Some disturbing trends are beginning to show up among the Breslov and Chabad chassidim. They appear to be going the same route that the Yeshu followers traveled in their day. (Not that they're the only ones, but they're the most visible.) It doesn't seem to be enough for them to bring Jews to repentance. They appear to feel compelled to missionize the goyim as well. But, how far are they willing to go? Will they bend the Torah so far as to break it in their eagerness to present Xians as "righteous among the nations", mislabeling them as "Noahides"?
I get no joy from discussing this. I wish I didn't even know about it. But, since it's been put out there,so to speak, there's no way I can let it pass without a response.
Rabbi Lazer Brody wrote a blog post today entitled Pidyon Nefesh for Non-Jews. It quotes a letter from one Robert Ogabu of Johannesburg who wrote:
"I don't know if you remember me, but I am one of members of Reverend Philip Banda's community in South Africa. I'll never forget the blessing you gave me. ...I'm enclosing a clip that someone took when you were here with us - it really strengthened our faith."
Here is more from his website...
The Prophet, as he is popularly known, preaches a straightforward, confrontational and uncompromising Gospel of truth and God's love that inspires many to repentance and pursuance of God's righteousness.
Through the Holy Spirit performance of miracles, deliverance from demonic powers, healing to the sick, restoration to the broken, salvation of souls, etc. this God's man continues to take the message of God's saving and healing power to the people and help many to establish a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ - that is: "to point people to Jesus", as Prophet Banda would often say.
From the "About" section of his website...
Who Are We?
Impact for Christ Ministries is a revelation of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, governed by Him as the Head, according to the enunciation of the Holy Scriptures, the working of the Holy Spirit and the ministrations instituted by Jesus Himself. We are a ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, where His name is lifted up high and His limitless power demonstrated - 'Doing the works of Jesus Christ and greater works than He did for those who believe in Him'.
Our Mission
To glorify God , to proclaim the Kingdom of God by preaching the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. To minister to the needs of the total person. To develop, equip and release believers into ministry. To extend the influence of the church beyond its boundaries and abroad.
Well, you get the idea - classic Xianity with the false deity at the head. The following clip was included in the rabbi's blog post. The letter writer, Robert Ogabu, identifies this as Banda's "community" so I suppose we can gather that they share the "Prophet's" beliefs and goals.
This all begs the question - why is Rabbi Brody there and what is he hoping to accomplish? Some of them are wearing kippot and they're writing to ask if they can perform pidyon nefesh and they're being advised that Rav Arush will be happy to do it for them with donations to his 'ministry':
...Rav Shalom Arush will gladly do the pidyon for you; he uses the money for spreading emuna around the world, which brings our emuna books, CDs, and ourselves to such faraway places as China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and South Africa, as well as the West.
After 14 years of delivering the oracles of God, 14 years of prophetic teachings, 14 years of Godly direction, wisdom, confrontational and inspirational messages. Prophet Philip Banda has often been asked when he was going to write a book, finally the wait is over.
On the 7TH of November 2014 Prophet Philip Banda launches his first book, “True Christianity is Irresistible”True Christianity is Irresistible” is a compilation of 75 teachings given by the man of God Prophet Philip Banda over the years. Teachings on how you can be the best Christian that God wants you to be.
The following clip is a capture from a promotional video which was made to advertise their 2015 Israel Tour which starts TOMORROW!
Rabbi Shalom Arush himself visited South Africa and addressed a conference which was purported to be Noahides. However, you can see from this Breslov-made video that it included Philip Banda and presented him as the "President" of a "congregation", not as the "Prophet" of a church that he actually claims to be. (See Rabbi Shalom Arush in South Africa and here also.)
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| Philip Banda shares the dais with Rabbi Arush at the "Noahide" Conference. |
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| I don't think Rabbi Arush has a clue who this man really is. |
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| Banda wearing kippah and tzitzit! |
"God established that there must be no unity between Israel and the nations." (And that's talking about the best of them, how much more so with the idolaters!) They must not mix or mingle together. The walls separating them must never come down. Rather, there must be separation, borders, a division. This separation, indeed, serves the purpose of unity, but genuine unity of a world under Divine sovereignty, for a united world of falsehood is not G-d's will." (Source: Or HaRa'ayon, the chapter on Havdalah)
I glad you pointed this out, I have seen Rabbi Brody's posting this morning and I thought it is kind of odd that Rav. Arush does pidyon nefesh for a goy... I heard the video from Rav. Mizrachi two week ago and I agree with him... We live in such a confusing world where we have to be careful even by somebody who says he is a Jew, this is very very sad... Shabbat Shalom
ReplyDeleteAmen, Jewgirl. We're all feeling it. Shabbat shalom umevorach!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI hope that someone can contact R' Lazer Brody, who has R' Arush's ear, and can prevent thee things from happening again.
ReplyDeleteI put a comment on R' Brody's site (as ChavaG), asking if they (R' Brody and R' Arush) are aware of the Xian connections. I am amazed that people don't check out who they're dealing with. Since he moderates, expect to see it later.
ReplyDeleteThank you for doing just that.
CDG,
DeleteKol HaKavod!
Please tell us if you get any response!
Thanks!
I went to check it out, and saw that the post has been removed entirely.
DeleteIt doesn't appear on a search for all the August posts and the link now leads to a blank, white page.
P.S. You have a very pretty name.
Dassie - you saved me from going to FB this morning to see if there is a response.
DeleteYou're so right on target, Devash, again. Thanks for posting the video. Right to the point. It's funny, this morning I read something that prompted me to respond, because it also highlighted much that has gone astray. We must have been inspired by the same heavenly Yerushalayim air.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteB"H - Chabad, Breslev, the Zionists' "Jewish State" hoax: We are in trouble! Major sections of Jewish society worship gods other than Hashem and THEREFORE it is easy for them to be resonated by and respond to xtians. Apart the names of their idols, there isn't that much difference between them. Sad. Yet, my Shabat gulash came out fab, so there IS reason to be satisfied and look forward to at least short term future. For the longer term, like two-three weeks, a month, there are signs of war. Iran or IS, Ukraine or Syria, the waters are troubled. Gut Shabes!
ReplyDeleteWhy do you only make meet for Shabbath, when I am NOT there??
Delete;-)
"You mustn't look always at the negative!" and "You always focus on the negative", etc. No, I make meat for Shabes when you're not here as a bait, to make you come up to holy base-camp more often, thinking: " Gosh, what fab meat will I miss if I don't visit Bereny this week"?
DeleteI also copied a bit from here onto Rabbi Brody's 2 FB accounts referencing your link. I have since removed his website links from my 2 blogs. This is soooooooo disturbing. How the mighty do fall. Thank you for posting all of this! By why mention Chabad? Yes, they teach Noahide laws but I have never seen anywhere where they have gone into a church sharing Torah.
ReplyDeleteKol HaKavod!
DeletePlease tell us if you get any response!
Thanks!
The whole post was deleted from both of his facebook pages just like his website. I wonder if he is writing something now to explain this relationship
DeleteI found this latest piece informative and wasn't aware of some of the information. May I suggest that you get this message out to a larger audience.
ReplyDeleteHilltop Dweller
You put praise to R Vatkin who we don't even know what he said, who he is?? How dare you condem R Brody without confronting him first.. Your not a Rabbi, Hacham, Talmid!! How dare you.. this just shows that your the problem!! I used to enjoy your blog but after this no more. And I am very close w R Brody and am making him aware of what you did. Hopefully he will confront you personally.. Oh and by the way He still will love you no matter what since you are one of Hashem's children. William
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, it's Rabbi Vaknin and nowhere did I "praise" him. I made it very clear that I don't even endorse his messages. I do not know if they are reliable or not, but the information is there so people can be aware if it should turn out to be so.
DeleteSecond of all, why is this such an emotional issue for you and why do you automatically assume I have not spoken to the rabbi? And for the record, no, I did not and I explained my reasons in the current blog post here.
We all need to be more concerned with the honor of Hashem and His Torah than with the honor of rabbis who are doing questionable things. Anyone can make a mistake. All of us must be held accountable.
Agree with Dvash 100%. Was also very perturbed reading Lazer Beams yesterday. Something has gone so wrong in the last # of years - it's almost surreal. nili
ReplyDeleteBecause the Rabbi Mizrachi video which was formerly featured at the conclusion of this blog post did not strictly concern itself with the actual focus of the piece which is outreach to goyim and the mislabeling of xians as "Noahides", I removed it on Fri. Tonight I deleted the two comments that were concerned with it since they were no longer relevant. Please confine your comments to the issue at hand.
ReplyDeleteThanks and shavua tov.
The whole issue of Noahides is problematic even without the xtian element. Sometimes it looks like it's turning into another religion for gentiles, but they promote mitzvas, siddurim, Jewish dress and marriage customs that mimic Judaism so sometime they are indistinguishable from jews.
ReplyDeleteFrom an interview with Ray Pettersen of Noahide Nations:
PETTERSEN: Yes, the other part- it’s a community type thing- is that the Jewish people- often times you can talk to a Jewish person and tell them you are a Noahide and they don’t know what the heck you are talking about. What’s a Noahide? There are many people out there who don’t truly understand what a Righteous Gentile is. Because of this, the reason I wanted to have it in the Ft. Lauderdale area is a town called Hollywood, which has a very large Jewish community.
I wanted to extend a hand- and receive a hand back- which I think I already have- from the Jewish community. Because you know what? We’re on the same team! Our roles are different, but we are on the same team. So rather than this idea that Jews are somehow better than Gentiles- and some Noahides being adamant towards the Jewish community- we need to eliminate all of that and bring forth a true understanding of what a Noahide is, what we are to Hashem, what we are to the Jewish people and what we are in the redemption.
And vice versa. Jewish people need to know who we are. The only way that will happen is by direct involvement by both parties. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to get as highly recognized rabbis to speak at the conference as possible so that a good many people from the Jewish community would make the decision to come, even if it’s just for one day.
http://www.breslev.co.il/articles/society/noahide_world/the_noahide_world_conference.aspx?id=2406&language=english
- a voice in the wilderness
Shavua tov, all. No response yet, but whoever takes care of his blog posted my comment:
ReplyDelete"Rav Brody, do you know that Philip Banda isn't just any non-Jew - he is a Christian minister and his community even calls him a prophet??? See here: http://www.impactforchristsa.com/index.php/prophet-philip-banda
"Even more importantly, does Rav Arush know?
"I feel impelled to ask: Don't people like this have to give up their false god before they would be ready to receive a pidyon nefesh?
"Many thanks - and Shabbat shalom."
- See more at: http://lazerbrody.typepad.com/lazer_beams/2015/08/pidyon-nefesh-for-non-jews.html#comments
You might want to know that several other commenters posted their disapproval as well. Genuine Noahides in particular are very confused by all this.
I did not want Devash to be personally targeted, so I did not link back here; I think the "impact for christ" site is enough. We all have questions about this that deserve an explanation from the mashpia and his rav!
Thanks for your sensitivity, CDG. I have also had past experience with genuine Noahides who were very upset and very hurt that the very people who persecuted them in their search for the truth were being accepted and embraced by rabbis and other Jews while still holding on to that false religion and still trying to spread it to others!! Ditto for true converts!!!
DeleteDevasth - my apologies for being impulsive and leaving your site on my post to Rabbi Brody on FB - I did not think that you would be personally targeted. Again thank you for bringing this to your readers attention - and still no response from my posting
DeleteNo apologies necessary. The links are free to pass around.
Delete"All of Living Flesh" seems to be the response. Btw, I might have addressed this in the comments section originally, but the last three times I left comments there, they never appeared. I think I was doing something wrong, but I couldn't figure out what.
ReplyDeleteFrom Breslev's website:
ReplyDelete*Part 7 of "The Erev Rav"
Quote:
*Rebbe Nachman and false leaders
In the book Rebbe Nachman's Wisdom, paragraph 126, the Rebbe says the following about false leaders in the time preceding the coming of Moshiach:
"The Talmud teaches us that the angels will chant 'holy, holy, holy' before the Tzadikim, just like they do before G-d…the tzadikim who remain faithful before the Moshiach's coming will deserve this, and much more. So difficult will it be to remain firm in faith and not to be misled by everyone's mistaken beliefs in the pre-Messianic era.
"At that time, many who call themselves religious leaders will preach falsehood… There will remain some truly religious individuals, but they will be very widely scattered."
'Charm is deceit'
Lets conclude this section with an excerpt from the Peshiska Rav's book, the Sefer Or ha Ner (the Light of the Candle):
"…all the people are at a very low level and they are contaminated, G-d save us, by their sins and transgressions, and therefore their eyes are blocked and they can't see the truth. Therefore, they incline more to falsehood than to the truth.
"Our Master, the Holy Baal Shem Tov, said: 'Charm is deceit and beauty is vain' (Proverbs 31:30), that in the times before the coming of Moshiach, falsehood will be charming to people and vanity will be considered beauty, that all the people will call it beauty because everyone is pulled by falsehood.
"Therefore, you should fall to the floor with prayers before Hashem Yitborach from the depths of the heart, that He should light up your eyes, so that you will be able to come to the truth."
Continues:
http://www.breslev.co.il/articles/judaism/concepts_in_judaism/todays_erev_rav.aspx?id=25294&language=english
"Disturbing" does not quite describe this video of exorcisms at Banda's church.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Uvup7dgPWg
- a voice in the wilderness
I don't advise anyone but those who think these xians are "Noahides" to view this video.
DeleteIf this outreach wasn't possible in the best of times, why do we think in this generation it can be done at the very worst of times?
ReplyDeletehttp://thekeytoredemption.blogspot.co.il/2010/10/rebbe-nachman-on-spreading-gods-word.html
- a voice in the wilderness
Umm... What exactly does any of this have to do with Chabad? Do you have nothin better to do two weeks before Rosh Hashanah than speaking loshon hara about tens of thousands of Jews?
ReplyDeleteYou will find your answer about Chabad in the subsequent posts. I have nothing better two weeks before Rosh Hashanah than to search out the sins we all must do teshuvah for before it's too late, O self-righteous one.
DeleteBe thankful it's not your job.
IMHO it is utterly irresponsible to lunch baseless accusations of lashon hora against good Jews two weeks before Rosh HaShana or two weeks after Rosh HsShana in an attempt to Torah-terrorize only the ignorant in defense of one's idol-worshiping sect: The Rebbe is definitely NOT the Messiah, was not and will never be the messiah, for the simple reason that he does not satisfy the criteria. The same way, Rabbi Nachman is NOT a "Moshe-figure", Moshe is THE Moshe figure or the secular State is NOT a stage of the Redemption as the Zionist false messianics claim. Enough already of bullying large segments of Jewish society into self-serving - lies!
ReplyDeleteWhat's even more disconcerting to me is the complete lack of response to the concerns I've expressed here and yes, I also sent them a message in the form of a comment to their blog post. The one that was removed. No answer.
ReplyDeleteTHAT, I'd give for granted. Basically you're asking them to go out of business and they have a vested interest and desire to stay in business. It also is obvious that they don't care much about emet, truth and that their Torah-reasoning is extremely shallow, to put it mildly. So what "answer" do you expect from crooks? "Yes, Devash deer, you are right, we are crooks and want to continue selling our distorted Torah to the goyim"? Lat me bet: You wont get it.
Delete