JEWISH IDOLATRY
PERVERSIONS AND SUPERSTITIONS
THAT NULLIFY YAHVEH'S COMMANDMENTS
by Avram Yehoshua
(Footnotes are in red numbers and their notes appear at the end
of each section)
The Hand with the Eye in It: The Hamash
Sometimes written as chamash, it is a hand with an eye in it, used in
Judaism to ward off evil spirits. Also used to protect one from the evil
eye. It's a medallion like object. This is very prevalent in the Jewish
Community. Like the statues of 'Jesus' or 'Saint Christopher' in the
cars of Catholics. Very pagan. Also can be seen in India among the
pagans. A woman extending her hand, with an eye (supposedly of God's),
in it.
On a book marker1, I found the following information about it. It is
1500 years old and the name for it comes from the Hebrew word for five.
The name of it is Hamash. It is supposed to be the 'protective hand of
God.'
It goes on to say that 'Hand amulets are common among many cultures as
talismans to ward off the evil eye...' and that many have a single eye
embedded in the center of the palm to depict God's watchful presence.'
Now isn't that strange?, an eye in the middle of a palm?
Alexander Hislop writes that the Cyclops, the brethren of Nimrod or
Tamuz, were giants.2 These had only one eye in the middle of their
forehead to show that they were originally of the great god (Baal,
Kronos, Bel, Nimrod, etc; all the same god by just a different name for
a different locality). The eye is the all seeing eye of that god, not
the God of Israel who declares that one must not make any graven images
of Him.
That an 'eye' and a 'circle' can be seen to be interchangeable, is very
evident. Originally it was not an eye at all, but a circle, to signify
that the identification was with Zero, known as the Seed of the sun god.
This identified it with Nimrod or Tamuz, etc.3 We have recourse in our
day in the circles that we find on the people and idols of India. And of
course, the Jewish people's amulet, the Hamash. The circle symbolizing
the sun or more accurately, the sun god.
Amulet means 'a charm...often inscribed with a magic incantation or
symbol to protect the wearer against evil...'4 A talisman is 'an object
bearing a sign or a character engraved under astrological influences and
held to act as a charm to avert evil and bring good fortune...something
producing apparently magical or miraculous effects...'5
It comes from the French word that means 'to initiate into the
mysteries...6 Incredibly, this was sanctioned by the Rabbis:
'In the Middle Ages the use of amulets incurred the disapproval of the
Christian Church, but, among Jews, the later Kabbalists seemed to
sanction their use. Indeed, the preparation of amulets became a rabbinic
function. Among Oriental Jews, amulets against Lilith are commonly
suspended in the birth chamber.'7
Lilith was the goddess whom many Jews feared. She was given the power to
snatch away the newborn from the mother at birth.
ENDNOTES:
1. A 24 karat, gold plated Pagemarker Bookmarks; designed and
manufactured by Marbex, Inc. © 1994.
2. The Rev. Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, 2nd American edition.
(Neptune, New Jersey, U.S.A: Loizeaux Brothers, 1959; (written in 1862).
May be still published under Loizeaux, or A & C Black, Ltd. England, or
?), p 232. Footnote Ý. A most valuable resource. Get it or read it if
you can. The ancient Babylonian apostasy is alive in the Catholic Church
and by extension, her daughters, the Protestant churches. Incredible
insight.
3. Ibid. pp. 18, 50, footnote *; 96, footnote §; 222, footnote Ý.
4. Henry Bosley Woolf, editor in chief, Webster's New Collegiate
Dictionary (Springfield, MA, U.S.A: G. & C. Merriam Co., 1980), p. 39.
5. Ibid. p. 1180.
6. Ibid.
7. Robert Gwinn, Chairman; Board of Directors, The New Encyclopedia
Britannica: Micropædia 15th edition (Chicago, IL, U.S.A: Encyclopedia
Britannica Inc., 1985), vol. 1, p. 359).
Kosher: Jewish verses Biblical
To abstain from all unclean animals (food), is Torah (the first five
books of the Bible: Genesis through Deuteronomy: God's Word). To 'keep
kosher' the Jewish way, is both Torah and rabbinic. There is a big
difference. God requires that we eat only clean meat (Torah: Leviticus
11 and Deuteronomy 14) and so do the Rabbis. But the Rabbis go further.
Keeping kosher means different things to different sects within Orthodox
and Conservative Judaism. Within all these sects there is a prohibition
against eating dairy and meat together. The rabbinic view is that one
should not eat meat and dairy together, thereby avoiding the appearance
or possibility of eating the meat of the kid and the milk of the mother
together.1
This came about by a perverse interpretation of Exodus 23:19 (the same
verse being repeated in Exodus 34:26 and Deuteronomy 14:21). The proper
understanding of these passages deal with the ancient Egyptian
(idolatrous) rite of fertility.2 The liquid (milk), was sprinkled over
the fields by the pagans, after the fall harvest, for a bountiful
harvest for next year. Exodus 23:19 reads:
'The first of the first fruits of Your Land you must bring into the
House of Yahveh your God. You must not seethe a kid in his mother's
milk.'
From this last sentence the Rabbis have constructed a veritable Mt.
Everest of rabbinical regulations relating to the separation of meat and
dairy, and also the separation of dishes, pots, pans, sinks for washing
the dishes and even separate refrigerators for keeping dairy and meat
products. One can not place meat on a dairy dish (or vice versa), or the
dish (pot, pan, etc.), becomes contaminated.3 Interesting to realize is
that none of these meat or dairy products are sin in and of themselves
(for the meat would only be clean according to Leviticus 11, and all
dairy products are naturally clean), but to eat the two at the same meal
is sin according to the Rabbis.
The first two passages of the kid in it's mother milk comes right on the
heels of the Feast of Tabernacles (Exodus 23:16 & 34:22). The Feast of
Tabernacles is the end time or autumn harvest feast of God. It comes in
October. And in the third passage where the kid is mentioned,
immediately after that is the Feast of Tabernacles (Deut 14:22ff). The
Lord is declaring to His People Israel that after the harvest season was
over, when the pagan peoples around them would practice idolatry and
witchcraft 'to insure a good harvest' for themselves for the next year,
Israel was to trust Yahveh for the bountiful harvest for next year.
We can not find one Scripture where God commands that we abstain from
eating dairy and meat together. Not one. The Rabbis have perverted the
Scriptures when they declare that it is sin to eat meat and dairy
together. A perversion that takes away from the Commandments of God by
misinterpreting and falsifying them. The Rabbis have set up a false
standard of sin. If a Jew eats cheese and meat together, they are
sinning, according to the Rabbis. This rabbinical 'commandment' is
confused with holiness. Many Jews think that they are good Jews, or
holy, or worthy of Heaven because they keep this practice. And of course
if you don't, then you are sinning! It is Man perverting the Word of God
to his own destruction.
Biblically though, there is no problem with eating meat and dairy
together. We see that the Lord and two angels did it, although the
Rabbis try and get around this by saying that they waited 18 minutes
after they had the dairy, to eat the meat. (18 minutes being only one
school of rabbinic thought on how long one must wait after eating dairy,
to eat meat. To eat dairy, after one has eaten meat, one must wait
upwards of four to six hours. A great nutritional health practice for
sure4 but hardly sin if one does not adhere to it.) The Scripture
relates of Father Abraham, the Lord and His two angels in Genesis 18:8:
'And he took butter (cream), and milk, and the calf which he had
dressed, and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree,
and they did eat.'
The Lord Himself and the two angels ate both the dairy and the meat at
the same time.
ENDNOTES:
1. Of course, the possibility exists that you can eat them at different
times. Carrying this to all meat and dairy possibilities, chickens which
do not give milk, still can not be eaten together with dairy products.
2. The Rabbis have misunderstood this verse in Scripture for it has
nothing to do with the separation of meat and dairy, but with the
following of pagan practices of fertility rites. Rev. James M. Freeman,
Manners and Customs of the Bible (Plainfield, New Jersey: Logos
International, 1972; originally written about 1874), p. 73, #133, states
correctly that this 'injunction is put in connection with sacrifices and
festivals,' the seething of a kid in his mother's milk...was an
'idolatrous practice' done 'for the purpose of making trees and fields
more fruitful the following year.' This is seen '...on the authority of
an ancient Karaite comment on the Pentateuch,' 'the trees, fields,
gardens and orchards' would be sprinkled with that milk.
3. The exception to this rule is if the dish is glass. Glass being non
porous, the Rabbis allow for this as long as it has been thoroughly
washed.
4. Nutritional science has told us that the eating of dairy and meat
products together retards digestion.
Tzit-zit
This is a biblical Commandment that the Rabbis have nullified by their
silliness. They are to be worn outside the pants so all can see. And it
must have a cord of blue. Many Jewish people who wear them, hide them in
their trousers! The whole idea of the Commandment (Numbers 15:37-41),
was that they would be seen. And that they would have a cord of blue
upon them. Today, most do not have the blue because the Rabbis 'are not
sure' as to the exact shade of blue that is supposed to be worn. Another
perversion by the Rabbis that nullifies the Commandment of Yahveh.
HaShem verses Yahveh
Another perversion. Where does it say in the Tenah that we cannot use
His Name? This 'fence' by the Rabbis was built so that no Jew would
'take the Name of God in vain' (Ex. 20:7, Dt. 5:11). This sounds good,
but upon closer inspection of what the Hebrew word for 'vain' is, we see
that it means evil, destruction, falsehood, worthlessness, or to lie.1
This would imply that the person using the Name of Yahveh, was not
really walking with Yahveh. But to command the People not to utter His
Name (so as not 'to take it lightly'), finds no basis in Yahveh's
Commandment. Another major area where the Rabbis strain at a gnat, and
swallow a camel.
Now one profaned the Name of Yahveh, by doing something that was truly
an abomination to Him. Like sacrificing their children to Molech,
another name for Satan. Leviticus 20:1-3 states:
'Then Yahveh spoke to Moses, saying, 'You shall also say to the Sons of
Israel: 'Any man from the Sons of Israel or from the aliens sojourning
in Israel who gives any of his offspring to Molech, shall surely be put
to death. The people of the Land shall stone him with stones.
I will also set My Face against that man and will cut him off from among
his people, because he has given some of his offspring to Molech, so as
to defile My Sanctuary and to profane My Holy Name.'
It is a very serious sin to profane His Name. The Hebrew word here means
'to express detestation of a thing'.2 The root of the word signifying
'to be pierced or wounded.3 This is the same word used of Yeshua being
'pierced through for our rebellions' in Isaiah 53:5.
One should not use His Name lightly, or swear using the Name of Jesus.
These are wrong of course, but to deny the People of God from using His
Name because someone evil would utter it from a false heart, is to
nullify His giving His Name to us, for us to call upon Him. Even though
when I pray to Yahveh, I always address Him as Abba (Papa).
ENDNOTES:
1. Benjamin Davidson, The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon (Grand
Rapids, MI, U.S.A: Zondervan Pub. House, 1979), p. 703.
2. Ibid. p. 260.
3. Ibid.
Anti-Mashiah spirit
This is the worst of the idolatry. For it has blinded Jewish eyes and
perverted many of their teachings, because they don't really have the
intimate knowledge of God that only Yeshua can bring. When one correctly
understands the crucifixion, then all other Scripture has a Plumb line
by which it is to be gauged. This is not so with traditional Jewish
teaching.
This has imprisoned the People and can be seen in much of the Rabbis
writings. For instance: Isaiah 53. For centuries this was seen as
portraying the Messiah of Israel, but around 1100 CE, the interpretation
was changed. Now it is read as pertaining to the People of Israel and
not to the Messiah. Why? Because it is a stark picture of the Suffering
Messiah (Yeshua) and the Rabbis want to stay very far from Him.
The biblical gymnastics that the Rabbis now have to do in order to
interpret Isaiah 53 this way is nothing short of a gold medal from the
Olympics, seeing how Mt. Olympus, the home of the Greek gods, would be
very proud of it.
Now I realize more than most, that in the Name of Jesus, more Jews have
been murdered and tortured in the last 19 centuries, than all other
names combined. And so Satan has done an incredible perverse work in
painting the Name of Yeshua as his (Satan's) own. We would not go
anywhere or do anything with a satanist. And so too most Jewish people.
They do not want to have anything to do with anyone who bears His Name.
Having said that, I have come to see that too many Jews are closed and
hardened against Yeshua. This is not good and I believe that there is a
spirit, yes, many spirits among the Jewish People that blind them to His
Reality. This is cause for much prayer on our part for their eyes to be
opened. It does not take away from the fact that many teachings are
polemics against Yeshua.
Mitzva
Basic to Jewish thought is that the Jewish People are essentially good
but they have to deal with an evil inclination. By the doing of mitzva
(Commandments which include both God's and the Rabbis), they hope to
have more good deeds than evil on the Day of Judgment and therefore earn
their way to Heaven. Climbing the ladder of our soul to perfect our way
into Heaven is very pagan. Much of the teachings are permeated with
kabala (occultic mysticism). Without the shedding of blood there is no
forgiveness of sin. But here is where they try and get around that.
Another perversion. For what can one do without God's Way?
The Kipa
Known in Yiddish as yarmulke or skull cap. It was worn in the ancient
world by the priests of the sun god. The shape of it represents the sun.
Even today, the Pope and the Cardinals wear them. This is an indication
of their allegiance to the sun god. What are Jews wearing them for?
Where is it commanded in the Torah? Again, this is blown up way out of
proportion to Reality. The Rabbis say that it is a sin if one does not
wear it. And you can't wear the tzit-zit unless you also wear the kipa.
A form of idolatry, representing another god. How blind my People are.
Also, I believe the kipa is the physical representation of the circular
tonsure. The mark of pagan priesthood. And it was worn by the Pope and
his Cardinals as a sign of their affiliation with and succession to, the
pagan priests. The tonsure is prohibited by Yahveh in Leviticus 21:5.
That's how old it is. (For more information please see my paper on The
Kipa in the Artilces section.)
The Star of David
A number of years ago, when the Lord was dealing with me about the
'Jewish' Star of David, my heart was bound up in the symbol, because of
what it represents to our People. But the more I looked into the matter,
the more I became convinced that I could not continue to use it on my
stationary (letterhead and synagogue card), because it was not biblical
and its design suggests the pagan world.
At best, it was a profane (common), ordinary symbol. At worst, it was
taken from the pagans and introduced into Judaism by the Kabala.1 I
could not see how I, as a representative of Yeshua (Truth), could give
legitimacy (sanctify), a non-biblical and anti-biblical symbol.
I discontinued using the Star of David because I could not biblically
justify it. One of the tenents that I live by is to be able to
biblically state to anyone, 'why I do the ceremonial, symbolic or
religious things that I do.' I keep Shabat because it is commanded. I
wear the tzit-ziot because it is commanded, etc. I cannot defend the
kipa that way or the 'Star of David.'
Many years ago I said to the Lord that I didn't want to walk in darkness
of any kind, thinking that it was Light. For no darkness, however
enshrouded with 'light' brings Life. It may look good, but
intrinsically, there is no real Light or Life within it.
I found the following information on a Jewish book marker. It had that
the Star of David was, 'In use for many centuries and in many cultures,
the original hexagrams were a part of ritual magic and kabbalistic
mysticism. It was only about two hundred years ago that the Star of
David was appropriated as symbol of the Jewish people.'2 It also states
elsewhere that
'It was not originally a Jewish symbol but was used by many ancient
peoples. In the 13th century it was used as a cabalistic magic symbol.
It's first official use occurred in the early 17th century when the
Jewish Community of Prague adopted the star of David as its official
symbol.'3
ENDNOTES:
1. The first Jewish 'Star of David' is seen on a gravestone of a Jewish
man named David who practiced kabala in the Middle Ages. I think it was
around 1200 CE.
2. Another 24 karat gold plated Pagemarker Bookmarks; designed and
manufactured by Marbex, Inc. © 1994.
3. Bernard Cayne, Chairman, Board of Directors, Encyclopedia Americana
International Edition (Danbury, CT, U.S.A: Grolier Inc., © 1989), vol.
25, p. 609.
(For a greater explanation of the paganism of the Star of David, please
see my paper in the Articles section.)
Peyot
Or peyos as the European Jews call them. These are the side locks
(hair), that hang down on many, from the shoulder, to as far as the
elbow. Introduced only 250 years ago by the Hasidim, today, both they
and many Orthodox Jews wear them. Mystically, they are seen as being a
picture of the tzit-zit, on the head. But where does Yahveh ever command
such a thing in Torah?
The practice is very effeminate, even to the curling of them with a
woman's iron or bobby pins. There is also another Jewish group that used
to wear them, the Yemenite Jews. I think what we see here is the same
spirit of perversion, in two different places.
Interestingly enough, Yahveh comes against this very thing in Ezekiel:
'Also they shall not shave their heads, yet they shall not let their
locks grow long; they shall trim the hair of their heads.' (Ezekiel
44:20)
Here, the reference is to all the hair on the head. But it is very
significant because if the hair is not to be long, the head would not be
able to have peyot. The word for locks in Ezekiel 44:20 means, 'the hair
or locks as growing loose and free.'1 And this is exactly what the
Hasidic peyot are allowed to do. To grow as long as possible and to be
loose, separate from the hair of the head itself. Today, many Hasidim
shave all their head, except for the peyot, another violation of
Yahveh's express Will.
There is a reference again in Ezekiel that might seem to lend credence
to the Hasidic type peyot, but I think that it would best be understood
as 'the scruff of the neck' or just naturally curly hair, that surronds
the entire head, rather than having such long ear or side locks. In this
reference the word tzit-zit is used for 'lock.' Ezekiel 8:3 records what
Yahveh did to the Prophet on this occasion:
'He stretched out the form of a Hand and caught me by a lock of my head;
and the Spirit lifted me up between Earth and Heaven and brought me in
the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate...'
There is no other place where tzit-zit is used like this. In terms of
being translated as hair. The verb means to blossom, to flower or to be
a shining thing, like a gold crown.2 The noun of which is used for grass
as it sprouts up, in Psalm 90:6.3 In Jeremiah 48:9 it is used of the
plumage or wing of a bird.4 And in Isaiah 28:4, it is used of the part
of a flower that fades, the petals.5 From these, one cannot picture
something like the modern day peyot of the Hasidim. But something that
is uniform in nature.
Yeshua speaks indirectly against such a practice, when He tells the
people that the Pharisees make their tzit-zit long, to be seen of men.
This implies that most everyone else's, was short. And from what I can
find, typical tzit-zit in His day was probably two to three inches in
length. (Although I don't believe anyone wore peyot then.) I don't see
any way to biblically justify peyot.
ENDNOTES:
1. The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, p. 633.
2. Dr. Francis Brown, Dr. S.R. Driver, Dr. Charles A. Briggs, based on
the lexicon of Professor Wilhelm Gesenius, Edward Robinson, translator
and E. Rodiger, editor. The New Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew
and English Lexicon (Lafayette, IN, U.S.A: Associated Publishers and
Authors, Inc., 1978), p. 847.
3. Ibid.
4. The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, p. 642.
5. Ibid.
Tefilin
From what I have come to see, Mosheh never wore them and neither did
Yeshua. They were first worn in the days of Hillel, about 2,000 years
ago but only by the sect of the Perushim (Pharisees). They wore them all
day. And there seems to be no small dispute about only wearing the arm
or the headgear, not necessarily both.
The reason for their institution comes from a literal rendering of the
four places in Scripture where the Lord speaks of it. As I think you'll
see, it was never meant to be taken literally. But Man, ever wanting to
work his way to Heaven, came up with this. For it is much easier to do
something for God, than to trust Him with your life.
Deut. 6:8: 'You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be
as frontals on your forehead.'
Deut. 11:18: 'You shall therefore impress these words of Mine on your
heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand,
and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.'
Ex. 13:1-16: 'Then Yahveh spoke to Moses saying, 'Sanctify to Me every
firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the Sons of Israel,
both of man and beast; it belongs to Me.' Moses said to the people,
'Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the House of
Slavery. For by a powerful Hand, Yahveh brought you out from this place.
And nothing leavened shall be eaten.
On this day in the month of Aviv, you are about to go forth. It shall be
when Yahveh brings you to the Land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the
Amorite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, which He swore to your Fathers to
give you, a Land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall observe
this rite in this month.
For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day
there shall be a Feast to Yahveh. Unleavened bread shall be eaten
throughout the seven days; and nothing leavened shall be seen among you,
nor shall any leaven be seen among you in all your borders.
You shall tell your son on that day, saying, 'It is because of what
Yahveh did for me when I came out of Egypt.' And it shall serve as a
sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder on your forehead, that the
Torah of Yahveh may be in your mouth; for with a powerful Hand, Yahveh
brought you out of Egypt. Therefore, you shall keep this ordinance at
its appointed time from year to year.
Now when Yahveh brings you to the Land of the Canaanite, as He swore to
you and to your Fathers, and gives it to you, you shall devote to Yahveh
the first offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every
beast that you own; the males belong to Yahveh. But every first
offspring of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not
redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn of man
among your sons you shall redeem.
And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What is
this?' then you shall say to him, 'With a powerful Hand, Yahveh brought
us out of Egypt, from the House of Slavery. It came about, when Pharaoh
was stubborn about letting us go, that Yahveh killed every firstborn in
the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast.
Therefore, I sacrifice to Yahveh the males, the first offspring of every
womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.' So it shall serve as a
sign on your hand and as tefilin on your forehead, for with a powerful
Hand Yahveh brought us out of Egypt.'
The Hebrew for 'frontlets' or 'frontals' is literally, 'between your
eyes.' Twice the context declares that the keeping of the Feast of
Matza, and redemption of the firstborn son, is to serve as a sign to be
bound upon the hand and between the eyes.
It's very clear that these refer to the keeping of the rituals, not the
actual, literal binding of anything to the hand or between the eyes.
Another point that leads me to believe that Deut. 6:8 and 11:18 refer to
the knowledge and doing of the Torah (in or upon your head (i.e.
knowledge), and upon your hand (the doing of the Torah), is that unlike
tzit-tzit (Numbers 15:37-41), Yahveh never says 'to make tefilin' but
that the Commandments shall be upon your hand and between your eyes as a
sign.
It also states, 'between the eyes,' not upon the forehead, as it is worn
today. Between the eyes is a mark of ownership of a slave, as is upon
the hand. The counterfeit of which is satanic. In Revelation 13:16-17 we
read:
'And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor,
and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand
or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or
to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast
or the number of his name.'
And in Revelation 14:9 it states: 'Then another angel, a third one,
followed them, saying with a loud voice, 'If anyone worships the beast
and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,' and
in Revelation 20:4 the Apostle writes:
'Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to
them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of
their testimony of Yeshua and because of the word of God, and those who
had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark
on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned
with the Messiah for a thousand years.'
I am not saying that tefilin are the mark of the beast. Just a literal
perversion of His Word. Is it commanded by Yahveh? The Rabbis would say
it is sin not to do it.
So one might be saying that they knew what was going on, and Mosheh
didn't. They knew that God had really intended for the Commandment to be
taken literally, even though Mosheh didn't, and no one in Israel, not
King David or Isaiah knew the Commandment should be taken literally.
Isn't that silly? If God had intended for the Commandment to be taken
literally, then all Israel would have been wearing tefilin 1400 years
before the Perushim came up with the idea. But this is not the case.
Only the Perushim knew what God really meant? This is nonsense.
As we walk in His Commandments, they are between our eyes and upon our
hand. This is the mark of His ownership upon us, that we do His
Commandments. This lends itself to being the knowledge and doing of the
Commandments, because those who know and do Torah are continually
displaying them and causing Yahveh 'to be seen.'
Another point is that it does not say to wear them for prayer times
(Shaharit). As a matter of fact, we have two problems now. The Rabbis
originally were against wearing them for only prayers times (all the
prayer times are: mariv, shaharit and minha [evening, morning and
afternoon]), as they wore them all day long. Yet today, they are only
worn for Shaharit. I know, tradition. Well, I never have bought that
tradition, overrides the Word of God, as rabbinic Judaism has.1
The Pharisees did it...but it seems like Yeshua never did. No mention of
His Students, coming upon Him and Him putting it on or taking it off,
etc. is mentioned in Scripture. And when the soldiers gamble for His
clothes (Yohanan 19:23), tefilin is not listed as one of the things they
took. Only on Shabat did He go to synagogue, not everyday as the
Pharisees did.
On Shabat there is no wearing of tefilin. This would seem to exclude Him
from their sect also, as is now becoming popular to say, that Yeshua was
a Pharisee, because many of His Teachings parallel Pharisaic teaching.
Unfortunately, this understanding would also confuse the police with the
Mafia, because both have guns.
Edersheim believes that Yeshua didn't wear tefilin. He writes:
'Although Christ only denounced the' broad tefilin, 'not the' tefilin
'themselves, it is impossible to believe that Himself ever wore them,
either on the forehead or the arm...
'The admission that neither the officiating priests, not the
representatives of the people wore them in the Temple (Zebach. 19a,b),
seems to imply that this practice was not quite universal. For our
part, we refuse to believe that Jesus, like the Pharisees, appeared
wearing phylacteries every day and all day long, or at least a great
part of the day. For such was the ancient custom, and not merely, as
the modern practice, to wear them only at prayer.'2
Only the sect of the Pharisees wore tefilin in the days of Yeshua our
Messiah. The common people didn't, and neither did His students. In
regards to the wearing of the tefilin on either the arm or the head (and
not both), Edersheim writes:
'It is remarkable that Aristeas seems to speak only of the phylacteries
on the arm, while Philo of those for the head, while the LXX'
(Septuagint), 'takes the command entirely in a metaphorical sense.'3
Edersheim goes on to say that a 'most superstitious reverence was
attached to them, and in later times they were even used as amulets.'4
I don't think Yeshua would have worn tefilin. For nowhere does any
Pharisee call Him a Pharisee when he condemns them. And it would have
been very obvious that He would have been a Pharisee, if He was wearing
tefilin. For only they wore them.
So Mosheh, King David, Daniel, Jeremiah, etc. etc. etc. never even heard
of them, let alone wore them. It is strictly a Pharisaic invention.
It is of special note that the Rabbis who translated the Hebrew
Masoretic text (the Tenah, Hebrew Bible, or 'Old Testament'), into the
Greek language (the Septuagint Bible), saw tefilin in a metaphorical
sense and not a literal sense. The translation took place 250 years
before Yeshua was born and so is very insightful as to how the Jewish
People understood tefilin in 250 B.C.E. I think that the Lord spoke it
as a way of saying that you must always have, 'My Word upon your heart.'
ENDNOTES:
1. Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (Peabody,
MA U.S.A: Hendrickson Publishers, [no publishing date]), p. 625,
footnote 1, section 4. Sanhedrin 11:3: 'It is more culpable to
transgress the words of the Scribes than those of the Torah. He that
says, "There are no tefilin", transgresses the word of the Torah, and is
not to be regarded as a rebel (literally: is free); but he who says,
"There are five compartments" (instead of four), to add to the words of
the Scribes, he is guilty.' And with such magic they bind the People in
a slavery that is worse than Egypt. For the People whom they have under
their sway are spellbound by their understanding of 'Scripture' and are
commanded not to even listen to another. This is nothing less than fear,
masquerading as authority.
2. Ibid. pp. 624-625. Edersheim ends the paragraph with footnote #1:
'As the question is of considerable practical importance, the following,
as bearing upon it, may be noticed. From Jer. Ber. 4c, we gather:
That at one time it was the practice to wear the phylacteries all day
long, in order to pass as pious. This is denounced as a mark of
hypocrisy.
That it was settled, that phylacteries should be worn during a
considerable part of the day, but not the whole day. [In Ber. 23a to 24a
we have rules and discussions about depositing them under certain
circumstances, and where to place them at night.]
That it was deemed objectionable to wear them only during prayer.
That celebrated Rabbis did not deem it necessary always to wear the
phylacteries both on the head and on the arm. This seems to prove that
their obligation could not have been regarded as absolutely binding.
Thus, R. Jochanan wore those for the head only in winter, but not in
summer, because then he did not wear a headgear. As another
illustration, that the wearing of phylacteries was not deemed absolutely
requisite, the following passage may be quoted...' and he goes on to
print my first footnote above, 'It is more culpable to transgress...'
3. Ibid. p. 76. Footnote 5.
4. Ibid. p. 408.
Dead Rabbis
The veneration of the dead Rabbis is occultic. Prayers both being
offered up at their graves, and offered up to them (the dead rabbi), to
intercede for the person with God. Praying to the dead is very pagan and
idolatrous. Unclean spirits abounding.
These are some things that I have come to see in Judaism that are not
kosher. Just wanted to share them with you so that you too could be a
little more aware. Not everything Jewish is of Yahveh. Judaism, like
Christianity, has become a perverse religion of Man (Satan). There are
many falsehoods in both that masquerade as Truth.
I'm not coming against Jesus, but the anti-semitic and anti-Torahic
spirit in Christianity, as well as the pagan practices of Sunday,
Christmas, Easter, the eating of ham, etc. Have you ever read the
classic, The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop? It reveals how the
Catholic Church clothed itself with ancient Babylon. Doctrine for
doctrine, feast day for feast day, god for god (and by extension, her
daughters, the Protestant churches). Truly an incredible book on The New
Age movement, 40 centuries ago. The Bible says, '...Babylon the Great,
the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the Earth' (Rev. 17:5).
Yeshua says in Rev. 18:4-5, 'Come out of her, My People, so that you
will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues. For her
sins have piled up as high as Heaven, and God has remembered her
iniquities.'
Some Other Things
Jewish superstitions and inventions that nullify the Commandments and
add fear to one's life.
If a woman does not light the Shabat candles, the woman will die in
childbirth.1 A curse, for a tradition. For nowhere does Yahveh command
the lighting of Shabat candles.
Pesah: leaven out before Pesah. Jewish tradition. Exodus 12:15 states it
must be taken out the first day of Matzot (when the Pesah ceremony is
finished). This makes sense because how could the leaven (sin), be taken
out of our life (house), before Yeshua the Lamb dies for us (His
Crucifixion and the Body and the Blood we eat at the ceremony).
The hai or the Hebrew word for 'life'. Its numerical value is 18.
'...made up from the eight and tenth letters of the alphabet, it adds up
to eighteen, a number imbued with magical property through the ages.'2
ENDNOTES:
1. Rabbi Nosson Scherman and Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, General Editors, The
Complete Artscroll Sidur (Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A: Mesorah
Publications, Ltd.), p. 327, section 6. It is a reprint from Mishna
Shabat, chapter 2.
2. Another 24 karat gold plated Pagemarker Bookmarks; designed and
manufactured by Marbex, Inc. © 1994.
Email Avram