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“… for on the day you eat from it [breaking G-d’s commandment], you will certainly die.”
-Genesis 2:17
Evangelizing or ‘missionizing’ Jews in order to convert them out of Judaism and Torah-observance to Christianity is akin to and even worse than murder, even according to Yeshua himself.
“”And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell…” So he [Yeshua] said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, G-d. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments…“
-Matthew 10:28, 19:17
If, according to Yeshua, “entering into life” is to “keep the commandments” of the Torah, then for Jews to break the commandments of G-d is to exit life (i.e. death). This applies from the beginning of the New Testament until the very end,
“Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the Tree of Life, and may enter through the gates into the City [Jerusalem].”
-Revelation 22:14
“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of G-d is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.”
-1 John 2:3-5
Yeshua, the first Jew called, “Rabbi,” in recorded history, said this,
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Law, because all will be fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called a vain son in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your charity (tzedaka) exceeds the charity of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
-Matthew 5:17-20, Shem Tov’s Hebrew
“And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the Law to fail.”
-Luke 16:17
In the only place of the entire sixty tractates of Talmud where an external source is quoted,
“Afterward, Rabban Gamliel and his sister came before the philosopher for a judgment. He said to them: I proceeded to the end of the avon gilayon [Gospel], and it is written: “I did not come to subtract from the Torah of Moses, and I did not come to add to the Torah of Moses.“”
-Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 116b:1-2
“Then Yeshua spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do… Woe to you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”
-Matthew 23:1-3a, 23
Not only did Yeshua clearly teach absolute observance of the “least commandments” and “iota” of the Torah for Jews, including tithing produce, but he taught adherence to the Mosaic authority and Torah interpretation of the Pharisaic judges (i.e. Rabbis).
The first disciples of Yeshua, all Jews, were “all zealous for the Torah” and Jewish “customs,” including bringing animal sacrifices to the Holy Temple as part of fulfilling the Nazarite vow.
“And when they heard it, they glorified the L-rd. And they said to him [Shaul], “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Torah; but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow. Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the Torah. But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.””
-Acts 21:20-25
Towards the end of his life, Shaul (Paul), still a self-proclaimed “Pharisee,” not only did nothing against the Torah, but neither against the Jewish “people or the customs of our fathers.”
“But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee… And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them: “Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans…”
-Acts 23:6, 28:17
Shaul, the earliest Pharisee author in recorded history, wrote this,
“… for not the hearers of the Law are just in the sight of G-d, but the doers of the Law will be justified… Do we then make void the Law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the Law.”
-Shaul, Romans 2:13, 3:31
“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? … But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? … You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.”
-Yaakov 2:14, 20, 24
As is clear, Yeshua never taught against the Jewish customs or rabbinic authority of how to keep the Torah, but only against specific examples where man-made tradition clearly violated G-d’s commandments in the Torah.
“”… then he need not honor his father or mother.” Thus you have made the commandment of G-d of no effect by your tradition.“
-Matthew 15:6
Whereas Jewish customs and traditions empower and encourage Jews to keep the commandments of G-d (unto life), Christian Church tradition completely annuls the commandments of the Torah for Jews!
“He [Yeshua] answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of G-d because of your tradition?”
-Matthew 15:3
Yeshua is only referring to Christians in this passage:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice Lawlessness!’”
-Matthew 7:21-23
“The New Testament is really a commentary on the Torah… there are no new commandments, there are no new instructions, there are no new sins, there’s just encouragement to observe the commandments in the Torah. Well, that’s commentary… [The New Testament is] Inspirational. “Keep the commandments because G-d loves you, do it out of love, do it out of kindness.” Fine, that’s a good, inspirational document. There’s nothing new in the New Testament that isn’t in the Torah…”
-Rabbi Manis Friedman, “Where Does Christianity Go Wrong?”
“Therefore you must realize—and accept the truth from him who speaks it— that we see clearly here that the Nazarene [Yeshua] and his Apostles did not wish to destroy the Torah from Israel, G-d forbid… It is therefore exceedingly clear that the Nazarene never dreamed of destroying the Torah…
… The writers of the Gospels never meant to say that the Nazarene came to abolish Judaism, but only that he came to establish a religion for the Gentiles from that time onward. Nor was it new, but actually ancient; they being the Seven Commandments of the Sons of Noah, which were forgotten. The Apostles of the Nazarene then established them anew…
Certainly, therefore, there is no doubt that one who seeks truth will agree with our thesis, that the Nazarene and his Apostles never meant to abolish the Torah of Moses from one who was born a Jew…
It is therefore a habitual saying of mine (not as a hypocritical flatterer, G-d forbid, for I am of the faithful believers of Israel, and I know well that the remnant of Israel will not speak falsehood, nor will their mouths contain a deceitful tongue) that the Nazarene brought about a double kindness in the world. On the one hand, he strengthened the Torah of Moses majestically, as mentioned earlier, and not one of our Sages spoke out more emphatically concerning the immutability of the Torah. And on the other hand, he did much good for the Gentiles (provided they do not turn about his intent as they please, as some foolish ones have done because they did not fully understand the intent of the authors of the Gospels. I have recently seen someone publish a book, and he had no idea about what he was writing. For if he had understood the subject, he would have kept his silence and not wasted the paper and ink. There are also found among us foolish scholars who know not their right from their left in the Written and Oral Torahs and cause the people to err with their pompous pronouncements. But there are true scholars among the Christians, just as there are the chosen few among Torah scholars; and there are few of the truly great.) by doing away with idolatry and removing the images from their midst. He obligated them with the Seven Commandments so that they should not be as the beasts of the field. He also bestowed upon them ethical ways, and in this respect he was much more stringent with them than the Torah of Moses, as is well-known…
If certain Christians who consider themselves scholars would understand this secret, who believe that they are commanded to abolish the Torah of Moses from the seed of Israel, they would not engage in such foolishness. The people listen to their self-conceived words, something which was never intended by the writers of the Gospels. Quite the opposite, they have written clearly that they intended the contrary.
Because of these errant scholars, hatred has in- creased toward the Jews who are blameless of any guilt and proceed innocently to observe their Torah with all their heart, imbued with the fear of G-d. They should instead bring their people to love the ancient Children of Israel who remain loyal to their G-d, as indeed commanded to Christians by their original teachers.
-Rabbi Jacob Emden (Yaavetz), SEDER OLAM RABBAH
They even said to love ones enemies. How much more so to us! In the name of heaven, we are your brothers! … You, members of the Christian faith, how good and pleasant it might be if you will observe that which was commanded to you by your first teachers; how wonderful is your share if you will assist the Jews in the observance of their Torah. You will truly receive reward as if you had fulfilled it yourselves…”
VEZUTA
Eye To Zion 