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Among the many annoying emails and messages received from missionaries are those trying to convert me with such pithy comments as: "Jewish sounding name" (usually claimed to be a Rabbi or Orthodox Jew) became a Christian, so shouldn't you become a Christian, too?" Why is it that missionaries think that "testimonies" by various formerly secular Jews would be persuasive in convincing Jews that they "know something" hidden from the rest of us Jews? Jews who become Christians tend to do so for one of a few reasons:
Furthermore, the Jews who of their own volition who become Christians tend to do so based on some personal "revelation" -- which the T'nach itself warns us time and time again to beware of! Personal revelations of "seeing" Jesus or Mohammad or whomever are a test from G-d, and He tells us this in the Torah. This warning is found in many places, but is shouted loud and clear in 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."
Yesterday a Catholic began trolling me on my Gmail account -- bringing up first Rabbi Israel Zolli who was chief Rabbi of Rome (originally from Poland / Ukraine area) who became a Catholic after World War II. After Mussolini’s fall in 1943 the Nazis took over Rome, Zolli and his family went into hiding with a Catholic family saving his own skin, but leaving the Jews he supposedly led to the fate of the Nazis. The Jewish community of Rome was about 10,000 in 1943. The Germans deported 8,564 Jews from Italy, Italian-occupied France, and the islands of Rhodes and Kos, most of them to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Of the 8,564 deported only 1,009 survived. Zolli and his family were safe -- they had run away to the safety of the Vatican, leaving the Jews to fend for themselves -- to live or die at the hands of the Nazis. To make matters so much worse, Zolli didn't even destroy the synagogue registers making it easy for the Nazis to get a list of all the Jews in Rome! The Wikipedia article about Zolli says that “this list was used when they were gathered, deported, and murdered”. In other words Zolli was not only an apostate but an immoral man who saved his own skin but did nothing to save his "flock." It would have been easy for him to destroy the Synagogue records (or even take them with him into the Vatican) but he left the Jews of Rome to rot, to be deported to Nazi concentration camps. When the war ended Zolli tried to reclaim his position as the leader of the Jews of Rome. . . Needless to say he was rejected, and that is when he became a Catholic, claiming to have had a vision of Jesus on Yom Kippur no less! Update 3/20/2020. In 2016 I wrote that the troll emailed me about a relative "new comer" to Catholicism named Jean-Marie Élie Setbon. Recently I received an email telling me: "Setbon left Catholicism to join J4J and then left them too. Today he is no more a Christian, and last Purim he joined a Jewish mishte with his sons who are learning in an Orthodox yeshiva and his daughters, also in a Jewish institution." I have not been able to confirm this message, but hope it is true. Setbon has a YouTube channel in French. I don't speak French, but the comments seem to indicate that Setbon is still Christian and the videos are as recent as this week -- so I do not know if he has made t'shuvah and returned to Judaism or not... Here is what I wrote in 2016: Setbon (French) did not grow up in an observant home. From his own book (Amazon) "Jean-Marie Élie Setbon, the son of non-observant French Jews, was first attracted to Jesus when he saw a crucifix at a young age. He hid a crucifix in his room and contemplated it often, even though he knew his family would be hurt and angry if they ever caught him. "Seeing the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur from his apartment window, he was drawn to the church, where he found himself powerfully pulled toward Jesus in the Eucharist. After several years of surreptitiously attending Mass, he resolved to convert to Catholicism in spite of the scandal it would cause, but G-d had other plans. . . "My mother never celebrated Jewish feasts and fed us ham and pasta like any other French mother. At home, there was not a single Jewish book or object." Note a few things. Seton says he was:
So he says he went from being non-observant to an "ultra-orthodox" Jew. No observant Jew would EVER use the term "ultra-orthodox" ergo he played at being observant but had little to no education. Uneducated is uneducated even if he played at being observant. Per his own story he moved to Israel (Kibbutz) became observant (but it seems, not educated) but was still fascinated by Christianity. He married, had seven children, his wife died and then he falls into the trap G-d uses to test to see if people will truly be faithful to Him. "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." D'varim / Deuteronomy 13:4. Seton failed this very basic test of his faith. Per a book where he discusses his life and conversion to Catholicism Seton says that he had a mystical experience -- a vision of a deceased Catholic Cardinal (Lustiger). He goes so far as to say “I was illuminated. At last! In one instant I had become ready to throw away the Jewish Law.” Return to D'varim / Deuteronomy 13:2-5: "[This is what you must do] when a prophet or a person who has visions in a dream arises among you. He may present you with a sign or miracle, and on the basis of that sign or miracle, say to you, 'Let us try out a different god. Let us serve it and have a new spiritual experience.' Do not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. G-d your L-rd is testing you to see if you are truly able to love G-d your L-rd with all your heart and all your soul. Follow G-d your L-rd, remain in awe of Him, keep His commandments, obey Him and serve Him, and you will then be able to have a true spiritual experience through Him." Interesting engouh, Zolli (the rabbi from Rome) also claimed to have had a personal revelation. In 1917, when he was 36 years old, Zolli had the first in a series of mystical visions of Jesus. He claims to have based his conversion to Catholicism on these personal visions of Jesus. . . Again - a bit crazy perhaps, or perhaps being tested by G-d (as per D'varim / Deuteronomy 13:2-5:) and failing that test? Folks -- people from all religions claim personal revelations. Mohammed claimed to have them. Joseph Smith claimed to have them. Insane people in mental hospitals claim to have them. Jerusalem in modern times is full of people who think they are Jesus (it is called "Jerusalem Syndrome"). Don't believe me that people of ALL religions (and some they make up on their own) are based on personal revelations? Just do a quick "Google" search.
Personal revelations mean NOTHING. Again -- read D'varim / Deuteronomy 13:2-5: -- G-d is TESTING you to see if you are going to be led by your own heart to idolatry or if you will follow His Torah. If only Seton had read the words of the Torah and observed them, rather than leaping from secular Judaism into (as he says) one form of Jewish observant life to only drop it for yet another. . . to then reject both not truly understanding Judaism at all for the idolatry of Catholicism. Amazing how Jewish so many converts to Christianity have limited to no true Jewish education and always have some sort of individual "rapture" like emotional experience. The Torah warns us to not be swayed by personal visions and revelations -- all religions except for Judaism are based on personal revelations, yet converts like Setbon all desert G-d for their own personal visions. He claims to been given a semicha by a French yeshiva (thus making him a rabbi) but how could he claim that and make a statement such as this: "Jewish prayers are so codified that there is no place for spontaneous prayer. . . There is no filial relationship, no simple heart-to-heart with G-d." This is totally false! Totally, completely and utterly false! D'varim / Deuteronomy 11:3 tells us to serve Him with all our heart! How can Seton claim to have been a religious Jew, a rabbi no less, and not know this very basis of Judaism??? As the Chabad website puts it so well "Anytime you share whatever is on your heart with your Creator—whether praising, blessing, kvetching or requesting—you are davening. It could happen at any time, at any place, as long as it comes from the heart’s genuine concerns and the mind’s awareness of a higher presence." Jews speak to G-d from our hearts constantly -- for Seton to deny this shows a complete ignorance of the most basic parts of Judaism! This man who apparently jumped from secularism to one form of Judaism to another and then to Catholicism (apparently always having been attracted to Christianity per his own words) knew absolutely nothing about the religion he decided to leave behind for his emotional "vision" of a dead cardinal. Mental illness perhaps? Ignorance, surely -- ignorance of the Torah, the very heart of Judaism. 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." Seton seems to have been a secular Jew who jumped in the deep end without ever truly understanding Judaism. 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. The stories of Christians who left it behind to convert to Judaism are the opposite of the Jews who join the church. I listed quite a few former priests, nuns, ministers, etc. who chose Judaism in this blog post. To the trolls out there: please do not bombard me with stories of those who desert Judaism as if it is some kind of "proof" that Christianity is true. Either do some research on your own, or ask me questions about them -- but those who "preach" at me will be blocked. Judaism is the only religion based not on personal revelations, 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?"
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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." Hoshea / Hosea 4:6. In other words: throughout history Jews have turned their backs on G-d and followed false gods -- many out of ignorance. This was true in the days of the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel, and it is true today. Consider one Moishe (Martin) Rosen (founder of Jews for Jesus). Rosen was born a Reform Jew and was raised in a secular home. Ruth Rosen, his daughter, wrote about her father "A certain amount of religious activity was expected in order to show loyalty to the Jewish people, but as is often the case, those activities neither stemmed from nor inspired deeply held spiritual convictions in the Rosen home. Moishe's father maintained that "all religion is a racket," and his mother, while not sharing her husband's cynicism, did not seem interested in religion. It would be fair to say that Moishe's childhood was strongly shaped by Jewish values, but not by Jewish faith." Limited Jewish education (if any) and no Jewish faith. This then is the person who tried to convince other Jews that one could be a Christian and a Jew -- an uneducated, unlearned man with no Jewish faith -- according to his very own daughter (in her biography of Rosen). Rosen was born to Reform Jewish parents from Austria and converted with his wife to Christianity in 1953. In 1957 Rosen was an ordained Baptist minister (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. These are quotes directly from his biography on the Jews for Jesus website. "Diploma, Northeastern Bible College, 1957; DD, Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1986. Ordained to ministry Baptist Church, 1957." As you can see, it is clear that he became an ORDAINED BAPTIST MINISTER IN 1957 and he was also a graduate of two Christian colleges; Northeast Bible College and the Western Conservative Baptist Seminary! Here is more information on him which was taken from the Jews for Jesus website: "Trustee Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, Portland, Oreg., 1979-85, 86-91, International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, Oakland, Calif., 1979-89; board of directors, Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism, 1987-91. Received Hero of the Faith Award from the Conservative Baptist Assoc. of America on July 7, 1997." Clearly, this is not the resume of a Jew, but of a Christian minister! Here is the proof link so you can see all of this on the Jews for Jesus website. However, there is even more evidence that Rosen was a Christian right up to his death. Reverend Rosen's resume used to be found on the Carlsbad Community Church website, "Reverend Rosen is a member of two churches, the First Baptist Church in San Francisco and Lake Avenue Congregational Church in Pasadena (under "Home Churches")." Rosen talked about his ministry experiences. This is a direct quote from the Jews for Jesus website. "So What's a Pastor Good For Anyway? By Moishe Rosen, Founder. . . "While training to become a minister, I worked part-time at Sears and Roebuck. One of my co-workers made a not-so-funny joke when he said, "I wouldn't mind being a preacher myself. All you have to do is preach two or three sermons a week, and you can spend the rest of the time playing golf." I'm sure he knew that a minister puts in more time than just the stated hours of the church service, but in all seriousness I doubt if most people have that understanding. The church needs instruction in this area from an objective source." To get an idea of Reverend Rosen's thinking, I believe it helps to see where he studied. Please read the mission section of the Western Conservative Baptist Seminary-this is a school trying to produce CHURCH leaders. Obviously, it is not a Jewish educational institution It seems pretty obvious that a real Jewish group would not be founded by a Church minister! Further, Reverend Rosen loved the church. Here are some quotes from the late Reverend Rosen on his church: "I love my church! I find it sad when I meet other Christian s who do not seem to love theirs. Maybe they don't know they are supposed to love their churches. . .I feel great loyalty to my own church in downtown San Francisco. When I am not out of town preaching, you can find me there in the pew. I like the pastor and the preaching, but I also find other elements of equal importance. Though our congregation is somewhat small, we carry on an extensive missionary program. We sponsor a Christian school. We have a Sunday morning bus ministry. "When I joined that church, I asked G-d to help me love the people and the pastor, and I do. I would never say that my church is perfect or that it is in any way better than the churches others belong to and ought to love. Nevertheless, because it is my church, I have made a commitment to love it and to be loyal to it." I love my church? Great loyalty to his church in San Francisco? Clearly this is a Christian , not a Jew speaking. Here is the proof. The quotes come from the 1st, 11th and 12th paragraphs. According to Rosen his mother's parents were "Reform Jews from Austria", his paternal grandfather was Orthodox, and although Rosen's father regularly attended an Orthodox synagogue he was "not religious" and viewed religion as a "racket". Rosen married Ceil Starr on 18 August 1950. They became Christians in 1953. After graduating Northeastern Bible College, Rosen made a commitment to be a missionary to Jews from 1956. He was ordained as a Conservative Baptist minister in 1957. He felt a need for a more visible kind of evangelism and developed new techniques of communication which culminated in what became known as The Jews for Jesus movement in 1969. In 1973 Rosen left the employment of the American Board of Missions to the Jews (now called Chosen People Ministries) to incorporate a separate mission which became known as Jews for Jesus ministries. In 1986 he received a Doctor of Divinity Degree from Western Conservative Baptist Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He stepped down from his position as Executive Director in 1996, but continued to be employed as a staff missionary and remained one of fifteen board members until his death. Raised with minimal (or no) Jewish education and trained as a Baptist. This is a pretty typical scenario for Jews who become Christian. Michael L. Brown is another prime example -- a secular Jewish kid who became a drug addict and thief in his teen years who and then turned to Christianity. . . Unfortunately this uneducated Jews not only delude themselves but they take other souls along with them. . . A sad, all too familiar story, resulting from a lack of Torah. Rosen himself admitted to being a "petty" thief in his teen years, per his daughter's biography of him. His thefts included shop lifting from stores. . . Hardly a religious Jew! 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. Consider again the words of the prophet Hosea: “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. 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. 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." The image is the purported rabbinical ordination document (semicha) of Sam Stern. The explanation of the mistakes and alterations is courtesy of Uri Yosef, a native Israeli who also reads German. Rabbi Sam Stern is another supposed "Orthodox Rabbi" whom missionaries claim converted to Christianity. This post examines that claim. According to Stern's Christian "story" found on many missionary sites on the internet, Stern was born in Poland around 1917 (give or take a few years). On page 6 of the book he states he is 21 in 1939 (putting his birth year around 1918). He then states he was raised “into a strict Orthodox Jewish rabbinic and Chasidic home,” trained to be a Rabbi. The testimony says he was from “a little town in Congress-Poland near Warsaw.” He later claims he was the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust. Was he an Orthodox Rabbi? It seems highly unlikely. Uri Yosef, the administrator of the Messiah Truth countermissionary forum read Stern's Christian "story" (found in numerous places on the internet) and also saw a copy of Stern's supposed rabbinical ordination (a copy of which is displayed in this post, along with Uri's analysis of it). Written in German, the document has numerous errors which Uri, familiar with German, explains in detail (also found above). Stern claimed to be from Poland and he claimed to have received his Rabbinical ordination in 1939. In his autobiography Stern claimed he attended Novardok Yeshiva in Lodz, Poland, and that this was the last school he attended prior to the start of World War II. Novardok had numerous yeshivot, but I can find no record that they had a location in Lodz, Poland. He claimed to be, at that point (1939) he was a משגיח (mashgiach) - a Jew who supervises the kashrut status of a kosher establishment. Yet, in 1936 the Sejm (Polish Parliament) proposed banning shechitah (kosher slaughter). They highly restricted it (establishing a low quota), and with the beginning of World War II in 1939 it was outlawed completely. Link. Again, the facts simply do not support his claims. How could he be a mashgiach in 1939 when it was highly restricted and then banned that same year? Link. How does being a mashgiach (if he was one) make him a rabbi? The credentials are not the same (although some rabbis are also mashgiach). On page 28 of his autobiography he states his yeshiva closed due to the war. On page 36, in 1939 after the German invasion, Stern quotes himself as saying "I was too young to be a rabbi having just graduated from school." Stern himself states he was not a rabbi at the start of World War II, and there was no way for him to become an ordained rabbi during the war. How is that "post war" he can suddenly claim to be a rabbi? Yet by page 42 he sates he was a "graduated rabbi." Which is it? Was he a mashgiach of a closed yeshiva and not a rabbi, or was he a rabbi? Was there even a Novardok Yeshiva in Lodz, Poland before the war? There was no mention of Germany or Stern ever having been in Germany as of 1939. Yet, the supposed rabbinical smicha (ordination) is written in German, not Polish or Yiddish or Hebrew and dated 1950. To quote Uri: "There is a picture of what he claims is his Rabbinic certificate from the City of Augsburg, which is a large city in southern Germany. Since I am fluent in German, I can tell that it is a fake, because the German in it is completely incorrect - misspelled words - aside of the fact that it doesn't even contain a complete sentence. The name in it is "Sternschoss Simcha", which also seems to have been "edited". The Germans had banned Jews attending schools (in Germany, not Poland) in 1938. Stern claimed he received his Rabbinical ordination in 1939 -- but the document he presented was issued by the Germany city (Augsburg) in 1950 (per the document). Was he ordained in 1939 in Poland or 1950 in Germany? Link. Uri said the name on the document was Sternschoss Simcha, but the name given on his old website was Symcha Sternshoss (a slightly different spelling). A check of the Yad Vashem database of Holocaust survivors and victims results in no result for the name of Sternschoss or Sternshoss -- yet Stern insisted that his entire family (by that name) perished in the Holocaust. Surely his name, and the names of his family, would be recorded. There was a Szternszus, Symcha listed in the Lodz, Poland Ghetto -- but he was born in 1875 and his profession was listed as a drucker (a printer). This birthdate is too early for Stern who said he was born after World War I. On page 6 of the book he states he is 21 in 1939 (putting his birth year around 1918). Using the various spelling iterations (Sternschoss, Sternshoss and Szternszus) it is not possible to find a person matching the information given for "Sam Stern." The United States Holocaust Museum finds one "near match" -- Shtermschuss, Slate Yet, this person was born in 1921 and is not the person purporting to be Sam Stern. Slate was a weaver who arrived in Tel Aviv (Israel) in 1939, and thus could not be "Sam Stern." Uri Yosef is fluent in German, and in reviewing the rabbinical ordination document shown in this post he states that it is obvious the name on that document has been obviously altered (changed). Is it possible that the person who later called himself "Sam Stern" took an assumed identity after World War II ended? Perhaps he found an old rabbinical ordination for Augsburg, lightly modified it and took the slightly modified name as his own? Given the missionary articles Stern wrote (a woeful lack of Jewish and Hebrew knowledge) is it possible (probable?) that Stern forged a rabbinical ordination document? Also note that in the document Stern provided it does not say he is an "Orthodox Rabbi," it simply says he is a "Rabbi." Given that the Augsburg Synagogue had been destroyed before the war, and that very few Jews were in Augsburg post war (approximately 300), who had the authority to issue a rabbinical ordination document to Stern from Augsburg? Let's explore some of the details Stern gave about himself (he later changed his name from Polish to "Sam Stern"). They do not make sense given what we know about the history of the second World War. Historians estimate that close to 90% of the nearly 3.5 million pre-war Polish Jews perished. Thus only some 350,000 Polish Jews survived the Holocaust. The Nazis were wonderful record keepers and we have the names – particularly the names of survivors. Would it surprise you to know that the name "Sam Stern" or Symcha Sternshoss fitting the information in the "testimony" does not exist? It is possible to search Holocaust databases by name – for both those who died and those who survived. There is no record of a Sam Stern born around the time this man claims to be born who survived (or died) in the Holocaust. There is no name that even sounds “near” that name which might be the same person. Link. Doing a little more digging I found a claim that he had changed his name from Symcha Sternchoss, but yet again doing a search on that name did not find a Holocaust survivor with that name among the Jews. There was only one person with that last name, and he was a weaver (not a rabbi), and again the birth dates did not match.. Link. There was a "Sam Stern" who survived the Holocaust, but he was from Germany, not from Poland, and he was only 2 years old at the start of the war where the “Sam Stern” in the missionary testimonies claims he was 22 years old. Link. There was also a “Sam Stern” from Poland, born in 1922, who was murdered in the Holocaust, Link. I include them, even though he claimed his Polish name was different, to show my attempt to be thorough in finding supporting facts for his biographical details. The Christian “testimony” by Stern claims that in 1952 he came to Rhode Island to be an assistant rabbi in a Synagogue. Again, I can find absolutely no proof of this. I’ve searched the historical information available listing both the Synagogues and the Rabbis from those Synagogues and can find no record of him. Perhaps even stranger is the fact that the man claims (in his “testimony”) that he went to a displaced persons camp in Poking, Germany near the Austrian border in April of 1946. Poking closed in 1949 (link), yet Stern states (page 75 of his autobiography) that he stayed in the DP camp until 1951. This raises yet another question as to Stern's credibility. Per the United States Holocaust Museum Poking "had several Talmud Torahs with more than 200 pupils, as well as a Lubavitcher and a Klausenburger Yeshiva with a combined 500 pupils." If this were the case why did Stern not receive proof of his rabbinical ordination from the camp Yeshiva? Why would his "proof" come from a town over 2 hours away (Augsburg) after the camp was closed? There was also a DP (displaced persons) camp in Augsburg, Germany. Is it possible that Stern was moved from Poking to Augsburg? That possibility seems remote since Augsburg DP primarily housed Ukrainians and Lithuanians (and Stern said he was Polish). The camp operated from 1945 until 1949 and was run by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Association. Again, Stern's rabbinical ordination document from Augsburg is dated 1950 -- after the Augsburg DP center had closed. (link). From what I can discern there was no person meeting the information given in Stern's Christian testimony. There was no “Sam Stern” or "Symcha Sternshoss" born around 1917 (given a 5 to 10 year range) in Poland, who became a Rabbi and who survived the Holocaust to live in a DP camp in Germany, either Poking, or Augsburg Germany. It gets even odder. Stern says he became an assistant Rabbi in a Synagogue in Rhode Island. Again, the name of the Synagogue is not given. There is no way to check this claim (I tried!). He says he taught the Talmud. Yet a few sentences later he says “I could not read English.” How could he teach anything to American students if his English was so poor that he could not read it? He does not claim he was teaching in a Yeshiva where he might have been speaking Hebrew, no he was an assistant rabbi and a Synagogue (not a school). . . those facts do not seem to make any sense. He claims that a missionary gave him a copy of the Christian bible in Yiddish. The missionary giving him the book told Stern that "This is a mission to the Jews." That also makes no sense! In 2013 Rhode Island had fewer than 19,000 Jews in the entire state! Why would missionaries in Rhode Island be targeting Jews??? Having been unable to prove any of the sketchy biographical data given by Stern up to this point I began to question if this “rabbi” was completely fiction. This options seems more than likely given the arguments he gave for converting to Christianity. For example “Stern” wrote “Opening the Book of Matthew, I was surprised to read that Jesus is of the lineage of Abraham and David, I also noticed that on every page it says "As it is written," which means that it was written in our Jewish Bible. For example, in the first chapter I read that He will be born of a virgin because it is written: Behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel... (Isaiah 7:14).” But that IS NOT WRITTEN in the Jewish bible. Isaiah 7:14 says nothing about virgins (the term is “young woman” and anyone who reads Hebrew would know that). The terms ha'na'aRAH & ha'alMAH (accent is on the syllable in CAPs) are age-related classifications (and mean a young woman) -- it has nothing to do with being a virgin (young or old). Would not a rabbi know the difference between the Hebrew word for virgin בְּתוּלָה / b'tuLAH and the word for young woman - עַלְמָה / almah? A rabbi would also know that lineage is transferred by the Jewish father, and if Jesus was a “virgin birth” he would NOT be of the lineage of Abraham and David (he would have no tribal status at all). A Christian writing a fake “testimony” would not know what the T’nach (Jewish bible) says, but a rabbi surely would! An educated Rabbi would not make such a basic mistake. It gets even worse. “Stern” references Micah 5:2 (it is not 5:2 in a T’nach, it is 5:1 – again a rabbi would make that simple an error?) that the messiah must be born in Bethlehem – but that is not what Micah says. It says the messiah will come from the line of David (who was of Bethlehem Efrat). “Stern” also gives Matthew’s misquote of Micah which actually reverses the words of Micah, and yet again a rabbi would know better! He also says “He shall come out of Egypt, for it is written: Out of Egypt have I called my son (Hosea 11:1)” as if this were about the messiah, but again a rabbi would know that Hosea is speaking of the Jewish people as the text actually is not messianic – it is speaking of the Jews escaping slavery in Egypt. The beginning of that verse reads, “When Israel was a child I loved him,” -- Hosea calls Israel, not Jesus, G-ds son. The so called “proofs” given by “Stern” are typical missionary proof texts, but any rabbi would know they are taken out of context (Isaiah 7 is a message for the then living King Ahaz, who was dead 700 years by the time Jesus was supposedly born). . . Then "Stern" mentions Isaiah 53, that favorite missionary "proof text." He says "I did not know the contents of Isaiah 53! The next day I showed the same "poem" to a friend, a rabbi in New York. He did not know either that Isaiah had written the chapter. The only conclusion I could reach was that the main reason so many rabbis and other Jews don't know the Messiah, the Saviour of the Old and New Testament, is that they don't know the Bible. I decided to do everything in my power to bring the Jewish Bible to them." This is also ridiculous. A rabbi who is unfamiliar with the book of Isaiah, including chapter 53? This "rabbi" has a friend, another rabbi, who did not know that Isaiah had written it either? Rabbis do not know the bible??? Another mind boggling example is his statement "the word Messiah appears here (in Daniel 9) in the T'Nach for the first and only time." The word "messiah" appears in the T'nach 39 times! Not once, but 39 times! 34 occurrences are nouns (“a messiah”) and five are adjectives (“smeared with oil”). Not to mention that it appears twice in Daniel 9 alone (not once). THIS is an Orthodox rabbi????? This is a man "learned in Torah"? This is a man learned in Hebrew? In other words, this “testimony” seems to be made up of whole cloth. The entire thing seems fabricated. If there is (was) a real Rabbi Sam Stern I would like a missionary to give us some proof that we can research, as none of the autobiographical information given in the “testimony” holds up to inspection. The man seems real enough -- as he founded Hebrew Witness, Inc., in Brooklyn, New York, but is his "Jewish" background accurate? None of the information supplied in the testimonial holds up to inspection. Was the man a Jew? Maybe, maybe not. If he was a Jew did he come from a religious family? Also maybe, maybe not. The credentials simply do not "check out." Given the length of the war and his supposed "hiding out as a Pole" (how did he manage to not get caught as a Jew when he claims that every other member of his family perished in the Holocaust?). . . perhaps he was from a religiously Jewish family but had little to no Jewish education because of the interruption during World War II. . .who knows? Given the untraceable autobiographical information supplied there is no way to determine what Stern's true background might have been. Perhaps oddest of all is that the Christians seemed to reject him, too. If this man was so "learned" why did the very Christians he sought to join reject him? These are the same Christians who now tout him as a great example of a "learned Jew who became a Christian!" Here are a few quotes, again from his autobiography. Having completed four years at a Christian college (Biola) he wrote "They told me I had started too late in life and would never amount to anything. . . I approached Dr. Michelson. . .and told him I was now ready to enter the ministry full time I was dismayed that he did not agree with me. "You do not need to rush. Stay in the mailing room. . ." A group of ministers ordained him, but a year later "The Director of the mission said he did not know exactly where to place me. He asked if I would be willing to sit at the reception desk. . ." Not able to get work as a missionary he wound up becoming a social worker. Why would the Christians not take advantage of this "Orthodox Rabbi who became a Christian"? There must have been some reason they rejected him for that purpose. "Hebrew Christians ignored me, spoke against me, or otherwise thought to discourage me. . ." One reason he might have been rejected as a missionary is his ignorance. In his book he claims to ask a rabbi why G-d is referred to as "elohim" (plural) rather than "el" (singular). It is impossible that a "learned rabbi" would not know basic Hebrew. Elohim is NOT plural. Those with a rudimentary knowledge of Hebrew think that the use of the word elohim is plural because it ends in "ים” , transliterated as “im.” In Hebrew a single word does not make a sentence singular or plural, and often the use of ים is found in words that are obviously singular. Elohim ends with the masculine plural suffix "ים”. Surely a learned rabbi would know basic Hebrew grammar! In Hebrew one word alone does not make it plural or singular. To know if "elohim" is singular or plural it must be in a sentence where: It receives a plural suffix; It receives a plural verb; It receives a plural adjective. Elohim speaks to the majesty of the entity -- a ruler or judge. The "im" ending denotes power and majesty. The word is used to describe HaShem when He is in a judging or ruling mode (versus say anon*i which speaks of His mercy. The root of the word is eil, which means force. Rambam in “The Guide for the Perplexed” puts it this way: "Every Hebrew knows that the term elohim is a homonym, and denotes G-d, angels, judges, and the rulers of countries, and that Onkelos the proselyte explained it in the true and correct manner by taking elohim in the sentence, "and ye shall be like elohim" (Gen. iii. 5) in the last-mentioned meaning, and rendering the sentence "and ye shall be like princes." Every Hebrew apparently except for one "Rabbi" Sam Stern! Elohim is a title ("name") for G-d, but it means a mighty judge. The word is used to speak of powerful humans (as in B'réshıt / Genesis 6:4, "the sons of the nobles (elohim) would come to the daughters of man") and angels in T'hillim / Psalm 82:6 "I said, "You are angelic creatures, and all of you are angels of the Most High." The word elohim refers to judges (as in Sh'mot / Exodus 21:6 "his master shall bring him to הָ֣אֱלֹהִ֔ים (ha-elohim) the judges" as well as Sh'mot / Exodus 22:7-8 "the homeowner shall approach the judges. . . both parties shall come to the judges. . ."; and it can also refer to false “gods” (i.e. idols). Whenever elohim speaks of G-d it does not have a plural form verb. In B'reshit / Genesis 1:3 we have the singular "vayomer elohim" (“and G-d said”)—not vayom'ru (the plural inflection “and they said”). This is true foin verse 4: vaya'r elohim (“and G-d saw”)—not vayir'u (the plural inflection “and they saw”) and vayavdél elohim (“and G-d divided/separated”)—not vayavdilu (the plural inflection “and they divided/separated”). . . and on and on it goes. The word e elohim is used more than 2000 times in the T'nach to speak of G-d, false gods (plural), powerful humans and even angels. Almost always elohim has a singular verb, making the usage singular. The adjective is almost always singular, too, where the word "elohim" is concerned. In fact there are over eleven hundred instances of the word elohim governing an explicitly singular verb-inflexion when speaking of G-d. Whoever Sam Stern might have been, he was not a learned Jew. His ignorance of basic Hebrew grammar relating to the word "elohim" alone shows this. It is interesting that the various Christians he aligned with rejected him as a minister, too. It is sad that Stern concluded that G-d had rejected His people due to the holocaust. Stern should have rightly put the blame for the holocaust on the evil men who perpetrated it, and realized that by turning his back on Judaism he was turning his back on G-d Himself. My 20+ years of countering false missionary claims about Judaism has shown that most Christians who convert to Judaism or leave Christianity to become Noahides are sincerely seeking G-d. It was actually their initial faith in Jesus which caused them to search for the truth, and the truth led them away from Christianity. The Jews who have done the reverse, left Judaism for Christianity, appear to be uneducated in Judaism. Most were not raised in religious Jewish homes, and those who were may have gone through the motions without understanding the T'nach and halacha (Jewish law). Missionaries often try to refute this claim by throwing out name after name of a supposedly high ranking and learned rabbi who converted to Christianity. One of those supposed “learned rabbis” who converted to Christianity will be discussed in this post: Daniel Tsion (Zion). The man was indeed a rabbi, but he was not the high level, let alone “learned” rav the missionaries tout. What do the missionaries claim about Tsion / Zion? Michael Brown (a Christian missionary) wrote of Daniel Tsion / Zion (in his first “Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus” book) "Have you ever heard of Daniel Zion, the chief rabbi of Bulgaria during the Holocaust?. . . his name is unfamiliar to almost all Jews today. Why? Simple. He was a believer in (Jesus). He was so highly respected by the Orthodox leaders in Israel that in 1954 the newly appointed chief rabbi, Samuel Toledano, offered him the position of judge in Jerusalem's Rabbinic Court." Brown's claims are found in other missionary sources to (regarding Tsion / Zion). Let's just revisit one sentence from Brown, when he says that Tsion / Zion was so “highly respected by Orthodox leaders” that in 1954 he was appointed as a judge in Jerusalem’s rabbinic court. Highly respected in 1954? This claim is ludicrous in light of the historical fact that in June 1950 a panel of Israeli rabbis ruled that Zion / Tsion was "mentally ill" and removed him from the position of rabbi in Jaffa. Tsion / Zion was not even allowed to enter any Synagogues in the city of Jaffa! Thanks to the internet we have access to newspaper articles from the 1950s so it is possible to research the facts. Link. Jewish courts determined that Tsion (Zion) was insane because he did some clearly insane things. These acts will become clear in this post, but let's continue with researching Brown's comments (which are echoed on many a missionary website). Four years before Brown claims Zion / Tsion was “highly respected by Orthodox leaders” and before Brown states that Zion / Tsion was “offered the position of judge in Jerusalem’s Rabbinic Court” Zion / Tsion was basically stripped of his title and position (1950). This 1954 claim that Zion was to be named a chief rabbi in Jaffa is found on missionary site after missionary site. . . it is far from the truth. This claim is even more bizarre when one continues reading from the missionaries who go on to claim “When the rumors circulated that Zion believed in (Jesus), R’ (Samuel) Toledano invited Zion to his office and asked him personally about these rumors. Zion explained to Toledano his position. He explained that he accepts (Jesus) as the Messiah and he does not accept Christianity.”
Two years after the court removed Tsion / Zion from his rabbinical duties, on September 14, 1952, Zion gave an interview on Israel Radio, stating he was a Christian (reported in Davar, September 16, 1952). Again, it was well known that Zion / Tsion was preaching about Jesus publicly and had been banned from even entering a Synagogue in Jaffa. How can there be "rumors circulating"??? Yet Brown (and the other missionaries) not only say there were "rumors" (not facts) and they also say that in 1954 Zion / Tsion was offered a position on a rabbinical court by a Rabbi who did not even live in Israel? That makes no sense at all! Why would Brown and the other missionaries claim that in 1954 this man was offered an important rabbinical position when by 1950 a rabbinical court had basically ruled him insane and unfit for rabbinical duties? Why would missionaries claim that Tsion / Zion was offered a rabbinical position on a court in Jerusalem in 1954 when by 1950 he had been removed from the rabbinate (and banned from Synagogues in Jaffa)? Why would missionaries claim that Tsion / Zion was offered a rabbinical position on a court in Jerusalem in 1954 when in 1952 he had gone on a Christian radio program in Israel preaching about Jesus? So the missionaries claim that R’ Shmuel (Samuel) Toledano wanted to appoint Zion to a rabbinic court in Jerusalem in 1954 is debunked. The missionary misinformation continues – it was not R’ Samuel Toledano who was involved in the Tsion / Zion issue at all. R’ Samuel Toledano did not even move to Israel until 1958. Link. Remember, Michael Brown wrote "in 1954 the newly appointed chief rabbi, Samuel Toledano, offered him the position of judge in Jerusalem's Rabbinic Court," yet Samuel Toledano was never the Chief Rabbi of Israel – and 1954 is obviously “out” for Zion / Tsion to be offered any rabbinical positions. Wikipedia lists all the Chief Rabbis of Israel (predating the country itself). R’ Samuel Toledano is nowhere listed. . . link. The missionaries go on to say "(R’ Samuel) Toledano was forced to take Rabbi Daniel to the Rabbinic court, and allow the other Rabbis to decide what should be done." Forced? Forced by whom? The errors in the missionary tale (found in multiple internet sites) should make Christians question the accuracy in any of these tales. The 1954 error and the R’ Samuel Toledano error. . . how many more inaccuracies are in these tales? The rabbi who was involved in a court proceeding about Zion (Tsion) was Rabbi Ya'akov Moshe Toledano who was the Chief Sephardic (Spanish) Rabbi of Tel Aviv (Israel) from 1942-1958 (not R' Samuel Toledano). The Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv would not be offering a position for Jerusalem! R’ Ya’akov Toledano was not R’ Samuel Toledano, and Tel Aviv is not Jerusalem! Let’s turn our attention to the court proceeding against Zion – it explains why the court declared him mentally ill. On June 13, 1950 the Ma’ariv newspaper in Israel wrote that the then Chief Ashkenazi (European) Rabbi of Tel-Aviv, Rabbi Isser Y'hudah Unterman (1946 - 1964), interviewed Sephardic Jews who knew Tsion / Zion. They reported that Zion / Tsion has been very nervous and agitated. He fasted for three days and then said he was hallucinating (having visions). It is known scientifically that fasting can be beneficial, but when one fasts for too long (such as 3 days) it can indeed cause hallucinations. Link. This type of behavior does seem mentally questionable. Along with his nervousness, agitation and excessive fasting one has to question the sanity of a many who became a Christian – and yet had the nerve to ask to be appointed the Chief Rabbi of Jaffa! This is a bit like a Muslim convert asking the Pope to make them a Bishop. It seems that the missionaries have somehow confused Zion's request to be named the Chief Rabbi of Jaffa with the role having actually been given to him. Let's discuss a bit more about his background -- it shows that he was a Christian prior to moving to Israel and asking to be given a rabbinical position of authority. A 1960 newspaper article written by No'ah Zevuluni in the newspaper "Heirut" stated that Zion / Tsion, born in Saloniki, Greece, was preaching Christianity onboard the ship on the way from Europe to Israel. He continued to preach Christianity in Jaffa, Israel – and yet during this period he asked the Chief Rabbinate of Israel to appoint him as Jaffa’s Chief Rabbi. This position would give him the license to conduct weddings and approve divorces. This article reiterates that once the courts knew of his conversion to Christianity he was expelled from all the Synagogues of Jaffa and was forced to preach outdoors. R’ Unterman and R’ Toledano declared him a seducer (D’varim / Deuteronomy 13). In the second of those paragraphs Zevuluni reports that Tsion / Zion participated in a conference of missionaries held in the YMCA in Jerusalem. At that conference he conducted Friday evening Shabbat services without any headcover (kippah / yarmulke) and chanted the Lecha Dodi, and following the service he explained to the worshipers that the "Dodi", which literally means "my uncle", but in ancient Hebrew it means "my friend", points at "Jesus". Likewise, he also participated in the "Christian Hour" program on the Israeli radio "Kol Yisra'el". He later moved into the large Notre dam Christian complex and married a woman who was either Christian or a convert to Christianity who he left by leaving her a piece of paper on which he wrote: "You are hereby divorced". Conversion to Christianity is one thing – but how could Zion convert to Christianity and still try to receive a position of authority in Judaism? If that is not insane, what is? The missionary websites (and Michael Brown in his book) gave glowing information about Tsion / Zion, and the details are wrong in more than just giving the wrong date (1954) and rabbi (Samuel Toledano). Just how "learned" in Judaism was Daniel Zion? Was he well versed in Judaism before he became a Christian? More than once Brown refers to Zion as an “Orthodox Rabbi” as do most of the missionary websites. Even Wikipedia refers to him as an “Orthodox Rabbi.” Do an internet search on the name “Daniel Zion” you will turn up missionary site after missionary site claiming that Zion (or Tsion or Tziyon) was the “chief rabbi” of Bulgaria and later of Jaffa, Israel who became a Christian. Was he an “Orthodox Rabbi”? Was he the “Chief Rabbi of Bulgaria”? First, let’s put a few things into perspective. Just how “Orthodox” was Bulgaria itself before and during World War II? The answer is “not very.” Bulgarian Jewish society might explain (a little bit) who Daniel Zion (Tsion) was – it definitely is not the high level learned Jews that missionaries would like to purport him to be. Bulgaria’s Jewish population mostly survived World War II and a majority of the Bulgarian Jews immigrated to Israel in 1949. The Chief Rabbi at the time was Asher Hannanel, who served from 1945 to 1949 (not Daniel Zion). From 1925 to 1945, Bulgarian Jews had no chief rabbi. This messianic claim that Zion was “chief rabbi” is false, even though it seems that Zion himself often claimed that he had been the chief rabbi of Bulgaria. . . (more on this claim below). This link states that there was a Daniel Zion who was a Rabbi in Sofia (in Bulgaria), but he is not listed as a chief rabbi of Bulgaria (link http://www.geni.com/projects/Jews-of-Bulgaria/18578). Here is another site listing the Chief Rabbis of Bulgaria and note again that Daniel Zion is not listed among them. http://www.sephardicstudies.org/bulg-rab.html If you visit the website for the Sofia Synagogue in Bulgaria you will find the historic rabbis listed. The Chief Rabbi was Marcus Ehrenpreis. Rabbi David Avram Pipano was elected chief rabbi in 1914. Rabbi Daniel Tsion (Zion) is listed as one of two preachers. Dr. Asher Hananel was listed as the official chief Rabbi of Sofia. http://www.sofiasynagogue.com/index.php?content_id=6 So far we have learned that Bulgaria was very secular. Most people spoke either Bulgarian or Landino (a Jewish Spanish language). We have also learned that while Daniel Zion (Tsion) was a rabbi in the Synagogue at one time he was never the chief rabbi of Bulgaria or Sofia. Early on he was one of two “preachers.” In 1943 "Others. . .had not liked the rabbi's unorthodox activities, and the leaders of the Jewish community had been summoned to police headquarters, to explain the behavior of Daniel Tzion (Zion). In an effort to placate the authorities, the Jewish leaders officially fired the rabbi from his position on the religious court." "Beyond Hitler's Grasp." The Russians (Communists) took over Bulgaria after the war. The Jews never named Tsion / Zion a chief rabbi of anything. A 1960s newspaper article reported that the Communists appointed him Chief Rabbi of Sofia (that's the Bulgarian capital city) – and as a result he was called the “Red Rabbi” by the Jews (because it was the “Reds”, aka the Communists) who gave him that honorarium. Tsion (Zion) was never named a Jewish chief rabbi of Bulgaria by the Jews – his was a Communist given title. Link. The second claim of the missionaries was that Zion was an “Orthodox Rabbi” – meaning he was learned in Judaism. Is that true? According to Noah Zvuloni , "The Adventures of 'Rabbi' Daniel Zion", the newspaper Herut , 18 October 1960: “As a young man (Daniel Zion) came to Sofia (Bulgaria) as a slaughterer and Cantor. Bulgaria’s Jewish community at the time was almost completely assimilated, there were no ultra-Orthodox communities, Bulgaria’s Chief Rabbi, Dr. Ehrenpreis was then, in the synagogues of Bulgaria (conducting services) accompanies by an organist and a choir of women.” Let me stop here to say that musical instruments are not used in Synagogues, and this prohibition is given in the Talmud, Beitza 36b. In 1819 the Rabbinic Court in Hamburg published a series of letters by different halakhic authorities under the name of Eleh Divrei Habrit in which they unanimously prohibited playing musical instruments (particularly the organ) in the synagogue even if played by a non Jew. This alone tells us that whatever kind of rabbi Daniel Zion might have become it was NOT an Orthodox one. Next, the article says that there was a choir of women in Tsion / Zion's Synagogue. Jewish men are forbidden from hearing women sing (other than their wives). Link. Both the organ and the choir of women clearly show that this was not an observant Synagogue, and the articles that Bulgaria was highly secular seems confirmed. Thus one must question the depth of Zion’s Jewish education. There is more support for the fact that Bulgaria was not “orthodox” in what we would consider the term (observant to Jewish law). From the book “Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions,” by Rahael Patai: “To Israelis of both Bulgarian and non-Bulgarian origins (Daniel Zion was from Bulgaria), the Jews from Bulgaria were well known for their secularism, and the notion of a religious Bulgarian was considered a contradiction. Jaffa’s only Bulgarian Rabbi (the article does not give a name) was infamous for riding his motor scooter to watch the Bulgarian team, Maccabi Jaffa, play on the Sabbath, when neither travel nor sport is permitted by Jewish law.” So even in Israel most of the Bulgarians, even their rabbi, broke the Sabbath laws. The article continues: “Although worship in synagogues involved a minority of the Jewish population in Bulgaria, this secularization did not diminish the observance of Jewish holidays and festivals in the home. Indeed, all of the affectual cultural realms, the holidays elicit the warmest memories and continue to be the main focus of Bulgarian communal life in Israel.” Link. Yet another book, The History of Bulgaria, by Frederick B. Chary states that “The Jewish leaders did not appreciate (Rabbi Daniel) Tsion (Zion) because they believed that he was a member of a Bulgarian Christian sect called Dunovists. The Dunovists, or White Brotherhood. . .were a sect of religious mystics who incorporated worship of the rising sun in their Christian beliefs. . .Tsion was not (a member) but as a scholar he was interested in their theology and was well known to the sect. The Jewish consistory, however, disapproved of his activity and was convinced that he indeed held their beliefs. They therefore removed him from his post on the Jewish religious court. In the critical days of 1943, the rabbi was able to get his friends among the Dunovists to intervene on behalf of the Jews. . . “ The newspaper article from 1960 (link). “In 1933 – 34 (while Zion was a cantor and ritual slaughterer in Sofia he was a member of the local rabbinical court) but was pulled back for various reasons. . .” The missionaries may be right that Tsion (Zion) became a Christian, because in various missionary websites I read that he stared at the sun (this was part of that sect’s practice) and had “visions.” Quite possibly he went insane. The newspaper states that the Christian sect Tsion / Zion became involved with was persecuted by the Christian Church itself because it was suspected that its members prayed to and worshiped the sun. From a Bulgarian website the cult he got involved with: “focuses on the reincarnation of souls and spirituality of objects. The members of the "White Brotherhood" perform the so-called paneurithmics dance – greeting the sun with song, music and gymnastics on a specific day in August in the region of the Seven Rila Lakes.” Link. Furthermore this sect dabbled in the occult (strictly forbidden under Jewish law) and "the sect believed that once in every several centuries a 'Master' was born to help men become one with the 'cosmic conscience'. Orpheus, Zarathustra, Laotse, Krishna, Buddha, Christ and Mohammed were such great Teachers" (Groueff 1987, 247). Link. Got that? This is the man missionaries claim was the “Chief Rabbi of Bulgaria who became a Christian" joined a cult which the main Christian churches rejected as a sun worshiping cult. According to the article the followers of this Christian cult were accused of theft and a suspicious death(s). This cult still exists today. Link. To summarize so far: Tsion / Zion began his career in Sofia (Bulgaria) as a cantor and shochet (slaughterer) who got involved with a weird sect of Christians suspected of sun worship, the occult (forbidden by Jewish law), and some other very non-traditional (to Christianity and Judaism) theologies including "cosmic conscience" and "masters." Is it any wonder his sanity was questioned? It is becoming clear that the missionary claims that Tsion (Zion) was a well respected rabbi are untrue. Is is also becoming clear that Tsion (Zion) was never a Chief Rabbi (from the Jews), it was an honorarium from non-Jews (the Communists). It is further clarified that Tsion (Zion) got involved in a very odd religious cult (the Dunovists) which idolized pagan gods such as Orpehus and Zarathustra as well as Jesus, Buddha and others. This is not a "learned and respected rabbi" by anyone's definition! “Beyond Hitler's Grasp” by Michael Bar-Zohar (a Bulgarian Jew who survived the war and wrote this book) has more information on Tsion (Zion). Here is what he wrote: “Rabbi Daniel Tzion was a strange figure. He was a squat elderly man with a short grizzled beard. A fearless, fiery scholar, he was a mystic and an expert on comparative theology. Rabbi Tzion was a passionate student of other religions and religious sects and had close connections with the leaders of the Dunovist sect. . . . ‘Many Jewish leaders treated Rabbi Tzion with suspicion because of his mysticism and his connections with the Dunovists. Their reticence toward him had grown a year ago, when he announced that he had heard a message from G-d. . .the leaders of the Jewish community had been summoned to police headquarters to explain the behavior of Daniel Tzion. In an effort to placate the authorities, the Jewish leaders officially fired the rabbi from his position on the religious court, but this didn’t cool his ardent activities against the government’s policy. . . “The king’s advisor. . .suggested that the Jews organize a huge protest. . .but when the rabbi reached the central Sofia (Bulgaria) Synagogue he found the gates locked. A throng of Jews was waiting outside, blocking the street. The janitor refused to open the synagogue, saying he had received orders not to do so. . . “ Doesn’t much sound like the rabbi in charge, does it, let alone a “chief” rabbi? It also sounds as if even the Jews in Bulgaria were getting concerned about Tsion (Zion)’s mental health during the war – before he ever made it to Israel. . . Zion claimed he had visions – he would stare at the sun (apparently that was part of the Christian sect he got involved with in Bulgaria. They were vegetarians who were into mystical stuff like staring at the sun). He had visions AFTER staring into the sun (well, who wouldn’t?). After migrating to Israel the chief rabbis of Tel Aviv Isser Y’huda Unterman and Yaakov Moshe Toledano conducted an investigation in the case of Daniel Tsion (Zion) to determine if his “current spiritual crisis” (as they called it) was caused by his difficult condition after his arrival from Israel (details not given). In June 1950 the rabbinical court ruled that the rabbi was mentally ill, and so did not punish him or excommunicate him. Instead Zion was removed from his post and was not allowed to enter the synagogues in the city. Some of his subsequent actions re-enforce the opinion of that Tel Aviv court:
The Davar newspaper reported, September 16, 1952, that it was investigating a Protestant radio broadcast by Tsion / Zion. The he headline says: Investigation of a Protestant Christian Broadcast. The article says “The Office of Religions is now checking the background of the broadcast by Rabbi Daniel Zion who 3 years ago converted to the Protestant religion. The particular broadcast was aired on Sunday from "Kol Yisrael" as part of the monthly broadcasts of the Protestant church. Daniel Zion appeared in a sermon in the Hebrew language directed to the Jewish population of Israel, and called on them to convert to Christianity. At the Office of Religions this is considered a violation of a "gentleman's agreement", according to which the broadcasts must be in the English language and, likewise, they may not contain any seductive material.” 1952 is 2 years before Brown and the other missionaries say Zion / Tsion was offered a position as chief rabbi of Jaffa? Daniel Tsion (Zion) came to believe that Jesus was the messiah. Missionaries say that Zion / Tsion remained a “religious Jew” and refused to officially convert to Christianity. This also seems incorrect. A March 15, 1955 newspaper article from Ma’ariv states that Tsion (Zion) tried to open a Baptist church in Tel Aviv. Was he insane? Seems pretty insane to convert to Christianity while still wanting to act as a Jewish rabbi – and asking for a promotion as a chief rabbi from the Jewish courts! The issue is not whether or not Tsion / Zion became a Christian (that seems obvious), but whether or not he was the “learned rabbi” let alone the “chief rabbi” whom missionaries tout as a shining of example of how it is “OK” for Jews to convert to Christianity. The missionary claims that Zion (Tsion) was learned in Judaism, that he was an “Orthodox” rabbi (in the true sense of the term) given the secular nature of Bulgaria and their non-observance are not supportable. The Bulgarian Jews never gave Tsion a position of authority, he was given a title by the Communists. Calling Tsion a “Chief Rabbi” is a bit like The American President naming the next Pope. I doubt too many Christians would take that as legitimate. Remember "Many Jews treated Rabbi Tzion (Zion) with suspicion" (in 1945). By 1946 Tsion (Zion) was removed from his position of authority as a judge in Jewish courts (a primary role of a rabbi). By the time he moved to Israel in 1949 people who knew him described him as nervous and agitated. Tsion (Zion) wanted to be a Christian while still acting as a Jewish rabbi – and even sought a lofty position (Chief Rabbi of Jaffa) after having shown himself to be a Christian (which is not sane behavior). Tsion / Zion’s strange behavior did not end in the 1950s. In an August 26, 1965 newspaper article from the Ma’ariv a young woman (age 20) was spreading the news that Tsion / Zion (age 82 at the time) was himself a messiah. The sub-headline says that the young woman left her family and moved to live in the home of the old man (Zion / Tsion). Missionaries have a strange habit of reprinting information from other missionaries – thus details such as Zion being offered a post on a rabbinic court in Jerusalem in 1954 is repeated by Michael Brown in his book and on one missionary site after another – yet the information in this post (supported by newspaper articles of the time) clearly shows that the man was removed from positions in Bulgaria by the Jews in the 1930s, made a puppet by Communists, and that when he went to Israel he was likewise removed from authority in 1950 due to his mental instability (asking to be named Chief Rabbi of Jaffa while missionizing Jews to Christianity). Do not blindly believe what you read (from missionaries or me). I have given many links on this post, including to sources in Hebrew from Israel (some in translation). Research this for yourself. The Chosen Peoples Ministry was founded in the late 19th century to target Jews for conversion to Christianity. It is still very active today and has locations in 13 countries. The "About Us" page of their website claims that "Rabbi" Leopold Cohn was their founder. Per a well researched book by a contemporary Baptist lawyer (former member of the New York Legislature) "Cohn" was a fake name, a fake rabbi, and even a fake minister (he called himself "doctor"). The author, Alexander Bacon, concluded that "Cohn" was actually Itzak Joszovics, an escaped criminal from Hungary who had never been a Rabbi. The title of his book exposing Cohn is: The Strange Story of Dr. Cohn and Mr. Joszovics. In the book Bacon quotes testimony given by many people who knew the man in Europe where he lived as a "Mr. Joszovics" who was never a rabbi. In 1918 The American Jewish Chronicle, Volume IV wrote: "The most successful of these (missionaries trying to convert Jews to Christianity) was Leopold Cohn, who is today a very rich man, and who for years has figured as an "ex-Rabbi" who has "seen the light." Cohn has often figured in the courts on various charges, which however, has not prevented him from continuing to fleece the pious. . .And now comes Colonel Alexander Bacon, a well known lawyer and author, and an enthusiast about the work of proselytism among the Jews, and exposes Cohn as the knave and scoundrel Jews have long known him to be." The article goes on to quote from Bacon's book the following: "for 25 years. . .with all the facts known to many people, a convincted and unrepentant felon has posed sanctimoniously and hypocritically as extremely religious, falsifying and denying his past life; falsely posing as an ex-rabbi; falsely posing as a Baptist clergyman, and piling up a fortune on the strength of his false pretenses, a fortune obtained from credulous Christians who think they are paying to support a real Mission to the Jews, conducted by a highly educated, influential, devout, converted Rabbi, who in truth, instead of being either highly educated or influential, or an ex-rabbi, was a petty farmer in Hungary of the peasant class, who kept a roadhouse or saloon in connection with his farm, until he committed forgery in order to steal a neighbor's farm; was convicted; fled to America; changed his name, and took up the "profession" of a sanctimonious convert to Christianity." At the bottom of this post is a partial list of the people who testified against Cohn / Joszovics as recorded in Bacon's book. The witnesses knew Joszovics in Hungary. People who knew the man reported that "Cohn" was never a rabbi, and was expelled from a Jewish school as a young teenager (never becoming a rabbi). The Christian lawyer (Bacon) had letters from Rabbis from Europe who all swore that Joszovics / Cohn was never a rabbi. I know some modern sources say "who knows" if Cohn was a rabbi or if he was Joszovics, a scam artist. . . but given the sheer number of people in the book who testified against him I side with Bacon -- who was a religious Christian who felt that Cohn was just a scam artist bilking the Christians. Bacon had no problems with trying to convert Jews to Christianity. He was a Baptist himself! His issue was with Cohn / Joszovics who he perceived as a fraud out to bilk Christians out of money. Here is a partial list of information given in the book by various people who testified in multiple court cases:
Yet, if you check the Chosen Peoples' Ministries "About Us: History" page even today you will see that they still claim that their founder, Cohn (Joszovics) WAS a rabbi, even though the man's own lawyer admitted that he was not a rabbi and had never been a rabbi. To continue the list of witnesses from Bacon's book:
Cohn claimed that one rabbi in Hungary gave him a letter stating he was educated enough to be a rabbi. He says he was a rabbi in Hungary for some time. Yet in Hungary (at that time) it took a Beit Din of three rabbis to confer a semicha (ordain a rabbi). One rabbi couldn’t do it by himself. Cohn never produced a letter or any other written proof that he had ever been a rabbi. Samuel Bettelheim, a Rabbi in Hungary, supplied Bacon with information on the rabbinical standards in Hungary and also informed him that for 50 years there was no record of a Leopold Cohn or Izsak Joszovics ever officiating as a rabbi in the county of Maramaros in Hungary. A copy of the letter is found in the book. The Supreme Court, Appelate Division has information on one of the cases available online. Link. The case was held in the Supreme Court (state of New York) between Alexander H. Neuowich, Plantiff against Leopold Cohn, Defendant. The case was dismissed, but there are some interesting quotations in the document. "Izsak Joszovics was born in Berezna, Maramaros, Hungary, in about 1862. . . When about thirty years of age, Izsak Joszovics was convicted of forgery and sentenced to three and one half years in prison and a fine of 500 gulden. The case was appealed, but when the conviction was affirmed Izsak Joszovics could not be found. . . ""Izsak Joszovics fled to the United States; changed his name to Leopold Cohn; pretended to have been a rabbi in Hungary; was "converted" to Christianity; became "missionary to the Jews" and has, as such, accumulated a large fortune in real estate and personal property. . . He has made money out of his "conversion" and seems to have an insane desire to have people arrested, especially those who knew him in Hungary. . ." The book includes court records, court testimony and supporting documentation from people who knew Joszovics in Hungary and America as well as Rabbis from Hungary who swore he had never been a rabbi there. The book is free on Google books. Cohn denied the claims of these many people, and even today the Chosen Peoples' Ministry touts him as a former Orthodox Rabbi. But ask yourself: why would a respected Christian lawyer who was a strong believer in evalenglizing Jews go to such trouble to expose Cohn as Joszovics if it were not true? SoAmazing how the so-called "Orthodox Rabbis" whom missionaries point to as converts to Christianity turn out to be nothing of the sort. Go to YouTube and check out videos by one "Simcha Pearlmutter" who, it is claimed, was an "Orthodox" rabbi who became a believer in Jesus. The only problem is that Pearlmutter was never an Orthodox anything, let alone a rabbi. In a book he authored Pearlmutter gave biographical information. He claimed a bachelor's degree from Boston along with attending two years of law school there. He then states that he became a law clerk in Miami, Florida. Nowhere did Pearlmutter ever claim that he studied Judaism as an adult, let alone that he was an Orthodox Rabbi with a סמיכה / smicha (rabbinical ordination). He became a Christian while living in Miami, Florida. A missionary website writes of Pearlmutter "In the early 1960s. . . Simcha Pearlmutter established a Messianic congregation in Miami, Florida. However, he made aliyah (moved to Israel) in 1964 with much of his congregation. Those who stayed behind did not keep the congregation going. However, Pearlmutter eventually established a Messianic synagogue in Ir Ovot, in the wilderness south of the Dead Sea, which continued until his death in December 1999." Pearlmutter founded a Christian cult in Israel where he called himself "rabbi." In 1982 his Jewish wife left him, along with her three children. He barricaded himself with his son and would not allow his son to be taken away. The case made it up to the Supreme Court of Israel. The community became smaller and smaller as more people left. Link. A 1983 newspaper article about Pearlmutter states the following about Pearlmutter and the kibbutz he ran in Ovot, Israel: (link) "The children learn (in) Yiddish (not Hebrew). . . They do not recognize the state of Israel and do not participate in elections.. . They do not serve in the IDF (armed services). . .Pearlmutter, was a graduate of Political Science and Law in Boston (actually, he only attended 2 years of law school and did not graduate).. He immigrated to Israel with two women, one Jewish and one Christian. . . The core of the kibbutz was founded in 1966 in Miami, USA. It was a handful of people who also believed in Jesus, but most of them dispersed and only a few remained. . . "It became clear that (Pearlmutter is a) Haredi (Orthodox Jew) pretender to hunt souls for the sake of Christianity. Thanks to. . .Yad L'Achim (an Israeli counter-missionary organization) this Tribunal published the ultra-Orthodox community meeting. . . stern warning. . . "we warn each and everyone of Israel that never step foot in that place." Pearlmutter was considered quite a nut, according to an article published in 1990 in the Jerusalem Post.: "His neighbours want him out of the Arava. His community lost its official status years ago, and most of his followers have long since packed and abandoned him. Seven of his nine children have dropped the dream of building a new community in the desert. Most of them do not even maintain contact with him. And yes, Pearlmutter once had two wives simultaneously, the mothers (plural) of his nine children. He does not like to talk about that part of his past, but news stories have attributed to him the view that Jewish law permits men to have more than one wife after they have returned to their own land. . . (Where he lives is) s a desolate expanse of rock-strewn desert sand. A few decaying cinder-block buildings coexist with a handful of standard-issue caravans that are commonly used for temporary housing in new settlements. . . . Twenty-four years after he made aliya, Simha Pearlmutter still lives in a caravan. If the authorities get their way however, he won't even have that much. It seems that everybody - from the Arava regional Council and the Israel Lands Administration to the Jewish Agency and the Water Commission - wants to get rid of Simcha Pearlmutter . . . AS FAR AS the overwhelming majority of Jews are concerned, these are nothing more than the rantings of a crackpot. Religious Jews believe he poses a serious threat to the Jewish faith, while their secular compatriots just laugh at his seemingly crazy ideas. . . ": By Carl Schrag, Week for the Jerusalem Post, April 21, 1990. Why is it that so many people follow these apostate Jews and believe them? Why do none of them do the modicum of research it takes to discover they are "emperor's with no clothes"? Pearlmutter, long since dead, made videos which are all over the internet. In one of them he claimed that orthodox Jews ask for atonement in the name of "Yéshu'a" on Yom Kippur. First of all, if Jesus had a Hebrew name no one knows what it might have been. Not knowing what Jesus' Hebrew name might have been (since there are no early writings with a Hebrew name) the messianic Jewish movement, who wanted to make everything Christian "sound" Jewish, chose יֵשֽׁוּעַ Yéshu'a. In earlier times the name Yéshu was thought to have been Jesus' Hebrew name, as it was a fairly common name 2000 years ago (abbreviation of יְהוֹשֻֽׁעַ / Y'hoshu'a / Joshua). Various iterations of יְהוֹשֻֽׁעַ / Y'hoshu'a / Joshua came about over time. One version, popular in the Babylonian Exile, was יֵשֽׁוּעַ / Yéshu'a. This was shortened to יֵֽשׁוּ Yéshu after the return from the Babylonian Exile (second Temple period). If Jesus had a Hebrew name, given the period in which he supposedly lived the name is far more likely to have been יֵֽשׁוּ / Yéshu, not יֵשֽׁוּעַ / Yéshu'a. The plain fact is that the Christian bible was written in Greek, not in Hebrew. The earliest "names" for Jesus are not in Hebrew, it's Greek: Ἰησοῦς / Iesous. There simply is no early known Hebrew name for Jesus. Would Ἰησοῦς / Iesous transliterates יֵשֽׁוּעַ / Yeshu'a? Nope. The closest transliteration would be יֵֽשׁוּ / Yéshu -- the name missionaries do not want to use because they think it insults Jesus. The Greek names given for Jesus do not represent the Hebrew form יֵשֽׁוּעַ Yéshu'a because that form would transliterate into "Jesuas," not Jesus. Jesuas is not a name used for Jesus -- meaning יֵשֽׁוּעַ Yéshu'a is simply made up and doesn't fit the known early Greek names for the man. Why do missionaries dislike the name יֵֽשׁוּ Yéshu and think it is insulting? Some think it was an acronym insulting Jesus. The purported insulting acronym is supposedly taken from the phrase יִמַּח שְׁמוֹ וְזִכְרוֹ / yimmaḥ sh'mo v'zichro which translates to: “may his name and memory be blotted out." The only problem with this missionary theory is that no one uses the acronym when insulting a person, for example insulting Hitler by using the acronym would be “Hitler yéshu" -- but no one says that. The insult is made with the words themselves (for Hitler) would be "Hitleryimmaḥ sh'mo v'zichro." In the 1970s the "messianic" groups started trying to say that Jesus' Hebrew name was יֵשֽׁוּעַ Yéshu'a so they could pretend it is the same as the common noun יְשׁוּעָה y'shu'ah (which is feminine and means "salvation"), The words are not even pronounced the same. The vowel of the first syllable of יֵשֽׁוּעַ Yéshu'a is tzere, -- the accented syllable is the שֽׁוּ -shu. The word for salvation (the feminine noun) points the yod in יְשׁוּעָה y'shu'ah iwith sh'va na, a "snatched" half-vowel that has no sound of it's own. But, back to Pearlmutter's contention. He claimed the prayer in question is Ashkenazi (European Jewish) and claimed he was reading from the Machzor Rabbah published by Eshkol. There is no prayer in that machzor as he claimed. There is a poem (not a prayer) -- a silent meditation (it is not read out loud). The poem is mystical in nature and harks back to a desire to once again have a Temple in Jerusalem. Poems are not generally considered "literal," yet missionaries (starting with Pearlmutter) try to latch on to this particular poem because it has the name יֵשֽׁוּעַ / Yéshu'a in it. The person mentioned in the poem is not Jesus, it is a kohen gadol (high priest) who is mentioned in the T'nach (Ezra and Zechariah). Yet simply because the name sounds similar to the recently "made up" Hebrew name for Jesus the missionaries have plastered this poem all over the interent. Do a search for yourself on "yeshua" and "rosh hashana prayer." Quite a few entries pop up claiming that "Jesus is mentioned on Rosh HaShanah"! Just how many people do you think have had that name through the ages (it is an abbreviation of the name "Joshua"). The poem in the machzor (high holy day prayer book) is found at point when the shofar (ram's horn) is blown, and a time when verbal prayers are not allowed. Speech of any type is forbidden during this time in the service. The Ga'on of Vilnius stated that while this passage was appropriate for silent meditation it was not to be read out loud (as a prayer). Here is a translation: “…sound be embroidered into the [heavenly] curtain by the appointed angel [טרטיא”ל], just as You accepted prayers through Elijah, who is remembered for good; יֵשֽׁוּעַ/ Yéshu'a (Ben (son of) Yehozadak), minister of the Inner Chamber; and the ministering angel [מט”ט]; and may You be filled with mercy upon us. Blessed are You, Master of Mercies.” Rosh HaShanah Machzor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, K’hal Publishing,pg. 449. The passage in the machzor (mystical in nature and read silently while the shofar is blown) mentions Elijah (the prophet) and two others, one of whom is יֵשֽׁוּעַ / Yéshu'a -- a kohein gadol (high priest) mentioned in the books of Ezra and Zechariah. Yéshu'a (Ben (son of) Yehozadak - (Jeshua) was the High Priest at the time of the rebuilding of the Temple and together with Zerubavel led the people who returned to Israel from Babylon. Link. Why do missionaries assume that every person named "Joshua" in history must be the Jesus of their religion? For further information about this poem read Menashe Walsh's blog post (link). He writes "Yeshua ben Yotsadak. . . was the High Priest at the time of the rebuilding of the 2nd Temple and together with Zerubavel led the people who returned to Israel from Babylon." This is much ado about nothing. The name יֵשֽׁוּעַ / Yéshu'a was highly unlikely to be the Hebrew name of Jesus (as discussed above). Even if יֵשֽׁוּעַ / Yéshu'a had been Jesus' Hebrew name it does not mean that the name in the poem in the Hebrew poem refers to Jesus. Do missionaries think that no one in the world (other than Jesus) could possibly have been named יֵשֽׁוּעַ Yéshu'a? There were actually quite a few real live men with that name, one of whom is mentioned in that poem. Many missionary websites have taken Pearlmutter's warped explanation and will claim all over the internet that this prayer mentions Jesus, but that is ridiculous. As discussed (above) if Jesus had a Hebrew name no one even knows what it might have been. The only names for Jesus were in Greek. The Greek name does not equal the Hebrew form יֵשֽׁוּעַ Yéshu'a because that form would transliterate into "Jesuas," not Jesus. I recommend reading "The Yeshua Name Game" by UriYosef for more information on how missionaries have tried to invent a Hebrew name for Jesus. When a missionary claims that a person is a "former Orthodox Rabbi who became a Christian" do your own research! It was not difficult to find out the facts about Pearlmutter. The same can easily be done for "Rabbi Leopold Cohn" the founder of "The Chosen People's Ministry" -- another who was never a rabbi, let alone an "Orthodox" one despite his claims. 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 |
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