The Anti - Believers Agenda
By Rabbi Aminidav Ben Avraham Hinton-
Mind Changing Ministries Beit Yeshua
1/10/08 Http://sites.kindweb.com/mcmcongregation
1 Peter 4:16
yet if any man suffer as Messianic , let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify Hashem on this behalf.
There seems to be an age old animosity amongst the Jews and Christians that Hashem would want to convert the gentles or goys/ ger-toshav as they are called by them under such prejudices seem to be persistent of I am first-not you Gentiles- such pride and arrogances has caused us to be separated- Things said as that’s gentile, we are heathens, selected religious racial bigotry, reading a book recently it addressed the Jew is first and that we should be witnessing to them first since there first. I never understand why we the Jews and Christian do not work as one. I do not mean I'm in any way in agreement to christian theology-
The concept is how else will the goyim come to learn the truth of there jewish messiah but through messianic evangelizm.Yes the Jewish people are first, We should all love them as first and don’t care rather we fit in third, fourth, eightieth, whatever as long as we have Yeshua > However the concept of them being first as scriptures declare and how they are using that as a catalyst of arrogances and argument is not the way to draw these Christians to become Messianic- catch the fish and then clean them, the term was suppose to be understand, If I defer from acting as if one race of people is greater than another that does not make me Anti-Semitic it makes me recognize the truth that we are all equal in th eyes of Yeshua-
Isaiah 62
1For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
2And the Gentiles(Non-Believers) shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
3Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
4Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
5For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.
6I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,
Hashem has not made us a strange people anymore, We are all Jews- We have not replaced the Jews as being the church we are related, blood connected> We are Messianic Jewish Believers- thou they that call themselves Christians don't know the connection just yet
Malachi 1:11
For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; (Non-Believers)and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts
Micah 5:8
And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles(None-Believers) in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
John 7:35
Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?
Acts 13:42
And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles (Non-Believers) besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.
Acts 14:2
But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.
Acts 14:5
And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them,
Acts 21:11
And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
Acts 21:21
And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
Romans 2:9
Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
Romans 2:10
But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: (Non-Believers)
Romans 3:9
What then? Are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
Romans 3:29
Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
Romans 9:24
Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
1 Corinthians 10:32
Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
1 Corinthians 12:13
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond(Captive-in prisons) or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (Were equal-you see)
Galatians 2:14
But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
Galatians 2:15
We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles
I can understand now working with Jewish believers first hand and the many emails I receive weekly and monthly from them and the condescending comments toward Christians, The Christians killed the Jew- Christians did not kill the Jews, people who labeled themselves as Christians killed the Jews-Thou we do not believe in Christianity nor was it in the original Hebraic bible- let them call themselves Christian or whatever- just witness truth until they lose this pagan title- such as Hitler who pronounced himself as a Christian and others-
I had nothing to do with any of that, I certainly do not ascribe that all of us Jews are bad or that all so called Christians are Christian at all. There are some who get it right like Messianic Rabbi Frank Lowinger who considers us equal
Romans 1. 16-
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Yeshua Ha'Mashiach, for it is the power of Hashem unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek
For- Yeshua came to his own and many of them rejected him- It was never his will that we would hold prejudices, envy and despitefully misuse each other- we should focus on drawing both Jews and Gentles-
The Jewish believers have pronounced
Anti Antisemitism against those who abuse them or curse them, but the Jews and Christians do the same amongst themselves.
Anti Antisemitism and Anti- Christian- This was never God’s intentions> no one wants to work with people who ridicule them, bashing & slandering is being committed toward all Christian and The Jews are one family and that family is one, It is true thou once the person who names them selves as Christian once they are drawn teach them Torah and they will seek greater truths and will become messianic instead of observing a belief with pagan ties.not separations and divisions and issues and isms- God does not want us separated by our hatred and anger- pride has separated the first fruits.
I will prove that God called the gentle (Non-Believers ) In the Old Testament later in this teaching and then in the NT- from gentile to Messianic-
What’s the fuss about anyway!
We are both God’s creatures/creation- The Jew was not created first- Adam and chavah were not Jewish there the first persons- Yeshua saved a women before he died that was a gentile- The Samaritan women-
John 4.1-26 proves that she believed and she spread the word to others and they believed also- That’s conversion- Yeshua did that with a gentile women before his resurrection- He talked to a women who was a samaritan the other Jews would not have given her a chance but Yeshua did- This same hatred is here, What can you do with that scripture it clearly shows Yeshua told her about her sins and she was cleansed of them and believed
Evidence:
The designation of the early followers of moshiach as people of the way was initiated by the non-Christian population of Antioch(Jews) (Acts 11:26), and originally it was probably a term of mocking or derision by the Romans – they mocked them saying "little Christ’s." Eventually, however, Christians used it as a name of honor, not of shame (Acts 26:28; I Peter 4:16). Prior to their adoption of the name, the Christians called themselves believers (Acts 5:14), Yehudim Meshichim -brothers (Acts 6:3), or saints (Acts 9:13), names which also continued to be used…."
The earliest recorded use of the term outside the Bible was when Tacitus recorded that Nero blamed the "Christians" for the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64.
As a noun, Christian (Gr. Χριστιανός and variant Χρηστιανός, Strong's G5546) is an appellation deriving from the name "Christ" and is derived from the Greek noun Christos which means "anointed one," itself a translation of the Hebrew word Moshiach or "Messiah."
Semite: son of Noah, a member of any of the people speaking a semitic language.
Semitic: designation of the Semites or their language- a major group of Africa and Asian, Hebrew languages
Anti-Christian: Anti- a person opposed to something- Racial prejudices, rivaling, religious indifferences
Bible Dictionary-
The disciples, we are told Acts 11:26 were first called messianic at Antioch( Jewish area) on the Orontes, somewhere about A.D. 43 They were known to each other and amongst themselves as Brethren Acts 15.1,23; 1 Cor 7:12- disciples –Acts 9:26;11:29 believers, Acts 5:14; saints Rom 8:27; 15:25 The name messianic which in the other cases where it appears in the NT is Acts 26:28- 1 Peter 4:16 is used contemptuously could not have been applied by the early disciples to themselves, but was imposed on the gentle world . There is no reason to suppose that the name “Christian” of itself was intended as a term of scurrility or abuse, thought it would naturally be used with contempt –Vines Dictionary-
Why would it be considered scurrility?
Because the Romans mocked them, some of the Jews mocked us, and felt Paul abandoned the Jews for us gentles over his own people the Jews as we will cover momentarily
Here in this scripture 1 Peter 4:16
yet if any man suffer as messianic , let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
Romans 1.16> Paul went to the Jews first on his missions and then to the gentile goys he never neglected reaching his Jewish brothers over the goys- He first preached in the synagogues, He was converted in 34 AD which can be viewed or traced back to Acts 9- He was called to The Gentile serving but not in neglecting his own brethrens- ten years after Saul’s conversion the Jews at Antioch separated Barnabas and Saul for the work where Hashem called them Paul sailed with Barnabus to Cyprus a large island in the Eastern Mediterranean- according to Acts 11:20 there were already Messianics there> Salamis was not only the largest city there at that island but there were many synagogues there- Acts 13:5 follows as read:
Acts 13:5 (King James Version)
5 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister. From salamis Paul and barnabus went to the capital city of Paphos a pagan stronghold for the worship of Venus, the roman goddess of love- a pagan city mostly- through all his missions 1st,2nd,3rd he taught Jews and gers- Gentiles together no scrupulous divisions between the two Jews alone and ger a secondary believers without equal rights to the same Hashem- Rav. shaul wanted to bring the pagan people in, teach them and then they became messainic. Yes there are many Christians/as they term themselves who are ignorant about the correct Jesus- Yeshua, doctrines, feast, festivals, through past down denominationalism and men who do hate Jews- who feel they replaced the Jews and have spread that lie and further corroder the feud on both sides guiltiness
Acts 13:46
46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you(Jews): but seeing ye put it from you,(Did not want Jesus) and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life,(I am first I don’t need Yeshua) lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
Here in this next scripture the Jewish people and ger are united no divisions-
Acts 14
1And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both(united) together into the synagogue of the Jews,(Jew and Gentle) and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed. No controversy!!!!!
Acts 28:28
28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles,(Non-Believers) and that they will hear it. We won’t disregard it or deny the jewish people because we share the same God now
There are many Jewish Messianic ministries that seem to isolate themselves and draw to the Jews and leave the gentile to themselves-
It is our jobs together for the Christian Churches to draw to the Jews and become Messianic Rabbis and Congregations from paganism to torah. It is the job of the Jewish fellowships to draw Jews and Christians- We are the same- There is neither Jew nor gentle-We share the same blood line, We have the same Patriarchs, We follow the same Torah-
It reminds me of a crusade during the summer- some 3,000 people were saved- each pastor received contact information of the new converts- each pastor received numerous cards of the peoples(Gentiles) and when it came time for the Rabbi to take his cards he did not want them(US) He mentioned he only wanted those who were Jewish who came and received Yeshua-
I looked and said nothing with such disdainment in my heart- Why- we are the same- we need to stop this Hatred, Separationalism and just be one people
Genesis12. Shows us that through Abraham that all nations (Who so ever will)would be blessed in him- It is the fulfillment in Yeshua centuries later-
But Gentiles were saved in the OT- Who would later be Messianic:
People that don’t believe that God wanted to save Gentiles need to look in the Old Testament at the exodus story for starter Exodus 9:16
Exodus16 And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
( any one can have Hashem now)
Even the plagues to the parting of the Sea of Reed was done not only so to show God’s anger but so that the whole world Jews and Gentles alike would hear about The God of Israel-
Exodus 14: 4- 4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD(Gentile). And they did so.
God’s plagues demonstrated his mercy- God could have started out killing the first born of Egypt but he did not do it that way- God reached out to the pagans and he wanted them to know He was the Lord. That chapter shows that. Even amongst the Jews own Passover God illustrated that the ger or gentile is to do as the Jewish brothers do
Exodus 12:48
48And when a stranger(Gentile) shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land as one born in the land) for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
These strangers were Egyptians who saw the miracles of God and come to believe at least some in the God of Israel-
Another instance:
Joshua 2:9-
9And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you-
Rahab a gentile harlot- The Spies of Canaan of Joshua came to see the land and she placed them in her house for protection and safe guard from danger- perhaps rahab could have turned them in.
The scripture above mentioned already shows she believed in there God- God’s plans worked with this Gentile women who was a harlot mind you- in Joshua 6:17-25 When the city of Jericho fell Rahab was saved and she became the wife of salmon, a prince of the tribe of Judah-
In Jericho, a prostitute named Rahab assisted Israelite spies. The spies, in return for the information, promised to save her and her family during the planned military invasion as long as she fulfilled her part of the deal by keeping the details of the contact with them secret and leaving a sign on her residence that would be a marker for the advancing soldiers to avoid. She keeps her word by hiding the spies when the city guard come to her house looking for them; they kept their word by sparing her family after taking the city. When the people of Israel conquered Canaan she left prostitution, joined the Jewish people and became an honorable married woman. She is the subject of a discussion in one section of the Talmud discussions- Hebrews 11 mentions her as faithful-
Hebrew 11: 31-By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
In the genealogy in Matthew 1:5 she is mentioned
Solomon spoke of Gentiles worshiping with the Jews:
In 1 Kings 8:41-43-
41Moreover concerning a stranger,(Gentile- later in NT) that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake;
42(For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm when he shall come and pray toward this house;
43Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.
44If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name:
45Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
46If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;
47Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
They would not pray in that manner unless Gentiles was coming and expected to come, When Herods temple was later built it had two courts one intended for the Israelites only and the other a large outer court called The court of the gentiles intended for the use of strangers of all nations-
There can be no doubt that the stone thus discovered was one of those originally placed on the boundary wall which separated the Jews from the Gentiles.
It is of importance to notice that the word rendered "sanctuary" in the inscription was used in a specific sense of the inner court, the court of the Israelites, and is the word rendered "temple" in John 2:15 and Acts 21:28, 29. When Paul speaks of the middle wall of partition (Eph. 2:14), he probably makes allusion to this dividing wall. Within this partition wall stood the temple proper, consisting of:
1. the court of the women, 8 feet higher than the outer court
2. 10 feet higher than this court was the court of Israel
3. the court of the priests, again 3 feet higher
4. the temple floor, 8 feet above that
Thus in all 29 feet above the level of the outer court.
The summit of Mount Moriah, on which the temple stood, is now occupied by the Haram esh-Sherif, i.e., "the sacred enclosure." This enclosure is about 1,500 feet from north to south, with a breadth of about 1,000 feet, covering in all a space of about 35 acres. About the center of the enclosure is a raised platform, 16 feet above the surrounding space, and paved with large stone slabs, on which stands the Islamic mosque called Kubbet es-Sahkra i.e., the "Dome of the Rock," or the Mosque of Omar. This mosque covers the site of Solomon's temple. In the center of the dome there is a bare, projecting rock, the highest part of Moriah (q.v.), measuring 60 feet by 40, standing 6 feet above the floor of the mosque, called the sahkra, i.e., "rock."
Over this rock the altar of burnt-offerings stood. It was the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. The exact position on this "sacred enclosure" which the temple occupied has not been yet definitely ascertained. Some affirm that Herod's temple covered the site of Solomon's temple and palace, and in addition enclosed a square of 300 feet at the southwestern angle. The temple courts thus are supposed to have occupied the southern portion of the "enclosure," forming in all a square of more than 900 feet. It is argued by others that Herod's temple occupied a square of 600 feet at the southwest of the "enclosure."
If it was not intended for the use of strangers- Gentiles of all the nations, if salvation had not yet appeared to the gentiles also why did they need a whole court for them at the Temple?
This temple was constructed before Pentecost and even before Yeshua sent his disciples to the nations-
2 Kings 17:27-28-
27Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.
28Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.
(A Gentile Assyrian King) sent for a Jewish Priest to teach the people about our God Hashem
Take a look at Ruth(Gentile) when the husband had died, Naomi- Ruth’s mother in law Ruth said –
Ruth 1-
15And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.
16And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
17Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
18When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.
19So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?
20And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
21I went out full and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?
22So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
Ruth eventually married a rich relative named Boaz and became the mother of Obed, the grandfather of David, Ruth a gentile is among the maternal progenitors of the Lord.
If salvation was not ready for the Gentile:
Why did Hashem send Jonah to the gentiles of the gentile land of Nineveh one of Israel’s worst enemies? Jonah did not want to go –The last verse in the book God says to Jonah And should not I spare Nineveh that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand and also much cattle God had mercy and compassion on those Gentiles
Jewish people are not so innocent:
There are many Jewish men even while serving the retold stories of Egypt who were apart of The slavery of the Blacks- they owned black men- heres the evidence Jews Were Masters in High Percentages, Says U.S. Census
According to the U.S. Census of 1830 a majority of Southern Jews owned Black Slaves. Ira Rosenwaike, a respected Jewish authority who has published Jewish population studies, has revealed that as many as 75% of the 322 Southern Jewish households held Black men, women and children as slaves. Rosenwaike is quoted on page 180 of the book, The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews. " In Charleston, Richmond, and Savannah," he continues, "the overwhelming proportion (over four fifths) of the Jewish households contained one or more slaves; in New Orleans over three-fifths were slaveholders; in Baltimore, less than one-fifth." Nationwide, "probably close to two-fifths of the Jewish families of 1820 owned slaves…"
Even more striking, in 1890 when slavery was abolished, two-thirds of all the Jewish families in the United States had at least one servant. Until the release of the Nation of Islam study, Jewish leaders had always denied that Jews owned slaves and had fed the popular belief that Jews had only arrived in the United States as poor immigrants in 1870.
God had nothing to do with slavery that was mans own Hatreds never the less it is obvious that God’s work was not exclusively for the Jews in the Old Testament
Further evidence of Jews apart of Black Slavery and owning us black people- Some of the names apart of it: This isn’t Anti-Semitism it’s facts-
Could the hatred spewed from this be pointed to us because they call themselves Christians a great part of it’s population of the earth are now Black and Spanish speaking people who hold the majority of the percentages as being Christians- could such an early hatred be the same reasons why we are not liked today? I hope not
Jews and the Black Holocaust
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor."
All of the following "Chosen People" are confirmed to have participated in the Black African slave trade. According to their own literature, each one is a prominent historical figure and most are highly regarded and respected by Jews themselves. Even the most prominent of Jewish Americans never voiced any reservation whatsoever about this practice. Writes Rabbi Bertram W. Korn, "it is realistic to conclude that any Jew who could afford to own slaves [and needed them] would do so." In fact, "Jews participated in every aspect and process of the exploitation of the defenseless blacks." Here, in alphabetical order, is an annotated listing of just a few of those.
The terms buy, own and sell, and derivatives thereof, in connection with the commerce in Black people, will be used with reservation and primarily for convenience of the reader. In no way should the reader infer sanction of these activities, which are wholly illegal and immoral crimes against humanity, by the use of the terminology of legitimate commercial transactions. Also, the term slave refers to the African men, women and children who were forcibly entrapped in dehumanizing conditions for the profit of others. We do not accept such a term as descriptive of their character or nature, only of their circumstance.]
Joseph Ottolenghe emigrated from London in 1752 for the purpose of teaching Black people a false version of Christianity while himself, holding slaves and plantations.
Jacob Ottolengui was a Charleston Jew who claimed to hold about 1000 Black African men, women and children who worked his rice plantation near the Savannah River. An 1857 advertisement in the Charleston Courier offered for sale the below listed:
Valuable Negros...
November, aged about 65, a carpenter
Jane, aged 30, a market woman
Jane, aged 25, a cook and house servant
Joseph, aged 30, a drayman (horse carriage driver)
Billy, aged 26, a drayman
Sandy, aged 26, a drayman
The above negros can be seen at my office, 22 Broad street, and treated for at private sale, previous to the day of sale...
Esther Pachecho of St. Michael, Barbados, owned and bequeathed "one negro woman named Quasheba & her increase" to her daughter to her & her heirs "forever."
Rebecca Pachecho owned four slaves in 1680 in Barbados.
Rodrigo Pacheco; In May of 1732, he instructed his partner to load their vessel (probably the Albany or the Leghorn) in New York with "choice flour, bread, pork, pease, tarr, staves and what more else is proper"; to proceed then to Jamaica to sell the cargo and take "Sugar, Rum, Limejuice, Negros and Cash to the value of about £800"; then on to South Carolina to exchange for rice to then sail to Lisbon.360 Ann Evits bequeathed a "negro girl" to him in her will.
Joseph de Palacios of New Orleans, Louisiana, bought a plantation called Lis Loy near Mobile, Alabama in around 1765 in partnership with two other Jews, Samuel Israel and Alexander Solomons using three of their Black captives as collateral.
David Pardo of New York purchased five Africans at a public auction in Curaçao in June of 1701.
Sara Lopez [also Sarra Lopes] Pardo of New Orleans, owned an African whom she named "Martine."
Moses Petaete was noted as the owner of a "negro."
Moses H. Penso left 403 slaves including 53 house slaves to his Jewish wife.
Thomas Nunez de Peralta owned a slave named "Sebastion Domingo," alias "Munguia."
Manuel Bautista Perez was arrested in Lima in 1639 by the authorities of the Spanish Inquisition. Historian Frederick Bowser wrote that Perez
may well have been the wealthiest merchant in Peru at the time of his arrest and who certainly dominated the colony's slave trade....At the time of his arrest Perez had accumulated a fortune of close to half a million pesos and had begun diverting his assets from trade to more gentlemanly pursuits, including silver mines in Huarochiri and plantations around Lima.
Isaac Pesoa (1762-1809) of Philadelphia is considered by Jews to be a humanitarian. Although he arranged to have his captives liberated, he reserved the right to keep them as indentured servants.
Alexander Phillips (d. 1839) of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, held captive four Blacks in 1820 and ten in 1830, according to the United States census. At the time of his death he held 3 Africans valued at $900.
Jonas Phillips (1736-1803) was born in Germany and moved to Philadelphia where he was an advocate of religious equality at the Constitutional Convention while enslaving an African woman named "Phillis." He was a fur trader, auctioneer and Mason and was the first president of the reorganized Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia.
Isaac Pinheiro (d. 1710); A prominent New York merchant and plantation owner in Charleston, he enslaved at least 14 Black humans including some who he named "Bastiano," "Andover," "Sharlow," "Tom," "Mingo," "Piero," "Ventura," "Toby," "Peter," "Manuel," "Will," "Jack," "Cattoc," "Lewisa," "Doggu," "Fanshow," "Black Sarah," and "Maria." On February 13, 1707, his wife Elizabeth [Esther] purchased from Lord Cornbury for £40, "a Negro woman called Bastiana." Pinheiro stipulated in his will that no one should disturb his heirs "from the quiet peaceable possession and enjoyment of the said Negroes."
To my son Moses £100 when 18 years of age and a negro boy....I leave to my sons Jacob and Moses a certain Plantation...also a cafemill now standing on the Plantation...with 14 negroes...and by a deed of gift some years past, I gave to my son Jacob and my son Abraham, 7 negroes, 3 of whom are dead and lost by the late French invasion, and the other 4 are now in my possession....I leave to my wife Elizabeth [Esther] the use of all the above named Plantation and negroes and mill until my son Moses is of age.
Jorge Homen Pinto was a Brazilian planter and one of the settlement's wealthiest Jews. He owned nine sugar mills in 1650 with at least 370 Black African slaves.
Myer Pollack of eighteenth century Newport, Rhode Island was, according to Jewish historian Max J. Kohler, "heavily interested in the West India trade in molasses, which was brought from there to Newport, manufactured into rum in the latter place, and exported to Africa, the vessels commonly returning to the West Indies with slaves."
Solomon Polok was a member of a prestigious Philadelphia family, and worked as an overseer on a Mobile, Alabama plantation in the late 1830s.
Diogo Dias Querido, of Amsterdam, was reportedly involved in "large-scale operations on the west coast of Africa," employing 10 ships and "many smaller ships and boats." He held "several Negro slaves" whom he trained to be interpreters of African languages for his operation. In 1611, the authorities of the Inquisition charged Querido with instructing the Africans in, and converting them to, Judaism.
B. L. Ramirez owned Indian slaves and was factotum of his Mexico City synagogue.
Moses Raphael was a commercial lawyer and owner of a plantation called Esquiline Hill near Columbus, Georgia. Forty-seven Blacks raised peaches and plums for him in chattel slavery.
Solomon Raphael of Richmond held Blacks captive named "Pricilla," "Sylvia," and her child "Nelly."
Rabbi Morris Jacob Raphall of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in New York was America's most prominent rabbi. He gave a sermon on January 4, 1861 which was used extensively by Jews and Christians in their defense of slavery. Raphall said, in part:
...it remains a fact which cannot be gainsaid that in his own native home, and generally throughout the world, the unfortunate negro is indeed the meanest of slaves. Much had been said respecting the inferiority of his intellectual powers, and that no man of his race has ever inscribed his name on the Parthenon of human excellence, either mental or moral.
Samuel Reese worked with the notorious Davis brothers in their slave dealings.
Zalma Rehine (1757-1843) of Richmond, "became the nucleus around which the first Jewish congregation in the state was formed." According to the 1830 census, he owned 2 slaves.
Pedro Gomez Reinal was granted the exclusive right to import slaves into the colonies by King John IV of Portugal. The contract contained a clause permitting Gomez to have two Portuguese on his ship who would be in charge of the sale of the Africans and do anything else necessary "among the people of the sea."
Judith Risson of Barbados, owned two slaves in 1680.
Jacob Rodriguez Rivera (1717-1789) was the president of the Newport, Rhode Island's Congregation Jeshuat Israel in 1760, notorious African slave dealer and was considered to be the second wealthiest Jew behind his son-in-law Aaron Lopez. His diverse connections included work with the Monsantos of New Orleans as well as with Samuel Moses and Isaac Elizer to outfit slave ships with leg irons and handcuffs and other hardware of
bondage. At his home he had twelve slaves serving six people.
Gaspar de Robles was born in Portugal and was raised by his aunt and uncle. When he was fourteen:
his uncles, Vicente Enriquez and Gaspar Mendez, took him to Angola, from where they brought Negroes and transported them to Brazil, Jamaica, and New Spain. While in Angola, his uncles taught him about Judaism and persuaded him to leave the Christian faith. His uncles taught him...many details of how to live as a Jew.
Ruben Levin Rochelle was a prominent Louisiana Jew whose estate included "some slaves." There is one recorded sale of an African man in 1807. Dr. Korn described an incident at the commission brokerage house in New Orleans, operated by Rochelle and Hart Moses Shiff, in which a slave working there (but owned by a Louisiana judge) had escaped. The judge demanded the slave's return and Rochelle & Shiff placed the following notice in the Louisiana Gazette of January 18, 1812:
20 Dollars Reward. Absconded from the house of the subscribers, on the night of the 16th inst. a mulatto boy, named Ovid, (the property of Judge A. Trouard, of the German Coast) about 17 years of age, about five feet high, he had a grey coloured coate, with black velvet collar and plated buttons, a grey waistcoat, white nankeen pantaloons, and short boots. Whoever will deliver him to the subscribers, or to his owner, or secure him in any Jail, shall receive a reward of twenty dollars, besides all reasonable charges. Masters of vessels are forewarned from harboring or carrying off said boy at their peril.
Fernando Rodriguez was the leader of of the Veracruz Jewish community. "He was a broker and trader of Negro slaves."
Sam Rothschild; His Jewish partner, Philip Sartorius, recalled that in 1850, Rothschild:
gambled all our money off and sold [our trading] boat and stock to another flat boat man for a Negro girl, took her to New Orleans and traded her off for tobacco.
Philip Moses Russell (c. 1745-1830) held Blacks as slaves in Philadelphia, was a surgeon, merchant and prominent member of his synagogue.
Hyman Samuel, a watch and clockmaker from London, resettled in Petersburg, Virginia and in 1792, he is listed as the owner "1 negro over 16 years of age."
Francis Salvador (1747-1776) was born in London to a wealthy Jewish family. In 1773, he left his wife and four children and came to South Carolina where he owned a 6 or 7 thousand acre indigo plantation with "at least thirty slaves." He was the first Jew to hold a South Carolina State office and was considered one of "the foremost men of the Commonwealth." In 1776, "Salvador was shot and falling among the bushes was discovered by the Indians and scalped."
Philip Sartorius (1830-1913); Between 1853 and 1857 he owned several slaves. He once joined a posse of slave hunters in pursuit of a dozen Africans who had run from the Jeffries plantation in Jefferson county. When they found the Blacks the 12 bloodhounds severely attacked them. Sartorius claimed to be repulsed by the sight.
Abraham Sarzedas (d. c. 1779) lived in Newport, New York, the West Indies and Georgia where his plantation was absolutely dependent upon the forced labor of kidnapped Africans. He claimed that he owned just three slaves to tend his 500 acre farm and in 1774 he and his wife Caty enslaved four Blacks while living in Newport, Rhode Island.
Sasportas Family owned plantations in the South where many Black captives were held.
Wolf bar Schemuel (alias Samuel) was an overseer of "94 Negroes" on the plantation of Stephen Boyd (see above). He complained in an 1820 letter that, "I had to work in the water...with three Niggers, for a whole month." When he returned to the big house, he wrote: "my old master and mistress gave me black looks."
Henry Seessel (1822-1911) was a German Jewish immigrant migrated to New Orleans in about 1843. He went to Memphis as a businessman and bought four Africans "for our own use," for $3,100.
Abraham Mendes Seixas (1750 or 1751-1799); The brother of the famous colonial New York Jewish leader, Gershom Mendes Seixas, he was typically reprobate in his attitude about the Black man and woman evidenced by this poem he authored and published in the South Carolina State Gazette, September 6, 1794 (Seixas rhymes with gracious).398
ABRAHAM SEIXAS,
All so gracious,
Once again does offer
His services pure
For to secure
Money in the coffer.
He has for sale
Some Negroes, male,
Will suit full well grooms.
He has likewise
Some of their wives
Can make clean, dirty rooms.
For planting too, He has a few
To sell, all for the cash,
Of various price,
To work the rice
Or bring them to the lash.
The young ones true,
If that will do
May some be had of him
To learn your trade
They may be made,
Or bring them to your trim.
The boatmen great,
Will you elate
They are so brisk and free;
What e'er you say,
They will obey,
If you buy them from me.
David G. Seixas and partner Benjamin S. Spitzer owned three slaves; "a woman who cooked their meals and kept house for them, and two males who worked in their store." Seixas is reported to have smuggled Africans into the United States after the government ban on the importation of slaves.
Eleanor Cohen Seixas, the daughter of Philip Melvin Cohen of Charleston wrote in a diary about her resentment of the abolition of slavery:
I believe deeply in the institution of slavery [and] regret deeply its being abolished. I am accustomed to have them wait on me, and I dislike white servants very much.
David and Jacob Senior were slave "entrepreneurs" who came to Curaçao from Amsterdam in 1685. Jacob and his wife Esther are recorded as having sold two slaves in Barbados on March 7, 1694 or 1695.
Dr. John de Sequeyra (1712-1795), a Williamsburg, Virginia physician who treated the governor of that state, held at least 2 Africans as slaves. He was a leading physician for 50 years.
Simon Vaez de Sevilla was a 17th century Jewish Mexican slave shipper.
Shetfall Family was one of the most enterprising Jewish slave dealing operations of Savannah, Georgia. At 27, Benjamin (1692-1765), owned 1,000 acres and nine Africans. In 1756, he claimed to have 2 hostages for his 200 acres though it is probable that he had dozens. In 1763, he claimed that 5 Black human beings slaved over an additional 50 acres. Benjamin also participated in the family's slave enterprise. His property was once attacked by the British who carried off some of the Africans to Florida.
In 1766, his brother Levi (d. 1775) reported 9 Black slaves for his 350 acres and by 1769, he claimed to have 15 slaves and was granted another 300 acres. This is how Jacob Rader Marcus describes the "indefatigable industry" of Levi Shetfall:
Taking the advice of Captain John Milledge of the Georgia Rangers, Sheftall - then about eighteen years of age - finally entered into the butcher business with a German Christian partner. In order to acquire capital, he saved every cent he made, never spending a shilling on himself except for the barest necessities, literally working day and night, and reducing his sleep to an absolute minimum. In the first year of his partnership he saved £150, working with a slave - and like a slave. By the early 1760's Levi owned a house, a lot, and six or eight Negroes, and could boast that in a period of six years he had never spent a penny on himself and had not tasted his first drink till he was twenty. Then he turned to another business, and the £1,500 he had saved disappeared. In 1768, after a couple of unhappy love affairs, he married and soon lost his second fortune - through no fault of his own, for he had forfeited it very likely by signing notes for the family or close friends. Once more he addressed himself to making money. He continued in the butcher business, opened a tanyard, acquired a wharf, a plantation, and forty-four slaves - all this in four years. Then came the Revolution and once more Levi lost everything, a fortune he valued at more than £10,000. He was then about thirty-five years of age.
The son of Benjamin, Mordecai (1735-1797), enslaved at least nine Blacks to work his 1000 acres. Three of those he named "Joe," "Anthony" and "Phillis," were disposed of in the following contract:
And the said Modicai Sheftall for the considerations herein before mentioned, hath bargained, sold, and delivered, and by these presents doth bargain, sell, and deliver, unto the said Isaac Dacosta, his heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, all those three negroe slaves known by the names of Joe, Anthony, and Phillis, together with the future issue and increase of Phillis; and also all his estate, right, title, and interest, whatsoever of, in, or to the before mentioned real estate and every part thereof, and of, in, and to the before named negroe slaves, to have and to hold the said parcel of six hundred and fifty acres of land, and two town lots hereinbefore mentioned, or intended to be hereby bargained and sold, and every part thereof, with the appurtenances and also the three before named negroe slaves, together with the future issue and increase of the female slave, unto the said Isaac Dacosta, his heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns.
Mordecai also issued warrants against runaway slaves. Shetfall Shetfall, while in custody of the British, received a letter from his wife Frances that read in part:
...I am obliged to take in needle work to make a living for my family, so I leave you to judge what a living that must be. Our Negroes have every one been at the point of death, so that they have been of no use to me for this six weeks past...
Esther Shetfall (b. 1771) directed the executors of her estate in her will of 1828:
I order and direct that my Negro woman Caty be sold by my Executors at private or public sale, and the proceeds of the sale to go toward the payment of my debts and the erection of a stone over mine and my late sister Perla's grave. The surplus if any to be divided between my brothers Shetfall and Moses.
Elias Silva of New Amsterdam (New York) was charged in 1656 with "having a carnal conversation with a Negress slave."
J. Da Silva of Jamaica joined two other Jews, J. Adolfus, and L. Spyers, in the 1812 attack on a Jamaican assemblyman's house because he advocated rights for Blacks.
Joseph De Silva a merchant of the parish of St. Peter, Barbados, "knowing the uncertainty of Humane life" prepared his will dated April 17, 1725 which dispensed "my two niggers Peggy a woman & Gracy a girl."
Joseph Simon (1712-1804) was a wealthy shopkeeper operating as an Indian trader out of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He was involved in no less than 12 partnerships in the regional trade and is considered to be one of the first white men to reach the Mississippi from the Pennsylvania area during the 1740s and 50s.
In 1759, Simon is listed as the owner of "a slave age 20, one horse and one cattle." By 1763, Simon had "three slaves aged 10, 15 and 20, one horse, two cattle and a tenant." Ten years later he owned three, ages 12, 30 and 40. He once owned a Black man named John "who had to be chained and thrown into jail after almost killing a man." Simon eventually sold him at a loss. There is a deed dated December 25, 1793, in which Simon sold to Christian Barr "a Negro boy named Cudago, age 15, weight 65 pounds, to be held until age 29." Among his correspondence there is a reference to Simon's sending slaves to Fort Pitt for various people. In 1776, a Philadelphia newspaper ran an ad seeking to locate "A Negro named John, slave of a Mr. Bogle, of Cumberland County, formerly belonging to Joseph Simon of the Borough of Lancaster."
Among his varied array of merchandise he sold drugs, and medicines, silk, wampum, tomahawks, lumber, white indentured servants, "Negroes" for sale or hire, ships, lottery tickets, and an item of uncertain description listed in one transaction called "Negroe knives." Simon himself is recorded as having claimed to have a monopoly on such trade in the region.
Simon came under suspicion for aiding the British war effort during the American Revolution by trading in banned British goods including tea. By the 1780s, Simon and fellow Jew Michael Gratz of Philadelphia became joint owners of vast tracks of land west of the Susquehanna.
Joseph Simon, described as a "Confederate veteran" from New Orleans, purchased a slave according to a receipt. Slavery was presumed, however, to have ended in 1865.
Michael Simon helped his brother-in-law, Simon Frank, establish a dry goods store in Woodville, Louisiana in 1850, under the name S. Frank & Company. By 1853, Michael Simon was "sufficiently well off to have bought a small plantation worked by about ten slaves."
Benjamin Simons, of Charleston placed several advertisements for runaway slaves in local papers. In the South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal, April 19, 1774:
RUN-AWAY from the subscriber about the 23d day of July last, a negro man named PRINCE, he is about 30 years of age, 5 feet 5 or 6 inches high, has a blemish in one eye, which was caused by the small-pox; he had on when he went away, a blue waistcoat, and a pair of light coloured breeches. He was brought up to the blacksmith's business in New-York. He was seen a few days after he absented himself, with a cart, about five miles from town. Whoever will deliver said negro man to me in Charles-Town, or to the warden of the work-house, shall receive FIVE POUNDS currency reward, and all reasonable charges, from Benjamin Simons.
Simons apparently sought "Abraham" in an advertisement in the South-Carolina Gazette, November 9 to November 16, 1767. The South-Carolina and American General Gazette of April 17 to May 1, 1776:
RUN away about the first of April last, a stout, well made Negro Man named JUNE, formerly belonging to James Witter of James Island, and used to attend the Market, but was employed in the Ferryboat from Scott's Ferry in Town; he has been seen in Town, where he is harboured, and on James Island. Ten Pounds Reward will be paid to whoever will apprehend and deliver him to the Warden of the Workhouse.
Moses Simons was the nephew of Savannah's Saul Simons. In his will, the elder Simons stipulated that his executors were to hire out four Black slaves and the total annual income, $200, was to be used to keep young Moses at school.418
Samuel Simons (d. 1824) of Charleston, enslaved Africans named "Maria Chapman," "Pompey" and "Peggy." There is some evidence that "Maria," described as "a free woman of color," was sexually exploited by Simons.
Nathan Simson (d. 1725) was a New York merchant and shipper born in Germany. In 1717 and 1721, two of Simson's ships, the Crown and the New York Postillion,
...sailed into the northern harbor with a total load of 217 Negroes. The shipments came directly from the African coast, two of the largest slave cargoes to be brought into New York in the first half of the eighteenth century.
Sampson Simson "appears to [have been] the largest trader among New York Jews," and "one of the most prominent members of the New York Chamber of Commerce." He was one of the drafters of New York's constitution, served repeatedly as a member of its arbitration committee for grievances of New York merchants, was on its Committee on Regulation of Coinage and its Fishery Committee. According to historian Myer Isaacs, "He retained in his household several old family servants, some of whom had been slaves..."
Benjamin Solomon; In 1798, according to Richmond, Virginia court records, he accused an African woman named "Polly" of stealing two dollars worth of sugar. She was sentenced to five lashes on her bare back and the branding of her left hand.
Ezekiel Solomon participated in the 1776 sale of a Black female child in Montreal.
Haym M. Solomon; (b. 1740) held as hostage a 10 year old Black child named "Anna."
Henry E. Solomon; In 1825, he used 6 Black people as collateral on a debt owed to Morton Waring.
Moses Solomon; In 1802, he was Charleston's constable whose job was to punish freedom seeking Blacks.
Myer Solomon of Lancaster, Pennsylvania "had two houses, two horses, one cattle and one slave."
Victor Souza of New Orleans skipped out on some debts in 1834 for which four of his African slaves were auctioned. He was caught, tried, convicted and sent to prison.
Benjamin Solomon Spitzer of St. Louis, along with Gershom Mendes Seixas, held three slaves who kept their house and ran their store. Spitzer also invested in the slave ships Nancy and Jane.
L. Spyers of Jamaica joined two other Jews, J. Da Silva and J. Adolfus in the 1812 attack on a Jamaican assemblyman who advocated equal rights for Blacks.
Emanuel Stern (d. 182 ; A Jew from New Orleans who ordered his 12 year old Black child "Mathilda" to be auctioned off after his death. She was sold for $400 though valued at $250.
Louis Stix, according to Stanley Feldstein,
expressed sympathy for the plight of blacks but did nothing to promote their liberation. Though he classified himself as an "outspoken" opponent of all involuntary servitude, he still advocated gradual emancipation and a government indemnity for "[his] southern neighbors" for their pecuniary losses in parting with their slaves.
A. F. Strauss of New Orleans was a major dealer in Black and White humans and would advertise the sale of as many as a hundred at a time.
J. L. Tobias purchased a slave from David Derrick on January 26, 1857. The receipt reads, in part:
I, David Derrick, for and in consideration of the sum of One Thousand and Fifty Dollars - to me - in hand paid, at and before the sealing and delivery of these Presents, by J. L. Tobias has bargained and sold, and by these Presents, do bargain, sell, and deliver to the said J. L. Tobias the Negro slave Stephen Warranted Sound to have and to hold the said Negro slave Stephen unto the said J. L. Tobias his Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, from and against all persons, shall and will Warrant and forever defend by these Presents.
Joseph Tobias (1745 or 1764-1810) of Charleston, bought a Black woman named "Jenny" from Dr. James Cletherall for $500 on July 23, 1798.
Joseph Tobias (1684-1761) was a shipowner in Charlestown and president of Beth Elohim synagogue. He was the purchaser of six Black slaves, two men and four women, "probably all households servants."
Judica Torres, a Barbadian Jewess, owned two slaves.
Simja De Torres (d. 1746) was a New York slave trader, who imported seven Blacks from Jamaica on at least two recorded occasions in 1728 and 1742. One of the Africans was a three-year-old child. Another was named "Menasseh Perirei." She was also one of the leading benefactors of the Mill Street Synagogue (Shearith Israel) in New York City. She left to her nieces Rachel, Rebecca and Sinya, "one negro girl" each.
Judah Touro (1775-1854) was born in Newport and became the hazzan (minister) of Yeshuat Israel Synagogue which he bought and renovated. Jewish historians claim that he was a humanitarian who abhorred slavery to such an extent that he bought slaves just to free them. Contrarily, wrote Leon Hühner, he bought slaves "to wait on him, or to work in his various enterprises." In 1809, he profited from the auctioning of 12 African people, and in 1812, advertised rewards for the apprehension of seven Black runaways. He also did extensive business in merchandise, such as rag clothing, specifically to be used by slaves.
He was "one of the earliest of prominent American philanthropists," but Jewish historian Morris U. Schappes notes that "Negro institutions and causes, perhaps needing assistance most, were not among Touro's beneficiaries." As late as 1947, Blacks were not admitted to the hospital facilities of the Touro Infirmary in New Orleans.
Even Blacks owned black slaves> We are all guilty that is why we should by now just be equal, no one is judging one another history proves that The Jews of the scriptures were in exile for many years and Jews that migrated to America bought slaved to own- So the sin produced sin- was this God’s will and is there a Biblical warrant that decrees man to own man or a man better than another man- Let us stop this foolishness of seperationalism and disdainment and disunity and just be God’s people working together with no isms and schisms and be equal
Psalm 133:1
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Ephesians 4:3
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace
Ephesians 4:13
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
1 Corinthians 12:13
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit
1 Peter 4.16-19
16Yet if any man suffer as Messianic let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
17For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
18And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
19Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
I see me
-Poem-
By Rabbi Lonie K. Hinton JR
If I can see me the way I really am, then there is no room to see others and blame them,
If I see my failures then there is no room to convict others for things they do, If I see me the way Yeshua views me then judgmental blurs would be silent whispers climatically pedaling down the face tears of past years and blistered memoirs of silent remembrances of repentance glees and why Yeshua needed to save me and why I needed him to rescue me from me.
Races can see the troubled past tell each other your people caused it and now were daunted, troubled and perplexed filled with hatred, envy and the blood dripping murder of killing multiple people in our hearts and from our tongues. spewing clutter and destroying many I rather have love then disunity….
- Why face this and blow our witness lets learn love and let it be that witness- comfort out enemies and love those who abuse us, show them Yeshua and live it not speak it
Shevat 3, 5768 * January 10, 2008
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Q U E S T I O N O F T H E W E E K
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Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
By Aron Moss
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Question:
Why do bad things happen to good people? Why is this world so unfair?
Please don't tell me "We can't understand G d's ways." I am sick of
hearing that. I want an explanation.
Answer:
Are you sure you want an explanation? Do you really want to know why
the innocent suffer? I think not. You are far better off with the
question than with an answer.
You are bothered by the fact that people suffer undeservedly. As you
should be. Any person with an ounce of moral sensitivity is outraged
by the injustices of our world. Abraham, the first Jew, asked G-d,
"Should the Judge of the whole world not act fairly?" Moses asked,
"Why have You treated this people badly?" And today we still ask,
"Why G d, why?"
But what if we found the answer? What if someone came along and gave
us a satisfying explanation? What if the mystery were finally solved?
What if we asked why, and actually got an answer?
If this ultimate question were answered, then we would be able to
make peace with the suffering of innocents. And that is unthinkable.
Worse than innocent people suffering is others watching their
suffering unmoved. And that's exactly what would happen if we were to
understand why innocents suffer. We would no longer be bothered by
their cry, we would no longer feel their pain, because we would
understand why it is happening.
Imagine you are in a hospital and you hear a woman screaming with
pain. Outside her room, her family is standing around chatting, all
smiling and happy. You scream at them, "What's wrong with you? Can't
you hear how much pain she is in?" They answer, "This is the delivery
ward. She is having a baby. Of course we are happy."
When you have an explanation, pain doesn't seem so bad anymore. We
can tolerate suffering when we know why it is happening.
And so, if we could make sense of innocent people suffering, if we
could rationalise tragedy, then we could live with it. We would be
able to hear the cry of sweet children in pain and not be horrified.
We would tolerate seeing broken hearts and shattered lives, for we
would be able to neatly explain them away. Our question would be
answered, and we could move on.
But as long as the pain of innocents remains a burning question, we
are bothered by its existence. And as long as we can't explain pain,
we must alleviate it. If innocent people suffering does not fit into
our worldview, we must eradicate it. Rather than justifying their
pain, we need to get rid of it.
So keep asking the question, why do bad things happen to good people.
But stop looking for answers. Start formulating a response. Take your
righteous anger and turn it into a force for doing good. Redirect
your frustration with injustice and unfairness and channel it into a
drive to fight injustice and unfairness. Let your outrage propel you
into action. When you see innocent people suffering, help them.
Combat the pain in the world with goodness. Alleviate suffering
wherever you can.
We don't want answers, we don't want explanations, and we don't want
closure. We want an end to suffering. And we dare not leave it up to
G-d to alleviate suffering. He is waiting for us to do it. That's
what we are here for.
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Mind Changing Ministries Beit Yeshua
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