Have youread the Sefer Yetzirah? What do you make of it? Do you understand it?
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but it was written in the 15th century
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The first time I read Isaiah 58, I cried.  And I'm misty reading it again just now.\n\nThis terribly sad Chapter is one of many oracles Isaiah was told to give the Jewish people.  The gist of the entire Chapter is this:  don't say with your mouth you love God, but prove with your actions you don't.  The people said they loved God and they even enjoyed seeking Him in prayer and fasting.  However, when they fasted, they did so for the wrong reasons and they indulged in physical pleasures and iniquity, such as refusing to pay their laborers.  God sees right through this hypocrisy and insists that Isaiah yell his condemnatory message from the rooftops.  The people hated him for it, just as they hated Jeremiah and the rest of the prophets.  And, of course, Jesus.\n\nYes, the world will be angered when you announce its iniquities as if you are blowing a trumpet.  Some, however, will be moved to repentance.  That's what encourages me.\n\nPeace and love in Jesus.
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The most references seem to be in Leviticus, but you'll also see references to mikveh in other books.\n\nHere's a link to references to them all:\n\nhttp://www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/words/7/1163083102-6996.html\n\nPeace.
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I find that mildly insulting, since "Just read the Bible for yourself and you'll see" *is* my religious practice.  I use many translations in an attempt to understand the context and meaning of the original words, and take timeout to actually *experience* God in my life as well, through prayer and observation.\n\nPoint 1)\nJesus said "you are not to be called teacher. There is only one Teacher, and all of you are brothers.  Do not call any man here on earth your father. There is only one Father and He is in heaven.  You are not to be called leader. There is only one Leader and He is Christ." \n\nSo if we only have One teacher, and He isn't obviously visible or tangible to everyone, it's going to take a change in our perception to find Him.  Following any leader, any church, any teacher traps us.\n\nPoint 2)\nJesus said "The holy nation (kingdom) of God is not coming in such a way that can be seen with the eyes. It will not be said, 'See, here it is!' or, 'There it is!' For the holy nation of God is in you."\n\nAs we respond to our internal reactions to the scriptures, we will find Christ at work in it.\n\nPoint 3)\nRomans 1:19-20 Paul is saying:\nMen know about God. He has made it plain to them. Men cannot say they do not know about God. From the beginning of the world, men could see what God is like through the things He has made.This shows His power that lasts forever. It shows that He is God.\n\nWe also react to the world around us, but it is the internal reaction which reveals God at work in our hearts.  This works even if you don't read scripture.\n\nPoint 4)\nBut Jesus said, "It must be done, because we must do everything that is right." So then John baptized him.\n\nJesus did things that weren't even necessary for Him to do.  Being baptized for example, was a way for a Gentile (non-Jew) to become "grafted" to Judaism.  So we see Jesus being observant in all the ways a person can be observant.\n\nI try to act in a way that reveals God's presence and love to all people, Jews first, but also Christians, Muslims, Pagans, Wiccans, Hindus, and Native Americans especially, since I am living in their space and I am in part descended from them, Mexicans, Canadians, anyone stigmatized, homosexuals, the handicapped, the homeless, and that really annoying guy at work.\n\nThis brings me to\nMy final Point)\nGod is Love 1 John 4:8,16\n\nIf you learn anything on the way that leads you to act hatefully, you weren't learning that from Jesus.\n\nI'm sorry if you expected more.  I hope you weren't expecting me to point you in a church you never noticed, sitting right there on your corner, with white doves perched on a running fountain.  But fortunately, the religion I'm talking about is open to everyone, and not just the literate, not just the social, not just the convicted, but also the conversational, the solitary, and the skeptical.  You seek God with all your heart and ability and He Himself teaches you.
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Ah ...the soft-shoe routine you can get from people who believe in the "inerrant" Bible - when a text clearly states something so awful that it must be re-re-reinterpreted.\n\nSo .. a word from our sponsor:\nIsiah 45:7 "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and CREATE EVIL: I the LORD do all these things."\n\nAnd now let's hear the various (laughable) renditions of what "evil" means "in this context," or "the actual Hebrew means something totally different." - obviously it couldn't just mean "evil," .... could it? \n\nThere is no one answer to your question. Current theology, in a vain attempt at sidestepping the mystical trend that produced the citation above, holds that God did NOT do what He says He did, or that it's a "mystery to be revealed in the end to us all."
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I have because I think if you're going to follow a religion that's based on a holy text, it's important to know what that text says.  Yes, Proverbs was good; my favorite was the one about how a good wife is worth more than pearls.  I think it's towards the end.  Leviticus, on the other hand, was dry as dust, and the geneologies were seemingly endless.  I liked the Song of Songs  and Esther.  The Epistles were really interesting because they showed the problems of the early Church and how they dealt with them.  It kind of lent a personal touch that I could relate to.    \n\nOne of the biggest things I realized, though, was that the Gods of the Old and the New Testament really aren't radically different.  There's a lot of love and understanding in the OT that frequently gets skipped over, and ditto for some of the sterner stuff in the NT.  That was kind of a revalation to me.  Still, I need to read it again sometime.  I got a lot out of it, but there are more things I need to go over.
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Yes, I do. I try to stick to a routine of even reading a couple of verses (ayat) everyday and think if I am really doing this or not. One of the early believers (can't remember his name) used to start reading the Quran wondering what kind of person he would find himself to be; charitable or a miser, honest or a liar, etc. \nOne way of knowing if you are a good person or not is to read in your holy book and reflect on the teachings; are you following them?
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Which verse/ chapter did you read that? Would really like to know, could speculate on it further.
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Hi Tumirahdea,\nI met the ZagrosShahfaran once, a few weekends ago. I was walking to the corner market for a loaf of bread when I had to pass by a neighborhood church. I was somewhat acquainted with the structure as it was always mentioned in the newspaper's community section. Known as "The loft," folks would gather there on Thursday evenings for poetry readings.\nHowever, this day happened to be a Saturday afternoon and a pair of gentlemen greeted me as I walked by. They invited me inside to sample an hour of their presentation. Ok, I went inside and found myself to be a prospective new recruit for their brand of religion.\n\nMost of the pews were filled with hooded monks chanting a haunting rhythm. There were others who like me, were wearing their regular denims. The service began like most others that church-goers would be familiar with. A grand master of ceremonies led the group through some songs and gave a sermon. Near the end of the hour it was time for their ritual of "laying on of the hands." Some of the parishioners would come forward and ask for prayers for their ailments or for a sick grand mum who fell down in the tub. All the hooded dudes whose faces could not readily be seen would all place a hand on the person and their combined energies were presumed to have a strength and expedite a solution to the problem.\n\nOK now, there was another new guy in the pews who was watching eagerly. I recognized ZagrosShahfaran from a wanted poster viewed earlier at the post office. When he saw a chance, he approached the ring of conspirators and described how he was always moving around and never able to settle down. The hooded goons closed in upon him, all to make a physical connection. The master of ceremonies began a prayer, a dogmatic mix of logic and pure hocus-pocus. I immediately saw the effects of the procedure as the tension went out of ZagrosShahfaran's body. When the beseeching was near an end, the master asked, "Are the brothers ready?"\n\nA suspenseful few moments passed until he almost shouted, "NOW!"\n\nOn that cue, the brothers began to pummel their hapless victim. Continually delivering blows over head and to the solar plexus until ZagrosShahfaran was down on the floor getting stomped. After another minute, the grand Pooh-Bah decided the treatment administered was sufficient to induce a relaxing calm that would assuage the nervousness of ZagrosShahfaran for a long, long time.\n\nI can't say for certain if ZagrosShahfaran got the comeuppance he deserved as I had a loaf of bread to buy and some other errands to do that day. I hope for you Tumirahdea, that you do find a sense of closure to this difficult episode of life.\n\n-Bryce
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Interesting, but my translation says "God takes his stand in his own congregation".  (New American Standard).  We would need to discuss it with an expert in ancient hebrew to form an informed opinion, so take it easy.
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Is it kosher?\nAnd, other than matzah; what would you eat it on? Celery? Remember, no bread for a week!
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"And We verily did allot unto the Children of Israel a fixed abode, and did provide them with good things; and they differed not until the knowledge came unto them. Lo! thy Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that wherein they used to differ." Surah-Yunus, ayah-93, Qur'aan.\n\nGod gave Jews a land, granted them wealth.  Before the Divine Message was sent down, the Jews were all the same; however, after the Message was known, God will judge them on the Judgement Day by that very own difference -- those who followed the Message apart from those who did not.\n\n"And if thou (Muhammad) art in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto thee, then question those who read the Scripture (that was) before thee. Verily the Truth from thy Lord hath come unto thee. So be not thou of the waverers." Surah-Yunus, ayah-94, Qur'aan.\n\nIf shall you (it was addressed to Muhammad, but can also be applied to all of humanity) not trusting the Message of Qur'aan be true (from God), then challenge the Qur'aan by comparing the Message with those scholars of Torah, of Gospels (those who knew the original message and languages).
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The 5 Books of the Torah are central to the Jewish religion.  These are the words that are believed to have been given to the people by God on Mt. Sinai.  It is very holy, and contains God's specific instruction for the Jewish people on how to live their lives as servants of God.\n\nBut there are more holy books than just the Torah.  The Torah remains first and foremost in the Jewish religion, but within the Torah itself, it says that God will send prophets, and that after a series of tests to determine that the prophet is legitimate and really from God, the people are to follow that prophet.  So when the great prophets came along, people like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Elijah, and Ezekiel, the people determined that they were true prophets from God, and they therefore follow them.  By doing so, they are actually following the Torah itself, because of its command to follow true prophets from God.  So the books of the Prophets (Nevi'im) are also included in the canon of Jewish Scripture.  Also included are other works important to the Jewish faith, such as the Psalms, which were used in Temple services, and are seen to be inspired by God.  Also the book of Daniel, which is an apocalypse, and Esther, which tells the story of Purim, and so on.\nThese latter works are called Ketuvim, or "writings."\n\nTherefore the Jewish Bible is called the Tanakh, which is an acronym (TNK) made up of the first Hebrew letters of the words, Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim.\n\nIn the time of Jesus, we know that at least the Torah and the Prophets were accepted by most as Scripture.  You will find mention in the New Testament of the "Law and the Prophets."  That means the Torah (Law) and the Nevi'im (Prophets).  \n\nJesus followed the Jewish religion loyally so far as we know.  He differed from the Pharisees in his interpretation of it but he held it in the highest of esteem.  He felt the Torah should be interpreted with a heart, and should be followed with true sincerity.  In other words, it was not enough to just outwardly fulfill the laws, but you have to really have your heart in the right place, and your motives had to be pure and fixed upon God.\n\nIt is true that the earliest Christians were mostly Jews.  Before the books of the New Testament were written, they still used the Torah and the Prophets as their Scripture.  As the religion spread to Gentiles, it became debated what place the Torah should have in the new religion among Gentiles.  Because it was obviously important for the Jews, but Gentiles did not have that as their tradition.  Paul taught them that they need not convert to Judaism and follow all the Torah laws.  \n\nEventually, Paul's letters themselves were highly regarded, because of his theology.  And the various communities produced Gospels, and these were probably used for sermons and the like in various communities.  There were debates among Christians about whether the Old Testament was of any value.  But of course, ultimately, it was ruled that it DID have value.  Afterall, it was the Scripture of Jesus himself.  \n\nThe thing about Romans identifying Christians as a sect of the Jewish religion is interesting.  At first, of course Christians were regarded as a sect of Judaism, because most of them were Jews.  But later, the Gentiles had a lot of problem being accepted as a legitimate religion by the Roman government.  Jews had some amount of protection simply because they were an ancient religion with a long tradition.  So if they did not bow to the emperor, that was usually overlooked.  They had the backing of their long tradition.  Gentile Christians however, did not have this long-standing tradition to back them up.  They were former pagans who just suddenly stopped honoring the state gods and would no longer bow to the Emperor.  They were not circumcised or did not appear to be Jewish in any other way.  So they could not appeal to the ancient Jewish religion, because it appeared to the Roman
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I will give you my opinion (mixed with other rabbis')-just PLEASE read it-I used up my time to type this for you:  \nOk, a person's soul (neshama) is brought to earth.  he does what he needs to do.  if he fulfills his obligation, and has done well in life, he gets to go to heaven.  if he fails, he gets sent back.   However, if a person comepletes his TRUE obligation in life (which everyone has, and is why they are sent to earth), then he goes straight to heaven (gan eden/gardon of eden).   If he is a "bad boy" and does exceptionally bad things, (Like h*tler, or Araf*t), then he goes straight to hell (or Gehinom).  When a person's soul (neshama) comes back to life, it's pretty much reincarnation.  however, the angel that escorts him over there taps the space between your upper lip and under your nose (which is why we have that mark), causing the soul to forget everything.  So when the Neshama  (soul) is taken down to earth, the soul is crying that he wants to stay in heaven, where he is in the spiritual world.  however, when a person is going to die, the soul cries to the angel that carries him back to the spiritual world that he wants to stay and fulfill more deeds.
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No I haven't-wanna give me a summary??  Sounds interesting.  Is it based on the new Dead Sea Scrolls they found??
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To me, it would appear that they read Matthew 5:17 and stop at the first 2 words: "Think not".\n\nThey have that down to a science, they just don't think.\n\nIn context Matthew 5:17-20 says:\n"Think not that I am come to destroy the Torah, or the Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.  For truely I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, not one iota (or Yud in the Hebrew Alephbet) or one tittle (the "crowns" or Taggin) shall in any way pass from the Torah, till all be fulfilled.  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say unto you, That unless your righteousness shall exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."\n\nThe Christians are supposed to be following Torah even more righteously than the rabbis of the time! Of course, Talmud doesn't think much of that generation of rabbis, saying it was their "baseless hatred" that caused the Temple to be destroyed.\n\nPerhaps Christians get around this by saying that Heaven and Earth have passed away?  As far as I can tell they are still here.  Perhaps it is that old "think not" thought process of theirs.  I suspect that a better translation would be "even if heaven and earth pass...." since Torah is eternal in nature.\n\nThey don't realize that for one to violate a command of Torah it is as though he had destroyed it.  Likewise, they don't understand the concept of what the word "fulfilled" means.  I try to tell them that when I pull up to a full and complete stop at a stop sign, I have fulfilled the law concerning stop signs.  But the fact that I have fulfilled the law doesn't mean that everyone else is now free to run the stop sign.  (If they were consistant in their reading of this passage that is exactly how they would have to apply the words.)\n\nThe passage isn't saying that he came to do away with Torah or anything.  It isn't saying he was going to violate the requirements of Torah in anyway.  He was going to keep every command of Torah that applied to him and he wanted his followers to do the same.\n\nSo they should be out teaching each other to keep even the smallest of the commandments.  Why aren't they doing this?  Because they "think not".
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Here's the beginning...\n\nBack to the Future:  Fantasy or Coming to Realization?\n\nA legend tells of Moses watching Rabbi Akiva (in the future) giving an explanation for every little mark in the Torah.  Moses then turns to the Creator of the world and complains that he doesn't understand what Rabbi Akiva is explaining.  Finally, he was reassured when he saw that Rabbi Akiva answered the student who asked a similar question, "This is the law of Moses from Sinai."  This legend, which is intended for educational purposes--is itself time travel.  Moses, who lived thousands of years before Rabbi Akiva, travels through time to the period of the "Tnai'im".