"Brit-Am Now"-26
Contents:
1. Andrew Jackson: Jeremiah 34 no.2
2. Roy Garland: Ark of the Covenant at Tara
3. BBC versus Brit-Am
4. TOWARD TRADITION URGES: DON'T BE PARALYZED
Date: 06/03/2002 8:49:51 PM Central
Daylight Time
1.
Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 08:29:46 -0700
(PDT)
From: Andrew Jackson
Subject: Re: Jeremiah 34 no.2
Shalom Yair,
This is an admitedly belated response,
but it might be
of interest.
Indeed, the practice of 'indentured
servitude' existed
in the USA during the Colonial period.
Georgia, the
last colony established, was established
by this.
Debtors were shipped to the new colony
and served
seven years to pay off the passage.
Indentured servitude was also practiced
in several
other colonies.
At the end of the term, the 'master'
or employer was
expected to provide the newly freed
man with a 'stake'
(seed, an ox or some work animal) to
get established.
My Dad found this out in the course
of researching our
genealogy. (We are of Quaker stock
and settled in New
Jersey during the middle to late 1600's.)
Take care!
Andrew
2.
From: Roy Garland
Subject: RE: Jeremiah 43
Yair
Recently there was a lecture in Navan
County Meath in Ireland on the British
Israelites. The story of Tea Tephi
was related and details of the attempt
to find the Ark of the Covenant at
nearby Tara in the late 19th/early 20th
century. A large crowd had gathered
to hear the story from an archeologist
and were fascinated by it. The account
was very fair and I was able to
update them on British Israelism in
Northern Ireland.
I am not a believer in this but I said
that there was at least one positive
element in British Israelism and that
was that it gave unionists in the
north a positive sense of identity
with Ireland. The main negative side was
a kind of anti-Judaism. At that time
I was unaware that some Jewish people
could hold these views. My comments
were given a warm reception.
Roy Garland
3.
Question:
From: Anna
Subject: UK anti-semitism
I don't know if you've already addressed
this. You probably have since I'm
sure I'm not the 1stperson to consider
it. How do you reconcile the UK
people being descendants of Israel
when anti-Semitism is so prevalent in the
UK press and culture today? I thought
one of the major qualifications for a
lost tribe was the relative lack of
anti-Semitism.
As both a Celt and a Jew (by choice),
I have longed to visit both Israel and
the UK (I'm American). I have always
been very attracted to and proud of my
Celtic heritage, and have truly longed
to re-visit the UK (especially
Edinburgh). Now I find myself strongly
at odds with the blatant
anti-Semitism I find in the UK press.
I am repulsed, and feeling less and
less pride in my association to my
fellow islanders. It is really hard for
me to reconcile this disparity. What
is your opinion, Yair?
Anna Morrison Markowitz
Answer:
* An acquaintance of mine listens frequently
to the British BBC. He says
that regarding Israel BBC reportage
is antagonistic and false and one would
think that Israel is being treated
as an enemy country and sometimes worse.
BUT According to a report UK
Press (contrary to general impression) is
sometimes very fair and balanced. Most
of the time it is not but it is not
as bad
as the European Press.
A friend of mine received a copy of
"The Observer" which he is forwarding
to me. The paper has a middle-page
spread about the Israelis in Jenin
and how they sacrificed the lives of
their soldiers and risked those of
others in order to avoid civilian casualties.
The article says that the
Israelis did more to save the lives
of civilians than anybody else
(including the British) would have
dreamt of doing in similar
circumstances. The article says that
it is time for the Press to give the
Israeli "a fair go".
* The media position can only be taken
in part as a valid indicator and
even then with much reservation. The
Press does not represent the people.
Even in Israel the two leading newspapers
(Maariv and Yediot Acharonot) and
most of the minor ones
(such as "HaAretz") are sometimes anti-Semitic
and say things that border
on treason. These papers do not represent
the people but they do
represent certain monied interests
and cliques in Israel and Overseas who
have an interest in pushing anti-Jewish
views.
What I am saying can be backed up with
a lot of evidence. It is not
something I have invented. The non-religious
media in Israel helped
railroad the country into the Oslo
Agreements that caused the deaths of
innocent and good Jewish people.
Some of the papers in Israel (such
as The Jerusalem Post and the religious
papers) do however provide a responsible
service.
* Much anti-semitism in the west is
due to Moslem or migrant hostility or
is due to a non-Israelite element in
the population.
*In Biblical times "Judah" and the
Ten Tribes of "Israel" sometimes went to
war with each other and even enlisted
foreign allies to fight against each
other.
*Isaiah 11:10 indicates that an envy
of Judah will be present in Ephraim
until the End Days.
* The gentlemanly British in effect
have a warrior streak that sometimes
receives wrong expression.
On the one hand in the Gulf War British
pilots flew diver bombs on
dangerous missions that nobody else
was prepared to undertake. On the other
hand when British football fans are
even allowed to visit European cities
supporters of European teams very wisely
stay of the streets. In Britain
today there are many foreigners, many
unwed mothers, many deny God and sin
in general. People from one street
are enemies of those from another
street. Supporters of one football
team beat up supporters of another.
There is a problem of drunkenness,
petty crime, and drugs. Some actions
that appear to be anti-Semitic may
be merely expressions of sheer
wickedness in general. They would do
the same to their own direct kin.
*Britain was known in Europe as "Perfidious
Albion". Hosea describes
Ephraim as a cheating merchant:
[Hosea 12:7] HE IS A MERCHANT, THE
BALANCES OF DECEIT ARE IN HIS HAND: HE
LOVETH TO OPPRESS.
[Hosea 12:8] AND EPHRAIM SAID, YET
I AM BECOME RICH, I HAVE FOUND ME OUT
SUBSTANCE: IN ALL MY LABOURS THEY SHALL
FIND NONE INIQUITY IN ME THAT WERE SIN.
This works in every direction. The
British are unpredictable. In some ways
they are publicly often against Israel.
Even so in other ways Britain
sometimes surprisingly comes out on
behalf of Israel or co-operates with
Israel behind the scenes in various
ways.
Both Britain and the USA and the offshots
of Britain still fulfil the role
of Joseph: Menasseh and Ephraim.
4.
TOWARD TRADITION URGES: DON'T BE PARALYZED
BY "SUM OF ALL FEARS"
Press Release Contact: Adam Fuller,
206-236-3046
SEATTLE, WA, JUNE 3, 2002 .... Toward
Tradition today urged Americans not
to assume that nuclear terrorism is
"inevitable," as experts in media and
government have lately asserted. The
new film Sum of All Fears, depicting a
nuclear strike on Baltimore, is the
latest way the culture has expressed
its growing pessimism about the future.
Toward Tradition's president, Rabbi
Daniel Lapin, said that optimism is
the right attitude for an authentic
Judeo-Christian culture like America's.
Rabbi Lapin said: "Commentators, analysts,
even figures in the Bush
Administration suggest it is only a
matter of time before another
devastating terror attack is perpetrated
on our soil. While understanding
their desire to deflect possible future
criticism, I believe that no less
an authority than Maimonides, the great
interpreter of Biblical tradition,
would disagree with them. In his encyclopedic
statement of Jewish thought,
the Mishneh Torah, he condemns those
who claim that national disasters
occur by chance, as a part of nature.
Their attitude, Maimonides teaches,
is the way of achzariut, 'cruelty'
(Hilchot Taniot 1:3).
"What's so 'cruel'? The answer is that
this idea--that disasters happen by
unavoidable random chance--not only
makes our suffering appear meaningless,
and the more excruciatingly painful
for being so. It also leads us to
despair at the mistaken impression
that we are powerless to avert
catastrophe. Jewish tradition says
no: Catastrophe can indeed be averted
when a nation looks deep within itself
and corrects its previous mistakes.
"Whether we think Maimonides would
call for aggressive attention to defense
and intelligence measures, for moral
introspection, or most likely for all
three, the point remains the same:
God has set up the universe so that
nothing people may do, for good or
evil, is inevitable. Even God's
unfavorable decree can be averted.
Thus the Torah advises us, 'And you
shall be ever joyful' (Deut. 15:16).
When we are confident we have taken
responsible action, we are free, indeed
obliged, to be grateful,
optimistic, and joyful. We need not
be paralyzed by the sum of our fears."
Toward Tradition is a national coalition
of Jews and Christians advocating
practical Torah solutions to modern
American problems.
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