Traditions of our Fathers

Commentary on Acts 28, focusing on verse 17:

Act 28:17 And it came to be after three days that Sha’ul called the leaders of the Yehuḏim together. And when they had come together, he said to them, “Men, brothers, though I have done none at all against our people or the practices of our fathers, I was delivered as a prisoner from Yerushalayim into the hands of the Romans, (ISR, The Scriptures)

Acts 28:17 And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.(King James Version)

Finding the bonds between Rabbinic Judaism and first century Believers in Yeshua.

By Shawn Barfield

For the last 1700 years Rabbinic Judaism is the only religion that refrained from idol worship, Kept the Sabbath holy, Remembered the festivals of Hashem, respected all of the Torah of Mosheh, kept the kosher laws, and maintained a strong undiluted sense of the spirituality of their forefathers. If you were to ask a Rabbi how it is that the Jewish people have managed to avoid assimilation, his answer may sound something like this… “We have avoided assimilation by being steadfast in our customs, traditions, and laws which have kept us holy unto Hashem.” Because the Jewish people have rapped themselves in customs that relate to the Torah and stories of righteous men, they have been protected from becoming idol worshipers like everyone else around them. Let us compare the history of the Jewish religion with the religion of Christianity.

Laws and customs of Judaism

Within a few hundred years after the destruction of the last temple the Jewish leaders began to meet and discuss how they would preserve the memory of the land of Israel and the Temple. These Jewish leaders knowing that they were going into a long hard exile began discussing every possible legal and religious issue. The Jewish leaders went so far as to write down all opinions on legal and religious matters (even the opposing views) so that future generations could know as much as possible about Judaism, temple service, and a relationship to Hashem. No detail was too small; every matter of the Torah was discussed in great detail and written down so that there would be a good starting point for future generations. This compilation of writings is now known as the Talmud.

Laws and customs of Roman Christianity

Around the same time that Judaism was compiling the Talmud, Christianity began banning all matters of the Torah. The church fathers began making decrees that anyone who practiced any “Jewish” Sabbath, new moon, Festival, circumcision, eating customs, or any matters appearing to pertain to a Jewish life style would be excommunicated if not killed out right. Thus Christianity had severed itself not only from Jewish customs but also from the observance of the majority of the laws of Hashem found in the Torah. In addition to banning the practice or even the discussion of so called Jewish law, the church fathers then established new laws enforcing the observance of pagan festivals and eating customs plunging Christianity into a deep ocean of idol worship that to this day dominates the Christian world.

Spirituality of Judaism

In addition to compiling all matters of physical observance of Hashem’s Holy Torah, Jewish leaders also compiled all matters of spirituality. At nearly the exact time that the New Testament was being compiled a book now known as the Zohar was also being written down. The spirituality of the Jewish people had always been very different then that of all other nations around them, and thus it was often difficult to understand and likewise difficult to be accepted. Nonetheless the Jewish leaders wrote down many matters pertaining to all things spiritual such as the understanding of heaven and earth, the human soul, the nature of Hashem, Angels and demons, healing, miracles, prophecy and so on. Over the centuries the Jewish people published books on spirituality that were certainly unique concepts often stemming from oral stories, prayers, and customs dating back to the time of the Temple and earlier. These books on Jewish spirituality would become known in the Christian world as books of mysticism and magic which is a great irony considering the Christian constitution, the New Testament, was also a book on Jewish spirituality which had a great number of similarities to the Jewish books they condemned.

Spirituality of Roman Christianity

As Judaism continued to tell and retell spirituality to each successive generation with little to no deviation from previous generations, Christianity began to literally create its own explanation of spiritual matters from a conglomeration of the only spirituality it had access to…Roman idol worship. Christianities new home base for spirituality had been placed right in the middle of the world’s biggest gathering of idol worship, Rome. In the time right before Christianity Rome had conquered most of the known world and for each nation they conquered they brought their idols and idolatrous teachings to there capitol. Once Christianity was “conquered” or commandeered by Rome it too was also brought to Rome. Once in the hands of Roman idol worshipers and out of the hands of Jewish sages, the new testament began to transform not only in application but also in understanding of spiritual matters. As Roman idol worshipers began to reinterpret a complex book on Jewish spirituality they began to force idolatrous concepts onto the text such as worship of the false god Diana which transformed into the worship of Mary. Without any Jewish teacher to correctly explain the new testament concepts, the Roman idol worshipers who hijacked the new testament also hijacked spirituality by creating there own explanation of heaven and earth, the human soul, the nature of god, angels and demons, healing, miracles, prophecy, and so on. Any one who even dared to question their interpretation of spirituality was executed by some horrible means of death.

Fruits of Judaism

As the Jewish people wondered all over the earth in small groups after the forced exile by Rome, they continued in their teachings which was handed down from generation to generation. For the most part the Jewish people lived quiet lives and did there best to go unnoticed so that they might continue in there practice and study of the Torah. The Jewish people placed education in high regard. The Jewish people believed that the Torah was meant for every Jew and therefore every Jew should have an education in order to study the Torah. Where ever the Jewish people went they established schools where everyone could learn to read, as well as be educated in mathematics, science, history, and medicine. The Jewish people, in spite of their attempts to go unnoticed, became renowned world wide for their knowledge of medicine and science. Perhaps more importantly however the Jewish people were the greatest proponents in a Justice system. Today most of the world’s justice systems are modeled on Jewish concepts of legal matters. To a Jew the physical world and the spiritual world are tied closely together and therefore religion, science, math, ethics, and legal matters were all interconnected.

Fruits of Roman Christianity.

As Roman Christianity began to take absolute power over the earth its fruits became more and more apparent. It became the policy of Roman Christianity to have absolute power and control over all of its subjects. In order to have this absolute power it was important to keep the masses uneducated. Because of their history with the Jewish people in that they would have great debates with well educated Jewish leaders and often lose these debates, Roman Christianity decided that education was an enemy. By leaving the common people uneducated and completely illiterate the church leaders could simply tell you exactly what the bible meant and you would have no way of disagreeing. And if you did disagree you were simply killed. For about one thousand seven hundred years the common person had absolutely no access to a bible. Only high level church leaders were aloud to read from the scriptures. It has only been within the last one to two hundred years that the bible has become readily available for an educated public. By reinventing spirituality Roman Christianity had also decided that the study of science was blasphemous and the church separated the physical world and the spiritual world. Nearly any scientific discovery was in some way against the church’s doctrines and had to be snuffed out immediately. One example of scientific oppression was the idea that the earth was round. The church, who in there minds knew everything about everything, had decided that the earth was flat. However the Jewish people were aware that Hashem sat “on the sphere of the earth”. The Jewish people had ancient knowledge of medicines and many people sought Jewish doctors, but the church decided that this knowledge was nothing more than magic and witchcraft. In fact because the Jewish people were keeping the laws of Hashem and the customs of their fathers they went almost unaffected by the black plague that ravaged the Christian world. The church had decided that since the Jews were not affected by the plague they must have caused it with there “witchcraft” and a great persecution fell on the Jewish people. Unlike the Jewish people who did there best to go unnoticed and live peaceful lives until the redemption, Roman Christianity did there best to get in every nations face and declare there absolute power over all the earth. Christianity went from town to town nation to nation and literally forced every one to accept their way of life or die by boiling, skinning, burning, hanging, drowning or what ever horrible death that happened to be available. Not only were the Jewish people annihilated by the thousands but many other cultures as well. This forced conversion policy was also brought to the Americas where Native Americans where also slaughtered by the thousands for not accepting the man Jesus whom they had no knowledge of.

With all of this in mind let us remember that we are Westernized Christians who grew up in the culture of Roman Christianity, and that we should reconsider our immediate and uneducated assumption that the Jewish writings of the Talmud and Zohar and the likes are “witchcraft”. It has been my observation that many Christians who are wanting to turn to a Torah lifestyle are often unwilling to learn this life style from the people who have been living it for the last three thousand years. Let us remember that we are the ones who grew up in the teachings of witchcraft and idolatry and that our concepts on spirituality are from Roman idol worshipers. On the other hand the Jewish people’s concepts on spirituality come from ancient Hebraic sources. Whether we want to admit it or not our ideas on heaven and earth, the nature of Hashem, angels and demons, healing, prophecy, and so on, all come from the teachings of Rome, and we can know this because we did not grow up in a Jewish home that taught us Jewish concepts. It should not be our goal to keep separated the New Testament and the ancient books of Jewish spirituality. On the contrary it should be our goal to help unite the New Testament with the ancient books of Jewish spirituality because in truth they are certainly the same thing. Even if you feel that it is not right to do so, at least allow those who do think it right, to do so with out persecution. Because often the feeling that it is not right is just that, a feeling, that has no educated basis. Remember that it is the spirit of Rome that says anything Jewish is witchcraft.

Some of westernized Christianity have also said that using anything other than the canonized Christian bible is wrong. These kinds of uneducated statements would cause Yeshua, James, and Paul to be wrong since they all made quotes and conceptual statements from the Dead Sea scrolls, Targum Yonatan, the book of Enoch, the Mishnah, and other non-canonical books. Not only is it not wrong to study these Jewish texts but it is crucial that we do investigate them in order to gain a cultural understanding of what is occurring in the Jewish text known as the New Testament. Here are a few examples from the New Testament proving this point.

Example 1

Tikkun Chatsot

Tikkun Chatsot or the midnight ceremony is an ancient Jewish custom. This custom involves a group of Jewish men arising late at night to pray, recite psalms, and discuss matters of Torah. This ceremony was kept by only the most dedicated souls until the advent of cappuccino at which point this ceremony became more popular.

Quote from a Jewish website.

The Ari himself emphasized the importance of prayer and meditation late at night (called Tikkun Chatzot or Tikkun Rachel) and early in the morning (called Tikkun Leah). These times connected the individual with the daily creations of light and darkness. It also was an ideal time (according to the Zohar) to mourn the banishment of the Shechinah from Jerusalem. It also connected the individual with King David, who was said to have created the Psalms at midnight. The powerful image that the gates of Heaven are most available for prayer late at night was thus concretized in Tzfat in the late 16th century. Ironically, it didn't catch on in Jerusalem at the same time even though Jerusalem mystics were certainly aware of the Zohar's emphasis on midnight and all-night vigils. Jerusalem's mystics focused on pre-dawn rituals instead.

This idea of praying late at night and creating light so to speak can be found also in the Dead Sea scrolls which predate Yeshua.

Quotes from the Zohar

He told me that during the first three hours of the night the accusing angels below are actively going about the world, but at midnight precisely God enters the Garden of Eden and the accusations below cease. These nightly ceremonies above take place only at midnight precisely; we know this from what it says of Abraham, that “the night was divided for them” (Gen. XIV, 15); also from the words “and it came to pass at the middle of the night” in the account of the Exodus (Ex. XII, 29), and from many other places in the Scripture. David knew this, because-so the old man told me-his kingship depended on this; and therefore he used to rise at this hour and chant praises,…. He also said, “I rise to give thanks to Thee for Thy righteous judgements” because this is the fount of justice, and the judgements of earthly kings derive from here; therefore David never neglected to rise and sing praises at this hour.’

As has been pointed out, at midnight God enters the Garden of Eden to have communion with the righteous, and the Community of Israel praises the Holy One, blessed be He, and that is a propitious time to cleave to Him.

I would like to point out a few concepts from these Jewish sources.

1 Tikkun Chatsot is an ancient Jewish custom that is not a written Torah commandment.

2 This custom takes place late at night or more specifically on the exact hour of midnight

3 It is something done every night

4 It is taught that God enters a garden to commune with his righteous ones.

5 It has close ties with King David

Now can you think of anyone else in the bible that did anything like this? Can you think of someone who went into garden late at night, to pray and converse with righteous followers…someone who had close ties to king David?

Luke 22:39-45, John 18:1-3

Example 2

Hitbodedut

Quote from Jewish website

Hitbodedut (self-seclusion) is considered by many Chassidim as an essential component of prayer. In being alone with God, and giving voice to their desire for Him, believers aim to access the joy that is the essence of all being. Bratzlaver Chassidim in particular practice hitbodedut.

The premise of this spontaneous form of prayer is that a Jewish person’s natural state is one of faith and mystical union. Today one feels distanced from God because of the noise and clamour of daily life. Talking directly to God in the manner of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs should complement the prescribed fixed liturgy and not be replaced by it.

Opening one’s heart to God is the highest form of Jewish worship. Crying out to Him in spontaneous prayer, even doing so silently, reveals the essence of being: faith. Faith is a natural state, which is why children tend to speak to God directly. As people grow older, many find that their access to faith is obstructed and they experience doubt and lose their faith.

Hitbodedut is a way to unburden the self of doubt and recover a natural state of faith. The best way to achieve this solitude is to leave civilization and society in order to be surrounded by nature and the wonders of creation. Any form of self-isolation can be effective.

The key to successful hitbodedut is total abandonment of inhibition. Prayers are direct, immediate and uninhibited, a natural outpouring of the soul of all that clouds and confuses its sight. Any natural expression is admissible. This can take the form of weeping, song, conversation, mantra or silent meditation.

Bratzlaver Chassidim practice hitbodedut at night, after the midnight lamentations over the destruction of the Temple. They go out alone to a deserted place, away from the contamination of worldly experience, to communicate with God and cry out to Him about their doubts and fears.

Talking freely and openly with God often requires practice before it comes naturally. It is therefore necessary for a Jew to set aside a dedicated, specific period of time for hitbodedut. Only by regularly stepping out of the mundane, by silencing everyday noise and distraction can one achieve the sight of the soul. By entering into solitude and isolating themselves, Jews can learn that they are never truly alone. For when they are alone, they are alone with God.

Many Jews have difficulty speaking simply and naturally to God. The process of hitbodedut can open up buried issues and wounds, so it is helpful to enter into it with the advice of someone who is aware of its potency.

Mark 6:45 Matt 14:22-23, luke 6:12

Example 3

Sitra Achra

A word found 279 times in the Jewish text known as the Zohar. Sitra Achra translated to English is “the other side” and refers to the opposite side of goodness or the evil or unclean forces.

Quotes from the Zohar

But, in truth, this alludes to the “other side” that continually thrusts at a man, and tries to seduce him and lead him astray from God; the same is, indeed, the evil prompter who follows man about. It is to him that David addressed the words, “thou didst thrust sore at me”, seeing that he endeavoured by means of all sorts of afflictions to turn him aside from God. David thus said: “Thou didst thrust sore at me-to cause me to fall into Gehinnom-but the Lord helped me-so that I was not delivered into thy hand.” It is, hence, incumbent on a man to be on his guard against the evil prompter, so that he shall not obtain the mastery over him; such a man God guards in all his ways, as it is written: “Then shalt thou walk in thy way securely, and thou shalt not dash thy foot” (Prov. III, 23), also: “When thou goest thy step shall not be straitened; and if thou runnest thou shalt not stumble” (Ibid. IV, 12); and also: “But the path of the righteous is as the light of dawn, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Ibid. v, 18).’

” It may be asked, how could Moses and Elijah speak thus, seeing that evil is never done to man by the Almighty? The truth is that when a man walks on the right side, the protection of the Holy One, blessed be He, is constantly with him, so that the other side has no power over him, and the forces of evil are bowed before him, and cannot prevail over him.

Through out the Zohar the other side is related to demonic forces, evil winds, raging storms, unclean spirits, idolatry and so on. Now lets compare this to the New Testament

Mark 4:35-5:3

Carpenter – Banaim found in Talmud

Healing – In Tales of the Zadakim spit is used to heal a person’s eye