2 Av 5771
What do you call a person who opens the gates and invites the enemy inside? Traitor, you say? That’s what I call him, too. We have among us pretenders who dress the dress and talk the talk, but they are traitors to their people and to their G-d. Not only have they opened the gates and invited the enemy inside, hosting them in homes and sitting at the table with them, they’ve invited the rest of us to join them in their crimes.
I don’t know if it is greed for money or love of kavod or simply that their soul is blemished, causing them to empathize with the enemy. For whatever underlying reason, they excuse themselves and add to their guilt by attempting to make it appear that the Torah approves as well, G-d forbid!
I am referring to prominent and well-known Jewish settlement leaders who dress and speak like frum Jews, but who love Christians and find in them many admirable qualities. They provide access for them to Eretz Yisrael, Jewish homes and Jewish children and they would like to convince us all that this is allowed, even a mitzvah, G-d forbid!
They have opened the gates to wicked Eisav in the form of Christian “lovers of Israel” who are offering bribes worth many thousands of dollars, if not more. For the sake of free will, Hashem allows for people to convince themselves, as well as others, that Christianity is not idolatry, but among people of truth, there really is no question at all that it is.
“The Christians are idol worshippers and Sunday is their festival.” (Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Avodat Kochavim…, Perek Tet)
“Can there be a greater stumbling block than Christianity? All the prophets spoke of the Messiah as the redeemer of Israel and its savior, who would gather their dispersed and strengthen their observance of the mitzvot. By contrast, Christianity caused the Jews to be slain by the sword, their remnants to be scattered and humbled, the Torah to be altered, and the majority of the world to err and serve a god other than the Lord. (Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Avodat Kochavim…, Perek Yud Aleph)
Some try to say that these are new Christians today, who do not believe as their forefathers did. This is just another puny excuse for indulging their desire to do evil. All of those who follow Jee-zeus today, whether in the traditional way or dressed up in tallit with the name Yeshu, they all believe that the so-called New Testament is equal in source and authority to the Holy Torah, G-d forbid! They all believe what is taught there, that, G-d forbid, the Holy One impregnated a woman who had “the only begotten Son of G-d,” who is "both 100% man and 100% G-d," G-d forbid! When they baptize, they do it in the name of the three. And they all believe that no one is “saved” until they accept the “atoning work” of Jee-zeus’ “substitutionary death;” something never dreamed of in the Torah.
One Pastor Roman Asbill heads a community and ministry called Word Made Flesh. This group is one of the ones who feel their beliefs gain more legitimacy if they dress up the New Testament as Torah miSinai, G-d forbid! and call their false messiah "Rabbi" Yeshu, but it is plain from their "What We Believe" page that it is the same old Christianity described with Hebrew terminology. One quote might surprise you: "We believe that all non-Jewish people who trust in [Yeshu] are grafted into Israel. While they may not be bloodline Jewish, they are full and equal participants in the covenants of promise."
They may deny believing in replacement theology, but the only thing that has changed is that they were forced to move over and make room for us when they saw we were blessed to return to our Land. They have yet to give up their claims to our heritage or our mission.
Their facebook page brags: "What an awesome evening with ___, ____, and Word Made Flesh ...!! We had the Aaronic Blessing spoken over us by a Jewish Rabbi from Jerusalem whose name means The Lion of Judah, Son of Abraham. We stand for Israel and the Jews!!!"
Does this "rabbi" have any idea of the treachery of his act, bestowing a blessing upon idolaters that Hashem Himself gave to Aharon HaCohen to bless Am Yisrael?
Space does not allow me to discuss the many, many threats and their sources or the many, many such Jews, Hashem yerachem, that are mislead and misleading others down this error-strewn path, but I will address one more.
There was a blogpost this week by one of these traitors wherein the blog author attempts not only to excuse his relationships with the Christians and praises them at every opportunity, but he casts aspersions upon Am Yisrael and blames our suspicions about the "lovers of Israel" on the sorry past history which is surely reason enough. He mentions "...Christian organizations attempt to supposedly steal Jewish souls,...."
Well, the blog author shares a picture of himself with a known missionary who, with the help of prominent Jews like the author, has set up himself and his family to live in Israel, practice his avodah zarah on Eretz Kodesh, and "volunteer" free labor in Jewish vineyards which brings them into contact with hundreds and maybe thousands of Jews and their children. And why do they "volunteer?" I'll let the missionary Tommy Waller explain, as he says in a video:
"For us, sharing the gospel is not only verbal, it has an action to it. It's based on relationships. As we're working with these people [the Jews], we'll be able to share with them this Jesus that we know."
In another video, narrated by Tommy Waller's son, they invite Christians across America to join them, physically, if possible, "...to share with [the People of Israel] a passion for the soon-coming jubilee in Yeshua-Messiah."
On their website, they wrote:
"...there is a wall that divides people of the Christian faith and people of the Jewish faith.... That wall is tall and thick---built from years of misunderstanding, misconceptions and misgivings between two faiths that share the same roots, as evidenced in Israel where 'Messianic Jews' are often shunned by Orthodox Jews and in the US where Christian churches and Jewish synagogues rarely interact.""During the past five years, the family---all 13 members---have been working alongside Israeli farmers in Samaria, building relationships, breaking barriers...chipping away at that wall. ...Working side by side with Israeli farmers in the vineyards and olive groves, the family is learning, understanding, reaching out and developing relationships."
We just heard Tommy Waller say that "building relationships" is the means to delivering the gospel to the Jewish people.
Much more divides the Jews from the Christians than the question of who is the messiah and will he be coming for the first or the second time. Some say that as long as the Christians do not proselytize the Jews, it’s ok to have relationships with them. Well, clearly, they do intend to proselytize the Jews, though some lie and deny it. However, even if they only proselytized gentiles, this is a vile religion full of lies which mentally and emotionally enslaves a billion people on the planet. What business do the Jews have, who bear the light of truth to the world, to put a kosher stamp on it by association?
I'm afraid such reasoning or appeals to the guilty parties are useless. The blog author himself writes at the very beginning of his post: "...I know it will bother some people. But I have to get it out.... Whoever is upset, well, that’s their problem."
The Ramchal describes such people in his masterful musar work Mesillat Yesharim:
“…because of his not having labored in the Law, he sits in judgment and declares the pure, unclean and the impure, clean and he breeches the fences of the Scholars. ...the evil …does not come all at once, but little by little, without his recognizing and sensing it. He is pulled from evil to evil until he finds himself sunk in evil's very depths. …he adduces interpretations which are not in accordance with the law, destroys the truth and perverts it, trespasses upon ordinances, and breeches the fences. His end, like that of all who breech fences, is destruction. …the Torah is neglected, Divine service dispensed with, and the Creator abandoned." (Ramchal, Mesillat Yesharim, Perek Vav)
These people have sick souls, but they deny their need for a cure. Instead, they say it is we who are in need of it. How dare we refuse the "love" being offered by these "wonderful and supportive" people? As is too-typical of Jews who make this mistake, error builds upon error, and he begins to praise the non-Jews' 'lovely midot' and 'sterling qualities' and at the same time, toss a few accusations out against Am Yisrael by unfavorable comparison.
Ramchal teaches that the antidote to soul sickness is the Torah. It is a negative commandment "to show no mercy to idol-worshippers," Sefer HaChinuch, Vol.4, Mitzva 426
"...that we should have no kind feelings for those who worship idols, and nothing about them should be good or pleasing in our eyes; in other words, we should remove far from our mind, and it should not [ever] arise in our speech, that there could be anything of value in one who worships in idolatry, and he should find no grace or favor in our eyes---to such an extent that the Sages of blessed memory taught that it is forbidden to say, "How handsome that heathen is," or "How charming and pleasant he is." About this it is stated, and you shall not be gracious to them (Deuteronomy 7:2), for which the interpretation was given [in the Oral Tradition]: Do not ascribe grace or charm to them---in keeping with what we said. Now, there are some of our Sages who inferred from the verse, you shall not be gracious to them, that you shall not give them gratuitous gifts; but it is all from one root [principle]. And in the tractate 'Avodah Zarah in the Jerusalem Talmud (i 9) it was stated: "you shall not be gracious to them"---it is a negative precept.At the root of the precept lies the reason that the beginning of every human activity is fixing one's thoughts on the acts and bringing the matters up on the speech of the tongue; after thinking and talking about it, every task is carried out. Therefore, by refraining in thought and speech from finding anything gainful or charming in those who worship in idolatry, we will thus refrain from joining them and striving after their affection, and from learning anything from their evil deeds....This is in effect in every place and time, for both man and woman. If someone transgressed this and praised idol-worshippers and their activities, other than in some manner where he would find much more to praise in our nation as a result of their praise, he would violate this negative precept.
The Torah tells us that when we are living in the Land of Israel, if anyone comes to a Jew and entices him to follow another god... (Devarim 13) "...you shall stone him with stones so that he dies, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And all Israel shall listen and fear, and they shall no longer do any evil such as this in your midst."
Without a qualified Sanhedrin, what do we do about the traitors among us who befriend and praise those enticing us to worship another god other than G-d and who grant them access to innocent, unsuspecting Jews in their own homes in the Land of Israel? And they go further and they offer Am Yisrael's heritage to them and desecrate G-d's name in public by pronouncing it over them in "blessing?" Sin multiplied upon sin.
We are not free to decline the battle. We have to fight them the same way that we have to fight those with whom they have allied themselves---our proven and historical enemy, Eisav.
(Devarim 13) "You shall not desire him, and you shall not hearken to him; neither shall you pity him, have mercy upon him, nor shield him. ...And all Israel shall listen and fear, and they shall no longer do any evil such as this in your midst. "
They are no longer our brothers until they repent this great wickedness. They should not be hosted or received by fellow Jews. They should not be counted in a minyan or allowed an aliyah to the Torah, which they trample underfoot. They should not be greeted or acknowledged in the street.
(Devarim 13) "...for the Lord, your God, is testing you, to know whether you really love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul. ...You shall follow the Lord, your God, fear Him, keep His commandments, heed His voice, worship Him, and cleave to Him."
Know before whom you stand!!
