Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on March 10, 2016

THE TALMUD & THE BIBLE

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 2 Peter 1: 20-21

What about the Bible? Is Scripture sufficient in itself and considered by the Hebrew Roots ministries to be the inerrant Word of God? Are the Old and New Testament the complete revelation of God's will for the salvation of man. Do they constitute the divine and only rule of Christian faith and practice? Or is it true as stated by Peter Michas that we must return to the Hebrew or Aramaic writings and the Oral traditions of Judaism for New Testament doctrine?

"since existing New Testament manuscripts are Greek, written to express Hebraic concepts, why be limited to the Greek or English translations when we have Hebrew, The New Testament is in the pattern of the Jewish traditional work of Torah, Mishnah, Haggadah, Halakah, Talmud and Midrash, but inspired by God Himself for the common people."

Hyam Maccoby, grandson to the famous Rabbi Haim Zundel Maccoby, the Polish Kamenitzer Maggid, [spirit guide], expounds the view of Peter Michas and other Hebrew Roots advocates that the Gospels were written in an era of extreme prejudice and hatred towards the Jews and that this anti-Semitism was reflected in the New Testament. Hyam Maccoby impugns the accounts of Mark and Luke:

"What had been the history of the Christian Church since the death of Jesus? The bulk of the New Testament which purports to give this history is The Acts of the Apostles; but this is a Gentile-Christian composition written about 100 A.D. by Luke, giving a Gentile-Christian slant to the events of those years. By reading between the lines of Acts, by following using a supplementary sources such as Josephus, the Talmud and early Christian historians, we can reconstruct the true history of the early church." 5.

Error in the Bible?

Other Hebraic Roots and related groups make the excuse that there is error in the Christian Bible. Promoting their NEW Translation called The Book of Yahweh, the House of Yahweh disparages the Bible:

"Wisdom of the Ancients" bears an uneasy resemblance to Ancient Wisdom, which is the esoteric term used by occultists for Gnosis or Mysticism. William Kingsland wrote of this wisdom in his book, The Gnosis or Ancient Wisdom in the Christian Scriptures: Or the Wisdom in a Mystery:

Perhaps Peter Michas is correct in saying that we need to understand the original concepts from history and as they are taught now particularly from these books and the Jewish people themselves. Obviously, they would hold the keys to the Hebrew Roots of Christianity as taught by the Jewish sages. Avi ben Mordechai, an Orthodox Sephardic Jew, claims that the ancient Jewish teachers of the Law hold the answers:

However, 1 Corinthians 2:5 states: "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

Primacy of the Talmud

Author, Nesta Webster quotes Talmud translator, Michael Rodkinson's view of the importance of the Talmud in Jewish life and the lesser importance of Scripture given by the Talmud:

The Babylonian Talmud states that man can debate God and win: "A rabbi debates God and defeats Him. God admits the rabbi won the debate." Baba Mezia 59b.

Maimonides defines the various ways one would be considered a denier of the Law, referring not to the Bible, but the oral law as set down by the sages:

Who are the scribes whose words (the oral law) must be listened to and obeyed above all the written law? Quoting again from Hyam Maccobys, Revolution in Judaea, the following explanation is given of the terms Pharisee, Sadducee, scribes and rabbis, at the time of Christ.

The Pharisees and Sadducees were both believers in the word given by God to man, but the Pharisees added extra-Biblical oral teachings as authority over the written Word of God. They called the Sadducees heretics for not doing so. Those in the Hebrew Roots movement parallel the Pharisees in that they look to these extra-Biblical works for their guidance---and advise Christians to follow suit.

However, Jesus said of the Sadducees: "...ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God..." Mark 12:24

Exclusiveness of the Talmud

Hebrew Roots and Nazarene teachers advise Christians to study the Talmud; however, the Talmud itself teaches that its precepts are only for the Jews. P.L.B. Drach states in his De l' Harmonie entre l'Elise et la Synagogue,

It should be noted that Mr. Drachs knowledge comes firsthand: "The Jewish Encyclopdia has an article on Drach in which it says he was brought up in a Talmudic school" 24.

Is this what Larry Rowland means by "understanding in order to grasp all that scripture has to offer"? Considering the immense importance of the Talmud in Hebrew thought and Hebraic Roots teachings, it behooves Christians to understand the nature and contents of the Talmud.

The Talmud

Avi ben Mordechai has redefined the gospel as the Oral Torah:

The Talmud itself affirms, again, the authority of its own teachings in Erubin 21b (Soncino edition): "My son, be more careful in the observance of the words of the Scribes than in the words of the Torah (Old Testament)."

"Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth." Titus 1:14

Global Unity

Project Genesis is connected to such Hebrew Roots sites as Larry Rowland's Messengers of Truth. The purpose of Project Genesis includes education about Jewish roots: "Project Genesis promotes further Jewish education about our Jewish roots, as represented in Jewish sources"

According to their Facts: "Our teachers are Orthodox, so they approach the tradition from a traditional perspective (which is logical, after all). But our program so carefully avoids labels and politics that Conservative and Reform Rabbis have actively expressed their support of the program to their congregants and colleagues."33.

The term Halacha is used frequently when discussing the Midrash, Mishnah and Talmudic teachings. What is Halacha?

With that in mind we see from the Hypertext Halacha, distributed by Project Genesis, a list of topics from these Sacred Jewish books, relevant to everyday life. A few of these are:

". . .the oddest rabbinical conceits are elaborated through many volumes with the finest dialectic, and absurd questions are discussed with the highest efforts of intellectual power: for example, how many white hairs may a red cow have, and yet remain a red cow; what sort of scabs require this or that purification; whether a louse or a flea may be killed on the Sabbath-the first being allowed, while the second is a deadly sin; whether the slaughter of an animal ought to be executed at the neck or the tail; whether the high priest put on his shirt or his hose first; whether the Jabam, that is, the brother of a man who died childless, being required by law to marry the widow, is relieved from his obligation if he falls off a roof and sticks in the mire." 38.

Avi ben Mordechai, an Orthodox Sephardic Jew, indicates that we need to incorporate the Jewish "halacha" teachings in order for "believers" to be unified globally. His intention is that Jewish teachers and eventually a Jewish high court should be in place in order to teach us the Law.

Here we have a glimpse of the true agenda behind the Hebrew Roots Movement: to return mankind to the Law as interpreted by a high court reminiscent of the Sanhedrin! Yet the New Testament boldly states that Christians are no longer under Law but have "become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even him who was raised from the dead, that ye should bring forth fruit from God. (Rom. 7:4) How can Jews and Christians be unified as "believers" if each community believes a different gospel? Moreover, what is the Jewish attitude toward Jesus Christ, the Savior who liberates men from bondage to the Law? To discover the Rabbinic view of Jesus Christ, we must take a closer look at the Talmud, which Jews regard as superior to both the Old and New Testaments.

THE TALMUD & JESUS CHRIST

Footnotes

1. Peter Michas, http://www.ez/com/~peterm/HB.GK.RF.HTML 2. Fitzmeyer, "Responses to 101 Questions on the Dead Sea Scrolls; p.104 ; as cited in Andrew Gould's Some Disturbing Aspects of the So-Called 'Hebrew Roots Movement,' and Their Implications". 3. Unger's Bible Dictionary p. 706, Ibid. 4. Ibid p.422 Ibid. 5. Hyam Maccoby; "Revolution in Judaea: Jesus and the Jewish Resistance"; p. 230, ii. Ocean Books; 1973 6. House of Yahweh, http://www.yahweh.com 7. Jacob Prasch; Explaining the Midrash; http://www.cw.co.za/moriel/midrash.html%5D 8. Ibid. 9. Kingsland, William. THE GNOSIS OR ANCIENT WISDOM IN THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES: OR THE WISDOM IN A MYSTERY; London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1954 (1937), Kingsland, p.83 10. Avi ben Mordechai; http://www.millenium7000.com/halacha.htm 11. Michael Rodkinson (i.e. Rodkinssohn), in Preface to the translation of the Talmud, Vol. I. p. x. ; as Cited in: Nesta H. Webster, p. 370-371., "Secret Societies and Subversive Movements" Omni Publications, Eighth edition, 196412. Rev. I. B. Pranaitis; The Talmud Unmasked: The Secret Rabbinical Teachings Concerning Christians; The Talmud; holywar.org/txt/talmud_unmasked.html 13. Ibid. 14. Ibid. 15. Pranaitis, op.cit. 16. Maccoby, op.cit., p.77-78 17. Ibid., p. 74 18. Ibid., p.74-75 19. Ibid., p.75 20. Ibid., p..76 21. Ibid., p.77 22. Ibid., p.281 23. P.L.B. Drach, De lHarmonie entre lElise et la Synagogue, I. 167. Cited in: Nesta H. Webster, op. cit. p.371 24. Webster, Ibid., p.11-12 25. Rev. I. B. Pranaitis; holywar.org/txt/talmud_unmasked.html 26. Avi ben Mordechai, email to Ed Tarkowski, May 1998 27. Ibid. 28. Fabre d' Olivet, La Langue He'braique, p.28 (1815); 2. According to the Jewish view God had given Moses on Mt. Sinai alike the oral and the written Law, that is, the Law with all its interpretations and applications."-Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah,I.99 (1883)quoting other Jewish authorities; as Cited in Nesta H. Webster; Ibid., p.6 29. Kabbalah in English, http://remus.rutgers.edu/~woj/arcana/index.html 30. Ibid. 31. Ibid. 32. Maccoby, op.cit., p. 281 33. Project Genesis, http://www.torah.org/info/genesis.html 34. Hypertext Halacha; http://www.torah.org/learning/halacha/ 35. Torah and Halachic Authority (3/12) - What is "Halacha?" How is it determined?; http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/text/faq/usenet-faqs/html/judaism/FAQ/03-Torah-Halacha/faq-doc-45.html 36. http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/city_services/lists/halacha/index.htm 37. Hypertext Halacha; http://www.torah.org/learning/halacha/ 38. Solomon Maimon: an Autobiography, translated from the German by J. Clark Murray, p. 28 (1888). The original appeared in 1792. As Cited in: Webster ; op.cit. p. 7 39. Avi ben Mordechai, Halacha; http://www.millenium7000.com/halacha.htm

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