Hebrews-Israelites-or

 

 

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Please do NOT visit this site on שַׁבָּת - Shabbat or on the מוֹעֲדִים Mo’a’dim - Feasts!

Re Tanakh versions:

Throughout this site I may use any of three versions of the Tanakh: 1. “Jewish Publication Society” (JPS-1917), 2“Mechon-Mamre.org (MEC), and 3. “Sefaria.org (SEF), three brilliant versions, However, the JP    S-1917 is my preferred version!

Colour coded details of our beloved TaNaKh:

1. Torah = History & Law, 2. Nevi’im = The Prophets. 3. *Ketuvim all other Writings.

*The Ketuvim - Includes, Poetical books - Psalms, Proverbs, Job, the Megillot, or Scrolls - Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, prophecy of Daniel, and history of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles I & II.

Please Note: Some alterations or (additions) have been made relating to ‘Names’ and ‘Attributes’ of אֱלֹהִים - Elohim (God), having been corrected like it once was pre the “Masoretic Text”.

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Remember the following truth from our beloved Torah!

Ye shall NOT ADD TO THE WORD which I command you, NEITHER SHALL YE DIMINISH FROM IT, that ye may keep the commandments of אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה - the LORD your Eloleichem, which I command you”. Davarim - Deuteronomy 4:2. (JPS-1917).

However, what have both priests and rabbis of the past done, they purposely made grave and evil changes! Thus, they have both added as well diminished from our beloved Scriptures. If you want proof just visit and read Psalms Chapters 53 and 56 and you will note that they removed the blessed Name יְהוָה (7 times in each of these two Psalms) from the Hebrew and placed אֱלֹהִים in it place that originally had יְהוָה. They then they removed the LORD, and replaced it with God in the translations. The most ancient texts which I have personally read (having also been an archaeologist), it obviously did have His actual blessed Name in the Ivrit, etc! Read Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 2 shown above once more. They, and all rabbis who went along with their lies have been and will be severely punished!

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“Hebrews, Israelites or?”

When did we the “Hebrews” and “Israelites” suddenly become “Jewish”, and who did that?.

With Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.

Introduction:

Today we are known as Jews, but in the Torah/Tanakh, we were only known as ‘Hebrews’ and ‘Israelites. So who are we really? Hebrews, Israelites’, the Children of Israel’, or the Jewish people’, Jews? Could this disparity of labels be the reason for our identity crisis we face in our nation today?

In the Torah, Avraham was identified as the first of the ‘Ivrim’ - עברים, or ‘Hebrew’ as it is translated into English. Every generation thereafter continued to cherish that name and identity as heirs to Avraham’s faith. To be a Hebrew implied one’s loyalty to יְהוָה - the LORD’s, strength in the face of danger and perseverance in the face of numerous challenges generation after generation. The term itself was derived from the word for “passing” ie a people passing through lands on their journey to a home.

At this point in time there was no reference of ‘Israelis’ or the worst name ever given ‘Jews’, two of the most common nomenclatures used in today’s modern society. However, if we follow Avraham’s genealogy, we find the root of the word Israeli, is Isaac Avraham’s son and Jacob his grandson, whose name was later renamed ‘Israel’. 

Let us read Genesis. 32:28-29, first in Hebrew then in English: (JPS-1917 version of the Torah).

וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו, מַה-שְּׁמֶךָ; וַיֹּאמֶר, יַעֲקֹב

וַיֹּאמֶר, לֹא יַעֲקֹב יֵאָמֵר עוֹד שִׁמְךָ-כִּי, אִם-יִשְׂרָאֵל:  כִּי-שָׂרִיתָ עִם-אֱלֹהִים וְעִם-אֲנָשִׁים, וַתּוּכָל

28. And He said unto him: ‘What is thy name?’ And he said: ‘Jacob’. 29. And He said: ‘Thy name shall be called no more ‘Jacob’, but יִשְׂרָאֵל - Israel; for thou hast striven with אֱלֹהִים - Elohim and with men, and hast prevailed’”.

And now we will read Genesis 46:1: (Again the JPS version as per the above:

וַיִּסַּע יִשְׂרָאֵל וְכָל-אֲשֶׁר-לוֹ, וַיָּבֹא בְּאֵרָה שָּׁבַע; וַיִּזְבַּח זְבָחִים, לֵאלֹהֵי אָבִיו יִצְחָק

“1 And Israel - יִשְׂרָאֵל took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the אֱלֹהִים - Elohim of his father Isaac – יִצְחָק.

Since that time Israel’s descendants were known as the ‘Children of Israel’ or ‘Israelites’. Israel’s (Jacob’s) family moved to Egypt where his son Joseph was second in command to the Pharaoh. In Egypt the Israelites grew to around 2 million people when they subsequently migrated to Canaan in the Middle East under the leadership of Moses and Joshua.

Following the lineage further, we find that the root of the word Jew comes from another of our forefathers’ direct descendents. The Hebrew noun “Yehudi” (“Jew” in English) is derived from the name Judah, who was one of Jacob’s twelve sons. Judah was the ancestor of one of the tribes of Israel, which was named after him. “Yehudi” appears 76 times in the books of the Tanakh. But that name was only used for those who were from the tribe of ‘Judah’.

As I said, originally the word was referred to only of members of the tribe of ‘Judah’, but later it described anyone living in the ‘kingdom of Judah’. In due course that would include those from the northern kingdom of Israel who moved to Judah, including Mordecai’s ancestors for example. Also, as those who returned after the exile settled in Judea, they were called Jews regardless of their ancestral tribe, however that was a great error by priests and rabbis. For our beloved אֱלֹהִים – Elohim never authorized this! No man would take charge over the Almighty! How dare they?

The first reference to “Jews,” however, only appears in the Purim story when Mordechai is introduced as “HaYehudi”, ‘the Jew’ and we know well who that evil one was! But we are and will always be, according to אֱלֹהִים - Elohim having only the names which He gave us; and that certainly does not include ‘Judaism’!

The change in the name reflects a massive change in the people of Israel for they had always bore the blessed names of ‘Hebrews’ and as ‘Israelites’, this man made change in our identity, changed all our social practices, as well as a change in our self-perception. Suddenly we were disconnected from our ancestral tribes and homelands ‘Israel’ and ‘Judea’, but we at that time continued to use or original names!

Flash forward several hundred years, in 70 AD, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and in 134 AD the Romans attacked again and many of us, the Hebrews were killed, enslaved and in due course dispersed to surrounding countries including Europe and North Africa. Since this time, ‘Judea’ was renamed ‘Palestine’ by the Romans for the explicit purpose of disassociating our beloved land from us its original people, but which was then ruled by the pagan ‘Byzantine Empire’, the ‘Islamic Empire’, the most evil of all those slaughters the vile ‘Christian Crusaders’’, then the ‘Mamluk Empire’, the ‘Ottoman Empire’, and finally the evil ‘British Empire’, who hated us, having memories of those monster’s, the crusaders of course!

However, suddenly we were called “Rabbinic Judaism” as rabbis suddenly took charge and sadly altered parts of our beloved Tanakh. Later they dropped the rabbinic part, and worldwide we became known as Jews, etc. Due to their plain stupidity, these men changed our blessed אֱלֹהִים - Elohim given names, which is, and will always be ‘Hebrews’ and ‘Israelites’.

Tragically, again and again, we Hebrews were labelled as an ‘enemy’, a ‘threat’, by the goyim who ‘persecuted’ us and driven us out of many regions culminating in the tragic ‘Holocaust’. Despite the countless difficulties, we the Hebrew people maintained our identity, never dispossessing ourselves of our beloved ‘faith’, ‘identity’, ‘community’ or ‘remembrance of Zion’, ‘Judea’ and the ‘Land of Israel’ in our thousands-year old exile in so many foreign lands!

In conclusion:

In regard to our name, no matter what, we are still the people from the 12 tribes, and thus our title should still be a ‘Hebrew’ as well as being an ‘Israelite’! We are not all Judeans, thus that name is in error! We should be proud of our original names, only humans (those mystical and occult Kabbalistic rabbis) kept on changing things to suit them, and it is now time to return to our אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s blessed given heritage, which was never ‘Judaism’ as that was a man made change, which they had no right to change our two beloved titles given by our beloved יְהוָה - the LORD, בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם קָדוֹשׁוֹ - ‘Baruch Shem Kadosho’ - ‘Blessed be His Holy Name!’ Amen.

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Please Note: “hebraicstudies” links are located down the page!

This site was originally created, for those who desired to return to our blessed and wonderful faith. Thus be wise and work on your faith and pray at least two or three times a day (if possible) and always seek our beloved אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s guidance, for His love is always with us, especially when we seek Him, blessed be He! However this site has become very much a teaching site with hundreds of studies!

Remember what אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be He, said the following through a number of our prophets...

Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, saith צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָה- the LORD of hosts” Mal’a’chi - Malachi 3:7. (JPS).

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“Hebraic Studies” motto is as follows;

“The More Torah, the More Life”,

For Elohim is the One who gave us our ... Life!”

May the שָׁלוֹם - Shalom = Peace of צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָהthe LORD of hosts, be with you, and please always uphold our blessed שַׁבָּת - Shabbat, as well as the מוֹעֲדִים Mo’a’dim - Feasts, and continue saying your daily תְּפִלָּה - Tefeelah’s - Prayers and regular בְּרָכָה Be’ra’chah’s - blessings before food and drinks, etc!

שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם Shalom Aleichem - Peace be with you!

Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.

 

 

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