"Brit-Am Now"-768
Contents:
1. Problems Seeing Article? Explorer is better
2. Are Jews really of Edomite blood?
3. Letter forwarded From Tamar: "Faith not Nationalism"?
4. Steve Mathe: To Tamar re
5. From Tamar: re Gather Ephraim
6. Andy Reaume: "a bond between us...yet a repelling force keeps us apart"
7. Justified Jealousy of Rabbi Avichail?
8. Criticisms of Brit-Am
1. Problems Seeing Article? Explorer is better
Aram wrote:
Yair,
the link http://britam.org/menasseh.html leads to a screen of text overlaid by wallpaper, making it impossible to read.
Answer:
We checked it out. It was working OK in Explorer but not in Mozilla Firefox
and not in Netscape. We have now corrected this but it still looks a little better
in Explorer.
Someone should tell the Mozilla people that they are not html-design friendly
and still have something to learn from Explorer.
I am disappointed in Mozilla especially since friends of mine have switched over
to Mozilla and recommended that I do the same.
Thanks for telling us about this problem.
If anyone else ever encounters similar problems please let us know.
A quick check showed that quite a few of our more recent articles have problems
when seen in Mozilla Firefox.
This is quite easy to fix but until now we were not aware of it.
We are not infallible.
When Brit-Am does or says something that appears
incorrect or improper please let us know.
Our e-mail postings reach as many as ca. 2000 people and our articles
in some cases may be seen by thousands but very few of them
let us know whether the impression is positive or negative or whether
the presentation is suffering from any
technical imperfection.
2. Are Jews really of Edomite blood?
Question. Mike wrote:
Hello I have a question many Anti Semites Christian Identity groups and Black hebrew Israelite groups claim that Jews are mixed with Edomite and not Israelites is this true ? Are Jews really of Edomite blood or mixed with Edomite blood ?
Answer:
There may be some Edomites in Judah but there is nothing wrong with that.
There may be good and bad qualities amongst Edom like everybody else.
Most Edomites today are amongst Gentile Nations.
They are a minority but could count quite a few anti-Semites amongst them.
Certain types seem obsessed with the Jews and Edom and the Khazars etc.
I wonder why?
Maybe a good portion of such obsessively-compulsive cranks are themselves Edomites?
Edom in Hebrew means "red". David had red hair and so did Esau who was also
known as "Edom".
Esau was the twin brother of Jacob (renamed Israel), and the favorite son of Isaac their father. Born reddish (Genesis 25;25: "Admoni" in Hebrew, the same adjective applied later to King David son of Jesse, 1-Samuel 12;16) and hairy, Esau was a man of the field, and a hunter.
See the Brit-Am Answers to Queries concerning Edom
http://www.britam.org/Questions/QuesEdom.html#Edomites
Brit-Am says that the Lost Ten Tribes are mainly in certain areas in the west.
We DO NOT say that all people in the said regions are Israelites.
In some areas they may well be a majority while in others they could
merely exist as a significant proportion.
Many of them may well be mixed with other
elements as most people probably are.
Historical sources indicate that Edomites also settled in these areas and in many cases
obtained dominance.
Learning the Bible and identifying with
Israelite values leads to strengthening the Israelite element.
Non-Israelite elements and heritage exist both in the sense
of individuals who are NOT of Israelite descent and/or in the case of
mixed heritage the foreign input taking over.
It is natural that this non-Israelite element will not want to identify as Hebrew
OR they will want to identify BUT not alongside the Jews of Judah.
Rejection of Judah is an indication of possible Edomite ancestry.
"And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob" (Genesis 27;41).
By attempting to "disqualify" the Jews these non-Israelite elements in effect
testify to their own non-Israelite origins.
There is nothing wrong with not being an Israelite.
A good Gentile is also worth a lot.
None of us can be certain of ourselves.
It takes one to know one.
The Prophet Obadiah was of Edmote origin and he prophesied against Edom.
See the Brit-Am Commentary to the Book of Obadiah:
http://britam.org/obadiah.html
Some of us may consider ourselves Jewish or Israelites and actually be of
non-Israelite descent wholly or in part. Nevertheless our basic instincts
and common sense leads us to identify. We know that whatever the case if we are genuine
(or even simply not negative) the Almighty will accept us
and we will find our place.
There is a principle that everyone is born according to how they would have wished to be.
We are suited to be ourselves.
The individual dignity of every human being NO MATTER who he is is a basic principle
in the Bible.
God bless you
Yair Davidiy
on behalf of
Brit-Am, Israel
see also item no.9 below, "The Jews, Khazars, and Brit-Am"
The blessing to Edom:
For discussion and details see:
http://britam.org/Genesis/Gen25to28Toldot.html
[Genesis 27:39] AND ISAAC HIS FATHER ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO HIM, BEHOLD, THY DWELLING SHALL BE THE FATNESS OF THE EARTH, AND OF THE DEW OF HEAVEN FROM ABOVE;
Esau is here promised a fertile place to dwell in.
Our impression is that Edomites were prominent in the hierarchies of Babylon, Ugarit, Assyria, and Phoenician Tyre.
[Genesis 27:40] AND BY THY SWORD SHALT THOU LIVE, AND SHALT SERVE THY BROTHER; AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS WHEN THOU SHALT HAVE THE DOMINION, THAT THOU SHALT BREAK HIS YOKE FROM OFF THY NECK.
BY THY SWORD SHALT THOU LIVE, AND SHALT SERVE THY BROTHER: Esau was a military man. The Every war requires the presence of Esau in order to achieve victory.
<<THAT THOU SHALT BREAK HIS YOKE FROM OFF THY NECK>>:
Onkelos translates this to say that when Jacob sins then Esau is asserting his independence or even acquiring domination.
3. Letter forwarded From Tamar: "Faith not Nationalism"?
Ken Quinn wrote:
Dear Alex and Tamar,
This post is in reference to your Sunday 10 September show segment
with Yair Davidi.
.... As Yair Davidi has
wonderfully related in your show, there are brothers of yours who
share a "mutual destiny and task, and a common bond" to the Land that
was promised to our forefathers. As Yair said, there are some events
that will happen and Judah and Ephraim will be joined together
again. This has something to do with the time of the coming of the
Messiah. But we(Yair and I) are not sure of the exact timing. Etc.
Etc.
I should officially identify myself as being of the Ten Lost Tribes.
That means that I am not of the tribe of Judah, nor do I want to be
of the tribe of Judah. I have to point out a fault that Tamar and
Yair made in their discussion, you both spoke of the Ten Lost Tribes
as if we are the Ten Lost Tribes of Judah. I don't think that you
realized this. What you are going to have to face one day is that
there are quite some people who will go with you because you are
Judah, but the Scripture does not say that Ephraim will want to be
absorbed into Judah. Instead, one of the Scriptures that relates to
this subject states, "The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the
adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
and Judah shall not vex Ephraim." Isaiah 11:13
So something like a restoration of covenant people to the Land and
G_d of Israel is going to take place at some point. I do have some
ideas about when and how this will come to pass but just for now it
is good to stop here with speculation....
Ken Quinn
Amsterdam, Holland
Gastonia, North Carolina (temporarily)
PS. You are welcome to forward this post to Yair Davidi as he may be
interested to know that one person of the people groups that he has
been speaking of is having very parallel thoughts to his at the
moment. However, there is a vital point that needs to be made here.
Those people of Ephraim who are feeling attached to Judah are doing
so out of FAITH and not out of any nationalism. It is probably so
that us "Westerners" are having an enhanced opportunity to find the
G_d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the G_d of Israel due to migrations
of Biblical proportions, but whoever will come, will only come to Him
by FAITH and through FAITH. "Behold, his soul which is lifted up is
not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith." Habakkuk 2:4
4. Steve Mathe: To Tamar re
From: Steve Mathe <eliasaph@uniteourheart.com>
Dear Tamar,
Am glad to hear that you have given air time again to Yair Davidy two days ago. I am enthused about the possibility that Yair could come on your show periodically on a regular basis. I have mailed to him to enquire into the possibilities and particulars. Am of the opinion that it could be done, if we find, advertise for, and promote for sponsors on a set calendar of planned upcoming shows, that would be announced the next time Yair is on your show. Being a fledgling organization, it would benefit us greatly if we could advertise such a promotion that would benefit all listeners and speakers. Overall, it would benefit Israel as a whole, raising consciousness about what HaShem is doing re the Ten Tribes, and moving us all toward Redemption.
I am associated with Brit Am, being one of the organization's representative in California, and would welcome such a development. While Yair deals with the historical tracking of the Northern House of Israel, my website deals with the spiritual issues and responsibilities of the "first contingent to arise from the Valley of Dry Bones " in Yehezkel 37.
Gratefully, bracha, v'hatzlacha,
Steve Mathe
"Only Torah and prayer will unite Israel."
http://www.uniteourheart.com.
5. From Tamar: re Gather Ephraim
From: ephraimlivesagain@gather-ephraim.com
Dearest Tamar and all of Arutz 7,
We always appreciate your show, and your great love for Israel and Torah. We are especially grateful to you for interviewing Yair Davidiy of Brit Am. We hope that you will have him and Rabbi Feld on your show as often as possible and would love for him to have a regular program with you to educate all the tribes of Israel concerning the Lost Tribes.
We are Ephraimite, members of Brit Am. We believe we are Ephraimites partly because of our ancestry, but mostly because of our love for Torah, Israel, our Jewish brothers and sisters and our only Gd, the Gd of our fore-fathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaacov....
We believe many Lost Tribers who have come out of the church cannot relate to being Benei Noach because they are Israelites. Your show has been good for encouraging us when it seemed that all doors to Judah were closed. Thank you.
With Love of Zion,
Justin and Regina Walker
for the members of Gather-Ephraim
Od Ephraim Chai! Ephraim Lives Again!
www.Gather-Ephraim.com
6. Andy Reaume: "a bond between us...yet a repelling force keeps us apart"
Hi Yair,
The Britam core message is not new to me, as I have studied the related subject matter from other sources for the past 25 years; nevertheless it is always a pleasure receiving your emails, as the subject is of much interest to me, and it is always exciting to keep track of the workings of God in all that happens on planet earth, especially pertaining to Israel, Judah and the prophecies of hope and truth concerning us.
There is mutual commonality between Judah and Israel, regardless of our respective beliefs; for just as you wish for re-unification of the two peoples within the framework of Moses' law, we true Christians hope for a similar framework within a new covenant which most Jews do not yet accept as genuine.
For the moment there is a bond between us, and yet a repelling force keeps us apart because of opposing views and doctrines.
Truly only the Messiah will reconcile us to Him in a predestined period of time.
Until then, our heartfelt love for each other continues to deepen with every step toward our redemption, and therein lays my hope in God.
Sincerely,
Andy Reaume
7. Justified Jealousy of Rabbi Avichail?
A friend and Brit-Am supporter recently said that Brit-Am may not be doing so well since it is not sufficiently
broadly based and does not include as "Israelites" enough peoples!!
We disagree. We may even have included too many peoples and at all events we tell it as we understand it to be.
Apart from that Brit-Am is going ahead, is always in need of money
but so far has been enabled to keep going while slowly growing.
We suffer from ups and downs but the overall trend has been upwards
and God willing this will continue.
Apart from that,
Rabbi Eliyahu Avichail and his successor Michael Freund have an organization
("Ami-Shav") that traces the Lost Ten Tribes to Afghanistan, Kashmir, India, Burma,
and other such places.
These are not wealthy peoples but the organization representing them
managed to obtain widespread publicity, respectability, support,
and apparently very generous funding for its activities.
Why?
Because a handful of supporters believed in the idea and did what they could to spread it.
Maybe part of the fault is in us but we are what there is.
8. Criticisms of Brit-Am
Brit-Am has three aims Research, Revelation (spreading knowledge),
and Reconciliation between Judah and Israel.
We would prefer at present to concentrate on the first two points
but are being pushed to give attention to the third one or even to
matters that somehow relate to the third one.
Criticisms (believe it or not) have here and there been levelled against
Brit-Am.
We are preparing a Web-Site article to answer them.
Here is a partial list of criticisms made against us that we hope to shortly answer.
If anyone would like to add to this list please do so.
Claims so far noted include:
Brit-Am is not democratic in structure.
Brit-Am has features of a cult.
Brit-Am is primarily interested in money.
Brit-Am has a religious agenda.
Brit-Am is anti-Christian.
Brit-Am is a Christian Missionary Font.
Brit-Am is an anti-Christian Missionary Font.
Brit-Am could encourage or be exploited by anti-Jewish "identitiy" idealogues.
Brit-Am is a Zionist organization to encourage support for Israel.
Brit-Am is anti-Palestinian.
Brit-Am is a Racist Organization.
Brit-Am does not allow sufficient room for believers who identify with Israel and Judah but are not necessarily of Israelite descent.
Brit-Am is obsessed with combatting Conspiracy Theories.
Brit-Am Proofs are not convincing.
Brit-Am is not original in its approach.
If anyone wishes to add to this list please do so.
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