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Jews Revive the Sanhedrin with Plans for a Passover Sacrifice
beliefnet ^ | Deborah Pardo-Kaplan

Posted on 03/22/2007 9:54:02 AM PDT by Alex Murphy

In a donated apartment concealed among the narrow streets of the Jerusalem suburb of Nahlaot, 13 Orthodox Jewish men meet every Tuesday to debate matters of Jewish law. They are the management team of a larger developing Sanhedrin, or religious court, in Israel.

And they plan to sacrifice sheep on the Temple Mount on the day before or one month after Passover, which starts at sundown April 2. Either date is permissible under Jewish law. "If the government will not resist," said Rabbi Dov Stein, 68, a member of the group, "we will do it."

As Easter eclipses the last days of Passover this year, Christians will focus again on the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus. The Sanhedrin, meanwhile, will literally attempt to resurrect the Passover sacrifice of old.

For these Jews, the sacrificial Passover offering is not their redemption per se, yet it is vital to the process.

The Passover sacrifice is the latest of more than 40 legal decisions issued by the modern Sanhedrin. Seventy-one Orthodox men revived the court more than two years ago in the city of Tiberius, the same geographical spot they believe marked the final days of the Sanhedrin a few hundred years after the time of Jesus.

In antiquity, the Sanhedrin determined Jewish practice. It now rules on political and religious issues and ultimately sees itself as an alternative to the secular Supreme Court of Israel. It hopes to impose Jewish law on the Jewish people and the seven "Noahide" laws -- prohibitions on theft, murder, blasphemy and others, based on Jewish teaching -- on Gentile nations.

"We want all the world," Stein said, "to walk with God."

Descriptions of the Sanhedrin can be found in Jewish legal writings and the New Testament. The Gospels say Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin so its members could assess his messianic claims. This current Sanhedrin also sees as one of its goals to evaluate any potential messianic contender. "There is no redemption without the Sanhedrin," said Stein. "We are building the opportunity for a king (messiah)."

Some Orthodox Jews see the Passover sacrifice on Jerusalem's Temple Mount -- one of the most disputed pieces of real estate on the planet -- as key to quickening redemption.

The Sanhedrin bought a herd of 12 sheep -- 110-150 pounds each -- from a farm in southern Israel. Anyone wanting to eat of the sacrifice can pay seven shekels ($1.67) for an 8-10 gram slice, the minimum required by Jewish law, Stein said. The group is hoping to collect 30,000 signatures through its Web site to prove its influence to the Israeli authorities, and gain access to the Temple Mount area.

Some members of the Sanhedrin are a bit more cautious.

"The Passover plans are just preparation," said Hillel Weiss, a professor of Hebrew literature at Bar Ilan University. "Not everyone is in favor of it."

The Passover sacrifice will draw the attention of some religious Jews as well as evangelical Christians who see both the restoration of the Sanhedrin and sacrifice as part of end-times prophecy. Other Orthodox Jews want to distance themselves from this group, which they consider extremist.

Religious Zionists, such as Israeli settlers, serve as the main audience for the new Sanhedrin, said Mordechai Inbari, 37, an Israeli who teaches at the University of Florida. Inbari sat in on some of the Sanhedrin meetings last year for his doctoral research.

Zionists perceive Israel as in the process of redemption, Inbari said, but most see the Temple's reconstruction with its sacrificial system as the last stage, occurring only after a widespread repentance in which all Jews turn religious. "But the extremists see it as going hand in hand," he said.

Hila Lipnick, a 28-year-old Orthodox woman who lives in Cambridge, Mass., used to live in Jerusalem and traveled daily to Gush Etzion, a settlement in the West Bank, for school. While she believes in the eventual rebuilding of the Temple, she is unsure about sacrifice.

"I can't see rivers of blood going all over Jerusalem," she said, "and society just accepting it."

In order for the Sanhedrin to proceed with the sacrifice, they would need to build an altar on the Temple Mount, at least the size of 1 amah (21 inches) by 1 amah, Stein said. They would slaughter the sheep and sprinkle the blood towards the altar, said Hillel Weiss. The meat would then be taken from the Temple area and cooked on a special oven and given to families to eat.

Some leaders in the Jewish community question not only the renewal of sacrifice without a Temple, but the validity of the Sanhedrin itself.

"They are a self-selected group," said Michael J. Broyde, an Orthodox rabbi who sits on the Rabbinical Court of America. "And they have no more and no less authority than any other self-selected group of rabbis."

While many Jews are either ambivalent or hostile toward the Sanhedrin and other Temple-related groups, some evangelicals support these projects. They get excited when they perceive the Jewish people fulfilling what they view as part of future prophecy, said Randall Price, an evangelical professor and author of four books about the Temple. "Then they think we're getting closer to that being a reality," he said.

The Sanhedrin considers the Passover sacrifice equal in importance to circumcision, since it is the first collective commandment given to the Jewish people.

"Since the Passover sacrifice is an eternal commandment, we should do it," said Rabbi Yeshayahu Hollander, an English spokesperson for the group. Those who do not observe the sacrifice, he said, will be cut off from the Jewish people.

"If we have psychological inhibitions, it is our duty to educate ourselves, to overcome the inhibitions," Hollander said. "This is part of our redemption. An essential part."


TOPICS: Judaism; Religion & Culture; Religion & Politics; Worship
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To: Invincibly Ignorant
Faith is a gift. I shouldn't have to "have what it takes." Tough guy Christianity. lol. That's all I need. lol.

What it takes is the ability to be honest with who you are, your sin condition, and your desperate need for redemption. And that Christ is the only person that can deal with your reality.

"Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

You can run and hide and deny and make excuses, but your need is inescapable.

121 posted on 03/27/2007 7:01:08 PM PDT by topcat54
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To: topcat54
What it takes is the ability to be honest with who you are, your sin condition, and your desperate need for redemption. And that Christ is the only person that can deal with your reality.

Oh I have that ability to be honest with who I am. Hence my coming to grips with truth. Redemption & grace were available way before cooked up in NT writings. And your remarks inferring the doctrine of original sin are just silly. I'll consider Jewish interpretations of the human condition since they've been interpreting such things way longer than your heros.

122 posted on 03/27/2007 7:32:49 PM PDT by Invincibly Ignorant
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To: topcat54

Hey maybe I'll convert to tough guy Judaism. That way I can kinda be more like you. lol.


123 posted on 03/27/2007 7:34:52 PM PDT by Invincibly Ignorant
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To: topcat54

Revelation 22:17
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.


124 posted on 03/28/2007 6:26:50 AM PDT by jkl1122
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To: jkl1122
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

That's fine. But who is it that "wills" to to come? Does any old Joe have the will to come to Christ? Then why do not all come to Christ? Is one person's will superior to another? Or is it something else?

"So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. ... Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens." (Rom. 9:16,18)

The implications of Romans 9 to God's sovereign choice wrt our salvation is inescapable.

Spiritually speaking, why do some people have blind eyes and some people have open eyes? Are the spiritual eyes of the person who places their trust in Christ better than the eyes of those who do not?

125 posted on 03/28/2007 7:13:20 AM PDT by topcat54
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To: Invincibly Ignorant
Oh I have that ability to be honest with who I am.

No you don't. If you are apart from Christ your ability is affected by your sin condition.

Unbelievers suppress the truth about themselves and their world in unrighteousness. Their reality is warped by their condition. Unbelievers fool themselves into thinking they can see reality, but they cannot.

I don't mean to offend you, but that is your condition apart from Christ as the Bible testifies. It's not my idea, it belongs to God. He is the one you need to deal with. You can either remain hardened towards Him, or you can fall on the Rock of salvation and be broken before Him, crying out in your need for redemption and heart change.

"Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and Rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."

126 posted on 03/28/2007 7:20:14 AM PDT by topcat54
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To: topcat54; P-Marlowe; BibChr

I suspect that if the US can rebuild bombed out Britain, that the Messiah can restore whatever He feels like restoring. He can improve whatever He feels like improving.

I expect there'll be a lot of improving going on.

Spiritual does not mean symbolic or allegorical.

God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

Should I suppose that in your theology that God is a mere simile, metaphor, symbol, or allegory?


127 posted on 03/28/2007 9:11:05 AM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
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To: xzins

Are you saying that restoring the Temple, which has no purpose in the Christian age, might be something that Christ seeks to do?


128 posted on 03/28/2007 9:29:53 AM PDT by jkl1122
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To: xzins
Should I suppose that in your theology that God is a mere simile, metaphor, symbol, or allegory?

No, but God certainly represents Himself to men in terms of symbols. He uses symbols, metaphors, etc all over the place in Scripture. Certainly you are not denying this.

For example, the dove that appeared in Matt. 3:16, was that "literally" the Holy Spirit, or was it a representation of the Holy Spirit to accommodate our human senses? Easton's says, "It is a symbol of the Holy Spirit."

The tabernacle on earth ... what did that really represent (Heb. 8:5)?

What did circumcision of the foreskin symbolize (Col. 4:11)?

Prophecy is full of signs and symbols. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants--things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,” (Rev. 1:1)

There nothing wrong with spiritualizing or understand the spiritual meaning found in the Bible. In fact it is impossible to make any sense of the Bible without doing of good deal of spiritualizing. Can it be abused? Absolutely, just read Scofield’s Notes to see some terrible abuses of symbols, typology, etc.

The error that some folks believe is that “symbolic” or “spiritual” interpretation is not real interpretation. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Jews of Jesus day got into trouble over the person of Messiah precisely because they could not understand the spiritual nature of the Kingdom of God. They were too literal. Jesus explained the true spiritual meaning of all the OT prophecies and how they applied to Himself. Some got it and some didn’t. Like the folks in John 6 who could not deal with these words, “I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.”

Only those with spiritual eyes who understand the symbolism will get it.

But if you call yourself a Christian you understand the need for spiritual eyes, and recognizing the symbolism for what it is, a pointer to the great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

129 posted on 03/28/2007 10:33:18 AM PDT by topcat54
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To: topcat54
No you don't. If you are apart from Christ your ability is affected by your sin condition.

Yes I do. Again I don't take my human condition lessons from expansionists. lol.

Unbelievers suppress the truth about themselves and their world in unrighteousness. Their reality is warped by their condition. Unbelievers fool themselves into thinking they can see reality, but they cannot.

Lol. This from a guy who believes he's superceeded and replaced others. Ok. wink wink.

I don't mean to offend you,

Lol.

but that is your condition apart from Christ as the Bible testifies. It's not my idea, it belongs to God.

Oh ok that settles it. The weakminded direct pipline to God approach. You and God. No wonder you can act like a tough guy.

130 posted on 03/28/2007 11:16:17 AM PDT by Invincibly Ignorant
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To: topcat54

you're wasting your time dude. Isn't there somebody else you can club I mean "love" into the kingdom? lol.


131 posted on 03/28/2007 11:18:00 AM PDT by Invincibly Ignorant
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To: jkl1122

I think you caught the tail end of a longer discussion.


132 posted on 03/28/2007 12:15:01 PM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
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To: Invincibly Ignorant
No wonder you can act like a tough guy.

One of us playing the "tough guy" with our speech and it ain't me.

You can try to fool yourself and live independent of Christ, but the truth is that it won't work. Somewhere along the line your world you've built for yourself will fall apart. I will either be in this life or in the next. You might wish to consider the alternative before it is too late.

133 posted on 03/28/2007 12:15:39 PM PDT by topcat54
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To: topcat54

I cannot help but think that you somehow see spiritualizing as the same as symbolizing.

God is Spirit.

Spiritual is Reality.


134 posted on 03/28/2007 12:16:38 PM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
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To: xzins
I cannot help but think that you somehow see spiritualizing as the same as symbolizing.

I don't know what you mean by "symbolizing", and since you didn't respond directly to my observation on how God uses symbols all over in the Bible to convey His truth, I can only assume you do not understand these fundamental concepts and how they apply in the context of correct biblical interpretive methodology.

“But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, …”

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, …”

“"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. …”

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. …”

Every time you see Jesus or His disciple using a phrase such as “is like” they are employing symbols, metaphors, and other literary techniques.

Look also at this observation by the gospel writer concerning Herod’s decree to kill all the male children in Bethlehem:

Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more." (Matt. 2:17,18)
Now, it’s clear that the OT prophecy was not “literally” fulfilled because Ramah is not Bethlehem, and Rachel did not weep since she was long dead. The prophecy originally had to do with Israel lamentation while under captivity in Babylon. The symbolism is found throughout the OT wrt Rachel, the fact that she was buried in Ramah, that she died giving birth, etc. Jews living at the time of Christ would understand the symbolism, and the apostle made the application as to the ultimate fulfillment in Christ.

You seem more interested in labels, and building and trying to knock down a strawman.

135 posted on 03/28/2007 1:19:57 PM PDT by topcat54
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To: topcat54

Again, I don't see any acknowledgement on your part that Spirit is real, and that it has nothing to do with symbol.


136 posted on 03/28/2007 1:37:13 PM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
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To: xzins
As a confessional Christian I affirm the following statement without reservation:
There is but one only, living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions; immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute; working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and withal, most just, and terrible in his judgments, hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty. ...

In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost: the Father is of none, neither begotten, nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.

God is not a "symbol", however He certainly uses symbols, metaphors, etc to communicate His truth to finite creatures like you and me. To deny that is to deny reality.

You still have not said what you mean by "symbolizing" I suspect you made it up as part of your strawman against whatever you think I believe..

You also have not answered many other questions that I posed to you.

137 posted on 03/28/2007 1:45:24 PM PDT by topcat54
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To: topcat54

Spiritualizing can never be equated with symbolizing by those who believe in the reality of the spiritual.

Jesus said, "The words I speak to you are Spirit..."

He did not mean symbolic, metaphoric, or allegorical.

The reason I don't answer your questions is because I'm busy on another project, but I check in here now and again. I don't have time for it right now.


138 posted on 03/28/2007 1:50:04 PM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
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To: topcat54
You can try to fool yourself and live independent of Christ, but the truth is that it won't work. Somewhere along the line your world you've built for yourself will fall apart. I will either be in this life or in the next. You might wish to consider the alternative before it is too late.

You can try and fool yourself with your psuedo mithraism. But I know you're too weakminded to do otherwise. Go mace somebody else for Jesus, tough guy.

139 posted on 03/28/2007 2:03:27 PM PDT by Invincibly Ignorant
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To: xzins
symbolizing

Too bad you don't have the time to define terms, or ansywer my questions honestly wrt to how the Bible writers used symbols, etc. (What did circumcision of the foreskin symbolize?)

I take it you now believe that spiritualizing is OK in order to interpret the Bible. Progress is being made, although you still seem to resist the plain Bible teaching of the use of symbols, metaphors, etc.

Oh well, one step at a time.

140 posted on 03/28/2007 2:16:41 PM PDT by topcat54
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