Yeshua Judaism: Part 1

Motivation, purpose, and general definition

What is “Yeshua Judaism”? Why does it need to be discussed? What motivation guided my studies? To introduce the topic, I will answer those three questions in reverse order.

What motivation guided my studies?

I detail my personal journey on the “About Us” page and will not lengthen this discussion by including it here. I, therefore, ask that you view the material if you want more insight.

Basically, when I first began my search to find Truth and correct my many flaws the objective was to simply stop being such a hypocrite and to exert myself towards becoming a better Christian. Correcting ourselves never stops in this life, and even after the eventual massive changes in what I view as Truth, I continue the correction efforts. Soon after beginning my journey I realized something was terribly amiss. I realized Christianity is seriously flawed.

I am one of those people who never accepts someone else’s opinion regarding crucial topics which impact my eternal destiny unless I verify their opinion through personal study. Sadly, very few Christians possess that characteristic and, instead, lazily allow themselves to be led down whatever path they are directed or that best satisfies their emotional needs. Of course, if it fits their needs, they will defend it as “truth”, and reality is forsaken. I talk about why most Christians are really Christians in a separate discussion. Suffice it to say the overwhelming majority of Christians never actually undertake a sincere, unbiased search for truth. Instead, they adopt their faith for a variety of reasons, none of which entail an earnest, dedicated, and necessarily detailed personal effort to find truth – a truth that may and almost always does differ with what they selfishly “feel” is right..

I, like most Christians, had never read the entire Bible cover-to-cover since Christianity emphasizes only the New Testament. I discuss the severe error within Christianity of de-emphasizing the Tanakh, irreverently called the “Old” Testament, within a discussion which defines what is truly Holy Scripture . I quickly realized that the foundational anti-Torah (anti-Law) position of Christianity is profoundly unbiblical. I also realized the “God in the flesh” doctrine is terribly false. Many discussions on the site delve into that last topic, but not this one.

Upon irrefutably concluding the severity of Christianity’s error, I began a lengthy search for Truth that, so far, has lasted approximately thirty years. Yet the search never ends. I amassed a large print library and gigabytes of additional material. Ultimately, I discovered that the true “New Testament” faith was and should still be a Torah based faith; however, for obvious reasons I was hesitant to convert to Akiva (rabbinic or orthodox) Judaism.

Unfortunately, many who undertake a similar search do convert, at which point they think that their search has reached its conclusion. They are seriously mistaken and, because the search is too rigorous, lengthy, or socially and emotionally draining for them to endure, it is terminated before the actual destination of Truth is reached. Many ex-Christians ill-advisedly have and are converting to Akiva Judaism, which of course requires them to discard their faith in Yeshua (Jesus) and the New Testament. The number of such conversions is higher than most Christians imagine and an increasingly common occurrence.

Nevertheless, I began and pursued my search determined not to allow bias to prejudice my findings. Therefore, I stuck by my “no bias” convictions and dove into Judaism’s material to discover “Torah”.  Searching within Christianity’s material proved useless since it is totally void of any legitimate and honest knowledge on the topic. Finding useful and, more importantly, truthful Torah discussion within Christian material is like looking for a large and beautiful sea in the middle of a bone-dry, parched desert wasteland. It isn’t there! Thus, my only option was to wade into the Torah-rich plush sea of Judaism’s Torah material, and I dove deeply into that sea. I’m still swimming within its depths and discovering the true wonders of the deep.

I found myself inundated with magnificent truths I had never heard within Christianity, all of which helped clarify not just the Bible in general, but the New Testament. Many questions Christianity is unable to answer are answered within Torah, specifically oral Torah. The more I studied the more amazed and thankful I became for what God had led me to discover. I was and am and always will be eternally grateful to God for heeding my desperate and sincere prayers to be shown THE TRUTH. However, I also found sea monsters within Judaism’s material – serious, deadly sea monsters.

I will not go into the specifics now since that is the intent of the “Yeshua Judaism” series of discussions. Rest assured; I will go into the details within later parts of the series.

Hastening along, I realize that the original faith of and in Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ), was and is a sect of the Torah faith of Judaism. I coined the term Yeshua Judaism to describe it and present details as to why that term is used further into this discussion. For the foreseeable future and God willing a growing list of discussions within the “Yeshua Judaism” series will be the central focus of the Torah of Messiah website. Please return periodically to check for new material.

Why does it need to be discussed?

This question is simple and easy to answer.

IF (a big IF ) a person truly wants to “follow Christ”, he or she should strive to mimic as closely as possible Yeshua the Messiah’s (Jesus Christ’s) example. Simple, right? Well, apparently not. I discuss how Christianity definitely does not teach Christians to follow the example of Messiah in a separate discussion.

So how can a person know how to “follow Christ” and practice the true faith as demonstrated by his original followers if the faith practices of those followers are ignored? Answer: You can’t know. You must discover how and what they believed.

Introduction to details of “Yeshua Judaism”

This initial discussion will only touch upon the definition while also hopefully allowing you to discern rather accurately what it truly is.  But before jumping straight into the specifics of Yeshua Judaism, we first need to uncover the history of what I call "Akiva Judaism" , which is commonly known as “rabbinic” or “Orthodox” Judaism. For the duration of this series I will most often use the more accurate label Akiva Judaism in place of the more common terms.

I use the term "Akiva Judaism" to simply distinguish it from the more authentic and Torah compliant "Yeshua Judaism".  There is a somewhat unknown and at times false narrative that for centuries has been advanced by rabbis of Akiva Judaism which needs to be exposed to the light of historic truth.

However, they are but men. They are not God even though Akiva Judaism essentially gives its founders God-like authority.  Therefore, like me, they are imperfect and have beliefs which need to be questioned, something Akiva Judaism devotees generally dare not do if it entails questioning their chazal (revered sages of Judaism).

A very brief history of Akiva (rabbinic) Judaism's origins

What is commonly known today as “Judaism” is actually not - I repeat not - the precise Torah faith that existed before and during the time of Yeshua in the first century.  It was begun after the Roman destruction of the second Temple by a group of Yeshua opposing Pharisaic rabbis who escaped Jerusalem.

One of the most famous of those rabbis faked his own death and made a deal with the Roman general and later emperor Vespasian to escape with some of his co-conspirator Pharisaic friends.  They abandoned massive numbers of their fellow Jews to be slaughtered.  Ironically, whether he was right or wrong, that same rabbi who betrayed his own people is revered in Judaism as one of their “ tannaim ”, the most revered of Judaism’s sages.

The following link is an article from an Orthodox Judaism website (Chabad) that attempts to put a positive spin on the account by portraying his betrayal as an act of courage and wisdom. Abandoning his own people was a good thing? The man was rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai . It is but one historic fact I hope to expose in various discussions which highlight assorted oddities present within Akiva Judaism.

Those rabbis who were spared death in Jerusalem as a result of Zakkai’s questionable deal with Vespasian gathered in approximately 90CE at Yavneh Israel under the leadership of rabbi Gamliel II (grandson of Gamliel I, also known as Gamliel the Elder) and worked to restructure ( to change ) what had been the Torah based faith previously practiced.  Focus was entirely shifted from the Temple to the synagogue, with the leaders of the synagogue (rabbis) giving themselves total control.

Among the most important changes was an unprecedented massive power grab by those rabbis. They established themselves as Heaven’s gatekeepers, the rulers, effectively the demigods of Judaism. Up to that point, though the Pharisees did hold a measure of political and communal power, absolute centralized power under rabbinic control had ever existed throughout the entire history of Israel. However, after their enormous alterations they insured that they would become the sole authorities with no one to threaten their grip over Judaism.

That is what happened. The rabbis in Yavneh effectively created a new religious system with themselves as the unopposed dictators whose authority it is forbidden to truly question. Since the creation of that rabbinic religion “Torah” has expanded to include innumerable d’rabbanans , which are rabbinic dictates generally considered equal to God’s written Torah. 

What is commonly called "Judaism" today is a faith that, as mentioned before, was created after the Second Temple destruction.  It is savagely anti-Yeshua, anti-New Testament, and based upon the biased opinions of a specific highly esteemed man (rabbi Akiva) and a small number of rabbis who followed him or with whom he agreed.  Their opinions are found within the Mishnah .

One of Akiva's very wealthy followers in the latter second century who happened to be a dear friend of the Roman emperor of that time, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus , acquired, parsed, and ultimately compiled the Mishnah . The Gemorah (or Gemara, Gemora, etc.), which is also based exclusively upon the biased opinions of that Akiva-based sect within Judaism and which represents commentary on the Mishnah , was subsequently added to the Mishnah to ultimately become the Talmud , upon which Akiva Judaism is based.

The curse just mentioned will be the subject of an entire discussion within the Yeshua Judaism series. It is an important issue for a number of reasons, not the least of which is a modern deceitful attempt to rewrite history by some apologists for Judaism who wish to falsify the record regarding the targets of that curse, one of which was and still is the followers of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ). However, most practitioners of Akiva Judaism honestly admit the truth. May they be blessed for their uprightness.

Other articles within the series will expand upon this very brief history.

Yeshua Judaism: a general description

However, the limited number of differences are profound and so polarizing that compromise is impossible. Respect for one another, however, is possible. May God bring the day that such respect is practiced and recognition of Yeshua Judaism as a legitimate sect of Judaism is achieved.

Yeshua Judaism is the authentic Torah faith Yeshua was sent to reestablish as he, and more importantly God, witnessed what was and has since increasingly become a burdensome and elitist corruption of Torah. He sought to re-instill the true intent of God's Torah within Israel, reinvigorate it by ridding it of its severe elitism which had occurred due to the arrogant elitist mindset of Judaism's early Pharisaic leaders, and spread it to all nations and peoples of the world instead of among only "the Jews" as is taught by the elitist leaders of Akiva Judaism.

Yeshua Judaism, unlike Akiva Judaism, firmly and irrevocably stands by the truth that God is impartial since He loves all mankind and will instantly embrace anyone and everyone who seeks to draw near to Him – Jewish or not, rabbi accepted or not.

Yeshua’s efforts to reestablish , re-instill , reinvigorate , and spread Torah universally is the true reason why, then and now, he was and is utterly despised within the "Judaism" which was birthed by those previously mentioned leaders. They generally even refuse to say his name, preferring to explicitly scorn him with their refusal despite what some people, including alleged followers of Yeshua, deceitfully claim. Contrary to the typical understanding, Yeshua Judaism actually predates Akiva Judaism - a fact which is easily proven.

Simply stated: I just told you when Akiva Judaism began (approximately 90CE), and it realistically didn’t materialize until the completion of the Talmud or, at a minimum, the Mishnah, which did not exist until more than a century after Yeshua’s death and resurrection. The Talmud itself wasn’t completed until the seventh century. However, Yeshua Judaism began and thrived before the second Temple destruction. Thus, the simple fact is that Yeshua Judaism does indeed predate Akiva Judaism by at least a generation and realistically much longer.

I realize Judaism's rabbis and adherents wish to suppress or may not like the facts of history which prove that Yeshua Judaism indisputably predates the commonly known “Orthodox” or “rabbinic” Judaism which did not exist during Yeshua’s life. They will certainly disagree as they attempt to conceal and rewrite the facts of history, but historic facts are facts, and those leaders of Akiva (rabbinic) Judaism will just have to deal with it and move on.

What about the New Testament?

There really is very little "new" information or teaching found within the "New" Testament. If you think otherwise, then you have been victimized by Christianity’s bias, anti-Torah foundations, distortions of history, and severe errors of Biblical interpretation. In general, the New Testament example shows that Yeshua and his original followers largely adhered to the Torah based faith that was then common.

It is quite possible that among all major religions of the world Yeshua Judaism has the least amount of unique teachings from its alleged founder, Yeshua. I say “alleged” because God is the actual “Founder” of the true faith. The only place we can find implicit or explicit teachings from Yeshua are in the gospels. Most of those are repeated within the gospels and generally even they adhere to the widely accepted Torah faith and to Akiva Judaism.

When you stack up the examples and teachings of Yeshua which differ from the then common Pharisaic Torah based faith you end up with a small stack, most of which is composed of the added burdensome d’rabbanans (rabbinic dictates) which he generally opposed. Indeed, Yeshua was basically a liberal, non-elitist Pharisee who opposed unnecessary burdens!

Nevertheless, the few differences that exist are extremely significant and do indeed form a sharp distinction between Yeshua Judaism and the more common forms of “Judaism” then and now (Akiva Judaism). In fact, the differences are actually substantially greater now than they were then due to continuous additions of rabbinic traditions ( d’rabbanans: takkanot, minhag, etc.) that have been included over the centuries. Those terms are defined in the previously mentioned discussion of oral Torah. Many of those d’rabbanans , however, even Judaism today admits are not binding while nonetheless strongly asserting them to be implicitly binding.

Why is this? What are we to learn from the fact that there are actually very few - numerically speaking - distinctions between Yeshua Judaism and the typical Pharisaic Judaism of Yeshua’s time? How should this obvious and true fact affect and define our faith? What is there to learn from this fact? Does it imply that we have a situation where the differences are trivial? Or, are the few distinctions so far-reaching and prominent that “common ground” is like two patches of dirt on planets located in separate galaxies - meaning not really as “common” as is first observed?

The similarities within the New Testament writings prove conclusively to those who have studied Torah (including oral Torah), Hebraic context, and the culture of that time, that Yeshua Judaism definitely does and should be very similar to the Judaism of then and now. How similar should it be, and where are the distinctions so apparent? This question will be answered in Part 2 of “Yeshua Judaism”.