Prophecies Of The Bible Concerning The Descendants Of Israel
These prophecies are being fulfilled in our own time.
"Though I scatter them among the peoples, yet in distant lands they will remember ME. They and their children will survive, and they will return." Zechariah 10:9
"Moreover, the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known." Deuteronomy 28:64
Chinese Jews from Kaifeng arrive in Israel 2009 - a moving documentary
Clarifying A Commonly Held Yet Erroneous Belief
The writer of the article on Ashkenazi Jews (link provided to the right) states erroneously that conversion to Judaism has been rare in the past two thousand years.
Sadly the writer did not do his or her research. Jews were extremely active proselytizers until the Middle Ages when persecutions against our ancestors intensified, and the Catholic church , as well as the Muslims forbade Jews from converting others to Judaism. Prior to this occurring Judaism felt that it had a mission towards the Gentiles to bring them to the knowledge of the One TRUE G-D, and indeed this belief is correct from a Biblical viewpoint (Zechariah 8:23, Micah 4:1-2, Ezekiel 47:21-23,Psalms 33:8,Psalms 68:32 ).
There are numerous examples of conversion in the Tanakh ,the Brit HaChadasha, the Talmud ,as well as in historical documents dating to up to the Middle Ages. Conversion has a long history among Jews. According to midrashic tradition, Abraham would proselytize the men and Sarah the women. The Bible referred to "the ger in your gates" as a special class of the population. Ger is usually translated as "stranger." In rabbinic law the "stranger" could be either the ger tsedek, the convert, or the ger toshav, a foreigner who lived in the land and accepted the Noachide laws.
In biblical times Ruth, who proclaimed "your people are my people and your G-D is my G-D," is the model proselyte and was the ancestor of king David. Before Ruth, there was Asenath, Joseph's wife, who was the daughter of an Egyptian pagan priest, yet gave birth to two sons who would become two tribes in Israel. (Genesis 41:50,Genesis 48:20,Numbers 10:23-24).
At the end of the second century BCE, John Hyrcanus forced the Edomites (Idumeans) to convert, and some of the valiant defenders of Jerusalem against the Romans came from the Edomite ranks. Another large-scale conversion occurred many centuries later, when the Khazars converted.
During the events that led up to Purim the Book of Esther tells us that large numbers of people became Jews because they were afraid of the Jews (Esther 8:17).
In the Greco-Roman era, large numbers of non-Jews associated themselves with the Jewish communities of the ever-growing Diaspora (Galut), finding in the Jewish faith an answer to their dissatisfaction with pagan polytheism. Some of the greatest of early rabbinic scholars like Shemayah and Avtalyon and R. Akiva were said to be descendants of converts, and Onkelos, who translated the Pentateuch into Aramaic, was a convert.
In the Brit Ha Chadasha Yeshua criticizes some Pharisees (He was not against ALL Pharisees) for
hypocritical behavior in Matthew 23:15. On careful analysis of this passage one can see how zealous Jews were at that time in proselytizing.
Part of the passage goes, "for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte".
Acts 6:5 speaks of another proselyte of Antioch named Nicolas. We know that he was a convert to Judaism and that the people to whom they preached
were not being converted to a faith that was different from Judaism, because Acts 6:7 says that a great number of priests (Jewish priests of the Temple) had come to believe in Yeshua as the Messiah. Though
this may not have been popular with those who
still did not believe that Yeshua was the Messiah, nowhere is it implied that these priests ceased to be Jewish or became Christian. So since the preaching was being done within the Jewish faith,the proselytes mentioned in the Brit HaChadasha were converts to Judaism.
The opposition to conversion was small. A minority opinion among the Talmudic sages offers some opposition to the policy of accepting converts. Thus, one of the amoraim expressed his opposition to conversion by claiming that "converts are as hard for Israel [to endure] as a sore" (Yev. 47b). This seems to have been a reflection of the external situation, whereby the Jewish community could be punished for attempts at proselytism. There are numerous expressions to the contrary, praising converts and their contribution to the Jewish people, and even recommending steps "not to close the door before potential proselytes." This latter view is the most prevalent in Talmudic literature. It would appear that the different views on the subject were less a product of a particular philosophy than of the circumstances prevailing at any given time.
It was not until Jewish proselytizing was forbidden under pain of death to the convert (as well as to the Jews who converted him) that proselytizing began to decline. Islam itself as it conquered country after country, took a similar position. Jewish proselytizing went underground and became far less common.
Rabbinic literature offers answers to many questions about the status of the convert. He is considered as if born afresh and not related to his previous family; is counted as a member of a Minyan (prayer quorum), may serve as prayer leader, may serve as a judge in a rabbinical court dealing with civil cases; and in general is obligated by the same commandments as his fellow Jews. The scholars ruled that in prayer he too should pray, "our G-D and G-D of our fathers," "...for once having come under the wings of the Divine Presence, there is no difference between us; all the miracles done for us were done for him too!" There are nevertheless certain restrictions: a female proselyte is not permitted to marry a Kohen (priest) and a proselyte could not be anointed king.
With regard to this topic I will be providing links in a section below, nevertheless this channel does not deal with converts but rather with actual descendants of Israel that are dispersed throughout the globe.
These are not goyim, but Jews who are returning
as Zechariah 10:9 prophesied they would. This includes also the return of the Marranos (whom we
cover in another channel and of which I am one).
It is important to understand that just like there are Jews born within Judaism that are descendants of converts (and that does not make them any less Jewish), there are those born outside of Judaism that are descendants of actual ethnic Jews who were forced to convert to another religion (be it Islam or Catholicism).
Sadly the writer did not do his or her research. Jews were extremely active proselytizers until the Middle Ages when persecutions against our ancestors intensified, and the Catholic church , as well as the Muslims forbade Jews from converting others to Judaism. Prior to this occurring Judaism felt that it had a mission towards the Gentiles to bring them to the knowledge of the One TRUE G-D, and indeed this belief is correct from a Biblical viewpoint (Zechariah 8:23, Micah 4:1-2, Ezekiel 47:21-23,Psalms 33:8,Psalms 68:32 ).
There are numerous examples of conversion in the Tanakh ,the Brit HaChadasha, the Talmud ,as well as in historical documents dating to up to the Middle Ages. Conversion has a long history among Jews. According to midrashic tradition, Abraham would proselytize the men and Sarah the women. The Bible referred to "the ger in your gates" as a special class of the population. Ger is usually translated as "stranger." In rabbinic law the "stranger" could be either the ger tsedek, the convert, or the ger toshav, a foreigner who lived in the land and accepted the Noachide laws.
In biblical times Ruth, who proclaimed "your people are my people and your G-D is my G-D," is the model proselyte and was the ancestor of king David. Before Ruth, there was Asenath, Joseph's wife, who was the daughter of an Egyptian pagan priest, yet gave birth to two sons who would become two tribes in Israel. (Genesis 41:50,Genesis 48:20,Numbers 10:23-24).
At the end of the second century BCE, John Hyrcanus forced the Edomites (Idumeans) to convert, and some of the valiant defenders of Jerusalem against the Romans came from the Edomite ranks. Another large-scale conversion occurred many centuries later, when the Khazars converted.
During the events that led up to Purim the Book of Esther tells us that large numbers of people became Jews because they were afraid of the Jews (Esther 8:17).
In the Greco-Roman era, large numbers of non-Jews associated themselves with the Jewish communities of the ever-growing Diaspora (Galut), finding in the Jewish faith an answer to their dissatisfaction with pagan polytheism. Some of the greatest of early rabbinic scholars like Shemayah and Avtalyon and R. Akiva were said to be descendants of converts, and Onkelos, who translated the Pentateuch into Aramaic, was a convert.
In the Brit Ha Chadasha Yeshua criticizes some Pharisees (He was not against ALL Pharisees) for
hypocritical behavior in Matthew 23:15. On careful analysis of this passage one can see how zealous Jews were at that time in proselytizing.
Part of the passage goes, "for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte".
Acts 6:5 speaks of another proselyte of Antioch named Nicolas. We know that he was a convert to Judaism and that the people to whom they preached
were not being converted to a faith that was different from Judaism, because Acts 6:7 says that a great number of priests (Jewish priests of the Temple) had come to believe in Yeshua as the Messiah. Though
this may not have been popular with those who
still did not believe that Yeshua was the Messiah, nowhere is it implied that these priests ceased to be Jewish or became Christian. So since the preaching was being done within the Jewish faith,the proselytes mentioned in the Brit HaChadasha were converts to Judaism.
The opposition to conversion was small. A minority opinion among the Talmudic sages offers some opposition to the policy of accepting converts. Thus, one of the amoraim expressed his opposition to conversion by claiming that "converts are as hard for Israel [to endure] as a sore" (Yev. 47b). This seems to have been a reflection of the external situation, whereby the Jewish community could be punished for attempts at proselytism. There are numerous expressions to the contrary, praising converts and their contribution to the Jewish people, and even recommending steps "not to close the door before potential proselytes." This latter view is the most prevalent in Talmudic literature. It would appear that the different views on the subject were less a product of a particular philosophy than of the circumstances prevailing at any given time.
It was not until Jewish proselytizing was forbidden under pain of death to the convert (as well as to the Jews who converted him) that proselytizing began to decline. Islam itself as it conquered country after country, took a similar position. Jewish proselytizing went underground and became far less common.
Rabbinic literature offers answers to many questions about the status of the convert. He is considered as if born afresh and not related to his previous family; is counted as a member of a Minyan (prayer quorum), may serve as prayer leader, may serve as a judge in a rabbinical court dealing with civil cases; and in general is obligated by the same commandments as his fellow Jews. The scholars ruled that in prayer he too should pray, "our G-D and G-D of our fathers," "...for once having come under the wings of the Divine Presence, there is no difference between us; all the miracles done for us were done for him too!" There are nevertheless certain restrictions: a female proselyte is not permitted to marry a Kohen (priest) and a proselyte could not be anointed king.
With regard to this topic I will be providing links in a section below, nevertheless this channel does not deal with converts but rather with actual descendants of Israel that are dispersed throughout the globe.
These are not goyim, but Jews who are returning
as Zechariah 10:9 prophesied they would. This includes also the return of the Marranos (whom we
cover in another channel and of which I am one).
It is important to understand that just like there are Jews born within Judaism that are descendants of converts (and that does not make them any less Jewish), there are those born outside of Judaism that are descendants of actual ethnic Jews who were forced to convert to another religion (be it Islam or Catholicism).
Indian Jewish Malida Ceremony
The Malida is a ceremonial offering in the name of G-D, accompanied by an invocation for the presence and blessings of the Prophet Elijah. This ceremony is also known as the Eliyahoo Ha-Navi ceremony. According to tradition, the prophet resuscitated the comatose ancestors of the Bene Israel community who had been washed up on shore after a shipwreck. The ceremony includes recitation of specific Hebrew verses. The offering usually consists of a mixture of parched rice, grated fresh coconuts, raisins, cardamom, sugar, and five different kinds of fresh fruits. The ceremony is performed before weddings, following circumcisions, at House Warmings, in times of illness and crises, and whenever there is reason to express deep gratitude.
Indo-Judaic studies in the twenty-first century: a view from the margin
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sunday, December 9, 2007
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