Archive for the ‘Current Events’ Category
This past Thursday morning, July 23rd, Nehemia Gordon, Keith Johnson, and I were guests on the NPR interview show “Charlotte Talks” with Mike Collins, talking about their new book, A Prayer to Our Father: The Hebrew Origins of the Lord’s Prayer. I thought it went exceptionally well and is worth taking time to listen. Lots of important information both from the new book, and related thereto, is covered. For those of you who are outside the Charlotte area you can listen now on-line by downloading the Podcast or streaming it live. Just go to the Web site for details and click on “Listen to Show”:
On Sunday July 26th, Keith Johnson and Nehemia Gordon, authors of A Prayer to our Father, will talk about their book at a special event sponsored by United Israel and hosted by Dr. James D. Tabor at the Doubletree Inn & Suites located in South Park (6300 Morrison Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28211 Tel: 704-364-2400). This meeting will be from 4-6pm in the Barringer room. The public is invited and there is no admission charge. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.
Two billion Christians worldwide consider the Lord’s Prayer the ultimate expression of their faith—but few know the stunning story of its Hebrew origins. A Prayer to Our Father (175 pp., tpb, $19.95) is the true story of an exciting journey of faith of a Jewish Bible scholar and an African American pastor who join forces to uncover the truth about the most beloved prayer in the Christian world.
Their provocative new book reads like a detective novel. Written by two most unlikely collaborators, the charismatic personalities of the authors are as riveting as the story. Former chaplain to the Minnesota Vikings, Keith Johnson has ministered to some of the top names in the NFL and NBA. Jerusalem-based Jewish scholar and author, Nehemia Gordon, has spent his career translating the Dead Sea Scrolls and studying the deep mysteries of the Jewish religion.
Johnson and Gordon’s gripping adventure begins in the ancient city of Jerusalem and takes them to the very spot in Galilee where Jesus taught the multitudes to pray. Along the way they discover a Hebrew version of the Lord’s Prayer, preserved in secret by Jewish rabbis for over a thousand years. Their riveting journey and extraordinary relationship are chronicled in A Prayer to Our Father.
See the Website: http://www.aprayertoourfather.com/ for further details on the book and the background of the authors.
Nehemia Gordon holds a Masters Degree in Biblical Studies and a Bachelors Degree in Archaeology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Gordon has worked as a translator on the Dead Sea Scrolls and as a researcher deciphering ancient Hebrew manuscripts. He has been invited to speak in synagogues and churches around the world and has led groups of pilgrims and visitors on tours of biblical sites. A native of Chicago, Nehemia has made his home in Jerusalem, Israel for the last fifteen years.
Keith Johnson earned his Masters of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and has spent nearly two decades in Christian ministry. As an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church, Johnson has served as pastor of Park Avenue Church in Minneapolis and as chaplain of the Minnesota Vikings. Johnson was also chosen as one of only 40 chaplains from around the world to serve the athletes of the 1996 Olympics Games in Atlanta. Keith lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife and sons.
James Tabor’s second interview with Tovia Singer is now on-line and can be listened to or downloaded. Here is the description and the link:
Professor James Tabor, Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina and author of “Restoring Abrahamic Faith” (available through http://genesis2000.org) explores Christianity’s foundational break with Judaism and Paul’s role in this monumental schism. Tabor emphasizes the apocalyptic and thus “temporary” nature of the original Jesus movement and how it quickly sought to replace Judaism.
For more information, you can find the schedule and location info on this page
http://universaltorah.com/programming/speaking-schedules/
James Tabor’s interview with Tovia Singer on May 7th over Israel National Radio is now archived on the Web site for one week. You can download or listen over the Internet.
Tabor discusses the Pope’s visit to Israel next week, the Vatican claim on the holy places on Mt Zion, as well as his work on the historical Jesus and his latest book, Restoring Abrahamic Faith.
Here is the Internet link:
The 66th annual meeting of UIWU will be held next week in Charlotte, NC at the Doubletree Guest Suites at Southpark, April 24-26th. The meeting is open to the public and there is no registration charge. Below is the tentative program:
Friday, April 24th
5:00pm Registration and Welcome
7:00pm Welcoming Shabbat: Candle Lighting and Kiddush
7:30pm Celebrating 65 Years of UIWU: James Tabor
Sabbath, April 25th
9:00am The Three Greatest Chapters of the Hebrew Bible: James Tabor
10:30am Our Incredible American Hebrew Heritage: Ralph Buntyn
Noon Break and Open Time
1:30pm Amazing Treasures of the Mishnah: Joseph Good
3:30pm Open House at the UIWU Offices: Archive Display & Reception
7:00pm After Hours: Musical Program with David & Patty Tyler, their band, and our talented musical performers at the Hampton Inn nearby
Sunday, April 26th
9:00am UIWU 66th Annual Business Meeting
Presidential Address by James Tabor: Presiding: Ralph Buntyn
10:00am The Three Greatest Chapters of the Hebrew Bible: Ross Nichols
Noon Break and Open Time
2:30pm ‘Let Him Go Up’: Connecting to Israel in our Time: Hanoch Young with John and Carin Carlson
4:00pm A Surprise Announcement: James Tabor
We wanted to update everyone with more details regarding our April 24-26, 2009 annual meeting of United Israel World Union in Charlotte, NC, which is less than a month away.
We are extremely excited about our plans and program and we hope everyone will make every possible effort to attend this year. This is an event you will not want to miss. We will hold our meeting at the Doubletree Guest Suites in South Park, just as we did last year. This location in a prime area of the city, with shops and restaurants conveniently located within walking distance. There is no registration fee to attend this meeting and all are welcome. We were also able to get an exceptionally reasonable rate for rooms, see details below.
Here are the program highlights:
This year marks the end of 65 years of UIWU history and as part of our celebration we will have a special Open House and Reception at our UIWU offices here in Charlotte with many of the priceless and historic archives on display for the first time. These are materials related to the life and career of David Horowitz, our founder, as well as the history of UIWU itself.
James Tabor will conduct an in-depth class titled “The Three Greatest Chapters of the Hebrew Bible”
Ross Nichols will conduct an in-depth class titled “The Three Greatest Chapters of the Hebrew Bible”
Ralph Buntyn will present an illustrated lecture on “Our Incredible American Hebrew Heritage”
Joseph Good will teach a class titled “Amazing Treasures from the Mishnah”
Hanoch Young will lead a session on “Let Him Go Up: Connecting to Israel in our Time,” that will include input from John Carlson and a stunning special media production by artist Carin Carlson
A musical program hosted by David and Patty Tyler, including an “sneak peek” at the forthcoming “Ephramite” CD that is being produced by musicians in our movement
A special “Surprise Announcement” by James Tabor
Our formal program begins Friday evening at 5pm and concludes at 5pm on Sunday, however, we encourage any who can to stay over Sunday night so we can continue to spend informal time together through the evening in the lovely hotel setting. We have also planned more break time and leisure time this year to allow for socializing and informal meetings and discussions.
For those flying in we will try to arrange airport pickups. Please let Timothy Thompson (twt@embarqmail.com) know your schedule and he will be in touch with you about arrangements.
Hotel Details: We have blocked off a limited number of rooms (one bedroom suites with kitchen) for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights at the special low rate of $99.00 per night. You can get single, double, triple, or quad all at the same low price. If you want Thursday night before, or Monday night after you can ask the booking person and perhaps be able to work out the same rate as well but the three nights are guaranteed. Call the Doubletree at 704-364-2400, ask for reservations, tell them you are with the group “United Israel.” Be sure you get this special rate. Our agent, if you have any problems, is Cameron Hall, but you don’t need to speak to her to make reservations.
The Doubletree Guest Suites is located at:
6300 Morrison Boulevard
Charlotte, NC 28211
Web site:
A personal message from Ross Nichols:
I am pleased to announce that beginning March 8th, 2009 at 6:00 P.M. Central, I will begin a new and informative series of teaching that you can listen to live or download for later listening via the Internet here.
Content
The weekly classes in my new series will focus on the Annual cycle of readings followed faithfully by traditional Jews around the world. Each week, according to this cycle of readings, a section of the Torah and the prophets will be highlighted.
Options – Make the experience personal!
You will have the option of listening in live on Sunday night, or if your schedule does not allow you to listen in live, you will have an entire week to download our podcast for study at your own leasure. Some may wish to wait until the Sabbath to listen.
I have also determined through feedback from many of my faithful listeners (and from other sources) that the length of the most effective teachings are under an hour and razor sharp! My goal will be to organize the teaching in such a way to effectively cover the main points of the weekly parsha (Torah section) in a class that is much closer to 30 minutes. This way, most people can download the class and listen to it during an average commute to work or while you run errands, go to the gym, etc.
My main goal as a teacher is to encourage you to study the Torah and to learn to apply its principles to your life in a modern world – thus inspiring you to live a more biblically authentic lifestyle. I am trying to make this is convenient for you as possible. I want you to learn!
Over the course of the year we will cover the entire Torah! Your life will be transformed as you drink of the refreshing waters of the God-inspired teaching of Moses.
Why focus on the Torah?
As David said in Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes and I will look for wonderful things from your Torah”. We will do just that! We will open our eyes and take a fresh look at the Torah.
The final prophetic word in the Hebrew Bible, recorded in Malachi says, “Remember the torah of my servant Moses” (Malachi 4:4 – English Bible). And yet, humanity has drifted far from “the teaching”. The nearly 6.5 billion inhabitants of our planet need to hear the words of this eternal teaching delivered once and for all to the ancient people of Israel. After all, the intent of this teaching was that it would go forth to all nations (Isaiah 2 and Micah 4), and ultimately, in what the Bible calls the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34), the Torah will be written upon the heart.
Despite what people believe Jesus the Jew taught, it is recorded that he claimed that did not come to abolish the Torah or the prophets but to fulfill – adding further that until heaven and earth passed – not a single letter…not even a stroke of a letter would pass from the torah until all was fulfilled (Matthew 5:17-20)!
I can think of no greater subject matter to devote my time to learning and to helping others learn than the Torah of Moses.
Who Would Benefit from these classes?
I believe that these classes will be helpful for Jews and Christians as my style is unique. I am a bit tough to label as I tend to resist such categories, opting for the simple designation of “biblical”. I will at times draw upon Jewish wisdom, much of which is organized around these very weekly readings from the Torah and Prophets, but I am not Jewish. I will often draw upon texts from the Christian Scriptures, much of which clearly points people to a Torah way of living, though I no longer associate myself with the label of Christian. “Christianity” in its modern sense has long ago abandoned the religion of Jesus for a religion about him.
I hope that you will listen in and that you will encourage others to listen in as well. In addition to the weekly class I will post a blog for download. The intent will be to publish a handsome document for download and printing each week with my own notes on the weekly parsha. You can put them in a 3-ring binder and at the end of the year you will have a complete reference work for your further studies. I hope to expand this as time goes on into a full course, complete with on-line tests and a certificate of completion for those who stick with us.
I am more and more planning to spend my energy developing, with the help of my faithful friend Brian Jones, a virtual community on the web where you can experience fellowship with others who are seeking to live according to the principles of the Hebrew Bible. This “Synagogue Without Walls” is catching on. People from literally around the world are joining up. I encourage you to check it out.
And finally, there is no greater reward than to lead people to a better understanding of God and His ways. As Hillel said, “Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and bringing them closer to the Torah”.
We are all disciples and this saying has inspired me in the current direction of Roots of Faith and our ongoing effort to bring people closer to the Torah. I hope that you can join us.
The new series will be called A Parsha Study with Roots of Faith. I believe that you will be greatly blessed by this series.
Shalom, Ross
Roots of Faith
Ross Nichols, founder and director of Roots of Faith introduces something new to his podcast audience this week. Nichols, having just completed an intensive 11 week series of studies on Dr. Tabor’s latest book, Restoring Abrahamic Faith, conducted a half-hour interview with Dr. Tabor about the book, how he came to write it, its essential message, and what how he envisions it contributing to an understanding of biblical truths. Toward the end of the interview Nichols also has Dr. Tabor talk a bit about his forthcoming book on the apostle Paul, scheduled to appear in Spring, 2010 with Simon & Schuster.
You can listen to or download this interview at the Roots of Faith Web site here.
http://rootsoffaith.org/blog-and-podcasts/2009/02/27/ross-nichols-interviews-dr-james-tabor.htm
More details about the book, Restoring Abrahamic Faith, including readers responses and reviews can be found at the publisher’s Web site: genesis2000.org.
You will not want to miss this exciting interview with Dr. James D. Tabor.
United Israel Staff
This weekend marked the 65th anniversary of the initial organizational meeting of United Israel World Union, held over the weekend of Dec 30, 1943-January 1, 1944, in Waterville, NY. Ironically, the Torah reading that weekend was VaYigash (Genesis 44:18-47:27), coupled with the Haftarah reading from Ezekiel 37:15-28. In this section of the Torah “Judah draws near to Joseph,” who was taken to be dead and forgotten, and the aging Jacob is told “Joseph yet lives!” The Rabbis, in coupling the reading from Ezekiel 37 with this Torah portion clearly wanted to signal a deeper symbolic historical cast to the Joseph story–namely that the “lost tribes’ of Joseph, that is, the “stick of Ephraim,” would emerge from their “valley of dry bones” and join with the “stick of Judah,” in inaugurating the Messianic era.
As it happens, January 3, 2009, this past Shabbath, was the occasion for the annual UIWU executive officers meeting in Charlotte, NC, held each January, and those present were quite aware of the correspondence both in dates (both Gregorian and Hebrew calendars), but also the same Torah/Prophets reading, precisely 65 years from that founding meeting.
United Israel World Union remains, to our knowledge, the oldest Jewish organization focused on the so-called “Lost Tribes,” and their past and future relationship with the Jewish people. In the very first issue of the United Israel Bulletin, Vol 1, Number 1, published in June, 1944, founder David Horowitz published an account of the founding of the organization that is worth reproducing here. UIWU, born 65 years ago this past weekend, was truly “birthed” in the critical days of WWII when the Allies were beginning to turn the tide with the Axis powers. Hitler’s armies had been defeated at Stalingrad and in Egypt in 1943 and D-Day and the invasion of Europe was on the horizon. Here is the 1944 account verbatim:
After many years of Biblical “journeyings” in connection with a United Israel, and after having gone “through the dark valley of human abuse,” YHVH inspirited David Howowitz, while in prayer and in supplication, to continue labors already commenced, namely, to stand with YHVH’s people Israel as their friend, teacher and intermediary, to the end that the scattered sheep of Israel may once again become reunited in true brotherhood and love via YHVH’s glorious and eternal Law.
Thus, following many strange and fantastic episodes occurring in these Biblical days in which we are now living, giving further testimony to the dynamic truth of the ever-functioning and eternal Word of YHVH, three brethren of the house of Joseph, namely, Clayton E. Burlingame, of Waterville. N.Y.; Huel L. Crockett, of New York City; and Robert Bruce, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., were inspirited, individually, to unite with their brother David of the House of Judah in New York City.As a result thereof, Providence so guided that several meetings were arranged and held in up-state New York, at Bethaleph, home of the Burlingames, during December 30 and 31, 1943, and January 1, 1944, in connection with the actual formation of the Body United Israel.At these meetings it was decided to hold a Founders’ Assembly on Saturday evening, February 5th, it being the eleventh day of the eleventh month, Shevat, 5704.
The following is an abridged record of that gathering:
By YHVH’s grace, David opened the meeting with words of welcome and explanation of the significance of the occasion—further stressing that the Israel gathering here at Bethaleph unites many loving souls in various parts of the country who would be with us in spirit and prayer but could not attend by reason of distance.Most of these brethren and sisters had communicated and their letters would be read to the assembly.David then spoke of the glorious spirit of unity and love existing among all who have unified themselves in UNITED ISRAEL, indicating further “how glorious indeed are the doings of YHVH God, Greater of heaven and earth,” who had thus blessed the birth of UNITED ISRAEL after more than two thousand years of lost identity amidst Baal worship. . .
Continuing the introductory remarks, David explained how YHVH, the God of Israel, the Rock of all Ages, has always worked through man and nations in the fulfillment of His glorious Plan. . .
The spirit reigning over Bethaleph through out the Assembly was serene and solemn, and all present were imbued with love and thanksgiving to our Father, YHVH the King of Israel, who alone doth wondrous things.
Then David spoke of the many communications which had been sent in by our beloved brethren and sisters in Israel from the far reaches of the land. . .
At the conclusion of the reading of correspondence, David spoke briefly on the proposed UNITED ISRAEL BULLETIN which would become the organ and medium through which scattered brethren and sisters in UNITED ISRAEL could know of each other’s activities in the different parts of the country. It would also serve as a guide to all true servants of YHVH in that it would constantly touch upon original Biblical facts and explain them. Moreover, the bulletin would touch upon current events as well, in connection with their Biblical significance.David indicated that as soon as funds permitted, he would commence with publication of the bulletin. . .
David then stated that on the basis of decisions concluded at the December 30-31, 1943, and January 1, 1944, meetings, he had contacted an attorney-at-law in New York City, and engaged him to assist in the incorporation proceedings, and that, on the further basis of the data furnished the attorney by David, he had worked out a tentative draft of a Certificate of Incorporation and a Constitution and By-laws. . . (which was filed with the Secretary of State, State of New York, April 17, 1944) declare:
I.That the original Bible is the word of YHVH the Father, the Creator, and is the only basis for our daily conduct and life which must be modeled basically in accordance with the laws of Moses as instituted at Mount Sinai.
II.That the Ten Tribes of Israel are still in existence; . . . a great number of whom live in the United States of America.
III.That said United States of America was originally conceived on the principles of the Bible, as is evidenced by the acts and writings of the Founding Fathers and that it has therefore been destined by YHVH the Father, the Creator, to play a leading part in world affairs.
FIRST ANNUAL MEETING
The First Annual Meeting of United Israel was held at Bethaleph, home of Clayton and Erminie Burlingame at Waterville, New York, on Saturday evening, April 8th, 1944, the 15th day of Nisan.The assembly coincided with the Passover.David stated that “it was glorious to note that at this gathering of United Israel, members of the house of Joseph had joined brethren in Judah for the commemoration of this great redemption festival.There are others in the far reaches of the land who are with us in spirit at this moment,” David continued. . . To them we must add scores of sons and daughters of Israel scattered all over this Zion-land.”
The Constitution and By-laws of United Israel as well as the Certificate of Incorporation were read by Brother Crockett and then unanimously approved and accepted.All officers were re-elected for another year.