Intermarriage...Or Maybe Not

I wonder what they think of "intermarriage" when a gentile who is actually an  Anusi or Anusit marries a fellow Jew. The Nagy-Trudnyak and Korsch-Munka couple are a fine example of this. Nobody would've guessed (unless they really were paying attention or weren't in denial) that Mihaly and Anna Munkova Trudnyak were Anusim and bnei Anusim, whether or not they were "meshumadim"--which becomes a long discussion, because then the question becomes whether or not Yeshua would have led them to possible yeshuat had he not had them become Anusim ("possible" meaning that he may have led them, but whether or not they accepted is questionable. Their daughter Mary certainly did; and based on the fact that she even later said that we were Ukrainian [Great-Granddad was born in Cuman during a visit to Vil'gel'm Andrulevich in Buzhanka, and there were Trudnyakovs in Odessa.], I can safely assert that she knew that we are Jews.).

As far as the Trudnyaks, by the way, Anna's brother Ǎǔgǔstinǔs Samuel was the last one to be baptized (There is no baptism record for her, although there is one for the sister for whom she was named--given the birth date, July 27, 1888, that she gave for her own birthdate [which was a day after her sister's baptism date in 1884].). Mihaly and his sister Maria were baptized, but they were descended from Anusim Yosef Eleazar and Rosalia Dudayová and Mária Preczelmayerová, none of whom were baptized at birth.

"What's the difference between Jews, Christians, and Catholics?"

I can sadly and unfortunately tell you that a majority of Jews actually do not believe in Jesus (Hebrew, "ישוע", "Yeshua"). In fact, Jews like me are often intraethnically persecuted (e.g., told that we're no longer Jewish or even that we're actually just gentiles posing as Jews in order to proselytize and destroy Jewish souls, thus attempting to finish the evil work of the Nazis). Also, I am quite sure that this answer may even be disliked and/or reported by Anti-Messianic Jews who will attempt to slanderously portray me as Anti Semitic.

However, many (if not most) Non-Messianic Jews are tolerant of Jesus-believing (Messianic) Jews (Jewish Christians), although they disagree with Messianic Jews on whether or not there is even a literal Messiah ("משיח", "Mashiach) and/or who Mashiach is. For example, Karaites and Orthodox Pharisees (and Ultra-Orthodox Pharisees) do believe in a literal, yet-to-come (or, in the case of Menachem Mendel Schneerson's followers, yet-to-be-resurrected) Mashiach. Conservative and Reform Pharisees generally do not believe in a literal Mashiach.

Some Non-Messianic Jews, and even some Messianic Jews, are Crypto Jews ("אנוסים", "Anusim"). Many direct paternal ancestors from the 1700s-1900s became or were born to such--in fact, my dad and his parents deny that we're Jewish because (long story short) dad's paternal granddad became an Anusi when he was a baby to survive the pogroms and escape Anti Semitism in better-than-nothing America, and my dad's Anusit maternal grandmother was partly responsible for the murder of her Non-Anusi relatives who died in the Holocaust (which, for Grandma, is pretty painful to recall--she was six to eight years of age when her mother denied Vilmos Rusznak, Zoli Grinfeld, and other cousins [z'l] financial help to leave Europe and make aliyah ["עליה"]. In fact, she once snapped at my mom, "You keep your money in your own country." when Mom unknowingly and unintentionally opened that painful and reminding wound that Great-Grandma left in her daughter's soul.).

Most Anusim were or (as are my grandparents) are Roman or Byzantine Vaticanists ("Catholics", "universalists")--partly because they're in dread of the Vatican, which attempted to supersede Mount Zion with Vatican Hill because of replacementism. Some Anusim (e.g., Issac D'Israeli and Heinrich Marx) were or are Lutheran, Anglican, or affiliated with other denominations that broke away from Vaticanism. Very few Anusim are affiliated with Anabaptist or other Non-Vaticanist denominations (Even my dad, who goes to a Southern Baptist church, goes to a Southern Baptist church only because his wife is a Southern Baptist. If he were not an Anusi, he'd be a Reform Jew.).

As for Vaticanists, be sadly assured that most are not Christians. Christians (including Jewish Christians) believe in the inerrancy and infallibility of the Christian/Completed Jewish Bible (Old and New Covenants/Testaments). Vaticanists generally do not, as they tend to either believe what the Vatican says about it (as opposed to what it says for itself) or the "Documentary Hypothesis" (e.g., Non-Messianic Jews--excepting Karaites, Orthodox Pharisees, and Ultra-Orthodox Pharisees--and Vaticanists alike would agree with the words of Reform Pharisee clergywoman Amy Scheinerman--i.e., "Some institutions are considered to be a product of the cultural milieu and societal norms of the ancient Near East when the Hebrew Scriptures [i.e., the Old Covenant] were written down, and do not speak to our lives today.")

Hopefully, this clears up any confusion and specifies differences as well as similarities for you.

My Response To "Taking My First Trip to Ukraine, Under the Watchful Eyes of Jesus"

Firstly, I think that brushing away the "holy water" was unnecessary. Unless one puts meaning behind an item or object, the item or object is just the said item or object--at least in cases where the object is not inherently signified or set apart as something. Secondly, when Malina wrote about how her "dad stood slouching in a back corner pew", I was reminded of my own Crypto-Jewish granddad falling asleep in the back of the church that he had his family attend (about which I was told by my aunt Mary--who was, although we are Ashkenazi, named for both of her then-living grandmothers [Mary Trudnak Czarnecki (z"l), the granddaughter of Mária Nagyová Trudnyaková; and Marysia "Mary" Rusnak Gaydos, a Levite and a granddaughter of Mária Nováková Rusznáková]. She distinctly remembers that Pop-Pop would fall asleep in the back of the church while Grandma would Dad and Aunt Mary with her in the church service.).

Thirdly, I relate to Malina's point about how "this is not how I envisioned my first trip to the country where my maternal grandmother... and her entire family fled during pogroms". As someone who just discovered that I'm Jewish and a bat-Anusim a while back, I myself am trying to recover of much of my Jewishness as possible (I was honestly raised to believe that my dad was fully Slavic [Polish, Lithuanian, and Czechoslovakian--I had no idea that he was an Ashkenazi Jew and Matrilineal Levite.]). Granted that I personally believe that one is still Jewish when he or she believes in Jesus (as I myself do), but I agree that a Jew is (to say the very least and maybe understating at least a little bit) remiss to have a Vaticanist ("Catholic", "universal") wedding. I also had to convince my sister and her to-be husband to incorporate some Messianic Jewish traditions into their to-be home (Granted that their officiant will be a Messianic Jewish pastor, but the wedding will still be traditionally Protestant and not Messianic Jewish--and as much as I love my to-be-in-law brother, I was hoping that my sister would find a fellow Jewish believer to marry.).

I Know What Anti Messianics and Self-Hating Jews Want--And It's Not Pretty!

Here's an example from "Slippery Sack"--who, if he is even a real Jew himself, surely doesn't act like one, anyway (Having treif pictures on your YouTube channel does not indicate taking your Jewishness seriously, for example.):

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  Slippery Sack 1 hour ago

  Nicole, You may not be Jewish at all, your family tree seems unconvincing, I am a real Jew, for example my family tree can be traced back to Abraham in an unbroken chain. Nicole it's OK if you are a Goyim. You seem to be trying to hard to be Jewish and quite frankly I'm not convinced.

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  Nicole Czarnecki 24 minutes ago

  Not every Jew--especially many bnei-Anusim--have the luxury that you have. In fact, out of all people, Tracey R. Rich states that "So we see that Jewish genealogy is not as impossible as we might think. But it's not easy either. You are not likely to simply log onto Ancestry (or even JewishGen) and find a comprehensive tree listing your family back 300 years, as some gentiles do." She'd love for bnei-Anusim and Messianics like me to not identify as Jews.

   ·  in reply to Slippery Sack (Show the comment)
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  Nicole Czarnecki 18 minutes ago

  Also, see "Claim: All Jewish genealogical records lost in 70CE". And we know that after the Galut b'Bavel ended, some could not trace their genealogy. "These sought their register, that is, the genealogy, but it was not found; therefore were they deemed polluted and put from the priesthood. 63 And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim." (Ezra 2:62-63, cf. Nehemiah 7:64-65).

   ·  in reply to Slippery Sack (Show the comment)
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  Nicole Czarnecki 13 minutes ago

  Also, not every genealogy of everyone is listed in Tanakh or Brit Chadashah. Therefore, your logic would assume that they didn't even exist, let alone be Jewish if they were Jews. Besides, many Messianic Jews took "But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies..." (Titus 3:9) out of context. After all, Yeshua had His genealogy recorded. Paul noted being a Binyamini. The context is in line with "For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?" (1 Corinthians 3:4)

   ·  in reply to Slippery Sack (Show the comment)
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  Nicole Czarnecki 6 minutes ago

  As John Gill commented, "and genealogies; of their elders, Rabbins, and doctors, by whom their traditions are handed down from one to another, in fixing which they greatly laboured; see ( 1 Timothy 1:4 )". Do we not see that now? e.g., "I am of Calvin--that is, a Calvinist." "I am a Lutheran." But what does Scripture say? "Be... of one mind...." (See 2 Corinthians 13:11) G-d doesn't contradict or change. Messianics, too, will have to consult our genealogies when the Beit HaMikdash is rebuilt.

   ·  in reply to Slippery Sack (Show the comment)

I even emphasized what Anti Messianics and Self-Hating Jews want, in case you did not feel like reading carefully and thinking for yourself. 

Why Does Jewishness Matter?

If we Jews don't embrace our Jewish heritage and bless Israel, why should gentiles? If Israel doesn't help Israel, why should the nations? Besides, you know when we really give Hitler, Stalin, and other Anti Semites posthumous victories? When we:

1. Don't care about our Jewishness.
2. Deny our Jewishness.
3. Refuse to stick together as klal-Yisra'el and help each other as ha'am v'hamispacha-Yisra'el.

The Anti Semites want us to drop our Jewishness or otherwise not care about it. Also, what does G-d say about denying or otherwise not caring about our Jewishness? Hint: it's not pretty. For example:

1. "At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves; and they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped; they shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts. {S} Moreover thou shalt say unto them: Thus saith the LORD: do men fall, and not rise up again? Doth one turn away, and not return? Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast deceit, they refuse to return. I attended and listened, but they spoke not aright; no man repenteth him of his wickedness, saying: 'What have I done?' Every one turneth away in his course, as a horse that rusheth headlong in the battle. "
2. "Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying: Thus saith the LORD: After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem, 10 even this evil people, that refuse to hear My words, that walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and are gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, that it be as this girdle, which is profitable for nothing. {S}  For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto Me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD, that they might be unto Me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory; but they would not hearken."

Therefore, excuses such as "I'm not Jewish; I'm Catholic! and "I don't care if we're Jewish--or if we were" don't hold validity--especially when evidence after evidence shows that one is Jewish, and especially when records on Mormon websites have been reindexed as Jewish. Besides, given that people have complained about how the Mormon Church often tried to change Jewish records into gentile records, records of people do not appear in Jewish collections for no reason--even if the records appear as gentile as a gentile's record could get. I even remember one specific complaint about how the Mormons tried to change Jewish "Steins" and other Jews into Germans and Russians (If only I could find that complaint!).

Besides, what did Yeshua say to gentiles through Paul? "You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in Hisgoodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?"

By the way, that I'm a bat-Anusim whose families (e.g., many of the Foczkos/Fockos/Foskos) deny that we're Jewish drives much of my commentary work--I want to comment on my own situation to help other bnei- v'banot-Anusim who are in the same position that I am (that is, having found out that they are Jewish and having their own Jewish family persecute them for acknowledging what they found out and embracing their heritage) and who are in the position that I was in (that is, being lied to about who they are and otherwise not knowing that they are Jewish). 

Besides, as a website regarding Canavan's disease opined, "Jewish family heritage, not religious practice, is the risk factor for inherited genetic disease. It is quite possible that an individual who does not identify as Jewish in a religious sense is Jewish in terms of genetic heritage. What's important is the geographic and religious identification of parents and grandparents, not synagogue membership."

For Anusim v'bnei-Anusim, though, we don't have the luxury of our parents and grandparents identifying as Jewish. Sometimes, we have to go as far as back as great-great-grandparents or even further back. Besides, G-d did say, "And they shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations for an offering unto the LORD, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring their offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. And of them also will I take for the priests and for the Levites, saith the LORD." 

Sometimes, that's all that we have--at least this kid who heard "Charnetski" and typed in "JewsForJesus.com" (or something like that) for (what I thought was) a joke did--and again, that I'm a bat-Anusim whose families (e.g., many of the Foczkos/Fockos/Foskos) deny that we're Jewish drives much of my commentary work--I want to comment on my own situation to help other bnei- v'banot-Anusim who are in the same position that I am (that is, having found out that they are Jewish and having their own Jewish family persecute them for acknowledging what they found out and embracing their heritage) and who are in the position that I was in (that is, being lied to about who they are and otherwise not knowing that they are Jewish). 

In conclusion, Jewishness matters--for G-d, family, and tikun-ha'olam--and one does not have the "luxury" to futz around when he or she finds out that he or she is part of ha'am v'hamishpacha-Yisra'el. Besides, the consequences of futzing around are not pretty. 

"I'm Not Jewish. I'm Catholic!"

You're still Jewish, Greg Gutfeld. What was wrong with Bill O'Reilly wishing you a Happy Hanukkah? If only more Jews like you were wished such. Even Chabad.org (much to their chagrin, I suppose) states, "If Judaism is a religion, then someone who doesn’t believe in the religion should be no longer Jewish. The reality, however, is that it doesn’t work that way." Also, "According to Torah law, a person's Jewishness is not a matter of life-style or self-perception: one may be totally unaware of one's Jewishness and still be a Jew, or one may consider himself Jewish and observe all the precepts of the Torah and still not be a Jew."--and Ruth was a giyoret tzedekah. The Nazis used this against us, and that's when we should have united--Pharisee, Karaite, JuBu, HindJu, Messianic, Sabbatean, and otherwise--and said, "So, we are a 'race'; we are an ethnos, and it is thus as you say--and that gives you no right to commit ethnocide against us. In fact, it holds you more accountable to Yehovah if you even try to touch us. For, ' Behold, they may gather together, but not by Me; whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall because of thee.'" 

. Until you come home, you're not helping us. Coming home doesn't mean that you have to give up being Roman Vaticanist ("Catholic", "Universalist")--there are Evangelical Jewish Catholics (who really are part of the "Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church", and who are Zionists instead of taking their cues from the Vatican). You can even be Agnostic as you stated that you are at present--nobody's here to proselytize you to Yeshua (and, sadly, you won't most of us even believing in Yeshua, anyway).

You too, Kevin--Israelites, Jews, etc. stick together.

All Bluster From the Andrulewiczes Who Come To This Blog: aka, If You're Serious About Whether We're Jewish...

Make the effort to contact me. I get that you'll run into opposition: heck; I, e.g., ran into idiots like Ann McGill Garcia-Mones who want to deny that Julius Danilowicz and his side of the family were Jewish. But how are you going to counter the stumbling blocks like Ann if you don't coalesce with those who are being blocked by the same blocks?  In fact, let me copy and paste what she wrote to me to prove to you that I've dealt with what you're dealing with:

"Nicole, I am blocking you from contacting me. I feel you are attacking me. You seem to be a very angry person. I choose not to be your whipping boy! There are many situations that have happened in the history of the world that are very sad for me. I have had contact with many people over the years doing ancestry research but NEVER anyone that has communicated me as you have come to do. I wish I could wave a magic wand and say that because you found an Adam Danilowicz on Julius Danilowicz' passport application that he is related to you. I just do not think it is so. I am a very experienced in ancestry research. At this point I do not think you have a relative named Julius."

She wants to deny that one can be Jewish and Catholic--whether Crypto Jewish or otherwise--at the same time. She also wishes to deny that my family is my family. No wonder, then, that "[m]y cousin [Paschal Danilowicz's widow] is...difficult to communicate with...[and h]er children have not been very helpful." Also, her cousin's illness ("My cousin is not well and it is difficult to communicate with her. Her children have not been very helpful.") has nothing to do with the communication difficulty--honest people who face history even when it contradicts what they would like it to be will not stand for revisionism. By the way, I do not blame Paschal's widow or his children for any of this: Ann only proved to me that she is another block to the Danilowiczes (such as us cousins of Alexandria Alice Danilowicz), Andrulewiczes (such as us descendants of--surprise, Ms. Mones, Alexandria Alice Czarnecki nee Andrulewiczowna, who married a Danilowicz-Czernecki cousin!), and others (e.g., the Margiewiczes) who stumble into the brick walls especially because of the blocks! (Oh, and Ann, learn about Ashkenazi Jewish naming customs and why "Alexander" variants are important in Jewish culture--perhaps instead of abusing and condemning me, you'll learn why "Julian" and "Alexandria" [and variants thereof] appeared in the family, and mind your own business and stick to your McGills and Tuckers. The Danilowiczes and related families are not, except for Paschal's marriage to your cousin, to mess with!)

Back to the point: be assured that:

1. You will guarantee this kind of opposition, revisionism, etc.
2. To hold whatever opposition, revisionism, etc. you encounter in mind--even if you forgive it in your heart--is important. Forgive, but do not forget.
3. As I said, I see bluster from the Andrulewiczes who come here. I have not once gotten an email from an Andrulewicz that reads something like, "Hey; are we Jewish?"; "Shalom; when did your branch convert?", or "Nicole, I see [or know, have heard, etc.] that your paternal granddad's paternal grandma was my [whichever relative's] [whichever kind of relative]."
4. Tying the three subpoints together, as aforestated, you need to contact me if you're serious about whether we're Jewish; and not just being someone's (or someones') real whipping boy or girl, or being just a statistic in my Google or FeedJit statistics.

The burden of proof lies on us--as it has from Biblical times for especially those who are kohenim (and whether we are such, I do not know). The burden of proof becomes all the more important when you have those like Ann and P'rushim who are as Ezra was--putting their Jewish children and gentile wives away instead of confirming the covenant of Israel with their children, and with their wives with whom they had become one as they should have done. After all, given that we converted to pagan Vaticanism to save our lives in Byzantine Vaticanist Russia (though God certainly used evil for good by even bringing some of us to Yeshua ), we are like the children of the pagan wives who were put away--especially because that we are Jewish was hidden from us. 

There's The Paradox of Hope and Reality, Because...

Oftentimes, hope and reality do not match up. Expecting the best is a mistake--"Always suspect the worst of others; you'll rarely be disappointed." Always suspect the worst of others and yourself, and you'll be pleasantly surprised when the best happens--just don't expect the best to last long, let alone forever. Even a fruitful septuagenarian or octogenarian life--let alone a nonagenarian or centenarian life--is a gift. Only where hope is, is where the best and better will last forever--and hope is in the Lord alone.

Otherwise, forget even hope: reality, especially without hope, is a screwy business--and what about death, which ends reality in this lifetime for those who are taken by it? If you're going to Heaven, then you know where you're going. But if you're going to Hell (and you probably are if you're unsure if you are [though I'm not talking about if you're just having doubts], or if you're sure that you're not, going to Heaven), take Dante's admonition seriously--"Abandon all hope, ye who enter [Hell]." 

By the way, Hell is a Jewish concept--Scripture aside, "the Talmud [of all books is] quite descriptive of the place we now call hell...The Talmud is much more detailed concerning the fire and darkness of hell, even supplying descriptions concerning its size, divisions and entrance gates." If you need proof, go look at what the P'rushim think about Jesus and Hell.  The P'rushim particularly hated Jesus because, at the very least and a point on which Messianic Jews and Non-Messianic Jews can agree, Jesus "transgress[ed many] of the enactments of the Scribes"--punishment for which, according to the "Scribes", is death and boiling in semen or fecal matter--and the P'rushi scribes exalted themselves, including Eliezer ben-Hyrcanus HaKohen, to be Yehovah: "My son, be more careful in the words of the Scribes than in the words of the Torah, for in the laws of the Torah there are positive and negative precepts; but, as to the laws of the Scribes, whoever transgresses any of the enactments of the Scribes incurs the penalty of death."

Using the P'rushim as an example, you would best suspect the worst of others--there is no end to how any human being (whether Jewish or gentile, rich or poor, politician or constituent, clergy or layperson, or any other kind of person) can make life Hell enough for even him or her self--much less and/or let alone for others. " Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help....Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God". "[P]ut your trust in the LORD."

As Controversial And Ill Timed As This Seems...

When anyone dies, I (or at least I should) always hope that they were saved or came to salvation if they were not saved prior to their dying moments (As for the ones who were saved, that "[p]recious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints." is obvious. Nobody has to worry about where the saints are going.). As for those who weren't saved, their fate depends on their works. For the saved, "This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.  For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.  And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one."

Therefore, grace is indeed a Jewish idea, and that grace is a Jewish idea must be communicated to especially the Jewish soul before he or she even has to face death. For, God chose the Jews and then any gentiles who are to be grafted in. So, share but don't proselytize;  let the Jewish soul choose as he or she will, but don't squander any opportunity to share the Gospel with any Jewish soul. You are guilty, by the way, if you do not take the opportunity to share when you called to share ; and you are fit for Hell if you pervert the Word of God--whether the Hell be in Hell itself or even in Heaven, even though you escape Hell itself. 

I myself testify as one whose Believing Jewish family members--e.g., Mark Gavrish--have helped save their Non-Believing (even Crypto-Jewish) family members (v.g., Stanislaw "Stanley" Czarnecki, z'l). I also testify as one who has family members in Hell (and if you think that that's easy and not troublesome for me to say, think again--I have gotten heat for speaking out against family members and their actions, for example, and even disbelief. One example is the dishonest Claire Bradley--I even offered that she contact Granduncle Tony, so that he could tell her what I told her happened to Great-Granduncle Bernie; and what does the perverter do? Cut out that part that I told and make what I wrote to her sound like she wrote it herself--and those are the kinds of people who run FindAGrave, by the way [Long story, but now you know why I detest  FindAGrave, though that site is a necessary evil for the time being.]).

In conclusion (and writing this blog entry with the sad guarantee that, verbi causa, Great-Granduncles Johnkie and Suzy are in Hell right now), I urge you to communicate to especially unsaved Jewish souls that grace is a Jewish idea before the time passes, and let them choose what their fate will be. 

Closing Thought For The Night: Non-Messianic Judaism Versus Messianic Judaism

Non-Messianic Judaism says, "I can attain merit on my own righteousness and follow tradition." Messianic Judaism says, "'And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness.'--So if Abraham had to rely on G-d and on faith, what of me?! I can't do it on my own! 'Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.' Since human nature is like skin color, I can't rely on myself--I have to rely on G-d to merit my righteousness!" L'laila tov.