“I
Believe - Ani Ma’amim”
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site on שַׁבָּת - Shabbat or on
the ‘מוֹעֲדִים - Mo’a’dim - Feasts!
“This is My Name FOREVER, and this
is My Memorial to ALL Generations.” Shemot
- Exodus 3:15. (JPS-1917).
“I
am יְהוָה, that is My Name; and My glory will I not give to another”. Yeshayahu – Isaiah 42:8. (JPS).
“Ye shall NOT ADD TO THE WORD which I command you,
neither shall ye diminish from it,
that ye may keep the commandments of יְהוָה
אֱלֹהֵיכֶם (the
LORD your Elohim) which I command
you”. Davarim - Deuteronomy 4:2.
Throughout this site I may use
any of the following three versions of the TaNaKh: 1. “Jewish Publication Society” (JPS-1917), 2. “Sefaria.org” (SEF), 3. “Mechon-Mamre.org” (MEC).
Colour coded
details of the - 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.
Some minor alterations have been made relating to Names and Attributes having been corrected.
YYYYYYY
אֲנִי מַאֲמִין
Can we Say in Faith “I Believe”.
Faith is a life lived in the light of His Love!
With Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens,
PhD.
“Be strong and courageous. Be careful to obey the entire Torah My servant Moshe has given you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Torah depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Welcome to this new study, but before we commence with this interesting study related why we should believe in the Almighty and give him praise each day and night! Well that reason can be very easily found in verse one of our beloved Torah! Yet I have found that in general most tend to miss the point of the full meaning of our faith, on a personal basis. I trust that this study will encourage all to read so much more of our beloved Tanakh, which commences in the Torah section seen below with the following ...
Please Note: I will be showing the verse below, first in ‘Hebrew’, then there is a ‘Transliteration’, followed by
an ‘English’ translation.
“Ba’ruch Bara Elohim, Et Ha’sha’mayim, Ve’et Ha’a’retz”.
“In the beginning Elohim created the heaven and the earth”.
Bereshit - Genesis 1:1. (JPG-1917).
Introduction:
This study is all
about believing all that which is part of our beloved Hebraic faith, and
completly related on Moshe’s five Books, being Torah, whilst the balance,
as we will all know can be found in the our wonderful Tanakh! But, remember all
writings after the completion of the Tanakh, have come wholly from the minds of
a range of rabbis long tie after the destruction of our Mishkan!
However there is n exception, Rabbi ‘Moses ben Maimon’ (1138-1204), who is commonly known as “Maimonides”, but he is also referred to by the Hebrew acronym “Rambam” - רמב״ם, he was a Sephardic Rabbi. There is no doubt that the amazing ‘Rambam’ was a wonderful Rabbi, being one of the very few of those ancient days, who we can trust!
I thought that in this study that I might use “Ani Ma’amim” meaning of course; “I believe” - simply to say that we as Jews - should believe. What we have been given through our beautiful Torah, etc.
Below is a Tehillim –- Psalm that
teaches us how we should live!
“The earth,
O יְהוָה - the LORD, is full of
Thy mercy; teach me Thy statutes. Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant,
O יְהוָה, according unto Thy
word. Teach me good discernment and knowledge; for I have believed in Thy
Commandments. Before I was afflicted, I did err; but now I observe Thy Word.
Thou art good, and doest good; teach me Thy statutes.
The proud have forged a lie against me; but I with my whole heart will keep Thy
Precepts. Their heart is gross like fat; but I delight in Thy Law. It is good
for me that I have been afflicted, in order that I might learn Thy Statutes.
The law of Thy Mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver. Thy
hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn
Thy commandments.” Tehillim - Psalms 119:64-73 (JPS-1917).
Yes as the
Psalmist states, that he had been “afflicted” (gone astray), yet he
said “but now I observe Thy Word”, thus we hear about repentance!
I have always strongly
believed that our beloved faith, is part of what makes us human, for it is a
basic attitude of trust that always goes beyond the regular evidence that is
available to us, but without which, we would do nothing of any great value. I
addition, without faith between us and our beloved יְהוָה Elohim, בָּרוּךְ
שֵׁם
קָדוֹשׁוֹ - blessed be His
Sanctified Name, and in one another we could not risk the vulnerability of
being without faith, for without it, we would never choose to have children.
Without faith in the creation of the earth and the universe we would not do
science. Without faith in our fellow beings we would not have a free society.
“The righteous (or the just) shall live by his faith” said - Chavaqquq - Habakkuk 2:4. (JPS-1917).
I beg for you to
live according the Torah and the precious words of the Tanach which were all
inspired by our beloved Elohim, blessed be He. And
always say “I Believe heavenly Father”
Sustaining it with all our love and faith in our יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ, (the LORD God) - בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם קָדוֹשׁוֹ - blessed be His Sanctified Name, Who created the Universe in love, and made a man in ‘His Image’, and to this day He lifts us up, when we fall. He forgives us when we fail and we repent, and asks us to place love at the centre of our moral world: love of neighbour, love of stranger, love of our One and Only Creator, יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ - בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם קָדוֹשׁוֹ – ‘Baruch Shem Kadosho’ – ‘Blessed be His Holy Name!’
A person who seeks
for proof before he or she is willing to have faith simply does not understand
what faith is, for they do not know what to believe in, and they will think
that it may involve risk, for sadly there are many false deities, and we must
stay strong in our Hebraic faith!
It is always
possible to live without it, but such a life is found in Shakespeare’s
Macbeth’s words, “cabined, cribbed, confined, bound … or
doubts and fears”. Without faith we may well become cynics.
Without faith in
financial institutions people simply stop investing and economies tend to
flounder. Without faith in our fellow citizens
democratic freedoms tend to die.
Without faith in אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be
He, the Universe will become a meaningless mess, and let us be honest, the
world at large is already mostly without faith, and what kind of condition is
this world in right now? Indeed the world and most of its governments are in a
hideous mess! As well as there being never ending wars in various places, and
then is the never ending crime, which I am sure you will know has simply gone
mad!
Without faith,
life ceases to have an objective purpose, for human life is no longer sacred,
nor are our promises, duties and responsibilities worthwhile. Those who lose
their faith tend to become individualistic and relativist and become very
self-seeking and self-sustaining. At first it will seem like a great
liberation, but ultimately it leads to a breakdown of trust, and without trust,
societies suffer randomness: a loss of energy and order, leading to decline and
even it will lean in a total decay.
Just look back to
the Grecian’s, whose greatness in the fifth and fourth centuries of that
pre-Christian era was unsurpassed, in the 3rd century as a society they became
a sorry band of lost cynics, sceptics, stoics and epicureans whose glory faded
with the most frightening speed. The Europe of the Enlightenment, placing
its faith in the power of science, eventually fell to the twin idolatries of
nation and race, fighting two world wars and leaving tens of millions dead.
Soviet communism, the greatest ever attempt to build a society on scientific
principle and social engineering, crushed human freedom until it collapsed
under its own dead weight.
If our faith in אֱלֹהִים - Elohim means
anything, it means humility toward oneself and the love of your neighbour and
the stranger.
“…but
thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am יְהוָה” Vayikra - Leviticus 19:18. (JPS).
But after the destruction of the Second Temple our faith Changed:
Sadly our Hebraic faith did suddenly change and sadly not for the better, as men took it over and sadly even altered parts of our Holy Scriptures. It can sometimes lead to self-righteousness and hatred of another. The history of religion has in fact too often sadly been written in bloodshed in the Name of Elohim or some other deity, and this I certainly do not call it a consecration, but a desecration!
Today in many
parts of the world I see religion confused with the pursuit of power, as if
that whole tragic history has been forgotten. The blessed Hebrew Tanakh tells
us that power only belongs to our Creator, יְהוָה Elohim, Blessed be His Sanctified Name, who
uses it to liberate the powerless. Religion has nothing to do with power but
about everything to do with the Holy and the Righteous and the pursuit of
Justice and Compassion. But when religion and politics become
confused the result is usually disastrous for both.
Faith is
understood in the living and proved by what we do. We encounter the Divine
Presence when in prayer and through our keeping our beloved Mitzvoth, as well
as the wonderful stories as well as through songs. These all lift us beyond
ourselves toward the infinite.
“In the
beginning Elohim created the heaven and the earth”
And what an amazingly
beautiful earth He created, yet as we all know well,
mankind is slowly destroying the earth due to those money hungry billionaires
to satisfy their total selfishness whilst they could actually help so many
around the world who are dying of starvation, yet they do not care less!
Something I would
like to remind you of, about the countless laws we have been taught over the
many years, did you know the following?
The point is
beloved, out of the 613 Mitzvoth אֱלֹהִים – which Elohim
gave us, blessed be He, we must realise that not all of those laws
actually apply to each one of us today. For I could ask,
“Are you a serving priest?” The answer is obviously ‘no’.
You are obviously not, for there is no Mishkan. However if you were a farmer,
or us who live in the city, well OK, some may have planted a fruit tree or a
vegetable garden, etc, OK we must keep the ‘first fruits’ law in
mind, etc.
Scripturally there are
ONLY 3 Main laws regarding our blessed Shabbat in the Torah;
“Remember
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”. Shemot - Exodus 20:7. (JPS).
“Six days
shall work be done; but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of
solemn rest, holy to יְהוָה”. Shemot -
Exodus 31:15. (JPS).
“Ye shall
kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the
Sabbath day”. Shemot - Exodus 35:3. (JPS).
Everything else was
made up by certain rabbis of old, but the Torah contains the truth, rabbis just
made up new laws which were purely manmade and not from a Divine source! *Rambam actually agreed with it and many have caused more pain and suffering for what they have done!
But, besides
creating the heaven and the earth, Elohim also made man, and the rest we should
know, it was such a perfect garden, but yet what happened to the two in the
Garden of Eden? Even though they lived a life of heavenly perfection, they
sadly failed our Heavenly Father! And of course they were thrown out of the
garden.
After our people, the “Hebrews” having been saved from slavery in Mitzrayim, and finally having been given our homeland Yisrael, nevertheless even though Yisrael failed miserably far too many times, yet our beloved אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be He, was always there to forgive us, whenever we returned to Him! But if we look at the state of Yisrael this day, it is so sad that I have to say, that Yisrael is in a terrible mess for the country which we have supported through ‘JNF’ and they have poured so much into Israel, and it was a wonderful country when I was there on many occasions, but that was quite some time ago. However, today it has become a very different Jewish State that I used to know! I have been told by a certain leader of a European country that “Israel is now better known as being Europe’s “Gay Capital”, as the gay’s community has been accepted in law by the Israeli Government, etc.
But, יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים - the LORD Elohim, also made it very clear that all those who will return unto Him, Blessed be His Sanctified Name! They will be richly blessed; for if we continue to read the Torah, we should remember it contains the only Mitzvoth which was given to Moshe Rabbeinu which came directly from אֱלֹהִים Himself, blessed Be He. However, all those other laws, such as the so-called “Oral Law” were simply made up by rabbis who had already changed so much of our sacred Torah and throughout the Tanakh. After the destruction of the Temple, the rabbis changed our faith’s name to what could well be called as “Rabbinic Judaism”. Thereafter, we became known just as “Jews”. And the name as we know relates to “Judah”, yet as a whole we are from the Twelve Tribes of Yisrael, thus we should be known as “Hebrews” or “Israelites”. But again men have renamed us as; ‘Rabbinic Judisim’.
However, we have
seen Elohim’s, blessed be He, wonderful glory through his Creation
and through His amazing Miracles and the “Faith of Yisroel”,
thus why was a part of our original faith which Elohim gave us, yet it being
ruined by rabbis. I and many others believe in keeping our beloved Torah in
order to keep our blessed faith strong and meaningful. Elohim is at the very
heart of our being, and He continues to teach us to see His face in others who
are faithful, leading us to acts of loving kindness. Faith is the bond of
loyalty and listening that binds us to our ever loving Elohim, blessed be
He. And through Him, to humanity. Remember Yirmyahu - Jeremiah the priests wanted to
kill him, however, just ONE GOOD and a righteous Man stood up and saved him!
Remember, that
Faith is a life lived in the light of יְהוָה
אֱלֹהִים - the LORD Elohim!
Always remember our motto: “The More Torah, the More Life”,
for יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים - בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם קָדוֹשׁוֹ - blessed be His Sanctified Name ...
May יְהוָה
אֱלֹהִים - the
LORD Elohim, bless and keep you in the palm of His hands!
Rabbi,
Dr. Reuven ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.
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