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| Pâ•qidꞋ Yi•rᵊmᵊyâhꞋu |
2000.11.28 (N.B., Jacksonville, TX, USA; – " I have written to you once before and your reply was very nice and straightforward. I have a couple of questions which I hesitate to ask as I do not wish to offend; however, I really do need some answers so that my husband and I can make some decisions about our future path of study. Please understand my questions are sincere and are not meant to cause trouble in any way.
My husband and I have heard of the SANJ and have listened to some of Dr. James Trimm's teachings (not a lot but some). I noticed on your home page that you specifically point out how opposed you are to the SANJ. I understand that they are not recognized by the orthodox community. From what I understand though, the orthodox rabbinate will not accept believers in Yehoshua as moshiach into their community. This is what I have heard - I do not have any personal experience with an orthodox community myself. It appears that your organization and the SANJ agree on several points so I was wondering if you could please tell me exactly what it is about the SANJ that is so bad? You say the Orthodox community accepts your organization so could you tell me why they accept you and not the SANJ? …
Non-selective observance of Tor•âhꞋ – the operative phrase being “non-selective.”
Update 2014.11 In reformatting these old archive files to fix broken links and make them more readable, I noticed that this question is a bit like asking me to explain, in 50 words or less, quantum physics or the history of the world. I pointed out the main stumbling-block for most Christians, but the ramifications wouldn't be comprehensible to a Christian. Ramifications of keeping Tor•âhꞋ non-selectively include subordination to an Orthodox Beit Din in the legitimate Jewish community to resolve questions of interpretation and Ha•lâkh•âhꞋ, which is an indispensable and intrinsic essential of Ta•na"khꞋ. The ramifications of that include all of the differences, every difference, that distinguish Christianity from Judaism. You could not begin to get a glimmer of this without completing our free on-line Kha•vᵊr•utꞋâ course, which is more in-depth and wide-ranging than courses rabbis give to prepare for conversion. You have to learn a lot, including basics of Hebrew, before you can even make an informed decision. It is impossible to remain a Christian and follow Tor•âhꞋ – they are intractably contradictory and mutually exclusive.
Many Christians, and virtually all ‘Messianics,’ (Jewish Christians) claim to be Tor•âhꞋ-observant. But to religious Jews (which included RibꞋi Yᵊho•shuꞋa and the original Nᵊtzâr•imꞋ), non-selective is necessarily implied in what we mean by Tor•âhꞋ-observance. Thus, the sine qua non distinguishing legitimate Judaism from false counterfeits is non-selectivity.
Non-selectivity is necessarily implied in the Orthodox Jewish concept – and, therefore, in our usage – of “Tor•âhꞋ-observance.” Consequently, Tor•âhꞋ-observance necessarily requires subordination of “one’s own heart and one’s own eyes” (bᵊ-Mi•dᵊbarꞋ 15.39-40) to the mi•shᵊpâtꞋ explicitly commanded in Tor•âhꞋ. This is thoroughly documented in Who Are the Netzarim? (WAN).
Being so far from legitimate Tor•âhꞋ-observance for your whole life, the ramifications of these Tor•âhꞋ-ordained concepts are completely alien to you (as they are also to Mr. Trimm, and all other Christians – including ‘Messianics’); preventing you from grasping the gravity and implications of these things until you read WAN. These are the kinds of questions WAN was designed to answer and, if you’re really serious, you will study this book and it will open your eyes in ways, and about aspects of Tor•âhꞋ and Judaism as lived and taught by RibꞋi Yᵊho•shuꞋa, that you cannot even imagine from your present perspective.
Nothing more diametrically contradicts subordinating to the Beit Din ordained in Tor•âhꞋ than Displacement Theology! Mr. Trimm has set up his own phony “beit din” which attempts to rival, and has no validity anywhere in, the legitimate Jewish community – displacing the legitimate, Tor•âhꞋ-ordained, Beit Din. The SANJ is a classic example of Displacement Theology, and nothing could be more of an anathema and abhorrent to the legitimate Jewish community.
The only possibility of Mr. Trimm obtaining acceptance would require renouncing the Christian idol, Jesus, and abandoning the Displacement Theology of Christianity and its doctrines including the Διαθηκη Καινη (NT) – i.e. subordinating to a legitimate Beit Din in the legitimate Jewish community. Consequently, the first requirement would be that he terminate his bogus SANJ!
All attempts to establish a religion or religious institutions or criteria or doctrines different from legitimate historical Judaism and a Beit Din in the legitimate Jewish community – i.e. moderate Orthodox Judaism – are Displacement Theology.
Mr. Trimm’s (and all other Messianics’) claims concerning Judaism are strictly limited to his (their) own assertions apart from, not any acceptance or recognition by, the legitimate Jewish community. Again, Displacement Theology.
For this reason, neither does Mr. Trimm (nor any other Christian / ‘Messianic’) live in the Orthodox Jewish community; nor is he (nor are any of them) accepted as legitimate by the Orthodox Jewish community.
Mr. Trimm lives in Texas, and not in the Jewish community there. I live in an Orthodox Jewish community in Israel, which is the nexus of Judaic authority.
By contrast, I – along with my wife, Karen – testified before an Orthodox rabbi (as well as openly declaring the same before the entire Jewish community and even local newspapers and TV) that we believed that historical RibꞋi Yᵊho•shuꞋa was the diametric opposite of what Christianity represents, that we absolutely rejected Christian representations and doctrines concerning their J*e*s*u*s, and we believed that an uncompromisingly Tor•âhꞋ-observant (by the Jewish definition) Jew, RibꞋi Yᵊho•shuꞋa of Nâ•tzᵊr•atꞋ, was the Mâ•shiꞋakh. The rabbis determined that, because our beliefs regarding both RibꞋi Yᵊho•shuꞋa and the concept of Mâ•shiꞋakh were within halakhic definitions (free of Christian doctrines that are intractably incompatible with Ha•lâkh•âhꞋ), we were acceptable; and we were subsequently converted by Orthodox rabbis, one of whom received ordination from the then-President (1957) of the Beit Din of America, R. Max Felshin, D.D.
, and an Orthodox Beit Din.
Nothing in Judaism names who a Jew must, or cannot, believe is the Mâ•shiꞋakh. Judaism only stipulates that the Mâ•shiꞋakh meets the criteria specified in Ta•na"khꞋ (and the Christian Jesus does not!) The first requirement is that a candidate for Mâ•shiꞋakh must be Tor•âhꞋ-observant and teach Tor•âhꞋ-observance, NOT Displacement Theology.
In contrast to Mr. Trimm’s (and all other Christians' / Messianics’) sole reliance upon claims from outside the legitimate Jewish community (i.e. Displacement Theology), I am thoroughly documented to be an Orthodox Jew in good standing in the Orthodox beit ha-kᵊnësꞋët, where I’m a member and pray regularly, and in the Orthodox community here in Ra•a•nanꞋâ(h), Israel.
In contrast to Mr. Trimm (and all other Christians / "messianics"), I do NOT promulgate Displacement Theology, nor do I represent a Beit Din that rivals the moderate Orthodox Jewish community. Rather, I subordinated myself to the legitimate, Orthodox, Beit Din system in the legitimate Jewish community and, only thereafter, was – thereby – qualified to set up the Nᵊtzâr•imꞋ Beit Din, also within the bounds of moderate Orthodox Ha•lâkh•âhꞋ – embracing, not displacing, the legitimate, Moderate Orthodox Beit Din system in the legitimate world and Israel Jewish community. This is a monumental difference from Mr. Trimm, all other ‘Messianics’ and anything since 135 C.E.
These are some of the reasons why I represent the only followers of RibꞋi Yᵊho•shuꞋa as Mâ•shiꞋakh to have been accepted in the legitimate Jewish community since 135 C.E., while Mr. Trimm and his SANJ (and all other Christians / ‘Messianics’) aren’t accepted as legitimate Judaism by any legitimate Orthodox rabbi in the world.
N.B.: Also, I understand the thinking that the modern day rabbinate sits in the seat of Moshe as the scribes and Pharases did in the first century; however, it has recently come to my attention (through 2 different sources) that the original intent of yehoshua's teaching in the book of Matthew could very well have meant to steer his talmudim AWAY from those teachers who were not correctly following Torah (even though they did sit in the seat of Moshe).
RibꞋi Yᵊho•shuꞋa taught most explicitly to do the mi•tzᵊw•otꞋ that the rabbis teach, just not imitate their sanctimony and hypocrisy. It is no less true today. But that never justified adopting Displacement Theology by giving the excuse that some rabbis are hypocritical. All sources outside of the legitimate Tor•âhꞋ (i.e. Jewish) community represent Displacement Theology. How can you be surprised when they fiercely cling by their fingertips to Christianity, which is Displacement Theology? Moreover, even the sources upon which they rely are extensively Christian-redacted – i.e. Christianized (Hellenized). To treat this issue seriously you must also make yourself aware of the information in both the description of The Nᵊtzâr•imꞋ Reconstruction of Hebrew Ma•ti•tᵊyâhꞋu (NHM) as well as the book itself, and the details, including what Eusebius had to say, in the first two books of our free on-line Kha•vᵊr•utꞋâ Distance Learning.
N.B.: I believe Yehoshua came to set the observance of Torah right. He taught against many practices of the religious leaders of his day without EVER teaching against Torah itself. What I am trying to decide is where to get my teaching from. I believe in Torah observance and I also believe that Yehoshua is the ultimate "Rabbinic" authority on the subject. How can I place myself under the authority of an orthodox rabbi who at BEST would TOLERATE my belief in Yehoshua as the moshiach (and the ultimate authority on Torah). Yet, my husband and I do need guidance and direction so…
That’s exactly where the Nᵊtzâr•imꞋ Beit Din comes in: ensuring that you attain to, and remain within, the acceptable bounds of Ha•lâkh•âhꞋ so that the Orthodox rabbis will have no justifiable grounds to reject you. That isn’t to say that some won’t reject you anyway, but – unlike Mr. Trimm and all of the other Christians / "Messianics" – after you proven yourself over time. some will accept you. Several of our ta•lᵊmid•imꞋ are living proof. You can be too – with enough study, commitment, dedication and determination.
N.B.: Well, before I ramble any longer I will stop. I appreciate any advice or words of wisdom you could spare for us. We have been studying "Jewish Roots" for about 10 years and I never thought I would actually ever consider a conversion to Judaism but now I am not so sure. I firmly believe that Hashem has one law and one people and I wish to raise my children so that they understand and love Torah. Anyway, I appreciate your time in reading this and I look forward to hearing from you.
You should be aware that we don’t convert anyone and don’t get involved in conversions. We give people the only opportunity that exists to follow the authentic teachings of RibꞋi Yᵊho•shuꞋa – Tor•âhꞋ according to Ha•lâkh•âhꞋ – legitimately: that is in the moderate Orthodox Jewish community. You don't need to convert and become a Jew, although that's preferable where one's marital status permits. But the only essential is that geir•imꞋ learn and practice Tor•âhꞋ according to Ha•lâkh•âhꞋ. Conversion isn’t necessary. Only Tor•âhꞋ-observance is required, and that requires study to learn how.
I hope you’ll insist on the true and authentic teachings of RibꞋi Yᵊho•shuꞋa, which can only be found here, and get started immediately by beginning our free, on-line, Kha•vᵊr•utꞋâ distance learning.
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