Was Jesus Necessary?

I was taught my entire life that Jesus was the only way to get to heaven.  I was taught that he suffered and died on the cross for my sins so that I could be forgiven and that without his sacrifice no one would merit G_d's forgiveness.  You see no one could ever be good enough on his or her own to spend eternity with a perfect and holy G_d and G_d could not look upon, or be around sin.  I was told that because of all my sin, the only thing I deserved was eternal death and separation from G_d.  So I needed a savior.  Someone who was perfect and sinless to take on himself all my sins...in fact all the sins of the world.  That the only way I could get rid of my sins was to accept Jesus as the son of G_d and ask his forgiveness.  Then accept him into my heart and live a life the way Jesus wanted me to. 

When I was 9 years old, I made that long trip to the alter and tearfully confessed my sins and asked Jesus into my heart.  It was a life changing moment.  I was forgiven of all of my nine years of sinful acts and thoughts.  I was free and my soul felt light as a feather.  The blue sky was bluer, the grass was greener and the world a more beautiful place.  I wanted to live a life that would make Jesus proud.  I tried my best to live as honest and truthfully as possible even though it sometimes got me into trouble.  I tried to love everyone, even the people who were mean to me.  That was hard, but many times, by being nice to the mean people, I ended up with friends who protected me from other mean people.  I smiled a lot.  Even when things were going wrong in my life, I tried to smile and be in a positive mood.  When I saw someone who looked sad, I would go to them and tell them that Jesus loves them and so do I. 

Through the years I learned to trust G_d in everything.  I learned to turn to Him in my every need and to praise Him when wonderful things happened to me.  My faith and trust grew and I owed it all to Jesus.  He was my best friend and my confidant.   But looking back I remember having questions.  Like, if nothing is impossible for G_d, then why is it impossible for Him to be around evil?  I mean how was it that He was able to have a conversation with the Devil in the book of Job?  And how come He needed to send someone to die for us?  Couldn't He just forgive us Himself?  Then there were times when I would be thanking Jesus for something great that had happened and I would get this little voice in the back of my mind that would say, "What about Me?"  I started feeling like I was leaving G_d out of the equation.  Didn't Jesus always give thanks to Him for things?  It was a little confusing.  As I read my Bible, I came across things in the New Testament that seemed to not fit with what I had read in the Old Testament.  Like, for instance, the "New Covenant" that Jesus introduced just before he was crucified.  And the thing he said about the wine representing his blood.  I knew that Jews were not supposed to consume blood.  The Old Testament that he was under during his life time was in force and it said in several places not to consume blood. 

Long story short, I spent 54 years worshiping  Jesus as G_d.  My whole relationship with G_d was based on this and I felt like I had a very close relationship with Him.  I know for a fact that He was the one who comforted me in my deepest sorrow and protected me from harm.  He provided things for me when I had no way of getting them on my own.  I did not even have to ask.  He directed my paths and performed little miracles for me that boosted my faith and my joy at the same time.  He met with me in my prayer time and taught me as I read His word.  My understanding was not from my own wisdom, it was from Him.  I was proud to be a Christian and brazen enough to let the world know it.  I loved to talk to people about my faith and my beliefs. 

But one day, after months of research and prayer, I had to admit that I could no longer call myself a Christian.  I still had the same devotion and love for G_d, but I no longer believed that Jesus was who I was taught to believe he was.  Easy to say...not so easy to wrap my mind around. But here are some of the reasons why I believe Jesus was never necessary. 

Isaiah 60:16  "...I, HaShem (literally means, The Name of G_d) am your Savior and your Redeemer..."

Isaiah 45: 21-22 "...there is no righteous god besides Me and no savior other than Me.  turn to Me and be saved, all ends of the earth, for I am G_d and there is no other."

Isaiah 45: 15 "...the G_d of Israel is the Savior."

Isaiah 43:25 "I, only I am He who wipes away your willful sins for My sake, and I shall not recall your sins."

Jeremiah 36: 2-3 "...Perhaps the House of Judah will hear of all the evil that I intend to do to them, so that they can repent, each man, from his evil way and then I can forgive their sin and transgression."

Psalm 51:17 "The sacrifices of G_d are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart- these, O G_d, you will not despise."

Jeremiah 7:3-7  Thus said HaShem, Master of Legions, God of Israel: Improve your ways and your deeds and I will cause you to dwell in this place. ...Only if you truly improve your ways and your deeds;  if you truly do justice between man and his fellow;  do not oppress stranger, orphan and widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place; and do not go after the gods of others, to your own harm..."


Leviticus 26:44 "But despite al this, while they will be in the land of their enemies, I will not have been revolted by them nor will I have rejected them to obliterate, to annul My covenant with them-for I am HaShem, their G_d."

Jeremiah 32:40 : "I will seal an everlasting covenant with them: that I shall never depart from them..."

These, among others, tell me that G_d is the only one who can and does forgive willful sins.  He alone is our Savior and all we have to do is truly repent, ask for His forgiveness and change our ways.  It tells me He abhors the shedding of innocent blood.  The idea of a sinless person being put to death for the sins of all people goes against  G_d.  It tells me there was never a "new covenant" made.  G_d's covenant with Israel that was made at Sinai still stands and always will. 

Now, here is the kicker:

Isaiah 45:7  "I am the One Who forms light and creates darkness, Who makes peace and creates evil, I am Hashem, Maker of all these." 

I checked the original Hebrew and the translation of "creates evil" is translated correctly.  G_d creates evil.  My Jewish friends tell me that Satan is an angel G_d created to try to tempt people and get them to not follow G_d.  That without Satan, we would not have free will.  If He created it, He can certainly stand to be in its presence. 

My conclusion is that Jesus was never necessary.  While Christianity provided me a path to righteousness, I believe I have found a more accurate road to travel down.

Visiting A Synagogue

                                                        Visiting a Synagogue 

There are three different types of synagogues that one might visit.  I have been to two of them.  There is the Reform, the one I have not been to.  Since I have not been to this type, I will not comment on it.  Then there is the Conservative.  I have been to this one and I found it a lot like going into a church with the exception of the kepas and the tallits.  There Jews may drive on Shabbat if necessary.  It is preferred that they not do so but if distance or health requires it then, ok.  The women sit with the men and so there is no special place to sit.  Any where you find is fine.  You will hear a lot of Hebrew being spoken as that is the prescribed way of the service.  It has been so for over 3, 000 years.  Why break tradition now?  You will find a Torah and a Sidur (prayer book) usually in the back of the seat in front of you.  If not then they may be in the area just before you enter the sanctuary.  They are in English and Hebrew.  The cantor, either male or female, will be "singing" the prayers in Hebrew.  They usually announce the page number periodically so that people can keep up.  At some point in the service they will open the "ARK".  This is where the Torah scrolls are kept.  Everyone stands until the Torah scrolls reach the beema (the table where it is laid for reading).  Then you may sit down.  There are different points during the reading when you will be required to stand.  If you watch the other people you may see some of them rise up on their toes three times, or bow or take three steps backward and then step forward and bow to the left, center and right.  There will be instructions in the Sidur about when one should do these things.  So follow along as well as you can and enjoy the reading.  At some point the Torah scrolls will be brought down and walked down the isle.  People usually like to touch it with their fingers and then kiss the fingers that touched it.  Sometimes they use the Sidur to touch it and then kiss the Sidur part that touched it.  Once the reading is over they will lift up the scroll for all to see the writing on it, in Hebrew of course.  Usually the services will begin around 9:00 AM or 9:30 AM, depending on that synagogue's schedule, and last until around 12:00 PM or 12:30 PM.  Once it is over you leave.  There may be some other event taking place during some special day.  I will leave it to your discretion as to if you stay for it.  You may get some funny looks, depending on the occasion, but it is not likely you will be asked to leave.    

Lastly, there is the Orthodox Synagogue.  This is the one where you will find that women sit to the left and men on the right.  There is a screen or partition dividing the two sides.  This is because the men are the ones who are required to pray and they must maintain a lot of concentration.  Women must pray but they don't have any time constraints like the men do.  They can pray anytime. You will see men moving back and forth as they pray.  This assists their concentration.  Someone once told me that, spiritually speaking, it keep the little demons from being able to grab hold of them and make them lose their concentration. In some synagogues I have seen cards in the front that tell you what page they are on.  But in others, there is nothing.  So you may have to ask.  For the women it is ok to ask pretty much anytime.  For the men, if they have the prayer shawl over their heads, don't bother them.  Wait till they are looking around or talking to someone. You will see pretty much the same things in the Orthodox synagogue as you did the Conservative with the exception of the division of men and women.  Here, the Orthodox men, especially a Rabbi, will not shake hands with a woman.  She could be on her monthly cycle and if he touched her then spiritually that would make him unclean. Then he would not be able to do his job. Don't get offended ladies.  They do that with all females, except young children. Men, if you get in before the service starts, make sure to introduce yourself to the Rabbi and let him know that you are not Jewish.  The reason for this is that they have to have 10 men for a menyan.  That means that until they have 10 Jewish men present, there are certain prayers than can not be said and it is some very serious business.    

When you go into a synagogue, you will most likely find someone who will smile and say hello but don't expect much more than that.  Especially in an Orthodox synagogue.  Jews live in a community because they are not allowed to drive on Shabbat.  They walk.  So they are aware when a stranger comes into their midst.  They tend to view strangers with a little suspicion.  They have had distasteful and sometimes dangerous things happen and they never know who might be walking in and what their intentions may be.  Also, they know that gentiles are not supposed to worship as a Jew does and a Jewish service is only for the benefit of the Jew.  It is their commandment to do.  


Men, when you go into a synagogue, you should look for the kepas (Yamalkas) that the synagogue provides before going into the sanctuary.  If they provide a tallit, prayer shawl, take one of those too.  Woman are supposed to have their hair covered but many don't.  

You may not be welcomed with open arms but as a Noahide, hopefully one day the Jews will realize that we are in this together.  Times are changing and more and more Jews are starting to realize this even now.  It is early in the process but as the Noahide movement grows, so will acceptance.  Jews have lived in fear for thousands of years.  They are well aware that even when things look like they have all the freedom to be Jews that other people enjoy as Christians or Muslims, things can change in a flash.  It has happened before and so they never get too comfortable.  History has taught them a very harsh lesson.  So be patient.  Our big brothers and sisters will eventually come around.  

A Comprehensive Introduction to the Noahide Laws.

 I do not know the name of the author only that it comes from "The Path of Abraham"  But I found it very interesting and informative.  I hope you agree.

Path of Abraham

Introduction to Laws of Noah

In writing about the Laws of Noah, I make a few basic assumptions concerning the reader: 1) He acknowledges the Reality of the Absolute Authority over existence -- the Creator. 2) He is not a moral-relativist.  He accepts that there must be absolutes regarding what is right and what is wrong, independent of personal feelings or opinions. 3) He already more-or-less accepts the Hebrew Bible / "Old Testament" as expressive of the Creator's "Word." Whoever desires to know the Creator's Will must first and foremost accept the Reality of His Existence, and that regardless of anyone's current beliefs or practices, the Creator is the Ultimate Authority in determining what is right and wrong, moral and immoral.  Against our will we were given existence.  According to His Will we are sustained. If the above does not apply to you, then the following information may only cause frustration. Let not your emotions determine for you whether something is acceptable or unacceptable.  If we were all to do so then anarchy would rule.  It was for this very reason that the world was flooded in the days of Noah (see below).  Much of the information below may be new to you, possibly even strange or extreme.  If so, remember that we are not the Authority over creation.  Try to imagine how strange the popular religions of the modern world were when they first entered history -- yet what follows preceded them all: INTRODUCTION The Almighty commanded six categorical laws to Adam.  These were to be taught generation after generation. Mankind quickly abandoned the Almighty's Instruction.  Ultimately the world was so corrupt in its rebellion that only the household of Noah merited to be saved from the expression of the Almighty's Will in relation to the situation.  This was the Great Flood. Ever wondered what it was that made the generation of Noah worthy of such an extreme consequence?  The reason for this consequence is referred to in Genesis 6:11-13  only by means of two words whose meanings do not specify the violation of any particular law -- though I am of the opinion that they imply violation of the Law to Establish an Upright Judicial System.  This itself is one of the Laws of Noah.  The two Hebrew words used in describing the reason for the Great Flood are "nish'hhatha" and "hhamas."  Nish'hhatha literally means ruin, and implies a state of corruption.  Hhamas is roughly translated as tumult or social-disorder, and implies lawlessness and anarchy;  yet these words by themselves do not give clear indication of exactly what laws that generation was rebelling against, or what orders they ceased to heed.  The text makes one thing clear, whatever laws they had cast aside, they were laws which the Almighty Creator expected them to uphold, upon which their existence on the Earth depended. The Book of Jonah begs the same question.  Yona [Jonah] was sent to Neen'weh [Nineveh] to warn the non-Israelites living there that they must repent, lest the Almighty bring judgment upon their great city. They repented in the end, but what sins were they repenting from? When they repented, what commandments of the Creator did they resume keeping which previously they had turned against? There is found no where in the Bible any straight forward list of the obligations the Almighty commands the nations of the world to keep. It should be clear to all from the Bible's introduction to the 'Ten Commandments' that the 'Ten Commandments' were only directed to the People of Israel.  Immediately preceding the giving of the 'Ten Commandments,' (more properly: the Ten Matters) it is recorded in Deuteronomy 5:1-4 the following:  "And Moses called to all of Israel and said unto them, 'Harken O Israel, to the statutes and to the judgments that I am speaking in your ears this day, that you should learn them and keep them - to do them... The TRANSCENDENT One did not make this Covenant with our fathers, but rather, He made it with us - we who are here alive this day, all of us." "..His Covenant that He commanded to you to do, the Ten Matters.." (Deuteronomy 4:13) In addition to this, there are laws contained in the Torah [Law of Moses] which clearly indicate a distinction between Israelites and a non-Israelite.  "You shall not eat anything that died on its own; you may give it to the immigrant in your gates, and he shall eat it; or sell it to the foreigner; for you are a people set apart to the TRANSCENDENT One your Venerable Authority.."  (Deuteronomy 14:21) * the Hebrew word gehr, usually translated as "stranger," is here translated as immigrant. From this verse we learn of three types of people distinct from the native-born Israelite.  We learn of an "immigrant in your gates" to whom we "give," who is distinct from the "foreigner" to whom we "sell;" and because the "immigrant in your gates" mentioned in this verse is allowed to eat that which is forbidden to Israel, we see that he is distinct from the immigrant mentioned in Numbers 15:15-16 "who permanently sojourns" with Israel; for unlike the immigrant of Deut. 14:21, the immigrant of Numbers 15:15-16 is obligated in Torah just as a native-born Israelite: "As for the congregation, the same statute is for you and for the immigrant who sojourns [immigrates] with you; an everlasting statute for your generations; as you are, so shall the immigrant be, before the TRANSCENDENT One.  The same Torah and the same adjudication shall be for you and for the immigrant who sojourns [immigrates] with you." (Numbers 15:15-16) (A side note: The Written Torah does not explain how an individual changes from any one of these statuses to another.) By now, with all this information in mind, a few things should be apparent to us: 1* that the Bible assumes obligations for the non-Israelite nations of the world.  2* the obligations of the non-Israelite nations are distinct from the obligations of the people of Israel 3* among people who are not native-born Israelites there are three basic types -- a "foreigner" (nokhrey), a "immigrant of gates" (gehr be-sha'arekhem), and a "immigrant who sojourns" (gehr ha-gor ita'khem); 4* the Bible is being vague regarding these issues; So how can we know more about these three types of status among non-native-born Israelites?  And the main question:  With the Bible being so vague, how are we to know what commandments the non-Israelite nations are obligated to keep? THE ANSWER The people of Israel inherited from their righteous ancestors certain teachings which preceded the Covenant made with Israel at Mt. Sinai. Some of these teachings are alluded to in the written text of the Torah [Law of Moses.]  The most essential teachings which the People of Israel inherited from their ancestors are the Laws of Noah.  It is these laws that are incumbent upon all mankind.   Throughout history, while the majority of humankind would be turning away from surrendering to their Creator, there remained a remnant of people, sometimes just individuals, who preserved the chain of instruction passed down from generation to generation, going all the way back to the first man (Adam) who received them from the Almighty. The instruction of the 7 categorical laws, often called the 7 laws of Noah because the 7th was given via Noah, were kept by very few until Abraham's lifetime. Abraham not only preserved the 7 laws, he also strove to spread the knowledge of and submission to the will of the One Creator to the masses. Genesis 12:5 refers to “..souls they made in Haran.."  The souls they made can’t refer to children.  Abraham and Sarah hadn’t yet had children, as indicated in the chapters that follow Genesis 12.  Instead, the ancient Sages of Israel taught that the souls they made refer to the people that Abraham and Sarah won over to the monotheistic community which they were building. With Abraham, the Almighty began to unfold His ultimate plan to remedy the problem of the world's continual rebellion and ignorance of His Will.   The Almighty made an ETERNAL covenant with Abraham's household. (See Genesis 17:7, 13, 19.) This household, whose faithful teachings were passed down through Isaac [Yeys'haq] and then Jacob [Ya'aqov], developed into the People of Israel. At the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, the People of Israel became set apart as a "priestly kingdom." What is a priestly kingdom without people to whom to minister?  By making the nation of Israel, and setting them apart from the degenerative trends of the world by means of the 613 commandments, the Almighty created a way by which knowledge of the Torah would never be forgotten.  The core of this Torah remained the seven original Laws of Noah, the core of which remained surrender to the One Creator. This nation, the People of Israel, would itself be a continual and eternal testimony to the Reality and Singularity of Creator's Being, and to the faithfulness of His Instruction for mankind. The LORD of the world set apart a thin stretch of land for this set apart people to dwell in. He choose this land to be at the cross roads of 3 major continents. By placing this set-apart land in such a location, it became inevitable that traveling caravans from throughout the known world would encounter this set-apart people. Among the commandments given to Israel which form part of what is called the "Oral Torah," is that if anyone wants to even pass through the Land of Israel, although they need not become an Israelite, they must at least accept the 7 Laws of Noah. Such a traveler who accepts the 7 laws is the "immigrant in your gates" which we saw mentioned in the Written Torah [Law of Moses] earlier.  This function of People of Israel, being a teacher to the nations, is one of the essential purposes of its existence as a nation of priests.  Teaching the 7 Laws of Noah is critical to that purpose. Now as to the question - “Why aren’t the 7 laws of Noah listed in the Bible?"  Among the possible reasons why the 7 laws are not plainly listed in the Torah [Law of Moses] may be: 1) Because the Written Torah [Law of Moses] was not given directly to the nations.  Rather, the nations were, and are, to learn Torah under the guidance of the people of Israel.  (Zechariah 8:23, 14:16-21; Micah 4:1-3) These Bible passages are in the context of the "latter days" because only "at that time... the nations... shall no longer walk according the stubbornness of their evil heart," (Jeremiah 3:17); and only at that time "...He shall swallow up the covering which covers all the peoplehoods, even the veil which is stretched over all the nations....," when "He shall remove the reproach of His People from all the earth;" (Isaiah 25:7-8) and "All the ends of the earth shall remember and return unto the LORD;" (Psalm 22:28).  "...the nations shall come from the extremities of the earth, and shall say: 'Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, emptiness, and things that are of no profit,'" (Jeremiah 16:19).  And in that day, "the Mount of the LORD's House [the Temple] shall be established... and all nations shall flow unto it.  And people of many nations shall go and say, 'Go ye, and let us ascend to the Mount of the LORD, to the House [Temple] of the Venerable-Authority of Jacob; and he will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths.' For out of Sion shall the Torah go forth, even the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem." (Isaiah 2:2-3)  How shall the Torah go forth from the Mount of the LORD?  By means of Moses' Court: See further.  2) Because when Israel received the written Torah [Law of Moses], they already had knowledge of the 7 Laws of Noah.  This is similar to the reason why the writers of the ‘New Testament’ did not repeat basic stories of Jes’us life in each of their books.  The authors probably assumed or knew that the readers were already aware of these things.  All in all, it is quite clear from the written text that the Israelites had standards of right and wrong even before the giving of the Torah.  The same is true for the righteous individuals before the formation of the children of Jacob / Israel.  It is supposed to be a "given" to anyone reading this article, that basing standards of right and wrong on something as subjective as emotions or feelings is definately not to be called "the right thing to do." 3) To testify to whom the true people of Israel are.  There have been many groups, big and small, who claim to be either replacements of Israel or the new Israel.  Some even claim that they themselves are the historically true Israel while those called Jews in the English language are either phony Israelites or cast aways.  Yet the preservation of the Oral teachings and explanations of the Torah [Law of Moses] testify to the fact that the Jews are the true people of Israel. Only the Jewish People possess the record of the Great Court [Sanhedrin]’s rulings, which the written Torah commands us to follow (Deuteronomy 17:8-12).  Along with this, only the Israelites - the Jewish People, possess clear knowledge of the divinely given laws which the non-Israelite nations of the world are obligated to keep.  None of the phony "replacement" groups have inherited any such information.  In fact, these phony groups would not even be able to read the Bible in any translation without relying on someone who learned Hebrew from the Jewish People.  And even more so, many of these pseudo-Israelite groups believe that ALL PEOPLE must keep all the commandments just as Israel must keep them.  Are you prepared for such? As for the "foreigner" mentioned above in Deuteronomy 14:21, the Oral Torah explains that he is a non-Israelite who has not formally accepted the Laws of Noah -- the only laws absolutely binding on the non-Israelite nations.  The phoney groups who want to obligate the entire world in the Law of Moses should have a dillema here.  Are they claiming that we are to instigate a profit off the ignorance and sin of the foreigner by selling to him meat which he is forbidden to eat?  This would be the implication where it true that they are obligated in Torah just as the Israelites.  And such groups want to put this perversity in the "mouth" of the Almighty.  Heaven forbid. And who is the "immigrant who permanently sojourns with you?"  He is an individual who was born a non-Israelite, either from a "foreigner" or from a "immigrant in your gate;" but at some point he desired to "come under the 'wings' of the Divine Expression" by offically and permanently joining the People of Israel, accept as binding upon himself all the obligations of the Torah which the Creator gave to Israel, and by which He set them apart as a unique people unto Himself, with a special purpose in this world. By beginning to heed the Laws of Noah, you join in the fulfillment of Israel's divinely ordained purpose, and become a partner with Israel - the LORD's selected People, in the preservation of the Commandments of the Sovereign LORD;  He alone is the Creator and Sustainer of all existence.  Exalted is He above the highest praise of man - preserver of His glorious Guidance by the preservation of the House of Noah; Preserver of Abraham's seed - to Moses ~ the Immutable "I AM." Having understood the contents of this page, you should now be better prepared for learning THE LAWS OF NOAH - the Creator's Torah (instruction) for the nations. The following are the introductory principles regarding observance of the Laws of Noah:  Mishneh Torah, Hilkoth Melakhim u'Milhhamothehem Chapter 8 8:12 [10]  Moses our teacher gave the Torah and the commandments as an acquisition only to the people of Israel, as it is stated, "inheritance of the house of Jacob" (Deuteronomy 33:4) and to anyone who wants to become a convert from among the rest of the nations, as it is stated, "as you are, so is the convert" (Numbers 15:15), but whoever does not want to become obligated in Torah as an Israelite should not be forced to accept the Torah and commandments upon himself as an Israelite. 8:13 And Moses our teacher was likewise commanded from the "mouth" of the Almighty, to compel all those who come into the world to accept all the commandments that Noah was commanded; but anyone who does not accept them is to be killed - by means of conviction within a valid court-system. But anyone who accepts these the Laws of Noah is called a gehr-toshov, the "immigrant in your gates" mentioned in the Bible, in all contexts; and he needs to accept the Laws of Noah upon himself in front of three Torah-scholars. But anyone who accepted upon himself to be circumcised in order to obtain status within Torah as an Israelite, and he allowed twelve months to pass without being circumcised for the sake of becoming as an Israelite, - behold, he is as an apostate among the nations. 8:14 [11] Anyone who accepts the seven commandments of Noah, and is cautious to do them - behold, this individual is of the pious among the nations of the world; and he has a portion in the world to come; and this is someone who will accept them and do them because the Holy One, blessed is He, commanded concerning them in the Instruction (Torah); and He informed us (Israel) about these laws by means of Moses our teacher, that the sons of Noah were commanded concerning them from beforehand; However, if he will do them only because of the descretion of reason, he is not a resident immigrant (gehr toshav), nor is he of the pious of the nations; but rather, he is counted among their wise-men.    **** Bonnie here:   As a side note, I would like to qualify and say that the Jews do not go around killing those who don't agree with this.  Any reference to "be killed" can be taken in many different ways.  It can refer to a spiritual death, a monetary death or just exclusion from the community.  It does not always refer to a physical death as some mistakenly believe.  It would be my guess that it is more a spiritual death...but that is my guess.

My Story

In the Spring of 2011 I met a young Jewish man who I saw was having a hard time of things.  I thought that the best thing that I could give him was Jesus to help him with his problems.  I had never really met an observant Jew before, that I know of.  So it was very interesting to discuss all about what it is like to be Jewish.  I learned a great many things I never knew.  But I still felt he really needed Jesus.  I knew that I would not be able to reach him through an emotional appeal.  He was too smart for that and knew Torah and my bible better than anyone I had ever known.  No, I would have to take a different approach with this man.  So I did something I had never done before.  I went searching for undeniable facts about Jesus.  Why as wide spread as Christianity was, I should have no problem at all.  I should have my undeniable proof in, at most, a few hours.  Well, a few hours past and then a few days and the more I looked the more I found that there was very little out there that I could count as "undeniable proof".  I knew I would not be able to prove it to him using the New Testament.  He had already told me that much.  But I found so very little out there and what I did find was suspected of having been tampered with.  Meanwhile, we had many long conversations and he posed many questions for me and after weeks of searching, speaking with my pastor and reading books to prove Jesus, I came up pretty much empty handed.  The books merely used Christianity to prove itself.  I searched for evidence to prove the New Testament and found that the books of the New Testament were included by a set of standards, or canonizations that merely accepted what was already in use and what people already believed to be true.  Then I began thinking back to the times when I was reading the bible and it did not make sense to me at certain places.  I had some serious questions and when I asked questions I was told that there were somethings that we could not understand until we got to heaven.  We just had to trust.  But now these same questions came back and smacked me square in the face.  Why would a Jew say to drink blood when it was forbidden in the Old Testament to consume blood of any kind?  Why would G_d make a new covenant with only 12 people in the room when the first time there were three million there.  And He spoke to them Himself.  Then I asked the question, "Was Jesus even necessary?"  The Jews offered animal sacrifices as atonement for "inadvertent" sins.  For the real sins, G_d merely required a broken and contrite heart.  I had know that all my life but never put two and two together.  In fact, one of the reasons He ran the previous tenets out of the land of Canaan was because of human sacrifices.  HaShem hates that!  So why would he ask his "only begotten son" to sacrifice himself for the world?  Then I started learning about how the "proof" the New Testament gave was either taken out of context, mistranslated or non existent.  After much prayer and soul searching it occurred to me that I could no longer consider myself a Christian.  When that hit me, I fully expected the roof to cave in on me or a bolt of lightning to strike me dead.  My world had been turned upside down and I was lost.  I was sad because I now understood that all those wonderful words HaShem spoke to the Israelites were not meant for me.  I felt I had lost His love at one point.  But between my Jewish friend and HaShem that did not last long.  He let me know that I did not need Jesus because I had Him.  And He has always been more than enough.  So I put away my bible and took up reading Torah.  It was like a light bulb...no, a flood light, went off in my head every time I opened Torah to study.  I read every book I could get on being Noahide, Jewish thought and Kabbalah.  I could not get enough information.  It was a frantic effort to get caught up.  I had wasted 54 years of my life and now I had so much to learn and re-learn.  My friend just laughed and shock his head at my frantic search for more and more truth...Torah truth.  I can say now that I have settled down a bit now.  I have decided that Torah and one other book at a time was good enough for now.  As I located other Noahides on Face Book, I found they had gone through the same things as I had.  It was normal...I thought I was going crazy. LOL.  I now attend an Orthodox Synagogue and I love it.  I have recently come to the conclusion that I want to convert.  That was a hard decision because I know what all it takes to live a Jewish life.  It is not easy.  But I have already begun practicing the mitzvot (commandments). It is so well worth it.  Well, thanks for listening...reading really.  See ya next time.

What is a Noahide?

What is a Noahide?

This is a site for Noahides.  Although it is out of San Antonio, Texas, it is for anyone from anywhere.  Let me start off by telling you a little bit about the term NOAHIDE.  That's a strange sounding word, isn't it.  But it is connected to the man we have all heard about, Noah, as in "and the Ark".  A Noahide is someone who descends from Noah.  We pretty much all descended from Noah. Even Abraham.  But because of Abraham's incredible righteousness, God took special consideration of him and made a nation out of his descendants...the Jews.  So to make a long story short, everyone who is not a Jew is a Noahide.  God gave Noah seven laws for the world to follow.  He would later give the Jewish people 613.  Most people who have no association with a Judaism is not aware of this but, yes, the 613 are all in the Bible.  The 7 commandments for the rest of the world...the Noahide Laws, are...

1.  No Idolatry 

2. No Blasphemy  

3. No Murder  

4. No Stealing  

5. No Adultery/Sexual Perversions   

6. No eating the meat taken from a living animal  

7. Set up Courts of Justice. 

 These are a lot easier than those 613 that the Jews have to follow.  So why do they have so many more?  I am glad you asked.  If you have read the Bible I am sure you saw in there that the Jews were to be a "priest" to the nations.  God told them that because He is holy, He expects them to be holy.  He set them aside as His Holy Nation.  To set them apart, He gave them a lot of rules to follow that became their life style and something that has set them apart from the rest of the world for the last three thousand years.  Those rules are supposed to set them apart because they are there to help the rest of the world...the Noahides.

In this site I will address many different issues concerning Noahides and a few about Jews. Your questions and comments are welcome.  I sincerely hope you will learn and advance in your relationship with HaShem.  HaShem is the term we will be using for God from now on.  It is Hebrew for "The Name".