Marlena's Musings: Would You Give Up Your Life To Save It?

News: Fireside, workshop updates and questions

Article by Marlena on www.Jewishjournal.com. Why would a Jew Become a Mormon? Edited version. See link:

http://www.jewishjournal.com/jews_and_mormons/item/why_should_a_jew_become_a_mormon_ask_marlena_39120605/

A Mormon's Guide to Judaism and Notes of a Jewish Convert to the LDS Church and People of The Book on Kindle!

=Buy them now, download to your phone and read them anytime for an understanding of Judaism and Mormon life.

*******************Marlena Marlena gives free lessons on Judaica history, culture and religon and especially loves to give firesides on her conversion and share learning in workshop presentation. Available in Seattle and around the country. Subject: The Symbolic Connections between Mormon and Jewish worship.

http://judaicaworld.wordpress.com/ My overflow blogsite: Now there are over 120 articles on this site: In-depth articles on Judaism, timelines, OT supplements, biblical equivalent tables, pictures, videos, songs and more... List and texts of older posts and articles.This site is where former blog articles spend eternity!

Click on:http://mormonsandjews.net/ Check out http://judaicaworld.blogspot.com and www.jewishconvert-lds.com, www.peopleofthebook-judaica.com.

If Romney wins: Five things every Jew should know about Mormonism

October 19, 2012

BY MARK PAREDES

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at a campaign rally in Westerville, Ohio, on Sept. 26. Photo by REUTERS/Brian Snyder

1. Devout Mormons can be found all across the political spectrum.

The Mormon Church doesn’t endorse candidates or political parties, and although most American Mormons are Republicans, a Mormon Democrat has served as the Senate Majority Leader for the last five years. Owing to our history of persecution and emphasis on self-reliance, there is also a noteworthy group of Mormons with libertarian sympathies who do not easily identify with either party.

Mormons can be found on all sides of most issues. On immigration, for example, many Mormons tend to be more liberal than other Republicans (or Democrats, for that matter). Many of us have served missions abroad, and tend not to be too judgmental of people who come here seeking a better life. Although Mormons generally agree on many important moral issues (see below), there is no consensus on economics and the proper role of government. We all agree, for example, that we have an obligation to help the poor. However, the extent to which government should help meet their needs by taxing others is a point of contention among followers of most faiths, including ours.

2. Mormonism is part of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Our church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) bears the name of the Christian Savior, we believe in the God of Israel, we accept the Hebrew Bible and New Testament as Scripture, we worship in chapels and temples, and we consider ourselves to be covenant Israelites. Mormons follow the Ten Commandments and are Noahides. In addition, the Abrahamic Covenant is central to our faith. Like Jews, the family is central to our faith, and our idea of heaven is to live with our spouses and families for eternity.

3. A Mormon president would not take orders from Salt Lake City.

If Mitt Romney wins, he’ll undoubtedly have the same arrangement with top church leaders that other Mormons have with local leaders: They don’t tell us how to do our jobs, and we don’t tell them how to run the church. Even Romney’s most intractable foes haven’t accused LDS church headquarters of drafting Romneycare in Massachusetts, and it’s safe to assume that church leaders aren’t behind Harry Reid’s shameful promotion of Las Vegas gambling interests in Washington. Mormons are used to looking to their leaders for spiritual advice, not professional guidance. While I would certainly expect Romney to consult with Mormon leaders as part of his general outreach efforts to faith communities (including Jewish leaders), I am confident that he will be his own man when it comes to formulating policies for the nation. I am also confident that Mormons will not be overrepresented in his administration, as Romney has a history of hiring capable people from all backgrounds to work for him.

4. On moral issues, Mormons are not extreme right-wingers.

A closer look shows the views of most Mormons on these issues to be much more nuanced. Let’s take abortion, for example. The LDS church is very much against it but does allow for possible exceptions in the case of rape, incest, a threat to the mother’s life or when the baby is not expected to survive childbirth. That’s pretty much Romney’s campaign’s abortion platform.

On gay issues, it is accurate to say that Mormons oppose state-sanctioned, same-sex marriage. However, it is both inaccurate and insulting to say that we are anti-gay. We can and do support many other issues that are important to gays. For example, former LDS Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) introduced a Senate bill that would have added sexual orientation to the list of protected categories for hate crimes. Every Mormon I know is opposed to discrimination against gays in education, employment and housing. We also support rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, probate rights, etc., so long as the integrity of the traditional family is not affected. As for theology, the LDS church teaches that homosexuality is not sinful in and of itself, as long as one remains chaste.

Although Mormons tend to have more children than the national average, our church doesn’t take a position on birth control. In addition, the church takes no position on capital punishment, stem-cell research, evolution or global warming. As a result, faithful Mormons are advocates for positions on all sides of these issues.

5. Mormons are philo-Semites and pro-Israel.

One of our basic Articles of Faith affirms: “We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes.” In 1841, LDS Apostle Orson Hyde offered a prayer on the Mount of Olives dedicating the Land of Israel for the gathering of the Jews. Israel went on to receive at least 11 apostolic blessings before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. For more than five decades (1870s-1920s), the church seriously considered establishing a Mormon colony in Palestine. Today, Brigham Young University has a beautiful center on Mount Scopus with the best view of the Old City in Jerusalem.

In the United States, Mormon pioneers arrived in the Utah territory in 1847. The first Jews arrived two years later, in 1849. The first Jewish worship service was held in 1864 in Salt Lake City. Rosh Hashanah was celebrated in Temple Square (the city center) in 1865. Brigham Young donated his personal land for a Jewish cemetery in 1866. In 1903, church President Joseph F. Smith spoke at the ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone for the state’s first Orthodox synagogue, which was largely paid for by the church. The second and third Jewish governors in the country were elected in Idaho (1914) and Utah (1916), the two states with the highest percentage of Mormons. Salt Lake City had a Jewish mayor by 1932, more than four decades before New York City.

Most Mormons in this country are very pro-Israel, and Romney is no exception. He has a close, decades-long personal relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who looks likely to be elected to another term. If Romney is elected, Jews and Israelis can be assured that they will have a true friend in the White House.

Mark Paredes writes the Jews and Mormons blog for the Jewish Journal and is a member of the LDS church's Jewish Relations Committee for Southern California. Read the Jews and Mormons blog atjewishjournal.com.

A Mormon Girl Among Jews

At Sunday school, I learned about the Israelites and end-times. Then bar mitzvah season began.

By Joanna Brooks|August 8, 2012

Before I met any Jewish people, I learned about Jews in my Mormon Sunday school classes. But no one used the word “Jews.” Instead, it was always “Israel,” or “the tribes of Israel,” or “Israelites.” Or maybe even “Hebrews.”

During sacrament meeting on Sunday morning, I would trace the movements of the Israelites charted on the colored maps at the back of my scriptures. Perhaps the most important of these movements, I learned, was the exodus of a small family of Israelites led by a righteous man named Lehi away from the land of their ancestors and across the ocean to the Americas, where they grew and divided and clashed and became the civilizations of the Book of Mormon.

In Sunday school, I studied the colorful Arnold Friberg Book of Mormon illustrations that my teacher propped up on her knees as we all sat in our little semicircle of child-sized chairs. The Israelites in these pictures were tall, dark-haired, and heroically muscled. Their expertly crafted wooden ships parted the waters as they approached some unspecified American coastline. At the center of the painting stood Lehi, the white-bearded patriarch, looking toward the heavens in prayer as the rest of the traveling party strained to see land on the horizon; his wife, Sariah, clung to him and silently rested her head upon his shoulder, eyes closed.

After church, because our family kept the Sabbath, I was not allowed to watch secular television, only Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments. Sunday afternoons, my sisters and brother and I would watch the Israelites—mostly tall and sculpted (Charlton Heston, John Derek) or lovely and lithe (Yvonne DeCarlo)—act and reenact their epic journey from slavery and across the sea and the deserts to freedom.

read the rest at

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/108421/a-mormon-girl-among-jews?all=1

The Passover Haggadah

A brief overview of the book that serves as guide, script, and liturgy of the Passover seder.By Rabbi Louis Jacobs

Excerpted with permission from The Jewish Religion: A Companion, published by Oxford University

Press.Haggadah--"the telling"--[is] the book containing the passages dealing with the theme of the Exodus recited at the Passover seder. The reading of the Haggadah is based on the verse, "You shall tell your son on that day: it is because of what the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt" (Exodus 13:8).

Although the Talmud mentions some features of the "telling" by the father [or other leader] at the seder, no formal Haggadah was produced until the Middle Ages, when the current form was established in essence and became universally accepted.

The Haggadah now contains passages from early and late sources dealing with the Exodus, instructions for the conduct of the seder, Psalms, and other songs of praise, grace before and after meals, concluding in the Ashkenazic version with a number of table songs.

It has been estimated that no fewer than 2,000 different editions of the Haggadah have been published. No other Jewish sacred book has enjoyed such popularity. The Haggadah is, of course, a sacred book. Its theme, the delivery of the people of Israel from Egyptian bondage, is more than a celebration of freedom as such. It is a celebration of the freedom the people of Israel attained in order to become God's people and receive His Torah.

Yet even secular Jews enjoy the Passover Seder and read the Haggadah as the ancient manifesto of liberty for all. Very few secular Jews, however, have gone so far as to produce an edition of the Haggadah, like the notorious "Godless Haggadah," from which all the references to God and His deliverance have been removed.

Many Haggadot have been published with commentaries by outstanding scholars and many are richly illustrated. Illuminated manuscripts and early editions of the Haggadah are now highly prized collectors' items.

Rabbi Dr. Louis Jacobs (1920-2006) was a Masorti rabbi, the first leader of Masorti Judaism (also known as Conservative Judaism) in the United Kingdom, and a leading writer and thinker on Judaism.

The Prophet Joseph Smith's Presidential Platform

With the 2012 elections coming up next year, we'll hear a lot about presidential promises and political posturing. Here's the official platform of the Prophet Joseph Smith when he formally decided to be a presidential candidate on January 29, 1844. What did he hope to accomplish?

A central banking system owned by the government, with the mother bank at Washington and branch banks in the several states.

The annexation of Texas upon her application, and the extending of an invitation to Mexico and Canada to become parts of the USA.

The immediate occupation and settlement of the Oregon region.

The reduction of the National Congress, the House tw-thirds and the Senate one-half.

The freedom of the slaves through purchase by the Federal Government, the funds to be obtained by the sale of public lands.

A reform of the prison system, which would make the prisons workhouses and seminaries of learning.

The building by the government of a dam across the Mississippi River at Keokuk and the construction of locks to aid shipping around the rapids.

A reform of the strict military punishment for desertion in time of war.

A high tariff to protect young industries.

From: The Restored Church, William Edward Barrett

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=ea469d9ff732f110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

3/27/11

Would You Give Up Your Life To Save It?

Here is a riddle that is revealed in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanach. What will a person give to save their life? Let’s ponder that. Would you give up your life to save it? Is it a trick statement or a very insightful observation? What do we mean by the purposeful giving and saving of a life?

The Jewish commentaries philosophers of the Middle Ages put forth differing ideas regarding the concepts of individual suffering, redemption and reward. Remember the Book of Job, the story of a man blameless and upright, a rich, successful landowner, one who feared God and shunned evil. It is a book written with a Hebrew mindset and it asks two questions: Why are the righteous sometimes made to suffer? Is there a connection between our actions, rewards and punishment?

Remember Satan, who bargains with God for the opportunity to afflict him and is granted it. Within a day, all of Job’s possessions are destroyed. His children are killed. He is left with nothing. Deep in shock and sorrow, Job endures his lot as he sits in ashes and mourns for his pain and sorrows. Yet he does not curse God. His three friends try to reassure him, then keep at him to confess his sins. Job maintains his innocence. They hold theological discussions on the origin of evil and nature of suffering .His wife tells him to “curse God and die”, to give up his life, but Job asks:

“Shall we receive good from god and shall not receive evil?” He seeks an explanation from God or an account of his wrongdoing, but he does so in humility. He accepts that God is in charge of all realms of existence but makes his suffering known:

“What strength do I have, that I should still hope, Job cries. Do I have the strength of stone? God: teach me and I will be quiet, show me where I have been wrong. How painful are honest words. “.

His friend Elihu, whose name means :My god is He, argues in favor of God’s power, his redemptive salvation and the absolute rightness of his conduct. “Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any. He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous… He gives food in abundance. Take heed, do not turn to iniquity… Behold, God is exalted in his power. “ Job acknowledges but still wonders about his part in receiving afflictions.

Finally, God speaks: He emphasizes that He is king over the world and that he has absolute freedom over His creation and that He knows best. His discretion may be a mystery, but it is always justified. Eventually, Job comes to understand mankind's struggle with the problems of sin and divine justice and acknowledges his utter dependence upon God’s final deliverance by divine intervention. Job is commended for his righteous words. He prays to be saved and praises God:

He, God, shakes the earth from its place... he speaks to the sun and it does not shine... he alone stretches out the heavens. Hearken to the thunder of his voice and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.Finally overcome but still faithful, Job is reconciled with God. “The Lord gave”, Job reasons, “and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” I know that you can do all things, he says. No plan of yours can be thwarted.

In doing this, Job understands that his misfortune is not a punishment. He prays for the ignorance and lack of understanding of his friends and prepares burnt offerings for them after God chastises them, then humbles himself and repents in dust and ashes, for he knows of his imperfections and observed his covenantal relationship with Deity to sacrifice all his possessions to the Lord. The Lord then accepts Job's prayer in behalf of his friends, then heals him and greatly multiplies all that he has.

Now, the statement I posed to you a while ago. Would you give up your life to save it? What is required? What are we saved from and to? I think you know the answer. To save our life we have to give it up. We must give up our individual will to follow the counsel of Christ, who is our Savior, in order that he will claim us as his. Our personal agency is the one gift he and Heavenly Father gave us that we have total power over. Let us regift it to the giver. Let us accept with joy, humility and total surrender the Godhead as your first leadership and counsel, grow in faith, repent daily, be baptized weekly, invite the Holy Ghost to work with and within us, be worthy, attend the temple, serve others, work like our life depends on it, discover our talents and use them.

We know the drill. Gift your life to Christ. We will find happiness and more. He will save us from this world that we may have eternal life with him that we may walk again with him on our long journey toward godhood. Joseph Smith said: In the beginning, God didn’t rest until he created mankind in his own image. In the end He won’t rest until mankind creates in itself the likeness of God. He will save us to our eternal family and bestow upon us eternal increase. There is no other way.

By Marlena

The 13 Articles of Faith - LDS

We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.

We believethat through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.

We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

The Prophet Joseph Smith

History of the Church, Vol. 4, pp. 535—541

Get Ye Understanding...

In the beginning God didn't rest until He created man in His own image. In the end He won't rest until man creates in himself the likeness of God. Joseph Smith, Jr.
__________________________
Marlena's websites:
http://www.jewishconvert-lds.com. Info re firesides, see and order books, ebooks, Judaica, links to Jewish sites, much more.

http://www.peopleofthebook-judaica.com - link to Israel Historical References. Eleven articles from Church scholars on Israel, Jewish migrations, Arab-Israeli conflict,etc.
http://www.peopleofthebook-judaica.com/historical.html.

http://berdichev1941.com
Order my novel- Historical fiction - Ukraine Holocaust story. My books are $10. I mail the items. To order, click on first website. All funds go toward republishing.

The Talmud teaches that there are three things that can change the course of a person's life -

Teshuva (correcting your mistakes between you and the Almighty, and between you and your fellow man), Tefillah (heartfelt prayer), and Tzedakah (acts of righteousness, charity).

Check out my friend Mark Paredes' wonderful blog:

http://www.jewishjournal.com/jews_and_mormons/item/tisha_bav_mormons_and_temples_39100719/

He writes well and is timely concerning issues of the Mormon and Jewish communities.

International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, Inc.

Links

International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS)

Government Archives With Documents/Index On-Line

Australian National Archives
Austrian National Archives
Library and Archives of Canada
France National Archives
German National Archives
New Zealand on-line vital records
Poland's National Archives
ScotlandsPeople – National

Government Source for genealogical data for Scotland

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/default.htm National Archives of the United Kingdom
General Interest
http://www.avotaynu.com Avotaynu
http://cyndislist.com / Cyndi's List of genealogical sites
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp Family History Library
http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#start Family History Library Pilot for new data on–line
http://www.searchforancestors.com/google/searcher.html Easy Google Genealogy
http://www.hias.org / Hebrew Immigrant Aide Society (New York City)
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/ Jewish Encyclopedia
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/index.cfm NY Public Library Digital Collection- Photographs and
Maps
http://www.phonebookoftheworld.com / Phone Book of the World
www.Stevemorse.org Variety of helpful tools

European Websites

http://www.compactmemory.de / Internet Archive of Jewish Periodicals (German) 1806 -1938
http://feefhs.org Federation of Eastern European Family History Societies
http://www.jewishfamilyhistory.org/index.htm Grand Duchy of Lithuania Project
http://www.jewishinstitute.org.pl/en/genealogia/index/1.html Jewish Historical Institute (Warsaw,
Poland)
http://www.museumoffamilyhistory.com Museum of Family History A virtual, multimedia website
created by Steven Lasky dedicated to those searching their Eastern European roots.
http://www.sztetl.org.pl/?cid=15&lang=en_GB The Project_Virtual Shtetl Museum of the History of Polish Jews
http://chrysalis.its.uct.ac.za/shelter/shelter.htm Poor Jews Shelter (Site for immigration from
Eastern Europe to South Africa with temporary stay in England)
http://genealogyindexer.org/ Foreign Directories, Yizkor Book Search- Logan Kleinwaks
http://www.shoreshim.org/en/default.asp Free and pay site on different databases Jewish sites in
Poland
http://www.rtrfoundation.org / Miriam Weiner's Roots to Routes Eastern European Archival
database

Holocaust Websites

http://en.auschwitz.org.pl Auschwitz Database
http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2007/03/56657.php Alternate Auschwitz Database Site
http://warszawa.getto.pl/index.php?temp=temp&lang=en Warsaw Ghetto Database
http://www.its-arolsen.org/en/homepage/index.html Tracing Service- Bad Arolsen
http://www.doew.at/ausstellung/shoahopferdb_en.html Documentation Center for Austrian Resistance
http://tc.usc.edu/vhitc/(blf5kv2iutqkvur5apj0nnu4)/default.aspx Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation
http://www.yadvashem.org/wps/portal/IY_HON_ Entrance Yad Vashem Central Database Shoah
Israel Websites
http://www.bh.org.il/database-about.aspx? genealogy
Beth Hatefutsoth - Douglas E. Goldman Genealogy Center In Israel
http://www.yadvashem.org Yad Vashem
http://www.jnul.huji.ac.il/eng/ Jewish National Library
http://www.zionistarchives.org.il/ZA/pMainE.aspx Central Zionist Archives of Israel

Latin America Websites

http://www.cemla.com/busqueda.html Center for Studies Latin American
Immigration—Buenos Aires (Spanish)
http://www.amia.org.ar/register/sepelio.aspx?sid=128 Buenos Aires, Argentina Jewish Cemetery Indices
(Spanish) AMIA= Buenos Aires Kehila
http://www.memorialdoimigrante.org.br/ Brazil immigration indexed database
arrival records for the Port of Santos (Portuguese)

Maps

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gnrlhome.html Library of Congress Map Library
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
http://davidrumsey.com/ David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
http://maps.google.com/ Google Maps
http://prod.library.utoronto.ca:8090/maplib/ University of Toronto Map Collection

Newspapers

http://multiculturalcanada.ca/mcc_cjr Canadian Jewish Review
http://news.google.com/archivesearch Google Newspapers historical archives
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ Library of Congress Chronicling America Historic American
Newspapers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper_archives_online Newspapers archives on line
http://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html NYState Newspapers including Brooklyn Eagle to 1950 and
NY Times to 1920’s
http://www.researchguides.net/newspapers.htm Directory of newspapers on-line free and pay sites

Sephardic Websites

http://www.sephardicgen.com/ Sephardic Genealogy Resources
http://www.sephardim.com / Sephardic Name Search Engine plus more

South African Websites

http://chrysalis.its.uct.ac.za/CGI/cgi_Rootweb.exe South African Jewish Database-Kaplan Centre for Jewish Migration and Genealogy Studies
http://chrysalis.its.uct.ac.za/shelter/shelter.htm Poor Jews Shelter (Site for immigration from
Eastern Europe to South Africa with temporary stay in England)

United States Websites

http://www.americanjewisharchives.org/ American Jewish Archives (Cincinnati, OH)
http://castlegarden.org Castle Garden (New York City)
http://www.cjh.org / Center for Jewish History (New York City) Houses American Jewish Historical
Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
www.ellisisland.org Ellis Island (New York)
http://news.google.com/archivesearch Google Newspaper Search ( some are fee for service)
http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/jws/jewish.html NYC Public Library Dorot Jewish Collection
http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/vitalrecords/home.shtml NYC Municipal Archives
www.Italiangen.org- - NYC and LI index to vital and naturalization records
www.nara.gov National Archives (USA)
http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/about-research.html NARA Genealogy Site
http://aad.archives.gov/aad NARA database
http://www.archives.gov/research/order/vets-records.html#nara military records (USA)
http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/ military records US Personnel Center St Louis
MO (USA)
www.uscis.gov/ genealogy United States Citizenship and Immigration Service

Prepared by Jan Meisels Allen, Director, IAJGS on 7/02/09 for 29th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy Resource Room

Copyright 2000-2009, International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, Inc.
Send comments and corrections to the Webmaster, Daniel Horowitz.

Want to hear some great MTC Music?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLFVZBURSLc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yReVEchT2Po&playnext_from=TL&videos=EcxSyjE6X2k&feature=rec-LGOUT-real_rev-rn-1r-7-HM
******************************************************
See a comprehensive list of Old Testament Israelite names and meanings:
http://judaicaworld.wordpress.com/overflow-articles/
******************************************************
Watch Marlena's interview with AM Utah: http://www.youtube.com/user/AMUtahsShow ***************************************************

Rabbinic Judaism Keeps the Faith Alive

Rabbinic Judaism has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian Talmud. Growing out of Pharisaic Judaism, Rabbinic Judaism became the predominant stream within the Jewish Diaspora (dispersion) between the 2nd to 6th centuries, with the redaction (combining several sources) of the oral law and the Talmud as the authoritative interpretation of Jewish scripture and to encourage the practice of Judaism in the absence of Temple sacrifice and other practices no longer possible.

Rabbinic Judaism is based on the belief that at Mount Sinai, Moses received directly from God the Torah (Pentateuch) as well as additional oral explanation of the revelation, the "oral law," that was transmitted by Moses to the people in oral form.

“For many centuries, Jehovah’s Temple dominated Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, serving a myriad of functions that welded the Israelites and the Jews together politically and spiritually. Politically, it stood as a symbol that distinguished Israel from its neighbors and offered safety from physical and spiritual dangers. The Temple was also the center of the Jewish faith. It was their place of purity, their source of sanctity. Furthermore, Jews could receive instruction from the Lord through their priests and leaders. Lastly, the Temple’s physical presence served as a visual reminder of their covenant with Jehovah.

To break the spirit of a nation, it is necessary to pierce its heart. Its extremities cannot function without the blood that the heart provides. The Jewish heart was their Temple. It symbolized their God, the source of their anticipated salvation, their spiritual sword and shield. In it, they received sanctification through priestly rituals as well as guidance from above. When the final smoldering embers of the Temple cooled, Judaism appeared broken, its source of identity and unification dashed.

But Rabbinic Judaism kept the faith alive. The newly stressed oral law took the Temple’s place as the telltale symbol of safety for Jews. Faithful observance to statutes of the oral law as well as the Torah meant safety for the people in the same way that Temple-centered rituals had in prior centuries. Communion with God and opportunities for sanctification survived through daily individual prayer. Sabbath day observance, and adherence to exacting kosher laws.

The physical presence of synagogues helped provide Jews with a physical reminder of their covenant relationship with God in the Temple’s absence, thus stoking feelings of nationalism. Unique daily dress and observance of several annual festivals hat hearkened back to memorable moments in Jewish history also helped create patriotism among Jews. With all these aspects of Jewish life staked down by rabbinic practices following the Temple’s fall, the faith lived on.

Although the tangible stones of the holy edifice no longer graced the Temple Mount, the spiritual foundations that the Temple gave to the Jews found new expressions in Rabbinic Judaism. Through the strife and toil of the years, Jews somehow managed to keep the faith.”
(Portion of a BYU article: author unknown)

The rabbis of that generation enacted new laws whose purpose was to fulfill the biblical verse, “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem…” (Psalm 137). They decreed that a corner of every house, a part of every meal, even some of every woman’s jewelry, be set aside – in memory of the Temple. Special prayers were formulated to express the yearning of the people to return to Zion and to worship once again in the Temple of God.

Instrumental music was banned from the synagogue service, a glass was broken at every wedding, and the words “Next year in Jerusalem” were recited on Passover and at the end of the Day of Atonement – all in memory of the Temple. Most historians believe that these prayers, customs and hopes helped to unite the Jewish people and kept alive the hope of returning to Zion, a hope which was fulfilled in our days.
Without the temple, the Shabbat (Sabbath) day became the purifier. Jewish oral law stressed the laws of Kashrut (Kosher) as a way of sanctification. If one ate impure food, one would have an impure spirit.

They needed symbols of Jewish identity to express their covenantal relationship with God. They began meeting on street corners, in synagogues and homes, listening to their rabbis expound the Law. They wore the shawls, the tefillin (phylacteries) as symbols of binding heart, mind and deed. They wore the payos (hair curled over ears of male Jews), special hats with black coats, and other things as identifiers because they gave the feeling of a national character.

Another source of identity was the Hebrew holidays: Rosh Ha Shanah (New Year), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Sukkot, Chanukah, Purim, Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Festival of weeks) and Tish’a B’Av (fast commemorating the destruction of the two Temples). These commemorated important events in Jewish history. Since Jewish time is linear, has an end and goes up towards a spiritual heaven, celebrating these holidays can bring one spiritually higher through each festive event, a kind of spiral toward a heavenly life.

Secret Files of The Inquisition

By David M. Gitlitz University of Rhode Island (edited from an interview by David Rabinovitch)

Spain had an enormous Jewish community in the middle ages and toward the end of the 14th century large numbers of them were converted to Catholicism. A "converso" is literally someone who was formerly Jewish and is now Catholic. They converted for all kinds of reasons. Some of them were forced; some of them went willingly into Catholicism. The term converso was applied not only to the generation that converted but also to their children and their grandchildren and on down through the generations.

In 1391 there were terrible riots sweeping across southern Spain. People were offered the choice of converting or being killed. Some 20,000 converted under those circumstances. They had no intention of becoming Catholic. They were not educated in Catholicism and they went on living their Jewish lives as they wanted. Twenty years later there were a series of preaching campaigns run by the Dominicans, which converted many tens of thousands of Jews, largely by persuasion.

These people were interested in becoming Catholic, of joining the mainstream Catholic society, and they were given open access to jobs and to possibilities that they'd never had before. By the time the Inquisition was founded, a couple of generations later, there were the children and grandchildren of people who had been converted with no intention of becoming Catholics and others who had, who were the grandchildren of people who were trying very hard to put their Jewish past behind them all of them in extended families with people who were still Jewish. They attended Bar Mitzvahs, they attended circumcisions, they attended Easter holiday processions and these different groups co-mingled in ways that were very complex in Spain...

download more at: www.pbs.org/inquisition/conversos.html

Recalling the Mormon who tried to save Anne Frank

Reprinted from February 2012 - Deseret News

In the wake of last week’s international media furor over the a reported recent proxy baptism of famed Jewish Holocaust victim Anne Frank in an LDS temple, a noted Jewish scholar is reminding his Jewish readers of a time when the man he called most politically powerful Mormon in America from 1939-41 made a strident effort to save people like the Frank family.

Writing in JTA, which bills itself “the global news service of the Jewish people,” Rafael Medoff recounts in detail the efforts of U.S. Sen. William H. King, D-Utah, to pass legislation that would have admitted 20,000 German Jewish refugee children to the United States who were outside the regular immigration quota system.

Read the rest of this story at www.deseretnews.com. .

Jews reclaim Jesus as one of their own

By Richard Allen Greene, CNN

(CNN) - The relationship between Jews and Jesus has traditionally been a complicated one, to say the least.
As his followers' message swept the ancient world, Jews who did not accept Jesus as the Messiah found themselves in the uncomfortable, and sometimes dangerous, position of being blamed for his death.

Mainstream Christian theology's position held that Judaism had been supplanted, the Jewish covenant with the divine no longer valid, because of the incarnation of God as Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross.

Jews, for their part, tended largely to ignore Jesus.
That's changing now.

In the past year, a spate of Jewish authors, from the popular to the rabbinic to the scholarly, have wrestled with what Jews should think about Jesus.

CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories
And overwhelmingly, they are coming up with positive answers, urging their fellow Jews to learn about Jesus, understand him and claim him as one of their own.

"Jesus is a Jew. He spent his life talking to other Jews," said Amy-Jill Levine, co-editor of the recently released "Jewish Annotated New Testament."

"In reading the New Testament, I am often inspired, I am intrigued. I actually find myself becoming a better Jew because I become better informed about my own history," she said.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a media personality who recently launched a bid for a U.S. House seat, argues in his own new book, "Kosher Jesus," that "Jews have much to learn from Jesus - and from Christianity as a whole - without accepting Jesus' divinity. There are many reasons for accepting Jesus as a man of great wisdom, beautiful ethical teachings, and profound Jewish patriotism."

And Benyamin Cohen, an Orthodox Jew who spent a recent year going to church, admitted that he's jealous that Christians have Jesus.

"He's a tangible icon that everybody can latch on to. Judaism doesn't have a superhero like that," said Cohen, the author of the 2009 book "My Jesus Year."

Read the rest on CNN: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/05/jews-reclaim-jesus-as-one-of-their-own/?

Proxy Baptisms and the Jewish Mindset

Excerpt from article posted to my blogsite http://mormonsandjews.net. Read full article there and see other postings.

In response to the news in recent days that Holocaust victim Anne Frank has been posthumously baptized nine times by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have several observations on the subject of proxy baptisms.

The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and other Jewish organizations have made objection to proxy baptismal work for deceased Jews. Ernest Michel, himself a Holocaust survivor, said it was “a revision of history” to lessen a deceased’s Jewishness by baptizing him/her Mormon.

As a Jewish convert to the LDS church, I do understand the mindset of many Jews in that regard, for they do not accept Jesus Christ as their Mashiach (Messiah) and therefore eschew all Christian churches and practices.

Unfortunately, the Jewish view is incomplete. First of all, Jews in ancient times practiced tevilah – a full body immersion in a mikveh (font). These references are found in the Hebrew Bible and elaborated in the Mishnah and Talmud (commentaries on the Bible). These practices are observed in Orthodox and Conservative Judaism congregations.

These washings were performed as a symbol of cleansing oneself (and many foods) of many forms of impure actions as well as insuring increased sanctity of the person before God. These rituals were and are considered ways in which mortals can become closer to their Creator, but these rituals are not in any way connected to an acceptance of or belief in Jesus Christ.

LDS GOSPEL DOCTRINE Supplements by Daniel Rona

This material was prepared by Daniel Rona who is the only LDS licensed tour guide in Israel. For more than thirty years he has been teaching the Old and New Testaments to Latter-day Saints from around the world. He was born in Israel, and he is an active LDS member. Brother Rona combines his gospel knowledge and Jewish insight to bring the tribes of "Joseph" and "Judah" closer together. He is an American, an Israeli, a Mormon and a Jew.

Click on this link to read the lessons from the New Testament. Link also shows O.T., Book of Mormon and Pearl of Great Price lesson links.
http://www.israelrevealed.com/comp-sup-r.htm

Paradoxes of Prayer

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health, that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy.
I was given poverty, that I might be wise...

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for but everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among all, most richly blessed.

Author unknown

Useful Jewish Websites

http://www.israelrevealed.com

Prime source of Jewish take on all scripture

Daniel Rona – Brilliant man - Jewish convert to LDS

Check his LDS Supplements link

http://www.jewfaq.org

Basic Jewish teachings

http://www.shamash.org

Shamash=servant

Jewish Internet Consortium

http://www.hebcal.com/

Jewish calendar tools-find ancient dates

http://www.maven.co.il

Jewish index, search engine

http://jewishnet.net

Global Jewish Information Network

www.judaica-guide.com

Excellent for rituals, holidays, general info

www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org

Another excellent site.

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com

With a bit of effort, you can find much historical material here

http://www.613.org

a source of educational Orthodox Jewish audio and

video files, all available for free viewing online using RealPlayer!

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com

Contains contents of the 12-volume Jewish Encyclopedia.

http://judaism.about.com

A great resource for Jewish information with extensive links.

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/

A little bit of everything! Some dialog about connections with Christianity, Islam.

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http://www.jewishconvert-lds.com -

Marlena’s main website

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http://www.peopleofthebook-judaica.com -

Marlena’s Judaica website

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http://www.mormonsandjews.org -

B’nai Sholom website

23 Questions Answered by the Book of Mormon

Does the Bible contain all of God’s word? (2 Nephi 29 )
Who were the other “other sheep” referred to by Jesus as recorded in John 10:16? (Nephi 165:13-14)
How can a person know that the Book Mormon is true? (Moroni 10:3-5)
How can a desire to believe develop into a strong faith? (Alma 32 )
What is the purpose of man’s? (Nephi 2:25)
How can God be both just and merciful? (Alma 42)
What happens to our spirits at death? (Alma 40: 11-14)
How can a person turn his personal weakness into strengths? (Ether1)
What happened in North America when Jesus was born in Bethlehem? (3 Nephi 1:15-21)
What happen in North America when Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem? (3 Nephi 8:5-23)
What do we witness “unto the father” by being baptized? (2 Nephi 31:10-14)
Why was Jesus Christ baptized? (2 Nephi 31:4-9)
Just what is the gospel of Jesus Christ? How did the Savior explain what it is? (3 Nephi 27:13-21 )
Why was the atonement of Jesus Christ necessary? (2 Nephi 9:4-14, Alma 34:8-17)
To what extent are men accountable for their choices and their actions? (Nephi 2:27, 2 Nephi 25-27, Helaman 14:30-3)
Do little children need repentance and baptism? (Moroni 8:1-24)
Does the Lord always protect the righteous from unrighteous? (Alma 60:12-13 )
How did a prophet who lived in 600 B. C. describe our day? (2 Nephi 28)
What should we pray about? (Alma 34:17-28)
Why should we not procrastinate the day of our repentance? (Alma 34:30-41)
What will our bodies be like in the resurrection? (Alma 40:23)
Are we saved by grace, by works, or by both? (2 Nephi 25:23)
In a world with so many conflicting voices, how can a person judge what is good and what is evil? (Moroni 7:14-19)