In Part I we saw the beginning of the shift to define the Term GER as religious instead of social as designated in the Tanach.
But first I want to relate to some comments Rabbi Joshua expressed on his Yinon blog that show that he is reading his own agenda into Scriptures. He writes: " Another example is the laws of Kashrut. According to Deuteronomy 14:21:
"You shall not eat anything that dies naturally, you may give it to the GER who is within your gates, that he may eat it...."
But it is also written:
" When ANY person eats an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a GER, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening; then he will become clean." (Levit. 17:15).
This seeming contradiction only emphasizes that the term GER is not a cookie- cutter term.
In another place Rabbi Joshua quotes Exodus 12:48"
"And when a GER dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover of the L-rd, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it, and he shall be as native-born (Exodus 12:48)."
Then he adds: "in this way, the Ger is brought into the peoplehood..."
In the book of Joshua, chapter 5, God asks Joshua to circumcise all the males who were not circumcised before the entry into the Land. All those uncircumcised males where already a part of the peoplehood (by the designation Bnei Israel-the children of Israel), all before they were circumcised, which of course shows that circumcision was never a means to get INTO a peoplehood.
In the decades after the destruction of the temple the teaching prevailed that the Torah which is the means for establishing a covenant membership is applicable only for Jews. Gentiles who want to join have first to become Jews, and the "ritual of a proselyte" was born.
There is no ritual of conversion found anywhere in the Tanach. There is no reference source in existence that indicates the biblical authors, whether of the Tanach or New Testament, ever thought that one could change his/her nationality status by means of a religious ritual.
Scriptures clearly teach that covenant membership is attained through acceptance of the God of Israel and His Messiah. The result of this is submission to God's Torah. Scriptures also teach that covenant membership is not come on the basis of ethnic status.
We also have to understand that the term "proselyte" was given a new meaning by the Rabbis contrary to what it meant in Scriptures. The fact that the term even appears in the New testament shows that according to the writers, a proselyte does not become ethnically Jewish. If they are Jews, why call them proselytes?
CONCLUSION
גיור--gyur--is not from God. It is a man-made invention witnessed by the mess we see in the State of Israel, where the Rabbis succeeded to botch it up permanently.
Excellent post, Dan. It is remarkable that the drive-by bloggers never seem to respond to clear Scriptural points. They plug their fingers into their ears and say, "nah, nah, nah, Jew and Gentile have different rules, nah, nah, nah." It would be funny, if it were not so sad.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading the dirth of blogs from one organization last year when they "changed their minds" about Gentiles and Torah. I was taken aback by the sheer volume of words which made no valid points except that it was their opinion. If it were not for their messed up view of Acts 15, they could completely ignore Scripture in the promotion of their nonsensical agenda. /rant
Thanks for providing a biblical perspective.
"I remember reading the dirth of blogs from one organization last year when they "changed their minds" about Gentiles and Torah. "
ReplyDeleteRick, it took guts for that organization to sit back and look at the wider picture, do some soul searching and analyze where things went wrong, take account of the rotten fruit One-Law teaching has birthed, repent from their own contribution to spiritual damage that resulted and finally make things right by going in a new direction.
May you too, see the light, Rick.
Gene,
ReplyDeleteLike always, when you cannot rebutt scripturarly, you try to kill the messanger....
But even here you are wrong because it is MJ that is slowly dying, with 3 Jews and 3 million Gentiles....
Please respond to the topic, or I will not let your comments go through.
The fact that the term even appears in the New testament shows that according to the writers, a proselyte does not become ethnically Jewish. If they are Jews, why call them proselytes
ReplyDeleteGood point. Even in the Talmud this is evident. Granted, it is less prevalent today - but that is because being truly Jewish genetically (much less biblically Jewish = father is Jewish) is a much rarer thing than MJ/BE purports. It is why they must resort to using part of Orthodox Judaism's halacha (i.e. mother is Jewish) - although using all of the halacha is is rejected - because it rejects most of them on two grounds: if mother only - mother needed to be observant; and more importantly, they are "Christian" in the eyes of Orthodox Judaism.
Of course, if they back out to Conservative/Reformed halacha, then Gentile inclusion on the basis of theological conversion, rears its ugly head.
Bottom line: MJ/BE must resort to self-definition as well as self-defined halacha with regard to Gentiles. They cannot fall back to a Scriptural position (their only claim is historical); they cannot fall back to a Conservative/Reformed position because Gentiles "creep in"; and they cannot truly resort to Orthodox Judaism's position because that position denies them status as Jews as well.
Too bad they don't repent and understand one of the greatest works of Messiah: making one new man: Jews and "former Gentiles" as fellow-citizens and fellowheirs in Messiah's Kingdom. Am Yisrael Chai!
Rick,
ReplyDeleteThe Rabbis were concerned with the term GER TOSHAV-resident alien--because they feared that this might show non-Jews who were given a covenant privileges without converting, so they introduced a new term: GER TZADIK-righteous alien-- to designate a convert. GER TZADIK can only be found in later rabbinic literatue. it is not found in the Tanach or the Mishnah.