KINDLE THE SABBATH LIGHTS

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We meet once again at sundown, erev Shabbat,

to welcome the Queen of all days,

to seek our Lord YHWH’s blessings upon our celebration

as we enjoy one another’s company,

and acknowledge His Presence;

for YHWH is truly the invisible Guest of Honor

Who graces the special gathering

of all keepers of His Holy Sabbath.

We avow that the fourth commandment in the Decalogue

is not a burden but a pleasure to obey in special observance,

a most welcome respite from the routines of our six-day workweek,

necessary for humanity’s physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing,

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truly a gift of rest,

for all that have the breath of life should enjoy,

not only as an indulgence,

but as a matter of survival,

besides enhancing our quality of life.

We thank the LORD of the Sabbath, YHWH,

for commanding us to enter Your sanctuary in time,

to seek Your company

while in fellowship with our faith community,

for renewal of family ties and friendship,

and for worship of You

and the study of Your Torah.

We recall the words of Your mouthpiece,

the prophet Isaiah, as he addressed Israel:

If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,

from pursuing your affairs on My holy day;

If you call the sabbath “delight,” YHWH’s holy day “honored”;

And if you honor it and go not your ways

Nor look to your affairs, nor strike bargains—

Then you can seek the favor of YHWH.

I will set you astride the heights of the earth,

And let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob—

For the mouth of YHWH has spoken.

[Isaiah 58:13-14 in modern application:]

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“If you watch your step on the Sabbath
and don’t use my holy day for personal advantage,

If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
God’s holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,’ making money, running here and there—
Then you’ll be free to enjoy God!
Oh, I’ll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I’ll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob.”
Yes! God says so!

As Gentiles who worship You, the God of Israel,

and embrace Your firstborn son Israel as Your ‘light to the nations’;

we pray for peace in the Holy Land,

for peace of heart and mind,

and continued protection of the Jewish people

amidst the threats they face continually.

We pray for their survival during non-stop assaults

from hostile nations, religious radicals, antisemitics,

but most specially the angry enemy within their own borders,

with whom they need to deal with wisdom,

and if at all possible, to find mutual understanding,

and convince the ‘other’ to agree to live in peaceful co-existence

in their individual sacred space and communal shared spaces

in the city of ‘shalom’, Yireh Shalem, Yerushalayim, Jerusalem,

in the land of promise,

divinely set apart to provide Israel

rest from her strivings,

which Israel’s national history sadly has not realized

since the prophesied return of their remnant

to the Holy Land.

We pray for their unity not only in matters of ethnicity and culture,

but most of all, unity in matters of faith,

in belief and trust in You, their God,

that the secular among their population

who are spread out all over the world

will return to the last recourse which should be the first,

when all human possibilities for peace have been exhausted,

that all Israel will unite in calling on Your Name,

YHWH,

the God of their Patriarchs,

the God Who chose them to be Your covenant people

the custodians of Your Manual for Life for all humanity,

Who prepared them to become a blessing to the world,

and a light to the nations.

May they fulfill their destiny to be both blessing and light,

as doubters even among them live in unbelief,

as people of faith await the fulfillment of prophecies

regarding a “chosen” people whose very survival

and presence in this age of skepticism,

is the testimony to You as the One and Only God,

and to the truth of Your pronouncements from ancient past

as recorded in their Hebrew Scriptures.

You are the God whose Name

is etched in their individual consciousness

and collective memory,

and whose acts are recorded in their national history.

We thank You for the blessing that Israel has been to the world,

for fulfilling the role You have assigned them

as witnesses for You

despite the odds they face,

for recording the Torah

for all humanity to consider as a Way of life,

for their contributions

to the advancement of knowledge

in all fields of learning,

and contributions to the quality of life

brought about by the brilliance and genius

of their outstanding achievers.

We cling to the promises uttered by Isaiah to Israel,

for just like observant Jews,

we consider Your Holy Day, the Sabbath,

as a day of joy, a day of celebrating life,

a day to delight in, devoted to connecting with You,

O YHWH, God of Israel,

God of the Nations,

God of Sinaites,

Lord of the Sabbath.

As Gentiles,

virtual ‘outsiders looking in’,

may we share in the blessings You have promised Israel,

Gentiles who have embraced You, the God of Israel,

Gentiles who love you with all mind, heart and soul,

Gentiles who obey Your commandments,

and who live Your Torah.

Amen.

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To know You,

the one True God,

and to know Your Name,

O YHWH,

is a blessing.

To know that You have prescribed a way of life

for all people on earth

and to live it day by day,

is a blessing.

To be in the company of individuals

who worship and love You

and love one another,

is a blessing.

To be born into a loving family—

parents, siblings,

spouses, children,

and grandchildren —

is a blessing.

To fellowship with one another every Sabbath

and share the joy of your provisions

symbolized by the bread we share

and the wine we drink—

is a blessing.

For all these and so much more,

for daily graces and mercies

and provisions poured

into each day

of our life on earth—

we thank You, Lord YHWH.

SABBATH MEAL

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HAVDALAH

Once again we remember Your words through your mouthpiece, Isaiah:

No longer shall you need the sun for light by day,

Nor the shining of the moon for radiance [by night];

For YHWH shall be your light everlasting.

Your God shall be your glory.

Your sun shall set no more.

Your moon no more withdraw;

For YHWH shall be a light to you forever.

And your days of mourning shall be ended.

And your people, all of them righteous,

Shall possess the land for all time;

They are the shoot that I planted.

My handiwork in which I glory.

The smallest shall become a clan.

The least, a mighty nation.

I, YHWH, will speed it in due time.

May it be so for Israel!

And as for us who are not of ethnic Israel,

may our names and the names of our loved ones

be written in YHWH’s Book of Life,

as we each make the right choice

every time we are challenged to make a compromise,

a choice to align our will with Your Will

in every situation where we are tempted

to submit to the ‘I’ in I-dolatry,

instead of the ‘I’ in Your Image.

May we write our individual Book of Life

by the way we live–

moment by moment,

day by day,

year by year,

on to the end of our days.

May the words we hear from YHWH, our Life-Giver be–

“well done, Gentile, Sinaite,

[say your name]______________

who heard My Voice from Sinai,

who took My Torah seriously,

who strives to know Me and My Way,

and calls on My Name,

who responded to the challenge given to Israel

to ‘choose life’-—

May Your message to us be —

“You are among My Chosen.”

Amen.

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In behalf of Sinai 6000 Core Community,

a rest-full and peaceful Sabbath to one and all!

NSB@S6K

A Sinaite's Sabbath Liturgy

A Sinaite’s Musical Liturgy – 2nd Sabbath in September

September 1, 2019 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

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[Reminder to new web-visitors; Sinaites are former Christ-believers and as such, our hymnody is deeply rooted in Christian music. We have adopted the music but changed the lyrics which now express our Sinaite creed; we retain the original lyrics when it agrees with our belief system. Admittedly, it takes time to get used to this strange mix, even some of our own have difficulty adjusting. If you are not familiar with the music, reciting the phrases work just as well. After all , sung or spoken, the message resonates. This season being the remembrance of Sinai 6000‘s ‘time of awakening’, the songs reflect our journey of faith ending at the foot of ‘Spiritual Sinai’.–Admin1.]

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KINDLE THE SABBATH LIGHTS

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[Original Tune: “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”/Revised Lyrics “Let us praise the Name Yahuwah!”]

1. Let us praise the Name YAHUWAH, hal-le-lu-jah!

Those of us who’re here together, hal-le-lu-jah!

Raise our voices up on high, hal-le-lu-jah!

From each heart and mind and spirit singing, hal-le-lu-jah!

2. Bow down to our King Yahuwah, hal-le-lu-jah!

Humbly kneel before Him singing hal-le-lu-jah!

His the Power, His the Might, hal-le-lu-jah!-

He’s the only One True KING of Kings, hal-le-lu-jah!

3. He’s our Shepherd, He’s our Rock, hal-lelu-jah!

He’s Lawgiver and the Judge, hal-le-lu-jah!

Source of Life and Source of Breath, hal-le-lu-jah!

First and Last, the Alpha and Omega, hal-le-lu-jah!

4. He is Righteous, He is Just, hal-le-lu-jah!

He is full of Grace and Mercy, hal-le-lu-jah!

Kind and loving God is He, hal-le-lu-jah!

Holy and Eternal God, Yahuwah, hal-le-lu-jah!

——————–

[Original Tune: “Go to Dark Gethsemane”/Revised Lyrics: “Go from Egypt, Israel”]

1. Go from Egypt, Israel . . .

walk across the Sea of Reeds.

Through the desert wilderness,

On His manna, water, feed . . .

journey on toward your God,

Who has from your bondage freed.

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2. Pitch your tent and breathlessly,

watch and wait that you might see;

Up from yonder mountain peak,

hear His Voice in thunder speak,

Bow and tremble as you hear,

Words of wisdom, never fear.

3. YAHUWAH, your Elohim,

Adonai and El Shaddai.

Fear not, never be in shame,

Blest are those who speak His NAME!

There is no one else on earth,

He has chosen you from birth.

4. Gentiles from all nations, hear!

To Mount Sinai, gather near. . .

Timeless words for life ring clear,

From the past through all the years,

Israel has shared His Word,

Heed to prove that you have heard.

[Borrowed Tune: Beneath the Cross of Jesus/Revised Lyrics: “Beneath that Sacred Mountain”]

Image from jesusvanluiz.blogspot.com

1. Beneath that sacred mountain I virtually take my stand;

the shadow of a mighty Rock within a weary land;

a home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way,–

from the burning of the noontide heat, and burden of the day.

2. O safe and happy Shelter, O Refuge tried and sweet;

O trysting place where Heaven’s Love and Heaven’s Justice meet!

As Jacob in his wondrous dream had wrestled with the One,

a ladder full of angels going up and coming down.

3. There lies beneath its shadow but on the further side;

the darkness of man’s ignorance that gapes both deep and wide;

but Light shines forth from Sinai’s peak, a thunderous voice that speaks —

to multitudes of Israelites and Gentiles in their midst.

4. Upon that sacred mountain, my eyes at times can see—

though centuries have passed and I was not and could not be —

among the generation that received His Covenant,

All that I need to do is read the Exodus account.

5. I take Sinai, thy shadow for my abiding place;

I ask for nothing more than that I meet Him face to FACE,

I’ve journeyed all my life to find the Truth and know His Name,

YAHUWAH is the God I worship, His the Name I claim!

_____________________

BLESSINGS

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[Original Tune: “I Love You Lord”/Revised Lyrics: “Yahuwah God of our families”]

1. Yahuwah God of our families,

we gather here on Your Sabbath day,

this wine we drink and this bread we share,

symbols of Your blessings and joy in our lives.

2. We pray oh Lord, for our children dear,

that they may seek You and know You more,

and walk the Way taught to Israel,

just as we have chosen to walk

in Your Way.

Sabbath Meal

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Torah Study

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Havdalah

[Original Tune: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus”/Revised Lyrics: “Turn your eyes toward Sinai”]

1. Dear seeker of God are you searching

for truth, for more light, for THE WAY,

look back to the start of your journey,

the map that has always been there . . .

CHO: Turn your eyes toward Sinai,

that’s where the Almighty was seen,

in the burning bush, in the flashing light

what a vision, a glorious sight!

2. If only the world would remember

the Words He had spoken back there,

in the wilderness, out in the desert,

the truth all humanity should hear . . .

CHO: Hear O Israel hear! [or ‘Hear, ye nations all, hear!]

YAHUWAH, True God, He is One,

You shall love YAHUWAH with all your heart,

all your being, and all of your might.

3. His Words will not fail you—He promised,

believe and obey and be blessed,

but when there is failure, there’s pardon,

if you would but humbly repent . . .

CHO: Turn your eyes on the TRUE ‘ONE’,

YAHUWAH the First and the Last,

No one comes before, there are not ‘two’ more,

HE was One, He’s still One, will be One!

Yes, YAHUWAH, Lord God, He’s the ONE!

Image from www.tellthelordthankyou.com

Shabbat Shalom in behalf of Sinai 6000 Core Community,

NSB@S6K

A Sinaite's Sabbath Liturgy

A Sinaite’s Liturgy – 1st Sabbath of September 2019

September 1, 2019 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

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KINDLE THE SABBATH LIGHTS

Blessed are You,

Lord YHWH our God,

Creator-Designer of all that exist,

Synchronizer of earthly time,

Who rested from Your creative work

on the seventh day,

Who commanded the mixed multitude gathered on Sinai

through Your chosen mouthpiece, Moshe —

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. . .

For in six days YHWH made heaven and earth and sea,

and all that is in them,

and He rested on the seventh day;

therefore YHWH blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.

On erev, Friday evening, sunset, sundown,

we mark the beginning of our 24-hour Sabbath observance

on this side of Your created world.

We welcome Your Queen of Days,

much anticipated since our last Sabbath together.

We delight in resting from our work-week

for time to refresh body, mind, and spirit,

for time with family and friends,

for time that connects us with Sabbath-keepers all over this world,

Jews and Gentiles alike,

who are one in heart, mind, and spirit

in worshipping You,

in acknowledging You and only You,

O YHWH, as the One True God,

Whose Name we glorify–

as we declare it with reverence and awe,

honoring Your Holy Name through the way we live our lives,

which we have aligned with Your Torah.

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Blessed be our Lord YHWH,

Creator and designer of distinct genders—

male and female–

perfectly configured to suit the divine purpose intended for each,

one complementing the other,

both participating in the grand plan of procreation,

the continuance of human life through generations,

through parenting by partnership,

conscious of their God-ordained responsibility in their role as father or mother,

for the raising and proper instruction of children,

whose lives are gifts from the Giver of Life.

According to Jewish tradition,

the woman of the home kindles the sabbath lights.

We emulate this symbolic gesture,

honoring woman who lights up her home

not so much by kindling the shabbat candles,

but for the light-bearer that she is in her family,

through the roles she assumes—-

—as co-partner with the head of household

in participating in the wondrous recreation of new life,

—as carrier of the unborn until its birth,

—as nurturer of growing children.

Womanhood—wives and mothers —

is a reflection of Your loving and caring attribute,

O YHWH, our most benevolent King.

As she recites the blessing, we bless You back, O YHWH,

for blessing us with the gift of a seventh day,

that is to be unique and distinct from all other days.

We recognize its true value as a virtual sanctuary in time;

we are privileged to enter it as one enters the tabernacle,

meeting with the True Lord of the Sabbath!

How confined is the glow that emanates from these two candles,

yet they are enough to dispel the space that darkness would naturally occupy;

In the same way, O YHWH, LIGHT of the world,

You gradually dispel in limited doses,

the darkness in our minds through Your Torah,

instructions on the healthy maintenance of body and mind,

regulations on our horizontal relationships,

commandments etched on tablets of stone,

expanded in the Hebrew scriptures,

but also infused in the consciousness of every individual born on this earth.

Indeed, O YHWH,

“All Your words are true,

All Your righteous laws are eternal.” [Psalms 119:160]

Psalm 112

Hallelujah.

Happy is the man who fears YHWH,

who is ardently devoted to His commandments.

His descendants will be mighty in the land,

a blessed generation of upright men.

Wealth and riches are in his house

and his beneficence lasts forever.

A light shines for the upright in the darkness;

he is gracious, compassionate, and beneficent.

All goes well with the man who lends generously,

who conducts his affairs with equity.

He shall never be shaken;

the beneficent man will be remembered forever.

He is not afraid of evil tidings;

his heart is firm, he trusts in YHWH.

His heart is resolute, he is unafraid;

in the end he will see the fall of his foes.

He gives freely to the poor;

his beneficence lasts forever;

his horn is exalted in honor.

The wicked man shall see it and be vexed;

he shall gnash his teeth; his courage shall fail.

The desire of the wicked shall come to nothing.

B L E S S I N G S

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All that we possess, all that we have in life, have been arranged by Your providence!

For all these, we thank You and bless You back with gratitude from the heart, evidenced in the way we live Your Torah.

Your provisions for food is symbolized by the bread we share and partake of:

for everything that this bread represents in our daily living,

we bless You back, O YHWH.

For the joy of learning about You day by day,

for the relationships we have nurtured and enjoyed through our lives—

in family,

in long-lasting friendships

and in our faith communities.

For all the anonymous like-minded individuals

who are learning about You and Your Torah

through this gift of a website,

For all these—

And to YHWH our God, LORD over our lives,

we raise our wine glasses in thanksgiving ,

for the meaning You have given

every stage of our lifetime quest to know You more,

until we arrived on SINAI,

YHWH on SINAI—-

truly the place and source of revelation and enlightenment

for Israel and the Nations,

Jew and Gentile alike.

To YHWH our Lord and our God,

To Your gift of Life—

To the Tree of Life, the Torah—-

we join all Jewish and Gentile Sabbath-keepers and say—

to LIFE, “l’chaim”, “mabuhay”!

SABBATH MEAL

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TORAH STUDY

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HAVDALAH

A Time for Everything

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

May this time in our lives,

bear fruit for ourselves and our fellowmen,

but most of all for YHWH,

God of Israel, God of the Nations,

God of Sinaites.

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Shabbat Shalom,

to Sinaites, Messianics, Christians,

Sabbath-Keepers all over the world,

on behalf of Sinai 6000 Core Community,

NSB@S6K

Exodus/Shemoth

The Book of Exodus/Shemoth – שמות

August 25, 2019 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

[First posted in 2012; time to repost after 7 years! This is the Introduction from Pentateuch & Haftorahs, ed. Dr. J.H. Hertz, a publication of the Soncino Press. Reformatted for post.]

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NAME. The Second Book of Moses was originally called ‘the Book of the Going out of Egypt.’ At an early date, however, it came to be known as ve-eleh shemoth from its opening phrase, ‘ And these are the names’. Its current designation in Western countries is Exodus—from the Greek term exodos. ‘The Departure’ (of the children of Israel out of Egypt), a name applied to it in the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of Scripture.

CONTENTS. The Book of Exodus is the natural continuation of Genesis. Genesis describes the lives of the Fathers of the Hebrew People; Exodus tells the beginning of the People itself.

It records Israel’s enslavement in Egypt, It describes the institution of the Passover, and the deliverance from the House of Bondage.
the Covenant at Mount Sinai,
and the organization of Public Worship It recounts the murmurings and backslidings of Israel, that was to make Israel into ‘a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’. as well as the Divine guidance and instruction vouchsafed to it; the apostasy of the Golden Calf, as well as the supreme Revelation that followed it—the revelation of the Divine Being as a ‘God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin’ and that will by no means clear the guilty’.

IMPORTANCE.

Nearly all the foundations on which Jewish life is built—

the Ten Commandments,
the historic Festivals,
the leading principles of civil law—

—are contained in the Book of Exodus. And the importance of this Book is not confined to Israel.

In its epic account of Israel’s redemption from slavery, mankind learned

that God is a God of Freedom;
that even as in Egypt He espoused the cause of brick-making slaves against the royal tyrant, Providence ever exalts righteousness and freedom, and humbles iniquity and oppression.

And the Ten Commandments,

spoken at Sinai,
form the Magna Charta of religion and morality,
linking them for the first time, and for all time, indissoluble union.

DIVISIONS. The Book may be divided into five parts.

The first part (chaps I-XV) relates the story of the Oppression and Redemption.
The Second part (chaps. XVI-XIV) describes the journey to Sinai, and embodies the Decalogue and the civil laws and judgments that were to have such a profound influence on human society.
Then follow, in chaps. XXV-XXXI, the directions for the building of the Sanctuary.
Chaps XXXII-XXXIV detail Israel’s apostasy in connection with the Golden Calf;
and chaps. XXXV-XL describe the construction of the Sanctuary,

—-and thus prepare the way for the Third Book of Moses, the Book of Leviticus.

ISRAEL

Did you know? ISRAEL & RP – 3

August 21, 2019 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

[First posted in 2012. A Divine promise to God’s people: “I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you.” Well, one nation was a blessing to God’s chosen when no other nation would take them in at a time of their desperate need to find refuge.]

Monument in Israel honors Filipinos

For saving 1,200 Jews from Holocaust

By Volt Contreras

Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — Before Schindler’s List, there was another document—the Philippine visa—that saved hundreds of Jews from the gas chambers and mass graves of the Holocaust.

In 1939, two years before World War II reached the Pacific, the Commonwealth government under President Manuel L. Quezon allotted 10,000 visas and safe haven to Jews fleeing Nazi Europe . Some 1,200 Jews made it to Manilabefore the city itself fell to Japanese invaders.

Before sunset on June 21, 70 years later, the first ever monument honoring Quezon and the Filipino nation for this “open door policy” was inaugurated on Israeli soil.

The monument—a geometric, seven-meter-high sculpture titled “Open Doors”—was designed by Filipino artist Junyee (Luis Lee Jr.). At the program held at the 65-hectare Holocaust Memorial Park in Rishon LeZion, Israel’s fourth largest city south of Tel Aviv, the mere mention of “Taft Avenue” by one of the speakers brought Ralph Preiss to the verge of tears.

Image from Philippine Daily Inquirer

Preiss, a father of four now in his 70s, later explained that Taft Avenue was where a synagogue-run soup kitchen provided the first hot meals he had as a refugee. Hewas eight when he arrived from Rosenberg, Germany, with his parents at the port of Manila on March 23, 1939.

“If I stayed in Germany I would have been killed,” Preiss, a retired engineer living in Connecticut in the United States, told the Inquirer in aninterview.

“My cousin who lived in Berlin and whose father was a lawyer went to Paris [instead]. The Paris police handed them over to the Nazis, and they were sent to Auschwitz and got killed,” he recalled, adding: “I’m very grateful to the Philippines for opening the doors and letting us in.”‘Salamat sa inyo!’ At the program with an audience of around 300, Max Weissler, glib as a jeepney driver plying the streets of Quiapo, barked onstage: “Thank you! Salamat sa inyo lahat, lahat nandito! Nakapunta kayo lahat! Salamat sa inyo!”

“Unfortunately,” Weissler noted, “very little is known about this great deed of President Quezon and the Filipino people during the Holocaust. Very little is known about this among us Israelis, the Jews around the world, and even in the Philippines .”

Weissler was 11 when he and his German family settled in Pasay City. To eke out a living, his mother baked cakes that his father sold. They all survived the war, and Weissler went on to fight another by joining the US Army in the Korean War.

“We came to Manila with practically nothing and always found help one way or another from the Filipinos,” Weissler said. “They have an open heart, and this is why we have this monument.”

3 triangles

Junyee won a competition held by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in February 2007 for the monument project. He bagged a P300,000 cash prize for his design, which bested seven other entries, including one submitted by a National Artist, according to the Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv.

Rendered mainly in steel and set on a base of marble tiles shipped from Romblon, the monument depicts three doors of ascending heights (three, five and seven meters).

Viewed from above, Junyee’s work joins together “three triangles”—one representing the triangle of the Philippine flag, and the others signifying the two triangles that form the Star of David in the Israeli flag.

Etched on the marble floor are three sets of “footprints” approaching the doors. The prints are said to be those of Weissler, fellow Jewish refugee George Loewenstein, and Doryliz Goffer, a young Filipino-Israeli born in the Philippines and a granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor.

Modena’s mission

In November 2005, speaking before the Rotary Club of Jerusalem, then Philippine Ambassador to Israel Antonio Modena launched a “campaign for the remembrance of the Philippines’ humanitarian support for the Jews,” according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

That campaign merely proposed that a marker for the Philippines be placed on the Holocaust Memorial Park’s “Boulevard of the Righteous Among the Nations,” which features a row of red granite blocks with the names of countries and number of persons in each country who saved Jews.

But the response from then Rishon LeZion Mayor Meir Nitzan “surprised” the Philippine mission: Not just a slab of granite but a monument with its own prominent spot in the park was to be built to thank the Philippines and its people.

Technical and financial difficulties delayed the completion of the monument for two years; Modena and Nitzan originally set the inauguration in 2007 to mark the golden anniversary of Philippine-Israeli relations.

Modena died of lung cancer in February 2007. His name is first on the dedication plaque unveiled at the “Open Doors” monument on June 21. Modena’s campaign was said to have been inspired by the 2003 book “Escape to Manila: From Nazi Tyranny to Japanese Terror” by Frank Ephraim. The 246-page eyewitness account gathers the voices of 36 refugees, who described in detail their arduous journeys to Manila , the lives they tried to build, and their fresh ordeals under Japanese rule.

Born in Berlin, Ephraim was eight when he fled to Manila with his parents in 1939.After the war he immigrated to the United States, began a career in naval architecture and later worked with the US Department of Transportation.

Ephraim died in August 2006. “He was very attached to the Philippines and was very anxious to go back there. We were supposed to go, and then he got lung cancer and that was the end of it. It was just too bad,” said his American widow Ruth, another special guest at the inaugural.

Filipino pride

Tourism Secretary Joseph Durano, who attended the inaugural on the invitation of the Israeli government, shared passages from the book which, he said, “made me proud to be a Filipino.”

Quoting Ephraim, Durano read: “Filipinos were a tolerant people who never interfered or took any action against the Jews. [Their temple] on Taft Avenue was very visible and Jews attended services and congregated in front of the temple without the slightest disturbance.

“There was never a ghetto in Manila, and Jews lived in close proximity with Filipinos, and all sides introduced neighbors to each other’s cuisine, music, culture and history.”

According to Durano, the “Open Doors” monument “celebrates the most powerful force on earth, second only to God’s will, and that is the human will.”

“It was just amazing, the will of these Jewish families who escaped to Manila.Some had to go through Siberia, some had to take boats for weeks and months,” he said.

But also, Durano said, the monument “celebrates the Filipino heart …a heart that touches others with compassion, a heart that makes one a blessing to the world.”

ISRAEL

Did you know? ISRAEL & RP – 2

August 21, 2019 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

Jews honor Manuel L. Quezon on his 134th birthday/Sunday, August 19th, 2012

By Nena C. Benigno/Philippine Daily Inquirer

As the country commemorates the 134th birthday today, August 19, of Manuel L. Quezon, he is also honored by thousands of Jewish families who have survived and prospered because they found a home in Manila at the darkest time in their history as a race.

It was a point of no return.

German and Austrian Jews—1,200 of them—narrowly escaped Adolf Hitler’s gas chambers just before the German dictator rounded up 6 million Jews who were eventually tortured and murdered in his concentration camps.

Sunday, August 19th, 2012
Image source: http://www.google.com/imgres?q=photo+of+Manuel+L+Quezon

“The mob was screaming bloody murder: ‘Kill the Jews!’” recalls child refugee to Manila John Odenheimer who saw Nazi storm troopers rampaging through their Jewish neighborhood.

“We caught the last train out of Berlin, they closed the border after us,” recalls German refugee Guenther Leopold, whose house was smashed and ransacked by Nazi soldiers. “There was nothing left (but broken) glass on the floors.”

The year was 1940. On the other side of the world, a Filipino leader opened his country to fleeing Jewish refugees when no other country would take them.

President Quezon opened the Philippines’ doors to up to 10,000 Jewish refugees.

“We went to the Philippines because it was the only place that gave us a visa,” recalled Harry Brauer, one of the Jews who escaped captivity, during that black period of ignorance and anti-Semitism.

The German and Austrian Jews were given visas to work in Manila.

‘Moral courage’

“Other countries did not think [saving the Jews] was that important, I don’t presume to say,” said Quezon’s daughter Zeneida Quezon Avanceña. “But I know dad had the moral courage to do it because he believed in the sanctity of human life and the right of people to live as they believe they should.”

The dramatic rescue plan for the Jews was devised by three men who mapped out a strategy over weekend nights playing poker and smoking cigars. They were: Quezon, who would sanction the Jews’ official entry and even donate his own land in Marikina and Mindanao for their settlements; American High Commissioner to the Philippines Paul McNutt, who risked his political career convincing US government officials to issue thousands of working visas for Jews to the Philippines; and Herbert Frieder and his sons, owners of the Philippine-based Helena Cigar and Cigarette Factory, who provided jobs in their factory for the Jews, raised money to transport them to Manila, found them housing and schools for their children.

‘Open Doors’ monument

Quezon was the President of the first democracy in the “Far East,” extending safety and liberty to the Jews who would set up the first democracy and Bible-believing state in the Middle East.

The tradition of freedom of worship and support for the biblical “chosen people” would manifest again seven years later when the Philippines became the only Asian nation to vote in the United Nations for the partition of Palestine and the recreation of the state of Israel. Many of the refugees to Manila eventually resettled in Israel.

The Filipinos and Quezon are honored in Israel by an attractive and imposing “Open Doors” monument in Rishon Lezion Memorial Park just off Tel Aviv built in 2009. It commemorates the historic and spiritual ties between two peoples scattered among the nations, united by their commitment to freedom, humanitarian principles and faith in the God of the Bible.

The story of the Jews’ dramatic escape from the Holocaust and their resettlement in the Philippines is recorded in the book “Escape to Manila,” written by refugee Frank Ephraim. A film that records that modern-day Exodus, titled “Rescue in the Philippines,” is being produced by Frieder Films and 3 Roads Communications, a preview of which will be shown on “The 700 Club Asia” on GMA News TV during a “Special Focus on Israel” beginning on September 15.

ISRAEL

ISRAEL & RP

August 21, 2019 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

[Source : Center of Jewish Studies – http://www.cjss.org.cn/200706207.htm, reformatting and highlights added. Please go to the site for the complete article as well as the sources of information cited in these selected excerpts following a timeline of Jewish presence in the Philippines.]

Manila Jews’ Communal Origins and Commercial Activity

The Marrano brothers Jorge and Domingo Rodriguez are the first Jews recorded to have arrived in the Spanish Philippines. They reached Manila in the 1590s.
By 1593 both were tried at an auto-da-fe in Mexico City because the Inquisition did not have an independent tribunal in the Philippines. They were imprisoned, and at least eight other Marranos from the Philippines were subsequently tried by the Inquisition.
A second group of Jews arrived in the late 1800s. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 the Levy brothers of Alsace fled with a stash of diamonds. They first established a jewelry store and then a general merchandising business, Estrella del Norte, which exists in Manila today. Their enterprise branched out from the importation of gems to pharmaceuticals and automobiles.
By 1898, when the United States took over the Philippines from Spain, the Levys had been joined by more Alsatian Ashkenazim and other Jews, creating a multi-ethnic community of approximately fifty individuals.

There is no record of any Filipino Marrano reconverting to Judaism once the Spanish had departed. Indeed, conversion rates to Christianity were quite high among the general Filipino population. But Manila Jewry grew by other means.

By 1918, twenty years after the American takeover, Manila Jewry consisted of about 150 people. By then it also included Turkish, Syrian, and Egyptian Jews. The new immigrants, according to historian Annette Eberly, considered Manila a second frontier…a place for the young and ambitious to flee to. It was especially attractive to those who chafed at limitations on social and economic mobility in their native lands.

Most of the newcomers were American servicemen discharged in Manila after the Spanish-American and First World Wars plus Russian Jews fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. These arrivals engaged in import and export trade and port side real estate development. They did not, however, interact with a cohesive international Jewish merchant diaspora and in this respect differ from the Jews of Singapore.

Jewish Institutional Development in Manila

By 1920 Manila Jewry included the founder of the stock exchange, the conductor of the symphony orchestra, physicians, and architects. Apart from these purely secular achievements, twenty two years after the commencement of the American occupation there was almost zero Jewish institutional development.
Spanish repression may explain this phenomenon before 1898. It does not account for the absence of institutional development under the Americans.
In 1920 the Zionist fundraiser Israel Cohen, who was greatly impressed by Jewish institutional development in Singapore Jewry, visited Manila. He lamented that although “there were several hundred Jews, they had not formed a synagogue.” He wrote:

“they were there twenty years, there was no Jewish organization or institution of any kind. If a Jew wished to get married, he took a day trip to Hong Kong. I left wondering whether all the fortunes of the rich Jews of Manila are worth the soul of one poor Jew of Zamboanga [a Syrian Jew he had met on one of the outer Philippine islands, who told Cohen ‘we feel here in Galuth…soon we hope to get back to the land of Israel’ –ed].

A synagogue was finally built by a weathy Ashkenazi benefactor in 1924 but was rarely serviced by full time clergy. Rabbis and cantors were imported from Shanghai and elsewhere for short stints. At one point an itinerant rabbi serviced the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.[33]
In 1930 an American journalist reported that the eighty Jewish families and fifty single Jews in the Philippines are all well established yet indifferent to their Judaism. They have no interest in a Jewish community. There is a handsome synagogue, but it is used only on [the Jewish high holidays of] Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur. There was a religious school, but it was closed on account of the scarcity of teachers…Most of the children receive absolutely no Jewish education…The religious indifference of their parents plus the lack of knowledge of Jewish affairs of the children counts these families as a total loss to Judaism.

It is clear then that Manila’s Jews experienced precious little of the intensified Rabbinic Judaism of Singapore. While some faded completely into the seductive woodwork of what historian Eberly called “the good life out there,” others assumed secularized aspects of Jewish identity. The fullest expression of this identity was the aid Philippine Jews gave first to refugees from Hitler and thereafter to Zionism and to the State of Israel. For many Philippine Jews these two forms of philanthropy became inseparable. How did they evolve?

Philippine Jews’ Assistance to Holocaust Refugees

The rise of Hitler mobilized some of Manila’s most secularized Jews into communal service. The niece of the founder of the infrequently-used Manila synagogue observed that “we only became Jewish conscious in a deep way when the terrible threat came out of Europe and suddenly there were Jews in desperate need of help.”

Although the Philippines became an American territorial possession in 1898, by the nineteen thirties, as a self-governing commonwealth, it controlled its own immigration policies. It was thus exempt from the severe immigration restrictions imposed by the United States Congress in 1924.

A “Jewish Refugee Committee” of Manila, organized in 1937, sought to take advantage of this loophole in order to assist Jews fleeing Hitler.
Their first opportunity to shelter a significant number of Jews occurred in August 1937. In that month the German government offered all Germans in Shanghai free passage to the Philippines if they wished to escape the Sino-Japanese hostilities that had erupted in that city.
- At the request of the German Consul General in Manila, the U.S. High Commissioner of the Philippines Paul McNutt and President Quezon, authorized the admission of these refugees on the condition that they would not become a public burden.
- The immigrants would be sponsored either by the ethnic German or the Jewish community of the Philippines.
- In Shanghai twenty-eight German Jews and an approximately equal number of ethnic Germans took the Nazi government up on its offer.
- They arrived together in Manila on September 8, 1937 aboard the Norddeutscher Lloyd steamship Gneisenau. The Jewish Refugee Committee assumed the formidable task of providing for the largest Jewish refugee group ever to have landed in the Philippines.
- On February 15, 1939, Quezon sent a message to the Philippine congress, which technically oversaw immigration matters, urging the admission of an additional 10,000 German Jewish professionals.
  - Although this grandiose scheme never materialized, Rosenthal and other Manila Jews were able to persuade Quezon to independently authorize the admission of perhaps as many as one thousand Nazi-persecuted Jews.
  - Even these admissions were problematical as the Philippines had no independent consular service and relied on United States diplomatic personnel for the worldwide implementation of its immigration policy.
  - In the blunt words of the son of Manila Jewish community president Morton Netzorg, “wherever the American consular staff was friendly to the Jewish people Jews got out, and where they shrugged their shoulders Jews did not get out.”
By a variety of means about 1,000 Jewish refugees reached Manila before the December 1941Japanese attack on both Pearl Harbor and the Philippines and the subsequent Japanese occupation of the entire Philippine archipelago.
- Most Jewish refugees arrived penniless and on two year temporary visas.
- The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee aided these immigrants until the Japanese attack. Some aid before that date and all assistance for the duration of the war came from the Manila Jewish community itself. Of particular help were those community members who held Iraqi, Philippino, and—ironically—German passports and who thereby escaped Japanese internment.
- Morton Netzorg’s son recalled that although “the Jewish community was very small [it] practiced tithing to help the refugees. Five hundred were brought over in a three year period.”
- The effort becomes all the more impressive when one considers that after December 1941the Philippines was an intense battle zone and the community suffered severe wartime losses.
  - During the Battle of Manila in 1945, 79 individuals, or approximately 10% of the Jewish community, were wartime casualties, a rate similar to that of Manila’s overall population.

Despite these hardships the Jewish Community of Manila spared perhaps as many as 1,000 Jews from almost certain obliteration at the hands of the Nazis.

One of the Austrian Jewish survivors asserts that you could never find as generous and solid a group of people [as the Philippine Jewish community] anywhere else in the world.
They gave—and give—unstintingly in times of crisis. They have never neglected the needs of the destitute and the sick.
Even before the Japanese came the community set up a special home for the Jewish indigent in Marakina. It was kept up for years long after the war was over.

The Philippine Jewish Community’S Embrace of Zionism and Assistance to the State of Israel

When the aforementioned Zionist fundraiser Israel Cohen visited Manila in 1920 he was greatly disappointed because the Manila Jewish community did not support his movement. He lamented that “I spoke to quite a number of Jews, but they simply would not hear of it, and not a single god damn cent did I get.”
Within twenty-five years many members of the community had made a complete turnaround on the subject of Zionism. For them Zionism was a natural outgrowth of their wartime experiences. They had incurred heavy losses at the hands of Hitler and his allies, made significant sacrifices to aid European refugees, and now wanted a secure Jewish homeland for that surviving remnant.
Members of the community who were close to postwar Philippine President Manuel Roxas were instrumental, along with key advisors to U.S. President Harry Truman, in convincing the Philippine delegation to the United Nations to vote in favor of the partition of Palestine and the establishment of a Jewish state in 1947.
The Philippines thus became the only Asian nation to vote for Israeli independence.
- It was also among the first to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.
- As was the case in independent Singapore, the local Jewish community cultivated Philipine-Israel relations
- In 1951 the Philippines signed an aviation agreement with Israel.
- In that same year, Lt. Col. [Ret.] Shaul Ramati, of the Israel Defence Forces, paid a fundraising visit. As a result of that campaign, Honorary Israeli Consul Ernest E. Simke was able to write to the Central Zionist Executive that “the appeal yielded approximately P$60,000.
- It was the highest collection ever made in the Philippines.”
In 1956 Simke wrote that “although the community is small, there is a strong Zionist sympathy.” In that same year the Philippines welcomed Moshe Sharett, Israel’s outgoing foreign minister and former prime minister, on the same visit that included Singapore.

Conclusion: Manila, Singapore, and Other Zionisms

Emigration from the Philippines to Israel and elsewhere shrunk the Manila community from an immediate postwar peak of perhaps 2500, to 1000 in 1946, 400 in 1949, 250 in 1968, and to approximately eighty families in 2005.

Some families, such as the Simkes, took out Philippine citizenship.

The community remains a mix of ethnically-Filipino spouses and/or converts, Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Baghdadis, Americans, Israelis, and others.

Although small in numbers and weak in formal aspects of religiosity, the Jewish community in one of the world’s largest cities and seaports remains secular, Jewish, Filipino, and overwhelmingly Zionistic.

Manila had never had been a YIDDISHE GEMEINDE, or Jewish community in the classic European or even Singaporean Baghdadi sense. Its religiosity was displayed in quasi-secular ways, notably in its efforts to rescue Jewish refugees and to aid the Zionist movement. In Singapore, on the other hand, Zionism was the outgrowth of the Orthodox Baghdadi religious commitment of Haham Yosef Hayyim, Sir Menasseh Meyer, and their disciples. It is not surprising that Singapore, with its homogeneity and strong religious identity, contributed so much to the building of the Land of Israel.

The commitment of the highly assimilated, multiethnic Jews of Manila, on the other hand, was both unexpected and distinct.

OPINION

“Angry, vengeful God” of OT vs. “Merciful loving God” of NT

August 21, 2019 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

[First posted in 2012, time for a revisit. This is from www.thereddoorcommunity.org, authored by Jeffrey Cranford thereddoorcommunity.org, linksplayers.com. We will use this as a springboard for another series of articles by discussing its claims and the scriptural references used to back up the claims. It appears to be a systematic presentation citing many verses from both Testaments, so it is wise to check the CONTEXT of the verses, particularly the ones from OT, if it at all connects with the NT. Reformatted for posting.—Admin1.]

Reconciling

the “Angry, vengeful God” of the Old Testament

with the

“Merciful, loving God” of the New Testament

New Year’s Series/ 2012

Do you struggle to understand how the Old and New Testaments could reflect the same God?
Do you purposefully avoid the Old Testament because it just seems to challenge your faith and even give ammunition to those who would want to discredit Christianity?
Is Christianity a radically different religion than what Abraham, Moses, King David and many of the prophets understood faith to be?
By the way, what are we to do with the law?
- Do we keep some of them and ignore others.
- And, if we do, which laws are in and which laws are out?

This is going to be challenging, and we may not all agree, but that’s just the kind of discussion I like. The depth of our faith depends on some good answers – probably more than you or I am aware!

The church has dealt with this question before:

Marcion around 144 AD (Gnostic tendencies)
Dualist: created world evil and non-material world good.
Maltheistic views of God (God of Old Testament hopelessly failed).
Jesus was not the Jewish Messiah, so we can rid ourselves of all the prophecies concerning Him.
Jesus was a spiritual entity sent to reveal truth by the Monad (absolute, the one), unlike the lesser creation God of the evil material world.

With this in place, it was easy to for (sic) Marcion to overcome the difficult questions everyone tends to ask. Some of Marcion’s strongest arguments came from Luke 5:36-38. He ignored Matthew 13:52. In fact, he eliminated the entire Gospel.

So, in short, you can see that these questions that concern us about our God, have been big issues in the past as well. So, how do we reconcile these two seemingly irreconcilable Gods?

1. Jesus made it clear that the God of the Old Testament was both His Father and the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:13,14; John 9:35; John 3:13; Luke 19:9,10; John 12:20-26)

2. There were magnificent acts of mercy displayed by God in the Old Testament (Genesis 15: 16, Genesis 6:3, Ezekiel 18:23)

3. There were stern words used by Jesus in the New Testament regarding current realities and future judgments to come (John 8:43, 44; Matthew 10:28-36; Revelation 19:15)

4. Jesus made it clear that both Moses and Abraham saw Him on the horizon (John 5:39-47; John 8:31-59)

5. To believe Moses was to believe in Jesus. So, to believe in the Law/Torah/Penteteuch (which was penned by its author Moses), is to understand Jesus and the kingdom He was, and still is, inaugurating.

6. Are we still under the Law for righteousness? That’s a clear no! (Romans 10: 1-4, Galatians 2: 21) 7. What do we do with (Matthew 5:13-20)?

The Torah/ Law was given for 3 primary purposes

1. Keep Israel together as a nation until the “enabler”of the promise to Abraham appeared (Galatians 3:19). God knew that they would not be able to keep the Law. In fact, the Torah (read Law) prophesied that they would fail, be dispersed all over the planet and one day return to finally get circumcised hearts (Deuteronomy 29:22 – 30:6; Ezekiel 36:22-28) We will discuss what it meant when God said the Israelites would one day “...walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”

2. Prophecy about the Messiah who was to come

Through the atonement (Genesis 3:15; 12:3; Galatians 3:13,14; Exodus 12; Leviticus 13-14; 16; 23; Numbers 2; Numbers 21:6-9; Exodus 21:32)
The Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:18,19; John 1:45)
The Star (Numbers 24:17)
The High Priest (Genesis 14:17-20; Hebrews 7-8)
All kinds of metaphors 1. 2. 3.
- Rock (Exodus 17:6; 1 Corinthians 10:1-4)
- Water (Exodus 17:6; John 7:37,38; Jeremiah 15:18; John 4:10-16)
- Manna and Oil ( Numbers 11:1-9; John 6:48-51; 1 John 2:20,27; Exodus 30:25; Ecclesiastes 10:1)

3. Act as a template for those who would try and navigate the waters of the “new kingdom”

Oxen (1 Corinthians 9: 1-14)
Law viewed as the Torah narrative (Matthew 5:17-19)
Separation from the nations.

Isn’t this just racism at its core and something that perpetuates religious wars and sectarian strife?

The priests (Numbers 8:14; 1 Peter 2:9)
The nation (Exodus 12:43; 19:6; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Ezekiel 37:27)
The story of Phinehas ( Numbers 25; 2 Corinthians 2:11; 1 Corinthians 5:9-11)

*What did it mean that Phinehas would be given God’s covenant of peace? (Malachi 2:1-9) *Phinehas was uncompromising in his actions. We too, are to be uncompromising in our battle against the enemy of our souls – Satan himself!

The entire Exodus (Salvation from Egypt, through the sea, learning to walk with God in the wilderness, crossing the Jordan, conquering the land until the righteous king could be set on the throne) (1 Corinthians 10:11; Amos 9:12; Acts 15:15-18)

– Why so much warfare? (Judges 3:1-4; 1 Peter 4:12; Ephesians 6:10-20; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

Giving of the Law analogous to giving of the Spirit but with radically different results (Exodus 32:19-28; Acts 2)
Laws of the clean and unclean/ from the physical to the spiritual (Leviticus 11; Acts 10)
Law of the trees (Leviticus 19:23-25; Exodus 23:29-30/ little by little)
The twelve tribes and the twelve disciples
The recruitment of the 70 (Exodus 18:17-23; Numbers 11:16,17; Luke 10)
Strange fire (Leviticus 10:1-3; Leviticus 9:23,24; Isaiah 50:11)
The two radically different covenants (Genesis 16:15; 21:2; Galatians 4:21-31)
What about observing the Sabbath? (Exodus 20:8-11; Colossians 2:8-23; Galatians 4:9-11; Romans 14:4-10; Hebrews 4:1-11; Exodus 33:13-16)
What about tithing? (Malachi 3?)
- *Leviticus 27 Tithe
- *Deuteronomy 14 Tithe
- *The Tithe from the third year of the seven year cycle

In short, the New Testament seems to introduce us to these amazing realities – often hidden to those without eyes to see (Deuteronomy 29:1-4; Proverbs 25:2; Matthew 13:10-17)

Thanks for being kings through this series!

Jeffrey Cranford thereddoorcommunity.org, linksplayers.com.

Leviticus/Waiqrah

Notes on Leviticus/Wayyiqrah – 2 – Prohibited Marriages

August 21, 2019 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

[Originally posted in 2013. This is from Pentateuch & Haftarahs.]

TABLE OF PROHIBITED MARRIAGES

In Force Among Jews To-Day

A man may not marry:—	A woman may not marry:—
(a) His mother, grandmother, and ascendants; the mother of his grandfather; his stepmother, the wife of his paternal grandfather, and of his ascendants; and the wife of his maternal grandfather.	(a) Her father, grandfather, and ascendants; her stepfather; and the husband of her grandmother, and of her ascendants.
(b) His daughter, grand-daughter, great-grand-daughter and her descendants; his daughter-in-law; the wife of his son’s son, and descendants; and the wife of his daughter’s son.	(b) Her son, grandson, great-grandson; her-son-in-law, and the husband of her grand-daughter and descendants.
(c) His wife’s mother or grandmother; the mother of his father-in-law and ascendants.	(c) Her husband’s father, or grandfather, and the father of her father-in-law—and descendants; and the father of her mother-in-law.
(d) His wife’s daughter or her grand-daughter, and descendants	(d) Her husband’s son or grandson, and descendants.
(e) His sister, half-sister, his full- or half- brother’s wife (divorced or widow; see, however, on Deut. XXV, 5, 9); and the full- or half-sister of his divorced wife in her lifetime.	(e) Her brother; half-brother; her full- or half-sister’s divorced husband in her sister’s lifetime; and her husband’s brother and her nephew.
(f) His aunt, and uncle’s wife (divorced or widow), whether the uncle be the full- or half-brother of his father or mother
(g) A married woman, unless Get has been given; and his divorced wife after her remarriage (her second husband having died or divorced her).	(g) A married man, unless Get has been given; and her divorced husband after the death or divorce of her second husband.
(h) Anyone who is not a member of the Jewish Faith; the issue of an incestuous union (mamzereth); the married woman guilty of adultery with him; and the widow whose husband died childless, until Chalitzah has been performed. AKohen may not marry a divorced woman, a Chalitzah widow, or a proselyte.	(h) Anyone who is not a member if the Jewish Faith; the issue of an incestuous union (mamzer); and the man guilty of adultery with her as a married woman.

[A man may thus marry:—	[A woman may thus marry:—
(a) His stepsister, his stepfather’s wife (divorced or widow), his niece; and his full- or half-brother’s or sister’s daughter-in-law.	(a) Her stepbrother; and her stepmother’s former husband.
(b) His cousin; his stepson’s wife (divorced or widow); and his deceased wife’s sister.]	(b) Her cousin; and her deceased sister’s husband, whether of a full- or half-sister.
	(c) Her uncle.]

Leviticus/Waiqrah

Notes on Leviticus/Wayyiqrah: 4 – The ‘golden rule’ is of Jewish origin, surprised?

August 21, 2019 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

[Originally posted in 2013; reviving 6-year-old posts that are still and will always be relevant in any day and age.]

D. THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGBOUR AS THYSELF

Leviticus XIX, 18

The ‘Golden Rule’ in Judaism.

The world at large is unaware of the fact that this comprehensive maxim of morality –the golden rule of human conduct—was first taught by Judaism.

No less a thinker than John Stuart Mill expressed his surprise that it came from the Pentateuch.

Not only is it Jewish in origin, but, long before the rise of Christianity, Israel’s religious teachers quoted Leviticus XIX, 18, either verbally or in paraphrase, as expressing the essence of the moral life. Thus, Ben Sira says, ‘Honour thy neighbour as thyself.’

In the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs we read:

‘A man should not do to his neighbour what a man does not desire for himself.’

Tobit admonishes his son in the words, ‘What is displeasing to thyself, that do not unto any other.’

Philo and Josephus have sayings similar to the above.

As to the Rabbis, there is the well-known story of Hillel and the heathen scoffer who asked Hillel to condense for him the whole Law in briefest possible form. Hillel’s answer is, ‘Whatever is hateful unto thee, do it not unto thy fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is explanation.’

Targum Jonathan adds to its translation of Lev. XIX, 18 a paraphrase in words almost identical with those of Hillel.

In the generation after the Destruction of the Temple, Rabbi Akiba declares ‘“Thou shalt love they neighbour as thyself” is a fundamental rule in the Torah,’

His contemporary Ben Azzai agrees that this law of love is such a fundamental rule, provided it is read in conjunction with Gen. V, 1 (‘This is the book of the generations of man. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him’);

for this latter verse teaches reverence for the Divine image in man,
and proclaims the vital truth of the unity of mankind,
and the consequent doctrine of the brotherhood of man.
All men are created in the Divine image, says Ben Azzai; and, therefore, all are our fellow-men and entitled to human love.

And the command of Lev. XIX, 18 applies to—

classes
and nations
as well as to individuals.

The Prophets in their day, on the one hand, arraigned the rich for their oppression of the poor; and, on the other hand, pilloried the nations that were guilty of inhumanity and breach of faith towards one another. Their sublime conception of international morality has found wonderful expression in the words of Judah the Pious, a medieval Jewish mystic, who said: ‘On the Judgment Day, the Holy One, blessed be He, will call the nations to account for every violation of the command “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” of which they have been guilty in their dealings with one another.’

Modernist Depreciation of Lev. XIX, 18, 34.

Though the Founder of Christianity quotes ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’ as the old Biblical command of recognized central importance, many Christian theologians maintain that the Heb. Word for ‘neighbour’ (rea) in this verse refers only to the fellow-Israelite. Its morality therefore is only tribal.

But the translation of the Heb. Word rea by ‘fellow-Israelite’ is incorrect. One need not be a Hebrew scholar to convince oneself of the fact that rea means neighbour of whatever race or creed.

Thus in Exodus XI, 2—‘Let them ask every man of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, etc.’—the Heb. Word for neighbour cannot possibly mean ‘fellow-Israelite’, but distinctly refers to the Egyptians.

As in all the moral precepts of Scripture, the word neighbour in Lev. XIX, 18, is equivalent to ‘fellow-man’, and it includes in its range every human being by virtue of his humanity.

In order to prevent any possible misunderstanding, the command of love of neighbour is in v. 34 of this same nineteenth chapter of Leviticus extended to include the homeless alien.

‘The stranger (ger) that sojourneth with you shall be unto you as the home-born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers (gerim) in the land of Egypt.’

But even this marvelous law, that is absolutely without parallel in any ancient or modern code of civil law, is cavilled at by modernist theologians and decried as ‘narrow’. The Heb. word ger, they hold, denotes only an alien who had become a fellow-worshipper of the God of Israel. This is contrary to fact. The Israelites in Egypt are in this very verse spoken of as gerim: but they did not as a body adopt the worship of Isis or Apis; they were hated, suspected and enslaved ‘strangers’.

It is evident, therefore, that Lev. XIX, 34 likewise refers to the friendless and homeless foreigner. He was throughout antiquity the victim of injustice and oppression, as were the Israelites in Egypt; in Israel alone he was not obliged to struggle for recognition as a human being. (See further on love of alien and of enemy, pp. 313 and 316.)

The ‘Negative’ Golden Rule.

There is one other argument that is resorted to in order to prove that the true Golden Rule was first promulgated by Christianity. The greatest stress is laid on the fact that both Tobit and Hillel paraphrase Lev. XIX, 18 in a negative way—‘Whatever is hateful unto thee, do it not unto thy fellow.’

This is contrasted, and unfavourably so, with the positive paraphrase in the New Testament, ‘All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye unto them.’ It is claimed that the former is only negative morality; and that in its positive restatement alone, as formulated in the Gospels, is the Rule a great imperative of moral enthusiasm.

This argument is now seen to be illusory. ‘The delicate difference which has been thought to exist between the negative and positive form is due to modern reflection on the subject, and was quite unapparent to the men of antiquity’ (G. Kittel).

In the oldest Christian literature the two forms are recorded indiscriminately; and the negative Golden Rule occurs in the Western texts of Acts XV, 20, Romans XIII, 10, the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, and the Apostolical Constitutions. And positive forms of the Rule have had a place in Judaism. Thus Hillel says, ‘Love thy fellow-creatures’; and Eleazar ben Arach, ‘Let the honour of thy neighbour be as dear to thee as thine own.’ But the mere fact that Lev. XIX, 18 is positive, itself renders all talk of a negative Jewish morality in connection with the Golden Rule fatuous.

It is time that the attempt to rob Judaism of its title to having given the Golden Rule to humanity, as well as the dispute as to the superiority of the positive over the negative form, came to an end.

As thyself. ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’

Regard for self has its legitimate place in the life of man. Unlimited self-surrender is impossible; and a sound morality takes account of our own interests equally with those of others. In the luminous words of Hillel: ‘If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I?’

The Sifra, the oldest Rabbinic commentary on Leviticus, records the following: ‘Two men are in the desert with a little water in possession of one of them. If the one drinks it, he will reach civilization; but if the two of them share it, both will die. Ben Petura said, Let the two of them drink, though both will die.

Rabbi Akiba held that, in such a case, your own life has precedence over the life of your fellow-man.’ Rabbi Akiba could not agree that two should perish where death demands but one as its toll. And, indeed, if the Torah had meant that a man must love his neighbour to the extent of sacrificing his life for him in all circumstances, it would have said: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour more than thyself.’

There are those, both in ancient and in modern times, who do not agree with Rabbi Akiba, and who deem the view of Ben Petura the more altruistic, the more heroic. Such would have preferred that the words as thyself had not occurred in the Golden Rule. Others again preach the annihilation of self, or at any rate its total submergence, as the basic principle of human conduct.

New formulations of the whole duty of man have in consequence been proposed by various thinkers. We need examine but one of these formulations—Live for others. Were such a rule seriously translated into practice, it would lead to absurdity. For Live for others necessarily entails that others live for you. You are to attend to everybody else’s concerns, and everybody else is to attend to your concerns—except yourself. A moment’s examination of this or any other proposed substitute for ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself only brings out the more clearly the fundamental sanity of Judaism.