The Tapestry of Jewry - How Beautiful our Torah is.

Hello dear reader,

    I have done it again. Got caught up in the week, and now I'm posting Friday afternoon a post that many wont read until Sunday or Monday. I apologize for the late post. I am doing my best to keep to a schedule, but I am frantically trying to get things accomplished at home, and at work before my wife and child come home from their 6 month long trip in Japan visiting family and being Japanese.

    I wanted to talk about the beauty of Torah today. The special quality it holds for not just us Jews, but for the world. However, it is my firm and deep belief that Torah speaks to our Jewish souls with such purity and personable clarity that few others can experience. This is not a belief of fanaticism, but of honesty. When I study our Torah, my heart sings, and my soul overflows with great intense emotion. I find myself getting caught up in whatever I am reading, and tears begin to well at the corners of my eyes. There is something about our Holy Texts that somehow cuts through me, as if something deep within me is consuming all that is before my eyes even at points where I have to re-read something when I do not understand fully what is before me. Somehow, I am certain, my neshama knows.

The Shema, learn more about it!

    There are many things contained within the Torah that I enjoy greatly, but I always find I have a very special connection with The Shema. The Shema can be easily found in Deut 6:4-9. It goes without saying that I have had many a nightmare growing up that has magically been thwarted when in my dream I recite The Shema. I have provided the beautiful Hebrew compliments of Chabad.org, which is actually a scanned image right from my siddur (prayer book) called Tehillat HaShem (now you understand the name of my blog!).

English Translation

    There is something about it that has always wanted me to say it as many times as I can throughout the day. When I'm sad, frustrated, or depressed, even scared in fact- I recite these words (In Hebrew of course).

    It is sad when I meet others who do not feel they really need to recite these words that G-d commands us to speak throughout our day, wrap them on our bodies (tefillin), and mark them on our doorposts and gates (mezuzah). I really think people should seek to reconnect to these words. I cannot fully explain to you why I feel this way, but if there is little you, the reader, want to do at least learn The Shema.

    You well know that we live in strange times. Israel could come against Iran at any time in a preemptive strike to stop them from furthering their nuclear developments for wartime use. We, the Jewish People, need to be aware that we are not among friends no matter where we are. It pains my heart to say this as a proud American. I have great love for the country I live in. Great pride, and belief in what we do as the leading example of "the free world". But I understand that us Jews who remain in diaspora must be vigilant at all times. 
    I'm not saying that we should expect the revisiting of pogroms into the "modern world", but we must remember that anything can happen at any time. Our Prophets tell us that the whole world is going to come against us before the arrival of The Messiah. Eventually, this is exactly what is going to happen and we can see it happening more and more with each passing week, with every new news report, with new false criminal accusations lodged against Israel by the highly anti-Semitic regimes and political figureheads that shroud themselves in the guise of peace-loving leaders who turn a constant blind eye to the human-trafficing, and genocide issues that plague large parts of Africa, Vietnam, North Korea, Libya, Syria, and the like. Israel defends itself (rightfully so), and the whole team comes down on our heads. Why is this?

    I want you to think about the questions I am going to pose for you: Does the majority speak louder than our meager population? We are few in number, maybe perhaps 16-20 million people. We could be wiped out in the blink of an eye. Because we are so few, does that make us wrong? Let's look at the demographics of Muslims and Christians. The Christians make up easily 1.8 billion people with Muslims closing in quickly. Islam is the fastest growing religion to date. Is it the case that because there are so many of them vs. so little of us that they are more correct than we the Jewish people?

    Have you ever read through Deut 4? I quote Deut 4:2 often when it comes to the fact taht we are commanded to never change G-d's Word. Even if the other two monotheistic religions commit that very sin, and one accuses us (Speaking about Islam) of corrupting it over time. If only these people really understood our fear and devoutness to holding to G-d's Word. And those who do not, stop being part of the Jewish people. Archaeology and proven Judaism time and time again on this matter. The Cairo Giniza when discovered, proved to be the most valuable find in the world for Jewry because it showed us how truly pure we have remained.

    When we explore Deut 4 we are told a number of things, and I will bullet point them accordingly:

• Verse 2, Do not change G-d's Word.
• Verse 11-12, and 15, G-d has no image, only a voice. No body, no face, no hands, no feet. Just a voice.
• Verse 16-19, and 23, Do not worship any image be it man, woman, animal, insect, or celestial body. Do not do it.

    But when we reach Verse 25, we reach a prophecy. One of the most important prophecies to arise:

    Moses tells us that we are destined to be few in number, and that we will go into diaspora. We're in it now. And this is why The Shema is oh so important to us. It reminds us of our duties to our children, and children's children, and so forth. G-d promises that He will not be far off from us. This is reiterated by our Prophets time and time again, to just call out to G-d, and He will be with us.

    Look at Verse 28 from Deut Chapter 4, and notice how it says "wood and stone". Does anything cross your mind when you think of worship wood and stone? It's easy really, this prophesied the rise of "The Cross", and "The Kaaba". Christianity, and Islam. Right there, at the very middle of our Torah, we are already told that this was going to happen.

     Look further in Deut, go to Chapter 7 and you will find something special:

Deut 7: 6-9

    We knew already that we are the fewest. It is a fact of the 21st Century. We are not numerous in comparison to the rest of the nations. And when people ask us, "how can you think you're right when you are so small?", just point them to Deuteronomy. The answer is there. We are few, but we are righteous. We are the Treasure of HaShem, and His precious First Born. We are the Priests of the World, and We are The Suffering Servant. This was always going to be the case until the time of The Messiah.

    The Prophet Ezekiel is clear in Chapter 38 what is going to happen. The world is going to come against us, but we will be safe. For those of you who are worried, and afraid of another Holocaust: To be honest, you should be in some ways. However, it is clear that when the time comes for the whole of the world to come against us, we will be safe. And in that time when all will know who we really are, the Prophet Zachariah tells us very clearly what is going to happen:

Zachariah 8:23

     Notice how it does not say, "that is an Ishmaelite", or "that is an edomitte". Edom by the way is what we call now Rome, and modern Christians. It has no reference to the Nazarene's who went off the path. It doesn't refer to us as believing in Jesus and the christian trinity, nor does it refer to as as following Islam the prophet Mohammed. No. It speaks of The Jew. It speaks of a people who have remained true, and pure. Who have maintained their commitment to the preservation of The Word of G-d, the whole of The Torah.

    I want you to really think about these words. And think about The Shema. G-d commands us to say it for a reason. G-d is one. No other before or after. He is our G-d. We should love Him with all of our heart, soul, and might. Inscribe His words in our hearts, on our gates, doorposts, wear them between our eyes, bind them on our arms, and wear them as tzittzit. He told us what to do so that we would not stray off the path.

    We, the Jewish people, are in danger I think. You know it, and I know it. Eventually the world is going to come against us. Our bomb shelter is in our Torah. I plead with you, if you are Jewish, to turn to it for guidance and reassurance if you do not already do so.

    I want to speak to the Non-Jewish reader for a moment here:

        I don't write to insult you. especially if you're a Christian or a Muslim. I seek only to educate you as purely as I can by only showing you what is G-d's opinion on the matter. Not the opinion of a Rabbi, or some guy on the street. I show you Torah so that you can know what it is that G-d has said. Islam claims that The Torah became corrupted over time, but let's really think about this. Who decides where the corruption started or where it ended? Who is the authority? I have read the paltry claims that do little to prove the validity of the accusations made against us. And when more and more archaeological finds are revealed proving us further and further how right we are, where and when do you decide the perversion, the corruption started? The Koran states that  the book between the hands of Jesus being the Torah, and their New testament are true and accurate, but we have finds that are around Jesus' time that show zero corruption. Do you understand the problem here? And where exactly does the corruption of The New Testament start for Islam? The New Testament is equally as guilty as The Koran for having almost no uniformity. But The Torah has always been pure, and uniform. So when is it all going to end?  To tell you the truth, Zachariah says it will end in the End of Days. In that time Christian and Muslim are going to come to us after realizing their folly. Is Zachariah, the Prophet of G-d wrong? Or did G-d change His mind? Think about that.

    I know that I may be preaching to the choir here, but the words have to be said. Especially for those Jews out there that hide themselves from the world for fear of ridicule. No longer feel ashamed of being Jewish, dear reader. Embrace it. Take a stand, and let the world know who we are.

                                                            We are The Jewish People
                                                            We are The People of Israel
                                                            And Jerusalem is our Capitol!



Be Well, and Shabbat Shalom,