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To Embrace
Hebrew Roots: Part III

The Talmud &
Jesus Christ

Since we are asked to
embrace the teachings of the Talmud and various other writings
and teachings of the Jewish people, we should start by
inquiring as to what these teach about our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.

I John 5: 10-
13

"He that believeth on the Son
of God hath the witness in himself; he that believeth not
God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the
record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record,
that God hath given us eternal life; and this life is in his
Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not
the Son hath not life. These things have I written unto you
that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know
that ye have eternal life; and that ye may believe on the
name of the Son of God."

From a Jewish article about
Jesus we learn that the Talmud slanders our Savior, Jesus
Christ.

"... the Jewish Encyclopœdia
admits that Jewish legends concerning Jesus are found in the
Talmud and Midrash and in " the life of Jesus ( Toledot
Yeshu) that originated in the Middle Ages. It is the
tendency of all these sources to belittle the
person of Jesus by ascribing to Him illegitimate birth,
magic, and a shameful death. " 1.

Upon scrutiny one also finds
that Jesus is maligned as a false teacher:

"… He [Jesus] is referred to
in the Talmud as Otho Isch- "That man," i.e. the one who is
known to all. In the tract Abhodah Zarah, 6a, we read:
"He is called a Christian who follows the false teachings
of that man, who taught them to celebrate the feast on
the first day of the Sabbath, that is, to worship on the
first day after Sabbath…Talui, -"The one who was hanged"…"
2.

Many people believe that the
name for Jesus in Hebrew is Jeschua or Yeshua. However, the
complete,

"…name in Hebrew would be
Jeschua Hanotsri--Jesus the Nazarene. He is called Notsri
from the city of Nazareth… In the Talmud Christians are also
called Notsrim. (Amongst other things). 'Since the word
Jeschua means 'Savior,' the name Jesus rarely occurs in the
Jewish books. It is almost always abbreviated to
Jeschu…"3.

In the Talmud, the name
"Jeschu [Ieschu]" can apparently be
translated:

"…as if it were composed of
the initial letters of the three words Immach SCHemo
Vezikro-- (meaning)- -'May his name be blotted out.'"
4.

That translation could only be
accomplished by the use of Gematria a
tool of Kabbalists. Hebrew Roots proponents might say that
these teachings are in the past. However, a review of various
sources reveals the same or similar teachings.

The Talmud and Cabala teachings
of the Toledot Yeshu-- (or Tolodoth Ieschu or Sepher Toldoth
Jehoshua) represent various teachings regarding Christ, which
may be shocking to many. A brief overview of these teachings
refers to writings that quote the Talmud, (treatise Sabbath,
folio 104, treatise Sanhedrim, folio 107, and Sota, folio 47)
which presents this falsified account of Jesus:

"...the Toledot Yeshu relates
with the most indecent details that Miriam, a hairdresser of
Bethlehem,4. affianced to a young man named Jochanan, was
seduced by a libertine, Joseph Panther or Pandira, and gave
birth to a son whom she named Johosuah or Jeschu. According
to the Talmudic authors of the Sota and the Sanhedrim,
Jeschu was taken during his boyhood to Egypt, where
he was initiated into the secrets doctrines of the
priests, and on his return to Palestine gave himself up
to the practice of magic. 5. The Toledot Yeshu, however,
goes on to say that on reaching manhood, Jeschu learnt the
secret of his illegitimacy, on account of which he was
driven out of the Synagogue and took refuge for a time in
Galilee."

"Now, there was in the Temple
a stone on which was engraved the Tetragrammaton
[YHWH] or Schem Hamphorasch, that is to say, the
Ineffable Name of God; this stone had been found by
King David when the foundations of the Temple were being
prepared and was deposited by him in the Holy of Holies.
Jeschu, knowing this, came from Galilee and, penetrating
into the Holy of Holies, read the Ineffable name, which he
transcribed on to a piece of whom parchment and concealed in
an incision under his skin. By this means he was able to
work miracles and to persuade the people that he was the son
of God foretold by Isaiah. With the aid of Judas, the
Sages of the Synagogue, succeeding in capturing Jeschu, who
was then lead before the Great and Little Sanhedrim, by whom
he was condemned to be stoned to death and finally hanged."
Such is the story of Christ according to the Jewish
Kabbalists ..." 5.

This false witness to the person
of Jesus in the Talmud is also confirmed by Rev. I. B.
Pranaitis in his online report, The Talmud Unmasked: The
Secret Rabbinical Teachings Concerning Christians,
and other sources" 6.

Another Jesus?

In his email circulated
article, "Some Disturbing Aspects of the So-called
'Hebrew Roots' Movement and Their Implications" Andrew Gould
presents the Hebrew Roots doubtful view concerning the
validity of the Gospel account of Jesus.

"…It has been widely accepted
in "Hebrew Roots" circles that Jesus spoke Hebrew and that
the Gospels were originally written in Hebrew. Most "Hebrew
Roots" ministries have been influenced in this notion by the
output of a body called the Jerusalem
School Of Synoptic Research, [JSSR] and most especially
due to the widespread influence of the book "Understanding
The Difficult Words Of Jesus" published by David Bivin
(Director of the JSSR) and his partner Roy Blizzard. in 1984
and reprinted in 1994 and 1995…"
7.

According to the JSSR, there is
a more authentic Life of Jesus than the gospel
accounts:

"… There was an
original Hebrew 'Life of Jesus', from parts
of which our canonical Greek Gospel Texts are mere
compilations and translations. The individual words of the
Greek texts that we have are standard Greek equivalents used
to translate Hebrew documents into Greek, therefore we can
retranslate back into Hebrew to discover what Jesus really
said. Failure to appreciate the Hebraic origins of the
Gospels has led to mistranslation, misinterpretation,
spiritually damaging error and doctrinal confusion."
8.

Toledot Yeshu, with its various
components, is one of the Hebrew or Jewish views of Jesus for
those who rejected him as God come in the flesh. It has been
established that the original manuscripts for the New
Testament were composed in Greek. If one accepts Jewish
thought regarding who Jesus was according to Judaic writings
and teachings, then Jesus was not divine. It is also conveyed
that He was not viewed as divine by his disciples, but was
viewed as the human Messiah. This subject will be pursued in
the next section on Jewish Thought.

Sir James Frazer, author of The
Golden Bough, mentions that to cast doubts on the historical
reality of Jesus, would be hardly less absurd than it would be
to doubt Mohammed and so on. Other historians reiterate that
the existence of Christ is an historic fact. However, Rene'
Guenon,"who writes with inside knowledge" of Theosophy in
Le Theosophisme (1921), cites a reference to the
occultic Le Lotus of 1887 which states that Jesus
Christ of the New Testament never existed, but the Jesus of
the Talmud did exist:

"... Madam Blavatsky's
writings, on the person of Christ, ... 'For me, Jesus
Christ, that is to say the Man-God of the Christians, copy
of the Avatars of all countries, of the Hindu Chrishna as of
the Egyptian Horus, was never a historical personage.' Hence
the story of His life was merely an allegory founded on the
existence of the 'a personage named Jehoshua born at Lud.'
But elsewhere she asserted that Jesus may have lived during
the Christian era or a century earlier 'as the Sepher
Toldoth Jehoshua indicates.'

"And Madame Blavatsky went on
to say of the savants who deny the historical value of this
legend, that they- 'either lie or talk nonsense. It is our
Masters who affirm it. If the history of Jehoshua or
Jesus Ben Pandera is false, then the whole of the Talmud,
the whole of the Jewish canon law, is false. It was the
disciple of Jehoshua ben Parachai, the fifth President of
the Sanhedrin since Ezra, who re-wrote the Bible .... This
story is much truer than that of the New Testament, of which
history does not say a word." 9.

Is it possible that Jehoshua Ben
Pandera of the Talmud, who was initiated into the secrets
doctrines and gave himself up to the practice of magic, is
Jehoshua or Yeshua or Jeschu whom the Hebrew Roots ministries
worship?

Please note,
the question was asked in regard to the Talmudic descriptions.
Yeshua [short form] for Joshua or Yehoshua [long form],
translates into Greek as Iesous. Jesus is a transliteration of
Iesous [Greek] and it came about from the Hebrew/Aramaic. We
have no problem with the Name Yeshua, as it means Salvation in
Hebrew.

What we have a
problem with, is those who try to deny the Name of Jesus, a
Name that billions have attained salvation using, and try to
tell other believers that YAHshua, or numerous other
variations,  a name that is not even found in the Old
Testament, is the only name of the Messiah. For more on
the sacred name movement please see the series Taking the Name,
the Mark and the Number.

The following is a portion of an
e-mail exchange dated 1/28/99 between the writer and Uri
Marcus of Nehemiah Trustee Covenant Fund:

Vicky
Dillen: The name Jesus Christ is known
world wide and synonymous with Christianity.  That is a
historical fact.

Uri Marcus:
Today, yes. 200+ years ago it was synonymous with nothing.
How naive you are of history...

Vicky Dillen:
The Jewish people reject that Jesus Christ was divine and
believe that He was not God come in the flesh. I believe on
the other hand that He is all of that. Where do you stand
Uri? In the Jewish belief or in what Christ himself said and
what is taught in the New Testament?

Uri Marcus: I
believe in the Jewish belief. But your definition is
somewhat lacking. Doesn't look like you would understand it,
since its already been explained, and it just goes right
over your head.

From the La Science des
Esprits, by the 19th century occultist, Eliphas
Levi, we learn that the Cabalistic Toledot Yeshu and similar
Talmudic teachings were purposely hidden from
Christians.

"…the Toledot Yeshu, or the
Sepher Toldos Jeschu, described here as originating in the
Middle Ages…belongs in a much earlier period. Eliphas Levi
asserts that 'the Sepher Toldos, to which the Jews
attribute a great antiquity and which they hid from the
Christians with such precautions that this book was
for a long while unfindable, is quoted for the first
time by Raymond Martin of the Order of the Preaching
Brothers… This book was evidently written by a Rabbi
initiated into the mysteries of the Cabala 1.'"
10.

History reveals that The Talmud
itself was put on trial and ordered to be burned, by King
Louis IX in June of 1242, because of the various slanders
against Christ, and Christianity. It was stated that The
Talmud contained such things as it being acceptable to deceive
a Christian without any scruple; that it was permitted to
break a promise, and so on.

The stories contained in Toledot
Yeshu and similar teachings were known in Jewish circles, but
did not come into the hands of 'Gentiles' or 'Christians'
until Raymond Martin translated the Toledot Yeshu into Latin.
Later, Martin Luther summarized it in German under the name
Schem Hamphorasch and his expose can be found in French
in Gustave Brunet's, Evangiles Apocryphes.
11.

According to Geschichte der
Juden, by Jewish historian Heinrich Graetz, the image of
Jesus Christ is simply as an offshoot of Essenism and Jesus
was just performing what any adept in the mysteries could
do.

"…Thus the Jewish historian
Graetz declares that Jesus simply appropriated to himself
the essential features of Essenism, and that primitive
Christianity was "nothing but an offshoot of Essenism"2"
12a.

Nesta Webster summarizes the
Christ of the Talmud:

". . . So after representing
Christ as a magician in the Toledot Yeshu and the
Talmud, Jewish tradition seeks to explain His miraculous
works as those of a mere healer-an idea that we shall
find descending right through the secret societies to this
day… if the miracles of Christ were simply due to a
knowledge of natural laws and His doctrines were the outcome
of a sect, the whole theory of His divine power and mission
falls to the ground…" 12.

Many sources state that when the
teachings regarding Jesus Christ in the Toledot Yeshu and
other Jewish books were discovered in the early 1600's, there
were serious repercussions. A Jewish synod in Poland in 1631,
ordered the offending passages to be expunged, to be replaced
by circles which the Rabbis were to fill in orally when giving
instructions to young Jews. This is documented by P.L.B
Drach:

"Drach, op.cit. I.168, 169.
The text of this encyclical is given in Hebrew and also in
translation, thus: " This is why we enjoin you, under the
pain of excommunication major, to print nothing in future
editions, whether of Mischna or of the
Gemara, which relates whether for good or evil to the
acts of Jesus the Nazarene, and to substitute
instead a circle like this O, which will warn the
Rabbis and schoolmasters to teach the young these passages
only viva voce. By means of this precaution the
savants amongst the Nazarenes will have no further pretext
to attack us on this subject. Cf, Abbe'Chiarini, Le Talmud
de Babylone, p. 45 (1831)."
13.

These passages are said to have
been reinserted since then, although such offensive passages
would not necessarily be in any English translations or newer
editions. 14.

These then, are some of the
Hebrew Roots - a significant part of which are the teachings
and thought within the Talmud regarding our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.

Some might say, that the views
presented from the past regarding Jesus Christ do not apply
today, or have no effect on our studying Jewish tradition,
teachings or thought within the Hebrew Roots movement. That
perhaps, the above information is no longer taught. We must
ask ourselves, then, what was and is today, Jewish thought
regarding the Messiah, salvation, sin, the Son of God, and the
divinity of Christ? Do these Jewish terms mean the same as
what we think?

John
14:6

"Jesus saith unto him, I am
the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me."

Acts
4:12

"Neither is there salvation in
any other: for there is none other name under heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved."

In his volume, The Talmud,
Joseph Barclay confirmed the writings of Drach, a talmudist
turned Catholic whose writings were never refuted by Jews,
that Jesus was a sorcerer:

" … Abominable calumnies on
Christ and Christianity occur not only in the Cabala but in
the earlier editions of the Talmud. In these, says Barclay -
"Our Lord and savior is "that one", "such an one", "a fool",
"the leper", "the deceiver of Israel", etc. Efforts
are made to prove that He is the son of Joseph Pandira
before His marriage with Mary. His miracles are
attributed to sorcery the secret of which He brought in
a slit in His flesh out of Egypt. He is said had been first
stoned and then hanged on the eve of the Passover. His
disciples are called heretics and opprobious names. They
are accused of immoral practices, and the New Testament
is called a sinful book. The references to these
subjects manifest the most bitter aversion and hatred."
15.

Jewish & Christian Terms

Knowing that there is much
diversity of thought inside Judaism with four [some say three,
under different terms] basic groups: Orthodoxy, Conservative,
Reform, and Reconstructionist Judaism, it is difficult to
present their respective ideas as being in agreement with one
another. However, there are some underlying beliefs that
appear to remain constant and accepted by most Jews regarding
Christ, the Messiah, salvation, sin, and so
on.

Jesus and Messiah

Dr. Lawrence J. Epstein,
considered a Conservative Jew, explains some of today's
thinking pertaining to "The Differences between Judaism and
Christianity":

In "THE JEWISH VIEW OF JESUS",
Dr. Epstein gives Jesus credit for being a good teacher, but
not God:

"To Christians, the central
tenet of their religion is the belief that Jesus is the Son
of God, part of the trinity, the savior of souls who is the
messiah. He is God's revelation through flesh. Jesus was, in
Christian terms, God incarnate, God in the flesh who came to
Earth to absorb the sins of humans and therefore free from
sin those who accepted his divinity. To Jews,
whatever wonderful teacher and storyteller Jesus may
have been, he was just a human, not the son of God
(except in the metaphorical sense in which all humans are
children of God). In the Jewish view, Jesus cannot save
souls; only God can. Jesus did not, in the Jewish
view, rise from the dead." 16.

The "Jews for Judaism"
web site explains Jesus as a false prophet predicted in
the Old Testament.

"…Jesus the Nazarene, who
imagined that he would be messiah and was killed, is alluded
to in the book of Daniel, as it is said, `And the sons of
the transgressors among thy people will rise, in order to
establish a vision, and will stumble' (Dan. 11:14). Can
there be a greater stumbling then this? All the prophets
said that messiah will be a redeemer and a savior to the
Israelites, will bring together their outcasts, and will
strengthen their obedience to the Divine precepts, but he
(Jesus) caused destruction by the sword to Israel, the
dispersion of those left, and their humiliation. He changed
the law, and misled many people to worship a being beside
G-D…." 17.

Rabbi Hyam Maccoby, in
Revolution in Judaea, written in 1973 and still
proclaimed accurate today, defines the Jewish view of Messiah
as an anointed one, and angel or king, but not
divine:

"The title "Messiah'
(Greek-Christos) was not a divine title among the
Jews. It simply means ' anointed'. It was given to
two Jewish officials, King and the High Priest… every Jewish
king of the house of David was known as Messiah, or Christ…"
18.

"The 'Son of Man', was not a
Messiah. He was an angel identified with the Guardian
Angel of Israel, with Metatron, with the angel who
guided the Children of Israel in the wilderness…"
19.

"…There is hardly any
reference in the Prophetic writings of the Old Testament to
the Messiah as a person. There is no splendid shining figure
judging mankind, sitting at the right-hand of God and coming
very near to eclipsing God Himself by His glory."
20.

"Messiah…in Jewish eyes,
belonged to royalty, not divinity. Even the title
'Son of God" was to Jews (but not to the Gnostics)
a human title applied at various times in the Hebrew
Scriptures to Kings such as King David…"Son of Man" also was
not a divine title…far better known as a mode of address to
a prophet…to mean simply 'human being'."
21.

The Jews for Judaism web
site explains the historical "Jewish Belief in
Messiah," from the Mishna (Torah) by
Maimonides:

"... In his monumental work
Mishneh Torah, Maimonides (1135-1204) spelled out the
fundamental Jewish concept of the messiah as it was handed
down to us, generation after generation, from the time of
the prophets…"

"…from the Mishneh Torah,
Hilchot Melachim XI - XII. The King Messiah will in some
future time come, restore the kingdom of David to its former
power, build the Temple, bring together the scattered of
Israel, and all the ancient laws will again be in force.
Sacrifices will be offered, and years of release and
Jubilees will be kept as prescribed in the Torah. Whoever
does not believe in him, or does not hope for his coming,
shows a lack of faith not only in the prophets, but also in
the Torah…" 22.

Many Jews have believed there
would be many Messiahs. At the time of Christ, Hyam Maccoby
states:

"… Any leader who succeeded in
driving out the Romans and setting up an independent Jewish
state would have little difficulty in being recognized as
the Messiah. His very success would prove his claim. Thus
Bar Kochba was recognized as the Messiah by
Rabbi Akiva even though there was no evidence of his
descent from David." 23.

From the Jewish Guardian
of 1924, we read that the great messianic prophecy, Isaiah 53,
refers to the sufferings of Israel, rather than
Christ:

"… an article in the Jewish
Press,… according to the teaching of the "Liberal Jewish
Synagogue," the beautiful passages in the fifty-third
chapter of Isaiah concerning " the Man of Sorrows acquainted
with grief, "usually supposed by Christians to relate to the
promised Messiah, are interpreted to modern Jewish youth as
relating to Israel and signifying that Israel's " sufferings
were caused by the sins of other nations," who thus "escaped
the suffering they deserved." Consequently, "Israel was
offered for the sake of the whole world.2. "
24.

Messiah and Peace

According to Dr.
Lawrence J. Epstein, current Jewish teaching excludes Jesus
because it is unanimously believed that the Messiah will bring
peace:

"Jesus is not seen as the
messiah. In the Jewish view, the messiah is a human being
who will usher in an era of peace. We can tell the
messiah by looking at the world and seeing if it is at
peace. From the Jewish view, this clearly did not happen
when Jesus was on Earth or anytime after his death."
25.

Hyam Maccoby considers Jesus to
be a rebel, but misrepresented by the gospel accounts out of
fear of reprisals by Rome:

"…Jesus was executed as a
rebel, against Rome, not as a blasphemer against the Jewish
religion, and that the Gospel's misrepresentations on this
point are politically motivated--I regard as strongly
established…" 26.

Hyam Maccoby, author, is
considered a classical scholar and Rabbi of Reform Judaism,
and has in recent years been director of the library at the
Leo Baeck College of Judaistics in London. His books appear to
present accepted ideas regarding Christ, Christianity and the
New Testament and the Jewish thought. Clarifying the various
Jewish thought and Christian misconceptions redefines Jesus'
mission:

"…The phrase 'the kingdom
of God'…meant the reign of God (not His heavenly
territory) and referred to a projected return to a Jewish
system of theocracy…" 27.

"….He [Jesus] had campaigned
among 'the lost sheep of Israel', calling them to
repentance, because he felt that the coming of God's Kingdom
was being held back by Israel's sin's. Pharisee writings
often stress that God's promises to Israel are not
automatically fulfilled; they depend on Israel's
worthiness and co-operation ... "
28.

"…Jesus' mission as a
prophet was exclusively directed towards the Jews, not
towards the Gentiles. The idea that Jesus rejected the
Jews and transferred the Old Testament 'promises' to the
Gentiles was a later invention of the Gentile-Christian
Church…" 29.

"… Some believed that the
Messiah would inaugurate a new era for the whole world; that
the nations of the world would acknowledge the One God and
his Temple in Jerusalem; that the Jews would be revered as
the chosen priests of the One God; and that an era of world
peace would begin when, in the words of Isaiah's
wonderful internationalist vision, the swords would
be beaten into plowshares and the wolf would lie down with
lamb. Some, however, did not believe that the coming of the
Messiah would necessarily bring about an era of
international peace. There might be many Messiahs - many
more sorrows and comfortings, defeats and victories - for
the Jewish people before that happened. After all, there had
been Messiahs before and none had brought everlasting peace.
The vision of Isaiah was acknowledged by every Pharisee, as
the word of God but it was not necessarily attached to the
expectation of the coming Messiah who would defeat the
Romans." 30.

In The Traditions of the
Jews, from the Talmud (treatises Baba Bathra folio 74b,
Pesachim folio 32, Bekhoroth folio 57 and Massektoth Ta'anith
folio 31), J.P Stehaln presents a glorious scenario of the
Messianic era - without Jesus Christ as the
Messiah:

"… when the Messianic era
arrives. After the return of the Jews from all nations and
parts of the world… the Messiah, we are told in the Talmud,
will entertain them at a gorgeous banquet, where they will
be seated at tables and regaled with wine from Adam's
wine-cellar. The first course is to consist of a roasted ox
named Behemoth, so immense that every day it eats up the
grass upon a thousand hills; the second of a monstrous fish
Leviathan; the third of a female Leviathan boiled and
pickled; the fourth of a gigantic roast fowl known as
Barjuchne, of which the egg alone was so enormous that when
it fell out of the nest it crushed three hundred tall cedars
and the white overflowed threescore villages. This course is
to be followed up by "the most splendid and pompous
Dessert," that can be procured, including fruit from the
Tree of Life and "the Pomegranates of Eden which are
preserved for the Just."

"At the end of the banquet
"God will entertain the company at a ball"; He
Himself will sit in the midst of them, and everyone will
point Him out with his finger, saying: "Behold, this is our
God: we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in
His salvation." 31.

Sin
and Salvation

Romans
3:23

"For all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God."

From "The Differences between
Judaism and Christianity, we see the great partition
between Jewish and Christian thought on sin
confirmed.

"Judaism does not
accept the notion of original sin, the idea that
people are bad from birth and cannot remove sin by
themselves but need an act of grace provided by the
sacrificial death of Jesus as atonement for all of
humanity's sins. For Christians, there are no other forms of
salvation other than through Jesus."
32.

Dr. Epstein goes on to explain
that Jewish thought about sin and atonement. The sinner may
seek forgiveness from God through human works:

"He [Jesus] also did
not absorb the sins of people. For Jews, sins are
removed not by Jesus' atonement but by seeking forgiveness.
Jews seek forgiveness from God for sins against God and from
other people (not just God) for sins against those people.
Seeking forgiveness requires a sincere sense of repenting
but also seeking directly to redress the wrong done to
someone. Sins are partially removed through prayer which
replaced animal sacrifice as a way of relieving sins. They
are also removed by correcting errors against others. "
33.

Hyam Maccoby
explains:

"... There was no concept of a
Suffering Messiah who would die on the cross to purge
mankind of sin…. To the Jews salvation was a physical not a
purely spiritual concept. The Messianic age, to the Jews,
was to be the culmination of human history on earth.
34.

Also, regarding prayer Maccoby
believes that it is possible for man to approach God in a
sinless condition:

"…The belief in the efficacy
of prayer was very strong among the Pharisees…. Only the
most concerted beam of concentration, directed from
Gethsemane to God, could obliterate the traces of the sins
of Israel, and bring about the hour of redemption. Jesus
alone was not sufficient…This explains why Jesus
narrowed down his company to the Twelve on that night. He
wanted the company of those on whom he could most rely, for
the power of sinless prayer would be far more important
than the strength of mere number." 35.

Heaven and Hell

The writings of Dr. Epstein
present the Jews' overly spiritualized and less severe view of
the afterlife:

"...Traditionalists gave the
name Gehenna to the place where souls were punished. Many
Jewish thinkers noted that since, essentially, God is filled
with mercy and love, punishment is not to be considered
to be eternal. There are, similarly, many varying
conceptions of paradise, such as that paradise is the place
where we finally understand the true concept of God. It is
also possible that there is no separate Heaven and Hell,
only lesser or greater distance from God after death. In
addition, punishment might be self-determined on the
basis of suffering in kind the suffering the person brought
about. That is, Judaism doesn't have a clear sense of Heaven
and Hell, with different places in Hell for different
punishments. Rather, the idea is that God uses the afterlife
to provide ultimate justice and for the wicked to seek some
sort of final redemption." 36.

Note Scripture says:

Romans
6:20-23:

"For when ye were the servants
of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye
then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end
of those things is death. But now being made free from sin,
and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto
holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin
is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord. "

Hebrews
9:27:

"And as it is appointed unto
man once to die, but after this the
judgment.

Oneness Doctrine &
the Trinity

Dr. Epstein summarizes the
Jewish doctrine of "oneness" as opposed to the "Trinity" or
Christian doctrine of three Persons in one God.

"Judaism insists on a notion
of monotheism, the idea that there is one God. As Judaism
understands this idea, God cannot be made up of parts,
even if those parts are mysteriously united. The
Christian notion of trinitarianism is that God is made up of
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Such a
view, even if called monotheistic because the three parts
are, by divine mystery, only one God, is incompatible with
the Jewish view that such a division is not possible. The
Jewish revolutionary idea is that God is one. This idea
allows for God's unity and uniqueness as a creative force.
Thus, for Jews, God is the creator of all that we like and
all that we don't. There is no evil force with an ability to
create equal to God's. Judaism sees Christianity's
trinitarianism as a weakening of the idea of God's
oneness." 37.

Peter Michas, of Messengers of
Messiah, asserted in an email discussion this belief in the
"oneness" doctrine.

"… Yet the minute I saw the
Hebrew thinking of the oneness and the rest of it, it
was never unclear to me again." 38.

In his book, THE ROD OF AN
ALMOND TREE IN GOD'S MASTER PLAN, Peter. Michas expands upon
his approval of the Hebrew viewpoint of God and the
Trinity.

"The unity of Yeshua
HaMashiach with God the Father and the Holy Spirit has never
been clearly understood from the doctrine of the Trinity..."
39.

"To understand the true
relationship of God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit, it is essential to preserve the
concept of oneness..." 40.

"The aspect of the
Father may be simply understood as the Will of God. The
aspect of the Son may be understood as the Word of
God. The aspect of the Spirit of the Holy One may be
understood as the Power of God..." 41.

"To say God is three
'persons' opens the door to misunderstanding God. God is
Spirit and cannot be reduced to the concept of a person..."
42.

"The Spirit of the Holy One is
the very essence of the power of God
the Father and not some separate entity."
43.

Peter Michas refers to the
Godhead as three "aspects" and the Holy Spirit as an "essence"
rather than a Person. It is already established by the Jewish
people themselves that the Judaic teachings reject the
doctrine of three Persons in one God. They do not believe God
would manifest in the flesh as Jesus Christ nor do they
believe that He is God. Their oneness doctrine is that there
cannot be a Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which means the
rejection of Jesus Christ as divine Savior and
Lord.

There is no Trinity concept in
Judaism, unless, however, one embraces the Jewish
Kabbalah.

"M. Vulliaud quotes Isaac
Meyer's assertion that, "the triad, of the ancient Cabala is
Kether, the Father; Binah, the Holy Spirit or the Mother;
and Hochmah, the Word or the Son." But in order to avoid the
sequence of the Christian Trinity this arrangement has been
altered in the modern Cabala of Luria and Moses of
Cordovero, etc." 44.

The Jewish Encyclopœdia
clarifies that the Cabalistic trinity is not to be confused
with Christianity.

"... The Jewish
Encyclopœdia…goes on to say that what appears to be
Christian in the Cabala is only esoteric doctrine."
45.

2 John
7:

"For many deceivers are
entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an
antichrist."

2 John
9:

"Whosoever transgresseth, and
abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that
abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father
and the Son."

Christians & the Chosen People

Jewish people characterize
Christians in terms different from what we may
think.

Avi ben Mordechai states that
Jews are specifically called to proselytize:

"… He said to go out into all
the world (as you go) and make talmidim of all the
goyim. …we are His talmidim or students of His Oral
Traditions which is the proper definition of the term
"Gospel." We are to follow His Mishnah and Gemara, i.e.,
His Talmud, and take it to the goyim, teaching them to
observe all that He commanded us!…"
46.

Isn't this precisely the
ministry of Peter Michas, Jacob Prasch and other Hebrew Roots
teachers: taking the Talmud to the goyim. The term "goyim"
which Mr. Mordechai uses needs to be understood in its
historical context. Citing information from the Kabbalistic
book, the Zohar, a part of the Jewish mysticism which Avi ben
Mordechai teaches, we note:

"… the Chosen People…forms the
basis of all Talmudic and Cabalistic writings. …According to
the Zohar, "All Israelites will have a part in the future
world," and on arrival there will not be handed over like
the goyim (or non-Jewish races) to the hands of the angel
Douma and sent down to Hell.5. Indeed the goyim are even
denied human attributes." 47.

For More on Avi ben
Mordechai see: Avi ben
Mordechai & Millennium 7000

According to The Emek ha
Melek, the work of the Cabalist Naphtali, a disciple of
Luria, the goyim are of the devil:

"…Thus the Zohar again
explains that the words of the Scripture "Jehovah Elohim
made man", mean that He made Israel. 6. The
seventeenth-century Rabbinical treatise Emek ha Melek
observes: " Our Rabbis of blessed memory have said: "Ye Jews
are men because of the soul ye have from the Supreme Man
(i.e, God). But the nations of the world are not styled
men because they have not, from the Holy and Supreme
Man, the Neschama (or glorious soul) but they have the
Nephesch (soul) from Adam Belial, that is the malicious and
unnecessary man, called Sammael, the Supreme Devil." 7"
48.

Another way of saying or
spelling goyim, is Goi. Rev. I. B.
Pranaitis, in his online work, The Talmud Unmasked,
notes that this term has been removed from recent
editions:

"Goi - Race, or
people. The Jews also call a man a Goi - a gentile; they
call a gentile woman a Goiah. ... It is mostly applied to
non-Jews, or idolators. In Jewish books which treat of
Idolatry, worshippers of idols are often called by this
single word Goi. For this reason, in more recent editions of
the Talmud the use of the word Goi is purposely avoided and
other words for non-Jews are
substituted.

It is well known that in the
Jewish language, the Jews call Christians among whom they
live, Goim. Nor do the Jews deny this.

Sometimes in their popular
magazines they say that this word means nothing harmful or
evil. But the contrary can be seen in their
books written in the Hebrew language. For instance, in
Choschen Hammischpat (34, 22), the name Goi is used in a
depraved sense:

"Traitors and Epicureans
and Apostates are worse than
Goim"49.

Indeed the whole idea of
gentiles or "goyim" studying the Jewish oral law as suggested
by Jacob Prasch, Peter Michas, Avi ben Mordechai and others,
is in direct disobedience to the proclamations in the Talmud.
Even a Christian who is found studying the Law of Israel
merits death. Sanhedrin (59a) states:

"Rabbi Jochanan says: A Goi
who pries into the Law is guilty to death. "Even a Christian
who is found studying the Law of Israel merits
death."

It seems very perplexing indeed
that leaders of the Hebrew Roots movement would direct our
thoughts to the teachings of the sages in the Talmud, Mishna
and Midrash, when these same sages have been teaching the
Jewish people to destroy the writings of the Christians
including the New Testament.

"Shabbath 116a. Jews must
destroy the books of the Christians, i.e. the New
Testament."

Christian
Jews

The organization, Jews for
Judaism, "the Worlds foremost countermissionary
organization", insinuates that the Jews are not
fooled by Christians who assume a Jewish image to proselytize
them. Even Jews recognize the great divide between Judaism and
Christianity.

"… Though Hebrew Christianity
claims to be a form of Judaism, it is not… It deceptively
uses the sacred symbols of Jewish observance (i.e. community
Passover seders, menorahs, messianic services, etc.) as a
cover to convert Jews to Christianity, a belief system
antithetical to Judaism… Hebrew Christianity is not a
form of Judaism and its members, even if they are of Jewish
birth, cannot be considered members of the Jewish community.
Hebrew Christians are in radical conflict with the
communal interests and the destiny of the Jewish people.
They have crossed an unbreachable chasm by accepting another
religion. …"

"… practice of any other
religious tradition has been understood to lead to the loss
of rights to full participation in the Jewish community…Our
history has clearly shown that when confronted with a group
of Jews which has adopted another faith and seeks to convert
others, we must stand firm in asserting that this other
faith is not Judaism and that its adherents have forfeited
their privileges as Jews. Jewish tradition believes that the
opportunity to return to participation in the Jewish
community is always open. When this occurs, all privileges
are restored." 50.

This repudiation of those who
apostatize from Judaism is stronger in the Talmud teachings of
the Oral law of the sages. Hilkhoth Akum (X, 2) states that
defectors must be killed.

"These things [supra] are
intended for idolaters. But Israelites also, who lapse from
their religion and become epicureans, are to be killed, and
we must persecute them to the end. For they afflict Israel
and turn the people from God." 51.

Non-Jews or converted Jews who
affect a Jewish demeanor or compromise Christian doctrine,
meaning inclusion of New Testament doctrine, to appeal to the
Jewish mindset are surrendering the precious pearl of Jesus
Christ who alone leads to salvation. The ecumenical approach
does not lead Jews to Jesus Christ, but patronizes their
religion of dead works, and results in the Christian's
acceptance of religion on Jewish terms.

Galatians
5:1-8

"Stand fast therefore in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul,
say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit
you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is
circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ
is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are
justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we
through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by
faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any
thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey
the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth
you.

Common Ideas

Contemporary Jewish thought
reflects the same aversion to Jesus Christ as historical
Judaism:

"Jews vary about what they
think of Jesus as a man. Some respect him as an ethical
teacher who accepted Jewish law, as someone who didn't even
see himself as the messiah, who didn't want to start a new
religion at all. Rather, Jesus is seen by these Jews as
someone who challenged the religious authorities of his day
for their practices. In this view, he meant to improve
Judaism according to his own understanding not to break with
it." 52.

Hyam Maccoby sums up Jewish
thought regarding Jesus as this:

"With the composition of
the Gospels, then, a fictitious Jesus was created,
suitable for the needs of the Hellenistic Gentile-Christian
Church. The Prophet King, human and Jewish, who was revered
but not worshiped by the Jewish-Christian Church was turned
into a Divine Sacrifice. Jesus, who was, in reality,
an apocalyptic Pharisee rabbi who claimed the titles of
Prophet and King, was turned into a pagan god."
53.

Dr. Epstein
concludes:

"Whatever the Jewish response
is, one point is crucial. No one who is Jewish, no
born Jew and no one who converts to Judaism, can believe in
Jesus as the literal son of God or as the messiah. For the
Jewish people, there is no God but God."
54.

We could elaborate further on
the Jewish thought regarding the New Testament, the writings
of Paul, who was viewed as a heretic, and the disciples. We
could expand the idea that many Jews believe that James and
Peter were Pharisaic Rabbis, who believed in the Jewish idea
of the Messiah-- that Jesus was not divine.

We could expand on the theory
that James, believed to have been the head of the Nazarene
movement, was not in any way in conflict with the teachings of
the Pharisees, but was devout in promoting them. We could
expand on the Jewish idea that Paul, not Jesus, is viewed as
the originator of Christianity, of the concept of Jesus being
divine, and that notion came from Greek paganism. We could,
but one only has to go to Jewish sites and see that their
beliefs are diametrically opposed to Christianity. Sadly, we
would also see the denial of the virgin birth and condemnation
of all connected to Christ. They are devout in their
convictions.

While the Hebrew or messianic
movements urge us to embrace "our foundational Hebrew roots",
Scripture tells us that our foundation is none other than
Jesus Christ:

I Corinthians
3:11:

"For other foundation can no
man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
"

If Jewish teachers or teachings
cannot entertain the idea of a divine Christ or Messiah, sin,
salvation, eternity, and other issues, what then? How are we
to learn the 'True Meaning' of Scripture from them, unless we
reject the very truths of Jesus Christ, salvation, sin and the
rest of the New Testament?

As stated above, "No one who is
Jewish, no born Jew and no one who converts to Judaism, can
believe in Jesus as the literal son of God or as the
messiah."

Jewish convictions proclaim a
Christian cannot be considered Jewish or adopt the Jewish
beliefs, rituals and ceremonies, and still remain a Christian.
It would be like becoming a Christian Muslim or a Christian
Mormon -- an impossibility.

Romans 2:28-29 :
"For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is
that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a
Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the
heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is
not of men, but of God."

Galatians
3:2

"This only would I learn of
you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by
the hearing of faith?"

We cannot be both. Cultural
heritage and genealogy cannot take precedence over our faith
and obedience to Christ. If it does, we are not serving Him,
as we should.

If the Talmud and other Jewish
works are upholding the doctrines as described above, from the
past and today, what business do Christians have embracing
these teachings, rituals and ceremonies and the reasons for
them?

Reason tells us that the
theology of the Jewish Rabbis and teachers, which are opposed
to the very foundations of our beliefs, influences every
aspect of their sacred books…and their teachings. We need to
explore the instructions within the Talmud further.

Next: To Embrace
Hebrew Roots IV: The Talmud &
Demonology

All Scripture Quotes from the
Authorized King James Bible

Footnotes

Jewish Encyclopædia,
article on Jesus; as Cited in: Nesta H. Webster," Secret
Societies and Subversive Movements", p. 20; Omni
Publications, 1964

Rev. I. B. Pranaitis;
The Talmud; Part One, ch.1, Jesus Christ in the Talmud;
holywar.org/txt/talmud_unmasked.html

Ibid.

Ibid.

cf. Baring-Gould,
op.cit., quoting Talmud, treatise Sabbath, folio 104, (S.
Baring-Gould, The Counter Gospels, 1874); 5. Ibid., p.55,
quoting Talmud, treatise Sanhedrim, folio 107, and Sota,
folio 47; Eliphas Levi, La Science des Esprits, pp.32,33. As
Cited in Nesta H. Webster, op.cit., p..20

Rev. I. B. Pranaitis;
op.cit. Part One, Ch. 1, Jesus Christ in the Talmud

Andrew Gould, "SOME
DISTURBING ASPECTS OF THE SO-CALLED "HEBREW ROOTS' MOVEMENT,
AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS, 1998

Ibid.

Rene Guenon, Le
Theosophisme, (1921) p.193, quoting Le Lotus for December,
1887; as Cited in: Nesta H. Webster, op.cit.,p.299.

Elipha Levi, La Science
des Esprits, p. 40; as Cited in: Nesta H. Webster, Ibid.,
p.20.

The book was translated
in Latin by Raymond Martin; German by Luther under the name
Schem Hamphorasch; French by Gustave Brunet, Evangiles
Apocryphes; as Cited in: Nesta H. Webster, Ibid.,
p.21.

2. Graetz, Geschichte
der Juden, III. 216-52 as Cited in: Nesta H. Webster, Ibid.,
p. 23

Nesta H. Webster, Ibid.,
p.20

Ibid., p.22.

Joseph Barclay, The
Talmud, pp.38,39; cf Drach , op.cit I. 167 as Cited Webster,
Ibid. p. 18-19.

Dr. Lawrence J. Epstein;
"The Differences between Judaism and Christianity"; The
Conversion to Judaism Home page: http://www.convert.org/differ.htm

Jews for Judaism,
http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/javasite/webdocs/messianicjudaism.html

Hyam Maccoby;
"Revolution in Judaea: Jesus and the Jewish Resistance"; p.
100; Ocean Books; 1973

Ibid., p.101-102.

Ibid.,p.106.

Ibid.,p. 128.

Jews for Judaism,
http://www.jewsforjudaism

Hyam Maccoby, op. cit.,
p.100.

Jewish Guardian for
January 25,1924; as Cited in: Nesta H. Webster, op.cit.,p.
375.

Dr. Lawrence J. Epstein,
op.cit., http://www.convert.org/differ.htm

Maccoby, Ibid. ,
acknowledgements.

Ibid., p. 147-148

Ibid., p. 194

Ibid., p. 149

Ibid., p. 102-103

J.P Stehaln, The
Traditions of the Jews, II.215-20, quoting from the Talmud
treatises Baba Bathra folio 74b, Pesachim folio 32,
Bekhoroth folio 57, Massektoth Ta'anith folio 31. The Zohar
also refers to the female Leviathan (section Bô, de Pauly's
trans., III.167) Drach shows that amongst the delights
promised by the Talmud after the return to Palestine will be
the permission to eat pork and bacon. --De l'Harmonie entre
l'Eglise et la Synagogue, I. 265, 276, quoting treatise
Hullin, folio 17, 82. As Cited in, Pg. 372, "Secret
Societies and Subversive Movements" by Nesta H. Webster;
Omni Publications, Eighth edition, 1964.]

Dr. Lawrence J. Epstein,
op.cit., http://www.convert.org/differ.htm

Ibid.

Maccoby, op. cit., p.
105.

Maccoby, Ibid., p.
194-195

Dr. Lawrence J. Epstein,
op.cit., http://www.convert.org/differ.htm

Ibid.

Peter Michas;
Ha-Talmidim Trinity Discussion; also see Rod of the Almond
Tree.

Peter Michas, THE ROD OF
AN ALMOND TREE IN GOD'S MASTER PLAN, WinePress Publishing,
(Mukilteo, WA 98275) Chapter 14. p. 255-56.

Ibid. p. 256.

Ibid. p.257.

Ibid. p.257.

Ibid. p.257.

Paul Vulliaud, La
Kabbale Juive: histoire et doctrine, Vol. II. p. 411, as
Cited in Nesta H. Webster, op.cit., p.15.

Jewish Encyclopœdia,
article on Cabala, p.478; Cited in: Webster, Ibid. p.
15.

Avi ben Mordechai,
Halacha, www.millenium7000.com/halacha.htm

Zohar, treatise Toldoth
Noah, folio 59b, (De Pauly trans., I, 347; 5. Zohar,
treatise Lekh-Lekha, folio 94a (De Pauly trans., I, 535); as
Cited in: Nesta H. Webster, op.cit.,p.13.

Zohar, treatise
Bereschith, folio 25a (De Pauly trans. I, 161); 7. The Emek
ha Melek is the work of the Cabalist Naphtali, a disciple of
Luria; as Cited in Ibid.,p.13

Rev. I. B. Pranaitis;
The Talmud Unmasked;
holywar.org/txt/talmud_unmasked.html

Jews for Judaism,
www.jewsforjudaism.org/javasite/webdocs/chalenge.html

Pranaitis,
op.cit.

Dr. Lawrence J. Epstein,
op.cit., http://www.convert.org/differ.htm

Maccoby, op. cit., p.
246.

Dr. Lawrence J. Epstein,
op.cit, http://www.convert.org/differ.htm

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