rv,a]B; 17 ________________________________________________
`%nEybeW ynIyBe dyrIp.y: tw<M'h; yKi @ysiyO ________________________________________________ `h'yl,ae rBed;l. lD;x.T,w: HT'ai tk,l,l' ayhi tc,M,a;t.mi-yKi ar,Tew: 18 ________________________________________________ ~x,l,tyBe hn"a'boK. yhiy>w: ~x,l'tyBe hn"a'Bo-d[; ~h,yTev. hn"k.l;Tew: 19 ________________________________________________ `ymi[\n" tazOh] hn"r>m;aTow !h,yle[] ry[ih'-lK' ~hoTew:: ________________________________________________ rm;he-yKi ar'm' yli !"ar,q. ymi[\n" yli hn"ar,q.Ti-la; !h,ylea] rm,aTow: 20 ________________________________________________ `daom. yli yD;v; ________________________________________________ yli hn"ar,q.ti hM'l' hw"hy> ynIb;yvih/ ~q'yrew> yTik.l;h' ha'lem. ynIa] 21 ________________________________________________ `yli [r;he yD;v;w> ybi hn"[' hw"hyw: ymi[\n" ________________________________________________ ba'Am ydeF.mi hb'V'h; HM'[i Ht'L'k; hY"bia]AMh; tWrw> ymi[\n" bv'T'w: 22 ________________________________________________ `~yrI[of. ryciq. tL;xit.Bi ~x,l,tyBe WaB' hM'hew> _______________________________________________
Ruth Chapter Two
tx;P;v.Mimi lyIx; rABGI vyai Hv'yail. [d;Am [D'yUm. ymi[\n"l.W 1 ________________________________________________ `z[;Bo Amv.W %l,m,ylia/ ________________________________________________ hj'q\l;a]w: hd,F'h; aN"-hk'l.ae ymi[\n"-la, hY"bia]AMh; tWr rm,aTow: 2 ________________________________________________ `yTibi ykil. Hl' rm,aTow: wyn"y[eB !xeac'm.a, rv,a] rx;a; ~yliB\Vib;. ________________________________________________ h'r,q.mi rq,YIw: ~yrIc.Qoh; yrex]a; hd,F'B; jQel;T.w: aAbT'w: %l,Tew: 3 ________________________________________________ `%l,m,ylia/ tx;P;v.Mimi rv,a] z[;bol. hd,F'h; tq;l.x, ________________________________________________ ~k,M'[i hw"hy> ~yrIc.AQl; rm,aYOw: ~x,l,tyBemi aB' z[;bo-hNEhiw> 4 ________________________________________________ `hw"hy> ^k.r,b'y> Al Wrm.aYOw: ________________________________________________ `taZOh; hr'[]N:h; ymil. ~yrIc.AQh;-l[; bC'NIh; Ar[]n:l. z[;Bo rm,aYOw: 5 ________________________________________________ ayhi hY"bia]Am hr'[]n: rm;aYOw: ~yrIc.AQh;-l[; bC'NIh; r[;N:h; ![;Y:w: 6 ________________________________________________ `ba'Am hdeF.mi ymi[\n"-~[i hb'V'h;
________________________________________________ aAbT'w: ~yrIc.AQh; yrex]a; ~yrIm'[\b' yTip.s;a'w> aN"-hj'q\l;a] rm,aTow: 7 ________________________________________________ `j['m. tyIB;h; HT'b.vi hz< hT'[;-d[;w> rq,Boh; za'me dAm[]T;w: ________________________________________________ jqol.li ykil.Te-la; yTiBi T.[;m;v' aAlh] tWr-la, z[;Bo rm,aYOw: 8 ________________________________________________ `yt'ro[]n:-~[i !yqiB'd>ti hkow> hZ<mi yrIWb[]t; al{ ~g:w> rxea; hd,f'B. ________________________________________________ ytiyWIci aAlh] !h,yrex]a; T.k.l;h'w> !Wrcoq.yI-rv,a] hd,F'B; %yIn:y[e 9 ________________________________________________ tytiv'w> ~yliKeh;-la, T.k.l;h'w> tmic'w> %[eg>n" yTil.bil. ~yrI['N>h;ta, ________________________________________________ `~yrI['N>h; !Wba]v.yI rv,a]me ________________________________________________ ytiac'm' [;WDm; wyl'ae rm,aTow: hc'r>a' WxT;v.Tiw: h'yn<P'-l[; lPoTiw: 10 ________________________________________________ `hY"rIk.n" ykinOa'w> ynIreyKih;l. ^yn<y[eB. !xe ________________________________________________ %teAmx]-ta, tyfi['-rv,a] lKo yli dG:hu dGEhu Hl' rm,aYOw: z[;Bo ![;Y:w: 11 ________________________________________________
ykil.Tew: %Ted>l;Am #r,a,w> %Meaiw> %ybia' ybiz>[;T;w: %veyai tAm yrex]a; ________________________________________________ `~Avl.vi lAmT. T.[;d;y"-al{ rv,a] ~[;la, ________________________________________________ yhel{a/ hw"hy> ~[ime hm'lev. %Ter>Kuf.m; yhit.W %le[\P' hw"hy> ~Lev;y> 12 ________________________________________________ `wyp'n"K.-tx;T; tAsx]l; taB'-rv,a] laer'f.yI ________________________________________________ T'r>B;dI ykiw> ynIT'm.x;nI yKi ynIdoa] ^yn<y[eB. !xe-ac'm.a, rm,aTow: 13 ________________________________________________ `^yt,xop.vi tx;a;K. hy<h.a, al{ ykinOa'w> ^t,x'p.vi ble-l[; ________________________________________________ ~x,L,h;-!mi T.l.k;a'w> ~l{h] yviGO lk,aoh' t[el. z[;bo hl' rm,aYOw: 14 ________________________________________________ yliq' Hl'-jB'c.YIw: ~yrIc.AQh; dC;mi bv,Tew: #m,xoB; %TePi T.l.b;j'w> ________________________________________________ `rt;Tow: [B;f.Tiw: lk;aTow: ________________________________________________ ~yrIm'[\h' !yBe ~G: rmoale wyr'['n>-ta, z[;Bo wc;y>w: jQel;l. ~q'T'w: 15 ________________________________________________ `h'Wmylik.t; al{w> jQel;T.
________________________________________________ al{w> hj'Q.liw> ~T,b.z:[]w: ~ytib'C.h;!mi Hl' WLvoT'-lvo ~g:w> 16 ________________________________________________ `Hb'-Wr[]g>ti ________________________________________________ yhiy>w: hj'Qeli-rv,a] tae jBox.T;w: br,['h'-d[; hd,F'B; jQel;T.w: 17 ________________________________________________ `~yrI[of. hp'yaeK. ________________________________________________ aceATw: hj'Qeli-rv,a] tae Ht'Amx] ar,Tew: ry[ih' aAbT'w: aF'Tiw: 18 ________________________________________________ `H['b.F'mi hr'tiAh-rv,a] tae Hl'!T,Tiw: ________________________________________________ yhiy> tyfi[' hn"a'w> ~AYh; T.j.Q;li hpoyae Ht'Amx] Hl' rm,aTow: 19 ________________________________________________ rm,aTow: AM[i ht'f.['-rv,a] tae Ht'Amx]l; dGET;w: %WrB' %reyKim; ________________________________________________ `z[;Bo ~AYh; AM[i ytiyfi[' rv,a] vyaih' ~ve ________________________________________________ bz:['-al{ rv,a] hw"hyl; aWh %WrB' Ht'L'k;l. ymi[\n" rm,aTow: 20 ________________________________________________ Wnl' bArq' ymi[\n" Hl' rm,aTow: ~ytiMeh;-ta,w> ~yYIx;h;-ta, ADs.x
________________________________________________ àWh Wnlea]GOmi vyaih'; ________________________________________________ ~yrI['N>h;-~[i yl;ae rm;a'-yKi ~G: hY"bia]AMh; tWr rm,aTow: 21 ________________________________________________ `yli-rv,a] ryciQ'h;-lK' tae WLKi-~ai d[; !yqiB'd>Ti yli-rv,a] ________________________________________________ yaic.te yKi yTiBi bAj Ht'L'K; tWr-la, ymi[\n" rm,aTow: 22 ________________________________________________ `rxea; hd,f'B. %b'-W[G>p.yI al{w> wyt'Ar[]n:-~[i ________________________________________________ ~yrI[oF.h;-ryciq. tAlK.-d[; jQel;l. z[;Bo tAr[]n:B. qB;d>Tiw: 23 ________________________________________________ `Ht'Amx]-ta, bv,Tew: ~yJixih; ryciq.W ________________________________________________
Ruth Chapter Three
rv,a] x;Anm' %l'-vQ,b;a] al{h] yTiBi Ht'Amx] ymi[\n" Hl' rm,aTow: 1 ________________________________________________ `%l'-bj;yyI ________________________________________________ hr,zO aWh-hNEhi wyt'Ar[]n:-ta, tyyIh' rv,a] WnT'[.d;mo z[;bo al{h] hT'[;w> 2
________________________________________________ `hl'y>L'h; ~yrI[oF.h; !r,GO-ta, ________________________________________________ yTid>r;y"w> %yIl;[' %yIt;l{m.fi %tel{m.fi T.m.f;w> T.k.s;w" T.c.x;r'w> 3 ________________________________________________ `tATv.liw> lkoa/l, AtL{K; d[;vyail' y[id>W"Ti-la; !r,GOh; T.d>r;y"w> ________________________________________________ tyLigIw> tab'W ~v'-bK;v.yI rv,a] ~AqM'h;-ta, T.[;d;y"w> Abk.v'b. yhiywI 4 ________________________________________________ `!yfi[]T; rv,a] tae %l' dyGIy: aWhw> T.b.k'v'w> yTib.k'v'w> wyt'l{G>r>m; ________________________________________________ `hf,[/a, yl;ae $k yrIm.aTo-rv,a] lKo h'yl,ae rm,aTow: 5 ________________________________________________ `Ht'Amx] hT'W:ci-rv,a] lkoK. f[;T;w: !r,GOh; dr,Tew: 6 ________________________________________________ hm're[]h' hceq.Bi bK;v.li aboY"w: ABli bj;yYIw: T.v.YEw: z[;Bo lk;aYOw: 7 ________________________________________________ `bK'v.Tiw: wyt'l{G>r>m; lg:T.w: jL'b; aboT'w: ________________________________________________ tb,k,vo hV'ai hNEhiw> tpeL'YIw: vyaih' dr;x/Y<w: hl'y>L;h; ycix]B; yhiy>w: 8 ________________________________________________
`wyt'l{G>r>m; ________________________________________________ ^p,n"k. T'f.r;p'W ^t,m'a] tWr ykinOa' rm,aTow: Ta'-ymi rm,aYOw: 9 ________________________________________________ `hT'a' laegO yKi ^t.m'a]-l[; ________________________________________________ !Arx]a;h' %Des.x; T.b.j;yhe yTiBi hw"hyl; T.a; hk'WrB. rm,aYOw: 10 ________________________________________________ `ryvi['-~aiw> lD;-~ai ~yrIWxB;h; yrex]a; tk,l,-yTil.bil. !AvarIh'-!mi ________________________________________________ [;deAy yKi %L'-hf,[/a, yrIm.aTo-rv,a] lKo yair>yTi-la; yTiBi hT'[;w> 11 ________________________________________________ `T.a' lyIx; tv,ae yKi yMi[; r[;v;-lK' ________________________________________________ bArq' laeGO vyE ~g:w> ykinOa' laegO qq ~ai yKi ~n"m.a' yKi hT'[;w> 12 ________________________________________________ al{-~aiw> la'g>yI bAj %lea'g>yI-~ai rq,Bob; hy"h'w> hl'y>L;h; ynIyli 13 ________________________________________________ `rq,Boh;-d[; ybik.vi hw"hy>-yx; ykinOa' %yTil.a;g>W %lea\g"l. #Pox.y: ________________________________________________ ~Arj.Bi ~q'T'w: rq,Boh;-d[; wyt'AlG>r>m; Atl'G>r>m; bK;v.Tiw: 14 ________________________________________________
hV'aih' ha'b'-yKi [d;W"yI-la; rm,aYOw: Wh[ere-ta, vyai ryKiy: ~r,j,B. ________________________________________________ `!r,GOh; ________________________________________________ dm'Y"w: HB' zx,aTow: Hb'-yzIx\a,w> %yIl;['-rv,a] tx;P;j.Mih; ybih' rm,aYOw: 15 ________________________________________________ `ry[ih' aboY"w: h'yl,[' tv,Y"w: ~yrI[of.-vve ________________________________________________ tae Hl'-dG<T;w: yTiBi T.a;-ymi rm,aTow: Ht'Amx]-la, aAbT'w: 16 ________________________________________________ `vyaih' Hl'-hf'[' rv,a]-lK' ________________________________________________ yl;ae $k rm;a' yKi yli !t;n" hL,aeh' ~yrI[oF.h;-vve rm,aTow: 17 ________________________________________________ `%teAmx]-la, ~q'yre yaiAbT'-la; ________________________________________________ al{ yKi rb'D' lPoyI %yae !y[id>Te rv,a] d[; yTibi ybiv. rm,aTow: 18 ________________________________________________ `~AYh; rb'D'h; hL'Ki-~ai-yKi vyaih' jqov.yI ________________________________________________
Ruth Chapter Four
z[;Bo-rB,DI rv,a] rbe[o laeGOh; hNEhiw> ~v' bv,YEw: r[;V;h; hl'[' z[;boW 1 ________________________________________________ `bveYEw: rs;Y"w: ynImol.a; ynIl{P. hPohb'v. hr'Ws rm,aYOw: ________________________________________________ `WbveYEw: hpo-Wbv. rm,aYOw: ry[ih' ynEq.ZImi ~yvin"a] hr'f'[] xQ;YIw: 2 ________________________________________________ hr'k.m' %l,m,ylia/l, Wnyxia'l. rv,a] hd,F'h; tq;l.x, laeGOl; rm,aYOw: 3 ________________________________________________ `ba'Am hdeF.mi hb'V'h; ymi[\n" ________________________________________________ ynEq.zI dg<n<w> ~ybiv.YOh; dg<n< hnEq. rmoale ^n>z>a' hl,g>a, yTir>m;a' ynIa]w: 4 ________________________________________________ h['d>aew> [d;aew> yLi hd'yGIh; la;g>yI al{-~aiw> la'G> la;g>Ti-~ai yMi[; ________________________________________________ `la'g>a, ykinOa' rm,aYOw: ^yr,x]a; ykinOa'w> lAag>li ^t.l'Wz !yae yKi ________________________________________________ tWr taemeW ymi[\n" dY:mi hd,F'h; ^t.Anq.-~AyB. z[;Bo rm,aYOw: 5 ________________________________________________ tMeh;-~ve ~yqih'l. ht'ynIq' ytiynIq' tMeh;-tv,ae hY"bia]AMh;
________________________________________________ Àtl'x]n:-l[; ________________________________________________ tyxiv.a;-!P, yli-la'g>li -lAag>li lk;Wa al{ laeGOh; rm,aYOw: 6 ________________________________________________ `laog>li lk;Wa-al{ yKi ytiL'auG>-ta, hT'a; ^l.-la;G> ytil'x]n:-ta, ________________________________________________ ~YEq;l. hr'WmT.h;-l[;w> hL'WaG>h;-l[; laer'f.yIB. ~ynIp'l. tazOw> 7 ________________________________________________ `laer'f.yIB. hd'W[T.h; tazOw> Wh[erel. !t;n"w> Al[]n: vyai @l;v' rb'D'-lK' ________________________________________________ Àl[]n: @l{v.YIw: %l'-hnEq. z[;bol. laeGOh; rm,aYOw: 8 ________________________________________________ ytiynIq' yKi ~AYh; ~T,a; ~ydI[e ~['h'lk'w> ~ynIqeZ>l; z[;Bo rm,aYOw: 9 ________________________________________________ `ymi[\n" dY:mi !Alx.m;W !Ayl.kil. rv,a]-lK' taew> %l,m,ylia/l, rv,a]-lK'ta, ________________________________________________ ~yqih'l. hV'ail. yli ytiynIq' !Alx.m; tv,ae hY"bia]Moh; tWr-ta, ~g:w> 10 ________________________________________________ r[;V;miW wyx'a, ~[ime tMeh;-~ve treK'yI-al{w> Atl'x]n:-l[; tMeh;-~ve ________________________________________________
`~AYh; ~T,a; ~ydI[e AmAqm. ________________________________________________ hw"hy> !TeyI ~ydI[e ~ynIqeZ>h;w> r[;V;B;-rv,a] ~['h'-lK' Wrm.aYOw: 11 ________________________________________________ ~h,yTev. WnB' rv,a] ha'lek.W lxer'K. ^t,yBe-la, ha'B'h; hV'aih'-ta, ________________________________________________ `~x,l'tybeB. ~ve-ar'q.W ht'r'p.a,B. lyIx;-hfe[]w: laer'f.yI tyBe-ta, ________________________________________________ [r;Z<h;-!mi hd'Whyli rm't' hd'l.y"rv,a] #r,P, tybeK. ^t.ybe yhiywI 12 ________________________________________________ `taZOh; hr'[]N:h;-!mi ^l. hw"hy> !TeyI rv,a] ________________________________________________ hw"hy> !TeYIw: h'yl,ae aboY"w: hV'ail. Al-yhiT.w: tWr-ta, z[;Bo xQ;YIw: 13 ________________________________________________ `!Be dl,Tew: !Ayr'he Hl' ________________________________________________ tyBiv.hi al{ rv,a] hw"hy> %WrB' ymi[\n"-la, ~yviN"h; hn"r>m;aTow: 14 ________________________________________________ `laer'f.yIB. Amv. areQ'yIw> ~AYh; laeGO %l' ________________________________________________ %teL'k; yKi %teb'yfe-ta, lKel.k;l.W vp,n< byvimel. %l' hy"h'w> 15 ________________________________________________
`~ynIB' h['b.Vimi %l' hb'Aj ayhi-rv,a] WTd;l'y> %t,b;hea]-rv,a] ________________________________________________ `tn<m,aol. Al-yhiT.w: Hq'yxeb. WhteviT.w: dl,Y<h;-ta, ymi[\n" xQ;Tiw: 16 ________________________________________________ hn"ar,q.Tiw: ymi[\n"l. !Be-dL;yU rmoale ~ve tAnkeV.h; Al hn"ar,q.Tiw: 17 ________________________________________________ @ `dwId' ybia] yv;yI-ybia] aWh dbeA[ Amv. ________________________________________________ `!Arc.x,-ta, dyliAh #r,P, #r,P' tAdl.AT hL,aew> 18 ________________________________________________ `bd'n"yMi[;-ta, dyliAh ~r'w> ~r'-ta, dyliAh !Arc.x,w> 19 ________________________________________________ `hm'l.f;-ta, dyliAh !Avx.n:w> !Avx.n:ta, dyliAh bd'n"yMi[;w> 20 ________________________________________________ `dbeA[-ta, dyliAh z[;boW z[;Bo-ta, dyliAh !Aml.f;w> 21 ________________________________________________ `dwID'-ta, dyliAh yv;yIw> yv'yI-ta, dyliAh dbe[ow> 22 ________________________________________________
What the Messiah is Supposed to Do.

One of the primary ways that we know that jesus was not the Messiah was [is] simply because he did not fulfill any of the Messianic prophecies. Many people have written on this subject, both in books and online. This article will not add anything new to what they have written, but since so many people write me about this subject, evidently this article needs to be here at this site as well. The Prophets have written a great deal about what the Messiah will do when he comes. Likewise, the Oral Torah has much to say about this as well, of course. Numerous Rabbis or the post-Talmudic era have collected these teachings and written about them. I shall write some of what has been written by the Rabbis. I hope and plan to quote many of the verses from Tanach (Jewish Bible) in a separate article one of these days. (To write in detail all the Talmudic and Midrashic passages would be too much for me to do.) The Messiah will be a human being, the child of two human parents. He will be by unbroken patrilineal descent the undisputed heir of King David. The Messiah will be the unchallenged king of all Jews everywhere in the world. (When I say unchallenged, I mean that none of the Jews will challenge him, once it is understood who he is. There is little doubt in my mind that the Catholic Church -- and perhaps many Protestant Churches as well -- will challenge him, and call him the "antichrist." But they will soon realize their error, because they will have no power against the true and only Messiah.) He will be anointed with the special anointing oil that the Prophets used when appointing kings. The word "messiah" is Hebrew for "annointed." The King Messiah will reinstate the royal dynasty of David to its ancestral regal status. He will be king, and his son will be king after him. The King Messiah will live a very long life. When he dies, his son will become king. When his son dies, also after a long life, the grandson will be king after him. After the grandson's reign, this world will come to an end. The world will be dormant for one thousand years, and then the World to Come will begin and last for all eternity. We will be resurrected, which means that our souls will return to our bodies, and we will live forever on this, earth, which will also be renewed. The King Messiah will be very active in the Holy Temple. He will reinstate the Sanhedrin, our highest court, and they will reinstate the High Priest. Together, they will rebuild the Holy Temple. It is possible that the Messiah will not be anointed king until after the Holy Temple has been rebuilt, but in any case from the beginning he will lead all the Jews. Sacrifices will once again be brought at the Holy Temple.
The Messiah will lead us in war to defend us when enemies of the Jews begin the War of Gog and Magog. The enemies of the Jews will attempt to destroy us, as they have been attempting to do for millennia, but they will not succeed. Nevertheless, great destruction will take place, unless everyone repents first. If everyone repents, the War of Gog and Magog will not take place. The King Messiah will gather the scattered Jews from all over the world. The lost Ten Tribes of Israel will be restored to the Kingdom of Israel, and the King Messiah will rule all twelve Tribes. He will also restore the family systems within each Tribe as they had originally functioned. The King Messiah and the Sanhedrin will restore the Sabbatical system and the Jubilee (which involve seven-year counts and a fifty-year count), as well as all other Commandments that we are unable to fulfill today. He will uphold and restore complete performance of the commandments and complete obedience to Hashem and His Torah. He will cause all Jews in the entire world to fulfill the Commandments of the Torah, and to uphold and strengthen the one and only true Judaism. Likewise, he will succeed in getting all the nations of the world, everyone alive, to acknowledge and serve the One True G-d, Hashem. This does not mean that they will convert and become Jews. It means that they will keep the Seven Laws that Hashem commanded the children of Noah. The Messiah will not cause any changes in the Commandments, nor will he add to them or subtract from them. He will certainly not start a new religion, nor will his followers start a new religion. The Messiah will regain the entire Land of Israel for the Jews, and the boundaries of the land will be as great as those promised to Abraham. The King Messiah will be extremely learned in Torah and absolutely observant of all the Commandments as taught and explained in the Oral and Written Torah. There will be utter peace in the world. After the King Messiah has been victorious, not a single nation will dare consider waging war, and no nation will rule over any other. People won't even study warfare or battle tactics anymore. And no one will have any reason to fear anyone else, ever again. There will be no racism or other forms of oppression, ever again. The nations will send their emissaries to the King Messiah, and the King Messiah will teach the world how to live in peace, and how to want to live in peace. Then, everyone in the world will enjoy eternal peace, for as long as this world will last. The great Rabbi, Rav Shlomoh Freifeld, of blessed memory, said in a talk he once gave that I attended that the Messiah will be a great teacher. Good things will be easily available to everyone. When the Messianic Era comes, there will be no poverty, no war, no hardships, no reason for jealousy or competition, and no
boredom. Everything anyone needs will be easily and quickly available, so that good things will seem to grow on trees. Our primary concern will be in growing more and more spiritual, and we will all enjoy doing this. The Messiah will not need to perform any miracles to prove who he is. Nor would the miracles be very significant. The Messiah's purpose is to bring about the return of the Jews from exile, to restore our united practice of the Commandments of the Torah, to raise our conciousness to a high level of fear and love of Hashem, and to reinstate the Jewish kingdom in the Holy Land of Israel as Hashem originally established it under King David. Those are the Messiah's essential purposes. Even bringing peace and affluence to the world will be only so that the world will be able to peacefully pursue our purpose of serving Hashem through Torah study and prayer -- Jews as Jews, and Gentiles as Gentiles. Performing miracles is not particularly meaningful, since the Messiah will be an obviously righteous man, and the Torah commands us to obey the righteous. What I'm driving at here is that all the miracles in the universe do not make someone Messiah, if he is not righteous. jesus, who contradicted the Torah, could not have been the Messiah, no matter how many miracles they claim he performed. The real Messiah, when he comes, may or may not perform miracles, but he will certainly not contradict the Torah in any way, shape or form. The King Messiah may decide not to perform overt miracles, but he will nevertheless be immediately recognized as a man who can judge the inner essence and spirituality of people. His wisdom will be recognized by all, and many representatives of all the nations will also come to learn wisdom from him and get his advice. And no one in the universe will have any doubt that the Messiah has come, and we won't have to argue with people about whether or not the Messiah has come. There will no longer be any missionaries, and no one will be teaching anyone else about any other religions, except maybe as history. Everyone in the world will see the prophecies fulfilled, and there will be no doubts about any of it. In every generation, the potential exists for the Messiah to come. The Torah says, in speaking of the coming of the Messiah, "In its time I will bring it quickly" (Isaiah 60:21). The Talmud explains that there are two ways the Messiah can come. Hashem has established a final time, a deadline. If we repent, the Messiah will come quickly, before the deadline. If we do not repent, the Messiah will nevertheless come at the deadline (Sanhedrin 98a). If we merit it, the Redemption will come quickly, and we will see many open and overt miracles.
If we do not merit the Redemption when the deadline comes, if we have not repented by then,it will happen in stages. It will take longer to happen, and there will be no or few open miracles. And there will be war first. Hashem will cause a king as evil as Haman to pass laws against us, and he will oppress us until we repent. And to destroy us, he will set into motion the war of Gog and Magog, which you may have heard of under the inexplicable name of "Armageddon." The great Chofetz Chayim, the leading Rabbi around a century ago, said that the war of Gog and Magog will take place in three stages. The first stage, he said, was World War One. He predicted that the second stage would be much worse, and he predicted the precise year of the beginning of World War Two. But if we repent, the Messiah can come even now, right this very minute. How is this possible? In each generation there is one (or more) righteous person who is worthy of being the Messiah, if the generation repents and the time is right for the Messiah to come. In every generation, since we have not all fully repented, the potential Messiah of each generation has lived his life, and passed away, as do all people, whether righteous or not, completely unaware that he would have been the Messiah. Some people think that the greatest person, the most righteous person of each generation is the potential Messiah of that generation. Often, they base it on the person's notoriety. This is an error. Maimonides teaches that the Messiah can even be an unknown righteous person, a quiet, private person that not too many people know about. We make the mistake of thinking that we always know who the most righteous person of every generation is. But this is an error. The most righteous person could live in secret, doing what he must do privately and quietly. And we simple people are in any case not capable of judging who is more righteous than who, because we can't read minds and we don't know what's in anyone's hearts. If we all repent, the potential Messiah of this generation will become the Messiah. Note that he is not yet the Messiah, and he was not born the Messiah. He was simply a very righteous person. He himself has no idea that he is the potential Messiah of that generation. Certainly, the people at large have no idea who the potential Messiah is. If we make ourselves ready for the Messiah, Hashem will make the potential Messiah of the generation into the actual Messiah. Hashem will send the Spirit of Messiah that He created before He created the universe, and the potential Messiah of the generation will thereupon become the actual Messiah. The Messiah will then proceed to fulfill all the Prophecies that he is destined to fulfill. Please understand something: Hashem loves and wants all of His children. He wants none to be left out when the Messiah comes. Hashem therefore wants all Jews to repent, and all of us brought into the Messianic Era. Just a few won't do, and even one left behind is too many. So we can't look at any particular group and expect their
righteousness to bring the Messiah. Each and every one of us must work to improve ourselves. Jewish Law requires us to pray that the redemption and the Messiah come soon, and to eagerly anticipate it happening. We must, each day, continue to pray and continue to hope that the Messiah will come, even though he did not come yesterday, and he did not come this morning. For we know that the Messiah will come, because Hashem has promised that he will come. May it be Hashem's will that we all merit the coming of the Messiah immediately, very soon, and may he come quickly. To learn more about the Messianic Era, and also the World to Come, go to the "Life, the Afterlife, and the Soul Gateway (http://www.beingjewish.com/soul/)."
PLEASE visit these useful websites for more information:

www.MessiahTruth.com : The Real Jewish Messiah www.jewsforjudaism.com Response to Missionaries www.outreachjudaism.org An international organization that responds directly to the issues raised by missionaries and cults. http://jdstone.org/cr/index.html Reveals the error, distortions and falsehood of... http://www.kosherjudaism.com/counter.htm Archive of Articles; trinity, messiah, Jesus, Christianity... http://www.angelfire.com/my/tgoldman0/prophet.htm An Explanation of Christians Prophecies www.TorahAtlanta.com Jewish Articles and Response to Christian claims on G-d and the Messiah.
MESSIAH WANTED!
I.
INTRODUCTION Christianity is based on the claim that Jesus is the Messiah who fulfilled all the prophecies in the Hebrew Bible. In fact, many Christian missionary websites list hundreds of "Old Testament" prophecies, along with passages from the New Testament as "evidence" of their fulfillment by Jesus. The reality is that the messianic agenda, as described in the Hebrew Bible, consists of a mere handful of significant items, which are to be completed during the reign of (mashi'ah), the promised Jewish Messiah. Although it is not the spiritual concern of Judaism and of the Jewish community at large whether Christians choose to believe these claims are true, unfortunate situations occur when Christian missionaries use this material for the purpose of Jewish evangelism. They try to convince their Jewish targets, particularly those who are perceived as lacking a good Jewish education, that this is all true and that they need to accept Jesus as Messiah in order to become "completed Jews". This essay focuses on what the Hebrew Bible teaches concerning the qualifications and expectations . This information is then cast into a "Job Requisition" that serves as a template that for of the evaluating the suitability of a claimant to this position. Specifically, this template is applied to Jesus, Christianity's candidate for this position, and demonstrates, (a) that he failed to qualify for the job, and (b) even though it is claimed he was appointed to the position, he did not do the job right.
II.
JOB REQUISITION:
, JUDAISM'S MESSIAH
A "Job Requisition" template for the position of Jewish Messiah, shown in Table II-1, has been developed to describe who, according to the Hebrew Bible, this person will be, what his known attributes are, and what he is expected to accomplish. Further elaboration on its contents follows the table.
Table II-1 "Job Requisition" for the Position Available Job Description Job Requirements Prior Job Experience
- the Jewish Messiah To usher in the messianic era, as foretold in the Hebrew Bible, and to preside over the people of Israel as their king, sitting on the throne of King David. To execute and successfully complete the messianic agenda, as described in the Hebrew Bible, within one lifetime. None The successful candidate will have attributes that must include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following: 1. Be the seed (a direct descendant) of King David, through King Solomon (e.g., 2 Sam 7:12-16) Be a spiritual and military/political leader (e.g., Is 2:3, 11:2; Dan 7:14) Be married and have children during his term (e.g., Ezek 46:16-17)
Qualifications 2. 3.
The successful candidate will be expected to bring about certain conditions as part of his sovereignty, though some will commence prior to his being identified as the Messiah. These must include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following: 1. 2. Performance Appraisal Criteria 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Arrival of Elijah the Prophet (e.g., Mal 3:23-24[4:5-6]) Building the Third Temple in Jerusalem (e.g., Ezek 37:26-28) In-gathering of Jewish exiles to Israel (e.g., Is 11:12) Reunification of Judah and Israel into one people (e.g., Ezek 37:22) World peace (e.g., Is 2:4) Universal knowledge of G-d (e.g., Is 11:9) Resurrection of the dead (e.g., Is 26:19)
A. Prior Job Experience Although Jewish tradition holds that in every generation there lives a person who is worthy of being the promised Jewish Messiah, this job has never before been filled. Consequently, it is not possible to possess any prior job experience. B. Qualifications The Qualifications of candidates for the job of Jewish Messiah are the pre-requisites for consideration, and they are specified in the Hebrew Bible.
1. Seed of David through Solomon The Messiah will be a biological descendant of King David from the branch that goes through Solomon, since Solomon is the one who built the Temple:
2 Samuel 7:12-16 (12) When your days will be completed and you will lie with your forefathers, then I shall raise up your seed after you, that which will issue from your loins, and I shall establish his kingdom. (13) He shall build a Temple for My sake, and I shall make firm the throne of his kingdom forever. (14) I shall be to him a Father, and he shall be to Me a son; so that when he goes astray I will chastise him with the rod of men and with afflictions of human beings. (15) But My mercy shall not move away from him as I removed [it] from Saul, whom I removed from before you. (16) And your dynasty and your kingdom shall be confirmed before you forever; your throne will remain firm forever. [See also Is 11:1; Jer 23:5, 30:9, 33:15; Ezek 34:23-24, 37:24-25.] 1 Chronicles 22:9-10 (9) Behold a son will be born to you; he will be a man of peace, and I shall give him peace from all his enemies around about, for Solomon will be his name, and I shall give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. (10) He shall build a House in My Name, and he shall be to Me as a son, and I to him as a Father, and I shall prepare the throne of his kingdom forever. [See also 1 Kgs 8:15-20; 1 Chron 17:11-15, 22:9-10, 28:3-7.]
2. Spiritual and Military/Political Leader of Israel The Messiah will be steeped in Torah, an authority who will influence all of Israel to follow Torah in an environment created by his spiritual leadership:
Isaiah 2:3 - And many nations shall go, and they shall say, "Come, let us go up to the L-rd's mount, to the House of the G-d of Jacob, and let Him teach us of His ways, and we will go in His paths;" for out of Zion shall the Torah come forth, and the Word of the L-rd from Jerusalem.
The Messiah will defeat and conquer the enemies surrounding Israel. As an ordinary mortal, a "flesh & blood" human being, he lives/will live in a world of recognizable realities of military requirements and political alignments. He will have to deal with these realities, and emerge victorious within the constraints that they engender. Nevertheless, his political leadership will be well recognized throughout the world:
Daniel 7:14 - He has been given dominion, honor, and kingship, so that all peoples, nations, and tongues will serve him; his dominion is an eternal dominion that will never be removed, and his kingship will not be destroyed.
3. Married with Children Although marriage and children are not stated pre-requisites for being the Messiah, there is a clear indication that the Prince, who is the Messiah/King [see Ezek 34:23-24, 37:24], will have children (via marriage) at some point in time during his reign, and they will be entitled to inherit his property:
Ezekiel 46:16-17 (16) Thus says the L-rd G-d: "If the Prince gives a gift to any of his sons, it is his inheritance to remain in their possession; it is their property by inheritance. (17) But if he gives a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his [the servant's] until the year of liberty, and then it returns to the Prince; only to his sons shall his inheritance belong.
C. Performance Appraisal Criteria The Performance Appraisal Criteria comprise several significant messianic agenda items against which the performance of a qualified candidate for the job of Jewish Messiah must be evaluated. 1. Arrival of Elijah the Prophet Elijah the prophet will precede the Messiah and "pave the way" for his arrival, heralding the commencement of the messianic era:
Malachi 3:23[4:5] Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the L-rd.
2. Building the Third Temple in Jerusalem The presence of the Third Temple is envisioned in what is, perhaps, one of the most detailed and vivid descriptions of the messianic era to be found in the Hebrew Bible - Chapter 37 in the Book of Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 37:26-28 (26) And I will form a covenant of peace for them, an everlasting covenant shall be with them; and I will establish them, and I will multiply them, and I will place My Sanctuary in their midst forever. (27) And My dwelling place shall be over them; and I will be to them for a G-d, and they shall be to Me as a people. (28) And the nations shall know that I am the L-rd who sanctifies Israel, when My Sanctuary is in their midst forever. [See also Is 33:20; Ezekiel Chapters 40-48.]
Later on, in Chapters 40-48, Ezekiel provides detailed descriptions of the Third Temple and the ritual services to be held within its walls. 3. In-Gathering of Jewish Exiles to Israel The Messiah will repatriate the Jewish people from the Diaspora to the promised land of Israel in preparation for the repair of the schism that followed Solomon's reign:
Isaiah 11:12 - And he [Messiah] shall set up a banner for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. [See also 43:5-6; Jer 16:15, 23:3; Ezek 37:21-22; Zech 10:6-10.]
4. Reunification of Judah and Israel into One People The messianic agenda calls for the restoration of a unified kingdom for the people of Israel:
Ezekiel 37:22 - And I will make them into one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be to them all as a king; and they shall no longer be as two nations, and they shall not be divided into two kingdoms anymore. [See also the "lead-in", Ezek 37:16-21; Is 11:13.]
5. World Peace The Messiah will be recognized as a fair judge and peacemaker, and in the messianic era, disputes between countries will be settled through peaceful means and not by war:
Isaiah 2:4 - And he [the Messiah] shall judge among the nations, and he shall reprove many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, and they shall not learn war anymore. [See also , Is 11:6-8, Micah 4:3-4.]
6. Universal Knowledge of G-d There will prevail a universal knowledge of G-d that will put an end to destruction and violence:
Isaiah 11:9 - They shall not harm and not destroy on all of My holy mountain; for the land shall be as filled with the knowledge of the L-rd, as the waters cover the sea bed. [See also Jer 31:33[34]; Zech 14:9.]
7. Resurrection of the Dead Most, but not all, of the dead will come back to life. The righteous will live in bliss, and the wicked will live in misery:
Isaiah 26:19 - May Your dead live, 'My corpses shall rise; awaken and sing, you who dwell in the dust, for a dew of lights is your dew, and [to the] earth You shall cast the slackers. [See also Ezek 37:12-13; Dan 12:2.]
III.
CHRISTIANITY'S CANDIDATE APPRAISAL OF QUALIFICATIONS & PERFORMANCE According to the New Testament, the Messiah of Christianity is Jesus. Rather than accept (on faith) the claims made by Christian missionaries about Jesus being the (Jewish) Messiah promised in the Hebrew Bible, he will be considered here as an applicant for the position of Jewish Messiah, whose credentials and performance will be evaluated using the requirements listed in the "Job Requisition". A. Prior Job Experience According to the explanation given in Section II.A, and as Christianity's candidate for the job, Jesus satisfied this criterion. B. Qualifications Did Jesus Qualify for the Job? 1. Seed of David through Solomon Although the New Testament authors claim that Jesus was the "son of David" (e.g., Mt 1:1; Mk 12:35), the manner of his allegedly miraculous "Virgin Birth" (e.g., Mt 1:18-25; Lk 1:2735) rules out the possibility of a Davidic lineage for him. According to Jewish Law (e.g., Num 1:18), and as confirmed by recent genetic research, tribal lineage - a blood right - is passed exclusively by a father to his biological sons (via the Y-Chromosome) and, therefore, cannot be transmitted in any other manner, including adoption. Since, according to the New Testament, the Holy Ghost, not Joseph, impregnated the "Virgin Mary", Jesus has no identifiable tribal lineage.
Another problem with the claim to the Davidic throne by Jesus is the matter of the two hopelessly irreconcilable genealogies in the New Testament (Mt 1:1-17; Lk 3:23-38). Christians still cannot agree on whether the genealogy in the Gospel of Luke belongs to Joseph or to Mary. Either way, this is a moot point, since that genealogy goes through Solomon's brother Nathan and, too, a female's genealogy is irrelevant to lineage according to the Hebrew Bible. Perhaps this is the reason that Paul, recognizing the problems with these two genealogies, wrote:
1 Timothy 1:4(KJV) - Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. Titus 3:9(KJV) - But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
Note here how Paul, to whom Christian missionaries refer as "Rabbi", teaches Christians that some parts of the Bible genealogies in this case, which include those of Jesus are akin to fables and foolish questions, which must not be given heed and should be avoided. 2. Spiritual and Military/Political Leader of Israel When did Jesus serve as spiritual and military/political leader of a unified people of Israel? Though Jesus is referred to as "King of the Jews" in the Four Gospels (e.g., Mt 27:29; Mk 15:9; Lk 23:38; Jn 18:39), there is no historical record or other validated evidence to substantiate that Jesus ever served in such a capacity. Moreover, there exists no extant factual evidence that he was ever recognized as a Torah scholar and authority, or that he ever led soldiers to war and was victorious on the battlefield. 3. Married with Children Was Jesus ever married and did he (biologically) father any children? The authors of the New Testament are silent on this matter. According to the New Testament, Jesus never married nor did he father any children. Though Christians generally refer to themselves as the "spiritual" children of Jesus, this is not the same as biological children, which are also referred to as seed, offspring, and progeny. "Candidate" Jesus passes the "Prior Job Experience" test. However, he does not possess the requisite "Qualifications" to be a viable candidate for the job. Conclusion: Jesus failed to qualify as candidate for the job. C. Performance Appraisal Criteria Did Jesus Do the Job Right? Christianity has claimed Jesus as its Messiah. Therefore, the evaluation process continues in order to determine whether he performed that job as required. 1. Arrival of Elijah the Prophet Jesus claimed that John the Baptist was Elijah:
Matthew 11:10-14(KJV) (10) For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. (11) Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (12) And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. (13) For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. (14) And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
Yet, according to the New Testament, John the Baptist himself denied it:
John 1:21(KJV) - And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
Jesus also claimed that Elijah, when he showed up, was mistreated:
Matthew 17:12(KJV) - But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
Yet, nowhere in the Hebrew Bible is such treatment of Elijah foretold, and his mission will be the opposite of that which is described in the New Testament:
Malachi 4:5-6(KJV)[3:23-24 in the Hebrew Bible] (5) Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: (6) And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Moreover, it seems that John the Baptist, alleged to have been Elijah, was rather unsure about Jesus being the Messiah:
Luke 7:19-20(KJV) (19) And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? (20) When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
Given that Elijah will be the one announcing the arrival of the Messiah, how is it possible that he will not know who the Messiah is? Does this make any sense? The conclusion is that Elijah has not yet returned. 2. Building the Third Temple in Jerusalem The authors of the New Testament are silent about Jesus having built the Third Temple in Jerusalem, and there is no mention of the Third Temple built after his death on the cross. The historical record of the first century C.E. testifies to the fact that the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E., and that the Third Temple has not yet been built. 3. In-Gathering of Jewish Exiles to Israel The authors of the New Testament are silent on whether this occurred during the lifetime of Jesus. The historical record of the first century C.E. testifies to the fact that not only where the all the Jewish people not repatriated to the Holy Land, they were exiled and dispersed into the Diaspora much more than what happened during the previous exile following the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E. 7
4. Reunification of Judah and Israel into One People According to a misquoted verse from the Hebrew Bible, cited in Hebrews 8:8, this was not yet the situation at the time of the writing of Hebrews during the first century C.E. Eight centuries after the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel with its population dispersed into exile by Assyria, only a Judean remnant populated the Holy Land. 5. World Peace The historical record of the first century C.E. testifies to the fact that war, not peace, was raging all over the region of the Holy Land and elsewhere in the known world of that time. 6. Universal Knowledge of G-d The historical record of the first century C.E. testifies to the fact that paganism was rampant, and that a new religion, which quickly embraced many of these pagan principles, further diverted people from a universal knowledge of G-d. 7. Resurrection of the Dead Both the historical record of the first century C.E. and the conflicting accounts in the New Testament lead to the conclusion that no resurrection of the dead ever took place, and that the story of the alleged "rising from the dead" of Jesus is a myth. The performance of "Candidate" Jesus did not meet the stated "Performance Appraisal Criteria".
Conclusion: Jesus failed to do the job right.
D. Candidate's Score Card As was already demonstrated, Jesus did not possess the necessary credentials to qualify him as a candidate for the position of Jewish Messiah. Yet, owing to the fact that he is the declared Messiah of Christianity, it was actually possible to evaluate his performance on the job using the criteria provided in the Hebrew Bible. Together, the results of the two phases of the evaluation clearly demonstrate that Jesus did not meet the requirements that would entitle him to the title of Jewish Messiah. Table III.D-1 replicates the "Job Requisition" and includes a scoring column to indicate whether "candidate" Jesus, the Messiah of Christianity, satisfied each of the listed requirements.
Table III.D-1 Did Christianity's candidate meet the job requirements? Category Prior Job Experience Requirements None The successful candidate will have attributes that must include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following: 1. Be a direct descendant of King David, through King Solomon (e.g., 2 Sam 7:12-16) 2. Be a spiritual and military/political leader (e.g., Is 2:3) 3. Be married and have children during (e.g., Ezek 46:16-17) The successful candidate will be expected to bring about certain conditions as part of his sovereignty, though some will commence prior to his being identified as Messiah. These must include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following: 1. Arrival of Elijah the Prophet (e.g., Mal 3:23-24[4:5-6]) 2. Building the Third Temple in Jerusalem (e.g., Ezek 37:26-28) 3. In-gathering of Jewish exiles to Israel (e.g., Is 11:12) 4. Reunification of Judah and Israel into one people (Ezek 37:22) 5. World peace (e.g., Is 2:4) 6. Universal knowledge of G-d (e.g., Is 11:9) 7. Resurrection of the dead (e.g., Is 26:19) Criteria Satisfied: 1 "Yes", 10 "No" Met? Yes
Qualifications
No No No
Performance Appraisal Criteria
No No No No No No No
"Candidate" Jesus, the Messiah of Christianity, satisfied one out of the eleven requirements described in the "Job Requisition" for the position of Jewish Messiah. Does he qualify for the title of Jewish Messiah? Would you hire him? Conclusion: Jesus was a failed candidate for the job of Jewish Messiah.
IV.
SUMMARY According to the requirements stated in the Hebrew Bible, and as the historical record testifies, the position of Jewish Messiah has not yet been filled and remains vacant to this day. Christianity has proclaimed Jesus as it's Messiah, and the New Testament contains the "evidence" of the fulfillment of the messianic prophecies in the "Old Testament". Christian missionaries to the Jewish people try to impress on their Jewish targets that Jesus is, in fact, the promised Jewish Messiah. These are two incompatible perspectives. The purpose of the analysis presented in this essay was to resolve this situation, and this is accomplished with the following pair of questions and answers. First, on being a qualified candidate for the job: Question: Did Jesus, Christianity's "candidate" for the position of Jewish Messiah, qualify for the job? The scores on the Qualifications in Table III.D-1 provide the answer: Answer: Jesus did not possess the requisite qualifications for the job. 9
Second, concerning performance on the job: Question: Did Jesus, the Messiah of Christianity, do the job right? The scores on the Performance Appraisal Criteria in Table III.D-1 provide the answer: Answer: Jesus did not meet the performance objectives of the job. The events detailed in the Hebrew Bible as part of the messianic agenda did not occur nor have they been fulfilled. In fact, and quite to the contrary, history teaches that exactly the opposite conditions prevailed from the alleged time of the birth of Jesus, during his ministry, and long after his death, even to the present time.
The position of
, the Jewish Messiah, remains open!
RaMBaM's 12th Principle of Faith I believe with complete faith in the coming of the , and although he may tarry, I will eagerly await his coming every day. One such example is, 300+ Messianic Prophecies: Prophecies From the Old Testament that Reveal that Jesus is the Messiah - http://www.gotell.gracenet.org/gbn12.htm Chapter/Verse numbers shown in square brackets, e.g., [4:5-6], are those used in Christian Bibles.
Copyright 2001-2005, Uri Yosef for http://www.MessiahTruth.com. All rights reserved.

www.MessiahTruth.com : The Real Jewish Messiah www.jewsforjudaism.org Response to Missionaries www.outreachjudaism.org An international organization that responds directly to the issues raised by missionaries and cults. http://jdstone.org/cr/index.html Reveals the error, distortions and falsehood of xianity http://www.kosherjudaism.com/counter.htm Archive of Articles; trinity, messiah, Jesus & Christianity http://www.angelfire.com/my/tgoldman0/prophet.htm An Explanation of Christians Prophecies www.TorahAtlanta.com Jewish Articles and Response to Christian claims on G-d and the Messiah. www.simplyjewish.org If you want to understand the differences recognized by Jews and Christians alike. SIMPLY JEWISH! IS FOR YOU http://www.beingjewish.com/toshuv/ The Anti-Missionary Gateway of the Being Jewish Web Site http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/phpBB2/index.php Jews for Judaism - Keeping Jews Jewish http://home.att.net/%7Efiddlerzvi/j4j_no.html Messianic Verses in the TaNaCh http://www.drazin.com/ e-book Their Hollow Inheritance A Comprehensive Refutation of Christian Missionaries by Michoel Drazin http://www.simpletoremember.com/audio/jewish-response-to-christian-missionaries.htm Jewish
Response To Christian Missionaries" MP3s tapes & in-depth guide.
10
ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Shmuel Golding In recent years, many books have been written on the subject of anti-Semitism. Most of those books blame the church for its hostile teachings which encouraged ignorant devotees to harass, and even to violently assault Jews in the name of Christ and his church. Many Christian writers have openly acknowledged this fact and have called upon the church to make amends. Yet, apologize as they may, none of them attack the root cause of Christian antiSemitism, which in my opinion lies in the New Testament itself. One writer from the gentile camp, who dares admit to this in his book The Misery of Christianity, is a former pastor by the name of Joachim Kahl. A writer from the Jewish side, Jules Isaac wrote a book entitled Jesus et Israel, in which he maintained that anti-Semitism begins with the New Testament. Apart from two voices, very few have been bold enough to place the blame where it belongs. Father Gregory Baum states that when he read Isaacs book it shattered him, and so he set about on a task to counter-refute such claims, yet in the introduction he has to admit that at face value certain passages of the New Testament do appear to be anti-Semitic, but says Father Baum all such verses can be explained. Maybe they can be explained, the scriptures can be stretched this way and that way to make them say almost anything, but my bone of contention is that whilst those statements remain in print in the form of a holy book, men will use them to feed their hatred and the Jew will continue to suffer. Let history itself be our witness, and let history be the judge as to whether or not the roots of Christian anti-Semitism lie within the New Testament. It will not be hard to prove that the roots of anti-Semitism lie in the New Testament and that its fruits have been plucked and digested by Christians from the earliest times until the present day. Bible-intoxicated Christians through the ages have thrown in the teeth of the Jews the demonic charges of Christ-killers and have fanned the flames of Jew-hatred using the New Testament for their justification. There are numerous verses found in the New Testament which have caused the blood of countless Jews to be shed throughout history. We will examine these verses and compare them with words said, and deeds committed against Jews by the church and its leaders. These anti-Semitic statements were and still are the principal cause of all persecutions, oppressions and pogroms in which Jews have suffered. These anti-Semitic accounts in the New Testament have taught mankind to hate the Jew. As long as the New Testament continues in print (at least in its present form) the Jew will be hated. Here are but a few verses from where Christianity borrowed its anti-Semitic sentiments.
The children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 8.12) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, 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. (Matthew 23.37,38) Then answered all the people (Jews) and said, His blood be on us and on our children (Matthew 27:25). 1 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you to councils, and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten (Mark 13.9) He that believeth not shall be damned (Mark 16.16) Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And I say the truth, why do you not believe me? He that is of God heareth Gods words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God (John 8.43-47) Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so you do. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers (Acts 7.51-53) It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing you put it from you and judge yourself unworthy of everlasting life, we turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13.45-51) For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucres sake ... wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. (Titus 1.10-14). The Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God and are contrary to all men: forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. (l Thessalonians 2.14-16) Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is an antichrist, that denieth the father and the son. Whoever denieth the son, the same hath not the father (l John 2.22,23) I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan ... (Revelation 2.9,10)
Behold I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not but do lie; behold I will make them to come and worship before thy feet... (Revelation 3.9) These vicious and treacherous New Testament verses, have given the impression that the Jews in the time of Jesus were degenerate and cruel and that they are a deicide race. They have been spread by the church for the last two millennia, and have not been rooted out of Christian thinking to the present day. Even those fundamentalist lovers of Israel, only love the Jews in order to save them from the punishment awaiting them for not having accepted Jesus. They, as much, if not more than any other Christian today, believe that the Jew is guilty of deicide and that his Judaism is an old worn out rag which they wish to replace with their New Testament. Moses Bazes, author of Jesus the Jew, the Historical Jesus, after examining the antiSemitic statements in the New Testament writes: I believe that because of the anti-Jewish narratives of the New Testament, the Jews were hounded from one country to another, denied to live as human beings, denied to work as other people worked, denied to play as others played, were in no country at peace, in no era at peace and finally persecuted and massacred. This was all because of the Christian bigotry and hatred in the name of Jesus. Obviously it cannot be possible to regard Jesus as none other than the scourge of God for the Jews. The tragic existence of the Jews during 1900 years in the Diaspora, the hatred they experienced, the pogroms, persecutions, murders and the destructions they suffered, must be mainly attributed to anti- Jewish statements in the New Testament. Christianity introduced contempt for the Jew and is thus responsible for what happened in the Second World War at the Dachau Concentration camp in Germany and at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. What was started at the Church Council at Nicea in 325 CE was duly completed in the concentration camps and crematories of Christian Germany where six million Jews perished. We will now examine the words of some Christian saints and leaders and notice how their anti-Jewish expressions are based on New Testament verses listed earlier in this article. Origen: Their rejection of Jesus has resulted in their present calamity and exile. We say with confidence that they will never be restored to their former condition. For they have committed a crime of the most unhallowed kind, in conspiring against the saviour. St. Gregory: Jews are slayers of the Lord, murderers of the prophets, enemies of God, haters of God, adversaries of grace, enemies of their fathers faith, advocates of the devil, brood of vipers, slanderers, scoffers, men of darkened minds, leaven of the Pharisees, congregation of demons, sinners, wicked men, stoners and haters of goodness. St. Jerome: ....serpents, haters of all men, their image is Judas ... their psalms and prayers are the braying of donkeys..
St. John Chrysostom: I know that many people hold a high regard for the Jews and consider their way of life worthy of respect at the present time... This is why I am hurrying to pull up this fatal notion by the roots ... A place where a whore stands on display is a whorehouse. What is more, the synagogue is not only a whorehouse and a theater; it is also a den of thieves and a haunt of wild animals ... not the cave of a wild animal merely, but of an unclean wild animal ... When animals are unfit for work, they are marked for slaughter, and this is the very thing which the Jews have experienced. By making themselves unfit for work, they have become ready for slaughter. This is why Christ said: ask for my enemies, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them and slay them before me (Luke 19.27). St. Augustine: Judaism is a corruption. Indeed Judas is the image of the Jewish people. Their understanding of the Scriptures is carnal. They bear the guilt for the death of the saviour, for through their fathers they have killed the Christ. St. Thomas Aquinas: It would be licit to hold Jews, because of the crimes, in perpetual servitude, and therefore the princes may regard the possessions of Jews as belonging to the State. The teachings of Martin Luther: Know, 0 adored Christ, and make no mistake, that aside from the Devil, you have no enemy more venomous, more desperate, more bitter, than a true Jew who truly seeks to be a Jew... a Jew, a Jewish heart, are hard as wood, as stone, as iron, as the Devil himself. In short, they are children of the Devil, condemned to the flames of hell. O Lord, I am too feeble to mock such devils. I would do so, but they are much stronger than I in raillery, and they have a God who is a past master in this art; He is called the devil and the wicked spirit.. They have transformed God into the devil, or rather into a servant of the Devil, accomplishing all the evil the Devil desires, corrupting unhappy souls , and raging against himself: in short, the Jews are worse than the devils. What then shall we Christians do with this damned, rejected race of Jews? First, their synagogues should be set on fire, and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of it. And this ought to be done for the honour of God and of Christianity, in order that God may see that we are true Christians. Secondly, their homes should be likewise broken down and destroyed. Thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayerbooks and talmuds in which such idolatry, lies, cursing and blasphemy are taught. Fourthly, their rabbis must be forbidden under threats of death to teach anymore. Now whoever wishes to accept venomous serpents, desperate enemies of the lord, and to honor them, to let himself be robbed, pillaged, corrupted and cursed by them, need only turn to the Jews. If this is not enough for him, he can do more: crawl up into their...... and worship the sanctuary, so as to glorify himself afterwards for having been merciful, for having fortified the
Devil and his children, in order to blaspheme our beloved lord and the precious blood that has redeemed us. He will then be a perfect Christian, filled with works of mercy, for which Christ will reward him on the-day of judgment with the eternal fire of hell (where he will roast together with the Jews). In truth, the Jews, being foreigners, should possess nothing, and what they do possess should be ours. ...Cursed goy that I am, I cannot understand how they manage to be so skillful, unless I think that when Judas Iscariot hanged himself, his guts burst and emptied. Perhaps the Jews sent their servants with plates of silver and pots of gold to gather up Judas piss with the other treasures, and then they ate and drank his offal, and thereby acquired eyes so piercing that they discover in the scriptures commentaries that neither Matthew nor Isaiah himself found there, not to mention the rest of us cursed goyim.. If I find a Jew to baptize, I shall lead him to the Elbe bridge, hang a stone around his neck, and push him into the water, baptizing him with the name of Avraham!.. I cannot convert the Jews. Our lord Christ did not succeed in doing so; but I can close their mouths so that there will be nothing for them to do but to lie upon the ground. I hope I shall never be so stupid as to be circumcised; I would rather cut off the left breast of my Catherine and of all women. If we are to remain unsullied by the blasphemy of the Jews and not wish to take part in it, we must be separated from them and they must be driven out of their country. These anti-semitic words uttered by popes, priests, pastors and laymen, were put into action by unruly Christian mobs and later by Hitlers followers. Adolf Hitler: I believe that I am today acting according to the purposes of the Almighty Creator. In resisting the Jew, I am fighting the Lords battle. Now let us apply these sayings to deeds committed by Christians who took their New Testament literally. The crusaders sword found its justification in the words of Matthew 10.34, I have not come to bring peace on earth but a sword. The Inquisitors fire found its justification in the words of John 15.6, If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. The cancellation of debts owed to Jews, found its justification in the parable recorded in Luke 16. The first blood libel was made by Jesus himself where in Matthew 23.35, he states that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Rev William Hull At the time of the World Pentecostal Conference in Jerusalem in 1961, Hull, a Canadian Missionary, wrote two articles entitled Christian Analysis of Current Events in Israel for Christian News from Israel (published by the Ministry of Religious Affairs). In these he analyzed political, cultural and social developments in the country in the light of his unique method of interpretations. He also discussed the significance of the Eichmann Trial, 2 which was then being held in Jerusalem. That subject had special interest for him, since at his request he had been appointed by the authorities as Eichmanns confessor. Hull visited Eichmann in his cell 14 times, and tried to convert him to a belief in Jesus as the savior, so that he might atone for his actions. However, Hulls efforts proved fruitless. Later he wrote a book describing those conversations with Eichmann, but the content of the talks and certain statements made by Hull subsequent to those talks, evoked a negative reaction in various Jewish circles. Criticism was directed mainly at the extreme Fundamentalist position, in accordance with which Hull had promised Eichmann that God would forgive his sins if in a written statement he would declare his acceptance of Christ. In Canada, Hull told the correspondent of a Toronto newspaper that the six million Jewish victims of the Nazis were doomed to perish in hell, and would not enter paradise, because they had not accepted the belief in Christ. Moreover, he said, Eichmanns sins were not as great as those of the average man who denied Jesus as the redeemer. (From American Fundamentalism and Israel by Yona Malachy) German Christians under Hitler Paul Althaus, a Lutheran theologian of renown in Germany, warmly greeted the rise of Hitler. He wrote that, The Protestant churches have greeted the political turning point as a gift and miracle of God.. (Die deutsche Stunde der Kirche, p.5) Many times Althaus explained to Christians his preference for the Third Reich over the former Weimar Republic. We Christians know, he stated, that we are bound by Gods will to the promotion of National Socialism, so that all members of the people will be ready for service and sacrifice. (Kirche and Staat, p. 29) In a document signed by many Christian theologians it was stated, We as believing Christians thank God our Father that he has given to our people in its time of need the Fuhrer as a pious and faithful sovereign, and that he wants to prepare for us in the National Socialist system of government, good rule, a government with discipline and honor. Accordingly, we know that we are responsible before God to assist the work of the Fuhrer in our calling and in our station in life.. (Ansbacher Ratschlag, p. 145) Another high ranking Christian theologian, Leutheuser, believed that the Holy Spirit moves where it chooses, and stated that, more spirit of religion has come to Germans through Hitler, than through many of the churches. (Julius Leutheuser. Die deutsche Christusgemeinde, p. 18,19) This same Christian leader asserts that Germany has been given a mission from God. The leader and prophet is Adolf Hitler. (SiegfriedLeffer. Christus im Drittem Reich der Deutschen, p. 13-18)
The Vatican under Pope Pius XII made a Concordat of collaboration with National Socialism. Hitlers portrait was placed on all walls of Catholic churches and Sunday schools. Church bells were rang at every Nazi victory, including the arrest and transportation of the last Jew from every town in Germany. The Roman Catholic Church never protested against Hitlers barbarism including the massacre of a million and a half Jewish children.. (Dictionary of Antisemitism, p. 43) At a Church conference, Hitler affirmed that the Catholic Church has always regarded Jews as evildoers and had banished them into ghettos. He (Hitler) is only doing what the Church had been doing for fifteen hundred years.. (ibid, p. 79) In fact the Catholic youth organisation of Germany was combined with the Hitler youth following the signing of the Concordat of Collaboration sponsored by Msgr. Pacelli later to become Pope Pius XII. Together they sang the Horstwessel Lied in the church vestries Wenn das Judenblut vom Messer spritzed.. (When Jewish blood runs off the dagger, ibid, p. 109) In a speech to Polish Catholics, Hitler declared: I as a German Catholic, ask only what is permitted to Polish Catholics. To be antisemitic is not to be un-Catholic. The Church used every weapon against the Jews, even the Inquisition. Christ himself was a pioneer in the fight against Judaism. (ibid, p. 146) An interesting quotation appears in the Encyclopedia Britannica under German Christians: Protestants who attempted to subordinate church policy to the political exigencies of Nazi Germany. The German Christians Faith Movement, organized in 1932, was nationalistic and so anti-Semitic that extremists wished to repudiate the Old Testament and the Pauline Letters because of their Jewish authorship. In July 1933 the state territorial churches merged to form the German Evangelical Church, and in September the German Christian candidate, Ludwig Muller, became Reichsbishop. Mullers efforts to make the church an instrument of Nazi policy were resisted by the Confessing Church, under the leadership of Martin Niemoller. After World War II the German Christian Church party was banned. Are present day Christian attitudes towards the Jews any better? Liberals say they are, and they continue to call for tolerance and understanding. But the fundamentalists are hindering and harming the progress that has been made in Christian-Jewish relationships. By their desire to convert the Jew, they prove themselves to be the most anti-Semitic of all Christian groups, for the whole idea of conversion is anti-Semitic. Christian missionary love for the Jew is a kind of hatred. It loves the Jew, yet hates him for being what he is. It sees him as blind and in need of being changed into a believer. When missionary efforts failed, or are foiled, the love for the Jew quickly turns to hatred and contempt. We are not deceived by the new Christians of todays hand-clapping fundamentalists. They teach the same anti-Semitic doctrines as the church of yesteryear. Their tactics are
different but we know that the message is the same. Any Jew who can pay homage to the New Testament or allow himself to believe in it, is, in my opinion in the same category as a Jew who tries to justify Hitlers Mein Kampf or, as one who covers up for the deeds of the Nazis. More Jews have been affected, hurt or killed, in the name of Christ and his church during the last two thousand years than those massacred by the Nazis. Yet there are Jews, who being so alienated from their own people, have overlooked this fact and have joined themselves to the church with its built-in anti-Semitism. To imagine that this Jewish self curse and curse on their children (Matthew 27:25) was actually uttered by any group of Jews is a violation of respect for the human intellect and a travesty. Because of the depth and spread of this Christian belief and the evil it has wrought it is most necessary to refute and discredit Matthew 27:25 beyond any shadow of doubt. The Jewish child is the hero of the Brith Milah (Circumcision): the Bar-Mitzvah and nowadays the Bat-Mitzvah (Confirmation of male and female children as Subjects of the Commandment); the Passover Seder (Feast of Mazot); and the Pidyon haBen (Redemption of the First-born son)... There is scarcely a single religious rite of the Jew that is complete without the participation of the child. An entire chapter of the Holy Scriptures, Proverbs, is devoted to the proper upbringing of the Jewish child - its first seven chapters are addressed to My Son. Even after the Jews passing from his life the connection between parent and child is perpetuated through the sons recital of the Kaddish prayer in memory of the departed parent. Thus, from birth to after death in a never-ending cycle, the Jew and his child are inseparable. It has always been so since Judaism began and it will always be so... As for the Blood curse (Matthew 27:25), oceans of ink have been expended by bible scholars Christian and Jewish - starting two centuries ago, to demonstrate that this selfcurse and curse on the children of Israel could never have been uttered. Despite this, rivers of Jewish blood have been spilled by a blind and unbending fanaticism that persisted, and still persists, in perpetuating the fiction that the self-curse was actually voiced. Since the Catholic Church and fundamentalist Protestant sects consider every word in the New Testament to be the Word of God, Matthew 27:25 is a dogma of the church. They care because they know that Adolf Hitlers mendacious claim: I believe that I am today acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator; by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord has Matthew 27:25 at its base. (A. Hitler, MEIN KAMPF, pg. 65; cf. E.H. Flannery, op. cit. pg. 2 1 0). Harenberg continues: It was Rudolf Bultmann who stated in 1921, with the help of the form critical method which he had developed, that this curse was never spoken (c.f R. Bultrnann, History of the Synoptic Tradition, Harper, 1963, pg. 282).
The French historian Charles Guignebert wrote in 1935 about Matthew 27:25 directly, and of other passages of the same ilk in the New Testament, as follows: Few of the sayings of the Gospels have done more harm than these, and yet they are only the invention of a redactor. (C. Guignebert, Jesus, op. cit., pg. 470) Hitler used Jesus name quite glibly to justify his unspeakable crimes. It was the evangelist Matthew, not a redactor, who invented verse 27:25, but no matter, the damage is the same regardless of who the inventor really was. The pity of it is that all anti-Semitic monsters use (and have used) the poison that is found in Christianitys Holy Book as propaganda to further their nefarious ends. Hitler was but one of many. A million of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust were children.
Footnotes: 1. To imagine that this self curse and curse on their children (Matthew 27:25) was actually uttered by any group of Jews is a violation of respect for the human intellect and a travesty. Because of the depth and spread of this Christian belief and the evil it has wrought it is most necessary to refute and discredit Matthew 27:25 - beyond any shadow of doubt. 2. Adolf Eichmann was a Nazi SS official in charge of deporting European Jewry. Germany, 1943. Eichmann was found guilty of war crimes, sentenced to death and was executed by hanging on June 1, 1962.

Did Jesus Exclude Gentiles?

When Jesus appeared and was aggressively promoted as the true messiah, the Jews initially were attracted by his charisma and message of salvation and promise to escort them to the kingdom of heaven on doomsday. They were special, Jesus said, for there would be no hope or preached promises to anyone other than God's chosen people--the Jews. According to Saint Matthew, thus spoke Jesus to his disciples: "Go not into the way of the Gentiles....but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel....I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 10:7, Matthew 15:24) Jesus emphasized the imminence of the end of the world and the arrival of the kingdom of heaven for the Jews: "And as ye go, preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand....Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the son of Man be come." (Matthew 10:5-6, 23). Thus, the end of the world would come so soon that Jesus' disciples would not even have time to spread the word to all of the Jews in the cities of Israel. But, as the years went by without the coming of the son of God and his promised apocalypse, many Jews stopped listening to the apostles. Fearing loss of priestly power, the church fathers took matters into their own hands.
Forging New Rules for the Gentiles The church fathers decided to expand their influence by extending Jesus' promise of salvation to the ones ignored by Jesus--the pagan Gentilesthe uncircumcised. Joseph Wheless, in "Is It God's Word?" explains: "The gentiles were the superstitious pagans of Palestine, Asia Minor, and parts thereabouts; they were steeped in belief in all the fables of all the gods of the heathen world. They knew nothing of the Jewish Scriptures or of the promised Messiah; they had no critical sense in religion, but, like Paul and his converts, believed all things and hoped all things. A new God was to them just one more god among many." Thus, the Gentiles were ripe for harvesting, and so the deceitful priestly fathers fraudulently appended the following verses to the end of Saint Matthew's gospel: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."(Matthew 28:19-20). If we weren't certain the verses above are a forgery, our wonderment at Jesus' apparent turn-around would know no bounds: just eighteen chapters earlier, in Matthew 10.5, Jesus was telling his disciples, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles."! The Gospel of Mark also fell victim to a later forger's pen. The last twelve verses of Mark are late additions: ".....And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved....And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen."(Mark 16:12-20) Thus, the illiterate peasants to whom the fathers preached received two different messages-- depending on their faith. The Jews heard that they were the favored "lost sheep" in the first parts of Matthew and Mark-which were the only parts read to them, while the Gentiles were read the words of salvation from the forged endings: believeth and be saved.
Apostles' Actions Expose the Lies As will be shown below, the apostles did not know that Jesus had evidently changed his mind and decided to allow Gentiles into the kingdom of heaven. They could not know it because, as we have already alleged, Jesus' mind was changed only in the lying imaginations of the forging fathers. Damning proof of this is offered below, where we begin by looking closely at the behavior of Simon Peter.
A Doubting Peter Agrees to Meet Gentiles While in a trance, Peter had a vision that he should meet with the Gentiles. His doubt about the meaning of this vision is strong evidence that Jesus never told his disciples to convert the Gentiles: "Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean." (Acts 10:9-17). Meanwhile, a Gentile centurion from Caesarea named Cornelius had a revelation that he should meet with Peter to be converted to the all-Jewish sect (Acts 10:1-9). Learning of this, Peter, still doubtful, met with Cornelius and his household. As further proof that Peter knew nothing of Jesus' command to his disciples to teach and baptize those of all nations, we have these words from Peter to Cornelius and his family: "Ye know how it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation." (Acts 10:17-28) Peter, however, also told Cornelius that a revelation had tentatively led him to "perceive that...he that feareth [God], and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." (Acts 10:34-35). Thus, it is only through a revelation-not the fraudulent "teach all nations" command by Jesusthat Peter was able to "perceive" that God would accept righteous Gentiles. This is virtually certain proof that Peter never heard Jesus' tell him and his disciples to "teach all nations", and therefore that the final verses of Matthew and Mark are late forgeries.
The Apostles Were Angry at Peter The apostles also evidently did not know anything about an alleged command by Jesus to "go, teach all nations....preach the gospel to every creature", because they were upset that Peter had embraced the Gentiles: "And when Peter had come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision, contended with him, Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them." (Acts 11:2, 3). Peter defended himself, explained his trance vision and Cornelius's revelation, and the speaking in tongues, and then told the apostles, "Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us ...what am I, that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." (Acts 11:4-18). If the apostles ever had heard the son of God urge the acceptance of the Gentiles, and if they had actually "preached everywhere"--as alleged by Matthew and Mark, they surely never would have questioned Peter's meeting with the Gentiles. As if the foregoing were not proof enough of the cynical forgeries of the church fathers, we discuss below further incriminating comments by learned authorities
Council of Trent: The Word of God Concerning the genuineness of Mark 16:9-20, the Catholic Encyclopedia states, "...The combination of so many peculiar features, not only of vocabulary, but of matter and construction, leaves room for doubt....it is not at all certain that Mark did not write the disputed verses. It may be that he did not; that they are from the pen of another inspired author....Catholics are not bound to hold that the verses were written by St. Mark. But they are canonical Scripture, for the Council of Trent [1].... [defined] that all parts of the Sacred books are to be received as sacred and canonical......Hence, whoever wrote the verses, they are inspired, and must be received as such by every Catholic" [2]. Now isn't this remarkable? According to the inspired fathers at the Council of Trent, whoever wrote the disputed verses, they are inspired even if they are fake. Constrained as the editors of the Catholic Encyclopedia were by the demands of doctrinal adherence, it is remarkable how much is revealed by the words above, which conform to the letter of the church law, but surely not the spirit in their nearconfession of the forgeries in Mark. Hear also the words of the New Standard Bible Dictionary, and the Encyclopedia Biblica, as quoted by Joseph Wheless in "Forgery In Christianity": Mark 16:9-20 "has against it the testimony of the two oldest [related manuscripts] [3], which close the chapter at verse 8. In addition to this is the very significant silence of Patristic literature as to anything following verse 8" [4], and Mark 16:9-20 "is admittedly not genuine." [5]
-------------------------------------------------------------------[1] Council of Trent, northern Italy; called by Pope Paul III. The council met over three sessions between 15451563 to deal with doctrinal and administrative problems. Tradition, along with the Bible, was accepted as a source of faith. [2] Catholic Encyclopedia, ix, 677-679 [3] Uncial manuscripts: Siniatic and Vatican. [4] New Standard Bible Dictionary, p. 551. [5] Encyclopedia Biblica, ii, 1880.

www.MessiahTruth.com : The Real Jewish Messiah www.jewsforjudaism.org Response to Missionaries www.outreachjudaism.org An international organization that responds directly to the issues raised by missionaries and cults. http://jdstone.org/cr/index.html Reveals the error, distortions and falsehood of... http://www.kosherjudaism.com/counter.htm Archive of Articles; trinity, messiah, Jesus, Christianity... http://www.angelfire.com/my/tgoldman0/prophet.htm An Explanation of Christians Prophecies www.TorahAtlanta.com Jewish Articles and Response to Christian claims on G-d and the Messiah. http://www.simpletoremember.com/audio/jewish-response-to-christian-missionaries.htm Jewish Response to Christian Missionaries MP3s 3
Does Judaism Believe in Satan?

(This article should be read after my article Why Did G-d Create the World?)
The Christians don't understand how an angel of G-d can try to seduce people to disobey G-d, so they came to the unsupported conclusion that Satan must have rebelled against G-d. This is completely contrary to everything Judaism believes. We reject that interpretation entirely. What, then, does Judaism teach about Satan? Did you ever see the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? (It's one of the few examples of where a story from a book was changed for the screen without ruining the experience.) The story is about a very famous chocolate factory, called Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, that produces the world's greatest chocolates, candies -- confectionery in general. No one ever enters the factory, and no one ever leaves. Mr. Wonka, the owner, runs a contest. The winners of the contest will be allowed to enter and tour the factory together. However, they will have to sign a contract and follow the rules. One of the rules is: no eating of any products inside the factory without express permission. Afterwards, when they leave, they will go home with a lifetime supply of chocolate. That is, *IF* they follow the rules. Five children win. They are of course all excited; TV stations and reporters interview them, and the whole world is excited with them. Now they just wait until the day they are to enter the factory and see the great wonders that no one else has ever been allowed to see. Before the big day comes, each of the winners of the contest is secretly visited by a man named Arthur Slugworth, President of Slugworth Chocolates, Incorporated. Mr. Slugworth shows them a lot of cash, and tells them they will get all that money and more, if only they steal out of the factory a candy called an Everlasting Gobstopper. See, it hasn't been mass produced or marketed yet, and Wonka's competition wants to get an advance sample of this product so he can get it out first, and ruin Wonka. The day comes, and all the kids are allowed into the factory with one adult relative. They see the most amazing sights, and eat the most amazing (and impossible to actually exist in real life) foods. One of the things Wonka gives each of the kids is an Everlasting Gobstopper, on the condition that they never show it to anyone else. During the tour of the factory, four of the kids break the rules by taking stuff they should not have taken, and they all suffer the consequences. One gets all swollen up and blue from some gum she should not have taken, and they have to take her away and squeeze her until she gets skinny again. One of the kids jumps into a pool of chocolate and is sucked up into the pipes. And so on. They are all saved in the end, so don't worry, but they must leave the factory without the lifetime supply of chocolate, because they broke the rules.
Charlie, the main character, also breaks the rules. He drinks some Fizzy drink he was not supposed to take, but no one seems to know, so he doesn't say anything. He doesn't get hurt in the process, so he survives until the end of the tour. At the end of the tour, Charlie Bucket and his grandfather are the only ones left. Mr. Wonka says good bye to them, and tells them to leave. Upset, Charlie asks him for the lifetime supply of chocolate. But Mr. Wonka has somehow found out that Charlie drank the Fizzy drink, and therefore broke the rules. Charlie will not be getting a lifetime supply of chocolate either. Wonka yells at him for drinking the Fuzzy drink, and Charlie feels bad. But his grandfather is angry, and he tells Charlie that they'll give Mr. Slugworth an Everlasting Gobstopper. They are about to leave, when Charlie realizes that no matter how he feels, stealing and breaking rules is bad. So he goes to Mr. Wonka's desk and returns the Gobstopper to him. Wonka sees that, and jumps up in delight! He tells Charlie that he has won! Charlie has no idea of what he's talking about. It seems that Wonka was looking to retire, and so he set up the contest to find an honest child he could train as his successor. Then Wonka calls in Wilkinson, his aide. And Wilkinson is Slugworth! Slugworth was sent out to each of the children to test them! To see how they would respond. Anyone who either ate food he wasn't supposed to eat or brought a Gobstopper to Slugworth was dishonest, and would not become the successor. (Okay, the parable is not exact, but I think you get my point.) Notice, also, that Wonka himself gave each of the children a Gobstopper. So he himself set up the choice, and then gave them the opportunity to break the rule, using Wilkinsin to offer the temptation. Christians take Slugworth at face value: a reprehensible competitor who will stop at nothing to undo Wonka. And that's how they view Satan. Jews do not see it that way, and we never have. Just as Slugworth is really Wilkinson doing what Wonka asked him to do, Satan is also not working for himself. The Hebrew word "Satan" means "Hinderer." To hinder someone means to hold him back, to try to prevent him from doing something. G-d created the Hinderer to give us work to do in this world (see my article Why did G-d Create the World?). Satan is here to make things difficult for us, so we can overcome our evil temptations, and PASS the test. That is the purpose of Satan. Satan is an angel whose purpose has been determined by G-d. Temptation is there to try and deter us. It gives us the ability to do the wrong thing. More importantly, it gives us the ability to look at evil and refuse to do it. By presenting us with the opportunity to do evil, it gives us the ability to choose between good and evil. The ability to choose between good and evil is what gives us free will. (See my article On the Nature of Free Will. So, in order for us to work for the good that Hashem wants to give us, the good of the World to Come, we need something to deter us. That is the ability to do evil. Satan is our Evil Inclination (Yetzer Hara). The Evil Inclination tries to prevent us from doing good, because Hashem has commanded the Evil Inclination to do that. Why? To give us free will.
Each of us every day fights with Satan. We all have temptations, throughout the day. But we, as the Children of Israel, have the power to overcome even angels, if we work at it. Therefore, the Talmud says that men are greater than angels, for we can fight with an angel (Satan) and win. Satan is not, as the Christians think, a rebellious angel. How impossible! The angels are spiritual and holy, without any physical or unholy presence, and the presence of Hashem's holiness permeates them entirely. Angels, unlike humans, are therefore constantly and fully aware of Hashem's Presence everywhere. Could you stay dry in the ocean? An angel could not stop being holy, and can do no wrong. There is holiness everywhere in Creation, everywhere in the universe, and angels are made of the same thing. An angel could not stop serving G-d even if he tried. Furthermore, humans have Satan to tempt us. Angels have no Satan to tempt them. Who would be Satan's Satan? An ultra-Satan? The truth is that Satan has a job to do, just like every other angel. And angels have no free will. They do as Hashem commands them. A man once came to a great Rabbi, very troubled. He said to the Rabbi, "Please pray to Hashem to take away my Evil Inclination. I do so many sins, and I want to stop sinning!" The Rabbi answered, "Then what would be your purpose in this world, if you had no Evil Inclination? Your purpose in life is to overcome your personal Evil Inclination. That is what you were created for! Hashem has enough angels in heaven. He doesn't need one more. He created you human, so that you could improve yourself." Humans can improve themselves, and that is their purpose in this world. Angels, however, cannot improve themselves. That's not their purpose. Angels are therefore said to be "standing." They cannot become better, and they cannot rise any higher than they are. They are, so to speak, standing. Isaiah, when describing a Heavenly scene, says "Seraphim were standing around Him...." (Isaiah 6:2). (Seraphim are a type of angel.) Spiritually, angels are stuck at whatever level Hashem created them. Humans are different. Humans can rise by improving themselves. For that reason, we are described as "walkers." Therefore the Prophet Zachariah told the High Priest, "This is what Hashem, L-rd of Hosts says: if you walk in My ways, and if you observe My safeguards, you and your sons after you will be the High Priests, and you and your sons will thus guard my Holy Temple, and I will make you walkers among these who are standing" (Zachariah 3:7). In other words, Hashem was promising the High Priest that he and his children will be High Priests, and also will merit reward in the Afterlife, in the World of Souls, where righteous people go after death. The Prophet Zachariah was saying that in the Next World they will be walkers among the standers, which means humans among angels. So the angels are referred to as perpetually standing, but we are movers. Our purpose is to keep on moving, to keep on improving ourselves, and to keep on rising.
And how do we do it? By constant battle with the Evil Inclination. So now we have to revise our understanding of Satan. Satan is not a fallen angel. Satan is merely an angel with a dirty job. Satan does not have a rival kingdom. Satan is not in competition with G-d, and Satan does not want followers or worshipers. He's not even happy when people obey him and sin. Satan is the angel who tempts us, and the angel who prosecutes us in Heaven. He is also the Angel of Death. The angel who tries to make us sin is the same angel who accuses us in the Heavenly Court, and the same angel who carries out the death sentence. So, no, Satan does not wear a red suit, or carry a trident. Nor does he wear a business suit. Satan is a force of evil in the world that we must resist. Satan most often appears as a desire within you. Of course, there is no shortage of things in the world to tempt us to sin. And Satan has many "helpers," many of whom don't even know they are helping him. A shadylooking character in the street walks over to you and offers to sell you some stolen property, for example. He's not Satan. He's someone who has not resisted Satan, and has decided to do evil. He's now trying to tempt you to sin, but not because he wants you to sin per se. He personally has something to gain from your sinning. Whenever a human being tries to tempt another person to sin, it's because he himself feels he can gain something from it. It may be simply that he doesn't want to sin alone. Or maybe he needs your help. Or maybe he just gets emotional satisfaction out of seeing you go against what you believe (in which case he is a very sick person, but unfortunately not unusual). There could be any number of motivations. Likewise, the snake in the Garden of Eden was not Satan either, though confused Christians think it was. The snake had his own motivations, which I will not go into now. He was what the Torah calls a "Seducer," someone who, for whatever reason, tries to get other people to sin. How does one recognize Satan? For that we need to live a Torah life. This means a host of things that work together. To mention a few: Torah study, spending quality and quantity time among Observant Jewish people, learning from Rabbis and other religiously developed Jewish people, periodic introspection, and actual self-development by means of performing the Mitzvos. It is difficult (if at all possible) to cite any of these as being more important than any of the others. None of us are capable of destroying Satan. What we are expected and commanded to do is to gain the upper hand over our personal Satans. And Hashem helps us do this, constantly. The Talmud says that the Evil Inclination constantly attempts to destroy us spiritually, and Hashem constantly helps us and gives us the means with which to overcome our Evil Inclinations. When this world comes to an end, and the Next World begins, the Day of Judgment will take place. After that, Satan's work will be done. There will no longer be sin, and there will no longer be death. All judgment will have been passed and performed. There will no longer be any need for a Tempting Angel, an Angel of Death, or a Prosecuting Angel. Satan will cease to exist. It will not be a sad day at all.
Nor will it be unfair treatment of Satan. It will be like turning off a machine. Angels are not like humans, with human emotions and desires. They exist merely to follow Hashem's instructions, for the greater glory of Hashem. That's the reason we exist too -- to follow Hashem's instructions for the greater glory of Hashem. So Satan was created to struggle against us, and we were put into this world to struggle against Satan. But that was not the purpose of our being created. When the struggle is over we will begin to receive the reward for having struggled. We will be brought in to the Next World, and the struggle will end. That's when the good times will begin. Read more about this in my article, "Is the World in a Conflict Between Good and Evil?" If you're a Christian, and/or you're here looking for Scriptural arguments and polemics, take a look at this article: "Who Is Satan?" by Rabbi Tovia Singer.

www.MessiahTruth.com : The Real Jewish Messiah www.jewsforjudaism.org Response to Missionaries www.outreachjudaism.org An international organization that responds directly to the issues raised by missionaries and cults. http://jdstone.org/cr/index.html Reveals the error, distortions and falsehood of... http://www.kosherjudaism.com/counter.htm Archive of Articles; trinity, messiah, Jesus, Christianity... http://www.angelfire.com/my/tgoldman0/prophet.htm An Explanation of Christians Prophecies www.TorahAtlanta.com Jewish Articles and Response to Christian claims on G-d and the Messiah.
Is A Blood Sacrifice Required For Atonement?

Quite often, missionaries will cite Hebrews 9:22 (NT) which states: "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission" (forgiveness of sin). But is this true? Is this a Jewish concept? After all the New Testament claims to be the fulfillment of Judaism as found in the Jewish Bible. Let us look at this question to see if the New Testament is telling the truth about this important subject. The New Testament bases this idea on Leviticus 17:11 which says: For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul. From a simple reading of this, it seems that "blood makes atonement for the soul. Without blood atonement does not seem possible. But, is this the whole story? First of all, we must always ask ourselves, "What is the full context of this verse." An honest reading of Leviticus 17:10-14 shows clearly that the Torah is speaking about a prohibition against eating blood, not about atonement. Blood is considered important because when an animal is offered, the blood is the part that effects the atonement, not the skin or the bones. These passages are also here to tell us that the only permitted use of blood is on the altar, and no other. But is a blood sacrifice the only means Hashem has given us to atone for our souls? Absolutely not. Just as a store will allow you to pay by cash, or check, or credit card or food stamps, etc., so too Hashem allows us many way to atone for our souls. The first step to appreciating this, is to actually look at the quote in the New Testament that missionaries cite to make their case. We will find that not only do they take Tanach verses out of context, but actually do the same thing to the New Testament as well. The entire verse reads: Hebrews 9:22. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. Almost all things? I propose that Paul was aware that the atoning effect of blood did not cover everything, and that other means were available for atonement. Let us now examine the Tanach to see examples of where atonement was achieved in ways other than through a sin offering. Examples: This they shall give, every one who passes among those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary... The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering to the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls. (NO BLOOD). Exodus 30:13-15
What if someone cannot afford an animal to sacrifice, is atonement closed to him? But if he is not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he who sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering... Then shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, a memorial part of it, and burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire to the Lord; it is a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for him in regard to his sin that he has sinned in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him; and the remnant shall be the priest's, as a meal offering. (NO BLOOD). Leviticus 5:11 -13 In most cases in the Bible, stories of the forgiveness of sin involve genuine, heart-wrenching repentance, which is really what Hashem desires most. Bring no more vain offerings; incense of abomination they are to me.... Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the orphan, plead for the widow. (NO BLOOD). Isaiah 1:13-17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, 0 God, you will not despise. (NO BLOOD). Psalm 51:19 Look at the story of David and the matter of Uriah. David is confronted with his sin, repents and is forgiven And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, The Lord 11 Samuel 12:13 also has put away your sin; you shall not die. (NO BLOOD). Furthermore, following the Golden Calf: And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people; now therefore let me alone, that my anger may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation. And Moses pleaded with the Lord his G-d, and said, Lord, why does your anger burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand... Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever. And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people. (NO Exodus 32:9-14 BLOOD). Concerning Nineveh, the Gentile city in the Book of Jonah: Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness has come up before me... And the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them, And word came to the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he took off his robe, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes ... And God saw their doings, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, which he had said that he would do to them; and he did not do it. (NO BLOOD) Jonah 1:2; 3:5-6, 10 2
Christians may ask, How is it possible to attain atonement without sacrifices? Since no sacrifices have been offered since the Temple was destroyed, Jews offer repentance instead. Christians will then ask, by what authority can we substitute words for sacrifices? We read in Hosea an admonition from G-d through his prophet for us all. O Israel, return to the Lord your God; for you have stumbled in your iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord; say to him: Forgive all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will Hosea 14:2-3 we offer the words of our lips instead of calves. Listen to the prayers of the prophet Daniel who lived during the exile in Babylon. His words of confession: We have sinned, and have committed iniquity; and have done wickedly and have rebelled, and have departed from your precepts and from your judgments... Daniel 9:5 And his plea for forgiveness: To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him... 0 Lord, according to all your righteousness, I pray you, let your anger and your fury be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a- reproach to all those who are around us. Daniel 9:9;16 Daniel asked God for forgiveness for himself and his people. Would Daniel be praying for something he couldn't have because he couldn't offer blood? Of course not. For Daniel knew of Hosea, and Daniel knew of Nathan the prophet's words about King David. Lastly, we are told what we must do when we have been put out of our land, dispersed among all the nations and want forgiveness. Though this was spoken by King Solomon, it is applicable to us today, and it has nothing to do with blood, or Jesus. "They shall pray unto the L-rd toward the city which You have chosen ... and say ... We have sinned ... and so return to You with all their heart ... forgive Your people that have sinned. I Kings 8:44-50 Yes, we as Jews have sinned, in many ways. All of us, and we must follow the words of our prophets to return to G-d. Message to Messianic Jews By the path you have chosen, you may have sinned in a very dangerous way, one that threatens to cut you off from the Jewish people, and threatens the eternity of your neshama (soul). We are told in Deuteronomy 28:64 "And the Lord shall scatter you among all people from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known." 3
It is important to see that the Jewish belief in G-d has standards. When Moses spoke to his generation of gods "that neither you nor your fathers worshipped", he sought to exclude for all time all foreign views of G-d. Moses and his generation did not worship a trinity. They worshipped the one G-d who revealed Himself at Sinai. Therefore, realize that it is no small thing to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. It is idolatry and for a Jew is punishable by koras, the eternal cutting off of your soul. You can do teshuvah (repentance), and without a sacrifice, as your ancestors did. Return to the true G-d and to his people, who will accept you, as you receive forgiveness of sin. ___ Source: http://www.torahatlanta.com

A Christian Defends Matthew by Insisting That the Author of the First Gospel Used the Septuagint in His Quote of Isaiah to Support the Virgin Birth Question: Rav Singer, Why did you say Christians mistranslate the scripture by saying almah doesnt mean virgin, when their translation of virgin comes from the Septuagints parthenos, not the Hebrew almah? Parthenos does mean virgin. They didnt mistranslate but used a different text. This is pretty well known, did you not know? I dont think this is a very good thing to have on your page. Answer: Your inquiry will undoubtedly make an enormous contribution to our website because contained within your question are some of the most commonly held misconceptions regarding Matthews rendering the Hebrew word alma as virgin in Matthew 1:23. Placing your question on our website will therefore benefit countless others who are confused by the same mistaken presuppositions imbedded in your question. Your assertion that Matthew quoted from the Septuagint is the most repeated argument missionaries use in their attempt to explain away Matthews stunning mistranslation of the Hebrew word alma. This well-worn response, however, raises far more problems than it answers. To begin with, your contention that parthenos does mean virgin is incorrect. The Greek word parthenos can mean either a young woman or a virgin; for this reason the Greek word parthenos can be found in the Septuagint referring to someone who is not a virgin. For example, in Genesis 34:2-4, Shechem raped Dinah, the daughter of the patriarch Jacob, yet the Septuagint refers to her as a parthenos after she had been defiled. The Bible reports that after Shechem had violated her, his heart desired Dinah, and he loved the damsel (LXX: parthenos) and he spoke tenderly to the damsel (LXX: parthenos). Clearly, Dinah was not a virgin after having been raped, and yet she was referred to as a parthenos, the very same word the Septuagint used to translate the Hebrew word alma in Isaiah 7:14. Moreover, the Septuagint in our hands is not a Jewish document, but rather a Christian one. The original Septuagint, created 2,200 years ago by 72 Jewish translators, was a Greek translation of the Five Books of Moses alone. It therefore did not contain prophetic Books of the Bible such as Isaiah, which you asserted that Matthew quoted from. The Septuagint as we have it today, which includes the Prophets and Writings as well, is a product of the church, not the Jewish people. In fact, the Septuagint remains the official Old Testament of the Greek Orthodox Church, and the manuscripts that consist of our Septuagint today date to the third century C.E. The fact that additional books known as the Apocrypha, which are uniquely sacred to the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church, are found in the Septuagint should raise a red flag to those inquiring into the Jewishness of the Septuagint. Christians such as Origin and Lucian (third and fourth century C.E.) had an enormous impact on creating and shaping the Septuagint that missionaries use to advance their untenable arguments against Judaism. In essence, the present Septuagint is largely a post-second century Christian translation of the Bible, used zealously by the church throughout the centuries
as an indispensable apologetic instrument to defend and sustain Christological alterations of the Jewish scriptures. The fact that the original Septuagint translated by rabbis more than 22 centuries ago was only of the Pentateuch and not of prophetic books of the Bible such as Isaiah is confirmed by countless sources including the ancient Letter of Aristeas, which is the earliest attestation to the existence of the Septuagint. The Talmud also states this explicitly in Tractate Megillah (9a), and Josephus as well affirms that the Septuagint was a translation only of the Law of Moses in his preface to Antiquities of the Jews.1 Moreover, Jerome, a church father and Bible translator who could hardly be construed as friendly to Judaism, affirms Josephus statement regarding the authorship of the Septuagint in his preface to The Book of Hebrew Questions.2 Likewise, the Anchor Bible Dictionary reports precisely this point in the opening sentence of its article on the Septuagint which states, The word Septuagint, (from Lat septuaginta = 70; hence the abbreviation LXX) derives from a story that 72 elders translated the Pentateuch into Greek; the term therefore applied originally only to those five books.3 In fact, Dr. F.F. Bruce, the preeminent professor of Biblical exegesis, keenly points out that, strictly speaking, the Septuagint deals only with the Pentateuch and not the whole Old Testament. Bruce writes, The Jews might have gone on at a later time to authorize a standard text of the rest of the Septuagint, but . . . lost interest in the Septuagint altogether. With but few exceptions, every manuscript of the Septuagint which has come down to our day was copied and preserved in Christian, not Jewish, circles.4 Regarding your assertion that Matthew was quoting from the Septuagint, nowhere in the Book of Matthew does the word Septuagint appear, or, for that matter, is there any reference to a Greek translation of the Bible ever mentioned in all of the New Testament; and there is good reason for this. The first century church was well aware that a Jewish audience would be thoroughly unimpressed by a claim that Jesus virgin birth could only be supported by a Greek translation of the Bible. They understood that if Jews were to find their Christian message convincing, they would need to assert that it was the actual words of the prophet Isaiah that clearly foretold Marys virgin conception, not from the words of a Greek translation. Therefore, in Matthew 1:22-23, the author of the first Gospel insists that it was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child . . . . Matthew loudly makes the point that it was specifically the prophets own words that proclaimed the virgin birth, not the words of any translator. Isaiah, of course, did not preach or write in Greek, and therefore the word parthenos never left the lips of the prophet throughout his life. All 66 chapters of the Book of Isaiah were spoken and then recorded in the Hebrew language alone. Matthew, however, was attempting to place in the mind of his intended Jewish reader that it was the words of prophet Isaiah himself which declared that the messiah would be born of a virgin. Nothing of course could be further from the truth. Furthermore, this contention becomes even more preposterous when we consider that the same missionaries who attempt to explain away Matthews mistranslation of the Hebrew word alma by claiming that Matthew used a Septuagint when he quoted Isaiah 7:14 also steadfastly maintain that the entire first Gospel was divinely inspired. That is to say, these same Christian missionaries insist that every word of the New Testament, Matthew included, was authored through the Holy Spirit and is therefore the living word of God. Are these evangelical apologists therefore claiming that God needed a Greek translation of the Bible and therefore quoted from the Septuagint? Did the passing of 500 years since His last book cause God to forget how to
read Hebrew that He would need to rely on a translation? Why would God need to quote from the Septuagint? Matthews mistranslation of the Hebrew word alma was deliberate, not the result of his unwitting decision to quote from a defective Greek translation of the Bible. This is evidenced by the fact that the context of Isaiah 7:14 is not speaking of the birth of a messiah at all.5 This fact remains obvious even to the most casual reader of the seventh chapter of Isaiah. For Matthew, the prophets original intent regarding the young woman in Isaiah 7:14 was entirely superseded by his fervid desire to somehow prove to the Jewish people that the virgin birth was prophesied in the Hebrew scriptures. Bear in mind that the author of the first Gospel -more than any other writer in the New Testament -- shaped and contoured his treatise with the deliberate purpose of promoting Christianity among the Jews. In essence, Matthew was writing with a Jewish audience in mind. He understood that in order to convince the Jewish people to embrace Jesus as the messiah, it was essential to demonstrate his claim of the virgin birth from the Jewish scriptures. Luke, in contrast, was writing for a non-Jewish, Greek audience and therefore makes no attempt to support his version of the virgin birth from the Hebrew Bible. In his attempt to promote numerous Christian creeds among the Jews, Matthew was faced with a serious quandary. How would he prove that Jesus was the messiah from the Jewish scriptures when there is no relationship between the Jesus of Nazareth of the New Testament and the messianic prophecies of the Jewish scriptures? How was he going to merge newly inculcated pagan myths, such as the virgin birth, into Christianity with a Hebrew Bible in which a belief in a virgin birth was unknown? In order to accomplish this daunting task, verses in the Hebrew scriptures were altered, misquoted, taken out of context, and mistranslated by the author of the Book of Matthew in order to make Jesus life fit traditional Jewish messianic parameters, and to make traditional Jewish messianic parameters fit the life of Jesus. In essence, he had to claim that it was the Hebrew prophets themselves who foretold that Jesus was the messiah. It is therefore no coincidence that no other writer in the New Testament misuses the Jewish scriptures with abandon to the extent that Matthew does throughout his Gospel. The irony of all this Bible manipulation is that the first Gospel was written for the sole purpose of convincing a Jewish audience that Jesus was the promised messiah. Yet, if the Book of Matthew had never been written, the church would almost certainly have been more effective in its effort at evangelizing the Jews. In essence, had promoters of Christianity avoided the kind of scripture tampering that can be found in virtually every chapter in the Book of Matthew, the church might have enjoyed far more success among the Jews as did previous religions that targeted the Jewish people for conversion. For example, the priests of Baal did not attempt to bolster the validity of their idol worship by misquoting the texts of the Hebrew Bible, as Matthew did. Yet, the Bible reports that Baal gained enormous popularity among the Jewish people. In contrast, once the nation of Israel was confronted with a corruption of their sacred scriptures by authors and apologists of the New Testament, their apostasy to Christianity for the most part became unpalatable and the Jewish people throughout history remained the most difficult nation for the church to convert. Consequently, whereas the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and John enjoyed overwhelming success among their targeted gentile audiences, the Gospel of Matthew played an enormous role in the ultimate failure of the church to effectively convert the Jews to Christianity, at least the knowledgeable ones.
Best wishes for a happy Purim. Sincerely yours, Rabbi Tovia Singer
Footnotes:
1
Josephus, preface to Antiquities of the Jews, section 3. For Josephus detailed description of events surrounding the original authorship of the Septuagint, see Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, XII, ii, 1-4. St. Jerome, preface to The Book of Hebrew Questions, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6. Pg. 487. Hendrickson. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Excerpt from Septuagint, New York: Vol. 5, pg. 1093. F.F. Bruce, The Books and the Parchments, p.150.
The seventh chapter of the Book of Isaiah begins by describing the military crisis that was confronting King Ahaz of the Kingdom Judah. In about the year 732 B.C.E. the House of David was facing immanent destruction at the hands of two warring kingdoms: the northern Kingdom of Israel and the Syrian kingdom. These two armies had laid siege to Jerusalem. The Bible relates that the House of David and King Ahaz were gripped with fear. In response these two warring armies, God sent the prophet Isaiah to reassure King Ahaz that divine protection was at hand -- the Almighty would protect him, their deliverance was assured, and these two hostile armies would fail in their attempt to subjugate Jerusalem. It is clear from this chapter that Isaiahs declaration was a prophecy of the unsuccessful siege of Jerusalem by the two armies of the Kingdoms of Israel and Syria, not a virgin birth more than 700 years later. If we interpret this chapter as referring to Jesus birth, what possible comfort and assurance would Ahaz, who was surrounded by two overwhelming military enemies, have found in the birth of a child seven centuries later? Both he and his people would be long dead and buried. Such a sign would make no sense.
Source: www.Jewsforjudaism.org & www.outreachjudaism.org

"Lucifer" a problem for Christianity & Mormonism Al Case 1

The word "Lucifer" in Isaiah 14:12 presents a minor problem to mainstream Christianity. It becomes a much larger problem to Bible literalists, and becomes a huge obstacle for the claims of Mormonism. John J. Robinson in A Pilgrim's Path, pp. 47-48 explains: "Lucifer makes his appearance in the fourteenth chapter of the Old Testament book of Isaiah, at the twelfth verse, and nowhere else: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" The first problem is that Lucifer is a Latin name. So how did it find its way into a Hebrew manuscript, written before there was a Roman language? To find the answer, I consulted a scholar at the library of the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. What Hebrew name, I asked, was Satan given in this chapter of Isaiah, which describes the angel who fell to become the ruler of hell? The answer was a surprise. In the original Hebrew text, the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah is not about a fallen angel, but about a fallen Babylonian king, who during his lifetime had persecuted the children of Israel. It contains no mention of Satan, either by name or reference. The Hebrew scholar could only speculate that some early Christian scribes, writing in the Latin tongue used by the Church, had decided for themselves that they wanted the story to be about a fallen angel, a creature not even mentioned in the original Hebrew text, and to whom they gave the name "Lucifer."
Why Lucifer? In Roman astronomy, Lucifer was the name given to the morning star (the star we now know by another Roman name, Venus). The morning star appears in the heavens just before dawn, heralding the rising sun. The name derives from the Latin term lucem ferre, bringer, or bearer, of light." In the Hebrew text the expression used to describe the Babylonian king before his death is Helal, son of Shahar, which can best be translated as "Day star, son of the Dawn." The name evokes the golden glitter of a proud king's dress and court (much as his personal splendor earned for King Louis XIV of France the appellation, "The Sun King"). The scholars authorized by ... King James I to translate the Bible into current English did not use the original Hebrew texts, but used versions translated ... largely by St. Jerome in the fourth century. Jerome had mistranslated the Hebraic metaphor, "Day star, son of the Dawn," as "Lucifer," and over the centuries a metamorphosis took place. Lucifer the morning star became a disobedient angel, cast out of heaven to rule eternally in hell. Theologians, writers, and poets interwove the myth with the doctrine of the Fall, and in Christian tradition Lucifer is now the same as Satan, the Devil, and --- ironically --- the Prince of Darkness.
So "Lucifer" is nothing more than an ancient Latin name for the morning star, the bringer of light. That can be confusing for Christians who identify Christ himself as the morning star, a term used as a central theme in many Christian sermons. Jesus refers to himself as the morning star in Revelation 22:16: "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star."
And so there are those who do not read beyond the King James Version of the
Bible, who say 'Lucifer is Satan: so says the Word of God'...." Henry Neufeld (a Christian who comments on Biblical sticky issues) went on to say, "this passage is often related to Satan, and a similar thought is expressed in Luke 10:18 by Jesus, that was not its first meaning. Its primary meaning is given in Isaiah 14:4 which says that when Israel is restored they will "take up this taunt against the king of Babylon . . ." Verse 12 is a part of this taunt song. This passage refers first to the fall of that earthly king... How does the confusion in translating this verse arise? The Hebrew of this passage reads: "heleyl, ben shachar" which can be literally translated "shining one, son of dawn." This phrase means, again literally, the planet Venus when it appears as a morning star. In the Septuagint, a 3rd century BC translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, it is translated as "heosphoros" which also means Venus as a morning star. How did the translation "Lucifer" arise? This word comes from Jerome's Latin Vulgate. Was Jerome in error? Not at all. In Latin at the time, "Lucifer" actually meant Venus as a morning star. Isaiah is using this metaphor for a bright light, though not the greatest light to illustrate the apparent power of the Babylonian king which then faded." Therefore, Lucifer wasn't equated with Satan until after Jerome. Jerome wasn't in error. Later Christians (and Mormons) were in equating "Lucifer" with "Satan". So why is this a problem to Christians? Christians now generally believe that Satan (or the Devil or Lucifer who they equate with Satan) is a being who has always existed. Therefore, they also think that the 'prophets' of the Old Testament believed in this creature. The Isaiah scripture is used as proof (and has been used as such for hundreds of years now). As Elaine Pagels explains though, the concept of Satan has evolved over the years ...
The irony for those who believe that "Lucifer" refers to Satan is that the same title ('morning star' or 'light-bearer') is used to refer to Jesus, in 2 Peter 1:19, where the Greek text has exactly the same term: 'phos-phoros' 'lightbearer.' This is also the term used for Jesus in Revelation 22:16.
So why is Lucifer a far bigger problem to Mormons? Mormons claim that an ancient record (the Book of Mormon) was written beginning in about 600 BC, and the author in 600 BC supposedly copied Isaiah in Isaiah's original words. When Joseph Smith pretended to translate the supposed 'ancient record', he included the Lucifer verse in the Book of Mormon. Obviously he wasn't copying what Isaiah actually wrote. He was copying the King James Version of the Bible. Another book of Mormon (LDS) scripture, the Doctrine & Covenants, furthers this problem in 76:26 when it affirms the false Christian doctrine that "Lucifer" means Satan. This incorrect doctrine also spread into a third set of Mormon scriptures, the Pearl of Great Price, which describes a war in heaven based, in part, on Joseph Smith's incorrect interpretation of the word "Lucifer" which only appears in Isaiah.
On a lighter note, Arthur Clarke, in his fictional book 2061 correctly uses the word "Lucifer". He uses it as a name for a new sun in the solar system which is correct since the new sun is a second 'morning star' of 'original' 'light-bearing' substance--not some evil being of religious mythology. David Grinspoon comments on the historical aspects of the word as follows: "The origin of the Judeo-Christian Devil as an angel fallen from heaven into the depths of hell is mirrored in the descent of Venus from shining morning star to the darkness below. This underworld demon, still feared today by people in many
parts of the world, is also called Lucifer, which was originally a Latin name for Venus as a morning star." (Venus Revealed p. 17) Actually, Grinspoon should just refer to the "Christian Devil" since the Jews never believed in such a creature and still don't to this day.
Footnote: 1. Al Case is an Assistant Professor of Business at Southern Oregon University. He has a BS in Accounting, minor in Japanese, and a MAcc with emphasis in tax from Brigham Young University. http://www.lds-mormon.com/lucifer.shtml
Source:
2001-2005 Christianity Revealed http://jdstone.org/cr/

www.MessiahTruth.com : The Real Jewish Messiah www.jewsforjudaism.org Response to Missionaries www.outreachjudaism.org An international organization that responds directly to the issues raised by missionaries and cults. http://jdstone.org/cr/index.html Reveals the error, distortions and falsehood of ... http://www.kosherjudaism.com/counter.htm Archive of Articles; trinity, messiah, Jesus, Christianity ... http://www.angelfire.com/my/tgoldman0/prophet.htm An Explanation of Christians Prophecies www.TorahAtlanta.com Jewish Articles and Response to Christian claims on G-d and the Messiah.

Tampering With The Evidence

In every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in that I rejoice.
Philippians 1:18
He who speaks truth gives just evidence; but a false witness deceits.
Proverbs 12:17
Missionaries want you to believe in the New Testament, and that their claims about Jesus are supported by the Tanach. To examine the believability of these claims, lets begin by examining how honestly missionaries and the writers of the New Testament use Jewish scriptures. A careful study of the Tanach, as well as the New Testament, reveals how often deception is used to build the case for Jesus. Since the writers of the New Testament wanted to paint Jesus into the Tanach as often as possible, we will see just how far they will go to make things work. Two key lessons that you should learn from this Study Guide are that: 1) Judaism must include every verse of the Tanach to get the true picture, whether the verse praises us or criticizes us for our worst failings. Missionaries do not and cannot quote every verse. They ignore major sections of the Tanach, because many verses contradict the picture they are trying to fabricate. Just look at their literature, does it or can it ever include: God is not a man, that he should lie Numbers 23:19 Do not put your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no salvation. Psalm 146:3 (Jesus is referred to constantly as the Son of Man.) 2) Furthermore, every verse of prophecy they claim to cite from the Tanach, is either: Mistranslated or misrepresented; Taken out of context; Or just made up! This is a very big claim, so lets investigate this further. Setting The Stage And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
1st Corinthians 9:20-22
In the passage above, the Apostle Paul showed his willingness to say whatever it took to get people to believe in Jesus. Here he set the example of the end justifies the means for all future missionaries. What we will do now is look at several examples to show how much they tamper with the evidence. The Order of The Tanach A key insight into Christian manipulation begins with something as simple as the order of the Tanach. As we know, the word Tanach is an acrostic formed by the first letter of the names of the three sections of the Jewish Scriptures: Torah (The Five Books), Neviim (Prophets), and Kesuvim (Writings). The Tanach was canonized in roughly 500 BCE (over 800 years before the New Testament was canonized) by the Men of The Great Assembly, who obviously placed significance on the order of the books. When the Church sought to graft the New Testament onto the Tanach and create the Bible, many changes in translation and the order of the books were made to make it appear to flow better from our book to theirs.
A look at this chart reveals how they have rearranged the scriptures, and their doing so shows us many things.
They obviously felt they had license as editors of our Tanach to rearrange its order. As we will see, they will demonstrate this freedom to change other things as well. The new order meant that the book could no longer be called the Tanach, and required a new name. They substituted the name Old Testament, implying a New Testament, which to some means it superseded the old. Ending Jewish Scriptures with the book of Malachi flows better into the New Testament book of Matthew than does 2nd Chronicles, since 2nd Chronicles ends with an upbeat message for the Jews. There King Cyrus of Persia gives the Jews permission to return from exile to rebuild their land and their Temple . In typical fashion, the Church tried to avoid showing hopeful messages about the future of the Jews, especially since we rejected Jesus. Thus said Cyrus king of Persia , All the kingdoms of the earth has the Lord G-d of heaven given me; and He has charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem , which is in Judah . Whoever is among you of all His people, the Lord his G-d be with him, and let him go up!
2 Chronicles 36:23
Malachi in contrast ends with: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord
Malachi 3:23
For the Church, this is a great lead-in to the New Testament story of John the Baptist, whom they allege to be Elijah the Prophet, bringing in the Messiah, Jesus. (In the New Testament Book of John, John the Baptist will actually deny being Elijah.)
Misquoting Texts
The New Testament repeatedly claims that Jesus fulfilled Biblical prophecies. The Jewish position is that he did not fulfill any, and that all attempts to make him appear to have done so come from misquoting our texts. This manipulation of our scriptures is done through taking passages out of context, mistranslating words, or even making up quotes! Below are several New Testament (NT) verses, together with their source in Tanach (T). Let us examine how honestly they portrayed things. TAKING OUT OF CONTEXT EXAMPLE #1 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt : And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
Matthew 2:14 (NT)
This New Testament story is about Joseph, fleeing with his wife Mary and baby Jesus, shortly after Jesus was born. G-d is quoted as calling His son out of Egypt . Looking at this passage as presented in Matthew, it might appear that there was a Biblical notion of a son of G-d, and Jesus fulfilled it.
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt .
Hosea 11:1 (T)
If you looked at the entire passage in Hosea that Matthew is quoting from, we see that Hosea is clearly referring to the Jewish People collectively as G-ds son. This use of metaphor is common throughout the Tanach, where the Jewish people are referred to repeatedly as G-ds son or child, etc. And you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus said the Lord, Israel is my son, my firstborn....
Exodus 4:22
You shall also consider in your heart, that, as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastened you.
Deuteronomy 8:5.
Furthermore, the above verse in Hosea is one of many examples where the New Testament takes a historical event and makes it into a messianic prophesy. EXAMPLE #2 And leaving Nazareth, he (Jesus) came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zebulon and Nephthalim: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, The land of Zebulon, and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people, which sat in darkness, saw a great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up.
Matthew 4:13 (NT)
This passage deals with the beginning of Jesus ministry, and lists the areas he visited. Matthew wanted to show that Jesus fulfilled a prophecy that the Messiah would also begin his prophecy in these places. Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory; and it will rise over all its channels, and go over all its banks.... For there is no weariness to him (the king of Assyria) who is set against her, at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulon, and the land of Naphtali, and afterwards he afflicted her more grievously by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.
Isaiah 8:7,23 (T)
The 8th chapter of Isaiah is really an historical account of the king of Assyria s assault on the Northern Kingdom of Israel, which ultimately led to his taking the ten tribes into exile. The chapter ends with a description of how he afflicted the land of Zebulon , Naphtali, and the Galilee , as opposed to Matthews claim that this is a messianic prophecy, fulfilled by Jesus. Notice that Matthew twice eliminates wording about how the subject afflicted these areas. MISTRANSLATIONS To make the Tanach (T) itself appear to be filled with references to Jesus, Christian translators will even mistranslate some of the Hebrew words. Therefore, not only should we be aware of the deception found in the New Testament, but we must also be wary of Christian translations of what they call the Old Testament (OT) as well.
EXAMPLE #3 Psalm 22:17 For dogs have surrounded me; the assembly of the wicked have encircled me; they pierced my hands and my feet.
Christian Translation (OT).
It appears that the Psalm prophesizes about someone whose hands and feet are pierced. This leads one to think it is hinting at Jesus. VS For dogs surround me; the assembly of the wicked encircles me, like a lion (at) my hands and feet.
Original Hebrew (T).
This passage is written by King David about the travails of his life, and is not a messianic prophecy. The word (CAri) means like a lion, and David uses the word lion earlier in the same Psalm to describe his pursuers. If you examine all other places where Christian translators translates (CAri) in the Old Testament, they are translated like a lion. (Numbers 24:9, Isaiah 38:13, Ezekiel 22:25). EXAMPLE #4 Psalm 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.
Christian Translation (OT).
It appears that the Psalm clearly commands us to embrace the Son (of G-d), or else suffer the consequences. VS Embrace Purity, lest He be angry, and you perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.
Original Hebrew (T).
In this psalm, David is admonishing the rulers of the earth on their behavior. Be prudent accept disciplineServe the Lord in awe; tremble with fright.The word means purity in Hebrew. Christians try to insert the Aramaic word for son into a Hebrew psalm. Made Up Verses EXAMPLE #5 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth : that it might be filled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
Matthew 2:23 (NT)
The point of this passage is to show that the Messiah is supposed to be from the city of Nazareth , and to be known for that, as Jesus of Nazareth was. Not only has there never been a requirement for the Messiah to be from Nazareth , but also the quote Matthew cites does not appear anywhere in the Tanach. It was made up! Not even the words Nazareth or Nazarene themselves are to be found as well. Some Christians attempt to connect this verse with a nazir, which is someone who takes an oath of abstinence from wine, etc. However, Nazir is spelled with a zayin (z), whereas Natzeret ( Nazareth ) is spelled with a by "tzady (tz). Others try to make the connection from the description of the Messiah in Isaiah 11, as a netzar (branch) of Jesse (Davids father). Even though the word root is the same, it is clearly not the same quote, and shows no connection to the city of Nazareth . EXAMPLE #6 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; And gave them for the potters field, as the Lord appointed me.
Matthew 27:9-10 (NT)
Matthew wants us to think that the Prophet Jeremiah foretold about the 30 pieces of silver that Judas received for betraying Jesus. After feeling remorse, Judas threw them into the Temple before committing suicide. Actually, Jeremiah never said any such quote. The closest we can come up with are a combination of the following: And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Behold, Hanameel, the son of Shallum, your uncle shall come unto you, saying, Buy my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.
Jeremiah 32:6-7 (T)
And I said unto them, If you think it good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.
Zechariah 11:12-14 (T)
One might say that all the examples we have given so far are petty compared to the big picture. Know that the same type of manipulation of scripture is also used for beliefs that are foundational to Christianity. Lets now examine two of these beliefs.
The Virgin Birth

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 7:14 (Christian Translation)
This is the verse upon which Christianity bases its claim that Jesus was born of a virgin, which is necessary to show that he was the son of G-d. As mentioned before, stories of virgin-births were common within pagan mythologies, and were readily accepted by pagans. Judaism, on the other hand, never accepted a belief in anything like this. 6
By now we have seen enough of how some Christian editors manipulate Jewish texts to appreciate how this verse has been doctored. Through mistranslating words and taking things out of context, we again see how their Old Testament is an invalid representation of our Tanach. Let us now look at all of Isaiah Chapter 7 to see what is really going on. And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz ...king of Judah , that Rezin the king of Aram , and Pekah ...king of Israel , went up toward Jerusalem to fight against it, but could not prevail against it.... Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the Lord your G-d; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. And he said, Hear now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my G-d also? 14. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, the young woman is with child, and she will bear a son, and shall call his name Immanu-El. Butter and honey shall he eat, when he shall know how to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know how to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread shall be deserted.
Isaiah 7:1-16 (T)
King Ahaz of the Kingdom of Judah was being attacked by the two armies of Aram and Israel , and was panicking. To ease his fears, G-d offered him a sign that he and the rest of Jerusalem would be saved. The young woman (that Ahaz knew) was pregnant, and would give birth. The real sign was that before the child would know how to refuse the evil, and choose the good, Ahaz would be spared of the two kings. Ahaz lived 700 years before Jesus. What comfort would he gain from a child born 700 years later, since he needed help then? Christian translators change the word (Haalma), which means the young woman to mean a virgin, which is actually (Besula). When you cross-reference these words with other times it is mentioned in Tanach, the the young woman translation will be proven correct. Besides, if it did mean a virgin, then there had to be a virgin-birth in Ahazs day, and there is no mention of any such event occurring.
Blood Atonement
For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul.
Leviticus 17:11 (OT)
Christian missionaries will tell you that this passage affirms that it is only through a blood sacrifice that we can make atonement for our souls. Since we Jews no longer have Temple sacrifices, how do we achieve atonement? They answer that such sacrifices are no longer necessary since the blood of Jesus will serve as our eternal atonement if we only believe in him. Once again, we insist that it is necessary to see every passage in its full context to understand its true meaning.
And whoever there is of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among you, who eats any kind of blood; I will set my face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said to the people of Israel , No soul of you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. And whoever there is of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among you, who hunts and catches any beast or bird that may be eaten; he shall pour out its blood, and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for its life; therefore I said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any kind of flesh; for the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.
Leviticus 17:10-14 (T)
Clearly, these passages are about the prohibition against consuming blood, and are not about atonement. Blood is special, and when sacrifices play their part to atone for us, it is the blood (not the nose or the foot or the ear) that atones when offered on the altar. However, is a blood sacrifice the only way to achieve atonement? Not according to the Tanach. See "Is A Blood Sacrifice Required For Atonement?(http://www.torahatlanta.com/articles/Is%20A%20Blood%20Sacrifice%20Necessary.htm) By now, I hope you can see how important it is to deal with all of Tanach in its original language and context. The writers of the Christian scriptures had an agenda, and needed the Jewish texts to fit their needs. We certainly have not covered all of the Christian proof-texts, but it is fair to say that we have seen typical examples of the distortion used to make their case.
Source: http://www.torahatlanta.com

MESSIAH WANTED!
I.
INTRODUCTION Christianity is based on the claim that Jesus is the Messiah who fulfilled all the prophecies in the Hebrew Bible. In fact, many Christian missionary websites list hundreds of "Old Testament" prophecies, along with passages from the New Testament as "evidence" of their fulfillment by Jesus. The reality is that the messianic agenda, as described in the Hebrew Bible, consists of a mere handful of significant items, which are to be completed during the reign of (mashi'ah), the promised Jewish Messiah. Although it is not the spiritual concern of Judaism and of the Jewish community at large whether Christians choose to believe these claims are true, unfortunate situations occur when Christian missionaries use this material for the purpose of Jewish evangelism. They try to convince their Jewish targets, particularly those who are perceived as lacking a good Jewish education, that this is all true and that they need to accept Jesus as Messiah in order to become "completed Jews". This essay focuses on what the Hebrew Bible teaches concerning the qualifications and expectations . This information is then cast into a "Job Requisition" that serves as a template that for of the evaluating the suitability of a claimant to this position. Specifically, this template is applied to Jesus, Christianity's candidate for this position, and demonstrates, (a) that he failed to qualify for the job, and (b) even though it is claimed he was appointed to the position, he did not do the job right.
II.
JOB REQUISITION:
, JUDAISM'S MESSIAH
A "Job Requisition" template for the position of Jewish Messiah, shown in Table II-1, has been developed to describe who, according to the Hebrew Bible, this person will be, what his known attributes are, and what he is expected to accomplish. Further elaboration on its contents follows the table.
Table II-1 "Job Requisition" for the Position Available Job Description Job Requirements Prior Job Experience
- the Jewish Messiah To usher in the messianic era, as foretold in the Hebrew Bible, and to preside over the people of Israel as their king, sitting on the throne of King David. To execute and successfully complete the messianic agenda, as described in the Hebrew Bible, within one lifetime. None The successful candidate will have attributes that must include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following: 1. Be the seed (a direct descendant) of King David, through King Solomon (e.g., 2 Sam 7:12-16) Be a spiritual and military/political leader (e.g., Is 2:3, 11:2; Dan 7:14) Be married and have children during his term (e.g., Ezek 46:16-17)
Qualifications 2. 3.
The successful candidate will be expected to bring about certain conditions as part of his sovereignty, though some will commence prior to his being identified as the Messiah. These must include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following: 1. 2. Performance Appraisal Criteria 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Arrival of Elijah the Prophet (e.g., Mal 3:23-24[4:5-6]) Building the Third Temple in Jerusalem (e.g., Ezek 37:26-28) In-gathering of Jewish exiles to Israel (e.g., Is 11:12) Reunification of Judah and Israel into one people (e.g., Ezek 37:22) World peace (e.g., Is 2:4) Universal knowledge of G-d (e.g., Is 11:9) Resurrection of the dead (e.g., Is 26:19)
A. Prior Job Experience Although Jewish tradition holds that in every generation there lives a person who is worthy of being the promised Jewish Messiah, this job has never before been filled. Consequently, it is not possible to possess any prior job experience. B. Qualifications The Qualifications of candidates for the job of Jewish Messiah are the pre-requisites for consideration, and they are specified in the Hebrew Bible.
1. Seed of David through Solomon The Messiah will be a biological descendant of King David from the branch that goes through Solomon, since Solomon is the one who built the Temple:
2 Samuel 7:12-16 (12) When your days will be completed and you will lie with your forefathers, then I shall raise up your seed after you, that which will issue from your loins, and I shall establish his kingdom. (13) He shall build a Temple for My sake, and I shall make firm the throne of his kingdom forever. (14) I shall be to him a Father, and he shall be to Me a son; so that when he goes astray I will chastise him with the rod of men and with afflictions of human beings. (15) But My mercy shall not move away from him as I removed [it] from Saul, whom I removed from before you. (16) And your dynasty and your kingdom shall be confirmed before you forever; your throne will remain firm forever. [See also Is 11:1; Jer 23:5, 30:9, 33:15; Ezek 34:23-24, 37:24-25.] 1 Chronicles 22:9-10 (9) Behold a son will be born to you; he will be a man of peace, and I shall give him peace from all his enemies around about, for Solomon will be his name, and I shall give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. (10) He shall build a House in My Name, and he shall be to Me as a son, and I to him as a Father, and I shall prepare the throne of his kingdom forever. [See also 1 Kgs 8:15-20; 1 Chron 17:11-15, 22:9-10, 28:3-7.]
2. Spiritual and Military/Political Leader of Israel The Messiah will be steeped in Torah, an authority who will influence all of Israel to follow Torah in an environment created by his spiritual leadership:
Isaiah 2:3 - And many nations shall go, and they shall say, "Come, let us go up to the L-rd's mount, to the House of the G-d of Jacob, and let Him teach us of His ways, and we will go in His paths;" for out of Zion shall the Torah come forth, and the Word of the L-rd from Jerusalem.
The Messiah will defeat and conquer the enemies surrounding Israel. As an ordinary mortal, a "flesh & blood" human being, he lives/will live in a world of recognizable realities of military requirements and political alignments. He will have to deal with these realities, and emerge victorious within the constraints that they engender. Nevertheless, his political leadership will be well recognized throughout the world:
Daniel 7:14 - He has been given dominion, honor, and kingship, so that all peoples, nations, and tongues will serve him; his dominion is an eternal dominion that will never be removed, and his kingship will not be destroyed.
3. Married with Children Although marriage and children are not stated pre-requisites for being the Messiah, there is a clear indication that the Prince, who is the Messiah/King [see Ezek 34:23-24, 37:24], will have children (via marriage) at some point in time during his reign, and they will be entitled to inherit his property:
Ezekiel 46:16-17 (16) Thus says the L-rd G-d: "If the Prince gives a gift to any of his sons, it is his inheritance to remain in their possession; it is their property by inheritance. (17) But if he gives a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his [the servant's] until the year of liberty, and then it returns to the Prince; only to his sons shall his inheritance belong.
C. Performance Appraisal Criteria The Performance Appraisal Criteria comprise several significant messianic agenda items against which the performance of a qualified candidate for the job of Jewish Messiah must be evaluated. 1. Arrival of Elijah the Prophet Elijah the prophet will precede the Messiah and "pave the way" for his arrival, heralding the commencement of the messianic era:
Malachi 3:23[4:5] Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the L-rd.
2. Building the Third Temple in Jerusalem The presence of the Third Temple is envisioned in what is, perhaps, one of the most detailed and vivid descriptions of the messianic era to be found in the Hebrew Bible - Chapter 37 in the Book of Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 37:26-28 (26) And I will form a covenant of peace for them, an everlasting covenant shall be with them; and I will establish them, and I will multiply them, and I will place My Sanctuary in their midst forever. (27) And My dwelling place shall be over them; and I will be to them for a G-d, and they shall be to Me as a people. (28) And the nations shall know that I am the L-rd who sanctifies Israel, when My Sanctuary is in their midst forever. [See also Is 33:20; Ezekiel Chapters 40-48.]
Later on, in Chapters 40-48, Ezekiel provides detailed descriptions of the Third Temple and the ritual services to be held within its walls. 3. In-Gathering of Jewish Exiles to Israel The Messiah will repatriate the Jewish people from the Diaspora to the promised land of Israel in preparation for the repair of the schism that followed Solomon's reign:
Isaiah 11:12 - And he [Messiah] shall set up a banner for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. [See also 43:5-6; Jer 16:15, 23:3; Ezek 37:21-22; Zech 10:6-10.]
4. Reunification of Judah and Israel into One People The messianic agenda calls for the restoration of a unified kingdom for the people of Israel:
Ezekiel 37:22 - And I will make them into one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be to them all as a king; and they shall no longer be as two nations, and they shall not be divided into two kingdoms anymore. [See also the "lead-in", Ezek 37:16-21; Is 11:13.]
5. World Peace The Messiah will be recognized as a fair judge and peacemaker, and in the messianic era, disputes between countries will be settled through peaceful means and not by war:
Isaiah 2:4 - And he [the Messiah] shall judge among the nations, and he shall reprove many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, and they shall not learn war anymore. [See also , Is 11:6-8, Micah 4:3-4.]
6. Universal Knowledge of G-d There will prevail a universal knowledge of G-d that will put an end to destruction and violence:
Isaiah 11:9 - They shall not harm and not destroy on all of My holy mountain; for the land shall be as filled with the knowledge of the L-rd, as the waters cover the sea bed. [See also Jer 31:33[34]; Zech 14:9.]
7. Resurrection of the Dead Most, but not all, of the dead will come back to life. The righteous will live in bliss, and the wicked will live in misery:
Isaiah 26:19 - May Your dead live, 'My corpses shall rise; awaken and sing, you who dwell in the dust, for a dew of lights is your dew, and [to the] earth You shall cast the slackers. [See also Ezek 37:12-13; Dan 12:2.]
III.
CHRISTIANITY'S CANDIDATE APPRAISAL OF QUALIFICATIONS & PERFORMANCE According to the New Testament, the Messiah of Christianity is Jesus. Rather than accept (on faith) the claims made by Christian missionaries about Jesus being the (Jewish) Messiah promised in the Hebrew Bible, he will be considered here as an applicant for the position of Jewish Messiah, whose credentials and performance will be evaluated using the requirements listed in the "Job Requisition". A. Prior Job Experience According to the explanation given in Section II.A, and as Christianity's candidate for the job, Jesus satisfied this criterion. B. Qualifications Did Jesus Qualify for the Job? 1. Seed of David through Solomon Although the New Testament authors claim that Jesus was the "son of David" (e.g., Mt 1:1; Mk 12:35), the manner of his allegedly miraculous "Virgin Birth" (e.g., Mt 1:18-25; Lk 1:2735) rules out the possibility of a Davidic lineage for him. According to Jewish Law (e.g., Num 1:18), and as confirmed by recent genetic research, tribal lineage - a blood right - is passed exclusively by a father to his biological sons (via the Y-Chromosome) and, therefore, cannot be transmitted in any other manner, including adoption. Since, according to the New Testament, the Holy Ghost, not Joseph, impregnated the "Virgin Mary", Jesus has no identifiable tribal lineage.
Another problem with the claim to the Davidic throne by Jesus is the matter of the two hopelessly irreconcilable genealogies in the New Testament (Mt 1:1-17; Lk 3:23-38). Christians still cannot agree on whether the genealogy in the Gospel of Luke belongs to Joseph or to Mary. Either way, this is a moot point, since that genealogy goes through Solomon's brother Nathan and, too, a female's genealogy is irrelevant to lineage according to the Hebrew Bible. Perhaps this is the reason that Paul, recognizing the problems with these two genealogies, wrote:
1 Timothy 1:4(KJV) - Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. Titus 3:9(KJV) - But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
Note here how Paul, to whom Christian missionaries refer as "Rabbi", teaches Christians that some parts of the Bible genealogies in this case, which include those of Jesus are akin to fables and foolish questions, which must not be given heed and should be avoided. 2. Spiritual and Military/Political Leader of Israel When did Jesus serve as spiritual and military/political leader of a unified people of Israel? Though Jesus is referred to as "King of the Jews" in the Four Gospels (e.g., Mt 27:29; Mk 15:9; Lk 23:38; Jn 18:39), there is no historical record or other validated evidence to substantiate that Jesus ever served in such a capacity. Moreover, there exists no extant factual evidence that he was ever recognized as a Torah scholar and authority, or that he ever led soldiers to war and was victorious on the battlefield. 3. Married with Children Was Jesus ever married and did he (biologically) father any children? The authors of the New Testament are silent on this matter. According to the New Testament, Jesus never married nor did he father any children. Though Christians generally refer to themselves as the "spiritual" children of Jesus, this is not the same as biological children, which are also referred to as seed, offspring, and progeny. "Candidate" Jesus passes the "Prior Job Experience" test. However, he does not possess the requisite "Qualifications" to be a viable candidate for the job. Conclusion: Jesus failed to qualify as candidate for the job. C. Performance Appraisal Criteria Did Jesus Do the Job Right? Christianity has claimed Jesus as its Messiah. Therefore, the evaluation process continues in order to determine whether he performed that job as required. 1. Arrival of Elijah the Prophet Jesus claimed that John the Baptist was Elijah:
Matthew 11:10-14(KJV) (10) For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. (11) Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (12) And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. (13) For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. (14) And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
Yet, according to the New Testament, John the Baptist himself denied it:
John 1:21(KJV) - And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
Jesus also claimed that Elijah, when he showed up, was mistreated:
Matthew 17:12(KJV) - But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
Yet, nowhere in the Hebrew Bible is such treatment of Elijah foretold, and his mission will be the opposite of that which is described in the New Testament:
Malachi 4:5-6(KJV)[3:23-24 in the Hebrew Bible] (5) Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: (6) And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Moreover, it seems that John the Baptist, alleged to have been Elijah, was rather unsure about Jesus being the Messiah:
Luke 7:19-20(KJV) (19) And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? (20) When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
Given that Elijah will be the one announcing the arrival of the Messiah, how is it possible that he will not know who the Messiah is? Does this make any sense? The conclusion is that Elijah has not yet returned. 2. Building the Third Temple in Jerusalem The authors of the New Testament are silent about Jesus having built the Third Temple in Jerusalem, and there is no mention of the Third Temple built after his death on the cross. The historical record of the first century C.E. testifies to the fact that the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E., and that the Third Temple has not yet been built. 3. In-Gathering of Jewish Exiles to Israel The authors of the New Testament are silent on whether this occurred during the lifetime of Jesus. The historical record of the first century C.E. testifies to the fact that not only where the all the Jewish people not repatriated to the Holy Land, they were exiled and dispersed into the Diaspora much more than what happened during the previous exile following the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E. 7
4. Reunification of Judah and Israel into One People According to a misquoted verse from the Hebrew Bible, cited in Hebrews 8:8, this was not yet the situation at the time of the writing of Hebrews during the first century C.E. Eight centuries after the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel with its population dispersed into exile by Assyria, only a Judean remnant populated the Holy Land. 5. World Peace The historical record of the first century C.E. testifies to the fact that war, not peace, was raging all over the region of the Holy Land and elsewhere in the known world of that time. 6. Universal Knowledge of G-d The historical record of the first century C.E. testifies to the fact that paganism was rampant, and that a new religion, which quickly embraced many of these pagan principles, further diverted people from a universal knowledge of G-d. 7. Resurrection of the Dead Both the historical record of the first century C.E. and the conflicting accounts in the New Testament lead to the conclusion that no resurrection of the dead ever took place, and that the story of the alleged "rising from the dead" of Jesus is a myth. The performance of "Candidate" Jesus did not meet the stated "Performance Appraisal Criteria".
Conclusion: Jesus failed to do the job right.
D. Candidate's Score Card As was already demonstrated, Jesus did not possess the necessary credentials to qualify him as a candidate for the position of Jewish Messiah. Yet, owing to the fact that he is the declared Messiah of Christianity, it was actually possible to evaluate his performance on the job using the criteria provided in the Hebrew Bible. Together, the results of the two phases of the evaluation clearly demonstrate that Jesus did not meet the requirements that would entitle him to the title of Jewish Messiah. Table III.D-1 replicates the "Job Requisition" and includes a scoring column to indicate whether "candidate" Jesus, the Messiah of Christianity, satisfied each of the listed requirements.
Table III.D-1 Did Christianity's candidate meet the job requirements? Category Prior Job Experience Requirements None The successful candidate will have attributes that must include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following: 1. Be a direct descendant of King David, through King Solomon (e.g., 2 Sam 7:12-16) 2. Be a spiritual and military/political leader (e.g., Is 2:3) 3. Be married and have children during (e.g., Ezek 46:16-17) The successful candidate will be expected to bring about certain conditions as part of his sovereignty, though some will commence prior to his being identified as Messiah. These must include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following: 1. Arrival of Elijah the Prophet (e.g., Mal 3:23-24[4:5-6]) 2. Building the Third Temple in Jerusalem (e.g., Ezek 37:26-28) 3. In-gathering of Jewish exiles to Israel (e.g., Is 11:12) 4. Reunification of Judah and Israel into one people (Ezek 37:22) 5. World peace (e.g., Is 2:4) 6. Universal knowledge of G-d (e.g., Is 11:9) 7. Resurrection of the dead (e.g., Is 26:19) Criteria Satisfied: 1 "Yes", 10 "No" Met? Yes
Qualifications
No No No
Performance Appraisal Criteria
No No No No No No No
"Candidate" Jesus, the Messiah of Christianity, satisfied one out of the eleven requirements described in the "Job Requisition" for the position of Jewish Messiah. Does he qualify for the title of Jewish Messiah? Would you hire him? Conclusion: Jesus was a failed candidate for the job of Jewish Messiah.
IV.
SUMMARY According to the requirements stated in the Hebrew Bible, and as the historical record testifies, the position of Jewish Messiah has not yet been filled and remains vacant to this day. Christianity has proclaimed Jesus as it's Messiah, and the New Testament contains the "evidence" of the fulfillment of the messianic prophecies in the "Old Testament". Christian missionaries to the Jewish people try to impress on their Jewish targets that Jesus is, in fact, the promised Jewish Messiah. These are two incompatible perspectives. The purpose of the analysis presented in this essay was to resolve this situation, and this is accomplished with the following pair of questions and answers. First, on being a qualified candidate for the job: Question: Did Jesus, Christianity's "candidate" for the position of Jewish Messiah, qualify for the job? The scores on the Qualifications in Table III.D-1 provide the answer: Answer: Jesus did not possess the requisite qualifications for the job. 9
Second, concerning performance on the job: Question: Did Jesus, the Messiah of Christianity, do the job right? The scores on the Performance Appraisal Criteria in Table III.D-1 provide the answer: Answer: Jesus did not meet the performance objectives of the job. The events detailed in the Hebrew Bible as part of the messianic agenda did not occur nor have they been fulfilled. In fact, and quite to the contrary, history teaches that exactly the opposite conditions prevailed from the alleged time of the birth of Jesus, during his ministry, and long after his death, even to the present time.
The position of
, the Jewish Messiah, remains open!
RaMBaM's 12th Principle of Faith I believe with complete faith in the coming of the , and although he may tarry, I will eagerly await his coming every day. One such example is, 300+ Messianic Prophecies: Prophecies From the Old Testament that Reveal that Jesus is the Messiah - http://www.gotell.gracenet.org/gbn12.htm Chapter/Verse numbers shown in square brackets, e.g., [4:5-6], are those used in Christian Bibles.
Copyright 2001-2005, Uri Yosef for http://www.MessiahTruth.com. All rights reserved.

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"Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." - John 1:45
Of all the claims raised by Christians over the centuries, none has stirred up as much controversy as the claim that (a) a great many messianic prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus's life, and (b) only the Messiah could have fulfilled all of them. For if this claim be true, then the Jew must of necessity acknowledge Jesus as Messiah, or else deny the very Scriptures upon which his faith is based; whereas if it be false, then Christianity is based on a lie. Below are the prophecies generally cited by Christians, along with Jewish explanations of these prophecies: Psalm 2:11-12 Psalm 22:16 Psalm 110:1 Isaiah 7:14 Isaiah 9:6-7 Isaiah 53 Daniel 9 Hosea 11:1 Zechariah 9:9 Zechariah 12:10
Psalm 2:11-12. This passage is cited often by Christians seeking to prove the Trinity. In the King James Bible, it reads, "Serve the L-rd with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." The Christian will contend that the instruction to kiss the Son and the blessing on all who put their trust in him must mean that God has a Son Who is equal with Him in divinity. The problem is that the verse is mistranslated. The word rendered "the Son" is "bar". In Hebrew, the word means "pure" and is correctly translated in Psalm 24 ("clean hands and a pure heart"). The Hebrew word for "son" is "ben". Confusion results from the fact that the word does mean "son" in Aramaic; but there is no Aramaic in any of the Psalms. In fact, verse 2:7, just a few verses before this passage, reads, "I will declare the decree: the L-rd hath said unto me, Thou art my Son [beni]; this day have I begotten thee", proving that the word "ben" was known and used by the composer of Psalm 2. Verses 11 and 12 should read, "Serve the L-rd with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Desire what is pure, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." This rendering makes it clear that the pronouns in verse 12 all refer to the L-rd, with no hint of a Trinity.
Even if we assume that "bar" means "son" here, that still doesn't give us a Trinity. G-d has many sons. Israel is G-d's firstborn son (Exodus 4:22; see also Hosea 11:1). The sons of G-d took wives from among the daughters of men (Genesis 6:1-2). The sons of G-d appeared before His throne, and Satan was among them (Job 1:6; 2:1). Even Jesus says, "Blessed [are] the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of G-d" (Matthew 5:9). There is nothing in Psalm 2 which makes the "bar" any more G-d's son than the sons mentioned above. A further point bears mentioning regarding Psalm 2:7. It is quoted in the New Testament in Hebrews 1:15, which reads, "G-d, who in sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?" There is something wrong with the author's citation of Psalm 2:7 here, and most Christians read this passage of Hebrews without even seeing it. The problem is that, even if modern Christianity is right about the Trinity, the Father should not be saying to Jesus, "This day have I begotten thee", because Jesus is supposed to have been eternally begotten of the Father. Nor can it be held that Psalm 2:7 is speaking about the birth of Jesus, as even the King James confirms that the verse is in the past tense ("the L-rd hath said unto me, Thou art my son etc."). And what of the end of the passage I just quoted, which reads, "And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son"? This quote is from 2 Samuel 7:12-15, where Nathan the prophet quotes G-d telling King David, "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men; but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee." This cannot possibly refer to Jesus. Why would G-d worry about Jesus committing iniquity? Why would Jesus need mercy, that G-d should have to promise David that His mercy would never depart from Jesus? Rather, the passage must refer to David's son Solomon. Indeed, Solomon himself thus interpreted the passage, telling King Hiram of Tyre, "And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the L-rd my G-d, as the L-rd spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name." Yet the author of Hebrews insists that the passage from 2 Samuel somehow refers to Jesus. Nor can it be held that the prophecy has two fulfillments, because nothing in the context of 2 Samuel 7 even hints of a second fulfillment. (And even if there were a second fulfillment, the aforementioned problems with referring the passage to Jesus would still remain.) Psalm 22:16. In this verse, it is claimed, King David foretold the Crucifixion in exquisite detail. The entire Psalm is regarded as Christological, as the speaker is complaining of oppression at the hands of the wicked, just as Jesus was executed by the wicked; but verse 16 in particular is used extensively. This verse, in the King James version, reads, "For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet." Could this verse, it is asked, possibly be any more Christological?
As with any passage of scripture, in order to correctly interpret this verse, we must determine who the speaker is. The Christological interpretation depends critically on the premise that the speaker is the Messiah. But nowhere in the entire Psalm is the Messiah even mentioned! There is not the slightest hint that the person whose hands and feet are being pierced is the Messiah. The verse is also mistranslated. The last phrase should read, "they were like a lion at my hands and my feet." David often used animal motifs in those Psalms of his that mention his being oppressed by his enemies; and the word "k'ari", which the King James renders "pierced", is everywhere else rendered "like a lion". Look in any Hebrew dictionary - "ari" means "lion", and the prefix "k'" means "like". Only in this verse does "k'ari" suddenly mean "pierced". I wonder why. Psalm 110:1. Christians often try to prove the Trinity by quoting Psalm 110:1. In the King James, this verse reads, "The L-rd said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Christians will contend that, since there are two Beings called "Lord" here, God must be a collective entity comprising at least two Persons. Furthermore, they claim, based on this verse, that the Messiah must be G-d incarnate. It should be obvious that neither claim is true. The King James always renders G-d's name as "LORD" in small capital letters. In Psalm 110:1, the first occurrence of "Lord" is in small capitals, but the second is not. This is because word rendered "to my Lord" is "l'adoni", which really means "to my master". G-d is telling the speaker's master to sit at His right hand. If the "master" referred to is also G-d, then monotheism requires that they both be the same Person. But then G-d is talking to Himself and needs to be put in a straitjacket. The Christian interpretation of this Psalm has another difficulty. Whoever this verse is talking about will remain seated at G-d's right hand until G-d makes his enemies a footstool for his feet. But Jesus, at the second coming, is supposed to leave the Father's right hand and personally make his enemies a footstool for his feet. What Christianity should have is the wicked being destroyed supernaturally just prior to the second coming. But who would David's master be, seeing that David, the composer of this Psalm, was the king of Israel? When confronted with the fact that the second occurrence of "Lord" really should be "master", Christians often contend that the only person David could have called "master" is G-d Himself. But recall that, while most of the Psalms were composed by David, they were played and sung by the Levites in the Temple (and in the tabernacle before the Temple was built). The Levites, of course, would have called David their master, since he was king over them. Since David was called a man after G-d's own heart, and since the Messiah must come from his descendants, it makes perfect sense to speak of him as sitting metaphorically at G-d's right hand. He also had many enemies during his reign and certainly ruled in the midst of them (Psalm 110:2). The Messiah, on the other hand, will rule in the absence of his enemies, as they will have been incinerated by G-d (Malachi 4:1-3). David also reigned in Jerusalem, as did Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18; the subject of the Psalm is called a priest after the order of Melchizedek in verse 4) and is granted primacy, like Melchizedek, in that the Messiah will come from his lineage (Isaiah 11:1). Jesus doesn't seem to have had anything in common with Melchizedek that he should be declared a priest after his order. Christians will object that Jesus is currently carrying out the functions of the priesthood by interceding for us with G-d; but what does it mean for G-d to intercede with Himself? The definition of intercession is mediation between two parties, both of whom are distinct from the intercessor. If Jesus is G-d, then he is not interceding for us; he is G-d interacting directly with us, without benefit of a mediator. In light of the above, it is much more tenable to hold that the Psalm is speaking about David than that it is speaking about Jesus.
Isaiah 7:14. The most well-known aspect of Jesus's life according to the New Testament is the virgin birth. Mary, it is alleged, became pregnant with Jesus without having had sexual intercourse with anyone, as it is written: "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost." (Matthew 1:18) Matthew goes on to say that the virgin birth of the Messiah was foretold by the Jewish prophets: "Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the L-rd by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, G-d with us." (Matthew 1:22-23) The prophecy referred to is Isaiah 7:14, which reads, "Therefore the L-rd himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." A few things should be readily apparent even without looking at the original Hebrew. First, there is no mention either in this verse or in the surrounding verses that the child Immanuel is to be the Messiah. Even granting that a virgin birth is being discussed (I will take that up later), it appears that this miracle is occurring simply as a sign to the person being addressed. Second, the person being addressed is King Ahaz; for the preceding two verses say, "But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the L-rd. And he [Isaiah] said, Hear ye now, O house of David; is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my G-d also?" It is then that Isaiah says, "The L-rd Himself shall give you a sign etc." Verses 15 and 16 say, "Butter and honey shall he [Immanuel] eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings." Clearly, then, Immanuel was to be born during the lifetime of King Ahaz; for otherwise his birth would not be a sign to him. Christians at this point often invoke the doctrine of dual fulfillments, which asserts that a prophecy may be fulfilled two or even many times, as opposed to just once. This doctrine, however, is never sanctioned anywhere in the Hebrew Scriptures. Nothing in the context of Isaiah 7 even hints of a second fulfillment of the prophecy. And if there is a dual fulfillment, and the word "virgin" is being correctly translated, then who was the virgin giving birth in King Ahaz's time? What land with two kings did Israel abhor during Jesus's childhood? Were these two kings cut off before Jesus knew to refuse the evil and choose the good? What would it even mean for G-d to not know to refuse the evil and choose the good? Moreover, the sense of the naming of the child is that the woman is giving the name to the child, not that the name is any kind of metaphor; it is universally admitted that Mary never called Jesus Immanuel. Now for the examination of the Hebrew. The word translated "a virgin" in Isaiah 7:14 is "ha'almah", which means "the young woman". You can verify this in any Hebrew dictionary. The word in Hebrew for "virgin" is "b'tulah". If you look in an interlinear Bible and search for all the other places where "almah" or "ha'almah" appears, you will find that the King James correctly translates it "young woman" or "the young woman". The word "b'tulah" appears dozens of times and was certainly known and used by Isaiah; if he had wanted to say, "virgin", he could have. That "ha'almah" does not imply virginity is conceded by E. W. Hengstenberg, author of the popular book "The Christology of the Old Testament". In his commentary on Isaiah 7:14, he writes, "Here, as well as throughout this whole inquiry, the notion of a pure virgin, and that of an unmarried woman, are blended together. The former is not indeed required by the etymology of the word, but the latter certainly is" (page 169). On the same page, he writes, "...we do not claim for the word the sense of unspotted purity, but only that of the unmarried state". The concept of the virgin birth actually works against the Christian argument, because the Messiah has to be of the tribe of Judah, as it is written, "The sceptre 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 39:10;
the word "shiloh" means "him to whom it belongs" and is universally taken to be a reference to the Messiah). Now, while Jewish descent is confirmed through the mother's ancestry, tribal lineage goes through the father's, as it is written: "And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old an upward, by their polls" (Numbers 1:18). If Jesus had no human Jewish father, then he had a great supernatural Father but was himself of no tribe and hence cannot have been the Messiah. One might accuse me of nitpicking, since descent from G-d is far better than descent from Judah; but G-d's word said that the Messiah would be of the tribe of Judah, and I cannot argue with G-d's word. Some have tried to resolve this problem by saying that since Joseph was Jesus's adopted father, Jesus's tribe would be reckoned by Joseph's ancestry; but there is no scriptural precedent for reckoning tribal membership in this fashion. Scripture is clear that tribal membership is determined by the biological father's ancestry. (One might just as easily claim that the adopted son of a high priest is qualified to succeed him as high priest, even though high priests must be of Aaron's lineage [Numbers 18].) Joseph's ancestry is also far from clear, as Matthew 1 and Luke 3 give conflicting genealogies for Joseph (though both make him of the tribe of Judah). It is clear, therefore, that Isaiah 7:14 in no way foretells the birth of Jesus. Isaiah 9:6-7. When it comes to proving the Trinity out of the Hebrew Scriptures, no passage is cited more fervently than Isaiah 9:6-7. In the King James version, it reads: "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, Counsellor, The mighty G-d, 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 for ever. The zeal of the L-rd of hosts will perform this." From this passage, the Christian concludes that the Messiah must be G-d incarnate. Is this interpretation correct? The Christian had better hope not! The child's ascension to power is mentioned in a continuous narrative following right on the heels of the child's birth, leaving no room for an atoning death, a resurrection, and nearly 2,000 years of waiting. If the child is the Messiah, then he cannot be Jesus. Additionally, as is often the case with passages purported to be Christological, there are mistranslations. The verb forms are all in the past tense! The passage should read, "For a child was born to us [yuladlanu], a son given to us, and the authority was [vat'hi] upon his shoulder, and his name was called [vay'kra] Wondrous Adviser, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. To him who increases the authority, and for peace without end, on David's throne and on his kingdom, to establish it and to support it with justice and with righteousness; from now and to eternity, the zeal of the L-rd of hosts shall accomplish this." Isaiah is not making a prophecy, but recounting history. Therefore, the subject of the passage cannot be any first-century person or event. That the verbs in Isaiah 9:6-7 are in the past tense is confirmed by the King James Bible itself, as the same verbs are translated elsewhere in the past tense: "And to Seth, to him also there was born [yulad] a son..." (Genesis 4:26); "Their carcasses were [vat'hi] as refuse in the street..." (Isaiah 5:25); "And the L-rd called [vay'kra] unto Moses..." (Leviticus 1:1). Only in Isaiah 9:6-7 are these verbs translated in the future tense. Furthermore, people or things that serve to represent G-d or are closely associated with G-d are often given divine titles. For instance, Moses was made a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron was his prophet (Exodus 7:1); Jerusalem is called "YHVH [G-d's name] Our Righteousness" (Jeremiah 33:16); and Jacob called one of the altars he built "G-d, the G-d of Israel" (Genesis 33:20). Unless we wish to worship Moses, Jerusalem, and Jacob's altar, we must concede the possibility that the child may simply be a representative of G-d. Many Hebrew names also contain G-d's name; Hezekiah in particular means "mighty G-d".
That the New Testament never quotes this verse indicates that even the New Testament authors didn't take this verse to be a reference to Jesus. This is probably because they didn't seem to believe in Jesus's deity. John 14:28, for instance, ends with Jesus saying, "the Father is greater than I", and Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:3 says, "the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is G-d". If the reader has ever wondered why Jesus often refers to the Father as "my G-d" (e.g. John 20:17), but the Father never refers to Jesus as "my G-d", this is the reason. Jesus does say, "I and my Father are one", in John 10:30, but he also prayed that the disciples would be one, even as he and the Father were one, in John 17:11. The same Greek word, "ein", is used to mean "one" in both verses and indicates a unity of purpose, rather than a oneness of being. Interestingly enough, after Jesus says, "I and the Father are one" and the Pharisees pick up stones to stone him, he quotes Psalm 82:6, where judges who teach G-d's law are called gods. This always puzzled me when I was a Messianic Jew; I now understand that Jesus was not claiming divinity, but rather claiming to represent G-d in the same way that the judges represented Him. The scene of the preceding verses in Isaiah 9 is the recounting of a great military triumph by Israel over its enemies. Verse 3 in a Jewish translation (corresponds to verse 4 in a Christian Bible) reads: "For, the yoke of his [Israel's] burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of the one who oppressed him have you broken, as on the day of Midian." At the time Isaiah penned this passage, G-d had just delivered King Hezekiah and Jerusalem from a siege laid by the Assyrians under General Sennacherib. The deliverance was accomplished in spectacular fashion: an angel went into the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers while they slept. When Sennacherib awoke to find his army decimated, he and the remaining soldiers fled to Nineveh, where he was assassinated by his own sons (Isaiah 37:36-38). Chapters 36 and 37 of Isaiah recount how Hezekiah stood firm in the face of Sennacherib's vast army and his blasphemous words against the G-d of Israel. When all seemed lost, Hezekiah continued to trust in the L-rd, and for this he was rewarded with a miraculous victory. The phrase "as on the day of Midian" indicates the similarity between the event Isaiah is describing and Gideon's equally miraculous victory over the Midianites (see Judges 7). In that battle, Gideon and 300 other unarmed men attacked the Midianite camp. G-d sent confusion upon the Midianites, so that each one thought that his fellow was one of the attackers; in this manner they slew each other until they were routed. It is interesting to note that the statement, "The zeal of the L-rd of hosts shall do this", found at the end of Isaiah 9:7, is found in only two other places in the Bible: Isaiah 37:32 and 2 Kings 19:31. Both of these passages discuss the miraculous deliverance wrought by G-d on Hezekiah's behalf. The most logical interpretation of Isaiah 9:6-7 is, in light of all the above, not that the Messiah must be G-d, but that Isaiah is recounting G-d's defense of Jerusalem during the Assyrian siege. A further point bears mentioning regarding Isaiah 9. Verses 1 and 2 in the King James read, "Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more grievously did afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." This is clearly in the past tense and cannot apply to Jesus. But that did not stop Matthew from thus using it: "And leaving Nazareth, he [Jesus] came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up" (Matthew 4:13-16). The translators of the New American Standard Bible understood the problem with Isaiah 9:1-2 being in the past tense, so they simply changed it. In the NASB, the passage reads, "But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on he shall make it glorious, by the way of
the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them." By rendering the passage in the future, the translators allow the verse to perhaps apply to Jesus. But they didn't cover their tracks very well; they still have Matthew quoting the passage in the past tense! Matthew 4:13-16 in the NASB reads, "and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was spoken to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, `The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles - the people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, and to those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, upon them a light dawned'". Matthew certainly had no motivation to put the passage in the past tense, since that precludes its application to Jesus. Matthew's citation of the passage therefore confirms that the passage really is in the past tense, and the NASB translators intentionally mistranslated it. Isaiah 53. The prophecy cited most often by Christian missionaries seeking to prove Jesus's Messiahship is Isaiah 53. (The prophecy actually begins in 52:13 and continues through the end of 53.) In this passage, Isaiah foretells the sufferings of G-d's righteous servant as a result of the sins of the world. Christians will tell you that this servant can only be the Messiah and that therefore the prophecy must be about Jesus's atoning death on the cross. Is this true? The first question one must ask when dealing with any passage in scripture is who the speaker is. The same words spoken by King David might mean something totally different when spoken by Satan. The end of chapter 52 and the beginning of chapter 53 tell us who the speaker is: "So shall he [the servant] sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the L-rd revealed?" From these verses, it is apparent that the speakers are Gentile kings at the end of days. This is why the first several verses of the chapter are in the past tense; if Isaiah were the speaker, as the Christians claim, the text would be entirely in the future. It is the griefs and sorrows of these Gentile kings that the servant has borne, yet they esteemed him stricken, smitten of G-d, and afflicted (53:4). He was wounded for their transgressions, and bruised for their iniquities (verse 5). These verses could theoretically apply to Jesus, but they could also apply to the Jewish people. For the last 2,000 years the Jewish people have suffered immeasurably as a result of Gentile sins, for the main sin committed by the Gentiles has been the persecution of the Jews; yet the Gentile world has generally held that Israel's persecution is a divine punishment for our refusal to believe in Jesus. "With his stripes [scourging] we are healed" (verse 5) looks Christian, but it too could apply to the Jews; for if the Jews had buckled under persecution and forsaken their faith in one G-d, the Gentile world would never be taught the truth about this G-d, as it is written: "Thus saith the L-rd of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that G-d is with you." (Zechariah 8:23) Moving on, we find, "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." (Isaiah 53:7) Christians will at this point say, "Aha! When has Israel ever kept silent in the face of persecution?" But the sad truth is that the Jews have historically had very low self-esteem. The Warsaw ghetto uprising during the Holocaust stands out because it is the exception; for the most part, we have simply knuckled under and accepted our fate. "He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken." (53:8) A footnote near the beginning of the verse indicates that it could also be rendered, "He was taken away by distress and judgment: but, etc." This verse looks Christian, until you examine the original Hebrew. The phrase rendered, "for the transgression of my people was he stricken", is "mipesha ami nega lamo" and should have been rendered, "through the transgression of my people a
blow [or plague] was to *them*". The servant is here being mentioned in the plural. You can speak about a nation in the singular, but you cannot speak about one person in the plural. As if there were any doubt, look at verse 9: "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth." The King James translation has a footnote by the word "death" stating that the Hebrew has "deaths"; and the word here, "b'motav", really does mean, "in his deaths". (The word for "in his death", singular, is "b'moto".) Even the Christians aren't claiming that the Messiah was supposed to die more than once; the servant therefore cannot be the Messiah. It gets worse. Verse 10 says, "Yet it pleased the L-rd to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin [or, when his soul shall make an offering for sin], he shall see seed, he shall prolong days, and the pleasure of the L-rd shall prosper in his hand." Jesus did not see seed. The word here, "zerah", can only mean biological children; the word that can mean metaphoric or spiritual children is "ben". Neither did Jesus prolong days; he died at 33! Christians will counter that Jesus in fact did prolong days in that he was resurrected and is now over two thousand years old; however, the phrase here, "ya'arich yamim", can only refer to an extension of one's mortal life. The way to refer to an eternal life is "chai olam". Verse 11 says, "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities." By his *knowledge*? Christians universally claim that Jesus justified many by his *death*! Jews, on the other hand, always pray in their synagogues for the well-being of the nations in which they live, even when these nations practice antisemitism; thus, by our knowledge of G-d's Word we really do justify many. When confronted with the evidence, Christians will generally rattle off a list of reasons why the servant of Isaiah 53 cannot be Israel. But even if they could conclusively prove that the servant could not possibly be Israel, they would still be in a bind; for all of the above reasons why the servant cannot be the Messiah would still stand. If the servant is not Israel, then we must resign ourselves to the fact that nobody has the correct interpretation of Isaiah 53; it is certain, however, that the servant is not Jesus of Nazareth. With the rise of Messianic Judaism in its various forms, many Christians have asserted that the ancient rabbis all took Isaiah 53 to be Messianic and that this opinion was not changed until Rashi popularized it several centuries after the time of Jesus. The first question that should come to mind is, if everyone took this prophecy to be Messianic, and everyone knew that the Messiah was going to die for our sins, why did the Jews reject Jesus? With a great stretch of the imagination, I could see their hearts possibly being blinded supernaturally before the Crucifixion, lest they rise up and by force prevent the great redemptive act from taking place; but following the Crucifixion, the Jews should have accepted Jesus in droves, there being no reason for God to maintain the Jews' spiritual blindness. Origen, a Church father who lived in the third century, hundreds of years before Rashi, wrote thus in "Contra Celsum": "I remember that once in a discussion with some whom the Jews regard as learned I used these prophecies [from Isaiah 53]. At this the Jew said that these prophecies referred to the whole people as though of a single individual, since they were scattered in the dispersion and smitten, that as a result of the scattering of the Jews among the other nations many might become proselytes. In this way he explained the text: `Thy form shall be inglorious among men'; and `those to whom he was not proclaimed shall see him'". The Church's mistake in its interpretation of the rabbinic writings is understandable, however. In the Talmud's commentary on Isaiah 53, the opinion is expressed that one man, Moshiach ben Yosef (the anointed one of the tribe of Joseph), will suffer in the same manner as the servant of Isaiah 53. In the last days, when Jerusalem is under siege by the nations of the world, this man will die as a martyr for his faith, inspiring the Jewish people to repent and to seek G-d with all their heart. G-d, seeing their faith, will then send Elijah the Prophet to identify the Messiah. A Christian who is not familiar with the tradition of
Moshiach ben Yosef could easily mistake this commentary for a Messianic interpretation of Isaiah 53; but it is clearly not, as Moshiach ben Yosef is most definitely not the Messiah. (I discuss Moshiach ben Yosef in somewhat more detail in my explanation of Zechariah 12:10.) Another common error made by Christians is the claim that Isaiah 53 was removed from the haftarah, the weekly readings from the books of the prophets, because the Sages feared that those in the congregation who heard Isaiah 53 being read would accept Jesus as the Messiah. Indeed, Isaiah 53 is not read in the synagogues, while Isaiah 52 and Isaiah 54 are. But is this a result of anti-Christian polemic on the part of the Sages? Hardly. In fact, less than three percent of the Prophets is read in the weekly synagogue services. The portions that are read were chosen because they bear some relation to the Torah portions that are read the same weeks as the respective prophetic portions. In this way, the prophetic portion that is read in a given week complements the Torah portion that is read the same week. Isaiah 53 bears no relation to any particular portion of the Torah, so there was simply no need for it to be included in the Haftarah. That the exclusion of Isaiah 53 was not done out of anti-Christian polemic should be obvious from the fact that Daniel 9 is included in the Haftarah despite its use by Christians. It should be noted that the New Testament confirms that the Haftarah already existed in Jesus's lifetime, when the Sages certainly had no reason to fear Isaiah 53. Luke 4:16-20 recounts how Jesus was called up to the front of a synagogue in Nazareth, whereupon he read Isaiah 61: "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the L-rd is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the L-rd. And he closed the book, and gave it again to the minister, and sat down". If we assume that Isaiah 53 was at this time part of the Haftarah but was removed when Christians began using it, then how was it removed from every Jewish synagogue in the world, overnight, without any dissent or debate? Recall that in Jesus's day there were synagogues throughout the Roman Empire. Any decision made in Jerusalem would have taken time to trickle through to all the synagogues. And if, as the Christians claim, Isaiah 53 points strongly enough to Jesus that the Sages were afraid that Jews would be swayed to Christianity just by hearing it, then at least some of the rabbis outside the Land of Israel should have been swayed themselves; these rabbis would have continued including Isaiah 53 in their Haftarot to this day. And unless one wishes to accuse all the rabbis throughout the Roman Empire of being so demonic in their anti-Christian hostility that they would conspire together to deliberately blot out a portion of God's word (a suggestion which just reeks of anti-Semitism), there should at bare minimum have been debate about whether or not to remove Isaiah 53 from the Haftarah. This debate would have been recorded in the Talmud, so that later rabbis could answer students who inquired as to why the Haftarah jumped from Isaiah 52 to Isaiah 54. (In fact, if the Sages had been smart, they would have also removed chapters 52 and 54. Keeping chapters 52 and 54 just begs Christians to ask why chapter 53 is missing.) The only reasonable conclusion is that the Haftarah predates Christianity and that Isaiah 53 was never part of it. Daniel 9. This prophecy, it is contended, specifically mentions the Messiah and says that the Messiah had to be executed before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. More than that, it is claimed that the prophecy contains a countdown to the exact year that the Messiah had to be executed. I can think offhand of five different explanations of the countdown, using slightly different starting points for the countdown and slightly different dates for the Crucifixion, and some employing a 360-day "prophectic year", which seek to show that Jesus of Nazareth died at exactly the right time to fulfill the prophecy. Now, the sheer multiplicity of these explanations argues against any of them being right. Luke's gospel has Jesus explaining the prophecies to the disciples after his resurrection, as it is written: "And beginning at Moses
and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24:27); presumably, this would have included Daniel 9, and the correct interpretation of Daniel 9 would have been handed down by oral tradition through the Apostles and their successors. Every Christian today would thus have the correct interpretation of Daniel 9; since there are, as mentioned, a multiplicity of interpretations in use in the Church, the aforementioned scenario cannot have occurred. However, a more careful analysis of the prophecy itself is needed. First, I shall state the prophecy as it appears in the King James Bible. (The prophecy is contained in verses 24-27.) "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 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; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." At first glance, this looks rather Christian. How can a Jew possibly reject Jesus in the face of a prophecy like this? Could it be any clearer that the Messiah's death was foretold by the prophets? Let us examine the Hebrew text. The word rendered "Messiah" in verses 25 and 26 is "moshiach", which in modern Hebrew does mean "Messiah" but which in ancient Hebrew meant simply "anointed". All throughout the rest of the scriptures, wherever "moshiach" appears, it is rendered "anointed". The priests are called "moshiach"; all the kings are called "moshiach"; King Cyrus, a Gentile king, is called "moshiach" in Isaiah 45:1; and David consistently refers to Saul as "moshiach" even after the spirit of G-d departs from Saul. It wasn't until around the second century BCE - a couple of centuries after the time of Daniel - that "moshiach" began to be used to refer to the Redeemer who is coming at the end of days. Also, the phrase rendered "but not for himself" is "v'ein lo", which really means "and he shall have nothing" (the King James lists this as an alternative translation). We see, then, that there is no real reason to suspect that the anointed one is the Messiah or that his being cut off will atone for our sins. What about the time that this anointed one was to be cut off? Christians will tell you that the word rendered "week", "shavuah", could also be rendered "unit of seven", and indeed it is as common in Hebrew to speak of a week of years as a week of days. Thus far they are in agreement with Jewish commentators. But then they cite Artaxerxes II's letters to Nehemiah (Neh. 2:1-6) authorizing the rebuilding of Jerusalem as the point at which the countdown was to begin. By secular chronology, this decree took place in the middle of the fifth century BCE (historians differ on the exact year, and dates range from 445 BCE to 465 BCE). Seven weeks and threescore and two weeks is 69X7=483 years; picking one of the dates for Artaxerxes's letters to Nehemiah and adding 483 years puts you around the time of Jesus's death. (Those who hold to the date of 445 BCE believe in something called the "prophetic year". This doctrine, which says that a year in symbolic prophecy is really 360 days, isn't mentioned or even hinted at anywhere in Scripture [this includes the New Testament]. Nor can it be held that the Hebrew year is 360 days long. The Hebrew calendar is lunisolar, which means it has 6 months of 29 days each and 6 months of 30 days each, for a total of 354 days; but every so often there is a "leap month" of 30 days, so that on average the year contains 365-1/4 days.)
There are two problems with the above exegesis. The first and most obvious is that of the seventieth week. After the anointed one was cut off, the prince who was to come was to make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but break the covenant in the midst of the week, causing the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and at the end of the week a complete destruction was to be poured out upon the desolate. None of this happened within the first seven years after Jesus's death, no matter what date you settle upon for his death. However, the High Priest was removed from office, "cut off", in 63 CE. Nero, the emperor at this time, made an agreement with the Jews not to prevent them from offering sacrifices in the Temple; but he broke this agreement in 66 CE, when the Jewish Wars began. In 70 CE, the Temple was destroyed, along with all of Jerusalem, and the Jewish nation was dispersed. This sequence of events mirrors Daniel's seventieth week exactly. It is noteworthy that in both occurrences of the word "Messiah" in the King James, the word is "moshiach", *an* anointed one, as opposed to "hamoshiach", *the* anointed one. Christians must claim that the two anointed ones are both the Messiah; but it makes no sense, after having already introduced the Messiah, to refer to him as "an anointed one". It would make far more sense to say something like, 'An anointed one is coming etc., and after the sixty-two weeks *the* anointed one shall be cut off and have nothing." The absence of the definite article proves that the two anointed ones are different people. This fact helps to explain why Daniel wrote, "seven weeks and sixty-two weeks", rather than simply, "sixtynine weeks". The compression of the seven weeks with the 62 weeks is a rather recent development among Christian translators. In the 1611 edition of the King James Bible, the beginning of the prophecy reads, "Know therefore and vnderstand, that from the going foorth of the commandment to restore and to build Ierusalem, vnto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seuen weekes; and threescore and two weekes, the street shall be built againe, and the wall, euen in troublous times." Other respected translations, such as the New Revised Standard Version and the Anchor Bible, follow suit in so translating the passage that the first anointed one is clearly coming at the end of seven weeks and that the second anointed one is clearly coming 62 weeks later. It wasn't until 1885 that the revisers of the King James saw fit to change the text so that it appears as if there is only one anointed one. Why was this change made? Because if there are two anointed ones, and the first one is clearly not Jesus (because he came way too early), and nothing special is said about the second anointed one (in fact, it is only the first anointed one who is called a prince), then there is no real reason to suspect that the second anointed one is Jesus either. In the beginning of the prophecy, where Gabriel says, "from the going forth of the word", the Sages have held since Daniel's day that the "word" referred to is not the word of any king, but Jeremiah's prophecy (Jer. 29:10), given immediately after the inhabitants of Jerusalem were exiled, that the Babylonian exile would end after 70 years. This makes sense: "from the going forth of the word, to restore and to build Jerusalem unto an anointed prince shall be seven weeks". Which word? The word foretelling the restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem unto an anointed prince. Secular chronology, as used in the Abington Bible Commentary, dates the issuance of Jeremiah's prophecy and the exile of Jerusalem at 586 BCE and the rise of Cyrus the Mede, whose decree ended the exile (2 Chronicles 36:22-23), at 538 BCE. Taking 586 to be the first year and counting forward yields 538 as year 49, the end of the seventh week. It is clear, therefore, that Cyrus is the first anointed one. It should be mentioned here that, around this time period, there is a 166-year inconsistency between secular history and Jewish ecclesiastical history, with the secular dates earlier. Thus, the ecclesiastical history dates Jeremiah's prophecy and the exile of Jerusalem at 420 BCE and the rise of Cyrus at 372 BCE. I submit that the Jews were there and know exactly when these events took place, whereas the secular historians must extrapolate from the archaeological evidence at hand. Given that the Jews kept detailed genealogical records (I personally know a man, Rabbi Tovia Singer (www.outreachjudaism.org), whose family has been keeping genealogical records since the time of Aaron), it is difficult to see where we could have simply misplaced 166 years of our history; therefore I hold to the ecclesiastical history.
Continuing to count forward from 420 BCE and remembering that there was no year 0, we see that the 490th year, the end of the seventieth week, is 70 CE, the year Jerusalem was destroyed. This is the Jewish explanation of Daniel 9, and it is far more consistent than the Christian explanation. (If the reader is Jewish or has been exposed to Judaism, then he/she will recall that the First and Second Temples were both destroyed on the 9th day of the Hebrew month Av, fulfilling the prophecy right down to the day.) At this point, the Christian should recall that in Matthew 24, when Jesus foretells the destruction of Jerusalem, he makes reference to "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet", a reference to Daniel 9. Thus it appears that Jesus agreed with the Jewish interpretation of Daniel 9. Hosea 11:1. This verse reads, "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." The reader may be surprised to learn that some Christians take this verse to be Christological, despite the fact that Hosea is clearly doing nothing more than recounting the Exodus from Egypt. (Precedent for calling Israel God's son is found in Exodus 4:22, where Moses is instructed to tell Pharaoh, "Thus saith the L-rd, Israel is my son, my firstborn.") Yet Matthew quotes this verse: "And when they [the Magi] were departed, behold, the angel of the L-rd appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the L-rd by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son". The passage from Hosea refers so obviously to the Exodus from Egypt that very few Christians quote it today. E. W. Hengstenberg, whose book, "The Christology of the Old Testament", goes into great detail about passages from the Hebrew Scriptures which are purported to be Christological, is so embarrassed by Matthew's obvious misunderstanding of the Scriptures that he doesn't even mention Hosea 11:1. Amazingly, however, some Christians (even some pastors and Messianic rabbis) still quote it. Matthew really ought to have known better than to have an angel tell Joseph to take the Messiah and his mother out of the Promised Land and into Egypt for fear of King Herod. One does not have to read very far into the Bible to see that G-d does not look kindly on those who seek to return to Egypt for fear of the inhabitants of the Promised Land (see, for instance, Numbers 14). G-d was adamant that we were never to return to Egypt: "But he [the king whom we would set over ourselves] shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the L-rd hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way" (Deuteronomy 17:16). When the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, Jeremiah warned the remnant of Judah against returning to Egypt: "For thus saith the L-rd of hosts, the G-d of Israel; as mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more". What happened during Jesus's childhood that made G-d change His mind about Egypt? A further point regarding Matthew's narrative bears mentioning. Look at what he does with Joseph's decision to take Jesus from Egypt to Nazareth: "And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene." The prophets, however, never even mentioned the city of Nazareth or Nazarenes. Matthew was either poorly educated or deliberately lying. Zechariah 9:9. This prophecy reads, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon the colt the foal of an ass." Christians have generally understood this prophecy to be a reference to the Messiah, and this is one of the few places where the Jews would agree with them. Since, according to the New Testament (Matthew 21, Luke 19), Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey on the
first Palm Sunday, Christians point to this verse as a foreshadowing of Jesus. Of course, anyone could ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, not just the Messiah, but let us move on. One of the interesting features of the Christological interpretation of this verse is that Christians will always quote this verse but will never quote the verse right after it. Zechariah 9:10 reads, "And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen [nations]: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth." The fact that this verse begins with the word "and" can only mean that whatever event it is describing must follow directly on the heels of the event described in the preceding verse. In other words, very shortly after the Messiah rides into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt, world peace will ensue. This, of course, did not happen immediately after of the first Palm Sunday. Therefore, this verse actually rules Jesus out as a Messianic candidate. Another interesting feature of how Christians use this verse is the manner in which the New Testament uses it. Below are the relevant passages from Matthew 21 and Luke 19. See if you can tell how many donkeys Jesus rode: Matthew 21. And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come unto Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. Luke 19. And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, yet whereon never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither. And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him. And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon. And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way. These two passages, read side by side, reveal the manner in which the New Testament authors constructed their stories. Rather than seeing the events and then remembering the prophecies, they seem to have constructed the events around their interpretation of the prophecies. Matthew mistakenly interpreted Zechariah 9:9 as referring to two donkeys, a colt and its mother, so he had Jesus do a circus act, straddling both donkeys. Luke correctly interpreted the prophecy as referring only to the colt, so he had Jesus riding only the colt. Matthew couldn't have been more clear that there were two animals, and Luke couldn't have been more clear that there was only one. (Mark 11 and John 12 also place Jesus on only one donkey.) Since a stunt such as the one Matthew describes would be a memorable event, it can only be that either Matthew is lying or Mark, Luke, and John are lying (or possibly all four are lying). Zechariah 12:10. Another passage used often by Christians seeking to prove the Trinity is Zechariah 12:10. In the King James Bible, it reads, "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they 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 is in bitterness for his firstborn." "Aha!", the Christian exclaims. "G-d is being pierced! Doesn't that sound like the Crucifixion of our L-rd and Savior, Jesus Christ?"
Well, not really. Even without looking at the original Hebrew, it should be apparent that this text in no way refers to Jesus. For starters, the context of the prophecy is a description of events in the last days, right before the coming of the Messiah. How could the latter-day inhabitants of Jerusalem possibly be guilty for an event that happened nearly two thousand years ago? Furthermore, Jesus was pierced not by the Jews, but by Roman soldiers. (Error on both of these points has led to unspeakable persecution of the Jews by the Church.) And what of the passage, "...and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one is in bitterness for his firstborn"? One mourns for his only son and is in bitterness for his firstborn by grieving over the fact that his firstborn son is no longer in the world. If the Christians are right, and the Jews depicted here are witnessing the second coming of Jesus ("they shall *look* upon me etc."), then why would the Jews be mourning in this fashion? I might expect to see remorse over their rejection of the Messiah, but not the kind of grief one feels at the death of a loved one. Additionally, this would seem a rather cavalier way to introduce G-d's death, as even the Christians aren't claiming that G-d's death is foretold elsewhere. It should also be apparent from the text that it is being mistranslated. "They shall look upon *me* whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for *him*"? This odd phrasing always bothered me when I was a Messianic Jew, and I wondered what it could mean. In Hebrew, this part of the verse reads, "v'hibitu eilei eit asher dakaru" - "and they shall look to me because of the one who was pierced". This ties in with the Talmudic prophecy that, in the last days, Israel's sufferings as described in Isaiah 53 will be epitomized in a man called Moshiach ben Yosef, the anointed one of the tribe of Joseph. This person will be martyred for his faith; upon seeing him dead, the Jewish people will be spurred to repentance and such great observance of Torah that their combined righteousness will force the coming of the Messiah.
PLEASE visit these useful websites for more information: www.MessiahTruth.com : The Real Jewish Messiah www.jewsforjudaism.org Response to Missionaries www.outreachjudaism.org An international organization that responds directly to the issues raised by missionaries and cults. http://jdstone.org/cr/index.html Reveals the error, distortions and falsehood of... http://www.kosherjudaism.com/counter.htm Archive of Articles; trinity, messiah, Jesus, Christianity... http://www.angelfire.com/my/tgoldman0/prophet.htm An Explanation of Christians Prophecies www.TorahAtlanta.com Jewish Articles and Response to Christian claims on G-d and the Messiah. http://www.simpletoremember.com/audio/jewish-response-to-christian-missionaries.htm Jewish Response to Christian Missionaries MP3s
Questioning Original Sin?

by Shmuel Silberman
A fundamental doctrine of Christianity is Original Sin. This is the belief that all people inherit a condition of depravity from the sin of Adam and Eve. Man is a slave to sin, cannot reach holiness by his actions, and must be "saved" from inherent damnation. Writes Dr. Michael Brown (a leading messianic Jew), "We believe that by nature, we are hopelessly prone to sin, and thoroughly entangled with sin (Answering Jewish Objections To Jesus, Volume Two, p.198)." This contradicts the Jewish belief that man is born innocent and can live a G-dly life by fulfilling His commandments (mitzvot). Brown's task is to demonstrate that Original Sin is a Jewish idea from the start. Brown is correct that (a) humanity has an internal tendency toward sin and that (b) this tendency is inherited from the sin of Adam and Eve. He is also right that it is easier to follow the evil inclination than the good inclination. At issue is whether Jewish Scripture teaches the concept of Original Sin maintained by Christianity. What are the supposed Biblical sources for Dr. Brown 's thesis? Brown cites Psalms 51:5 which reads, "Behold, in iniquity I was fashioned, and in sin my mother conceived me." Psalms 51 is King David's expression of remorse for his indiscretion with Bathsheva. He is not exonerating himself. He is pleading for mercy on account of the impulse to sin that is passed on to each child at birth. He does not say that his sin was inevitable or that he is consigned to sin generally. The same King David said, "Be happy in G-d, and rejoice O righteous. Cry out in joy, all upright of heart" (Psalms 32:11)." Clearly King David believes righteousness is within reach. After the Flood in Noah's time, G-d declares, "I will not continue to curse again the ground on account of man, since the inclination of the heart of man is evil from his youth" (Genesis 8:21). Dr. Brown cites this as a proof text, but it is not. The reference to "youth" is because children are predominantly selfish until they mature. Maturity coincides with the development of the good inclination, at which point Man is considered responsible and possessing free will. Job 11:12 says, "man is born a wild mule" but adults can do better. Proverbs 20:9, we are told, reflects Original Sin. King Solomon says, "Who will say,' I have cleansed my heart, I have purified myself from sin'." Brown ignores 20:7, which reads, "He who walks in innocence is righteous, fortunate are his sons after him." How do the two verses interrelate? An honest person can find a misdeed in his past. However, innocence and righteousness are not fictional. Dr. Brown cites Jeremiah 5:1, which says, "Walk about in the streets of Jerusalem, see now and know, and seek in its squares; if you find a man, if there is one who practices justice and seeks truth, and I will forgive her [the city]." No man is subsequently "found." Ignored by Brown is Psalms 79:2, which describes the siege of Jerusalem: "They have given corpses of Your servants as food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your devout ones to the beasts of the earth." Clearly there were righteous people in Jerusalem at that time, only they were not found in public places.
Another verse from Jeremiah (13:23) is cited as evidence of Original Sin: "Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard his spots? Can you who are accustomed to evil do good?" This is clearly an exaggeration, meaning that change requires serious effort. Anyone who believes there are no exaggerations in Scripture he will have great difficulty understanding it. In light of Jeremiah's statements in every chapter that the people are to correct their behavior, a missionary reading of this verse is unjustified. The genealogy of Adam's offspring confirms Original Sin, in Dr. Brown's view. While Adam is created by G-d in His image, Adam (after his sin) begets Seth in Adam's image (Genesis 5:1-2). Supposedly, the Divine image was negated, or at least overwhelmed, by Original Sin. The implication of these two verses is ambiguous, and is hardly the basis for any doctrine. It makes more sense to explain 5:1-2 to mean the opposite: Seth partakes of the same Divine image of his father. This fits into the words and is consistent with the entire Biblical view of the dignity of mankind. Omitted by Dr. Brown is Genesis 6:5, which says (after the Flood!) that the image of G-d is the reason for the prohibition of murder. Dr. Brown admits there are saints, but they are exceptions that prove the rule: "Of course it is possible to point to outstanding moral individuals, such as the Chafetz Chaim... [but] Why do men like this stand out in their generation? (p. 205). The example of the Chafetz Chaim actually works against Dr. Brown. Surely he would maintain that the Chafetz Chaim also inherited Original Sin. How, then, does even one individual become saintly? The question becomes stronger considering that the Chafetz Chaim never accepted Jesus, the only one believed to be capable of redeeming a person from sinfulness. Missionaries will never accept one Chafetz Chaim, or even billions like him, as evidence against Original Sin. They would insist that as great as the Chafetz Chaim was, he must have had one slight flaw. Brown quotes from King Solomon, " There is no righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins (Ecclesiastes 7:20)." The missionary assumption is that unless one attains absolute perfection (which he cannot), all is lost. Brown should read the verse again. It says, "There is no RIGHTEOUS person who never sins." The person who does a sin is still righteous! One of the verses most devastating to Original Sin is Genesis 4:7, where G-d tells Cain that he can overcome temptation. Cain is envious of Abel because G-d accepts only Abel's sacrifice. Cain is tempted to murder Abel. G-d says, "if you do not do good, sin crouches at the entrance. Its desire is for you, but you can rule over it." G-d's majestic statement of man's ability to overcome evil is brushed aside by Dr. Brown, and his answer is terrible: "But it is one thing to overcome a particular sin. It is another to be free from the grip of sin in general (p. 193)." If Cain can free himself from this sin, why can't he free himself from any sin? Also, what is meant by "the grip of sin in general"? If he means that no one is 51% righteous, this is manifestly not true. Must one be 70% righteous (or 80%, or 90%) to transcend "the grip." Perhaps Dr. Brown believes that a 99% righteous person is under "the grip of sin", but would he justify a teacher who failed a student with a 99 average? This belief that absolute perfection is required is the real backbone of Original Sin, as Dr. Brown admits that people can do much good. What is the Scriptural proof that only perfection earns Gd's favor? There is none whatsoever. It can be asserted only by a faulty reading of Deuteronomy 27:26. It says, "Cursed is one who does not uphold (yakeem) the words of this Torah to do them." Since no one fulfills Torah with total perfection, all are damned and require "salvation."
This missionary interpretation cannot make sense of the eleven curses (applied to eleven specific sins) that appear before this verse. If 27:26 sets a curse for any single violation of Torah, the eleven prior curses are totally superfluous (Samuel Levine). Missionaries also make a subtle but devastating grammatical error. While y'kayaim means to fulfill, yakeem is a different construct meaning "cause to stand up", "confirm", "uphold". This verse is not saying that unless one fulfills Torah flawlessly, he is cursed. One who does not ACCEPT the mitzvot fails to "uphold" the Torah, but the commission of a specific sin is not the subject here. This reading is faithful to the grammar and is totally consistent with Torah's frequent injunctions to choose good and make amends for wrong behavior. The missionary viewpoint paints G-d as an anti-Semite who curses Israel with commandments they cannot obey (Samuel Levine). At no point does Dr. Brown attempt to integrate the verses he cites with the many hundreds of verses that stress free will, the opportunity to do good and amend wrongs, and descriptions of righteous people who earned G-d's favor. Let us cite only one of them: "It is not in heaven, to say 'Who will go up for us to heaven, and acquire it for us, and teach it to us, and we will do it?' Nor is it across the sea, to say 'Who will cross the sea, and acquire it for us and teach it to us, and we will do it?' For the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it (Deuteronomy 30:11)." Dr. Brown provides not a single verse to support Original Sin. There is also no support that one must be a perfect individual to earn G-d's favor. Original Sin was unknown before Christianity, not because ancient Jews did not read carefully but because Original Sin is not in the Hebrew Bible at all.
Source: SimplyJewish.org -- http://www.anti-missionary.com

Questions & Answers Jesus as the Messiah?

by Rabbi Eliezer Gevirtz
Question: Why do Jews not accept Jesus as a god or a messiah? Jonas Answer: Almost since the inception of Christianity, some Christians have made it their life's work to convert others, including Jews. At times, these missionaries have used torture and other coercions to gain their goal, such as during the Spanish Inquisition. More recently, Christian missionaries have employed different techniques-using friendly arguments and slick propaganda-for the same purpose. Missionaries have aggressively confronted Jews with misleading arguments and incorrect Biblical quotes. Lately, they have even resorted to using Jewish names and Hebrew songs to mislead Jews into thinking that they, too, are Jewish. Thus, we have the rise of the "Jewish Christians" who claim that the only "fulfilled" Jew is the one who believes in JC (called by them, "Yeshua"). Judaism respects the right of Christians to worship as they please. It, however, condemns those who try to impose Christianity on Jews through deceit or any other way. The missionaries show a dangerous degree of intolerance towards Judaism, implying that it is a false religion. Jews should therefore be ready to defend their religious beliefs, and to counteract missionary propaganda. Jews must know that missionary arguments can readily be answered, for they are misleading and based on false premises. Jews cannot sit idly by watching missionaries misleading their fellow religionists. There are too few Jews in the world today for us to afford defections to Christianity. Missionaries say that JC is both the son of G-d and the long-awaited Messiah. Jews reject both claims, for the following reasons: a) No Man Can Be a G-d. The Torah makes it clear that there is only one omnipotent, indivisible G-d: "The L-rd He is G-d; there is none else besides him" (Deuteronomy 4:35)." G-d is unique unto Himself, and does not consist of a trinity: "The L-rd He is G-d in heaven above and upon the earth below; there is none else" (Deuteronomy 4:39). JC himself accepted G-d's uniqueness: "And he (JC) said unto him, 'Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, G-d." (Matthew 19:17). How, then, could a mortal man-one who was born and who died on a cross-be a segment of an immortal, indivisible G-d? There is no concept of infinity possible if G-d is a man or a Trinity. The Torah states clearly: "G-d is not a man" (Numbers 23:19). b) JC did not accomplish the tasks of the Messiah. If JC had indeed been the Messiah, he would have fulfilled the Messianic prophecies mentioned in Tanach. For instance, the Moshiach (Messiah) will bring about universal peace and tranquility: "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more" (Isaiah 2:4). The Moshiach will bring about universal respect for G-d, and lead all people to follow His
ways: "The knowledge of G-d will fill the earth. The world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the water covers the sea" (Isaiah 11:9). He will cause an ingathering of the Jewish exiles: "Then the residue of his brethren shall return with the children of Israel" (Micha 5:2) and will bring about the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdosh:. "In that day will I raise up the Tabernacles of David that is fallen" (Amos 9:11). He will also bring physical cure to all who are sick: "Then the eye of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame man will leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb will sing" (Isaiah 35:5-6). Furthermore, he will accomplish these tasks within his own lifetime: "He shall not fail or be crushed until he has set the right in the earth" (Isaiah 42:4). The clear-cut fact is that JC did not fulfill any of these tasks. The Beis Hamikdosh has not been rebuilt, and the Jews are still in exile. (Incidentally, it is hard to see how JC could rebuild the Beis Hamikdosh or return the Jews to Israel when the Beis Hamikdosh was still in existence and the Jews were still in Israel during his lifetime.) Suffering and pain still abound, and the world is certainly less religiously-inc lined today than it was during JC's day. Immorality, corruption, and crime are definitely in evidence to this very day, and the past 2,000 years have seen one war after another. If the Messiah has already come, why is the world in such a sad state? Christian theology has come up with the explanation that JC will reappear during a Second Coming, when he will finally fulfill the Messianic prophecies. But there is no reference to such a delayed second coming of the same Messiah anywhere in the Torah. JC himself promised his followers that he would succeed in his own era: "Verily I say to you that there be some of them who stand here, which shall not taste of death until they have seen the kingdom of G-d come with power" (Mark 9:1); "Verily I say to you that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done" (Mark 13:30). But the things were not done, and JC was instead killed. c) JC did not keep Jewish law. The Moshiach is expected to keep all the laws of the Torah, and to inspire others to do likewise. (See Deuteronomy 13). However, at times JC considered himself to be above the law: "For the Son of Man is master even of the Sabbath" (Matthew 12:8). He broke the laws of the Sabbath part of the Ten Commandments-and reviled the Rabbis, who are accorded great respect by the Torah. JC did not even always espouse peace: "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34). Can one who denies G-d's sacred law be His Messiah? d) Lack of Jewish support. JC lived at the time of Roman suppression of the Jews. The Jewish people eagerly looked forward to the arrival of the Moshiach. They were certainly well-versed in the requirements to be filled by the true Moshiach, and would definitely have accepted the Moshiach if it was clear that he had appeared. Yet the Jews of that timeand especially the learned Sagesrejected JC' claims to be the Messiah. They knew and saw JC in the flesh, and found him wanting; on the other hand, Paul of Tarsus, who established the Christian religion, never knew JC personally. If JC were indeed the
Messiah, why did his fellow Jews, who had every reason to want a Messiah, almost unanimously reject him? Missionaries often say that they have Biblical proof of JC' divinity or Messianic role. However, these arguments often rely on misquotes and faulty reasoning. One such "proof" comes from Isaiah 7:14, which they translate as follows: "Behold the virgin is with child, and she will bear a son, and his name will be called Immanuel." The unsuspecting individual might think that this is a prophecy of the New Testament's account of JC' birth. However, one who studies the verse in its original Hebrew will note that the term used is almah, which means "young woman", not "virgin". (The Hebrew word for virgin is besulah, as mentioned in Leviticus 21:3). In any case, the verse refers to the birth of King Chezkiah, and has nothing at all to do with the Moshiach. Another supposed "proof" is the verse in Micha 5:1: "But you, Bethlehem Ephrasah, which are little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of you shall come forth ' onto Me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose going forth are from old, from ancient days." Missionaries claim that this refers to JC, who they say was born in Bethlehem. But the verse really refers to the fact that the Moshiach will come from the lineage of King David, who was born in Bethlehem. And Christians cannot claim that JC came from King David, for the lineage follows the father, and they say that JC had no earthly father. Finally, there is the so-called "proof" from Isaiah 53, which refers to a "Suffering Servant". Missionaries will say that this means JC, who suffered on the cross. But the term "servant", when used elsewhere in Isaiah, refers to the Jewish nation, whose members are G-d's dedicated servants. They have certainly suffered throughout the yearsyet they have survived for a long time, unlike JC, who died childless at the age of 33, and the verse refers to the servant's prolonged days and "seed" (children). There are other such arguments, with accurate and concise Jewish responses to each. All Jews must be aware that missionary claims should not be taken at face value, and that the Jewish rejection of the Messiahship of JC has a sound Biblical basis. Reprinted from L'hovin U'lhaskil - A Guide to Torah Hashkofoh by Rabbi Eliezer Gevirtz (Feldheim 1988)
Source: http://moshiach.com/questions/topten/jesus_as_the_messiah.php
For more info visit these useful websites: www.jewsforjudaism.org /// www.torahatlanta.com /// www.outreachjudaism.org /// www.messiahtruth.com

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN JUDAISM & CHRISTIANITY Do They Match?

Is Christianity merely an extension of Judaism, as Messianic Jews would have you believe, or is it a completely different religion? If it is an extension, then one could argue that by believing in it you are still being faithful to the Torah. If it is different, then we must deal with it in turns of a Jew leaving Judaism for another religion. The simplest way to assess Christianity from this perspective is to ask one simple question: "Does it match Judaism?" In our search for the Truth, Jews have the Torah as our guide. When we examine a new idea, we need to ask ourselves, how does it stand up to what the Torah says? The goal of this final section is to examine a few basic beliefs, with the question in mind: Do Christian beliefs match what the Torah says? We will begin by first examining the differing views of the nature of Hashem, His Laws and the Jewish people. Background A beautiful way to gain insight into the Jewish perspective is to start with an often quoted passage from the Zohar, the book of Jewish mysticism.
Yisroel Voraysa V`Kudsho Brichu Chod Hu Israel and the Torah and Hashem are one
This passage tells us so much in such a concise form. What does it mean when it says that each of these things are all one? (This certainly does not suggest the Trinity!)
It can mean that each one is unique, with nothing to compare to it.
Who is like you, 0 Lord , among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Exodus 15:11
For what nation is there so great, who has God so near to them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, who has statutes and judgments so righteous as all this Torah, which I set before you this day? Deuteronomy 4:7-8 The Torah of Hashem is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of Hashem is sure, making wise the simple. Psalm 19:8 It can also mean that all three are so interrelated, that they are "as one" in their essence. By being so interrelated, you can learn about each one by studying the other two. We can learn about Hashem by understanding His Torah and the Jewish people. We can learn about the Torah by understanding Hashem who gave it, and the people who keep it. We also can learn about the Jewish people by understanding our G-d and His Torah.
Lastly, we can learn that the three are so intrinsically bound, that if you try to change one, you must change the other two. For instance, if anyone were to try to replace themselves as Hashem's chosen people, instead of the Jews, they would have to change what G-d would be like and change His Torah. This is like a stool. If you shorten one leg, you would have to shorten the other two in order for it to stand. If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Jeremiah 31:35 Just as we are Hashem's witnesses where our mere existence testifies to His existence, so too, our existence testifies that His Law is still viable.
G-d: The Unitarian vs. Trinitarian Views

Since the time of Abraham, the most critical message that the Jews have brought to the world has been the Oneness of G-d. It was a revolutionary idea 3,800 years ago, and even today most of the world still does not clearly grasp it. To provide clarity, G-d tells us to understand Him as He was known in the Torah.
For 2,000 years, Christians have tried to convince the Jews that the Trinitarian view of G-d is the same as ours. (The Trinity is the concept that the One G-d exists in three persons of equal status, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.) However, the Trinitarian view is found nowhere in the Torah, and did not become official Church doctrine until the 4th Century CE. Since our ancestors in the Torah had not known a triune G-d, that is all we have to know to reject such an idea.
If there arises among you a prophet saying, Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them; You shall not listen to the words of that prophet... Deuteronomy 13:2-4 They sacrificed to powerless spirits, not to God; to gods whom they knew not; to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Deuteronomy 32:17 We will now examine a series of verses on various topics to get an understanding of how they compare.
Oneness of Hashem
Unto you it was shown, that you might know that the L-rd, He is G-d; there is none else beside Him. DEUTERONOMY 4:35 You are My witnesses, says the L-rd, and My servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and understand that I am He: before Me there was no god formed, neither shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the L-rd; and beside Me there is no savior. ISAIAH 43:10-11
And there is no G-d beside me; a just G-d and a savior; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am G-d, and there is none else. ISAIAH 45:21-22
It is held by many scholars that the first Christians were not Trinitarians, and that even the words of Jesus do not support a Trinity.
And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, "Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said unto him, "Why call you me good? There is none good but one, that is G-d. MARK 10:17-18 You have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you, if you loved me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for the Father is greater than I. JOHN 14:28
Since Christian do assert that they believe in the One G-d of Abraham, I would like to offer a parable that explains the differences between their conception of G-ds Oneness and the Jewish version.
A student was involved in a comparative religion study, and was examining Judaism & Christianity. After reading that the Torah speaks about the many facets of G-d, and that G-d has many names, he came to the conclusion that Judaism holds that G-d is multi-faceted. His teacher advised him that though it appears that way, he hasnt truly grasped the essence of Judaism until he sees G-d as absolutely One. Then he went on to study Christianity, and again read the Tanach and noticed the numerous references in the Tanach that mentioned the Oneness of G-d. Again, he went to his teacher and said that the ultimate essence of Christianity recognizes the Oneness of G-d and nothing else. His teacher corrected him, saying that until you really see that G-d is ultimately a Father, Son & Holy Spirit then you havent captured the essence of Christianity.
Are The Torah's Commandments Eternal or Temporary?

The Jewish View You shall keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days upon the earth, which the L-rd your G-d has given you forever. DEUTERONOMY 4:40 And the L-rd commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the L-rd your G-d, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the L-rd our G-d, as he has commanded us. DEUTERONOMY 6:24-25 But the mercy of the L-rd is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. PSALM 103:17-18
Will The Commandments Be In Force In The Messianic Age?

And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in My judgments, and observe My statutes, and do them. EZEKIEL 37:24
The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem . And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the L-rd's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. And many people shall go and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the L-rd, to the house of the G-d of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the L-rd from Jerusalem. ISAIAH 2:1-3
The Covenant Is Kept With Whom?

Know therefore that the L-rd your G-d, He is G-d, the faithful G-d, which keeps covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations: And repays them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack to him that hates Him, He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command you this day, to do them. Wherefore it shall come to pass, if you harken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the L-rd your G-d shall keep unto you the covenant and the mercy which He swore unto you fathers. DEUTERONOMY 7:9-12 And I prayed unto the L-rd my G-d, and made my confession, and said, "0 L-rd, the great and dreadful G-d, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments. DANIEL 9:4
The Commandments: A New Testament Perspective

In studying the New Testament, we see a different attitude toward the law. When speaking about it, Jesus gives us mixed messages. On the one hand he appears to say that the law of Hashem still stands, however, when you read his words more carefully, you can see he really means something different. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. MATTHEW 5:17-19 According to Christianity, Jesus came to fulfill the law perfectly; and he was the only one who did that. By his doing so, they believe he fulfilled all of mankind's need to fulfill the law. Furthermore, with his death, the old covenant of the law was replaced with a new covenant with G-d, where faith is all that is required to receive G-d's grace.
This is absurd. Whether Jesus may (or may not) have fulfilled his obligations, in no way obviates our need today to give tzedakah (charity), to be honest in business, or to not gossip. Furthermore, if you look at Jesus' life, you will see that he did not fulfill many of the laws. For instance, he did not marry and have children, and did not honor those who teach and know Torah. There are also laws that are only incumbent upon women, or priests, etc He obviously could not have fulfilled these. He is also shown repeatedly as denigrating the rabbis, and mocking the law. Then spoke Jesus to the multitudes, and to his disciples, Saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do... MATTHEW 23:1
This sounds like he supports the sages. However if you read the entire verse, the initial praise quickly turns to disdain. For the last 2000 years the disdain has been the lasting impression, not the praise. Then spoke Jesus to the multitudes, and to his disciples, Saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not go after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. MATTHEW 23:1-3
The following verses show his transgressions of Jewish law: Violating Shabbos Undermining Kosher Laws Undermining Communal Prayer Undermining Fasting Undermining Ritual Handwashing Matthew 12 John 7 Matthew 6 Matthew 6, Mark 2 Matthew 15, Mark 7
Outlawing Divorce Compare: MATTHEW 19:5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they two shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder. ...9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery: and whoso marries her which is put away does commit adultery.
He outlawed divorce. How does this compare with the words of the Torah? DEUTERONOMY 24:1 When a man has taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, because he has found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
What Paul Said About The Law:

Compare what Paul said about the law in the New Testament versus what King David said in the Tanach. NEW TESTAMENT ROMANS 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. ROMANS 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. GALATIANS 2:21 ...For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. GALATIANS 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law GALATIANS 3:23-26
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith, which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For you are all children of G-d by faith in Jesus Christ. VS TANACH PSALM 19:8-9 The Torah of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. PSALM 119:1-6 Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the Torah of the lord. Happy are those who keep his testimonies, and who seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity; they walk in his ways. You have commanded us to keep your precepts diligently. 0 that my ways were directed to keep your statutes! Then I shall not be ashamed, when I gaze at all your commandments. PSALM 119:142-144 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your Torah is the truth. Trouble and anguish have taken hold of me; yet your commandments are my delights. The righteousness of your testimonies is everlasting; give me understanding, and I shall live. PSALM 11:7 For the lord is righteous; He loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold His face. 2 SAMUEL 22:21 The lord rewards me (David) according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he recompenses me. For I have kept the ways of the lord, and have not wickedly departed from my G-d. For all his judgments were before me; and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them. I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from my iniquity.
Which way is it? Does keeping the law lead us to become righteous, or is righteousness only achieved by faith in Jesus? The bottom line is that his followers do not feel bound to keep the law, and do not remain with the covenant established with the Jewish people, always eventually assimilating among the Gentiles. Similar rejections of the authority of the rabbis and the Oral Tradition (Talmud) occurred with the Sadduccess & Karaites, as well as, with the Christians. None of these groups survived as Jewish movements.
Are The Jews Still Hashem's Chosen People?

One thing that both Jewish and Christian Biblical scholars will agree on, is that in the Tanach the Jews are clearly Hashem's Chosen People, and once represented the true religion in the world. Where they differ is what happened after Jesus came. The Jews are often portrayed in the New Testament as heartless and overly legalistic, rejected by G-dl, the prodigal son, yet who will eventually come to accept Jesus in the End of Times. For now, they say, we have been cast out of G-d's grace, because we have refused to accept Jesus.
The Jewish View EXODUS 19:5 Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own treasure among all peoples; for all the earth is mine.... DEUTERONOMY 14:2 For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a special people to himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. DEUTERONOMY 26:18-19 And the Lord has declared you this day to be his special people, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments; And to set you high above all nations which he has made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that you may be a holy people to the Lord your God, as he has spoken.
Christian Replacement Theology In the book of Galatians, Paul lays the foundation for the "Replacement Theology", whereby the body of believers in Jesus has replaced the Jewish people as G-d's Chosen . GALATIANS 4:22-31 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem , because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother....
Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son." Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. As one can plainly see, a careful study of Christianity shows that it does not match Judaism in the most fundamental areas.
A further study of the differences between the two involve examining the following topics. -Sin & Atonement. -Satan. -Hell vs. Gehinnom. -Is Blood Necessary for Atonement?
Source: http://www.torahatlanta.com/

www.MessiahTruth.com : The Real Jewish Messiah www.jewsforjudaism.org Response to Missionaries www.outreachjudaism.org An international organization that responds directly to the issues raised by missionaries and cults. http://jdstone.org/cr/index.html Reveals the error, distortions and falsehood of... http://www.kosherjudaism.com/counter.htm Archive of Articles; trinity, messiah, Jesus, Christianity... http://www.angelfire.com/my/tgoldman0/prophet.htm An Explanation of Christians Prophecies www.TorahAtlanta.com Jewish Articles and Response to Christian claims on G-d and the Messiah. http://www.simpletoremember.com/audio/jewish-response-to-christian-missionaries.htm Jewish Response to Christian Missionaries MP3s
The Jewish Concept of Messiah and the Jewish Response to Christian Claims
1) The word Messiah is an English rendering of the Hebrew word Mashiach, whose translation is Anointed. It usually refers to a person initiated into G-ds service by being anointed with oil. (Having oil poured on his head. Cf. Exodus 29:7, I Kings 1:39, II Kings 9:3). 2) There are many Messiahs in the Bible. Since every King and High Priest was anointed with oil, each may be referred to as an anointed one (a Mashiach or a Messiah). For example: G-d forbid that I [David] should stretch out my hand against the L-rds Messiah [Saul]... I Samuel 26:11. Cf. II Samuel 23:1, Isaiah 45:1, Psalms 20:6. 3) The Hebrew word HaMashiach (lit. the Messiah) describing a future anointed person to come does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Since the Bible makes no explicit reference to the Messiah, it is unlikely that it could be considered the most important concept in the Bible. Indeed, in Jewish thought, the Messianic idea is not the most crucial. However, in Christian thought, the Messiah is paramount- a difficulty in light of its conspicuous absence from scripture. 4) Where does the Jewish concept of Messiah come from? One of the central themes of Biblical prophesy is the promise of a future age of perfection characterized by universal peace and recognition of G-d. Isaiah 2:1-4; Zephaniah 3:9; Hosea 2:2022; Amos 9:13-15; Isaiah 32:15-18, 60:1518; Micah 4:1-4; Zechariah 8:23, 14:9; Jeremiah 31:33-34. 5) Many of these prophetic passages speak of a descendant of King David who will rule Israel during the age of perfection. Isaiah 11:1-9; Jeremiah 23:5-6, 30:7-10, 33:14-16; Ezekiel 34:11-31, 37:21-28; Hosea 3:4-5. 6) Since every King is a Messiah, by convention, we refer to this future anointed one as The Messiah. The above is the only description in the Bible of a Davidic descendant who is to come in the future. We will recognize the Messiah by seeing who the King of Israel is at the time of complete universal perfection. 7) The Bible never speaks about believing in the Messiah. Because his reign will be an historically verifiable reality, selfevident to any person, it wont require belief or faith. 8) Because no person has ever fulfilled the picture painted in the Bible of this future
King, Jewish people still await the coming of the Messiah. All past Messianic claimants, including Jesus of Nazareth, Bar Cochba and Shabbtai Tzvi have been rejected. 9) The claim that Jesus will fulfill the Messianic prophesies when he returns does not give him any credibility for his first coming. The Bible never speaks about the Messiah returning after an initial appearance. The second coming theory is a desperate attempt to explain away Jesus failure. The Biblical passages which Christians are forced to regard as second coming (#5 above) dont speak of someone returning, they have a first coming perspective. 10) According to Biblical tradition, Elijah the prophet will reappear before the coming of the Messiah (Malachi 4:5-6). In the Greek Testament, Jesus claims that John the Baptist was Elijah (Matthew 11:13-14, 17:10-13). However, when John the Baptist was asked if he was Elijah, he denied it (John 1:21). The Gospel of Luke 1:17 tries to get around this problem by claiming that John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah. However: a] Malachi predicted that Elijah himself would return, and not just someone coming in his spirit. b] When asked about his identity, John the Baptist didnt claim to have come in the spirit of Elijah - he claimed no association with Elijah at all.
c] The prophesy about the return of Elijah says that he would restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. There is no evidence that John the Baptist accomplished this. 11) According to the Jewish Bible, the Messiah must be a descendent of King David. (Jeremiah 23:5, 33:17; Ezekiel 34:23-24) Although the Greek Testament traces the genealogy of Joseph (husband of Mary) back to David, it then claims that Jesus resulted from a virgin birth, and, that Joseph was not his father. (Mat. 1:18-23) In response, it is claimed that Joseph adopted Jesus, and passed on his genealogy via adoption. There are two problems with this claim: a) there is no Biblical basis for the idea of a father passing on his tribal line by adoption. A priest who adopts a son from another tribe cannot make him a priest by adoption; b) Joseph could never pass on by adoption that which he doesnt have. Because Joseph descended from Jeconiah (Mat. 1:11) he fell under the curse of that king that none of his descendants could ever sit as king upon the throne of David. (Jeremiah 22:30; 36:30). To answer this difficult problem, apologists claim that Jesus traces himself back to King David through his mother Mary, who allegedly descends from David, as shown in the third chapter of Luke. There are four
basic problems with this claim: a] There is no evidence that Mary descends from David. The third chapter of Luke traces Josephs genealogy, not Marys. b] Even if Mary can trace herself back to David, that doesnt help Jesus, since tribal affiliation goes only through the father, not mother. Cf. Num. 1:18; Ezra 2:59. c] Even if family line could go through the mother, Mary was not from a legitimate Messianic family. According to the Bible, the Messiah must be a descendent of David through his son Solomon (II Sam. 7:14; I Chron. 17:11-14, 22:9-10, 28:4-6) The third chapter of Luke is useless because it goes through Davids son Nathan, not Solomon. (Luke 3:31) d] Luke 3:27 lists Shealtiel and Zerubbabel in his genealogy. These two also appear in Matthew 1:12 as descendants of the cursed Jeconiah. If Mary descends from them, it would also disqualify her from being a Messianic progenitor. If you have questions about what Judaism has said about the promised Messiah for the last three millenia or want to know how to answer the Christian claims, please check out our website: www.jewsforjudaism.org, drop us a line or give us a call. The concept of Messiah is Jewish. To find out about it go to the source.
The Jewish Messiah

JEWS FOR JUDAISM
PO Box 15059 Baltimore, MD 21282 Phone: 410-602-0276 Fax: 410-602-0578 National Hotline: 800-477-6631 email: [email protected]
Visit us at
www.jewsforjudaism.org
4601 Community Drive West Palm Beach, FL 33417 561-478-0700 x171
"The Problem With Matthew"

A Guide For Refuting Missionaries
By
Drashi
[email protected]
Last updated: 20 March 2001
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................3
The purpose of this book ................................................................................................. 3 How I came to write this eBook ...................................................................................... 3 The Uneducated Jew ....................................................................................................... 4 A Jew is a Jew and a Christian is a Christian ................................................................ 5 Making a difference ........................................................................................................ 7 The format of this book ................................................................................................... 8
Chapter 1 The Problem .........................................................................................11

It Isnt Jewish................................................................................................................ 11 Deceptive practices of Missionaries ............................................................................. 12 A couple of Missionary stories...................................................................................... 14 Conspiracies of the Jewish-Jews and non-Jews ........................................................... 16 What is Jews For Jesus?........................................................................................... 19 You cannot have it both ways........................................................................................ 21 What Jews For Jesus Really Believe............................................................................. 22 1. CSWJS belief: Jesus died for our sins .................................................................. 23 2. CSWJS belief: No one comes to G-d, except through Jesus ................................ 24 3. CSWJS belief: Jesus was the only righteous man who ever lived........................ 25 4. CSWJS belief: Only accepting Jesus will save you from Hell. ............................ 25 4. CSWJS belief: Believing in Jesus doesnt make anyone less Jewish................... 26 What is Christian? ........................................................................................................ 27 A Common Misconception ............................................................................................ 29 Theyre Grown-Ups, Arent They? ............................................................................... 32
Introduction
The purpose of this book The purpose of this eBook is to point out the deceptive practices of Missionaries by going to one of their own sources, The Book Of Matthew. The Problem with Matthew is a book written for Jews. It was not written for the purpose of converting Christians to Judaism. Jews dont proselytize, and, frankly, that is not my purpose. Most committed Christians that I have met are good people, and they have respected my beliefs, and it is not with these believers that I have a problem. Often, when you have two people who are committed to their respective faiths, you end up with a mutual respect towards one another. I acknowledge that there are points where the Christian bible does teach some of the things that Torah scholars speak, such as mans relationship to man, as well as mans relationship to G-d in each of their unique and different traditions. But remember, there are many things that the Christian bible speaks of that is not Jewish, and there are many things that Jewish writings speak of that is not Christian. It is like two circles that intersect in some degree. It is my belief that all religions intersect in some way. They are separate and complete methods of expressing ones soul and establishing ones relationship with the Creator. By separate, I mean that while there are areas that agree, there are large areas where they disagree. It does not mean that one religion is the only true religion. Instead, it means that every religion is different in its expression and relationship to G-d; some have more differences than others. A person who educates himself or herself in his or her tradition will have a greater expression of their yearning soul. This book is an expression of that national yearning. How I came to write this eBook Some time ago, while having a conversation with someone concerning the differences between Christianity and Judaism, I was asked if I ever read the Christian bible. I had to confess (so to speak) that I did not. I was then challenged to read some of it in order to get a better understanding of Christianity. After all, how can you have an intelligent conversation about something that you only learned from hearsay and from made-for-TV movies? I knew that I had a good foundation of Torah Judaism behind me, but was ignorant of Christianity, so I sat down for quite some time, for nearly a year, intensely studying the first book of the Christian text: the Book of Matthew." I used the same logical techniques of study that I do with the Gemara. I plucked at sentences, looked for meanings, and researched related verses in other passages and in the other books of the Christian bible. When it referenced a Hebrew verse, I looked at the original in its entire context. After having done all of that, I was able to put down my pen, and sit back amazed. As I said, prior to this period of study, I knew very little about Christianity and it's relationship to Judaism. I took it for granted that everything that I had been told by friends, neighbors, teachers, and the media was "gospel" (so to speak).
I can sum up my amazement in a single sentence:

If a Torah-educated Jew actually took the time to read the Christian text, he or she would easily see that Christianity and Judaism are fully incompatible religions at their most fundamental levels.
By incompatible, I mean that the basic doctrines of each religion do not compliment each other and that in many cases their core beliefs are contrary to one another. As spiritual expressions, they can coexist, but not in a single person, nor can they be swapped for one another. As an analogy, try to fit an 8-track tape cartridge into a cassette player or put a compact disc on a record turntable. You can force it to play, but you still won't hear the music! (If you dont know what an 8-track tape is, go ask your parents!). I bring this up because it is the job of the members of Christian-sects-withJewish-Symbolism (hereafter known as CSWJS) churches to convince the Jew that being a Jew is incomplete, or, failing that, to convince the Jew that he or she can believe like a Christian without losing his or her Jewishness. The idea that Christianity, as we know it today, is a natural outgrowth of Judaism, is a mistake that many educated people have made. A Torah-educated Jew, one who is well grounded in his or her own religion, could read the Christian text and see this clearly. I also emphasize "Torah-educated", because if an uneducated Jew who reads Missionary literature, and if such a person is not educated in Jewish Scripture, he or she might fall prey to these deceptions. I wrote this book to provide you with those insights so that you do not have to spend the time doing those months of research as I did. After all, a Jew should be spending his or her time studying Torah.
[Pirkei Avos 2:19 - Rabbi Eliezer said: Be diligent in the study of Torah, and know what answer to give an unbeliever.]
So why isn't the idea that Judaism and Christianity are two distinct and contradictory religions, obvious to every Jew, especially to those who fall prey to the Christian missionaries? Frankly, I dont have a pat answer. My guess is that we dont spend enough time learning about our own text. We have our own internal problems too: uneducated Jews looking at educated Jews with distrust, or Observant Jews avoiding nonObservant Jews. We need to unite in order to save our people. The Uneducated Jew Educated Christians read and study the Christian writings on a consistent regular basis in order to expand their Christian expression. Also, educated Jews read and study the Jewish writings on a consistent regular basis for our own spiritual expression. Each group does this to fulfill the spiritual yearning, to strengthen ones faith and to provide a solid spiritual foundation. Those who dont participate in a regular regime of religious study often experience a spiritual void, a soulful malnourishment.
When I speak of an educated Jew, I do not mean to speak disparagingly about any Jew who does not participate in regular Torah study. It is simply a term that I use to distinguish the Jew who has a solid foundation of Judaism to support him or her, as opposed to the person who, while having the same yearning spirit, has spent little time participating in any regular Torah education, thus leaving him or her in a vulnerable position. Jews, like anyone else, need to experience their connection with the Creator. For the Jew, this manifests as Torah study, performing mitzvos, and prayer every morning, afternoon, and night. And without those things, the Jew often feels empty and unfulfilled. If a Jew cannot find fulfillment in Jewish activities, he or she will certainly go elsewhere to find it. Sometimes this takes for form of taking some meditation or Tai-Chi classes. In these cases, the person taking these classes knows that the philosophy or discipline is not Jewish and can compartmentalize these classes with his or her Judaism. There is no deception here, and the people offering these classes are very up-front about whom they are and what they teach, allowing the Jew to use his power of discernment while participating. Our souls yearn. Perhaps our unfulfilled Jew belongs to a shul where there is little, if any education. Or perhaps the person does not connect to the prayers, or even understands them. Eventually, he or she will move on, finding another shul or community to belong to where one can experience spiritual nourishment. This is not so uncommon, especially in areas where Judaism has devolved into a series of rituals and social events. People do not find long-term fulfillment in a social club. So imagine such a seeker being approached by a Messianic Jew and being invited to a Shabbos service where people are smiling, singing Jewish songs, clapping, and later on they invite the Jew to come to any of the many classes and to nourish the soul. To the uneducated Jew, its just another shul, and one where they can nurture their soul. And such a person eventually learns that what was Christian is actually Jewish, and the two worlds blend. The uneducated Jew may unknowingly become part of the Baptist movement called Jews for Jesus or any of the other CSWJS churches that are disguised as Jewish. CSWJS teachers blur the Jewish and Christian differences to the point where it seems that the circle called Christianity overlaps the circle called Judaism (using the earlier metaphor) in a far larger portion than it really does, overshadowing it to such a degree that an uneducated Jew us unable to tell the difference. A Jew is a Jew and a Christian is a Christian There have been spiritually hungry Jews who have become Christians. When they lacked education in Torah they did not study, but instead, put their focus into Christian bible. And usually, such a person will normally call himself or herself a Christian. It is important to note that the founder of Jews for Jesus was born as a Jew who converted to Christianity. He became a Baptist minister and called himself a Christian. It
was only later on, after he created this recent Christian sect, that it became popular to call oneself a Jew while worshiping as a Christian. If the Popes maternal great-great-grandmother was a Jew (with an unbroken matriarchal line), legalistically he would be called Jewish, but the reality is that his spiritual tradition and actions are solely Christian in nature. A Torah-Jew would not enter the Church of the Pope, saying Well, the Popes Jewish, so its okay! (Oh, and in case you were wondering, this is only an example. As far as I know, the Popes mother wasnt Jewish!) Such a leader is a Christian. The founder of Jews for Jesus was a Christian. And the members of Messianic Jewish or CSWJS Churches (that are incorrectly labeled as temples) are Christians. Christians fund their churches. And yet, CSWJS members intentionally blur the distinction in order to entice and deceive the uneducated and spiritually hungry Jew. Lets get clear on at least one thing: Judaism and Christianity are incompatible religions, even though they both participating in devotional and spiritual expression. We need to remember the saying of the most successful Christian missionary. Paul, told his followers that he needed to discard his Jewish identity in order to follow Jesus (Philippians 3:8). So too must any Jew who participates in the way of Paul. There is no valid relationship between Judaism and Christianity. My goal is to inform the uninformed Jew. There is passion and fulfillment in Judaism. If you cannot find it, then learn where to find it. Search for another Jew who has also gone through such spiritual travails, and learn from that person. There are Rabbis and Jewish teachers who yearn for the yearning student. The Jewish cure for any spiritual malnourishment is to study and learn Torah. The greatest counteractive method that any shul can do is to provide daily classes and have a daily minyan. But learn from Kosher sources, not sources that look Jewish on the outside, but are not Jewish on the inside. There is a Jewish teaching that tells us that the pig is not a kosher animal. It does have split hooves, but it does not chew its cud. Of all of the animals in the world, the pig is the only animal that falls into such a category. Kosher animals have split hooves and chew their cud. And there are some non-kosher animals that chew their cud but do not have split hooves. In this way, the pig is unique. When the pig lays down, it cannot bend the knees and hide them as many animals do, but instead needs to lay partially on its side, thus displaying its feet for everyone to see as though to say, Look! I have split hooves. Im Kosher! The outside presents something that is inconsistent with its inside, which means it is not kosher at all. There is great power in sharing your spiritual experience with other souls, in telling another person what is important to you, and being straightforward and clear in your expression. When the intent is to speak from the heart, such communication speaks
directly to the heart of another. And when a Jew receives such an expression from a Christian, a Buddhist, a Hindu, or someone else who is passionate about their religion, the Jew can experience the impact that the other spiritual tradition has upon the other person. But the Jew can still make the distinction that, while the other spiritual tradition is intensely important to the other person, it still isnt Jewish. Contrast that to the Missionary who tells you that Christianity is a natural outgrowth of Judaism, or misuses Jewish scripture to sway you to believe that there is no distinction. Although Jewish verses are often quoted in Christian sources, they are always used in a Christian manner, and not a Jewish one. Christianity should not need Judaism to justify its existence, but only faith alone, just as Jews dont need proof that the Exodus really happened. It is an act of faith. I dont mean to make it sound like every Jew is running to convert. Actually, prior to the Messianic Jew movement of the 1970s, the conversion rate for Jews to Christianity by traditional Missionaries was small. Assimilation was a greater factor, resulting in an increase in the number of non-observant Jews converting to Christianity or Buddhism. For many Christian leaders, this wasnt fast enough. The founder of Jews for Jesus, realized this when he broke away from a more up-front Missionary group in order to form one of deceit. And they have been very successful. A Missionary will tell you that Matthew was a Jew who wrote his book to a Jewish audience, and yet we will see that the bad guys in the book are the educated and observant Jews, while the good guys are not. It is likely that this book was written to appeal to non-Jews, which becomes problematic when you want to appeal to Jews. This is certainly a problem from the Missionary point of view, and it is an equal problem from the Jewish point of view. This is one of the problems with Matthew. It is either a Jewish text, or a Christian text. It isnt both. To the educated Jew, to someone who is educated in Judaism and can make a distinction between Judaism and Christianity, this is easy to spot. In later chapters in this book, I will show you that what is Jewish is usually not Christian, and what is Christian is usually not Jewish. Making a difference I have written this book so that you can use the information in the "Book of Matthew" to refute a Christian missionary. However, this is not a guide to help convince Christians that their religion is invalid. That is an error that every Jew needs to avoid. This book was written for your own education. It was also written in a format that can be shared amongst Jews who lack the information, or to those Jews who have been confused or deceived by Christian missionaries.
I have met and spoken with a number of Jews who have become part of this Missionary process. They are like you and me in the area concerning spiritual yearning. They believe that they are still Jewish, and they want to express this in their own unique way. They are no more psychologically unbalanced than anyone else, as some refuting textbooks infer. They are Jews who have transferred their alliance from the Jewish community to the Christian community. But they do not see it that way. They incorrectly believe that they straddle both worlds. Trained converts usually will learn more about Jewish scripture than when they were part of the Jewish community, although the direction of their interpretation is normally never a Jewish one. They are solid in their belief and faith and nothing short of an epiphany will shake them from it. One such person told me I study Torah, I keep kosher, and I keep Shabbos! Im more frum than my parents who belong to a Reform Temple. Who are you to say that I am not Jewish? He was born a Jew, but his kavanah is not Jewish. He believes otherwise. He has been well educated with deceptive teachers and missionary texts. No one can convince someone of faith that his or her understanding is flawed. For every reason that you give, they can give the appropriate response. You must first educate yourself. It is important that we first focus on understanding why Judaism and Christianity are incompatible religions. When Jews realize that, they will not fall easy prey to Christian Missionaries. This is not about gaining converts, but about regaining our family. That is a Jewish idea. The format of this book There are a lot of refutation texts out there. Some of them are in paper form, while others are on the Internet as web pages. And, as expected, there are also web sites out there that refute the refutations! It has become an intellectual game of cat and mouse, with the Jewish soul as the prize. As Jews, we tell the world what is Jewish, and as CSWJS members, they tell the world that we dont know what were talking about. And round and round it goes. Speaking of web sites, there are some very good web sites out there, such as Jews for Judaism, which provides very good refutation information a non-emotional manner. I truly appreciate information that is clear and accurate, and they embody that. Hopefully, this book reflects that same idea. Other sites are not so easy to read, for they scream, rant, and rave about Christianity. They compare it to pagan mythologies, they call Jesus and assortment of names, and sarcasm pours forth. And it isnt just web sites, but there are also books, some good and some that are screamers. After the original writing of this book, I reviewed it and saw that I too had done the same thing, albeit in a lesser degree. Therefore, I went though several revisions before it became the book that you now see before you.
Undermining anothers faith is not useful, and is actually very destructive. I do not want to participate in that manner. However In describing CSWJS groups, I will often use the word deceptive as well as other synonymous words. This is not name-calling, but a simple fact: when you misrepresent yourself, you are deceiving others. Also, if you are not a Jew, I invite you to read this introduction and go no further. In this introduction I am brought forth the concept of the deceptive missionary, and that is all you really need to know right now. But starting with chapter 1, I will begin to show you that what is Christian is not Jewish, and what is Jewish is not Christian. A Christian has the deep-seated faith that Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism, and because I will tear that argument apart, beginning with chapter 1, I do not want Christians to read those chapters. What feeds the human spirit is ones emunah, or deep-seated faith. I do not want to be responsible for undermining the faith of a believing Christian. But, G-d willing, it would be a blessing to me if these writings to make reduce the memberships of CSWJS churches of those members who were born as Jews. It is an interesting side note that the members of CSWJS churches are primarily men and women who were not born Jewish, and never were Jewish. LaShon HaRah (speaking evil) is an important concept that I want to avoid. Lets use a modern day metaphor. Lets say that you know a particular store is known for carrying non-kosher food items. Because of that, you carefully look at all of the labels on all of the food items that you put into your cart. It is because of this awareness that you do not mistakenly bring something non-kosher into your kosher home. If you came from a point of view that everything in that store was kosher, then you might not be as observant, and you might end up bringing non-kosher items into your home, and feeding these non-kosher items to your family. This is how you need to treat the words of the Missionary: they are not kosher, and so long as you come from that position, you will be taking the first step to excluding them from your life. It all starts with education. King David wrote to all Jews of all generations, telling us how we can experience a greater relationship with G-d, and avoid the pitfalls that the missionaries put before the Jew. He tells us to avoid them, to spend time in Torah study (in contrast to the law of
the Lord as this verse is often translated in Christian texts), and that we will experience spiritual nourishment and growth in the tradition of our forefathers and foremothers. We are Jews, possessors of the Torah. Let us remember and remind our brethren.
[Tehillim 1:1-1:3 (Forward striving and discerning) is the person who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked [misleaders], has never stood in the path of the [unconcerned] sinner, and in the seat of the verbal deceiver, he has not sat. For only in the Torah of HaShem does he strive, and in His instructions does he meditate days and night He [as a Torah Jew] shall be like a tree [that became] trans planted [to be] near a rivulet of water which produces a crop in its season, and whose leaf does not whither, and [in] everything that he does, he will be prosperous.]
Drashi
[email protected]
Chapter 1 The Problem

It Isnt Jewish As a Jew, I believe with complete and unwavering faith that my religion is complete and fulfilling. Missionaries disagree with that premise. I want every Jew to appreciate Judaism fully and to be able to intelligently respond to every Missionary: "What you are saying isnt Jewish." It is the one statement that goes to the heart of the argument. Certainly, the Missionary may counter with their poor translations and out-of-context Jewish verses, but by being well grounded, you can easily reply with: "That is certainly an interesting argument, however it still isnt Jewish." And the Missionary tries to tell you that what is Christian are really Jewish. They show you horrid translations of the Tanakh. They then try to tell you that your understanding was flawed. You need to know enough to say: Poor translations are not valid Jewish texts, so what you are saying isnt Jewish. As you can see, the common denominator is: "It isnt Jewish." And if what the Missionary is saying isnt Jewish, then he or she is certainly not a representative of what it is to be a Jew. You also need to keep in mind that there are two kinds of CSWJS members: those who were once uneducated Jews and now truly believe in what they are telling you, and those who were born and are still Christian. Either way, these Missionaries will tell you anything to get you to become a CSWJS church believer. Dont bother trying to undermine the belief of a true believer. You cannot sway him or her. Initially it becomes an interesting form of verbal jousting, but it accomplishes very little and becomes a tiring game. Just as they cannot sway my beliefs, I cannot sway theirs. Thus, what you will learn in this and other chapters is not how to undermine their belief, but how to strengthen yours. If you have a family member who has fallen prey to a CSWJS church, the best thing that you can do is to maintain your connection, for you are their anchor, and if you cut them off, they may drift in those turbulent waters forever. Love them, encourage them, and be authentic. And if you encounter a Missionary, dont scream at them. They are used to this reaction. Throw them off with kindness. If you dont want to talk to them,
then thank them and move on. But if you do, always keep in mind that the modus operandi of a Missionary is deceit and enticement. Deceptive practices of Missionaries Over the past few years, the desire by Christian Missionaries to convert Jews has grown in intensity. Jews are their focal point. Nowhere do you find "Hindus for Jesus" or "Buddhists for Jesus." Christian Missionaries do not seem to have the same intensity of proselytizing when it comes to non-Jews. For example, on June 13, 1996, the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution targeting Jews for assimilation into Christendom. With 15 million members in the U.S. alone contributing to this cause, this adds up to a lot of money! In the midst of Hanukah on December 9th, 1999, that same council became committed to having 100,000 missionaries invade Chicago. On the holiday that Jews celebrate non-assimilation, these Christian missionaries have the chutzpah to announce their intent to assimilate! These Southern Baptists send their Christian Missionaries to annoying us during the Jewish High Holidays. It is a holy time for us, a time of prayer and reflection. They annoy us by putting out a press release, publicly announcing that they will be praying to Jesus, pleading to their savior in the hope that the Jews accept Jesus as their Lord and Master. This is an intrusive practice that we have gotten used to over the years, and Jews will normally keep as far away from these types of people as possible, for their way isn't Jewish. As I already said, very rarely will an educated Jew engage the Missionary in any verbal swordplay, for there is no point. In every major city where there are Jews, there are Christian missionaries, preying on any Jew who is vulnerable. Vulnerability means someone who is not knowledgeable in both Christian and Jewish theology and cannot make a distinction between the two. But being vulnerable doesnt just mean an intellectual vulnerability, but emotionally vulnerable as well. In this, we need to take full responsibility. For where there are Jews who are infirmed, lonely, or in despair, with no caring Jews around to aid them, there is often a Missionary waiting to befriend them, gaining their confidence, and then as they walk away, they look back and see the desperate Jew follow. This has been reported repeatedly as a problem in nursing homes, and with Jews who feel disenfranchised, such as the blind or the deaf. The soul yearns to feel fulfilled, and the lonely Jew who doesnt participate in prayer and Torah study on a regular basis may be willing to do anything to experience friendship at any cost. But thats another issue. In these cases, the deception isnt intellectual, but emotional. As I said, there are two classes of Missionaries: those who are straight forward about whom they are and what they believe, and those who are not. That second class of Missionary uses deception to get what the he or she desires most: the assimilation of Jews
as Christians. The CSWJS Missionary does this by presenting himself or herself to Jews as being Jewish, and through the use of Jewish symbols and distorted Jewish texts, they convert the uneducated Jew who knows nothing about these practices. One of their own Christian leaders, Billy Graham, has denounced their activities when, in an interview with Fox News in January of 2000, he said: "I normally defend my denomination. I'm loyal to it. But I have never targeted Muslims. I have never targeted Jews." By my denomination, he might as well be referring to the CSWJS churches, which are so aligned with the Southern Baptist Council of Churches, that they are, for all intents and purposes, Baptists. The leaders of these churches are often seen in the company of Baptist leaders. When the organization is built by Baptists, funded by Baptists, trained by Baptists, and who membership is primarily people who are Christians and never were Jewish, is it any wonder that Jewish organizations cringe when they see someone wearing a Jews for Jesus t-shirt? But these t-shirts arent always being worn. And its too bad, because when CSWJS Missionaries get dressed up, you usually cant tell what they are until they engage you in their routine. They have been known to infiltrate schools and shuls. I know of one who tried to pass himself off as an Orthodox teacher in order to consul Jewish youths, teenagers who may be going through some crisis in their lives. (See below). Again, a hidden Missionary waiting for the vulnerable Jew, waiting to deceive him or her when the Jew is at his or her weakest, and then taking advantage of the situation. You will find these CSWJS Missionaries dressed in traditional Jewish garb as they set up booths near secular Collage campuses in order to attract Jews. Perhaps they announce an event where "Traditional Jewish music" will be played, in order to entice Jews to listen to their "Messianic message, which is inserted into their program. These Missionaries work on getting Jews to come and celebrate at a "Messianic" church, although they will use the word "temple" or "shul" to get Jews to go there. The uninformed Jew might think that such a church is full of converted Jews, when in reality he is in the minority, being a Jew since birth. It is a church of Christian Missionaries welcoming the Jew after manipulating Jewish symbolism in order to gain yet another convert into their fold. I bring this up to emphasize one specific point: Don't be fooled into thinking that "Jews for Jesus" is just another branch of Judaism, like Conservative or Reform, which was started and is maintained by Jews. Instead, Jews for Jesus is a CSWJS religion posing as Jewish in order to gain more converts. Many Jewish groups have tried to get these "Messianic" churches eliminated from the Telephone Yellow Pages under "Synagogues", but have so far been unsuccessful. The best they have done so far is to get them their own subheading: "Synagogues - Messianic", but I have discovered that this is not necessarily true in every city of the United States.
These Christian missionaries will use any resource that they have in order to accomplish their goal. For example, they have used their own children to befriend secular Jewish children as a way to get to the barely observant Jewish parents. This has especially been a problem in Israel. I came across one web site on the Internet that was committed to converting Jews. It had a very angry tone because Israel had passed an ordinance that allowed the ejection of Missionaries from Israel whose tactics were deceptive and coercive. (This ordinance has been rarely used.) I read into this an almost manic need for the Missionary to convert the Jew, and to take that away from him or her is like taking food away from a starving person. Remember, even though the members of "Jews for Jesus" say that their organization is a Jewish outreach program, this does not mean that they are Jewish men and women reaching out to other Jews, but that they are Christian men and women reaching out to Jews. Despite this, when interviewed, they will often use the term "we Jews", when in fact there is nothing Jewish about them, except for the outward trappings. A couple of Missionary stories Sometimes the end that the Christian Missionary goes to stretches the imagination. The odd thing is that these events are rarely ever printed about in the secular paper unless the Jewish community is in an uproar and cries out for attention, and then it is often a small article that barely gets read. To many non-Jews, there is this lack of comprehension why a Jew would care one way or the other about remaining a Jew. This is something that cannot be understood unless it is experienced. Earlier I started to tell you of the Missionary who wanted to go to Israel and consul Jews. This is a perfect example as to how deep the Missionary is willing to go to get what he or she wants, and with little secular reporting on it. The man was in his early 40s and went by the name of Tsiyon. What his actual name was, we will never know. He wore peyos (traditional long locks on the side of the head), and the traditional black garb of an Orthodox Jew. He told people he was a Kohain and claimed to have some background in Chassidic Judaism, and was very interested in that subject. Other Jews at the Yeshivah where he was studying didnt see him at davvening with the others. Tsiyon claimed to be attending Chassidic shuls frequently. But something didnt ring true. He was especially interested in the process of conversion. Tsiyon also claimed to have a Ph.D and the Yeshivah he attended in early 2001 was Ohr Somayach-Monsey, a traditional school of Jewish learning. He was planning to move to Israel, where he could teach and counsel other Jews. But he was found out to be, in reality, a Christian Missionary posing as a Jew. He was kicked out of the yeshiva. He then attempted to infiltrate other yeshivos in order to legitimize himself as a Jew elsewhere, so that he could do eventually do harm to those who might seek his counsel. The Jewish newspapers, Yated Naaman and others ended up containing a large add
from the yeshiva with a picture of this individual and his known information in order to stop him. Imagine the harm he could have done if he had placed himself in a Jewish Outreach program where vulnerable Jews would come to him, asking him for teaching and advice. And yet, this story didnt get very far, it remained within Jewish circles. If Jews dont act and if Jews dont care, nobody else will. But lets also take a look at another example that actually did get a lot of press. In February of 2000, the ABC news program, 20/20, reported a story of a 12-year old Zack, a Jewish boy who was a few weeks away from his Bar Mitzvah, and was playing with some non-Jewish friends in his hometown of Dallas, Texas. These friends were Baptists and invited him to play at their church without telling him that it was "target night", a night where non-Baptists are "saved". His parents, who tried to instill in him respect for other religions had no problem with Zack playing with non-Jews. The boy went with his friends to their church to play. While there, Zack met a Church member who manipulated the boy into signing some paper, saying that in doing so, all of his sins would be erased. Zack trusted the nice man and did so. When his parents found out later on that what the boy had signed were conversion papers, the entire family felt betrayed. They ignored the paper and the boy declared that he would remain 110% Jewish. The experience changed their lives forever. When the television news reported this event, it took a poll to ask if what the religious leader had done was wrong. More people than not indicated that is was fine, that the religious leader did nothing wrong. Perhaps this is because the religious leader was fulfilling his religious obligation by getting a non-believer to proclaim to the world that he or she is now a believer. This is but one example of a Jew who nearly succumbed to verbal coercion and trickery from Missionaries who target Jews; the young, the vulnerable, and the uneducated. As we see from the previous two examples, we have one group that deceives, looking kosher when he or she in reality a Christian Missionary, and another group that entices, but not hiding the fact that they are made up of Christians. The second group is easy to avoid. The first group, however, is not so easy. Many missionaries will commonly use deceit and look for a trusting Jew who's "open-minded" (translation: non-observant and unconcerned). But it isn't just the nonObservant Jew who is approached. One Missionary emailed me and claimed to have been a teacher in a Chabad Lubavitch in Los Angeles. Yet even so, he quoted from Matthew over and over again to warn me against trying to destroy the faith of the faithful. There was no Chofetz Chaim, no Talmud, and no Jewish verses at all. And when I explained a theological point that is fundamental to Judaism, he couldn't accept it. No, just because you can act the part doesn't mean that you actually lived the part.
By their appearance, Christian missionaries are using visual deceit, however, they will more often use verbal deceit. They will take Jewish writings that mean one thing and present them in a twisted manner in order to make it mean something completely different. They will use intentionally incorrect translations of Jewish texts to prove something that they were never intended to prove. They will take words from the Jewish vocabulary and redefine them in order to confuse and entice the Jew away from Torah Judaism and into Christianity, or into Christianity presenting itself as being a bit Jewish. The Missionary continues to hammer away, selling the Jew on the idea that Judaism is an incomplete religion and only by becoming a Christian can the Jew truly experience the love of G-d. They will tell the Jew that the real meaning behind the verses are the Christian meanings, and that the Jewish meanings are deceptions. What is up is down, and what is down becomes up. Remember, just because a pig looks Kosher on the outside, it doesnt mean its Kosher. One of the purposes of this book is to warn Jews that just because someone wears a kipah, or a piece of Jewish-looking piece of jewelry, or if they look frume, it doesn't mean anything. So if you meet someone, and if you suspect anything at all, point-blank ask the person if they believe Jesus was their Savior. If they say "yes" or dance around a response, you probably have a missionary on your hands. For most Missionaries will not deny that Jesus was their Savior, even to entice a Jew.
[Tractate Sanheidrein (Talmud), 38b - We learned in a Mishnah: Rabbi Eliezer said: A person should be diligent to learn the Torah and know how to refute the arguments of a non-believer. Rabbi Yochanan said: This was taught only with respect to a non-Jewish heretic, but a Jewish heretic will use your arguments to support his misleading points.]
Conspiracies of the Jewish-Jews and non-Jews I dislike secret conspiracy theories, for they rely on the idea that a small group of people can fool a larger group. The reason that many criminals get caught is that they cant keep their mouth shut! The larger the group, the more likely it is that someone is going to tell someone who shouldnt be told. In the general definition of the term, the CSWJS churches and the Southern Baptists have conspired against the Jews, but the conspiracy isnt a secret. This is what can be termed an open conspiracy. The director of Jews for Jesus, one of the most successful form of CSWJS churches, will often appear with the head of the Baptist council of churches. These two Christian leaders dont try to hide their relationship to those who see it. They are very open concerning their commitment to convert Jews. This information has been printed in numerous publications, both Jewish and non-Jewish, as well as being spoken about openly on the radio, television, and the Internet. What they
are not very open about is how they label the Jews for Jesus as a Jewish religion, when it has not relationship with Judaism at all. No, the CSWJS churches are not plotting in secret. There is a difference between being secretive (standard conspiracy theory) and being deceptive (your typical con or hustle). That brings us to the notion of a secret or closed conspiracy. Such a conspiracy relies on the idea that nobody but us knows this. But if that were true, how does the speaker know this? What privilege does the speaker have, giving him or her this secret information that nobody else has? No, secret conspiracies dont exist. They cant, since human beings just cant keep their mouths shut! For example, one conspiracy was that the U.S. government had used flamethrowing tanks to burn up the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. There were hundreds of witnesses, and what they saw was fire starting from the inside. And yet, the secret conspiracy that the U.S. had burned down that building began to spread. After all, there was footage from a news camera that showed a gleam of sunlight, but the conspiracy buffs proclaimed that it just had to be a flame! Now imagine, if hundreds of people knew the truth, why is it that the people who were there have a conflicting story? You would think that after weeks or months, someone would have finally admitted what happened. The police rely on this part of human nature to capture criminals. They can expect that when more people participate in the crime, it is more likely that someone will be caught. And yet, the Christian Missionary will often use the secret conspiracy ploy to deceive the Jew. The Jew will be told that its not his fault that he doesnt worship Jesus. The Rabbis always knew the truth and have kept it hidden from the Jews for centuries. Or the Jew will be told that the Rabbis never teach much about ancient prophecy, since they are afraid that their congregation will learn the truth. Or that the Rabbis modified ancient text to make it look like Jesus did not fulfill any prophecy. And yet, in all the centuries, we dont have any educated Rabbis who expose the Jewish leaders, crying out that its all been a sham! But the Christian Missionary knows the truth, for somehow he or she is privy to information that no Jew has access to: the secret society of power-hungry Rabbis. There is no such conspiracy. A Missionary once told me of an Orthodox Rabbi who, after the holocaust, converted to Christianity. How come, he asked, your Rabbis dont mention him? See, there are Jewish leaders who have become Christians! My answer was simple: first, such a thing is an aberration, and as such, an isolated incident is not given much weight. It is not, as the Missionary suggested, a plot by the Jewish leaders to keep their uneducated
congregants in check. The second is that the holocaust itself was such a great aberration that it tested the faith of many. And for every tale of lost faith, there are many more of faiths strengthened. I suggested reading Chassidic Tales of the Holocaust by Yaffa Eliach (Avon books) for some of these examples. There is a difference between being susceptible because of deception and being susceptible because of despair. So, how is it that the Christian Missionary who knows little of Judaism is privy to information that millions of Jews around the world dont know anything about? They know what they know because thats what they have been taught to know. It is also in line with tradition Christian teachings. As we will see, Matthew wrote how terrible and corrupt the Jewish leaders were, while we Jews have named our shuls and children after some of these same great men (such as bais Shammai or bais Hillel for example). This is nothing more than a variation of the anti-Semitic book Protocols of Zion, where there is a secret plot by power-hungry Jews to take over the world. Those Jews In reality, we Jews have made it easy for the Christian missionaries to do this type of verbal manipulation. Many Jews have fallen into the "you aren't bad like they are" manipulation. In other words, a Christian missionary says, "your an intelligent person", or "you certainly have an open mind", or some other type of opener to get you to a particular state of mind. We, as human beings, want to be inclusive, accepting, and appreciated. Because of that, we don't want to be associated with any group that is not liked because they are perceived to be exclusive, non-accepting, and closed-minded. Lets look at a modern-day example. A non-observant Jew is at a computer conference. An observant Jew walks by wearing the traditional garb, with a beard, black hat, and tzitzis. Two non-Jews look at one another with a grin and one says to the other "Hey, look at the Rabbi!" and they snicker. The non-observant Jew says nothing and walks away. He did not want to be associated with being "Orthodox", and he did not want to lose his standing with his colleagues. If you heard this, would you want to be associated with the traditionally dressed Jew and be part of the minority? When the secular media reports on religious Jews in Israel, they label religious Jews as Ultra-Orthodox. The media will downplay the numbers and the importance of the observant Jews, usually by 50% or more. Who wants to be part of some minority, who are even part of a minority in their own country? We do this to ourselves. Would you want to be associated with any group that is Ultra anything? After all, this would be like saying that you are part of the Jewish fringe element (pun intended!).
There are people who are proud to be Jews but don't want this type of association. In fact, the problem goes deeper. Many Jews will be antagonistic to other Jews, just so they don't "accidentally" get labeled as extremists. If one Jew sees another who is less or more observant, then the difference is noted and there is this instant wall of separation erected. This is one of the reasons why the Christian missionary goes after the person who doesn't look too Jewish. They already have a built in program to use, by playing on this fear of association. I read a Christian paperback1 which had an interview with a man who was once a Jew and who converted to Christianity and is a missionary to convert Jews. In it, he stated that the only reason that Jews don't convert is because they do not think for themselves. If their Rabbi says that there is nothing to it, then it must be true. He then proceeded to make the same bad quotes to "prove" that Jesus was G-d. He tells anecdotes where he asked Rabbis to explain what the words of the prophets meant, and they could not answer his questions. He continued to attack the leaders, saying that it's sad that Jews do not convert because of this conspiracy by Rabbis who know the truth. Missionaries will use this process of divide and conquer, if that's what it takes to convert Jews. And while it is not anti-Semitic in the strictest sense of the word, it certainly borders on it. What is Jews For Jesus? Did you ever wonder when the first "Messianic Jews" appeared? Was it 2,000 years ago? 1,500 years ago? No, even the modern state of Israel is older than the Messianic Jew. They first appeared in the 1960's! Back then, fundamental Christian organizations were frustrated at their attempts to convert Jews. Sure, Jews were marrying non-Jews, and the assimilation was taking place, but it was still going rather slowly. Some less observant Jews were becoming more observant, and some less-observant Jews were becoming non-Observant. Some Christians were converting to Judaism, and some Jews were converting to Christianity. These early hard-hitting Christian bible-beating missionaries were turning more Jews off than bringing them to Jesus. A Christian Missionary coming to a Jewish home, knocking on the door, with black bible in hand, they had very little success. The Jew would see the bright cross on the book and shut the door as fast as possible.
1
Lee Strobel, The case for Christ, (Zondervan Press, 1998)
Public Jesus fests were working much better, and depicting Jesus as an antiestablishment bearded young man trying to make the world a better place hit a nerve with the young people of the 60s. Things were happening, but it still wasnt very fast when it came to the Jews. They needed a better idea. So by using the term "Messianic Jew", a relatively new idea, their process of converting Jews became more successful. They often mislead the Jews by telling them that the roots of Christianity are based on Judaism. They provided arguments that Christianity is the next logical step for the thinking or open-minded Jew. The organization "American Board of Missions to the Jews" was founded, and Reverend Martin Rosen, worked for them for 10 years, and in 1973, he broke away from them and founded his own organization. Reverend Rosen was an assimilated Jew named Moishe Rosen2 who converted early in life. In 1952, Moishe told his father that he wanted to be a Christian and his father sent Moishe to a psychiatrist, and after 2 days of analysis declared that Moishe was sane. Reverend Rosen wrote: So no matter what anyone says about my mental stability these days, I at least have a letter to prove it. Most people don't." He was ordained in 1957, and was, and still is, a very fiery preacher, standing on street corners and shouting to the world of his belief in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He founded "Jews for Jesus." While other Ministries were started around this same time, Jews for Jesus is one of the best known, and the most vocal. It spends millions of Christian dollars every year on its broad campaign. This is but one example of such an organization, and it is not alone. And the members of these groups all consider themselves as "Messianic Jews, rather than members of a CSWJS church. In 1996, Reverend Rosen transferred leadership to David Brickner, who has been the executive director ever since. In writing her book about Rosen and his church, Christian writer Ruth Tucker, in writing a very positive book about Jews for Jesus stated: From these groups I have come to understand, at least to a small degree, how it feels to face opposition and rejection -- sometimes from fellow Christians. I have been personally criticized for overlooking heresy and befriending those whom others view as dangerous or outside Christian orthodoxy.3 Yes, Christian leaders know that Jews for Jesus is blurred Christianity, and Jewish leaders know that Jews for Jesus is also blurred Christianity. Both sides are willing to agree on this, and that such a sect perverts both Christianity as well as Judaism. The only side disagreeing is Jews for Jesus! Their stance is that they can call themselves anything
2 3
Moishe Rosen with William Proctor, Jews for Jesus (Old Tappan, N.J.: Revell, 1974) Ruth A. Tucker, Not Ashamed: The Story of Jews for Jesus (Multnomah Publishers, 1999)
they want, and if they want to call themselves Jewish, nobody is going to stop them, and if the non-CSWJS Jews dont like it, well, thats their problem, not the Missionary. But remember, we are not talking about a sect made up mostly (even 51%) of Jews. We are talking about a sect made up primarily of non-Jews who want to call themselves Jews. And the biggest problem is that only a minority of the population (Jews) even care that this deception has been going on for several decades. To quote Reverend Scott of the Anglican Church in Toronto Canada: "It should be noted that no Jew anywhere can accept that a member of Jews for Jesus is in fact a Jew, and--while some of the members of Jews for Jesus may have been Jewish earlier on, I have strong reasons for thinking that many so-called Jews for Jesus have never lived within the scope of Judaism prior to identifying themselves as Christians. It is an accepted principle of inter-religious dialogue that a religious community be allowed to define itself, and, on this basis, the Jewish community is perfectly justified in declaring the Jews for Jesus are in fact not Jews at all." You cannot find the term "Messianic Jew" anywhere in the Christian bible. It is a deceptive practice that has been recently been developed to entice Jews into thinking that the belief in Jesus as a "Christ" is compatible with Judaism. There is no such compatibility, and these ideas are not Jewish ones. And if you are ever in doubt that CSWJS temples are anything other than churches, remember Reverend Rosen's own words that he wrote about his organization: "We believe in affiliating with a local church and being accountable to the church for service and discipline. We consider ourselves to be an arm of the local church." This certainly doesn't sound very Jewish to me. You cannot have it both ways There is only one G-d. Christians and Jews pray to G-d. However, the difference between Judaism and Christianity is that Jews cannot give G-d a form, and Christians see no real difference between G-d and Jesus, and hence, Christianity has a G-d with form. Jews are forbidden to pray to anything or anyone. In Judaism HaShem has neither form nor substance. Christianity has replaced the Book of Berashis (Genesis) by the Gospel of John. It says "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with G-d." Christians believe that Jesus was "the Word", and this therefore proves that he existed with G-d before the creation of the Universe. In Christian terms, Jesus is one of three: they are one and they are distinct entities. This is surely not a Jewish idea.
The reality of it is that a Jew cannot replace Torah with faith in Jesus and still call himself or herself a Jew. The small number of Jews in the earlier part of the Christian millennium who tried to retain their Jewish identity and take on the beliefs of Christianity faded away into obscurity. They tried to keep all 613 mitzvos and accept Jesus as the human non-supernatural Moshiach. But as time pressed on, such beliefs were abandoned. Later on, anything Jewish was gutted and replaced with the belief of Jesus as a supernatural deity called a "Christ." This belief structure was certainly not done to appeal to Jews. No, one cannot be both a Christian and a Jew, and those who try end up not fitting into either community. Messianic Judaism is a Christian organization that dupes Jews into converting. It is a group that convinces its converts to bring others into the fold. It is a group that lies to its converts over and over again concerning history and Bible versus in order to keep them in their place. Many Jews are becoming alarmed when they hear the term "Jews for Jesus", as well as the other lesser-publicized Messianic cults. It's not the packaging, but what's inside the package that matters. Christianity sees Judaism as an incomplete religion because we do not believe in Jesus as our savior. Christian missionaries created "Messianic Judaism" in order to bridge this gap and to create the false image that this Christian sect, that is bound and supported by Christian churches, is the "complete" religion, the complete Judaism, when, as we will soon see, isn't Jewish at all. What Jews For Jesus Really Believe On January 12th, 2000 David Brickner, the executive directory of "Jews for Jesus" appeared on the Larry King show with Reverend Alert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. With opposing viewpoints were two Rabbis. Unfortunately, such a format does little to educate the public. Each person gets a small sound bite, and with the topic switching do different points, no single point ever gets fully investigated. This was a good example of how the Missionaries dance all over the place, and unless you regain control, it becomes a dizzy dervish. If I had to vote for who won in this debate, Id have to say the Baptists. The Rabbis were always on the defensive, and there was only a single moment when the regained control, but it was soon wrenched from them. The Baptists were very, very, good. As an educated Jew, I knew what was going on. The Rabbis continued attack against the CSWJS organization instead of going to the foundation of their non-Jewish beliefs, making the organization wrong instead of making a simple distinction, which is about all you can do in 20 minutes. Unfortunately, to the uneducated Jew, the Rabbis may have unintentionally created more confusion.
What one needs to do in such a situation is to maintain control. Keep bringing the subject back to the primary point: "Yes, that's nice, but it isn't Jewish." "We're Jews, and that's not part of our religion." "That's appropriate for the non-Jew, but not for the Jew." "Yes, that's nice but it isn't Jewish." Alas, that didn't happen, and not much of a message came out. What a Jew needs to do is to keep focusing on what Judaism is not, rather than trying to focus on what Christianity is not. "Yes, that's nice, but it isn't Jewish" is a good response. It keeps the other person on the defensive, trying to justify their position, but in the end, "Yes, that's nice but it isn't Jewish" has no defense when it is said from an educated Jew. What was fascinating is that Mr. Brickner stated very clearly the beliefs of CSWJS members. He did not try to hide the fact that they believe no differently than the Southern Baptists, with the exception of saying that Jews believe the same thing! Yet, at the end of the debate, the listener was not left with the idea, It isnt Jewish at all! but rather with Maybe it isnt Jewish. I can only pray that this wasnt the case for everyone. Here is a metaphor that may drive the point home. Lets say that I have a dog and a cup sitting on the floor. I point to the dog and ask someone what it is, and he says a dog. That is the expected answer. I then point to the cup and ask what it is, and again he says a dog. This is an unexpected answer. I ask the person to describe the second dog, and he says a ceramic container with a handle. Just to be clear, I ask him to describe the first dog, and he says a brown four-legged animal. I then ask if the second dog is the same as the first dog, and he say No. But its still a dog. Who are you to tell me that it isnt? This was how the interview went. Mr. Brickner distinctly defined himself and his organization in Christian terms, completely turning his back on any Jewish definition, and ended the interview with saying that he was no less Jewish than the Rabbis who sat opposite him. What follows is an extract of many of the key points made by Mr. Brickner. Read this and ask yourself, Is this Jewish? It isnt.
1. CSWJS belief: Jesus died for our sins

The Director of "Jews for Jesus", in his opening statement said: "We are Jewish people who have come to believe that Jesus is the messiah and the savior of the world, that he died and rose again to pay the penalty for our sins."
Lets take this apart, shall we? We are a Jewish people who have come to believe that According to public records, the typical CSWJS church is primarily made up of people who were not born Jewish and never converted to Judaism. Since they are made up of Christians, and people who were born Christian, they did not come to believe anything. The reality is that they joined the CSWJS church with that belief unchanged and intact. The fact that some Jews have joined these CRWJS churches does not make the churches Jewish, nor does it make the non-Jewish members Jewish. Hence, the first part of his opening statement is clearly untrue. Jesus is the messiah and the savior of the world The idea that the messiah will be the savior of the world, while certainly a Christian concept, is not a Jewish belief at all. I will be covering the idea of a Christ versus a Moshiach in more detail later on in this book. that he died and rose again to pay the penalty for our sins. The idea of someone dying to pay the penalty of the sins of the world is certainly not a Jewish concept, nor is the idea of some sort of self-resurrection. These are fully Christian ideas, not Jewish one. The idea of us being born in sin, or original sin is also not a Jewish concept. Every morning we say as part of our prayers My G-d, the soul that you have placed within me is spiritually pure. The belief that mankind needs to redeemed because we are born into sin is Christian, not Jewish. As we can easily see, it was appropriate for the director to appear with the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, since the two of them have the same theological structure.
2. CSWJS belief: No one comes to G-d, except through Jesus

Mr. Bricknmer truly believes that his Jews who pray to Jesus are fully Jewish. He quotes that Jesus said, Im the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by me. As Jews, we are forbidden to be facing even a drawing of someone during prayer. To keep in mind the image Jesus, or to pray to Jesus is a violation of Torah, where we are told I am HaShem, your Elokim, you are not to have [another] Elokim in my presence. Christianity, however, does not consider this a problem, for their belief is that
since G-d came to earth in the form of a man, the violation if making images of G-d is no longer in effect. As Jews, we dont believe that there exists or ever will exist an intermediary to whom we pray. In fact, the Rambam wrote just the opposite in his "13 principles of faith." Such a belief that is contrary to Judaism is considered Avodah Zorah, a strange offering, and is forbidden in the strongest terms. Christianity disputes this, as does Mr. Brickner.
3. CSWJS belief: Jesus was the only righteous man who ever lived.
Mr. Brickner then tells the audience that not only will someone never know G-d except through Jesus, but also that Jesus was the only Tzaddik to have ever lived. "Jesus is only righteous person who lived on face of this earth, and because of that he could pay the penalty for our sin. Because of that, we can have forgiveness, and we can know love of G-d." As Jews, we believe that there are righteous in every generation. There is no Jewish belief that there are no Tzaddikim, and that there will be none until the Moshiach comes. In fact, their names are written about in many of our texts. In fact, the Torah calls Noach a Tzaddik, and commentators go into great detail explaining that this verse is trying to teach us. So for Mr. Brickner to say that Jesus was the only righteous person who ever lived is not Jewish. There is no Jewish belief that humanity could only know forgiveness through someone's death. There is no Jewish belief that we can only know the love of G-d through someone's death. Christianity has the belief that a penalty needed to be paid for the salvation of mankind. This is not a Jewish belief. But frankly, I wonder if the founders of Christianity held this current Christian belief. For in Matthew 9:11 Jesus was reported to have said, "I have come for sinners and not for the righteous since they do not need me." Its apparent that Jesus believed that there were righteous people. This perception, however, is part of the Southern Baptist belief, as well as the members of CSWJS churches.
4. CSWJS belief: Only accepting Jesus will save you from Hell.
During the interview, the moderator asked Mr. Brickner about Hell. He wanted to know if Jews will go to Hell unless they accept Jesus, and if Mr. Brickner would have ended up going to Hell if he had not accepted Jesus as his savior. Mr. Brickner in an exceptionally non-Jewish manner: "Yes, absolutely, except for the fact I've embraced God 's forgiveness in the person of Jesus."
So please note: if you embrace Jesus as your person savior and surrender to him, then you will not go to Hell. If you don't, then you will go to hell. Repeat after me: "Yes, that's nice, but it's not a Jewish idea." Baptist ministers will often preach of Hell and eternal punishment. Rabbis dont. So far, can you see that everything that is being said is not Jewish, but Christian? And those who participate with such a belief structure are Christians and not Jews. Yet the director of "Jews for Jesus" said:
4. CSWJS belief: Believing in Jesus doesnt make anyone less Jewish

In Christian theology, there is this concept of a "suffering servant", and Christian missionaries use their translated quotes from Isaiah to support this. We Jews, who can read Hebrew, do not read it in this manner and therefore the idea of a suffering servant, which Mr. Brickner brings up, is not a Jewish idea at all, but is the foundation of Christianity. In short, there is no Jewish belief of a Moshiach who will be beaten and will need to die. In fact, the opposite is true. "There are some of us Jews who do believe that Jesus is the messiah, who do believe that there are messianic prophesies concerning a suffering servant who would come and suffer and die for the sins of the people, and rise again And those of us who believe that are no less Jewish." Since such a belief is non-Jewish and is fully Christian, we end up with the question: Can someone embrace the theology of another religion and still be associated with both? This is not about believing that Jesus was the Moshiach. There are sects in Judaism who believe that other people who existed were also the Moshiach. For example, some Chassidim believe that Rebbe Schneerson of recent memory was the Moshiach, and some don't. And yet those that doe believe in this manner do not pray to him, for that is not the Jewish way. They do not believe that the Rebbe redeemed them from sin, nor do they believe that he was a supernatural being. The Christian way is not the Jewish way. This is not to say that either way is better, but it is to say that they are incompatible. Can a Jew believe and pray to a supernatural being in person of Jesus and still be a Jew? Can a Jew commit murder and still be a Jew? The answer to both is yes; the person is still part of a family, for that cannot be severed except through a form of excommunication that hasnt been done in centuries. Yes, that person is a Jew in the noun form, but isnt being Jewish in the verb form. But the reality of it is that when you have non-Jews enticing and deceiving Jews to act and believe like non-Jews. The non-Jews embrace them, saying that both the Jew and the non-Jew are Jewish. There is such a confusion of ideas that one cannot distinguish the Christian from the Jew. And since these are churches funded by Southern Baptists, we can only consider them as Baptists, who were one born into a Jewish family.
In 1984, Ann Landers was asked if a Jew who converts is still a Jew.4 Her response was: "A Jew who wishes to dissociate himself from Judaism and take up Catholicism, Christian Science or Confucianism, for example, is still a Jew by heritage. No amount of disavowing will transform him into a Gentile." Please note the emphasis on heritage which means that which is allotted to someone by reason of birth. It is a legal term (inheritance) indicating benefit based on lineage. In the Torah, we also read of Easu who sold his heritage for a bowl of red lentil soup to his brother Yaakov. Easu was still the son of Yitzchak, but he was no longer heir to the major part of his fathers legacy. But as I said before, most of the members for Jews for Jesus dont have the heritage of a Jew, and they continue to call their organization Jewish for the sole purpose of deceiving real Jews. Therefore, most of the members have no heritage to lose, and so they focus on stealing the heritage of the unsuspecting Jew. On a final note about this interview, there were a great number of things spoken of, and what I have presented here is but a small segment. There were arguments and proclamations going on back and forth. However, I dont want you to think that Mr. Brickner did most of the talking for the Christians. No, instead it was Reverend Alert Mohler Jr., a leader in the Southern Baptist world who did most of the answering and presentation. I showed only Mr. Brickners comments because they are germane to my task: to demonstrate that what Jews for Jesus members believe is aligned with Christianity and not with Judaism at all. When the interview was over, Mr. Brickner declared that he respected the Southern Baptist Minstry, and applauded the Baptists for their efforts on reaching out to Jews to bring them to Jesus. That certainly is not the Jewish way. And yet, Mr. Brickner does not see himself as a Christian, but as a "Messianic-Jew," the ultimate oxymoron from a Jewish-Jew point of view. That is certainly not a Jewish perception. What is Christian? One can read in the Christian bible, in Acts 11:26 that "the disciples" were first called Christians" while in Syria. The term "Christian" comes from the Greek word Christos, ("Christ" or "anointed one") and indicates "Christ's followers," or "Christ
4
Ann Landers, San Francisco Examiner, 1 January 1984.
devotees." While this translates to the same word as Moshiach, we will see later on that there is no real relationship between the two words. The adding of "-ian" to the end of a name to indicate an adherent was a common practice of the first century who attached the termination "-ianos" (or the plural "-ianoi") to the name of the leader or master. Yet in all of this we only find the term "Christian" three times in the Christian bible, two of them in Acts (11:26, 26:28) and another in Peter (4:16), and each time it is used by outsiders to those who were followers of the Jesus. However, to the Jews, they were often called "notzrim", or "misim". The early Christians called themselves an assortment of things, but they never called themselves "Jews", "the Children of Israel", "the Descendents of Abraham", or anything like that. Eventually, they took on the name "Christian", but according to the texts, it was outsiders who first called them that. They then took on that label as a permanent description. So if the members of a CSWJS church are adherents of Jesus, the Christ, then they are, according to this meaning, Christians. You can have Greek-Christians, Roman-Christians, Israeli-Christians, and so forth. This defines the Christian style based on the land where they consider their home. We do not have Smith-Christians, Jones-Christians, or any other kind of Christianity that is based on a family name. A Messianic-Christian is an oxymoron, and therefore Christian is a more simple and straightforward definition. Jews are called Jews because of our roots, our family. Jew does not refer to the residents of the land of Judea, but was named after the tribe of Judah. It is a singular family with a singular belief in the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. One may leave a family, but one may always do tshuvah, a returning to mitzvos and Torah. Because of this one who is born a Jew is a Jew, even though he or she may leave the family. They just arent Jewish. As I said earlier, Jew defines the person based on their heritage, while Jewish defines his or her actions, just as Christian defines the beliefs and actions of a person. A Jew who prays to Jesus is not acting Jewish, but is instead acting Christian. Or to simplify, a Christ follower is a Christian, no matter what their heritage. As I will cover later on, there is a vast difference between the Jewish definition of a Moshiach, and the Christian definition of a Christ, or Messiah. Even though they all translate to anointed, it is there that the similarity ends. The Christian definition is supernatural in nature, while the Jewish definition is not. There are many differences, but the gist of this is that a Messiah as held be Christianity is not a Jewish idea, and a Moshiach as held by Judaism is fully incompatible with Christianity. Because of this, I prefer to use the term Christ when referring to the Christian viewpoint and Moshiach when referring to the Jewish viewpoint.
For a CSWJS church to call itself Messianic is the same as calling itself Christ-based or Christian since the way it holds Messiah is fully not Jewish but is fully aligned with Christian theology. There is no such thing as a Messianic-Jew in this context. It would be like calling him or her a Christ-Jew, and this is the epitome of using the term oxymoron. Even though Mr. Brickner may disagree, while it may not be cultic, it certainly is a sham. So in response to Mr. Brickners claim that those who believe in Jesus are no less Jewish, I say that he is wrong. Such a person is not being Jewish, but is instead being Christian. Mr. Brickner is a Christian (a follower of Christ) and his agenda is to make Christians out of the Jewish people, and to have them believe that being Christian is an extension of being Jewish. It is a deception that offends both the righteous Jews and the righteous Christians. Being a Christian is fine. And Christians are not Jewish. A Common Misconception Some months after I began writing this book in early 1999, I found a back-issue of the Chicago Jewish News, which contained an interview with a woman who converted from Christianity to Judaism. In the article, the convert was quoted, saying that Jesus was simply a great Rabbi who never claimed to be the "Son of G-d." This is a typical statement that one hears, which roughly translated means "Hey, it's not a big deal! We can believe whatever we want about Jesus and still be Jews." Well, it is a big deal. Here is one of the most important parts of that article: these were words by someone who converted from Christianity, someone who supposedly knew something of her religion of birth. And even though she was schooled in Christianity, she ended up redefining Jesus in a way that is neither Jewish nor Christian. And if someone who was educated in Christianity made this type of error, imagine a Jew who knows even less of the Christian tradition. Contrary to what that woman said, Jesus was not a Rabbi (there is a distinction between a Rabbi, a prophet, a teacher, a storyteller, and a preacher) and, as we will see later on, he did make claim to be the Son of G-d not just once, many times! The Christian bible has Jesus contradicting this woman over and over again. It was obvious to me that the woman being quoted had accepted as "gospel", anecdotes from her friends, teachers, and acquaintances, rather than from any serious form of study. She became uncomfortable with Jesus as a deity, and gradually transformed him down to human terms that she could embrace. When she finally converted, she maintained some belief about Jesus, while attempting to embrace a Judaism.
Most Evangelicals and ministers, who embrace the pale of Christian Orthodoxy, would also disagree with her. They can prove to you that according to their texts, Jesus was not only the Son of G-d, but was also the Creator of the universe, one of the 3 personages of the one Creator. Some sects of Christianity are uncomfortable with their own foundation, and have reduced the object of their devotion to a mystical healing sage whose wise words deserve to be listened to. (And as we will see later on, this contradicts basic Christian Theology). The fundamentalist, from where nearly all Missionaries get their support, typically denounces such offshoots. I dont know if I can drive home this one point too much: the foundation of Judaism is Torah and mitzvos. The foundation of Christianity is believing in the deification of Jesus, and that you cannot know G-d except through Jesus, and that the Torah and mitzvos are no longer relevant. If you have a Jew who is firmly grounded in the Jewish position, and a Christian who is firmly grounded in the Christian tradition, there can be no melding of beliefs, but there can be a melding of respect for one another. This brings us back to the article about the woman who converted to Judaism. As I said, she, like many others before her, made Jesus into whatever character was comfortable to her without establishing it on the actual Christian text. She is not the only one who has done this. Other Jews have made Jesus into whatever they want him to be, and these people are ripe for the Missionary. When you have a nebulous understanding, then Jesus can take on any traits that you are comfortable with. And it is this poor understanding that Christian missionaries use to their advantage. They don't care why you initially embrace Jesus, only that you do embrace him. Therefore your the first step to thwart any Christian missionary is to get out of this deadly embrace. This includes being aware of your vocabulary and how you relate your life to the rest of the world. Take the time for Torah study. Learn about the Torah sages of Jewish history and the greatness that they embodied. And when a Christian missionary comes to you, you will not only have something to base your answers on, you will have certainty in your voice when you say: "That's nice, but it isn't Jewish!" So long as one holds onto the idea that Jesus was anything less than an Avatar (to use a Hindu term), G-d manifested in form on this planet in order to redeem mankind from sin by being sacrificed on the cross, such a persons vision becomes blurred and it is that type of person that the Missionary feeds upon. The supernatural nature of Jesus is an integral part of the Christian theology. If you embrace any Jewish concept and try to apply it to Jesus in order to be more comfortable with the character, you have begun to slide down a very slippery slope. So if you want to be a Christian, then you need to embrace Jesus as the co-creator of the Universe. If you cant do that, then dont go where you are not comfortable. The Missionary will tell you that believing in Jesus is essentially Jewish. It isnt.
I have repeatedly heard But Jesus was Jewish! There are famous actors and actresses, criminals, and writers, who were born Jewish, but their lives, their writings, their actions were contrary to Torah Judaism. Just because a person is born into a culture it does not necessarily mean that they represent that culture. When a person deviates from what is acceptable, they can no longer be considered viable representatives of their community. They can still say where they came from, but they cannot speak for the people they left. If you can see Jesus as a Jew with a partial education, (he had a poor grasp of Tanach and misinterpreted Hebrew verses), and as a Jew who was partially observant Jew (he violated numerous mitzvos from the Torah), he becomes a character in a non-Jewish story that is for non-Jews. We cannot be ignorant about this. There is a trap in ignorance. Ignorance is darkness, and like darkness, it causes one to mistake a statue for a person. And Missionaries use this ignorance as their foothold in order to convert Jews to Christianity. Missionaries are taught to seek out the Jews who fit the right profile; those who don't dress very Jewish, secular Jews who send their children to secular schools, and Jews who have very little knowledge of their own religion. I have had Missionaries deny this, but we read articles about this again and again in the Jewish press. And since the uneducated Jew probably knows very little about the Christian bible, the Jew is ripe for conversion. For where there is ignorance, deception lies waiting. The missionaries might even "give" you answers to their own questions to prime the pump, such as "Of course, we Jews know that (put Jewish writing in here) means (put forced answer here). Right?" One example is Of course, we Jews know that when David wrote My Lord said to my lord it is G-d speaking to the Messiah, right? The reality is that such a verse does not mean what the Missionary is inferring, and is based on a bad translation of the text. The Missionary will provide distorted translations and interpretations that are not Jewish, but he or she will present them very convincingly. The Missionary answer might even sound plausible, and he or she will want an immediate answer. They don't want you to take the time to look up the actual verse in Hebrew and then ponder the question before answering. Don't fall for these verbal traps and tricks. Always think before you answer a deceiver. Because once you agree that their interpretation is valid, they then take you to the next "logical" step into a very deep pit. So long as you come from the point of view that their sole purpose is to manipulate you into accepting their word as your own, you can easily see the deception for what it is. We have learned from the Torah that the serpent was able to deceive the first woman in Eden because she made a mistake. She said, If I touch the tree, I will die,
instead of If I eat from the tree I will die. The serpent proved that she would not die from touching it, and therefore was able to deceive her further. It all began with a misunderstanding, and then the manipulation proceeded further. We learn from this that we must always be on our guard, especially when dealing with deceptive Missionaries. Theyre Grown-Ups, Arent They? Someone once asked me: "Why are you so concerned? These are grown-ups that you are talking about. If they decide to embrace "Messianic Judaism", that's their choice, right?" The idea that if you know that someone is being deceived, and then you do nothing, at the very least, does not fall under the category of chesed, or an act of lovingkindness. If you saw your child being enticed to do something contrary to what you desired, as a parent you would probably step in. Why is it that when that same person is an adult, we are tempted to let them fall into a pit, thinking "They're a grown-up, they can see the trap for themselves" or "I'm not responsible for them, let them take care of themselves" and do nothing? And yet we make such decisions selectively. When it's someone who we cherish, we will go out of our way to be of assistance. Here is a realworld example of that: I know of an elderly woman who got caught up in the sweepstake scams. You know the mailings: where you receive a letter in the mail that says that you are absolutely, definitely, certainly, positively, a candidate to perhaps win a million dollars. This woman believed that she needed to buy magazines in order to improve her chances to win. She believed that the more magazines that she subscribed to, the better were her chances. She spent thousands of dollars and received so many magazines, videotapes, audiotapes, and coffee-table books, that the postal carrier couldn't put them in the mailbox anymore. Eventually, her adult daughter stepped in and took charge of the situation, and the sweepstake participation stopped. The people who heard that story felt that the daughter did the right thing. The mother was did not realize that she was being deceived, and that these "personal" letters were phony. She was being led in a particular direction that was not in her best interest so that the people sending her the letter would get money from her. It was the best thing for the family that someone stepped in and did something. If this is true for money, can we not give a greater importance when it comes to protecting one more Jewish soul? In today's society, however, sometimes one's finances are given the highest priority, while one's spiritual life takes a back seat. We need to take stock of our lives and take a real look as to what is important in our lives. It is the spiritual life of our brothers and sisters that is being trampled upon. If they were only aware that they were being deceived from the outset, then perhaps we could prevent one more Jew from falling into the clutches of the nearest CSWJS church.
In the fall of 1999, a television special aimed at converting Jews was aired in several television markets. A number of secular and Jewish publications ran large ads advertising "The Rabbi." And in the ad there was a coupon for a free plaque with the Birchas HaKohain printed on it. When the show came out, the publishers realized that they were duped. People who didn't watch the program sent in for the free plaque, which resulted in them being the victims of more Missionary deception. The show was about a Rabbi who accepts Jesus into his life and the last half of the show contained a Christian Missionary who was speaking to the Jewish audience. Massive e-mail warnings immediately went out across the planet. Jewish organizations were appalled and wrote letters to the newspapers and to the television stations that seemed to support this kind of programming. But as fast as that word got out, we don't know how many people were taken in by this act, and we don't know how many Jews believed the misquotes and the deceptive media presentation that was before them. On a positive note, it provided a real-world example to the Jews who were warned that what looks Jewish isnt necessarily Kosher. The highly trained missionary If you are going to converse with a Missionary, I suggest that you read this entire book first. Any good Christian missionary has memorized many key quotes in his or her bible, as well as a number of modified quotes from our Tanach. They are extremely well prepared and well trained at their job. A good missionary can pop in and out of verses so fast, causing it all to flow so nicely, without realizing that you've been dragged down a blind path of mismatched parts. But if you can stop their dance, point out the problems, and keep dragging them back to what you know, then you can remain in charge. They may ask you questions that you really don't know the answers to. They are not interested in having an actual dialog, but in pushing you blindfolded into the depths of Christianity. Sometimes they seem caring and concerned, but they are playing through a scenario in their head, like a game of chess. At other times they may be talking incessantly, never listening to what you have to say, frustrating you, and forcing you into an emotional state of mind. Let me illustrate with a sample conversation. The key idea that I want to get across to you is this: for a Christian missionary to convert a Jew, the Jew must allow the Christian missionary to define Judaism for the Jew! The Jew must discard everything that he knows in order to embrace something that is absolutely foreign. The following dialog, while fictitious, is a compilation of an assortment of conversations that I have had with Christian missionaries.
Jew: Jesus was born of a virgin? There is no such concept in Judaism. Missionary: And I suppose seas don't part either! G-d can do anything!
Jew: But you are saying that G-d would commit adultery. Missionary: Mary was still in her father's house, so it wasn't adultery. Jew: But if Joseph wasn't the father, then Jesus was not from the house of David. Missionary: The prophets never meant a genetic lineage, but a spiritual one. Jew: But Jews don't sacrifice people for redemption. Missionary: Jesus was not a person. Jew: But Jesus was blemished. Missionary: Physical blemishes only apply to animals, not to the Christ. Jew: But Jesus violated Torah again and again! Missionary: G-d is allowed to violate His own laws. Jew: But Torah is eternal. Missionary: G-d realized that man could not fulfill all of the commandments, so He nullified it with the sacrifice of His only son. Jew: But you end up praying to an intermediary, something with a form. Missionary: He only took that form on this earth. Etcetera, Etcetera, Etcetera.
When you see this starting to happen, you need to be on your guard. If you do not feel comfortable dealing with a missionary, then by all means, walk away. If you are well versed in Torah, then you may want to debate them, but once you feel that you are out of your depth, get away from them. This is one of the most important ideas that you must always keep in mind: Don't fake an answer if you don't know it, and don't be intimidated by what you don't know! These conversations can go on and on. And like the man trying to explain that "dinosaur" doesnt mean the same thing as lunch, the Jew involved in such a conversation will likely end up just as frustrated. Even though you are the Jew, the Christian missionary will be coming from the point of view that he knows more about Judaism than you do. He is able to quote hacked-up versus out of the Tanakh at will, shooting verses at you like a machine gun. The Christian missionary will use his advantage to keep the Jew off balance and then pummel the Jew with quotes taken out of context, and reapplied Jewish meanings, until the Jew falls, or until the Jew stops and walks away from the entire conversation, realizing that it's a complete waste of time. In the Torah, we read where the first woman, when confronted by the serpent, told it that G-d had told her that if she touched the fruit of the forbidden tree, she would die. The truth was that she was not to eat the fruit. The serpent used this misinformation to persuade her that it was totally safe. She touched the fruit and she did not die, therefore she believed the serpent. In a like manner, if you make believe that you know an answer, when you do not, this same information will be used against you. These missionaries have been trained to get the upper hand by having you feel intellectually inferior. Push your feelings aside. The person you are dealing with is a pro on manipulating people, and has studied Jewish text for the sole purpose of leading a Jew away from Torah. If you are not up to their challenge, don't feel that you need to participate.
After a few encounters, however, you will discover that much of this debate is futile since a good Christian missionary will continue to redefine your terms as you use them and throw them right back at you. [Rabbi Nachman said: A person who knows how to debate the non-believers like Rabbi Idid should reply to their challenge; Otherwise, he should not try to counter.] 5 Over the past few years, the desire by Christian missionaries to convert Jews has grown in intensity. Some of these Missionaries may seem very cordial. They tell you that they came from an Orthodox home. They use a lot of Yiddish words and Hebrew phrases, but they don't know more than the handful of words that they were taught by their teachers in order to sway the Jew to convert. They say that they still study Torah but don't seem to know the name of this week's parshah. It's a somewhat-honed routine designed specifically to have a Jew lower his or her guard and be ripe for their deception. And because of this, they specifically target Jews who are lacking in Jewish education, with little, if any, observance. The less that you know, the better prey you become. [Beware, lest your heart be seduced and you turn astray and serve deities of others and bow to them.] 6 They have tailor-made their Christian service to look more Jewish, and there's an important reason for this. If a Jew entered a "Messianic Temple" and heard the "Sh'ma" followed by a song praising Jesus, that same Jew would be very uncomfortable. To get around this confusion, these "temples" will use a Hebrew name to refer to Jesus (which has no root connection to the name "Jesus") such as "Yehushua" or they may use the Hebrew word for Messiah (Moshiach) in order to validate such a contradictory use. In reality, "Messianic Jews" are not simply misguided Jews, but they are organized Christian missionaries. More than that, they are committed to evangelize to the same degree as the Evangelist churches in the United States who fund these operations. In Chicago, a Missionary can go to the Moody Bible Institute and get a BA degree in Jewish Evangelism and learn how to be an effective Missionary. They can go to other Christian Universities and get ordained as Rabbis and Cantors. And even though there is nothing Jewish about them, a Christian Missionary who calls himself a Rabbi is automatically given an air of authority. There are a number of sects that try to appear Jewish in order to entice the Jew. They are:
5 6
Ariel Ministries Chosen People Ministries
Talmud, Tractate Sanheidrein, 38b Torah, Devarim 11:16
Friends of Israel Hope of Israel Jews for Jesus Messianic Jewish Alliance of America Messianic Jewish Movement International
And while this list is not exhaustive, it should give you an idea that it isn't just a handful of zealots trying to convert Jews, but literally tens of thousands of people. This is not some disorganized bunch of street-corner Christian Bible thumping screamers that we see in our city from time to time. This is something far more insidious. So don't be fooled. "Messianic Jews" are really a Christian Missionaries. And of the more than 200 "Messianic Temples", approximately 1/5th of them are affiliated with Southern Baptist churches, and even more are associated with the Assemblies of G-d. It this really a place where a Jew belongs? Even the Mormons, a group that most fundamentalists consider being part of a cultic sect of Christianity, have gotten into the act and have become very problematic in Eretz Israel. Actually, the way that the CSWJS Missionary feels about Mormons is rather interesting. These Missionaries are offended that some new religion was given birth by a man who taught ideas that are contrary to the Christian Bible. And their claim is that the Book of Mormon is the New-New-Testament, it supplements the original Christian Bible. I think the non-Jewish term Karma fits in here rather nicely.
okug rfzk
The JEWS FOR JUDAISM edition of THE REAL MESSIAH? A Jewish Response to Missionaries
is dedicated by
Nison Ciss
in loving memory of
Helena Ciss
(1925-1999)
vg ovrct ,c ktbhha vph :u,at

Sheridan Louis Ciss
(1952-1987)
vg ivfv ixhb ic rzghkt ktuna :ubc

and his family, who perished at the hands of the Nazis, in the Shoah:
(1894-1942)
Itel Ciss
(1892-1944)
Leib Ciss
shv xhm kyht :unt

Rachel Ciss
(1920-1942)
shv ivfv xhm chk :uhct

Moshe Ciss
(1919-1941)
shv ivfv chk ,c kvr :u,ujt

Eliezer Ciss
(1921-1941)
shv ivfv chk ic van :uhjt

Shmuel Ciss
(1923-1941)
shv ivfv chk ic rzghkt :uhjt

Zalman Ciss
(1933-1942)
shv ivfv chk ic ktuna :uhjt

Chaim Ciss
(1935-1942)
shv ivfv chk ic inkz :uhjt
shv ivfv chk ic ohhj uhjt
Mordechai (Motel) Ciss

(1894-1941)
shv ivfv xhm hfsrn :usus

and members of his wifes family, the Tiegermans, who perished at the hands of the Nazis, in the Shoah:
Sarah Tiegerman
(1888-1942)
Miriam Tiegerman-Bielinka
(1910-1942)
shv ;xuh ,c vra :vnt
and
shv ovrct ,c ohrn :v,ujt
Blanca Tiegerman
(1926-1927)
vg ovrct ,c tebtkc :v,ujt

May their souls be bound up in the bond of everlasting life.
ohhjv rurmc vrurm o,nab tv,
Aryeh Kaplan
Together were stronger
Published by
JEWS FOR JUDAISM

2795 Bathurst St., PO Box 41032 Toronto, ON Canada M6B 4J6 Phone: (905) 761-0040 Fax: (905) 761-0070 E-mail: [email protected] www.jewsforjudaism.org
Copyright 1976 by National Conference of Synagogue Youth, (NCSY) New Edition Copyright 1985 by NCSY Jews for Judaism Edition Copyright 2004 by the Orthodox Union (OU) and NCSY in cooperation with Jews for Judaism. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including digital, photocopying or scanning, without permission in writing from the copyright owner. May be downloaded for free as a PDF from www.jewsforjudaism.org This edition is printed with permission from the Orthodox Union and NCSY, 11 Broadway, New York, NY 10004. Phone (212) 563-4000 www.ou.org
THE REAL MESSIAH? A Jewish Response to Missionaries CONTENTS
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE MISSIONARY PROBLEM WHY ARENT WE CHRISTIANS?

Aryeh Kaplan
1 3 7 14 20
WHEN A JEW BECOMES A CHRISTIAN

Aryeh Kaplan
FROM MESSIAH TO CHRIST

Aryeh Kaplan
ECUMENICISM AND DIALOGUE 1263 C.E.

Berel Wein
WAS JESUS THE MESSIAH? LETS EXAMINE THE FACTS!

Pinchas Stolper
27 33 37 41 52
JESUS AND THE BIBLE

Aryeh Kaplan
BEHOLD THE MAN: THE REAL JESUS

Aryeh Kaplan
THE REAL MESSIAH

Aryeh Kaplan
MY WAY BACK A GIRLS STORY

as told to Aryeh Kaplan ADDENDUM:
JEWS FOR JUDAISM THE RESPONSE TO AN URGENT NEED JEWS FOR JUDAISM PROGRAMS AND SERVICES WHAT THEYRE SAYING ABOUT JEWS FOR JUDAISM
55 56 58
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE MISSIONARY PROBLEM Very often, in an attempt to respond to a missionary challenge, one can make a number of seemingly logical moves which, in fact, play directly into the hands of the missionaries. Therefore, a number of Jewish communal leaders have prepared these guidelines for dealing on the spot with missionaries and their followers.
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE MISSIONARY PROBLEM

1) You will not win hearts to Torah by trying to convince people that the claims of Christianity are false. Spend your time learning, teaching and explaining the meaning of the Torah and its Mitzvos. Better still, invite a person who is in search of religious values to a Shabbaton, or to your home for Shabbat. Let the truth and beauty of Torah and its way of life restore people to the right path. 2) Do not argue with missionaries; do not lend credence or dignity to their efforts at soul snatching. There are tens of millions of non-practicing Christians in this country who are better targets for their efforts. 3) Missionaries are usually closed-minded fanatics. They are trained to respond to your arguments with pat, almost memorized answers. If they cant handle your objection, they will deect it by raising another, and still another point. Even if you winyou lose. 4) Do not debate, dialogue or argue with missionaries. Missionaries often seek to engage Jews in public discussion. Do not be drawn into this utterly fruitless exercise. Above all, do not invite missionaries or their followers to address meetings under Jewish auspices. Such hospitality only gives the missionary cause institutional dignity and legitimacy. On the other hand, do not publicly attack or abuse the missionaries; this merely serves to surround them with an aura of martyrdom, to our loss. Our essential obligation is to shore up our Jewishness. 5) Do not be taken in by the Jewish Christian ploy. Some missionary groups appeal specically to Jews with the specious notion that those joining them are thereby completed or fullled as Jews. This is patently incompatible with Jewish tradition and conviction. Conversion to Christianity or any other faith is an abandonment of Judaism. We must strive, with loving concern, to restore erring individuals to their own faith and community. 6) Do not lose your cool. The style of the missionaries is likely to be cool and affable. Emulate it. When they come smiling to the door, respond politelyrmly but with no recriminationNo, thanks, Im not interested, or some brief and denitive equivalent. 7) Get the facts. Fact-nding is a must. This is an indispensable step. Until the actual situation in the community has been established, planning cannot proceed intelligently. Are Jews, as Jews, being
THE REAL MESSIAH? A Jewish Response to Missionaries
missionized? By whom, from what centers or sources? In what settings and by what meansin schools, through coffee houses, drop-in centers, via the communications media, prayer meetings, home study groups, bookmobiles? 8) Plan strategy and approaches. Assuming the fact-gathering process indicates a problem requiring action: (a) Survey the available resourcesknowledgeable and experienced personnel, appropriate literature, suitable facilities. (b) Priority should go to marshalling individualsyoung and old. Set up a task force of peer-to-peer as well as adult resource people with some forte or expertise in this area. (c) Very carefully study at rst hand the needs of those Jewish young people who are irting with or have been drawn into other religious movements, and what they are seeking. Make no prejudgments on these matters. The Jesus Movement is very complex. (d) With equal care plan how to offer a positive Jewish response to their need and search. Only then will it be possible to reach out to them and to share the needed knowledge and understanding with others to be trained for further intensive outreach. 9) Focus on the teenager. Not only college students, but those in the high schools and even in the junior high schools must be deemed vulnerable. Many missionaries may concentrate on teenagers, deliberately using a peer-group approach, exploiting the unsettled state that marks the adolescent years particularly in these times, and the readiness of young people to challenge any traditional accepted values. These areas demand our greatest scrutiny and innovative planning. Our caution against overreaction bears repeating here. Crash programs, counter-crusades, or resort to gimmickry must be avoided. 10) Create opportunities for youth participation. Unfortunately those who are confused Jewishly and troubled personally will not always avail themselves of the programs conducted in synagogues, or youth organizations. Additional ways need to be developed for reaching out with approaches that truly enable young people to shape the content, directions and policies of the programs in which they participate, including those programs that are regarded by them as not controlled by the establishment. Some recently initiated youth and teen programs reect this approach, utilizing informal settings such as storefronts and coffee houses, providing opportunity for rapping and for making contacts with other youth. Such programs are consistent with the long range goals of reaching youth, providing a Jewish setting in which they can relax, meet other Jewish youth, shmoos and talk seriously with warm, sensitive, responsive and skillful people including members of their own peer-groups. Experimentation with innovative and creative approaches to opening channels of participation by our youth must be given high priority.
WHY ARENT WE CHRISTIANS?

Most of all, remember that most people drawn to the missionaries have never experienced real Torah livingjust suggest before you go to the gentiles, why not see what our own tradition has to offer. But follow through by making positive Torah experiences available to them.
For almost 2,000 years, Christian missionaries have been trying to convince the Jew to accept their beliefs, and for just as long, the Jew has resisted. The ones who resisted most strongly were those who sought G-d with the most fervor. What was their motivation? Why did we never give in to the missionaries?

By Aryeh Kaplan
e hear quite a bit today about a movement called Jews for Jesus. A small number of Jews seem to be nding the teachings of Christianity very attractive. The vast majority of Jews, however, still reject these teachings in the most emphatic terms. For almost two thousand years, the Christians have been trying to win over the Jew. And for the same period of time, the Jew has resisted all such overtures. But why? Why dont we accept Jesus? In short: Why arent we Christians? In order to understand this, we must look at the origin of Christian beliefs. Christianity began with a Jew. Jesus lived as a Jew, around the same time as many of our greatest Talmudic sages. The great Hillel lived just a generation earlier, and Rabbi Akiba, a generation after. Our own sources, however, record very little about Jesus life. Everything that we know about him is found in the Gospels of the New Testament, a book written by and for the early Christian church. This book, however, was written primarily to further the cause of Christianity, and it is therefore impossible to separate the historical person of Jesus from the Christ required by early Christian theology. Soon after the death of Jesus, we nd a marked change in the teachings of his followers. Christianity as we know it began during this period in the work of Paul of Tarsus. Paul, or as he was earlier known, Saul, was a disciple of the great Talmudist Rabbi Gamliel, and he began his career by actively opposing the early Christians. In a dramatic incident on the road to Damascus, Paul converted to Christianity, and later became one of its foremost leaders. Although he had never seen Jesus alive, he claimed to have spoken to him in spirit. Under Pauls leadership, many of the distinctive doctrines of Christianity were rst proclaimed, and, for the most part, they have never changed. His teachings are recorded in his Epistles, which form the second part of the New Testament.
Among Pauls major teachings, we nd the following: 1) Jesus was the Messiah or Christ predicted by the Prophets of the Bible and awaited by the Jews. He is also the Son of G-d, and like any son, is essentially the same as his Father. 2) Man is evil and sinful. All mankind is damned because of Adams sin. The Torah cannot save man, since its many commandments make it too difcult to keep. The only thing that can prevent mans utter damnation in hell is the belief in Christ. 3) The Jews were originally G-ds chosen people, but they were rejected when they refused to accept His son, Jesus. The name Israel, G-ds chosen people, is no longer carried by the Jew, but by those who accept Jesus as the Messiah. Only these share G-ds love. Everyone else is damned in hell. 4) There is only one law now that Christ has come, and that is love. One must follow the example of Christs sacrice, and patiently hope that G-d will be gracious in return. It is enough to state these articles of Christian faith to see why the Jews could not accept them. Taking them one by one, the Jewish viewpoint would be: 1) Jesus could not have been the Messiah. The Prophets predicted a world of peace and love after the Messiahs coming, and this certainly does not exist today. Furthermore, any talk of the Messiah as being the son of G-d is totally unacceptable. In no place do the Prophets say that he will be anything more than a remarkable leader and teacher. 2) Although the Torah does speak of Adams sin, it teaches that man can rise above it. Man might not be able to perfect himself, but it was for this reason that G-d gave us the Torah. It is absurd to think that G-d would give a Torah that was impossible or too difcult to follow. In no place does Judaism teach that one can be saved from damnation by mere belief. Any true belief in G-d must lead a person to also follow His commandments. 3) It is impossible to imagine that G-d would ever reject the Jewish people. In many places, the Bible clearly states that His covenant with them will be forever. 4) In many places, the Bible says that the Torah was given forever. It is therefore impossible to say that it has been replaced by a new law or testament. Love alone is not enough, for one must know how to express it, and for this, we need the Torah as a guide. Love is only one of the Torahs commandments, and good deeds are its necessary expression. Why do we believe these ideas rather than the ones expressed by Paul and Christianity? For one thing, we see no evidence that Jesus was indeed the Messiah expected by Israel. The Messianic promise included such things as perfect peace and unity among men, love and truth, universal knowledge and
undisturbed happiness, as well as the end of all evil, idolatry, falsehood and hatred. None of these things have been fullled by Christianity. The Christian answer to this is the simple assertion that all things have indeed changed by the coming of Jesus. If the change is not visible, it is because man is evil and has not truly accepted Jesus and his teachings. Thus, the Messiah or Christ will have to return in order to prove his victory. The Jew refuses to accept the excuse that the major prophecies concerning the Messiah will only be fullled in a second coming. He expects the Messiah to complete his mission in his rst attempt. The Jew therefore believes that the Messiah is yet to come. But there is also another more important issue at stake than the mere identity of the Messiah. Christianity teaches that Jesus was also G-d in human form. The Jew sees this as a totally mistaken idea about G-d. It makes G-d too small, for in stating that He can assume human form, it diminishes both His unity and His divinity. We disagree with Christianity not only with regard to belief, but also with regard to what man must do. Christianity tends to deny that mans actions are ultimately very useful. The only thing that can save man is his utter despair in his own sinfulness, and total dependence on G-d. The Jew, on the other hand, believes that man can come close to G-d by obeying Him and keeping His commandments. Christianity thus starts with one idea about man, while Judaism starts with the exact opposite idea. Judaism starts with the idea that man is created in the likeness of G-d. He therefore does not have to go very far to discover the divine, both in himself and in others. There is always the opportunity to awaken the divine in oneself by obeying G-ds commandments. The Jew begins with this opportunity. Christianity, on the other hand, begins with the basic assumption that man is depraved and sinful. Left to himself, man is utterly damned. He is naturally involved in evil, and must therefore do something to be saved from it. The rst question that the Christian asks is, What have you done to be saved? To the Jew, this question is almost meaningless. This is not the Jewish way of thinking at all. The Jew asks, How can I serve G-d? How can I keep His commandments? The central focus of Judaism is obeying the commandments of the Torah. We look at man and see his greatness, for he can obey these commandments and fulll G-ds will. Christianity teaches that man is so evil that he can never really serve G-d. The Torah is too difcult for man. The only thing that man can do is believe in Christ and wait for salvation. The Jew replies that the very fact that G-d Himself gave us commandments and told us to obey them teaches us that we can indeed serve G-d and fulll His will. It is unthinkable that G-d would give His people a Torah if it were impossible to keep it.
Although all of Jesus disciples were Jews, they could not convince their fellow Jews of their teachings. The early dogmas of Christianity seemed closer to those of the pagan gentiles than to those of the Jews. More and more, Christianity was rejected by the Jews and accepted by the gentiles. It thus gradually developed into a gentile church, and its attitude toward the Jews became more and more unfriendly. It may have constantly appealed to the Jews to convert, sometimes even resorting to cruelty and force, but the Jew stood rm. Christianity may have changed human history, but it could never win over the Jews. The Jew stood by his Torah and walked his own way. In essence, there were two Christian teachings that the Jew could never accept. Christianity taught that G-d had assumed human form in Jesus, and that the Torah no longer mattered. The Jew rejected these two dogmas, even under pain of death. In rejecting Christianity, Judaism therefore did not reject anything that it needed spiritually. There was nothing in all the teachings of Jesus that would have added even one iota to the strength of the Torah. If Christianity made any contribution at all, it was to the non-Jewish world. The Jew knew that his Torah provided him with a unique relationship with G-d. Everything that he saw in Christianity seemed to contradict this relationship. It is for this reason that throughout the centuries, the Jew has found it impossible to accept the teachings of Christianity. He believed with perfect faith that G-d had shown him the way, and he had no intention of ever leaving it.
For the Jew, accepting Christianity involved much more than merely accepting a false Messiah. Aside from its belief in Jesus as the Messiah, Christianity has altered many of the most fundamental concepts of Judaism. Here, we explore the Halachic consequences of a Jew who embraces Christianity.

By Aryeh Kaplan
he sign shouts, Jews for Jesus! You look at the sign and wonder whats going on. You might have heard of them or read about them in the papers. Your curiosity is aroused. You decide to nd out more about it, and speak to one of these strange people. You strike up a conversation. He tells you that he is a Jewish Christian,one of the Jews for Jesus. Before you know it, he is asking you how you feel about your Jewishness. You might admit that you nd your Judaism spiritually unfullling. You both agree that the typical liberal synagogue in which you grew up seemed to offer everything but a religious experience. You admit that deep down you realize that there is a spiritual dimension missing from your life. He sympathizes and tells you the reason why Judaism does not fulll this need is because you have left out an essential ingredient. Then he gives you the punch line: What you need is Jesus. He tells you that to be a true Jew you must believe in Jesus. Only then, so he says, can Judaism provide you with that dimension you are seeking. Do not be deceived. For the past two thousand years, Christians have been trying to convert Jews to their beliefs. This is a central goal of their religion. Jesus, the central object of their belief, was a Jew. He taught and preached to Jews. Yet, he was rejected by them. How can Christians justify their belief, when Jesus very own people refused to accept him? To get the Jews to accept Jesus is therefore one of their most important goals. However, in our generation, some enlightened Christian leaders have called for an end to such active missionary activity. Sadly enough, these leaders are ignored by the growing missionary cult. But you might ask, So whats that terrible? At worst Ill be believing in a false Messiah. What do I have to lose? The truth is that you have a lot to lose. Let us begin by examining the basic beliefs of Christianity. Beside its basic creed that Jesus was the Messiah, the fundamental doctrines of Christianity are:
The Trinity: According to most Christians, G-d consists of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The Incarnation: Christians believe that the Son, the second part of the godhead, came down to earth in human form in the person of Jesus. Mediation: According to their creed, no man can approach G-d directly. Everyone must go through Jesus, the Son. Let us carefully examine these beliefs. A basic foundation of most Christian sects is belief in the Trinity. Christianity teaches that G-d consists of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The Father is the one who created the world, the Son is the one who redeems man, and the Holy Ghost is the member of the godhead that speaks to the prophets.1 Jesus himself alluded to the doctrine of the Trinity. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that his nal words to his disciples was, Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 2 This belief in a three-part god is a basic doctrine of Christianity. Christians claim that this three-part god that they worship is the same as the G-d worshiped by the Jews. This is not true. The Bible states (Deut. 6:4), Hear O Israel, the L-rd is our G-d, the L-rd is One. Twice every day, the believing Jew cries out these words. They are the rst thing a Jew learns as a child and the last words he utters before he dies. On every Jewish doorpost there is a Mezuzah proclaiming these words. They are again found in the Tellin, bound daily next to a Jews heart and mind, proclaiming this most basic principle of Judaism. Worship of any three-part god by a Jew is nothing less than a form of idolatry.3 Idolatry does not necessarily mean worshipping a god of stone or wood. Even if a Jew worships the highest angel, it is also a form of idolatry.4 G-d is the innite One, Creator of all things. Anyone who worships anything else is guilty of idolatry.5 The three-part God of Christianity is not the G-d of Judaism. Therefore, in the Jewish view, Christianity may very well be a variation of idolatry. Although Christianity began among Jews, it was rapidly adopted by the pagans of the ancient world. These pagans believed in an entire pantheon of gods. It was just too much for them to give up all these gods in favor of the One True G-d. So early Christian missionaries compromised with these pagans by introducing the Trinity, a sort of three-in-one god. Even many contemporary Christian scholars see the Trinity as the result of pagan inuence on Christianity. This might represent an improvement for the pagan. But for the Jew it is a regression, representing a step backwards towards idolatry.
This might not seem to be in the Jewish spirit of never attacking other faiths, but when missionaries are spreading lies about Judaism, it is time to unmask these lies. Indeed, several contemporary Christian leaders have denounced the missionaries who prey on Jews. Let us now examine a second basic belief of Christianity, that of the Incarnation. According to this doctrine, G-d in the person of the Son assumed human form in the person of Jesus. It is best expressed in the Nicene Creed, recited every Sunday in most churches. In it, the Christian declares: I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God. Born of the Father before all ages. God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God. Begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father. By whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And he became esh by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary: and was made man. Christians really believe that Jesus was G-d, and this is one of the most fundamental beliefs of Christianity. If we accept the testimony of the Gospels, then this belief originated with Jesus himself. Among other things, Jesus said: All things that the Father (i.e. G-d) hath are mine. 6 My father worketh hitherto, and I work. 7 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son; that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. 8 I and the Father are one. 9 He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. 10 From these quotes, it seems obvious that Jesus himself claimed to be G-d. The missionaries and Jews for Jesus do not tell you about this. They wait until you have fallen into their net. But this is one of the most basic beliefs of Christianity. If belief in the Trinity is idolatry, then, from the Jewish point of view, this concept is perhaps even more objectionable. The pagan gods came down in human form, copulated with mortals, and bore human children. Many Christian historians attribute it to the early Christians who were attempting to win over pagans to their new religion, and therefore adopted this pagan concept. But what does the Bible say about the unity of G-d? It says: Know this day, and lay it in your heart, that the L-rd is G-d, in the heavens above and on the earth below, there is none else. (Deut. 4:39) Do I not ll heaven and earth, says G-d. (Jer. 25:24) The whole earth is lled with his glory. (Isa. 6:3) Great is G-d, highly praised, His greatness is unfathomable. (Psalms 145:3)
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G-d is the Ultimate, the Innite, the All Powerful Creator of all things. To say that any man was G-d is, to the Jew, the height of absurdity. The Bible says (Numbers 23:19), G-d is not a mortal that He should lie, nor a man, that He should change His mind. G-d does not suddenly decide to visit the earth in a human body. A G-d who lls and sustains all creation does not have to visit our planet in human form. The Jerusalem Talmud atly states the Jewish view, If a man claims to be G-d, he is a liar! 11 The third basic belief of Christianity is that of Mediation. This states that man cannot approach G-d except through Jesus. All prayer must be in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Here again, it was Jesus himself who is alleged to have proclaimed this doctrine. He openly said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me. 12 This Christian doctrine goes against the very opening statement of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments begin with the words, I am the L-rd your G-d, Who brought you out of the Land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. When G-d says Before Me, He is stressing that you should not believe in any other deity, even if You believe in G-d as well. One who sets up a mediator between G-d and man is guilty of violating this Commandment.13 If a man believes in G-d, then why should he need any other deity? But a person might think that G-d is so high as to be unapproachable without a mediator. The opening statement of the Ten Commandments teaches us that this is also idolatry. G-d is innite and all-knowing. To say that He needs a mediator to hear our prayers is to deny His innite wisdom. If Jesus actually made these statements recorded in the Gospel, then he was advocating idolatry, with himself as the deity. If this is true, is there any wonder that Jews never accepted him either as prophet, rabbi or teacher? Judaism is unique among the religions of the world. Almost without exception, the worlds religions begin with a single individual, be he Jesus, or Buddha, or Mohammed, or Confucius, or Lao-tze. This individual gradually gathers a following, either through miracles or through sheer charisma. But from the beginning the entire foundation rests on a single individual. Judaism is the one exception to this. It did not begin with any individual. An entire nation stood at the foot of Mount Sinai and heard G-d introduce Himself. Only G-d, speaking to an entire nation could reveal a true religion. And once G-d speaks, He does not change His mind, or revise the truths He proclaimed as absolute and eternal. Our most basic beliefs were taught by G-d Himself at Sinai. The Bible says (Deut. 4:35), Unto you it was shown, that you might know, that the L-rd is G-d, there is none else besides Him. Out of heaven He made you hear His voice, that He might instruct you.
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No matter how many miracles a prophet might produce, he cannot change this basic principle. If a man tells us to commit idolatry, he is a false prophet, no matter how many wonders he pulls out of a hat. G-d warned us about this in the Bible (Deut. 13:2): If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer, and he gives you a sign or a miracle. And the sign or miracle comes to pass, and he calls on you, saying, Let us go after other gods, whom you have not known, and let us worship them. You shall not listen to that prophet or dreamer. For G-d is testing you, to see whether you love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul. G-d Himself was warning us about movements like Christianity. Even if all the miracles recorded in the Gospel were true, we do not pay any heed to them. G-d has already warned us. This brings us back to our original question. What can a Jew lose by embracing Christianity? The answer is: Everything. Christianity negates the fundamentals of Jewish faith, and one who accepts it rejects the very essence of Judaism.14 Even if he continues to keep all the rituals, it is the same as if he abandoned Judaism completely. The Talmud teaches us, Whoever accepts idolatry, denies the entire Torah. 15 A Jew who accepts Christianity might call himself a Jewish Christian, but he is no longer a Jew.16 He can no longer even be counted as part of a Jewish congregation.17 Conversion to another faith is an act of religious treason. It is one of the worst possible sins that a Jew can commit. Along with murder and incest, it is one of the three cardinal sins which may not be violated even under pain of death.18 The missionaries tell you, Believe in Jesus and be saved. The truth is that one who falls into their net is eternally cast away from before his G-d. A Jew must give his life rather than embrace Christianity.19 This is not mere rhetoric. Throughout our history, millions of Jews were given this choice: The Cross or death. Invariably, they chose death. The missionaries now come and preach love and peace. But Jesus himself said, Think not that I come to send peace on earth. I come not to send peace, but the sword. 20 It was this sword that the Crusaders used to wipe out hundreds of Jewish communities in the name of Jesus, the Jew. It was this sword that they used when they entered Jerusalem in 1215. Their rst act was to round up all the Jews to the central synagogue and burn them to death. It was this sword used by the Spanish Inquisition, when they tortured Jews to death in the name of Christian Love. Remember all this when the Jews for Jesus speak of peace and love.
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These Jews for Jesus may arouse your curiosity. But they should also arouse your pity. For they are in an inherent paradox. A Jew for Jesus is a contradiction in terms.
xxx
But what about the Jew who has embraced Christianity? What about the one who has already taken Jesus as his savior. Is he eternally cut off from Judaism? Is he lost without hope of redemption? Is he totally cut off from his people and his G-d? Judaism teaches that there is always hope. No matter how far one strays from G-d and Torah he is always accepted back. The Bible says: As I live, says G-d, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that they turn from their way and live. (Ezek. 33:11). When the wicked turns from his sin, and does what is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. (Ibid. 33:19). That every man shall return from his way, and I will forgive him. (Jer. 36:3) If they return to You, and confess Your Name, and pray ... then You will hear in Heaven, and forgive their sin. (1 Kings 8:33, 34) Even a Jew who has embraced another religion is given a second chance. He can still return to Judaism and be reaccepted by G-d. He must completely disavow Christianity for all time and commit himself totally and without reservation to Judaism. He need not be formally converted back to Judaism, but a denite commitment is in order.21 Christianity for a Jew is a form of idolatry, and must be repented as such. Our sages teach us that keeping the Sabbath is particularly effective for such atonement.22
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If you nd your life spiritually empty, devoid of religious experience, then you need Torah Judaism all the more. You might have been turned off by the pseudo-intellectual substitutes offered by certain liberal rabbis. You may never have been exposed to the true depths of Judaism. But it is there, and millions of Jews are inspired by it. I can gaze at a beautiful sunset, and try to describe it to you. But until you open your eyes and see it for yourself, my words are in vain. You must see it to appreciate it. I can describe the most delicious fruit. But you must taste it to appreciate it. The same is true of Judaism. The Bible tells us (Ps. 34:9), Taste and see, that G-d is good, happy is the man who embraces Him. You must actually live Torah Judaism to appreciate its beauty and
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wisdom. Only when you immerse yourself in it totally will you discover its full spiritual dimension.
xxx
Notes:
1) Nicene Creed. 2) Matthew 28:19. All quotations are from the King James Version. 3) Emunos VeDeyos 2:5-7, Moreh Nevuchim 1:50, Beginning of Maamar Techiyas Ha-Mesim (Rambam); Tshuvos Meil Tzedakah 22, Tshuvos Shaar Ephraim 24, Chasam Sofer on Orech Chaim 156:1. 4) Yad, Avodas Kochavim 2:1. 5) Kesef Mishneh, Lechem Mishneh, on Yad, Tshuvah 3:7. 6) John 16:14. 7) Ibid. 5:17. 8) Ibid. 5:22. 9) Ibid. 10:30. 10) Ibid. 14:9. 11) Yerushalmi, Taanis 2:1 (91). Cf. Moreh Nevuchim 3:15. 12) John 14:6. 13) Yad, Avodas Kochavim 1. 14) Ibid., Yesodei HaTorah 1:6. 15) Sifri on Num. 15:22 and Deut. 11:28; Yad, Avodas Kochavim 2:4. Cf. Horios 8a. 16) Yad, loc. cit. 2:5. 17) Pri Megadim, Eshel Avraham 55:4. 18) Sanhedrin 74a. 19) Tshuvos Rivash 4, 11, Tshuvos Rabbi Yosef ben Lev 1:15. 20) Matthew 10:34. Cf. Luke 12:49, 51. 21) It is recommended that such a penitent undergo the ritual of immersion like a convert. See Nimukey Yosef, Yebamos, Rif 16b Kedusnav, Yoreh Deah 268:12 in Hagah, Turey Zahav Ibid. 267:5, Magen Avraham 325:8. Cf. Avos DeRabbi Nathan 8:8. 22) Shabbos 118b; Tur, Orech Chaim 242.
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To the Jew, the Messiah has a most important mission, namely to bring the world back to G-d, and make it a place of peace, justice and harmony. When Jesus failed to accomplish this, the early Christians had to radically alter the very concept of the Messiah. This, in turn, transformed Christianity from another Jewish Messianic sect into a religion that is quite alien to many basic Jewish teachings.

By Aryeh Kaplan
elief in the coming of the Messiah has always been a fundamental part of Judaism. Thus, for example, Maimonides counts the belief in the Messiah as one of the thirteen cardinal principles of Judaism. It is a concept that is repeated again and again throughout the length and breadth of Jewish literature. There have been many people in Jewish history who have claimed to be this Messiah. The most famous, of course, was Jesus. His followers therefore gave him the title Christ. Mashiachthe Hebrew word for Messiahliterally means the anointed. The Greek word for anointed is Christos, and thus, Christ is really just another word for Messiah. Although Christians claim that Jesus was the Messiah of the Jews, there are a number of important differences between the way the Jew looks at the Messiah, and the way the Christian does. It is most important to know these differences.
The Jewish Messiah

The Jewish concept of the Messiah is that which is clearly developed by the prophets of the Bible. He is a leader of the Jews, strong in wisdom, power and spirit. It is he who will bring complete redemption to the Jewish people, both spiritually and physically. Along with this, he will bring eternal peace, love, prosperity, and moral perfection to the entire world. The Jewish Messiah is truly human in origin. He is born of ordinary human parents, and is of esh and blood like all mortals. As described by the Prophet (Isaiah 11:2), the Messiah is full of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of G-d. He has a special feeling for justice, or, as the Talmud put it (Sanhedrin 93b), he smells and judges. He can virtually sense a mans innocence or guilt. The Prophet (Isaiah 11:4) goes on to say that the Messiah will, smite the tyrant with the rod of his mouth, and slay the wicked with the breath of his lips. Evil and tyranny will not be able to stand up before the Messiah. Still, the Messiah is primarily a king of peace. Our Sages therefore teach us (Derech Eretz Zuta:1): When the Messiah is revealed to Israel, he will only open his mouth for peace. It is thus written (Isaiah 52:7),
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How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace. The rst task of the Messiah is to redeem Israel from exile and servitude. In doing so, he will also redeem the entire world from evil. Oppression, suffering, war and all forms of godlessness will be abolished. Mankind will thus be perfected, and mans sins against G-d, as well as his transgression against fellow man, will be eliminated. All forms of warfare and strife between nations will also vanish in the Messianic age. Most important, the Jewish Messiah will bring all peoples to G-d. This is expressed most clearly in the Alenu prayer, which concludes all three daily services: May the world be perfected under the kingdom of the Almighty. Let all humans call upon Your Name and turn all the worlds evildoers to You. Let everyone on earth know that every knee must bow to You ... and let them all accept the yoke of Your kingdom. We nd a very similar thought in the High Holy Day Amidah, where we pray, Let all creatures bow before You. May they form a single band to do Your will with a perfect heart. The Jewish Messiah will thus have the task of perfecting the world. He will redeem man from servitude, oppression and his own evil. There will be great material prosperity in the world, and man will be restored to an Eden-like existence, where he can enjoy the fruits of the earth without toil. In the Messianic age, the Jewish people will dwell freely in their land. There will be an ingathering of the exiles, when all Jews return to Israel. This will eventually bring all nations to acknowledge the G-d of Israel and accept the truth of His teachings. The Messiah will thus not only be king over Israel, but, in a sense, ruler over all nations. Ultimately, redemption comes from G-d alone, and the Messiah is only an instrument in His hands. He is a human being, consisting of esh and blood like all mortals. He is, however, the nest of the human race, and as such, must be crowned with the highest virtues that mortal man can attain. Although the Messiah may achieve the upper limit of human perfection, he is still human. The kingdom of the Jewish Messiah is denitely of this world. Judaism is a religion based on a people serving G-d. It is from the Jew that G-ds teachings emanate to all humanity. The redemption of Israel must therefore precede that of the rest of mankind. Before G-d redeems the world, He must redeem His oppressed, suffering, exiled and persecuted people, returning them to their own land and restoring their status. The ultimate promise, however, is not limited to Israel alone. The redemption of the Jew is closely linked to the emancipation of all humanity as well as the destruction of evil and tyranny. It is the rst step in mans return to G-d, where all mankind will be united into a single
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band to fulll G-ds purpose. This is the Kingdom of the Almighty in the Messianic Age. Although the Messiah may occupy a central place in this Kingdom of Heaven, he is still not the primary gure. This position can only belong to G-d Himself. This, in brief is the concept of the Jewish Messiah.
The Christian Messiah

The primary gure in Christianity is its Messiah. Its very name indicates that Christianity is completely based on the personality of the Messiah. As mentioned earlier, the name Christ comes from Christos, the Greek word for Messiah. The Christians are thus those who make the person of the Messiah central to their teachings. The rst major difference between the Jews and early Christians was that the Christians believed that the Messiah had already come, while the Jews believed that he was yet to come. At rst, this was the main point of controversy. The Jews had one major objection to the Christian Messiah, and that was the fact that he had been unsuccessful. Judaism had always taught that the Messiah would redeem Israel in a political sense, and Jesus had failed to accomplish this. Instead, he had been scourged and humiliated like a common rebel, and nally crucied along with two ordinary thieves. How could the career of Jesus be reconciled with the glorious picture of the Messiah as taught by the Prophets of Israel? The early Christians faced this dilemma, and, in justifying Jesus as the Messiah, radically altered the entire concept. These new Messianic ideas were developed in the writing of John, and even more so in the Epistles of Paul. If we look in these sources, we nd a gradual transition. The Messiah of the Jew progressively becomes transformed into the Christ of the Christian. This can be traced in a series of logical steps. 1) Jesus was totally unsuccessful in redeeming the Jews politically, and therefore the early Christians could no longer look upon this as the task of the Messiah. His redemption had to be given a new meaning. They therefore taught that his mission was not to redeem man from political oppression, but only to redeem him from spiritual evil. 2) Once the Messiahs mission was redened, it could also be expanded. Political oppression was a special problem of the Jews, but spiritual evil is worldwide. The early Christians therefore began to teach that Jesus had come to redeem the whole world. They rejected the view that he would come to redeem the Jewish people and their land rst, and only then redeem the rest of the world. The Messiahs reign is therefore universal, but only spiritual. The kingdom of Jesus is thus not of this world. 3) Jesus had been scourged and humiliated like a common rebel. His followers felt, however, that he had only preached repentance and good
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works, and therefore could not be a common rebel. They were then faced with an important and difcult question. If Jesus was the true Messiah, then why did G-d allow him to undergo such frightful suffering? Why was he subjected to crucixion, the most painful and shameful death of all? Why did G-d not save him from all this? For his followers, there could only be one answer. The fact that Jesus was scourged, humiliated and crucied had to be the will of G-d. But still, another question remained. If Jesus did not sin, what purpose could there be in his suffering and death? For this, the early Christians found a most ingenious solution. The only answer could be that he suffered and died because of the sins of mankind. But the question was still not completely answered. Had there not been suffering and death before this? Why did Christ himself have to suffer and die? What sin was so great that it required his sacrice? The early Christians answered that this was required to atone for the sin of Adam. All mankind is descended from Adam, and therefore, all inherit his sin. This original sin cannot be erased with good works, or even with ordinary human suffering. The only thing that could eliminate it was the death of Jesus. The Messiah of the Christians therefore willingly went to a disgraceful and painful death in order that humanity might be redeemed from this original sin. Mankind is therefore redeemed from evil, sin, suffering, death and the powers of Satan only by the blood of Christ. Support for this belief was found in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, where the Prophet speaks of G-ds suffering servant, who bore the sin of many. Instead of interpreting it to refer to the persecuted people, Israel, the early Christians claimed that it referred to Jesus. 4) But still the question remained, how could the career of the Redeemer end in such a shameful death? The story had to be given a sequel. Such an epilogue was found in another traditional Jewish belief, namely, that of the Resurrection of the Dead. The early Christians therefore taught that Jesus had risen from the dead, and furthermore, that he was the rst one to do so. Therefore Jesus was not mortal like other men. 5) Jesus followers could not bring themselves to say that G-d had forced this suffering and death upon His Messiah. Therefore, they had to say that the will of the Messiah was exactly the same as the will of G-d, even when it came to his crucixion. But how could a mere mortal undertake such suffering? The early Christians replied that Jesus was not a mere mortal. Since his will was so uniquely related to that of G-d, he had to be related to G-d in some special way. 6) During his lifetime, Jesus often spoke of G-d as my Father in Heaven. For the Jews, this was a common poetic expression, and one that is still used in Jewish prayers. For the pagan gentiles, however, it had a much more literal connotation. The Greeks already had legends about men who had been fathered by gods who had visited mortal human
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women. Legends like these had even sprung up about such eminent men as Plato, Pythagoras, and Alexander the Great. Why should Jesus be any less? They therefore interpreted his poetic expression quite literally, to mean that he had an actual genetic relationship with G-d. Jesus therefore became the son of G-d, conceived when the Holy Ghost visited Mary. As the son of G-d, Jesus was not susceptible to sin or even death. The death of Jesus was therefore only temporary. The only reason why it was needed at all was to atone for the sin of Adam. His followers taught that Jesus was resurrected for eternity and ascended to heaven. There he sits at the right hand of G-d, even higher than the angels. This was the rst step toward the deication of Jesus, and it was not very difcult for the pagan world to take the second step. Jesus was credited with such statements as (John 10:30), I and the Father are one. He had also spoken of (Matthew 28:19), The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. It was easy for the paganized Christians to look at the three as equal and identify Jesus with the Son. Jesus therefore became G-d-manone person with two natures. He is G-d and man at the same time. Christians therefore soon found themselves speaking of Mary as the mother of G-d. 7) Still, there were many Messianic prophecies that Jesus had failed to fulll. The early Christians therefore taught that he would return to the world again in a second coming. The Day of Judgment will then occur, and Jesus, having taken his seat at the right hand of his Father, will judge every man who has ever lived. Those who believed in him will be delivered, while those who did not will be eternally damned to hell. It is only after this judgment that Satan will be conquered. Evil will then end, sin will vanish, and death will pass away. The powers of darkness will thus be eliminated, and the kingdom of heaven established. 8) In this world, meanwhile, all prayer must be addressed to Jesus. The Christian therefore concludes every prayer in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. In this sense, Jesus is the mediator between G-d and man.
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This, in essence, is what the early Christians did to the Jewish concept of the Messiah. The Messiah ceased to be a mere man, and passed beyond the limits of mortality. They taught that man cannot redeem himself from sin, and therefore G-d, clothed in the form of the Messiah, had to freely shed his own blood to redeem mankind. Since Jesus did not fulll the most important Messianic prophecies, they expected him to return to complete this task in a second coming. At rst, Christians expected that this second coming would come very shortly, and prayed that they would see it in their lifetime. When their prayer was not answered, they began to hope that it would come a thousand years after Jesus death. This was the millennium or thousand year kingdom. Finally, after a thousand years passed and Jesus still had not returned, they postponed his second coming to an indenite time.
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We therefore see that the early Christians were forced to radically alter the Jewish concept of the Messiah in order to explain Jesus failure. This, compounded with the pagan inuence in the early church, gave birth to a Messianic concept totally alien to Judaism.
Jewish Reaction
It is not very difcult to understand why the Jews totally rejected the contentions of Christianity. First of all, the Jews had a tradition, well supported in the teachings of the Prophets, that the Messiah would bring about major changes in the world. The spiritual kingdom did not in any way fulll these prophecies. The Jews were furthermore unconvinced by the answer of the second coming, since it was not even hinted at in Biblical literature. Thus, rst of all, the Jew found absolutely no evidence to support Jesus claim to having been the Messiah. On the other hand, Jesus lack of success appeared to repudiate it. Even more important, however, was the fact that the Christians had logically developed their belief in Jesus in such a manner that they radically altered many of the most basic Jewish beliefs. Even such a basic concept as G-ds unity was threatened by their teachings. Even if the evidence of Jesus Messiahship were more concrete, its logical consequences would have to be rejected. The early Christians tried to justify their contention by nding hints of it in the Jewish scriptures. They went over the entire Bible with a ne tooth comb, looking for any evidence however imsy, to prove that Jesus was the Messiah, and that their entire logical structure was in accord with ancient Jewish teachings. In many cases, they were not above using verses out of context, changing texts, and even mistranslating them, in order to prove their point. One needs no further evidence than the fact that most modern Christian Bible scholars totally reject almost all the proofs of the early Christians. Indeed, some of the best refutations of these proofs may be found in contemporary Christian Bible commentaries. Most important, Christianity tried to set itself up as the new Israel, and looked upon the Jews as utterly rejected by G-d. It therefore taught that Judaism was a corrupt and dying religion, with little hope of growth or success. The Jews, on the other hand, did much more than argue this point with words. They refuted it by embarking upon one of the most creative periods in their history. The entire scope of Talmudic literature was developed essentially during early post-Christian times. Thus, to the Jew, the strongest refutation of Christianity was the fact that Judaism itself remained alive and vital. The Jew has found that he can both exist and ourish without accepting Christian beliefs. He believes that the Messiah is yet to come, and that at that time, the truth will become known and the Jew will be justied before all the world.
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Although the Jews for Jesus movement is a relatively recent development in its present form, the groundwork for it was laid by the ecumenical movement. Ecumenicism, however, does have ancient and, for the Jew, dangerous precedents.
ECUMENICISM AND DIALOGUE1263 C.E.

By Berel Wein
he winds of change that Vatican II unloosed into the Christian world are beginning to be felt. And even though the position of the Catholic Church vis-a-vis Jews and Judaism has yet to show any substantive, meaningful change, the new methodology of the Church regarding the treatment of the problem of the people of Israel has begun to emerge. The main bridge that the Church hopes to use in expanding a positive relationship with the Jewish people, particularly in the United States, is that of the open forum or dialogue. The Church is now much interested to foster open public discussion between Jews and Christians of the differences and similarities of the two major religions of Western man. In so doing, the Church has struck a responsive chord in certain Jewish circles, once again, particularly here in the United States. Unlike Orthodox Jewry, the agencies representing the Conservative, Reform and secular wings of Jewry have committed themselves to participation in this dialogue. (The exception of Orthodoxy is notable for two reasons. First, it is one of the few policy decisions that all of Orthodoxy is in accord with. Secondly, Orthodoxys position is disturbing to both the Christian and non-orthodox Jewish participants; not to have the cooperation and blessing of the traditional Jew, whose participation, all feel, would give such an exchange real substance, lends a certain quality of hollowness to the dialogue.) However, the idea of a dialogue between Jews and Christians is not a 20th Century thought but was already explored centuries ago, albeit in a different environment and under other circumstances. The most famous example of an exchange of this order is the debate that took place in the city of Barcelona, Spain, in the year 1263. James I of Aragon sat on the throne of northern Spain, and the spirit of Christian dominance of the civilized world was wafted in the air. Seven hundred and four years have passed since then, but in the record of that dialogue written by Rabbi Mosheh ben Nachman (commonly called the Ramban, and, in the non-Jewish world, Nachmanides), and preserved by both Jewish and non-Jewish sources, one senses yet the grandeur and terror of that moment in Barcelona and a feeling of immediacy and relevancy overtakes the reader of that record. For here are our modern-day problems, differences, disputes, and bitterness poured out on an ancient canvas and curiously, the positions of the antagonists have changed very little in the seven centuries that have since swept by. It will be the attempt
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of this article to reect some of the thoughts and words of this debate and thereby emphasize that the cascading dash to dialogue may perhaps be merely the foolish pursuit of an unattainable and ephemeral illusion.
The Historical Background

James I, who was destined to reign 63 years over the province of Aragon, was, as medieval monarchs went, a friend of the Jews. During the period of his reconquest of Catalonia and Aragon from the Moors, he consistently displayed a tolerance and sympathy towards the Jewish residents of those countries. He encouraged Jewish emigration to those lands, appointed Jews to vital governmental positions, and generally did nothing to interfere with the Jews ability to practice and worship in the tradition of their fathers.1 However, then as now changes were being felt in the structure of the Roman Catholic Church, particularly in Spain. The reforms in the church initiated by Innocent III and continued by Gregory IX reached Spain and rested in the province of Aragon, where the Holy Ofce of the Inquisition was to reach dominance. The Dominican confessor to James I, Raymond de Penaforte, was noted for his zeal to punish, persecute, and/or convert the Jews in Aragon, and his inuence over the king was notable. From 1228 to 1250, a series of anti-Jewish economic edicts were issued by the king which helped foster a climate of anti-Jewish feeling in the land. In 1254, the famous trial of the Talmud in Paris occurred, and the Talmud was found guilty of stating calumnies against Christianity and cartloads of Talmudic manuscripts were burned by the order of Louis IX of France. When this coercion had little or no effect on the Jews or on their reverence for the Talmud, the Dominican friars of Spain, beneting by the lesson of their French colleagues, changed their strategy. No longer was the Talmud criticized, it was rather extolled. The Midrosh now became an accepted source book of accurate portrayals, and Jewish scholarship was no longer publicly reviled. The reason for this was ingeniously simplethe truth of Christianity would now be proven, not from Christian or other non-Jewish sources, but rather from the Talmud and the Midrosh themselves! It was their obstructionism that prevented the Jews from seeing the light of Christianity emanating from their own holy books. This new approach was spearheaded by an apostate Jew who had become a leader in the Catholic church of Aragon, Pablo Christiani. Because of his zeal to convert his fellow Jews, he goaded Raymond, the kings confessor, to convince James to order a public debate regarding the proofs from the Talmud as to the veracity of Christianity. The burden of defending the Talmud and the Jews fell upon the venerable shoulders of one of the greatest of all Talmudists, Rabbi Mosheh ben Nachman. On the 20th of July in 1263, at the Court of James I of Aragon, this dialogue began. It was to last until the 31st of July, though actual debating sessions occupied only four days of this time. The shock of this debate was to leave scars on the memories of both protagonists which have lasted to this day.
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THE REAL MESSIAH? A Jewish Response to Missionaries The Debate
The record of the debate that forms the basis for this article is one written by one of the protagonists himselfthe Ramban.2 Written in a clear and lucid Hebrew style, it presents a picture of the debate and a record of the polemics as seen and heard by the Ramban. At the outset, Mosheh ben Nachman insisted that he be granted the right of free speech throughout the debate. This right was guaranteed to him by the king, and because of this right, the Ramban at all times spoke boldly, incisively, and openly. It was the presence of this guarantee that made this medieval debate in reality a modern one wherein both sides speak their minds without intimidation. Such an open debate was a rarity in Christian Europe until our own times. Later events proved to the Ramban how costly the exercise of this freedom would prove to him personally. I would presume to state that this freedom of expression is what uniquely characterizes and ennobles this discussion and precludes any comparison with the earlier debate of Rabbi Yechiel of Paris3 or the later encounter at Tortossa.4 For here, perhaps for the only time in the annals of medieval Christian European history, Jew meets Gentile as equal, and for the majority of the debate is not the defendant or apologist but rather presses home his criticism and disbelief of Christian concepts and principles. Rabbi Mosheh ben Nachman summarized one main historical argument against the acceptance of Christianity by the Jews of Aragon and, in so doing, he attempted to entirely avoid the necessity of debating Talmudic or Midrashic references to Jesus. It has been proposed to me that the wise men of the Talmud themselves believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and that he was a man and a god, and not merely a mortal man alone. But is it not a well known fact that the incidents and events of Jesus occurred at the time of the Second Temple and that he was born and died before the destruction of that Temple? (70 C.E.) And the Rabbis of the Talmud, such as Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues, died after the destruction of the Temple ... and the editor of the Talmud, Rav Ashi, lived almost 400 years after the Temples destruction. If it would be true that the wise men of the Talmud believed in Jesus and in the truth of his religion, how then did they themselves remain faithful to the religion and practices of the Jews? For they lived and died as Jews, they and their children and their disciples unto this very day. And they are the ones who have taught us the faith of Judaism, for we are all Talmudic Jews ... And if they believed in Jesus, as you are trying to impute from their words, why did they not behave as Friar Paul (Pablo Christiani), who evidently understands their words better than they (and themselves convert)? His argument resounds through the halls of timethe classic answer of Jewish tradition: If our forefathers, who witnessed Jesus, saw his works, and knew him, did not hearken unto him, how should we accept the word of our king (James I), who himself has no rst-hand knowledge of Jesus, and was not his countryman as were our forefathers? Here the Ramban puts into awful clarity the basic point of contention between
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Jews and Christians. The stubbornness of the Jew stems not from his perdy but rather from the fact that he is convinced of the truth of his own belief and not the slightest convinced of the truth of Christian belief. The current Vatican schema on the Jews remains unclear as to whether Christianity has yet come to grips with this fact. For it does not yet specify the cause of the Jews afrmation of the one and denial of the otherit merely hopes through better social relations to soften, if not to reverse, that afrmation and denial. The Dominicans were not deterred from their purpose by the Rambans onslaught. They brought numerous passages from Talmudic and Midrashic literature to prove the truth of their faith. The Ramban stated that he did not consider himself bound by the agadoth of the Talmud,5 and therefore no proofs could be deduced from them. However, he said that even if he granted their accuracy, they in no way agreed with Christian thought or belief. His strength in swimming in the sea of the Talmud easily refuted his antagonists who were not nearly as erudite in the subject matter as he. And he used every opportunity to return to the offensive against his opponents. Does not the prophet say regarding the Messiah that he shall reign from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth (Psalms 72:8)and has not your empire (the Roman empire), declined since it accepted Christianity? Do not your enemies, the Moslems, rule over a greater empire than yours? And does not the prophet also say that at the time of Messiah they shall not teach their friends war, etc? (Jeremiah 31:33) and is it not written (Isaiah 11:9) that then the world shall be full of knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea...? And from the days of Jesus till now, the entire world is full of robbery and pillaging, and the Christians have spilled more blood than any of the other nations, and they are also sexually immoral. How hard it would be for you, my great King, and for your knights, to survive if there would be an end to warfare! This indictment of the status of the Christian, or, as we call it today, the Western world, is even sharper in our time when over fty million people have been destroyed by war in the past century alone, and when all of the economies of the great powers of the world rest on a foundation of defense spending and war preparation. The Ramban further stated that the basic dispute between Christianity and Judaism is not regarding the messianic mission of Jesus himself as much as it is regarding the entire Christian concept of Divinity and belief. Listen to me, my master, my king, said the Ramban, Our contention and judgment with you is not primarily concerning the Messiah,6 for you are more valuable to me than the Messiah. You are a king and he is a king. You are a Gentile king and he is a king of Israel, for the Messiah will only be esh and blood as you are. When I serve my Creator under your sovereign rule, in exile, poverty, oppression and humiliated by the nations that constantly insult us, my reward for this service is indeed great: For I bring forth a voluntary sacrice to G-d of my own being, and through this shall I merit a greater portion of the world to come. However, when there will be
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a king of Israel, abiding by my Torah, who shall rule over all the nations, then I shall be involuntarily compelled to retain my faith in the Torah of the Jews, and therefore my reward shall not be as great (as it is now). However, the main dispute and disagreement between the Christians and the Jews is in that you have some very sorry beliefs regarding the essence of Divinity itself. Thus did the Ramban emphasize clearly that the fundamental differences between Judaism and Christianity are not those of detail and history but rather those of denition and understanding of the nature of Divinity and His relation to man. The question of Original Sin was also touched upon in this debate. Both Pablo and King James asserted that all men had been condemned to Hell because of the original sin of Adam, but that the advent of belief in Jesus had released man from this state of eternal damnation. To this the Ramban retorted with bitter irony: In our province we have a saying He who wishes to lie should be sure that the witnesses to the transaction are far away. There are many punishments mentioned in regard to Adam and Evethe earth was cursed, thorns and thistles shall grow therefrom, man shall earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, that man shall return to the dust, and that woman shall suffer the pain and travail of childbirth. All of these conditions yet exist to this day, and anything tangible that can be evidenced, as the alleviation of any of these conditions, has yet to appear, even since the advent of your messiah. But the curse of damnation to Hell, which Scripture nowhere records, this is the punishment which you say was relieved (by Jesus coming), for this is the one matter which no one can disprove. Send from your midst someone, and let him return and report to us! G-d forbid that the righteous should be punished in Hell for the sin of the rst man, Adam. For my soul is as equally related to the soul of the wicked Pharaoh as to the soul of my father, and I shall not be punished by the damnation of my soul because of the sins of that Pharaoh. The punishments that accrue to mankind because of the sin of Adam were physical, bodily punishments. My body is given to me by my father and mother, and therefore if it was ordered that they be mortal and die, so will their children forever be mortal and die, for such is the law of nature. But, he stated, the soul of man, which is given to him by the Eternal Creator, is not damned because of the sins of others, even of his ancestors themselves, unless he himself continues in their evil ways. The Ramban thereupon entered into a theological disputation regarding the theories of the Virgin Birth and the Trinity. He proved them not to be Jewish in origin and that therefore the mind of no Jew could understand or accept them. He stated that your words (regarding the Talmud and the Messiah) are therefore for naught, because this is the kernel of our disagreement, but if you wish to discuss the concept of Messiah, I will bow to your wishes. He told the king that you believe this bitter thing regarding divinity (the Virgin Birth and the concept of the trinity) because you are born a Christian, the son of Christian parents, and you have been indoctrinated your entire life by priests who have lled your mind and marrow with this belief, and you now accept its
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truth, by basis of habit alone. His criticism of these tenets of the Roman Catholic faith placed in sharp focus the reason for the Jews refusal to accept Christianity from its very onset. Its notion of G-d was, and is, foreign to Jewish tradition and logic. Nothing has yet occurred to change this status either for the Jew or the Christian. The Debate ended rather abruptly. It was never formally closed, but the king recessed it, apparently out of fear of rioting by fanatical mobs stirred up by emotional sermons of certain Dominican friars.7 The king himself took an active part in the debate and one is struck by the fairness and tolerance of James I. It was only the deceitful friars who distorted the teachings of the Talmud. He is quoted by the Ramban as having told him that I have yet to see such a man as you, who, though being wrong, has yet made an excellent presentation of his position. 8 The Ramban also notes that he received a gift of three hundred coins from James, evidently as reimbursement for his expenses. The Ramban states that I departed from [the king] with great affection. Mosheh ben Nachman remained in Barcelona for over a week, and was present for a sermon in the Synagogue on the following Sabbath delivered by a Dominican priest, in the presence of King James, calling on the assembled Jews to convert to Christianity.9 The Dominicans, angered by the Rambans successful defense, turned their wrath against him personally. He was sentenced to temporary exile from Aragon and had to pay a ne for speaking blasphemy. In his old age, broken by the ordeal of his persecution and by a vision of the sorrows that would yet befall the Jews in Spain, Rabbi Mosheh ben Nachman emigrated to the Land of Israel in the year 1267 and on its holy soil he expired shortly thereafter.
Conclusion
The importance of this encounter between the Jews and the Christian world is not to be minimized. It would be many centuries before Jews dared to speak so openly to their Christian fellow countrymen about the fundamental differences that separate them. To our very day, no other Jewish religious leader of the caliber of the Ramban, responsible and responsive to his faith and tradition, has ever presented our case. Those who presume to speak for Judaism in todays dialogues would do well to read the record of this dialogue seven centuries ago. I do not believe that the case for Jews and Judaism can be better stated, with as much candor, compassion and truth, than the manner in which it is reected in the words of Rabbi Mosheh ben Nachman. Both Jew and Christian would prot by a study of that record from Barcelona before plunging headlong into any new dialogue or ecumenical discussion. The issues and the world itself has changed little from the days of James I of Aragon. Neither has the people of Israel.
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The mountain of His holiness, His Holy Temple standing on the heights of eternal hills, That is Sinai, the glory of G-d that dwelled upon it, thrills, Let the nations proclaim His majesty and awe, The voice of the Red Sea, never ending, where His ock saw, All of His wonders, miracles, beauty, Cleanse yourselves, O ye nations and states Raise up your son, give glory and honor to the Lord! 10
Notes:
1) Yitzhak Baer, A History of the Jews in Christian Spain, Volume I, pp. 138-147. 2) Vikuach HarambanFound in Otzar Havikuchim by J. D. Eisenstein, Hebrew Publishing Society, 1915 and Kithvey Haramban by Rabbi Charles D. Chavel, Mosad Horav Kook, 1963. 3) Rabbi Yechiel of Paris, one of the leaders of the school of the Tosasts, defended the Talmud against the accusations of Nicholas Donin, a Jewish apostate, before Louis IX of Paris in 1254. 4) Tortossa was the locale of a series of debates carried on by many Jewish Rabbis, foremost among them being Rabbi Yoseph Albo, against Dominican Theologians and a Jewish apostate, Joshua Halorki, in the years 1413-1414, which ended in disaster for the Jewish cause. 5) The Agadothliterally, Talesare the parables and traditional legends of the Talmudusually with a moral or ethical message woven into their fabric. The term Agadah is used in contradistinction to Halochah which is the law or legal system of Torah. Whether or not the Rambans point in this connection was actually his belief, or was merely a tactic used for this discussion, has been a matter of conjecture among Jewish scholars for considerable time. 6) See Rabbi Chavels note in his Kithvey Ramban, wherein he quotes the statement of the Ramban in the Sefer Hageulah, that even if we admit to ourselves that our sins and those of our fathers are so enormous that all hope of comforting us be lost, and that our exile will last till eternityall of this will still not damage our belief in the fundamental precepts (of our Torah), for the ultimate reward to which we look forward is only in the world to comethe pleasure of our soul in Paradise, and our salvation from Hell; yet we still believe in our redemption (the Messiah), because it is a well known truth among those of great stature in Torah and prophecy. 7) Baer, History of the Jews in Christian Spain, Vol. I, p. 153. Also see the Vikuach Haramban where the Ramban himself makes mention of the preachers who stir up the mob and bring terror to the world, and of many great priests and knights of the kings court, who have advised me not to speak evil against their religion. Also the Jews of this sector reported that they were told to warn me not to continue to do so. 8) An alternative reading of this statement in the Hebrew original is: I have yet to see such a man as you, who though not being a legal advocate, has yet made an excellent presentation of his position. 9) The Ramban himself delivered a sermon-lecture in rebuttal, entitled, The Torah of G-d Is Perfect, a copy of which is printed in the Kithvey Haramban mentioned in note 2 above. 10) The last stanza of a poem From Thy Hand, Lord, Give Forth Honor, written by the Ramban in honor of the Pesach festival.
WAS JESUS THE MESSIAH? LETS EXAMINE THE FACTS The Missionaries claim that Jesus fullled all the prophecies pertaining to the Messiah. The truth, however, is that he did not fulll even one of the important prophecies. All the things that he fullled were in reality quite trivial.
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WAS JESUS THE MESSIAH? LETS EXAMINE THE FACTS

By Pinchas Stolper
f Christians merely believed that Jesus was their messiah, this belief would be of little concern to us as Jews. Their claim, however, is not that he is the Christian Messiah, but our Messiah, the Messiah of the Jews, the Messiah foretold by the Jewish Prophets. Christians then attempt to prove this belief by quoting our Bible. Certain Christian missionary groups have now set up a front organization called Jews for Jesus, through which they entice naive Jews to Christianity with an old and discredited argument. Dont become a Christian, they will argue, remain a Jew,however, while you remain a loyal Jew, accept Jesus as your Messiah. In view of the confusion created by the many false claims of missionary groups, Jews must be armed with the facts to substantiate our conviction that everything Christians claim for Jesus as the Jewish Messiah is false. The following few items will point out some of the glaring discrepancies and inconsistencies in the missionaries arguments: Item: The Jewish Messiah is to be a human being born naturally to husband and wife. He is not to be a god, nor a man born of supernatural or virgin birth, as the Christians claim. Nowhere does our Bible say that the Messiah would be a god or G-d-like. The very idea that G-d would take on human form is repulsive to Jews because it contradicts our concept of G-d as being above and beyond the limitations of the human body and situation. Jews believe that G-d alone is to be worshiped, not a being who is His creation, be he angel, saint, or even the Messiah himself. Nowhere does the Bible predict that the Messiah will be born to a virgin. In fact, virgins never give birth anywhere in the Bible. This idea is to be found only in pagan mythology. To the Jewish mind, the very idea that G-d would plant a seed in a woman is unnecessary and unnatural. After all,what is accomplished by this claim? What positive purpose does it serve? The claim that Mary did not have natural relations with her husband must have made the Jews of that time suspect her of wrongdoing. The New Testament (the Christian Bible) admits as much when it says (Matthew 1,19), Then Joseph her (Marys) husband, being a just man, and not willing to shame her in public, decided to divorce her
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quietly. The whole idea of virgin birth serves no purpose, except to attract pagans to Christianity. Item: The Jewish Messiah is expected to return the Jews to their land. Jesus was born while the Jews still lived in their land, before they had gone into exile. He could not restore them to their land because they were still living in it! Item: The true Messiah is to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalembut Jesus lived while the Temple was still standing. Item: The Jewish Bible says that the Messiah will redeem Israel. In the case of Jesus, the very opposite took place. Not long after his death, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, Jerusalem was laid to waste, and the Jews went into exile to begin a 1900 year long night of persecution, largely at the hands of the followers of this self-styled Messiah! Item: The Prophets in the Bible foretold (Isaiah 45 and Zafania 3) that when the Messiah comes, all the nations of the world will unite to acknowledge and worship the one true G-d. The knowledge of G-d will ll the earth. The world will be lled with the knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the seas (Isaiah 11,9). Nothing of this nature took place following the death of Jesus. On the contrary, Islam developed and became the religion of the Arabs and many other nations, Christianity broke up into many conicting sects which were constantly at war with each other, and a large part of the world continued to worship idols. Even today the world is far from the worship of one G-d. Item: When the true Messiah comes, his inuence will extend over all peoples who will worship G-d at the Temple in Jerusalem. The Prophet says, For My House will become the House of Prayer for all the Nations. This has obviously not yet taken place, and, therefore, the Messiah has not yet come. Item: During the time of the Messiah a new spirit will rule the world, and man will cease committing sins and crimes; this will especially apply to the Jews. The Torah (in Deuteronomy 30,6) says that G-d will circumcise your heart and the heart of your children to love G-d. The Prophets taught: And your people are all righteous, they will inherit the earth forever. (Isaiah 60, 21); In that day I will seek the sins of Israel and there will be none. (Jeremiah 50,20); I will give you a new heart and a new spiritand you will obey my laws and commandments and do them. (Ezekiel 36,21). Soon after the time of Jesus, ignorance of G-d and even ignorance of science and philosophy lled the earth, as the Dark Ages overtook the world. Item: The true Messiah is to reign as King of the Jews. Jesus career as described in the New Testament lasted all of three years, at the end of which he was crucied by the Romans as a common criminal. He never functioned as anything but a wandering preacher and faith healer; certainly, he held no ofcial position or exercised any rule of any kind. Item: During the time of the Messiah, prophecy will return to the Jewish people and the presence of G-d will dwell amongst us. (Ezekiel
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37,27); And after that I will pour my spirit on all of mankind and your sons and daughters will prophesy. These predictions, too, are yet to be fullled. Item: One of the Messiahs major tasks is to bring peace to the entire world. In the time of the Messiah, there are to be no more wars, and the manufacture of arms will cease. The Prophet Isaiah (2,4) says, And they shall beat their swords into plow shares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Yet, Christian nations are very war-like, and wars have been going on almost non-stop since the time of Jesus up to and including today. Item: The New Testament itself claims that the prophecies concerning the Messiah were to be realized in Jesus own generation. Mark (13,30) clearly says, Truthfully I say unto you that this generation shall not pass till all these things be done. In Matthew 4, Jesus is quoted as saying that The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. 2,000 years have passed and still nothing has been accomplished. Item: Nowhere does the Jewish Bible say that the Messiah would come once, be killed, and return again in a second coming. The idea of a second coming is a pure rationalization of Jesus failure to function in any way as a messiah, or to fulll any of the prophecies of the Torah or the Prophets. The idea is purely a Christian invention, with no foundation in the Bible. Item: The Bible says that the Messiah would be descended in a direct line from King David. However, if G-d was Jesus father, is it not somewhat ridiculous to claim that he is descended from King David on his fathers side? Item: Why do some Missionaries insist on distorting the meaning of the words of the prophets in order to substantiate their claims? (An example: the Hebrew term in Isaiah almah which means a young woman is mistranslated as virgin.) Honest Christian scholars now acknowledge that this is a pious fraud and now (see the new Protestant Revised Standard Version of the Bible) translate the word correctly. This is but one of many mistranslations or forced translations. Item: While on the cross Jesus is quoted as saying, Forgive them Father, for they (the Jews) know not what they do. Why do some Christians insist on persecuting the Jews if Jesus himself gave instructions to forgive them? But furtherif his rising from the dead was so crucial to demonstrate who he was, why did this take place in secret and not in the presence of his thousands of devotees? Item: Jesus claimed that he did not intend to change the Laws of Moses,Think not that I have come to abolish the Law (Torah) and the Prophets, I have come not to abolish them but to fulll them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in
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the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 5). Later on, he himself abrogated some of the laws, while his followers eventually abolished or changed nearly all of them. However, the Torah itself clearly states in many places that its laws are eternal, never to be abolished. And even the Christians acknowledge that the Jewish Bible is the word of G-d. If the Torah is eternal and Jesus himself claims to have no intention of abolishing or changing it, why do the Christians celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday when G-d clearly calls the Saturday-Sabbath an Eternal Covenant? Why do Christians eat pig when the Torah forbids it? What reason can Christians give for not celebrating Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur which are clearly spelled out in the Torah? This same argument applies to hundreds of other Torah laws that are ignored by Christians. On the other hand, Christmas and Easter are not mentioned in either the Jewish Bible or the Christian New Testament,these festivals are pagan in origin, adapted for Christian use. But Pesach, Sukkos and Shavuos are clearly spoken of in the Bible. On top of which, Jesus nowhere requests that the Biblical festivals no longer be observed. Item: Christians teach the philosophy of turning the other cheek and loving your enemy. Do you know of any Christian nations that live by this impractical ethic, or even take it seriously? Item: The many Christian statements about G-d being Love have been borrowed from the Jewish Bible and the Jewish religion. Among many such quotations from our Torah are: Love thy neighbor as thyself; Love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; And you shall love the L-rd thy G-d with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. If G-d is Love, how can Christians explain the silence and indifference of the Church and most Christian nations while six million Jews were being gassed and burned by the Germans? Why the stone-like silence during the Six Day War? Where was Christian love during the Spanish Inquisition and the hundreds of pogroms inspired by priests and monks? Item: Judaism believes that G-d is eternal, above and beyond time. G-d cannot be born, He cannot die, He cannot suffer, He cannot become esh, nor can He be divided into sections. (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) These are pagan notions. Certainly no G-d or Son of G-d could have called out on the cross, as Jesus is supposed to have said, My G-d, my G-d, why have you abandoned me? If he was G-ds son, he would at least have said, My father ... Item: If Jesus was really the Messiah, why does the New Testament admit that all the rabbis of the time, without one exception, rejected his claim? Why was there not one man of learning, nor one prominent leader who accepted him? Item: If Jesus was the Messiah, why did the overwhelming majority of his own people, the Jews living at that time, reject him? Why did his followers consist of a handful of people, almost all of whom were poorly
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educated? Why did his own family turn against him? Who was in a position to judge if he was or was not the Messiahhis own people, who anxiously awaited the arrival of the Messiah, or pagan peoples who had no understanding of what the concept really meant? Item: Jesus commanded his disciples to preach to the Jews only and not to the Gentiles (Matthew 10), yet his disciples disobeyed him and did just the opposite. He clearly thought of himself as the Messiah of the Jews and of no one else. Yet, he was accepted by foreign nations and not by the Jews. Item: If God has rejected the Jews for not accepting Jesus as Christians claim, why have we managed to survive 2,000 years of Christian persecution? How do Christians explain the miracle of Jewish survival? Why has G-d restored the city of Jerusalem and the Land of Israel to His rejected people? How do they explain the fact that the Jewish people has re-established its national life in its ancient homeland, and is in possession of the City of Jerusalem? These are living historic facts without parallel. Must not the Christians now acknowledge that the re-emergence of a Jewish State is indeed an unfolding and realization of Bible prophesy in our day? Does this not demonstrate that the many Biblical prophecies that speak of the return of the Jew to his land refers to the Jews and not to anyone else? (The Christians often refer to themselves as the real Jewsthe New Israel, i.e. G-d chose them because the Jews rejected Jesus.) Isnt this theological slap in the face the reason for the Popes refusal to recognize Israel, and for Christian silence during the Six Day War? Item: The Prophets contain many prophecies concerning the end of days and the time of the Messiah that have not yet taken place. These will all take place when the Messiah comes. Why do we need a Messiah in the rst place? In order to teach the Torah to the world and to establish The Kingdom of G-d on Earth. If the Christians have done away with the laws of the Torah, if they no longer regard the Torah as valid, what is left to teach mankind? Nowhere does the Torah suggest that it is to be abolished by the Messiah. On the contrary, the Torah is eternal, and the purpose of the Messiah is to bring us to the day when all of the Jewish people will observe the Torah and all of mankind will acknowledge its truths. Item: Nowhere does the Torah state that someone elses death can bring forgiveness to a persons sins. On the contrary, each man will be punished for his sins, and each man must repent for his sins alone. The soul that sinneth it shall die; Sons will not be punished for the sins of their fathers. The idea that someone elses death 1,900 years ago can somehow bring forgiveness from G-d for my sins is absurd and unfounded. Each person must return to G-d, each sinner must change his own ways and seek G-ds forgiveness. Jews rmly believe that the Messiah will come. We believe that man will not self-destruct, that we will not disappear in a gigantic atomic blast. Man
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is basically good, and G-ds Kingdom will be established. However, it is not enough to believe in G-d. Faith alone is not adequate,G-d demands deeds and action. G-ds revelation on Mount Sinai demands obedience to the 613 commandments spelled out in the written and unwritten Torah. G-d wants discipline, loyalty, and practice; not pious statements and magical formulas. Jews wait for the day when G-d will be King over all the earth and on that day He will be One and His name One. (Zacharia 14,9). Maimonides put our belief into wordsand we rmly stand by these words, I rmly believe, in complete faith, in the coming of the Messiah, and although he may tarry, I daily wait for his coming. Indeed, the Messiah is coming. ... we can almost hear his footsteps.
In First Corinthians (9:20), the apostle Paul says, Unto the Jews, I come as a Jew, that I might convert the Jews. To those who believe in the Law, I come like one who follows the Law, that I might convert those who follow the Law. When the missionaries approach us, they come as Jews, quoting from our Bible. It is both interesting and instructive to carefully examine a few of their proofs.
JESUS AND THE BIBLE

By Aryeh Kaplan
or almost two thousand years, Christians have been trying to convince the Jews that they are right. After all, Jesus was a Jew, and it seems strange that his own people refused to accept him. One of the favorite ploys of the missionaries is to attempt to use the Jewish Bible to prove that Jesus was the Messiah of the Jews. It takes a lot of nerve for outsiders to tell us how to interpret our Bible, written in our language. Jews also know how to read the Bible. It was originally given in Hebrew, which is our language. When the Christians translated the Bible, they often slanted their translations to suit their own purposes. A close look at the original Hebrew is enough to destroy a good portion of their proofs. In many cases we do not even have to go to the original Hebrew. Merely taking the passages in context does away with all their proof. Let us take a few examples:
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Missionaries claim that Jesus fullled the prophecy of the Messiah being born in Bethlehem.
JESUS AND THE BIBLE
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They base this on the verse (Michah 5:1), But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, which are little among the thousands of Judah. Out of you shall one come forth unto Me, to be a ruler in Israel. Both Matthew (2:6) and John (7:43) attempt to use this as proof that Jesus was the Messiah. Of course, this does not prove anything, since thousands of children were born in Bethlehem. Furthermore, if this is really speaking of Jesus, why was he never accepted as a ruler in Israel. The verse continues to say (Michah 5:4), And there shall be peace. This means to say that the Messiah will bring peace to the world, as we nd elsewhere in the Bible (Isaiah 2:4). If this is speaking of Jesus, why did he not succeed in bringing peace to the world? He himself said that he is not coming to bring peace but the sword (Matthew 10:34). But if this verse (Micah 5:1) is actually speaking of the true Messiah, then it is really referring to a descendant of King David. Since David came from Bethlehem (1 Samuel 17:12), the Bible speaks of Bethlehem as the Messiahs place of origin. The true Messiah, who Jews are still waiting for, will be a ruler and will bring lasting peace to the world.
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Missionaries claim that Jesus fullled a prophecy that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. They attempt to prove this from a verse, which even many contemporary Christian editions of the Bible translate to read (Isaiah 7:14), Therefore, the L-rd Himself shall give you a sign: Behold a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. The idea of gods and demigods being born of virgins occurs in many places in pagan mythology. When Matthew (1:23) quoted this passage and translated it into the Greek of the New Testament, his anxiety to prove a point led him to actually mistranslate this passage. He translates the Hebrew word Alma, which actually means young woman as virgin. Thus, we suddenly have an instant prediction of the virgin birth of the Messiah. But the proper Hebrew word for virgin is Besulah, and Alma is never translated as virgin. More honest recent Christian Bible translations, such as the Revised Standard Version, the Jerusalem Bible, and the New English Bible, have corrected this original error. Furthermore, there is absolutely no evidence that this prophecy speaks
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of the Messiah at all. It was directed at King Ahaz, and, according to most Biblical commentators, speaks of the birth of King Hezekiah rather than of the Messiah.
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Missionaries claim that Jesus fullled the prophecy of being a prophet like Moses. G-d says in the Bible (Deuteronomy 18:18), I will raise them up a prophet among their brethren, like unto you (Moses). What this verse means in context is that any prophet must be similar in qualications to Moses, i.e. Jewish, a scholar, righteous, and of the highest personal character. But John (1:45) and the book of Acts (3:22, 7:37) take this quote out of context, claiming that this verse refers to Jesus, and gives him the right to contradict the Torah of Moses. However, this is an obvious distortion, since the Bible openly states that there would never be another prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 34:10), And there shall not arise a prophet in Israel like unto Moses. G-d Himself attested to Moses, as we nd (Exodus 19:9), And G-d said to Moses: Behold, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may believe in you forever. At Mount Sinai, G-d attested to the prophecy of Moses by publicly speaking to him in the presence of millions of people. He never did the same for Jesus. Indeed, there is no evidence that Jesus was a prophet at all, in Jewish terms. The Bible (Deuteronomy 18:22) says that one of the signs of a true prophet is when his prophecy comes true exactly. There is no evidence that Jesus fullled this condition (See John 9:29). Furthermore there is no evidence that the original passage (Deuteronomy 18:18) speaks of the Messiah at all. The verse merely states that the future prophets of Israel in general would share Moses saintly qualities.
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Missionaries claim that Jesus fullled the prophecy of living a sinless life. They base this on the verse (Isaiah 53:9), And they made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich his tomb, although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. This is the famous Suffering Servant passage in Isaiah. Some commentators indeed state that this passage is speaking of the Messiah. Others, however, say that it is speaking of the entire Jewish people. A careful reading of the entire passage may well convince you that it is speaking of the Six Million Jews killed by Hitler. Other commentators say that it is speaking of the Prophet Isaiah himself. In any case it cannot be proven that this passage is speaking of the Messiah at all.
JESUS AND THE BIBLE
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Furthermore, Jesus himself was far from being sinless as the Gospel claims. Speaking to the entire Jewish people, G-d commanded us to keep the Sabbath in the Ten Commandments. Since G-d himself gave this commandment, no one can abrogate it. Yet, the Gospel records that Jesus violated the Sabbath. As expected, the peoples reaction was one of outrage. The Gospel records that the people said (John 9:16). This fellow is no man of G-d, he does not keep the Sabbath. They realized that miracles alone do not give anyone the right to go against G-d, as G-d Himself warned in the Bible (Deuteronomy 13:2). Only the gullible and superstitious are taken in by miracles and magic alone. Beyond this, the Gospel records many instances where Jesus claimed to be G-d (John 10:30, 14:9, 16:15). If so, from the Jewish point of view, he was guilty of idolatry, one of the worst possible sins.
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Missionaries claim that Jesus fullled the prophecy that the Messiah would be killed by crucixion. They quote a Biblical verse, which, correctly translated, reads (Psalm 22:17), For dogs have encompassed me, a company of evil-doers have enclosed me, like a lion, they are at my hands and feet. Like a lion in Hebrew is KeAri. The fundamentalist Christian interpreters actually changed the spelling of the word from KeAri to Kari. If one then totally ignores Hebrew grammar, one can twist this to mean He gouged me. Then, as in the King James Version, they make this verse read they pierced my hands and feet. However, this bears no relation to the original meaning of the verse. Even with the change in spelling, it is a forced translation. This is but one more example of the lengths missionaries go to prove that they are right. Furthermore there is absolutely no evidence that this Psalm is speaking of the Messiah. From the opening verse, it would seem that King David, the author of this Psalm, was actually speaking of himself.
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Missionaries claim that Jesus fullled the prophecy of dying for our sins. The Bible says (Isaiah 53:11), He shall see the travail of his soul ... who by his knowledge did justify the Righteous One to the many, and their iniquity he did bear. We are again in the famous Suffering Servant passage. Missionaries claim that it teaches that our sins can only be forgiven through Jesus. This is a basic Christian doctrine. However, the Bible clearly states (Deuteronomy 24:16), The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers;
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every man shall die for his own sin. Every man is responsible for his own actions, and he himself must make them good. This is a most basic theme repeated over and over in the Bible. According to the commentaries who say that the Suffering Servant is the Messiah (or the prophet Isaiah), a more precise translation would indicate that he did not suffer to atone for our sins, but suffered because of our sins. The Messiahs mission is to perfect mankind. The more we sin, the more difcult we make his task. Thus, our sins will cause the Messiah great anguish. According to the commentators who contend that the Suffering Servant is the entire Jewish people it is not very far fetched to say that the prophet is speaking of the Six Million who died for the sins of mankind. Missionaries lay great stress on the fact that the Bible prescribes blood as atonement (Leviticus 17:11). They therefore claim that without the blood of Jesus, there can be no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22). However, there is no place where the Bible says that blood is the only means of atonement. Furthermore a close reading of the chapters on sacrices shows that the sacricial blood was only prescribed for a small category of transgressions. There is one way of atonement, however, repeated again and again in the Bible. This is repentance. (See Ezekiel 33:11, 33:19, Jeremiah 36:3, etc.) The prophet said (Hosea 14:3), Take with you words, and return to G-d. The main way back to G-d is through words of prayer. The sacricial blood might have helped in some cases, but the most important part of atonement was always repentance and prayer. It is not overly difcult to approach G-d. But it does involve effort on the part of the individual.
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There are many other proofs offered by the missionaries. Every one is as twisted as those presented above, but to refute each one would require an entire book. The main thing is that a clear reading of the Jewish Bible offers absolutely no support to the proofs of Christianity. In most cases, all you need is a good translation (or better still, the Hebrew original), and all those proofs fall away. Many contemporary Christian scholars admit as much. However, the missionaries never mention the most important prophecies concerning the Messiah that Jesus did not fulll. The main task of the Messiah was to bring the world back to G-d, and to abolish all war, suffering and injustice from the world. Clearly, Jesus did not accomplish this.
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In order to get around this failure on the part of Jesus, Christians invented the doctrine of the Second Coming (Hebrews 9:29, Peter 3). All the prophecies that Jesus did not fulll the rst time are supposed to be taken care of the second time around. However, the Jewish Bible offers absolutely no evidence to support the Christian doctrine of a Second Coming. Anything that they can twist to prove that Jesus was the Messiah is exploited to the fullest. All the embarrassing prophecies that he did not fulll are swept under the rug of a Second Coming. The prophecies that Jesus is said to have fullled are, for the most part, trivial. It really does not make much difference in G-ds plan if the Messiah is born in Bethlehem or conceived by a virgin. His really important mission is to perfect the world. This, Jesus failed to do. Jesus, therefore, was not the Messiah of the Jewish tradition. We still await the true Messiah who will accomplish all this in his rst attempt.
But, many argue, even if Jesus was not the Messiah, he was still a perfect human being, and one that we may take as an example. A closer look at his career, however, raises many questions about his perfection.

By Aryeh Kaplan
any people are fascinated by the person of Jesus. Even when they nd it impossible to accept Christian theology, they still feel that they can identify with Jesus the person. They see him as someone who preached love and peace, and whose life embodied the greatest ideals. When we look at Jesus in such idealized terms, many of the things done in his name seem very strange. How could the Crusaders have pillaged and destroyed entire communities in his name? How could the Inquisition have tortured people to death in the name of a man who taught that the foremost commandment was love your neighbor as yourself? How are such contradictions possible? It is much less surprising that his followers did not live by Jesus teachings when we realize that even Jesus himself did not abide by them. Christians like to present us with an idealized picture of Jesus the man, but a careful reading of the Gospels dispels this picture very quickly. Let us look at a few examples. One of the best known teachings of Jesus is (Luke 6:29), If someone smites you on one cheek, turn the other cheek. This might have been a beautiful ideal, but Jesus himself did not live up to it. When one of the High Priests ofcers struck him, Jesus did not turn the other cheek at all.
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Instead, the Gospel tells us that his response was (John 13:23), If I spoke amiss, state it in evidence at my trial. If I spoke well, then why did you smite me? He did not meekly and quietly submit, as he himself is alleged to have preached. Throughout history, it seems that the only one who ever turned the other cheek was the Jew. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructed his followers (Matthew 5:43) Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, and do good to those who hate you. This might have been a ne lesson if Jesus himself lived up to it. But when it came to his own enemies, Jesus declared (Luke 19:27), Take my enemies, who would not have me rule over them, bring them here, and kill them before me. Jesus might have preached against vindictiveness, but he did not practice as he preached, when he said (John 11:39), I come to the world for judgment. I may give sight to the sightless, but I will blind those who see. Some of us may have a picture of Jesus preaching love and peace, as when he said (Matthew 5:22), Anyone who nurses anger against his brother must be brought to judgment ... If he even sneers at him, he will have to answer for it in the res of hell. The picture, however, changes very rapidly when Jesus himself is put to the test. We then nd him declaring (Matthew 10:34), Think not that I have come to send peace to the world. I come not to send peace, but the sword. Jesus subjected anyone who dared oppose him to the most awful abuse, curses and threats of dire punishment. When the Jews tried to defend their ancient faith, Jesus answered them by saying, (Matthew 23:33), You snakes, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell? Jesus did not limit himself to his immediate opponents, such as the Rabbis and teachers. He spoke against all those who dared not believe in him, branding them as outcasts subject to divine punishment. We thus hear his pronouncement (John 3:36), He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. But he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but shall suffer the everlasting wrath of G-d. He may have preached love, but it was a very restricted love. He thus said (John 3:5), I surely say to you: Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of G-d. In contrast to this, the Rabbis, whom Jesus hated so much, did not place any such limitations on G-ds love. It was the Rabbis of the Talmud who made the statement (Tosefta, Sanhedrin 13), The righteous of all nations have a share in the World to Come. They saw G-ds love as available to all people, and not only to Jews. An even stronger statement can be found in our Midrashic literature, where a rabbi declares (Tana DeBei Eliahu Rabbah 9), I call heaven and earth as witnesses: Any individual, whether gentile or Jew, man or
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woman, servant or maid, can bring the Divine Presence upon himself in accordance with his deeds. The Jewish attitude toward non-Jews is most clearly expressed in King Solomons prayer, where he says (I Kings 8:41-43), When a stranger, who is not of Your people Israel, but comes from a distant land ... turns in prayer toward this Temple, then listen to his prayers. Jesus, however, was not so broad minded. When he sent out his twelve disciples, he charged them (Matthew 10:5, 6), Do not take the road to gentile lands, and do not enter any Samaritan city. Go only to the lost sheep of Israel. The Rabbis who lived in Jesus time taught (Avos 4:3), Do not despise any man. They likewise declared (Baba Kama 38a), Even a gentile who studies Torah is equal to a High Priest. These Rabbis saw G-ds salvation freely available to all men. Contrast this with the terrible sentence proclaimed by Jesus (John 15:6), He who does not abide in me is thrown away like a withered branch. Such withered branches are gathered together, cast into the re and burned. This terrible statement was later used by the Catholic Church to justify their practice of burning nonbelievers at the stake. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus preached (Matthew 5:43:44), You have been previously taught to love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you: Love your enemies and bless those who curse you. Jesus may have said this, but the Gospels are aame with his own words of hatred toward those who did not accept him. Time after time, he displays the same appetite for revenge as any other mortal. One of the basic teachings of Judaism is (Leviticus 18:19), You shall love your neighbor as yourself. This commandment is so important that Rabbi Akiva declared that it was the fundamental principle of the Torah. Even though this is openly stated in the Torah, written over a thousand years before Jesus birth, many people still think of it as one of Jesus teachings. But even in explaining this commandment of love, Jesus was not above displaying his vindictiveness. The Gospel (Luke 19:29), records that he was asked, But who is my neighbor? Jesus replied with one of the best known parables in the Gospels: A man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho is attacked by robbers. They plunder and beat him, leaving him half dead by the roadside. A priest comes along and sees the injured man, but he promptly crosses the road to avoid him. A Levite then happens to pass by, and he also crosses the road to avoid him. Finally a Samaritan comes by and is touched by pity. He binds the strangers wounds, carries him to a secure spot, and tenderly cares for him. Thus, the Samaritan becomes the perfect example of the good neighbor. At rst glance, this looks like a most beautiful story. But when we look beneath the surface, we see Jesus vindictiveness only too clearly.
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Let us carefully note the three persons who saw the unfortunate victim. They are a priest (Cohen), a Levite and a Samaritan. Anyone familiar with the three classes of Jews called to the Torah, knows that they are Cohen (priest), Levite and Israelite. We would therefore expect that after the Cohen and Levite passed up the victim, the story would tell us that the third person was an Israelite, an ordinary Jew. Instead, however, Jesus substitutes a Samaritan, a member of a tribe who had been enemies with the Jews for almost ve hundred years. This Samaritan then becomes the example of moral love. The Priests and Levites, who were the religious leaders of the Jews, were thus downgraded, while the hated Samaritan was praised. What Jesus is implying is that every Jew, even a religious leader, is incapable of even a simple act of mercy. Even in his parable about love, Jesus was not above demonstrating his spite toward the Jewish leaders who rejected him. Good Samaritan is a byword among Christians to this very day. Many churches even bear the name, Church of the Good Samaritan. But Jesus vindictiveness assured that there would never be a church with the name, Church of the Good Israelite. Jesus was even able to be vindictive against a tree. When he found himself hungry, he was not able to restrain his too human emotions. The Gospel thus records (Matthew 21:18, 19), In the morning, on his way to the city, Jesus felt hungry. Seeing a g tree near the road, he went up to it, but found nothing on it but leaves. He said to the tree, may you never bear fruit anymore. The tree then withered and died. The Gospel of Mark (Mark 11:13) makes it plain that it was not even the season for gs. Did this innocent tree deserve such cruel punishment? It was not even the season for gs, and the tree was merely fullling its nature. If Jesus merely wanted to show his miraculous powers, as the gospel seems to indicate, why did he not command the tree to bring forth fruit? Indeed, the Talmud (Taanis 24a) brings a very similar incident, but with a very different ending. Rabbi Yosis son once wanted to provide his fathers eld hands with food. All he could nd was a g tree, but it was not the season, and the tree was bare. He cried out, Fig tree, g tree, send forth your fruit so that my fathers workers may eat. The Talmud tells us that the tree produced fruit before its time and the men were able to ll themselves. If Jesus were truly capable of miracles, he could have done the same. Instead, he chose to display his vindictiveness. A primary teaching of Judaism is expressed by the Psalmist many generations before Jesus. He declared (Psalm 145:9), G-d is good to all, and his love extends over all His works. No distinction is made between Jew and gentile. Contrast this with the following event in Jesus career (Mark 2:25-27): A woman whose daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard of Jesus, and came in, falling at his feet. She was a Gentile, a Phoenician from Syria. She begged Jesus to drive out the spirit from her daughter.
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Jesus replied, `Let the children be satised rst. It is not right to take the childrens bread and cast it to the dogs. From the context, it is obvious that the children mentioned by Jesus refer to the Jews, while the dogs were the gentiles. These dogs must be satised with scraps from the table. Now compare this narrow view with a teaching of the much maligned Pharisees (i.e. rabbis). They declare in the Talmud (Gittin 61a), We are obliged to feed the gentile poor in exactly the same manner as we feed the Jewish poor. We can bring many such contrasts between Jewish and Christian ethics. In every case, the margin seems to be on the side of Judaism. Jesus may have taught many beautiful ideals, but unfortunately, he never seemed to be able to live up to them himself. Apparently, it was difcult even for Christ to be a Christian.
Belief in the Messiah is one of the basic tenets of Judaism. We believe that the Messiah will yet come, and hopefully anticipate the Messianic Age. But what sort of person will the Messiah be? What sort of age will he usher in?
THE REAL MESSIAH

By Aryeh Kaplan
hat is the future bringing? There are some pessimists who say that mankind is approaching its end. They predict that we will either pollute ourselves off the face of this planet or overpopulate to the barest marginal existence. Others see man doing the job more quickly, bringing his civilization crashing down on his head in a nuclear war. On the other hand, there are optimists who predict a utopian future for mankind. They see unlimited energy being generated by thermonuclear furnaces, the conquest of mans most dread diseases, and the solution of all our social problems, leading to a world beyond our fondest present dreams. Never before has mankind been faced with such a wide range of possibilities. Never before has it had such tremendous power at its disposal, to use for good or evil. We live in an accelerated age. A man of 2000 years ago would not nd the world of two hundred years ago very different. But the man of two hundred years ago, if transported to todays society, would nd himself in a world beyond his wildest imagination. He would nd himself in a world where reaching for the moon is not a metaphor for the impossible, but a well nanced government project;
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where atoms are smashed and the secrets of life are being exposed; where the dread plagues that decimated entire civilizations no longer exist; where man communicates instantaneously with all parts of the world, and ies in hours to the most distant lands; where beasts of burden are virtually a thing of the past, and man is waited upon by a host of electrical servants. We need not belabor the point, but the past hundred years or so have brought about an increase in knowledge unsurpassed in all human history. Whether we use it wisely or not, these accomplishments are truly amazing. What does it all mean? Why is all this happening now? In all the thousands of years of human civilization, there were many great men of genius. Why could they not bring about the revolution of knowledge that we are now experiencing? Why did it have to wait until this century? And what is it all leading to? And in the midst of this, why do we suddenly nd a generation that will no longer tolerate war, injustice, inequality, the poisoning of our environment, or any of the other evils that we once felt were inevitable? Why this sudden global change of conscience that seems to be shaking the very roots of our civilization? Why are more and more people coming to the conclusion that the evils of society are not merely the natural consequences of civilization, but are diseases that call for a cure? Is there any relationship between the information explosion and mans increased awareness of social justice? We might seek sociological reasons connecting the two. We might dismiss it as mere coincidence. However, there is a third ingredient, one that already affects the entire world, but is uniquely related to us as Jews. After 2000 years of suffering and prayer, we are once again in control of our ancient homeland. Again, the relationship between this and the other two could be dismissed as mere coincidence except for one thing. It has already been foretold. If one looks with an unprejudiced eye at the world today, he will see that we are living in an age where almost all the Jewish prophecies regarding the prelude to the Messianic Age are coming to pass. Even the most doubtful skeptic cannot help wondering how this could be mere coincidence. The man with clear vision can truly see the hand of G-d at work. We who believe in G-d know that He controls the nal destiny of mankind. Although each individual has free will, G-d guides the general course of history towards His ends.1 The collective wills of societies are therefore often determined by G-d. Inventions and discoveries come about as a result of the divine will.2 Governments are guided by G-d to work toward His ends. This is what the scripture means when it says (Prov. 21:1), The kings heart is in the hand of G-d ... He turns it wherever He wills. 3
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The ultimate goal of the historic process is the perfection of society. Since everything was created by G-d, all must eventually be perfected.4 This is even true of mans mundane world, which was created as an arena for our service toward G-d.5 This ultimate goal is what we call the Messianic Age. It is the focus of the entire historical process. The coming of the Messiah is a basic belief of Judaism.6 This yearning and expectation gives Jews great optimism concerning the ultimate future of mankind. However, if you have ever gone through the many passages in the Bible, the Talmud, the Midrash, and the Zohar that speak of this Messianic Age, you might become somewhat confused. Some traditions seem to contradict others, while the line between prediction and allegory often seems very thin. For many of us, any attempt to nd rhyme or reason in these teachings seems fraught with frustration. One of the basic points of contradiction is whether or not the onset of the Messianic age will come through miracles. Many teachings seem to support the view of the miraculous, such as (Dan. 7:13), Behold, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven. On the other hand, others seem to support a more prosaic view, such as (Zech. 9:9), Behold, your king comes to you ... lowly, and riding on a donkey. The Talmud was aware of this contradiction, and answered it by stating that there are two basic ways that the Messianic age can commence. If we are worthy of miracles, it will indeed be miraculous. If we are not, the Messianic Age will arrive in a natural manner.7 Whether or not we are worthy of miracles, G-d will guide the forces of history to eventually bring about the Messianic Age. If, however, we merit miracles, we can bring it about before the historical process has paved the way.8 Miracles are not something to be taken lightly. Mans free will is one of the prime ingredients of creation. If man would lose his free will to act or believe then he obviously could not be held responsible for his actions or beliefs. That responsibility is the vital human ingredient of man and it is essential that his free will be at all times preserved. Witnessing a miracle can destroy ones freedom to believe. Therefore, miracles almost always occur under such circumstances where faith is so strong that they do not affect it at all.9 In order to merit a miracle, man must have such great faith in G-d that it will in no way be affected by witnessing the miracle. Although some of our sages tried to bring about the miraculous coming of the Messiah,10 many were resigned to wait for G-ds own time, when the forces of history would bring about this Age without recourse to miracles. Thus, the Amorah Shmuel taught, There is no difference between now and the time of the Messiah, except with respect to our servitude. 11 We also nd many places where our sages teach us that the redemption will not come all at once, but gradually, in a natural manner.12
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Of course, many of the traditions that we nd regarding the Messianic Age are either allegorical or contingent on factors known only to G-d. Therefore, not all are necessary conditions for the redemption.13 For this reason, the Messiah can come at any time, totally without warning. 14 In order for a perfect society to exist, such things as disease will have to be eliminated. Thus, it has been predicted (Isa. 35:5), The eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped; then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. 15 Similarly, other forms of work will be eliminated in order that man devote himself totally toward his ultimate goal.16 Many such miracles are predicted, such as grapes as large as hens eggs, and grains of wheat as big as a st.17 As we now know, all this can be possible with a technology not too far removed from that of today. Indeed, when Rabban Gamaliel spoke of these predicted miracles, he stated that they would not involve any change in the laws of nature, but are allusions to a highly advanced technology. Thus, so little labor will be needed to process agricultural products, that clothing and loaves of bread will seem to grow on trees. Similarly, as we learn the secrets of life processes, it will become possible to make trees bear fruit continually.18 When we think of the miracles of the Messianic Age as being technological rather than manifest, then we have no trouble understanding traditions that predict such things as space ight19 and interstellar colonization20 in the Messianic Age, even according to those who believe that it will not be a time of manifest miracles. Of course all of this would be mere conjecture and even forced interpretation if it were not for the fact that our present technological revolution has also been predicted, with an approximate date as to its inception. Almost 2000 years ago, the Zohar 21 predicted, In the 600th year of the sixth thousand, the gates of wisdom on high and the wellsprings of lower wisdom will be opened. This will prepare the world to enter the seventh thousand, just as a man prepares himself toward sunset on Friday for the Sabbath. It is the same here. And a mnemonic for this is (Gen. 7:11), In the 600th year ... all the foundations of the great deep were split. Here we see a clear prediction that in the Jewish year 5600 (or 1840), the wellsprings of lower wisdom would be opened and there would be a sudden expansion of secular knowledge. Although the year 1840 did not yield any major scientic breakthrough, the date corresponds with almost uncanny accuracy to the onset of our present scientic revolution. The tradition may have even anticipated the tremendous destructive powers of our modern technology. Thus, we have the teaching of Rabbi Elazar that the Messianic Age will begin in a generation with the power to destroy itself.22 If the technological miracles of the Messianic Age will be dramatic, the social revolution will be all the more profound. On an international scale, it will mean the total end of all war, as the prophet Isaiah predicted (Isa. 2:4), Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they
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practice war any more. 23 According to many commentaries, the allegory (Ibid. 11:6), The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, also refers to the peace and harmony between nations.24 Rabbi Nachman of Breslov states that man will realize the foolishness of war, just as he has already realized that of pagan idolatry.25 On an individual level, the changes will be even greater. When nations beat their swords into plowshares, the hundreds of billions of dollars now used for war and defense will be diverted to the perfection of society. There will be a standard of social justice exemplied by the prophecy (Isa. 62:8), The L-rd has sworn ... Surely I will no more give your corn to be food for your enemies, and strangers will not drink your wine for which they have not labored. 26 This is also the spirit of the prophecy (Ibid. 61:1), To bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and untie those who are bound. 27 Some of the most radical changes will be a result of the nullication of the curse of Adam.28 The technological revolution will largely eliminate the curse (Gen. 3:19), With the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread ... But this change will be even more far reaching with respect to woman. Many of womans disadvantages are a result of Eves curse (Ibid. 3:16), In pain you shall bear children, and you shall desire your man, and he shall rule over you. 29 Womans status will change profoundly when this curse is eliminated, and this may well be the meaning of the prophecy (Jer. 31:22), For G-d will create a new thing, a woman shall court a man. 30 The rapid changes on both a technological and sociological level will result in a great social upheaval. The cataclysmic changes will result in considerable suffering, often referred to as the Chevley Moshiach or Birth Pangs of the Messiah.31 If the Messiah comes with miracles, these may be avoided, but the great changes involved in his coming in a natural manner may make these birth pangs inevitable.32 Since in a period of such accelerated change parents and children will grow up in literally different worlds, traditions handed from father to son will be among the major casualties. This will be especially true of the values of religionin such a rapidly changing world, people will naturally be enamored with the new and dissatised with the old. Thus, our sages teach us that neither parents nor the aged will be respected, the old will have to seek favors from the young, and a mans household will become his enemies. Insolence will increase, people will no longer have respect, and none will offer reproof. Religious studies will be despised and used by nonbelievers to strengthen their cause; the government will become godless, academies places of immorality, and the religious will be denigrated.33 Judaism will suffer greatly because of these upheavals. There is a tradition that the Jews will split up into various groups, each laying claim to the truth, making it almost impossible to discern true Judaism from the false. This is the meaning of the prophecy (Isa. 59:15), truth will fail. 34
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It has also been predicted that many will leave the fold of Judaism completely. This is how our sages interpret the prophecy (Dan. 12:10), The wicked shall do wickedly, and not understand. 35 Of course, there will be some Jews who remain true to their traditions. They will realize that they are witnessing the death throes of a degenerate old order and will not be drawn into it. But they will suffer all the more for this, and be dubbed fools for not conforming to the debased ways of the pre-Messianic Age. This is the meaning of the prophecy (Isa. 59:15), He who departs from evil will be considered a fool. 36 One of the most important traditions regarding the Messianic Age concerns the ingathering of the Diaspora and the resettlement of the Land of Israel. It will begin with a measure of political independence37, and, according to some, with the permission of the other nations.38 There are numerous traditions that Jews will begin to return to the Land of Israel as a prelude to the Messiah.39 There is also a tradition that the land will be cultivated at that time, based on the prophecy (Ezekiel 36:8), But you mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people of Israel, for they are at hand to come. 40 There is also a tradition that the Messiah will reveal himself in the Land of Israel.41 There is even evidence that the majority of the Jews will have to return to their homeland before the Messiah comes in a non-miraculous manner. One of our important traditions regarding the advent of the Messiah is that it will mark the return of prophecy.42 Furthermore, according to many traditions, the Messiah will be preceded by the prophet Elijah,43 and furthermore, he himself will be a prophet.44 However, there is a basic teaching that prophecy can only exist in the Land of Israel,45 and then, only when the majority of Jews live there.46 Thus, unless we assume that this rule is to be broken, the majority of Jews will have to live in the Land of Israel before the Messianic Age commences. Another important consideration is the tradition that the Bais HaMikdash or Holy Temple will be rebuilt before the onset of the Messianic Age.47 However, there is also a tradition that Jerusalem cannot be rebuilt before the ingathering of the diaspora.48 This would also seem to indicate that Israel will be settled before the Messianic Age. However, it is possible that the Messiah himself will accomplish these things before he is actually recognized for what he is.49 We will discuss this point later.50 Into a world prepared to receive him, the Messiah will then be born. He will be a mortal human being, born normally of human parents.51 Tradition states that he will be a direct descendant of King David,52 and indeed, there are numerous Jewish families today that can claim such lineage.53 We all know of leaders who have literally changed the course of history. We have seen, for example, how an evil genius like Hitler literally hypnotized an entire nation, bringing it to do things that normally would be unthinkable in a civilized society. If such power exists for evil, it must certainly exist for good.
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Now, imagine a charismatic leader greater than any other in mans history. Imagine a political genius surpassing all others. With the vast communication networks now at our disposal, he could spread his message to the entire world and change the very fabric of our society. Now imagine that he is a religious Jew, a Tzadik. It may have once seemed far-fetched for a Tzadik to assume a role in world leadership, but the world is becoming increasingly more accustomed to accepting leaders of all races, religions, and ethnic groups. We may soon have reached the stage where it is not far-fetched to picture a Tzadik in such a role. One possible scenario could involve the Middle East situation. This is a problem that involves all the world powers. Now imagine a Jew, a Tzadik, solving this thorny problem.54 It would not be inconceivable that such a demonstration of statesmanship and political genius would place him in a position of world leadership. The major powers would listen to such an individual. Let us go a step further. With peace established in the Land of Israel, he could induce many more Jews to immigrate to Israel. Perhaps he would negotiate with the Russian government to allow all of its Jews to leave. Things might by then have become uncomfortable enough for American Jews to induce them to emigrate as well. Witness the decay of the large cities where the majority of Jews live and work. In such an unassuming manner, the ingathering of the exiles could take place. The Jewish people have always had a profound respect for those who assume roles of world leadership. This Tzadik would naturally be a most respected leader in all Jewish circles. He might even make religion respectable. It is just possible that all Jewish leaders would agree to name him their leader and confer upon him the Mosaic ordination.55 The chain of this ordination was broken some sixteen hundred years ago56 and must be renewed before the Sanhedrin, the religious supreme court and legislature of the Jews, can be re-established.57 If this Tzadik was so ordained by the entire community, he could then re-establish the Sanhedrin. This is a necessary condition for the rebuilding of the Temple, as we nd (Isa. 1:26), And I will restore your judges as at rst, and your counselors as at the beginning, afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. 58 Such a Sanhedrin would also be able to formally recognize the Messiah.59 In his position of leadership, through direct negotiation and perhaps with the concurrence of the world powers,60 this Tzadik might just be able to regain the Temple Mount for the Jewish people. With a Sanhedrin to iron out the many halachic questions, it might then be possible to rebuild the Bais HaMikdash, the Holy Temple. However, if this is accomplished, we will already have fullled the essential part of the Messianic promise. Thus, the Rambam (Maimonides) writes, If there arises a ruler from the House of David, who is immersed in Torah and Mitzvos like David his
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ancestor, following both the Written and Oral Law, who leads Israel back to the Torah, strengthening its laws and ghting G-ds battles, then we may assume that he is the Messiah. If he is further successful in rebuilding the Temple on its original site and gathering the dispersed of Israel, then his identity as the Messiah is a certainty. 61 It is very important to note that these accomplishments are a minimum for our acceptance of an individual as the Messiah. There have been numerous people who have claimed to be the Messiah, but the fact that they did not achieve these minimal goals proved them to be false. Of course, none of this precludes a miraculous advent of the Messiah or any other scenario. It is a foundation of our faith that the Messianic Age can miraculously begin any day.62 When Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked Elijah when would the Messiah come, he answered with the verse (Ps. 95:17), Todayif you hearken to His voice. 63 As both a genius and Tzadik, the Messiah will see through the sham and hypocrisy of this world. Thus, the prophet foretold (Isa. 11:3), He will sense the fear of the L-rd, and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, nor decide after the hearing of his ears. 64 As the Messiahs powers develop, so will his fame. The world will begin to recognize his profound wisdom and come to seek his advice. As a Tzadik, he will teach all mankind to live in peace and follow G-ds teachings. Thus the prophet foretold (Isa. 2:2-4): And it shall come to pass in the end of days that the mountain of G-ds house shall be set over all other mountains and lifted high above the hills and all nations shall come streaming to it. And many people shall come and say: Come let us go up to the mountain of G-d to the house of the G-d of Jacob and He (the Messiah) will teach us His ways and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah and G-ds word from Jerusalem. And He (the Messiah) will judge between nations and decide between peoples. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation neither shall they practice war any more.65 Although the Messiah will inuence and teach all mankind, his main mission will be to bring the Jews back to G-d. Thus, the prophet said (Hos. 3:5), For the children of Israel shall sit many days without king or prince ... Afterward shall the children of Israel return and seek the L-rd their G-d and David their king ... in the end of days. Similarly (Ezek, 37:24), And My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd, and they shall also walk in My ordinances and observe My laws. As society reaches toward perfection and the world becomes increasingly G-dly, men will begin to explore the transcendental more and more. As the prophet said (Isa. 11:9), For all the earth shall be full of the
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knowledge of G-d, as the waters cover the sea. More and more people will achieve the mystical union of prophecy, as foretold (Joel 3:1), And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My spirit on all esh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy ... 66 Although man will still have free will in the Messianic Age, he will have every inducement to do good and follow G-ds teachings. It will be as if the power of evil were totally annihilated.67 And as man approaches this lofty level, he will also become worthy of a divine providence not limited by the laws of nature. What is now manifestly miraculous will ultimately become part of the nature of things.68 This, wedded to mans newly gained powers to bring forth the best that untainted nature has to offer, will bring man to his ultimate destiny, which is the World to Come.69 Living on the threshold of the Messianic age as we do should be a most exciting experience for any Jew. Other generations have expected the Messiahs imminent appearance on the basis of the forced interpretation of one or two prophecies, whereas we are living through the entire range of Messianic tradition, often coming to pass with uncanny literalness. If you keep your eyes open, you can almost see every headline bringing us a step closer to this goal. But as also predicted, it is a time of great challenge. We live in a time of snares and temptations lying in wait for the unwary, drawing them away from the Truth. As one great Rebbe said, It is very easy to be a Jew, but difcult to want to be a true Jew. But imagine a time during which the Messiah has already come. The truth has been revealed. The entire world recognizes what Judaism really is, and the Torah is acknowledged as G-ds true teaching to the world. Those who have followed G-ds way are now the teachers and leaders of a generation desperately trying to make up for lives wasted on vanity and foolishness. There are two groups. Those who have lived by the truth of Torah, and those who have not, now desperately wishing to become a part of it. To which group will you belong?
Notes:
1) Cf. Yad, Tshuvah 6:5; Moreh Nevuchim 2:48. 2) Sichos HaRan No. 5. 3) See Ralbag, Metzudos David, Malbim ad loc., Yalkut 2:959. Cf. Berachos 55a Rashi ad loc., Terichim, Yalkut 1:860, 2:306; Emunos VeDeyos 4:7 end; Maharatz Chayos, Megillah 11a; Radak on Jer. 10:23. 4) Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lutzatto, KaLaCh Pischey Chochmah No. 2. 5) Idem, Derech HaShem 2:1:1. 6) 13 Principles of Faith No. 12; Ikkarim 4:42. 7) Sanhedrin 98a, OrHaChaim on Num. 24:17. 8) Pesachim 54b, Emunos VeDeyos 8:2. 9) Menoras HaMaor 3:end (237), quoting Shaar HaShamayim; Tosefos Yom Tov on Avodah Zarah 4:7. Cf. Barachos 20a. 10) Cf. Baba Metzia 85b. 11) Sanhedrin 99a, Shabbos 63a, Maharsha, Rashash ad loc., Yad, Tshuvah 9:2, Melachim 11:3. See Kesef Mishneh, Lechem Mishneh, Tshuvah 8:7. Also see Abarbanel, Yeshuos Meshicho (Koenigsberg, 5621) 3:7 (56b); Maharal, Netzach Yisroel 50.
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12) Yerushalmi, Berachos 1:1, Yoma 3:2; Shir HaShirim Rabbah 6:16, Etz Yosef ad loc., Midrash Tehillim 18, Zohar 1:170a. Also see Shnei Luchos HaBris (Jerusalem 5720), Bais David, 1:37b; Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Kalisher, Derishas Tzion (Jerusalem, 5724)) 1:1. p. 88. 13) Yad, Melachim 11:3, 12:2. 14) Rav Zera, Sanhedrin 97a. Cf. Tosefos, Eruvin 43b VeAssur, Emunos VeDeyos 8:6. 15) Berashis Rabbah 95:1; Tanchuma, Metzora 2, Zohar 2:82b. 16) Sifri (315) on Deut. 32:12. 17) Kesubos 111 b. 18) Shabbos 30b, according to interpretation of Rambam on Sanhedrin 10:1. Cf. Yerushalmi, Shekalim 6:2. 19) Zohar 1:126 on Isa. 40:31. Cf. Sanhedrin 92b. 20) Tikuney Zohar 14b, on Cant. 6:8. See my article on On Extraterrestrial Life, in the Cheshvan 5733 issue of Intercom. 21) Zohar 1:117a. 22) Pesikta Rabosi, end of No. 1. Cf. Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:29. 23) Shabbos 63a, Emunos VeDeyos 8:8; Ramban, Milchamos HaShem No. 49. 24) Radak ad loc., Yad, Melachim 12:1. 25) Sichos Moharan, Avodas HaShem No. 99. 26) Emunos VeDeyos Ibid. Cf. VaYikra Rabbah 25:8. 27) Cf. Malbim ad loc. See also Yad, Melachim 12:5. 28) Milchamos HaShem No. 45. Berashis Rabbah 20:10, from Isa. 65:25. See also Berashis Rabbah 12:15, Yeshuos Meshicho 3:6 (55b), Rabbi Meir Ibn Gabbai, Avodas HaKodesh 2:38. 29) Cf. GurAryeh (Maharal) ad loc. 30) Or a woman shall turn into a man. See Rashi ad loc., Midrash Tehillim 73:4, Zohar 1:257a. Also see Midrash Tehillim 146:6, Yeshuos Meshicho 4:3 (70a). 31) Netzach Yisroel No. 36. Cf. Sanhedrin 98b. 32) Cf. Emunos VeDeyos 8:6. 33) Sotah 49b, Sanhedrin 97a, Derech Eretz Zuta, 10, Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:29, Pirkey Rabbi Eliezer 32, Zohar 3:676, 125b. 34) Or truth shall be divided into ocks. Sanhedrin 97a. 35) Rambam, Igeres Taimon (Jerusalem, 5721) p. 5; Sichos HaRan 35. Cf. Zohar 3:124b, 153a. 36) Sanhedrin 97a. 37) Ibid. 98, Maharsha ad loc. Ad SheTichla. 38) Ramban on Cant. 8:12, Radak on Ps. 146:3; Derishas Tzion 1:2 (p. 90). For an alternative interpretation, see VaYoel Moshe 1:68. 39) See Midrash quoted in Shevelei Emunah 10:1. 40) Sanhedrin 98a. However, see VaYoel Moshe 1:66 for another interpretation. 41) Midrash quoted in note 39. Also see Igeres Taimon p. 32. 42) Ibid. p. 30. 43) Malachi 3:25, Radak ad loc.; Eruvin 43b, Eduyos 8:7, Targum J. on Deut. 30:4, Pirkey Rabbi Eliezer 43. See Yad, Melachim 10:2, Keresei UPleisi, end of Bais HaSafak; VaYoel Moshe 1:52. 44) Yad, Tshuvah 9:2. 45) Mechilta on Ex. 12:1, Tanchuma Bo 5, Rashi, Radak on Jonah 1:3, Zohar 1:85a, 121a, 2:1706, Emunos VeDeyos 3:5 end, Kuzari, 2:14, Ibn Ezra on Joel 3:1, Tshuvos Radbaz 2:842; Sifri, Ramban, Yalkut (919) on Deut. 18:15. 46) Yoma 9b, Kuzari 2:24 (40a). Also see Avodas HaKodesh 4:25. 47) Yerushalmi, Maaser Sheni 5:2 (29b), Tosefos Yom Tov, Rashash, Maleches Shlomo, Ibid. Shnei Luchos HaBris, Bais David 1:376. Cf. Megillah 17b end. In Yalkut 2:499, we nd that the Messiah will reveal himself on the Temple roof. See also VaYoel Moshe 55f, Rabbi Yehuda Gershoni, Mishpat HaMelucha 11:1. 48) Berachos 49a, Yalkut 2:888 from Ps. 147:2. 49) Yad, Melachim 11:4. 50) There is, however, another opinion stating that it is forbidden for the Jews to emigrate en masse before the actual coming of the Messiah. This is based on an oath to that effect, cf. Kesubos 111a, Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:18, VaYoel Moshe 1:10. This is the opinion of the Satmar Chassidim and others who oppose the resettlement of Israel. However, a complete discussion of this issue is beyond the scope of this article. 51) Yad, Melachim 11:3, Yeshuos Meshicho No. 3, p. 45 ff., Lekutey Tshuvos Chasam Sofer No. 98. 52) Cf. Isa. 11:1. 53) Thus, for example, the Maharal of Prague was able to trace his lineage to the Gaonic line of Rav Haai and Rav Sherira, who in turn traditionally were descendants of King David. There are numerous families that still trace their lineage to the Maharal. 54) Pirkey Rabbi Eliezer 29, as quoted in beginning of Yeshuos Meshicho (our editions lack the critical part); Igeres Taimon p. 34, from Ps. 120:5, cf. Radak ad loc.
MY WAY BACKA GIRLS STORY
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55) Rambam on Sanhedrin 1:3; Yad, Sanhedrin 4:11. Rabbi Yaakov Berab temporarily restored this ordination in 1538, ordaining several Safed scholars, including Rabbi Yosef Karoh, author of the Shulchan Aruch. 56) Cf. Berashis Rabba 31:12. 57) Sanhedrin 4:4 (37a), Yad, Sanhedrin 4:1. 58) Rambam, loc. cit. Also see Megillah 17b, Rashi ad loc. VeKeven; Eruvin 43b, Maharatz Chayos ad loc.; Rashash, Sanhedrin 136. 59) Cf. Tosefta Sanhedrin 3:2, Yad, Sanhedrin 5:1, Melachim 1:3. 60) See Midrash quoted in Bachaya on Lev. 11:4. 61) Yad, Melachim 11:4. 62) Eruvin 43a end. 63) Sanhedrin 98a. 64) Cf. Radak ad loc., Sanhedrin 93b, Yad Melachim 11:3. 65) See Yad, Tshuvah 9:2. 66) Radak, Metzudos ad loc., BaMidbar Rabbah 15:19 end; Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lutzatto, Likutey Yedios HaEmes, Maamar HaIkkarim (New York, 5706) p. 230. 67) Succah 52a, Zohar 1:109a, 1286, 137a, 2:41a, 136a, 3:54a. 68) Shnei Luchos HaBris, Bais David, 1:32a; Yeshuos Meshicho 3:7 (p. 56b). 69) Avodas HaKodesh 2:38, Netzach Yisroel 50.
Many times, the missionary attraction has more dimensions than just theology. Young people, in particular, are susceptible to proselytizing movements which are well organized, using charismatic gures to lure them into their fold. This story, as told to Aryeh Kaplan, is a typical example of the way the missionaries actually work, and how their inuence can be counteracted.
et me begin by saying that I had always been turned off by Judaism as a child. I didnt come from a religious family, and whatever I learned in Hebrew School didnt have anything to do with the real world. In general, I got the impression that everyone was merely going through the motions, but that no one was really interested in Judaism. Even my Hebrew teachers did not seem to be convinced of what they were teaching. Most of the Jewish girls in my school went out with non-Jewish boys, and I was no exception. These boys seemed a lot nicer, and besides, most of the Jewish boys were too busy taking out gentile girls. I was no different than most of my friends, and by the time I was sixteen, I had experienced everythingand I do mean everything. Even though my parents werent religious, they tried to shove Judaism down my throat. They got very up tight when I went out with gentile boys, but they could never really give me a good reason. All they could do was hassle me. They didnt like the way I dressed, and blew up when I stayed out all night.
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Then one day something happened that changed my life. I met a boy by the name of Greg. As soon as I met him, I realized that he was different. Most boys were only interested in one thing, but Greg wasnt. He treated me like a person and understood my problems. It wasnt long before I found out the reason why he was different. He told me that he was a Christianthat he had discovered Christ. I thought that Greg was the most fascinating guy that I had ever met. We talked about religion, and for the rst time in my life, it made sense. He told me about G-d and sin, and how one can reach G-d by believing in Christ. He spoke about religion in a very different manner than my rabbi and teachers had. This was the rst time that I had ever heard anyone talk like that, and it really turned me on. I spent many long nights talking to Greg. It seemed like a whole new world was opening for me. I wanted to learn more, and Greg introduced me to the Jews for Jesus. It was my greatest trip ever. Soon I was busy attending their meetings and handing out literature. They sent me to camp to learn how to organize and convince other Jews. When I went to college the next year, I became one of the organizers of Jews for Jesus on my campus. We had around a dozen members, but some forty kids usually came to our meetings. Then, one day, a Jewish organization on campus had a program directed against us. We learned that two rabbis were supposed to be speaking against us. Several of our top men came down and briefed us on how to respond to these rabbis. They gave us the points that they were likely to bring up, and taught us how to answer them. I knew all the Biblical verses by heart, and was aware of what false explanations these rabbis were sure to give. Ill never forget the day of that program. The other Jewish Christians and myself sat in the front row, ready to do battle for Christ. One of the things that surprised me about the two rabbis was that they were both young and with it. They were also very bright. During the question and answer period, I found them demolishing all of our well prepared arguments. All the smooth answers that I had learned didnt seem so smooth any more. One of the rabbis really put my friend, another Jew for Jesus, down. The rabbi drew him into a discussion about salvation, and my friend replied that no one could be saved unless he believed in Christ. The rabbi asked if this meant that anyone who did not believe in Christ would go to hell. When my friend answered yes, the rabbi asked, Does this even include me? My friend was prepared for this and he boldly answered, Yes, you too. But the rabbi was not nished. He then threw the punch line: And how about the six million Jews who died in Nazi concentration camps? Are they in heaven or in hell? My friend was taken aback. He mumbled something about them accepting Christ at the last moment, but I could tell that he was shook. To tell the truth, so was I.
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The other rabbi was much more pleasant. He had a smile in his voice, and when he spoke to me, he really made me feel as if he cared for me as a person. After the program, I sought out this rabbi and tried to continue our argument. He would not argue. He told me that he was tired of debating these Biblical passages, and that most of our Christian proofs had been refuted centuries ago. He said that if I was interested in returning to true Judaism, he would spend all the time in the world with me, but that for dusty debates, he had no time. Just before I left, he said something that burned in my mind for the next few weeks. They were words that I have never really forgotten. He told me Dont you owe it to three thousand years of Jewish history to learn about your own religion before you try others? Dont you owe it to the millions who gave their lives rather than accept Christianity? Dont you owe it to yourself to try to meet a real turned-on Jew? The meeting left me in a state of shock. I couldnt get the rabbis words out of my mind. What did I owe to our history and our martyrs? He said that he would teach me. I had to speak to him again. I tried to nd out about the rabbi, but no one seemed to know him. Finally, I got up enough courage and asked the boy who had organized the program. His name was Danny, and he was one of the few religious Jewish boys in our school. Danny explained that the rabbi had just been visiting, and lived in a far away city. I was downcast. I had to speak to someone, and Danny seemed very understanding. We began to talk, and I found Danny every bit as fascinating as Greg, but in an entirely different way. He told me how he had come from a nonreligious family just like mine, and how he had nally discovered Judaism. I could really respect the way he was religious. He told me how hard it was, and how he had to explain to his friends why he couldnt eat with them or do anything on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Danny also spoke about G-d, and his words seemed wiser and deeper than anything I had ever heard from my Christian friends. I found myself caught in the middle. All my best friends were into Jesus, yet I felt that I wanted out. Somehow, the Jesus trip no longer turned me on. I was starting to really feel Jewish and felt myself being pulled closer and closer to it. It wasnt the dry stuff that I had learned in Hebrew School, or the hypocrisy of my parents. What Danny was telling me about was a kind of turned-on Judaism that I never even dreamed existed. I recalled the rabbis words, Dont you owe it to yourself to try to meet a real turned-on Jew? Finally, I made my decision. I told my Jesus friends that I was leaving them. They told me that the Devil had gotten me, and that I would be damned in hell. All the love that they had talked about no longer seemed to matter. They were trying to frighten me into stayingbut they only
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succeeded in turning me off completely. I had made up my mind and would give Judaism a chance. I spoke to Danny a great deal, and he tried to explain the true meaning of Judaism to me. He also told me about a youth group that he was active with, and invited me to spend a Shabbaton weekend with them. I went to the Shabbaton, and I must admit that I had never seen anything like it. The whole weekend seemed to be lled with singing and dancinga real festival of life. Their prayers were full of life and meaningnothing like the dry services at my Temple. Just before the Friday night service some rabbi was supposed to be giving a class. I decided to go, and imagine my surprise when I found that it was the same rabbi who had debated me several months earlier. I dont think he recognized me and I was too embarrassed to say anything about our previous encounter. But somehow, it made me feel that I had come back. The class began with a discussion about drugs and getting high. The rabbi said that it was possible to get high from doveningpraying to G-d. I couldnt quite believe that. But then, at the Friday evening prayers, a young boy led the services. He was only around sixteen, but he sang so beautifully that each word seemed to come straight from his heart. It seemed as if he was ying. It wasnt very long before I felt myself ying along with everyone else. I must say that this Shabbaton was one of the best experiences that I ever had. I learned so much, and felt even more. When I came back to school, I started saying the Shma every morning and night. I even began to try to say some blessings before I ate. It wasnt long before I joined the kosher dining club at school, and I even tried to begin to keep Shabbos. This might sound corny, but I really think that Im enlightened. I am happier now than Ive ever been before. I dont know how to put it exactly, but I really feel that I have found the true way to G-d.
JEWS FOR JUDAISM The Response to an Urgent Need
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The Response to an Urgent Need

ccording to recent Gallup and Harris polls, there are over 70 million born again Christians in North America, many of whom are convinced that in order for Jesus to return, the Jewish people must rst be converted to Christianity. Christian denominations, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, the Assemblies of G-d and others contribute over $300 million annually to aggressively evangelize Jews. These evangelical Christians have established special Hebrew Christian synagogues to attract Jews. Such synagogues have grown in number from 20 to nearly 500 in the last 30 years. Missionaries convince their recruits that they are not complete as Jews until they accept Jesus as the Messiah, and that a Jew retains his or her Jewish identity even after converting to Christianity. Over the past 25 years, more than 275,000 Jews worldwide have been converted by missionaries using deceptive tactics in which the Gospel is preached by Messianic rabbis wearing yarmulkas (skullcaps) and talleisim (prayer shawls) at Shabbat and High Holiday services. Contrary to popular perception, it is not only emotionally vulnerable Jews who fall prey to the missionaries efforts; in fact, most Jews are susceptible. Missionaries often target college campuses, hospitals, drug rehabilitation programs, seniors residences and shopping malls in Jewish neighborhoods, as well as the Israeli community, immigrants from the Former Soviet Union and intermarried couples. They deliberately misquote, mistranslate and misinterpret Jewish scriptures and rabbinical texts in order to prove that Jesus was both the Jewish Messiah and G-d. They delegitimize Judaism and, in concert with their misleading exploitation of Jewish symbols, religious artifacts and even traditional music, confuse potential converts, making them more vulnerable. These missionary groupsover 900 in North America aloneare active worldwide, and can be found in almost every Jewish population center. Several groups have founded Messianic Jewish day schools for children and yeshivot where they produce ordained Messianic rabbis. In Israel, there are over 100 Messianic congregations, fellowships and yeshivot. These groups prey almost exclusively upon uneducated, unafliated and alienated Jews. In response to this ever-growing threat, Jews for Judaism was established in 1985 as the only full-time counter-missionary resource and outreach network spanning North America and beyond. Jews for Judaismhas branches in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Toronto, and Johannesburg, South Africa. Our branches work closely with Jewish communities in Israel, the Former Soviet Union, Australia and other locations around the globe in responding to the missionary threat. Our two primary goals are preventive education and winning back those Jews who have been inuenced by missionaries.
JEWS FOR JUDAISM
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Jews for Judaism achieves these goals through counseling Hebrew Christians, monitoring missionary activity, offering a speakers bureau and intensive counter-missionary courses. Jews for Judaism is also a pioneer in worldwide advertising of counter-missionary materials, and has produced its own selection of literature and audio and video tapes in English, Russian, Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, German and French. In addition, we have created award winning websites on the Internet www.jewsforjudaism.org, www.jewishpassion.com and www.tworoadsonepath.org.
JEWS FOR JUDAISMS PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

Books, Literature, Tapes Providing a central resource for books, literature, audio and video tapes on the subjects of cults and missionaries. Jews for Judaism produces the largest selection of counter-missionary literature in the world, and provides for its distribution and dissemination. Counter-leaetting When zealous missionaries descend upon busy street corners to hand out their tracts, Jews for Judaism provides a counter-presence. Our staff and volunteers take up nearby positions, and in a friendly, polite manner, distribute our materials to those who have received the missionary literature. Often, we are engaged in conversation by passers-by and many thankful Jews who exclaim, Jews for Judaism! Its about time! Exit Counseling Conducting one-on-one sessions with individuals who are involved with Christianity or cults. We help them re-evaluate their decisions and help them return to Judaism. Family Crisis Counseling Helping families whose loved one has been ensnared by a cult or missionary group. We work with the troubled family to keep lines of communication open, and attempt to facilitate a meeting with one of our exit counselors for the individual involved. Hebrew Christian Outreach Jews for Judaism staff and volunteers are present at conferences organized by Hebrew-Christians, provide an opportunity for those attending to hear a Jewish perspective and encourage them to re-evaluate their spiritual direction.
JEWS FOR JUDAISMS PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

Hospitality Offering the beauty of a Shabbat or Holiday experience in the warm atmosphere of a friendly and caring Jewish home.
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Internet Presence We maintain the most comprehensive interactive counter-missionary website on the Internet with forums, chatlines and a biweekly e-mail letter. Library and Archives We have the largest collection of missionary and counter-missionary materials in the world. Our les are a source for individuals doing research as well as communities and individuals seeking information about missionary and cult groups operating throughout the world. Media Campaigns Creating advertising and news articles designed to heighten Jewish community awareness of the threat of cult and missionary groups. Monitoring Our ofces track the activities of over 900 missionary and cult groups worldwide that are targeting Jews for conversion. Outreach to the Deaf and Blind Communities Preparing and distributing special materials and coordinating with organizations that serve these segments of the Jewish community. Russian Programs Providing Russian-language literature, tapes and programs for the vulnerable Russian Jewish population. Speakers Bureau Our dynamic speakers are renowned authorities on the missionary and cult problem. They regularly address Jewish communities, synagogues and organizations throughout North America on a wide variety of topics, such as The Battle for the Jewish Soul: The Missionary Threat to Jews, Cultivating Cult-Evading and Jews in the Lotus: Todays Quest for Spirituality and the Lure of the East. Jews for Judaisms programs are a powerful way of strengthening our communities against the missionary threat and encouraging commitment to Judaism. If you would like to receive further information, book a speaker for your group or arrange a personal consultation, please call any of our Jews for Judaism ofces. Wed be happy to help.
Jews for Judaism http://wwwjewsforjudaism.org North American Toll Free: (800) 477-6631
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WHAT THEYRE SAYING ABOUT JEWS FOR JUDAISM!

We welcome and support the efforts of Jews for Judaism in monitoring missionary activity, providing preventive education and most importantly, winning back those Jews who have become inuenced by Christian missionaries. The work of Jews for Judaism has become an acknowledged and effective tool in vigorously countering the deceptive tactics of Christian proselytizers who target Jews for conversion. Bernie Farber, Executive Director, Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region With the growing threat of Hebrew Christian missionary efforts focusing directly on our Jewish youth, its a great comfort to know that Jews for Judaism is a viable force that is constantly working to both thwart the missionary threat and to instill Jewish pride in our young adults. Rabbi Glen Black, NCSY, Toronto, ON While there are very few in the Jewish community who are willing to tackle this problem, there are fewer who have the expertise, wisdom and experience to combat the missionary threat effectively. We fully approve of the important counter-missionary work of Jews for Judaism, and encourage the Jewish community to support this very worthwhile cause. Rabbi Moshe Stern, Past President, Vaad HaRabonim of Toronto, ON Rabbi of Shaarei Tellah Congregation, Toronto, ON My experience in Jewish education has shown that Jews for Judaism is the most effective group in North America directly combating this growing threat. Rabbi Yitzchak Feigenbaum, Principal, Tiferes Bais Yaakov High School, Toronto, ON I ordered the Jews for Judaism tapes 10 months ago. My brotherin-law has since abandoned Christianity and afrmed his belief in Judaism. He said the tapes were very convincing and helpful. K.S. Katz When we found out that our 24-year-old son, Michael, had been convinced by fundamentalist Christians and Jews for Jesus to accept Jesus as his lord, we felt frightened and upset. We are very grateful that the local Federation referred us to JEWS FOR JUDAISM. They are very much needed in the Jewish community. Believe us, we know. Ray and Judy Elias
The Reformers Offer Some Advice On the Jews On The Jews and Their Lies
By Martin Luther - 1543 What then shall we Christians do with this damned, rejected race of Jews? Since they live among us and we know about their lying and blasphemy and cursing, we can not tolerate them if we do not wish to share in their lies, curses, and blasphemy. In this way we cannot quench the inextinguishable fire of divine rage nor convert the Jews. We must prayerfully and reverentially practice a merciful severity. Perhaps we may save a few from the fire and flames [of hell]. We must not seek vengeance. They are surely being punished a thousand times more than we might wish them. Let me give you my honest advice. First, their synagogues should be set on fire, and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of it. And this ought to be done for the honor of God and of Christianity in order that God may see that we are Christians, and that we have not wittingly tolerated or approved of such public lying, cursing, and blaspheming of His Son and His Christians. Secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed. For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues. For this reason they ought to be put under one roof or in a stable, like gypsies, in order that they may realize that they are not masters in our land, as they boast, but miserable captives, as they complain of incessantly before God with bitter wailing. Thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayer-books and Talmuds in which such idolatry, lies, cursing, and blasphemy are taught. Fourthly, their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death to teach any more... Fifthly, passport and traveling privileges should be absolutely forbidden to the Jews. For they have no business in the rural districts since they are not nobles, nor officials, nor merchants, nor the like. Let them stay at home...If you princes and nobles do not close the road legally to such exploiters, then some troop ought to ride against them, for they will learn from this pamphlet what the Jews are and how to handle them and that they ought not to be protected. You ought not, you cannot protect them, unless in the eyes of God you want to share all their abomination... To sum up, dear princes and nobles who have Jews in your domains, if this advice of mine does not suit you, then find a better one so that you and we may all be free of this insufferable devilish burden - the Jews... Let the government deal with them in this respect, as I have suggested. But whether the government acts or not, let everyone at least be guided by his own conscience and form for himself a definition or image of a Jew. When you lay eyes on or think of a Jew you must say to yourself: Alas, that mouth which I there behold has cursed and execrated and maligned every Saturday my dear Lord Jesus Christ, who has redeemed me with his precious blood; in addition, it prayed and pleaded before God that I, my wife and children, and all Christians might be
stabbed to death and perish miserably. And he himself would gladly do this if he were able, in order to appropriate our goods... Such a desperate, thoroughly evil, poisonous, and devilish lot are these Jews, who for these fourteen hundred years have been and still are our plague, our pestilence, and our misfortune. I have read and heard many stories about the Jews which agree with this judgment of Christ, namely, how they have poisoned wells, made assassinations, kidnapped children, as related before. I have heard that one Jew sent another Jew, and this by means of a Christian, a pot of blood, together with a barrel of wine, in which when drunk empty, a dead Jew was found. There are many other similar stories. For their kidnapping of children they have often been burned at the stake or banished (as we already heard). I am well aware that they deny all of this. However, it all coincides with the judgment of Christ which declares that they are venomous, bitter, vindictive, tricky serpents, assassins, and children of the devil, who sting and work harm stealthily wherever they cannot do it openly. For this reason, I would like to see them where there are no Christians. The Turks and other heathen do not tolerate what we Christians endure from these venomous serpents and young devils...next to the devil, a Christian has no more bitter and galling foe than a Jew. There is no other to whom we accord as many benefactions and from whom we suffer as much as we do from these base children of the devil, this brood of vipers.
Translated by Martin H. Bertram, On The Jews and Their Lies, Luther's Works, Volume 47; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971.
Of The Unknowable Name and The Generations of Christ

By Martin Luther - 1543 But your [God's] judgment is right, justus es Dominie. Yes, so shall Jews, but no one else be punished, who held your word and miracles in contempt and ridiculed, insulted and damned it for such a long time without interruption, so that they will not fall, like other humans, heathens and all the others, into sin and death, not up in Hell, nor in the middle of Hell but in the pit of Hell, as one cannot fall deeper... Even if they were punished in the most gruesome manner that the streets ran with their blood, that their dead would be counted, not in the hundred thousands, but in the millions, as happened under Vespasian in Jerusalem and for evil under Hadrian, still they must insist on being right even if after these 1,500 years they were in misery another 1,500 years, still God must be a liar and they must be correct. In sum, they are the devil's children, damned to Hell... The Jews too got what they deserved. They had been called and elected to be God's mouth as Jeremiah says...Open your mouth wide and I will fill it; they however, kept tightly closed their muzzles, eyes, ears, nose, whole heart and all senses, so he polluted and squirted them so full that it oozes from them in all places and devil's filth comes from them. Yes, that tastes good to them, into their hearts, they smack their lips like swine. That is how they want it. Call more: 'Crucify him, crucify him.' Scream more: 'His blood come upon us and our children.' (Matthew 27:25) I mean it came and found you...
Perhaps, one of the merciful Saints among us Christians may think I am behaving too crude and disdainfully against the poor, miserable Jews in that I deal with them so sarcastically and insulting. But, good God, I am much too mild in insulting such devils...
A Response To Questions and Objections of a Certain Jew

By John Calvin Their [the Jews] rotten and unbending stiffneckedness deserves that they be oppressed unendingly and without measure or end and that they die in their misery without the pity of anyone.
Excerpts from "Vom Schem Hamphoras und vom Geschlecht Christi," By Martin Luther and an excerpt from "Ad Quaelstiones et Objecta Juaei Cuiusdam Responsio," by John Calvin; The Jew in Christian Theology, Gerhard Falk, McFarland and Company, Inc., Jefferson, NC and London, 1931.

It is truly surprising how many people there are who confess a belief in J as the Messiah, without having first obtained an adequate knowledge and understanding of the New Testament, the main source of information about him. It is very sad when a Jew falls within this category, for he or she has then exchanged G-d and His Torah for another (R"L). It has been our experience that when a person is calmly shown the factual mistakes and absurdities that are in the New Testament, and sees where it misinterpreted and mistranslated the Hebrew Bible, it awakens the realization that he or she was misled, by people whom they thought were friends. We only ask of you to seriously consider what we have written here with an open mind and heart.
Before one hastily accepts J as the Messiah, one should be aware of the fact that Paul, who was the author of of the New Testament, a founding father of the early church, and the most successful missionary that ever lived, confessed to using deception and lies to make converts: Romans 3:7 If through my lies G-d's truth abounds to His glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? Philippians 1:18 In every way, whether in pretence or in truth, J is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. The veracity of everything that Paul said and wrote is called into question by the fact that these quotes are found in the books he himself authored.
Matthew 1:20 and Luke 1:31 describe "angels" appearing to J's mother and her husband informing them of her forthcoming "immaculate conception" and "virgin birth" to the "Son of Gd" the "Messiah". When compared with the way J's family and neighbors treated him, it is absurd to believe that "angels" really visited them: Mark 3:21 Upon hearing of it, his family went out to seize him, for they said, 'He is beside himself'. To offset the startling fact that J's family thought that he was insane, some New Testament editions replace "they" with "people", although "they" is in the original Greek text. John 7:5 For even his brothers did not believe in him. Luke 4:16 And J came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and he went to the
synagogue, as his custom was, on the Sabbath day... There J hinted to his friends and neighbors that he was the Messiah, however: Luke 4:28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up, and put him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. How very strange it is, that during all the years in which J grew up with them, his brothers, friends, and neighbors did not notice that he was a "divine being"? And could it have been that his parents forgot or didn't tell anyone what they experienced? This stretches one's imagination.
In its zeal to "prove" that J is a descendant of King David, a criteria for one to be the Messiah, the New Testament has not one genealogy of J, but two! They both list only male names, and are completely different: Matthew 1:6 traces J to Solomon, David's son. Luke 3:23 disagrees and has J descending from David through his other son, Nathan. It was a lucky break for the editors that in their time most people could not read. Incidentally, if J did not have a human father, then his ancestral line to David was cut off. In Judaism, one's family lineage is only through the father's male ancestors. Thus, in the Hebrew Bible, women are not listed in any genealogy (see Chronicles).
The following quotes convey the Christian doctrine stating that J came to Earth to voluntarily die for the sins of mankind, thus enacting the "ultimate sin atonement" and becoming the "Savior of the world": I Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you, it being most important, what I also received, that J died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures. Mark 10:45 For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. I Peter 3:18 For J also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous. However, one should question this tenet of faith upon evaluating J's state of mind prior to his crucifixion: Hebrews 5:7 J prayed with loud crying and supplications and tears to Him Who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because he feared.
Matthew 27:46 About the ninth hour J cried out with a loud voice: 'My G-d, my G-d, why have You forsaken me?' Luke 22:43 And there appeared an angel to him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was as great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Because this verse is excessively revealing, some editions of the New Testament omit it from the text, and have it in the footnotes.
The Messiah is an individual who has attained such an exalted spiritual level as to be prepared to commune with G-d at any time. As the leader and role model for all the human race, he will need to be capable of relating to and interacting with all nations, cultures, and individuals. He will be the perfect servant of G-d: Isaiah 11:12 The Spirit of G-d shall rest on him The spirit of wisdom and understanding The spirit of counsel and might The spirit of knowledge and the fear of G-d. In the situations quoted below, determine for yourself if J could have been this towering spiritual giant: John 2:13 In the Temple, J found those selling oxen, sheep and pigeons and the money changers sitting, and when he made a whip of cords, he drove them all, with their sheep and oxen, out of the Temple, and he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. From Mark 11:16 we learn : And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the Temple. Matthew 8:21 Another of the disciples asked him, let me first go and bury my father. But J answered him 'Follow me and leave the dead to bury their own dead.' To those who disagreed with him, J responded: Matthew 23:33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? The Jewish People, after having seen and heard J in person rejected him, because he simply did not meet the criteria for one to be the Messiah, as our Prophets had taught us during the previous 1300 years. Non-Jews, on the other hand, were at a double disadvantage concerning J. Firstly, they had only learned of his existence after his death, and secondly, they did not have in their possession G-d's teachings about the real Messiah and Messianic era, as did the Jews. Therefore, they could only rely on what missionaries told them.
From these facts, one can understand why missionaries consider it worth the enormous amounts of money, time and effort they devote to converting Jews. We are the only eyewitnesses as to whether J is the Messiah or not. In the 12th century C.E. Moshe Maimonides included in his Code of Jewish Law specifically what an individual must accomplish before he is known to be the real Messiah (Mishne Torah Kings 11:4) "If a king will arise from the House of David, who is learned in Torah, observant of the commandments, as prescribed by the Written Law and Oral Law, as David his ancestor was, and he will compel all Israel to walk in the way of the Torah, and reinforce the breaches in its observance, and he will fight the wars of G-d, we may presume that he is the Messiah. If he does these things, and is fully successful, builds the Third Temple in its place and gathers the dispersed of Israel, then he is definitely the Messiah. If he did not succeed to this degree, or he was killed, he surely is not the Messiah promised in the Torah". It is quite obvious that according to Jewish Law and Tradition, the only basis for identifying the Messiah, Jesus was definitely not him.
For more info about this topic online please read: Their Hollow Inheritance- A Comprehensive Refutation of Christian Missionaries go to http://www.drazin.com/
For more info visit these useful websites: www.jewsforjudaism.org /// www.torahatlanta.com /// www.outreachjudaism.org /// www.messiahtruth.com
Missionary Types and Shadows

Missionaries rely heavily on very non-literal readings of the Hebrew Bible. They call these types and foreshadows. Jewish Scripture, we are told, points to Jesus even when the text is plainly not discussing Jesus. Is this missionary claim at all justified? This missionary method is not surprising, as the plain meaning of Scripture (pshat) does not support the missionary agenda. Even missionaries concede prophecy fulfillment is generally not based on pshat: Don't fall into the mistake of assuming that every time a New Testament writer cites an Old Testament text and applies it to Jesus (even if a "fulfillment" formula is followed), it must have been a direct/literal prediction coupled with a direct/literal fulfillment. In most cases by far, the New Testament takes a broader approach to the subject of messianic prophecy (e.g., typology, thematic parallels, corporate solidarity, historical correspondences/analogies, etc.). (http://www.churchinfocus.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=26) The Biblical Approach to Prophecy The missionary approach to prophecy is alien to the Biblical view. When Jewish Scripture identifies prophecy as fulfilled, we see a direct one-to-one correspondence between prophecy and fulfillment. We present an example of Biblical prophecy to show how it works: "Joshua caused [the people] to swear at that time saying, 'Cursed before G-d is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho. With his firstborn son he will lay its foundations, and with his youngest he will set up its gates' (Joshua 6:26)." We read of the fulfillment: "In his days, Hiel the Beth-elite built Jericho; with Abiriam, his firstborn, he laid its foundations; and with Segub, his youngest, he set up its doors, according to the word of G-d He spoke through Joshua son of Nun (I Kings 16:34)." We see that Biblical prophecy is directly predictive, the opposite of the missionary method. Examples Where Jesus Does Not Fulfill the Pshat of Scripture a. Matthew 2:15 claims that when Jesus left Egypt he fulfilled Out of Egypt I called My son (Hosea 11:1). The beginning of that verse reads, When Israel was a child I loved him and Hosea calls Israel, not Jesus, G-ds son. Hosea is not making a prediction about anyone but remembering Israels exodus long ago. Hosea continues to teach us that this son of G-d is not so righteous after all. They sacrificed to the Baalim, and burnt incense to graven images (11:2). Is Jesus a personification of idol worship? Missionaries do a cut-and-paste job since their types and shadows ignore pshat. b. Immanuel is clearly born in King Ahazs time, centuries before Jesus. Isaiah predicts to King Ahaz that a young woman will give birth to Immanuel (7:14). Isaiah tells Ahaz, Before the child shall know to reject evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread [Rezin and Pekah- see 7:1-2] shall be forsaken (7:16). The downfall of these two kings quickly took place (II Kings 15:29-30, 16:9). www.SimplyJewish.org
2 Missionaries honest enough to admit the timing of Immanuels birth nevertheless insist it is a foreshadowing of another Immanuel, namely Jesus. (Missionaries do not dare say the first Immanuel was born of a virgin, but we will not let ourselves be disturbed by such facts right now) c. Zechariah 11:12-13 reads, Then I said to them, If you think it good, pay me my wages; if not, dont. So they weighed out my wages, thirty shekels of silver. G-d said to me, Cast it to the treasurer of the Temple, which I have divested of them. Missionaries claim this foreshadows Judas betrayal of Jesus for thirty shekels (Matthew 26:15) as Judas threw the money into the Temple (27:5) Zechariah never says the transaction predicts a future event. Pshat indicates no prophecy to be fulfilled. d. With this interpretive license, we should not be surprised when missionaries actually admit that the New Testament misquotes Biblical verses. Psalms 40:7 reads, Sacrifice and meal offering you do not desire, ears You have opened for me. The New Testament misquotes it as a BODY you have prepared for me (Hebrews 10:5). Theres no real difficulty here since the writer of Hebrews views Psalms 40:7 as typologically referring to Christ rather than as a literal or direct messianic prophecy.
(http://www.churchinfocus.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=25)
Supposedly, Psalms proves that Jesus fulfills Psalms 40 and that crucifixion atones for mankind. The pshat suggests otherwise: obedience, listening to G-d is greater than sacrifice, similar to "I desire kindness, not sacrifice, and knowledge of G-d more than burnt offerings (Hosea 6:6)." Missionaries assume without textual basis that Psalms 40 is a prediction, and (contrary to pshat) posit the superiority of a particular sacrifice above all else. Since the altered version in Hebrews 10:5 allegedly gives the true sense of Psalms, it supposedly does not matter that Psalms 40:7 never mentions a body. e. Missionaries press even further, claiming that Jesus fulfilled Biblical verses that do not exist! Matthew 2:23 quotes (if that is the right word) He shall be called a Nazarene. There is no such verse in the Hebrew Bible! Missionaries say this is no problem. Since Isaiah refers to Messiah figuratively as a netzer [shoot] (11:1), Jesus fulfilled the invented words he shall be called Nazarene by going to Nazareth. In fact the city of Nazareth is never mentioned in Jewish Scriptures. In these and other cases, missionaries claim it does not matter whether Jesus fulfilled the pshat of Jewish Scripture. He fulfilled these prophecies anyway.
Unverified and Unverifiable Interpretations How does one test the validity of types and shadows? Missionaries cherish them because THERE IS NO STANDARD OF VERIFICATION. How can they determine whether Scripture ever intended types and shadows, and which verses are intended as such and which are not? Given the countless type and shadow meanings one can read into a text, how can they know which meaning is meant? Claims that are not testable are worthless.
www.SimplyJewish.org
3 Missionaries fail to address other legitimate possibilities. What if Hosea is speaking only of Israel as G-ds son? Suppose Isaiah is speaking of one Immanuel, as pshat indicates. Perhaps Zechariahs acceptance of thirty shekels does not predict any other thirty-shekel transaction. Nothing indicates that types and shadows are absolute truth. Yet missionaries say they are solid enough to dogmatically identify Messiah and send the unconvinced to hell! Circular Reasoning of Missionaries Missionaries would respond that their types and shadows are valid because Jesus and his disciples taught them. Here we arrive at the circular reasoning of missionaries. The types and shadows are true because they come from Jesus. But how do we establish the credibility of Jesus? Easy- he fulfilled so many types and shadows! Missionary Double Standard The perceptive reader will notice the double standard by which missionaries operate. Do they apply the same poetic license in interpreting the New Testament as they do to the Hebrew Bible? Not at all! They take the New Testament very seriously. Anyone claiming to find types and shadows in the New Testament is labeled a Mormon, Moonie, etc. (Certainly missionaries reject Charles Mansons claim that the New Testament hints to the Beatles) In recent years, however, missionaries have accused Judaism of practicing a double standard. They refer to Midrash- Rabbinic homiletics, which supplement the pshat of Scripture. Missionaries ask why they must be held accountable to the pshat given the existence of Jewish Midrash. According to Moshe Yosef Koniuchowsky, Hebrew-Christian, counter-missionaries are guilty by refusing to make allowance, and give the New Testament writers the same liberty and literary freedom in using Scripture to portray truth as they do the writers and authors of the Tanach [Hebrew Bible] (Messianic Believers First Response Handbook, p. 7). As we shall see, Midrash and missionary prooftexting are not at all comparable. There are at least five critical differences between Jewish Midrash and missionary types and shadows. a. Midrash is used for Midrash- homiletic meanings. Missionaries use types and shadows to establish pshat. There is no such thing as a Midrashic fulfillment of a prophecy. What is a Midrash? According to Moses Mielziner in Introduction to the Talmud, Where the Midrash does not concern legal enactments and provisions, but merely inquires into the meaning and significance of the laws or where it only uses the words of Scripture as a vehicle to convey a moral teaching or a religious instruction and consolation, it is called Midrash Agadah Interpretation of the Agadah, homiletical interpretation. (Emphasis mine) [http://messiahtruth.com/midrash.html].
4 Nachmanides, in a thirteenth-century disputation with the Church said, "We have a third book called Midrash, meaning sermons. It is just as if the bishop would rise and deliver a sermon, and one of the listeners whom the sermon pleased recorded it (Disputation at Barcelona, p. 7)." In a sermon, the speaker can relate a verse to person X without person X being the actual subject of the verse. The same is true for Midrash. This is why the Talmud relates the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 with Moses, even though Isaiah is speaking of a future event. Likewise the Rabbis homiletically link Isaiah 53 with the Messiah. Neither is meant literally. In general Midrash is not meant to be taken literally (Maimonides: Introduction to Mishnah Commentary). Rabbi Moshe Shulman explains in What is a Midrash? : In Sotah 14a, Isaiah 53 is interpreted as referring to Moses. The ancient Jewish view and that which appears continually in the words of the commentators (as we will discuss later) are that the Servant is Israel who is called Servant throughout Isaiah. Clearly Isaiah when he was prophesying was talking of someone in the future and not Moses who had been in the past, so the question is what lessons are the Rabbis trying to teach by relating Moses to this chapter, and why specifically to this chapter. We all know that Moses was the greatest of the prophets and was known as the 'servant of G-d'. Sotah is showing us that many of the great qualities that Moses had, are likewise there in the Servant, Israel. So, for example, where the servant of Isaiah prays for sinners, so Moses prayed for those who were guilty of the sin of the golden calf, and effected their atonement. By so doing the Midrash allows us to look at the greatness of Moses, and his work The first is that many times verses that deal with categories of people are used to apply to individuals. It's pretty much like the concept of set inclusion. Something is a member of the set, and then it has all the properties that the set has Since the Jewish understanding is that Isaiah is about Israel (and specifically the righteous of Israel), any individual of exceptional personality could be compared to some of the verses there with valid results. (http://messiahtruth.com/midrash.html). To better understand the nature of Midrash, let us look at an actual Midrash: From the beginning of the words creation, the Holy One foresaw the deeds of the righteous and wicked. This is like what is written, For G-d knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall become lost (Psalms 1:6). AND THE LAND WAS CHAOS AND VOID- these are the deeds of the wicked-G-D SAID LET THERE BE LIGHT- these are the deeds of the righteous. But I would not know which of them G-d desires- the deeds of the righteous or of the wicked. But when it is written, G-D SAW THE LIGHT THAT IT WAS GOOD [I conclude] He desires the deeds of the righteous and not the deeds of the wicked (Genesis Rabbah 2:5). This passage is neither historical nor predictive. Obviously it does not mean human actions took place in the beginning of creation. It is not a prophecy to be fulfilled. The Midrash is teaching a moral lesson: human action is analogous (not identical) to light and darkness, but goodness is G-ds purpose in creation Missionaries try to have their cake and eat it too. They use non-pshat methods to get pshat results. They do not merely say that Jesus is homiletically connected to Immanuel; they claim he is Immanuel,
5 period. They do not simply relate Jesus homiletically to the Passover Lamb; they maintain he is actually the fulfillment of this legal datum. b. Midrash reveals deeper meaning of an existing religion. New Testament needs types and shadows to claim its religion even exists. Judaism does not rely on Midrash to establish there is such a thing as Judaism. Its not as if Judaism took a scripture of someones religion and then demonstrated through Midrash that Judaism alone is the true successor to that religion. Were that the case, dismissal of Judaism would be entirely justified. From the Written Law the practices and essential beliefs of Judaism are known. While the details of Biblical commandments are absent, there is no doubt for which commandments a Jew is responsible. As for beliefs, Maimonides' famous formulation of the Thirteen Fundamentals of Judaism is all based on Scriptural verses he cites. c. Jewish Midrash supplements pshat. Types and shadows replace pshat. Basic Jewish doctrines, found in pshat of Scripture, are denied by missionaries. These include: the binding character of the commandments, their ongoing validity, practice of the commandments brings righteousness and salvation, commandments can be kept, G-d is not a man, G-d is immutable, the exclusive chosenness of the Jewish people, the Messiah inherits Davids throne solely through paternal birth line, etc. The Rabbis have a rule that Scripture does not depart from the plain meaning (Shabbat 63a). Midrashic interpretation reveals deeper meanings but does not reject pshat. By contrast, types and shadows are employed to deny basic Biblical doctrines. d. Jewish Midrash is rooted in an oral transmission from Sinai. The New Testament does not even claim to be rooted in an unbroken tradition going back to the revelation of the Torah. Judaism posits that that two Torahs were revealed at Mt. Sinai: Written Law and Oral Law. The existence of the Oral Law is evident from the Written Law itself. It is clear from Scripture that (1) Gd is just and (2) G-d wants the Law to be obeyed. Yet we find that the Written Law simply does not tell us what to do. The commandments are stated in vague generalities, without the numerous details found in every respectable legal system. Leviticus 23:40 commands taking the fruit of the tree of splendor (pri etz hadar) on the Feast of Tabernacles. Pri etz hadar is a botanically meaningless statement even to Hebrew-speaking scientists. There is no clue which species is mentioned without a clarifying Oral Law. The Passover holiday begins on the fifteenth day of the first month (Leviticus 23:6). To identify this day requires knowing when is the first day of that month, which the Written Law does not say. Exodus 12:15 bids us to eat matza on seven days of Passover, while Deuteronomy 16:8 says to eat it for six days. Only the Oral Law can reconcile the contradiction. It is prohibited to leave ones "place" on the Sabbath (Exodus 16:29). Does this mean ones house, property, neighborhood, city or state? Only the Oral Law tells us. www.SimplyJewish.org
6 It is obvious to any objective reader that one cannot know how to perform the Biblical commandments based on Written Law alone. G-d must have given an Oral Law to Moses to explain what the Written Law means. It follows that Moses would transmit this Oral Law to his disciples, who then taught it to future generations of Sages. These Sages have taught us that Oral Torah encompasses both Halacha (law) and also Midrash. Midrash is also given at Sinai (Yerushalmi Peah 2:6). If there is an Oral Torah, only in the hands of Jewish Sages, why not believe those responsible for transmitting it that Oral Torah contains Midrash too? This does not mean that every Midrashic statement was said verbatim at Sinai. It does mean that midrashic concepts and methodology are essentially Sinaitic. The charge that the Sages basically falsified the Oral Torah is incoherent. An unwritten tradition by definition is only known from the Sages who transmit it. No outsider can claim to know the Oral Law better than those who teach it in the first place. e. The Rabbis of Midrash have Biblical credibility. Deuteronomy 17 requires obeying them in matters of law. If G-d trusts them, we can too. Nothing in Jewish Scripture tells us to trust the New Testament writers. If a matter for judgment is too difficult for you, between blood and blood, between verdict and verdict, between plague and plague, even matters of controversy in your gates; you shall go up the place that the L-rd your G-d shall choose. You shall come to the priests, the Levites and to the judge that shall be in those days. You shall ask and they will tell you the word of judgment. You shall do according to the word that they will tell you, from the place that G-d will choose, and keep the law according to what they teach you. According to the Torah that they teach you and according to the judgment that they say to you, you must do. Do not turn aside from the word that they tell you, neither right nor left. And the man that does willfully, not listening to the priest standing to serve L-rd your, Gd or to the judge; that man shall die, and you shall remove the evil from your midst (Deut. 17:8-12). This passage clearly establishes that the Jewish judiciary has authority in matters of Jewish law. The place that G-d shall choose means, throughout the Bible, the Sanctuary site. The judiciary that sat there is the Sanhedrin. Midrash is not from a separate group with separate ideas. The masters of Midrash are the same Talmudic Rabbis who themselves were members of the divinely ordained judiciary known as the Sanhedrin, together with their students. We are obligated to follow this judiciary. There is no good reason not to believe these same Rabbis when they present Midrash as valid and authentic. Establishing Jesus Credentials We would like to ask those who preach types and shadows: how could Jesus credential have been established in the first place? The New Testament had not been written yet during early first century. Jews did not then know missionary types and shadows. Their only basis to judge was the plain words of the Hebrew Bible. Assuming the missionary viewpoint, how could those Jews have possibly known what to look for? How can the credibility of a would-be messiah depend on types and shadows? Yet Jesus is portrayed in the Gospels as demanding peoples obedience early in his career!
7 Didnt Jesus Fulfill Pshat Also? Missionaries may also deny their dependence on types and shadows by pointing to certain Biblical prophecies that they claim were fulfilled by Jesus according to pshat. Space does not permit a discussion of the mistranslations; misquotations and out-of context readings missionaries use to make such claims. No one has ever shown this writer one prophecy that Jesus clearly and literally fulfilled. One point is in order, however. It would be disingenuous of missionaries to make such an argument! The missionary enterprise does not generally make distinctions between pshat and non-pshat fulfillments. Websites and missionaries on the beat, that claim Jesus fulfilled 100, 200, even 300 prophecies present an undifferentiated package. Were they to scale down their list to alleged pshat fulfillments, it would be an embarrassingly small list. We quote again from Church in Focus: In most cases by far, the New Testament takes a broader approach to the subject of messianic prophecy (e.g., typology, thematic parallels, corporate solidarity, historical correspondences/analogies, etc.) (emphasis mine). We appreciate Church In Focus advising fellow missionaries to practice greater honesty: Evangelicals must seek to reform their messianic apologetics with a greater appreciation for the different ways in which the New Testament cites the Old and with a tad less sensationalism in how Jesus' messiahship is presented to unbelieving Jews (e.g., such tract titles as "300 Prophecies Fulfilled in One Day!" or "70 Prophecies Fulfilled at the Cross!"). We are not optimistic that their advice will be heeded. Missionaries must inflate their own claims by conflating pshat with non-pshat. Summary: Missionaries rely on types and shadows because they know pshat does not justify their beliefs. Types and shadows fly in the face of how Biblical prophecy works, and actually contravenes the meaning of Scripture. The New Testament writers present unverifiable homiletics. These men have no Scriptural basis for their authority and credibility as Biblical interpreters. Analogies to Jewish Midrash have no validity. Missionaries cannot afford to dispense with types and shadows because they aim to promote a false messiah.

UNMASKING
JEWS FOR JESUS
by
Rabbi Michael Skobac, Education Director of Jews for Judaism
ews for Jesus and Messianic Jews claim that what theyre doing is 100% Jewish the most Jewish thing anyone can do. However, calling it Jewish doesnt make it Jewish. How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four! Calling a tail a leg doesnt make it a leg. ~Abraham Lincoln Jews for Jesus and Messianic Jews are following Evangelical Protestant Christianity. Their beliefs are not Jewish and have no relation to Judaism. On every basic issue of theology, Jews for Jesus and Messianic Jews reject the Jewish point of view and embrace the perspective of Christianity. FOR EXAMPLE Jews for Jesus and Messianic Jews believe in the Christian concept of the Trinity and worship the man, Jesus, as G-d. Judaism insists on a pure monotheism that worships only the Creator of the world and no physical, created being. They maintain that the only way we can be forgiven for any sin is by accepting Jesus and believing that He died as an atoning sacrifice for us. Judaism follows the Torah (Biblical) teaching that each individual can secure forgiveness through repentance, a sincere rejection of past wrongs and resolve to change ones ways. They believe that it is impossible to have a relationship with G-d unless we believe in Jesus. Judaism insists that we are able to relate to G-d directly with no intermediaries. They accept the Greek (New) Testament as part of their Bible in addition to the Hebrew Scriptures (Torah). However, the Jewish Bible doesnt conclude by saying, to be continued.
They assert that all people who dont believe in Jesus will face an eternity in hell. The Torah defines the worship of anything or anyone other than the Creator as idolatry, one of the gravest sins. They believe that they must convert every person on the planet to Christianity. Judaism has never taught that nonJews must convert to Judaism to attain spiritual fulfillment. Our rabbis taught, All righteous people from the nations of the world have a share in the world to come.
Jews for Jesus and Messianic Jews claim to reject the Talmud and Rabbinic teachings and follow only what is taught in the Torah (Bible). However, in practice, they do exactly the opposite! FOR EXAMPLE Jesus for Jesus and Messianic Jews celebrate the holiday of Chanukah which is mentioned only in Rabbinic sources, not the Torah. They wear kippot/skullcaps, a custom found only in the Talmud, not the Torah. They wear prayer shawls resembling those of traditional Jews who designed them according to Rabbinic tradition. The actual design of prayer shawls is not mentioned in the Torah. They light Shabbat candles, a practice ordained by the rabbis of the Talmud, and not found in the Torah. They celebrate a boys Bar Mitzvah at age 13, a practice found only in Rabbinic sources, not the Torah. They follow the weekly cycle of Torah and Haftorah readings instituted by our rabbis, and not delineated in the Torah.
But not everything that Jews do is necessarily in line with Judaism. Those who built and worshipped the Golden Calf were also Jews! However, theres a very significant issue that we must recognize when thinking about Jews for Jesus and Messianic Jews. These Hebrew Christians are not villains. Theyre victims of misleading proselytizing and vulnerable to it due to severe Jewish malnutrition. Invariably, they never acquired a sophisticated level of Jewish education. For them, Judaism was merely an expression of culture or ethnicity with no real meaning. They never experienced the rich, spiritual path that has sustained us as a vibrant, learned people for over 3,300 years. How can you help these Jews who have embraced Christianity? The vital first step is to display warmth rather than hostility. Show them what it means to be a passionate Jew who strives for closeness to G-d and personal integrity. Be a role model who reaches out to help his fellow Jew and derives inspiration from his heritage. These are the most powerful ways to help those who have strayed and show them the way back home. A little bit of light can dispel a lot of darkness!
JEWS FOR JUDAISM is dedicated to counteracting the efforts of evangelical missionary groups that target Jews for conversion. If you have been confronted by groups like Jews for Jesus and require assistance, JEWS FOR JUDAISM is the Jewish community's resource. Please contact us if youd like to receive free literature, audiotapes, book a speaker for your group or arrange a personal consultation.
JEWS FOR JUDAISM

2795 Bathurst St., P Box 41032 .O. Toronto, ON M6B 4J6 (905) 761-0040 Fax: (905) 761-0070 [email protected] www.jewsforjudaism.org
Jews for Jesus and Messianic Jews strongly argue for the Jewishness of their movements by claiming that Jesus and all his original followers were Jews.
2006 Jews for Judaism
Keeping Jew Jewish
VIRGIN BIRTH A MISCONCEPTION

"Therefore the L-rd will give you a sign. Behold the young woman (almah) is pregnant and will give birth to a son, and she will call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14)." For two thousand years Jews have viewed the Virgin Birth myth as an oddity. The New Testament reading of Isaiah 7:14 is such a blatant mistranslation and is so wrenched from context that Jews have assured themselves that they do not need missionaries to understand their own Bible. The Jewish rejection of "virgin birth" is based on at least ten reasons: 1) Betulah definitely means "virgin" (see Leviticus 21:14- the High Priest can marry only a virgin; Deuteronomy 22:14- a groom claims he did not find betulim, signs of virginity, in his bride). Isaiah 7:14 does not use the word betulah. 2) Almah, mentioned in Isaiah 7:14, means "young woman." It does not mean virgin (Proverbs 30:18-20 speaks of an adulterous almah!). 3) Christian claim support based on the Greek translation. In fact the Greek word for almah (Parthenos) is used to describe Dinah after she was raped (Genesis 34:2-4)! 4) Five times does Isaiah say the word betulah, but not in 7:14, which supposedly speaks of a virgin birth (23:4, 23:12, 37:22, 47:1, 62:5)! 5) Context: King Achaz is worried that he will suffer defeat by two foreign kings (7:2). Isaiah reassures the king that a woman will give birth to Immanuel (the name means: G-d is with us) . The birth of Immanuel is a "sign" of G-d's rescue (7:14-17). Achaz will not be reassured by a "sign" that Jesus will be born centuries later. He needs Gd's salvation now. 6) Ha-almah does not mean a young woman but the young woman: someone known to Isaiah and Achaz. 7) Isaiah 7:16 says that Achaz's enemy kings will fall before the son grows up- not in Jesus' time. This prophecy was fulfilled (II Kings 16:5-9, 15:29-30). 8) 7:16 says that while the son is growing up he will "not know to reject bad and choose good." How can this refer to a divine being? 9) 7:16 says of the son, "he will eat cream and honey" (enjoy prosperity-see 7:22). When did Jesus eat cream and honey? 10) A "sign" must be visible e.g. a rainbow (Genesis 9:13). Mary's alleged virginity was not visible to anyone. Isaiah 8:18 says that children are a "sign" for that is visible. The evidence against the Christian myth is overwhelming, yet Michael Brown persists in justifying this myth (see Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus vol. 3 pp.17-32). We do not fault him for offering unconvincing apologetics, for it is a hopeless task.
Brown maintains that both betulah and almah are ambiguous, so either can be used for virgin or non-virgin. Therefore usage of almah in 7:14, maintains Brown, is no reason to reject the virgin birth. This a dim view of the Hebrew language that Isaiah can use no term to clearly mean virgin when that is supposedly his entire point. He cites a few verses that mention betulah although the issue is not virginity per se. Isaiah 23:4 says, "I have never labored, never given birth, never raised young men or virgins." Ezekiel 9:6 speaks as: "slay to death old man, young man, virgin, young children and women." The word "virgin" is used, but the point is "young woman." On this basis, Brown argues that betulah does not necessarily mean virgin. This is completely false. That "virgin" is a Biblical expression for unmarried woman does not detract from the literal meaning. In Biblical thought unmarried women are expected to be virgins. Logically, Brown must at least show that betulah can mean a non-virgin. Rebecca is described in Genesis 24:16 as, "a betulah, whom no man had known." Brown argues that if betulah clearly means virgin, the rest of the phrase is superfluous. Even if we disregard that parallel expressions are common in Scripture, Brown provides no reason to reject the traditional view that the double expression is meant to include other types of physical intimacy. Job pledges "not to look lustfully at a betulah" (31:1). Brown thinks that since Job has no way of knowing who is a virgin, he cannot mean virgin. When we reiterate that virgin is a Biblical convention for unmarried woman, Brown's point is moot. Isaiah metaphorically refers to Babylon as a betulah (47:1) and warns Babylon against a false sense of security. Babylon believes, "I shall not become a widow, or know loss of children" (47:8). What could be better for Brown than a betulah who is widowed and missing her children? He ignores that (1) there is greater fluidity with metaphorical than literal descriptions, (2) Isaiah is referring to Babylon in the present while Babylon is referring to herself in the future. Finally we come to a verse where betulah and widowhood are explicitly linked: "Lament- like a betulah dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth (Joel 1:8)." Here Brown violates a basic rule of interpretation: Scripture in the light interprets Scipture in the dark.
Theoretically this verse could be speaking, metaphorically, of a betrothed virgin or a consummated woman (in ancient Jewish culture betrothal and consummation were months apart). Scripture elsewhere mentions betulah in full clarity and so reveals Joel's intention: a betrothed virgin. Even if there would be a verse where betulah means non-virgin or a verse where almah means virgin, betulah is certainly a clearer expression of virginity. If Isaiah wanted to make a point that a birth would be virginal, undoubtedly he would have not have said almah. What of the objection that Isaiah is in context clearly speaking of a woman in his timecenturies before Mary? Brown claims that there is "no record of fulfillment" (no verse says "and so Immanuel was born"). In fact, there is no need for any "record of fulfillment." If Isaiah says he will be born in the contemporary generation, and he clearly does say this (7:16), Immanuel is not Jesus.
Let us look at 7:16 in full: "For before the child will know to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread shall be deserted." Achaz dreads the two kings of Israel and Aram, but these kings will be defeated before Immanuel grows up. The evidence against the New Testament is so overwhelming that Brown makes a telling concession. He admits that Immanuel was born in Isaiah's time but claims, like other missionaries, that 7:16 is a dual prophecy. In other words, there are two Immanuels: the real Immanuel and Jesus. This is totally preposterous. Isaiah gives no indication whatsoever that this is a dual prophecy (indeed dual prophecy is unbiblical). The story surrounding Immanuel's conception has no resemblance to the Nativity of Jesus. What two kings suffered a downfall because of Jesus? Do Christians believe there was a virgin birth in Isaiah's time, in addition to Jesus?!. This explanation is nothing but a desperate attempt to hide from an obvious disproof. Dual prophecy is as baseless as triple or quadruple prophecy. Finally, the frequency of virgin births in pagan mythology raises great suspicion that the New Testament myth is of pagan, not Biblical origin. Summary: Betulah definitely means virgin, and Isaiah certainly would have used this word had he spoken of a virgin birth. Immanuel is obviously born in Isaiah's time, and the deliverance his name represents (G-d is with us) was predicted to be fulfilled, and was fulfilled, in those days. Mary has no more to do with Immanuel than does the mother of Elvis Presley.
Note: some of the ideas in this essay are taken from Tovia Singer's Let's Get Biblical

Just Say Know: What "Real Christians" Believe about Jews

by Mark W. Sanders Try this: Ask any fundamentalist Christian why his/her spiritual forebears launched the Inquisition, the Crusades, or the Holocaust. 10 out of 10 will retort, "Those weren't real Christians. Real Christians love the Jews and wouldn't do that." So, what then, do "real Christians" believe about Jews? As a former fundamentalist minister, I know the answers intimately. I spent years living by one imperative: Preach the Gospel (personal salvation through faith in Christ) to the ends of the earth (to all people everywhere), as outlined in Matthew 28:18. Through this enterprise, I believed that Christians would eventually trigger the second coming of Christ, who could not return to earth till all had heard the Gospel, till the last home and hamlet had been reached. This is the ultimate responsibility of all real Christians (Matthew 24:14). Ask them. They will tell you. Otherwise, they are not truly "Bible believing." Real Christians affirm that all non-believers are lost. Each must repent or reject in response to hearing the Good News. Paul of Tarsus, who wrote at least 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament, refined the focus, saying "the gospel . . . is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile." (Romans 1:16) Many missions to Jews use this text to validate their outreach. For them, the conversion of the Jew is the top priority in world evangelism. While all souls are important, Jews are most important. Paul hints at a day when the Jews will respond: "Israel has experienced a hardening in part (by rejecting Christ) until the full number of Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved . . ." (Romans 11:26). I myself used these passages in raising funds to evangelize Jewish souls (may G-d forgive me). Real Christians have a love-hate relationship toward the Jews. While believing the original Hebrew Scriptures to be the infallible and inspired word of God, they also believe the New Testament to be equally, though superceedingly, inspired. This includes Paul's words in which he calls Jews "the enemies of the Gospel." But Paul explains that this had to happen for God's acceptance to be extended to the Gentiles. Using an olive tree to represent "the people of God," Paul says the natural, cultivated branches (the Jews) were broken off so that wild branches (the Gentiles) could be grafted in. He adds that Jews who come to faith in Christ can be regrafted and thus there will be one reconstituted people of God (Romans 11:17-24). So, real Christians believe that Jews and Gentiles should become one people, one community of faith. Paul explains "the mystery of Christ . . . is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharing together in the promise in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 3:6). Can you say a-s-s-i-m-i-l-a-t-i-o-n? Real Christians believe they have replaced the Jews as the chosen people. Peter, one of Jesus' closest disciples, wrote "you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God" (I Peter 2:9). All of these terms were used exclusively of ancient Israel. Look at Exodus 19:5, 6. The borrowing, the redefining, and the conclusions are obvious -- and ominous, as we shall see. Real Christians believe the Torah is null: "Christ is the mediator of a new covenant that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that he has died to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant" (Hebrews 9:15) Real Christians regard observance of the Torah as an impossibly futile exercise. The only value of the Torah is to teach us all that we couldn't keep God's standard and thus needed a savior to rescue us from the penalty of falling short of it. Lest you think these are harmless theological sound bites, consider the applications of these views. To real Christians, the Jews are currently in a state of spiritual blindness and rebellion and subject to the wrath of God. (An unfortunate percentage believe the Holocaust was a 1
payback for the Jews' role in the crucifixion.) Jews do have value as the former harbingers of God's justice and righteousness, but today they must be absorbed into Christendom to find their real identity. Star Trek fans will discern a Borg-like parallelism in this. (I shudder to think how I contributed to it.) Over the last 20 years, a multi-million dollar assimilation movement has evolved internationally to woo, win, entice, beguile, or ensnare the secularized Jew, the unaffiliated Jew, the biblically illiterate Jew, the disillusioned Jew. In my church of several thousand members, we had some 600 Jews. I once observed that many of them were not well-adjusted psychologically or emotionally. They had not found a secure place amongst their own families and communities. However, amongst the Christians, each could be a minor celebrity. A converted Jew was awarded special significance; s/he was the fulfillment of the ultimate Christian mitzvah. Looking back, I recall that not one of those 600 converts was from a truly Orthodox Jewish home. Coincidence? While many fundamentalist Christian leaders express contrition for the historical abuses of Jews, their baseline objective has not shifted: Bring the Jews to faith in Christ by any and all means. These include establishing messianic "shuls" with free Passover seders and high holy day services, sponsoring massive literature mailings to Russian immigrants in Israel, printing "Jewish New Testaments," holding high visibility street and campus rallies to attract vulnerable Jewish youth, and promoting special "Jewish" youth camps with an emphasis on messianic music and Bible study. One leader I know raised money to put up billboards in Orthodox neighborhoods saying only "Isaiah 53," then changing to read "Jesus" after a few weeks. They actually believe such activities will inspire a spiritual shift in Jew's allegiance and affiliation. Southern California is home to high profile evangelists who have raised millions of dollars to "improve" Jewish/Christian/Israel relations, including Orange County's Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel and Paul and Jan Crouch of the Trinity Broadcasting Network. This has involved grandiose philanthropy for Jewish and Israeli projects, massive "Christian Zionist" tours to Israel, as well as carefully cultivated meetings with Israel's top leaders. But from my own personal dealings with these and other groups, I guarantee that all talk of "understanding, support, and reconciliation towards the Jews" is a siren's song. All of these people are unflinchingly committed to evangelize the Jews. Jesus warned of wolves in sheep's clothing. Gucci couldn't have designed a better fit. There's a darker side to this. I spoke with a wealthy, well-connected Newport Beach "real Christian" who told me "the Jews of today are not Jews at all. They are really Edomites, descended from Esau. They don't practice Judaism. They practice Talmudism. The real Jews are the descendants of the Northern Europeans, who originally were dispersed from ancient Israel by the Assyrians and Babylonians." Not surprisingly, he also informed me that the Holocaust was "a mega-myth, choreographed by those clever Edomite-Jews who are really part of the subhuman mud races." While this man's views are not mainstream, they are increasingly in popularity. Today's Jews are a spiritual anachronism for real Christians. The fundamentalist theo-political agenda has no room for pluralism or tolerant co-existence with people of divergent views. You are in or out, saved or lost, redeemed or damned. All non-Christians are in darkness and need a savior. All nonChristians must hear the message of salvation. Belief in that imperative keeps the money flowing to fulfill the Great Commission to reach all the world. This is a passionate point of no compromise for all real Christians, who claim to be 40+ million strong in America. When seen for what it is, however, their zeal includes the spiritual extinction of today's Jews. How is that any different than the evils done 50, 500, or 1,000 years ago? As one who engaged in it in this generation, I soberly submit, it's not. Perhaps the real Christians could love us a little less and pursue justice a little more? 2
> Mark Sanders is a former Pentecostal, fundamentalist minister who engaged in > missionary activity in Israel, working in kibbutzim and the Israeli public > school system. In the process of mastering Hebrew, he began to see many > serious inconsistencies and errors in the Christian Bible. His studies of > Tanakh persuaded him to rethink & eventually resign from his Christian > views of the Bible. Now an observant Jew, Mark is the Outreach Director of > the Los Angeles office of Jews for Judaism.

The New Aid for Faith
ISAIAH 53 PART 1- PDF

UNEDITED By
Moshe Shulman http://judaismsanswer.com
PREFACE The question of Isaiah 53 and what it means comes up in every discussion with a Christian. For that reason, I have collected information that I have available and compiled the following summary. I hope that the readers will look at it from beginning to end, consider the information presented and judge it favorably. Because of the amount of information, please read all of it before you pass judgment. Some questions that you might have may be answered later on. A work of this size is not one which a single person can lay claim to. There were many people and sources that were used to build this. Some in a positive manner, and some by criticism of it. I would like to mention some of them here. This is not to reduce the blame for whatever errors may have crept into this analysis. It is to acknowledge my thanks for them and the input that they have had. First, I would like to thank my friend Tovia Singer. My writings on Isaiah 53, originally started as an attempt to transcribe his ideas on Isaiah 53 from his lecture series, "Let's Get Biblical." Some of these ideas can still be found in parts of section 2. After showing my initial effort to a number of people, including discussions on the Internet, I recognized major deficits in that approach. I restarted my research and made some massive revisions and changes to the second part, developed the material which now appears as sections 1 and in the coming part dealing with the Rabbis and Isaiah 53. Second, I would like to acknowledge the help that has come from those who have read this. Especially those Christians who have attempted to counter the views stated here. The points they raised have been addressed. I also added much information that clarifies the ideas, and approach. Finally I would like to acknowledge my debt to our Rabbis who have shown us the way to understand the simple meaning of the words of the Tenach, including Isaiah 53. This work represents a view consistent with Jewish thought.
INTRODUCTION The Prophecy of Isaiah 53 is considered by many Christians the most important prophecy in the whole Tenach. They feel they have from it their needed 'proof' that their Messiah was to die. The late Manny Brotman of the Messianic Jewish Movement International calls it the 'main messianic chapter in the Jewish Bible'. Every missionary who has approached me will eventually mention Isaiah 53. They feel this way even though neither the word 'Messiah', 'king' 'son of David' or any of the code names for the Messiah that are used in the Tenach are ever mentioned in this passage. It also does not mention any of the known accomplishments that the Messiah is to achieve. (Ingathering of the Jewish people and ruling over the world etc.) They maintain this belief even though the belief of a dying Messiah is contrary to ALL the other clearly Messianic prophecies, which show that the Messiah will appear and succeed, all within a short amount of time. There are many arguments and counter-arguments that I will be covering here. I would like to approach this important prophecy from three angles. 1. Why the clear simple meaning of the text of Isaiah 53 indicates that it was not and cannot have been fulfilled by Jesus Many times missionaries will read it and assume, it can only mean Jesus The problems with associating Isaiah 53 with Jesus are usually ignored in most discussions. I will deal with this first as this is the primary Biblical text used by Christians, and should be answered before we explore the true meaning of this passage. In fact, after this section it is totally unnecessary to explain any further, since if it is not Jesus it is invalid to use it as a proof of Christianity. 2. Whom does Isaiah 53 refer to and how do I know it. I will go through this important passage verse by verse starting at Isaiah 52:13, which is acknowledged by the overwhelming majority of sources as part of the prophecy of Isaiah 53. It should be noted that the Masoretic Text actually divides this text before Isaiah 52:13 and not before Isaiah 53. 3. Finally, in another work, I will explain the true meaning of some of those Rabbinic texts that are used by missionaries in their claim that the Rabbis held a different view as to the simple meaning of the prophet then the one I have here presented. We will explore the nature of Rabbinic commentary, and the deceptions that are used with regards to them by those who would falsify their teachings. From this, we will see that the Rabbis' understanding of the simple meaning of this text and the view I present here are the same.
PART I: Why Jesus has not fulfilled Isaiah 53. PROPHECY In order to see the problems with associating this prophecy with Jesus let us examine two important ideas. The first is how the Tenach's prophecies work. Many people do not realize what a future prophecy and what its fulfillment should be like. Let's examine two prophecies and their fulfillment in the Tenach and see what they will tell us about how prophecy works. The two we will examine are: 1. The prophecy regarding what would happen to the person who would rebuild Jericho. In Joshua 6:26 we read: 26 And Joshua swore at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord who shall rise up and build this city Jericho. In his first-born shall he lay its foundation, and in his youngest son shall he set up its gates. In 1 Kings 16:34 we see the fulfillment: 34 In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundation in Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates in Segub his youngest, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke through Joshua the son of Nun. 2. The prophecy regarding what would happen later to the alters of the northern kingdom of Israel. In 1 Kings 13:1-2 we read: 1. And behold, there came a man of God from Judah, by the word of the Lord, to Bethel; and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2. And he cried against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar! thus saith the Lord: Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he sacrifice the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burned upon thee. In 2 Kings 23:15-17 we see it fulfilled: 15. Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, the high place that Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and burned the high place, stamped it small to powder, and burned the Asherah. 16. And Josiah turned himself, and saw the sepulchers that were there on the mount; and he sent and took the bones out of the sepulchers, and burned [them] upon the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord, that the man of God had proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. 17. Then he said, What tombstone is that which I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulcher of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which thou hast done against the altar of Bethel. From these verses we can notice a few things: 1. Each prophecy had clear points that would tell us that it was fulfilled. In the first case, the one who violated the ban would bury his first and last sons. In the second case a certain named person of the descendants of David would destroy the alters. 2. All the points described were fulfilled completely and literally. 3. While some specifics were not mentioned, (for example the name of the person in the first, and when either would occur), after they came to pass it was clear that the prophecy was fulfilled. There was no doubt as to whether it was fulfilled and the exact meaning of the prophecy.
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CHRISTOLOGY The second idea we should look at is what the majority of Christian's (including Messianics) believe about Jesus. There are three beliefs of Christians with regards to Jesus that relate directly to why this prophecy cannot be said to refer to Jesus 1. Jesus is called the 'Son', the second person of the trinity. Without going into a deep theological discussion, let me sum up the main points of this concept. The godhead is made up of three 'aspects' or 'persona' that are separate, but are equal and of one essence. They are not three gods. So the 'Son' is equal to the 'Father' although separate. Neither is greater or lesser then the other. This aspect 'Son' is what is incarnate in the body of Jesus All three share the same eternal and unchanging essence. There are others who believe that do not believe in the trinity, but in oneness and contend that Jesus is not a separate persona from the father, but that they are the same. Much like water has different forms, solid, liquid and gas, but not all three at once. (There are those who deny the divinity of Jesus, like Arius.) 2. The death and resurrection of Jesus is what brings atonement and nothing else. Not his teachings, nor his miracles, nor anything else has any effect on atonement, not even the suffering that occurred to Jesus BEFORE the crucifixion. It is only the death and resurrection. 3. To receive this atonement one must believe that this death was for that purpose. You may be familiar with the doctrine, and know that people believe it, but if you don't believe in it, then you are not saved. Now we can examine some of the verses that are part of the prophecy and see how they could never be said to apply to Jesus Some of these are clearer in their contradiction to the above principles and some are subtler. Each is, however significant enough on it's own to cast doubt on any thesis claiming that Jesus fulfilled this Biblical prophecy according to the rules we have shown above. Isaiah 52:13 Verse 52:13 (53:11) refers to the subject of these verses as 'my servant'. The 'my' here is referring to G-d (the Father for Christians.). When we say that Tom is John's servant there are a few things that we understand from that. 1. Tom and John are not the same person. The servant and master are totally separate entities. A person cannot be a servant to himself. 2. Tom is inferior to John. A servant is always inferior in position to his master. 3. Tom must do the will of John, but John does not have to listen to Tom. The servant is subject to the will of his master, but the master need not consider the will of the servant. 4. Tom may not do what he wants, unless John allows him. The servant is never free to act outside of the limits the master sets. There are however problems with saying that Jesus is a servant. Since Jesus is the incarnation of G-d (according to Christian theology), a co-equal member of the trinity and not a separate entity, he must be the same, he could not be inferior. He could not be either subject to the will of another, nor could he be said to lack the freedom to act in all areas. How could part of the godhead be called a servant to another part of itself, and still be coequal? The servant here cannot be a 'part' of the godhead. Either we must assume that Jesus is not a part of the trinity, or the Messiah of Christians is not the one meant by Isaiah 53. The questions of 'wills' here is also one that is problematic. How could Jesus be subject to the will of the Father, when he is, according to Christian theology,
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the same? For these reasons it would not be possible for a Christian to say that Jesus is the servant of G-d. This is, obviously, even more a problem to the non-Trinitarian, oneness Christians. There is another problem here. What does it mean 'lifted up', he shall be high? That would imply that at one time he was in a lowly position and after that he was in a higher position. Physically the only lifting up that occurred with Jesus during his lifetime was when he was put on the cross. That is clearly not what this prophecy means, since that is not a sign of greatness, but degradation. If we are talking about the divine nature, how could it be changed and 'lifted up', to higher or lower level? G-d was and is great, mighty, and unchanging before Jesus appeared and after he appeared. Who could imagine that G-d would be in a state of depression and then be lifted up? Similarly we have a problem with the word 'Yaskel'. If we understand it as meaning to prosper, we have the previously stated problem. If it is meant as being related to the root 'understand', the meaning would be to acquire knowledge (or deal prudently, i.e. with wisdom). How could this refer to the godhead, since His knowledge is eternal and cannot be said to increase. Was there a time when G-d had less knowledge? Did he deal imprudently? Such things are absurd and cannot fit the verses. Finally, if the servant here is Jesus there is another problem. Jesus is the second person of the trinity. If the servant refers to the second person of the trinity, we have a fourth function and hence a fourth member: the 'servant'. That means that there are FOUR persons and not three: father, son, Holy Spirit and servant. Isaiah 52:15 What does it mean 'what had not been told them'? This would mean that we are dealing with something that was totally unknown until it is finally revealed as the truth. This recognition and astonishment of verse 15 has not occurred yet, so it must be a future event. It must be referring to when Jesus comes again and is fully revealed. However this is a problem. Is there anyone in the world who has not heard of the story of Jesus and the claims made about him? Certainly if this is referring to the Jewish people, they have heard it, they just didn't believe that it was a fulfillment of the prophecies. But the verse claims that they are to have revealed something they never heard, not something they failed to believe in previously. If we say that this refers to the acts of G-d, are they not likewise known? Even atheists are aware of the stories in the Bible. It could not be said that they are in the category of things that were not heard. Just things that were rejected as false. That is not what the verse is saying. Isaiah 53:3 A 'Man of pains' indicates that the person was one who suffered from pain often. For example, Moses is called a 'man of G-d' (heb. ish elokim) because of his constant association with G-d. We do not consider a person who suffered for a short time before dying as a 'man of pains'. Even if the death was a very painful one, we would only say that he died a painful death, and not call him a man of pains. The same is with someone 'acquainted with sickness', which can only refer to someone who suffered sicknesses constantly. To say that he was sensitive to others' illnesses makes him no better then Mother Teresa or any other of the thousands of people who felt the pain of others. (Maybe it refers to President Clinton who claimed to have 'felt our pain'?) Isaiah 53:4 This verse says he was considered 'stricken of G-d'. That is just not true. No one said that Jesus was stricken of G-d. The Romans struck him. There are no sources where we see anyone claiming that the crucifixion of Jesus was a sign that he was stricken by G-d, or some type of divine punishment for him. Certainly that was not the view of the Jews, who are supposed to be the speakers here (according to the Christian interpretation). And the New Testament makes no such claim. There is just no support for referring this to J at any time in his life.
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Isaiah 53:8 According to Christian theology, Jesus had to die and suffer because of the sin of Adam. Since when Adam sinned death came to the world, the death of Jesus ended this punishment. Romans 5:12,14 12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come." So how can we say that he was stricken for the sin of 'my people'? It wasn't the sin of the Jewish people or any people in particular. It was the sin of the whole human race from Adam (according to their belief). The inherited sin of Adam needed atonement, not any individual sins. Secondly, it does not say his 'death' was for sin, but his 'suffering'! What happened to Jesus before the crucifixion when he suffered for a short time IS NOT WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO BRING ATONEMENT. It is ONLY his death. That is not what this verse or any of the other verses in this passage says. Isaiah 53:9 There is a contradiction to the NT from these verses. According to the NT, Jesus was killed together with two thieves, but buried in the tomb of a rich man. However verse 9 says the opposite. His grave (Heb. kever) is with the wicked, and his death(s) (Heb. meisav) is with the rich. This verse claims that his grave was with the wicked. That means his resting place was one of a lowly and ignominious character. This cannot be a reference to the Messiah since in a prophecy that is universally accepted as Messianic the prophet Isaiah says (11:10) that his 'rest will be glorious'. Which is it, glorious, or lowly? Isaiah 53:10 Verse 10 says that there are two rewards that the servant's accepting of suffering causes to occur. The first is that he shall see 'seed'. The word 'seed' (heb. zarah), when applied to humans refers to their physical descendants (it is literally used to refer to male seed: semen). But Jesus had no physical children! To answer this many Christians try to counter and say that it refers to disciples, and not physical children, but that is not the case. The word zarah (seed) always refers to physical children while the word banim (children) can refer to disciples or followers. The Torah has an interesting story, which illustrates this. For a long time Abraham had no children, and G-d came to him and said he would reward him. Abraham said of what value is it since he has no son to inherit, only the head of his household Eliezer. Genesis 15:2-4: 2. 'And Abram said, 'My Lord, G-d, what can you give me seeing that I am childless and the son (ben) of my house is the Damascene Eliezer? 3. Then Abram said, 'See, to me you have given no seed (zarah physical child), and see the son (ben - son referring to follower) of my house is my heir." 4. Suddenly, the word of G-d came to him, saying: That one will not inherit you. None but him that shall come forth from within your bowels shall be your heir.' So G-d answered him, and told him that not his follower who is referred to as a 'ben' will inherit, but his physical son, his zarah, will inherit from him. Clearly the Torah is teaching that zarah means a physical child and if the verse had wanted to say followers than it would have used the word ben, as is used in other places in the Tenach.
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We likewise see in 2 Kings 2 where banim is shown to refer to followers or students: 3 "And the sons of the prophets that [were] at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know [it]; hold ye your peace. 5 And the sons of the prophets that [were] at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know [it]; hold ye your peace." Clearly we see that zerah is used for physical 'seed' and ben is used for both physical and spiritual offspring. Isaiah 57:3-4 is sometimes brought as a proof that 'zerah' can mean non-physical children. However by examining these verses we see the exact opposite. Is. 57:3-4: "But you--come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring (zerah) of adulterers and prostitutes! Whom are you mocking: At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue? Are you not a brood of rebels, the offspring (zerah) of liars?" However it should be noticed that by the word 'sorceress' the word 'benei' (sons) is used. But they were called zerah (physical seed) of adulterers, prostitutes and liars, since their parents had done those sins. When referring to those sins that their parents did, the proper word zerah is used, since they were PHYSICAL CHILDREN of people who were sinners. A second reward in verse 10 is that he shall have long life. There are two problems here. First, the verse makes the rewards CONTINGENT upon the servant's performance. It is very problematic to claim that Jesus' suffering resulted in his having long life. If you believe that Jesus is G-d then the eternal existence of G-d is not, and never can be contingent upon the acceptance of the suffering of this servant or on any other event in the physical world. Both Christians and Jews believe that G-d is eternal and his eternal existence is not contingent upon any outside events. Second, This long life can clearly not refer to the 'divine nature'. How can we say that G-d's days will be lengthened? That is basically absurd. He is eternal, and this is not something that is subject to change or lengthening. If we say this refers to Jesus human part, he died quite young. He clearly did not literally fulfill this. Also this verse says 'IF' his soul makes. The Hebrew word is 'ki', which means 'if'. Do they believe that it was only conditional, and that maybe it wouldn't have happened? Was there really a choice here? Jesus could will to do something other than G-d wanted? If Jesus and G-d are coequal, how could one part have a will different then the other? It is just not possible, but in the verse there is a clear choice. Was there a possibility that one part of the godhead would not agree to what the other part wanted? Sounds a bit absurd. We see in this verse the words 'it pleased the Lord to smite him'? If he is part of the godhead it should have said, it pleased HIMSELF to be smitten or something like that. The verse implies that the one who is pleased is not the one smitten. That would contradict the trinity concept as it applies to Jesus. Isaiah 53:11 There is no place in Isaiah 53 which supports the important principle that 'belief' in the death of J is needed for forgiveness of sin. In fact, Verse 11 says that he will teach people to be righteous. It is his knowledge and teaching that brings people to righteousness and not his suffering, death or blood. (This cannot refer to his followers as the one doing the action here is the servant himself, and not an agent of the servant.)
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Isaiah 53:12 How did he fulfill verse 12, which says that he will 'divide spoil' (Heb. shalal)? This word shalal is used for booty of war as the following collection of verses clearly illustrates: Genesis 49:27 "Benjamin shall ravin [as] a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil (shalal)." Exodus 15:9 "The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil (shalal); my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them." Numbers 31: "11 And they took all the spoil (shalal), and all the prey, [both] of men and of beasts. 12 And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil (shalal), unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which [are] by Jordan [near] Jericho." Deuteronomy 20:14 "But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, [even] all the spoil (shalalah) thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee." Joshua 7:21 "When I saw among the spoils (shalal) a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they [are] hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it." 1 Samuel 30:20 "And David took all the flocks and the herds, [which] they drave before those [other] cattle, and said, This [is] David's spoil (shalal)." Isaiah 8:4 "For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil (shalal) of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria." Isaiah 9:3 "Thou hast multiplied the nation, [and] not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, [and] as [men] rejoice when they divide the spoil (shalal)." Isaiah 10:6 "I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil (leShalal Shalal), and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets." Isaiah 33:4 "And your spoil (shalalchem) shall be gathered [like] the gathering of the caterpillar: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them." How did he fulfill this? How could he? We must conclude that J has not fulfilled this prophecy, since it is not clear that he has fulfilled it. How can we ascribe to him that 'he interceded for the transgressors'? To whom could he intercede? The word intercede implies that there is a person who intercedes and the one to whom he intercedes. Since he is a part of the godhead there is no one to intercede with. He himself should be the one to forgive. This shows that the servant IS NOT G-d, but a servant of G-d. As I mentioned before, when a prophecy has been fulfilled, it is always clear that it has been fulfilled. However, Isaiah 53 is not clearly fulfilled by him. Besides the many reasons above for denying that he fulfilled this prophecy, how do we know that his death did anything? It is claimed, but since so much of Isaiah 53 cannot
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apply, why should this be assumed to apply. Now look at the full text of Isaiah 53, and consider if ALL the details of the prophecy have been fulfilled, or even if they could be fulfilled by Jesus (as we have seen above). Look carefully where it refers to a servant. Consider verse 10, 11, 12. The text below is from the Authorized Version - KJV. (I will later go through verse-by-verse and give a fuller understanding of the wordings and the translation). Isaiah 52:13-53:12 13. Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. 14. As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: 15. So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for [that] which had not been told them shall they see; and [that] which they had not heard shall they consider. 1. Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, [there is] no beauty that we should desire him. 3. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5. But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither [was any] deceit in his mouth. 10. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put [him] to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong [his] days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11. He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12. Therefore will I divide him [a portion] with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
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PART II. Who does Isaiah 53 refer to? Before we can discuss intelligently the meaning of this prophecy we must clarify the difference between a Messianic prophecy and a prophecy about the Messiah. Although many think they are the same, they clearly are not. A Messianic prophecy describes what will occur in the Messianic period, when the Messiah ahs come, and what it will look like. This does not mean that the Messiah, himself, is described in that prophecy. For example, Ezekiel chapters 40 through 48 are clearly Messianic. They describe the temple that shall be built, the redistribution of the land and a number of other events. But we do not see an extensive description of the Messiah himself there. On the other hand, Isaiah 11 is a Messianic prophecy that ALSO describes what the Messiah will be like. We shall see that Isaiah 53 is a Messianic prophecy of the first type (Ezekiel 40-48) and that there is almost no disagreement among Jewish and Christian scholars as to it's being Messianic, in this sense of the term. (There are a few major exceptions among Jewish commentators, one refers it to the prophet Jeremiah and the other to the King Josiah. Also the Talmud applies it Moses.) The problem with understanding this prophecy is: how to approach it so that the true meaning of the prophet appears. As we have seen from the previous section, since it cannot apply to Jesus, it appears that this passage can be easily misunderstood. While a good translation or knowledge of Hebrew is essential to understanding, the ONLY way of understanding any prophecy is by trying to understand the context, and what the prophet is trying to say. We have gone through it and seen that it cannot refer to Jesus. Now we need to find the context and understand this passage. One way of starting to understand the context, is to decide who is talking in the passage, and who is he about. Then we can try and find other verses in the Tenach that confirm our results. If we examine this passage carefully we see that there are a number of speakers in the passage 52:13 - 53:12. The speaker of 52:13 is NOT the speaker of 53:1; there was a change from the singular of 52:13 to the plural of 53:1. It can't be the same person, since the last verses of Isaiah 52 are singular and the first verses of Isaiah 53 are plural. If it is plural it cannot be Isaiah. Since it discusses the speaker sins it cannot be G-d. The last verses of s chapter 53, verses 10, 11 and 12 do not appear to be spoken by the same persons as 1-9. These facts must be considered to understand the context and the speaker. By seeing these obvious points, we can begin to delve into the context. The main portion of this prophecy is verses 1-9 of chapter 53. Let's look at this passage for a moment and try and see who the speaker is. Verse 1 of 53 has the speaker showing astonishment, it is in the first person plural. We read: Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?The speaker has exclaimed in wonderment about something, which he will describe in the next few verses. Let's look at the context. If we can find someone here who is astonished, and even more, find some other verses in the Tenach to support it, we will be on our way to understanding this passage. In verse 52:14, we see that many people are astonished at the servant. In verse 15 we see that the kings are taken with shock. In fact the last words of 52:15; [that] which they had not heard shall they consider send the same message as the first verse of 53. According to the context the , gentile kings and the gentile people are in astonishment at this servant and what they hear about him. But that still leaves us with the issue as to whom this servant is. Many are called G-dservant in the Tenach. s Letexamine another Messianic prophecies that relate the same ideas: s Micah 7:15-16: 'Just as in the days of your coming out of Egypt, will I show him marvelous things (lit. wonders). The nations shall see and be put to shame for all their might, they shall put their hands on their mouths, their ears shall be deaf.' Here we see again that when the messianic period comes and the Jewish people go out of exile, as they did from Egypt, the nations will cover their mouths with wonder. This is almost the exact thing said here in Isaiah:
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Isaiah 52:15: "... the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for [that] which had not been told them shall they see; and [that] which they had not heard shall they consider." We see here clearly that the NATIONS OF THE WORLD are in confusion about the redemption of Israel from exile In another Messianic prophecy we read: Isaiah 41:11: those who incensed against you shall be ashamed and confounded... All Again we see that there is a state of confusing among the gentile nations of the world when the Jewish people are taken out of exile. The nations, the gentiles (and specifically their leaders who represent them) are the ones speaking here because they have just seen something they would never have imagined. They are the ones astonished. They are astonished and in shock at the redemption of Israel. There is even more support for the idea that the servant is Israel from chapter 41 of Isaiah which I quoted above. Israel is called G-d servant in that passage, in verse 8: "But you, ISRAEL, are My servant, Jacob s whom I have chosen, the SEED of Abraham My friend.". And they are again mentioned in verse 14: "Fear not worm of Jacob, men of Israel." In Micah 5:6 which is a little before the above passage we see a reference to : The REMNANT OF JACOB; verse 7: The REMNANT OF JACOB. The nations as described in Micah are surprised at the great miracles that will occur with the coming of the Messianic age to the remnant of Jacob. Who and what has confounded the nations? Israel and their redemption from the exile in the Messianic period has caused this astonishment and confusion. The servant is Israel, and specifically the righteous remnant of Israel and the nations are confused. Why should they be confused? Imagine what it will be like when the Messiah comes. How will the Christians and Muslims react when they will see that the Messiah has come, and it is not JESUS It is some Ultra Orthodox Rabbi with a long beard! A funny looking person who, until very recently, was the butt of their jokes and derision. As the prophet predicted: Jeremiah 16:19: "The NATIONS shall come to you from the ends of the earth and shall say, 'SURELY OUR FATHERS HAVE INHERITED LIES, VANITY, AND THINGS WHEREIN THERE IS NO BENEFIT.'" It is interesting to note that in the Tenach there is one place where the same theme of this prophecy appears. It is in Psalm 44:9-26, which parallels the main ideas of this prophecy. It should be kept in mind while you look at each of the verses: 9. But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies. 10 Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves. 11 Thou hast given us like sheep [appointed] for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen. 12 Thou sellest thy people for nought, and dost not increase [thy wealth] by their price. 13 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us. 14 Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people. 15 My confusion [is] continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me, 16 For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and avenger. 17. All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant. 18 Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way; 19 Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death. 20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
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21 Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. 22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. 23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast [us] not off for ever. 24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, [and] forgettest our affliction and our oppression? 25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth. 26 Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies' sake. Let's now examine this important prophecy verse by verse. I will compare the verses to many parallel prophecies in the Tenach and some examples of historical fulfillment. The main text here is from the KJV, with notes from the Darby and KJV between "(" and ")". My notes on the Hebrew language are between "{" and "}". When we look at the first verse we can see clearly that G-d is the one talking: Is. 52:13: Behold, my servant shall deal prudently (KJV: alt. shall prosper), {Heb: be successful or be wise} he shall be exalted and extolled (D: be lifted up) {alt: raised up}, and be very high. In verse 52:13 and again in 53:11 the subject is called 'my servant'. Who is called 'my servant'? Who does Isaiah call the servant of G-d? Let us look at Isaiah 41:8-9: "But you, ISRAEL, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the SEED of Abraham My friend. Whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and from the nobles I called you, and I said to you, 'You are my servant', I chose you and I did not despise you." It is clear from this: ISRAEL IS THE SERVANT OF G-D! This is repeated many times in Isaiah: Isaiah 44:1 "Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: 2 Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, [which] will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen." Isaiah 44:21 "Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou [art] my servant: I have formed thee; thou [art] my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me." Isaiah 45:4 "For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me." Isaiah 48:20 "Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it [even] to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob." Isaiah 49:3 "And said unto me, Thou [art] my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified." Not just here, but throughout the Tenach 'my servant' is commonly used for Israel. It is well known, in scholarly circles, that this passage Isaiah 53, is called the fourth of the servant songs. Each of which is about Israel and G-d's relationship to her. One of the main objections to saying that the servant is Israel is that the passage is in the SINGULAR and not the plural. How can it refer to Israel in the singular? (Actually, as we shall see, verses 8 and 9 have plural references so this is not such a strong question, but let us examine it anyway). To answer this we need only look at Is. 43:10: "You are my WITNESSES (plural) says the L-rd, and My SERVANT (singular) whom I have chosen..." Here we see that Isaiah refers to the witnesses, Israel, both in the singular and the plural IN THE SAME VERSE. In the passage just prior to Is. 53 (52:1-2) and just after Is. 53 (54:1) Israel is also referred to in the singular. I have previously mentioned a number of verses where Israel is referred to as G-d's servant, and they are ALL in the singular. The truth is that throughout the Tenach Israel is referred to more often in the singular than the plural. The TEN COMMANDMENTS themselves, were spoken to Israel in the singular!!! This objection is no problem at all!! In fact, the question shows an ignorance of the language used in the Tenach where Israel as a whole are continually referred to in the singular. With regards to the prosperity and exaltation of the Jewish people in the Messianic times we need only look into the Tenach which is filled with prophecies on that subject. Just look at the following prophecies:
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Isaiah 48:15 "I, [even] I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous." Jeremiah 30:10 "Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make [him] afraid." Jeremiah 46:27 "But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make [him] afraid. 28 Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I [am] with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished." The exalted nature of Israel in the Messianic age is one of the clear messages of the Tenach. Isaiah 52:14: As many were astonied (D: were astonished) {alt: wondered} at thee {you}; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men (D: children of men): Can this verse be said to apply to Israel? Unfortunately from history we have seen that it is true. Those who have hated Jews have always referred to them as if they were not human. The Evan Ezra points out that in Edom (Europe) and Ishmael (the Arab lands) many of the gentiles considered the features of Jews different from all other humans. In Der Struermer from Dec. 29, 1942 we read "The scholar Darwin said, in 1859, that man is descended from the ape. Whether this is correct or not, we do not wish to decide. Perhaps the reader will take the trouble to compare the features of the ape from the New York Zoo and the face of the Jewish old-clothes dealer from the New York ghetto and draw his own conclusions." The Nazis considered the Jews vermin to be exterminated. (The use of gas was compared to exterminating vermin) As Isaiah says here the nations wondered about Israel: "How marred his appearance from that of man, and his features from that of people." Isn't the prophet reminding us of that? The Islamic Jihad put out a pamphlet in Oct. 1988 that stated the Jews were 'the brothers of monkeys.' Arafat on Jan 30, 1992 called Jew, 'The dogs. Filth and Dirt.' Yes, this verse testifies about the righteous of Israel: "How married his appearance from man and his features from that of people." In every generation anti-semites picture Jews in a sub-human form. Isaiah 52:15: So shall he sprinkle (D: astonish) {alt: cast down see Isaiah 63:3} many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for [that] which had not been told them shall they see; and [that] which they had not heard shall they consider. The gentiles never even considered it would be possible for Israel to be redeemed from their exile. I mentioned the verses of Micah 7:14-15 with regards to the kings reactions above. Consider Jeremiah 16:1920: "O Lord, my strength and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction. The NATIONS shall come to you from the ends of the earth and shall say, 'SURELY OUR FATHERS HAVE INHERITED LIES, VANITY, AND THINGS WHEREIN THERE IS NO BENEFIT. Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?" Isaiah 66:8 "Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? [or] shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children." When Israel will be gathered from the exile the NATIONS will come to recognize that for all these years THEY have made a mistake. All of what they have been taught was only LIES. This ends the words of G-d about Israel and how the nations will react when the Messianic age comes. The next verse goes to the plural and the NATIONS start to speak and give witness of their reactions to the coming Messianic age and the end of the exile of the Jewish people.
Isaiah 53:1: Who hath believed our report? (KJV: Heb. hearing) and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? (D: been revealed)
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Now, what does it mean the 'arm of the Lord'? The 'arm of the Lord' refers to when G-d shows his power to redeem Israel from physical troubles and exile. Exodus 14:31 "And Israel saw that great work {heb. great hand} which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses." Exodus 15:6 "Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy." Deuteronomy 7:19 "The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid." If you examine Scripture you will find that it does not mean a small act but a great salvation or victory for the Jewish people: Isaiah 40:10 "Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong [hand], and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward [is] with him, and his work before him. 11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry [them] in his bosom, [and] shall gently lead those that are with young." Isaiah 63:11 "Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, [and] his people, [saying], Where [is] he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where [is] he that put his holy Spirit within him? 12 That led [them] by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?" Is. 52:9-12 (The introductory verses to Isaiah 53). "Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has COMFORTED HIS PEOPLE, He has REDEEMED JERUSALEM. The Lord HAS MADE BARE HIS HOLY ARM IN THE EYES OF THE NATIONS and all the ends of the earth shall see the SALVATION OF ISRAEL." What is the 'arm of the Lord'? The prophet is telling us about the reaction of the gentiles to the redeeming of Israel from Exile. Who sees it? The NATIONS OF THE WORLD. Two verses later it starts, 'Behold My Servant shall prosper....' In this verse we see the reaction of the nations, G-d has redeemed His people from the exile and the Nations are shocked beyond belief. This is further stated in the prophet: Habakkuk 1:5 "Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for [I] will work a work in your days, [which] ye will not believe, though it be told [you]." Isaiah 53:2: For he shall grow up before him {alt. he came up} as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness (D: lordliness); and when we shall see (D: we see) him, [there is] no beauty that we should desire him. Who is to sprout as a tree from dry land where it was never expected to? Israel. Look at what the prophet says: Isaiah 27:6 "He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit." Israel shall blossom!! Hosea 14:6-7: "I will be as dew for ISRAEL; he shall grow as a lily, and CAST FORTH HIS ROOTS as Lebanon. HIS BRANCHES SHALL SPREAD, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree and his smell as Lebanon." Isaiah 66:8 "Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? [or] shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children." When the Messianic time comes Israel will sprout and grow as never before. How was Israel treated by the nations? Here is what the prophet said: Isaiah 42:22 "But this [is] a people robbed and spoiled; [they are] all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore." What have the nations said about the 'form' Israel while she was in the exile? Voltaire said "the most imbecile people on the face of the earth", "most obtuse , cruel and absurd", "disgusting and abominable". As the prophet said. "he had neither form nor comeliness" Kant said "The euthanasia of Judaism can only be achieved by means of a pure and moral
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religion, and the abandonment of all its old legal regulations." Again the words of the prophet, "we saw him that he had no appearance that we should have desired him" St. Gregory of Nyssa referred to the Jews as, "haters of grace, enemies of their fathers religion, advocates of the devil, brood of vipers, slanderers, scoffers, men of darkened minds, leaven of the Pharisees, congregation of demons, sinners, wicked men, stoners, and haters of goodness." As the prophet said "he had no appearance that we should have desired him." That is the testimony of the Nations. "Who would have believed it?" Isaiah 53:3: He is despised and rejected of men (D: left alone of men) ; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him (D: like one from whom [men] hide their faces); he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Who is the one who has been ashamed and despised? In the passage RIGHT AFTER THIS ONE: Is 54:4-17: 4. Fear not, for you shall not be ASHAMED and not EMBARRASSED, for you shall not be put to shame; for the SHAME OF YOUR YOUTH you shall forget; and for the humiliation of your widowhood you shall no longer remember. For your maker is your husband, the Lord of Hosts is his name... 6. For like a wife who was FORSAKEN AND AFFLICTED in spirit has the Lord called you, and a wife of one's youth who was REJECTED, said you G-d. 11. Oh thou AFFLICTED who was not consoled... 14. With righteousness shall you be established, for you will be far from oppression... 17. No weapon that is formed against you will prosper, and any tongue that raises against you in judgement, you shall not condemn; this is the heritage of the SERVANTS OF THE LORD and their righteousness is from me, says the Lord." Who has despised Israel, THE NATIONS. As the prophet says "despised and we esteemed him not." Again from Isaiah 49:7-15: "For so said the Lord, the redeemer of ISRAEL, his Holy One about him who is DESPISED OF MEN, about him whom the nations ABHORS, about a SLAVE OF RULERS. Kings shall see and rise, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, (see Micah 7:15-17), for the sake of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, and He chose you. 13. Sing O Heavens and rejoice O earth, and mountains burst out in song for the Lord has consoled His people, and he shall have mercy on His AFFLICTED. 14. But Zion said 'The Lord has FORSAKEN ME, and the Lord has forgotten me.' 15. Shall a women forget her suckling child, from having mercy on the child of her womb? These too shall forget, but I will not forget you." A mother will forget her baby who she nurses. BUT G-d will not forget Israel!!! Isaiah 60:14 "The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through [thee], I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations." Isaiah 62:4 "Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married." How have the nations reacted to the Jewish people? St. John Chrysostam referred to the Jews as: "most miserable of all men." "debauchery and drunkenness have given them the manners of the pig and the lusty goat." "They have surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts, for they murder their offspring and immolate them to the devil." Just as Isaiah said would happen: "He is despised and rejected of men" St. Thomas Aquinas: 'It would be licit, according to custom, to hold Jews , because of their crime, in perpetual SERVITUDE, and the princes may regard the possessions of Jews as belonging to the State.' As Isaiah said, "a SLAVE OF RULERS" and "despised and we esteemed him not." ***
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The next verses are the hardest ones for Christians to understand and to see their relationship to Israel. To understand them we must consider: If you ask a Christian why are the Jews suffering so much in their exile? What would he answer? He would say, 'the Jews are punished because they rejected their Messiah'. (I have heard this myself many times). As I quoted above from Thomas Aquinas, it was the reason that Jews could be kept as serfs of the state, and all their possessions held by the crown. Because of their crime, all of the persecution was justified. This has been the theology of the Church from the start. BUT NOW when the Messiah comes and he is not JESUS but the true royal descendant of David, and the Jewish people are returned to their kingdom. When all the nations see that the Jews were right in rejecting J, what are the nations going to say about their persecution of the Jews? What are they going to say about all the suffering they caused Israel? If JESUS isn't the Messiah, the actions of the nations toward the Jews are SINS. The nations are going to see they were wrong, and all these years the Jews suffered from their sins. Look at Genesis 31:36, after Laban had persecuted Jacob, Jacob asked him, "What is my trespass, what is my sin". He asked , 'how have I sinned against you?' When a person treats another incorrectly it is called sinning against him. The nations are going to say 'we have sinned against Israel by persecuting them all these years'. This concept was clearly acknowledged by Pope John XXIII when he said: "We realize now that many, many centuries of blindness have dimmed our eyes, so that we no longer see the beauty of Thy Chosen People and no longer recognize in their faces the features of our firstborn brother. We realize that our brows are branded with mark of Cain..." The mark of Cain. The sign of evil and sin! The gentile nations will see that THEY were truly sinners in all their persecutions of the Jewish people. *** Isaiah 53:4-5: Surely he hath borne our griefs {alt: illnesses}, and carried our sorrows {alt: pains}: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he [was] wounded {alt: pained} for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace {alt: welfare} [was] upon him; and with his stripes (KJV: Heb: bruise) {alt: wounds} we are {alt: were} healed. Who did the gentiles think were smitten of G-d? Israel: Jeremiah 50:7 "All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers." The nations will look at what they have done to the Jews and say, they have suffered because we have sinned in not recognizing who they really were. We have sinned and acted shamefully. Israel has suffered the shameful and sinful actions of the nations. This is echoed in the words of the prophet: Ezekiel 36: 6-7,15 6 "In My jealousy and in my anger I have spoken, because the shame of the nations you have borne. 7. Therefore, thus says my Lord, G-d: I have lifted My hand in an oath. Surely the nations which surround you will bear their shame. 15. And I shall no longer cause the ridicule of nations to be heard about you, and the shame of the nations you shall no longer bear...." The nations will admit their sin. How have the nations acted toward Israel? Look what it says in the Koran (Sura 2.61) "And humiliation and wretchedness were stamped upon them and they were visited with wrath from Allah. That was because they disbelieved in Allah's revelations and slew the prophets wrongfully. That was for their disobedience and transgression." As the prophet says, 'we accounted him as plagued, smitten by G-d'. Luther asked, "What shall we do with this rejected and condemned people, the Jews" His program included: Burning synagogues and houses, confiscating Jewish Holy books, forbidding Rabbis to teach, Jews to travel or give loans at interest, forcing Jews to do hard labor, and expelling them from Christian countries. 'He was pained because of OUR transgression, crushed because of OUR iniquities.' In he fall of 1944 when the deportations from
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Slovakia to Auschwitz were going on, Rabbi Weissmandel approached the papal nuncio on a Sunday and asked him to intervene with President Tiso (a Catholic priest). He was told, "This, being a Sunday, is a holy day for us. Neither I nor Father Tiso occupy ourselves with profane matters on this day". When the Rabbi reminded him that there were innocent women and children being sent to Auschwitz, he replied, "There is no innocent blood of Jewish children in the world. All Jewish blood is guilty. You have to die. This is the punishment that has been awaiting you because of that sin (the death of J)." "we accounted him plagued, smitten of G-d and oppressed. ...crushed because of OUR iniquities..." Isaiah 53:6-7: All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all {alt. Heb. the Lord accepted his prayer for our iniquities. The Hebrew word Hifgiah the root of which means also to entreat or intercede as in verse 12}. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought (D: led) as a lamb to the slaughter, and [D: was] as a sheep before her shearers is dumb {alt: mute}, so (D: and) he openeth not his mouth. We have already seen from Jeremiah 16:19 how the nations will admit that they have been going in a false way. Remember Psalms 44: 12. "You have delivered US like SHEEP TO THE SLAUGHTER, and among the GENTILES you have scattered us. 14. You have made us a disgrace to our neighbors, the mockery and scorn of those around us. 22. Because for your sake we are KILLED ALL DAY LONG, we are considered as SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER." Jeremiah 50:17 "Israel [is] a scattered sheep; the lions have driven [him] away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones." The Jewish people are slaughtered in every generation, quietly going to their deaths, for the sake of G- d's name. Isaiah 53:8: He was taken from prison (D: oppression) and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living {lit: the living land}: for the transgression of my people was he stricken {Heb. Lawmo. KJV mistranslates 'was HE stricken', instead of the correct THEY.} Before explaining this, let me show the mistranslation. The Hebrew word is Lawmo and in it's other appearances in Tenach the KJV is CORRECTLY translated to 'them'. For example in Isaiah 44:7 (unto them) 16:4 (to them). (There are no examples of exceptions where a plural prepositional pronoun is used referring to other than a plural noun). The translation is just made to distort the true meaning. Next the verse uses the expression 'the land of the living' (Heb. Eretz Chaim). This always denotes the land of Israel. The words cut off from the land of the living refers to the exile from Israel. Ezekiel 32:23 "Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living." (See the full text of Ez. 32:23-27 where the prophet describes the punishment for those who terrorized Israel and calls the land of Israel 'the land of the living'). Likewise Ezekiel 26:20 "When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living; 21 I will make thee a terror, and thou [shalt be] no [more]: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD." This verse tells us that the Jewish people are being sent into exile from the land of Israel (as everyone knows). Isaiah 53:9: And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death (KJV: Heb. deaths) {Heb. BeMosav 'in his deaths' plural and not BeMoso 'in his death' singular} ; because he had done no violence, neither [was any] deceit in his mouth.
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Here again we see that the KJV used singular where there is a plural in the Hebrew. This signifies the many persecutions and deaths that have followed the righteous of Israel throughout the many generations. It is not just once or twice that evil men have stood up against the Jewish people and oppressed them. But every generation finds someone ready to kill Jews. A parallel to this is Zeph. 3:12-20 12. "And I will leave over in your midst a humble and poor people, and they shall take shelter in the name of the Lord. 13. The remnant of ISRAEL shall neither commit injustice nor SPEAK LIES, NEITHER SHALL DECEITFUL SPEECH BE FOUND IN THEIR MOUTH... 15. The Lord has removed your AFFLICTIONS; He has cast out your enemy... 19 Behold, I wreak destruction upon all those who have AFFLICTED you at that time. And I will save the one who LIMPS, and I will gather the stray one, and I will make them a praise and a name throughout all the land where they SUFFERED SHAME. 20. At that time I will bring them, and at that time I will gather you, for I will make you a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth when I RESTORE your captivity before your eyes, said the Lord." The people who are not deceitful, this is G-d's holy remnant. Some have tried to say that this prophecy is ONLY of a future generation, but looking at verse 19 and comparing it to the many other verses I have brought above which tell the same story of the suffering of Israel in the exile, makes it impossible to consider this about a future remnant, but of the holy remnant of the Jewish people that has suffered in the exile and held fast to the Torah of G-d.
Isaiah 53:10: Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put (D: subjected) [him] to grief: when {Heb. Im means 'if' not 'when' as the KJV translates} thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed {Heb. zarah}, he shall prolong [his] days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Who was given the promise of a long live with abundant children and prosperity? The people of Israel. Look at the words of the prophets: Isaiah 65:20 "There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner [being] an hundred years old shall be accursed. 21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit [them]; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. 22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree [are] the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they [are] the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them." In the Torah itself we see that at the end of times this is to occur: Deuteronomy 30:5 "And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers." Throughout the Tenach, again and again we see prophecies of the wondrous things that will happen when Israel leaves the exile. Isaiah 66:22 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain." Ezekiel 36:37 "Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet [for] this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do [it] for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. 38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I [am] the LORD." Zechariah 10:8 "I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased. 9 And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again."
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We have seen that in this verse the speaker changing again. The prophet is continuing and saying what the purpose is of the exile. Everything was done so that Israel should be able to have her reward. The promises here are a restatement of the promises in the Torah. Deut 30:19-20: 19. "I call Heaven and earth as witnesses. Before you I have placed life and death, the blessing and the curse. You must choose life, so that YOU AND YOUR SEED WILL SURVIVE. 20. If you choose to love the lord your G-d, to obey Him, and to attach yourself to Him. That is your life and the LENGTH OF YOUR DAYS, that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them." The choice is given to Israel, if they accept then they will have long life and many descendants. Isaiah 53:11-12: He shall see of the (D: [the fruit of]) travail of his soul {alt: From the toil of his soul he would see}, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many (D: instruct many in righteousness); for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him (D: assign him) [a portion] with the great, and he shall divide the spoil {alt: Heb: plunder} with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered (D: reckoned) with the transgressors; and he bare (D: bore) the sin of many, and made intercession {alt: interceded} for the transgressors. Here we see that G-d has again speaks about His servant, and the servant's reward. Much of this has been mentioned before let me just add those things not previously cited. First is the point of Israel's purpose in the world, to teach righteousness: Is 60:3 "AND THE NATIONS SHALL GO BY YOUR LIGHT and kings by the brilliance of you shine." Isaiah 42:6 "I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;" Isaiah 49:6 "And he said, 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 for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth." Zechariah 8:13,23 13. "And it shall come to pass that as you were a CURSE among the gentiles, O house of Judah and House of Israel, so will I save you and you shall be a blessing. 23. So said the Lord of Hosts: In those days, ten men of all the languages of the gentiles shall take hold of the skirt of a Jewish man saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that G-d is with you." The strangest part about this prophecy is the last verse 12. Here the prophet talks about sharing portions and plunder. What is this plunder. The word here, 'shalal' means physical wealth wherever it is used. What does it refer to? It is a promise that G-d has made to HIS people of what will happen in the end of days after the great war of Gog and Magog. Zechariah 14:14 "And the wealth of all the nations round about shall be gathered together, gold and silver and apparel in great abundance." What is to happen to this wealth that was gathered around Jerusalem? Ezekiel 39:10: '"And they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them," said the Lord' All the wealth that was stolen from the Jewish people, by all the nations, all the special taxes, all the houses, all the land everything will be returned. This is the plunder of Is 53:12. What is the meaning of 'their iniquities he would bear'? Examine Is. 61:6. "And you shall be called 'The Priests of the Lord', 'Servants of Our G-d' shall be said of you...." This mirrors what was said in Exodus 19:56 "You will be a kingdom of priests". Now if the Jews are the priests, who are the laity? The gentile nations who we have seen will eventually join the Jews in worshipping the true G-d. What was the role of the priests? It is described in Numbers 18:1 "And G-d said to Aaron, 'You and your sons, and your father's house with you, you must BEAR THE INIQUITY against the sanctuary, and you and your sons must BEAR THE INIQUITY against you priesthood.'" That is the role of the priesthood - to bear iniquity. They are the vessel through which the laity/gentiles will correct themselves. Next the idea of interceding for the nations (mentioned above in verse 6) appears openly in a prophecy by Jeremiah 29:7: "And seek the peace of the city where I have exiled you and PRAY FOR IT TO THE LORD.
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for in its peace you shall have peace." A clear indication that Israel intercedes for the nations while in exile. In fact. there is a prayer said in many synagogues, TO THIS DAY, for the well being of the government. The following prophecy summarizes the words of Isaiah and his message to us and the whole world: Joel 2:25-3:2 "25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. 26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. 27 And ye shall know that I [am] in the midst of Israel, and [that] I [am] the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. 1. For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and [for] my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land." Now that I have finished explaining the passages, there remains two questions that are asked. 1. What you say is fine but everything that you have said is not the authentic ancient traditional explanation of the Jews. This was just made up by Rashi in the 11th century so that Jews shouldn't convert. The Jews before that all knew that it meant the Messiah. The answer to this is that it is an outright lie. First, the Zohar on Exodus, and the Midrash Rabbah on Numbers both ancient Rabbinic works bring that Is. 53 refers to Israel. Second, and more importantly than that, one of the oldest references to this chapter by a Christian source (in Contra Celsum), has Origin (late 2nd century) quoting the ancient Jewish understanding that this refers to the Jewish people and their sufferings. "I remember that once in a discussion with some whom the Jews regard as learned I used these prophecies (Is 53). At this the Jew said that these prophecies referred to the whole people as though of a single individual..." Even Origin in the second century knew that the Jews understood Isaiah 53 as referring to Israel. But even more than that, it can be shown that in the time of JESUS they NEVER associated this with a dying Messiah. How do I know. Look at Matthew 16:16-20 where we see that according to the NT, Peter correctly understood that JESUS was the Messiah, and he is told not to reveal it. But let's see Matthew 16:21-22 (right after that) "From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. (22) Then Peter took him and began to REBUKE him saying, 'BE IT FAR FROM THEE, LORD: THIS SHALL NOT BE UNTO THEE!'" What's going on here? If it was true that the Jews knew that Is 53 referred to the Messiah, Peter should have said 'Yes Lord we understand, that is what it says in Is 53, the Messiah has to suffer and die.' But what does he do? He REBUKES JESUS and tells him, are you crazy? The Messiah is not supposed to die. Peter never knew, and the Jews never knew, because it never meant the Messiah. In the time of JESUS nobody attached Is. 53 to the Messiah. 2. You might say, listen Moshe. What you say is how Jews understand it, but Christians understand it another way. Who knows what is right? It just depends on who you are. A Jew says it's Israel and a Christian JESUS But that is NOT true. There are a number of Christian Bibles, that have been translated with commentaries from Christian sources. One of the most well known is called the New English Bible - Oxford Study Edition. And there we read: "52:13-53:12. Fourth servant song. The suffering servant. See 42.1- 4 n. Israel, the servant of G-d, has suffered as a humiliated individual. However, the servant endured without complaint because it is vicarious suffering (suffering for others). 13-15: Nations and kings will be surprised to see the servant exalted. 53.1:
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The crowds, pagan nations, among whom the servant (Israel) lived, speak here (through v.9) saying that the significance of Israel's humiliation and exaltation is hard to believe. 2: In traditional Hebrew though, the good man prospers like a tree by water but the wicked is like a plant growing in parched ground: see Ps. 1.36. 3: Turn away their eyes; lit. hide their faces, an expression used in relation to lepers, whose sickness, considered a sign of sin, made them despised. 4-5: The vicarious suffering expressed here is in contrast both to the traditional solidarity of guilt of Exod. 20.5 and to individual responsibility proposed by the prophets at the time of the Exile; see Jer. 31.30; Ezek. 18 5: Health for us: lit. "our peace" which means "general welfare" 6-7 The servant is led like a sheep in contrast to the peoples going their own way. 8: Although some legal process seems to be involved, the servant does not receive justice; see Jer 39:5-6. 9: The death probably refers to the destruction and Exile of Israel. Compare Ezek. ch 37. 10- 12: The theme of 52:13 is resumed. Israel, which has suffered for all mankind, will now be granted her rightful place. 10: long life and childrens children are the signs of a final vindication before G-d; see Job 42:16-17. 11: Bathed in light; enjoying G-d's favor; Ps. 80.3. There you have it, even the Christian scholars KNOW who Isaiah 53 refers to. It is ISRAEL, G-d's SUFFERING SERVANT." This shows that this is not just a 'Jewish' idea but one that is supported by Christians also! Likewise in volume 5 of 'The Interpreter's Bible' published by Abingdon Press on page 629 we find: "The great surprise of the nations reflected in vs 1 and in 52:13 need not imply that an individual is meant: surely the elevation and "success" of Israel, conceived with great elasticity and fluidity, would occasion a similar reaction (cf. Ezek. 37:1-14)."
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Who Is Satan?
Question:
Dear Rabbi Singer: When you were in Buffalo, NY in November of 96, during the extended question and answer time, you were asked your view on angels and specifically about Satan. I was astounded at your answer and was more astounded that the other rabbis present did not step into the discussion. In your explanation of Satan and other fallen angels you attributed the creation of evil to G-d thus making Him responsible for evil. There are at least 87 references to G-ds holiness in Leviticus alone! In 11:44 G-d says, I AM HOLY. Is not holiness the absence of sin? There are many scriptures to prove that G-d hates sin (evil), that He cannot tolerate evil in His presence. How, then, can you attribute evil to G-d? I am interested in the Biblical support for your statement. I have a fair understanding of Judaism and have found nothing in all of my reading to support your view as traditional. Awaiting your reply. A seeker after truth
Answer: The rabbis to whom you made reference have spent their entire lives immersed in the study of the Jewish scriptures as well as other sacred Jewish literature and were, therefore, not astounded by the Judaism that was taught in Buffalo that evening, as you were. Why werent the rabbis stunned by these Jewish teachings on Satan? Because the Hebrew Scriptures explicitly declare that the Almighty Himself places both the good and the evil that He created before mankind in order to provide His prime creation with free will. Deuteronomy 30:15 states, See, I [God] have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil. In Isaiah 45:7, the prophet describes Gods creation plan when he reports that, I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I the Lord do all these things. I did not invent these verses, nor did I tamper with them. In fact, the Bible I used in the above quotations is the King James Version, which is a translation that could hardly be construed as friendly to the Jewish faith. These edifying verses underscore the fundamental biblical teaching that it is the perfect spiritual balance of good and evil in the world that confronts every searching soul. This is the Almightys divine sovereign plan for creation: It is through mans personal decision to turn away from evil and choose good that virtue can be attained. Isaiah 45:7 and Deuteronomy 30:15, however, pose a serious theological problem for Christians who maintain that God did not create Satan, the angel of evil. According to Christian doctrine, Satan was the highest-ranking angel who, through his own act of spiritual defiance and outright
disobedience, became the chief adversary and slanderer of God and the embodiment of evil in this world. In Christian theology God never created evil; He is only the author of righteousness and perfection, as you maintained in your question. Therefore, God could never create something as sinister as the devil himself. Rather, Satans unyielding wickedness is the result of his own spiritual rebellion. Although this well-known Christian doctrine has much in common with the pagan Zoroastrian Persian dualism out of which it was born, it is completely alien to the teachings of the Jewish faith and the words of the Jewish scriptures. In fact, the Christian teaching that Satan was originally intended by God to be a good angel but, in an act of outright defiance, ceased to function as God had intended him to, suggests that God created something imperfect or defective. For the Jewish faith, Satans purpose in seducing man away from God poses no problem because Satan is only an agent of God. As a servant of the Almighty, Satan faithfully carries out the divine will of his Creator as he does in all his tasks. Satan is one of the many angels mentioned in the Bible. It is worth noting that the Hebrew word for angel is malach, meaning messenger. The same is true for the English word angel, derived from the Greek word angelos, which also means messenger. Throughout the Bible, an angel is a messenger of God who carries out the divine will of the Almighty. There is not one example in the Jewish scriptures where any angel, Satan included, opposes Gods will. In no part of the Bible is this more evident than in the Book of Job. In the first chapter of Job, Satan appears with other angels before God and suggests that Jobs steadfast faithfulness would not withstand personal pain and utter destitution. Satan then requests from God the chance to test Jobs virtue. The Almighty grants this request, but He meticulously outlines for Satan what he may and may not do when putting Job to the test. Satan obediently follows his Creators instructions. Job is immediately put to the test and, by the third chapter, begins to struggle. He questions his Maker as to why he was created and, in a moment of despair, wishes aloud that he had perished in his mothers womb. Still, by the end of this unparalleled biblical narrative, Jobs virtue prevails over Satans unyielding torment. While in Christian terms Jobs personal spiritual triumph is a theological impossibility, in Jewish terms it stands out as the embodiment of Gods salvation program for mankind. In Deuteronomy 30:15, the Torah attests to this principle and in Isaiah 45:7, the prophet echoes this message when he declares that the Almighty Himself creates evil. This biblical principle, however, was apparently too problematic for the Christian translators of the NIV Bible (New International Version). They clearly recognized that a Bible which asserts that God creates evil calls into question one of Christendoms most cherished teachings on salvation. How can the church insist that man is totally depraved when his God placed him in a world where he is free to choose good over evil? How can the church hold to a doctrine of election or predestination when free will is mans to express? How can Christians maintain that God did not create evil when the Jewish scriptures clearly state otherwise? Understandably, the NIV translators saw fit to alter the prophets words by rendering the offensive Hebrew word rah as disaster instead of correctly translating it as bad or evil. The NIV Bible therefore mistranslates Isaiah 45:7 to read, I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.
The word disaster inserted by the NIV is so ambiguous that the uninformed reader would easily come to the conclusion that it refers to such things as earthquakes and hurricanes. This skewed understanding created by the NIV mistranslation effectively conceals Isaiahs original message. As mentioned above, the KJV (King James Version) does correctly translate this verse and render the Hebrew word rah as evil. One final point is in order here. Christians often point to Isaiah 14:12 as a biblical reference to support their teachings of the final and complete downfall of Satan which brings to an end the long and otherwise successful career of this fallen angel. They argue that Isaiahs mention of the fallen morning star refers to Satans ultimate demise at the end of time when Satan will finally be cast into a lake of fire as articulated in the twentieth chapter of the Book of Revelation. There are, however, two serious problems with this assertion. First, if Christians maintain that the morning star is a reference to Satan, how do they explain Revelation 22:16 where Jesus is called the morning star as well? Secondly, a cursory reading of the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah reveals that the morning star spoken of in Isaiah 14:12 is referring to Nebuchadnessar, the wicked King of Babylon, and not to Satan. In 14:4 the prophet explicitly names the king of Babylon as the subject of the prophecy. That thou shall take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased! Throughout this chapter and the preceding chapter of Isaiah, the prophet foretells the rise and fall of this arrogant king who would use his unbridled power to plunder Jerusalem and destroy its Temple but, at the end, would suffer a cataclysmic downfall. In 14:12 Nebuchadnezzar is compared to the planet Venus whose light is still visible in the morning yet vanishes with the rise of the sun. Like the light of Venus, Nebuchadnezzars reign shone brilliantly for a short time, yet, as the prophets foretold, was eventually overshadowed by the nation of Israel whose light endured and outlived this arrogant nation who tormented and exiled her. Yours, Rabbi Tovia Singer

A Lutheran Doesnt Understand Why Rabbi Singer Doesnt Believe in Jesus: A Closer Look at the Crucifixion Psalm
Question: Dear Rabbi Singer, I am a Lutheran living in Switzerland and have been reading your web page with interest. I admire your commitment to your faith, yet I am perplexed as to why you so assuredly reject Jesus Christ as your messiah. He came not only for the gentiles, but for the Jews as well. He was born to a Jewish mother and came to the Jewish people. Because you are a rabbi, I am particularly perplexed as to why you have not willingly accepted Christ. You surely have read the 22nd Psalm which most clearly speaks of our Lords crucifixion. Read verse 16. It states, Dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked has enclosed me; they pierced my hands and my feet. Of whom does the prophet speak other than our Lord? This Old Testament prophecy could only be foretelling Jesus unique death on the cross. What greater proof is needed that Jesus died for the sins of mankind than this chapter which was written a thousand years before Jesus walked this earth? I know that the Jews have been maligned and persecuted by so-called Christians. This has certainly left a bad taste in the mouths of the Jewish people against Christ; but certainly you must know, rabbi, that these were not real Christians, for a believer in Christ must love the Jew, for his Savior is a Jew. Many Jewish people accuse Christians of anti-Semitism, and one can understand from where this bias is coming; for the Jews have been persecuted by those who claim to be Christian, but they are not. The true Christian loves the Jewish people. Answer: Yours is certainly one of the more surprising letters that I have received in recent memory. There is nothing about your question that is unusual or uncommon; it is rather the denomination with which you identify that makes your letter so perplexing. How odd that as a Lutheran you would proclaim that the tormentors of the Jews were not real Christians, yet you apparently are not embarrassed to identify yourself with a denomination that is called after, and founded on, the teachings of Martin Luther. Among all the church fathers and reformers, there was no mouth more vile, no lips that uttered more vulgar curses against the children of Israel than this founder of the Reformation whom you apparently revere. Even the anti-Semitism of the New Testament and the church fathers pales in comparison to the invectives launched by Luthers impious tongue during his lifetime. You so loudly proclaim that those so-called Christians who maligned and persecuted the Jewish people were not real Christians. Do you believe that Luther should be counted among those who are not real Christians? Have you not read his odious volume entitled Of the Jews and Their Lies (http://www.outreachjudaism.org/luther1543new.html) ? If you are familiar with this and other indecent works of Luther, do you also believe that this German reformer lost his salvation because his maniacal hate for the Jew prevented him from being an upstanding member of Christendom? If this is in fact what you believe, why would you belong to a church that boasts his unblessed name? These questions do not apply to you and your co-denominationalists alone. Every member of the Protestant church and every Christian who looks to the reformers as Gods vessels must wonder aloud whether God would use men who regard the Jewish people with utter contempt to protest against the Roman Catholic Church; for none of the other leaders of the reformation held the Jewish
people in esteem either. Martin Bucers lack of affection for the Jews is almost legendary and, although Calvins epithets against the Jews are less plentiful than Luthers abundant invectives, this disparity is likely explained by the fact that Calvin came into contact with very few Jews during his lifetime, if any at all. Although the Swiss reformer lived where Jews were not permitted to reside, his words were no less disturbing than those of Martin Luther. Although evangelicals repeatedly declare that true believing Christians love the Jewish people, the annals of history clearly do not support this slogan. With few exceptions, the tormentors of the Jewish people emerged out of the fundamentalist genre of Christianity. Remarkably, denominations that evangelical Christians regard as heretical, such as Mormonism or the Jehovahs Witnesses, do not have a strong history of anti-Semitism. Liberal-leaning Christian denominations such as the Unitarian and Methodist churches also have for the most part resisted this teaching of contempt that is so well ensconced in Christendoms shameful history. The pattern of hate that has for so long gripped the imagination of the true believer cannot be attributed to coincidence or to a remarkable quirk of history. The accounts in the New Testament -the most cherished book of the devout Christian -- already display the animus of the early church toward the Jews in portraying them as the people of the devil: cunning, traitorous, corrupt, deceitful, and conspiring. In essence, whatever it is that humanity abhors, that is precisely how the Jews are depicted in the Christian Bible. Without rest, post-canonical Christian literature continued to perpetuate this dark image of the Jew. There can be little doubt as to why Christians believe of the Jews what common sense would forbid them to believe of anyone else. To some extent, Luther and his countless followers who eagerly embraced his twisted message were together willing victims of a body of literature that scandalized, smeared, and ultimately condemned the children of Israel to an unimaginable history. Moreover, in an effort to distance Christians from a compelling Jewish message, the founders and defenders of Christianity methodically altered selected texts from the Jewish scriptures. This rewriting of Tanach was not done arbitrarily or subtly. The church quite deliberately tampered with the words of the Jewish scriptures in order to bolster their most startling claim which is: The Old Testament foretold of no messiah other than Jesus of Nazareth. With this goal in mind, missionaries manipulated, misquoted, mistranslated, and even fabricated verses in Tanach in order to make Jesus life fit traditional Jewish messianic parameters and to make traditional Jewish messianic parameters fit the life of Jesus. Bear in mind, the Jewish scriptures were written in Hebrew, not in seventeenth century King James English. What has made Christian believers so vulnerable to Bible tampering is the almost unimaginable reality that only a very tiny group of them can read their Bible in its original language. As you and countless other Christians earnestly study the authorized version of the Bible, there is a blinding yet prevailing assumption that what you are reading is the inerrant word of God. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. The King James Version and numerous other Christian Bible translations were meticulously altered in order to produce a message that would sustain and advance church theology and exegeses. This aggressive rewriting of biblical texts has had a remarkable impact on Christians throughout the world who unhesitatingly embrace these twisted translations. As a result, Christians earnestly wonder, just as you have, why the Jews, who are the bearers and protectors of the divine oracles of God, have not willingly accepted Jesus as their messiah. What evangelicals fail to understand, however, is that the passionate resistance of the Jew to the teachings of Christianity has little to do with the Churchs bad manners and everything to do with the Churchs contrived and therefore implausible message. This conclusion, however, is nearly impossible for Christians to accept without bringing injury to their own faith and worldview.
Remember, in Christian theology the Jews are not just another worldly tribe whose beliefs conflict with the teachings of the church. Quite the contrary, the religion of Christianity readily concedes that the Jews were Gods firstborn -- the people who were chosen to receive and protect the divine oracles of God. The spiritual principles of such a priestly nation cannot be dismissed lightly. As a result, Christendom sought to systematically undermine the vision and trustworthiness of the Jewish people. It isnt difficult to understand how polemical literature against the Jews became a common feature in church writings. By declaring that the Jew rejects the claims of the church as a result of Christian anti-Semitism, as you insist, or the Jews spiritual blindness, evangelicals spare themselves the festering anguish that self searching and self doubt invariably create. To understand the extent and the manner in which the church tampered with the Jewish scriptures, lets examine the verse that you insist proves that Jesus is the messiah. Psalm 22:16 in the King James Version (KJV) reads, Dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me; they pierced my hands and my feet. It isnt difficult to understand why Christians are so confident that this verse contains a clear reference to Jesus crucifixion. Of whom, missionaries ask, other than Jesus, could the Psalmist be speaking? To which other individual in history, whose hands and feet were pierced, could the Bible be referring?
1
Apparently, you were so impressed by this argument that you wondered how a rabbi like myself could miss this obvious reference to Jesus crucifixion. Paradoxically, well-educated Jews are utterly repelled by the manner in which the church rendered the words of Psalm 22:17.1
Although in a Jewish Bible this verse appears as Psalm 22:17, in a Christian Bible it appears as 22:16. So as not to create confusion, I refer to this controversial verse as Psalm 22:17 throughout this article.
To understand how Christian translators rewrote the words of King David, lets examine the original Hebrew words of this verse with a proper translation. Dogs have encompassed me. A company of evildoers has enclosed me; like a lion, they are at my hands and my feet. Notice that when the original words of the Psalmist are read, any allusion to a crucifixion disappears. The insertion of the word pierced into the last clause of this verse is a not-too-ingenious Christian interpolation that was created by deliberately mistranslating the Hebrew word kaari ( ) as pierced. The word kaari, however, does not mean pierced, it means like a lion. The end of Psalm 22:17, therefore, properly reads like a lion they are at my hands and my feet. Had King David wished to write the word pierced, he would never use the Hebrew word kaari. Instead, he would have written either daqar or ratza, which are common Hebrew words in the Jewish scriptures. Needless to say, the phrase they pierced my hands and my feet is a Christian contrivance that appears nowhere in the Jewish scriptures. Bear in mind, this stunning mistranslation in the 22nd Psalm did not occur because Christian translators were unaware of the correct meaning of this Hebrew word. Clearly, this was not the case. The word kaari can be found in a number of other places in the Jewish scriptures. Yet predictably, the same Christian translators who rendered kaari as pierced in Psalm 22 correctly translated it like a lion in all other places in the Hebrew Bible where this word appears.
For example, the word kaari is also found in Isaiah 38:13. In the immediate context of this verse Hezekiah, the king of Judah, is singing a song for deliverance from his grave illness. In the midst of his supplication he exclaims in Hebrew . Notice that the last word in this phrase (moving from right to left) is the same Hebrew word kaari that appears in Psalm 22:17. In this Isaiah text, the King James Version correctly translates these words I reckoned till morning that, as a lion . . . . As I mentioned above, Psalm 22:17 is the only place in all of the Jewish scriptures that any Christian Bible translates kaari as pierced. It must be noted that the authors of the New Testament were not responsible for inserting the word pierced into the text of Psalm 22:17. This verse was undoubtedly tampered with years after the Christian canon was completed. Bear in mind, during the latter half of the first century, when the New Testament writers were compiling their Greek manuscripts, Psalm 22:17 was still in pristine condition; thus, when the authors of the New Testament read this verse, they found nothing in the phrase like a lion they are at my hands and my feet that would advance their teachings. As a result, Psalm 22:17 is never quoted in the New Testament. Missionaries, who insist that the Christian translation of this verse reflects the original words of King David, must wonder why there was not one New Testament author who deemed this supposed allusion to the crucifixion worthy of being mentioned in his writings. The Bible tampering that has occurred in this verse becomes especially obvious with only a cursory reading of the entire 22nd Psalm. Throughout this chapter, King David is using an animal motif to describe his enemies. His poignant references to the dog and lion are, therefore, not foreign to this author. In fact, David repeatedly makes reference to the dog and lion both before and after Psalm 22:17. For the Psalmist, these menacing beasts symbolize his bitter foes who continuously sought to destroy him. This metaphor, therefore, sets the stage for the moving theme of this chapter. Although Davids predicament at times seems hopeless, this faithful king of the Jewish people relied on God for his deliverance. As the Psalmist eagerly looks to God for deliverance from his adversaries, he conveys the timeless message that it is the Almighty alone who can save man in times of tribulation. Lets examine a number of verses in this chapter that surround Psalm 22:17 as they appear in the King James Version. Psalm 22:12-13 (KJV) Many bulls have compassed me; strong bulls of Bashan have beset me around. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravenous and a roaring lion. Psalm 22:20-21 (KJV) Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling from the power of the dog. Save me from the lions mouth; for thou hast heard me from horns of the wild oxen.
As mentioned above, it is obvious when reading this larger section of the 22nd Psalm that King David is using an animal motif -- most commonly lions -- as an animated literary device, in order to describe his pursuers and tormentors. This striking style is pervasive in this section of the Bible. In fact, each and every time the word lion appears in the Book of Psalms, King David is referring to a metaphoric lion, rather than a literal animal. For example, in the 17th Psalm King David appeals to the Almighty to rescue him from the hands of his enemies, the lion. Bear in mind, an examination of the 17th Psalm is of great relevance to our study because in many respects Psalm 17 and 22 are identical, both with regard to their literary motif and driving theme. In the 17th Psalm, King David is looking for deliverance from his adversaries as in Psalm 22. In Psalm 17:8-12, the Psalmist pleads with God for deliverance from the lion, as he cries out, Hide me under the shadow of Your wings, from the wicked who oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about. They are enclosed in their own fat; with their mouths they speak proudly. They have now compassed us in our steps; they have set
their eyes bowing down to the earth, like a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. Again, in Psalm 35:17, in a similar supplication, King David entreats the Almighty for salvation from lions as he exclaims, Lord, how long wilt thou look on? Rescue my soul from their destruction, my darling from the lions. Moreover, missionaries are confronted with another remarkable problem as they seek to project the words of this Psalm into a first century crucifixion story. In the simplest terms, this text that Christians eagerly quote is not a prophecy, nor does it speak of any future event. This entire Psalm, as well as the celebrated Psalm that follows it, contains a dramatic monologue in which King David cried out to God from the depths of his personal pain, anguish, and longing as he remained a fugitive from his enemies. Accordingly, the stirring monologue in this chapter is all in the first person. The author himself is crying out to God, and there is no doubt who the faithful speaker is in this Psalm; the very first verse in this chapter explicitly identifies this person as King David. Trinitarian Christians are further confronted with another staggering problem. The opening verses of this Psalm clearly make little sense in the mouth of a god/man. In the beginning of this chapter the author wonders aloud, My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; and in the night season, and am not silent. Why would Jesus, whom Trinitarians insist is God, complain that God is so far from helping me? How could God, the first Person of the Trinity, not hear the cries of God, the second Person of the Trinity? To whom is this supposed God complaining? Finally, why would God be complaining to God altogether? The speaker here is moaning that God is not listening to him day and night, and in the verses that follow, questions his feelings of abandonment when enumerating the times when God did listen and intervene for his ancestors. How can God not understand his own predicament? Who are Gods ancestors? Applying the words of Psalm 22 to Christendoms Jesus challenges even the most fertile imagination and places an enormous strain on church teachings. The question that naturally comes to mind is: Why did the King James Version correctly translate the Hebrew word kaari in Isaiah 38:13 as like a lion, yet incorrectly translate this same word as pierced in Psalm 22:17? These Christian translators were clearly aware of the correct meaning of the word kaari, as evidenced by their translation of Isaiah 38:13. Why then did they specifically target Psalm 22 for such Bible tampering? To grasp what is behind this church revision of the 22nd Psalm, it is essential to be aware of the central role this chapter plays in traditional Christian teachings. Church fathers have always cherished Psalm 22 as a chapter that supposedly describes in vivid detail the agony of the passion narratives and provides the script for Jesus crucifixion. Segments of this Psalm are quoted extensively in the New Testament as a fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy of the crucifixion. The most notable quote from Psalm 22 appears in the first two Gospels and is found in the chapters opening verses, My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Matthew and Mark place this desperate monologue in the mouth of the crucified Jesus as his last dying words.2 These two Gospels resourcefully use Psalm 22 as one of many palettes from which to paint the brutal picture of a tormented crucified savior. All of the Gospels3 similarly use Psalm 22:19 (22:18 in a Christian Bible) in their crucifixion narratives, and Hebrews 2:12 quotes Psalm 22:23 to explain why the messiah had to suffer for humanity.
Psalm 22 has, therefore, always been a vital text to the church and was used repeatedly in order to retroject the life of Jesus back into the Old Testament. In so doing, missionaries sought to lend credibility to their claim that Jesus is the messiah as was foreordained by the ancient Jewish prophets. For Christendom, the Psalmists original intent was superseded by their interest in applying this entire chapter to Jesus passion, no matter how extensive the revisions would be. The church, therefore, did not hesitate to tamper with the words of the 22nd Psalm so that its verses would reflect and sustain its Christian message. Isaiah 38:13, on the other hand, possesses no Christological value to the church and was neither quoted nor used by the church fathers to propagate their teachings. The church, therefore, had no need to mistranslate it, and thus it was left intact. Interestingly, the stunning mistranslation in this chapter did not escape the notice of the missionary world. In fact, this controversy has attracted quite a bit of attention from Christians dedicated to Jewish evangelism. For example, Moshe Rosen, the founder of Jews for Jesus, advances a rather inventive response to this controversy over the appearance of the word pierced in Christian translations of Psalm 22. In his widely distributed book, Yshua, Rosen readily concedes that the Hebrew word kaari does mean like a lion, and not pierced; yet it is on this very point where he makes his argument. He suggests that although the word pierced does not exist in the Hebrew Masoretic text, it is possible that a scribe may have inadvertently changed the word pierced into like a lion by modifying one small Hebrew letter. In his own words he writes, We can probably best understand what happened when we realize that, in Hebrew, the phrase they have pierced is kaaru while like a lion is kaari. The words are identical except that pierced ends with the Hebrew letter vav and lion with a yod. Vav and yod are similar in form, and a scribe might easily have changed the text by inscribing a yod and failing to attach a vertical descending line so that it would become a vav.4 While Rosens proposition is quoted frequently by missionaries, it contains numerous remarkable flaws. Transforming kaari ( ) into kaaru ( ) by changing the letters kaf ( ), alef ( ), raish ( ), yod ( ), which means like a lion, into kaf ( ), alef ( ), raish ( ), vav ( ),does not create the Hebrew word for pierced, as Rosen suggests. In fact, kaaru doesnt mean anything. In other words, this word kaaru does not exist in the Hebrew language; its little more than Semitic gibberish. Rosens claim that some anonymous scribe may have inadvertently changed kaaru into kaari is wholly unfounded and completely untenable. In order to concoct a word that resembles kaaru, one would not only have to change the letter yod into a vav, but the letter alef would have to be removed altogether. This alteration would create the threeletter word karu ( ), spelled caf, raish, vav. Karu, however, doesnt mean pierced either. It means to excavate or dig. As mentioned above, the words used in Tanach for pierce or stab are daqar or ratza, never karu. Rosen is not the only church apologist to use scribes and rabbis of antiquity to defend the Christian translation of Psalm 22. In fact, missionaries more frequently refer to the Septuagint to justify the manner in which Christian Bible translators render Psalm 22:17. They argue that the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the entire Old Testament was completed by 72 rabbis more than 200 years before the Christian century, renders the last phrase of Psalm 22:17 they pierced my hands and my feet. From this they conclude that even the rabbis who lived before the first century believed that the last clause of this verse reads pierced rather than like a lion. Evangelicals are typically quite fond of this response because it enables them to circumvent the oftentroubling original Masoretic Hebrew Bible. This notion may seem strange at first glance; yet, although Christians typically begin their assault on Judaism by swearing allegiance to the Hebrew scriptures, more often than not, they will renounce this vow in order to rescue their dubious proof-texts.
Furthermore, and this is quite secondary, although Christians will rarely state this openly, the church has always had a more favorable view of Jews and rabbis who lived prior to the first century than those who lived after it. The translators of the Septuagint are of course pre-Christian, and are, therefore, held in higher regard in the eyes of the church than those Jews who rejected the claims attributed to Jesus. Despite the overwhelming popularity of the contention that the Greek translation of 72 rabbis supports the use of the word pierced in Psalm 22:17, this explanation is completely without merit. It is universally conceded and beyond any question that the rabbis who created the original Septuagint only translated the Five Books of Moses and nothing more. This undisputed point is well attested to by the Letter of Aristeas,5 the Talmud,6 Josephus,7 the church fathers,8 and numerous other critical sources. In other words, these ancient 72 rabbis did not translate the Book of Psalms. The Book of Psalms belongs to the third section of the Jewish scriptures called the Ketuvim, the Writings. This is an entirely different segment of Tanach from the Torah, which was the only section translated by the 72 rabbis. In essence, this missionary argument is predicated on a fabrication. Moreover, and this is merely an aside, even the current Septuagint covering the Five Books of Moses is an almost complete corruption of the original Greek translation that was compiled by the 72 rabbis more than 2,200 years ago for King Ptolemy II of Egypt.9 This fact is well known to us because the Talmud10 records how these 72 translators distinctly rendered 15 phrases of the Torah in their translation. Of these 15 unique translations, only two of them are currently extant.11 Extrapolating from this, we can safely conclude that the vast bulk of the current Septuagint even of the Torah is unrelated to the translation of the original 72 Jewish translators. The Septuagint that is currently in our hands -- especially the sections that are of the Prophets and Writings -- is a Christian work, amended and edited exclusively by Christian hands. There is therefore little wonder that the Septuagint is esteemed in Christendom alone. In fact, in the Greek Orthodox Church, the Septuagint is regarded as Sacred Scripture. (I have addressed the subject of the Septuagint more thoroughly in a previous article entitled A Christian Defends Matthew by Insisting That the Author of the First Gospel Used the Septuagint in His Quote of Isaiah to Support the Virgin Birth. Although Christendom is predisposed to a reverence for scripture written in Greek, the children of Israel regard only the Hebrew Bible given to us by our prophets as holy and authoritative. It is these sacred texts that we diligently pore over day and night. No translation of the Bible, no matter how widely used by churches and academicians, holds any influence over our people. Do not think in your heart that the Jewish people have missed the stirring messianic message contained in Tanach or we somehow do not understand our own Bible. It is our nation which is ordained to protect the integrity of these holy scriptures, our people who brought these sacred oracles to the worlds nations, and it is our people to whom these promises were addressed. Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year. I remain very sincerely yours, Rabbi Tovia Singer
Footnotes:
1
Although in a Jewish Bible this verse appears as Psalm 22:17, in a Christian Bible it appears as 22:16. So as not to create confusion, I refer to this controversial verse as Psalm 22:17 throughout this article.
In the book of Luke, Jesus last dying words are, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. In Johns Gospel, Jesus last words are It is finished.
3
Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:24. Rosen, Moishe. Yshua. Chicago: Moody, 1982, p. 45-46.
This Letter of Aristeas (2nd-3rd century B.C.E.), written by a Hellenistic Jew, describes the events leading up to and surrounding the writing of the original Septuagint. There is considerable disagreement as to the date when this was written. Tractate Megillah, 9a.
Josephus, preface to Antiquities of the Jews, Sec 3. For Josephus detailed description of events surrounding the original authorship of the Septuagint, see Josephus Antiquities of the Jews, XII, ii, 1-4.
For example, St. Jerome, in his preface to the Book of Hebrew Questions, addresses this issue and concedes that, Add to this that Josephus, who gives the story of the seventy translators, reports them as translating only the Five Books of Moses; and we also acknowledge that these are more in harmony with the Hebrew than the rest. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers. Peabody: Hendrickson, Volume 6. P. 87.
9
Ptolemy II, also known as Philadelphus, reigned from 283 to 245 B.C.E. Tractate Megillah, 9a-9b.
10
Of these 15 phrases which appeared in the original Septuagint (Genesis 1:1; 1:26; 2:2; 5:2; 11:7; 18:12; 49:6; Exodus 4:20; 12:40; 24:5; 24:11; Leviticus 11:6; Numbers 16:15; Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:3), only Genesis 2:2 and Exodus 12:40 are found in the current Septuagint.
11
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Did Jesus Rise From the Dead? What is the Evidence?

Question: Dear Rabbi Singer:
I'm doing a project on missionary and counter-missionary groups. There is a very large section in my project that deals with theology. I have read your site as well as the Jews for Jesus site, and I must say that the information is both deep and extensive. I must commend you. Your site offers many good counter arguments to the validity of Jesus being the messiah. I have, however hit a stumbling block. I checked your Q&A section on the web pages, but found very little dealing with "Jewish" explanations of the resurrection. I found that quite odd, as any Christian will tell you that Jesus' resurrection is the foundation of the Christian religion. I assume that we as Jews do not believe in Christ's resurrection, so how do we explain the resurrection? Did a bunch of crazy people decide to create a story about a resurrection? This story was passed on to the time when the Gospels were written, so how inaccurate can they be? The memory of someone 40 years ago isn't considered faulty today, so accounts from 40 years may have been altered, but all adhere to a resurrection story. What is the Jewish take on the resurrection?
Answer: You certainly have not overstated the importance of the claim of Jesus' resurrection to the Christian church. As Paul candidly admits, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins." (I Corinthians15:17) In essence, the validity of Christianity stands or falls on this claim. Because of the importance of this topic, I have dedicated an entire segment on the tape, "Confused Texts and Testimonies," to this subject. Bear in mind that Christianity is not the only religion in human history to proclaim to the Jewish people that their savior or demigod was resurrected from the grave. The claim of a deity who has defeated the grip of death is one of the most common themes embedded in the plethora of religions that have emerged since time immemorial. Your question, therefore, may be expanded even more widely because the claim of a divine savior who is born of a virgin birth, suffers a brutal death, and ascends to heaven was so very common among pagan and Gnostic religions during the first century (this was especially true for the regions around Tarsus, Paul's hometown). Mythologies throughout the Roman Empire and beyond contained widespread beliefs that notable mortals and god-men were born of virgins and returned from the dead. See accounts of Romulus, Apollonius of Tyana, Drusilla, Claudius, Dionysus-Bacchus, Tammuz-Adonis, Mithra, Osiris, Krishna, and Buddha. The question for the Jewish people is simple. Should we accept the numerous claims made by widespread religions of a miraculous resurrection from the dead simply because their zealous defenders promoted them, regardless of how soon following the supposed event it was alleged to have occurred? Claims of biased followers need to be particularly scrutinized, especially if they were the only claims that exist. Since the belief in Jesus' resurrection is the foundation of Christianity, we should certainly examine the credibility of this story. What is the evidence for the belief that Jesus rose from the grave? Aside from the accounts in the New Testament, there is no independent supportive documentation, nor is there any circumstantial evidence. There is not even one contemporaneous historian who mentions one word about the resurrection. The entire claim hangs exclusively on the New Testament texts. Moreover, it was the creators and defenders of Christianity who promoted the stories of the resurrection. Their biased testimony must therefore be examined more carefully. Is this testimony reliable? As a seeker of truth, you are the judge.
Obviously, a judge must be impartial, and objectively weigh all of the relevant evidence. Realize this is not a routine case; your relationship with God is at stake. As an individual examining the case for the resurrection, you should not be swayed by conjecture or hearsay, but demand clear proof. If you were the judge presiding over a murder case, you would want to be absolutely certain before convicting the defendant. If the prosecutor called his key witnesses, but each told a different story, his case would be very shaky. The defense attorney would argue for the acquittal of his client by demonstrating the weakness of the prosecutor's case. He would impeach the state's witnesses by showing how their accounts are contradictory. The resurrection narratives in the Gospels may be convincing testimony for people who have not read them very carefully. As a responsible judge, though, you can't be satisfied with just a casual examination of the evidence, especially if biased witnesses gave the testimony. The stories told in the New Testament, and the passion narratives in particular, are so inconsistent, that the resurrection story collapses under careful scrutiny. The conflicting testimonies of the evangelists are so unreliable, they would not stand up to critical cross-examination in any court of law. In fact, there is virtually not one detail of the crucifixion and resurrection narratives upon which all four Gospel authors agree. Yet, it is upon this story that the entire Christian religion stands or falls. I have prepared the following three-part study to help you critically evaluate the case of the alleged resurrection of Jesus. This analysis consists of: (1) the crucial date of the crucifixion, (2) the events that supposedly followed the resurrection, and (3) a crucifixion/ resurrection chart that carefully maps out the inconsistencies among the four Gospels with regard to the passion narratives. Let's begin this examination of the resurrection stories by studying the date of the crucifixion as told by the four Gospels.
Crucifixion/Resurrection Chart
Matthew
Who carried the cross? Simon of Cyrene
Mark
Simon of Cyrene (15:21)
Luke
Simon of Cyrene (23:26) Not mentioned in Luke
John
Only Jesus himself carried the cross. (19:17) 12:00 p.m. -- Jesus was not crucified until after the sixth hour! (19:14-15)
(27:32)
At what time was Jesus crucified?
Not mentioned in Matthew
9:00 a.m. -- It was the third hour when they crucified him. (15:25)
On which day of the month was Jesus crucified?
On the first day of Passover, the 15th day of Nissan1 (26:20-30)

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On the first day of On the first day of On the day before Passover, the 15th day Passover, the 15th Passover, the 14th day (14:17- day of Nissan1 (13:1, of Nissan1 of Nissan1 (22:14--23) 29, 12:28, 19:14) 25)
Because all three synoptic insist that the Last Supper was a Passover Seder, they must therefore maintain that the crucifixion occurred on the first day of Passover, rather than the eve of Passover, as John would have us believe. (see accompanying article, The Crucifixion Date: On Which Day Was Jesus Crucified?) [BELOW]
Did Jesus drink while on the cross? Did either one of the two thieves on the cross believe in Jesus?
Yes Neither one of the thieves believed in Jesus. (27:44)
No Neither one of the thieves believed in Jesus. (15:32)
Not mentioned in Luke
Yes
In Lukes story only Not mentioned in John one thief does not believe, but the other thief does. (23:3941) It is finished. (19:30)
What were Jesus last dying words on the cross?
Father, into thy Eli, Eli, lama Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? that is, hands I commend sabachthani? My God, my God, why meaning, My God, my spirit. (23:46) hast thou forsaken my God, why hast me? (27:46) thou forsaken me? (15:34) Not mentioned in Matthew Mary prepared the spices after the Sabbath was (16:1) over. Mary prepared the spices before the Sabbath started. (23:56) At early dawn they went to the tomb. (24:1) 3 days and 2 nights2 (24:1)
When did Mary prepare the spices?
Nicodemus, not Mary, prepared the spices before the Sabbath. (19:39) No -- Mary came early to the tomb, while it was still dark. (20:1) 2 days and 2 nights2 (20:1)
Had the sun yet risen It was toward dawn of Yes -- They came to when the women came the first day of the the tomb when the to the tomb? week. (28:1) sun had risen.
(16:2)
How many days and how many nights was Jesus in the tomb?
3 days and 2 nights2 (28:1)

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3 days and 2 nights2 (16:2)
Although Jesus had prophesied that he would be in the tomb for three days and three nights! -- Matthew 12:40 Two (28:1) Three (16:1) More than four (24:10) One (20:1)
How many people came to the tomb Sunday morning following the crucifixion?
Who were the women Mary Magdalene and who came to the tomb? the other Mary
(28:1)
Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome (16:1) Yes -- When they arrived, the stone had already been rolled away. (16:4) One (16:5)
Mary Magdalene, Only Mary Magdalene Mary mother of came to the tomb James, Joanna, and (20:1) other women (24:10) Yes -- When they arrived, the stone had already been taken away. (24:2) Two (24:4) Yes -- When Mary arrived, the stone had already been taken away. (20:1)
Was the stone removed when the women arrived at the tomb?
No -- After the women arrive at the tomb, an angel rolls back the stone. (28:1-2) (28:2)
How many angels were One at the tomb?
Two 2, 12)
(20:1-
What was the angel (s) He was sitting on the He was sitting on They were standing doing at the tomb and stone that he had rolled the right side, inside by the women, inside where was he (they)? away from the tomb. the tomb. the tomb.
(28:2)
(16:5)
(24:4)
In the Book of John, there are no angels when Mary comes to the tomb. When Mary arrives at the tomb a second time, however, she finds two angels sitting inside the tomb. One is at the head and
the other is at the feet (see accompanying article, Can Both of These Stories Be True?) (20:12, 12)
What were the angels instructions to Mary and the others* at the tomb?
He is not here; for he Do not be In Lukes postThe angels only ask has risen . . . go amazed . . . he resurrection story Mary Why are you (chapter 24), the quickly and tell his has risen . . . tell weeping woman? As women at the tomb disciples he is going his disciples and Mary responds, she are specifically before you to the Peter he is going turns around and sees *No others in the Book 3 instructed not to go Jesus, who she thinks before you to Galilee! of John to the Galilee, but to Galilee!3 is the gardener, (28:6-7) Stay in standing there. (16:6-7) Jerusalem! Completely contradicting all three (24:49)3 synoptic Gospels, Johns story (20:2) has This is also the case Mary clueless as to in the Book of Acts, what happened to which was written by the author of Luke, Jesus body when she returns to the disciples where He after departing the commanded them tomb. There are no that they should not angels giving leave Jerusalem! instructions to the (Acts 1:4) Mary in Johns story. On the contrary, in the Lukes postfourth Gospel, it is resurrection story Jesus, not the two does not allow for angels, who tells Mary any of Jesus about the followers to leave resurrection. Johns Jerusalem because post-resurrection Luke must have the narrative also lacks the apostles stay in Roman solders that Jerusalem for the Matthew places at the Pentecost. tomb. Without the (Acts 2:1) presence of the guards at the tomb, Johns Mary concludes that Jesus body had been removed from the tomb. (see 3 accompanying article, Luke contradicts Matthew (28:16) and Mark (16:7), whose Can Both of These post-resurrection tale has the apostles depart Jerusalem, and Stories Be True?) going to the Galilee, which is about an 80-90 mile journey. (20:13-17) Luke, on the other hand, insists that the apostles were never told to, and never did, leave Jerusalem and go to the Galilee! - Luke 24:5-7, 49; Acts 1:4
Does Mary wish to tell the disciples what happened?
Yes -- They departed No -- . . . they quickly . . . and ran to said nothing to tell the disciples. anyone; for they were afraid. (16:8) (28:8) Jesus4 (28:9)
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Yes -- Returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven . . . . (24:9) The disciples4 (24:4-9)
Yes -- Mary Magdalene tells the disciples, I have seen the Lord. (20:12) Jesus4 (20:14)
After seeing the angels, whom does Mary meet first, Jesus or the disciples?
Jesus4 (16:9)
Entirely contradicting Lukes post-resurrection story, Matthew, Mark, and John all insist that Mary met Jesus before she was able to tell any of the disciples what had happened (Matthew 28:8; Mark 16:9; John 20:14), whereas Luke asserts that Mary revealed all to the disciples before ever encountering Jesus! -Luke 24:4-10
To whom does Jesus make his first postresurrection appearance? Where does the first post- resurrection appearance take place?
The two Marys.
Only Mary Magdalene. Marks story does not indicate where this appearance takes place. It is quite clear, however, that it occurs sometime after Mary fled the (16:8-9) tomb.
Cleopas and another5 Emmaus5 (24:13, 12)
Only Mary Magdalene.
On the way to Jerusalem, after leaving the (28:9) tomb.
At the tomb5 (20:1, 11-14)
Contradicting Mark, Luke maintains that when the two followers who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus returned to Jerusalem and informed the eleven about their encounter, the disciples declared, It is true! (Luke 24:34) whereas Mark insists that when the two reported their encounter, the disciples did not believe (16:13).
Is Mary permitted to touch Jesus after the resurrection?
Yes . . . they came and held him by his feet, and worshiped him. (28:9)
Not mentioned in Mark
YES -- Behold my No -- Jesus said to hands and my feet . her, Touch me not; for . . handle me I am not yet ascended and see . . . to my Father . . . . . (20:17) (24:39; 1 John 1:1) Two Times Four Times
How many times does Jesus appear after the resurrection?
Two Times
Three Times
1) 28:9-10 2) 28:17-205
1) 16:9 2) 16:125 3) 16:14-12
1) 24:13-31 2) 24:36-515
Paul
Six Times 1 & 2) I Cor. (15:5) 3) I Cor. (15:6) 4 & 5) I Cor. (15:7) 6) I Cor. (15:8)
1) 20:14-17 2) 20:19-236 3) 20:26-295 4) 21:1-23
Contradicting Lukes post-resurrection story entirely, John has the apostles receive the Holy Spirit on the first Easter Sunday (John 20:22), whereas Luke insists that the Holy Spirit was bestowed on the Pentecost, fifty days latter! -- Acts 1:5, 8; 2:1- 4
Before whom, and in what chronological order do these appearances take place?
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (28:9) 11 disciples (28:16)
Paul
I Corinthians 1) Peter (15:5) 2) All 12 apost. (15:5) 3) 500 people (15:6) 4) James (15:7) 5) All 12 apost. (15:7) 6) Paul (15:8)
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Mary Magdalene (16:9) Cleopas and another Mary Magdalene unknown follower. (20:14) 5 (24:13) Two strolling followers Ten disciples7 (16:12) 7 Eleven disciples (Thomas was not . . . and them that there) (20:24) 7 11 disciples (16:14) were with them. (24:33) Eleven disciples (20:26) Peter, Thomas, the two sons of Zebedee (James and John), Nathaniel and two other disciples. (21:2)
According to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus made this appearance to all the eleven surviving disciples. Paul has this event take place in the presence of all twelve apostles (Corinthians 15:5) although Judas had long since died, having committed suicide (Matthew 27:5; Acts 1:12). Contrary to all this, Johns story places only ten disciples at the scene, Thomas being absent! -John 20:24
Where do these appearances take place?
Leaving the tomb, going to the (28:8) disciples. On a mountain in the Galilee. (28:16) (But some doubted it!) (28:17)
After fleeing the (16:8tomb 9) As they walked to the country (16:12) At a meal (16-:14)
Emmaus (24:13) Jerusalem (24:33, 49),
At the tomb
(20:14)
In Jerusalem, behind closed doors. (20:12-29) The Sea of Tiberias (21:1)
For error is manifold, truth but one

1998 Rabbi Tovia Singer
Footnotes: Because all three synoptic insist that the Last Supper was a Passover Seder, they must, therefore, hold that the crucifixion occurred on the first day of Passover, rather than the eve of Passover, as John would have us believe.
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Although Jesus had prophesied that he would be in the tomb for three days and three nights! -- Matthew 12:40
Luke contradicts Matthew (28:16) and Mark (16:7), whose post-resurrection tale has the apostles depart Jerusalem, and going to the Galilee, which is about an 80-90 mile journey. Luke, on the other hand, insists that the apostles were never told to, and never did, leave Jerusalem and go to the Galilee! -- Luke 24:5-7, 49; Acts 1:4
Entirely contradicting Lukes post-resurrection story, Matthew, Mark, and John all insist that Mary met Jesus before she was able to tell any of the disciples what had happened (Matthew 28:8; Mark 16:9; John 20:14), whereas Luke asserts that Mary revealed all to the disciples before ever encountering Jesus! -- Luke 24:4-10 Contradicting Mark (16:13), Luke maintains that when the two followers who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus returned to Jerusalem and informed the eleven about their encounter, the disciples declared It is true! (Luke 24:34) whereas Mark insists that when the two reported their encounter, the disciples did not believe.
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Contradicting Lukes post-resurrection story entirely, John has the apostles receive the Holy Spirit on the first Easter Sunday (John 20:22), whereas Luke insists that the Holy Spirit was bestowed on the Pentecost, fifty days latter! -- Acts 1:5, 8; 2:1-4
According to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus made this appearance to all the eleven surviving disciples. Paul has this event take place in the presence of all twelve apostles (I Corinthians 15:5) although Judas had long since died, having committed suicide (Matthew 27:5; Acts 1:12). Contrary to all this, Johns story places only ten disciples at the scene, Thomas being absent! -- John 20:24
The Crucifixion Date: On Which Day Was Jesus Crucified?
When examining the four crucifixion accounts as they are presented in the New Testament, it is difficult to point to a single event upon which all four Gospel writers agree. Even the date of the crucifixion is an issue of contention among the four Gospels. A perfunctory examination of New Testament texts reveals that the Books of Matthew,1 Mark,2 and Luke3 all agree that the Last Supper was actually a Passover Seder. Bearing in mind that Jesus was crucified on the very next day following the Last Supper, that would mean that according to all three synoptic4 Gospels, Jesus was crucified on the first day of Passover, or the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan (for example, if tonight were a Passover Seder, then tomorrow would be the first day of Passover5). The author of the Book of John, however, completely contradicts the first three Gospels, and maintains that Jesus was crucified on the eve of Passover, or the 14th day of Nissan. The Book of John reads, "Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover . . . . Then he handed him over to them to be crucified." (19:14-16) The implications of this stunning contradiction cannot be overstated because both claims cannot be true. In essence, this is not the sort of inconsistency that can be explained away by missionaries insisting that the reason for the varying Gospel accounts is due to different perspectives of the Gospel writers. Jesus was crucified either of the eve of Passover, which is the 14th day of Nissan, as John contends, or on the first day of Passover, which is the 15th day of Nissan, as the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke maintain. Jesus could not have been crucified on both days.
As a result of this conflict over the crucifixion date, numerous other aspects of John's passion narrative will differ radically with the synoptic Gospels. For instance, John's description of what transpired during the Last Supper is entirely different from the accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John cannot include a Passover Seder in his version of the Last Supper because according to his reckoning of the date of the crucifixion, the night of the Last Supper fell on the night of the 13th day of Nissan, which was not a holiday. Therefore, in his Last Supper no aspect of the Seder ceremony occurs. In fact, in John's Last Supper, there is neither eating of the matzo nor drinking of the wine because in John's Gospel the evening before the crucifixion does not occur on the festival of Passover. In the book of John (chapter 13), where the events that occurred the night before the crucifixion are described, we therefore find no mention of anyone drinking wine, or eating matzo and herbs as we find in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John's account of the Last Supper only describes Jesus' washing the feet of the disciples. Moreover, John begins his 13th chapter by saying, "Now before the festival of the Passover . . . ." This is a stunning opening statement because according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke that momentous night wasn't "before the festival of Passover, but rather it was the festival of Passover. Also, according to John, when Judas Iscariot mysteriously leaves the Last Supper with the moneybag, the disciples immediately presume that he is taking money to purchase food for the festive meal (13:29). Why would Judas be purchasing food for the feast if, according to the first three Gospels, they had just eaten it? Furthermore, John's story describes how, when the Jews were handing Jesus over to Pontius Pilate to be crucified on the morning of the crucifixion, "They [the Jews] themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover."6 (John 18:28) Why were these Jews concerned about not being able to eat the Passover? According to Matthew, Mark, and Luke they had already eaten it because the Passover Seder took place the previous night. This is not a problem for John because John states that Jesus was crucified on the eve of Passover, so that this statement makes perfect sense in his story. In contrast, the synoptic Gospels never mention in their accounts the fear the Jews had of entering the home of Pilate. Such concern would be preposterous because in Matthew, Mark, and Luke's story, the Jews had already eaten the Passover lamb the previous night. The first question that naturally comes to mind is: Why would John change the crucifixion date from the 15th day of Nissan to the 14th day? Why was it so important to the author of the fourth Gospel that Jesus be crucified on the eve of Passover rather than the first day of Passover, as the other three Gospels claim? The simple answer becomes quite clear when we have a good understanding of what message John's Gospel was trying to convey to its reader. Remembering that the book of John was the last of the four Gospels to be written, the author was trying to appeal to a second century church that had already become predominantly gentile. Bearing this in mind, John had to appeal to these pagans of the Greco-Roman world whom he was addressing. This was accomplished by carefully integrating heathen practices with elements of the Jewish faith. The notion that an animal was to be revered and sacrificed as a god was well known and widely practiced throughout the Roman Empire7 in mystery religions such as Mithraism, which flourished during the time that the Book of John was being written. This book's author was well aware of this and seamlessly fused together the Mithraic sacrifice of the redeeming bull with the Jewish sacrifice of the Paschal lamb. It is for this reason that only in John's Gospel does John the Baptist proclaim of Jesus, "Behold, the Lamb of God . . . ." (1:29, 36) In fact, of the four Gospels, only John ever equates Jesus with the Passover lamb. If Matthew, Mark, and Luke agreed with the fourth Gospel that the lamb was the antitype of Jesus, as John insisted, why is it that when the synoptic Gospels described the communion at the last supper, Jesus raised the matzo saying, "This is my body"? He should have raised the Paschal lamb. At mass,
priests should be giving their parishioners lamb chops rather than a wafer for communion. In addition, only John's narrative includes the story of the Roman soldiers who pierced the side of Jesus rather than break his legs on the cross (John 19:31-37). This brief narrative only fits into the theological story line of the fourth Gospel. This is because only the author of the Book of John was eager not to have Jesus' bones broken so as not to violate the prohibition of breaking the bones of the Paschal lamb found in the Book of Exodus (12:46). Therefore, we have come to the reason that John places the crucifixion on the 14th day rather than the 15th. Because the Torah commands Israel to slaughter the Paschal lamb on the eve of Passover or on the 14th day of Nissan (Exodus 12:6), John's Jesus is also "slaughtered" (i.e. crucified) on the eve of Passover or the 14th day of Nissan. The Resurrection Accounts: Can Both of These Stories Be True? Matthew 28:1-10 (1)After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. (2) And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. (3) His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. (4) For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. (5) But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. (6)He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. (7) Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.' This is my message for you." (8) So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. (9) Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. (10) Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." John 20:1-18 (1) Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. (2) So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." (3) Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. (4) The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. (5) He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. (6) Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, (7) and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. (8) Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; (9) for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. (10) Then the disciples returned to their homes. (11) But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; (12) and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. (13) They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." (14) When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know
that it was Jesus. (15) Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." (16) Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). (17) Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" (18) Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
What is wrong with the two stories quoted above? If taken separately, the resurrection accounts presented by either Matthew or John appear fancifully viable. When read side by side, however, they collapse because it would have been historically and chronologically impossible for both accounts to have occurred. In fact, the crucial events presented in these two Gospel narratives are so manifestly contradictory that even liberal Christians, who often allow for occasional mistakes that appear in the New Testament, must take pause. This brief study will examine several irresolvable contradictions in the variant Gospel accounts of the resurrection chronology as reported by the authors of Matthew and John. The following discrepancies, which we will now examine, have been selected because they cannot be ameliorated or explained away by such well-worn arguments as "each Gospel writer is giving us his own personal perspective." Such a rationalization becomes impossible because the above Gospel narratives are so irreconcilable that no explanation can account for the stark differences between them. Matthew presents us with a post-resurrection story where the two Marys are greeted at the tomb by an angel who had just rolled away the stone from its entrance. After revealing to both women the empty place where Jesus' body once laid, the angel proclaims to them that Jesus had already risen from the dead. The angel goes on to instruct both Marys that they are to tell the disciples that Jesus had gone before them to the Galilee to meet them. (Matthew 28:1-7) If that encounter wasn't convincing enough for the two women, Matthew continues to relate how, after leaving the tomb, both Marys unexpectedly meet the resurrected Jesus himself, whom they both worship. Jesus then essentially repeats the angel's instructions to them, and sends the women to inform the disciples that they are to meet the resurrected Jesus in the Galilee. (Matthew 28:8-10) Like Matthew's account, John's resurrection narrative also contains an empty tomb. However, that is where the similarities between the first and fourth Gospel end. In John's version of the first Easter morning, when Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb, there is no angel there to greet her with information about Jesus' whereabouts or instructions about a rendezvous in the Galilee as we find in Matthew's account (Matthew 28:5-7). On the contrary, in John's story, after Mary finds the empty tomb, she concludes that someone had removed the body from the grave. Mary certainly had no reason to believe otherwise. She therefore quickly runs back to the disciples and reports, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him!" (John 20:1-2)
The above account is entirely inconsistent with Matthew's post-resurrection narrative. Why didn't Mary know that Jesus' body was not laid anywhere? In Matthew's story, the angel had already reported to her that Jesus rose from the dead and had gone to the Galilee. It would therefore have been ludicrous for her to think that someone had moved the body when the angels had already informed her that Jesus' resurrection had occurred. Moreover, if the angel's instructions to her were not convincing enough, Matthew maintains that Mary also met the resurrected Jesus himself right after leaving the tomb (Matthew 28:9); and all this transpires before Mary ever sees the disciples. Why then in John's Gospel is Mary clueless as to where Jesus' body was moved, when according to Matthew, Mary had already heard from two reliable sources -- the angel at the tomb and Jesus himself -- that Jesus rose from the dead? Further contradicting Matthew's post-resurrection account, John's story lacks the Roman guards whom Matthew places at the tomb to prevent anyone from removing Jesus' body. How could John's Mary have thought that someone removed the body, when according to Matthew, Roman soldiers were placed at the tomb for the specific purpose of preventing just such an occurrence? Obviously, the author of the fourth Gospel has no need for Roman guards at the tomb, so in John's crucifixion account they simply are not there. This Gospel problem of the missing Roman soldiers in the Book of John raises another important issue. Missionaries often contend that it would have been impossible for anyone to have surreptitiously removed Jesus' corpse from the tomb because there were guards posted at the tomb who would have prevented such an occurrence. Therefore, they argue, without any possibility for the body to have been quietly whisked away, the only other logical conclusion is that Jesus must have truly been raised from the dead. John's account, however, completely nullifies this argument because according to his story line that is precisely what Mary thought had happened. Mary clearly didn't feel as though the scenario of Jesus' body being removed was unlikely. In fact, according to John, that was her only logical conclusion. Clearly, Matthew's guards didn't dissuade John's Mary from concluding that someone had taken Jesus' body, because, in John's story, Matthew's Roman guards do not exist. To compound the problem of the conflicting resurrection accounts even further, John's Gospel continues to unfold with Mary returning to the tomb a second time only to find two angels sitting inside the tomb. Mary is still unaware of any resurrection as she complains to the angels that someone had removed Jesus' cadaver. As far as John's Mary was concerned, the only explanation for the missing body was that someone must have removed it, and she was determined to locate it (John 20:11-13). Although in Matthew's account the angel emphatically tells Mary about the resurrection (Matthew 28:5-7), in John's Gospel the angels say nothing about any resurrection. The angels only ask Mary, "Woman, why are you weeping?" Mary then inquires as to whether the angels have removed Jesus' body. At that point, Mary turns around only to see Jesus standing before her, and mistakes him for the gardener. Mary is still completely unaware of any resurrection, and therefore asks the "gardener" if he was the one who carried away Jesus' body. It is only then that Mary realizes that she was speaking to the resurrected Jesus (John 20:14-16). It is at this final juncture of the narrative that the accounts of Matthew and John remain hopelessly irreconcilable. The question every missionary must respond to is the following: When Mary met Jesus for the first time after the resurrection, had the angel(s) already informed her that Jesus rose from the dead? According to Matthew he clearly did, and in John's account they certainly did not. Both could not have occurred. As we survey the divergent New Testament accounts of the resurrection, we are not just looking at contradictory versions, we are simply staring at two entirely different stories.
Many Christian apologists have argued that the inconsistent resurrection accounts are similar to a traffic accident that is viewed by four different witnesses: Each who sees it has a distinct perspective. This might be a tenable idea if the evangelists were actually on the scene and watched the story unfold as the women approached the tomb. Yet this was not the case. Not only were the Gospel writers not eyewitnesses, they didn't even write their accounts of the story until at least 40-70 years after it allegedly took place. Moreover, most of the inconsistencies in the resurrection narratives (i.e. date, time, and place) cannot be explained away as differences in perspective. Philo of Alexandria (20 B.C.E.-50 C.E.), a renowned philosopher and a contemporary of Jesus, wrote extensively about his time. Yet his entire corpus of works fails to mention a word regarding Jesus or his alleged resurrection. Josephus' silence on this matter is also deafening. Consequently, the only information we have of this 2,000-year-old tale is the Greek document called the New Testament. Yet the moment our finger begins to navigate through its verses we are confronted and appalled by the plethora of glaring irreconcilable inconsistencies. Every element of the resurrection narrative is recklessly contradicted by another. There is, however, a more significant issue here: the source. When a number of people, in different places, and at different times, write a description of an event that occurred in the significant past -whether a year ago, a decade ago, or a half a century ago -- we expect and anticipate many contradictions. Why, you ask? Because humans are fallible, and are therefore likely to make unintentional and intentional errors. Accordingly, when we read descriptions of what transpired during a historical event, such as the assassination of JFK, disparities will inevitably exist among the accounts. Therefore, when various individuals witness a traffic accident and then attempt to clearly transmit the information they saw, errors will be made. This is what we expect from humans! The New Testament, however, does not make this claim. Its authors and those who promoted the Christian religion wanted us to believe that its content was divinely inspired! Every word is from God! With this claim, we must hold it to an entirely different standard of accuracy -- that of perfection. The time span from the first letters of Paul to the last words of Revelation is over a half a century. Moreover, these books were penned from one end of the Roman Empire to the other. Thus, if we are to assume they were written by mere mortals, without Heavenly inspiration, mistakes and inconsistencies are expected. God, however, is inerrant. There is another difference between conflicting accounts of a traffic accident and conflicting accounts of the resurrection. The testimonies of a traffic accident are believable because they are likely to have occurred and make sense in our world. The resurrection story, on the other hand, is a biological and scientific impossibility. Thus, the only reason for believing its miraculous occurrence -- defying all natural laws -- is the believer's total reliance on the credibility of the divine author. Since the stunning contradictions clearly establish the human origins of the resurrection stories, we can no more accept their testimony than we can that of the Book of Mormon. Moreover, the resurrection story is a self-serving rationalization to account for a messianic failure. I know there have been many frantic attempts to respond to some of the countless inconsistencies that exist in the Gospels. These answers, however, are so plainly forced and contrived that even a perfunctory examination of these rationalizations lets its reader know that they were written by desperate men, hopelessly trying to swim with shoes made of concrete. God doesn't suffer from human fallibility and certainly wouldn't present such a garbled account of what Christians consider the most crucial event in world history. Best regards for a happy Passover. Very truly yours, Rabbi Tovia Singer
http://www.outreachjudaism.org/resurrection.html
Footnotes:
1Matthew 26:20-30. 2Mark 14:17-25. 3Luke 22:14-23. 4The synoptic Gospels are those of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The word synoptic comes from two Greek words that mean "the same view." Matthew, Mark, and Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because these three Gospels tell a similar story, and there is a strong literary relationship among them. 5This is true only in the land of Israel. In diaspora, however, it might be the second day of Passover because there is a custom to hold two Seders outside of Israel. Suggesting, however, that the Last Supper might have been in second Seder would create a 48-hour problem instead of a 24-hour problem. 6This is because it was a common custom among gentiles to bury their dead in their homes. 7This is particularly true of the pagan deity Mithras. Belief in this deity flourished throughout the Roman Empire during the second and third centuries C.E. Similar to Christianity, Mithra was called the "Mediator" (see I Timothy 2:5), and one Mithraic hymn begins, "Thou hast redeemed us too by shedding the eternal blood."
PLEASE visit these useful websites for more information: www.MessiahTruth.com : The Real Jewish Messiah www.jewsforjudaism.org Response to Missionaries www.outreachjudaism.org An international organization that responds directly to the issues raised by missionaries http://jdstone.org/cr/index.html Reveals the error, distortions and falsehood of xianity http://www.kosherjudaism.com/counter.htm Archive of Articles; trinity, messiah, Jesus & Christianity http://www.angelfire.com/my/tgoldman0/prophet.htm An Explanation of Christians Prophecies www.TorahAtlanta.com Jewish Articles and Response to Christian claims on G-d and the Messiah. www.simplyjewish.org If you want to understand the differences recognized by Jews and Christians alike. SIMPLY JEWISH! IS FOR YOU http://www.beingjewish.com/toshuv/ The Anti-Missionary Gateway of the Being Jewish Web Site http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/phpBB2/index.php Jews for Judaism - Keeping Jews Jewish http://home.att.net/%7Efiddlerzvi/j4j_no.html Messianic Verses in the TaNaCh http://www.drazin.com/ e-book Their Hollow Inheritance A Comprehensive Refutation of Christian Missionaries by Michoel Drazin http://www.simpletoremember.com/audio/jewish-response-to-christian-missionaries.htm Jewish Response To Christian Missionaries" MP3s tapes & in-depth guide.
Is A Blood Sacrifice Required For Atonement?

Quite often, missionaries will cite Hebrews 9:22 (NT) which states: "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission" (forgiveness of sin). But is this true? Is this a Jewish concept? After all the New Testament claims to be the fulfillment of Judaism as found in the Jewish Bible. Let us look at this question to see if the New Testament is telling the truth about this important subject. The New Testament bases this idea on Leviticus 17:11 which says: For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul. From a simple reading of this, it seems that "blood makes atonement for the soul. Without blood atonement does not seem possible. But, is this the whole story? First of all, we must always ask ourselves, "What is the full context of this verse." An honest reading of Leviticus 17:10-14 shows clearly that the Torah is speaking about a prohibition against eating blood, not about atonement. Blood is considered important because when an animal is offered, the blood is the part that effects the atonement, not the skin or the bones. These passages are also here to tell us that the only permitted use of blood is on the altar, and no other. But is a blood sacrifice the only means Hashem has given us to atone for our souls? Absolutely not. Just as a store will allow you to pay by cash, or check, or credit card or food stamps, etc., so too Hashem allows us many way to atone for our souls. The first step to appreciating this, is to actually look at the quote in the New Testament that missionaries cite to make their case. We will find that not only do they take Tanach verses out of context, but actually do the same thing to the New Testament as well. The entire verse reads: Hebrews 9:22. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. Almost all things? I propose that Paul was aware that the atoning effect of blood did not cover everything, and that other means were available for atonement. Let us now examine the Tanach to see examples of where atonement was achieved in ways other than through a sin offering. Examples: This they shall give, every one who passes among those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary... The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering to the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls. (NO BLOOD). Exodus 30:13-15
What if someone cannot afford an animal to sacrifice, is atonement closed to him? But if he is not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he who sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering... Then shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, a memorial part of it, and burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire to the Lord; it is a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for him in regard to his sin that he has sinned in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him; and the remnant shall be the priest's, as a meal offering. (NO BLOOD). Leviticus 5:11 -13 In most cases in the Bible, stories of the forgiveness of sin involve genuine, heart-wrenching repentance, which is really what Hashem desires most. Bring no more vain offerings; incense of abomination they are to me.... Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the orphan, plead for the widow. (NO BLOOD). Isaiah 1:13-17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, 0 God, you will not despise. (NO BLOOD). Psalm 51:19 Look at the story of David and the matter of Uriah. David is confronted with his sin, repents and is forgiven And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, The Lord 11 Samuel 12:13 also has put away your sin; you shall not die. (NO BLOOD). Furthermore, following the Golden Calf: And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people; now therefore let me alone, that my anger may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation. And Moses pleaded with the Lord his G-d, and said, Lord, why does your anger burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand... Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever. And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people. (NO Exodus 32:9-14 BLOOD). Concerning Nineveh, the Gentile city in the Book of Jonah: Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness has come up before me... And the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them, And word came to the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he took off his robe, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes ... And God saw their doings, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, which he had said that he would do to them; and he did not do it. (NO BLOOD) Jonah 1:2; 3:5-6, 10 2
Christians may ask, How is it possible to attain atonement without sacrifices? Since no sacrifices have been offered since the Temple was destroyed, Jews offer repentance instead. Christians will then ask, by what authority can we substitute words for sacrifices? We read in Hosea an admonition from G-d through his prophet for us all. O Israel, return to the Lord your God; for you have stumbled in your iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord; say to him: Forgive all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will Hosea 14:2-3 we offer the words of our lips instead of calves. Listen to the prayers of the prophet Daniel who lived during the exile in Babylon. His words of confession: We have sinned, and have committed iniquity; and have done wickedly and have rebelled, and have departed from your precepts and from your judgments... Daniel 9:5 And his plea for forgiveness: To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him... 0 Lord, according to all your righteousness, I pray you, let your anger and your fury be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a- reproach to all those who are around us. Daniel 9:9;16 Daniel asked God for forgiveness for himself and his people. Would Daniel be praying for something he couldn't have because he couldn't offer blood? Of course not. For Daniel knew of Hosea, and Daniel knew of Nathan the prophet's words about King David. Lastly, we are told what we must do when we have been put out of our land, dispersed among all the nations and want forgiveness. Though this was spoken by King Solomon, it is applicable to us today, and it has nothing to do with blood, or Jesus. "They shall pray unto the L-rd toward the city which You have chosen ... and say ... We have sinned ... and so return to You with all their heart ... forgive Your people that have sinned. I Kings 8:44-50 Yes, we as Jews have sinned, in many ways. All of us, and we must follow the words of our prophets to return to G-d. Message to Messianic Jews By the path you have chosen, you may have sinned in a very dangerous way, one that threatens to cut you off from the Jewish people, and threatens the eternity of your neshama (soul). We are told in Deuteronomy 28:64 "And the Lord shall scatter you among all people from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known." 3
It is important to see that the Jewish belief in G-d has standards. When Moses spoke to his generation of gods "that neither you nor your fathers worshipped", he sought to exclude for all time all foreign views of G-d. Moses and his generation did not worship a trinity. They worshipped the one G-d who revealed Himself at Sinai. Therefore, realize that it is no small thing to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. It is idolatry and for a Jew is punishable by koras, the eternal cutting off of your soul. You can do teshuvah (repentance), and without a sacrifice, as your ancestors did. Return to the true G-d and to his people, who will accept you, as you receive forgiveness of sin. ___ Source: http://www.torahatlanta.com

JESUS, LAMB OR GOAT?

Hugh Fogelman
Christians maintain Jesus was the Passover Lamb, a HUMAN sacrifice for the sins of all. But what does God say about this? Two points must be addressed. ONE: Christians claim Jesus was a sacrifice for the sins of all, meaning all people for all sins for all times. Chapter 4 of Leviticus lists offerings that are required to atone for sins, in contrast to other offerings. These sin offerings cannot atone for sins that were committed INTENTIONALLY. No offerings is sufficient to remove the stain of such sinfulness; that can be done only through repentance and a change of the attitudes that made it possible for the transgressor to flout Gods will. That is right; no sacrifice can be offered or accepted by one who sins intentionally. Since the Christian sacrifice aka Jesus, is supposed to be the one great sacrifice for the sins of all," then it cannot be for all sinners, and all sins, for all time. In other words, sin-offerings were never meant for ALL. On the other hand, Sin-offerings are needed to atone for deeds that were committed INADVERTENTLY, as a result of carelessness, accident and without intent, (Leviticus 4:2 and Leviticus 4:22). TWO: Leviticus 4:21: And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: is a sin offering for the congregation. "Bullock"? I thought we were meant to believe that Jesus was a lamb? Leviticus 4:23: Or if his sin, wherein he hath sinned, come to his knowledge; he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish "Jesus, a Kid of the goats"? And all these years Christians were taught that Jesus was a lamb? Leviticus 4:27-28: And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty; Or if his sin, which he hath sinned, come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned. A "kid of the goats, a female without blemish?" Were not Christians taught that Jesus was to be a sacrificial lamb? Was not Jesus a male? So, the more we examine this sacrificial lamb thing, it just shows that the Christian sacrifice was not a real sacrifice for the common people after all. But wait, it seems one can bring a lamb, after all. Leviticus 4:32: And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish. The key word here is without. The Christian Bible clearly says Jesus was whipped bloody, blood ran down his forehead from the Crown of Thorns and he was
circumcised. These alone would disqualify him, for he was NOT without blemish. Oops, I about forgot, Jesus was not a female eitherjust one more little detail that slips through Christian minds. Leviticus 4:12: Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt. Leviticus 4:18 And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the Lord, that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. When was the "sacrifice" of Jesus burnt? How can Jesus be a "perfect" sacrifice, if his death does not conform to God's Laws concerning sacrifice? Only if you change the rules set forth by God. Now, who would change the unmitigated gall to G-ds rules? Do you have the authority to change G-ds laws, rules and/or procedures? Does your preacher have this authority? Or perhaps Paul? In one word, NO! Leviticus 4:13-14 And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty; When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation. "Bullock"? I thought we were meant to believe that Jesus was a lamb? How is Jesus supposed to be a sacrifice for sin, as according to Leviticus Chapter 4, if these sacrifices all speak of "unintentional sins?" Leviticus 4:35 And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the Lord: and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him. Jesus, unless the rules had been changed, was not an acceptable sacrifice! One small detail that Christians apparently forget, the fact that God does not accept human blood sacrifices. But, overlooking that small detail, Christians should at least now realize that Jesus was not: perfect, as his flesh was torn; a bullock; a kid of the goats, a female lamb; and burnt on the altar.
Even if Jesus had conformed to these criteria, he could not have been a sacrifice for intentional sins. The only place in the Christian Bible that makes the claim that Jesus took away the sin of the world is found in John 1:29. Here, John the Baptist, upon seeing Jesus, makes this claim; Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world! Christians took those two phases and made them world renowned: (1) Lamb of God; and (2) taketh away the sin of the world. Anyone who knows Torah would certainly know that associating lamb to sin must follow the rules established by God. For the Outer chatas/sin offerings, for personal sin/variable chatas the lamb MUST be female. For Nazir Tahor and Metzora, the lamb MUST also be female. For burnt offerings (Olah) the male lambs are used. HOWEVER, there is no mentioned of any sin and the male offerings once died MUST be burnt. For guilt offerings (asham) the male lamb was used. For peace offerings (shelamim) the male lamb was used For Pesach (Passover) the male lamb WITHOUT blemish was used. Two important rules must be followed: (1) the lamb MUST be without blemish (2) there is no association of any sin involved. For Yom Kippur, the male goat (kid) was indeed used to take away our sins. Answer these questions for yourself! Which offerings would you apply to Jesus? Was Jesus a symbol of a lamb or a goat? These are very important questions! Your life may very well ride on your answers. Answer honestly, answer accurately and then you will be right. Truth is in Torah, not in the Christian bible.
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www.MessiahTruth.com : The Real Jewish Messiah www.jewsforjudaism.org Response to Missionaries www.outreachjudaism.org An international organization that responds directly to the issues raised by missionaries and cults. http://jdstone.org/cr/index.html Reveals the error, distortions and falsehood of Christianity. http://www.kosherjudaism.com/counter.htm Archive of Articles; trinity, messiah, Jesus, Christianity, etc. http://www.angelfire.com/my/tgoldman0/prophet.htm An Explanation of Christians Prophecies http://www.torahatlanta.com/ http://www.christianaggression.org
www.outreachjudaism.org 1 Outreach Judaism Responds to Jews for Jesus

The "Let's Get Biblical" Tape Series Outreach Judaism is committed to respond effectively and
positively to Christian missionaries who target Jews for conversion. This is our mandate. To the horror of Jewish families worldwide, the church's effort to evangelize the Jewish people has escalated to a feverish pitch. As a result, the work of Outreach Judaism has become more vital than ever. Our renowned Let's Get Biblical tape series and accompanying in-depth study guide has become one of the most effective educational tools in the counter missionary movement. Introduced in 1993, this program has helped countless people understand why Judaism does not accept the Christian messiah. This remarkable program has inspired Jewish people worldwide to understand the beauty and truth of their faith, and foster tolerance and respect for Judaism among non-Jews.
Jews for Jesus responds on its web page Jews for Jesus, a well known Hebrew-Christian missionary
organization, posted on its web page its response to a number of points made on one of the tapes entitled Sin and Atonement from Outreach Judaism's Let's Get Biblical series.
Ironically, Jews for Jesus called this section of its web page Let's Get Really Biblical. Their choice of this title is puzzling given that whereas our Let's Get Biblical tape series quotes exclusively from the Bible, Jews for Jesus does not quote the Bible even once throughout their entire response. Paradoxically, they call this response, Let's Get Really Biblical. Instead of quoting from the Bible, Jews for Jesus draws all of their arguments from rabbinic and secular sources. Throughout the Let's Get Biblical tape series I only quote from the Bible for a simple reason: Christians are not believers in the Oral Law and the messorah (tradition) transmitted to us by our teacher, Moses. It would therefore be pointless to use any other source other than Tanach to disprove the arguments made by missionaries. It is only by using the words of the written Jewish scriptures alone can a Christian begin to understand in a meaningful way why Judaism does not accept the Christian messiah.
Issue addressed on "Sin and Atonement" Prior to responding to the arguments of Jews for Jesus, we will explain the crucial issue addressed by the tape "Sin and Atonement."
This tape responds to one of Christendom's most central disputes with the Jewish faith: How can man expiate his sin without the shedding of blood? Missionaries claim that the blood sacrificial system is man's only conduit to atonement. They contend that there can be no forgiveness of sin without a blood sacrifice. Without a blood sacrifice man is lost in a state of hopelessness. To prove this point, the church insists that the Bible sets forth only blood atonement to expiate sin.
www.outreachjudaism.org 2
Moreover, evangelical Christians assert that for the past nineteen centuries since the destruction of the second temple in 70 C.E., Jews have lacked the essential and indispensable animal-sacrificial system for atonement. Consequently, they insist, God must have provided a blood atonement in place of the animal sacrifices of the past. This sacrifice, they maintain, is the death of Jesus on the cross.
Missionaries quote Leviticus 17:11 To support this claim that atonement can only be achieved through the shedding of blood, Missionaries cite Leviticus 17:11 which reads:
"This is because 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 makes atonement for the soul." With this verse in hand, Christians conclude that only by being covered in the blood of the Cross can man have any hope of being forgiven by God for his sins. The tape Sin and Atonement and its corresponding chapter in the study guide responds to the above missionary argument in a variety of ways. The following is a brief overview of six crucial points elucidated in Sin and Atonement. First, an overview of the tape "Sin and Atonement"
Refutation I: There are not one, but three methods of atonement in the Bible
Contrary to the missionary claim that bloodsacrifice is the only method of atonement in the Bible, there are three methods of atonement clearly defined in the Jewish scriptures:
The sin sacrifice, 1repentance 2and charity.3 Moreover, the sin sacrifice (known in the Jewish scriptures as Korban Chatat) did not atone for all types of sin, but rather, only for man's most insignificant iniquity: unintentional sins.4 The sin sacrifice was inadequate to atone for a transgression committed intentionally. The brazen sinner was barred from the Sanctuary, and had to bear his own iniquity because of his rebellious intent to sin against God. The Torah teaches this fundamental principle in Numbers 15:27-31: "If a person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a one year old female goat for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who goes astray when he sins unintentionally, making atonement for him that he may be forgiven.... But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be on him."
Refutation II: Leviticus 17:11 deals with the prohibition of eating blood
Contrary to the Christian claim that Leviticus 17:11 proves that man can only atone for his iniquity through the shedding of blood, this verse only explains the prohibition of eating blood.
Missionaries have conveniently severed this verse from its original context, effectively concealing and distorting its message. In the immediate context of Leviticus 17:11 we find that the Torah is speaking of the prohibition of eating blood, not the subject of sin and atonement. The Torah discusses blood atonement in this verse only as a byproduct of its central theme. This crucial message is lost when missionaries quote Leviticus 17:11 alone, without the surrounding texts as its proper background. Leviticus 17:11 begins with the conjunctive Hebrew word ki (pronounced kee), meaning "This is because...." Whenever a verse begins with this word, it is explaining what has just been related in the previous verse. The previous verse, Leviticus 17:10, reads, "And any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people." Leviticus 17:11 then continues this message and explains, "This is because 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 makes atonement for the soul." Thus, Leviticus 17:11 explains Leviticus 17:10 by revealing that consuming blood is forbidden because it may only be used in the act of sprinkling of the animal's blood on the altar for an atonement. It is a grievous sin to use it for anything else.5 Leviticus 17:10-11 is therefore declaring two principles about blood: 1) you may not eat it 2) amongst all the various rituals associated with the sin sacrifice, such as the laying of the hands on the animal, slaughtering, collecting, carrying, sprinkling, placing of the animal on the altar, it is only the sprinkling the blood on the altar that brings about the atonement. You therefore may not eat the blood. This verse does not state or imply that one cannot have atonement for sin without a blood sacrifice. Such a message would contradict all of the Jewish scriptures which clearly outline two other methods of atonement more pleasing to God than a sacrifice - heartfelt repentance and charity. Although the statement "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" is found nowhere in the Jewish scriptures, it does appear in the Christian scriptures. In Hebrews 9:22 the author misquotes Leviticus 17:11 when he states "Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." Although this quote in Hebrews 9:22 is always cross referenced in a Christian study Bible to Leviticus 17:11, it is actually a stunning misquote of the original text. Finally, if missionaries want to use Leviticus 17:11 to bolster their position that blood sacrifices are indispensable for procuring an atonement, they must use all of the verse, not just a part of it. Leviticus 17:11 specifically says that the blood of the sacrifice must be placed "upon the altar to make atonement for your souls." That is to say, Leviticus 17:11 explicitly declares that blood can only effect atonement if it is placed on the altar. Jesus' blood, however, was never placed on the altar. If the church is going to take the "blood" part of the verse literally, they must also take the "altar" part literally as well. Jesus' blood was never sprinkled on the altar, and therefore his death could not provide atonement for anyone. Moreover, the Torah strictly prohibited the Jewish people from offering human sacrifices under any circumstances. There is not one place throughout the entire corpus of the Jewish scriptures where human sacrifices are condoned. Throughout the Book of Leviticus, only distinct species of animals are permitted for use in blood sacrifices.
Refutation III: The prophets declared that repentance and charity are more favorable than a blood sacrifice
Throughout the Jewish scriptures, the prophets declared that repentance and charity are more pleasing to God for atonement than a blood sacrifice.
They repeatedly forewarned the Jewish people from becoming obsessed with blood offerings. Other methods of atonement were more efficacious and would even replace animal sacrifices. For example, King David declares in Psalm 40:76 that "Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; but my ears You have opened; burnt offering and sin offering You have not required." These words of the Bible hardly agree with the Christian doctrine that sin can only be expiated through the shedding of blood. Because the Psalmist's words were deeply offensive to the early church, Hebrews 10:5-6 altered Psalm 40:7 to read instead "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure." Notice how King David's original words, "but my ears You have opened" have disappeared entirely in the Hebrews quote. Instead, this New Testament author replaced this expunged clause with the words "But a body you have prepared for Me." This is a startling alteration of the Jewish scriptures.
Refutation IV: Hosea foretold that the Jewish people would be without a sacrificial system, and instructed us to replace animal offerings with prayer
In Hosea 3:4-5, the prophet foretold with divine exactness that the Nation of Israel would not have a sacrificial system during the last segment of Jewish history until the messianic age.
Hosea 3:4-5 reads, "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days." In the words of the Bible, this period of time would last for many days. Yet, despite the repeated proclamations of the church that the crucifixion of Jesus serves as a sin sacrifice today, the words of Hosea were meticulously fulfilled. Given the spiritual magnitude of this remarkable prophecy, Hosea was compelled to reveal how the ecclesiastical temple functions were to be replaced. In essence, if the prophet is testifying that the nation of Israel will indeed be without a sacrificial system during their long exile until the messianic age, what are we to use instead? How are the Jewish people to worship without blood sacrifices during their bitter exile? What about all the animal sacrifices prescribed in the Book of Leviticus? Can the Jewish people get along without animal offerings? Missionaries claim they cannot. The Bible disagrees. For this reason, the statement in Hosea 14:2-3 is crucial. In these two verses, Hosea reveals to his beloved nation how they are to replace the sacrificial system during their protracted exile. The prophet declares that the Almighty wants us to "render for bulls the offering of our lips." Prayer is to replace the sacrificial system. "Take words with you, And return to the LORD. Say to Him, "Take away all iniquity; receive us graciously, For we will render for bulls the offering of our lips." (Hosea 14:2-3) The prophets never instruct the Jews to worship any crucified messiah or demigod.7 Nor does scripture ever tell us that an innocent man can die as an atonement for the sins of the wicked.8 Such a message is utterly antithetical to the teachings of the Jewish scriptures. Rather, it is the lips of the sinner that is transformed into bulls of the sin offerings.
Refutation V: Ezekiel condemns the doctrine of vicarious atonement The prophet Ezekiel warned against Christendom's central doctrine that an innocent human being can die for the sins of the wicked.
Throughout the 18th chapter, Ezekiel warned his people that this erroneous teaching that a righteous man could die for another man's sins was contrary to the will of God. The way for the sinful man to come right by God is to turn away from his rebellious ways, repent, and thereby the penitent is assured complete forgiveness. Throughout Ezekiel's uplifting sermon on the forgiveness of sin, blood sacrifices are never mentioned. Ezekiel 18:1-4, 19-23 reads: "The word of the Lord came to me, saying: "What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel, saying: `The fathers eat sour grapes, and the sons' teeth are set on edge?' As I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. For every living soul belongs to Me, the father as well as the son -- they are Mine. Which ever soul sins, it shall die.... Yet you ask: Why did the son not bear the sin of the father? But the son, justice and righteousness did he do, all My decrees did he safeguard and perform them. He shall surely live. The soul that sins, it shall die! The son shall not bear for the sin of the father, nor the father bear for the sin of the son. The righteousness of the righteous person shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked person shall be upon him. As for the wicked man, if he should turn away from all his sins which he did, and safeguard all My decrees, and do justice and righteousness; he shall surely live. He will not die. All his transgressions which he committed will not be remembered against him. For the righteousness which he did, he shall live. Do I desire at all the death of the wicked man -- the words of my Lord, God -- is it not rather his return from his ways, that he might live."
Refutation VI: If Jesus was the final sacrifice, why is the sacrificial system returning?
Finally, the New Testament is clear that the animal sacrificial system never could atone for sin in any permanent way,9 and indeed the entire purpose of the animal sacrificial system was, in the language of the Book of Hebrews, foreshadowing Jesus' death on the cross.10
The New Testament therefore repeatedly declares that Jesus was the final sacrifice for all time,11 and there would no longer be any future need for the return of the animal sacrificial system. This doctrine, however, completely contradicts the words of the prophets who clearly foretold that the animal sacrificial system would return in the messianic age.12
Our response to Jews for Jesus:

Is a blood sacrifice necessary for atonement?
The Jewish scriptures tell us that blood sacrifice, heartfelt repentance, and charity atone for sin -- blood sacrifice being the least efficacious of the three. Jews for Jesus disagrees, and they make the following argument:
Jews for Jesus: Is a blood sacrifice necessary for the forgiveness of sin? Rabbi Tovia Singer tells us that according to the Tanach (the Hebrew Bible), not only blood but also repentance and charity atone for sin -- and atonement by blood is the least important of all of them. The Tanach does give a few examples in which atonement was procured apart from blood sacrifice. There is atonement by a cereal offering designed for poor people (Lev. 5:11-13); atonement by the burning of incense (Num. 16:46 [Hebrew 17:11]); atonement by gold (Num. 31:50). In the last two cases, the actions are really to avert God's wrath and not to secure forgiveness for sin; in the first case, an exception is made for a poor person who cannot bring an animal. The general rule remained: atonement came by a blood sacrifice.
Our response: Actually, these three verses brought up by Jews for Jesus are never mentioned anywhere in the tape series. Moreover, these verses do not logically support their conclusion. Jews for Jesus' inference "The general rule remained: atonement came by blood sacrifice" is a non sequitur. Let's examine these three verses in greater detail? Leviticus 5:11-13, Numbers 17:11,13and Numbers 31:50 are examples in the Torah where atonement is procured without the shedding of blood. In Leviticus 5:11-13 the poor man may give a flour offering instead of an animal sacrifice for an atonement. Numbers 17:1112 describes how Aaron made an atonement for the people with incense, and in Numbers 31:50 the Torah declares that the golden ornaments donated by high officers of the military who successfully defeated the Midianites were offered as an atonement as well. It is worth mentioning that missionaries often argue that in the case of the poor man's flour offering, the flour was mixed by the priest with the other blood-offerings. Thus, having the flour mixed with the blood of someone else's sacrifice, a partnership was somehow created with another man's blood offering so that the poor man ultimately has provided blood in his offering. The problem with this argument is that it is thoroughly unbiblical. Nowhere does the Torah state that the flour offering was mixed with any other sacrifice. On the contrary, it was equal to any other sacrifice in that it was placed on the altar like any other offering. Jews for Jesus' statement that the incense and the gold ornaments "are really to avert God's wrath and not to secure forgiveness for sin" is incorrect. The Bible clearly states otherwise. With regard to the incense brought by Aaron, the Torah says: "So Moses said to Aaron, 'Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the LORD. The plague has begun.'" (Numbers 17:11) Here the Torah clearly states that the incense both averted God's wrath and provided an atonement for the people. Jews for Jesus' statement with regard to the case of the golden ornaments is even more puzzling because nowhere does scripture ever state that the golden ornaments were to avert God's wrath. The Torah only declares that the purpose of this donation was to procure an atonement. It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word kapar (atonement) used in Leviticus 17:11 -- the verse Jews for Jesus uses to prove that only blood can be used as an atonement -- is the exact same word used in all three verses that Jews for Jesus insists did "not secure forgiveness for sin." Well, which is it? Does kapar mean an atonement or not? You can't have it both ways.
The Torah explains in Leviticus 17:11 why it is forbidden to consume blood: it has been set aside for the sole purpose of making atonement on the altar. Leviticus 17:11 does not imply that the only method of atonement is the
shedding of blood. By taking Talmudic texts out of context, Jews for Jesus will argue that Jewish sources differ with Rabbi Singer. Let us examine Jews for Jesus' argument.
Jews for Jesus: In connection with this, Rabbi Singer questions the use of Leviticus 17:11 to demonstrate that a blood sacrifice was necessary. The verse reads, "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" (Jewish Publication Society translation). Because the context of Lev. 17:11 is the prohibition against consuming blood, Rabbi Singer argues that the point of the verse is: blood is prohibited because it is used to atone -- but not that the verse teaches that blood is the main or only way of atonement. Traditional Jewish sources differ with Rabbi Singer: Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 5a, citing Leviticus 17:11 Does the laying on of the hand make atonement for one? Does not atonement come through the blood, as it is said: For it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life!.... Does the waving make atonement? Is it not the blood which makes atonement, as it is written, 'For it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life'? -- Soncino Talmud edition. ----------------------------------------------------------Babylonian Talmud, Zevahim 6a, citing Leviticus 17:11 Surely atonement can be made only with the blood, as it says, For it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life! -- Soncino Talmud edition. ---------------------------------------------------------
Our response: These traditional sources do not disagree with us at all. Jews for Jesus is taking these Talmudic texts completely out of context. If these Talmudic texts were quoted in full, it would be clear that these statements of our sages have nothing at all to do with the point that Jews for Jesus is trying to prove. Let us examine these Talmudic texts. Both the Talmud in Tractate Yoma 5a and Zevachim 6a are dealing with the same subject of animal sacrifices, and are quoting from the identical statement in a Baraisa.14 More specifically, both of these sections of the Talmud deal with the same question: What specific error made while offering a sacrifice invalidates it, so that the sacrifice would not effect an atonement for its owner? As mentioned above, there are many rituals that are performed during a sacrifice such as the leaning of the hands on the animal, the four actions relating to the blood (slaughtering, collecting the blood in a service vessel, carrying the blood to the altar, and the sprinkling of the blood on the altar), the burning of the entrails and fats, etc. This Baraisa, quoted in both Yoma 5a and Zevachim 6a, questions whether when a sacrifice is offered, the leaning of the sinner's hands on the animal brings about the atonement. The Baraisa insists that this could not be the case when we consider that Leviticus 17:11 explicitly states that it is the blood on the altar that makes the atonement for one's soul. Therefore, "there is no atonement other than the blood" (the text quoted by Jews for Jesus), and the leaning would not effect the atonement. This is a crucial statement because within any sacrifice brought for sin, the essential principle to bear in mind is that the atonement desired by the owner of the animal actually occurs as a result of the sprinkling of the blood on the altar. The other rituals relating to sacrifice, such as the leaning of the hands, are secondary and do not cause the atonement. The Talmud's quote in Yoma 5a and Zevachim 6a of the Baraisa is speaking within the narrow context
of the sacrificial offering; and within that slender context, it is only the blood of the animal sprinkled on the altar that brings about the atonement. This section of the Talmud is not addressing atonement in general, but rather sacrificial atonement alone. Our sages do not contradict the words of the Bible which explicitly state that there are other methods of atonement that are superior to ritual sacrifice.15 The biblical principle that repentance and charity atone for sin is taught and explained countless places throughout the entire corpus of the Talmud. In fact, later on in Tractate Yoma -- the same tractate that Jews for Jesus uses as support for their claim -- the Talmud says that when a person repents of his transgressions out of love, not only are his sins forgiven, but his premeditated transgressions are accounted as merits!16 (See also Baruch Levine's commentary below on Leviticus 17:11) Jews for Jesus also cites the modern Jewish commentator, Baruch Levine, trying to substantiate the Christian doctrine that atonement is only achieved through the shedding of blood. Let us observe:
Jews for Jesus: Similarly, modern Jewish commentator Baruch Levine Expiation by means of sacrificial blood-rites is a prerequisite for securing God's forgiveness. As the rabbis expressed it, 'ein kapparah 'ella' be-dam, "There is no ritual expiation except by means of blood." -- Baruch Levine, The JPS Torah Commentary: Leviticus; The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989), p. 23, referring to Yoma 5a cited above. ------------------------------------------------------------
Our response: What Jews for Jesus neglects to mention is the context in which Baruch Levine's statement appears. The above quote of Baruch Levine appears in his commentary on Leviticus 4:20, which concludes the Torah's explanation of how the blood is ceremonially sprinkled on the curtain of the Tent of the Meeting by the priest. Which sacrifice is the Torah speaking of that Jews for Jesus is quoting Baruch Levine's comment on? When the Jewish people commit a sin unintentionally! Let's now quote Baruch Levine in context, so we get a sense of his commentary on the overall picture of atonement and blood sacrifice. Does Baruch Levine agree with Jews for Jesus? Hardly. "It should be emphasized here, as the workings of the sacrificial system are introduced to the reader, that the laws of the Torah did not permit Israelites to expiate intentional or premeditated offenses by means of sacrifice. There was no vicarious, ritual remedy -- substitution of one's property or wealth -- for such violations, whether they were perpetrated against other individuals or against God Himself. In those cases, the law dealt directly with the offender, imposing real punishments and acting to prevent recurrences. The entire expiatory system ordained in the Torah must be understood in this light. Ritual expiation was restricted to situations where a reasonable doubt existed as to the willfulness of the offense. Even then, restitution was always required where loss or injury to another person had occurred. The mistaken notion that ritual worship could atone for criminality or intentional religious desecration was persistently attacked by the prophets of Israel, who considered it a major threat to the entire covenantal relationship between Israel and God." -- Baruch Levine, The JPS Torah Commentary: Leviticus; The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989), p. 3, under the heading, The Principal Types of
Sacrifice (1:1-7:38) -----------------------------------------------------------------------Below is another quote from Baruch Levine on Leviticus 17:11. Jews for Jesus insists that this verse proves that atonement can only be procured through the shedding of blood. Baruch Levine disagrees. "Substitution was allowed only in cases of inadvertence. Where the offense against God had been intentional, ritual expiation did not apply." -- Baruch Levine, The JPS Torah Commentary: Leviticus; The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989), p. 115, on Leviticus 17:11. -----------------------------------------------------------------------To summarize, the Jewish scriptures clearly teach that blood sacrifice is not necessary for the forgiveness of sin. Comments from traditional Jewish sources and the modern commentator Baruch Levine examined critically, in context, lend no support whatsoever to Jews for Jesus' statements. The Jewish scriptures clearly state that sacrifice was used to atone for man's least grievous transgressions: unintentional sins; the prophets, therefore, did not dignify the blood sacrificial system. On the contrary, as if with one voice, these men of God declared that repentance and charity were more pleasing to God than a blood sacrifice.2 Jews for Jesus, however, maintains that Jesus' death was sacrificial in nature, and his death atones for all sins. They will obscure the clear words of the Jewish scriptures by quoting modern Jewish commentators out of context who are discussing peripheral issues. Let us look at their argument.
Jews for Jesus: Rabbi Singer maintains that sacrifice was only meant for unintentional sins. For example, he cites Leviticus 4 which says that the sin offering (the hattat) was for unintentional sins. Numbers 15 says that the person who sins "with a high hand" will be cut off. The intentional murderer must be put to death; only the manslaughterer who killed someone accidentally can have atonement. How then, Rabbi Singer asks, could Jesus be a sacrifice for all sins, including intentional ones? The sin offering was only one kind of sacrifice. Though it was specified for inadvertent sins, other sacrifices were not restricted in that way. The full evidence includes the following: Exhibit A: Modern Jewish commentators: Jacob Milgrom The function of the burnt offering as exemplified by the Hittite sources, cited above, is clearly propitiatory and expiatory (for "wrath," "guilt," "offense," "sin"), a fact that accords with the purpose assigned to the burnt offering in this chapter [Lev. 1].... "to expiate" (v 4).... Some medieval commentators suggest the entire range of unwitting sins (Bekhor Shor; cf. Shadal) and even brazen sins, if their punishment is not specified (Ramban). --Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16: A New Translation With Introduction and Commentary (Anchor Bible; New York: Doubleday, 1991), p. 175. -----------------------------------------------------------------Baruch Levine
www.outreachjudaism.org10
Our response: Once again, Jews for Jesus is quoting out of context. The above commentary by Jacob Milgrom appears within the context of the Olah offering. This sacrifice which was burnt entirely on the altar had the distinction of being a voluntary offering. It was brought when the individual felt a sense of personal guilt and wished to express his penitence by offering this free-will sacrifice. The unrepentant brazen sinner, however, was barred from the sacrificial system. Let us now listen to the words of Jacob Milgrom as he speaks about sacrifices in general, and see if he agrees with Jews for Jesus. "Inadvertence is a key criterion in all expiatory sacrifice. A deliberate, brazen sinner is barred from the sanctuary (Numbers 15:30-31)." --Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16: A New Translation With Introduction and Commentary (Anchor Bible; New York: Doubleday, 1991), p. 228. -----------------------------------------------------------------------Once again, let's read Jacob Milgrom's own words on the matter of why in the case of the Asham does the Torah place the repentant transgressor in the class of the inadvertent sinner: "The witness's defiance of the imprecation is indisputably a deliberate, if not a brazen, misdemeanor. Ibn Ezra would add the element of a memory lapse, which plays a role in the following cases (vv 2-4), but its absence here is hardly accidental. Then, why is his sin expiable by sacrifice? The answer lies in his subsequent remorse, a factor that is not stated in the case itself but in the general protasis governing all four cases (vv 4b, 5a); it is his subsequent guilt feeling (asem) that is responsible for converting his deliberate sin into an inadvertence, expiable by sacrifice." --Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16: A New Translation With Introduction and Commentary (Anchor Bible; New York: Doubleday, 1991), p. 295. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jews for Jesus: The offenses outlined here [in Lev. 5:20-26] were quite definitely intentional! A person misappropriated property or funds entrusted to his safekeeping, or defrauded another, or failed to restore lost property he had located....If, subsequently, the accused came forth on his own and admitted to having lied under oath -- thus assuming liability for the unrecovered property -- he was given the opportunity to clear himself by making restitution and by paying a fine of 20 percent to the aggrieved party. Having lied under oath, he had also offended God and was obliged to offer an 'asham sacrifice in expiation.... God accepts the expiation even of one who swears falsely in His name because the guilty person is willing to make restitution to the victim of his crime.... -- Baruch Levine, JPS Torah Commentary, pp. 32-33. Note: 'asham means a "guilt offering." -----------------------------------------------------------------Baruch Levine, again [In Lev. 5:20-26], an 'asham is offered in expiation of any of a series of deceitful acts involving an oath and the loss of property to others. -- Levine, JPS Torah Commentary, pp. 25-26. ------------------------------------------------------------------
Our response: The Asham sacrifice gives us great insight into the biblical principle that in certain cases where a transgression is committed willfully, the Torah places him in the unique category of the unintentional sinner. This occurs in circumstances outlined in the fifth chapter of Leviticus where the transgressor has diminished his iniquity by voluntarily confessing his sin. This individual may therefore bring an Asham sacrifice. This Asham sacrifice offers us a perfect example of how the above principle is demonstrated in the Torah. For example, in Leviticus 5:20-26 (in a Christian Bible these verses appear as Leviticus 6:1-7) the Torah declares that a person who acts deceitfully by causing a loss of property to another, must pay the victim the principal plus a fifth and in addition must bring an Asham offering. The question that immediately comes to mind is the Torah has already addressed the issue of someone who takes another's property. In Exodus 22, scripture declares that a thief has to pay the victim double, and in the case of a sheep or an ox, he must repay four and five times, respectfully. Well, which is it? Is it two, four or five times the theft as prescribed by Exodus 22, or is it one and a fifth plus an Asham sacrifice, as commanded in Leviticus 5:20-26? Is this a contradiction in the Torah? Actually, there is no contradiction here at all. In Exodus 22 the thief was caught, and he therefore must repay an exorbitant fine for his transgression. For the brazen sinner, no blood offering is sufficient to make himself right with God, and he is barred from the sacrificial system. In Leviticus 5, on the other hand, the thief was not caught. Rather, after originally swearing falsely that he was innocent, he came forward on his own, admitted his guilt, and amended his crime. In this unique case, the Torah teaches us that in a number of unique cases, the person who confessed his sin is perceived an unwitting sinner in that he may bring a sacrifice to atone, although his original transgression was deliberate. In the case of the unrepentant sinner who was caught stealing in Exodus 22, however, no sacrifice can undo his iniquity. An animal offering simply was not enough to atone for his deliberate sin.
Jews for Jesus: What then about the intentional sin in Numbers 15:30-31 (the sin "with a high hand") which is apparently unforgivable? That verse reads "But the soul that doeth aught with a high hand, whether he be home-born or a stranger, the same blasphemeth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken His commandment; that soul shall utterly be cut off, his iniquity shall be upon him." We present Exhibit B, the talmudic and medieval commentators. According to the sages, repentance could turn an intentional sin into an unintentional sin and so be eligible for sacrifice. This is explained by the original sources and by modern commentators on those sources: Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 86b R. Simeon b. Lakish said: Great is repentance, which converts intentional sins into unintentional ones. -- As cited by Milgrom, Leviticus, p. 373. The Soncino Talmud edition translates: "Resh Lakish said: Great is repentance, for because of it premeditated sins are accounted as errors." -----------------------------------------------------------------Rashi (11th c.), on Numbers 15:31, explaining the phrase "his iniquity is upon him" Only at the time when (under the circumstances that) his iniquity is upon him shall he be cut off, i.e., in the case that he has not repented (Sanh. 90b). -- Rosenbaum-Silbermann edition (New York: Hebrew Publishing Company) -----------------------------------------------------------------Jacob Milgrom
This literary image [of the "high hand"] is most apposite for the brazen sinner who commits his acts in open defiance of the Lord (cf. Job. 38:15). The essence of this sin is that it is committed flauntingly. However, sins performed in secret, even deliberately, can be commuted to the status of inadvertencies by means of repentance.... -- Jacob Milgrom, The JPS Commentary: Numbers; The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990), p. 125. See also J. Milgrom, "The Priestly Doctrine of Repentance," Revue Biblique 82 (1975): 186-205. ...I submit that the repentance of the sinner, through his remorse...and confession..., reduces his intentional sin to an inadvertence, thereby rendering it eligible for sacrificial expiation.... -- Milgrom, Leviticus, p. 373. ...The early rabbis...raise the question of how the high priest's bull is capable of atoning for his deliberate sins, and they reply, "Because he has confessed his brazen and rebellious deeds it is as if they become as unintentional ones before him" (Sipra, Ahare par. 2:4,6; cf. t. Yoma 2:1). Thus it is clear that the Tannaites attribute to repentance -- strikingly, in a sacrificial ritual -- the power to transform a presumptuous sin against God, punishable by death, into an act of inadvertence, expiable by sacrifice. -- Milgrom, Leviticus, p. 373. -----------------------------------------------------------------Is unintentional sin the least significant kind of sin? Rabbi Singer maintains that unintentional sin is the least significant kind, implying that the sacrifices offered in the Tenach were for insignificant transgressions; real sins would be atoned for in other ways. In fact, the very opposite was true in biblical times: unintentional sin was if anything considered more grave than intentional sin, simply because one could never know if one had transgressed in such a case. We summon to the stand: Jacob Milgrom Unwitting sin as the cause of disaster is widely attested in the ancient world. The sin of unwitting sacrilege against the deity is especially feared....In the early rabbinic period, the "suspended 'asham" (5:17-19) played a more central role. It was brought frequently by the pious, who were certain that they could deter conscious sins but were in dread over the possibility of committing sins unconsciously. -- Milgrom, Leviticus, pp. 361-362. THIS COURT IS IN RECESS...TO BE CONTINUED
Our response: It is difficult to know how to begin our response here because the above statements quoted by Jews for Jesus so perfectly support our point. Indeed, if I had not restricted myself to using only the Bible in the tape series, I could have quoted any one of them for further support in my lectures. Let's examine this profound statement of this great Amorah17 Resh Lakish. "Great is repentance, which converts intentional sins into unintentional ones."16 What does this mean? Why is repentance great? Because it transforms an intentional sin into an unintentional sin. Does this mean that intentional sins are greater or weaker than unintentional sins? Obviously, if unintentional sins were more grievous this statement would make no sense. Clearly, this statement by Resh Lakish is telling us that a sin committed intentionally is far more grave than a transgression committed unwittingly. In conclusion, despite the clear provisions of the Jewish scriptures that heartfelt repentance, charity as well as blood sacrifice atone for sin, Jews for Jesus continues to insist that sin can only be forgiven through the sacrificial shedding of blood. Moreover, we have shown that Ezekiel, speaking in the name of God, condemns the notion of human vicarious atonement. He therefore encourages his nation to turn to God through repentance alone for a complete atonement. Through this bloodless atonement, he promises, all sin would be forgotten. Throughout his entire moving sermon on atonement, Ezekiel never mentions the sacrificial system. The prophet only assures the Jewish people that the Almighty does not wish to punish the wicked, but rather "that they turn from their ways, so they might live."18 Furthermore, the prophet Hosea predicted that the children of Israel would spend their bitter exile without the sacrificial system,19 and encourages his beloved nation to use their lips filled with words of penitence for their atonement so that the lips of the sinner would become as bulls of the sin offerings.20 Finally, in our responses we have shown that each and every reference -- traditional and modern -- cited by Jews for Jesus is taken completely out of context and does nothing to support the Christian doctrines they are trying to defend. It is therefore no surprise that not one of the individuals quoted by Jews for Jesus has ever spent a moment of their Jewish lives believing in Jesus.
CASE IS REALLY CLOSED

Footnotes: 1 Leviticus 4:1-35 2 Deuteronomy 4:26-31; I Kings 8:46-50; Isaiah 55:6-9; Jeremiah 7:3-23; Ezekiel 18:1-23; Hosea 6:6; 14:2-3; Micah 6:6; Psalm 40:7-9 (6-8); 51:16-19; 3 Proverbs 10:2; 11:4; 16:6; Daniel 4:24; II Chronicles 6:36-39 4 This biblical principle is laid out in Leviticus 4:1-35 and Numbers 15:27-31. As will be discussed below, there is a unique case when the Torah tells us that, under certain circumstances, an individual who sinned intentionally is accorded the benefit of the unintentional sinner's ritual blood expiation with an Asham (guilt) offering. 5 The Torah therefore commands us in Leviticus 17:13 - only three verses later -- that when slaughtering an animal, the blood must be poured on to the floor and covered with earth, rendering it useless. See also Deuteronomy 12:16, "Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water." 6 In a Christian Bible this verse appears as Psalm 40:6 7 Exodus 20:2-3; Deuteronomy 4:35; 6:14; 32:39; Hosea 13:4
8 Exodus 32:33; Ezekiel 18:1-23 9 Hebrews 10:4 insists that the animal sacrificial system had no lasting value. "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins." This was a necessary assertion for the author of Hebrews because if the animal sacrifices really worked, why was Jesus' death necessary? It should have been sufficient to keep bringing animal offerings. 10 Hebrews 10:1 11 Romans 6:10; Hebrews 9:12; 10:10; 10:18 12 Jeremiah 33:17-18; Zachariah 14:21; Ezekiel 43-44. Missionaries often try to explain this problem away by claiming that the reason animal sacrifices will return is to point back to Jesus. This response, however, is a rationalization that is not even used in the New Testament, and thoroughly contradicts the statements in Romans and Hebrews. Moreover, this response makes little sense. Why would there be any need to point back to anything? 13 In a Christian Bible this verse appears as 16:46 14 A Baraisa is a statement made by a Tanna which was not included by Rabbi Yehudah Ha'nasi (Approximately 200 C.E.) in the Mishnah. 15 Deuteronomy 4:26-31; I Samuel 15:22; I Kings 8:46-50; Isaiah 55:6-9; Jeremiah 7:3-23; Ezekiel 18:1-23; Hosea 6:6; 14:2-3; Micah 6:6; Psalm 40:7-9 (6-8); 51:16-19; Proverbs 10:2; 11:4; 16:6 16 Yoma 86b discusses the greatness and efficacy of repentance. Resh Lakish states that for those who repent out of fear, "Great is repentance, which converts intentional sins into unintentional ones." For those who repent out of love, "Great is repentance which converts intentional sins into merits." 17 The term Amora refers to those sages that were contributors to the Talmud. Rabbi Shimon Ben Lakish, or Resh Lakish as he was better known, lived in Israel during the third century C.E. 18 Ezekiel 18:1-23 19 Hosea 3:4-5 20 Hosea 14:2-3
Response to Jew for Jesus Source: http://www.outreachjudaism.org/response.html
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The Real Messiah:

Personal References and Job Description
Regarding who the Messiah will be there are two main questions. First, What kind of person will the Moshiach be? Second, what will his job be? To answer these questions, we do as we always do; that is, we find the words of the Hebrew prophets that describe the Moshiach and the Messianic era. What the words of the prophets reveal is a checklist of personal and professional qualifications for the job. In other words, we have been given the tools to determine whether an individual who purports to be the Messiah fulfills the prophetic requirements. Even so, it is no easy task. Throughout history, some of our greatest sages have been mistaken about the validity of a Messianic claim. Rabbi Akiva, the great Talmudic sage and arguably the most respected leader of his day, pronounced that a man called Bar Kochba was indeed the awaited Messiah. However, Bar Kochba died shortly thereafter and consequently everyone realized that he was not the Messiah. Later in history (late 1600s) a man named Shabbatai Tzvi generated an enormous following of Jews believing him to be the long-awaited redeemer. Again, some of the generations most prominent leaders proclaimed him Moshiach. Ultimately he, too, died, and therefore could not fulfill the role of Messiah. In both of these cases, some great sages mistakenly thought that these men fulfilled the biblical prophecies regarding the Messiah. This shows both the willingness to accept and embrace the Messiah as well as the difficulty of the task of determining the voracity of a messianic claim. The best that we can do is to look at the sources provided and try to draw a conclusion. The scriptures make very clear what is minimally necessary for someone to be considered the Messiah. Personal status The Messiah will be a direct descendant of King David. Anyone whose lineage does not trace back to King David cannot serve as Messiah. [1] The Messiah will be a Prophet, Sage, and Warrior. [2] The Messiah will be observant of Jewish law. [3] The Messiah will be an honest and kind judge. [4] Job Description The Messiah will bring the Jewish people back to their land, Israel. [5] He will rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple will be restored. [6] www.torahatlanta.com
www.torahatlanta.com He will teach the Jews to observe the Torah and inspire the Jewish people with faith in G-d. [7] He will likewise teach the gentiles about G-d, thereby bringing to mankind a universal knowledge of G-d. [7] The Messiah will usher in an era of world peace. [8] There will be complete harmony in nature. It will be the end of the predator-prey relationship in the animal kingdom, and there will be no aggression from animals towards humans. [9]
Do they Match? Many Jews find it hard to give a solid answer when theyre asked why Jews believe that Jesus was not the Messiah. When we look at the above sources, however, it should be clear that Jesus simply did not fit the personal profile of the Moshiach. Furthermore, he did not do what the prophets tell us the Messiah must do. Lets look carefully at the life and times of Jesus and see if he fulfilled all of the above prophecies. Was Jesus from King David, of the tribe of Judah? Christians agree with us that tribal lineage is traced through the father. According to universal Christian teachings, Jesus was not from David. Having been fathered by G-d and not by a human father, Jesus had no paternal lineage at all! Christians confronted with this fact attempt to resolve it in one of three ways. First, they suggest that the lineage can be traced through Joseph even though he was only Jesus adoptive father, so to speak. This has no basis in the Hebrew Bible or Jewish law. Tribal lineage is never changed through adoption. Second, the missionaries will sometimes claim that the lineage can be traced through Mary. Again, there is never a case in the Hebrew bible or in Jewish law where tribal identification goes through the mother. (Whether a person is born Jewish or gentile is determined by the status of the mother only. However, if the mother is Jewish, and therefore the child is Jewish, then the tribal designation is only determined by the Jewish biological father, when there is one). The third explanation is really a universal fallback position, one that most Jews find unsatisfying. That is, when confronted with a difficulty in the text of the New Testament or in the rationale of a particular line of thought, oftentimes Christians will answer, its a mystery, brother, you just have to have faith. Jews often feel that this isnt an answer to their question, but rather a way of avoiding a difficult truth. In any case, the fact that Jesus was not from King David alone is enough to disqualify him from being the Moshiach. Its similar to asking if Henry Kissinger could have run for President. He might have met other criteria for the job, but since he was born overseas, and the Constitution requires that the President must be born in the United States, then all his other qualifications are meaningless. He failed to meet the first requirement, and no more discussion is necessary.
So, too, with any candidate for Messiah, including Jesus. Since Jesus wasnt from King David, as the Prophet states that Moshiach must be, then there really isnt anything more to talk about. Nevertheless, for the sake of gaining a more complete understanding of the issue, well go over the criteria for Moshiach and see if indeed any of them were accomplished by Jesus. Job Description Ingathering of the Exile Jesus did not bring the Jews back to Israel from exile. He simply wasnt able to because during his lifetime, the Jews were still living in their land! The exile, where the prophets predicted that we would be scattered to the four corners of the earth, would only take place a century after Jesus death. Rebuilding the Temple Likewise rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple. Jesus lived and died while the Temple was still standing. He had no opportunity to fulfill that prophecy. Inspire Jews Towards Observance, Gentiles Towards Spirituality We saw that the prophets taught that the Messiah will inspire Jews to be observant of Jewish law and enthusiastic about their awareness of G-d. Also, gentiles will be knowledgeable about G-d and will be loyal to Him and to the Jewish nation. There will be a universal acknowledgment of and loyalty to G-d. Obviously this is yet to occur. Peace, Love and Understanding Likewise with the prophesies regarding world peace and harmony in nature. Not only have nations not disarmed, humanity is as warlike and violent as ever. (It is painfully ironic that we have seen some of the worlds most heinous acts of murder and persecution done in the name of Jesus, the one who was to have brought peace and harmony). It is clear that, item by item, Jesus did not do what the Messiah will have to do. He was not the Messiah. How do the Christians answer this? There is a two-part answer. Their argument is: a) that indeed he did not do what the Messiah will do, but hell accomplish those things with the Second Coming and b) that Jesus, as the son of G-d, really came to forgive humanity for their sins and to do away with observance of the commandments. Firstly, the prophets did not teach that the Messiah would appear, not do anything that he was supposed to do, die, and reappear thousands of years later to do the job. It simply has no source in the Hebrew Bible. The doctrine of the Second Coming was invented in order to answer the obvious question of why Jesus didnt do the Messiahs job. Secondly, there is no indication in any Jewish source that it is the job of the Messiah to forgive us for our sins. That is between every individual and G-d (see related article Necessary and Sufficient). www.torahatlanta.com
www.torahatlanta.com In Conclusion When the Messiah indeed appears, there will be no need for an article like this one. While it may take a little time months, perhaps a year or two to confirm that he is, in fact, the Messiah, once he is established as such there will be no doubt in anyones mind as to his legitimacy. He will be internationally recognized as the worlds leader. The state of world peace and harmony in nature will make it more than obvious that the time and the person - has arrived.
[1] I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them; he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the L-rd, will be their G-d, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the L-rd, have spoken. (Ezekiel 34:23-24) Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. His line shall continue forever, and his throne endure before me like the sun. (Psalm 89:35-36) And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of (Davids father) Yishay, and a branch will grow out of his roots (Isaiah 11:1) [2] And the spirit of the L-rd will rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might (Isaiah 11:2) [3] A shoot shall come out of the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the L-rd shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the L-rd. His delight shall be in the fear of the L-rd. (Isaiah 11:1-3) My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They will follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutesand my servant David shall be their prince forever. (Ezekiel 37:24-25) [4] and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears; but with righteousness shall he judge the poor." Isaiah 11:3) [5] And it shall come to pass in that day, that the L-rd shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, that shall be left (Isaiah 11:11-14) [6] And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the L-rds house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and will be exalted above the hills; and all the nations will flow unto it. And many people will go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the L-rd, to the house of the G-d of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion will go forth Torah, and the word of the L-rd from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:2-3). [7] This will be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, say the L-rd; I will put my Torah in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their G-d, and they shall be my people, and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the L-rd; for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lrd; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:32-33)
www.torahatlanta.com [8] and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Isaiah 2:4)
[9] The wolf shall live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child will lead themand the lion will eat straw like the ox. And the nursing child will play on the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the vipers nest. They will not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the L-rd, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6-9)
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www.MessiahTruth.com : The Real Jewish Messiah www.jewsforjudaism.com Response to Missionaries www.outreachjudaism.org An international organization that responds directly to the issues raised by missionaries and cults. http://jdstone.org/cr/index.html Reveals the error, distortions and falsehood of ... http://www.kosherjudaism.com/counter.htm Archive of Articles; trinity, messiah, Jesus, Christianity ... http://www.angelfire.com/my/tgoldman0/prophet.htm An Explanation of Christians Prophecies
Did Somebody Find the Trinity in the First Chapter of the Bible? To Whom Was God Speaking to When He Said, Let Us Make Man in Our Image?
Question:
Dear Rabbi Singer, A Messianic Jew is working overtime to try to convince me that I need JC. She recently showed me Genesis 1:26, Let US make man in OUR image, stating that JC was part of creation with G-d, plural Us and Our being the proof. Can you explain the plural in this verse to me? I want to have an intelligent answer. I am trying very hard to learn more of my Jewish religion, as I was raised in a non-religious home. The only Bible I own is the one she gave me and it is a King James.
Answer:
No area of Jewish literature could be more inhospitable to the Christian doctrine of the triune godhead than the Torah and the writings of its prophetic messengers. It is on the strength of these sacred texts that the Jew has preserved the concept of one, single, unique Creator God Who alone is worthy of worship. Understandably, missionaries undertake a formidable task when they seek to prove the doctrine of the Trinity from the Jewish scriptures. No prophet went silent on the uncompromising radical monotheism demanded by the God of Israel. The Jewish people, therefore, to whom these sublime declarations about the nature of the Almighty were given, knew nothing about a trinity of persons in the godhead. Because the prophets relayed their divine message on the nature of God with such timeless clarity, few texts in Tanach could hold any promise for the church to raise up as a support for their teachings on the Trinity. Understandably, though, the defenders of Christendom flaunted the very few verses that they managed to somehow skew into a supposed support for this alien doctrine. One of the most popular verses used by missionaries as a proof text for the Trinity is Genesis 1:26. This verse appears in missionary literature quite often in spite of the fact that this argument has been answered countless times throughout the centuries. Lets examine Genesis 1:26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and they shall rule over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the sky, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
With limited knowledge of the Jewish scriptures, missionaries advance the above verse in as evidence that there was a plurality in the godhead which was responsible for creation. What other explanation could adequately account for the Bibles use of the plural pronouns such as us and our in this verse?
This argument, however, is grievously flawed. In fact, a great number of Trinitarian Christian scholars have long abandoned the notion that Genesis 1:26 implies a plurality of persons in the godhead. Rather, Christian scholars overwhelmingly agree that the plural pronoun in this verse is a reference to Gods ministering angels who were created previously, and the Almighty spoke majestically in the plural, consulting His heavenly court. Lets read the comments of a number of preeminent Trinitarian Bible scholars on this subject. For example, the evangelical Christian author Gordon J. Wenham, who is no foe of the Trinity and authored a widely respected two-volume commentary on the Book of Genesis, writes on this verse, Christians have traditionally seen [Genesis 1:26] as adumbrating [foreshadowing] the Trinity. It is now universally admitted that this was not what the plural meant to the original author.1
If you had attended any one of my lectures you would know that the New International Version is hardly a Bible that can be construed as being friendly to Judaism. Yet, the NIV Study Bible also writes in its commentary on Genesis 1:26, Us . . . Our . . . Our. God speaks as the Creator-king, announcing His crowning work to the members of His heavenly court. (see 3:22; 11:7; Isaiah 6:8; I Kings 22:19-23; Job 15:8; Jeremiah 23:18)2 Charles Caldwell Ryrie, a highly regarded dispensationalist professor of Biblical Studies at the Philadelphia College of Bible and author of the widely read Bible commentary, The Ryrie Study Bible, writes in his short and to-the-point annotation on Genesis 1:26, Us . . . Our. Plurals of majesty.3
The Liberty Annotated Study Bible, a Bible commentary published by the Reverend Jerry Falwells Liberty University, similarly remarks on this verse, The plural pronoun Us is most likely a majestic plural from the standpoint of Hebrew grammar and syntax.4
The 10-volume commentary by Keil and Delitzsch is considered by many to be the most influential exposition on the Old Testament in evangelical circles. Yet in its commentary on Genesis 1:26, we find,
The plural We was regarded by the fathers and earlier theologians almost unanimously as indicative of the Trinity; modern commentators, on the contrary, regard it either as pluralis majestatis . . . No other explanation is left, therefore, than to regard it as pluralis majestatis . . . .5 The question that immediately comes to mind is: What would compel these evangelical scholars -- all of whom are Trinitarian -- to determinedly conclude that Genesis 1:26 does not suggest the Trinity, but rather a majestic address to the angelic hosts of heaven? Why would the comments of the above conservative Christian writers so perfectly harmonize with the Jewish teaching on this verse? The answer to this question is simple. If you search the Bible you will find that when the Almighty speaks of us or our, He is addressing His ministering angels. In fact, only two chapters later, God continues to use the pronoun us as He speaks with His angels. At the end of the third chapter of Genesis the Almighty relates to His angels that Adam and his wife have eaten from the Tree of Knowledge and must therefore be prevented from eating from the Tree of Life as well; for if man would gain access to the Tree of Life he will become like one of us. The Creator then instructs his angels known as Cherubim to stand at the gate of the Garden of Eden waving a flaming sword so that mankind is prevented from entering the Garden and eating from the Tree of Life. Lets examine Genesis 3:22-24. Then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever -- therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. This use of the majestic plural in Genesis 3:22-24 is what is intended by the NIV Study Bibles annotation on Genesis 1:26 (above). At the end of its comment on this verse, the NIV Study Bible provides a number of Bible sources from the Jewish scriptures to support its position that God speaks as the Creator-king, announcing His crowning work to the members of His heavenly court. The verses cited are: Genesis 3:22, 11:7, Isaiah 6:8, I Kings 22:19-23, Job 15:8, and Jeremiah 23:18. These verses convey to the attentive Bible reader that the heavenly abode of the Creator is filled with the ministering angels who attend the Almighty and to whom He repeatedly refers when using the plural pronoun Us.6 I will close this letter with one final note. Outsiders often wonder what binding force keeps the Jewish people united in faith. This is not so odd a question when we consider the inner conflict that has followed our people throughout our extraordinary history. Bear in mind that regardless of the turbulent quarrels that fester among us, the oneness of God remains the binding thread which unites the Jewish people in history and witness. The teachings of the Torah were designed to set forever in the national conscience of the
Jewish people the idea that God is one alone and therefore the only object of our devotion and worship. Sincerely yours, Rabbi Tovia Singer
Footnotes:
1
Gordon J. Wenham, Word Biblical Commentary on Genesis, Word Books, 1987, p. 27. NIV Study Bible, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985, p. 7.
Charles Caldwell Ryrie, The Ryrie Study Bible (Dallas Theological Seminary), Chicago: Moody Press, 1978, p. 9.
Jerry Falwell (Executive Editor), Liberty Annotated Study Bible, Lynchburg: Liberty University, 1988, p. 8. Keil & Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, Peabody: Hendric., 1989, Vol. I, p. 62.
6 5
A similar verse describing God as He converses with His ministering angels is found in the beginning of the sixth chapter of Isaiah, which reads, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the Temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew . . . Also, I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us? Then I said, Here am I! Send me. (Isaiah 6:1, 8)
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Did Somebody Find the Trinity in the Name of God?

Question: Dear Rabbi Singer, First, let me say that what you are doing is a great service to Jews and the religious community at large. You are setting the record straight -- one that has needed correction for almost 2000 years! Thank you. Yesterday, a Christian business associate made a point that in the very first verse of Genesis Gd is referred to as Elohim which is plural. She also said that it is a plural form of three (something I have never heard before). That, she concludes, is proof of the Trinity! Why is Gds name plural in this verse? Answer: The question with which you were confronted by your business associate is one of the more well-known arguments used by missionaries to defend their most untenable creed, the doctrine of the Trinity. It is difficult to imagine a notion more hostile to the pure monotheism preached in the Jewish scriptures than the Christian teaching that there is a plurality within the divine nature of God. Yet, with limited knowledge of the Jewish Bible and the language in which it was written, many Trinitarians brazenly refer to the name of God as it appears in the first verse in the Bible to advance their contention that there are three persons sharing in the godhead. More specifically, missionaries point to the plural form of the Hebrew word Elohim,1 which is one of the names of God frequently used in the Torah. They insist that in scripture the use of the Hebrew letters yod and mem (pronounced im), at the end of the word Elohim as a plural suffix, provides ample evidence from Tanach that there is a plurality within the nature of God. Your business associate went out on an even more fragile limb when she proclaimed that this plural syntax is somehow indicative of the plural form of three. I will begin by saying that you can rest assured that the Hebrew tongue is a foreign language to your business associate, and both of her contentions are erroneous. While her first assertion can be easily explained away by her lack of familiarity with the biblical language, her second point cannot. Her latter comment that the plural suffix in Elohim is indicative of a plural form of three is particularly preposterous, and underscores how frustrated Trinitarians can become in their rash effort to somehow shore up this alien church doctrine. While I too have never heard any missionary make the astounding claim that plurals somehow mean a plural form of three, I could sense from where this irresponsible contrivance is coming. If you examine the few verses evangelicals use from the Jewish scriptures as they seek to buttress the doctrine of the Trinity, you will notice that none of them, even in Christian terms, speaks of three persons. In essence, her flawed declaration was born out of a desperate desire to weave the Trinity out of whole Jewish cloth. This is an impossible task. Bear in mind, there is no mystery as to the origins of the Trinity, nor is there any secret as to whose loins gave birth to this aberrant creed. The doctrine of the Trinity emerged out of the crucible of the Catholic Church long after the Christian century. It is, therefore, no wonder that this pagan doctrine was unknown to authors of the New Testament. Church history reveals that it was not until three hundred years after the birth of Christianity that the doctrine of the Bianity (325 C.E.) and Trinity (381 C.E.) received formal approval in the Christian community. These well-documented events occurred under circumstances confused with political agitation and
radical dissention. In essence, the Jewish people never believed in a Trinity, and the church adopted it under enormous political pressure from the most pagan segments of the Catholic Church. Understandably, missionaries undertake a formidable task when they seek to prove this fourth century doctrine from a radically monotheistic Torah which is timeless. Lets examine your business associates claim. There is an enormous difficulty with the interpretation that the name Elohim signifies a sort of plurality in the godhead; for if Elohim implies a plurality of persons, how can missionaries explain that the identical word Elohim in Tanach refers to Moses as well? Regarding Moses, in Exodus 7:1, the Torah says, And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god (Elohim) to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. (KJV) Are missionaries going to claim that there was a plurality of persons in Moses? Is your associate going to insist that Moses was part of a Trinity? The notion that Moses, who is called Elohim in the Torah, possessed more than one person is preposterous. Moreover, if the name of God is to signify a plurality in the godhead, why wasnt the name Je-hova, which is by far the most frequently used name for God in the Jewish scriptures, also written in the plural? Clearly, this sort of Trinitarian argument is baseless. The word Elohim possesses a plural intensive syntax and is singular in meaning. This is selfevident from the fact that the verb created (bara) in Genesis 1:1 is in the singular. This linguistic pattern is well known and widely used throughout the Jewish scriptures. For example, I am certain that many of our website readers are familiar with the Hebrew word chayim, meaning life. Notice that this word contains the identical plural suffix im, as in Elohim, yet it repeatedly means life, in the singular, throughout the Bible. Examples are: And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life (chayim) be to me? (Genesis 27:46) You have granted me life (chayim) and favor, and Your care has preserved my spirit. (Job 10:12) The fact that the name of God, Elohim, does not in any way imply a plurality in the godhead is well known and widely recognized even among Trinitarian Christians. For example, in the New International Version Study Bible (NIV), which is hardly a translation or annotation which could be construed as friendly to the Jewish faith, the Christian author writes in his commentary on Genesis 1:1, God created. The Hebrew noun Elohim is plural but the verb is singular, a normal usage in the OT when reference is to the one true God. This use of the plural expresses intensification rather than number and has been called the plural of majesty, or of potentiality. (New International Version Study Bible, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985, p. 6.) Finally, it is important that you understand the crucial message the name Elohim conveys to the Children of Israel. To clarify, two questions must be answered. 1) Why does the Torah employ this intensive plural name for the Almighty throughout the Torah? 2) Why is this name predominant throughout the creation narrative in the beginning of Genesis?
There is a fundamental principal regarding the many names of the Almighty as they appear in the Torah -- they are exalted descriptions of the God of Israel. The name Elohim, which is no exception to this rule, comes from the Hebrew root el, which means might or power. This common root appears in a variety of words throughout the Jewish scriptures. For example, we find this word used in the famous opening words to Psalm 29, havu ladonai bnai eylim. This chapter is well known to the Jewish people because the congregation joyously sings this Psalm in the synagogue every Sabbath morning as the Torah is being placed back into the ark. What do these noble words mean? Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of the mighty. (New American Standard Bible) We can now have deeper understanding of the message behind the sacred name Elohim. The pagan world ascribed a god for each of the powers in the world which they observed and on whom they depended. They saw a powerful and perplexing energy emanating from the sun, and they worshiped the sun god. They craved an abundant harvest and boundless fertility, and they appointed gods for them as well. The ancients were awestruck by the forces which sustained them, and venerated each of them with mysterious and sometimes gruesome rites. The Torah of Israel had a very different and uplifting message for mankind. All the forces and energies in the universe, all the might and power that man could behold, emanated from the One Creator of the universe. This grand message was contained in the name of God, Elohim. All the forces of the world emerged from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This God, Creator of all matter, is alone worthy of worship. It is for this reason that the name of God, Elohim, appears more frequently than any other name of God throughout the first two chapters of Genesis. In these two chapters the Almighty is creating all the powers and forces which fill the universe. There is no sun god to be venerated. In fact, the God Who created the sun on the fourth day created fish on the fifth. You can now begin to understand why the nation of Israel, to whom God revealed Himself at the foot of Mount Sinai, knew nothing about a plurality of persons in the godhead. No fact could be more firmly established once all of our literature -- both canonical and rabbinical -- is taken as a guide. This matter is indisputable. Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year. Sincerely yours, Rabbi Tovia Singer
Footnote:
1
Due to the sanctity of the name of God which appears on this page, please do not print out this article and discard it.
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Did Jesus Exclude Gentiles?

When Jesus appeared and was aggressively promoted as the true messiah, the Jews initially were attracted by his charisma and message of salvation and promise to escort them to the kingdom of heaven on doomsday. They were special, Jesus said, for there would be no hope or preached promises to anyone other than God's chosen people--the Jews. According to Saint Matthew, thus spoke Jesus to his disciples: "Go not into the way of the Gentiles....but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel....I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 10:7, Matthew 15:24) Jesus emphasized the imminence of the end of the world and the arrival of the kingdom of heaven for the Jews: "And as ye go, preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand....Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the son of Man be come." (Matthew 10:5-6, 23). Thus, the end of the world would come so soon that Jesus' disciples would not even have time to spread the word to all of the Jews in the cities of Israel. But, as the years went by without the coming of the son of God and his promised apocalypse, many Jews stopped listening to the apostles. Fearing loss of priestly power, the church fathers took matters into their own hands.
Forging New Rules for the Gentiles The church fathers decided to expand their influence by extending Jesus' promise of salvation to the ones ignored by Jesus--the pagan Gentilesthe uncircumcised. Joseph Wheless, in "Is It God's Word?" explains: "The gentiles were the superstitious pagans of Palestine, Asia Minor, and parts thereabouts; they were steeped in belief in all the fables of all the gods of the heathen world. They knew nothing of the Jewish Scriptures or of the promised Messiah; they had no critical sense in religion, but, like Paul and his converts, believed all things and hoped all things. A new God was to them just one more god among many." Thus, the Gentiles were ripe for harvesting, and so the deceitful priestly fathers fraudulently appended the following verses to the end of Saint Matthew's gospel: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."(Matthew 28:19-20). If we weren't certain the verses above are a forgery, our wonderment at Jesus' apparent turn-around would know no bounds: just eighteen chapters earlier, in Matthew 10.5, Jesus was telling his disciples, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles."! The Gospel of Mark also fell victim to a later forger's pen. The last twelve verses of Mark are late additions: ".....And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved....And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen."(Mark 16:12-20) Thus, the illiterate peasants to whom the fathers preached received two different messages-- depending on their faith. The Jews heard that they were the favored "lost sheep" in the first parts of Matthew and Mark-which were the only parts read to them, while the Gentiles were read the words of salvation from the forged endings: believeth and be saved.
Apostles' Actions Expose the Lies As will be shown below, the apostles did not know that Jesus had evidently changed his mind and decided to allow Gentiles into the kingdom of heaven. They could not know it because, as we have already alleged, Jesus' mind was changed only in the lying imaginations of the forging fathers. Damning proof of this is offered below, where we begin by looking closely at the behavior of Simon Peter.
A Doubting Peter Agrees to Meet Gentiles While in a trance, Peter had a vision that he should meet with the Gentiles. His doubt about the meaning of this vision is strong evidence that Jesus never told his disciples to convert the Gentiles: "Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean." (Acts 10:9-17). Meanwhile, a Gentile centurion from Caesarea named Cornelius had a revelation that he should meet with Peter to be converted to the all-Jewish sect (Acts 10:1-9). Learning of this, Peter, still doubtful, met with Cornelius and his household. As further proof that Peter knew nothing of Jesus' command to his disciples to teach and baptize those of all nations, we have these words from Peter to Cornelius and his family: "Ye know how it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation." (Acts 10:17-28) Peter, however, also told Cornelius that a revelation had tentatively led him to "perceive that...he that feareth [God], and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." (Acts 10:34-35). Thus, it is only through a revelation-not the fraudulent "teach all nations" command by Jesusthat Peter was able to "perceive" that God would accept righteous Gentiles. This is virtually certain proof that Peter never heard Jesus' tell him and his disciples to "teach all nations", and therefore that the final verses of Matthew and Mark are late forgeries.
The Apostles Were Angry at Peter The apostles also evidently did not know anything about an alleged command by Jesus to "go, teach all nations....preach the gospel to every creature", because they were upset that Peter had embraced the Gentiles: "And when Peter had come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision, contended with him, Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them." (Acts 11:2, 3). Peter defended himself, explained his trance vision and Cornelius's revelation, and the speaking in tongues, and then told the apostles, "Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us ...what am I, that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." (Acts 11:4-18). If the apostles ever had heard the son of God urge the acceptance of the Gentiles, and if they had actually "preached everywhere"--as alleged by Matthew and Mark, they surely never would have questioned Peter's meeting with the Gentiles. As if the foregoing were not proof enough of the cynical forgeries of the church fathers, we discuss below further incriminating comments by learned authorities
Council of Trent: The Word of God Concerning the genuineness of Mark 16:9-20, the Catholic Encyclopedia states, "...The combination of so many peculiar features, not only of vocabulary, but of matter and construction, leaves room for doubt....it is not at all certain that Mark did not write the disputed verses. It may be that he did not; that they are from the pen of another inspired author....Catholics are not bound to hold that the verses were written by St. Mark. But they are canonical Scripture, for the Council of Trent [1].... [defined] that all parts of the Sacred books are to be received as sacred and canonical......Hence, whoever wrote the verses, they are inspired, and must be received as such by every Catholic" [2]. Now isn't this remarkable? According to the inspired fathers at the Council of Trent, whoever wrote the disputed verses, they are inspired even if they are fake. Constrained as the editors of the Catholic Encyclopedia were by the demands of doctrinal adherence, it is remarkable how much is revealed by the words above, which conform to the letter of the church law, but surely not the spirit in their nearconfession of the forgeries in Mark. Hear also the words of the New Standard Bible Dictionary, and the Encyclopedia Biblica, as quoted by Joseph Wheless in "Forgery In Christianity": Mark 16:9-20 "has against it the testimony of the two oldest [related manuscripts] [3], which close the chapter at verse 8. In addition to this is the very significant silence of Patristic literature as to anything following verse 8" [4], and Mark 16:9-20 "is admittedly not genuine." [5]
-------------------------------------------------------------------[1] Council of Trent, northern Italy; called by Pope Paul III. The council met over three sessions between 15451563 to deal with doctrinal and administrative problems. Tradition, along with the Bible, was accepted as a source of faith. [2] Catholic Encyclopedia, ix, 677-679 [3] Uncial manuscripts: Siniatic and Vatican. [4] New Standard Bible Dictionary, p. 551. [5] Encyclopedia Biblica, ii, 1880.

www.MessiahTruth.com : The Real Jewish Messiah www.jewsforjudaism.org Response to Missionaries www.outreachjudaism.org An international organization that responds directly to the issues raised by missionaries and cults. http://jdstone.org/cr/index.html Reveals the error, distortions and falsehood of... http://www.kosherjudaism.com/counter.htm Archive of Articles; trinity, messiah, Jesus, Christianity... http://www.angelfire.com/my/tgoldman0/prophet.htm An Explanation of Christians Prophecies www.TorahAtlanta.com Jewish Articles and Response to Christian claims on G-d and the Messiah. http://www.simpletoremember.com/audio/jewish-response-to-christian-missionaries.htm Jewish Response to Christian Missionaries MP3s 3

Learn To Read Biblical Hebrew

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Learn To Read Biblical Hebrew

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Learn to Read Biblical Hebrew

In the Modern Hebrew Script Part One - The Alphabet

Part Two - Basic Sentence Structure Structure

Part Three - Biblical Hebrew Word and Sentence Construction