My explanation to Anti Semite Jackie White Snow, who subsequently had her comment removed. And Facebook just removed Carole Lynn's Anti-Semitic, personal attack against me (That was quick.).
Meanwhile, what I don't know is how good Geraldo becoming more religiously Jewish is. So, writing "God" as "G#d" on Geraldo's part may well reflect a further gravitation towards Far-Left, Self-Hating-Jewish (e.g., Eric Yoffe and Richard Jacobs), Union-of-Reform-Judaism Judaism. (And I give Masada2000.org this-- they show the damage of not believing that Tanakh is G-d's Word):
So, is that Geraldo is committed to Reform Judaism more necessarily a good thing considering this?
The Reform position is much
more complicated. First, how do we know what God wants? Reform asserts that
every knowledgeable Jew has an equal claim to a personal understanding of what
God wants. Therefore, Movement-wide agreement is, in principle, not necessary
nor desirable, nor probably even possible. We each (if we are knowledgeable
about the tradition, if we confront it seriously and take its claims and its
wisdom seriously) have the ability, the freedom, indeed the responsibility to
come to a [potentially differing] personal understanding of what God wants us to
do.
But if we are free to
choose, what, then, is the point of Torah (and halacha)? For me, and I think for
many other Reform Jews as well (though in principle it doesn't matter), it is a
record of how our people, in widely differing times, places and societal
circumstances, experienced God's presence in their lives, and responded. Each
aspect of halacha is a possible gateway to experience of the holy, the
spiritual. Each aspect worked for some Jews, once upon a time, somewhere in our
history. Each, therefore, has the potential to open up holiness for people in
our time as well, and for me personally.
However, each does not have
equal claim on us, on me. Much of the halacha
arose in societal settings where distance from the peoples in whose midst we
lived was desirable. The "outside" world was dark, dangerous and threatening.
That is no longer our situation. We welcome, applaud and are uplifted by much of
Western culture. Portions of the halacha whose main purpose seems to be to
distance us from our surroundings no longer seem functional.
This is also does become problematic especially when one considers, "Some (the agricultural laws, for instance) are no
longer possible to observe. Others (the sacrificial laws, for instance) come
from a social context so foreign to our own that it would be impossible to
conceive modern people finding holiness in their revival."
Yet, if one is lo b'Yeshua, he or she must keep all 613 mitzvot. One either has to follow Torah-Moshe or the Brit Chadashah, which Torah-Moshe pointed to and-- where Torah Moshe does not deliberately contradict Brit Chadashah-- can be followed within the context thereof (cf. Acts 15, Romans 7:4-25, 14; Galatians 1:6-12, 5:7-12): yeshuat cannot be found in both. The deliberate contradictions, by the way, are explained by Romans 7:4-25 and are exemplified in-- for instance-- D'varim 23:1-8; in where ahavah, rachamim, and other attributes are not shown. e.g. (Emphasis mine):
- 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. 12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.13
Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that
it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so
that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
- 1 “He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the LORD.
2 “One of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD. 3 “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD forever, 4
because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you
came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of
Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5
Nevertheless the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, but the LORD
your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD
your God loves you. 6 You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever. 7 “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land. 8 The children of the third generation born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD.
Yezhekel 18:1-9 helps explain Romans 7:4-25 in light of D'varim 23:1-8:
1 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 2 “What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying:
‘ The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge’?
3 “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.
4 “ Behold, all souls are Mine;
The soul of the father
As well as the soul of the son is Mine;
The soul who sins shall die.
5 But if a man is just And does what is lawful and right;
6 If he has not eaten on the mountains,
Nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,
Nor defiled his neighbor’s wife,
Nor approached a woman during her impurity;
7 If he has not oppressed anyone,
But has restored to the debtor his pledge;
Has robbed no one by violence,
But has given his bread to the hungry
And covered the naked with clothing;
8 If he has not exacted usury
Nor taken any increase,
But has withdrawn his hand from iniquity
And executed true judgment between man and man;
9 If he has walked in My statutes And kept My judgments faithfully— He is just; He shall surely live!”
Says the Lord GOD.
Given Yezhekel 18:1-9, then, D'varim 23:1-8 points to that "sin, that
it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so
that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful." So, since Geraldo is lo b'Yeshua and has to keep deliberately-hateful mitzvot such as D'varim 23:1-8-- regardless of the Union of Reform Judaism says--, Geraldo is becoming more religious in a bad way by gravitating more toward Reform Judaism (which, as I said, his writing "God" as "G#d" may well reflect).
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