Shalom, Shomeir ...

Here is the full text of the message sent to members of my former ministry support base.  This was forwarded by one of those people to Moshe K. and he has posted it twice in various cut and edited forms. All this after his email to me in which he said:

-in light of all this we cannot have you maintain ongoing contacts with UOTHMC groups. what would you suggest is the best way to do that?....I don't want to hurt you or your reputation.....but you also don't represent what the UOTHMC stands for...would you like to write a letter that I will post verbatim...a few sentences maybe? so that if any UOTHMC's write you or invite you they know full well what they are doing?

rm

Well, I did write my statement of "a few sentences" ... actually it was a page, but to my knowledge that was never posted only excerpted portions of my correspondence to a select group of people whom I wanted to forewarn and who I thought would at least allow for discussion.  Anyway, all this does not matter.  Elohim is using this for good ... Baruch Hashem!

Thank-you for forwarding the message and prayer request to your distribution list ... may the visiting Ephraimites leave Eretz Israel transformed and pliable in the Hand of the Potter.

Hadassah

----- Original Message -----
From: Wendy Lee Sutherland
To: Web Mail Distribution List
Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2003 11:29 AM
Subject: A breaking storm

Shalom, my friends .... I am forwarding to each of you a copy of an email which I wrote this morning to someone else, but which will, I pray, explain to each of you the situation which is unfolding via email as Rabbi Moshe has preempted the posting my own words/letter, which he asked me to write following accepting my resignation from the UOTHMC last week.  As a result, there is much confusion and innuendo flying ... this is unfortunate, but it obviously must come to pass.  I pray that what I am sharing from my heart below will clarify matters for you, if not comfort you.

Before you read this, allow me to state emphatically that I am fully aware of what the Scriptures say with respect to the responsibility of teachers and shepherds and the judgment of YHWH Elohim upon those teachers and shepherds who teach falsehood ... and I have always and continue to stand in fear of YHWH in this respect, but I have peace within me with respect to my present, yet continuing to evolve beliefs concerning the person and the role of Y'shua.  My understanding of this, and particularly of what the Hebrew originals of the Word of YHWH say about Messiah will, I know, evolve in the future, just as each one of you can look back over your lives and marvel at how your own spiritual walk has evolved and continues to evolve.

In my most recent update, I quoted an ancient prayer with respect to seeking truth and not being content with half-truth, or afraid of new truth, or thinking that we know all truth.  For each of us this search for truth should never end.  Herbert Spencer once wrote, "There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation."  In fact I quoted this in my resignation letter to the UOTHMC Board of Rabbis.

We are commanded in Torah to guard the commands of Elohim, to cling to them, to speak of them, to study them ... The depth and width and height of His Truth is limitless.  I cannot fault myself or anyone else for seeking to know and weigh and discern truth ... no one of us has all the answers, only Elohim.

The following will at least give you an insight into my journey over the past year and my position at present.  I pray that it will not be a dividing wall between us.  I had hoped to have a bit more time before making a public statement ... given that I have been working around the clock on Ephraimite Encounter tour preparations and the many meetings that YHWH has appointed that Bruce Brill and I should attend relative to the larger picture of the future regathering of Ephraim to the Land and the people of Israel.  Unfortunately, the blessing of being able to "chose my time" for when I was personally ready and prepared to "make a statement" has been taken out of my control.  Suffice it to say, I have been on a journey seeking for Truth and a better understanding of the Scriptures and that journey is not over, nor should it be for anyone of us.  We cannot exhaust the Truth of Elohim.  We have all been "under a veil" of exile with clearly stated judgments which had to play out during the time of that exile.  Truly everything that can be shaken is being shaken in these days ... I just question whether we have been holding onto remnants of veiled exile misunderstandings and partial truths that perhaps YHWH would shake away from us as He prepares us to once again be "sons (and daughters) of the Living Elohim" and His witnesses that He alone is El, there is none other.

May the Elohim of all truth and wisdom guide your understanding as you read the following excerpt from an email written earlier this morning.

B'Shem YHWH,

Hadassah

Excerpt as follows:

Firstly, let me say that I do not deny what YHWH has done in and through Y'shua.  I cannot deny how I was introduced to YHWH the Creator through the testimony of Y'shua, how his testimony brought me to study Yah's Word, has preserved the Remnant of Beit Yisrael and brought us back to the Ketubah of Torah.  I simply no longer believe that he was Elohim.  I cannot find sufficient evidence to support the concept of virgin birth, which also has so much proliferation in pagan worship since the earliest times.  That Y'shua lived and died, was a human being, a teacher of Torah, a Tzaddik (whom the rabbis have always taught are a literal manifestation of Torah in the flesh) and "anointed/mashiach" for a wondrous and specific purpose unto the exiled House of Israel to seek them out and preserve a Remnant of their seed unto the time of the end of the 2730 years of being "Yezreel, Lo-Ruchamah and Lo-Ammi" ... this I do believe and praise YHWH for, YHWH Who will not give His esteem to any other.  The Scriptures make it clear that YHWH and YHWH alone is the Savior and that we are to have no other elohim besides/before Him.  The concept of a duality of powers is something that I now have a difficult time reconciling with the Sh'ma.  Also, as I have searched the Scriptures looking to the Hebrew text, I cannot find where it says that Messiah would be Elohim or have to be Elohim, or that blood atonement is the only means of atonement (this was specified in Leviticus for specific sins, not all), yet it does say many times, in many ways, the equivalent of "If My people, upon whom My Name is called, shall humble themselves, turn from their wicked ways and seek My Face, I shall hear their prayer and heal their Land."  In fact, there is not one place in all of the Hebrew Scriptures were the words "haMashiach" (The Messiah) appear.   Instead there are clear references to an anointed one from the House of David and inferences to an anointed servant who would suffer (this one being referred to in various rabbinic writings as Messiah Ben Yosef ... yet these words do not appear in Scripture either ... and if we look to the "foreshadowing" of the Patriarch Yosef, especially in Bereshith 45, we see that "Yosef" did not reveal himself to his brothers until the very end ... they did not recognize him until he revealed himself and yet it was OK, as Yosef himself assured them.  Hence the rabbis teach that the identity of Messiah Ben Yosef will not be revealed until the Messianic Age.  With respect to the Kabbalistic teachings that I used to adhere to regarding the central pillar of the Sefirotic Tree being the lesser Elohim, I am having a difficult time reconciling my previous understanding with the Tanach as well ... the Torah admonition of D'varim 29:28 which says that "The secret things belong to YHWH, Eloheynu, but that which has been revealed is ours and our children's forever:  To carry out all the words of this Torah."   This has spoken much to me of late ... especially as I see "Jerusalem Syndrome" at work here in the Land and have now met/learned of four people who used to or presently think that they are Messiah.

Secondly, please be assured that the Ephraimite Encounter tour itinerary has not been designed in any way, shape or form to proselytize on behalf of Judaism or to try to influence participants with respect to their understanding of Messiah.  It has been prepared only to enable Ephraim to experience the heart and mind of Jews from many walks of life, and, so importantly, to introduce Joe to Jew and vice versa.

Some of you may feel that you have been betrayed ... truly, there was no intent.   As I was wrestling with all this inside me, I simply did not wish to share it with anyone until I straightened out between myself, YHWH and the Word what I was feeling and thinking.  I did not want to cause anyone alarm.  I did not even tell my own daughter until this week.  Over the past month, YHWH has brought a good number of people across my path who I respect as teachers/seekers of Truth ... people who have been going through the same struggle and search as I have, and who have come to the same conclusion ... all this independent of each other.  This change in thinking is so earth-shaking and frightening you do not wish to discuss it with anyone until you have worked it through for yourself.

To know that I have hurt friends who have been as family, grieves me more than I can say.  I try to avoid this at all costs.  I intended to talk to you personally or email about all this before the Arutz-7 interview would be aired, because it was originally not supposed to air for three weeks ... I was surprised that they decided to air it so soon after telling me that it would be later.  I did not agree to the interview intending to talk about Y'shua at all, but when the program host asked the direct question concerning my beliefs, I could not lie as to the place where the past year of searching and wrestling to reconcile the original Hebrew Scriptures with the later translations/Brit Chadasha has taken me.  To lie would be to sin, to evade would be to deceive.  This has not been an easy journey.

 I fear the warnings in Scripture concerning false shepherds and teachers.  My insides have been tied in knots for some months now as I cried out "Please, YHWH, show me truth, do not allow me to teach error, if what I am thinking is not true, please, YHWH, show me."   I studiously avoided teaching on/discussing Yahshua throughout the summer tour as I wrestled with all this, yet every time, in every location almost, someone or more, would come up to me after the presentations with the request, "Can I talk to you about something ...?"   And they would begin to share that they were on the very spiritual quest/inner turmoil that I was.

I do not nor do I intend to proselytize anyone on this ... if YHWH moves in someone's heart and mind, that is between them and YHWH.  I simply thank YHWH for what He did to "save me" unto this day through Y'shua as a human vessel anointed and enabled by YHWH to perform a miraculous act of compassionate preservation unto the House of Israel and to give all the world an wondrous example of truly living in accordance with Torah.  YHWH brought us back to the Kebutah of Torah by means of Y'shua, who as a Tzaddik, manifested Torah in his very flesh, but the Husband who will consummate the marriage is the Eternal Father YHWH.  The precedent for a father consummating the marriage of a son is given in the Biblical account of Yehudah and Tamar ... yet the "son" does not have to be Elohim, nor can a son also be the one and the same being as his father.  It is by this means that YHWH brings the divorced bride of Ephraim back without breaking His Torah regarding divorce.  YHWH used Y'shua to "betroth", but YHWH will consummate the marriage with His restored, original bride of Kol Israel as represented in the two brides of Ya'akov/Israel:  Leah and Rachel.

I am not trying to proselytize you, I am simply attempting to explain (as briefly as possible) because you are deserve an explanation.  I should also tell you that it makes Bruce Brill very uncomfortable when I share with anyone regarding my present understanding concerning Y'shua ... he does not want me to try to influence people, and I don't try to, but if asked directly what I believe, then I have to answer in order to be truthful.

Our work here as tools of Yah to re-introduce Jew to Joe and help Ephraim understand Judah and vice versa is not a work of proselytization in any way, it is a "tachlis"/brass tacks work with the support and cooperation of key rabbis and organizations here in Israel .... this is something that Norman Willis' self-styled initiative does not have.  The only way that this support and favour could even exist is by the very Hand and Providence of The Almighty.  In fact, Norman needs to be careful ... any attempts to "rally the troops" and "force" recognition or Ephraimite halacha down the throats of the spiritual and political authority structures here in Israel will be met with swift defeat and will seriously hinder attempts at a genuine, gradual, Yah-directed process of re-introduction, discussion, reconciliation and working towards acceptance and unity/accord.  Norman is pleasant to the face of the rabbis here but then attacks them in his emails ... they are aware of this and they do not appreciate it.  It does not demonstrate credibility or sincerity.  In fact, he is regarded as "insane".

Please believe me ... there has been no intent nor desire to withhold or deceive anyone.  I have been on a very tumultuous journey for the past year and did not want to share that journey with anyone until I had my own changing beliefs sorted out.  You know, because you can feel it yourself, how frightening it was for me to even consider the things which I now simply state as how I understand what YHWH has done in Y'shua.  I had to be certain of my own understanding before I could share the change in my beliefs with anyone.  YHWH alone is Truth and I had to seek Truth and affirmation of Truth from Him.  I do not deny the existence of historical Y'shua of Nazareth in any way, shape or form, nor do I deny how YHWH has used him and the testimony of his life and teachings, I simply feel that Chr-stianity has distorted, tampered, forged and twisted the historical and Scriptural records to serve their own purposes and to create a powerful system of idolatry that has tragically and cleverly concealed the ancient supernatural birth/triune/dual man/g-d religion of Nimrod and Tammuz.  I think what YHWH has done through Y'shua is wondrous ... as is what He has done through the Patriarchs, Moshe, David, Solomon and the Prophets.  He and He alone deserves all praise and all worship.

YHWH spoke through Yirmeyahu in three places wherein He commands the House of Israel to "return to the ancient paths, where the good way is, where you will find rest for your soul", to "return the way you went, O maiden of Israel".  In Yeshayahu, He says, "in returning and rest is your strength, in quietness and trust is your deliverance", and "To the Torah and to the testimony (of the Prophets)!  If they do not speak according to this, it is because they have no daybreak".  In Yehezqel, He says that "ten men" shall "take hold" of a Jew, saying "Let us go with you, we have heard that Elohim is with you."  And in Amos, He promises to "raise up the sukkah of David which has fallen down".  What were the "ancient ways" that the House of Israel left?  What did they leave behind in favour of gentile worship?  What do the Torah and the Prophets tell us about how Israel was commanded to worship YHWH?  If Elohim is "with the Jews" and the returning "ten tribes" are commanded to "take hold" of them ... then what does this mean, especially given that they have given their lives over the ages to guard Torah and monotheistic worship since ancient times.  Are the Jews faultless?  Of course not, but they have guarded and walked in Torah for the thousands of years that we have not, therefore they can only be expected to have a level of understanding concerning worship of YHWH that Ephraim could not know during their exile, because they were to be "without compassion" and "not My people" ... we could not know the fullness of who we truly were, and since we had desired gentile ways, YHWH said through Yirmeyahu that He would give us "wormwood" and "poisoned water" and scatter us .... we would have distorted and deceptive doctrines during the time that the veil of our exile of righteous judgment would run its course.  In His abundant mercy, He did not overwhelm or overload us as we awakened and, as babes, began our return journey to Him, to Torah, to understanding who we are.  He is the Master of progressive revelation ... feeding us milk, then soft foods, and working up to spiritual meat.  He takes Ephraim by the arms and teaches him to walk, as He said through Hoshea ... and yet, as Hoshea wrote, even as YHWH would be teaching Ephraim to walk, Ephraim would not recognize that it was Him.

I did not intend to write so much ... but perhaps it is best.  Again, I am not trying to persuade you to change what you believe.  I respect your and your position/calling/mission.  You are used and will continue to be used mightily of YHWH.  I am simply trying to explain where I am at spiritually because you do deserve to know.  You are truly "family" to me, and I grieve that this has had to happen in this manner.  In an email sent Thursday, Rabbi Moshe told me he would not do this, rather he would allow me to write a letter to explain my position, which he would then "post verbatim".  I intended to email you before that letter was sent to Moshe so that you would know first.  Instead, Moshe has done what he promised me he would not ... as such he has effectively hindered an objective reception of anything I might decide to write.  This is unfortunate and unfair.

I earnestly beseech YHWH that the bond of unity between us not be broken over this.   I will tell you, however, that Yah's Hand is obvious and moving in the midst of the "storm".  Yesterday, I did not have time to check emails more than once with Shabbat and Sukkot preparations.  This morning, Bruce let me know first thing that he had had a dream during the night in which I was attempting to send out an email, but that other emails had gone out before mine and were preventing my email from being received.  I went to my computer and beheld a spectacle exactly as foreshadowed in Bruce's dream.  Selah.  Has Yah forsaken me because I have denied Him?  I think not.  I pray that you will not forsake me either.

"In that day there shall be one YHWH and His Name shall be One."

In the fellowship and service of YHWH Echad, the Eternal Creator and the Elohim of Israel.

Hadassah

Wendy Sutherland

Wendy Lee Sutherland
TORAH & TRUE ACCOUNTS