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- Prior to presenting the arguments, would like to make an
introductory statement:
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- On occasion, we receive email claiming we are prejudice. As we
discuss all topics, at times, our views oppose others. But our
objective is to present the truth - not to make others upset.
This is far from the truth. If one resorts to attacking us, or
anyone else opposing his own religious beliefs, he thereby shows
the desires not to discuss the facts, but his intent is to
defend himself, regardless of how invalid his beliefs may be.
However, an objective person searching for the truth will not be
alarmed at an argument if it opposes even his very fundamentals.
Since truth is his goal, he does not get caught up in bickering,
he does not attack the 'person', but he discusses the facts
until he arrives at a conclusive principle. If this conclusive
principle opposes previously held opinions, or even a complete
belief system, it is of no consequence. He attaches himself to
truth, and abandons what is false.
Mesora's goal - as should be the goal of any person - is to
understand absolute truth about reality, meaning, truth about God.
This truth carries with it a conviction, as well as a desire to
defend "truth", as one who perceives truth is disturbed
that another human being is bereft of that knowledge. He desires
truth for all mankind. Such were Abraham's goals. Therefore,
regarding the position held by many, of "allowing others their
freedom to practice what they wish", - if that practice is
harmful or false, we must oppose it verbally so as to teach the
truth.
There is only one 'best way' for man to live according to a God,
who doesn't change His mind, and Who has absolute knowledge of
eternal, unchanging principles. Therefore, tolerance of any system
but the one given divinely by God Himself with proofs of that event,
must be opposed for the sake of mankind. Opposing other religions is
not an attack on people, but on principle. Religion must not be
treated different than science - both are based on rational
principles, as both - God's natural laws and His philosophical laws
- emanate from God Himself, the Designer of all sciences, and
religion is what I would term, the "science of life".
Freedom is a goal, and I defend it, but not unconditionally. Now
,while freedom of religion at least today hurts no one - compared to
the crusades - we must not falsely evaluate the death of one's body
via homicide explosions as more evil than the death of one's soul
through living a life of lies. Certainly the soul's death is far
worse, as it is an eternal ruin of man, whereas physical death is
not. We do not force others to choose their beliefs, as God's will
is that each man retain and express his freewill.
We will continue to speak out against France, the PLO, terrorism,
and most importantly, false ideas - be they false religions or false
practices - which lead the blind astray, losing for them their one
chance of a short life, learning the truth about God's one plan for
man, be he Gentile or Jew.
- Returning to this subject, understanding the errors of Jews
for Jesus (JFJ) Christians and other religionists will actually
show you that there is no factual basis for their false claims.
Do not be impressed by their emotional fervor, or the numbers of
people that follow them. God Himself on many occasions punished
large numbers of people even when they sinned. Large numbers of
followers do not prove a group is endorsed by God.
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- God wrote the Torah and gave it to the Jews on Mount Sinai. (Click
here for the article)
- The world agrees to this, as demonstrated by their acceptance
of the Five Books of Moses - the Written Torah. Therefore, we
must study what God instructs man to do, not what
man says he should do. Certainly not by numbers of followers,
not by charismatic speakers, not even by the prospect of losing
our friends on account of this. God's proven words are
our only guide in selecting the correct life for ourselves.
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- I urge you first to read Proof
of Sinai, until you are convinced rationally of this event.
This is the event where God revealed Himself to millions of
Jews. Once you are convinced of this based on proof, then you
will have the unshakable foundation of what is real and true.
Blind faith has no place in any part of our lives. We supposedly
use rational principles to make our life choices, and so when
selecting a philosophy of life it should not be any different. A
more brief version of the proof is found here: "Why
Be Observant?"
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- Arguments against
Jesus and other self claimed "prophets":
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- Jesus cannot BE God.
God is not physical. This is clearly a universal principle: all
which is physical requires creation. That means, that which
creates ALL physical objects itself cannot be physical. This we
call God. For God to become physical, (as Jesus) means that God
either controls the laws of nature, or He doesn't. To say that
God is now man, means that God is the Creator and the Created.
This is impossible.
Can you say that something is in motion and not in motion at the
same time? Two opposing phenomena cannot exist simultaneously.
God never became man, as man can never become God.
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- Throughout the generations, those who received the Torah from
God first - the Jews - the most learned in the Torah, have never
considered Jesus as a messiah.
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- No proof that Jesus or others performed miracles.
Jews for Jesus (JFJ), Christians and other religionists hold
that either one person was approached by God, or a few people
witnessed the so called miracles.
As we proceed, let's examine this area closely as we would other
important areas. A few people can get together to provoke lies.
The main foundation in Judaism is Mount Sinai which was
witnessed by 2.5 million people. This is based on historically
sound information. The same principles scientists use to prove
laws, Judaism uses to prove its beliefs. Christianity maintains
a "blind faith" approach. Judaism rejects such an
approach. When you cannot prove any theory, blind faith is the
only option available. JFJ hide behind the facade of
"either you believe or you don't believe." However,
belief itself is not a proof. Any proof requires a
logical argument. JFJ is based on false claims. God desired man
to live his philosophical life based on the continued use of his
intellectual capability. In making critical life decisions, i.e.
choosing a spouse, a profession, etc., shouldn't our
philosophical life demand as much importance? Man's intellect
should guide his spiritual path in life. See the article on this
topic: Torah from Sinai-Proof of
G-d
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- Additionally, we do not rely on miracles to legitimize our
following Torah. Maimonides states this clearly, and the Torah
teaches us not to follow a false prophet. Even if one does
perform signs, God tells us there is no proof of his
authenticity as a prophet. The Torah teaches that one is not
validated as a prophet through the performance of miracles, but
rather through predictions that come completely true.
Let's learn another lesson from scripture: The world worked
according to created laws prior to Eliyahu's birth.
"Someone" other than Eliyahu is responsible for their
operation and aberration - God. It is God, not Eliyahu or
any other being. Additionally, let's ask, "Can a chair
created by a carpenter control the carpenter?" Didn't the
carpenter give existence to the chair, which shows clearly that
the chair is controlled, and is not the controller.
So is the case with Elisha and God.
Tosfos states in Niddah 16b, that a few keys are in God's hands,
but are given over to a messenger temporarily, for the need of
the hour; the key of life, the key of rain and of resurrection,
as witnessed in Elisha. What does this Tosfos mean?
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- Notice that it calls the person who receives these keys a
"messenger". This means that God's will is that the
miracle will occur before man wills it, as man is merely
a messenger. God incorporates a person into His plans who acts
as a messenger. This teaches us a very important idea. If God
does not will a miracle to occur, man cannot override
God. This also teaches that God is allowing man to indicate
when such laws will be suspended. Man cannot cause it. Why does
God do so? Perhaps to emphasize the messenger's greatness. God
makes it seem that he is "reacting" to man's word,
reflecting great perfection of the messenger, as he talks, God
fulfills man's word.
God willed that Moses tell Pharaoh when the miracles would
occur, teaching Moses' unique greatness, shown to both Jews and
Egyptians. The Rabbis teach, "A tzaddik decrees and God
fulfills." This statement endorses the tzaddik as the
tzaddik himself cannot alter nature without God.
Man didn't create the laws, therefore, he cannot control
them. Without proof, we do not believe man was involved in
miracles. This is why we do not believe Jesus - or that others -
performed miracles.
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- No proof that God spoke with Jesus or anyone else than what
Scripture states.
Unless there is proof, we do not accept the beliefs of
anyone. This is simple and rational. Just as no one would accept
if you told them God spoke to you, you cannot accept the claims
of others, regardless of how large the religious group is or how
prominent.
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- Jesus died for your sins is a view that goes against God's
system of reward and punishment.
God's system of Torah punishes the wicked, and rewards the
righteous person. Someone else (Jesus) cannot atone for you.
Yes, this is an easy, pleasant solution to one who is guilt
ridden from sin. Judaism does not support this concept at all.
See Ezekiel, Chapter 18. It discusses how God punishes each man
"for his own sins", against Christian ideas of Jesus
dying for mankind's sins. The Torah (The Old Testament) says
this as well in Deuteronomy, 24:16: "Fathers are not
killed for their son's (sins) and sons are not killed for their
father's (sins), each man in his own sin will be killed."
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- Christianity contradicts God's very words.
Jesus was killed, and not protected by God.
God protects his true servants when sent on a mission.
Although they may find trouble along their way, their mission is
protected by God, provided the prophet is God's messenger. If the
prophet claims to be on a divine mission, and fails to fulfill it,
then we know he is a false prophet. God does not fail in his
actions. A true prophet will not fail his mission. God says in the
Torah, "I protect the feet of my faithful ones", again,
"the righteous have mishaps, but I save them from all of
them". This is why Pharaoh had no power over Moses. Avimelech
had no power over Sarah and Abraham, and Nevuchadnezzar had no
power over Daniel, Mishael, Azarya and Chananya. If God meant for
Jesus to accomplish a divine mission, he would have been saved.
God saved his other servants by allowing them to complete their
tasks, Jesus was killed prior to his "mission" because
he was not God's servant. God did not save him because Jesus went
against Torah. One important example of how Jesus defied God, was
that Jesus abolished divorce. It is a fact which no Christian or
JFJ will deny. This means that Jesus went against God's word in
the Torah. God said that divorce is a recognized institution.
Jesus went against God's word.
Jesus could not save himself from crucifixion, how then can he
be considered a god?
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- Judaism does not accept the Christian messiah is simple and
clear. The reason being: no relationship exists between what
Jewish scripture teaches about the messiah and Jesus of
Nazareth.
What does scripture say about the messiah and the age he
will bring to the world? Please read Ezekiel 37. In this well
known chapter, the Prophet clearly teaches that we can recognize
the coming of the messiah when: there is the resurrection of the
dead, the building of the third temple that will stand forever
in Jerusalem, the world will be filled with the knowledge of God
and will obey his Torah, the restoration of the lost tribes
(Ephraim or the Kingdom of Israel whom Assyria carried off), and
the Jewish people will return to the land of Israel. This must
all take place.
When we carefully consider that none of this has occurred, we
know that although many thousands of people have claimed to be
the messiah, throughout the centuries, including Jesus none of
them are the messiah. Considering this, it is obvious
that the very opposite occurred immediately after the Christian
movement began. That during the first century the Romans
slaughtered many thousands of Jews. The Jewish people were
exiled from their land, the Temple was destroyed, Torah
knowledge and observance decreased and the nation of Israel was
dispersed throughout the Roman Empire. Clearly, there is no
relationship between what the Bible says about the messiah and
what JFJ strongly tries to claim about Jesus.
Missionaries insist that Jesus will somehow accomplish these
things in a second coming. While this false claim conveniently
dismisses what Jesus did not accomplish, it is completely
and thoroughly defiant to our Torah.
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Courtesy of Rabbi Tovia Singer
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National Director of Outreach Judaism
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