Have you ever
wondered what the difference is
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between Hebraic
roots and Jewish roots?
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Or... who are the
Jewish people anyway
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and why does the
Bible speak about them?
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Today on Back To Our
Roots we'll be discussing these
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things and many
more. Stay tuned!
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Shalom! I'm so happy
you could join us today.
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This is Back To Our
Roots. I'm Alex Schlussler
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and this is my
co-host Rachel Hyman.
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Glad to have
you with us, Rachel.
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Today we're going to be
talking about Back To The Roots.
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What does that mean?
We're going to be talking about
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who are the Jewish people.
What are the Jewish roots
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versus the Hebraic
roots today. Um-hmm.
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We also have a
very, very special guest.
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I'm real excited. A
little bit later we're going
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to bring him out. He is
our resident theologian.
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He's going to really
bring some great stuff.
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You know, speaking
about Back To The Roots
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there's been so much, Rachel,
that you see within Christianity
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today this whole movement
- um-hmm - about the roots
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and this and that, you know.
And I think that there's...
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A lot of people have confusion
about the difference between
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when we say the Hebraic
roots versus the Jewish roots.
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And a lot of people
don't even know that the roots
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of Christianity is Jewish.
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Which is maybe
the craziest thing.
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But when we talk about
Hebraic roots vs. Jewish roots
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we want you as our
friends and our audience,
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those following us, to
grow to an understanding.
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When we speak Hebraic
roots we're talking about
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the culture, the
atmosphere, the way things were
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at the time that
Jesus walked the earth...
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but even going back
before that. That's right.
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And when we speak
of the Jewish roots
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we're talking about
contemporary Judaism.
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And you know, there
is a real connection
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but we don't want people to get
confused between those 2 things.
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Um-hmm. So Rachel, I know
that you have a background
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in Judaism as I do.
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What was your first exposure?
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When you became a
Christian how did you reconcile
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being Jewish? Being
Christian? Where were you?
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You know, that's
such a good question.
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It was really confusing
for me because I always
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saw Christians as blaming
us for the death of Jesus.
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So I always saw Christianity
as kind of our enemy.
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But I met so many
Christians who were very nice
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at the same time. I
was a little confused
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with the whole Santa
Claus and Easter bunny thing.
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But eventually
when I really found out
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what Bible Christianity
was all about, that helped
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clear things up
for me. Right, right.
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You know, when we try to
understand the difference
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between even
Biblical... Biblical Judaism -
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maybe we could use that
term - or Hebraic roots,
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you know, we're wanting to
somehow get back to that place
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where Jesus was when He
walked the face of the earth.
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Um-hmm. We have a
special guest with us today.
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Um-hmm. And he's a
great friend to both of us.
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I'd like to bring out
our resident theologian
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Alexander
Bolotnikov. We call him Sasha.
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Sasha, come on out.
Sasha's a very gifted man.
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He is a teacher;
he's an evangelist.
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He is completing his Ph. D.
in an area of Hebraic studies.
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I have had the opportunity
to travel with Sasha to Germany
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on a couple occasions.
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We've worked together quite
a bit in the Jewish ministry
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within the Adventist church.
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Sasha, it's
wonderful to have you with us.
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It's a pleasure
for me to be here.
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I'm so glad you
were able to join us.
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And Sasha's going to be with us
throughout all of the programs
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just to add the special
touch that he's able to bring.
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Sasha: today we're
talking about the Hebraic roots
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and in specific, the difference
between the Hebraic roots
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and the Jewish roots.
And we want to get into just
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a little bit about
who the Jews are today
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and maybe even just a
little bit of history.
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And I know that, Sasha,
you have some great things
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in the area of the
origin of the term "Jew. "
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The history of that vs. Hebrew
vs. the Israeli's or whatever.
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Why don't you give
us some of that, Sasha?
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If we go to the Bible
to the book of Genesis
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the first time the
word Hebrew appears
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in the book of
Genesis chapter 13
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and Abraham - actually
Abram - is called "the Hebrew. "
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And it is interesting
that Hebrew is not referred
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as ethnicity of Abraham.
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Because if we look at
Deuteronomy chapter 26 verse 5
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it speaks specifically that
Abraham was a wandering Aramaen.
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So his ethnicity was
Aramaic. Yeah, Aramaic.
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Right. Aramaens were the
people who lived throughout the
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Middle East through Mesopotamia,
the Iraq today, you know.
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Right, right. Remember the
rivers Tigris and Euphrates?
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But it is interesting how we
look at the history of Abraham
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and we realize his father,
Terah, left Ur of the Chaldees
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which is down below where...
down at the Persian Gulf -
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right - almost... and he
was ordered to go into the land
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of Canaan. Yes. And he went up
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to the border which
is today Syria - right -
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in the city of Haran
and he stopped there.
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And so God calls
Abraham to keep going.
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And so Abraham in order to
end up in the land of Canaan
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he had to cross
the Euphrates river.
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In Hebrew - which is
the language, right? -
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the word Hebrew itself
comes from the root of Aramean's
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to cross over. Yes. So
Abraham is called a man
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from over there.
From across the river.
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That was his
nickname. Right. And after this
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nickname, all the children
of Abraham including Ishmael,
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including all his
children from Keturah
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after Sarah died, they can
be called Hebrews you know.
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So it really... I've heard
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on several occasions
people referring to Abraham as
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the first Jew. But
that's not really correct, then,
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by what you're saying,
right? No, this is not correct.
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This is not exact.
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What we have is we
have Isaac, the Hebrew,
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the son of Abraham - right
- together with his brother
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Ishmael. And of course
Isaac has Jacob and Esau.
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And we know Esau is the
father of the Edomite nation.
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They lived down
toward the Red Sea.
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And then we have Jacob
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who after his trials and
tribulations is called Israel:
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the one who wrestled with God.
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And he has 12 sons. Right.
And that's the nation of Israel.
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And that's...
through those twelve tribes
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of course we get Judah
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which is where that
name Jew comes from.
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Yes, the name Judah comes.
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And the reason why
today there are no Hebrews
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is because basically
what happens to the history
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Israel was split into
two different countries:
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north and south.
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And the ten northern
tribes apostasized from God
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and they are taken into
captivity and they disappear
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through assimilation.
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And so the only tribe which
the book II Kings chapter 17
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talks... the only tribe which
is left is the tribe of Judah.
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Right. So let's jump
way forward in time now
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because we do want to be able
to talk about the difference
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between what we're
saying the Hebraic roots
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vs. the Jewish roots. And
let's just take a little bit
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of time and talk about
who the Jews are today.
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You know it's interesting...
all of us were raised
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within different
contexts but raised as Jews
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and then accepted Jesus
or Yeshua - His Hebrew name -
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as the Messiah and our
experiences are different.
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But now the
Jews that exist today
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I don't think a lot of
people understand that just like
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there's many different denomi-
nations within Christianity
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there are different
denominational differences
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within Judaism.
Right? Oh yeah, oh yeah.
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It can go from extreme
right like Lubanitch Hasidic
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which is the ultra orthodox
- yeah - as you know. Yeah.
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Those are the guys that most
people would think, you know,
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in New York... the orthodox
Jews. With the big black hats.
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With the hats or with
the fox-fur type of hat -
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right? - and the coats.
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Just to make clear...
They try to model actually,
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and that's what's important
for people to understand.
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That their lifestyle,
the garb of these people,
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their laws are
based on the 18th century
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law codes and writings
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and it's so... it's very
far from... And they're stuck.
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Rabbinic law
instead of Biblical law.
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It's not even Rabbinic.
It's way way post-Rabbinic.
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It's what you could
say Medival interpretation
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of Rabbinic law. Interesting.
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So we have the
orthodox and many sections
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within orthodox Judaism.
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Yeah, the orthodox
Judaism I would say is the one
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is the form of Judaism
that actually sprung out of
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what is known in
the New Testament as the
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Pharisaic teaching.
Right. That's the traditional,
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conventional,
Pharisaic teaching that evolved
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through the ages. We want
people also to understand that
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throughout these programs
when we talk about Pharisees
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we're not talking
in a negative sense.
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Right? Right. The Pharisees were
a group of the ultra orthodox
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as they are today within
the Jewish faith as a whole.
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Now also not only do we
have the orthodox but there is
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conservative - which
is one step removed -
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which is what my background was.
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My family was
conservative Judaism.
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Yeah. The
conservative and actually reform
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is a late development
as Judaism - basically the
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traditional orthodox
Judaism - split in the middle
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left and right.
The left went basically
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saying: "OK, we want to inte-
grate into current society. "
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Because for many generations
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among the Christian count...
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especially in the Christian
countries, Medival times...
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Jews were forced to live in
special areas called ghettos.
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And basically
reformed and conservative
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they say: "OK, let us get
out of this situation. Let us
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live normal lives. " It
happened with the development
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of democracy in Europe
beginning of the 19th century.
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While the Hasidic...
they went the other way
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and they said: "Let's preserve
the values which we developed
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during this Medival life
separate from the rest of the
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world. " So which category today
would you say most Jews are in?
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The majority of the
Jews today are secular
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and in America 60% of
American Jews relate themselves
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as either
reformed or conservative
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or other names that exist
for liberal progressive Judaism.
00:12:34.62\00:12:40.13
Now that brings to a
really interesting thing
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is that unlike arguably
maybe any other religion
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Judaism is not just a religion.
00:12:48.02\00:12:51.12
Judaism - exactly -
is an ethnicity as well.
00:12:51.32\00:12:54.69
Now Sasha mentioned
this term "secular Jews. "
00:12:54.79\00:12:58.02
And what we're talking about
here is Jews that see themselves
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ethnically as a Jewish person.
00:13:01.95\00:13:05.40
If you went up and
asked them what they were,
00:13:05.60\00:13:07.55
they would say: "I'm Jewish. "
00:13:07.75\00:13:09.40
Yet they're not practicing
any of the religious practices.
00:13:09.61\00:13:13.84
They might not
even believe in God!
00:13:13.94\00:13:15.31
Ah, and that's a
very typical thing.
00:13:15.34\00:13:17.66
That's how I grew
up. My grandparents
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were raised orthodox
but then became Communist.
00:13:21.49\00:13:25.33
And so my parents were
raised Communist, atheist,
00:13:25.53\00:13:29.61
and we even didn't
know of our religion.
00:13:29.81\00:13:32.84
I didn't know
anything about my religion.
00:13:32.94\00:13:35.92
My father even didn't know
until the last years of his life
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who Abraham was
because we were so ignorant.
00:13:41.13\00:13:43.95
But as all Jews in
Europe, we were very well aware
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that we are not
Russian, not Ukrainian,
00:13:48.36\00:13:51.74
but Jews... because that's who
we ethnically were considered.
00:13:51.94\00:13:56.72
Hmm. Right. Interesting.
00:13:56.92\00:13:58.69
And I know that in my upbringing
I had a similar thing.
00:13:58.90\00:14:02.35
Now our family did practice
what we call the high holidays.
00:14:02.45\00:14:06.76
Right. That's like
Passover and Yom Kippur.
00:14:06.96\00:14:09.44
And we do have a very special
program that we'll be discussing
00:14:09.64\00:14:13.60
those particular things, so I'm
really looking forward to that.
00:14:13.80\00:14:16.46
That'll give you a
deeper reason to hang with us
00:14:16.66\00:14:21.43
'cause that will be
coming. The Jews in America
00:14:21.63\00:14:25.86
have become a real melting pot
00:14:26.06\00:14:28.39
of all of the
different forms of Judaism.
00:14:28.59\00:14:31.45
You know, I don't know
how many people know this
00:14:31.65\00:14:34.45
but there's a total of
about 13 million Jews worldwide.
00:14:34.65\00:14:38.43
Yeah. Now when you think
about the total population
00:14:38.64\00:14:40.93
of the world and
close to half of that
00:14:41.03\00:14:44.82
is in Israel and the
other half is in North America
00:14:44.92\00:14:48.35
and we have this little
small percentage that's mixed
00:14:48.55\00:14:51.96
around the rest
of the world. Um-hmm.
00:14:52.06\00:14:53.92
You know, where I live down
in south Florida vs. New York
00:14:54.23\00:14:57.19
those are probably the
two largest population centers
00:14:57.39\00:15:00.84
of Jews in North America.
00:15:00.94\00:15:03.12
Yeah, we have to mention
the Torah. Over 5 million Jews
00:15:03.22\00:15:05.88
in America - right - and
these are only those who are
00:15:05.98\00:15:08.94
registered with
Jewish organizations.
00:15:09.04\00:15:11.38
And there are mixed
families that are like my family
00:15:11.58\00:15:16.62
which is mixed, and
we are not registered.
00:15:16.72\00:15:18.87
So we would have to
say an estimate maybe
00:15:19.01\00:15:22.06
around 7 or 8 millions
Jews in the US and Canada.
00:15:22.16\00:15:25.96
Right, right. So let's
shift gears just a little bit.
00:15:26.16\00:15:29.65
And I want to get back to
talking about the difference
00:15:29.85\00:15:32.76
when we use the terms Hebraic
roots vs. the Jewish roots.
00:15:32.86\00:15:36.42
It's going to be important for
our friends, for those following
00:15:36.62\00:15:40.95
this program, to understand
that because we are going to be
00:15:41.25\00:15:45.27
focusing so much on
the Hebraic roots. Um-hmm.
00:15:45.37\00:15:48.39
So Sasha, when I say
to you something like
00:15:48.50\00:15:50.72
"No, we're talking about
the Hebraic roots vs. the Jewish
00:15:50.82\00:15:54.17
roots... " Or in fact,
let me go to Rachel first.
00:15:54.27\00:15:57.50
From her perspective, how do
you receive something like that?
00:15:57.70\00:16:00.17
If I say: "No, this is Hebraic
roots vs. Jewish roots. "
00:16:00.27\00:16:04.10
What would you think? The
first thing that comes to my
00:16:04.20\00:16:06.64
mind would be Biblical
vs. traditional possibly?
00:16:06.74\00:16:09.47
Yeah, yeah. Exactly.
00:16:09.67\00:16:11.23
Well and I think the
other thing - I mean, for me -
00:16:11.43\00:16:13.76
is when we talk Hebraic roots
my mind goes back maybe even
00:16:13.86\00:16:18.27
to the first century -
ummm - at least in the context
00:16:18.37\00:16:21.50
that I see it. Ummm. And when
I say first century I'm talking
00:16:21.60\00:16:24.57
about the time when Jesus
00:16:24.67\00:16:26.89
was walking on
the face of the earth.
00:16:26.99\00:16:29.08
What was the
Jewish religion like?
00:16:29.28\00:16:32.72
And it's so very different now,
right Sasha? from what it was.
00:16:33.03\00:16:36.91
Well if we talk about Hebraic
roots, first of all we have to
00:16:37.01\00:16:40.87
really come to the existence
of two contrasting mentalities
00:16:40.97\00:16:46.44
in that time. Greek mentality
00:16:46.64\00:16:51.57
which comes from Greek
philosophers - you know, Plato,
00:16:51.77\00:16:56.02
Aristotle and others - and
the Semetic-Hebrew mentality.
00:16:56.12\00:17:01.22
And these two mentalities
they look upon things
00:17:01.43\00:17:06.49
totally different. Right,
right. So it's kind of like
00:17:06.59\00:17:10.11
from a Greek perspective
you have to be able to analyze
00:17:11.87\00:17:15.98
and break everything
down, right? Oh yeah.
00:17:16.08\00:17:18.12
It has to be... It
has to add up: 1, 2, 3, 4
00:17:18.22\00:17:20.97
and they all have to add, right?
00:17:21.07\00:17:22.88
Well I usually give an example:
00:17:22.98\00:17:24.69
"How do you
portray the bicycle? "
00:17:24.99\00:17:27.97
And people will say to
me: "Oh, the bicycle has
00:17:28.17\00:17:31.22
a handlebar and a
frame and two wheels. "
00:17:31.32\00:17:35.27
And I say:
"This is typical Greek
00:17:35.47\00:17:37.18
because you start with
the components. " Right.
00:17:37.29\00:17:39.90
Hebrew starts
with actions. Right.
00:17:40.10\00:17:43.01
And in Hebrew mentality a
bicycle is a nice machine that
00:17:43.21\00:17:48.20
allows you to speed
up your motion. Right.
00:17:48.30\00:17:51.41
And so if you look
at the picture of God -
00:17:51.55\00:17:54.49
we'll be talking about
this in our next shows...
00:17:54.59\00:17:57.55
But in the picture of God
00:17:57.65\00:17:59.38
we don't have actually a
pictographic representation
00:17:59.48\00:18:04.09
of God but we have a
great description of God -
00:18:04.19\00:18:07.71
merciful, almighty, powerful -
00:18:07.81\00:18:10.95
you know, describes the
character, the actions of God.
00:18:11.15\00:18:14.59
Right. And that's the Hebrew...
That's what the Hebraic...
00:18:14.69\00:18:18.48
that's the origin of Hebraic.
00:18:18.58\00:18:21.89
So when we're talking especially
about the Hebraic roots now
00:18:22.09\00:18:26.46
we don't want people to
get confused that "Oh, this
00:18:26.86\00:18:30.09
is just talking
about Jewish stuff. "
00:18:30.19\00:18:33.36
Right. Because the truth of
it is is that when we go back
00:18:33.56\00:18:38.79
to that first-century
period when we look at the time
00:18:38.89\00:18:41.19
when Jesus or Yeshua
00:18:41.29\00:18:43.23
which is... I use the
name Yeshua quite a bit.
00:18:43.43\00:18:45.98
Someone asked me:
"Why do you use Yeshua? "
00:18:46.08\00:18:47.74
I said: "Well, because that's
what His mama called Him. "
00:18:47.84\00:18:50.00
So - back to the roots
- if she called Him Yeshua
00:18:50.20\00:18:52.73
we can call Him
Yeshua. That's right.
00:18:52.83\00:18:54.37
But Jesus, Yeshua...
He's our Messiah. Same thing.
00:18:54.47\00:18:56.77
Doesn't matter. But in
that time period, when we...
00:18:56.87\00:18:59.74
when we strive to
really understand who He is
00:18:59.84\00:19:03.54
you know this is very
much like when you get married
00:19:03.74\00:19:07.38
in the beginning you know
your husband or your wife,
00:19:07.68\00:19:10.49
you know, this much.
You know enough to say
00:19:10.69\00:19:12.90
"Yeah, I'm going to make a
commitment to this person. "
00:19:13.00\00:19:15.95
But the truth is, should you
be married - God willing - for
00:19:16.15\00:19:18.74
20, 30, 40, 50 years
00:19:18.84\00:19:20.60
you spend a lifetime
of getting to know them
00:19:20.81\00:19:23.66
and not really what
history has portrayed them to be
00:19:23.86\00:19:28.42
but really who they are,
who they were. What made them
00:19:28.62\00:19:32.62
the person that they are. Hmmm.
00:19:32.72\00:19:34.09
So for me, understanding
the Hebraic roots is very much
00:19:34.15\00:19:36.92
like that. You know, we...
Someone asked me the question
00:19:37.02\00:19:41.62
"Can a person come to a
saving knowledge of Messiah
00:19:41.82\00:19:47.00
without really delving
into the Hebraic roots? "
00:19:47.10\00:19:50.45
Of course. Right. Of
course... that's the answer.
00:19:50.56\00:19:52.85
But it's kind of like
that analogy of the marriage.
00:19:52.99\00:19:55.69
You know, that yes, you can
come to know Jesus or Yeshua
00:19:55.89\00:20:00.06
and He can be revealed to you.
00:20:00.16\00:20:02.21
But when we
desire to dig deeper,
00:20:02.32\00:20:05.00
when we desire to know
the fullness of who He is,
00:20:05.20\00:20:08.64
you have a deeper relationship.
00:20:08.74\00:20:10.11
That's where we want to
really strive to understand
00:20:10.14\00:20:14.97
what we're calling the
Hebraic roots of the faith.
00:20:15.07\00:20:17.31
We want to take a
look at the cultural aspect
00:20:17.52\00:20:20.75
of that first-century
period. We want to know
00:20:20.86\00:20:23.56
about how Yeshua
saw the world around Him
00:20:23.76\00:20:28.19
but remembering that
He saw the world through
00:20:28.39\00:20:31.71
Hebraic or Jewish eyes. The
biggest problem... That's right.
00:20:31.81\00:20:34.93
The biggest problem in
Christianity is when...
00:20:35.14\00:20:38.18
because historically there
was a hatred toward the Jews
00:20:38.48\00:20:43.10
Christianity at the
end of the second century
00:20:43.30\00:20:46.34
went strongly against
its Hebraic roots - um-hmm -
00:20:46.44\00:20:51.65
and it was replaced
with Greek philosophy
00:20:51.79\00:20:54.50
which was very easy to accept
based on the New Testament
00:20:54.60\00:20:58.84
Greek. And so many terms
and many statements in the
00:20:58.94\00:21:02.39
New Testament were viewed
through the eyes of the Greek
00:21:02.49\00:21:07.45
philosophical
thinking ended up distorting
00:21:07.55\00:21:13.11
the image of
Jesus... who He really is.
00:21:13.21\00:21:16.04
Right, yeah.
Wow! So as we move on
00:21:16.44\00:21:20.76
from program to program
we're going to be delving into
00:21:20.96\00:21:24.82
some really important aspects
like we said at the intro.
00:21:24.92\00:21:28.88
We're going to be looking at
things like is the New Testament
00:21:29.08\00:21:32.68
a Christian book?
Is it a Jewish book?
00:21:32.88\00:21:35.26
And are the Jewish
festivals really Jewish?
00:21:35.67\00:21:38.96
That's... that's a
really good one. And I know that
00:21:39.16\00:21:42.26
we're going to have a lot of
interest when we hit that one.
00:21:42.36\00:21:45.01
And talking about Jesus
00:21:45.21\00:21:49.24
who is He? Not just what
history has made Him out to be
00:21:50.47\00:21:55.33
but who Jesus is in the context.
What was His family like?
00:21:55.53\00:21:58.60
Where did He grow
up? What was His life?
00:21:58.70\00:22:00.44
And you know,
here's one of the things:
00:22:00.54\00:22:03.31
that prior to coming
to know Him - um-hmm -
00:22:03.45\00:22:06.22
it may be crazy for
some people to hear this -
00:22:06.32\00:22:09.22
but I didn't even
know that Jesus was a Jew.
00:22:09.42\00:22:12.45
Hmmm. And imagine my shock -
00:22:12.65\00:22:15.53
wow! - as a Jew to find
out that who I thought was
00:22:15.73\00:22:18.35
the Christian's God
was the Jewish Messiah.
00:22:18.45\00:22:21.87
Hmmm. So I am so excited
about the topics that we have
00:22:21.90\00:22:26.53
in front of us, and I
hope that you're as excited.
00:22:26.63\00:22:29.93
You know, there's a
whole "nother" aspect
00:22:30.03\00:22:32.98
to this program as well.
00:22:33.08\00:22:34.89
Both Rachel and I have
gotten bitten by the music bug
00:22:35.09\00:22:38.71
at different times in our life,
and we're going to be sharing
00:22:38.92\00:22:41.27
our musical experiences.
And we're going to be sharing
00:22:41.47\00:22:44.66
with you some
really unique music.
00:22:44.76\00:22:47.52
So today I get the opportunity
of bringing the first song.
00:22:47.62\00:22:51.60
And I think this is Sim Shalom.
00:22:51.80\00:22:53.58
You wrote it, didn't
you? Yeah, yeah, I did.
00:22:53.68\00:22:55.59
So I'm going to slide
over here and get ready.
00:22:55.79\00:22:58.14
All right. Go for it!
00:22:58.34\00:22:59.94
And while Alex is setting
up, he didn't mention it but he
00:23:00.14\00:23:02.40
is also a pastor of a
large church in south Florida.
00:23:02.50\00:23:05.18
And Sasha knows this
song really, really well.
00:23:05.38\00:23:08.19
And so I think I'll let
you tell us a little bit about
00:23:08.39\00:23:10.29
this song. This is a
liturgical poem. A prayer
00:23:10.39\00:23:13.67
which means
establish peace. Sim Shalom.
00:23:13.87\00:23:16.95
Establish peace,
goodness, and mercy
00:23:17.05\00:23:21.37
upon everyone and
upon all Your people.
00:23:21.57\00:23:25.82
Nice. So it's a prayer song.
00:23:26.02\00:23:27.51
Amen. Well Rachel, it's
been a great first show.
00:27:18.58\00:27:22.59
It has! We want to
close with a blessing.
00:27:22.79\00:27:25.40
May the Lord bless
you. May He keep you.
00:27:25.60\00:27:27.54
May the Lord make His
face to shine upon you
00:27:27.74\00:27:29.41
and be gracious to you.
00:27:29.51\00:27:30.88
May the Lord lift
His countenance upon you
00:27:30.91\00:27:32.45
and bring you His peace. Amen.
00:27:32.55\00:27:35.64
We hope to see you again.
00:27:35.74\00:27:37.24
Join us once again on
Back To Our Roots. Amen.
00:27:37.54\00:27:42.17