Eclectic Topics in no Particular Order
Various Topics Discussed
/>
Unfortunately many Jews are not “Jewish.” As the prophet Hosea wrote "My people has been eliminated for lack of knowledge; for you have spurned knowledge and I will spurn you from serving Me; and as you have forgotten the Torah of your G-d, I too, will forget your children." Hosea 4:6. Moishe (Martin) Rosen (founder of Jews for Jesus) was a Jew, but a Jew who becomes a Christian is not Jewish. Rosen was an ordained Baptist minister in 1957 (Northeastern Bible College in New Jersey). He led Hebrew Christian congregations and worked for the Chosen Peoples Ministry and eventually "Jews for Jesus." Rosen was a Christian through and through -- a Baptist who was born a Jew and rejected Judaism for Christianity. Such a person endangers his immortal soul. Their apostasy can cut off them off / כרת (kareit) permanently from G-d and the Jewish people. A person like Rosen is in far more spiritual danger than a non-Jew who follows Christianity. In Hilchot Teshuvah 8:1, the Rambam elaborates on the latter dimension: " The good that is hidden for the righteous is the life of the world to come... The retribution of the wicked is that they will not merit this life. Rather, they will be cut off and die. This is the intent of the meaning of the term כרת in the Torah, as (Bamidbar / Numbers 15:31) states: "That soul shall surely be cut off." Think about the Jews in the bible who followed Ba’al or other false gods – they were still Jews, but they cut themselves off from G-d. So, yes, Moishe (Martin) Rosen was a Jew – a Jew who cut himself off from G-d and even worse, he encouraged others to turn away from G-d. Did you read that? “I WILL SPURN YOU FROM SERVING ME AND AS YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THE TORAH OF YOUR G-D, I TOO, WILL FORGET YOUR CHILDREN.” Hosea 4:6. Being a Jew does not mean you automatically “pass go and collect $200.” The opposite is true. We made a contract with G-d and when we turn our backs to Him we are judged more harshly that a non-Jew who does the same. G-d is loving and forgiving, though and G-d desires the apostate's repentance and beckons him/her to renounce iniquity: "From the clutches of the grave I would ransom them, from death I would redeem them, I will be your words of death; I will decree the grave upon you. Remorse shall be hidden from My eyes" (Hosea 13:14). Unfortunately Moishe Rosen did not repent. Jews for Judaism has an excellent article on this topic. Link.
2 Comments
It was my intention to move on from debunking these "Orthodox" rabbis whom missionaries tout as some sort of proof that even learned Jews can become Christians. So far we've seen that the supposed experts were either not rabbis at all (Cohn, Pearlmutter) or of questionable sanity and education. It is hard to think that a truly learned Jew could ever be conned by the mistranslations and distortions (outright reversing!) of "prophecies," but some have converted to Christianity simply to avoid anti-semitism or being cut off from the Jewish people (the former Chief Rabbi of Rome, R' Zolli is a perfect example of this last type of convert). . . But I was talked into researching one Rabbi Isaac / Ignatz Lichtenstein, of the 19th century. Before I even discuss this man, realize that we're talking about an era of pogroms and rampant anti-semitism in Europe. Many Jews were slaughtered, and the Reform movement (which had begun in the late 18th century) was gaining momentum as Jews wanted to escape persecution and so either converted to Christianity or tried to remain half fish half fowl (half Jewish / half not) by making their Jewish practices as close to Christianity as they could (to placate the non-Jews). This is the world which many of these "rabbis" touted by the missionaries lived. Yeshivot (Jewish schools) had a difficult time finding enough teachers as the Russians (among others) shut them down and discouraged them. . . Jews lived mostly in abject poverty in Shtetls (very small communities). From Scrolls: Essays on Jewish history and literature, and kindred subjects, Volume 1 By Gotthard Deutsch (died 1921 -- a Jewish historian). This book discusses "rabbis" in the 19th century often referenced by missionaries as converting to Christianity. From the book starting on page 116: "the present chief rabbi of London referred to the fact that three reform rabbis had converted to Christianity. He preferred not to give the exact number, because he probably had reason to fear the exact memory of those who remembered a previous statement of his that he could fill a book with the names of the disciples of Isaac M. Wise (founder of Reform Judaism) who has become converts to Christianity. "The force of the argument was now to be a different one. It never had happened in Israel before — so his "Very Reverence" said — that a rabbi had become a convert to Christianity. I happen to be in possession of a pamphlet, issued by some missionary society, containing the biography of one (Isaac) Ignatz Lichtenstein, who was a rabbi in Tapio Szele, Hungary, and had written pamphlets advocating conversion to Christianity while still officiating as a rabbi. "The statement was declared by somebody who had reason to hide himself behind the cover of anonymity, an invention (aka a fake).” A few things to note from the above paragraph:
Missionaries insist that Ignatz Lichtenstein was an Orthodox Rabbi -- thus he is supposedly a "learned" Jew who became a Christian. So was he Orthodox or Reform? Did he become a Christian? How "learned" was Ignatz Lichtenstein? How well regarded was he as a rabbinical source? (In other words was he a "C" student or an honor roll student?). We know for a fact that Isaac / Ignatz Lichtenstein is buried in a Reform Jewish cemetery in Hungary, which would add substance to the thought that he might have been a Reform rabbi, and not an Orthodox rabbi. A picture of his tombstone is shown on this page. Did he write the missionary documents? Did he become a Christian, or was he confused with another Lichtenstein (a fairly common name)? The book "Apostates, Hybrids, or True Jews? Jewish Christians and Jewish Identity" by Raymond Lillevik quotes an obituary which says "Not until the scandal had lasted a long time did the Reformed Rabbinate of Budapest succeed in inducing the representatives of the community of Tapio Tzele, composed for the most part of relatives or friends of Lichtenstein, to demand his dismissal, in order that he should withdraw from the Rabbinate." If Lichtenstein was an Orthodox rabbi, why would the "Reform(ed) Rabbinate of Budapest) be involved in his dismissal? Missionaries insist that I. Lichtenstein was an Orthodox rabbi (most likely for credibility sake) – but the details seem to lead more to the conclusion that he was no such thing. The same book states that many members of his family thought Ignatz was insane. Two years before Lichtenstein left Tapioszele he was without a regular income and was supported by a Christian missionary (Arnold Frank of Hamburg, Germany). Aside from quotes from people contemporaneous with Lichtenstein stating he was a Reform Jew, and the fact that he was buried in a Reform cemetery take a look at information on the town in which he supposedly had a pulpit in a Synagogue. The town, Tapioszele, was in Pest – which was itself the leading area of Hungary for Reform Judaism. Link. The book "Apostates, Hybrids, or True Jews? Jewish Christians and Jewish Identity" also sais "Tapioszele belonged to the Neolog (Reform) camp, which is indicated by the reactions in Budapest voiced by the Neolog (Reform) leadership, and by the fact that Lichtenstein was buried in the Reform cemetery in Budapest.” We must discuss Reform Judaism in the 19th century to understand why this eliminates Lichtenstein a learned Jewish source for missionaries to exploit. Reform Judaism began in the 18th century in Germany. Previously Jews had been separated and not able to be part of the mainstream countries where they lived. When countries began to allow assimilation the number of Jews who ceased being religious climbed dramatically. Per Aish: “an estimated quarter of a million Jews converted to Christianity during this time and that countless others assimilated into the European culture. “Interestingly, the assimilation rate was higher where there were fewer Jews. In Eastern Europe, where the Jewish population was almost 5 million, 90,000 (or not quite 2%) converted to Christianity in order to have an easier life and mingle with mainstream society. . .” Many, many of the early Reform Jewish adopters had children who became Christians. The early Reform movement considered Judaism a religion, but not a people. They were anti-Zionists (did not believe in Jews ever returning to the land). They disavowed the divinity of the Torah, saying it was written by men. They gave up being kosher, and shrimp was often served at official meetings. The early Reform movement moved Shabbat to Sunday (to be like the Christians). The services were held in German, not Hebrew. They had choirs and organs, like the Christians. A Reform rabbi of this period would not be expected to be a great Jewish expert – and Lichtenstein (Reform or Orthodox) claimed to have received his ordination at the age of 18. His Synagogue was in a very small town, and this rabbi (Reform or Orthodox), was not an important name in his generation. Tapioszele, of Pest in Hungary, was settled in the 18th century by Jews. The Synagogue was founded in 1810 and a school followed in 1840. There were a grand total of 396 Jews and the population declined from there. Again, contemporaries later claimed that most of the people in the town were related to Lichtenstein (source: The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life before and During the Holocaust). So, this yet another Rabbi that the missionaries tout as being learned who became Christians. Lichtenstein was a small town rabbi (less than 400 people), whose only family questioned his sanity. In all likelihood he was Reform, which in that time period rejected nearly every aspect of Judaism. Again, there are arguments for and against whether he was Orthodox or Reform but the fact that he came from a Reform area and was buried in a Reform cemetery lean heavily in that direction. His writings also show clearly that he was not well educated in Judaism. Near his death he wrote “'Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way.'” – this is a mistranslation of T’hillim / Psalm 2. Surely a rabbi would not mistranslate basic Hebrew! The Hebrew is נְשְׁקוּ־בַר “arm yourself with purity” and not “kiss the son.” The word בַר in Aramaic means “son” – but T'hillim / Psalm 2 is not written in Aramaic. It is written in Hebrew. In Hebrew the word בַר means pure (Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions), not “son.” Wouldn’t a “learned rabbi” know the difference between Hebrew and Aramaic? How could a learned rav make such a basic mistake in translation? The Aramaic noun בְּרָא (b'ra), a son, does not appear in the Hebrew Bible in its root noun form - only in the possessive form (smichut). In the same sense, the Aramaic word בַּר (bar) appears only in the possessive form phrases as "son of ...", and there is no instance where it appears as a root noun, i.e., meaning "a son.” The phraseנַשְּׁקוּ־בַר in T’hillim / Psalm 2 cannot be translated as “kiss the son” because there is no definite article (the word “the” aka “ha” in Hebrew) or accusative particle in the text. If (for some weird reason) בַּר in T'hillim / Psalm 2:12 was the Aramaic “son”and not Hebrew it would still have to be translated “kiss a son” not kiss THE son. Kiss the son” would have to be נַשְּׁקוּ אֶת הַבַּר or, using the Aramaic grammatical structure, נַשְּׁקוּ יַת בְּרָא. The simple fact is that there are NO Aramaic words at all in T'hillim / Psalms. If Ignatz Lichtenstein were a “learned” rabbi he would surely know that. Ergo, whether Orthodox (unlikely) or Reform he was a small town rabbi of questionable sanity and expertise. Given his mistranslation of Tehillim / Psalm 2 it would seem he wasn't well educated -- and given the fact that his Synagogue was in a small town this would seem to also indicate the same. . . I don't know if the Synagogue in question was Orthodox either because he was eventually buried in a Reform cemetery. The early Reform movement lost many members to Christianity. The grandfather of Reform was Moses Mendelssohn (1729 - 1786) Four out of six of Mendelssohn's surviving children converted to Christianity including the children of its founder. Yet another source held up by missionaries to convince Jews that one can be a Jew and a Christian because "learned Orthodox rabbis" convert to Christianity. Research for yourself. Learn a little something about Judaism in the 19th century in Europe. . . Two more points to note about Ignatz Lichtenstein: 1. There were a lot of pogroms and killings of Jews going on in Hungary at the time -- siding with the Christians may have been an attempt to prevent more killings of the Jews; 2. He never became a Christian -- he was never baptized (this again is per missionary sites). Missionaries have spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to convert Jews to Christianity. Unfortunately a huge percentage of the Jewish population is secular (that is, not religious). They have assimilated into the Christian population around them in the United States and many are marrying non-Jews at a very alarming rate. In Reform Judaism over 50% are marrying non-Jews. While I do not think Judaism will disappear (G-d promises it never will), it is sad that so many Jews, people who for 3500 years have been Jews, are walking away from their G-d, their covenant, their heritage and the people primarily out of ignorance. This is also why so many secular Jews do become Christians -- they do so to please a spouse, and because they simply do not feel a connection to their own Jewishness. The past few posts have discussed an attempt by missionaries to claim that religious, well educated Jews become Christians. This is not true, at least not based on my 20 years of experience countering false missionary claims. If you read the last three posts about Sam Stern, Leopold Cohn and Simcha Pearlmutter it is clear that those three supposed "learned Jews" were nothing of the sort. They claimed far more expertise than they possessed -- and they used the Jewishness to earn a living with their veneer of Judaism used to earn a living from the Christians who respected them. Alexander Bacon, the Baptist lawyer who spent a good part of his life trying to expose Leopold Cohn (of Chosen Peoples' Ministry) as a fraud said of Cohn "We are not commanded to forgive an unrepentant sinner; certainly not one who covers up his sin and grows rich on deliberate false pretenses. A false Jew is a disgrace and an injury to his whole race, and should be repudiated by all religionists alike." Link. Let's discuss the differences I've noted in Jewish converts to Christianity and contrast them with Christian converts to Judaism (or Noahidism). I've noted that Jews converting to Christianity tend to epitomize two things: 1. A lack of decent Jewish education 2. An underlying issue (mental, emotional, wanting to escape anti-semitism and "fit in"). By underlying issue I mean that converts to Christianity tend to be swayed by emotions -- either the "Christian love" they are shown by the missionaries trying to convert them, or sometimes a "personal revelation" that sways them emotionally to believe in Jesus. They only tend to try to support their conversion with "proof texts" after the fact, but I have yet to meet even one who converted based on studying Christianity and making an intellectual choice. The Torah warns us to not be swayed by personal visions and revelations -- all religions except for Judaism are based on personal revelations. From the followers of Jesus reporting "third hand" on him being a god, to Mohmad to Joseph Smith of Mormon fame, all other religions are based on one or two people (or anonymous groups) having visions which they relay to followers. The Torah warns us against these personal experienes and tells us that G-d is testing our faith in Him. Judaism is the only religion based not on personal revelatins, but on national revelation. G-d spoke to the entire nation (3 million people) and made a contract with us Jews -- warning us that any other religious experience we did not know at Sinai was false and not to be fooled by them. D'varim / Deuteronomy 4:32-33 "You might inquire about times long past, from the day that G-d created man on earth, [exploring] one end of heaven to the other. Has there ever been anything like this great thing or has anything like it been heard? Has a people ever heard the voice of G-d speaking from the midst of the fires as you have heard, and survived?" Converts to Judaism from Christianity tend to be on the opposite end of the spectrum. They were often religious Christians or Muslims who begin to see the inconsistencies and errors in the Koran and Christian bible. They begin to research and search for G-d -- and they usually find him. Here is a brief list of some converts to Judaism from Christianity, along with a bit of information on some of them. 1) Asher Wade, former Methodist pastor; he converted in 1978 to Orthodox Judaism. From "Simple to Remember" "Asher Wade, a native of Virginia, was attending the University in Hamburg in Germany working towards his doctorate in the field of Metaphysics and Relativity Theory. He had already earned a B.A. in Philosophy in America and a post-graduate degree in Philosophical Theory at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. In addition, he had previously worked as an adolescent and marriage counselor at the U.S. Army Chaplaincy in Berlin while he was attending the Goethe Institute for Language Studies. "Asher Wade had never been taught a course in Judaism and so he was determined to teach himself. Mrs. Wade, a nurse whose father and grandfather were pious Lutheran ministers, encouraged her husband to go to the source and “read the front of the Bible.” And once they began to compare the front of the Bible, the “Old Testament,” with the new, they realized they had finally found the answer to their question, “What does G-d want?” . . . It took about a year for them to reach the conclusion that Torah Judaism fulfilled all the “intellectual, academic, spiritual and emotional truths” for which they had been searching." 2) Ole Brunell, former Lutheran minister from Finland and Australia. Along with him, his wife Ruth (formerly Runa), two adult daughters, two teenage daughters, and a former son-in-law also converted to Orthodox Judaism. From a newspaper article from Haaretz: "Ole Brunell used to lead a congregation at a Lutheran Church. . .Brunell's study of the Bible grew deeper, and he began experiencing nagging feelings about Christianity. . ."I searched for the G-d I knew from the Bible. But he seemed to be so hidden. Was he manipulated in the faith that gave me my livlihood for 12 years?. . ." 3) Geza Vermes, expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls and former Catholic priest, he reverted to Judaism. "Born into a Jewish home in Hungary in 1924, he and his family (because of his parents) converted to Catholicism and were all baptized when he was still a boy. The parents had hoped that this conversion would save them from the coming onslaught of the Nazis. It ended up saving Vermes, but not his parents. . . He was accepted in the Catholic Seminary, . . Vermes was a scholar’s scholar. Professor at Oxford, he was an incredible linguist, intimately familiar with every ancient historical source of relevance, a creative thinker. He wrote books for scholars but also books that were accessible to the educated layperson. He was at the very top of Dead Sea Scrolls studies and Jesus studies. . ." Link. 4) Penina Taylor, a former messianic Christian who attended the Moody Bible College who returned to Judaism in 2000. From the Chabad: " she fell into the wrong crowd and began drinking and taking drugs in high school . . . At age 16, she converted to Christianity and joined a church-going crowd. She stopped drinking and quit drugs and her grades improved dramatically. . . In 2000, (Penina and her husband) purchased a home in Baltimore's Orthodox neighborhood with the hope they would evangelize Jews. But when she started talking to people about Christianity, they were not responsive. . . (as she studied the bible she began to realize that) "The biblical verses on which Christian belief was based were either misquotes or mistranslations of the original text," she said. He gave her the strength she needed to pull herself away from Christianity." 5) John David Scalamonti, a former Roman Catholic priest, he converted in 1972 to Orthodox Judaism 6) William Dever, an Evangelical preacher, Harvard graduate, who converted to Judaism. 7) Sheldon Christopher Smith, a former Pentecostal Pastor converted to Judaism in 1987 8 ) John Hove, a third generation Lutheran pastor who converted to Judaism 9) Gavriel Sanders, former Pentecostal minister and missionary in Israel, he converted to Orthodox Judaism. 10) Tonica Marlow, a former female evangelical minister and daughter of a Pentecostal preacher. She converted to Orthodox Judaism. 11) Aharón Calderón, a former Benedictine monk of a Catholic monastery in South America, he converted to Orthodox Judaism. 12) Armando Quiros, a former catholic priest, he converted to Orthodox Judaism. 13) Julie Galambush, holds a Ph.D. in Old Testament studies from Emory University and a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School. Formerly an ordained American Baptist minister, she converted to Judaism. 14) Michael Flanagan, a former Baptist minister, and son of a Minister, his mother-in-law, wife and their two adult sons, grandchildren, daughter-in-law also converted to Orthodox Judaism. 15) Ahuva Gray, served as a Christian minister in the African American community both in Chicago and Los Angeles for fourteen years. She left that world in 1996 to fulfill her spiritual yearnings and become an Orthodox Jew. Link to video. 16) Nobutaka Hattori, a former Protestant Minister of Japan, he converted to Orthodox Judaism.[http://www.ou.org/pdf/ja/5766/summer66/24_27.pdf] 17) Carlos Samuel Salas, a former Methodist minister, he converted to Orthodox Judaism. 18) David N. Weiss, Former Presbyterian lay minister David Weiss (born Jewish) embraced Orthodox Judaism and is now a successful writer living in Los Angeles. 19) Abraham Carmel, born Kenneth Cox, a former Anglican and Roman Catholic priest, he converted to Orthodox Judaism 20) Mariano Otero, a former Assemblies of G-d minister is now a counter-missionary 21)Carole Le Faivre-Rochester, a former Dominican nun, she converted to Judaism in 1989 22) Yaakov Ephraim Parisi, former Pentecostal minister 23) Ary'el Tsion, formerly known as Bert Woudwijk, a Messianic pastor from Holland 24) Leon Fundo, former Seventh Day Adventist preacher 25) Moriya Webster, former Worldwide Church of God pastor 26) Dov Heller, former Minister and missionary 27) Benjamin Klugger, former Pentecostal missionary, now Orthodox Jew and head of counter-missionary organization 28) Paul H Goodley, former Messianic "rabbi" 29) Efraim Uba, was raised Catholic, later became a Pentecostal preacher then became a Messianic in Nigeria, and then later left that Christian sect to convert to Judaism 30) Celia Futch-Rogow, former Methodist minister [THE JEWISH NEWS of Detroit, March 5, 2004 p.41] 31) Hector Flores, a former evangelical minister, converted with 100 members of his Houston church [http://www.aish.com/sp/so/48932037.html] 32) Yuval Yisrael, a former evangelical pastor and messianic leader for 20 years [http://virtualyeshiva.com/vy_whoweare.html] 33) Lawrence Hamilton, former Lutheran minister [http://www.religion-onlin...warticle.asp?title=3241] 34) Julius Ciss, former messianic "Jewish" missionary [http://jewsforjudaism.org...k=view&id=23&Itemid=228] 35) Kenneth Cox, former Catholic Priest [http://www.people.com/peo...cle/0,,20073218,00.html] 36) Samuel Golding, former Christian minister [http://www.kosherjudaism....iewtopic.php?f=22&t=975] 37) Skipp Porteous, former Pentecostal minister [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skipp_Porteous] 38) Rod (Reuven Dovid) Bryant, a former Evangelical Pastor converts to Judaism. Video Link. 39) Shmuel Yakobi, a former Indian preacher [http://www.kulanu.org/india/telugu_jews.php] 40) Barrie Wilson, biblical scholar, author and educator [http://www.boston.com/ae/...08/03/23/faith_examined/ ] 41) Chuck Snow, former Messianic "rabbi" of London now Orthodox Jew 42) Yeshayahu Heiliczer, former Messianic "rabbi" now Orthodox Jew [http://countermissionary.org/articles/journey.htm ] 43) John Castellaños, former Evangelical minister converted to Orthodox Judaism [http://recordings.talksho...m/TC-31687/TS-180586.mp3 ] 44) Tom Gagliano, former Messianic congregation leader converted to Orthodox Judaism [http://www.interfaithfami...Proselytizing.shtml?rd=2 ] 45) Pablo Martinez, former Baptist minister [http://www.palmbeachpost..../06/22/converts0622.html ] 46) Nati, former Messianic "rabbi" in Florida [http://video.google.com/v...cid=8108602649886339211# ] 47) Nestor Komer, former Mennonite preacher [media.isnet.org/off/Judaism/komer.html ] 48) Reuven, former Messianic "rabbi" [http://wonderingjew.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!681A30C354BCD4DB!158.entry ] Tonica Marlow (now known as Tova Mordechai) former Minister 'Messianic' Newspaperman Comes Home Rabbi Justin Jaron Lewis (former Catholic) Abraham Carmel (deceased) (former Catholic priest) Baptist Minister becomes an Orthodox Jew A personal favorite is Yisrael Campbell, a comedian who was a Catholic who converted to Judaism first as a Reform Jew, then as a Conservative Jew and finally halachally as an Orthodox Jew. An African prince (whose grandfather was the last king to rule and became a Christian minister) who is now a Rabbi, Natan Gamadze video. This list is by no means complete, but if you read some of the articles or watch some of the videos you should see the difference between how they found G-d in Judaism versus the emotional path that seems to lead Jews to go in the opposite direction. Why are people led to desert Judaism, swayed by their own emotions? The Torah tells us that G-d tests us all, and that we are tested to see if we will follow our own hearts, our own inclinations -- or will we remain faithful and loyal to G-d? D'varim / Deuteronomy 11:16: "Be careful that your heart not be tempted to go astray and worship other G-ds, bowing down to them." D'varim / Deuteronomy 29 "Perhaps there is among you a man, woman, family, or tribe, whose heart strays this day from HaShem, our G-d, to go and worship the deities of those nations. Perhaps there is among you a root that produces hemlock and wormwood. 18. And it will be, when he [such a person] hears the words of this oath, that he will bless himself in his heart, saying, "I will have peace, even if I follow my heart's desires,". . .19. HaShem will not be willing to forgive him; rather, then, HaShem's fury and His zeal will fume against that man, and the entire curse written in this book will rest upon him, and HaShem will obliterate his name from beneath the heavens. 20. And HaShem will separate him for evil," and perhaps most important of all: D'varim / Deuteronomy 13 "The entire word that I command you, that shall you observe to do; you shall not add to it and you shall not subtract from it. [2] If there should stand up in your midst a prophet or a dreamer of a dream, and he will produce to you a sign or a wonder, [3] and the sign or the wonder comes about, of which he spoke to you, saying "Let us follow G-ds of others that you did not know and we shall worship them!" [4] do not hearken to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of a dream, for HASHEM, your G-d, is testing you to know whether you love HASHEM, your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul. [5] HASHEM, your G-d, shall you follow and Him shall you fear; His commandments shall you observe and to His voice shall you hearken; Him shall you serve and to Him shall you cleave." Some missionaries are posting videos or other "testimonies" of former Jews who have become Christians. When their backgrounds are explored one finds that these Jews were raised in non-religious homes. Some, like Avner Valer, also have mental health issues (he is diagnosed with psychosis and schizophrenia). Many were drug users (Valer and Michael Brown). Almost all had little to no religion as teens (Michael Brown, Avner Valer, Moshe Rosen - founder of Jews for Jesus). . . Why is it that missionaries think that "testimonies" by various formerly secular Jews (some with issues such as Avner Valer and Michael Brown) would be persuasive in convincing Jews that they "know something" hidden from the rest of us Jews? The opposite is true when one simply researches their backgrounds! As the prophet Hosea wrote "My people has been eliminated for lack of knowledge; for you have spurned knowledge and I will spurn you from serving Me; and as you have forgotten the Torah of your G-d, I too, will forget your children." Hosea 4:6. Those people are cutting themselves off from G-d and the Jewish people. A Jew cannot be a Christian (messianic "Jew" or any other term) and be part of the Jewish people. . . Contrast that type of person with the Christian who chooses to convert to Judaism. Most are highly educated. They are former ministers, priests, nuns, messinaic "rabbis" and such -- who as they searched came to realize the truth -- that Jesus was not the messiah let alone a god. . . Here is a list of people who made their way through Christianity and went on to find the beauty and truth within Judaism. The image (above) is a book by world reknowned Dead Sea Scrolls scholar and former priest, Geza Vermes. . . Vermes family were Jews who converted to Catholicism when he was 7 years old (an attempt to avoid the Holocaust). His parents perished in the Holocaust. 1) Asher Wade, former Methodist pastor; he converted in 1978 to Orthodox Judaism. 2) Ole Brunell, former Lutheran minister from Finland and Australia. Along with him, his wife Ruth (formerly Runa), two adult daughters, two teenage daughters, and a former son-in-law also converted to Orthodox Judaism. 3) Geza Vermes, expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls and former Catholic priest, he reverted to Judaism. 4) JoAnn Fay, a nun converted to Orthodox Judaism in 1980. 5) John David Scalamonti, a former Roman Catholic priest, he converted in 1972 to Orthodox Judaism 6) John Hove, a former Lutheran pastor, he converted to Orthodox Judaism in 1988. 7) Sheldon Christopher Smith, a former Pentecostal Pastor converted to Judaism in 1987 8 ) Thomas Roper, a former Baptist minister, he converted to Orthodox Judaism. 9) Gavriel Sanders, former Pentecostal minister and missionary in Israel, he converted to Orthodox Judaism. 10) Tonica Marlow, a former female evangelical minister and daughter of a Pentecostal preacher. She converted to Orthodox Judaism. 11) Aharón Calderón, a former monk of a Catholic monastery in South America, he converted to Orthodox Judaism. 12) Armando Quiros, a former catholic priest, he converted to Orthodox Judaism. 13) Julie Galambush, holds a Ph.D. in Old Testament studies from Emory University and a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School. Formerly an ordained American Baptist minister, she converted to Judaism. 14) Michael Flanagan, a former Baptist minister, and son of a Minister, his mother-in-law, wife and their two adult sons, grandchildren, daughter-in-law also converted to Orthodox Judaism. 15) Ahuva Gray, served as a Christian minister in the African American community both in Chicago and Los Angeles for fourteen years. She left that world in 1996 to fulfill her spiritual yearnings and become an Orthodox Jew. 16) Nobutaka Hattori, a former Protestant Minister of Japan, he converted to Orthodox Judaism.[http://www.ou.org/pdf/ja/5766/summer66/24_27.pdf] 17) Carlos Samuel Salas, a former Methodist minister, he converted to Orthodox Judaism. 18) David N. Weiss, Former Presbyterian lay minister David Weiss (born Jewish) embraced Orthodox Judaism and is now a successful writer living in Los Angeles. 19) Abraham Carmel, born Kenneth Cox, a former Anglican and Roman Catholic priest, he converted to Orthodox Judaism 20) Mariano Otero, a former Assemblies of G-d minister is now a counter-missionary 21)Carole Le Faivre-Rochester, a former Dominican nun, she converted to Judaism in 1989 22) Yaakov Ephraim Parisi, former Pentecostal minister 23) Ary'el Tsion, formerly known as Bert Woudwijk, a Messianic pastor from Holland 24) Leon Fundo, former Seventh Day Adventist preacher 25) Moriya Webster, former Worldwide Church of God pastor 26) Dov Heller, former Minister and missionary 27) Benjamin Klugger, former Pentecostal missionary, now Orthodox Jew and head of counter-missionary organization 28) Paul H Goodley, former Messianic "rabbi" 29) Efraim Uba, was raised Catholic, later became a Pentecostal preacher then became a Messianic in Nigeria, and then later left that Christian sect to convert to Judaism |
Categories
All
|