Author: Ariella Golani גולני

Rabbinic Authority—The Real Reason behind the Lie

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Or why was the Second Temple Destroyed?

Mainstream Judaism claims that “baseless hatred” between the varying factions during the era of the Second Temple was the reason for its destruction. See My Jewish Learning

“The Jewish Amoraim attributed the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem as punishment from God for the “baseless” hatred that pervaded Jewish society at the time.” Wikipedia

This exemplifies the reasoning claimed for the story of the Oven of Akhnai from the Talmud, circa 2nd century CE. The story shows the rabbis’ desire to solidify the beliefs of Judaism into one stream and avoid sectarianism in Judaism and this would be accomplished by establishing Torah Law on the studied opinion of the majority of the leading rabbis. They claim as the basis for their authority:

Deu. 17:11

“According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.”

A closer examination of this text shows that this is not it’s context—see the entire chapter. A thorough look at Deu 17 reveals:

1. The context concerns disputes -verse 8, it was not about authority over Torah Law as given on Sinai nor its openness for change by the leadership of the day.

2. The context involves the case where there is a controversy in a town over a matter that the people of that town cannot resolve without outside help, in this situation, the people of the town were to take the matter to the Cohanim and Levites, see verse 9. (Note, there is nothing here to establish the authority of Yeshiva-trained rabbis as a qualified replacement for the Torah designated hierarchy of Priests and Levites, yet strangely today, this has become the recognized authority of the Jewish people.) How did this happen?

3. The resolution to the case in Deuteronomy had to be completed “in the place that YHVH should choose” not wherever the leadership chose to work on it. See verse 9. This refers to the Holy Mountain in Jerusalem where the Temple should stand—not some diasporic location wherever there is group of recognized rabbis. So how did a chief rabbi of England or New York or any other country come to be if the Holy Mountain where the Temple stood was to be the place of Torah authority?

In the story of the famous Oven, already mentioned, the change that this sect of leadership made was that the laws of Torah not be interpreted by individual groups of Torah students nor by Heaven itself, but by they themselves whom they established as the majority at the time. And thus they claimed were given this authority by G-d Himself. They quoted the following verse:

“It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe” (Deuteronomy 30:12-14).

This verse as it is used here, was taken out of context. Look at the first part of this chapter in Deu. 30:

1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the YHVH thy God hath driven thee, 2 And shalt return unto the YHVH your God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

To whom should those in Exile return? To YHVH their G-d, and “obey His voice, not to a self-appointed leadership who have reinterpreted the Torah to their own understanding. (And yes they have added to and taken from the original words of Torah and have assumed the right to do this by ridding themselves of Heaven’s Voice and altering Scripture to fit their claim.

First of all those in the Exile– (the exile itself was a result of not following the voice of The LORD your GOD), these must return to listen to His voice—not that of any group. That is what we saw in Deuteronomy 30:1-2, and also:

Deu 4:30

“When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31 For the LORD thy God is a merciful God; he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.” (Note this does not say that they should go study with the rabbis or join a Yeshiva to know what is the correct Halakhah of YHVH, simply put: it says to turn to Him, and remember the covenant that He gave to the forefathers).

Deu 30:8

“And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.” (Again taken from Deuteronomy 30, the same chapter where verses 12-14 are used to qualify the rabbinic stand against hearing Heaven’s voice. Look again! It says to “do all his commandments which I command thee this day. This is Moses speaking, right? So do we obey the voice of Moses or not?)

Rabbinic thought conveys the following:

“This idea is reflected in another well-known Midrash relating to the giving of the Torah. Moshe Rabbeinu, the Gemara (Menachot 29b) tells us, is transported to the Beit Midrash of Rabbi Akiva and is disheartened that he cannot follow the discussion. Only when Rabbi Akiva explained the source of a law as being halacha leMoshe miSinai was Moshe pacified. Note the Gemara does not say that Moshe now understood the conversation. He did not, but that mattered little; what mattered was that this law originated with him at Sinai. Just as scientific principles are developed and applied in all kinds of ways far beyond what the one who discovered such could ever imagine, so Torah ideas are developed and applied to an ever-changing world. Halacha as the intersection of an unchanging Torah and constantly changing reality can look very different in different time periods or places. Only by “changing” the halacha given at Sinai can we assure the continued relevance of Sinai.” Quoted from Torah in Motion

But this thought is a polar opposite to what the Bible says! Was the Torah as given to Moses to be eternal?

Speaking of the End Times and the final return of God’s people, Mal 4:4 states:

“Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.”

Neither is this argument–that the Torah is to be observed as the leadership of the day decides– born out in God’s instructions to Joshua when he was called to lead the people of Israel.

Jos 1:7

“Only be strong and very courageous, that thou mayest take heed to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whither soever thou goest.”

And no, they do not listen to God. I refer in particular of the above incident of the Oven of Akhnai, where the majority of the rabbis clearly stated that they do not listen to Heaven. (And this became a standard from that point onward).

“Torah is not in heaven (Devarim 30:12)…and we don’t pay attention to heavenly voices.”See Torah in Motion

There are many things to be discovered about who what when and why the Rabbis came to replace the chosen priesthood of YHVH and how they now had the right to shoulder full responsibility for the definition of law and the direction of the Jewish people. How did this change in leadership which has completely stolen and replaced the direction of Heaven and God’s ordained priesthood come to be? It has been a long journey which started back in the days before the building of the second Temple. It happened in Babylon and Persia, where the Jews were exiled after having left the worship of the Eternal, schools were established in these lands of exile and the authority over the people was switched out of the Hands of God to the self-imposed leadership of Yeshiva-trained rabbis. It almost seems a direct copy of what we see in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic religion. And the question is, who copied whom? But we will save that for a later discussion.

“The Rabbis, in dramatic fashion and super hyperbole, make very clear that it is the Rabbis and not G-d who determine Jewish Law. To phrase it somewhat differently, it is the Rabbis who are authorized to interpret G-d’s Torah, even over the objections of the Divine author Himself[2]. It matters little what G-d had in mind. It sounds heretical, but such is the nature of Torah and the will of G-d.” See Torah in Motion by Rabbi Jay Kelman.

And as I mentioned earlier, it was the voice of the majority that was to rule in basic Torah Halakhah, even in the case where Heaven itself was in the minority: see following:

“In the Talmud the phrase aḥarei rabbim le-hattot was converted into a decisory canon: “where there is a controversy between an individual and the many, the halakhah follows the many” (Ber. 9a). The sages of the Talmud explained the existence of this rule as a practical necessity, for if the Torah had been given in the form of an exhaustive codex, “the world could not have existed” (TJ, Sanh. 4:2, 22a; cf. Mid. Ps. 82:3). The halakhic opinion that has prevailed is that the law is decided in accordance with the view expressed by a majority of the scholars, and this is so even if in a particular matter a heavenly voice (see *Bat-Kol) should declare that the law is according to the minority opinion (BM 59a).” Jewish Virtual Library.

One thing we see from this is the attempt to cover up the real reason for the destruction of the second Temple. It is universally believed that Sinat Chinam or “baseless hatred” was the principle reason for the destruction of the Temple by Rome. We have seen that it had a lot more to do with the desire of the rabbis to change the validity of the Torah of Moses and replace it with an Oral Torah–one that they could manipulate by popular rabbinic vote.

It is as if the Almighty got up from His Earthly dwelling, packed His bags and shook off the dust from the mountains of man made laws and left the Holy Precinct. And as if He remarked: “They want to create their own Torah, then let them, and see what happens when my Throne is no longer in My House! And that is pretty much what happened.

Ezekiel 9:8-9:

“And I fell face down and cried out, “Oh, Lord GOD, when You pour out Your wrath on Jerusalem, will You destroy the entire remnant of Israel?”

9He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’ 10But as for Me, I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. I will bring their deeds down upon their own heads.”

Ezekiel 5:11:

“Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity.”

This is what happened which set the stage for two millennia of Jews to embrace the twisted truths that were taught—the very things the ancient rabbis who came out of Babylon used to establish their throne of leadership and replace the Seat of the Most High God. But can we make a change today?

We must!

Ariella Tiqvah

Torah Law: What’s Behind the Details?

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Sometimes it is what’s behind the details that determines what we must do!

When we read the Torah, do we take every detail of how the people lived at that time and use that as a guide to how we are to live today? Some would say yes, but to those I would ask if the way the Israelites lived, dressed, worked, worshiped, etc, was something we need to go back to or has our world today a different manner of living to which we must apply Torah principles, and not necessarily apply the descriptions around the principles as rules in themselves.

Let me show a few examples. Today in rabbinic Judaism, men wear a four cornered garment often under their shirts with white tied Tzitzit hanging from the corners. When we look at what the Torah says, it is true that it says to wear a blue string tied to the four corners of the garment. (Why did they change from blue to white—we’ll see this in a bit)

Numbers 15:37-41: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.’”

Deuteronomy 22:12 specifies four corners.

The question we must raise is, does the fact that the Torah specifies four corners mean that our garments today have to have four corners? Or was it applying to the garment of the day? Would it be acceptable to tie these strings to the edges of modern clothing? What was the law anyway? Does it say, thou shalt wear a four-cornered garment, or does that insertion tell the ancient Israelites where to fasten them on the accustomed clothing of their day? I might add that the commandment says to use a “blue string” and that seems to be the command, yet the rabbis have insisted on the four cornered garment and broken the rule of the blue string by replacing it with the white. Are we somehow taking things out of context? Have we made man’s rules our rules when a clear understanding of the Torah renders something else?

When the Sotah was dealt with by the priest at the Tabernacle, to prove her faithfulness or lack thereof, she had to have her veil removed. Numbers 5:11-31. Does the fact that a veil is mentioned mean that it is mandatory in today’s women’s clothing or was it an application used with what was the normal garment for women at that day? This has been explained to me a couple of times as to why Orthodox women wear a covering if they are married and many even after they are widowed. But what is this law really based on? Could the principle of covering oneself be about modesty and deference to one’s spouse, and not about the particular application shown in the Bible?

The instructions about the shmita year…Does the fact that the Torah speaks of keeping from planting on the 7th year mean that everyone must plant? In fact in this case, I believe people actually get it that if one plants crops, that they should not plant in the seventh year.

There are things like the price and treatment of slaves, whether they be Israelite or from the strangers in the land, the return of lost cattle, the payment paid for intentional injury of another person, the command not to boil a kid in it’s mother’s milk. What did it all mean and why do we make laws out of things that never were intended to be law?

Fanaticism in religion comes from making rules that were never intended by the Creator out of references to the way things were in those days. As we study the Torah let us try to see the principle behind the description.

Mezuzot, serpientes de cobre y otros ídolos

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¿Besar un objeto puede ser un acto de idolatría?

En 2006 abrí una tienda de masajes en el centro de California donde brindaba terapia de masajes y vendía hierbas para personas con problemas de salud. En ese momento asistía a una sinagoga judía conservadora dirigida por la comunidad. La mujer cuyo esposo había comprado la sinagoga era psicóloga matrimonial y familiar, líder en la sinagoga y vendía artículos judíos en el vestíbulo de su clínica. Ella me animó a comprar una mezuzá para la puerta principal de mi nueva oficina para que mi negocio prosperara. En ese momento solo pensé en el mandamiento de escribir la Torá en los marcos de nuestras puertas y pensé que era una buena idea. Compré el estuche pequeño y el rollo kosher que iba dentro, gasté alrededor de $100 en el juego y seguí su consejo de invitar a la comunidad judía a venir e instalar la mezuzá una noche. Ofrecí vino kosher y galletas y felizmente entretuve a 9 o 10 invitados judíos que hicieron los honores de decir las bendiciones apropiadas y clavar la mezuzá en el poste de la puerta de la manera correcta. Mientras todos salían de la oficina, todos se detuvieron para besar la nueva mezuzá y desearme Mazal Tov. Este artículo ahora se había convertido en parte de mi experiencia en la oficina y servía como testimonio para el vecindario de que había judíos en las inmediaciones.

Entonces, después de esto, cada vez que veía una mezuzá en el marco de una puerta, me detenía, la tocaba, me besaba la mano y sentía que había cumplido con mi deber. Pero, ¿realmente estaba cumpliendo con mi deber en honor a la mezuzá en lugar de hacer lo que exige la Torá? ¿Y la Torá dice algo acerca de dar reverencia a un objeto? ¿Cuál es el propósito de la mezuzá de todos modos? Obviamente ni siquiera es necesario tener una caja física con las palabras del Shemá escritas dentro si reconoces lo que dice la Torá. (¡Y curiosamente, las palabras están ocultas a la vista en la mayoría de las mezuzot!) Las palabras de la Torá son lo que se debe obedecer y escribirlas en el marco de la puerta como un recordatorio es lo que se ordena, no comprar una mezuzá y besarla cada vez que pasa una persona. ¡a través de la puerta! ¡No se trata de una caja y su contenido es lo que se ordena!

Recientemente me caí y me rompí la pierna al pisar una tapa de alcantarilla suelta en el estacionamiento debajo del apartamento en Bat Yam. Cuando regresé del hospital, un par de amigos me preguntaron si había revisado la mezuzá en mi apartamento. Me habría sorprendido si no me hubiera topado con esta sugerencia antes. ¡Por supuesto que me molestó que una letra descolorida o una rasgadura en el pergamino dentro de la cajita pudiera causar que una persona sufriera un accidente grave! ¡Me parece brujería!

Mi vecina, a quien quiero mucho, se había caído y se torció el brazo esa misma semana, por lo que no pudo trabajar y culpó a su mezuzá del accidente. Desde su punto de vista, definitivamente había verdad en la creencia de que la mezuzá tiene poder y que la de ella era defectuosa o no se habría caído. Ella me dijo lo mismo. Compró uno nuevo, muy bonito y muy caro y reemplazó el viejo. ¿Por qué le damos poder a un objeto para que nos bendiga o nos maldiga? ¿Hay realmente algún objeto “sagrado” en nuestro mundo que tenga poder para hacer esto? ¡La Torá advierte sobre dar poder a los objetos, y besar un objeto es una forma de adoración!

¿Hay algo en una mezuzá que brinde éxito o protección? Mira lo que dice la Torá:

Deut. 11:18-23: “Fijen estas palabras mías en sus corazones y mentes; átenlos como símbolos en sus manos y átenlos en sus frentes. Enséñalas a tus hijos, hablando de ellas cuando te sientes en casa y cuando camines por el camino, cuando te acuestes y cuando te levantes. Escríbelas en los marcos de tus casas y en tus puertas, para que sean muchos tus días y los días de tus hijos en la tierra que YHVH juró dar a tus antepasados, tantos como los días que hay los cielos sobre la tierra. Si observas cuidadosamente todos estos mandamientos que te doy para que los cumplas, que ames a YHVH tu Dios, que andes en obediencia a él y que te aferres a él, entonces YHVH echará de delante de ti a todas estas naciones, y tú desposeerás a naciones más grandes. y más fuerte que tú.

Deut. 6:1-9: “Estos son los mandamientos, decretos y leyes que YHVH tu Dios me ha mandado que te enseñe a observar en la tierra por la cual pasas el Jordán para poseerla, para que tú, tus hijos y los hijos de ellos después de ellos, teman YHVH tu Dios mientras vivas guardando todos sus decretos y mandamientos que yo te doy, y para que disfrutes de larga vida. Escucha, Israel, y ten cuidado de obedecer para que te vaya bien y crezcas mucho en una tierra que mana leche y miel, tal como YHVH, el Dios de tus padres, te lo prometió. Oye, Israel: YHVH nuestro Dios, YHVH uno es. Ama a YHVH tu Dios con todo tu corazón y con toda tu alma y con todas tus fuerzas. Estos mandamientos que os doy hoy deben estar sobre vuestros corazones. Impresiónalos en tus hijos. Habla de ellos cuando te sientes en casa y cuando camines por el camino, cuando te acuestes y cuando te levantes. Átelos como símbolos en sus manos y átelos en sus frentes. Escríbelas en los marcos de las puertas de tus casas y en tus puertas.
¡Las promesas de protección y provisión de HaShem se cumplen por medio de la obediencia y no por la compra de una Mezuzah o Hamsa o Amuleto de cualquier tipo!
No estoy seguro de cómo abordar a mi amiga de al lado sobre la idolatría involucrada y supongo que está más allá de mi alcance enseñarle algo o incluso hacer que piense al respecto, sin embargo, para aquellos que no han sido adoctrinados de esta manera, yo Creo que debemos reexaminar qué es la idolatría y cómo se ha infiltrado en el judaísmo y otras religiones.
Cuando los cristianos peregrinan al Vaticano o Jerusalén, se inclinan y besan sus objetos sagrados, ya sea la cruz, el rosario, el dedo del pie de San Pedro o cualquier cosa relacionada con las tumbas de los santos. Como judíos, ¿por qué haríamos lo mismo? (Y sí, los judíos besan las tumbas de sus sabios, ¡lo cual también es un no, no!)
¿Y por qué estamos besando el rollo de la Torá? Si bien es cierto que contiene la voluntad escrita del Dios Altísimo y Todopoderoso, el objeto en sí no debe ser adorado. ¡La Torá debe ser obedecida, no presentada como una manifestación física de YHVH!
La Torá habla de la idolatría de una manera muy sencilla:
Éxodo 20: 4-6: “No te harás imagen de nada que esté arriba en el cielo, ni abajo en la tierra, ni abajo en las aguas. No te inclinarás ante ellas ni las adorarás; porque yo, YHVH tu Dios, soy un Dios celoso, que castigo los hijos por el pecado de los padres hasta la tercera y cuarta generación de los que me aborrecen, pero que muestro amor a mil generaciones de los que me aman y guardan mis mandamientos. ”
Aquí hay un ejemplo en el Tanakh donde Israel convirtió algo bueno en un ídolo y luego fue destruido por el justo rey Ezequías:
2 Reyes 18:-34: “Él hizo lo recto ante los ojos de YHVH, tal como lo había hecho su padre David. Quitó los lugares altos, destrozó las piedras sagradas y cortó los postes de Asera. Rompió en pedazos la serpiente de bronce que Moisés había hecho, porque hasta ese momento los israelitas le habían quemado incienso”.
¡Así que hablar de boquilla, inclinarse y besar objetos que fueron dados como recordatorios de los mandamientos destruye el propósito de ese objeto y crea un ídolo!

¡Suyo en la búsqueda de la Verdad en la Torá!
Ariella Tiqvah

Mezuzot, Bronze Serpents and other Idols

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Can kissing an object be an act of idolatry?

In 2006 I opened a massage shop in Central California where I gave massage therapy and sold herbs for people with health problems. At the time I attended a Conservative Jewish Synagogue that was community led. The woman whose husband had purchased the synagogue was a marriage and family psychologist, leader in the synagogue and sold Jewish items in the lobby of her clinic. She encouraged me to purchase a mezuzah for the front door of my new office so that my business would prosper. At the time I thought only of the commandment to write the Torah on our doorposts and thought it was a good idea. I bought the little case and the kosher scroll that went inside it, spent around $100 for the set and followed her advice to invite the Jewish community to come and install the mezuzah one evening. I provided Kosher wine and cookies and happily entertained 9 or 10 Jewish guests who did the honors of saying the appropriate blessings and nailing the mezuzah to the door post in the correct manner. As everyone made there way out of the office all stopped to kiss the new mezuzah and wish me Mazal Tov. This item had now become part of my office experience and served as a testimony to the neighborhood that there were Jews in the vicinity.

So after this, whenever I noticed a mezuzah on a doorpost, I would stop, touch it and kiss my hand and feel I had done my duty. But was I really doing my duty in honor of the mezuzah rather than doing what the Torah requires? And does the Torah say anything about giving reverence to an object? What is the purpose of the mezuzah anyway? Obviously it is not even necessary to have a physical box with the words of the Shema written inside it if you recognize what the Torah says. (And interestingly, the words are hidden from view in most mezuzot!) The words of the Torah are what must be obeyed and writing them on the doorpost as a reminder is what is commanded, not buying a mezuzah and kissing it everytime a person passes through the door! It is not about a box and it’s contents that is commanded!

Recently I fell and broke my leg by stepping on a loose manhole cover in the parking garage under the apartment in Bat Yam. When I returned from the hospital, a couple of my friends asked me if I had checked the mezuzah in my apartment. I would have been shocked, if I had not run into this suggestion before. Of course it bothered me that one faded letter or tear in the parchment inside the little box could cause a person to have a serious accident! Seems like witchcraft to me!

My neighbor, whom I love dearly, had fallen and twisted her arm that same week, so that she could not work and blamed her mezuzah for the accident. From her viewpoint there was definitely truth to the belief that the mezuzah holds power and that her’s was defective or she would not have fallen. She said the same to me. She bought a new one, very pretty and very expensive and replaced the old one. Why do we give power to an object allowing it to bless or curse us? Are there indeed any “holy” objects in our world that hold power to do this? The Torah warns of giving power to objects, and kissing an object is a form of worship!

Is there anything about a mezuzah that gives success or protection? Look at what the Torah says:

Deut. 11:18-23: “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land YHVH swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love YHVH your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast to him—then YHVH will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.

Deut. 6:1-9: “These are the commands, decrees and laws YHVH your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear YHVH your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as YHVH, the God of your ancestors, promised you. Hear, O Israel: YHVH our God, YHVH is one. Love YHVH your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

The promises of HaShem’s protection and provision are fulfilled by obedience and not by the purchase of a Mezuzah or Hamsa or Amulet of any kind!

I am not sure how to approach my friend next door about the idolatry involved and I suppose it is far beyond my scope to teach her anything or even get her to think about it, yet for those who have not been indoctrinated in this way, I believe we must re-examine what is idolatry and how it has crept into Judaism and other religions.

When Christians go on pilgrimage to the Vatican or Jerusalem, they bow down and kiss their sacred objects, be it the cross, rosary beads, Saint Peter’s toe or anything related to the graves of the Saints. As Jews, why would we do the same thing? (And yes, Jews do kiss the graves of their sages, which is also a no, no!)

And why are we kissing the Torah scroll? While it is true that it contains the written will of the Most High, Almighty God, the object itself is not to be worshipped. The Torah is to be obeyed, not held up as a physical manifestation of YHVH!

The Torah speaks of idolatry in a very simple manner:

Exodus 20: 4-6: “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, YHVH your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Here is one example in the Tanakh where a good thing was later made into an idol by Israel and later destroyed by righteous King Hezekiah:

2 Kings 18:-34: “He did what was right in the eyes of YHVH, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it.”

So rendering lip service, bowing to and kissing objects that were given as reminders of the commandments destroys the purpose of that object and creates an idol!

Yours in the quest for Truth in Torah!

Ariella Tiqvah

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Pascua y el paganismo: ¿sangre de cordero y matzá?

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Pesaj desafía el paganismo, ¡nada más!

En el momento del Éxodo, a los hijos de Israel se les dijo que trajeran una oveja o una cabra macho de un año a sus hogares a partir del día 10 del primer mes y luego el día 14 debía ser sacrificado en la noche. (Éxodo 12). De la sangre de este animal pintarían los postes y los dinteles de sus casas.

Uno de los dioses egipcios era un carnero.

“El Carnero representa al poderoso dios del sol y el aire Amun-Re, con Taharqa de pie debajo. El rey Taharqa fue el tercero en la línea de gobernantes kushitas cuyo poder se extendía desde su Nubia natal (norte de Sudán) a todo Egipto, que gobernaron como faraones de la Dinastía XXV. A lo largo de su reinado en Egipto, Taharqa usó las imágenes simbólicas de Amón-Re para evocar poder y fuerza. Muchas representaciones del rey Taharqa lo muestran con la cabeza de carnero y el disco solar, símbolo de Amón-Re, usado como aretes o amuleto alrededor de su cuello”. Carnero ceniciento

Israel debía abominar a los dioses de Egipto y, como demostración de esto, tomaron el cordero justo en el momento de la novena plaga y lo amarraron en exhibición para mostrar su coraje al desafiar a ese dios egipcio. Sí, Israel después de tantos años, oprimido por la esclavitud en Egipto, finalmente mostró su descaro al obedecer este mandato.

Entonces, aquí hay una pregunta intrigante:

Si de hecho el propósito de traer la cabra o el cordero de la Pascua era desafiar a un dios egipcio, entonces, ¿cómo restablece el cristianismo a ese dios llamando a Jesús “cordero de Dios” en su bautismo y luego sacrificándolo y resucitándolo como su dios? Si el propósito del sacrificio del cordero pascual en Egipto era abominar a los dioses de Egipto, convirtiéndose así en un símbolo del desafío de Israel al paganismo, entonces, ¿por qué los cristianos que creen en la Biblia afirman que la crucifixión del “cordero” era la ofrenda por el pecado de todos? tiempo, por su dios que está simbolizado por este cordero (oveja macho) y no por el desafío del paganismo del que se estaba liberando a Israel? Alguien lo tiene todo jodido, ¿no crees? ¿Cómo este símbolo muy claro del paganismo del cual Israel claramente estaba siendo liberado, se convirtió en el mismo dios que adoran los cristianos? La Pascua no se trataba de una ofrenda por el pecado, eso vino después, y las instrucciones se dieron para eso en el Sinaí (Levítico 4, Éxodo 29). En algunos casos la ofrenda por el pecado no era un cordero, sino un toro.

Así que la razón original por la que Israel iba a sacrificar el cordero o el chivo de la Pascua era con el propósito de desafiar el paganismo de Egipto. ¡No tenía nada que ver con una ofrenda por el pecado, no tenía nada que ver con un símbolo de un futuro cordero de Dios que sería dado como ofrenda por el pecado para salvar al mundo! La Pascua se trata de salir de las costumbres del paganismo, de ser un pueblo puro, santo y separado. También incluye un recordatorio cada año cuando tiramos el Jametz o los agentes de levadura en nuestro pan.

Matzá

“Se cree que el uso de masa madre en la producción de levadura de pan se desarrolló en el antiguo Egipto aproximadamente en el año 3000 a. C. y desde allí se extendió gradualmente a Europa, a lo largo de la antigua Grecia y el Imperio Romano hasta el presente.

“Los antiguos egipcios desarrollaron el arte de cocinar masas con levadura en moldes los primeros moldes para pan. Los moldes se calentaron y luego se llenaron con masa, se cubrieron y se apilaron en una cámara calentada. Estos fueron quizás los primeros panes producidos en masa”. Historia del procesamiento de alimentos

El pan es un símbolo a lo largo de las edades del sustento. Se llama “el báculo de la vida”. Las diferentes culturas extraen su pan de diferentes granos, pero la parte de los granos de la dieta se llama “pan” e incluso en la Biblia el pan figura en la forma del sustento de la humanidad. Recordamos que el maná se llamaba “pan del cielo” y

Deuteronomio 8:9-10:

“…una tierra (Israel) donde el pan no escaseará y nada os faltará; una tierra donde las rocas son de hierro y se puede sacar cobre de las colinas. Cuando hayas comido y te hayas saciado, alaba al SEÑOR tu Dios por la buena tierra que te ha dado”.

Génesis 3:19: “Con el sudor de tu rostro comerás el pan, hasta que vuelvas a la tierra, porque de ella fuiste tomado; porque polvo eres, y al polvo volverás.”

Entonces, si el pan se usa como símbolo de sustento para la humanidad, y el arte de hacer pan leudado fue introducido por primera vez por Egipto, cuyas costumbres religiosas incluían ofrecerlo a sus dioses… (ver la siguiente oración)

“Una ofrenda dada por el rey (a) Osiris, el señor de Busiris, el gran dios, el señor de Abydos… ‘Para que pueda dar una ofrenda de invocación de pan, cerveza, bueyes, pájaros, alabastro, ropa y todo bien y cosa pura de la que vive un dios’”. Wikipedia

…entonces, ¿no tenemos otra razón detrás de la Matzá –pan sin levadura– que se comía junto con el cordero, de prisa con los lomos ceñidos y sandalias en los pies, listos para huir de Egipto con todas sus costumbres? Fue en este momento que el pueblo de Israel desafió las costumbres de Egipto y se preparó para regresar a las costumbres puras y sin adulterar (sin levadura, por así decirlo) de sus padres, Abraham, Isaac y Jacob y regresar a la TIERRA que les había sido prometida. a ellos.

¡Tuyo por un Pesaj sin levadura!

Ariella Tiqvah

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