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Another Testament of
Jesus the Messiah, Son of David
The Book of Mormon, Hebrew &
English
Jesus
the Messiah is the Torah made flesh and dwelt among us.
Synthesis
of 3 Nephi 15:9 & John 1:14
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Oh
my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel?
Judges 6:15
Canst
thou translate?
Mosiah 8:11
If
thou wilt, save Israel by mine hand.
Judges 6:36
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For 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.
Isaiah 62:1
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And also
to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ,
the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.
Excerpt
from Book of Mormon Title Page
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Behold,
my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of
Christ; for, for this end hath the law of Moses been given; and all
things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world,
unto man, are the typifying of him.
2
Nephi 11:4
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And for this
intent we keep the law of Moses, it pointing our souls to him.
Jacob
4:5
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Wherefore,
the prophets, and the priests, and the teachers, did labor diligently,
exhorting with all long-suffering the people to diligence;
teaching the law of Moses, and the
intent for which it was given; persuading them to look forward unto the
Messiah, . . .
Jarom 1:11
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And as I spake concerning the convincing of the
Jews,
that Jesus is the very Christ . . .
2
Nephi 26:12
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And
it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the
Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the
Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the lost tribes of
Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the
Nephites and the Jews.
2 Nephi 29:13
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And
it shall come to pass that the Jews which are scattered also shall
begin to believe in Christ; and they shall begin to gather in upon the
face of the land.
2 Nephi 30:7
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I have
charity for the Jew.
2 Nephi 33:8
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.
.. and also that the Jews, the covenant people of the Lord, shall have
other witness besides him whom they saw and heard, that Jesus, whom
they slew, was the very Christ and the very God.
Mormon 3:21
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.
.. all things which are hid must be revealed upon the house-tops.
Mormon 5:8
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And
behold, they (The Book of Mormon teachings) shall go unto the Jews; and
for this intent shall they go -- that they may be persuaded that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of the living God; that the Father may bring
about, through his most Beloved, his great and eternal purpose, in
restoring the Jews, or all the house of Israel, to the land of their
inheritance, which the Lord their God hath given them, unto the
fulfilling of his covenant;
Mormon 5:14
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Know ye that ye are of the
house of Israel.
Mormon 7:2
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...and none can stay
it...
Mormon 8:26
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And if
our plates had been sufficiently large
we should have written in Hebrew....
Mormon 9:33
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The Book of Mormon is the instrument that God
designed to "sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out [His]
elect." (Moses 7:62)
President Ezra Taft Benson,
Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon, Ensign, November 1988.
_______________________________
And the gospel must first be published among all
nations.
Mark 13:10
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Wherefore, I must bring forth the
fulness of my gospel from the Gentiles unto the house of Israel.
Doctrine & Covenants 14:10
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For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of
the LORD,
as the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah
11:9
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If
I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand
forget her cunning.
Psalm 137:5
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And
unto the Jews I became as a
Jew, that I might gain the Jews.
1 Corinthians 9:20
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And again, (seek diligently to turn) the hearts of the Jews unto
the prophets, and the prophets unto the Jews; lest I come and smite the
whole earth with a curse, and all flesh be consumed before me.Doctrine & Covenants 98:17_______________________________________
Thous hast seen and heard all this; and will ye not declare them?
1 Nephi 20:6
______________________________
The phrase "House of Israel" is given
122 times in the Book of Mormon,
and 160 times in the Bible KJV.
The Book of Mormon
also references the following phrases
"House of Jacob" is given 15 times
"children of Israel" is
given 8 times
"tribes
of Israel" is given 6 times
"Jews"
is given 76 times
"Judah"
is given 22 times
"the
Law of Moses" (translated as Torah) is
given 43 times
"God
of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob" is given 8 times, including variations
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Please share the PDF
file with your Jewish friends.
The Jews have
carried their Torah scrolls as they fled burning villages.
Nephi carried
the Torah, as engraved on the "plates of brass," across the ocean to
the New World.
The Book of
Mormon is a volume of scripture derived from the Torah and the Nevi'im.
The Book of
Mormon conveys the prophecies of Joseph, who was sold into Egypt.
It also gives
the prophecies of the Hebrew prophets Neum, Zenock, and Zenos.
The House of
Israel is the Olive-tree. The people of the Book of Mormon are a branch
of this tree.
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The Hebrew translation
is given in PDF format. Each verse is given in both Hebrew and English.
Guests who have the
DavkaWriter Hebrew word processor may download: BofM_Hebrew.dwd
The English
verses given in the PDF documents are taken from project Gutenberg via:
http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/mormon/
This is a work in
progress which may take many years to complete.
Verses will be added on
a regular basis until the entire Book of Mormon is posted. Revisions
will occur in parallel.
I welcome
suggestions and corrections.
I
need volunteers to proofread the translation!
Perfunctory but
Necessary Disclaimers:
1.
I am not an expert in Hebrew.
2. I do not possess an Urim and Thummin, a Liahona,
or any other miraculous device.
3. I have not received any angelic
visitations.
4. I am not a prophet.
5. I am not an apostle.
6. I am not trying to start a church.
7. This is a private site which is not
endorsed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
8. This Hebrew translation does not represent an
official version of the LDS Church.
9. The LDS Church has an ironclad agreement with the government of
Israel that no missionary work will be undertaken
within Israel.
10. The Book of Mormon is Mormon's Book.
11. Yes, there is a difference between Biblical and modern Hebrew; I
need to learn both.
12. I have never participated in Sunstone or any
similar symposia.
13. See Book of
Mormon, Mormon 9:33.
14. See Doctrine & Covenants, Section 58:26-29.
15. See Numbers 11:29 & Mark 9:38-41.
16. If this depth of inquiry troubles you in any way, then I
invite you to skip this site altogether and instead read the Especially
For Mormons book series.
17. I am receiving no monetary compensation for this effort. Rather I
am spending a great deal of my own time and money on this endeavor.
18. I look forward to the day when the LDS church finally
releases a permanent, full, official Hebrew translation of the Book of
Mormon (including the nikkud vowel marks). This official version would
then clearly take precedence over my own translation.
19. It is easier to
ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.
20. Actually, I am a Rocket
Scientist. I analyze mechanical shock
& vibration data from launch vehicles.
21. BYU students, alumni, faculty,
administrative staff and football fans should not
even download the Hebrew translation, due to extraordinarily sensitive
agreements between BYU and the government of Israel.
22. I have
autism/Aspergers syndrome, and I hyperfocus.
23. (Insert your own disclaimer here.)
And
don't criticize what you can't understand. - Bob Dylan
Rather
I am learning Hebrew, in part through this translation effort. My tools
are computer software, Hebrew textbooks and dictionaries, as well as a
stubborn desire to bring forth this Hebrew translation of my own free
will and choice, if only one verse at a time.
The
Book of Mormon story about the two thousand stripling warriors is a
story about faith, obedience, physical strength and great courage.
These valiant young men were also know as the Army of Helaman and as
the Sons of Helaman. Their story is also an account of the faith of
their mothers.
There
is another dimension to the stripling warriors' story...... Their
fathers had made a covenant of peace whereby they buried their weapons
in the ground. The fathers vowed that they would never again shed the
blood of men. Yet the sons had not made this covenant. Furthermore, the
fathers and sons collectively had a moral imperative to take up arms in
defense of the Nephite people.....
The
Book of Mormon title page twice sets forth the moral imperative that we
must convey the Book of Mormon to the Jews. This imperative is repeated
several times throughout the Book of Mormon.
Following
the example of the stripling warriors, we can carry the Hebrew Book of
Mormon forth to the Jewish people in ways that the LDS Church has
covenanted not to do so.
Err on the side of initiative.
Gumption, Chutzpah!
I
offer this translation as partial fulfillment of Mitzvah
Tikkun Olam & Chidush-Torah.
____________________________
And,
verily I say
unto you, that it is my will that you should hasten to translate my
scriptures, and to obtain a knowledge of history, and of
countries, and of
kingdoms,
of laws of God and man, and all this for the salvation of
Zion.
Doctrine &
Covenants 93:53
_______________________________
Photograph: Translating
Moroni 5:1-2 on June 28, 2008 on the Hill Cumorah: Translation_2.jpg
_______________________________
quix·ot·ic -
Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable
goals; idealistic without regard to practicality - American
Heritage Dictionary.
_______________________________
And
if not now, when? - Rabbi Hillel the Elder
_______________________________
Don't Ask
Who Will Let Me? but Who Will STOP Me? - Ayn Rand
_______________________________
Please
God, please, don't let me be normal!
Luisa,
Monologue from The Fantasticks
_______________________________
Proclaim
your rarity.
Og
Mandino
_______________________________
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence,
therefore, is not an act, but a habit. -Aristotle
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Far
better is it to
dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by
failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy
much nor suffer
much,
because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
--Theodore Roosevelt
_______________________________
Also, if
someone needs a project... but is unable to help with the Hebrew
translation.... we still need to translate the Book of Mormon into
Latin! Let's do this for our Catholic brothers and sisters!
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William
Tyndale
William
Tyndale (1494 - 1536) translated the Bible into English
directly from Hebrew and Greek texts.
He
was the first person to take advantage of Gutenberg's movable-type
press for the purpose of printing the scriptures in the English
language.
Tyndale
declared to a clergyman who opposed his work:
"If
God spare my life ere many years, I will cause the boy that drives the
plow to know more of the scriptures than you!"
(Elder
D. Todd Christofferson spoke of William Tyndale in his April 2010
conference talk).
My
simple goal is to translate the Book of Mormon from English to Hebrew
so that the Jewish boy or girl on a kibbutz may know as much of this
book as any teacher or leader in the LDS faith.
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Shema
Sh'ma Yis'ra'eil
Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.
Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.
Barukh sheim
k'vod malkhuto l'olam va'ed.
Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.
I
have sung the Shema, acapella solo, in the Mesa, Arizona
Temple
and in the Birmingham, Alabama Temple. This is not part of
any current temple ceremony, but it was recited by the high priests in
Solomon's Temple. See also Deuteronomy 6:4 and Mark
12:29.
The restoration of the fullness of the gospel is a work in
progress. The day will come when the Sons of Levi do again
offer
an offering unto the Lord in righteousness within our Latter-Day
Temples. When that time comes, the walls of our Temples will
reverberate with the Shema.
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Lesson
Learned from Translating the Book of Mormon into Hebrew
1.
HaMashiach, the Messiah,
is used instead of Christ.
Both titles refer to the "anointed one."
But the name Christ
is Greek. The authors of the Book of Mormon would have been
unfamiliar with Greek. Furthermore the Jews are well
acquainted with the concept of a Messiah.
2. The Hebrew name
for Jesus is: Yeshua, which means "He
who saves." (See Matthew 1:19-21)
3.
The subtitle is changed to: Another
Testament of Jesus the Messiah, Son of David, or Yeshua HaMashiach, Ben
David. The purpose is to emphasize that Jesus was Jewish and
was
of the lineage of David, following the example of Matthew 1.
4.
Jesus the Messiah is the Torah made flesh and dwelt among us. Synthesis
of 3 Nephi 15:9 & John 1:14.
5. YHWH
is used for Lord. YHWH is a form of the
Hebrew Hayah (I AM) and is
pronounced as Yahweh. The equivalent name
in English is Jehovah. See Exodus 3:14.
6.
Elohim is plural, meaning Gods.
7. The condescension of God is
explained using a Hebrew phrase for God
will lower himself to mortal life. This
may be the single most important concept for the Jews
to understand. (1
Nephi 11:16)
8.
Jacob bids farewell using the term adieu (Jacob 7:27). Shalom,
or peace, is used for adieu.
9. Hosanna (Hoshea na) - Hebrew for Please
save or save now. See 3 Nephi 11:17.
10. Yam
Suph, the Sea of Reeds, is substituted
for the Red Sea, per Jewish tradition.
See 1 Nephi 2:5.
11. The law of Moses is
translated as the Torah of Moses. (1 Nephi 4:15
& elsewhere)
12. The verb shema
means listen and obey.
This verb is used throughout the translation.
13. The most common commandment in the
Book of Mormon is to Behold.
14. The Lord commands us to be baptized "that ye may be numbered with my people who are of
the house of Israel." See 3
Nephi 30:2.
15. Lashuv meets
to return and repent. See Jacob 3:8 & elsewhere.
16. Teshuvah is the noun
for return and repentance.
17. Adam also means man.
The children of men is translated as the children
of Adam. The
name Adam comes from the Hebrew adamah,
meaning earth.
Recall
Genesis 2:7, Then
the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
18.
Mary is Miriam in
Hebrew. See Mosiah 3:8.
19. The
phrase I would that ye should remember appears 15
times in the Book of Mormon. See 2 Nephi 31:4 and elsewhere.
20.
Some of the Isaiah verses are quoted multiple times in the Book of
Mormon. For example, Isaiah 52:9 is quoted four times:
Break
forth into joy; sing together ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the
Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem;
Mosiah
12:23, Mosiah 15:30, 3 Nephi 16:19, 3 Nephi 20:34.
21.
The phrase how beautiful upon the mountains are
the feet is used five times in the Book of Mormon,
starting with Mosiah
12:21.
22.
The imperative lift up your heads is given five
times in the Book of Mormon beginning with 2 Nephi 9:3. It is
followed by phrases such as rejoice and be
comforted.
23. Tzedakah
means charity, and the
religious obligation to perform charity. It
is based on the root tzedek which is
justice. tzedek also means
righteous.
24.
The phrase as
the Lord liveth is given 17 times, starting with 1 Nephi
3:15.
25.
The phrase keep
the commandments is given 39 times. 26.
The Lord declares "I am Alpha and Omega" in 3 Nephi 9:18.
The Hebrew is "Ani aleph v'tav." Aleph and Tav are the
first and last letters of the Hebrew aleph-bet, respectively.
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| Maimonides
lists his Eight Levels of Giving, as written in the Mishneh Torah,
Hilkhot Matanot Aniyim (Laws about Giving to Poor People), Chapter
10:7-14:
1. Giving an interest-free loan to a
person in need; forming a partnership with a person in need; giving a
grant to a person in need; finding a job for a person in need; so long
as that loan, grant, partnership, or job results in the person no
longer living by relying upon others. The Paamonim organization in
Israel is based on this principle and provides financial mentoring to
families in need.
2. Giving tzedakah anonymously to an
unknown recipient via a person (or public fund) which is trustworthy,
wise, and can perform acts of tzedakah with your money in a most
impeccable fashion.
3. Giving tzedakah anonymously to a known
recipient.
4. Giving tzedakah publicly to an unknown
recipient.
5. Giving tzedakah before being asked.
6. Giving adequately after being asked.
7. Giving willingly, but inadequately.
8.
Giving "in sadness" - it is thought that Maimonides was referring to
giving because of the sad feelings one might have in seeing people in
need (as opposed to giving because it is a religious obligation; giving
out of pity).
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Readers may also be
interested in:
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Software and Learning
Materials:
If you would like to
learn Hebrew, I recommend that you start with the materials at: http://www.ekspublishing.com/
Here is the Software
that I use for the translation:
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Jewish Charities
And I will
bless them that bless thee. Genesis 12:3
Comfort ye,
comfort ye my people, saith your God. Isaiah 40:1
And if thou
draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then
shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
Isaiah 58:10
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Other Charities and
Worthwhile Causes
Provide loans to the
working poor: Kiva
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"Chessed"
- (pl. Chasadim) - an act of kindness. It was said by Shimon HaTzaddik
(Simon the Righteous) that the world continues to exist because of
three things: Torah Study, the worship of Hashem, and the performance
of "gemilut chasadim," "acts of kindness."
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Ma'os Chittim
In Orech Chayim 429:7, the Aruch
HaShulchan writes: "All of the nation of Israel has the custom (in the
month of Nissan) to collect 'Ma'os Chittim' - to
purchase flour for the poor for Pesach, or to give them money so they
can purchase it for themselves."
The custom of contributing
"Ma'os Chittim," literally "money for wheat," is widespread.
Not only do we contribute money to provide for the flour (and therefore
Matzos) of the poor, but to provide as well for all the needed Pesach
provisions.
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Rosh Hashanah, or the
Feast of the Trumpets
Rosh Hashanah began on
the evening of September 21, 1827. This is the Jewish New Year.
That evening, prayers
were said pleading that God would remember his Covenant People in
exile.
The Shofar, which is a
trumpet, was blown the following morning in Jewish communites
throughout the world. The
shofar heralded the period of repentance and preparation for The Day of
Atonement, or Yom Kippur.
Joseph Smith received
the golden plates on this same day that the shofar was sounded,
September 22, 1827. The Book of Mormon was taken from these plates.
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Prophet Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith wrote,
"Those engaged in seeking the outcasts of Israel, and the dispersed of
Judah, cannot fail to enjoy the Spirit of the Lord and
have the choicest blessings of Heaven rest upon them in copious
effusions . . . He [the Lord] will endow you with power, wisdom, might,
and intelligence, and every qualification necessary; while your minds
will expand wider and wider, until you can circumscribe the earth and
the heavens, reach forth into eternity, and contemplate the mighty acts
of Jehovah in all their variety and glory" (History of the
Church, 4:128-129).
This quote is from a
letter to Orson Hyde and John E. Page, dated 14 May 1840.
Prophet Joseph Smith
"A
man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his
family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the
whole human race."
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Elder
Russell M. Nelson
You
can invite a friend to read the Book of Mormon. Explain that it is not
a novel or a history book. It is another testament of Jesus Christ. Its
very purpose is “to the convincing of the Jew and
Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself
unto all nations.”
Each
exemplary follower of Jesus Christ can become an effective member
missionary. Members and full-time missionaries may walk arm in arm in
bringing the blessings of the gospel to cherished friends and
neighbors. Many of them are of Israel, now being
gathered as promised. This is all part of the preparation for the
Second Coming of the Lord.
The
Prophet Joseph Smith said "that the Book of Mormon was the most correct
of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would
get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."
The Book of Mormon teaches of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and is the
instrument by which God will fulfill His ancient promise to gather
scattered Israel in these latter days.
(Be
Thou an Example of the Believers, October 2010 General Conference)
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Elder Jeffrey R.
Holland
"In
so many ways, Jerusalem ... constitutes the scene, the setting and the
circumference of our religious heritage," Holland recently told a new
group of 44 students at the church's Jerusalem center. "The origins of
our sacred texts all focus us here."
(Reference: LDS leaders
find acceptance in Israel, Visit
far different from 1987 opening of center, By Marshall Thompson, Associated Press, Saturday, March 31, 2007)
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| "Ye
Elders of Israel," Hymn 319. |
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YouTube
Videos
Hebrew
Aleph-Bet
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If
a Jew has no one to quarrel with, he quarrels with God, and we call it
theology; or he quarrels with himself, and we call it psychology. Or he
quarrels with the psychoanalyst, and we call it literature.
Two
Jews and three opinions are better that three Jews with no opinions.
Passionate arguments are better than passionless acceptance.
-
Elie Wiesel
Note
that the name Israel literaly means struggled with God.
Abraham
debated the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah with God.
Jacob
wrestled with an angel.
When
the Lord threatened to consume the children of Israel after the golden
calf incident, Moses countered, then "blot me out of thy book which
thou hast written."
Even
Tevye the milkman in Fiddler on the Roof declared to God: "Sometimes I
think, when it gets too quiet up there, You say to Yourself, 'What kind
of mischief can I play on My friend Tevye?' " Tevye remained a friend
to God even as he and his family and neighbors were driven out of their
shtetl Anatevka.
Jews
come to know God through their struggles and quarrels with God.
Judaism is
a robust religion that encourages and thrives on spirited debate.
Judaism
has a continuous history 3000 year history.
Even
during the so-called Dark Ages, Judaism had great rabbi-philosophers
such as Rashi, Maimonides and Nachmanides.
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Jewish
Gravestones
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