RABBIS VS
PREACHERS & PASTORS
Hugh Fogelman
The
transmission of the Torah from Moses until today is an unbroken chain of 120
generations, over 3,316 years.
Moses
taught the first Priest, Aaron, then to the 70 Elders, who became the first
rabbis. These Masters of the Torah taught other rabbis, and so on.
As
a Rabbi (i.e. ORDAINED by the Sanhedrin) they had to know the Oral Tradition,
Tanakh, Talmudic Exegesis, Midrashic Exegesis and elements of Kabbalah. To
master this basis of Torah could take a minimum of 12 years of intensive and
rigorous study and training.
Since
the destruction of the
Rabbis
were teachers. They did not just teach Halacha (Jewish law). They taught
Law, Exegesis, translation, languages (Greek/Aramaic), philosophy, identity,
culture, logic, understanding and more. They were masters - sages if you
will. To teach they had to study hard, extremely hard. Sages
traveled from town to town debating and gathering information (cf. Midrashim on
R. Akiva). Who gave this authority to these sages? The authority was
given to them by Moses. The first student was taught by his master of the Torah –
Moses. From then on, each in turn taught their students who went on to became the rabbis of the future, and so on.
Of what authority are these rabbis?–the authority which was given to them by Moses. A rabbi is
taught by his master of the Torah, who in turns teaches his students who became
the future rabbis.
And
the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I am coming to you in the thickness of
the cloud, in order that the people hear when I speak to you, and they will also believe in you forever."
(Exodus 19:9): the
Original SOURCE, the Hebrew Bible
Moses first learned the law from the mouth of the
Almighty. From Moses at Mount Sinai (1312 BCE) to Joshua, to each and every
rabbi, the manner of transmittal to
After
learning the Torah, Moses then went into the Tent (in God’s Divine Presence),
and Aaron went in with him. Moses then stated to him the mitzvah he had
received, and taught him its explanation (following which) Aaron retreated to
the right of Moses.
Then,
Elazar and Itamar, Aaron's sons, entered – And Moses told them what he had told
Aaron, and then they stepped back. One sat to the left of Moses, and the other
on the right of Aaron.
Then
the seventy Elders arrived, and Moses again taught Aaron and his sons.
Following this, came the masses of people and every one seeking God, and he
(Moses) placed before them the mitzvah, until all had heard it from his mouth.
The result is that Aaron heard that knowledge
from the mouth of Moses four times, his sons three times, the Elders
twice, and the remainder of the people once.
Moses
then left, and Aaron repeated the explanation of that mitzvah which he had
learned, having heard it from the mouth of Moses four times (as we have
mentioned), to all those present. Aaron then left, after his sons had heard the
precept four times (three times from Moses, and once from Aaron). After Aaron
had departed, Elazar and Itamar repeated and taught that mitzvah to all the
people present.
Thus
we find that the seventy Elders heard Moses’ teachings four times: twice from
Moses, once from Aaron, and once from Elazar and Itamar. The Elders themselves
then repeated and expounded the mitzvah to the people one time. As a result, we
find that the entire congregation heard
the precept in question four times: once from Moses, once from Aaron, a
third time from his sons, and the fourth time from the Elders.
After
this, all the people went to teach one another what they had heard from Moses
and to write that mitzvah on scrolls.
The leaders would roam through the Israelites to insure that the people learned and applied themselves until they
would know the traditional version of that mitzvah and were fluent in reading
it. They would then teach the explanations of that God given precept. That
explanation would include all aspects, and they would write the precept and
learn by heart the Oral Tradition.
The rule of the rabbis, from God, are clearly
explained in Deuteronomy 17:9-11. See below:
9. And you
shall come to the Levitic kohanim and to the judge who will be in those
days, and you shall inquire, and they
will tell you the words of judgment. 10. And you shall do according to the word they tell you, from the place
the Lord will choose, and you shall
observe to do according to all they instruct you. 11. According to the law they instruct you and
according to the judgment they say to you, you shall do; you shall not divert
from the word they tell you, either right or left.
(Chabad
Chumash)
God told
the Jews to follow their rabbis.
Today, the title of Rabbi is given when one
receives rabbinical ordination, earned by passing extensive examinations on the
Torah and Talmud. Rabbis must know Hebrew to read Torah as God gave it
originally. They study for a number of years in a yeshiva, a Jewish institute
of higher learning, before they have the knowledge needed to even understand
the material they have to study to pass the exams. Receiving ordination,
however, is not the end of the Rabbi's career as a student of the Torah. On the
contrary, it's just the beginning. A community Rabbi will continue his search
for knowledge and truth for the rest of his life, in the hopes of attaining
greater clarity and comprehension of God and the Torah.
Then we come to the Pastors and Preachers
of Christianity today. Do Christians, the sheeple, really know who they
are? Do Christians think about the qualifications of
their teachers? True, many they have spent years in Christian seminary,
but who were the teachers in these seminaries? What
qualifications do those teachers have? Many are uneducated; some even
illiterate claiming they are led by some holy ghost and speaking their
feelings without regard to facts or truth. Unfortunately, many of those who are
educated have long standing doubts about Christianity, but are unable to break
away, having invested so much of their life in their “job.” They dare not
leave, because where will they work, who will pay for their children’s braces
and college education, not to mention the loss of face among their “flock?” No,
Christians really have no idea who their Pastors and Preachers really are.
In Judaism, we know Torah masters taught our
rabbis. But, who taught the Christian pastors? They were not Torah Masters.
Christians have never accessed all of the Torah. What portions they do have are
only compilations of mistranslations and translation errors. Instead, the first
leaders of the Christian Church during the Roman Emperor Constantine, an
ex-pagan himself, were other recently ex-pagan gentiles. These Christian
leaders did not have access to the Jews who followed Torah. The whole Council
of Nicaea in 325 CE followed the Pauline doctrine. The same Paul who preached
to the pagan Gentiles to sway them to convert to his new religion of NO Torah
now formed the first Christian Church of Rome. These were the first Christian clergy/teachers.
One honest ex-pastor, 1 who once presided over a church with 1,500 members
said: “the unbroken Halacha (Jewish
law), or proper interpretation of the Hebrew texts is not possessed by Gentile
Christianity...without setting at the feet of the Rabbis there is little
hope that a Gentile can ever interpret correctly the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible).
Yes, there are Christian "bible" colleges
galore, but it is really the blind leading the blind. These seminaries are
driven by bible intoxication and produce the same kind of students. None of the
graduates of these so-called seminaries produce anyone who can read and
“understand” Torah as given by God to Moses over 3,316 year ago. An Orthodox rabbi can! The Torah stands
today among the Children of Israel exactly as it were received–no translation
is necessary. As Zvi Zaks once observed, “Not
knowing Hebrew doesn't make you stupid. The stupid
people are the ones who do not know Hebrew, but think they know the Hebrew
Scriptures better than people who do know Hebrew.”
Remember, in these seminaries, they are not taught from
the Original SOURCE Torah. What they do have is a purposely mistranslated and
distorted version of what they call the Old Testament. This was admitted by
Father Eusebius in the Fourth Century. Those alterations were necessary to convince
people that the old testament was talking about the future Jesus.
Keep in mind that from the very beginning of
Christianity, the first Christian seminary–run by ex-pagans– taught an
illiterate membership and one they kept in the dark ages. The church clergy
kept their bible from the people until after1456 CE when the printing press
produced the first copy of the bible. 2
Meanwhile, before the printing press, from the beginning of Pauline Christology
through the dark ages, the church hierarchy, editors, and copyists had a
grand old time playing with the texts of their Christian bible.
So, it does not matter who the pastors, preachers
and priests of today are!
·
Billy Graham, because he can fill a stadium; or
·
Jimmy Swaggart because he cries on cue; or
·
Oral Roberts because he will heal you via TV; or
·
Jim Baker reaching in your pockets.
It just does not matter. What does it matters who
certifies or "ordains" who; it is all lies – the blind are being led
by the blind!
What matters is what the ill-informed are teaching
in the pulpits today; what the bibles say that are sold to the masses at
Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. THAT IS REALITY. AND THAT STANDS IN TOTAL OPPOSITION
TO G-D AND HIS TORAH! IT IS LIKE THE CHRISTIANS ARE CONTINUALLY SLAPPING
THEIR CREATOR IN THE FACE!
The choice–of who has preserved, knows, and teaches
Gods word–is yours to follow. Do you trust the teaching of an Orthodox rabbi
who was taught by Moses through the chain of command; or the teachings from a
preacher or pastor whose knowledge was invented by early pagan gentiles? Or do you trust your soul to a street corner preacher who has
no seminary education at all; who just interprets his bible as he sees fit.?
The choice is yours.
Footnotes:
1. Pastor Craig Lyons, M.Div: 902
Cardigan,
2. The
Gutenberg Bible, known also as the Mazarin Bible, was printed at
Copyright © 2004, Hugh Fogelman. All
rights reserved.