United Israel

Back in 1993 I self-published a 100 page book called Restoring Abrahamic Faith. It was distributed to a few thousand people, given away free, funded by a non-profit I had formed called Genesis 2000. Over the years I have gotten an amazingly positive response to that little book and many thousands of copies were made by others and further distributed.

The book was a kind of “manifesto” of my own personal faith, but subject wise I would say it was an exposition of what I would call the ancient “Hebrew faith” based on the texts of the Hebrew Bible. It covered most of the great Questions of Biblical Faith: Who is God? What are the Holy Scriptures? How does one know the will of God? What does salvation mean? What about the so-called “Lost Tribes” of Israel? Is the present return of Jews to the Land of Israel significant? What about the coming of the Messiah? Who was Jesus and what was his message?

I have decided to republish a new edition of Restoring Abrahamic Faith. It is a thoroughly revised version, 180 pages, professionally designed and attractively printed as a self-published trade book through Genesis 2000. It will be available soon but we are taking pre-orders now. Anyone who orders during July will receive an autographed copy. You can go to genesis2000.org for full information on how to order either on-line or by check. I wanted here to offer a prepublication peek at the Preface. I think it gives a good sense of what this book is about:

Preface

I began thinking seriously about the contents of this book back in the late 1960s. I had graduated from college with majors in Greek and Bible, fired by a passion for discovering the historical Jesus. It was that Quest that led me to the insights and concepts represented herein. The more I learned about Jesus the more I realized how vital it was to see him as a Jew who put his faith in the God of Abraham, who upheld the Torah, and who lived and died for his ancestral faith.

As a Christian I had grown up with a strong emphasis on the New Testament. The “Old Testament,” as we called it, was looked on as mere “background” to the superseding revelation brought by Jesus and the apostle Paul. I had never taken the “Jewishness” of Jesus very seriously—at least not in terms of its implications.

I presented the results of my forty years of academic work on the historical Jesus in a previous book, The Jesus Dynasty (Simon & Schuster, 2006). This book goes quite a few steps beyond. It is a personal manifesto of my own biblical faith, informed by my historical work, while at the same time moving outside its strict academic parameters.

I am enamored with the Hebrew Bible—Torah, Prophets, and Writings—and it has riveted me like nothing else over these many years. In its pages I find compelling testimony to the experiences of those who have sought to “walk with God,” and a program of hope for our troubled planet. The idea and the ideal of the Kingdom of God—that is, God’s will being done on earth as in heaven, is one that beckons us across the ages. This book is about that ancient Hebrew faith and what it might mean to us in the 21st century.

Pentecost, June 15, 2008
Mevasseret Zion, Israel

Go to genesis2000.org for more information.

James D. Tabor

On the occasion of the Purim holiday, I’d like to share something I have read in a number of sources over the years and find fascinating to this day. It is the strange and captivating connection between the Megilla Esther story and the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials in 1946.

Those of us familiar with the story of Esther (478-464 B.C.) know how she was instrumental in bringing deliverience to the Jews living in Persia who did not return to Jerusalem after Cyrus’ decree. The defeat of the wicked Prime Minister Haman whose lies were intended to bring destruction to the Jewish people is still celebrated today as the Feast of Purim. More on that later.

On October 16, 1946, ten of the highest-ranking Nazi officers of Hitler’s Germany were put to death. Three more were given life sentences (Rudolf Hess, the last surviving relic of the trials, died in Spandau Prison in 1987 at the age of 93), four were imprisioned for up to twenty years, and three were acquitted.

After 216 court sessions the International Military Tribunal, convened specially for this purpose, disbanded itself and later in that day the ashes of the men responsible for the Holocaust were scattered into a little brook in Munich-Solln, and thereupon vanished forever. The true horror of Nazism had been revealed to the world every day for almost a year, and now the grimmest chapter in the history of the civilized world was all but closed. While the ashes of Hitler’s top politicians and officers have disappeared into oblivion, not many people are aware of a more divine significance of this historic event, one connected to an episode in Persia over 2,500 years ago.

When King Ahasuerus, then the most powerful man on earth, offered to grant Queen Esther whatever she desired for having saved his life, she replied, “If it please the king, let it tomorrow also be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do according to the law of this day, and let the 10 sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.”

This is a remarkable request since Haman’s 10 sons had already been killed by the sword in the citadel of Susa (Esther 9:6-14). Nevertheless, in accordence with Esther’s wishes their 10 dead bodies were hanged. In the Apocryphal Greek version of Esther, chapter 9 verses 13-14 reads: And Esther said to the king, “Let the Jews be allowed to do the same tomorrow. Also, hang up the bodies of Haman’s 10 sons.” So he permitted this to be done, and handed over to the Jews of the city the bodies of Haman’s sons to hang up.

When the Megilla Esther was written, the names of the 10 sons of Haman who were hanged are enumerated. In the Hebrew text, the letters of the names are several times larger than the regular text. Yet, in the second, eighth and eleventh entry in the list, there are three letters; Tav, Shin and Zayn which are only one-half the size of the regular text. This mysterious order has been followed every since. The numerical value of the three diminished letters equals 707.

The Nuremberg Trials ended on October 1, 1946, which corresponded with the Jewish year of 5706. However, the due process of law meant the sentences of the convicted men could not be passed down until after appeals for clemency, of which there were many, had been heard. Finally, the sentences were pronounced. The Jewish New Year had arrived in the interim-it was 5707.

Twelve Nazis were meant to hang-although the method of execution might equally as well have been the firing squad-but Martin Bormann had escaped at the end of the war and was sentenced to death in absentia, and Herman Goering committed suicide two hours before his destined execution, leaving 10 condemned men.

In the early hours of October 16, 1946 during a 90 minute period, these 10 top Nazis went to their death on the gallows. The guards, with precise, ruthless efficiency brought them in one by one to deliver their last words and die. Only Julius Streicher went without dignity. His appearance happened at 2:11 a.m. He had to be pushed across the floor, wild-eyed and screaming, “Heil Hitler!” Mounting the steps, he cried out: “and now I go to God.” He was pushed the last two steps to the mortal spot beneath the hangman’s rope. Streicher swung around to face the witnesses and glared at them. Suddenly he screamed “Purim Fest 1946!” Then he was hanged.

The Megilla Esther had predicted that just as these 10 sons, descendants of Amalek and enemies of the Jews, were hanged, so again in the year 5707 (1946) would 10 other children of Haman be hanged.

The day of the early morning executions the front page headlines of the October 16, 1946 Late City Edition of The New York Times broke the story of what had just happened. In another strange twist, this was the day of Hoshana Raba.

“…On the seventh day of the Succot Holiday (Hoshana Raba), the judgement of the nations of the world is finalized. Sentences are issued from the residence of the King. Judgements are aroused and executed on that day.”

Zohar Vayikra 31b

Ralph Buntyn

Joseph wept” … I have been unable to get these words out of my mind since first reading them in the Torah portion of Miketz several weeks ago. I have a special fondness for the Joseph stories as I am sure do many of you. Much has been written on them, but I think there is another point that needs to be considered here before we move on to yet another powerful saga of the Egyptian bondage and another deliverer, Moses, whose story is recounted in the powerful book of Deuteronomy.

Our Torah portion this past week in the annual cycle is Vayechi. It ends Beresheit, Genesis, and with it, the life of Jacob or Israel and also Joseph. Going back several chapters to the account of the brothers coming home with Joseph’s bloody coat and showing it to their father, Jacob, we read in Gen. 33:37-35 that Jacob rent his garment, and wept and said that he would go down to his grave weeping. There are no other instances, however, that record Jacob ever weeping again, not even when he found that his beloved Joseph was alive or even when he was reunited with him and saw his grandchildren for the first time! This seemed somewhat strange to me. Rabbi Hirsch states in his commentary that Jacob in Joseph’s absence had led a dull and monotonous life and that all his energies had been spent in weeping for Joseph. Joseph, on the other hand had had a very eventful life, and as a result had had no time to surrender to the feelings of the separation from his father and give in to weeping. He had to expend his energies for the tasks that were set before him. Yet, in his father’s embrace, he must have truly felt the impact of the long and painful separation and he wept openly.

This passage above is what began my thinking. I knew that there were other passages regarding Joseph weeping, when he revealed himself to his brothers, etc, but I wanted to read them all, and found some that I had not really taken into account. When I did read them all, one after the other, the impact was quite strong and I was struck at how profound they are! Believe it or not, there are EIGHT passages. I will copy them below and I think that if you will read them, perhaps they will jump out at you in a similar way. The bold print, italics and parenthesis in the texts are mine.

1. Gen 42:23-24
“And they (the brothers) did not know that Yosef understood them, for the interpreter was between them. He turned away from them and wept.”

2. Gen 43:29-30
“ He (Joseph) lifted up his eyes and saw Benjamin, his brother, the son of his mother, and said: ‘Is this your younger brother, of whom you have told me:’…”And Yosef hastened– for his feelings toward his brother had been stirred up and he wanted to weep—and he went into the room and wept there.” Speaking of Joseph’s deep feelings, the TEV (Transparant English Version) puts it very graphically, “his insides were inflamed toward his brother.”

3. Gen 45:1-3
“ Yosef could no longer restrain himself before all those who stood before him. He cried, ‘Everyone go away from me and go out!’ And no one remained with him when Yosef made himself known to his brothers. He gave his voice free rein in weeping; Mitzrayim heard it, and Pharaoh’s house heard it Yosef said to his brothers: ‘ I am Yosef; is my father still alive?’ The brothers could not answer him because they were bewildered in his presence.”

4. Gen 45:14
“He fell upon the neck of his brother Benyamin and wept and Benjamin wept upon his neck.”

5. Gen 45:15
“He kissed all his brothers and wept in their embrace, and afterwards his brothers spoke with him.”

6. Gen 46:29
“When he (Joseph) presented himself to him (Jacob), he flung himself upon his neck and was still weeping upon his neck”

7. Gen 49:33-50:1:
“When Yaakov had concluded the commands to his sons, he drew his feet back into the bed, expired and was gathered to his peoples. Then Yosef threw himself upon his father’s face and wept upon him and kissed him.

8. Gen 50:17
“Say this to Yosef: ‘O please forgive the crime of your brothers and their sin, that they did evil to you.’ And now please grant forgiveness for the crime of the servants of the God of your father.’ Yosef wept when they said this to him.

What hit me so strongly is that it was Joseph who was doing the weeping in passage after passage! And each time, it had to do with his family, his long lost father and his brothers…seeing them after so many years, and his brother’s mistrust of him. He did attempt to restrain himself a few times and was successful, but in the end he could no longer hold back the tears and deep emotion of seeing his family again…especially little Benjamin. Note that aside from Benjamin, his little brother and son of his own mother Rachel, none of the other brothers wept. Why was this?

I have to wonder whether there an inherent difference in the emotional/psychological make-up between Joseph and the rest of his brothers? I believe there is. If so, could that inherent difference stem from the deep passion that Jacob felt in his union with Rachel, Joseph’s mother, as opposed to his lesser feelings for Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah?

It is becoming clearer and clearer as our understanding of genetics increases, that psychological tendencies are inherited. To carry this theory further, would it not also make sense that the descendants of Joseph would reflect his personality? Is there an ancient DNA thread that can be traced back to Joseph and his brothers that would account for difference in their emotional make-up?

In light of this possible scenario of inherited psychological/ emotional tendencies, think about what happens today when we go into a church today and when we go into a synagogue. Most evangelical churches have “greeters” at the door who will greet you with a hug or a hearty handshake whether you want it or not; and some even non-appointed greeters will do the same. In most of these churches, the services can get quite emotional with weeping, raising of hands, etc. On the other hand, most synagogues do not have “greeters” and the services are more reserved with less of a welcome to visitors. I realize that there are exceptions, but could we say that those of Joseph are in general more openly emotional than those of Judah and is it as a result of an ancient DNA thread?

Perhaps this is a stretch, but I cannot help but think that it is Joseph and his children, those of the lost tribes, that are still weeping today. Rachel is weeping for her children because “he” (Joseph) is not, Jer. 31:14. Joseph is weeping because he has been lost in the land of Mitzrayim and has been separated from his family and when he finally discovers them, they do not recognize him and when he reveals himself to them they mistrust him. How often has this been the case with Joseph today when we “reveal ourselves” to our brother Judah and they don’t trust us initially.

One thing that we might need to make mention of is that in the beginning of last week’s torah portion, VaYigash (Gen 44:18), it was Judah who “drew near” to Joseph. There are definitely some of those of Judah drawing close to us, such as David Horowitz, founder of UIWU, Rabbi Chayim Richman of UTN, in addition to other rabbis, and of course our own Hanoch Young. This in itself is encouraging beyond words, and one has to wonder how close it is to the time when the final revealing of Joseph to Brother Judah will come to pass.

One day when the “two sticks” are joined, we will all be reunited and will become “one in His hand.”

In the meantime let’s think about why it would be Joseph who did most of the weeping? Is the EIGHT TIMES at all significant or did it just happen that way?

Betty/Elisheva Givin

This particular Torah reading, Vayigash: Genesis 44:18-47:27, taken from the first word “to draw near,” where Judah DRAWS NEAR to Joseph, has great meaning to United Israel World Union and its history.

It just so happens that on January 1st, 1943, the weekend that United Israel World Union was officially formed in upstate NY by David Horowitz, that the Torah reading was indeed Vayigash! David had no idea of this at the time, and never noticed it years later when it was pointed out to him around his 90th year.

There could have been no more appropriate date or reading, in that Horowitz at that time represented the ONLY significant person of the House of Judah who was determined to do something to “DRAW NEAR TO JOSEPH.” Is this not rather incredible!! Indeed this Joseph cycle of readings has proven very significant in our own time. Allenby took Jerusalem on December 9, 1917 (just “happened” to be on Kislev 24!), and the reading with Mikketz (Gen 41). The UN Partition vote was on November 29, 1947 and the reading was Vayeshev. In both cases, the nations that I would associate with Joseph come to the aid of Judah and his companions, saving their LIVES in a great time of trouble, and there is a kind of “uniting” of the two houses even then, but in a preliminary way.

It is obvious that the Rabbis who complied the Haphtorah readings from the Prophets saw more than an ordinary meaning in this phrase, in that they chose Ezekiel 37:15-28, the passage about the two “sticks,” one for Judah and the sons of Israel his companions, and the other for Joseph, and all the house of Israel and his companions. Those sticks are UNITED, thus the whole idea of UNITED ISRAEL which David Horowitz has pioneered for over 50 years now. One stick IS the stick of Joseph, but it is in the hand of Ephraim–and we learn why in next weeks Torah reading where the aged Jacob adopts the two sons of Joseph, but puts the younger Ephraim, BEFORE the older Manasseh, and gives Joseph the birthright, taken from Reuben, the firstborn son. You might have expected it to go to Judah, since Judah is clearly next in line since Simeon and Levi were eliminated for their cruelty (see Gen 49:5-7), as well as being one of the strongest and most prominent of the twelve tribes, but Jacob rather chose his beloved Rachel’s son Joseph. Joseph is also given the special plot of land in Shechem, where he was later buried, and the site of such contention now with the Palestinians (Gen 48:22; Josh 24:32). YHVH declares that these TWO sticks will become ONE in His Hand (Ezk 37:20) and the following verses explain how that will happen:

I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them ONE NATION in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and ONE King will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms.” This chapter of course opens with the vision of the Valley of Dry Bones.

So the children of Israel end up in TWO COMPANIES, as was already hinted at the previous Torah reading Vayishlach (Gen 32:10).

The whole Joseph story seems to echo this history of the Lost Tribes. Joseph is sold into slavery, as was ancient Israel, the Northern Kingdom. He is effectively given up for DEAD (thus the valley of Dry Bones), and forgotten by his brothers, here represented mostly by Judah, who remains in the Land and returns to the Land after the Babylonian disaster. He marries a GENTILE woman, an Egyptian, and eventually reaches a great position of power and prominence, the highest of the kings of the earth–and for all practical purposes completely loses his identity–but all this time YHVH was with him. He is the DREAMER, the one who did not fit in, the one rejected by his brothers. According to Genesis 49:22-26 the descendents of Joseph will achieve great blessings and incredible wealth, and Moses adds his own details to the prophecy in Deut 33:13-17–Joseph is to push to the ends of the earth, and have the favor of “the one who dwells in the Bush,” achieving great favor and prominence. We should expect then, at the time when Judah returns to the land (the prophets declare: I will save the house of Judah first), which we have seen the this past century, that Joseph will exist someone on the earth, looked upon as Gentile, but somehow oriented to the God of Israel and the Bible, but with incredible wealth and power. The key then would be that large portions of such “Gentile” populations would begin to feel an irresistible pull toward Judah and the Land of Israel, and be drawn home. There is a preliminary return, spoken of in Jeremiah 3 and 16, but also that massive return that will pale the Exodus in size…we seem to be living in such days, and have for the past 50 years, but especially I think we have seen the return of large pockets of Joseph to God, Israel, and Torah in the past 25 years. It can only increase not decrease, and it is one of the strangest phenomena on the earth today, as thousand of “Gentiles” seem suddenly interested in discovering their Hebraic “roots.”

There appear to be some incredible parallels between the Joseph story, the Lost Tribes saga, and the story Jesus tells in Luke 15, most often referred to as the Prodigal Son. One son stays “home,” the other becomes “lost” and forgotten among the Gentiles, but eventually returns home…

Both Houses of Israel, that is Judah and Ephraim (usually called Israel in the prophets, in contrast to Judah) are chastised and rebuked, but the language of Jeremiah 3:6-14 is most important and interesting. Judah is called treacherous while Israel is called faithless (lit. turned, slidden away), but v. 11 says that “Faithless Israel has proven herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.” That, no doubt, becomes the source of the jealous that Isaiah 11 speaks about, and it is echoed in the Prodigal son story. Judah is very reluctant to give up her privileged place of “faithfulness” to a backslidden Israel–but it is Judah’s attitude that has to change. In the end, though falling into great apostasy, Joseph is proven MORE RIGHTEOUS, and returns home. Also, based on the words of Jacob in Gen 49 it does appear that the Scepter departs from Judah and eventually goes to Joseph also–from him comes the Stone, the Rock of Israel–or Shiloh…This will surely be a surprise to all the world, both Jews and Christians, who are so focused on a Davidic Messiah figure.

The story in the Torah today is itself so very moving. What a scene, and yet there is such power in the grace and love that he ends up showing his brothers. It is easy to forget that the sons of Israel are a very diverse mix, born of four different women, and with very different temperaments and characteristics, as are outlined by father Jacob in next Sabbath’s reading.

Exodus 17:16 is a very interesting verse that is translated in a variety of ways in modern English versions. It’s literal translation is quite interesting and was often commented upon by the founder of UIWU, the late David Horowitz.

The setting and context for the verse is the scene of the first battle the Israelites faced in coming out of Egypt. They were attacked by the clan of Amalek, one of the descendants of Esau through his Canaanite wife Adah, known for their brutal cruelty, particularly the murder of women, children, and the old, sick, and feeble, that were in the back of the camp on Israel’s journeys. Moses stood on the top of a hill overlooking the battle below with the “rod of God” that he held high in the air. Aaron the Priest and Hur the Prince of Judah flanked him right and left, holding up his arms. Joshua, of Ephraim was the field commander of the battle. Following the defeat we get this declaration, literal translation here:

“Because a Hand is upon the seat of Yah, war will be between YHVH and Amalek from a generation of a generation.”

Israel is later told in the Torah that they are to REMEMBER to NOT FORGET to utterly blot out Amalek for this cruelty (Deut 25:17-19).

This scene was understood to be both literal and symbolic, a kind of proleptic precursor of the “eternal war” between the forces of Amalek against the “seat of Yah.” Yes, a “hand against the throne.”  This means that in every generation, as the Rabbis tell us, the forces of Amalek will seek to work their evil and must be opposed. This is not just a “spiritual” warfare, in the sense of it having no literal historical consequences and realities. It is very spiritual in that it involves cosmic forces of darkness, but it is manifested in very real, physical, historical ways–namely the slaughter of innocents and in particular, a hatred of the Israelites/Jews and all they represent.

The first battle scene is also most interesting in that what we have represented, as a kind of generation to generation symbol, are the THREE FIGURES on the hill–Moses the Center figure, in the place of the Adon of the whole earth, the Prophet in this case, who is flanked by his two “messiahs,” one of Aaron and one of Judah. This precisely the scene we get in Zechariah 4 with the two olives branches, or “sons of fresh oil,” elaborated in Zech 6, which properly translated is two figures, not one.
Anyway, this means that “Amalek” can represent many things. On a global level there are forces that want to blot out not only those who have returned to the Land of Judah, but really all things they call “Zionist” or Jewish. Saddam talked of turning Tel Aviv into a crematorium, and Ahmadinejab has echoed the same. The same shrill voice, calling for the slaughter of the Jews used to come for hours out of Egypt when Nasser would rant and rave on the radio in the 1950s and 60s. It has been heard down through the ages, in the mouths of world leaders as well as individuals.

That first battle and the declaration of Exodus 17:16, taken with all the other references to Amalek in the Torah, indicate there is something here that unfolds from generation to generation.