Book of the Shining Path

Opening the Gate of Wisdom

הלא־חכמה תקרא ותבונה תתן קולה׃

Pro 8:1 Wisdom is calling! Understanding is raising her voice! (CJB)

Shalom to all who seek to behold the Gate of G-d and enter upon the Shining Path. It is written:

Gen 28:10 Ya`akov went out from Be’er-Sheva and traveled toward Haran.

Gen 28:11 He came to a certain place and stayed the night there, because the sun had set. He took a stone from the place, put it under his head and lay down there to sleep.

Gen 28:12 He dreamt that there before him was a ladder resting on the ground with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of Adonai were going up and down on it.

Gen 28:13 Then suddenly Adonai was standing there next to him; and he said, "I am Adonai, the God of Avraham your [grand] father and the God of Yitz’chak. The land on which you are lying I will give to you and to your descendants.

Gen 28:14 Your descendants will be as numerous as the grains of dust on the earth. You will expand to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. By you and your descendants all the families of the earth will be blessed.

Gen 28:15 Look, I am with you. I will guard you wherever you go, and I will bring you back into this land, because I won’t leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

Gen 28:16 Ya`akov awoke from his sleep and said, Truly, Adonai is in this place—and I didn’t know it!

Gen 28:17 Then he became afraid and said, This place is fearsome! This has to be the house of God! This is the gate of heaven! (CJB)

This is a book of Messianic Jewish biblical understanding. The title, Book of the Shining Path, is a reference to that which was experienced by our Father Ya’ocov and others. As well the title comes from the Psalms in two different places as well as from the book of Iyov (Job):

כי־אתה עם־עני תושׁיע ועינים רמות תשׁפיל׃

Psa 18:28 For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

נר־לרגלי דברך ואור לנתיבתי׃

Psa 119:105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

בהלו נרו עלי ראשׁי לאורו אלך חשׁך׃

Job 29:3 when his lamp shone over my head, and I walked through the dark by its light;

What you learn here will point you to the Beautiful Gate and on to the Shining Path. This is a path that can only be opened to you by the Ancient of Days, blessed be His Name. Our Father Ya’ocov did not open the Star Gate into heaven; G-d opened it to him.

Some of the writings which make up this book are the fruits of my work when I was a messianic rabbinic student at Yesodey Ha Emunah Yeshiva, located in Austin, Texas. Therefore, I must give all due credit to my teacher, Rabbi David Hall, the Rosh Yeshiva. It was he who provided the foundational concepts which set me on the research path in order to complete the works which are contained within this book. For a sound Messianic Jewish education, go to www.Tzion.org and sign up to study.

The Shining Path is the path of the Primordial Light, and it is that which we follow. Not light as man sees light nor light as man knows light. But the path of the Spirit of Wisdom, shining forth from the King of kings, blessed is He. What say we now of the Light? Bereshith (Genesis). I want to share a simple but deep insight into two small verses in the first chapter. Verses 3 and 4 of chapter 1 say,

Gen 1:3 Then God said, Let there be light; and there was light.

Gen 1:4 God saw that the light was good, and God divided the light from the darkness.

Now look at this. two words in verse four את־האור (the light). This is a reference to the Messiah being the author of the primordial light. The light spoken of here is not the light from the sun and stars, but the light of the Ein Sof emanating into creation. Where is King Messiah in this? The two letters Aleph and Tav את. In the book of Hisgalus (Revelation), the Messiah says,

Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. (CJB)

The Greek letters here are the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet. The Aleph and the Tav are the first and last letters of the Hebrew Aleph Bet, corresponding to the concept of an infinite being who is the first and the last. He is the beginning of creation as well as its end. So even though the word ET את is translated as and, it has the effect of announcing that the nature of the Messiah is no mere mortal. It says that His was the one whose spirit was present, allowing his Primordial Light to bath creation. This is why Rabbi King Messiah declared that no one has seen the Father accept He who came from the Father, the Father is what we call Ein Sof. He is infinity.

G-d’s word is truly amazing. If you just stay with the plain text meaning of the text, you will be drinking milk all your life instead of eating roast beef. This is part of knowing what the Shining Path is, and to begin to follow it, one most open his/her mind to the deeper level. I must hear give credit to the Rabbi Moshe ben Yochanan (Robert Johnson) of blessed Memory, for teaching me the concept of the Aleph Tav and the Primordial Light. To know and to understand that there is more than just the simple understanding of scripture, and by this, the universe is to open the first gate of wisdom. I hope that this book will serve that purpose.

This book is divided into three major sections:

1.    The Essence of Messianic Judaism

2.    Water from En Gedi

3.    Foundation Stones

The first part is a study of the basic principles that makes up our Movement in Judaism. The second part has been given the title, Water from En-Gedi, because these doctrines are the beginning of the path which leads to the third section. They are like fresh living water which has just risen from beneath the earth, and with it, we satiate our thirst. Therefore, we recall the spring and waterfall above the Dead Sea in Israel.

John 4:14 but whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty again! On the contrary, the water I give him will become a spring of water inside him, welling up into eternal life!"

John 4:15 Sir, give me this water, the woman said to him, so that I won’t have to be thirsty and keep coming here to draw water.

Isa 28:16 therefore here is what Adonai Elohim says: "Look, I am laying in Tziyon a tested stone, a costly cornerstone, a firm foundation-stone; he who trusts will not rush here and there. (CJB)

The third deals with the foundational principles of Messianic or Notzrati Judaism that we find in Sefer shel Evrim (Book of the Hebrews) which is located in the writings of the B’rit Hadasha (New Testament).

For those who truly are seeking Messianic Judaism, this book is for you. If you are one who seeks knowledge for the sake of knowledge, this book is for you. If you come to the Book of The Shining Path thinking that Messianic Judaism is another form of Christianity and want to see those doctrines espoused, then my book is not for you. Why? It is because you do not seek to have G-d open the Beautiful Gate for you but only to have your senses satisfied. If you are a Hebrew roots Christian reading this, do not expect to find confirmation of Trinitarianism. You will not find it. This is Messianic Judaism and is monotheistic. There are those who call themselves Messianic but are, in truth, nothing more than a Trinitarian Saturday Church. As well, if you do not fear or stand in condemnation of Mystical Torah and biblical exegesis, this book is for you. While I do not hold the Zohar, Bahir, Midrash, Hekhalot Rabbatti, and Talmud on the authority level of Scripture, I consider them to be inspired commentary. I use them in my teachings as well as the Christian commentator Mathew Henry. My favorite Messianic Jewish commentator is Dr. David Stern. In my books, the reader will find references to all of the above, as well as to the Pseudepigrapha, Apocrypha, Essene writings in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as the Book of Enoch and other works of the Merkavah mystics.

Thanks once again to Rabbi David Hall. To you and Rabbizine Luzifina, may you experience long life and happiness.

—Rabbi Yehoiakin-Barukh ben Ya’ocov.

Work was started on the compilation of this book, Cheshvan 19, 5773 (Nov 4, 2012).

Part One

The Essence of Messianic Judaism

Introduction to Part I

Shalom to all and may the Ancient Holy One, blessed be His Name, bless all who read this, with wisdom and understanding. To Rabbi David Hall, Rosh Yeshiva of Yesodey Ha Emunah Yeshiva, I send special salutations, and may He who is creator of all, send down His favor to you, as well as to the Yeshiva, and all the endeavors which you undertake. To Hayley bat Moshe, Shalom and greetings with great affection.

In the first part of this book, I will explain the basics of in the faith known as Messianic Judaism. I will explain what we are, and what we are not. This writing will go out to all those who seek to understand what it means to be one of the Notzratim, or a Messianic Jew.

Meanings in Names

Judaism

First of all, I want to go into something that is extremely important—names. The name Jews, or Judeans, derives from the people of the Kingdom of Judah, which we know later in a Hellenized (Greek) form, Judea. In a direct sense, this term applies to the people of the Kingdom of Judah who are the sons and daughters of Judah ben Ya’ocov. It would be more proper to refer to it by the name Yudah. This is a Hebrew word, and in Hebrew, the first letter is a yod, י which is pronounced the same as the letter Y in the English language. Many who read the various English translation of the Bible do not realize this. In Old and Middle English, the letter J was also pronounced as a Y, and this only changed with the coming of William the Conqueror from Normandy to England in 1066 CE. After this time, we have a slow introduction of French into the Germanic English. This spelling remains the same, yet pronunciations changed, not overnight to be sure, but gradually over a long period of time, until we get the English we have today. Thus Jew, in Hebrew, is Yehudi, and the plural, Jews, is Yehudim.

What are the prerequisites to be considered Jewish? One whose mother is Jewish according to Orthodox Jewish Halachah (Jewish law) and amongst Reform and Karaite Halachah, both patrilineal and/or matrilineal, or a person of Gentile origins, who has converted to the religion of Judaism. Such converts are considered 100 percent Jewish, just as if he /she had been born into a Jewish family. Judaism is the religion and culture of the Yehudim (Jews).

Messianic

This name derives from the word Messiah, which is a derivative from the Hebrew word mochiach, meaning, anointed one. The Greek word for this is chrestos, from which the English word Christ is derived. In our context here, Messianic does not refer to the Christian religion. That religion, as we know it, was founded by the Romans in 325 CE, at the Council of Nicaea (modern city of Iznik, Turkey) headed up by the Emperor Constantine. It overshadowed and largely replaced the Messianic Jewish movement, founded by Rebbe (especially honored rabbi and/or teacher of rabbis or a spiritual leader of Hasidic Jews) Yeshua Ha Notzri. Another term I use very often is rabban, which is the exalted leader of a religious school or sect with ancient Judaism.

We have learned what a Jew is and what the name of his faith is. So a Messianic Jew is a person of Jewish birth or conversion, who accepts that Yeshua the Nazarene is and was the Messiah of Israel.

Yeshua

This is the true name of the Messiah! It is the Hebrew word which means, salvation. This is why the angelic pronunciation concerning the nature of the child within the womb of Miriam ha Notzri (Mary of Nazareth).

הִיא יוֹלֶדֶת בֵּן וְאַתָּה תִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ יֵשׁוּעַ, כִּי הוּא יוֹשִׁיעַ אֶת עַמּוֹ מֵחַטֹּאתֵיהֶם.״

Mat 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua, [which means ‘Adonai saves,’] because he will save his people from their sins."

H3444. Strong’s Exhaustive Dictionary and Concordance

ישׁוּעה

yeshû'âh

Yesh-oo’-aw

Feminine passive participle of H3467; something saved, that is, (abstractly) deliverance; hence aid, victory, prosperity:—deliverance, health, help (-ing), salvation, save, saving (health), welfare.

Then where do we get the name Jesus from? I have already explained about the changing of how we pronounce words with the letter J. However, in the Greek, this can also be an I. So this name in Greek is Iesous According to the authoritative Greek-English lexicon of Liddell & Scott, under Iaso, the Greek goddess of healing, reveals that the name Iaso is Ieso in the Ionic dialect of the Greeks, Iesous being the contracted genitive form! In David Kravitz’s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Mythology, there is a similar form, namely Iasus. We know of four different Greek deities with the name of Iasus, one of them being the Son of Rhea. It is also well known that Ies is the abbreviated form of the name Iesous, and Dr. Bullinger in The Apocalypse, (p 396) says Ies was part of the name of Bacchus. Also see, Come Out of Her, My People by C. J. Koster

My point in this is to say that names have meanings, and Jesus never was the name of the Messiah. This is another example of Greco-Roman Emendations in the Brit Hadasha (renewed covenant) section of the Bible.

We have already given the definition of the word Messiah, but I will add in there that this term can also refer to any consecrated person such as a king or a priest who is acting under divine guidance. Look in the Scriptures, in Shemot (Exodus) 29:29, Vayikra (Leviticus) 4:3, 1 Shmu’el (1 Samuel) 10:1, 2 Shmu’el 23:1, and Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 45:1. In there, you will find a number of people being referred to as an Anointed One. That, in no way, implies that any of these people were the ultimate anointed of the Ancient of Days. We, as Messianic Jews, accept no one else as Mochiach other than Rabban Yeshua. He is the one and only Rabbi King Messiah. Messianic Jews believe that Rabban Yeshua has been anointed by the Ancient Holy One, blessed be He, to fulfill all the prophecies about Mochiach, listed in the Scriptures. There are too many of these to list here but the most common one is Yeshayahu (Isaiah) chapters 11 and 53.

The Divine Name

As you can see, I have been using two titles a lot in this writing in reference to G-d. The Ancient of Days, which is used in the mystical writings of the Prophet Dani’el (7:13) and the Ancient Holy One, which I encountered numerous times in the Zohar. I really think this is an awesome and a very just title. Many people use the title Hashem, which simply means The Name and refers to the sacred name of G-d, יהוה YHVH (Hebrew letter, Yod Hey Vav Hey). This name is absolutely sacred, and I believe its proper pronunciation is YAH’HAVAH, blessed be his glorious Name! I do not believe that this name is not pronounced as Yahweh, Yahoweh, Yeway, or Jehovah. The proper meaning of His Name is I will be what I will be or I will be everything that I will be.

To pronounce His Name outside of deep prayer and respect is to take His Name in vain. To misuse it or any of the titles that we use for the Ancient Holy One, blessed be His Name, is a sign of profanity and extreme disrespect for our Beloved Creator. Because of the name being so sacred, Jews traditionally use one of two titles rather than write or pronounce His Name needlessly. We do this in order to honor the Ancient of Days, and not out of superstition, as many in the Hebrew Roots Movement accuse us of. Because the Divine Name is so sacred to us, we refer to him in common language as Hashem. In the scriptures for instance, the Complete Jewish Bible, translated by Dr. David Stern takes the YHVH יהוה and uses the Hebrew word for Great Lord which is Adonai אדני. There is no specific biblical directive against pronouncing G-d’s name. However, when it was pronounced by the cohen gadol (high priest) on Yom Kippur in the temple, all the worshipers fell prostrate on their faces! This was because the glory of the Most High was visibly present in both the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and Solomon’s temple. It was not in the Second Temple however the same custom applied.

We are commanded in the Torah not to take the name of the Lord our G-d in vain. Thus one should not swear oaths in His Name. But there is more. The following quote is from the Rabbi Moshe ben Maimonides who lived in the twelfth century CE. In Spain, and authored a definitive work of Jewish Rabbinic Torah Commentary known as the Mishneh-Torah. He is known by the name the Rambam.

It is not only a false oath that is forbidden. Instead, it is forbidden to mention even one of the names designated for G-d in vain, although one does not take an oath. For the verse commands us saying: "To fear the glorious and awesome name" (Devarim [Deuteronomy] 28:58 including in fearing it is not to mention it in vain.

Therefore if because of a slip of the tongue, one mentions G-d’s name in vain, he should immediately hurry to praise, glorify and venerate it, so that it will not have been mentioned in vain. What is implied? Of he mentions G-d’s name he should say: Blessed be He for all eternity, He is great and exceedingly praiseworthy, or the like, so that it will not have been[ mentioned entirely] in vain, (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Vows 12:11).

Just because the Torah commands us to Praise His Name does not give us permit to go around pronouncing the Sacred Name as if it were common like Yochanan or Avid. It is so sad that today, people treat His Name as something light, uttering it and mispronounced versions of it in their speech and in their writings on the web and elsewhere. I dare say that eventually, every one of us will have a true healthy respect for the Sacred Name, when all will bow before the Ancient of Days, blessed be He for all eternity. When we see Him, all of us will be like those cohenim of old, and will fall down flat on our face before YHVH יהוה.

Oh Glorious Shabbat

Part of the essence of Messianic Judaism is the Shabbat (Sabbath) There are two different ways of pronouncing it in Hebrew. The Sephardic Jews of Israel and the Mediterranean region pronounce it as Shabbat, while the Ashkenazi Jews of Germany and Eastern Europe pronounce it as Shabbos.

I cannot underestimate how important Shabbos is to all Jews, whether they are Messianic, Karaite, Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, or Reconstructionist. While we may hold differences of opinion on how observant we are, and of course, we Messianic Jews are vehement about Rebbe Yeshua being the Messiah of Israel (where other Jewish movements are not), the one thing we all agree on is the importance and sanctity of Shabbos.

The word Shabbat or Shabbos comes from the Hebrew root Shin-bet-Tav, which means to cease, to end, to rest. This shows that Yom Shabbos exist to give us rest from the mundane matters of the world.

H7673 Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance

שׁבת

shâbat

Shaw-bath’

A primitive root; to repose, that is, desist from exertion; used in many implied relations (causatively, figuratively or specifically):—(cause to, let, make to) cease, celebrate, cause (make) to fail, keep (sabbath), suffer to be lacking, leave, put away (down), (make to) rest, rid, still, take away.

H7676

שׁבּת

Shabbat

Shab-bawth’

Intensive from H7673; intermission, that is, (specifically) the Sabbath:—(+ every) sabbath.

This day is the first among all the feasts of Israel. These are known as moedim (appointed times), and the Shabbat (or Shabbos) is the very first of these appointed times. The most wonderful thing is that we don’t have to wait all year for it. The Ancient of Days, blessed be His glorious Name for all eternity, allows us to celebrate His Shabbos every week. This day has been sanctified from the very beginning of creation by the Ancient Holy One, blessed be His Name, for it is written:

Gen 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, along with everything in them.

Gen 2:2 On the seventh day God was finished with his work which he had made, so he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

Gen 2:3 God blessed the seventh day and separated it as holy; because on that day God rested from all his work which he had created, so that it itself could produce.

Thus from the very first sections of the Torah, it is made plain and clear, and I am convinced that because of this first mention of Shabbos right here on the opening pages of the Torah, and indeed the whole Bible, Shabbos is the most important ritual observance in biblical religion. When one is in observance of Shabbos, it is the sign that a person is in a covenant relationship with the Ancient Holy One, blessed be His Name. For He said,

Exo 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying: Verily ye shall keep My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the LORD who sanctify you. (KJV)

The verily statement here leaves no room for compromise, and nowhere in the entire Bible is there any verse that nullifies this direct command from the Ancient of Days, blessed be His Name. Nor is there any statement in all the scriptures which changes it to any other day of the week, meaning to Sunday, as the Christians have done, or to Friday, as the Muslims have done. So if you are going to be an observant Jew, Messianic or otherwise, the observance of Shabbos is not optional. It is the divine day of worship and rest. This does not mean that all one has to do is take one day out of seven to rest and you get to choose that day. While it is appropriate to worship Hashem every day of the week, and to pray, this does not replace observation of Shabbos. Shabbos is also the sign of the renewed covenant, B’rit Hadasha, that a Gentile convert has been grafted and/or adopted into Bet Yisroel (House of Israel).

Now comes the part where we deal with when to honor Shabbos. Not difficult at all, because it is right in the Torah and in our ancient traditions. A biblical day begins at sunset one day and ends at sunset the next. For it is written,

Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. (KJV)

We begin lifting up our prayers and supplication before the Ancient of Days, blessed is His Name, as the sun sets in the west and the new day begins. This is a fantastic thing because He begins our day with rest instead of work. We only have to work after the sun returns during the day. Our prayers follow this very pattern as well:

•    ma’ariv (evening)

•    shacharit (morning)

•    minchah (midday)

The Ancient of Days, blessed be He, has not left us without the means to know when. Therefore, it is on sunset at the end of the sixth day that we gather in homes and synagogues to celebrate the arrival of the first Moed of El Elyon (G-d Almighty), blessed be He. Shabbos is to us also a reminder of how the Lord G-d brought us up out of the house of bondage in Egypt. In both versions of the Ten Words (Ten Commandments), we can see that the observation of Shabbos involves two mitzvot (commandments, instructions):

•    zakhor (remember)

•    shamor (observe)

The first thing we are instructed to do is the following:

Exo 20:8 ד "Remember the day, Shabbat, to set it apart for God. (CJB)

Exo 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (KJV)

(I have provided two English translations of this verse in order to remove any ambiguity.)

What is the implication of this instruction regarding Yom ha Shabbat (יֹ֥֨ום הַשַּׁבָּ֖֜ת)? The answer is that far beyond just remembering to observe it, we must endeavor to remember why! That it was with a mighty hand and outstretched arm El Elyon brought us up out of the house of bondage to the glorious breath of fresh air we call freedom! The Shabbat is a mystical sphere in our space-time continuum, not always observable in the materialism of the Olam Haba (present world). This is because people’s minds are not tuned into the spirit realm. Among those who observe it are few for whom the mystical-time nature of Shabbat is truly tangible. This is not a condemnation, but an observation. Amongst those people who are meditatively tuning into this holy gift are the very few who, like our Father Ya’ocov, saw the Beautiful Gate. They saw through it the Shining Pathway to the Merkavah. And there be fewer still that have walked it. But the physical observance of glorious Shabbat is a wonderful start. We must put ourselves on G-d’s schedule and take ourselves off of man’s.

As Messianic Jews, Yom Shabbat is a wonderful reminder that Rebbe Yeshua ha Mochiach gave up his life so that we might live life everlasting. Just as our people marked their doorposts with the blood of a slain lamb, so too we as Messianic Jews, symbolically place the blood of the Messiah on the doorposts of our hearts. Shabbos is an essential observance so that we remember these events. This while giving thanks to the Ancient of Days, blessed be His Name, for the mighty deliverance which he has wrought for us.

Due to the shifting and changing of calendars over the last six thousand years, our people could have forgotten Shabbos. But due to the fact that our ancestors were diligent to remember it, Shabbos was not lost by the Jewish people and, because of them, not lost to the memory of the world. This whether they like it or not! On it, we bask in the presence of the Ancient of Days, blessed be His Name, while we await the great Sabbatical Millennium, when Rabbi King Messiah shall rule the world. Then peace and freedom will reign. The reign of the Sons of Darkness will be a memory and the Angel of Darkness will be chained in the Abyss.

Next we are instructed to shamor (observe) Yom Shabbos.

Deu 5:12 ד " ‘Observe the day of Shabbat, to set it apart as holy, as Adonai your God ordered you to do.(CJB)

Deu 5:12 Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. (KJV)

(I have provided two English translations of this verse in order to remove any ambiguity.)

What this means is that we are to observe Yom Shabbat with full intent of heart. The sages have taught us that everything we do in regards to true Torah observance must be done with kavenah. This means we must have true intent of heart desiring to do these things. We are to cease the daily struggle and grind of the work world and assemble ourselves in the synagogues or homes on this day. We get together with family and friends for fellowship. Rebbe Yeshua has taught us that the Ancient Holy One, blessed be His Name, created Yom Shabbos for us and not the other way around, like some have taught. Contrary to what those who do not observe Yom Shabbat think, it is not a day of hard, rigid rules and stifling legalism, even though there are some sects within our Jewish faith which treat it as such. But this is definitively not what the Messiah taught. Just because work is prohibited does not mean that all activities are forbidden.

The word that is used in this case is melachah מלאכה, which is a specific kind of activity or work that brings new things into being or that creates new things or that fundamentally alters the material world for better or worse.

The sages put together a list of these forbidden activities. This is based upon the kind of labor that it took to construct the משׁכּן Mishkan (Tabernacle) This list is found in the Mishnah, Division Shabbos and sections 7:2 through 8:7. This is an easy list, a breakdown from a much more extensive one, also commentary plus disputes between the two schools of Pharisees, Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai. Also there is a whole tractate in the Babylonian Talmud devoted to the observance of Yom Shabbat.

1.    sowing

2.    plowing

3.    reaping

4.    binding sheaves

5.    threshing

6.    winnowing

7.    selecting

8.    grinding

9.    sifting

10.  kneading

11.  baking

12   shearing wool

13.  washing wool

14.  beating wool

15.  dyeing wool

16.  spinning

17.  weaving

18.  making two loops

19.  weaving two threads

20.  separating two threads

21.  tying

22.  untying

23.  sewing two stitches

24.  tearing

25.  trapping

26.  slaughter

This list may seem a bit heavy to some, but let me again point out that this list was derived by men who were doing the level headed best to follow the instructions presented to us by the Ancient of days, blessed be His Name, through Moshe Rabbaneui. Clearly, you must interpret these rules properly because life is paramount

This again underscores its importance to Israel. I am not declaring this list is binding on Messianic Jews. But I think that the sages provide a good guideline to follow and look to when asking oneself, "What is considered work on Shabbat? The Ultra-Orthodox forbid the reading of books and the turning on of lights? Why lights? This was because they believe it to be kindling flame. I do not believe this to be the case. The kindling has already been done, indeed is continuous, at the source of the electricity. This is the power generation station. So it is not unlawful to switch on lights, computers, or stereos in Yom Shabbat. This is my official statement of Messianic Halachah (Messianic Jewish Law) as a Messianic Rabbi, regarding this issue.

Should a doctor not save a life on Shabbos? The extinguishing of flame does not mean that a person should not seek to put out a dangerous brushfire or stop his home from burning or carry victims out of a burning building. Even the rabbis have made exemptions for the Israel Defense Forces, whose job it is to defend our Jewish homeland. The Arabs attacked in 1973 during the High Holy Day of Yom Kippur. This day is what we call a Shabbatan or Sabbath of Sabbaths. Of course, everyone ran from their shuls (synagogues) to their tanks. It was a matter of life and death. This has been the rule since the days of the Maccabees. We are allowed self-defense on Shabbos!

We as Messianic Jews keep Shabbos in accordance with the reforms introduced by Rebbe Yeshua. He never viewed Shabbos as legalism, explaining,

Mar 2:27 Then he said to them, "Shabbat was made for mankind, not mankind for Shabbat; (CJB)

Read also the Rabban Yeshua’s statements as recorded in Matisyahu (Mathew) 12:10, where he taught that we are to do good and righteous deeds on Shabbos.

Mat 12:10 A man there had a shriveled hand. Looking for a reason to accuse him of something, they asked him, Is healing permitted on Shabbat?

Mat 12:11 But he answered, "If you have a sheep that falls in a pit on Shabbat, which of you won’t take hold of it and lift it out?

Mat 12:12 How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore, what is permitted on Shabbat is to do good."

Mat 12:13 Then to the man he said, Hold out your hand. As he held it out, it became restored, as sound as the other one. (CJB)

What Rabbi King Messiah did on that Shabbat so long ago would not be an issue in a modern messianic synagogue nor, dare I say, in any modern Jewish place of worship. This is because this is an issue of life and health. Are there not Jewish medical staffs at their hospitals and emergency rooms on Shabbat? Of course there are.

What do we seek as Messianic Jews when it comes to Yom Shabbat? Clearly, we view the list from the Mishnah as a guideline and not as an absolute checklist, as some among our orthodox brethren do. What we as Messianic Jews should seek is balance. Just remember that on Shabbat, avoid that which is mundane and worldly. Focus on the spiritual. Focus on wholesome family activity that is in keeping with the heart and spirit of the law. Shabbat is, if you allow it to be, a mystical island in time that is called, Queen Shabbat, and it is a gateway that you must go through before seeing the Beautiful Gate. Understand this is an intellectual gate, which leads to a real gate. This is the gateway to the Shining Path leading to the Merkavah, the Heavenly Chariot Throne (Dani’el 7:9).

Learn to rightly divide the scriptures, especially when dealing with the writings of Rav Sha’ul (Master Saul, the Apostle Paul). Keep everything he says (especially in the book of Romans) in proper context. It is these scriptures that Christians try to use against us saying that Shabbos is no longer to be observed. They are wrong because they are taking his writings out of the Jewish culture and time period which Rav Sha’ul lived and taught. I am not going to go through right now and discuss each verse point by point. I am just going to give you the relevant scripture references. They are in Romans14. Look these up on your own and keep them in context. And what is their context? It is that the new Messianic Jewish Movement, known at that time as The Way and as Notzratim, was experiencing rapid growth, gaining large numbers of Gentile converts. The people such as Rabban Yeshua’s brother, Ya’ocov ha Tzaddeck, were well established in Judaism, having been raised as orthodox, Torah-observant Jews. But what these converts lacked was Torah training, and most were still enslaved to pagan beliefs. Some of these were vegetarians who believed that if they ate meat, they would become possessed by the soul of the dead animal. So Rav Sha’ul, sensing the conflict, was doing his job as a rabbi. This was to smooth the path for these converts into Notzrati Judaism with sound teaching.

It wasn’t just food that was causing divisions. Some of these people also were used to worshiping on the venerable day of the sun—Sunday. These people had to be taught the essence of Notzrati Judaism, which is the Torah. These Ger Tzadukkim had to be given basic instructions in order that they too might be able to seek the Shining Path to the Merkavah. Rav Sha’ul wanted these people to be brought first to Hashem, and then once that was accomplished, they would be taught sound biblical Judaism, thus being able to seek this Path of Light. For them, to become Sons of Light was the goal of Rav Sha’ul, not starting a new religion.

If Rav Sha’ul was trying to say in Romans 14 that Shabbos was not to be observed by the converts as well as native born Jews, why is it written in Acts 17:1–3?

Act 17:1 After passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, Sha’ul and Sila came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue.

Act 17:2 According to his usual practice, Sha’ul went in; and on three Shabbats he gave them drashes from the Tanakh,

Act 17:3 explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and that this Yeshua whom I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah. (CJB)

Clearly, Shabbat is the biblical day of both rest and worship and at no time did G-d change it to Sunday.

Duel Inclinations

An important essence of Messianic Judaism that is very different from any form of the Christian religion is that it rejects as unbiblical the idea of original sin. This concept was originally hypothesized by Bishop Augustine of Hippo, known to Roman Catholics as Saint Augustine, who lived between 354 and 430 CE. What he theorized was that when Adam and Havah ate the forbidden fruit, a sin nature entered into them. This has since affected the character of all of us as their descendants. This idea teaches that all of us are born in sin because of the original sin of Adam and Havah. Because of original sin, they teach that everyone is destined for hell unless they become saved. For Protestant and evangelical Christians, this means that one must become born again by accepting Jesus as personal Lord and Savior. Some others also add in baptism and speaking in tongues. For Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Russian and Serbian Orthodox and other Easter Rites, being saved means that you must be a member in good standing of their organizations, or else one is lost for eternity. Here in the last few years, the Roman Church has begun to moderate on this point of view. Jews of all movements reject these ideas as unbiblical. I have held this view in the past, and some of my earlier writings may reflect this. However, one must be open to learning, just as the Messianic Jews of Borea, Greece, were when being taught by Rav Sha’ul. They put everything that he taught to the test of the scriptures, and we must not be so closed-minded that we do not put up our sacred cows to the light of scripture to see whether the things that we have been taught are true or false or simply misinterpretations. What we are talking about here is another one of the differences between an authentic Messianic Jew and a Christian of the Hebrew Roots Movement, another being the trinity. We must always endeavor to rightly divide the word of truth, for it is written:

2Ti 2:12 If we persevere, we will also rule with him If we disown him, he will also disown us. (CJB)

Always put anything that is being taught to you to the test of all the scriptures together. Do not take one small quote or verse out of its proper context and build a dogma on it. That includes me as a teacher in Messianic Judaism. Put everything I say to the test, just as the Boreans did Rav Sha’ul.

The Ancient Holy One, blessed be He, created us with two impulses, yetzer ha tov and yetzer ha ra. The first is the good impulse and the second is the evil impulse. How did the Rabbis arrive at this conclusion and at these names for the two impulses? The Bible sates that Elohim (G-d) formed man(vayyitzer) with two contradictory impulses. The spelling of this word is unusual. Rather than one yod as would be usual, this word has two: vayyitzer. The rabbis determined from this that these two yodim signify the word yetzer or impulse. This understanding negates the Christian doctrine of original sin theorized originally by Augustine of Hippo because it shows that Hashem created us with two impulses: one good (the yetzer tov) and the other negative (the yetzer ra). Which impulse we submit to is up to us. We were not created as mindless drones and we cannot please Hashem by acting as such today.

We were all created by the Ancient of Days with free will, not as biocomputers running a program. If we are running a software program, downloaded into us upon conception by El Elyon (G-d Almighty), it is one that allows us complete personal sovereignty and free will. He will not override that even though He could at any time. Even men like Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, Margaret Sanger and the late Osama bin Laden, as well as many others of this type, were created with the choice to follow yetzer ha tov or yetzer ha ra. Their choice to follow the evil impulse allowed those who followed them to also act out their yetzer ra! Look at all the lower-ranking Nazi and Soviet officers and the minions within the planned parenthood organization who carried out the evil intentions of their masters with joy and glee, resulting in the suffering and murder of untold millions of innocent human beings! We all face the same choice that our Father Adam and Mother Havah faced. It is the Tzaddeck (righteous person) who chooses yetzer ha tov.

Behold the Scriptures

Another essence of Messianic Judaism is the scriptures. Why study the sacred writings? We must because the sacred text has been given to all of mankind by almighty G-d. Study so that you may hear his words, and through them, have life. The Bible is ancient in the extreme as far as the writings of mankind go. It’s compilation into the form we know today was centuries in the making. G-d worked through inspiration and revelation to priests, prophets, and poets to form the great and wonderful work that we know as the Holy Bible. They are the true book of the Shining Path and teach us the way of life. Without out them, we do not have any of the inspired commentaries like the Zohar.

Its first words were written by G-d himself on two tablets of stone on Mount Sinai in Arabia, which are known to Jews as the Ten Words (commandments) and given to mankind through the Prophet Moshe Rabbeinu, better known to most as simply Moses. The first words were written by the Ancient Holy One, blessed be He, in the Hebrew language. The first words following this were written down by Moshe Rabbeinu were given by El Elyon himself on Mount Sinai. This is the Torah. It is an eternal covenant that G-d established with our Hebrew ancestors and through them to us.

All the later works sound out loudly about this special sacred theme of the covenant relationship between the Ancient of Days, blessed be He, and his people. The section of the scriptures known as ketuvim (writings) speak in loving poetry of this unique and blessed relationship. A relationship where the symbols associated with the Jewish marriage are very often the best and most profound representations of this covenant (B’rit). This is why the prophets speak firm and loud about how Israel was guilty of adultery when the people turned their backs on the one true G-d. They left their first love and descended into wicked paganism.

Here are a few of the reason that we need to be engaged in Bible study:

•    learning what intent G-d had when He created us,

•    learning what it takes to live as children of El Elyon,

•    learning the supreme moral code,

•    learning the life and mission of Yeshua the Messiah, and

•    learning the customs of the Messiah so that you can imitate him and follow in his footsteps.

Follow in the footsteps of our Rebbe so close that the very dust caused by his walking, so to speak, will gather on you, and as the saying goes, you will be in the dust of the rabbi. I wish to share with you a saying of Rabbi Nechunya Ben Hakanyah as recorded in Pirkei Avot section of the Mishnah.

He who takes upon himself the yoke of the Torah id relieved of the yoke of the dominion of the earth and mundane matters; whereas he who frees himself from the yoke of the Torah, has imposed upon himself the yoke of the dominion of the earth and mundane matters.

Don’t you see what this ancient rabbi was trying to say? The laws of G-d are not something that enslaves us! Keeping G-d’s Shabbat is a prime example. He has sanctified it from the very foundation of the earth. It frees us from the bondage of this present age, the Olam Hazeh, which is the yoke of the earth and mundane burdens. All the Torah mitzvot were given to us as a living, awesome, wonderful culture!

Defining the Torah

This term is most often translated as law. Because of this, many people think that this has the exact same meaning in the Hebrew language, as it does in the English language. So it has been translated as law in more than two hundred instances in the Tanakh. This is what the Christians refer to as the Old Testament. I do not like this term Old Testament, for it implies some sort of separation from the Messianic section of the Bible, the B’rit Hadasha (renewed covenant), which they refer to as the New Testament. I view this as a derogatory term used by various Gentile Christian denominations that are teaching anti-Semitic replacement theology. Replacement theology is a dogma which says the G-d has cast aside Israel as Christ killers and replaced them with the Christian Church. Islam also teaches the same thing, but that both Israel and the Christians have been disowned by Allah. According to them, Allah has replaced them with the final revelation, which is Islam. Such evil seeds planted so long ago, grew into pogroms, crusades, Nazism, and Islamic jihads (Muslim holy wars).

So the word Torah is used not just to mean law in the sense that we understand it English terms. But it means what I shall call human instruction and also an expression of divine law. What is divine law?

Divine law is heavenly instruction, direction, and guidance from the Ancient Holy one, blessed be He. This is what is meant when we refer to Torah and speaks of the divine precepts of the Living Creator G-d.

Scripture Divisions

The Holy Scriptures are sectioned off into the flowing divisions:

1.    Torah

2.    Nevi’m (prophets)

3.    Ketuv’im (writings)

4.    Besuras Haguelah (good news—Gospels)

5.    Gevurot Meyruach Hakodesh (Acts)

6.    Eegeret (letters, Epistles)

7.    Hisgalus (Revelation or apocalypse)

It is from the first three sections that we get the word Tanakh, TNK (Tav Nun Kaf). In English, we add in the letter a as a vowel to get the proper pronunciation. Hebrew has its own vowel system.

The Handing Down of Our Torah

The Holy scriptures have been faithfully handed down from generation to generation by the Torah Soferim (scribes) from generation to generation. No matter what differing doctrines they may have held, they have done one thing that was absolutely right. Israel has accomplished the task that G-d wanted them to do when He declared that they would be a nation of priests. That mission was to hand down his word as contained in the Bible. I have heard people say, Well! I don’t believe in the Bible because it has been changed too much. These people who subscribe to such a philosophy are using it as an excuse to continue corrupt lives. They have chosen to divorce themselves from the reality of the Ancient Holy One, blessed be He. With a little investigation, they would see that it has only been the translations which have been corrupted! Corrupted by publishers and others with agendas! The Bible itself has never been altered. Look at a modern scroll of the book of Yeshayahu (Isaiah) for instance and lay it out in front of the Great Yeshayahu Scroll in the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls. You will find the two to be identical, with the exception of a few minor editors’ marks.

In order to be a scribe, one must go through extensive training. He must be fluent in biblical Hebrew. Each Torah portion or Parashah (the Torah is divided up into weekly study portions, which are read each Shabbos in the synagogue) has an exact number of letters. When these are counted, if the number comes out wrong, then they know that the scroll is defective. The text is extensively proofread by the Torah masters. If even one mistake is found, that copy is considered to be corrupt and is not allowed to circulate. This is a very good thing. In the Ginizah of the Great Synagogue in Cairo, many such unusable biblical and other scrolls were stored for centuries and all but forgotten about. Their rediscovery has contributed as much knowledge to the area of biblical research as has the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Now I will take us back to the Mishnah, to the Avot section which is also known as the Dicta of the Fathers. Section One (also referred to as Pirkei Avot) says,

Moses received the Law from Sinai, and transmitted it to Yehoshua. Yehoshua then transmitted it to the Judges. The Judges transmitted it to the Prophets. The Prophets to the men of the Great Assembly who said three things; Be ye deliberate in pronouncing judgment; train up many disciples; make a fence around the Torah.

The Dicta of the Fathers uses this theme to open up on an entire discourse of wonderful sayings and proverbs by many of the great Rabbis, some who lived in the times of Yeshua Ha Mochiach. Rabbis like Hillel, Shammai, and Gamaliel the Elder, who was the Rabbi who taught Rav Sha’ul.

Now I am going to depart from the Mishnah and, in my own words (but still in the spirit of the Mishnah), write how the scriptures were handed down. Then, I will apply them to Messianic Judaism as it was in the first century CE.

Shimon Ha Tzaddeck (Simon the Just), handed down the Torah to the Shammai and Hillel. Shammai and Hillel handed it down to the Elders of the Great Sanhedrin. It was then handed to the Essenes, the P’rushim (Pharisees) and the Tzadukkim (Sadducees). Messiah entered the world and gave the more perfect interpretation of the Torah. The Essenes handed it to Yochanan ha Hatvil (John the Baptist who received the Messiah at the River Jordan. Messiah was cut off from the land of the living, but raised by the Blessed Holy One. Thus did Messiah pass the Torah to the Schliachim (Apostles) Rav Sha’ul ha Schliach who sought abroad Talmidim and Proselytes. Thus was the Torah passed to all Mankind. Some received and others will not.

I firmly believe that the instructions of the Torah were meant for all men, of all nations who would come and seek the One G-d. All who do are part of the Eternal Order of the One G-d. The gift of G-d to the Jewish people is this: He has chosen them to do two things that have major consequences for all mankind:

1.     

1.    to bring the Messiah into the world for eternal human

2.    redemption and

2.    to establish the prophesied Theocratic and global Messianic Kingdom of Israel, the receiving of and the transmission of the written Torah

3.     to all the generations of the sons of Adam

Why do I say this? I say this because the Messiah is the embodiment of the covenant. He is a Living Torah. This is made clear by the book of Yochanan, which says,

John 1:14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his esteem, esteem as of an only brought-forth of a father, complete in favor and truth. (CJB)

Yeshua the Messiah even declared,

John 5:39 You keep examining the Tanakh because you think that in it you have eternal life. Those very Scriptures bear witness to me. (CJB)

Not only does the written Torah call us to a life of holiness, but also the Messiah. Rabban Yeshua calls all of us to his covenant of life. Heed the call before it is too late. For these times are short and evil swaggers back and forth, to and fro upon the earth.

The Oral Torah and the Mystical Writings

I want to cover what has become known as the Oral Torah. This is a body of oral traditions and teachings that started at Sinai and continued to be built up by memory over the vast span of time, between the days of the great Sinai Revelation and the times when this material began to be written down. Yeshua had many debates with his fellow Torah scholars concerning the application of Oral Torah. The only time we see him criticizing it is when it caused a conflict with or a violation of the written Torah. Yeshua the Messiah was so well-versed in the Oral Torah that when anyone tried to use it against him, he could easily turn it back around on those accusing him.

In the aftermath of the disastrous end of our nation at the hands of the Romans, in 135 of the Common Era, the Romans were seeking to kill as many rabbis as they could. Rabbi Akiva was captured. He died reciting the Sh’ma Yisroel as the Roman skinned him alive. Fearing that all the ancient traditions of our people would be lost, Rabbi Yudah the Prince set out to write down as much of this as he could. It has come down to us as the Mishna. It was during this same time, according to tradition, that the Zohar began to be compiled by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. The Bahir is said to have come from this time as well. Also the strange book called Sefer Yetserah (Book of Creation) comes into being. It is the first of the books that have come to be called The Kabbalah, the others being the Bahir and the Zohar. These arose from an earlier mystical tradition known as Ha Merkavah (the chariot). This pathway was discovered by our Father Jacob at Bet El and revealed by G-d to Elijah, Isaiah, Dani’el, and Ezekiel, whose visions are recorded in the Bible. The Merkavah refers to the Chariot Throne witnessed by Dani’el and Ezeki’el and of course Elijah. Books of the Merkavah include the three books of Enoch as well as Sefer Hekhalot Rabbatti. I am quite well studied in the Merkavah and Kabbalah. I do not recommend them for the layman who is without deep understanding and background in lesser study and Torah educational levels. I do not endorse the practices of modern Kabbalists with their attention to magic and talismans. This is forbidden by the Torah and is a false, cheap imitation of the true biblical Kabbalah, which is indeed the Shining Path. Another term for the spiritual experience is the mystical experience. This is deep communion and visionary prayer experiences, given to a person, man or woman, whom G-d has chosen to reward them with. The Beautiful Gate, which leads onto the Shining Path and thence to the Merkavah. Communication with ghosts and fallen angels are not the mystical experience! They are occult experiences and those mediums and wizards are under the condemnation of the Holy Law!

In the fifth century CE, the rabbis of Babylonia (Iraq), which was then under the rule of the last non-Muslim dynasty of the Persian Empire (which is today called Iran), began to record their debates and teachings on both the Torah and the Mishna into what has become known as the Talmud Bavli (Babylonian Talmud). This is a massive work the size of Encyclopedia Britannica. A smaller Talmud was assembled by the rabbis still in the land of Israel. This has come down to us as the Talmud Yerushalami (Jerusalem Talmud).

Other works arose during this time such as the volumes of Midrash and the Targums. These works are beyond the scope of this study. In eleventh-century Spain and later in Egypt, the Rabbi Moses Maimonides (the Rambam) composed the Mishneh-Torah. During the same time, the Baal Ha Turim wrote his mystical Torah commentary, which is known as the Ba’al Ha Turm Chumash. Rabbi Nachmanides also composed similar works in eleventh-century Spain as did Rabbi Shlomo Izaakson (Rashi) in France. In 1864, Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried came out with an outstanding work. A five-volume set known as the Shulchan Arukh. How do we, as Messianic Jews, approach the Oral Torah? The Karaite Jews completely reject all of it. My standard and official stand on this issue as a Messianic Rabbi is the same as that of my teacher, Rabbi David Hall of Zion in Austin, Texas, concerning the Oral Torah. He teaches that to the degree that these voluminous works are in agreement with the written Torah, they are accepted in our practices and beliefs. Where there is disagreement, we go with the written Torah and the other biblical books.

Mochiach Ben Elohim

(Messiah Son of G-d)

The enemy of our soul Ha Satan led a revolution against the Ancient of Days, blessed be His Name, in a challenge against, not his might, but His justness and mercy. The Satanic host consists of one third of the hosts of heaven. Thus entered in sin. And in Gan Eden (garden of Eden), upon being tempted by the Angel of Darkness who had disguised himself as a serpent, Adam and Havah chose to follow their yetzer ha ra instead of their yetzer ha tov. As a result, the Ancient Holy One, blessed be He, pronounced His judgment and thus spoke the first Messianic Prophecy. The first passage in the Torah that has been identified as Messianic is in Bereshith (Genesis) 3:14–15:

Gen 3:14 Adonai, God, said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all livestock and wild animals. You will crawl on your belly and eat dust as long as you live.

Gen 3:15 I will put animosity between you and the woman, and between your descendant and her descendant; he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel." (CJB)

This is in reference to Satan, who had deceived Havah (Eve) into sinning. The Lord G-d gave the first recorded prophecy. He promised that a redeemer would come for mankind by being born from the womb of a daughter of Havah. The redeemer would crush Satan’s kingdom.

Then comes a prophecy by Moshe Rabbaneui (Moses our Teacher) in D’varim (Deuteronomy):

Deu 18:15 Adonai will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves, from your own kinsmen. You are to pay attention to him. (CJB)

From this, we learn that a great prophet, on the scale of a second Moses, would arise from out of the sons of Israel. This was only the beginning. The Psalms spoke of a redeemer to come as well as the prophets of Israel. The nation was being crushed by external enemies and the people were the victims of political oppression by wicked kings like Manasseh and Achav. We had wicked kings