…Come, let’s go up to the mountain, to the House of the God of Jacob (Israel). HE will teach us H-S Ways, and we’ll walk in H-S Paths… Isaiah 2:3
Christians know these words well, but many refuse to accept them, studying the verses that follow for descriptions of Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) more diligently than the introductory third verse which reminds us that Jesus was a Jew, a devout rabbi so immersed in Torah that he taught in the Temple for three days when he was only twelve years old. The Elders and various Cohen were no doubt enthralled, mesmerized by his knowledge, Ruakh HaKodesh alive within his Soul. Yeshua is Sar Shalom, Prince of Peace, with the two-edged sword he carries more evident in today’s society than ever before, setting people against one another for things that will not matter in Gahen-ah (Purgatory, the Place of Processing), a Holy Realm from which Souls depart and enter these lifetimes. (Read Essay 5 — Biblical Proof of Reincarnation)
When Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD, it’s reported that they killed over a million Jews, and the sentiment eventually became common practice, for it was further fomented by Evil Christians who blamed Jews for rejection and subsequent death of their Savior, rationalizing prophecy of what must be. Through the centuries both state and religious leaders used this excuse for the attempted genocide of those who kept themselves apart, assimilating mostly through financial, artistic and educational systems. Jews were despised because they were blessed, prospering in their chosen professions, and many reached genius recognition. Yet because of these blessings, they evoked a spirit of jealousy, one of the Seven Deadly Sins Christians can preach against yet willfully practice. In today’s world, jealousy and fearing “loss of White-Self” are prime motivations to demonize Jews as perceived enemies, to find opaque reasons to blame them for causing the world’s problems.
Evil influences people to see kindness as weakness, friendliness as disingenuous or perhaps sexual overture, and honesty as the “coward’s way out.” But it takes courage to be honest and ethical, to think of others first instead of ourselves, to forgive and freely offer oneself in service to everyone in need, even the strangers who come among us, all tenets of Hebrew philosophy. True Bravery takes strength that comes from one’s conscience, evaluating regrets and reconciling the Here and Now of Conscious Awareness, humble yet strong in character with fortitude, Self-confidence and endurance. These are lessons taught by P’rusheem (Pharisee) Rav Sha’ul, called Paulus by the Greeks, Paul in English, the Rabbi who consented to the death of Stefan then saw the blinding Light of Yeshua HaMashiakh, exalting Torah’s Renewed Covenant.
Today we see Ego-Self that cancels out the needs of anyone else and vengeful emotions that swell within to overtake awareness of harmful behavior. They say they’re strong, but their weakness is seen in unethical, even criminal, behavior, and in hard-hearted absence of compassion and forgiveness. The transparency of the Love of Messiah Yeshua for us is found in Judaism’s final blood sacrifice for Pesakh (Passover) and in his Gift of his Holy Ghost on Shavu’ot (Pentecost). As I’ve said many times, he belonged to the Jews long before we Christians made him ours, and certainly not in the guise interpreted today, for he was not beautiful in physical form (Isaiah 53:26) and he taught Brotherly Love as few before him in history. He brought to his people the Treasures of Torah — devotion to our Creator and selfless servant to our fellow Human Beings — adhering to the Ten Commandments given to Moses, being Isaiah’s LIGHT to the whole world.
In childhood my Southern Baptists had Anti-Negro concerns, and there were few Jewish families in town, so I never heard remarks about Jews except on television and in movies, newspapers or magazines. I never understood Anti-Semitism and often wondered why Christians hated the man Jesus was when he was a Jew. My lifelong desire to know him fully led me to a Messianic Synagogue in 1999, where I saw Jesus clearly, then also realized the impact of sinat khinam, hatred for no real cause. This concept of Jewish repulsion is rearing its ugly head once again in America and in some European nations, even though our fathers and grandfathers fought to defend the world from that Spirit of Hate. America says we must support Israel, for it’s written that HE blesses those who bless Israel and will curse those who curse them (Genesis 12:3), yet since 1948 the word Israel means a nation, not simply a people.
We need to look back 50 years or so to a time when these two nations, Israel and Palestine, could have lived side by side with respect for each other’s governments, but religious zealots eventually assassinated their peace-loving leaders and quashed efforts towards peaceful resolutions. Terrorists blow up buses full of children and markets in the streets while soldiers forcibly remove people from their homes and use automatic rifles to kill rock throwers, often firing indiscriminately into protesting crowds. Many of us will choose sides in the 75-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict, so we must remember that both nations are guilty of major atrocities and injustices.
We see Anti-Semitism growing at alarming rates, taking on familiar forms, seeking slaughter of the Jews once again, few so vicious as in Prague and under the Spanish Inquisition, and now annihilation of the State of Israel. It’s hard to believe that there are “holocaust deniers” around while survivors still exist, having left their marks in history, and witnesses, emancipating soldiers and journalists, reporting the aftermath of horrors that had occurred to Jews and those who supported them. Today Fascist White Supremacists march in our streets, flagrantly growling anthems from their snarled mouths, emotionally displaying the hatred and bigotry of Evil. For years, they gathered only in secret, their weapons of war safely stored behind closed doors, with a threat of violence to perceived enemies, particularly Jews, but now they’re bold, their slogans being used by some of the richest and most powerful among us.
I believe that America has been especially blessed in recent years, as some other countries in the world, because we’ve started publicly treating Jewish people as equals, honoring their achievements and encouraging their industry. As people intermarried, America became the world’s genetic Melting Pot, and consequentially we’ve gained great medical and technological advancements, scraping the surface of G-D’s Omniscience. Many former bigots have found real love and great blessings in their grandchildren with mixed nationalities, and many finally see that we’re indeed Children of ONE G-D Who created all Life on Planet Earth. It’s true that the Spirit of LOVE promises Eternal Salvation of our Souls, while the Spirit of EVIL incites fear and desires revenge, creating chaos that stays in us as we pass into our next existence.
May Adonai bless you and keep you. May Adonai shine H-S Face upon you and show you H-S Favor. May Adonai lift up H-S Face toward you and give you peace. Aaronic Benediction (Numbers 6:24-26)