Shall we join another Cult?

What and who are we to follow? Is following even what we are to do at this time?

Are we ever going to understand that small groups often turn into something that they were never meant to be?

We are in the last few years preceding the end of the earth’s allotted time. Most true Biblical scholars believe that we are nearing 6000 years since the creation of mankind, that is, those who are not evolutionists. From my calculations, whether they are accurate or not, I come to about, 5995 since the count started with Adam. But I would very much like to address the biblical stand we are supposed to take at this time when we live under very different circumstances than the sons of Israel who stood and prayed at Sinai. 

The question naturally arises, that if the written Torah that gave nearly countless instructions to Israel during their time in the desert–that this set of instructions somehow does not fit at our time when applied literally, then what are the principles behind what was written? 

Do we need a new class of sages to tell us what it means for us? I have often asserted that each individual has the duty to study and pray and listen to the voice of Elohim in order to decide what is right. Of course, we look deeply into the Torah and the prophets for answers. But how does one answer a problem of men today that want two or three wives? How does one deal with the many different sacrifices required for different offenses and sins, when there is no priesthood and no temple? 

As I understand it, the formation of synagogues in Babylon set up a new stage for Israel, whether good or bad. When the people left Babylon, some wanted to return to the old Temple service under the Mosaic authorized Cohanim and others (those who later became the ruling class through majority rule and connection with Rome) laid aside the Torah of Sinai and created their own Torah, and today we have the Rabbis who descended from the Pharisees. 

We all, as true Biblical students, shake our heads and condemn this, but how are we any different if we want to set up new rules for living? How can we find what applies today? And if we set up a group of sages to teach us, how are we any different? 

This is a quandary that must be answered by all of us. There have been many sects and cults over the years. We see the simple Essenes from which the early Christians arose and yet what happened to that? We see a Roman hierarchy that infiltrated not only the Christian movement but the Rabbinic movement that played directly into their hands for power and wealth. Those were the ones who exchanged Jerusalem for “Yavneh and the sages.” Judaism over the past 2500 years has become a religion very little related to Torah and the prophets. See this quote:

“The Talmud in Gittin (56a-b) and the midrash in Avot DeRabbi Natan (version B, chapter 4:5) tell us that Rabbi Yochan ben Zakai snuck out of Jerusalem during the siege that led to the destruction of the Second Temple (Bet HaMikdash) in a coffin to make a separate peace with the future Roman emperor who would level Jerusalem. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai asked for Yavneh and its scholars to be granted the religious freedom to study and continue growing the rabbinic tradition but would leave Jerusalem for Rome to destroy. Vespasian accepted the deal. Yavneh was saved, Jerusalem was destroyed, and rabbinic Judaism survived. But for Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai, the accommodationist approach, all would have been lost.” See Cross-Currents for more.

Many of us have followed the Karaites. Many of us still remain faithful to this group of modern Karaism. But what is to keep them from becoming another hierarchy, create their own Torah and establish their own creed and end up betraying us? And well, here we go again! Shall we continue this cycle, or shall we establish something new and individual, where each person is responsible to the Judge of the Universe individually? 

We must all pray diligently for this, especially those of us who still are not in the Land of Israel. Will those who are gathered come as groups, or will they come one by one? Will the Messiah understand by some god-given wisdom who the true followers of Torah are? 

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that YHWH shall beat out from the flood of the river unto the torrent of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, ye children of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown; and they shall come that were perishing in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and they shall worship YHWH in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.” (Isa 27:12-13)

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to acquire the remnant of his people which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall lift up a banner to the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” (Isa 11:11-12). 

If, and I repeat, we are to be gathered one by one and not in groups, then the importance is that we take individual responsibility for our lives. And no, this does not mean we are not allowed to congregate, no! But it means we must do our best and leave the rest to follow their own consciences. “But,” some will say, “isn’t that dangerous?” Why would it be if every one of us stands or falls according to our obedience to YHWH and our faith in Him? If the gathering is based individually, then we all should get our lives in order, for none is our judge other than the Supreme God of the Universe who will communicate directly with the one gathering us. Do we really believe that the Messiah will pull out a list of naughty and nice, much like Santa Claus, Papa Noel, or however you call him? And will that list be a Karaite Fundamentals of Faith or Rambam’s 13 principles? 

So I appeal to you to take inventory of your lives, your actions and prepare to be gathered to the land to help open the way for true Torah observance, and that is something we all need to study with discernment in the light of our day. There is room for all to share their studies, but I would caution all of us to leave those studies in the hands of those who read them and not make rules for them. Lists of rules become laws and laws become another creed and no creed has ever stood up to the original Torah for long. 

So with your agreement, we will begin to study like never before. We must pray for the teacher of righteousness that is promised in Joel 2:23.

“And ye sons of Zion, joy and rejoice, In YHWH your God, For He hath given to you the Teacher for righteousness, And causes to come down to you a shower, Sprinkling and gathered — in the beginning.” (Joe 2:23)

Note: the above verse speaks twice in the Hebrew about a teacher of righteousness, but most translations wrongly translate it as the early and latter rain. Here is the Hebrew for those who understand it:

וּבְנֵי צִיּוֹן גִּילוּ וְשִׂמְחוּ בַּיהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם כִּי־נָתַן לָכֶם אֶת־הַמּוֹרֶה לִצְדָקָה וַיּוֹרֶד לָכֶם גֶּשֶׁם מוֹרֶה וּמַלְקוֹשׁ בָּרִאשׁוֹן׃

This underlined part with my limited Hebrew seems to say “that I will give them a teacher of righteousness and rain down abundantly a teacher as at the first.” 

The word MORE (underlined above) means Teacher and Tzedaka is righteousness or justice. 

For now, I leave you to digest this and contemplate what we must do as individuals. I pray that many will take up the challenge of sharing truth with each other. 

Blessings and Shabbat Shalom!

Ariella