The "Israelites," the "Chosen People," the "Jews," etc... Despite
the fact that they are possibly the most heard of ethnic group in the world, they are also likely the least known or
understood.
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT ISRAEL
Are Jews a race?
Not in the least bit. The claim that Israel or the Jewish People are racist is one of the
greatest signs of ignorance as to who the Jewish People are. Any individual of regular intelligence who visits the Holy
Land (of Israel) should be able to easily see that the Jewish people are composed of representatives of practically every
race on earth; see for yourself:
Although the Jewish People are not a race, and racism is contrary to Torah, individuals may be found
among the Jewish People who do harbor racism. Though racism is inexcusable, such boorish individuals can unfortunately
be found among just about all people groups.
The extreme variance in the physical / racial make up of the Jewish people is likely due to
two main factors:
1) thousands of years of exile in various climates throughout the world;
2) Jewish law [Torah] allows a non-Jew to join the Jewish people through full conversion and intermarry
with them;
Although a non-Jew becoming a Jew (ei: converting) has never been a common or popular
thing to do, and therefore it's hard to imagine that this is the main contributer to the variance in Jewish appearance, nontheless, conversion
may have been a major contributer in the event that there may have been a relatively high number of converts, proportionally
speaking, among any given originally small Jewish community among the various locations of Jewish diaspora. In this
case, even with the rate of conversion being extremely low or non-existant after the first few generations, since there were
converts from the natives in the first generations, their genes / genetic information would have a major influence on the
DNA of the majority Jewish population of that same location in the future.
The claim that Jews are not the Biblical Israelites based on the claim that they are descendents
of Khazars is silly for several:
1) giving those who make this claim the benifit of the doubt, converts to the faith of Israel
have equal status as native born Israelites both according to the Biblical law [Numbers 15:15; Isaiah 14:1; 56:3] and according to traditional Talmudic law; Consequently, even if all Jews today are descendents
of converts, they are still Israelites according to all historical definitions as to what makes a person Israelite / Jewish.
2) Documented historical arrival of Israelites to Europe greatly predates the assumed conversion
of the Khazars, , and regarding present day European Jews - genetic testing has shown a clear commonality between the DNA of European Jews with Middle Eastern Jews and other Middle Eastern peoples
in regard to a mutation which is uncommon to European non-Jews.
3) Documented history of the arrival of Israelites to Europe begins not in the land
of the Khazars, but in western Europe;
4) For the majority of Jewish history, Jews of Arabic countries made up the majority of
the world-wide Jewish population. This often goes ignored. Ironically, since the majority of Jews in Israel are
not of European Jewish ancestory, the entire arguement as a reason against Jews living in the Holy Land is invalid, even if
the claims that Ashkenazi Jews are not Israelites were valid. It is to be noted that there is no dispute among the historically Middle
Eastern Jewish communities that the European Jews are Israelites.
5) As stated above, Jews are not a race. If those who claim to be the Jewish People, the
Israelites, are infact only the descendents of the Khazars, then why are they representative of so many races within such
a small amount of time? Where is the record of their dispersion into so many distant lands?
Just a little research into the Kazar "theory" shows how silly the claim really is.
RITUALS
Although it is true that we do have traditions and customs, we do not necessarily understand our
customs, traditions, and rituals the same way many Americans (or others) may understand American
customs and traditions. What is meant by this? Although many Americans hold the most widely practiced holidays
dear, such as Christmas, Easter, etc... none of these holidays are connected to any divinely given commands by G-d in their
religious writings. These holidays are cherished by many, but most of those who keep these traditions do so merely because
they enjoy them and inherited them from there ancestors without questioning. Jewish tradition, ritual, and customs,
on the other hand, are largely not merely things that Jews enjoy and inherit from their ancestors without questioning.
Most Jews who seriously observe these rituals observe them because they believe that it is G-d's will for the Jewish people
these rituals, customs, or traditions, as expressed in His commands to Israel as recorded in the Bible. Although
many people may refer to Jewish practices as tradition and custom, there is a lot more reverence, strictness, and highly clarified
codification in Jewish law concerning these practices than there is in most traditions observed by the majority of Americans.
Just as most devout Christians would not consider the manner in which they are baptized as mere 'tradition and custom,' so
also Jews do not consider the large majority of things they do as merely tradition and custom. There are, however, some
customs and traditions among various Jewish communities that are not necessarily directly a result of what Jews believe to
be divinely given commands. Such customs and traditions as these are actually few among Jews; They are possibly
even fewer than traditions of this type that are observed by the average American. Sometimes when Jews speak, they
use the term 'TRADITION' in reference to the whole body of texts and practices that Jews have received from their ancestors
- including what they believe to be divinely ordained and commanded by G-d. Such aspects of the Jewish "TRADITION" as
these are actually the majority of what a Jew would be referring to when using the term 'tradition.' There are, however,
different levels of function and authority perceived by Jews within the different aspects of the Jewish "TRADITION."
This is largely connected with the distinctions of authority between the 5 books of Moses, which Israel received DIRECTLY
from G-d to Moses while in the Sinai desert and the rulings and verdicts of the court that Moses established and which G-d
commanded the Israelites to obey, see Deuteronomy 17:8-13. The commands of G-d as contained in the Torah [Genesis through
Deuteronomy], are considered eternally ordained to be keep by the Israelites in all their generations. The rulings of
the court that Moses established, on the other hand, are inferior to the commands of G-d in the Torah because the rulings
of Moses' court may be nullified by a later generation of that same divinely appointed court. There are also different
types of rulings which that court may proclaim. Then there are traditions and customs of the Jewish people which were
not proclaimed by this court. Such traditions as these are on an even lower level. These types of customs and
traditions which were not proclaimed by Moses' court and not divinely commanded by G-d, make up a very small amount of what
most observant and devout Jews practice.
Israel - The Jewish People: Their Purpose and
Permanency
The One Absolute Creator selected a People for Himself to be an everlasting testimony to the nations in this
world. He made them unique by giving them special laws by which to preserve their distinction and strengthen
their devotion and character traits, for the purpose of preserving knowledge of His Authority and Oneness, and together with knowledge of the Noahide Laws which are binding on all mankind, but of which most of mankind has lost clear knowledge. As will become clear
below, their "chosen"-ness is not dependent upon their righteousness, though their suffering or blessing is dependent
upon the extent to which they carry out their special purpose and task revealed to them in the Torah (lit: Guidance) He gave to them at Mt. Sinai under the leadership of Moses. Below
is only a sample of the almost endless body of Biblical passages apparent in any Bible translation which indicate the above
stated.
The Creator selected Israel to be a special testimony of 'His'
Oneness and Absolute Authority over all creation:
"..And now, O'
TRANSCENDENT our Venerable-Authority, please save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know
that You are the TRANSCENDENT Allpowerful-Venerable-Authority, You ALONE." (2 Kings 19:19) / (Isaiah 37:20)
Israel's having been chosen also means that they are chosen for a special
punishment when they rebell against the Covenant, as a testimony to the world that the Almighty keeps His Covenant, and does not change:
"And if you will go haphazardly with Me, and come to not listen to me, then I shall add plague upon you seven times
according to your sins...(Leviticus 26:21) ...and then they shall confess their transgression, and the transgression
of their fathers, in the treachery that they did against Me, and also that they walked haphazardly with Me... (Leviticus
26:40) ...then I shall remember the Covenant with Ya'aqov (Jacob), and also My Covenant with Yis-haq (Isaac), and
also My Covenant with Avraham; and I shall remember the Land; 43 for without them the Land
shall lie forsaken, and shall be paid her sabbaths, she is made desolate without them, and they shall be given the punishment
of their transgression; because, as a consequence of their having rejected my judgments, and their souls having abhorred my
statutes. 44 AND YET DESPITE ALL THIS, even while they are in the land of their enemies, I will
not reject them, neither shall I abhor them so as to eradicate them and thus break My Covenant with them - for I am the ALL-TRANSCENDENT
their Venerable-Authority. (Leviticus 26:42-44) "
Thus we see, "His" People and Law are Forever Unconditionally, Never to be Replaced.
"I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name might be there; and have chosenDavid to be over Israel My people." (2nd Chronicels 6:6)
"..You have established for Yourself Your People Israel as Your own people FOREVER,
and You, O' TRANSCENDENT L-RD, have become their Venerable-Authority." (2nd Samuel 7:24)
"Then He confirmed it to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying,
'To you I shall give the Land of Canaan, as the portion of your inheritance,'" (Psalm
105:10-11)
"Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you coming to possess
their land; but due to the wickedness of those nations, the TRANSCENDENT L-RD your Powerful Authority is driving
them out from before you, for the sake of establishing the matter which the TRANSCENDENT L-RD swore to your fathers,
to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob (Israel)." (Deuteronomy 9:5)
" For you are a holy people unto the L-RD thy All-Powerful Authority, and the L-RD hath chosen
you to be His own treasure out of all peoples that are upon the face of the earth." (Deuteronomy 14:2)
"Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, as the TRANSCENDENT L-RD my Powerful Authority commanded
me - that you should do them within the Land..." (Deuteronomy 4:5)
"...the hidden things belong to the L-RD our G-d, but that which is revealed belongs to us and our
sons forever to do all the words of this Torah."(Deuteronomy 29:29)
"Thus says the L-RD: If heaven above could be measured, and the foundations
of the earth searched out beneath, then also would I cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the
L-RD." (Jeremiah 31:36)
"For the L-RD your All-Powerful Authority has chosen them [tribe
of Levi] and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the L-RD's name for
ever." (Deuteronomy 18:5)
"He declares His word unto Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances unto Israel.
He has not done so with all other nations; and as for His ordinances, they have not known them. Hallelu
Y-h!" (Psalm 147:19-20)
