If you guys have read my blog post on why you should still try to go to church even though most of them suck, you will know that I have left several churches: The Church of the Holy Dollar, The Church of the (W)Holy Incompetent Pastors, and the Church of the Holy Dinosaur, and am now attending the church that I have dubbed “The Church of the Holy Cowpoke” (i.e. the only one that’s actually been pretty good). With that said, I know a few things about red flags in the church, especially when it comes to scammy pastors. So, here’s a few signs that it might be time to leave or start investigating your church.
(Disclaimer: Some of these reasons are satire and shouldn’t be taken seriously and will be marked with an asterisk. If your church has an entire fridge full of LaCroix, that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily bad, it just means that they don’t have great taste. Ultimately, some issues in your church might be secondary and as long as the teaching is theologically sound and the leaders are willing to have respectful, honest discussions about your questions, I would say it is fine to continue attending that church. However, the goal of this post is to encourage discernment when trying to find a church and, in the end, it’s up to you to decide whether or not you should stay or leave.)
#1: The Leaders Can’t Answer Basic Questions on Biblical Doctrine
My family and I have run into so many people like this that it’s honestly depressing how many people there are in the church that are completely theologically illiterate. I don’t care if they have a doctorate from a seminary school or college, if they can’t handle questions on things like the Trinity, the nature of God, or questions on issues in the church such as the “Should we be playing Bethel/Hillsong during worship even though they preach something that isn’t Biblical?” debate or New Age spirituality being taught in books that they may be promoting, then it may be time to start looking elsewhere. This is especially true if their answers to your questions/arguments go from circular to straight-up slander, name calling, spiritual/emotional abuse, or an unholy trinity of all three (“Them’s fight’n’ words,” as they say in the South). If the atmosphere in the church changes when you walk in because everyone seems to know about what’s going on and stuff you brought up is addressed at the pulpit in an indirect, bullying manner, that’s even more confirmation that it’s time to go. This happened to my family at the Church of the (W)Holy Incompetent Pastors and in hindsight, I’m glad we got out of that situation.
#2: Your Pastor Looks Like He Should be in a Jeff Dunham Comedy Special*
I realize you should never judge a book by its cover, but why do so many of these crappy pastors look like ventriloquist dummies. Just look up any picture of Joel Olsteen, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyers, etc. and you’ll see what I’m talking about. It really makes you wonder if they’re actually just Screwtape and his minions in different costumes.
#3: Female Pastors
Female leaders in positions like deacon, childcare, women’s group, etc. are fine, but the Bible strictly prohibits women from being pastors. The reason why isn’t because Christians are misogynistic or anything, but rather because in the Christian tradition, God designed men to be the leaders and women to be the helpers. Moreover, women are not to have spiritual authority over men.
Does that mean that women can’t teach the Bible to others? No. There are plenty of example of women in the Bible teaching it to others. It just means that women are not traditionally set up for the task of running an entire church.
But wait! Doesn’t that also mean that women can’t have a say in how the church functions or say anything about crappy pastoring if the guy pastoring is a dude?
The answer to that is also no. While women are barred from having spiritual authority over guys, that doesn’t mean that we can’t read our Bibles and raise questions to the male leaders about where they may be going off track. We are allowed to help, and if that help is by raising questions about things that might be Biblically wrong, in my opinion that’s helping and is permitted. And since we aren’t the ones leading the church, in that case, we still don’t have the spiritual authority of the pastor, which still allows questions to be okay. It’s only if the woman is leading the church that it becomes anti-Biblical and should be cause for concern.
#4: Essential Oil Company on the Side
For those of you who are offended by what I’m going to say here, might I suggest slathering on some eucalyptus oil before you read it? I’ve heard that’s the smell of “Calm the heck down.”
One thing I’ve noticed in a lot of megachurches is that they usually sell essential oils on the side or else have them scattered everywhere throughout the church. In one church where my brother’s friend group meets, there is a prayer room with essential oils and positive affirmations everywhere. While essential oils aren’t necessarily anti-Biblical, many of these companies that sell them are very New Age-y and – guess what – essential oils will not cure you of your crippling depression, nor will they offer salvation points.
#5: Really Bad Coffee*
We’ve all been to at least one church that served coffee in the cafeteria and instead of tasting like regular coffee, it tasted like burnt wood and made you wonder what brand they got and when.
Did you still drink it?
Yes. You’ve been up since six and need your coffee to be a functioning human. But that doesn’t justify this crime against your taste buds.
#6: Flags, Gibber-Jabber, and People Falling Over
If there are flag-waving dancers or even just dancers up on stage that look like they are trying to incorporate their Zumba class into the “sermon”, just leave.
On top of that, if there are people who are “speaking in tongues” (a.k.a they’re speaking gibberish and saying it’s some heavenly language), are “prophesying” stuff (“God has shown me more money filling my wallet as money leaves yours in the near future….”), are calling people up on stage to “heal” them of some vague ailment that isn’t readily visible while they fall over, or all three, you should definitely leave. They aren’t teaching the Gospel; they’re teaching you how to fall for a scam.
#7: The Pastor is Treated as God
These are mostly celebrity pastors of massive churches, but I’ve seen pastors in smaller megachurches be treated like this as well. To the people, he can do no wrong. He’s just too good a speaker to possibly be preaching to fulfill ulterior motives. No one questions him; no one looks to see the strange man behind the big green curtain. If you question him, you will be shot down immediately. You are forced to just go with it.
If you are in a church where this is the case, you’re setting yourself up for the first reason to leave a church that I mentioned earlier. Save yourself the hassle and start looking elsewhere. This church isn’t it.
#8: They Promote New Age Practices or People Who Do
This should be pretty obvious. If your church actively teaches or invites someone who actively teaches a very self-centered view of Christianity and teaches things in programs like spiritual formations classes, camps, retreats, seminars, etc. that are occultic, you are not being taught real Christianity. What you’re getting is a “Christian” pep-talk that is very destructive. Read your Bible and if you’re hearing stuff that seems contrary to the Bible, you need to do your research, confront the church, and if they won’t rethink their practices and change, leave.
Yes, finding another church that is good will be hard, but you’ll be much better for it.
Until next time,
M.J.
The Tanuki Corner 
A Jew has the Torah commandment not to enter into a house of avoda zarah/ ie the church.
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I can absolutely see where you are coming from with this statement. Having seen Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, I can agree that they do come off as idolatrous with the way they pray to the paintings and statues of people like the Virgin Mary, the arkangel Michael, etc.
Are those things great contributions to the arts? Yes, but they aren’t to be worshipped/”venerated”. Even other Christians often look at Catholics/Orthodox and think they’re weird.
Ultimately, I would say that from a Christian perspective, this all depends on a church-by-church basis. Not all churches are as gaudy as the Catholics. I also think it depends more on what the pastor is teaching than anything else. If the place seems more like a temple to the self, then it is idolatrous. However, if what the pastor is teaching lines up with the Bible and what it says, then it is much better. We (my family and I) have left two churches because they had either become a temple to self or were in the process of becoming a temple to the self. In doing so we have learned that you just have to really look and have discernment when trying to find the right church and from what I understand (at least here in the United States), it can be the same way in finding a good synagogue.
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Easter has a long bloody history of blood libels followed up with murderous pogroms throughout European history.
The Fundamental Difference between Jews from Goyim. Condensed to a few pages of reading. Goyim take immediate “offense” when Jews points out their total and complete ignorance of the Hebrew T’NaCH. That’s their problem, and thankfully not mine.
The power of the kabbala taught by Rabbi Akiva to raise rabbinic mitzvot unto mitzvot from the Torah. For Jews the zenith of our spiritual experience in life – the revelation of the Torah at Sinai. Goyim never accepted the revelation of the Torah at Sinai.
Therefore, Goyim love to believe in fanciful mythologies and their revisionist history calls these mythical belief systems – a real life experience. For a Jew to make “Aliyah” of rabbinic halachot unto Sinai Torah commandments – herein defines the vision: that all Jews in all generations stand and accept the revelation of the Torah at Sinai.
Orthodox Judaism FAQ • Answers to frequently asked questions on Judaism
To keep shabbat requires knowledge how to distinguish shabbat from the weekday. This discernment of languages employed within the Hebrew T’NaCH qualifies as making “the” most essential “הבדלה”. Torah faith which bases itself through the expression of common law, absolutely requires – as the most basic requirement of understanding Oral Torah logic – the skills required to make logical inferenced reasoning.
For example: the Torah commandment – not to work. Biblical translations, they hide a multitude of sins. The word “work” expressed as מלאכה: skilled labor. While עבודה: unskilled labor – also subsumed under the word translation: Work. Every Goyim Bible translation of the Hebrew T’NaCH makes this most basic and fundamental perversions of the original texts in Hebrew and in Aramaic – like the example of the Book of Daniel. Daniel a mystic and not a prophet. Ooops
The bible translations “broad brush” of “work” conceals this subtle דיוק/inference logical distinction. The Talmud studies how different languages say the same thing, by means of making דיוק/inference logical distinctions. Examine the Targum Onkelos and witness a masterpiece by which a scholar makes a near Hebrew/Aramaic 1:1 translation.
The study of this Targum assists all generations of “down- stream” pupils to learn the Aramaic employed by the Talmud Bavli. Gemarah-Aramaic repeatedly employs the clause: “מאי נפקא מינא”, which asks the question: “What’s the differerence”?
The study of the Torah commandments, all 613 Torah commandments, most essentially requires asking this מאי נפקא מינא question, which possesses the power to transforms positive & negative commandments – which do not require k’vanna; to tohor time oriented commandments, which do require k’vanna. Herein a concise definition of Oral Torah logic as expressed through Talmudic common law.
Why do Jews not believe in JeZeus? Any belief in a myth as in- fact historical and real life; such false prophet, false messiah, Xtian theology does not understand tohor time-oriented commandments. This type of Torah commandment the New Testament remains totally oblivious to its Top Priority which defines Jewish spirituality.
A failure of Torah understanding, which compares to check-mate in chess. Gehinnom, a mussar message within the pages of the Talmud? Xtian avoda zarah, mythical revisionist history, perverts Talmudic mussar, into a bi-polar dynastic dispute which pits Heaven and Hell, God vs. Satan. Jews absolutely reject Xtian preachers Fire and Brimstone sermuns. Xtianity exists for us as but just another example of false revisionist history. For 2000+ years the Jewish people have abhorred and decried belief in the JeZeus myth, as a false messiah-avoda zarah.
And for 2000+ years Goyim have both ignored and despised the Jewish rejection of their theological belief systems. They abhor the Talmud because this body of Jewish legal common law scholarship, which seeks to make an Aliyah of rabbinic mitzvot, and make them on par with the Sinai revelation, as the Oral Torah definition of Jewish spirituality.
Goyim resent that Jews refer to their attempts at theological revisionist history as bull shit. It truly offends Goyim, that Jews call what Goyim heart-feel-believe, as jibberish nonsense on par with the ancient generations of the past who whole-heartedly worshipped graven idols, which they crafted with their own hands as their personal Gods.
The idea that Jews fundamentally reject all the theologies creeds and dogmas of the church, as no different than crafting a piece of wood into a God and placing that revisionist history of a God upon a pedestal to worship; herein explains the basis why Goyim often turn into a horde of locust Haman Amelekite antisemites.
New Testament theology amounts to revisionist history. The church abomination must have a physical JeZeus. Despite the explicit Torah statements: God is not a man that he should not lie. Furthermore, T’nach does not teach history, despite the quisling assimilated historical/conservative Judaism narishkeit which prioritizes the subject of history over prophetic mussar.
The T’NaCH defines prophesy: as a tohor person who commands mussar. This prophetic mussar – applicable to all generations of Israel. But Prophetic mussar only impacts the lives of Jews who live inside the oath sworn lands. G’lut Jews, they lack the wisdom to observe doing mitzvot לשמה.
Hence the T’NaCH and Talmud for g’lut Jewry, a closed-sealed Book. Jews living in g’lut lands struggle with assimilation. Many of these Jews convert and embrace the revisionist history theologies which pervert myths into actual historical events and whole heartedly likewise believe in JeZeus as God, and Muhammad as the prophet of Allah. And similar tumah avoda zarah.
Goyim spirituality too seeks to elevate their theological Creeds unto the holiness of God. The Nicene Creed and Muslim belief that if a Man believes in Allah and Muhammad as the prophet of Allah, that this belief converts that Man to becoming a Muslim. Two attempts made by Goyim avoda zarah theology to duplicate the spiritual vision of rabbi Akiva’s פרדס kabbalah of the Oral Torah revelation at Horev – following the tumah avoda zarah of the Golden Calf.
Goyim theology, oblivious to the fact – that any translation of the Name revealed in the 1st Sinai commandment, (The Greatest commandment in the whole of the Sinai, uniquely Jewish spiritual experience.), perverts שמור מצוות לשמה to belief in Torah commandments לא לשמה. This perversion of the רוח הקודש שם השם לשמה to common words which the lips can easily frame and pronounce – herein defines the k’vanna of the Golden Calf which defines avoda zarah throughout the generations.
Witchcraft, by stark contrast, compares to a tumah – false prophet – it by definition attempts to predict the future. This New Testament revisionist history, it totally ignores the chief defining concept of “avodat HaShem”; the Torah restriction placed upon the House of Aaron ((The oath alliance sworn at Sh’Cem – the k’vanna of the Rabbeinu Tam tefillen.)), to only dedicate an oath/sacrifice while breathing tohor spirits; the critical subject of tohor vs. tumah spirits: like the Sinai experience – which only the Jewish People accept to this day – the New Testament revisionist history totally ignores.
Hence the New Testament (Roman counterfeit) declares that JeZeus fulfilled the words of the prophets. Proof that the New Testament promotes false prophet theologies. False prophet theologies defined as a predetermined creed/dogma which dictates what and how people should believe in God as an act of faith.
The Torah defines the tohor concept of faith as: Justice, Justice pursue.
Based upon the cruel corrupt and oppressive Courts of king Par’o, who withheld straw to Israelite slaves and who thereafter ordered the overseers to beat without mercy Israelites for our failure to meet our quota of bricks, as imposed upon us by king Par’o.
Through a treacherous act of deception, Par’o tricked Israel unto slavery. Par’o pretended that Egypt faced a crisis of bricks. Israelites volunteered to make bricks for Par’o. Par’o supplied these Hebrews with the straw we required to meet Egypt’s needs for bricks. The tale of bricks produced under voluntary conditions, thereafter became the quota of bricks imposed upon Jewish slaves. Hence the Torah writes: Par’o did not know Yosef.
Yitro likewise commanded a strong mussar to Moshe. When he witnessed that Moshe judged all Israel disputes by himself alone. Justice defined, based primarily from Yitro’s mussar rebuke to Moshe, as the power of common law courtrooms to make fair restitution of damages inflicted upon Jews by other Jews.
Muhammad pulled a similar rabbit out of his tumah magic-hat as did the New Testament. The Koran rhetoric repeats prophet, prophet, prophet Ad infinitum, yet never defines – from the Torah – the term prophet. The Gospels avoda zarah duplicates this same tumah Abracadabra, with the ((to quote Baba Kama: “Mountain hanging by a hair”)), the Pie in the Sky Xtian term of: Love.
T’NaCH prophets command mussar. Why? Because mussar applies straight across the board to all generations of bnai brit Israel. Bnai brit Israel grows the תוכחה\mussar prophetic rebuke within our hearts.
We grow and nurture this prophetic mussar within us. And these “tohor spirits” (based upon the revelation of the שם השם לשמה), they live within our hearts. Prophetic mussar causes bnai brit Israel to dedicate defined tohor middot (‘ה’ ה’ אל רחום וחנון וכו, also known as the Oral Torah revelation at Horev), in all our future social interactions with our family, neighbours & people.
Hence the mussar spirituality known as: the baali t’shuva. Mesechta Sanhedrin of the Talmud learns the mitzva of Moshiach emphatically tied to the mitzva of baali t’shuva. Based upon the prophetic mussar of Moshe and the burning bush confrontation.
Wherein Moshe vocally opposed to go down unto Egypt to bring Israel out from judicial oppression slavery. Yet Moshe, as a baali t’shuva, descended unto Egypt and brought Israel unto freedom. Moshe serves as the Torah mussar model for the tohor time- oriented mitzva of Moshiach. Furthermore, Moshe did not build a Catholic assimilated Cathedral as did king Shlomo. King Shlomo worshipped avoda zarah. A significant מאי נפקא מינא distinction between the mussar of Moshe from the avoda zarah of king Shlomo son of David.
Moshe struggled to build the small sanhedrin Federal courts on the far side of the Jordan river. When king David, ((based upon the mussar commanded by the prophet Natan)), commanded his son Shlomo to build the Beit HaMikdash, he had no such k’vanna for king Shlomo to assimilate and copy the customs manners and ways of the Goyim.
Goyim who reject the revelation of the Torah at Sinai, and who build Cathedral Temples throughout the annuls of their Human History. The mussar k’vanna of the Moshiach, to build the Beis HaMikdash, learns from Moshe Rabbeinu who established the small Sanhedrin Federal Courtrooms in 3 of the Cities of Refuge on the other side of the Jordan river. And this mussar k’vanna does not learn from the avoda zarah of king Shlomo son of David who built the First Jewish assimilation to Goyim cultures and custom: the Temple.
The mussar mitzva of Moshiach constitutes as a tohor time oriented commandment; applicable to all generations of the Jewish people, just like tefillah stands in the stead of korbanot. All mussar tohor time oriented commandments, applicable to all the Jewish people throughout time. All tohor time oriented commandments stand upon the foundation\יסוד of “fear of Heaven”. Hence the Oral Torah common law as codified in the NaCH, it to makes an aliyah of prophetic mussar unto Torah Sinai commandments. Jewish spirituality spin around the axis of the revelation of the Torah at Sinai. Just that simple.
This mussar foundation: definitively expressed through the Torah commandment – judicial justice pursue. This prophetic mussar requires that a baali t’shuva dedicates a tohor middah לשמה. Which tohor middah does the mussar mitzva of Moshiach require, as its holy defining dedication לשם השם לשמה? The mussar middah dedication, to restore the lateral Sanhedrin Federal common law courts across the Torah Constitutional Republic, based upon the mussar which Yitro commanded Moshe.
Not ‘religious fetishization’, of how the Sages of the Talmud interpreted judicial common law? A question which requires an answer: מאי נפקא מינא between Statute Law from Common Law? Among the Jewish people, the T’NaCH Talmud, exerts a strong cultural masoret, practiced among and between Jews. Assimilated Jews refuse to address the fundamental distinction which separates Common Law from Statute Law. Unto this very day, the Yeshiva education institutions fail to ask the essential מאי נפקא מינא question which separates משנה תורה common law from assimilated Roman statute law.
Roman Statute Law, according to the Talmud, qualifies as assimilated avoda zarah. Kapo Jews: too, an example of avodah zarah. Why? Because they “convert” to cultures and customs practiced by the dominant Goyim majority. Therefore, how does the logic format in Jewish common-law differ from the logic schematics which defines and separates Roman statute-law, from Jewish common-law? מאי נפקא מינא?
Many Traditional Jews chose to follow the path defined as: ritual religiousism. Such ritual religiousism Jews, they tend to view: Jews who follow the path of Talmudic common law – which requires פרדס logic – ((a very tiny minority know anything about Talmudic common law today.)) Does this tiny minority qualify as a small ‘tiny voice’, a Bat Kol, from Heaven? No, not in the least. Torah prophetic mussar breathes within our hearts, in all times and generations.
Muhammad, by stark contrast, declared that an Angel dictated the Koran. He knew nothing about prophetic mussar like and similarly comparable to his ignorance between tohor vs. tumah spirits. Angels according to this bi-polar perverse theology come from a bi-polor Heaven/Hell theological paradigm. Giving proper Names to Angelic beings, a post Babylonian g’lut assimilated trauma.
The sages of the Talmud emphatically rejected this theological premise, which Arab theologian/philosophers stood upon Aristotelian logic. Torah comes from the Earth and not the Heavens. פרדס mussar logic distinct and apart from ancient Greek logic philosophical formats. Track-n’-field sports by comparison, involves many completely different Sports skills. Long distance runners require completely different skill sets from the one, to the other Track-n’-field sports combats.
Torah learns from the Earth, and NOT the Heavens. Torah commands Mussar NOT History. A distinction of Depth that Goyim remain blind thereto. The theology of Historical/Conservative Judaism confuses History with Mussar. The Talmud often teaches: How to logically think. RATHER than what to logically think. Mussar requires the wisdom knowledge how to logically think. Church theological dogmatism-creeds: command what a person believes as true. A huge: מאי נפקא מינא.
T’NaCH/Talmud common law (also known as משנה תורה) usually, or at least frequently, learns by comparing similar cases – the one compared to the other. The study of literature refers to this as the discipline of: “Compare & Contrast”. This type of comparative competitive logic, completely different from the Ancient Greek mathematical syllogism deductive logic (If the premise wrong, then the conclusion reached – likewise wrong.).
Inductive reasoning totally distinct and different from deductive reasoning. Ancient Greek deductive logic completely and totally different from Rabbi Akiva’s פרדס logic inductive reasoning, which makes comparisons of Case/Rule precedents to similar judicial Case/Rule rulings of law. The difference between the skill set of marathon runners, from athletes who specialize in running the mile in under 4 minutes; contrasts Oral Torah common law to Roman statute law avoda zarah.
The Torah mussar k’vanna learned to the mitzva of lighting the lights of Hannukka. To learn Torah using the פרדס logic system. Which by definition totally rejects the ancient Greek philosophical schools, despite their worthy accomplishments; which perhaps achieved the ultimate elevation of thought. Nonetheless two totally diffierent logic formats which frame thought. The revelation of the Oral Torah, with its 13 tohor סודות middot, defines Jewish spirituality. The concept within the Talmud of רוח הקודש, means blowing the שם השם לשמה, like the case of blowing the Shofar. 3 + 13 + 3 ((the order of the Shemone Esrei blessings)) tekea tr’uah, shvarim ———-———- קום ועושה/ שב ולא תעשה\ טהור זימן גרמא מצוות.
Mesechta קידושין teaches that tohor time oriented commandments, as applicable to women, qualifies as a רשות option. This concept of רשות, it most essentially defines the k’vanna of all tahar time-oriented commandments, as they apply not just to women but to Goyim as well. If a women chooses to place tefillen or read from a Sefer Torah, these tahar time-oriented commandments come within the רשות of her Will to sanctify the Torah. The NaCH kabbalah בנין אב (which means: precedents) for this Talmudic ruling, the story of D’vora & Barack fighting together to defeat the Army of Sisera.
Another example which explains “all” tahar time-oriented Torah mussar commandments, which “all” deal with some crisis – life or death – situation(s): the reading of the Megillah of Esther: The fast made by Queen Hadassah. Where she made the רשות choice to approach the king and plead for mercy for the Jewish people, at the threat to her life; to thwart the efforts of Haman and his attempt of the war-crime genocide.
Purim and Pesach share a “כרת-like” common denominator. Purim links to learning avoda zarah: which prohibits assimilation and intermarriage with Goyim. While Pesach links to learning the removal of chametz which teaches the essential נמשל, the removal of avoda zarah from within our hearts, in order to accept the Torah without any av tumah avoda zarah – in our midst.
Counting the Omer, yet another prime example of the exact same tahar time-oriented commandment. The 42 letter Divine Name, known as אנא בכח, carries the mussar k’vanna dedication to remove the Av tumah avoda zarah from within the bnai brit hearts; who thereafter reading a listing of korbanot within the opening pages of the Siddur, dedicate a tefillah oath known as Shemone Esrei.
Tahar time-oriented commandments require k’vanna. K’vanna makes a mussar Order of priorities. Removal of avoda zarah most essentially obligates Jews not to assimilate and embrace the cultures, traditions, and mannerism practices by any particular person or people who reject the revelation of the Torah at Sinai. Herein defines the Torah tumah commandment against “assimilation”. The New Testament myth revisionist history knows nothing of prophetic mussar which defines the revelation of the Oral Torah at Horev.
Removal of avoda zarah obligates Jews not to intermarry with Goyim, who never accepted the revelation of the Torah mussar at Sinai. Both Xtianity & Islam promote belief in some Universal Monotheistic God. Both Unitarianism type religions of avoda zarah, promote assimilation and intermarriage with Goyim who do not accept the revelation of Torah mussar at Sinai.
Tahar time-oriented commandments require k’vanna. A fundamental example: the תפילת ערבית says קדיש before davening tefillah whereas תפילת שחרית adjoins the 3rd rabbinnic blessing סמוך to תפילת שחרית. The קדיש prayer establishes a mussar Order of k’vanna.
According to how Rabbeinu Tam learns the Av Mishna of ברכות, a person should place tefillen when accepting the yoke of the kingdom of heaven in תפילת ערבית. Whereas Rashi learns this Av Mishna which links the time when Cohonim can eat their t’ruma, to after 3 stars appear in the Heavens. מאי נפקא מינא?
The קדיש which separates the 2 + 2 blessings which surround the kre’a shma ערבית, that קדיש establishes a partition which separates, through mussar k’vanna, the kre’a shma ערבית and attaches that tefillah of kre’a shma, to the מנחה shemone esrei, which – like tefillah ערבית employs a קדיש which separates אשרי יושבי ביתך וכו from אדני, שפתי תפתח. The Order of קדיש links tefillah ק”ש ערבית to the tefillah shemone esrei of מנחה. A powerful mussar k’vanna of tefillat ערבית as a רשות מצוה.
Because 3 Stars have yet to appear in the heavens (the sh’itta of Rashi on the Gemara of ברכות), that Shemone Esrei davened while yet shines the Sun of day. Therefore, the k’vanna of the tahar time-oriented commandment of tefillah, known as ערבית: רשות to attach that kre’a shma tefillah דאורייתא to the מנחה Shemone Esrei דרבנן. And likewise attach the Shemone Esrei ערבית to the קריאת שמע שעל המטה. This kre’a shma unlike the davening of the other two kre’a shmas: said without tefillen because clearly 3 stars visible at that time. An interesting מאי נפקא מינא.
The oath sworn alliance, known as “Brit”, (like as found in בראשית\ברית אש, ראש בית, ב’ ראשית, yet incorrectly translated as “covenant”.), this key Torah term, “Brit”, means “alliance” and also “Republic”. The 12 Tribes forged this oath brit alliance which established the First Commonwealth of the Torah Constitutional Republic of the 12 Tribes. Based upon the Torah precedent, (known in Hebrew as בנין אב) upon Moshe anointing Aaron and his House as Moshiach.
This key Torah term, does not correctly translate into “Covenant” because the latter does not fundamentally require swearing an oath שם ומלכות. Tehillem prayers lack שם ומלכות; this type of spiritual praise does not compare to swearing a Torah oath brit alliances by means of שם ומלכות.
Aaron, the anointed Moshiach, dedicates korbanot. A korban sacrifice does not at all represent a ‘Barbeque unto Heaven’.
To dedicate a korban absolutely requires swearing a Torah oath. Just as to cut a brit לשם השם לשמה requires swearing a Torah oath. Just as the Shemone Esrei standing tefillah requires the k’vanna to swear a Torah oath, through the dedication of one or more defined tohor middot.
Blessings contain שם ומלכות. The שם ומלכות precondition, required to swear a Torah oath. The first verse of the ק”ש, contains 3 Divine Names together, a סוד mussar kabbalah to the 3 oaths sworn by the Avot, wherein they each cut a Torah oath brit with HaShem לשמה. Striking! The ק”ש lacks שם ומלכות! The mussar k’vanna of ק”ש, teaches that the translation of מלכות to king – just wrong. On the inept order of “covenant”. The term מלכות refers to the tohor 13 Oral Torah middot.
The tahar time-oriented mitzva of Moshiach, a mitzva applicable to all generations of Israel. ((מאי נפקא מינא between tohor and tahar? Tohor applies to males while tahar as a רשות, applies to females.)) Just as tefillah and the mitzva of shabbat, and all other Tahar time-oriented commandments, applicable to all generations of Israel. Swearing a false oath or public profanation of Shabbat, both carry the din of – כרת. The din of כרת – a life or death crisis of faith. For example: If a רשע refuses to give his ex-wife her ‘get’. A beit din can make a נידוי decree of כרת, and there-after issue a ‘get’ and free that woman, based upon the precedent of prosbul; permitting her to do the tahar time-oriented commandment of קידושין.
The revisionist history of Xtian avoda zarah lacks the wisdom to discern between T’NaCH/Talmudic mussar common law from Roman statute law. This Av tumah avoda zarah has witnessed: oppression and cruelty, that far surpasses the evil ways of Par’o and the Egyptians. This false prophet, false messiah – based religion – proves the Gospel declaration of: “By their fruits you shall know them.”
The church stands guilty of the Shoah blood of Caine: Inquisition mass public torture, 3 Century ghetto war crimes, annual blood libel slanders, mass expulsion of Jewish refugee populations from virtually every European country etc etc etc.
This Av tumah avoda zarah condemned by the נידוי כרת decree, as expressed through the k’vanna of the 9th middle blessing, within the Shemone Esrei oath blessing. Swearing a Torah oath through the mussar mitzva דרבנן of Shemone Esrei, raises this tefilla to a tahar time-oriented oath commandments דאורייתא. At Sinai Israel denounced and rejected avoda zarah.
Tahar time-oriented mussar mitzvot can include all the halachot contained within the mitzvot, posok halacha, within the Talmud. The Oral Torah פרדס logic kabbalah of rabbi Akiva has the power to elevate rabbinic mussar mitzvot, to mitzvot from the Torah at the revelation at Sinai. Hence all tahar mussar time-oriented commandments require the Oral Torah k’vanna learned through the פרדס logic kabbalah taught by rabbi Akiva.
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This may be a bit of a tangent, but while there may be some Gentile Christians that might get offended when you criticize their religion/ignorance, it may have nothing to do with your being Jewish. Many are just very invested in their belief systems and do not take criticism well. For example, I am of no racial/ethnic minority and when I have criticized/questioned Christians for what they believe (because not all Christians believe the same things on everything and often have wildly differing views on what the Bible says depending on if they are reading it in its historical-grammatical context or looking to support their personal narrative), I have gotten seriously burned, having to endure things such as mental/spiritual abuse and gaslighting which no one – especially not a young teen figuring out her beliefs – should have to go through. This has led me to conclude that when Christians get offended when people criticize what they believe, it’s usually because they actually have a thought basis for what it is that they believe other than what happens to make them feel good and making them have to think about that makes them very uncomfortable. Most Christians nowadays don’t put any work into figuring out their faith because they want to avoid having to do a lot of thinking since they would then realize how flawed they are. They don’t read their Bibles, instead opting to read the cherry-picked verses in their devotionals and self-help books because it’s less condemning of their not-so-Christian lifestyles.
It’s not just Christians, either. Humans in general have a massive capacity for pride. If you put a mirror to most people that shows how flawed they are, most of the time they will get angry at you and try to get away. I’ve seen this time and time again as you surely have as well. We all do it to one point or another.
But getting back to your comment, you also claim that Christians resent the Jews for their rejection of the New Testament. While I’m sure there are some “Christians” who do, true Christians feel compassion for those who reject the Gospels and wish to help them without forcing our beliefs on them. We hope for everyone’s eventual salvation and thus pray that everyone may come to know Jesus, as the knowledge of who will/won’t be redeemed is ultimately in God’s hands, not ours. Christians believe that their job is essentially to spread the Gospel through their words and actions, present the arguments for why it’s true, and hope for the best.
Another claim that you make is that Christians elevate our creeds to the level of God himself. This is not at all true. If we did so, we would absolutely be committing the sin of idolatry. The first creed of the early church was formed between 33-38 AD, a time when all of the believers were Jewish and part of a sect of Judaism called The Way. The first recorded Gentile follower is about ten years after the resurrection. This creed is included in the New Testament book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 15 and enumerates the core of what they believed:
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Corinthians 15:1-8)
It simply lays out what they believed and taught on these issues. The Scriptures being referred to are the Tanakh. None of the New Testament writings had been written at that time.
The earliest written form of the Apostles Creed is found in a letter from AD 341. The Apostles Creed which goes like this:
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic [universal; the entire] Church,
the communion of saints [Believers],
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.
The Apostle’s Creed was written around the late 3rd or early 4th century by the early church and is a summary of what they believed (think of it like Christianity for Dummies). The reason why this was important was because there were a ton of heresies floating around at the time such as Gnosticism, Arianism, Manichaeism, Nestorianism, etc. that all changed something essential to Christianity. The church sought to make sure that new members knew the essentials of the faith and knew how to distinguish them from other heretical beliefs, so they wrote this creed.
Unfortunately, false teachers redefined the terms, and so later creeds, like the Nicene Creed, were created. For example:
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
This is obviously much longer than the Apostle’s Creed, but it isn’t a total rewrite of it. Instead, it simply builds off of it, further clarifying and distinguishing it from the heresies that I mentioned before that were (and are) still around. Over time, as the church grew and started splitting into different denominations, they started creating newer creeds/confessions, summarizing what each church believed. Therefore, while the creeds are important to the Christian faith, we do not elevate them to God’s level.
Lastly, though you spent the time to write this entire essay on why you believe that Christianity is false, you completely lost the point of your opening sentence, “Easter has a long bloody history of blood libels followed up with murderous pogroms throughout European history.” Nowhere in your comment did I see anything explaining WHY Easter is an anti-Semitic holiday. This leads me to ask you this: What exactly about the Christian understanding of Easter is anti-Semitic? Where do you believe we celebrate blood libel and the atrocities committed against the Jews in our traditional celebrations of that holiday in the modern day (in the Middle Ages, blood libel was mostly used when people needed a scapegoat to avoid things like paying debts)? I have been unable to find anything on the internet to back your claim, so if you could also provide some of the resources that you’re using to make this claim, it would be much appreciated, especially since here in the U.S., Christians are being persecuted by those who hold incredibly militant, divisive political ideologies and it’s celebrated.
I am happy to respond to your arguments, but it would make it much easier to do so if you could limit it to one or two arguments per comment. It’s very hard to follow everything you are saying when it leads to several different, mostly unrelated arguments.
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I lived in the buckle of the bible-belt, Oral Roberts University in Tulsa Oklahoma for a spell. Xtian revisionist history utterly repulsive to me. Comparable to a person who calls shit – perfume.
Xtian theological belief systems just an expression of their revisionist history. JeZeus and imaginary person on par with Harry Potter and no more. Attempts to elevate a fictional character to actual history … just pie in the sky bull shit.
Justice has nothing to do with personal belief. A Justice who permits a prejudice belief to corrupt his ability to try a case before his court, compares to the crime of bribery. A Torah abomination.
Jews across European lands for hundreds of years endured blood libels of Jews killing Xtian babies and using their blood to make matza bread for Passover. These blood libels followed up with violent pogroms followed with mass expulsions of the Jewish survivors. Did not address this in my article b/c Xtian revisionist history refuses to demand that Xtians confront their war-crimes.
The church opposed Xtians to operate banks. Banks profit by charging interest on loans. Partnership banking made only among Jews with other Jews. If a Jew loans money to a Goy, he does so by charging interest.
The church expelled Jews from farming and land owning. The guilds refused Jews to work within these equivalent to modern organize trade unions.
Giving a loan very risky business. This forced Jews to charge very high interest rates up to 100%! One horrible risk, Goyim would employ the blood libel slander arouse a village to slaughter the Jews thrown to live inside walled ghetto prisons, and thereby destroy the debt owed to Jews who had loaned them money.
I too am happy to address your issues. The New Testament failed to teach the concept of prayer. The Torah concept of tohor & time oriented commandments. The concept of Shabbat which distinguishes between forbidden skilled labor as work from forbidden unskilled labor as work etc etc etc.
Point made by me, which your response fails to address: the charge that the New Testament simply a foreign Roman/Greek forgery of Torah spirituality.
MJ I look forward to discussing this in greater detail with you. Have a nice day.
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You are right in that there is absolutely no point in trying to deny what the Jews have gone through. What they have been forced to endure has been horrible and to deny it would not only be a delusional lie, but it would be an absolute rewrite of history and is something that I all too often see done in the media. However, through all of this, you still have not tied this history back to the original question of: Where do you believe Christians celebrate blood libel and other pogroms in our traditional Easter celebrations? As I have said before, Easter celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and our traditions include going to church, eating candy, and spending time with family. Nothing in that has anything to do with anti-Semitic bigotry.
You also make the claim that the Church and Christian history refuse to acknowledge the crimes they’ve committed. While there are people who may not acknowledge these things, in every history book I’ve read concerning world history, European history, church history, etc. – from Christian and secular authors – the authors talk about the horrible conditions that the Jews lived in for centuries. It is acknowledged as an ugly and terrible, but unerasable blemish on the church’s history. Though we may not talk about it in every sermon and every Christian book, we know it happened. We cannot change that. You say that our history is revisionist in part because doesn’t demand that we “confront our war-crimes”, but my question is what do you want us to do? Do you demand reparations? Do you demand that we constantly apologize for things that we in the modern age never did? Modern Christians – true Christians – do not persecute the Jewish people. We recognize that we are called to love Jews as we love everyone else (Jesus even prayed for the salvation of the Jews while he hung on the cross in the book of Matthew), and those who do not will be in for a nasty surprise during the last judgement.
You have also been constantly making the argument that the New Testament is a forgery of Torah spirituality created by the Romans/Greeks. You claim that I haven’t answered this argument and while I agree that I perhaps haven’t answered it to satisfaction, part of this is because I don’t know what specifically makes it so. Please allow me to ask you two questions about why do you believe that:
#1: For what logical purpose would the Romans/Greeks create a rip-off of the Torah, get a guy to preach it saying he was the Messiah, get a bunch of people riled up about it to the point where they would die for it (and there were already plenty of Jews who would readily die for their beliefs), and then later persecute them for following the teachings of that book? This was a time where cults and mysteries were very common (the Cult/Mystery of Dionysus, the Cult of Mithras, the Cult of Isis, etc.) It didn’t matter whether or not the people had a book to tell them this stuff was true or not; they just followed it. So why would they waste their time and money trying to do that?
Additionally, it’s very likely that The New Testament has a very strong Jewish flavor and presence in the writing because Matthew and John were Jewish Apostles of Jesus and Mark, Luke and Saul (a.k.a. Paul who famously persecuted the Jewish followers of Christ before his conversion where he repented of his sins) were also Jewish and traveled with the Jewish Apostles. The New Testament is a very Jewish book. In the Roman empire, while they were fine with most religions as long as they didn’t cause any trouble, did require most of the conquered lands to have some sort of statement accepting Caeser as a god or pay taxes to him. While most people were fine with that since they already had a lot of gods and what’s one more? Christianity didn’t accept Caeser as god, thus leading to the mass persecution of that religion, especially by people like Nero, who famously blamed the burning of Rome on the Christians, was responsible for the execution of the apostles Peter and Paul, and used Christians as torches for his garden parties. Moreover, the Roman empire was a place where if Caeser needed a scapegoat, he could just point at some random guy on the street and claim that that guy’s people needed to die. This is all very well documented and is not revisionist history, leading me to my next point….
2: Can you give me an example of one – just one – accredited historian who thinks that Jesus is as fictional as Harry Potter? Even secular scholars, when going through the Bible, have to admit that Jesus existed and was not a mythical figure on the level of Zeus or Apollo (or Harry Potter as you keep comparing him to). Consider a quote by the agnostic scholar, Bart Ehrman (whose writings frequently attack Christianity) that says: “With respect to Jesus, we have numerous, independent accounts of his life in the sources lying behind the Gospels (and in the writings of Paul) – sources that originated in Jesus’ native tongue Aramaic and that can be dated to within just a year or two of his life (before the religion moved to convert pagans in droves). Historical sources like that are pretty astounding for an ancient figure of any kind. […]the claim that Jesus was simply made up falters on every ground.” While secular scholars and Christian scholars may not agree on the deity of Christ, we do agree that he was a real person who did exist. There is simply too much evidence to say otherwise.
I look forward to your answer and will try to respond as quickly as possible.
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[[[Where do you believe Christians celebrate blood libel and other pogroms in our traditional Easter celebrations? ]]] Post Shoah wherein Hitler’s Nazis based most of their policies upon Xtian hate Jewish persecution, Luther said gather the Jews into the synagogues and burn them inside. Just for example. The 3 Century ghetto Catholic war crimes a 2nd witness to the infuence of the Xtian abomination:”by their fruits you shall known them”. Post WWII the Xtian religion a dead religion. But prior to WWII, the Catholic church stole a Jewish child whose Xtian maid “babtized” that Jewish baby and the Italian courts refused to return that child back to his Jewish parents!
Easter viewed from the falsely imprisoned ghetto Jewish populations has nothing to do with candy and sweets but poverty and starvation!
[[[You say that our history is revisionist in part because doesn’t demand that we “confront our war-crimes”,]]] Talk utterly cheap. Has Spain or any European country guilty of Xtian war-crimes made war reparations to the Jewish people as has post Nazi Germany. NO. not England, France Spain Portugal etc etc etc.
[[[Do you demand reparations?]]] Most definitely. The Poop Pope ordered together with the king of France the burning of all the Talmudic manuscripts (some 200 years before the invention of the printing press.), these Talmudic hand written manuscripts – their destruction (duplicated by the Nazi book burnings), compare to if Jews burned down the Louve museum in Paris!
That Catholics attempt to declare Poop PiusXII a “saint” after that Poop turned over all the Jews of Rome to the Nazi gas chambers and assisted fleeing Nazis to escape justice by reaching South American sanctuary! Most definitely yes Israeli such as myself feel that the European barbarians must pay reparations for damages inflicted to make at least an attempt at restitution of damages those Goyim barbarians inflicted upon the Jewish people.
There can not exist justice for these crimes against humanity without War-Crimes reparations, just as paid post War Germany War-Crimes reparations. Jews do not and Israelis will not accept: Gee I am so sorry from the descendants from these vile barbarians. Based upon the premise: The apple does not fall far from the tree. Or “beware of false prophets, by their fruits you shall know them”.
Yes Centuries have past but until the European sub-human barbarians (apes share a 98.7% genetic genome match with humans) make some judicially ruled war-reparation compensation for 2000+ years of hate inspired damages inflicted upon Jewish stateless refugee populations, no peace can exist between Israelis who now rule our own country and Europeans sub-human barbarian apes.
A very bitter harsh perhaps hateful response to your question but 2000+ years of despicable arrogant vile criminal behavior has produced fruits that Israelis hate European Xtians. Would sooner piss against a strong headwind and hope the piss wouldn’t cover my legs and feet that trust a Xtian European barbarian. Just that simple.
[[[ Do you demand that we constantly apologize for things that we in the modern age never did?]]] Christ-Killers! The song says it all: “Its to late to apologize … to late etc”
Xtian rhotoric of love = bull shit. Pie in the sky nonsense. We Israelis do not believe this avoda zarah religious rhetoric nonsense spouted by Xtian barbarians who behave like apes. Not just to the Jews. The slaughter of Africans to native American Indians to peoples in the Pacific to Xtian “White Man’s Burden” an abomination that surpasses all the avoda zarah idolatry in the Hebrew T’NaCH. Xtianity worship other Gods. Just that simple.
Your imaginary man Harry Potter/JeZeus he did not know how to keep shabbat. The mitzva of Torah common law requires making a הבדלה/distinction between “work” on Shabbat as opposed to the work week. Work on Shabbat called מלאכה. Work on the work week called עבודה. JeZeus did not know this most fundamental and basic of distinctions. The Apostle Paul did not know the most basic and fundamental distinctions which separates Jewish common law from Roman statute law.
Such basic 1 + 1 = 2 basic fundamentals the New Testament does not know. The absurd mistranslation of brit (בראשית-ברית אש) as covenant – as false – as the sin of the Golden Calf, where the Xtian bible falsely translates the Name revealed in the 1st Sinai commandment as “lord” and the Muslim koran worships this same Golden calf through its equally false mistranslation of “Allah”. Holy Spirit (רוח הקודש) refers not to some absurd Nicene Creed theology of the Trinity – but to the fact that the Name revealed in the 1st Sinai commandment (the greatest commandment upon which hang all other Torah commandments {the gospel error of love as the greatest commandment just wrong} learns that Jews who accept keeping the Torah commandments, (a lot more than 10) that we agree to keep these commandments לשמה. The Name revealed in the 1st Sinai commandment: Holy Spirit and NOT a word translation. The sin of the Golden Calf — translating this “Holy Spirit” to other words!!!! The Xtian bible and Muslim koran both worship other Gods; the 2nd Sinai commandment.
Another example of the New Testament avoda zarah (mistranslated as “idolatry”), JeZeus did not know how to daven mistranslated to pray. A day and night 1 + 1 = 2 distinction between “prayers” – saying Tehillem/Psalms from tefillah – blessings(ברכות) JeZeus’s Lord’s prayer failed to make this day and night distinction. In effect he called day/night and night/day. Isaiah cursed false prophets who did this exact error.
Torah wisdom always strives to discern “what’s the distinction?”. The blessing said over a cup of wine at the beginning and end of shabbat serves as a fundamental example of the 1 + 1 = 2 fundamental basics requirement which requires the wisdom which has the understanding which can separate and discern like from like. For example: the t’rumah dedicated to the Cohen/priest from the chol/common grains that the people can eat after giving the tithe to the Levi and the poor. All Torah commandments (and their exist thousands of Torah commandments not just 613, they require making this type of wisdom discernment of understanding.
JeZeus/Harry Potter did not teach his disciples how to daven according to the kabbalah learned from over 247 T’NaCH prophets! (This opinion expressed by the Yerushalmi Talmud codified in about the same year approximate as the Nicene creed of 325 CE). The New Testament knows nothing of the Oral Torah as taught by Rabbi Akiva the most respected rabbi who inherited the mantle of authority from the Perushim/pharisees. The Pharisees lead the Hannukah revolt against the Syrian Greek empire some 100 years before the New Testament gospel myth birth of the imaginary fictional character of JeZeus.
The Gospels pit JeZeus against the Perushim/Pharisees. Its words compare to the blood libel slanders Xtians made against captive Jews imprisoned in ghettos. Wherein Xtian falsely, with intent, accused Jews of murdering Xtian children and using their blood to make matza bread on Pesach (about the time of Easter resurrectin nonsense mythology). The ensuing annual pogroms where goyim Xtians murdered Jewish communities or made mass expulsions of Jews from across Europe, these crimes – their stink still singes the nostils of the Jewish people to this very day.
The term “burning nose” a Torah Hebrew description of the Anger of HaShem when Israel worshipped avoda zarah in the Wilderness in the days of Moshe and Aaron.
Question #1. Understood by grasping the chaos and anarchy that prevailed in the times leading up to two major Jewish revolts that resulted in 50% or more of the entire Jewish population of Judea slaughtered by the Romans. The Shoah by comparison witness the destruction of 75% of all European Jewry in less than 3 years. Did you know this fact?
Jews, such as myself, understand that the Apostle Paul operated as an Agent Provocateur. Paul infiltrated the Xtian abomination avoda zarah faith on the road to Damascus. He undermined the influence of this group among the Jewish people, close to the borders of Judea (ie Syria) by preaching that circumcision no longer a Torah commandment. Next this “spy” travelled to Rome and promoted within a polytheistic civilization based upon the Ancient Greek mythology of the Gods of Mount Olympus (the story of Zeus fathering Hercules compares to Mary giving birth through “virgin” birth [a gross perversion of the Hebrew language of “young woman”]).
In Rome Paul as a Jewish spy sent to promote unrest and revolt in Rome prior to the outbreak of the Jewish Revolt. The story of the Maccabees (some 100 years before the gospel stories) Yechuda Maccabee attempted and succeeded (You do not argue with success!) by promoting Civil War in Damascus Syria against the king of the Greek Syrian empire.
Paul preached to Romans worship the Son of God, the king of the Jews! Now this entirely displeased and threatened Ceasar b/c he declared that he himself lived as the Son of God! Getting Romans to swear allegiance to the King of the Jews directly threaten Roman hegemony over Judea!
During the Maccabee revolt Yechuda Maccabee and his brothers communicated with Rome directly! So the Romans, well aware of the propaganda tactics employed by Yechuda Maccabee to throw off and thereby weaken the Greek Syrian empire which the Romans very much wanted to conquer!
The gospel Roman counterfeit written in Greek, not Hebrew or Aramaic. The Romans knew that chaos and anarchy bitterly divided waring Jewish factions who fought a Civil War among themselves.
The new testament Roman gospel forgery validates that multiple factions fought with one another in Judea. But does not play up or emphasize the fact that Civil War prevailed among warring Jewish factions as much as the desire to throw off the hated Roman rule of Judea. Just listen to the play of Jesus Christ Super-star for an example of how Goyim Xtian read their New Testament which makes a revisionist history of the Jewish Civil Wars.
The Roman gospels counterfeit duplicates the Jewish attempt to promote Civil War in Rome through the spy Agent Provocateur known as “the Apostle Paul”.
Question #2. I do not have access to Conservative/Historical Judaism writers that i did when I lived in Tulsa Oklahoma and was a member of that community. I made aliyah to Israel in 1991. But I remember while in Tulsa reading a Conservative historian account, the authors name I do not remember of the top of my head. But that person wrote: “There’s not enough physical evidence to write a descent obituary for JeZeus”.
I live in Israel and study primarily T’NaCH Talmud and Midrashic sources. I have not read Conservative Judaism comments since i lived in Tulsa Oklahoma since making aliyah to Israel in 1991.
Please examine this Google source in English. Since coming to Israel i have focused upon studying the sealed Primary Sources of Jewish faith in the original language.
The distinction between traditional Jewish scholarship on the Torah and Conservative/Historical Jewish scholarship on the Torah boils down to a fine point of distinction. Traditional Torah scholars argue that the T’NaCH, Talmud, and Midrashim made by the Gaonim scholars (600 to 950CE) teach that the T’NaCH prophets command mussar NOT history. Late 19th Century to present Conservative/Historical Judaism argues that the T’NaCH prophets lived as historical events from ancient times past. Tradition Judaism argues that Torah defines the term “prophesy” as persons, both male and female, who command mussar which applies straight across the board to all generations of Jews living. The study of this prophetic mussar defines the scholarship of the Aggadah of the Talmud and the Midrashim of the Gaonim scholars.
My rav taught me that just as the Gemarah common law learns the intent of the language of the Mishnah through common law precedents; post Talmudic scholars should learn the Talmud as common law precedents to interpret the intent of the language of the Siddur. The Siddur, a codification of tohor time oriented commandments, like and similar to how the Shulkan Aruch codifies the religious halacha for Jews to keep and obey to this very day.
Imagine that! The purpose of the entire Talmud, 20 volumes of common law, written with the intent to grasp the prophetic mussar of the T’NaCH prophets and link this prophetic mussar not only to understanding the intent within the heart of keeping ritual halachic mitzvot but more importantly to understand the mitzva of how to daven the standing tefillah known as the Shemone Esrei!!!!!!!!!! I cannot emphasize how revolutionary this comprehension of the purpose of Talmudic learning, who all the tens of thousands of rabbinic halachot serve as judicial precedents to interpret the “k’vanna” of the Shemone Esrei standing tefillah sworn before a Sefer Torah by the Jewish people throughout the generations. I remind you that I mentioned above that the Yerushalmi Talmud teaches that over 247 prophets occupied their energies writing the Shemone Esrei standing Tefillah.
Prayer a bad mistranslation of Tefillah. The latter swears a Torah oath. The former praise God. The two as different from one another as day and night 1 + 1 = 2. JeZeus, the Roman counterfeit did not know how to daven the tefillah kabbalah taught by the prophets of Israel. His Our Father who art in Heaven totally missed the oath sworn by Avram at the brit cut between the pieces (a brit requires that both parties swear a Torah oath which requires שם ומלכות) {kingship/מלכות a false translation for the attributes revealed to Moshe at Horev after the sin of the Golden Calf! Tefillah dedicates a defined tohor Oral Torah Horev attribute/middah Holy to HaShem by swearing a Torah oath. Prayer, as expressed to saying Tehillem/Psalms does not swear a Torah oath לשמה which dedicates holy to HaShem a defined Tohor spirit Oral Torah attribute!}
So HaShem swore a Torah oath to Avram that his future born seed (Avram childless at the time he cut this oath brit with HaShem) that his O’lam Ha’Bah (future born seed, currently living in the ‘World to Come’) would suffer oppression in a foreign land ie Egypt, that HaShem would bring them from that slaver unto the oath sworn land inheritance of Canaan. What oath did Avram swear to HaShem? Ooops A oath alliance requires that both parties to the alliance swear and oath! The oath of Avram: that if HaShem would give him future born children who would number as the stars of the sky and sand upon the seashore, that the Spirit Name of HaShem (Avraham only knew the Name El Shaddai, the revelation of the 1st Sinai revelation of the Name, he did not know! None the less Avram swore that this Spirit Name would live within the hearts of his future born chosen firstborn Cohen seed! Hence Tefillah a matter of the Heart and NOT “God who art in Heaven” as the counterfeit JeZeus falsely taught his talmidim/disciples. That’s check-mate.
Its after shabbat and I have responded to you immediately after reading your response to me. Respectfully
Rabbi Moshe Kerr.
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Your response about Easter still has not answered my question about what in our traditions/celebrations of this holiday are anti-Semitic. Yes, people claimed horrible things about the Jewish celebrations that took place around Easter. Yes, that was a terrible thing. But they did that all throughout the year, not just around Easter, thus I still consider this question unanswered. Call me stubborn, but a statement made, repeated, and supported with barely or completely unconnected “evidence” is not a legitimate argument. It’s still a statement. Using ad hominem statements also doesn’t make a statement an argument.
This also applies to your argument in answer to my question about “Why would the Romans make a counterfeit spirituality?” While you did try to answer it, many of these supports that you presented are purely conspiracy. Paul was not an “Agent Provocateur” as you claim he was. He actually knew quite a lot about the Jewish faith, coming to Jerusalem to study the T’Nach where he would later become a zealous Pharisee who actively persecuted the Jewish Christians, making his miraculous conversion to Christianity all the more striking. He did not push the belief that Christians needed to lead a revolt against the Romans. In fact, in Romans 13:1-7, Paul teaches that Christians are to be subservient to governing authorities. It says:
“Let every person be subject to governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgement. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrong doer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”
This doesn’t mean that Christians need to be a bunch of pushovers who allow everything to go unchecked. Romans 12:19-21 says:
“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
The Bible doesn’t forbid speaking out against evil deeds committed by evil people, and overcoming evil with good does include using superior force (military or police) if/when necessary, but that doesn’t mean leading a straight up revolt. Ultimately, Christianity teaches that vengeance is in God’s hands and that those who do evil will meet a bad end. This teaching was followed by the Christians and thus, they were a very peaceful faction. It was during the reign of jealous emperors who wanted complete power that they were persecuted along with everyone else who didn’t fall in line.
I also consider your second “answer” to my question to be incomplete. You still haven’t managed to name a credible historian. When I Googled the quote you gave me, the only thing I could find that was somewhat similar was a quote by a professor of library science at Purdue University named Lawrence Mykytiuk given in an article for the History Channel (you can read it here: https://www.history.com/news/was-jesus-real-historical-evidence), and even he admitted that though there isn’t a ton of archaeological evidence for Jesus, that doesn’t exactly matter, saying, “There’s nothing conclusive, nor would I expect there to be. Peasants don’t normally leave an archaeological trail.”
Furthermore, Bart D. Ehrman, an agnostic religious studies professor from the University of North Carolina who I quoted in an earlier response said in that same article that “The reality is that we don’t have archaeological records for virtually anyone who lived in Jesus’s time and place […] The lack of evidence does not mean a person at the time didn’t exist. It means that she or he, like 99.99% of the rest of the world at the time, made no impact on the archaeological record.”
So, once again, can you give me the name of an accredited historian/scholar worth his salt that denies Jesus’ existence? If you can’t, then you don’t have a very good argument. Rather, your argument is based on personal opinion and strong emotions that are sadly rooted in bitterness instead of actual facts, which – once again – doesn’t make for a credible argument.
Lastly, I would like to address your blatant hatred for European Christians, by which I assume you also include Americans in that group as most of us can claim some sort of European descent. While I can tolerate you calling me “Goyim” because you don’t know me and it has no bearing on who I am as a person, I cannot tolerate you calling a good chunk of the world’s population “sub-human barbarian apes.” I hear this type of rhetoric used in politics and media all the time here in the U.S. to refer to whoever the Democrat party wants to villainize and it is the most racist, degrading, and evil rhetoric I have ever run across. It villainizes a certain group of people (who may not have even done anything; whose only crime is just being a certain color/religion/ethnicity) and encourages the most heinous crimes in history. You of all people should know this, as it was the Jews who were – and still are – commonly degraded to the level of animals to justify their attempted extermination. The worst enemies of the Jews, from Pharaoh, to Hitler, to Hamas have used this language to describe your people. The fact that you now use it to refer to European Christians is incredibly hypocritical.
The fact that you also demand reparations from the European Nations is also ridiculous. Yes, what some of them did was terrible, but once you start demanding reparations from people, you then get to the question of how far do you want to go? How many generations do you want go back to to get those reparations? Some of my descendants are Irish and Welsh, with more being English. The Irish and Welsh are two people groups that were oppressed for centuries by the English. Shall I demand reparations from the English for the crimes of people that lived hundreds of years before me endured? Shall I demand reparations from myself because of my English heritage? Additionally, my great-grandmother is Navajo Indian. Shall I demand money from the Ute, Zuni, and Hopi tribes (who were enemies of the Navajo) to apologize for the damages that they did to people I never knew? There’s many people I could technically demand money from because humans historically have oppressed other humans, but the reason I don’t is because that is wrong. I had nothing to do with the original people who were the oppressors/oppressed, neither did my neighbor. To demand reparations is a futile endeavor rooted in bitterness.
Do you have a right to be angry for what your people endured? Yes. You have every right to; you’re entitled to your feelings, but that doesn’t mean that you can be bitter forever. Learning forgiveness will be something that will take time, but if you let yourself learn to forgive those who have wronged you or your ancestors, you will be much happier for it. Don’t base what you think about God and Christianity on the fallen actions of fallen, sinful people.
I wish you all the best and don’t hold any grudges against you for things you’ve said in this conversation. It’s been interesting to learn about your worldviews, but for now, I will have to stop responding since I simply do not have the time to read and respond to every one of your arguments that have quite frankly been very repetitive. I’ll respond when I can, but I would like to graduate high school at some point and simply can’t keep having to repeat myself in response to what you say. Feel free to comment your thoughts, but just know that while I’m not backing down from my position on Christianity (it’s a hill I’m willing to die on), responding to everything you send just won’t be a sustainable option, especially if you aren’t willing to give an actual answer to the questions I’ve posed.
Respectfully,
M.J.
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[Your response about Easter still has not answered my question about what in our traditions/celebrations of this holiday are anti-Semitic.] Non sequitor dead religion. Xtain say god is love but they practice cruel inhuman injustice. Easter pogroms an annual event.
[Paul was not an “Agent Provocateur” as you claim] You can no more disprove this statement than you can prove that Paul was an honest person. Xtianity not built around evidence, other than superficial nonsense like the virgin birth of Mary based upon a corrupted translation of young woman into virgin!
Requires a Sanhedrin court to judge a Capital Crimes case. Stoning the harshest condemnation for a Capital Crime. The jurisdiction of a Sanhedrin court only within the borders of Judea. Paul outside those borders. A 3 man Torts court tried Paul. A judge sitting on a Torts/damages court does not have jurisdiction to try a Capital Crimes Case. Yet that’s exactly what the Book of Acts describes. Furthermore, the manner of stoning grossly violated Torah law! Stone requires a 3 story platform. The condemned taken to the top of that platform – naked – and thrown off unto a jagged boulder below. The Book of Act describes a form of stoning execution where people threw stones. This grossly violates the Torah Law!!!! No speculation about these facts what so ever.
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Part of pursuading people to believe what your say, called propaganda or half-accurate statements. Your long quotes only set the ground from Paul to demand to receive a trial in Rome as a Roman. LOL
As a spy Paul needed to discredit this false prophet false messiah faith close to Judeas Jewish populations. But his objective to go to Rome and there preach: My fellow Romans worship the son of God the king of the Jews!!! LOL
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[You still haven’t managed to name a credible historian] I do not study Xtian “history”. Conservative Judaism scholars have studied Xtian new testament “history”. I have shared what I saw when I lived in Tulsa and sat as a member of the Conservative Judaism beit knesset. That library had a Conservative scholar who wrote: “there’s not enough physical evidence for Jezeus to right a decent obituary.”
Have shared with you what I know and saw. Early Xtian history really does not interest me b/c I see it as a fraud. You live in America and have better access to this public Jewish scholarship than do I myself.
If your interested then do the research. If not that’s fine. The source you gave me was not the Jewish conservative historian scholar whose opinion I read in one of his books contained within the library there in Tulsa. Have shared what i know with honesty.
Xtianity exists as revisionist history. It absolutely requires a physical JeZeus. But no empirical evidence that I know of exists that can actually prove that some imaginary God/man lived 2000+ years ago.
Xtian theological belief systems – just that belief. Justice stands upon evidence not belief. Just that simple. I argue that JeZeus just a myth. You cannot disprove my argument by making appeals to later authorities Yea or Nay. Justice views personalized beliefs as threif like giving a bribe to a judge!
Goy the Hebrew word for “nation”. The Jewish prayerbook refers to the forefathers of Israel as “Goyim”. Ignorant Xtians who do not speak Hebrew see the word as a pejorative. That’s their problem not mine.
A good portion of the world either actively or passively contributed to the systematic slaughter of 75% of European Jewry in less than 3 years. “sub-human barbarian apes.” therefore an apt description. The Allied leadership new of the Shoah and refused to bomb the rail lines. Better to tie down elite German SS troops transporting Jews to the death camps than have to fight the elite SS troops on the fronts. A simple cold blooded calculation made by the Allied leaders.
The Shoah defines the crime of genocide. That idiots distort the word genocide to condemn Israel for fights a war which Hamas started on Oct 7th, only further proves that the apple does not fall far from the Tree.
[[you then get to the question of how far do you want to go?]] The Torah commands: Justice Justice pursue. Justice defined as a judicial ruling which make a fair compensation of damages inflicted upon others. The judicial language of the Torah: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Monetary damages judged by a Torts damages courtroom. Murder judged in a Sanhedrin courtroom. Just that simple. Heads of State must represent their people and stand before the Bar just like the Nazi criminals stood before the Bar of Nurenburg. Just that simple.
Moshe Kerr
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