-----Original Message-----
From: Shomeir
Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 12:56 AM
To: House of Israel Newsgroup
Subject: Christianity, the New Testament, and Moshiach

Shalom friends,

If you are still with me, maybe you’re ready for what I have to say now.  My list has stayed at the same number for more than a year.  It seems that all of the new subscribers are just replacing the ones who drop off the list because they have taken offense to something I wrote.  Well this is going to be another one of those “no-holds-barred” letters.

Christianity comes from only two sources: 1) Judaism; 2) Roman idol-worship (which encompasses all of the idolatry of the Roman Empire).  If you eliminate the idolatry, all you have left is Judaism.  Likewise, the New Testament comes from the same two sources.  There is no evidence that any of the New Testament books (with the exception of the original Hebrew gospel of Matthew) existed before the second century.  There is abundant evidence, however, that most of the New Testament was still being edited and modified during the second and third centuries and as late as the fifth century to conform to “church” doctrine.

Extensive comparison of the New Testament text with the Tanakh (Old Testament) and the Talmud reveals that at least 80% of the New Testament conforms to these (Jewish) sources.  It is, however, the other 20% from which nearly all Christian doctrine is derived.

A few attempts are currently underway to restore the original Gospel of Matthew from the 3 or 4 existing Hebrew manuscripts.  Unfortunately, these manuscripts are not free from revision and error; and the current “restorers” are not free from theological biases based on the “20% factor.”

The Roman idol-worshippers turned Rabbi Joshua ben Joseph (a.k.a. Jesus) into a god and the Nazarenes thought he was “Melech Moshiach ben David.”  The Nazarenes (the early followers of Rabbi Joshua ben Joseph) expected Rabbi Joshua to return from the dead and restore the “Kingdom of HaShem” (the Kingdom of Israel).

Many Jewish sects have believed that their rabbi would be “the Moshiach” even after the rabbi’s death.  The latest of these messianic sects is Chabbad-Lubavitch; many of whom believe that Rabbi Menachem Schneerson will return from the dead.

Stories of rabbis or tzadikim being connected with miraculous healings and other miracles are not uncommon in Judaism.  So what makes Rabbi Joshua ben Joseph different?

The life and teachings of Joshua ben Joseph spawned a movement which morphed into a new religion for the goyim (gentiles).  That new religion carried the Tanakh to the far ends of the earth to await the time when the “lost sheep of the House of Israel” would awaken and begin to return (t’shuva/repent) to the God of their fathers.  That time is now and Israel must abandon her lovers (idols) and return to her true husband (HaShem).  Know that He desires us more than we desire Him.  He is eager to forgive us and receive us back.

It is obvious, in retrospect, that Rabbi Joshua ben Joseph was Moshiach ben Joseph (mention in the Talmud and other Jewish writings).  Will he return to be Moshiach ben David as well? Or will Rabbi Schneerson return to be Moshiach ben David?  Or will it be another?  Only the coming of Moshiach will give us the answer.

May he come speedily in our day!

Kol tov,
Shomeir