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To: Torahman
Hello!

I'm Roman Catholic. Your tag line caught my eye. John Paul II referred to the Jewish people as "Our Elder Brothers in the Faith" and I was raised being taught that the Jews are "G-d's Chosen People." Jesus to us is the fulfillment of the Covenant, and, as the Jews wait for the Messiah to come in glory, we wait and pray for His return. We share a great deal. My Mom and I used to celebrate a kind of Passover, or attend a Seder meal to celebrate what G-d did in our lives- we got passed over, although not in the same way, when my Mom was ill, was sent home to die, all 88 pounds of her! She lived into her 70's. Her Jewish doctor had come to check on her after Rosh Hashanah with yarmulke and all. He said he had prayed for her, and wished her a "Happy New Year"- words that gave my Mom hope- hope that there may be a life ahead for her after all, if there was a new year ahead for her. Then she could raise the toddler waiting at home. When I got older I would give her a card for the Holiday to commemorate that time.

We would get ourMenorah and read each night from one of the Books of Maccabees, part of our Canon, lighting the candles.

I've read "Excerpts From the Talmud," by H. Polano. I never appreciated the story of Noah as I did then, and enjoyed reading so much that followed Scripture in detail!

I guess you see Jesus the way Catholics see the Reformers: as those who followed one who broke away. Please remember something. Jew or Christian, we worship the G-d of Abraham and His Spirit. In times to come we will need to find that common love, because we have the same enemies and it frightens me. I, too, long for my Messiah to return in Glory as you do yours. As a Catholic, I believe they are the same. May we meet one day in eternity, in peace forever! I hope I have not offended you with how little I know. I would like to know more.

G-d bless you, and all those whom you love!

47 posted on 04/03/2015 3:08:31 PM PDT by Grateful2God (Because no word shall be impossible with God. And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord...)
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To: Grateful2God
Shalom Grateful! I am of Russian, partial Jewish descent. I was raised Catholic, I mean really Catholic: grammar school, high school, college,altar boy, commentator, spent 2 weeks in a convent and have been in the secret crypts below St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. I never knew anyone who had a vibrant, passionate relationship with G-d, except perhaps for a couple of Paulist nuns. My path to Judaism was a long journey that took me through politics, the Psychedelic Revolution, Yoga, Buddhism and Pentecostalism. The last item, Pentecostalism, was during the 'Jesus Movement' of the 70's. This was in California at a "Oneness" Church, at which I had a life changing experience and vision of G-d. That church culture stressed sincere spiritual experience, and personal holiness: separation from 'worldliness', modesty in dress. Abstenance from TV, Pop Culture, liquor, etc.. On a visit to my family in Brooklyn I realized that the Orthodox Jewish women dressed just like our Pentecostal girls. I remembered the Jewishness I was exposed to as a boy, and I instantly longed for it. So began my persuit of the Torah. The torah is the foundation of all hope for humanity. If had been done away with as my Catholic Church had said, what would we put in its place? The answer was, "the Beatitudes". That's from the 'Sermon on the Mount' but what they don't tell you is the end of the Sermon that the Master gave that day: "think not that I have come to destroy the Torah. I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or tittle shall pass from the Torah until all has been fulfilled. Therefore (in the future) whosoever breakes the least of the commandments and teaches others to do so shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven, buy whosoever keeps them and teaches others as well shall shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Something was wrong. The Churches say hat the Law has indeed been abolished. Or that we are now free to treat G-d's commandments like a sort of spiritual buffet, picking out those laws that pique our fancy. Cans Christianity, great as it was, is failing. Western Civilization is crumbling before our eyes, and the churches are powerless to stop it. How can this be if Yeshua said that his movement would conquer the very Gates of Hell? Something is missing. And I and people all over the world, from all kinds of traditions are discovering that what is missing is the Torah. This is the Messianic Jewish movement and it is restoring true followers of Yeshua (Jesus) to the Scriptures, the People, and the Land of Israel. When you sit at the feet of the Master and hear him speak in his proper Hebrew context, it's like " the L-rd came from Sinai.... With ten thousands of his holy ones...out from his Right Hand went a fiery Torah for them." The word becomes Fire. My prayer for you is that you would hear His voice, speaking from the fire, as He did to Moses, and said, "take off your shoes, for the ground upon which you stand is Holy."
53 posted on 04/04/2015 10:49:39 AM PDT by Torahman (Remember the Maccabees!)
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