...If you're traveling somewhere in the world and you want to know if American culture has reached that place, don't look for an American flag. Look instead for McDonalds "Golden Arches."
Imagine: There are places in the world today where Levi jeans sell on the black market for 200 dollars. Croatia is starting to produce basketball players talented enough to be NBA All-Stars. And somewhere behind the Great Wall of China, countless teenagers are lining up for pirated CDs of rap music.
The Greeks would have been awfully jealous because this is exactly what they were trying to do with their culture. They wanted their philosophy, entertainment, arts, literature, theater and athletic games to become the defining elements for peoples' lives everywhere.
The Greeks were different from other empires. They didn't want your land, your resources or your riches. They wanted your mind.
And the Jews weren't willing to give that up!
AND YOU KNOW WHAT? WE'RE STILL NOT!
Assimilation. Swallowing us up whole and turning us into one of them. Today it's called Judeo-Xianity. And wouldn't you know it, the symbol they use to represent their side of the equation is the GREEK ICHTHUS (fish). But what the heh... Their Bible is GREEK, too!
THE JUDEO-XIAN SYMBOL OF "THE ONE NEW MAN""...There is a great need today for the two parts of the Body - Jew and Gentile - to come together, yes! There is a great need for the divide between Jewish and Gentile believing people to come into unity and fellowship as "ONE NEW MAN" in Christ."
Even if they change their tactics and pretend to want to be joining with us, we won't be fooled. Their Bible is not OUR TORAH and their god is not OUR G-D.
They might refer to him as "The G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." They might call him "Hashem," chas v'chalilah! But there is no question where their loyalty lies and it is as foreign to Judaism as Hellenism was in the time of the Chashmonayim.
LISTEN TO THEIR RECITATION OF THE HOLY WORDS OF THE SHEMA. (Click on #5 out of the menu of the "Sabbath blessings" applet.)
These are the people who have been visiting the yishuvim and giving gifts to the settlers and Gush Katif "refugees." These are the people that the LIKUD is promising to allow the privilege of "aliyah." We have no commonality with them. Not THEN and not NOW!
Calling all Maccabees to the battle!!
I never understood why ArtScroll insists on publishing their Torah books with the Gentile names of our holy ancestors (Jacob instead of Yaakov; Moses instead of Moshe; Joseph instead of Yosef, etc.).
ReplyDeleteA true Jewish convert filled me in when he told me how popular ArtScroll books are with Messianic and other Christians, and they DON'T like Jewish names in their publications.
ArtScroll is more than happy to oblige.
Artscroll uses the standard English terms in their ENGLISH translation. Everything is better in lashon hakodesh.
ReplyDeleteThe Artscroll website says:
ReplyDelete"General Comments, Suggestions and feedback:"
comments@ArtScroll.com
I sent them an email with the comment you made above with subject "ArtScroll Catering to Missionaries"
I never even thought about this.
Here is the reply from ArtScroll. I'm very happy with their reply.
ReplyDeleteDear Daniel:
Thank you for thoughtfully sharing your ideas with us and taking the time to
write. When the ArtScroll Series began publishing the Megillos and Tanach 32
years ago, we consulted with the Gedolei Roshei Yeshivos, Rav Moshe
Feinstein, Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky, Rav Yitzchak Hutner, Rav Ruderman, Rav
Mordechai Gifter zt"l, and we were advised to use the Anglicized named so
that not as yet observant Jews would not be put off and thus lose their
chance to see authentic Torah literature. They had the global picture in
mind of the influence authentic Torah literature could have on English
speaking Jews.
They felt that in that context, more heimishe people would understand as
well. Baruch Hashem the ArtScroll sefarim have made a great impact, and in
more selected works we do use Moshe, Avraham Avinu, etc.
Best wishes. Feel free to stay in touch.
Your friends at ArtScroll
" . . . so that not as yet observant Jews would not be put off and thus lose their chance to see authentic Torah literature"
ReplyDeleteThis makes no sense and is typical of so-called rabbinical leaders today (who, by the way, often put the onus on their higher-ups).
Someone please explain to me why a "not as yet observant Jew" who is reading a Torah book would be "put off" from the correct pronunciation of Hebrew names, especially if they are English speakers and readers? Why would they lose any "chance to see Torah literature"?
Huh?
The answer, folks, is gelt (which in English is called money).
Another thought:
ReplyDeleteMy very first Torah book was the Koren Bible, recommended to me by the beautiful Jews at Aish HaTorah.
For those of you who don't know, the Koren Bible is a Tanach that has been published for many years in Eretz Yisrael in Hebrew with an English translation. It is accepted as accurate by and has been popular in the Torah world since its introduction.
Inside you'll find this:
"Avraham," "Yizhaq," "Ya'aqov," etc.
It is one of most treasured Torah possessions because, as a beginner, it instilled in me a great pride for Torah and for being a Jew with my own language and pronunciation . . . even if I couldn't yet understand Hebrew.