No Religion is an Island – Conclusion – “Revelation to Israel continues as a revelation through Israel.”

August 6, 2018 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

[This is a revisit; first posted 2012; part of a series from No Religion is an Island by Abraham Joshua Heschel (AJH). Related posts are:

Our most recent acquisition by AJH is Man is not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion. We will feature excerpts from that book soon.

Meanwhile, here’s the original INTRODUCTION in 2012:

Image from www.quotessays.com

Words of great men preserved for posterity continue to teach later generations even when the speakers/writers have finished their appointed time on earth. We are grateful to Susanah Heschel for the publication of the collection of essays and speeches of her father, Abraham Joshua Heschel, whose writings in Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity have greatly inspired us to expand our thinking beyond the religious boundaries we finally overstepped and moved on from. This concludes random excerpts from the speech delivered by AJH in 1965 to a congregation of Christian theologians. It is our hope that as we continue featuring the mind of this great Jewish philosopher through his words, readers will be curious to read more and purchase personal copies of his books. Reformatting and highlighting and chosen illustrations added. —Admin1.]

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Image from ironline.american.edu

A major factor in our religious predicament is due to self-righteousness and to the assumption that faith is found only in him who has arrived, while it is absent in him who is on the way. Religion is often inherently guilty of the sin of pride and presumption. To paraphrase a prophet’s words, the exultant religion dwelt secure and said in her heart: “I am, and there is no one besides me.”

Humility and contrition seem to be absent where most required—in theology. But humility is the beginning and end of religious thinking, the secret test of faith. There is no truth without humility, no certainty without contrition.

Ezra the Scribe, the great renovator of Judaism, of whom the rabbis said that he was worthy of receiving the Torah had it not been already given through Moses, confessed his lack of perfect faith. He tells us that after he had received a royal firman from King Artaxerxes granting him permission to lead a group of exiles from Babylonia:

I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all substance. For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, “The hand of God is upon all them for good that seek Him” (8:21-220).

Human faith is never final, never an arrival, but rather an endless pilgrimage, a being on the way. We have no answers to all problems. Even some of our sacred answers are both emphatic and qualified, final and tentative; final within our own position in history, tentative because we can speak only in the tentative language of man.

Heresy is often a roundabout expression of faith, and sojourning in the wilderness is a preparation for entering the Promised Land.

Is the failure, the impotence of all religions, due exclusively to human transgression? Or perhaps to the mystery of God’s withholding His grace, of His concealing even while revealing? Disclosing the fulness of His glory would be an impact that would surpass the power of human endurance.

His thoughts are not our thoughts. Whatever is revealed is abundance compared with our soul and a pittance compared with His treasures. No word is God’s last word, no word is God’s ultimate word.

Following the revelation at Sinai, the people said to Moses:

You speak to us, and we will hear; let not God speak to us, lest we die (Exodus 20:19).

The Torah as given to Moses, an ancient rabbi maintains, is but an unripened fruit of the heavenly tree of wisdom. At the end of days, much that is concealed will be revealed.

The mission to the Jews is a call to the individual Jew to betray the fellowship, the dignity, the sacred history of his people. Very few Christians seem to comprehend what is morally and spiritually involved in supporting such activities. We are Jews as we are men. The alternative to our existence as Jews is spiritual suicide, extinction. It is not a change into something else. Judaism has allies but no substitutes.”

The wonder of Israel, the marvel of Jewish existence, the survival of holiness in the history of the Jews is a continuous verification of the marvel of the Bible. Revelation to Israel continues as a revelation through Israel.

The Protestant pastor Christian Furchtegott Gellert was asked by Frederick the Great, “Herr Professor, give me proof of the Bible, but briefly, for I have little time.” Gellert answered, “Your Majesty, the Jews.”

Indeed, is not the existence of the Jews a witness to the God of Abraham? Is not our loyalty to the Law of Moses a light that continues to illumine the lives of those who observe it as well as the lives of those who are aware of it.

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None of us pretends to be God’s accountant, and His design for history and redemption remains a mystery before which we must stand in awe. It is as arrogant to maintain that the Jews’ refusal to accept Jesus as the Messiah is due to their stubbornness or blindness as it would be presumptuous for Jews not to acknowledge the glory and holiness in the lives of countless Christians.

The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth (Psalm 145:18).

. . . The ancient rabbis proclaimed:

“Pious men of all nations have a share in the life to come.” . . .

Holiness is not the monopoly of any particular religion or tradition. Wherever a deed is done in accord with the will of God, wherever a thought of man is directed toward Him, there is the holy.

The Jews do not maintain that the way of the Torah is the only way of serving God.

Let all the peoples walk each one in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever (Micah 4:5).

. . . Conversion to Judaism is no prerequisite for sanctity. In His Code Maimonides asserts:

“Not only is the tribe of Levi (God’s portion) sanctified in the highest degree, but any man among the dwellers on earth whose heart prompts him and whose mind instructs him to dedicate himself to the services of God and to walk uprightly as God intended him to and who disencumbers himself of the load of the many pursuits which men invent for themselves. . . God asks for the heart, everything depends upon the intention of the heart . . . all men have a share in eternal life if they attain according to their ability knowledge of the Creator and have ennobled themselves by noble qualities. There is no doubt that he who has thus trained himself morally and intellectually to acquire faith in the Creator will certainly have a share in the life to come. This is why our rabbis taught: A Gentile who studies the Torah of Moses is (spiritually) equal to the High Priest at the Temple in Jerusalem.”

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Image from www.brandeis.edu

Christianity and Islam, far from being accidents of history or purely human phenomena, are regarded as part of God’s design for the redemption of all men. Christianity is accorded ultimate significance by acknowledging that

“all these matters relating to Jesus of Nazareth and [Mohammed] . . . served to clear the way for King Messiah.”

In addition to the role of these religions in the plan of redemption, their achievements within history are explicitly affirmed. Through them

“the messianic hope, the Torah, and the commandments have become familiar topics . . . (among the inhabitants) of the far isles and many peoples.”

Elsewhere Maimonides acknowledges that

“the Christians believe and profess that the Torah is God’s revelation (torah min ha-shamayim) and given to Moses in the form in which it has been preserved; they have it completely written down, though they frequently interpret it differently.”

.[Rabbi Jacob Emden]

” . . they have emerged out of Judaism and accepted “the fundamentals of our divine religion . . . to make known God among the nations . . . to proclaim that there is a Master in heaven and earth, divine providence, reward and punishment . . . Who bestows the gift of prophecy . . . and communicates through the prophets laws and statutes to live by . . . This is why their community endures . . . . Since their intention is for the sake of heaven, reward will not be withheld from them.”

He also praises many Christian scholars who have come to the rescue of Jews and their literature.

What, then, is the purpose of interreligious cooperation?

It is neither to flatter nor to refute one another, but to help one another; to share insight and learning, to cooperate in academic ventures on the highest scholarly level and, what is even more important, to search in the wilderness for wellsprings of devotion, for treasures of stillness, for the power of love and care for man. What is urgently needed are ways of helping one another in the terrible predicament of here and now by the courage to believe that the word of the Lord endures forever as well as here and now; to cooperate in trying to bring about a resurrection of sensitivity, a revival of conscience; to keep alive the divine sparks in our souls, to nurture openness to the spirit of the Psalms, reverence for the words of the prophets, and faithfulness to the Living God.

OPINION

“DEMONS really are possessing people, warns psychiatrist, as pure evil sweeps over humanity” — SERIOUSLY???

August 6, 2018 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

Here we go again!

First, read the article below and then read further down about Sinai 6000’s position on the non-existence of the devil and demons for balance:

DEMONS really are possessing people, warns psychiatrist, as pure evil sweeps over humanity

Sunday, June 10, 2018 by: Ethan Huff
Tags: antichrist, David Gallagher, demonic possession, demons, evil, exorcism, Exorcist, Pope Francis, possession, psychiatrist, psychiatry, Roman Catholic Church, Satan, Satanic

29KVIEWS

Image: DEMONS really are possessing people, warns psychiatrist, as pure evil sweeps over humanity

(Natural News) An Ivy League-educated psychiatrist is convinced that there’s a growing epidemic of demonic possession in the world today, and that most everyday people now recognize the dark reality of this scary situation.

Dr. Richard Gallagher, who boasts degrees from both Princeton University and Yale University, says that, despite conflicting opinions within mainstream medical science, demonic possession is both real and rampant.

With 25 years of experience under his belt as a private psychiatrist that compliments his two teaching positions at both New York Medical College and Columbia University, Dr. Gallagher believes he holds a unique vantage point in discerning between human and non-human, or satanic, behavior.

He’s also a highly sought-after professional of such things in cases where a determination is being made about the possible need for an exorcism. Having evaluated hundreds of cases of possible demonic possession towards this end, Dr. Gallagher is certain that the phenomenon is legitimate and pressing.

He insinuated to The Telegraph (United Kingdom) during a recent interview that demons know full well how to trick human beings because they possess far more advanced cognitive faculties. They routinely use these mental “smarts” to control the humans they possess, causing many of them to commit atrocities and other evils against other people and lifeforms.

“They’re very, very smart,” Dr. Gallagher is quoted as saying about the beings that occupy the demonic realm. “The intelligence level of a fallen angel, which is what I call them, is far superior to human beings.”

Roman Catholic Church seeing huge uptick in cases of demonic possession

Dr. Gallagher’s sentiments align with other recent reports about rising demand for exorcisms in the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican actually held a training courseearlier this year to teach exorcist priests how to handle this influx of demon-possessed humans.

Pope Francis has also commented on the phenomenon, explaining to his followers that Satan is, indeed, “a real being” who’s “roaming the earth to devour souls like a lion.” He wrote back in April that people shouldn’t assume that the devil is just some myth, representation, symbol, figure of speech, or idea. Doing this causes people to let down their guard, he claims, making all of us “more vulnerable.”

Francis also says that priests “should not hesitate” to send people who are suffering from “genuine spiritual disturbances” to exorcists. The Rite of Exorcism, he says, is a “delicate and necessary ministry” that should be undertaken with “great care and great prudence.”

According to data from the United States, the number of priests trained in performing exorcisms has increased from a mere 12 about a decade ago to 50 – a more than 300 percent increase. This dramatic jump shouldn’t be ignored, says Dr. Gallagher, who while he’s not alone in his opinions is among a small few who are willing to talk about it professionally.

“There are many other psychiatrists and mental health care professionals who do what I do – perhaps not to the scope that I do – who seem hesitant to speak out,” Dr. Gallagher says. “That’s what gives my work some singularity. That I have had so much experience and that I am willing to speak out. I feel an obligation to speak out. I think that I should.”

At the same time, Dr. Gallagher warns that it’s important to determine without any doubt that a person actually has a real demon before recommending that he or she visit an exorcist.

“There is very strict criteria for determining the person’s problem,” he warns. “I am not just intuiting. I’m dealing with it from a very scientific point of view.”

Sources for this article include:

Yahoo.com

Telegraph.co.uk

NaturalNews.com

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6000 SINAI COMMENTARY:

Some Christian source (sorry, can’t remember who?) supposedly said that the devil’s most powerful and successful deceptive ploy is to make people believe that he does not exist.

So as not to belabor the point and since we’ve exhausted the topic and continue to claim that absolutely, ‘the devil does not exist!’, we have a series of articles showing why not — but only from point of teaching of the original Revelation, the Hebrew Scriptures, and not the “New Testament” where the devil, demons, heirarchies of evil spirits are not only seriously believed and therefore taught to exist but in fact dominate the Christian Scriptures.

Check these out posts if you haven’t already done so, then write us if you don’t agree and let us have a discourse on the existence/non-existence of the devil.

NSB@S6K

A Sinaite's Sabbath Liturgy

A Sinaite’s Liturgy – 4th Sabbath of August

August 4, 2018 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

KINDLE THE SABBATH LIGHTS

Image from www.jordanaklein.com

O Gentiles of the Nations,

Let us join the nation of Israel,

chosen to be

“a light to the gentiles,”

“a light to the nations,”

—with whom the One True God made the only covenant with ‘representative humanity’;

and given the 4th commandment—

to set apart and remember the Sabbath day

as a memorial of their liberation

from bondage to Egypt and former gods,

to serve their Liberator,

the God Who revealed Himself on Sinai as YHWH,

and gave them guidelines for living in community,

particularly on how to relate with one another

and with Him as their God.

Let us welcome the “Queen of Days”,

a memorial to the Creator God

Who set it apart as a day on which

He Himself ceased from His completed and perfected creative work;

A specific day He blessed—

for the blessing of all Sabbath-keepers,

who recognize YHWH as ‘Lord of the Sabbath’,

as Master of the universe,

as King over all humanity,

as Creator,

as the One and Only God,

for indeed, there is no other.

Let us enter YHWH’s

‘sanctuary in time’,

for it IS about TIME—

time to set aside the cares of our work-week,

time to rest from our daily strivings,

time to fellowship with like-minded worshippers of the One True God,

time for spiritual enrichment,

that we might listen to the voice of YHWH who commanded—

“Be still and know that I am God.”

We Sinaites, Gentiles, join Israel in proclaiming—-

“Blessed are You,

YHWH, our God,

King of the universe,

Who has sanctified us by Your commandments . . .”

We trust that Gentiles who heed and obey YHWH’s TORAH

are indeed sanctified for having chosen YHWH,

as God, as Lord and Master, as King over our lives.

And so we kindle the Sabbath lights as a symbolic gesture

of dispelling the ‘darkness’ in hearts and minds,

brought about by ignorance of His Torah,

resulting in failure to obey His revealed Will—

failure to love Him with all our heart, mind, and soul,

failure to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

We kindle the Sabbath lights

to make us look back to the kindling of the Menorah,

the only source of light in the Tabernacle in the wilderness,

and in His Holy Temple

when it still stood as the worship-center of His chosen people

in the Land of Promise—Israel.

We kindle the Sabbath lights to remind ourselves

that we are not only receivers of His Light,

but more so reflectors of His Light,

so that together with Israel, we might illuminate

and enlighten a world full of religious devotees

who, in this day and age,

have no more reason nor excuse

not to know Him as the One True God,

and know His Name, O YHWH,

and worship none other but Him —

except as a matter of self-will and individual choice.

We kindle the Sabbath lights,

to rekindle our resolve to be light-bearers ourselves,

in word, in action, in conduct, in all of life,

and to continue to pray for enlightenment

for all those who have yet to acknowledge Your call.

As the Shema well expresses:

“Hear O Yisrael, [hear O Nations!]

YHWH is our Elohim,

YHWH alone.”

We are not of ethnic Israel,

but as Gentiles to whom your call has reverberated

across six millennia in time,

recorded in the Scriptures of Israel,

we have heard, we have listened,

we have chosen to respond:

“O YHWH,

You are our God, You and You alone:

Creator, Master of the Universe,

Lord of Life, Revelator on Sinai,

Lord of our Sabbath.”

Image from men.colonial.org

Excerpts from ISAIAH 55, 56, 57

The righteous man perishes, and no one considers:

Pious men are taken away, and no one gives thought that because of evil the righteous was taken away.

Yet he shall come to peace,

he shall have rest on his couch who walked straightforward.

But as for you, come closer, you sons of a sorceress,

for soon My salvation shall come and My deliverance be revealed.

Happy is the man who does this, the man who holds fast to it;

who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,

and stays his hand from doing evil.

Let not the foreigner say, “I am a withered tree.”

For thus said YHWH:

“As for the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths,

who have chosen what I desire and hold fast to My covenant—

I will give them, in My House and within My walls,

a monument and a name better than sons or daughters.

I will give them an everlasting name which shall not perish.

As for the foreigners who attach themselves to YHWH,

to minister to Him,

and to love [His Name],

to be His servants—

all who keep the sabbath and do not profane it,

all who hold fast to My covenant—-

I will bring them to My house of prayer.

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices shall be welcome on My altar;

For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

Thus declares the Lord God,

for the sake of YHWH your God,

the Holy One of Israel Who has glorified you:

seek YHWH while He can be found,

call to Him while He is near.

Let the wicked give up his ways,

the sinful man his plans;

let him turn back to YHWH,

and He will pardon him:

to our God, for He freely forgives.

“For my plans are not your plans, nor are My ways your ways”—

declares YHWH.

“but as the heavens are high above the earth,

so are My ways high above your ways

and my plans above your plans.

For as the rain or snow drops from heaven and returns not there,

but soaks the earth and makes it bring forth vegetation,

yielding seed for sowing and bread for eating,

so is the word that issues from My mouth:

it does not come back to Me unfulfilled,

but performs what I purpose, achieves what I sent it to do.”

Yea, you shall leave in joy and be led home secure.

Before you, mount and hill shall shout aloud,

and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the brier a cypress shall rise; instead of the nettle, a myrtle shall rise.

These shall stand as a testimony to YHWH as an everlasting sign that shall not perish.

BLESSINGS

[Original Tune: “In His Time” / Revised Lyrics]

Bless this bread, bless this wine,

Bless the celebrants who’re here,

It’s Your Time,

May Your Presence fill this space,

May You grant us peace always,

Bless our loved ones by Your grace,

In Your Time.

May this world keep Your time,

May all people worship You in due time,

May they know You by Your Name,

May they glorify Your Name,

Praise and worship in Your Name, in Your time.

Yes, we pray for all to know You, YAHUWAH.

Image from www.123rf.com

Image from apcod.wordpress.com

HAVDALAH

May YHWH, Lord of the Sabbath, bless us and protect us;

May YHWH deal kindly and graciously with us;

May YHWH bestow His favor upon us and grant us peace.

“Thus they shall link My name with the people of Israel,

and I will bless them.”

“So are they to put my name upon the Children of Israel,

that I myself may bless them.”

—-[EF] Numbers 6:22-27

Image from hebraicdance.ning.com

SHABBAT SHALOM to all Sabbath Observers,

from Sinai 6000 Core Community,

NSB@S6K

A Sinaite's Sabbath Liturgy

A Sinaite’s Musical Liturgy – 3rd Sabbath in August

August 3, 2018 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

[The Sinaite’s Musical Sabbath Liturgy —alternates with our regular recited liturgy. For visitors unfamiliar with this, we use Christian music but rewrite the lyrics to reflect Sinai 6000 creed, “biblical” according to the TNK or “Old Testament” theology. The hymns are familiar and music accompaniment is provided. Reciting the lyrics like prayers work just as well. Have a joyful celebration, dear Sabbath keepers, whatever religion you belong to, we’re all worshipping the UNIVERSAL GOD!—Admin1].

Image from www.pinterest.com

Image from www.jordanaklein.com

KINDLE THE SABBATH LIGHTS

[Original Tune: “Praise the Name of Jesus”/Revised lyrics]

Light one Sabbath candle

as His blazing sun sets,

darkness fills all the spaces,

not in minds where His True Light dwells,

Let His Tree of Life be your Light.

Light two Sabbath candles,

Brighten up the darkness,

One is good, two is better,

More minds in harmony can see more ‘Light’

Let His Tree of Life be our Light.

Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory . . .

[To the tune of “Battle Hymn of the Republic”/Revised lyrics]

1. In the beauty of the desert, on the mountain of Sinai,

In the form of fire and burning bush, He came down from on high,

As His voice was heard in thunder and His Presence flashed as Light,

Oh what an awesome sight!

2. He came down just like the glory of the morning on the mount,

He gave wisdom to the multitudes in laws that none could count,

As they trembled at the awesome sight with fear within their hearts,

One could not help but sing:

Chorus: Hallelu, sing hallelu YAH!

Praise Yahuwah, hallelu YAH,

Raise our voices, hallelu YAH,

Yahuwah is LORD GOD!

3. Moses spent some forty days and forty nights with his ‘new’ GOD,

Moses learned as much as he could learn from his Almighty God,

And to simplify theTorah, God reduced it all to ‘ten’

Yes, ten, it’s only TEN!

4. And so Moses now descended with two tablets hand in hand,

Etched on stone were ten instructions, keep in heart and keep in mind,

And if that’s still hard to do, guess what? It was reduced to two,

‘Love God’ and ‘love mankind’!

Chorus: Glory be to Thee, Yahuwah,

Worship due to Thee, Yahuwah,

Honor to Thy Name, Yahuwah,

The One and Only God.

5. Now as Israel and Gentiles of the world have come to know,

He is God, the Only One, the Only Lord one needs to know,

There is None, no one before, no one comes after, all should know:

YAHUWAH is His NAME!

6. He’s the First and He’s the Last and He is all that’s ‘In Between’

He’s the same, He does not change, He always IS, that’s what He means,

He’s the One Eternal God , He is Existence, ALL there IS

YAHUWAH is His NAME!

Chorus: Glory, glory hallelu-YAH,

Glory, glory hallelu -YAH,

YAHUWAH is His NAME!

Be Thou My Vision [Original Tune/ revised lyrics]

Image from beizzweinull.wordpress.com

1. Be Thou my Vision O Lord of my heart;

nothing else matters but all that Thou art;

Thou are my best thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy Presence my Light.

2. Be Thou my Wisdom and Thou my true Word;

I ever with Thee and Thou with me Lord;

Thou my loving Father and I Thy dear child,

O Thou with me dwelling and I with Thee Lord.

3. Be Thou my Companion through pathways ahead,

Be Thou my Shepherd whose voice I have heard,

Lead me through the Pastures, to the Waters of life,

I’m thirsty to drink from Thy True Words—all my Life.

4. Riches I need not, nor man’s empty praise;

Thou mine inheritance now and always;

Thou and Thou alone, always first in my heart,

O High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

5. Be Thou my vision, Yahuwah my God,

Be Thou my Light, through the darkness I’ve trod,

Never leave my side, LORD, till the end of my days,

When my final Sabbath comes, rest in You LORD, always.

BLESSINGS

[Original Tune: “We Gather Together”/Revised Lyrics]

Image from www.decalsforthewall.com

We gather together to seek the Lord’s blessing,

with joy in our hearts,

we delight in Your Day,

We welcome Your Sabbath, we seek Your loving Presence,

We bless Your Holy Name, Yahuwah our Lord.

We break bread together, we bless one another,

We drink to our health and this joy that we share,

We pray for all others, for all the Sabbath-keepers,

Who faithfully observe this blest day of rest.

For joy we derive from our loved ones, our family,

For daughters, for sons, and for grandchildren dear,

For blessings no end that Your gracious Hand has given us,

We bless you back, O Lord Yahuwah, our God!

SABBATH MEAL

Image from www.pinterest.com

Image from www.hebrew4christians.com

HAVDALAH

[Original Tune: “Onward Christian Soldiers”/Revised Lyrics]

[Image from thetorah.com]

1. Onward true believers in the One True God,

With God’s Truth before us, leave the false behind,

Once we followed other gods, once we swallowed lies,

That’s all past tense, that’s behind us, disconnect old ties . . .

Onward, onward, let’s move forward

from we were before,

With God’s Truth before us, listen not to lore.

2. Learn the ‘Old’, unlearn the ‘New’,

That’s the thing to do—

Start from the beginning, Genesis anew,

Learn from Him, Creator God, lay aside your fears,

Learn to reason, get some wisdom, open up your ears!

Onward, let’s move further forward

from we were before,

With ‘Old’ Truth before us, there’s more truth in store.

3. Exodus, Leviticus, read them with fresh eyes,

Don’t bring with you baggage from your former ties,

Numbers, Deuteronomy, these complete the five,

If that’s all that you can process, that is good for life,

Onward, let your search move onward,

leave the past behind,

There’s so much to cover, so much more to find.

4. Let us follow Joshua’s lead, conquer turfs for God,

Weaken the resistance of the ignorant,

Don’t miss opportunities, say a word or two,

Sow the seeds but better if they see His Life in you,

Onward tread on bad soil, dry soil,

sow God’s Word of Truth,

Somewhere there is good soil ready for ‘Old’ Truth!

A——–men!

Image from metanoiahits.blogspot.com

Shabbat shalom to all our friends all over the world—Sinaites, Messianics, Christians, believers in God—

In behalf of Sinai 6000 Core Community,

NSB@S6K

A Sinaite's Sabbath Liturgy

A Sinaite’s Liturgy — 2nd Sabbath of August

August 2, 2018 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

Image from www.pinterest.com

KINDLE THE SABBATH LIGHTS

Image from www.pinterest.com

Lord God YHWH, Creator of the universe—

You bid all humanity

to “be still” for one day out of seven,

that we might find joy and refreshment

in Your ‘sanctuary in time,

a rest from our daily endeavors

at the end of our workweek.

You bid us “be still”

so that we might know not only that there is a God,

that there is only one God,

and that God is You, O YHWH!

You invite us to seek to know You not only as Creator

but as the First Sabbath Observer,

Lord of the Sabbath

Who added the seventh day

at the culmination of the 6-day Creation week,

the one and only day You sanctified and blessed,

and modeled as a day of rest,

later establishing it as the fourth commandment

in Your Ten Declarations on Sinai.

We praise You, O YHWH, the True Lord of the Sabbath,

and joyfully celebrate with the Sabbath-observant nation of Israel,

and all gentiles who are Sabbath-keepers;

We thank You, O YHWH, Life-Giver,

for being the Source of our breath of life,

for giving us the privilege of knowing

that You and You alone are God,

there is No Other.

As we relish this time of rest,

whether alone or with family and friends,

we ask for Your blessing upon our gathering

for fellowship, for worship,

for prayer and for study of Your Torah.

Thank You for Your Presence

amidst all the communities

who proclaim Your Name

and worship You and You alone,

O YHWH our Lord and our God.

Image from www.juliesanders.org

Psalm 49

Hear this, all your peoples;

listen, all who live in this world,

both low and high,

rich and poor alike:

My mouth will speak words of wisdom;

the utterance from my heart will give understanding.

I will turn my ear to a proverb;

with the harp I will expound my riddle.

Why should I fear when evil days come,

when wicked deceivers surround me—

those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches?

No man can redeem the life of another

or give to God a ransom for him—

the ransom for a life is costly,

no payment is ever enough—

that he should live on forever and not see decay.

For all can see that wise men die,

the foolish and the senseless alike perish

and leave their wealth to others.

Their tombs will remain their houses forever,

their dwellings for endless generations,

though they had named lands after themselves.

But man, despite his riches, does not endure;

he is like the beasts that perish.

This is the fate of those who trust in themselves

and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Selah.

Like sheep they are destined for the grave

and death will feed on them.

The upright will rule over them in the morning;

their forms will decay in the grave,

far from their princely mansions.

But God will redeem my life from the grave,

He will surely take me to Himself. Selah.

Do not be overawed when a man grows rich,

and when the splendor of his house increases;

for he will take nothing with him when he dies,

his splendor will not descend with him.

Though while he lived he counted himself blessed—

and men praise you when you prosper–

he will join the generation of his fathers,

who will never see the light [of life].

A man who has riches without understanding

is like the beasts that perish.

Image from chaosandoldnight.wordpress.com

BLESSINGS

Blessed are those whose God is YHWH—

blessed are those who proclaim His Name!

Blessed are we who know YHWH

as the One True God

and enthrone Him as Lord of their lives.

Blessed are those

who seek YHWH’s Presence

in all Sabbath celebrations

on this second Sabbath of this August month;

Blessed are we who seek YHWH’s Hand upon each Sabbath-keeper in every Sabbath-gathering,

and upon the families and loved ones represented,

May each one of them have a deep yearning to know their Creator,

to learn how to live according to the Torah of the Giver of Life,

to worship Him as the One True God,

and love Him for all He has done.

[Take time to name every individual and institution you wish God to bless with the knowledge of Him: family and friends, special people.]

We thank YHWH for this bread and wine,

symbols of His daily provisions

and the joy we derive from obeying His commandments

and living His Torah life.

A toast to Life, to YHWH’s Torah Life!

L’chaim, Mabuhay!

SABBATH MEAL

Image from galleryhip.com

Image from www.pinterest.com

HAVDALAH

TORAH that remains simply in the mind as knowledge;

TORAH that remains in the heart as intention . . .

TORAH that is not lived . . .

is of no use to neither humanity

nor to the Giver of the TORAH.

May we align our will with the YHWH’s Will;

May we align our lives with TORAH life,

making the right choice

moment by moment,

day by day,

from one Sabbath to the next

until the end of our days

and the End of Days.

And because we have done so,

May our names be written in YHWH’s Book of Life,

Those of us who have partaken of the fruit from YHWH’s Tree of Life,

And having done so, have lived fruitful lives

dedicated to obeying YHWH’s commandments,

and making YHWH’s Name known

to a world that worships different gods,

other than the One True God.

YHWH is His Name!

Amen.

Image from www.pinterest.com

Shabbat shalom dear Sinaites,

our Jewish friends,

Messianics, Christians and all people of faith,

who are Sabbath-Keepers,

On behalf of Sinai 6000 Core Community,

DAILY POSTS

Oy Searchers, need help? – August 2018

August 1, 2018 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

08/15/18 — Awwww, halfway into August and not a single “search term” entry. Is that a good sign, i. e. visitors are familiar with our format and don’t need assistance in finding posts that address their query? Or . . . a bad sign, meaning, there are no visitors?

But there are visitors that do show up on our daily statistics, we even know how many posts they click, which specific articles they checked out, how many times they returned within a time frame, and so on. Our format is pretty simple; and we have over a thousand posts listed under 22 categories.

So, it must be the first—nobody needs our assistance to get around in our website. That is what we’d like to believe!

08/01/18 – This monthly post started out as an aid for searchers who might be looking for specific posts that would address/answer their query but since we hardly have “search terms” landing on our website as of year 2018, we’ve decided to turn it into a blog. And for lack of topics to deal with at the beginning of each month, we focus on background information about the month. But surprisingly, of all the months of the year, August seems to be the most boring month in terms of “fun facts” or “interesting facts” that usually are not wanting in all other months. For lack of anything interesting to say about August, the usual “Ten Interesting Facts You Should Know About [any month]” ends with this 10th item for August: “Still looking for a tenth fact”, haha, imagine, that boring!

From http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/months/august.html

August is the eighth month of the year, has 31 days, and is named after Augustus Caesar.

August is the eighth month of the year in our modern day Gregorian calendar.

Naming August – Augustus Caesar

August is the eighth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar and its predecessor, the Julian calendar. The month of August was originally named Sextilis in Latin since it was the sixth month in the ancient Roman calendar. The name of the month was changed to August in honor of Augustus Caesar in 8 BCE.

Latin name – Augustus mensis – Month of Augustus
Latin – sextilis mensis – Sixth month
Anglo-Saxons – Weod Monath – Weed month

History of August

August was originally Sextilis, the sixth month in the Roman calendar and consisted of 31 days. It became the eighth month with a length of 29 days around 700 BCE when Januaryand February were added to the year. Julius Caesar added two days to the month around 45 BCE. It was later renamed to honor Augustus Caesar in 8 BCE.

Eighth Month in the Year

August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendar and is 31 days long. It is considered the busiest time for tourism because it falls in the main school summer holiday period. It is the seasonal equivalent of February in the Northern hemisphere.

August does not start on the same day of the week as any other month in the year in common years, but ends on the same day of the week as November every year. During leap years, August starts on the same day as February and still ends on same day as November.

From: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/history-of-august.html

Augustus for ‘August’

After Julius’s grandnephew Augustus defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra, and became emperor of Rome, the Roman Senate decided that he too should have a month named after him. The month Sextillus (sex = six) was chosen for Augustus, and the senate justified its actions in the following resolution:

Whereas the Emperor Augustus Caesar, in the month of Sextillis . . . thrice entered the city in triumph . . . and in the same month Egypt was brought under the authority of the Roman people, and in the same month an end was put to the civil wars; and whereas for these reasons the said month is, and has been, most fortunate to this empire, it is hereby decreed by the senate that the said month shall be called Augustus.

Not only did the Senate name a month after Augustus, but it decided that since Julius’s month, July, had 31 days, Augustus’s month should equal it: under the Julian calendar, the months alternated evenly between 30 and 31 days (with the exception of February), which made August 30 days long. So, instead of August having a mere 30 days, it was lengthened to 31, preventing anyone from claiming that Emperor Augustus was saddled with an inferior month.

To accommodate this change two other calendrical adjustments were necessary:

The extra day needed to inflate the importance of August was taken from February, which originally had 29 days (30 in a leap year), and was now reduced to 28 days (29 in a leap year).
Since the months evenly alternated between 30 and 31 days, adding the extra day to August meant that July, August, and September would all have 31 days. So to avoid three long months in a row, the lengths of the last four months were switched around, giving us 30 days in September, April, June, and November.

Among Roman rulers, only Julius and Augustus permanently had months named after them—though this wasn’t for lack of trying on the part of later emperors. For a time, May was changed to Claudius and the infamous Nero instituted Neronius for April. But these changes were ephemeral, and only Julius and Augustus have had two-millenia-worth of staying power.

A Sinaite's Sabbath Liturgy

The Sinaites’ Musical Liturgy – 1st Sabbath in August

August 1, 2018 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

Image from Traditions Jewish Gifts

[Our musical liturgy borrows from the music of Christian hymns—we love the music but we can’t use the original lyrics, so we superimpose our own, reflecting Sinai 6000 theology. We are grateful to Christian composers for their inspiring music!—Admin1]

————–

KINDLE THE SABBATH LIGHTS

O Lord YHWH,

the Source of Life, our Source of Light—

we kindle these Sabbath lights at sundown Friday,

emulating the tradition of Jewry,

to signify the end of our work week by ceasing from our labors,

to welcome the beginning of our day of rest,

the Sabbath which You Yourself observed on Creation week,

if only to impress upon humanity and all living creatures,

the importance of rest . . .

for health, for longevity, for renewal, for refreshment,

for enjoyment of the only day sanctified and blessed by You,

The True Lord of the Sabbath.

[Original Tune: “Alleluia Sing to Jesus”/Revised Lyrics]

1. Hallelu Yah, all praise Yahuwah,

let’s worship Him, our God and our King.

Hallelu Yah, adore Yahuwah,

His Name we honor now as we sing:

Cho: God of Israel and the Nations,

we seek Your Presence as we celebrate,

Lord of the Sabbath,

You’re Lord over each and every day,

through our lifetime in every way.

2. Lord Yahuwah how can we thank You

for leading us to the knowledge of You.

Lord Yahuwah, our hearts are grateful

for teaching us what we have to do.

Cho: Torah guidance You have provided,

for Israel and for all humankind,

If every person could hear and would heed Your Words for Life,

How ideal this world would be!

3. Lord Yahuwah, how can we serve You

in ways that make us useful for You!

Learn and study and share our faith

to a world that needs to know more of You.

CHO: Speak out boldly, proclaim Your Name,

simply live Your Torah as best as we can,

kindness and mercy, compassion and care for fellowmen,

may Your Love show through what we do.

4. Lord Yahuwah, O how we love You,

we’ve searched for You through all of our life.

Long have we travelled through the pathway

that led us to the Mount of Sinai.

CHO: There we found You and there we heard

all the words You spoke to the mixed multitude,

all those who truly would seek You with all their heart and soul,

they will finally hear Your call.

Image from pray4usa.ne

The Love of God

Psalm 103

Praise the Lord, my soul!
    All my being, praise his holy name!
²Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and do not forget how kind he is.
³He forgives all my sins
    and heals all my diseases.
⁴He keeps me from the grave
    and blesses me with love and mercy.
⁵He fills my life with good things,
    so that I stay young and strong like an eagle.

⁶The Lord judges in favor of the oppressed
    and gives them their rights.
⁷He revealed his plans to Moses
    and let the people of Israel see his mighty deeds.
⁸The Lord is merciful and loving,
    slow to become angry and full of constant love.
⁹He does not keep on rebuking;
    he is not angry forever.
¹⁰He does not punish us as we deserve
    or repay us according to our sins and wrongs.
¹¹As high as the sky is above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who honor him.
¹²As far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our sins from us.
¹³As a father is kind to his children,
    so the Lord is kind to those who honor him.
¹⁴He knows what we are made of;
    he remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵As for us, our life is like grass.
We grow and flourish like a wild flower;
¹⁶    then the wind blows on it, and it is gone—
    no one sees it again.
¹⁷But for those who honor the Lord, his love lasts forever,
    and his goodness endures for all generations
¹⁸of those who are true to his covenant
    and who faithfully obey his commands.

¹⁹The Lord placed his throne in heaven;
    he is king over all.
²⁰Praise the Lord, you strong and mighty angels,
    who obey his commands,
    who listen to what he says.
²¹Praise the Lord, all you heavenly powers,
    you servants of his, who do his will!
²²Praise the Lord, all his creatures
    in all the places he rules.
Praise the Lord, my soul!

BLESSINGS

Image from www.patriciaholland.org

[Original Tune: “Blest be the Tie that Binds”]

Revised Lyrics

Most gracious benevolent God,

Whose Presence inhabits all space,

You truly are Lord of the Sabbath, Yahuwah,

we welcome Your ‘Queen’ of all days!

We ask You to bless one and all,

who gather to answer Your call,

to rest from our strivings, enjoy one another,

in fellowship with one and all.

Each family here You have blessed,

as loving relations attest—

this bread and this wine represent all our joy,

our delight in Your Sabbath, our rest.

Should we from each other will part;

we fear not the loss nor the pain,

for all of us are with the Lord of Creation—

We pray we meet each one again!

[Thank God for your loved ones and special people in your life: parents, siblings, spouse, children, in-laws, extended kin, friends, staff, and lift up special concerns in your life at this time.]

A toast to LIFE: “L’Chaim, to Life, Mabuhay !”

Image from taste-of-torah.blogspot.com

HAVDALAH

[Bid goodbye to Shabbat]

O Climb Your Holy Mountain

[Original Music : Victory in Jesus]

1. I heard an old, old story,

How our great, great God of glory,

Descended on a mountain top on the desert of Sinai;

He’s chosen all these mountains

for some reason why, we wonder,

Aside from Sinai there are other famous ‘sacred mounts’.

CHORUS; O climb the highest mountain!

So many men aspire

to conquer heights beyond the reach

of common folk like me;

Take courage, faint of heart,

These peaks are worth the climb;

When God calls He enables

so leave all results to Him!

2. There is another story

about another mountain,

Where God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son.

Unquestioning this Isaac,

just followed his father,

He carried all the wood and asked—

“But where’s the sacrifice?”

CHORUS: O climb your Mount Moriah,

Dear Abraham and Isaac:

The same God Who appeared on Sinai,

He appeared to you!

You’ve passed the highest testing,

You reached your peak, your mountain,

Moriah is forever etched in biblical history!

3. There’s yet another mountain,

where an ancient priest and king,

Melchizedek of Salem in the book of Bereishis;

This ancient place called Salem

was renamed Jerusalem,

All pilgrims journey up and sing their psalms, songs of ascent.

CHORUS: The Temple Mount is there,

where the Glory Cloud once rested,

Until it left and lingered on the Mount of Olivet,

This makes us realize, we have our peaks to conquer,

If God is on the highest mountain,

let us start our climb!

Image from pinterest

Have

a joy-full

and

restful

Sabbath—

dear Sinaites,

dear Israel,

dear

Sabbath-observers

among our

Christian

and Messianic

colleagues,

and all Gentiles

of the Nations.

On behalf of

Sinai 6000 Core Community,

NSB@S6K

Q & A

Q&A: Could the first 2 generations of humanity have avoided disobeying the Creator’s simple instructions specific to their situation?

July 10, 2018 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

Image from www.relatably.com

[First posted in 2017, recently clicked by a visitor. This is an excerpt from a revisited post that is sooooo lonnnnng that perhaps readers don’t bother reading to the very end. Except that this was at the beginning of the discourse, and if you’re curious, here’s the link for the complete discussion which is worth your patience and time, promise!

Revisit: “We have heard it said” – A Sinaite’s Apologetics -1

What prompted culling this excerpt out of the complete post is a judgmental attitude among the ‘self-righteous’ who posit that they would have done better than the first couple had they been the ones tested in Eden. Oh yeah? Easy to say in hindsight, with wisdom gained from mistakes of others.

The Rabbis teach that one should not judge another unless one has walked in that person’s shoes; meaning, we should never compare ourselves and presume how much better we would react under the same circumstances because there are many factors involved in any peculiar situation; then, factor in the personalities involved the story/incident. Perhaps I should write a sequel to this post titled “What if I were Adam or Eve?” Well guess what, Mark Twain has done exactly that. Check out his ‘take’ on the progressive education of the first male and female in : The Diaries of Adam and Eve which we will soon feature in our MUST READ category. Meanwhile, learn from this excerpt— it drives home our point about the universality of human curiosity and not listening to wise words even if the source is YHWH Himself! Just look at the state of affairs all over the world today, does it look like we have learned from the lessons of history, or the Bible, eh? And that today’s generation is wiser than all our forbears?—-Admin1]

———————

Why did the Omniscient Creator have to give the first couple a commandment He knew would be disobeyed?

Specific instruction such as that given to Adam and Eve was intended to test that gift of free will they might not even have been conscious of at that time.

If everything in Eden was perfect, who could possibly want more than that ideal life?

Name the animals, tend the garden, eat only seed-bearing fruit, interact with this invisible Presence Who speaks to us. That should be simple enough and easy to do. What a life!

But the problem is, Adam and Eve knew no other kind of life, they probably hadn’t even realized that they had it so good!

You know that saying “the grass is greener on the other side?” In fact, food tastes better at our neighbor’s dinner table even if it isn’t so, it’s just different from what we’re used to. It is part of human nature to be curious, and think “what else am I missing?” Until we fall or lose what we had, we don’t appreciate.

So Adam and Eve are given so many do’s and only one don’t, with an ‘or else’!

Strangely, this early on in the unfolding biblical story, there was no mention of blessing for obedience, understandably, for what else could they possibly need or want in Eden? Presumably, they had already dealt with all the ‘do’s’!

The one and only ‘don’t command was specific regarding not eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We know how that story ended, so the simple lesson to be learned in hindsight is obey whatever God commands, no ifs and buts!

If the Creator says so, DO SO! For more discussions of the first couple’s disobedience, check out these posts:

Image from Pinterest

And now to 2nd generation Cain; why could Cain not have learned from the mistakes of the First Parents?

If the first couple shared their loss of Eden [and why] to firstborn Cain to teach him that hard-learned lesson, Cain failed to ‘get it’. Why?

To begin with, he couldn’t relate to the tree that got his parents in trouble; he was born and raised out of Eden where life is difficult. Besides, what kind of tree is called “knowledge of good and evil” and what kind of fruit does it bear? Who would believe there is even such a tree?
Secondly, Cain had to deal with his own personal circumstances—back-breaking toil to get something growing to offer his parents’ God. Remember, that is part of the curse on Adam, out of Eden where everything is provided, no more easy life, work for your food from now on!
Thirdly, that same God who expelled his parents out of their original home was now showing favoritism, not appreciating the fruit of Cain’s toil from the soil as He was with the offering of Abel.
Fourthly, he’s now struggling with resentment, even anger toward this younger brother who obviously outshone him. Ever experienced those two hard-to-overcome emotions? Sibling rivalry was born here and continued through the next generations.
The warning God gave Cain would be a general teaching not only to Cain but to all humanity, about uncontrolled sinful tendencies that could and should be curbed if only we would.
For a more thorough discussion of Cain, heres’ a post:
- Revisit: Genesis/Bereshith 4: ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’
- An Inconvenient Truth for Cain – 2

Did disobedience of the Creator’s commands end with Cain? Meaning, everyone else lived happily ever after, having learned hard lessons from Adam & Eve & firstborn? At that time, the instructions were quite simple, right? What’s so difficult about ‘do not eat the forbidden fruit’ and ‘watch out for sin crouching at your door’? Alas, those two basic instructions have been violated from the first generation to our times, six millennia later.

Ask yourself, what is the forbidden fruit that you are struggling with? And have you opened the door to sin crouching out there? If you had kept the door shut, would you have been much happier . . . or still curious?

SINAI 6000

Is Sinai 6000 just another ‘cult’?

July 7, 2018 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

Image from writeopinions.com

[First posted in 2012. When we still functioned under the wide umbrella of “Christ-centered” religion, it baffled us that while all the various denominations worshipped the same trinitarian godhead, some of those denominations were labeled “cults”. As we researched it, we found out that mainstream Christianity considered any “Christian” group/church/fellowship as “cultic” IF it deviated from any of the foundational teachings of the “Church Fathers.” But it was strange to us that the finger-pointing often met each other: Catholics considered breakaway Reformed Protestantism as cultic while Protestants considered Catholics as cultic. The finger-pointing extended to the multiplying groups of evangelicals. Then when “Messianic Judaism” got into the already crowded and confusing picture, it got relegated to the Sabbath-keepers (established religions such as Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah Witness, etc.), all frowned upon as cultic because they were Saturday-worshippers instead of Sunday-church-goers. Add to the cultic criterion the practice of “Old Testament” prescriptions such as the SDA’s veganism of Genesis 2 instead of the Leviticus 11 clean meat diet prescribed for Israelites. Then, Jesus supposedly declared all food ‘good’ so Christians justify eating unclean meat, conveniently forgetting that Jesus was a Jew who presumably ate the kosher diet so that food for him was already defined in the “OT”. As for Messianics, they virtually try pushing square pegs into round holes, figure that one out. How confusing indeed is the world of organized religion! Throw in as well, unorganized and disorganized religion, sporadic small fellowships organized by self-proclaimed pastors, here, there and everywhere! Enough, we give up!

We have always claimed we are not “a religion” nor “a church” so are we a cult? Christians might conclude so, we know, we used to think like them. Yes, Sinai 6000 is a breakaway group from Christ-centered religion/church/fellowship, so are we then a non-Christian ‘cult’? It depends on who’s asking. Here are our thoughts 5 years ago when this article was first posted; we have not changed our position. You, reader, decide for yourself.

Related posts:

—Admin1]

———————————————————–

It was a Rabbi who first told BAN@S6K that a start-up group like Sinaite 6000 will eventually fade out of the scene once the original organizers have passed on and there are no 2nd generation members to continue the work.

Exactly what is the nature of the “work”?

Without resorting to Christian terminology such as “witnessing” or “ministry”, S6K “work” is simply one of teaching anyone who would care to seriously study the TORAH/TNK from the point of view of former Christians/Messianics. S6K offers an approach to reading the Hebrew Scriptures without bringing former Christian orientation and without the influence of Rabbinic interpretation, and yet being open to insights from both sources, as long as they do not deviate from the plain meaning of the text, within its context and never out of context.

In the case of this website, the ‘work’ means not only sharing resources not otherwise easily accessible to seekers/visitors, but also recording the insight-by-insight re-education of a Sinaite as he/she sheds former religious beliefs to start over in getting to know the One True God whose name is revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures as YHWH.

But back to the Rabbi, what exactly was the his recommendation for new ‘movements’ like us who ventured out of the boundaries of Christianity and don’t quite know where to fit in? Just one: join Judaism, a Torah-based already established religion. Some S6K members outside of our city-base have already done just that. For lack of regular weekly teaching from us, they felt the next best recourse is to learn Torah from Jewish teachers and the best place to do that is the local Synagogue if one exists in their city of residence. They have gone through the process of eventually being assimilated in this Jewish religion and they are content in being counted among the remnant’ Torah-observant Israel’; ‘remnant’ because not all Jews are ‘religious’ and in fact so many are secular, some even atheist.

Our core group however are agreed on one thing: that since we are gentiles and not Jews, we need to maintain our identity and stand on a gentile’s place in YHWH’s plan for all humanity. While He did begin with a chosen people, a nation that would live His Torah and model it to the nations, the intention was not to make all peoples ‘Jews’ or even ‘Jewish’, the intent was to make all nations live Torah, and Torah is universal, biblical, not necessarily Jewish nor confined to Israel. So we choose to maintain our gentile-ness, but live Torah as best as we can live its prescribed lifestyle in whatever environment we find ourselves in.

Well, what environment is that?

For one, a society that is predominantly Christian that views ‘otherness’ as “cultic.” Under this alone, there are many differences: scriptural basis of beliefs, name and nature of God worshipped, to name two foundational issues.
For another, a work-week schedule that takes a break on Sunday instead of the original sabbath, Saturday.
For yet another, a food culture that promotes the eating of unclean meat.
Seasons of feasts or festivals celebrated or commemorated as well as traditions that accompany these.

Let us stop there since these in themselves already tend to ‘isolate’ a Sinaite, so that as individuals who have been used to ‘fellowshipping’ with others of similar beliefs in our former Christian communities, each one now has to seek out a company where he/she might best fit in. Our core group is fortunate we have each other to fellowship with on Shabbat and biblical feasts and seasons; we also spend time discussing our understanding of TORAH, issues that unite us as well as divide us, decisions that we collectively make and publicly share so others might learn from us.

Would a start-up group which is yet untested be a reliable source of information? That is up to our readers to determine for themselves. We are quite honest in admitting we teach as we go along. We have just undergone a transition but whatever we have learned every step of the way, we discuss, scrutinize, then decide to share with others. Obviously there are few takers if any at all, as we had anticipated from the very start. Not even among our families and much less among our friends, and heaven forbid that any of our former Christian colleagues would even hear us out . . . .hence, this website.

Would we be considered a ‘cult’? In the Christian definition, most likely. But there are more things involved in a ‘cult’ which, thankfully, has already been discussed in a Q&A in Aish Ha Torah [Aish.com]. We will just feature the article which best explains the word.

Image from www.criminalizeconservatism.com

Q. Is Aish HaTorah a Cult?

[S6K: highlights and emphasis/underscore added].

I read an article online by cult-buster who claims that Aish HaTorah is a cult. I’ve even heard the term “I’ve been Aish’d.” All the people I’ve met through Aish seem normal and balanced. How can I be sure that you guys aren’t just some Jewish version of Hare Krishna?

A. The Aish Rabbi Replies:

People tend to label anything as a “cult” that challenges them to rethink their belief system.

But if that’s the case, then for a European Socialist, American democracy is a cult.

Of course that notion is absurd.

So let’s define our terms: What is a cult, and how does Aish HaTorah compare to that?

1) Cults always force you to cut off ties with your family. Ask any parents of Aish HaTorah students and they will tell you that they are recipients of more honor and respect from their children than ever before.

2) Cults indoctrinate you not to think for yourself. The very foundation of Aish HaTorah’s philosophy is that a person has to think for themselves and work out rationally the key issues of life. The Torah emphasizes building a rational basis of belief, to engage one’s intellect through questioning and debate. It does not endorse leaps of faith, all-or-nothing decisions or disengagement from the world. Jewish life requires both the mind and heart, but the mind must lead the heart.

The Discovery Seminar is based on this, as are Rabbi Weinberg’s 48 Ways to Wisdom classes. [check out: http://www.aish.com/sp/48w/]

Aish does not use hard-sell because it believes it has the most powerful “product” in the universe – the Torah. As the Almighty’s instructions for living, Torah teaches us how to maximize our pleasure and potential in life. As such, it is the most revolutionary book in history.

Aish helps young Jews see Judaism as a basis to answer the most important questions: How can I live a meaningful life; build successful relationships; deal honestly in business; fulfill my personal potential; really make a difference in the world?

So what does it mean to be Aish’d? It means to become educated. To strengthen one’s Jewish pride through knowledge and understanding. To grow Jewishly, one step at a time. To replace apathy with idealism. To defend Israel. To respect every Jew. To take responsibility for the world, using the Torah as our guide, to fulfill the mission of the Jewish people. And most of all, being Aish’d means to love being Jewish.

If Aish is a cult, then it is the same cult practiced by Abraham, Maimonides and our Bubbies in Europe!

Exodus/Shemoth, SINAI 6000

Taking the Sinai Revelation personally . . .

July 5, 2018 s1n4i600o-adm1n-d3v Leave a Comment

[This was first posted 2012. It explains why we chose to call ourselves Sinaites and rooted our foundational beliefs on the Revelation on Sinai by the Creator-God who chose that neutral site and that time in history and the people He gathered there to declare His Name and His Way of life for all humanity. Related posts:

—Admin1.]

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While reading Rabbi Harold S. Kushner’s book To Life!, this paragraph leaped out of p. 124, in the chapter “Sanctuaries in Time: The Calendar.“

I once heard Bishop James Pike define a Christian as a person who took the story of the Crucifixion and Resurrection personally. He then went on to define a Jew as a person who took the story of the Exodus from Egypt personally. In a real sense, Passover is where Judaism begins. This is what turned the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob into a people summoned by God, a people into whose collective life God suddenly erupted with His liberating message.

Just think . . . you are out of Christianity and not into Judaism; what significant act of YHWH do you personally take as your springboard into a faith that falls under ‘neither of the above’? We have always connected with Abrahamic faith, because obviously, Abraham was gentile, and while he received promises about his descendants and how a specific line through him would impact the nations, he was not the receiver of the TORAH.

Image from destination-yisrael.biblesearchers.com

So, in our thinking, the most significant event in the history of mankind’s existence on this planet earth is not the Creation, since no man was yet present there; it is the Sinai Revelation where the Creator officially presented Himself, declared His Name, made a covenant with representative humanity but specifically with a chosen people He formed, and to whom He gave His TORAH, His instructions or guidelines for life.

On Mount Sinai

the God of all nations

and specifically of a chosen divinely-formed nation,

descended to make Himself

and His Way known.

Until we came to a closer reading of the Hebrew Scriptures and surprise, surprise, saw the words “mixed multitude” in Exodus 12:38, we had missed that significant fact in all previous readings. You know how you keep reading the Bible over and over and wonder WHY DID I NOT SEE THAT BEFORE????”

Imagine, if a “mixed multitude” was allowed to leave Egypt, that would mean the slaves were not only from the 70 Jacobites who went there during the time of Joseph 430 years before. Granted the story of the Exodus focuses only on the descendants of Jacob who had multiplied from their original number after so many generations later, you would think that the powerful nation of Egypt where the patriarchs of Israel “descended” to when they faced famine in Canaan would have accumulated slaves from different people-groups surrounding it. Egypt was not only a popular destination during times of famine as the Joseph story evinced; was it not the practice in those times of antiquity for the victors to enslave the people they defeat in battle?

If you were a non-Israelite slave in Egypt and you not only heard about but witnessed and experienced the plagues reportedly caused by the miraculous power of the God of Moses and the Hebrews, would you not think:

“This God is more powerful

than our tribal gods or the gods of Egypt,

surely He must be God higher than all gods!

I better get to know him.”

And so you ask the Israelites—-

“Did your God specify He will deliver ‘only the people descended from Jacob’ or did he include ALL slaves in Egypt?
“Exactly what instructions were given, may I execute them for my family too? Would we be liberated from bondage as well?
“I’m desperate, whether or not I believe in your God, If I do as you do, whatever happens next, could I be part of it? May I come along wherever He leads you?”

And so you prepare to do exactly as instructed, perhaps even try to convince your good Egyptian masters to do the same if they don’t want their firstborn to die. The instructions after all did not have exclusive application; surely anyone—Israelite, Egyptian, other nationalities—-

could believe in the God Who spoke to Moses,
have faith in what He warned would happen,
and obey to the last detail.

If only the Israelites were allowed to leave Egypt and the Sinai experience was exclusive for the bloodline of Jacob, would not the Exodus story specifically have said so?

What was the requirement, 100% pure Israelite? Perhaps not, for the tribal lines such as Joseph’s sons were from a mixed marriage.

The only requirement was probably a prelude and postlude to the Shema:

Hear . . . and heed.

It is those gentiles who joined the Israelites that we relate to and connect with. Surely, if they were amidst the Israelites and experienced redemption from slavery in Egypt by this powerful God, they would have witnessed the covenant and would have answered as the Israelites did:

All the words which YHWH has spoken we will do!

And the rest is . . . biblical history!

Well, not quite . . . there is a downside to this “mixed multitude.” According to Rabbinic commentary, just like the gentile nations who were bad influences on the people of God, those within (mixed) were the ones who were the non-stop grumblers and who actually caused the Israelites to do abominable things, such as the construction of the golden calf during Moses’ 40 day absence.

Still, whether Israelite or gentile, this is probably the more believable version—(sorry for not remembering the source)—

It was easier to get Israel out of Egypt

than to get Egypt out of Israel.

Figure that out.

We hold on to later utterances through the mouth of Moses spoken to the generation born free in the wilderness of Sinai, who were in the ‘loins’ of their parents who stood on Sinai:

The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.

The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers,

but with us,

with all those of us alive here today.

[Deuteronomy 5:2-3]

YHWH is Creator as well as Revelator on Sinai;

He wants all of humanity to–

know Him,
acknowledge Him
and worship Him as the God of all nations.

He gathered representative humanity (“mixed multitude“) on Sinai to–

declare who He is,
what is His Name,
and His Way of living for Jew and Gentile.

Israel, His chosen people, are to model His Torah for His divine purpose so clearly stated:

Keep them and do them,

for that will be your wisdom and your understanding

in the sight of the peoples, who,

when they hear all these statutes, will say,

‘Surely this great nation

is a wise and understanding people.’

[Deuteronomy 4:6/ESV]

What part of “hear” and “heed” don’t we understand, O Jew, O Gentile?

In behalf of Sinai 6000 Core Community

Update: The UNchosen: What if you were a gentile slave in Egypt?