Difference between Judaism and Messianism
We are not a branch of Judaism and not a Christian denomination. We already know what Christianity is all about so let’s talk about the differences between Rabbinical Judaism and Messianism.
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Rabbinical Judaism teaches that God gave Moses the Torah and not only that he wrote it on a scroll but also, he taught the Torah and that those teachings passed over generations and came to be known as the oral Torah. Those who teach the Torah are known to be called “Rabbi”, such as myself.
- The Hebrew term Midrash is a principle rhetoric and methodical way of biblical exegesis, interpreting biblical stories that goes beyond simple refinement of Biblical, legal or moral teachings.
- The Mishna (Hebrew root Shanah) means to study and review. It is the first major written redaction of the oral Torah and is the major work of rabbinic Judaism.
- Gemara from Aramaic means study or learning by tradition, is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishna.
- The Talmud (Hebrew root lamad) consists of two parts: the Mishnah, and its commentary, the Gemara. The Mishnah was the first Jewish code of laws since the Torah.
- Halacha guides not only religious practices and beliefs, but numerous aspects of day-to-day life. Halacha is often translated as "Jewish Law".
- The Kabbalah, also spelled Kabala or Cabala from the Hebrew root lekabel, means to receive. It’s the mystic way of Judaism, a variegated esoteric method, discipline and school of thought. It was written in the 9th century and most of it has it’s bases in a book named Sefer Yetzira, which means “book of creation”, not the Bible. It was written by ancient pagans between 100 B.C and 100 A.C in a language not known but is believed to be in Greek. It is more that 2000 words of magical formulations to seek the gods. It is told in the book how the world was first made and then sealed in six directions which, the name of God is pronounced in each of the six seals.
- The Zohar is the principal work of the Kabbalah which was written in northern Spain in the 13th century by a Spanish Rabbi, Isaac de Luria (called the Lion).
Traditions
- Shofar & Silver trumpets; There is a difference from the Hebrew perspective and a difference between the 2 of these instruments which are translated in English the same.
Psa. 81: 3-4 Blow the Shofar in the feast
b. Numb. 10:10 Blow the trumpets (silver) in your feast - Tallit & Tzitziot: Tallit is not Biblical but Tzitziot is.
Numb. 15:37 Make Tzitziot on the corner of your garment
b. Deut. 22: 12 Make twisted cords on the clothes you will cover yourself - Tefilim: Phylacteries used every day for Morning Prayer.
Deut. 6:8 bind the word to our hands between our eyes. There are 2 boxes
which contain parchments with scriptures inside. - Mikvah: cleansing bath, literally means: collection of water.
a. Exo. 19:10; 30:17-21- Lev. 16:26; 20:7; 22:6. The word sanctification, lehitkadesh, usually was accompanied by a ritual cleansing bath.
Used after Nidah (menstruation). The final stage of an Orthodox conversion as a
ritual. A cleansing bath for the bride before her wedding. Before Shabbat, holidays,
especially Yom Kippur, a father before the circumcision of his son, etc.… - Kashrut: Dietary laws which are beyond Biblical understanding
Lev 11: 1-23- Deut. 14: 1-21.
b. Exo. 23:19; 34:26-Deut. 14:21. This is where Rabbinical Judaism came to base a dietary law not to eat milk and meat together. As He said in Exo. 23:19 “You are not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother”. It is clear to come and worship God in the temple and no other gods, which was a ritual of worship to Ashtarot or Ishtar the goddess of fertility. - Bar & Bat Mitzvah: literally means “son or daughter of the commandment”. Technically, the term refers to the child who is coming of age, and it is strictly correct to refer to someone as becoming a bar (or bat) mitzvah." However, the term is more commonly used to refer to the coming of age ceremony itself.
- Kippah: It is an ancient practice for Jews to cover their heads during prayer.
- Mezuzah; small device that is placed on the doorpost of the house or room, but never the bathroom.
Deut. 6:9 write them on the doorpost of your house. The doorpost in Hebrew is “guard” of the house instead of God. - Shabbat candlelight: Lighting Shabbat candles is of rabbinic and mandated law of The woman of the household traditionally does candle lighting.
- Blessing the wine: this blessing is called Kiddush which means sanctification.
- Blessing the bread: There are 2 loaves of challah which represent the double portion of manna that the children of Israel gathered on Fridays when they were in the desert (Exod. 16:22).
Menorah: The construction of the menorah’s instruction can be found in
Exod. 25:31-40. Seven-Branched Menorah one of the oldest symbols of the Jewish faith is the menorah, a seven-branched candelabrum used in the Temple. It burned all day and night. - Chuppah: is a marriage canopy that symbolizes the couple's first home together, under which the nisuin, (marriage) portion of the wedding ceremony is performed. The Chuppah is open on all sides, which is reminiscent of the hospitality Abraham and Sarah showed to the guests in their open tent.
- Shiva: Literally means seven. The seven days of intensive mourning that follows the death of a relative and is traditionally observed either in the home of the deceased or in the home of a principal mourner. The next period of mourning is known as shloshim (thirty, because it lasts until the 30th day after burial). During that period, the mourners do not attend parties or celebrations, do not shave or cut their hair, and do not listen to music.
- Minyan: is the minimum of the people present in order to start a prayer time. It has many explanations one of them I grew up with is about the 10 spies who spied out the Land, so tradition said there needs to be a minimum of 10 people for the prayer.
- Prayer times: There are 3 prayers a day, 2 that are very important is the morning and the night and many times the afternoon and the night may be combined together.
Morning prayer is Shacharit from Hebrew shachar means morning; it’s believed that Abraham used to pray in the morning. The afternoon is Mincha; the name "Mincha" is derived from the meal offering that accompanied each sacrifice. In Genesis 4 we can see the first instance being the mincha offered by both Cain and Abel. The night one is Ma’ariv; the word Ma’ariv is the first significant word in the opening blessing of the evening service. It is derived from the Hebrew word erev, which translates to evening. Ma’ariv is a conversion of this word into a verb, which means “bringing on night.” “Arvit” is the noun form of this word. - Siddur: It is a prayer book. It was printed by Soncino in Italy as early as 1486, though a siddur was first mass-distributed only in 1865. The siddur began appearing in the vernacular as early as 1538. The first (unauthorized) English translation, by Gamaliel ben Pedahzur (an alias), appeared in London in 1738; a different translation was released in the United States in 1837.
- Davening: from Yiddish davenen meaning ‘to pray’. There are some special movements people do while they pray.
- Superstitions: They became part of Judaism a long time ago. Judaism believes in the evil eye and believe that evil in within a person it’s called yetzer ha rah (meaning the creation of evil). From here charms started to pop up everywhere. Judaism developed a series of books of curses named Pulsa de Nura, which is still in use by religious Jews against Jewish figures who have committed major transgressions by radical Orthodox Jewish believers.
- The Jewish calendar: It is a calendar that is based on three astronomical phenomena: the rotation of the Earth about its axis (a day); the revolution of the moon about the Earth (a month); and the revolution of the Earth about the sun (a year). These three phenomena are independent of each other, so there is no direct correlation between them. On average, the moon revolves around the Earth in about 29 1⁄2 days. The Earth revolves around the sun in about 365 1⁄4 days, that is, about 12.4 lunar months.
The lunar month on the Jewish calendar begins when the first sliver of moon becomes visible after the dark of the moon. In ancient times, the new months used to be determined by observation. Jewish holidays actually occur on the same day every year: the same day on the Jewish calendar! The Jewish calendar has a different number of days than the calendar you use because the Jewish calendar is tied to the moon’s cycles instead of the sun’s.
